Lines // hemmings

Chapter 20

ABBY (just wanted to show you how she felt about this)

“Would you like to meet him?”

I stare at him with my mouth wide open.

“Excuse me?” Did I just hear what I thought I just heard?

“Would you like to meet my dashing younger brother, also known as Luke?” Jack asks, his hand moving in a waving gesture at every word.

I swallow hard, feeling my heart start beating faster and nod slowly.

“Yes.”

Of course I want to meet Luke. I’ve been wanting to meet him since the second I finished reading his first letter to me. I didn’t directly ask him if he wanted to meet but I thought asking for his number might drop a hint. It didn’t, but then I found out why. I’m not scared of meeting Luke, but I am nervous for some reason. I never get nervous.

“Are you sure?” Jack raises and eyebrow at me and I just nod. “Okay, the visiting hours are tomorrow if you want to come with me?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, between 2 and 4. Are you free then? If you could come here by noon, I’ll drive us there.”

I usually work at Martha’s by then but I guess I could take the day off or ask for another shift. I’ve never taken a day off because I never get sick and even if I do feel a little bad, I take some aspirin or any other medication and I’m up and running a few minutes later.

I nod again, noticing I’ve done that a lot today.

“Great. Now, let’s get to the important part. How the hell did you find my brother?” 

-

Monday turns to Tuesday and I’m currently standing in a line with Jack next to me, waiting to get into the visiting center where the prisoners are meeting with their friends and families. Jack and I chatted away yesterday and I honestly feel really close to him even though I only met him yesterday. He told me he recognized me, I admitted having spied on him before and he just laughed. He seemed like an incredible older brother and I wish I had one. Being the only kid sucks. Sure, my dad spoils me, but there was no one to play with a home when I was younger. I only had Calum and even though we live really close, it’s not the same.

“Nervous?” Jack asks and puts his arm around my shoulders.

“Is it that obvious?” I smile, trying to hide my shaky voice.

“Just breathe, Abby. He’s not going to hurt you.”

“I know.”

I know Luke’s not going to hurt me. I’m more scared of what he will say. How he will react when he sees me.

“I’ll kick his ass if he does,” Jack says and I chuckle.

He lets go of my shoulders when we reach the front and I start looking around the room. About half of the people are dressed in grey shirts and I figure they’re the prisoners. A lot of them are smiling, but a lot of them look mad too, like they’re going to throw a tantrum or something. I’m not scared of them though. I’ve seen too many thrillers and crime series to be scared.

Jack raises his hand and waves. He mumbles something so I follow his gaze and see a guy across the room returning the action.

Luke.

LUKE 

“Abby.”