Crash My Party

Fourteen || Can't Believe You're Really Gone

A lot of you are not going to forgive me for this, but here is the chapter. I felt like crying my eyes out because of this one, toward the end you'll figure it out! Just try not to cry your eyes out like I almost did. Anyway, I worked on this chapter a little bit more than the other one, so I hope it's actually better lol so just leave your comments after your done reading the chapter! :) 

     »CAN'T BELIEVE YOUR REALLY GONE |

Why was it that whenever I saw Luke, it was like the whole world didn't exist anymore? It was like Luke and I were the only two people on the planet. But this time, I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was probably going to come and ruin this moment for us. I had my head resting atop his shoulder. We just sat there, completely silent, my fingers intertwined with his. This moment was just perfect. 

"I should probably get you home, it's getting late,"  he said after what felt like hours, breaking the moment. I lifted my head up, looking into his dreamy eyes. Instead of going out on our date, we decided to stay at his house instead. I think it was better here actually, just us two. I looked down at my watch and gasped. I couldn't believe it was already midnight! I didn't realize how fast the time had gone by! I usually managed to get home on time; it was crazy how I lost all sense of time passing around Luke. I sat up straight, yawning and giving a slight stretch. 

We stood up and slowly made our way towards the door. I took out my phone and turned it on, planning to make a quick call to Niki. Since I usually didn't stay out this late, I expected her to be fairly worried as to my whereabouts. Before I had the chance to dial in Niki’s cell number, I was bombarded with hundreds of texts from Amber, Jake and Niki. 

"What's wrong?" Luke asks me, peering over my shoulder to look at my phone screen. I quickly thumbed through all the texts, feeling very anxious.

My eyes widened as I continued to read all of my messages. "S-something’s wrong with Teddy," I stammered. Without another word, I quickly ran out the door. Luke came out as well, catching up to me and keeping on my tail as I sprinted back to my house. I made sure to text Niki that I was coming. All I felt was guilt. This is what happens when I try to have the least amount of fun, something always goes wrong. I came to a stop breathlessly once my porch was in view. Jake and C.J. were both talking quietly to each other, but grew completely silent once they caught sight of Luke and I. 

It wasn't long before C.J's face twisted in a scowl and he was storming towards me. "Where the hell were you?" he demanded. He had his arms firmly crossed over his chest; I knew that he was angry at me. Jake walked down the steps, silently coming to stand beside him. I could tell by the troubled look on his face that he was upset too. 

"You should probably head inside," Jake said quietly. "Niki's pretty upset."

"Jake, what happened to Teddy?" I asked, desperately wanting to know what happened to my dog. Jake sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before speaking. 

"Brook, you have to understand that Teddy was old." he said, his voice sounding grim. I looked into Jake's eyes to see that they were glassy; he either had been crying or was on the verge of doing so. I didn't know what to say; I knew what he meant by Teddy was old. I could feel tears building up in my own eyes. Not wanting anyone to see me cry, and feeling upset, I pushed past Jake and headed up the stairs, Luke still following behind me. 

C.J quickly caught up to me and tried to block my path. "I need to talk to you," he said as I shoved by him. I glanced at him, seeing that he had that look a parent would have on his face. I quickly glanced at Luke and told him to go back inside. He hesitated, but eventually nodded and walked inside, Jake hurrying in shortly after. I walked over to C.J., wishing in my mind that he wasn't going to do this now.

"Why weren't you answering your phone?" he finally asked, once we were on the porch alone.

"I had turned it off." I reply, sharply.

"Because of him?" he questioned. I hated the way that he said him as if Luke wasn't a person, but rather some object. "Brook, you really need to stop hanging out with him. Clearly he’s bad news! Because of him, you can't be here with your family anymore!" he shouted at me, it was loud enough to make me jump with each word, but not loud enough for anyone inside to hear. 

"What do you know about that, C.J.?" I questioned him, becoming very defensive of Luke, "I get that you wanted to take care of Niki and I a long time ago, but for the longest time, you haven’t even tried calling us yourself to see if we were okay! You had someone else check up on us. Jake has been more of family to me than you ever have." I barked at him. He winced slightly, I knew my words hurt him, but he had to hear them. He brought this upon himself. "And his name, is Luke. Don't talk about him like you are any better, because you aren't." I concluded, turning my back to C.J.

After a beat of silence, C.J quickly recovered. "Jake might have been there to help you and Niki, but Luke,” C.J. took a long sigh, “Luke’s just here to get into your pants, if he hasn't already." 

I closed my eyes as my grip tightened on the doorknob, my anger growing with each second. I took several deep breaths, reminding myself that C.J is my brother, and it wouldn't be right to just go crazy and attack him. This was a whole new side of my brother that I had never seen before. C.J remained quiet after that, letting his words sink in. I rolled back my shoulders and bit my tongue, deciding against saying something that I would regret. 

I yanked open the front door and walked in the living room where I heard strangled sobs and sniffling. The heart-wrenching scene in front of me brought tears to my eyes yet again. Niki had her face buried in Jake's shirt as she was trembling from her crying. Amber sat solemnly, rubbing her back. She and Jake both were whispering soothing things to her, trying to get her to calm down. But I could see the weariness in their faces.

"It'll be okay, Niki," Jake said, but his voice sounded so, so tired; I don't even think he believed that.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, Nik," I whimpered, taking a few cautious steps towards the couch. I knew that no matter what I said to her, I wouldn't make anything better. Niki didn't say anything to me, just sobbed. Amber, at least, looked over at me and mouthed 'are you okay?'. I only nodded at her and turned to walk up the stairs.

Someone else's footsteps were faintly heard as I walked in my bedroom. I feel face-down on my bed, crying steadily into my pillow. 

My door slowly creaked open and someone walked inside. "Are you okay?" Luke's soothing voice asked. I sniffled loudly and lifted my head from my damp pillow. I drag my watery eyes over to him and shake my head slowly. He walked over to the bed and sat at the edge of it. Once I sat up, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I buried my face into his shirt and just let all the tears fall. 

"It'll be okay," he tried to reassure me. 

"I don't see how," I cried into his chest.

"Just remember, he would want to see you happy and smilin'," Luke whispered, "He wouldn't want you to be crying, now would he?" he kissed my forehead before continuing, "Funny how the good ones go too soon, but the good Lord knows the reasons why, I guess," he sang to me as I kept my face buried into his shirt, deeply inhaling the scent of his cologne, "Sometimes the greater plan is kind of hard to understand."

"Right now it don't make sense," I whimpered, tightening my grip on his shirt.

"I can't make it all make sense." 

He sang to me until I fell asleep. At one point he tried to leave, but I had stopped him and told him to stay, so he slept by my side. My heart would ache at the thought of Teddy, but I didn't want to stop thinking about him. I could hear my father's voice in the back of my mind telling me No, Llores. He always got sad whenever I cried. I tried my best not to cry about them for the rest of the night, to very little success.