never be » lrh book one

Chapter 27

T W O   W E E K S   L A T E R

Sam's POV

After two weeks of no interactions, the silence stops. I've ditched school for two weeks and gotten warnings and notices every single day. All have gone ignored.

On the second Friday of my personal vacation, there's a knock at my door. My whole body freezes. I haven't had any real human interaction besides over the internet and going to the store for the last two weeks. I wrap my fuzzy grey blanket around my slim shoulders and get off the couch. My legs feel numb as I walk to the door, my hand resting on the knob as I debate answering it. I have a gut feeling it's one of the boys. They've posted twice on youtube since we spoke. Clearly they're more productive without me in their lives.

I open the door to face Luke. He's looking down at his feet at first, but then his head snaps up when I open the door and our eyes meet. The first thing I notice is how tired he looks. Instantly, he bites his pink lip and looks anywhere but me. "Can we talk?" He asks.

My heart nearly jumps out of my chest. There's a lump in my throat as I nod and step aside to let him into my home. He seems pretty nervous, his hands running along his thighs, the way he does before a big test or singing in front of me.

"Why haven't you been at school?" He asks, "You've ignored Ashton's texts, too?"

"Yeah. Calum said to stay away, so I did. In all ways. Physically, virtually." I shrug, pulling the ends of the blanket around me, closing myself off and refusing to look him in the eyes.

"He was just mad, Sam." Luke sighs, rubbing his forehead. "You have to understand that you kissing Ash hurt me."

"I didn't kiss him!" I groan, rolling my eyes and finally looking at him as I set my jaw, hoping to show him in more ways than one that I'm annoyed. "He kissed me. Out of loyalty to you, I pushed him away and then told you. He wanted me to hide it. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes you did! You let him do it!" Luke nearly yells, hurt written all over his face.

"He came in so quick, Luke," I rolled my eyes, "I couldn't have stopped him."

"Yeah right." He responds, crossing his arms. My eyes roll even farther back. Could this boy be any more delusional? I love him, no one else.

"You know what? Why are you even fucking here if you won't believe a word I say? You should just get out if you're looking for a fight." My voice is cold and merciless.

"I came to find out why you disappeared. I didn't want to be the reason you killed yourself." He mumbled, licking his lips.

"Yeah, alright. Well, I'm fine. You can go now." I sigh, playing with my hair because I don't exactly know what else to do.

"But I need to talk to you about other things, Sam." Luke says, his voice strong, but weakening at my name. The way he says it sends shivers down my spine.

"Like what?"

Luke doesn't say anything. He just steps towards me, grabs my face, and pulls me into a kiss. My body relaxes, but then I realize what's happening and I pull away. "Luke," I speak softly since he's so close.

"Yeah?" He asks, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"What the hell are you doing?" A part of me wants to laugh because I mean, what the actual fuck is happening?

"Making up with you," He laughs, stepping away. There's this goofy smile on his face that I can't resist. I laugh as well.

"Does this mean we're back together?" I ask, raising my eyebrows and smiling like a psychopath.

"Yeah, it does. Unless you don't want it to," Luke's blushing now, and that makes me even happier. It's like I'm being slapped in the face with reality, but it's a good reality.

Instantly, I jump on him and tackle him to the ground. Kisses are exchanged. Then, we just lay on my floor, staring up at the ceiling and lightly laughing. My head rests on his chest and I simply can't wipe the smile off my face.

"We should probably tell the boys," Luke says after our laughter dies down. I nod in agreement. "Michael and Cal together. I'll have Calum tell Ash." He tells me, pulling out his phone and facetiming Calum. After a few rings, he answers.

"Hello!" Calum's voice rings through the speakers. Immediately he smiles when he sees me, "Hi, Sam!"

"Hi," I laugh, waving at him.

"Clearly the plan worked," Luke told Calum, side-eyeing me.

"What plan?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows and looking up at Luke. He instantly turns red, looking at the screen and then at me. Calum chimes in, enlightening me.

"Luke, Michael, and I were all up super late last night on facetime, trying to figure out a way for him to win you back." Calum explains. For some reason the thought of this makes me smile.

"Really?" I look up at Luke, smiling widely. He smiles back and nods, then leans down and pecks my lips.

"Awww, Suke is real again!" Michael pipes up from beside Calum. Luke and I are snapped out of our little trance and look back at the screen.

"If you're gonna fuck now, please hang up." Calum adds, causing me to laugh and snort.

"Only you would think of that, pervert." I tap the hang up button and push Luke's phone away, getting up and shaking my head.

"They're goofs." I say, walking away from him and to the living room, plopping down on the couch. Luke follows and sits down beside me.

Not even an hour later, we're fast asleep in each others arms. It's the best sleep I've gotten in at least two weeks.