when to let go | l.h.

ten

of all the thing i expected to see when i walked walked out of the room, luke hovering over daniel as he laid on the floor, pain evident on his face, was not one of then. luke's face was now inches away from daniel's as he held onto the boy beneath him by the collar of his shirt. i was frozen in place, watching the scene play out and when calum spotted me he quickly came over.

"let's go laila." he whispered gently and i nodded but my gaze was still fixed on the two boys.

"p-please make him stop.." i whisper. i hadn't noticed my hands were shaking until calum took one in his to calm me.

"luke." he said sternly causing the blonde to look in his direction. his face softened when his eyes met mine before lowering daniel back to the ground. daniel's head snapped in my direction as well and he pulled a sick grin.

"baby come on, these guys have you brainwashed." he coughed out as he leaned up on his elbow to support himself. he was quite obviously in pain and i knew luke had got at least one good punch. from the way luke glared at the boy once the words left his lips i knew another one might be coming soon.

"i told you to leave her alone." luke growled, his fist now clenching at his sides but ashton grabbed his arm before anymore damage could be done. ashton began pushing everyone towards the door, leaving the dark haired boy on the floor.

"you're lucky that's all you got after what you've done to her. if you don't leave laila alone, we all won't hesitate to beat your ass next time." michael shouted before slamming the door to the apartment and following behind the rest of the group.

thankfully all the boxes were already in the car and we could take everything straight to luke's place. no one said another word as we all made it outside and went to our designated cars. as i was about to open the door of my car luke gently put his hand over mine.

"i'll drive." he didn't ask and if i was being honest i wasn't complaining so i quietly walked to the passenger side door and plopped down inside.

the silence that surrounded us as he sat in the car wasn't awkward but tense and i was still processing what the hell had just happened when luke decided to break it.

"i'm so sorry you had to see that lai, but there was no way i could sit around and listen to him talk so badly about you." he grumbled but i still felt the sincerity in his voice. as long as i've known luke, he was never violent or one to get into fights. but, that didn't mean i was with how he handled the situation.

"he still didn't deserve that.." i mumble, keeping my eyes fixed out the window. i had earned a small ounce of calm in my body from the slight breeze that came through the window as he drove.

it wasn't until luke stopped the car that he spoke again. he turned and took my hands in his, causing me to finally look at him before he began.

"I know it's not easy to get over him lai and i'm not telling you to just get over it and move on but he is not the man you fell in love with anymore. you don't need to protect him anymore. you don't need to make excuses for him. for god sake, he bruised your face laila! every time i see that bruise on your pretty face it makes my blood boil because nobody should ever lay their hands on you."

he was angry, not with me and i knew that but i couldn't help but be more upset with myself. as much as i hated to admit, a part of me still cared about daniel. i hated that as much as he's hurt me, a small part still longed for forever with him because at one point that was supposed to be my future.

i looked down sadly at luke's hands in mine.

"i'm sorry.." my voice came out cracked as a quiet sob made its way up my throat. immediately his arms were around me pulling me to his chest.

"hey, no i'm not mad at you." he said quickly as his hand unconsciously played with my hair. "i just want you to know you'll be okay without that asshat."

within a second my quiet sniffles had turned into a sad chuckle against luke's chest at his choice of words. i just shook my head and sat with him a second longer before pulling away.

"we should get my stuff inside."

***

i sighed looking at the boxes scattered around luke's living room. "i promise i'll start looking for places tonight so i can get my shit out of here." i rubbed my temple, trying to relieve the tension of the constant head ache i've seemed to have lately.

luke's eyes moved from his phone up to me. "laila, you don't have to do that." his words only earned a pointed look and an eyebrow raise from me.

he let out a laugh. "don't look at me like that, i'm serious. why don't you just stay here? you can fulfill your life long dream of living with your best friend."

at this i playfully rolled my eyes and tiredly threw myself down into the recliner in the corner of the room.

"i don't know hemmo, i don't want to invade your privacy and stay here out of pity. plus, you smell."

again, he laughed. luke's laugh was nothing but contagious, even when you were upset.

"one, i hate that name." he began pointing a finger at me.

"two, i shower everyday and i smell quite nice, thank you very much. and three, i'm not just asking you to stay with me out a pity. i'd been thinking about getting a roommate for awhile now. petunia isn't very good at holding conversations and i get bored easily. so who better than my best friend."

i pulled my lip between my teeth. behind all his humor, i knew he was being serious.

"i don't know luke.."

he pouted this time. "but it would be fun, and it would be cheaper than getting a place alone."

i knew he wasn't wrong. i still had a week before i began my new job anyway and i wouldn't be able to afford my own place for awhile.

i hummed and shut my eyes, leaning my head back on the chair. "fine, but i'm doing it for petunia, not you."

luke's laugh echoed through the small room for the third time that night causing the first real smile to that i've had in a week to appear on my face. i was so grateful to have such good friends.

{author's note}
alright soo i kind of hate this chapter but i feel like i'm gonna hate anything i write so i'm just going to post it.
thank you guys so much for 300 reads on this story.
let me know what you think!
(unedited)