Wherever You Go [Katy Perry Fan fiction]

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Luuuuuuke," I giggle as I, one by one, peel my little brother's fingers from around my wrist. He grips even tighter, biting down firmly on the rubber teat of his dummy that sits in his mouth. "It's just a couple hours journey," I say to him, but the stubborn look remains on his face. I laugh at how moody he can get sometimes, which isn't that often really. He always looks like the happiest little boy in the world. Not this morning though.

"Nooooo," he groans through his dummy. Luke frowns at me, his eyes piercing into my own and I can't help but chuckle. "You not going!"

Whenever I would leave for college, it was never that difficult for him to say bye to me as I left. It seems recently he's started getting more clingy with me. Following me around, coming to lie on me when he is tired, opening his arms to me when he's crying. I wondered if it was something to do with the accident. Maybe he's scared I'm going to leave him permanently. They say toddlers are far too young to understand things like that, but I don't agree. They pick up on things. Hear and see things that we don't know they see. They're a lot more clever than some people realize.

My mom bites down on her bottom lip, quietly laughing at the little boy in her arms that thought I was leaving him. His grip remains on my arm, this time making me flinch when I begin to feel his tiny nails digging into my flesh. They scratch along my arm as I pull it away.

"Lucas, I'm only going to be in another car to you. I'm still coming home," I speak slowly, trying to make him understand. I see the concentration in his eyes, his head slightly cocking to the side as he thinks. I ruffle his hair with my hand.

"I'm not leaving, I promise."

Luke's blonde curls bounce as his head spins to look at my mom for assurance. She just smiles and nods, leaving a small kiss on his forehead.

"Sammie isn't going anywhere, little one, alright?"

I'm once again met by the unsure eyes of my baby brother. The dummy moves around in his mouth; his fingers fiddle with one another. Eventually I see that beautiful smile I love to see. The smile worth billions of dollars in my eyes. A contagious smile. One that when you see it, you just have to smile yourself.

"Okay," Lucas grins.

We all said our see you laters to dad's side of the family, promising that we would definitely do this again very soon, before we set off on our drive back to Los Angeles.

I pulled myself out of the car in my tired state. I'd got up early this morning, went for a run along the beach of Santa Barbara, then sat a three hour car journey back to LA. Why none of us remembered about the morning traffic on the freeway, due to everyone going to work, I will never know. All I knew was that I was well and truly shattered, but the little voice in the back of my head reminded me that I had a hospital check up in less that hour. Unfortunately for me, that meant I couldn't sleep.

I step inside the doorway, feeling the familiarity of home hit me. The smell of our house. The way your feet sink straight down into the cream carpet as soon as you step into the living room. I love it.

My dad had carried a sleeping Lucas onto the couch. God, I envied the fact he was fast asleep. Louis had gone to change his shirt, having spilt his soda down him when he was driving. So at the moment, the house was fairly quiet. Silent in fact. That's when I asked myself where my mom was. I had seen her get out of the car and disappear into our house, but where after that, I don't know.

I peered into the empty kitchen, frowning when I see she's not there. Her leather jacket was folded over the back of the dining table; her phone placed down beside her car keys. I pick up the jacket it my hand, feeling the familiarity of the material against my skin. That's when I notice the studs that are normally there, for some reason aren't. I laugh to myself.