disconnected // luke hemmings » au

eight

Taylor wipes away the tears that escape her brimming eyes and smiles sadly as she gives us one last wave before leaving us to board the plane back to New York.

Her curly blonde hair bounces against her back as she walks away, pulling her large suitcase behind her. 

I turn to Taylor's parents and they pull me in for a hug. Although I haven't seen much of them in recent times, they more like parents to me than my real ones. Between Anna and William's heads, I notice Taylor's 13 year old brother, Finn, blinking back tears. As we all walk back to the parking lot, I drop behind the two adults and loosely throw my arm around Finn's shoulders.

"You okay?" I ask, looking down at him.

He looks up and his green eyes are shining with moisture. Despite the fact that he's trying desperately not to cry, he nods and struggles to get out of my grip.

"I miss her too." I tell him and he nods.

Being with Taylor's family like this makes me think about my actual family. Of course I miss them, and now that Toby and I are over - for good - they might want to talk to me again. 

As if he was reading my mind, Finn asks me if I miss my family when we sit next to each other in the car. I nod in response.

"Taylor told us that you broke up with Toby. I think you are very brave." He says. This family knows about Toby's abuse and have always been here for me. I don't know what I did to deserve their endless support but I do know that I am incredibly grateful.

"Thank you, Finn." I grin, ruffling his curly hair in the process. He scowls and tries to fix the light brown mess atop of his head. 

The rest of the car ride is spent catching up and laughing at old memories from the last six years. When William parks the car outside Taylor's house, where my car is, I thank him and hug them all. I promise to see them soon, then drive away. I stop outside Luke's house, knowing I need to face him sooner or later, and all of my shit is with him. I need to remember that he didn't do anything wrong, I have absolutely no reason to be hurt. I just hope he's not with another girl when I go inside.

I breathe deeply before knocking on the door. This time, Luke opens it. He's wearing black sweatpants and a black hoodie. He looks snuggly and cozy but at the same time, very sexy. He smiles when he sees me and I smile back.

"Sienna!" He pulls me into a tight hug. I revel in the feeling of his warmth engulfing me and his minty scent wafting around me. I bury my head into his chest and tangle my arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry." He whispers into my hair. The sensation sends shivers down my spine. I shake my head and mumble something about being quiet. This moment is too nice to ruin with words. He kisses the top of my head before pulling away.

His large hands still hold my upper arms in a gentle grip. He slowly moves them down my arms until they take hold of my own smaller hands.

"I'm sorry, Sienna. I really am." He says, so soft I can barely hear him.

"For what?" He honestly has no reason to be apologising. Luke has the right to be with anyone he likes.

He shrugs. I notice that his bruised eyes are slightly bloodshot.

"Why are your eyes bloodshot?" I ask nosily. 

Luke looks down at his hands. "I got a bit drunk last night."

"Oh." I nod. I can't help thinking that I might have had something to do with that. "Are you okay?"

He runs his tongue along his bottom lip, stopping to play with the black ring. I feel myself blushing as I take in how really fucking attractive it is.