Long Way Home ☀️ l.h

0.6

I walked into mine and Will's house very quietly and tried not to make any noise. I was hoping that he was asleep on the couch and I would be able to cover up my bruises with makeup before he could see.

"Bryn! Dinner is in two minutes!" Will had heard me and peaked his head out into the foyer.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what happened?" Will rushed towards me and put a loving hand at the small of back, guiding me to the kitchen.

"I was biking and I fell, kind of?" I scrunched my nose as he picked up my small frame and placed me on the counter, just as Luke had done before.

"Kind of? What does that mean?" Will questioned me further.

"I was daydreaming and I tumbled into a small ditch, nothing major." The lie rolled off the tip of my tongue and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

I was never sure why I lied so much, even about things I had no need to lie about. I'm sure Will would've been fine with Luke helping me and it's not like I did anything wrong. I think lying was just a habit for me, always having to pretend I didn't come from such a broken home, it was all a façade. But, I was good at it and I wasn't about to give up one of my only talents.

"Okay, do you need anything? Ice? A bandage?" Will examined my face and decided for himself that I needed ice. It looked like I had forgotten the one Luke had given me in his truck.

- - -

The next morning I woke up at a decent time, showered, grabbed some berries and decided to weigh the damages done to the bike I had been riding. The chain looked like it was off the track and the front wheel was crooked.

The right side of my body had a slight ache bad there was a little bit of bruising, I popped a few Advils to hold me over and in the meantime I decided what to do with my day. Will said he was going to be out for most of the day visiting with his family friends and picking up anything we might need in the next 11 days.

Since Will didn't know shit about how to fix a bike, I decided to take it into the person that had helped me yesterday. I walked the bike down the street to Luke's house and I saw a young guy sitting on the porch with a sketch pad and cold coffee.

"Hi, um, is Luke here?" I stood on my tiptoes to get a better look at the boy. He had shaggy brown hair that was peaking out of a beanie and his hazel eyes were focused on his sketches.

"Yeah, he's inside." The boy didn't even glance up at me, but I didn't mind, I knew how hard it was to get back into your zone once you were pulled out of it.

I left my bike on the grass in front of the porch and let myself in. The mess from yesterday had been tidied, although it looked like there was nobody home. I careful stepped into the kitchen and saw Luke sitting at the table reading a book and eating toast with jam.

"My bike is broken," I stated and Luke whipped his head towards me, obviously freaked out.

"Fuck, you scared me." He shook his head and I laughed at his panicked look.

"I'll take a look in just a second, I need to finish this chapter." Luke was mesmerized by his book and I watched him from my spot in the doorway until his was done. Once he shut the cover, he stood up and turned to me with his dimpled smile.

"Alright, show me your bike." He brushed his hands on his grey sweats that clashed with his different coloured grey top, I had to bite my tongue in order to not tease him.

Luke followed me outside and motioned towards the bike, he winced and then turned to me.

"Well, you need a new wheel. I have a spare in the back, I'll take care of it." He furrowed his eyebrows and began to get to work.