Not Fine at All (Luke Hemmings a.u.)

Chapter 2

A/N:

The first few chapters are going to be rather short, so it's going to seem like the story is progressing rather quickly, but it will get better. I promise. Just keep reading and don't give up on me yet. I'm just trying not to give too much away.

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CALUM'S POV

The news channel had mistakenly been turned on as I stepped on the television remote in a hasty attempt to find a clean shirt, and I was now vaguely recalling the weather man's advisory to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary driving. As I sped down the road in my sorry excuse for a vehicle, hoping to God that nothing happened to Lucey in the time being, I finally began to question how I had ended up here, racing down a dimly lit street during a severe thunderstorm watch at 3:07 in the bloody morning after a girl who I couldn't even trust after the misery she had so recently put my best friend through. It was almost funny though, how quickly I had made up my mind to go after her. Just another prime example of how she managed to have all of us wrapped around her dainty little finger without even trying.

I hated to admit it, but the main thing pushing me to leave my warm bed and drive down flooded alleys in the middle of the night was Lucey's voice. She was usually so colorful and sure of herself, yet on the phone she sounded startlingly hollow. The sound was still haunting me as I clicked off the radio and tried to focus on the road. 

None of us had heard from her in over a year and a half - not receiving so much as a text - so picking up the phone to listen to her urgent plea for help was enough to make me believe that whatever was wrong, she was in dangerously deep. Something told me that she never would have called unless she felt completely trapped. I was probably just her last resort, and I suspected she knew that I knew that as well.

Almost as soon as I had begun to ponder what had made her so fearful that she would bother to call on me, I caught a glimpse of a small figure huddled on a bus stop bench and noted that I was nearly to the street corner where Bleaker Avenue met Mercer Lane. Surely that wretched looking creature trembling in the dark was not Lucey Liles. She was much too prideful to ever let herself be seen in such a condition. I had a sick feeling in my gut. 

I parked the car a ways down the street and approached slowly, so as not to frighten her, but there was no doubt that she could hear me coming as I splashed clumsily through the numerous puddles.

She didn't turn around to greet me, only cocked her head slightly to the side and let out a ragged breath like it took immense effort, or maybe willpower, to even breathe. As I got closer, I could see that her pale blue sweatshirt was drenched clear through along with her skinny jeans, and she was completely barefoot. There was a backpack on the bench to the right of her and her stringy red hair was matted against her forehead. All around her eyes were black smears of what I assumed to be the remains of her makeup. If I hadn't felt the very real wetness of the rain soaking through my own clothes, I think I would have believed I was having an nightmare. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and she only stopped rocking back and forth once I finally found the courage to utter her name, the name no one had dared to bring up for the longest time.

"Lucey?"

She drug her eyes up to meet mine at a torturously slow pace, almost as though it phyhsically pained her, and it was then that I was able to take in the full extent of her face. Her eyes were sunken in and she looked as though she hadn't eaten or slept in days. I forced my face to remain neutral, although I could feel the weight of gravity pulling my jaw to the ground. What had she done to herself?

"It's time to get you out of here. Everything is going to be alright," I said, trying to sound more sure of myself than I really was. I held out my hand for her to take, and although the rain was sheeting down and further drenching both of us, I swear I could make out a small tear running down her pale cheek.

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LUCEY'S POV

When I finally dared to reach out and take hold of Calum's hand, he pulled me up quicker than I had been prepared for and I almost lost my balance before he began dragging me along toward his car. Why he had parked so far away, I had no idea, but when we made it to the spot where it was sitting, engine still running and winshield wipers still pathetically trying to fight against the downpour, I was thankful that he had come here at all. In a former life, I would have scolded him for leaving the car unlocked with the keys in the ignition on a dark, stormy night in the bad part of town, but I didn't have the energy.

Instead, I silently slipped in, fastened my seatbelt, threw my bag into the backseat, and began absently picking at the already raw edges of my fingernails, trying to look too occupied to answer any of the questions that I knew were coming. Of course, that was never going to happen.

"You want to tell me what exactly is going on?" Calum asked softly after several minutes had gone by. "I mean, what were you doing out there all by yourself?"

I didn't answer.

"You're not... homeless are you..?" He asked slowly, shooting me a worried glance before focusing back on the road.

"No, of course not!" I said, probably too defensively. 

It almost made me want to laugh that that was his first assumption, but I couldn't blame him for thinking the worst. He must think I'm such a low life.

"Well, then you live someplace, right? Is that where you want me to take you?"

"I can't go back there," she said quickly.

"Why not?" 

This was getting too suspicious for him and I could tell.

"I just can't. They wouldn't want me!" I snapped harshly, instantly feeling bad for being so brutal.

"Who is they? Did they kick you out or did you just run away again?" 

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was sincere, and I'm sure he didn't mean for his last question to come out as venomous as it did, but I found myself beginning to cry again nonetheless.

"I don't always just leave, you know?" I spat out between sobs. "It's not like I just pack up everything and change my whole life just because I'm bored. I have my reasons, and you just wouldn't understand." 

I was trying not to sound so bitter, but so far I couldn't help it.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Luce. I'm just trying to figure this all out since you're not giving me much to work with. Do you mind telling me what exactly your reason was for leaving this time?" 

He was trying not to pry, but I could tell that the curiousity was tearing him apart. I took a shaky breath before replying. 

"It just got to be too much, Cal. I couldn't live like that anymore." It was the safest answer I could give without revealing too much of my shameful situatuon. I just hoped he would accept it.

"What do you mean? What happened to you that was awful enough to make you run away? Was it your parents again?"

"I'm sorry, Calum, but I just can't talk about it. Please try and understand that," I pleaded.

"Alright, fine. I'm not going to probe you anymore for answers that you're obviously not going to give. I can respect the fact that you're not ready to spill everything, so I will give you time. But," he said, and I could already tell where this was going. "Luke might not be as cool with you showing up at his house after more than a year without a solid explanation. He may not be as forgiving, especially since it's barely four in the morning and he doesn't even know you're coming."

Luke. 

I had been so caught up in everything that had been happening that I didn't even notice we had pulled up outside the house that Luke and Calum shared. That I had shared. I don't know where else I thought he would bring me, because it's not as though I had given him a destination, but this is the last place I thought I would find myself. At one time, I never thought I would see it again.

My hands were shaking and I was suddenly aware of how nervous I was. This would be the first time I'd seen Luke since the day I walked out. This would be the first time I'd hear his voice since he had tried to call me the week after I left. This would be the first time I'd come crawling back to him even after I had promised myself that I never would. This would be the first time, in a twist of fate, that I would be at his mercy.