stranger ➳ luke hemmings

five

It takes a human being approximately 1.5 seconds to react to something that has been said to them. 1.5 seconds for you to hear something, process it, then react accordingly. A stimulus and response. A cause and effect. 

If it only takes 1.5 seconds, why does everything feel like its in slow motion? Why aren’t I reacting? Why can’t I process three simple words I somehow knew in the back of my mind would be said to me eventually? Its all too much. My head is spinning, my mouth is dry, my ears are pounding. I feel the breath being knocked out of me and my knees buckle, causing me to fall in someone’s arms. 

“Evelyn!” I hear a yell and I’m somewhat more stable than I was just a few seconds ago. 

I realize I’m lying in Luke’s arms and quickly push myself off. 

“Are you okay?” He speaks again, while I hear a range of other things being thrown my way, “What’s going on?” “Is she in shock?” “Does she have a concussion?” 

My mind is still whirling but I find some strength in me to form a coherent sentence. “Luke,” I’m shaking as I speak, “Take me home with you, I-I wanna go home, not here, your house, please” I beg, holding tightly onto his gray shirt as I do. 

“No! Absolutely not!” My father’s voice is loud and stern. “You will not go to this stranger’s house, we don’t even know who he is! They just found Grace and you’re thinking of running off somewhere? What is going through your head? We are a family! We’re supposed to go through things like this together!” His voice is booming now as he stares at me. 

I grip onto Luke’s shirt so tight I swear I’ll rip through it. “Family?!” I say through gritted teeth. “You don’t even know what that means! We haven’t been a family since Grace died dad! You and mom don’t even give the slightest shit about me anymore ever since that day. Even when I-I...just don’t. Don’t even try” I finish, tears spilling down my face. 

I grab Luke’s hands and storm down the pavement to his car. 

*

We’ve been driving for about five minutes and I’ve calmed down. I’m still numb and it hasn’t fully hit me yet that they’ve found her. I don’t even know how I feel. 

“Luke” My voice is weak. 

“Yeah?” He looks over to me and places one hand over mine on my thigh. 

“Thank you, for taking me, I don’t really wanna be there right now, with all the police and-” 

“Shhh, its okay” Luke is tracing tiny circles over my hand with his, and I don’t ignore it. “Its fine, you can stay the night if you want”

I rest my head against the window and stare out at the gloomy clouds, shifting slowly across the sky. 

“Evelyn..” Luke starts, I already know what he’s going to say. “Who’s Grace?” He gulps as he speaks. 

I sigh in response, letting him know I’m not ready to even talk about what happened back there. He’s playing with the bracelet that sits on my wrist between his two fingers as we cruise along the roads. 

* 

We arrive at Luke’s house shortly after, and I slightly smile to myself as I remember the day I cried outside the front gate and Luke saw me. 

“Funny, huh” Luke smiles at me, bringing out the keys from his pocket. “I was just a stranger then” We make our way to the front door as Luke enters the key. 

“My mom’s not gonna be home tonight, she’s got a conference in the city” Luke says as we step into his house. “You can take my bedroom, I’ll sleep in my mom’s” He turns on all the lights in the living room before taking off his boots. 

“Thats okay, I can take the couch” I reply, playing with the sleeves of my sweater. 

“No no, its okay, please, take my room,” He pauses. “Do you want dinner or?” He steps forward, holding both my hands in his, fumbling with my fingers. 

“No, thats okay” I pull my hands away and back down to my sides.  “I think I’m just gonna go upstairs..lie down maybe” I bite my lip, looking around the room and avoiding Luke’s gaze. 

“Okay..you know where to find me” Luke scratches the back of his neck as if he’s nervous. 

I turn away and walk up the steps slowly, leaving Luke at the bottom. 

“Oh, wait” He speaks, following me up the steps. He rushes past me and into his room and I hear some opening and closing of drawers by the time I reach the door. 

“Here, take these” Luke hands me a neatly folded hoodie and some track pants. 

“Thank you, again” I say, unfolding the massive grey hoodie with a logo on it. “Blink 182”  I say, biting my lips. “She loved that band” I look down at the ground, fond memories slipping through my mind. 

“Hey...” Luke says, tilting my chin up with his fingers, “You’re gonna be okay” He leans forward, his lips close to my forehead. I shift my head to the side and pull away slightly. 

“I’m gonna get changed” I say, avoiding his eyes. 

“Okay, I’ll, uh, see you in the morning” Luke mumbles before leaving the room. 

I strip down and change into the soft clothes that Luke gave me, it smells like cologne and it feels warm. I walk over to the bed and cocoon myself in its covers, which are saturated in the same scent as his clothes. The scent calms me, and makes me feel safe somehow. My head starts to get heavy and I drift off to sleep, realizing the news from this afternoon still hasn’t hit me yet. 

“Evelyn! Evie, help!” I hear the voice again, but this time it’s different. Louder. Higher. 

“Evelyn!” I’m in a forest, one I knew all too well. “Grace!” I shout back, “Where are you?” 

I hear a gunshot, but no screams come after. I look around, my head turning in all directions. “Grace?” I call out. I look down and see my stomach soaked in a dark red liquid. I don’t feel any pain but I fall to the floor on my knees. 

“Evelyn! What happened?” I turn to see Grace standing in front of me. Before I can respond, my head hits the floor and everything fades to black. 

I jolt awake, sitting upright on my bed. I’m sweating and shaking. I look around and realize I’m not in my bedroom. I begin to panic, where am I? Has someone taken me? Taken me like they took her? I’m panting and cries begin to escape my lips. 

“Evelyn!” The door bursts open and I see a familiar figure standing there, rushing to my side immediately. 

“Where am I? Where’s Grace? Who are you?” My voice is weak and I can’t stop shaking. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay, Evelyn, listen to me” I recognize the boy as Luke, he holds my head in his hands and stares deep into my eyes. “Evelyn, its me, Luke, you’re okay” 

“Luke...Luke” I wrap my arms around his torso and bury my head into his neck. I feel safe, I know Luke, he’s not a stranger, I know who he is, no one has taken me. 

His arms are secured safely around me and we stay like that for a few more seconds before he pulls away. By the way he looks at me I know he knows that I want him to stay the rest of the night, so he pulls the blanket over us and I turn over to my side. 

I feel warm and comforting arms encase me and I lean my head back into Luke’s chest. I can feel him playing with strands of my hair as I feel my eyelids become heavy. 

“She was my sister, Grace” I whisper quietly before my vision becomes blurry and I feel myself drifting off to sleep. 

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