Handle With Care

7. The Purple Sky and Prettiest Girl.

HANDLE WITH CARE

7. The Purple Sky and Prettiest Girl.

L U K E

The last thing Luke wanted right now was to see his therapist. Annie, on the other hand, he would love to see, but just not as his therapist.

"Luke you have to go, you promised me you would." Jack stood at the foot of the couch, looming over Luke's sprawled out body as he continued to watch TV. Luke was in the middle of a How I Met Your Mother binge and he didn't want to stop now. He also didn't want to talk about his feelings or how he's been or his parents death.

This little part of him actually kind of wanted Annie to come to his house and just watch the TV series together, maybe she could rest her head on his chest and lie on top of him. Maybe she'd fall asleep there too and he wouldn't want to wake her by moving so they would stay on the couch all night, mumbling and dozing.

That little part of him stayed hidden, behind his friendly smiles and fake stories. Jack grabbed Luke's resting hand and pulled him off of the comfort of his sofa, growling at him for being so lazy. He wasn't wrong, Luke was lazy, and he was afraid it was starting to show.

On their walk to the clinic Luke noticed his brothers silent agitation, but he didn't want to ask because normally with his brother, the more Luke talked the more he'd get annoyed. Jack didn't even come into the clinic like he normally did, he walked to the door, mumbled a goodbye, and left.

Luke stood scared for a moment, then remembered how stupid that sounded and just went inside, feeling like a lost puppy. Annie thought he looked like one too, with his shaggy hair and big eyes and pouty lips.

"Jacks annoyed with me," he huffed, flopping down on the couch and ignoring Annie's condescending smile.

"Do you know why?" Annie sat her self down on the cushioned chair, long legs crossing over and nails tapping at her thigh.

"I didn't want to leave the house, I don't think he likes having me there anymore." Luke frowned, picking at the loose thread on the bottom of his shirt.

"Have you thought about moving out?"

"I used to have a flat about a 45 minute drive from here, but I moved in with Jack after the accident." He shrugged, not sure how he really felt about the whole situation.

"Did you sell that flat?" She started, head tilting to the side in interest, "or do you still own it?"

Luke paused a moment, trying to think back to any time where he actually thought about his old place.

"I'm pretty sure I still own it actually." He sighed, wondering what he had left in his apartment the night he abandoned it.

At the start he missed the comfort of his own bed, but he also missed his mother's hugs and his fathers smiles, so he could live with an uncomfortable bed as long as he had his brother too. Now when he was thinking about it, he couldn't quite remember what it looked like, if the kitchen was dark blue or black, if the carpet was grey or cream, if the bathroom was left or right.

"Maybe for our next adventure we should visit it, if you have a key." Annie offered, her fake nails tapping along her leg as her mind wondered to where it really shouldn't be. She was wondering what his old flat would look like. Surely because of his previous famous status he had quite an upper class home, expensive furniture and a wide screen TV probably. She wondered if it had more than one bedroom, maybe a huge en-suite in the master bedroom, he probably had a TV in his room too.