24 Hours.

6.0 - notsurewhattocallthiseither

10:09 AM

"So," Luke spoke after a few long minutes of silence. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright." Skylar shrugged. She felt awkward now, like she'd said something wrong, even though she knew she hadn't. Luke had wanted her to say she loved him back, right? He wouldn't have told Skylar how he felt if he hadn't expected her to say it back.

"You're living here in Sydney," Luke observed, taking a quick look around Skylar's small apartment. "I kind of thought you'd go back home."

"I'm not." Skylar said slowly, remembering that Luke really didn't know much about her life back home and probably wouldn't understand why she liked living here better than with her father back in L.A. "Ever."

"What'd you do, drop out of school?" Luke asked. He scooted closer to Skylar and took her hand, intertwining their fingers together. Skylar didn't feel like mentioning just how good and how normal it felt to be holding Luke's hand again.

"Yeah." Skylar shrugged. She spoke quietly, because she was still nervous. "I don't really care, my dad doesn't either. I'm living here with my cousin for now and she's going to help me find a job soon."

"Oh." Was all Luke said, slowly nodding to himself. They stayed silent for another few minutes, until Luke spoke again. "Your mom... Did she - Is she - ?"

"She, um, she died." Skylar said softly, looking down at her lap. She'd been doing a very good job of handling her mother's death, which surprised even Skylar, considering how much she loved her. It happened three months ago, and Skylar was just beginning to feel...right, again. "Three months ago. But it's okay, I got to see her for about an our before it...happened."

"Fuck, Sky, I'm so sorry." Luke said, squeezing her hand again.

"It's okay. I knew that it was going to happen, I was ready and so was she." Skylar sniffed, praying that she wouldn't cry. She was done crying, and hadn't since the day of her mother's funeral.

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there, with you. God, I feel like such a dick." Luke sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He was obviously beating himself up about this, acting as if it was his fault, and Skylar wished he wouldn't. It was no ones fault.

"It's okay." Skylar said, nervously biting down on her bottom lip. "You had your reasons."

"Stupid reasons." Luke scoffed. "Stupid fucking reasons."

"It's okay." Skylar repeated.

"It's not." Luke said, shaking his head. He stood up from the couch and started pacing. "It's not okay that I just left you like that, and it's not okay that I broke all of those promises, and it's not okay that I wasn't there for you when you needed me most."

"Luke, stop it..." Skylar stood up as well, trying to get Luke to sit again. All he was doing right now was bringing all of the bad things he's done to Skylar's attention, and that wasn't solving any of their problems. If he kept talking like this she was going to end up being mad at him again.

"I'm so sorry, Sky, I am so, so, sorry." Luke turned to Skylar and wrapped his arms around her without another warning, pulling her in for a hug. Skylar wrapped her arms around Luke's waist and buried her face into his chest, because that's all she could think of doing at the moment. She'd missed him so much, and hadn't realized until now.

"It's alright." Skylar said again, pulling away from Luke after another minute. She untangled herself from him and walked away, into the kitchen, and Luke followed. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No," Luke sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm good for now, thanks."

Skylar nodded and got herself a glass of water, drinking it quickly while Luke sat down at the kitchen island and stared back at her. It seemed as though silence was their new best friend, because neither of them could think of the right words to say at the moment.

"Did you mean it?" Luke looked up at Skylar, his voice a little raspy.

"Mean what?"

"Do you really love me?" He asked. "After everything that I've done? All of my mistakes? You still love me, even now?"

Skylar swallowed hard and thought about her answer for a long while before responding to him.

"Of course." She said. Skylar loved Luke, and she had since that first day they'd met. She wasn't just going to stop loving him because of one wrong thing, as much as she wished she had over the last three months. There was always going to be a spot for Luke in Skylar's heart, no matter what he did.

Luke nodded and licked his lips, slowing standing up from where he was sitting at the island. He walked over to Skylar and she set her glass down on the counter again, because she knew what was happening next.

Luke slowly leaned in and pressed his lips to Skylar's, bringing his hands to her waist and pulling her even closer to him. Skylar stood up on her toes since Luke was so tall compared to her and she brought her hands up to the nape of his neck, tugging him down so he was closer to her.

This kiss was even better than their first, because this time they both knew that it meant something; that they loved each other. It wasn't rushed or needy, like the first kiss they shared, it was slow, and beautiful, and it was honestly everything that Skylar could have asked for. She loved Luke, so, so much, despite all of his flaws and wrongdoings. She loved him and she was probably never going to stop.

Luke pulled away first and Skylar grabbed his hand, turning on her heel towards the direction of her bedroom. She led Luke down the hallway and he followed mindlessly behind her, almost like he was too surprised by her actions to speak. When they reached Skylar's bedroom door Luke stopped, as if he was finally realizing what was going on.

"Sky," He whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Are you sure about this?"

Skylar nodded and pulled Luke farther into the room, shutting the door behind her. It was a small room, so it didn't take them long to walk over to the edge of her bed and sit down.

"I don't want to rush right into things." Luke said softly, glancing around Skylar's tiny bedroom. "I mean, we don't have to do this if you don't - "

"Luke," Skylar quieted him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She whispered, "Just kiss me again before I change my mind."

-

okay I just planned everything out and after this chapter there are 4 chapters left and an epilogue so there just a heads up

this was short im sorrrrryyy