Reality || L.H.

Chapter 10

Luke's unusually quiet as Michael passes out the food, staring without really seeing out the window. I bite my lip, wishing I knew what to do to comfort him. Giving me a small reassuring smile, Mikey hands me my and Luke's food. I nudge Luke gently with the box, pressing it into his hands. He takes it silently before returning to looking out the window, not even bothering to open the box and start eating.

Dropping my gaze to my lap, I feel hot tears come to my eyes. I blink them away, trying to wipe at my eyes when no one can see. But Calum notices.

He shoots me a sympathetic look, taking a big bite of his chicken sandwich that does not, in fact, come with a side of fuck you. His dark eyes flicker towards Luke and he nods his head, suggesting that I say something to him.

But I don't know what to say. I don't want to have to put him on the spot in front of everyone else. Ignoring the sobs I feel building up in the back of my throat, I set a gentle hand on Luke's knee, not saying anything. He looks over at me, blue eyes expressionless. After a few seconds, he puts his hand over mine and squeezes it, resting his head on top of mine. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, tightening my grip on his hand.

Calum smiles and gives me a small nod as he takes a sip of his soda. He scowls as he glances back at the restaurant. "I wish you would have let us kick that little son of a bitch's ass, Kat. I really would have enjoyed that."

"If we ever get to, I call dibs on first punch," Luke mutters darkly.

I frown. As much as I enjoy the idea of them beating up the boy that I spent over two years simultaneously hating and in love with, the one who broke my heart, I don't want anything to happen to them. Luke's been in the hospital enough over the past few months to last him a lifetime. I don't think I can stomach the idea of him being hooked up to any more machines, especially not when he's still swamped in debt.

"No one is beating anyone up, at least not yet," I say firmly. "I want to see Blake's ass kicked as much as the next person, but I don't want anything to happen to you guys. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to get used to it."

"Buzzkill," Michael mutters as he sits back in his seat. "Blake's just one big fucking asshole, no matter how perfect his hair is."

We all twist to look at him.

"What? He has really good hair," Michael says defensively.

Ashton waves away Michael's weird comment, leaning around his seat to face us better. His hazel eyes shine with determination. "Excluding the hair, Michael has a point. Don't you want to see him suffer just a bit? I mean, Kat, he cheated on you with your best friend after you'd been dating for forever. You spent two years getting over the guy. If it wasn't for Luke, you probably would have never gotten over him."

Luke flinches ever so slightly, shrinking into himself. I squeeze his hand again, shifting in my seat.
Michael raises an eyebrow at me. "You are over him, right?"

Before I can answer, someone else speaks. The amount of pure dark rage and hatred in Luke's tone surprises me. "Fighting Blake would ruin his perfect face and we can't have that now, can we? It doesn't matter what he did, or why. No one can measure up to Perfect Blake."

I whip around to face him, infuriated. "Well sorry if I'm trying to do you a favor," I snap, my voice icy. "How many times have you been to the hospital in the past few months? Imagine your medical bill after you get in a fight with Blake and break something. You're just trying to blame everything on him because of your own insecurities."

He recoils, shocked, hurt and still burning mad. Clenching his jaw tightly, he opens the car door and stalks across the parking lot, slamming the door so hard behind him that the entire car rocks. Blinking in realization, I stumble out after him.

"Luke!" I call, trying to hold the tears back. "Come back, please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

He stops walking. Slowly, he turns around. Throwing his arms out to the side in a challenge, he shouts, "But you did, didn't you? If you're so worried about my insecurities then maybe you should just break up with me and stop pretending to care about me."

"What do you mean?" I whisper, feeling a tear slip down my cheek. "Luke, I haven't been pretending anything. I love you."

He turns his head away from me so that all I can see of his face is his clenched jaw and the eyes he's trying so hard to keep expressionless. "Kat, I think I don't think I can do this anymore."

The tears start coming faster, pouring down my face. Was he breaking up with me? "Luke, please, please, don't do this," I beg, trying to hold on to the little composure I still had left. "Please," I add in a whisper.

But it's like he's closed off to me completely.

I whirl away from him, covering my mouth with my hand as I sob uncontrollably. This can't be happening. This isn't real. I see Michael silently hop out of the front seat and switch to the back, probably sending that Luke and I won't want to sit next to each other any more. That only makes me cry harder.

"I think it's only fair that I get the apartment since I have nowhere else to go," Luke's cool, detached voice continues. How can he be so calm? Did he ever truly love me if he can so simply break up with me? What's wrong with him? I want to scream, to kick the nearest tree, cry until I physically can't anymore. How can my entire world be ripped apart in two simple sentences?

I stride towards him, reaching out a hand that he dodges. "Please, don't," I plead desperately. "I don't care about Blake. I care about you. Luke, I love you. You don't understand how much you mean to me."

He turns now to look me dead in the eyes. His expression is closed off and icy, making me take a step back. It's like the sweet, kind boy that I fell in love with has shattered completely, leaving only this broken boy who's terrified of being hurt again. A boy who doesn't want me anymore.

"You won't for long," he says. "When you have someone like that-" he points toward the restaurant, where we left Blake "- who would ever want someone like me?"

I open my mouth to tell him just how wrong he is, but he cuts me off.

"It's probably just better if we get it over with now."

With that, he turns and walks back to the Jeep, hopping in the passenger seat with ease.

I turn and slam my foot into the rock lying on the asphalt, sending it flying across the parking lot. Wiping the tears off of my cheeks, I make my way back to the Jeep. Calum tries to hand me my food, but I shake my head, not hungry anymore. Luke sits perfectly silent in the passenger seat, as emotionless as a statue.

"I don't want to go to the club anymore," Calum says, breaking the silence. "Let's just go home."

Ashton nods and starts the engine, turning the radio up to cover up the uncomfortable silence. I twist away from everyone else, sniffling quietly. It didn't hurt this much when I caught Blake cheating on me, it didn't feel like my heart wasn't so much as broken in half than it was shattered completely.

But I don't want anyone to see that I am crying, so I try to hold it together until I can get home. Except... the place I've come to think of as home isn't really mine anymore. Everything good that I've built myself over these past few months is gone, all within a span of three minutes.

xx
Don't hate me!!
Next chapter, I'm going to try out a new POV!

Thanks for staying with me,
- A