Faded // Luke Hemmings

epilogue

No One’s POV

                Tatum left for New York without saying goodbye. On Quinn’s voicemail was a short message, explaining that she felt it was better for all of them to part ways. It had only been a few short weeks since she’d left LA, but to her it felt like months and to Luke years. Everyone knew of Daisy and Ashton’s reunion. It was a cause for celebration for the friends left in California, but Luke found it hard to join in the festivities. Seeing happy couples together made him physically ache for her touch.

                Quinn promised that Tatum was well off and happy to be back with her family, but that only made Luke’s insides twist into even tighter knots. He didn’t understand how she could be fine when he wasn’t fine at all. Life kept going on around him; Quinn and Michael were happily engaged, and Daisy and Ashton were back in their honeymoon phase. Calum was the only one who’s life seemed to have stayed relatively the same, but he was still too happy for Luke. Among his friends, it was like Tatum had never happened. They never mentioned her name or asked Luke how he was holding up without her. Luke couldn’t help asking himself if what he and Tatum had had was just a lie; if it was ever even real at all.

                Six weeks wasn’t even a long time, but it felt like an eternity. He’d stopped calling a month after she left; it was obvious to everyone that she would never return his calls. But 3000 miles away in New York, Tatum still had to listen to his voicemails to fall asleep at night. The tattoo she’d gotten the night of their last meeting was a constant reminder of his loss. Nothing last forever; nothing stays the same.

                Being back with her family was somewhat of a relief. At least in Buffalo she could distract herself with Jesse’s therapy appointments and taking Jamie to school. In Buffalo she was busy helping her parents pay off debts and arranging for Trevor to visit on his next break. Yet, every lapse in activity let her mind wander, and the only place it went too was Luke. Guilt and regret were her best friends; she hadn’t ever let him explain or even tried to say goodbye.

                Tatum had made her biggest fear a reality. She had fallen in love so deeply that it had consumed her entire being, and then she’d lost it. Every time she thought of telling Luke she didn’t love him, she felt like she might puke. Because Tatum had been irrevocably in love with Luke. She had never cared for anyone so much in her life. He had been her serendipity, and now pride refused to let her see him again.

                But Luke was a different story. He was tired of waiting for Tatum’s return; of missing her so much he could feel the ache in his bones. He couldn’t wait another day. Getting her address out of Quinn was a challenge, but the desperation of a boy in love can be an extremely powerful thing. No one talked as they watched Luke pack the essentials and drain his bank account. Ashton had cried when Luke told him he wouldn’t come back without Tatum at his side again. They all knew that Tatum was stubborn and unpredictable; if Luke kept his word he wouldn’t be back at all.

                And so it was on a frigid November morning that Luke stood on the doorstep of a rundown townhouse in Buffalo, New York. A duffle bag hung on his shoulder, the only things he’d brought with him from the sunny city he’d just left. Nerves kept his muscles in knots for several minutes before he could knock on the door. There was a chance that they’d moved or she wouldn’t want to see him.

                His heart fluttered when a small girl with a pixie cut and chocolate sauce smeared across her face answered the door. Her two her two canine teeth were missing and she smiled up at him proudly. “Hello!” She had the kind of voice that was a light as a feather and reminded you of Christmas belles. He knew instantly that this must be Jamie, Tatum’s youngest sister. “What do you want?”

                He laughed lightly at her question. Kids always seemed to have a way of being blunt without coming across as rude. “Hi – erm, is your sister here?”

                Without really answering, she turned away and ran into the house. “JESS! There’s a boy with things in his face looking for Tate!”

                It took two minutes for a short girl with mouse brown hair to appear in the doorway. She couldn’t be much younger than Tatum, her body curved in a way a younger girl’s could never be. Her scowl made him slightly uncomfortable, but he held her gaze. “You’re Luke, aren’t you?” He couldn’t decide if she sounded accusatory or pitying. Everything about her screamed that she was angry with the world they lived in.

                “Yeah, I am.” He muttered, chewing his lip ring nervously. He missed watching Tatum do the same. “Is Tatum here?” Part of him was scared to ask. A lot could happen in six weeks.

                Jesse nodded. She looked into the house before turning back to Luke with a pained expression. “She doesn’t leave her bed much anymore. I’m trusting that letting you talk to her will fix that.” She disappeared then, returning a few minutes later with another girl at her side. “Tatum, someone is here to see you.”

                Tatum had kept her head bowed. She didn’t like people to see the hollowness of her cheeks or the red that rimmed her eyes. Depression was a leach and it was slowly sucking the life out of her. But when she lifted her head, she thought her heart might stop right then and there. The red in her hair was gone, but Luke stilled looked at her like she was the most strikingly captivating creature he had ever seen.

                For a long time they stared at each other in silence, neither of them sure this was real. They wanted to touch, to kiss and make everything go back to the way it had been, but neither of them moved. Luke was the one to speak first, a teary smile on his face. “Hey Tate.”

                Tears flooded Tatum’s eyes and she took a step forward, needing to be closer to him. Just seeing him again was enough to bring life back into her body. “Hey Blondie.” She whispered, a smile capturing her lips for the first time in weeks.