Reality || L.H.

Chapter 36

Kissing Michael is not at all what I imagined. Not that I ever imagined it. Not that it's even really a kiss. It's more of just a mouth to mouth.

I pull away quickly, my mind catching up with my body. Did I really just kiss one of my best friends? Someone who wasn't the boy I wasn't in love with?

Michael's eyes are wide and he looks shocked. "Uh... What the fuck just happened?" he stutters.

I shake my head back and forth, still unable to wrap my mind around it.

I just kissed Michael.

My stomach churns. I don't want Michael, or Blake. I just want Luke. I need him.

Clearing my throat, I jump to my feet, racing to the door. I pull on my coat, my fingers fumbling for my scarf.

"Where are you going?" Michael asks from the couch, glancing out at the snow falling past the window. "It's two in the morning and it's snowing. I'm sure my mom would let me borrow her car to drive you somewhere. You don't have to walk."

"It's not that far," I say, tightening the scarf around my neck. I don't care about the cold, or the six miles I have to walk. I don't care about the snow or how late it is. I just need to go. "I'll be fine, Michael. If I run into any trouble, I'll call you."

He sits back on the couch, looking unconvinced. But he doesn't argue with me.

I fling open the door and dash down the porch steps, shivering as I start running down the sidewalk. I'm about three miles away from Michael's house before I trip over a dip in the pavement and fall forward, slamming my knees against the concrete. I cry out in pain. Gritting my teeth together, I try to push myself back up, but my leg gives out beneath me and I collapse. I must have twisted my ankle when I fell because it refuses to support any of my weight.

I pick up a pebble beside me and chuck it in frustration. I must look like a complete idiot sitting on the sidewalk at two in the morning, crying and throwing rocks angrily into the street.

I pull out my phone, thinking that I can call someone for help. But it's dead and there's a crack in the screen from when I tripped. Cursing under my breath, I shove it back into my pocket. A thin layer of snow sticks to the ground and more keeps falling. If I don't move soon, I'm probably going to catch pneumonia.

I slowly stand up and drag myself down the street, my ankle throbbing. Every step is excruciating and I can't put any weight on my ankle without crying out.

I don't think I can make it to my mom's house, or Calum's house. I just want to give up and lie down on the pavement until someone else happens upon me, but I know I can't. I have to keep going.

With tears running down my face from the pain, I reach a numb hand up to knock on the door hesitantly. It swings open slowly and blue eyes widen when they see me standing in the doorway.

I try to take a step forward, but my leg is done supporting my entire weight. I start to fall, but Luke catches me before I can hit the floor.

"Luke, please," I beg, not even caring about the tears falling down my cheeks. "My-my ankle."

He sweeps me off my feet, carrying me over to the couch. An empty bottle of tequila is on the coffee table, but he seems sober enough to understand exactly what's going on. The movement is enough to make me feel sick and my head hurts. Everything feels like too much.

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick," I groan, squeezing my eyes shut.

Luke rushes into the bathroom and shoves the trash can next to me. I double over and throw up into it, every little movement shooting a spark of pain in my ankle. Luke holds my hair back while I vomit, still crying through the pain. I finish and lean heavily against him. I used to get carsick as a little kid and that's what this feels like - like everything is moving beneath me and I just need it to stop. I need it to stop.

"I'm sorry," I sob into Luke's shoulder.

He gently strokes my hair. "Sorry about what?" he murmurs.

"Michael told me the truth," I say, gasping for air. "I should have let you explain instead of yelling at you." The tears pour faster down my face and I let them, my shoulders shaking. I'm tired and my head is spinning, my ankle throbbing agonizingly. I feel like I'm losing it. "I'm so sorry, Lu."

His expression softens and he presses a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm sorry for not telling you about it," he says quietly. "I was ashamed. That's not who I am anymore and I was afraid if I showed you too much, you would leave..."

I try to see past the black dots spotting my vision. "I'd never leave you."

Luke gives me a small smile as he leans me back against the couch, his brow creased with worry as he looks down at my twisted ankle. It's bent the wrong way and just looking at it is enough to make me feel sick all over again.

"What happened?" he asks gently as he tries to move my pants and shoe to get a better look at my ankle.

"I tripped," I say between clenched teeth, doing my best not to cry out in pain. But it hurts so much.

Luke locks eyes with me as he sets his hands on my shoe. "This might hurt," he warns slowly. "I'm going to take off your shoe, ok, Kat?"

I nod, bracing myself. Trying to be quick, he pulls off my shoe in one movement. I bite down on my fist to keep from screaming. It hurts so much.

A flicker crosses Luke's face at my muffled scream and I want to tell him that everything's fine, that I'm ok. But I can't speak. I feel like the second I open my mouth, I'm going to throw up.

My ankle is swollen to twice its normal size, covered in dark purple bruises. Luke tries to gently move it to a more normal position, but the second his warm hands touch it, I have to bite down to stifle a scream. It hurts so much.

"Kat, this doesn't look so good..." Luke trails off, a worried look on his face. "I think you need to go to the hospital."

"No," I gasp, "no hospital."

He moves closer to me, his blue eyes wide and pleading with me. "Please, Kat. You're obviously not ok. I know how broken bones are. You usually throw up, you see black spots, your head hurts. Come on, Kat, please let me take you to the hospital. I don't want you to be in pain."

I try to open my mouth to argue, but I bend over and vomit into the trash can again. My ankle throbs painfully and tears run down my face, mixing with my puke. Luke rubs my back soothingly as I grip the sides of the can tightly, trying to block out the overwhelming pain. My sobs shake my body and jostle my ankle, making the pain even worse.

"Please help," I whimper pathetically. I can't do this anymore. It hurts too much.

Luke's face twists in pain and he tries to hold my hair back while he lunges for his phone on the coffee table. It's almost dead and he mutters, "Come on, come on, come on," under his breath as he calls somebody. He impatiently taps his foot while he waits for them to pick up. I lean against him while I choke out the last bits of puke from my mouth.

Whoever it is answers and Luke sighs with relief. "Ashton, I need your help," he says in pleading voice. "I need you to come to my place right now. Please. It's an emergency. My phone is about to die so I have to hang up, I promise I'll explain everything."

Ash says something back that I can't make out and Luke hangs up the call, setting his phone back down on the coffee table, worry shining in his crystal blue eyes. "Ashton's on his way, Kat," he murmurs. I can't see his face through the black spots dancing in front of my vision. "Hold on."

I try to open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

Everything goes dark and I can't hear Luke's voice anymore.