Runaway. || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 18

"Luke?" I called through the air. "Can we keep moving?"

He lifted himself and frowned, scratching his head. "Jesus, Bella. Talk about eagerness."

"Sorry, sorry. I just want to get to the water, if there even is any."

He held up his hand, signalling for me to stop talking. "Me too." he said, his voice thick and groggy. "Come on, then. It shouldn't be too far off."

He climbed the tree and looked out over the vast area, checking on which direction we should head in. After a few moments, he pointed towards his left. "We should go north. There's water there."

I grinned and he looked at me, shrugging and mumbled, "What? I'm guessing, I mean."

He quickly climbed down, and suddenly I felt a pang in my chest. Ashley. I never got to say my goodbyes to her. I didn't even know if I would see her again, or if she was even alive. The thought of her being dead sent chills across me, and I suddenly felt the urge to scream out and cry.

I shakily tapped Luke's shoulder, swinging him around. It was actually amazing how fast I could get worried about something, I noticed.

"Do you think that we'd ever be able to go back home?" I asked, as we both began walking. "Like, will I ever see Ashley, Nat or Ashton again? Do you think you'll ever see Calum and Cassie after this is all over?"

"I don't know, Bella." he shrugged, turning to me, where I saw a sad look in his eyes. "I hope so, but I don't know." He lightly touched my arm, something I noticed he did quite a lot of lately. "I'm sorry."

I nodded and looked down. Wow. I couldn't believe I may never see the most important people in my life ever again. And if Nat and Ashton heard about our little Runaway, they'd more than likely think I had gone nuts in the space that we hadn't contacted each other, and start worrying like shit. I had come to realise that they hadn't really gotten to see the nice side of Luke. I shook my head and kept walking, trying to preoccupy my mind from the twisted truth I knew would soon surface.

"Hey, I think I can hear water." Luke said after a good hour or so of walking. He stopped, pressing a finger to his lips and then to his ear. "Can you hear that?"

I adjusted my hearing, attempting to block out all the bird calls and tried to distinguish the sound of rushing water from rustling leaves.

I nodded, and he slightly smiled. "I think I can hear it." I answered.

He laughed softly and began running in the direction of the sound, beckoning for me to follow him. "Come on, Bella!"

I rolled my eyes and jogged after him, skipping over stones and broken pieces of wood, around the trees and down the slopes. Luke had gone off ahead of me, my arm was still recovering which meant it prevented me from being at my best.

I heard a splash. I skidded down the slope and grabbed a tree for support, to stop myself.

"Bella, come on! It's amazing!" He grinned and splashed the water up on me, making me jump back.

"Luke!"

"What!"

He started swimming out further and I hesitated on whether to get in or not. I swam, of course, but I didn't know if this water was safe or not.

I guess we'd find out.

I pulled off my shoes and socks and hopped in, shivering from the sudden coldness of the water. I swam after Luke, the water invading my whole body, feeling as if it was freezing me solid from the outside in. It burnt my bullet wound at first, but I didn't let that stop me. For all I knew, water might have been good for the cut. It may help it to heal faster.