Vanished || l.h. au

twenty four

A/N: Hey, so like I said last chapter, I was working on making the chapters longer and I did :) Enjoy! Please vote and comment. I really love the feedback.

Beth.

“How did we miss all of this?” Luke asked, sitting in the passenger seat as I closed my driver’s side door.

“He showed no signs of depression. I wish he would have just reached out to us. I can’t imagine life without Michael.” I said, moving to put my key in the ignition.

A moment of silence passed between us as I pulled out of Michael’s driveway and tried to mentally decide where to go next; in multiple matters of speaking.

“So what do we do now?” Luke asked, his gaze focused on the trees lining the road.

“I have no idea. Michael was a dead end. We know about the Atropa belladonna, but it serves us no good because we can’t really do anything with that information other than knowing what role it played in your disappearance. I’m stuck, Luke.” I sighed, my fingers drumming against the steering wheel.

Luke sighed as well, leaning his head back against the headrest. “So this is it, isn’t it? I’m dead.” Luke gulped, running his right hand through his hair.

“You’re not dead, Luke.” I retorted, sparing a glance at him.

“How can you say that, Beth? You know it’s true. We’re stuck. We don’t have any leads and my time is running out! The people holding me aren’t going to release me and I’m most probably going to die of an overdose from the anesthesia soon. There’s no hope for me anymore, Beth. It’s over.” His eyes started turning red but no tears fell down his face.

“Fück.” he groaned, slamming his hand against the side of the door. “Of course I can’t fücking cry. Go figure. It’s over. It’s over!” he laughed, humor completely lacking. “They won. The doctor and his accomplice won whatever game they were playing. I give up. I give up.” He let out a small whine, sounding as if he were sobbing, but no tears ran down his face.

“Luke, stop it!” I yelled, pulling over on the side of the road so I could focus my attention fully on him.

“No, you stop it, Beth. Stop giving yourself this false hope that I’m coming back. It’s fücking over! Don’t you get that?” he argued, his breathing accelerating.

“There has to be something else, Luke. We can’t just give up now.” I said, trying to put back hope into the situation.

He shook his head. “It’s been months since I disappeared, Beth. It’s a miracle I’m still even alive. At least we had something to go on before. But now…” he shook his head, his tone lowering. “Beth, just accept it. It’s over.”

“You keep saying it’s over,” I started, twiddling my thumbs over the steering wheel. “And I can’t help but wonder if you mean resolving your case, or us.”

“Beth.” he sighed, reaching over to place his hand on top of mine. “I--”

“And then when I think about it, I think it’s both.” I interrupted him. “It has to be. Because if I give up on your case, then you disappear. Forever. Then it really would be over for us.”

“Beth, when I said it was over, I really was only talking about the case.” he explained, his tone gentle.

“But it’s both, Luke. That’s why I don’t want to give up. I’m not ready. I’m not ready to lose you.” I  confessed, the backs of my eyes beginning to prickle. I sniffled, taking a deep breath through my mouth as I composed myself. “And that’s why I’ll keep trying. Even if you give up. I’m not going to give up on you, Luke.” I told him, tearing my gaze away from the world outside the front windshield and shifting it to him.