Close As Strangers

0.1

~Won't give up
Even though it hurts so much
Every night I'm losing you in a thousand faces
Now it feels we're as close as strangers~

'Don't Ever Leave' is what I said to him two weeks ago. But now I'm saying this.

-

"I miss you." I said quietly over the phone, trying not to let the tears escape from my eyes.

"I miss you more." Luke replied. I could hear from his voice that he was fighting back tears as well. I could picture him clearly, holding his phone up to his ear, in bed with his stuffed penguin I bought him for our 2 year anniversary, chewing on his lip ring. "It's been two weeks, three days, and five hours, since I left. But who's counting?"

When those words escaped his mouth, I couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears began pouring down my face and I gasped for air.

"Don't cry babe." He whispered into the phone. "Please, I'll be back soon. I want to be in LA with you as much as you want me to be there." He paused. "Just please, don't. Don't cry." He mumbled, I could hear him begin crying. I heard mumbled voices in the background. "I gotta go babe, just remember, we won't give up, even though it hurts so much."

"I love you." I whispered, managing to stop sniffling so much.

"I love you more, I'll call you tomorrow, bye beautiful."

I took my phone away from my ear and looked at my screen, dreading to hit the 'End Call' button. I stared at my screen for a couple more seconds, Luke didn't press the button either, our call was still going.

"I love you so fucking much, I'm sorry babe." He said one last time, before the button flashed, telling me he ended our call. Only two minutes and thirty-four seconds. I only got two minutes and thirty-four seconds to talk to him. Of course I loved Luke, and I was so proud that his dream was coming true. I have loved him for four years, ever since I met him during our freshman year of high school. His fringe was ridiculosly long, but it was the fact that he loved music, and wasn't afraid to express it. That's what drew me to him. Finally, during sophomore year, he asked me to a dance, and we've been dating ever since. Towards the end of our junior year, Luke dropped school and focused on music. I constantly got shit for it, people saying I was dating a wanna be, American idiot. I didn't care though, as long as he was happy, was all that mattered to me.

I stayed in bed for a little bit longer, finally being forced to get up when my alarm started going off. I went and sat in front of my vanity, eyeing myself, checking every part of my face. Why did Luke even like me? There were thousands of other beautiful girls he could be with. I brushed out my long ombred hair, and stuck my contacts onto my brown eyes. I got dressed in a simple sweater and black leggings. I threw on some uggs and went back over to my vanity. I wore very little make-up now, mostly because I didn't really have anybody to look good for. Everybody said I looked unhealthy.

Unusually pale, tired, slimmer. I don't know what happened to me, but ever since Luke left, I've been more distant with everything. I rarely saw my friends anymore, and I didn't ever really want to eat. I felt like all of my happiness was taken away from me. I didn't get to see Luke for another 8 months, he was on tour. He had the LA shows first, just so he could stay with me longer. But it didn't even matter anymore. I wouldn't be able to see him for another 8 months. 320 days. 7680 hours. 460,800 minutes. 2,764,800 seconds. Of course we would call and facetime, and text eachother, but nothing beat lying down next to him, with me in his arms. Cuddling onto his giant penguin, and having his scent on me the next morning.

My phone buzzed and I looked at the illuminating screen. "Sorry babe, I love you so much. 320 more days, don't worry." I smiled at the screen, reading the text in his voice. Everybody told me I was crazy. Crazy to be waiting around like this for a high school relationship. But I didn't care. Luke was my everything, and I can picture a future with him. My mom wasn't the best supporter on this relationship. She doesn't trust Luke the way I do, she thinks he's gonna cheat on me with some girl while he's on tour.

I finally got the effort to actually go downstairs. Being forced to face my mom, and be reminded every morning that she didn't like my punk rock boyfriend wasn't the way I liked to start my day. I used to be a quiet little girl. I played the violin, and very little bit of guitar, I would come home and do my homework everyday. But once Luke and I started dating, I changed. It was a good change, well most of it. I finally ditched the violin, and focused more on guitar, and bass. I started dying my hair, it's been ombred for almost a whole year now, I stopped coming home right away, instead I would go watch the boys rehearse. From this, my grades started dropping, a lot. After three months of dating Luke, my mom banned me from seeing him. It was hard at first, but he talked it out with me, and told me he'd wait. Little did I know, Luke would be saying those exact words to me a whole year later. When I finally turned 17 my mom let me stay at his house. He told me he'd wait. He'd told me he'd never pressure me to do anything. That's what I loved about Luke, he was such a sweet guy.