vanilla // lrh

thirty

hi guys im sry this took me so long.... but im writing another story now too! the prologue will be out super soon! thank u :)

From: Michael
Not to be the nosy neighbor, but are you okay? It's been nearly three days.

From: Michael
Have you missed work? I hope you're okay you can't afford to lose your job.

From: Michael
Please text or call me ASAP.

From: Megan
What the hell happened? You're gone and all of the money is too? This isn't like you El...

"Ignore them." Luke hummed, leaning over my shoulder.

"I need to explain." I said, tugging at the inside of my cheek with my teeth. How do I explain? Can I explain?

"No you don't," He argued. "You never know who is really on your side."

"You think they're involved in all of this?"

"Who knows." He shrugged, with a sigh.

"I've known Michael since the first day I moved here, there's no way. I need to let him know what's going on."

"Eloise." Luke cut, stopping his legs, as he turned to face me.

We were walking along the side of the road. We had been walking for what seemed like weeks. My legs were beginning to feel like jello, and the farther we wandered the less frequent streetlights and headlights would appear.

"Don't fucking tell him anything."

"Don't swear at me." I retorted, furrowing my eyebrows. "And don't tell me what to do."

How could he expect me to trust him over someone I had lived next to for years? How well did I even know him? What if he had some diabolical plan to drive me out of state and kidnap me? I couldn't just trust him blindly, even if my instincts were to do exactly that.

"Eloise, oh my fuc-" He gripped at his hair, and in the dim light I could barely see his motions.

He exhaled slowly, and released his curls from his grasp.

"I can't tell you everything that is happening or has happened, or is going to happen. I just need you to trust me. Trust that I'm just doing what I need to, to keep both of our asses safe, okay?"

"Trust is earned, I can't just trust you with my life-"

"You're trying to protect yourself," He interrupted. "I know what you're doing."

"Please just let yourself trust someone for once."

I decided not to respond to him, I didn't know how I felt. My heart trusted him, but my subconscious knew things were never that simple.

We continued walking, in silence, both of us a mess in our own heads.

"Where the hell are we going? We're in the middle of nowhere." I said, breaking the silence. The street in front of us looked never ending, a winding road with Luke and I as it's last visitors.

"Where do you think we're going?" He asked, his voice giddy.

"I'm hoping you aren't luring me out to the middle of nowhere to bury me alive."

He laughed, which triggered a heat in my cheeks.

"If I'm being completely honest, I have no fucking clue where we are." He said, and his laugh echoed with more volume. He was hysterical.

"Are you serious? We're in the middle of nowehere how are we supposed to get back?!"

"That's your job," He chuckled.