leaked (l.h.)

45

I lay on my side, staring at nothing as Luke's breathing slows beside me. Luke's arm, wrapped around my body with his hips against mine, keeps me warm despite the snow that's falling outside of our window. It's March, but it's still just as cold as January was. If not colder.

"My Dad is dead," Luke whispers in my ear as his hold around me tightens. His face in the crook of my neck, and the feeling of his warm breaths against my bare skin makes me shiver. But I watch the snowflakes fall against the window as he speaks. "My Dad died, and my Mum is all alone."

I nod softly as I take his hand from where it's wrapped around my chest. I bring it up to my lips, pressing gentle kisses on his skin as he tells me what's on his mind. "I'm sorry, Luke. I'm sorry."

"And all she talks about, all she says when he comes up in a conversation is how much she regrets all the time she's wasted." 

I turn to face him, reaching up to tuck the warm blanket behind his neck. He stares at the window I was watching earlier, at the sun that's beginning to rise behind the naked Magnolia tree. The last time he was here, that tree was covered in pink and white blossoms. My fingertips find themselves gently moving about his precious face, at the face that I've found myself so incredibly in love with in just a few weeks of being best friends. 

"I don't want that to me, Grace," his eyes break away from the window and towards me. "And it was for a while. But when our time is over, I want to confidently say that I spent all the time I possibly could by your side."

"You're not leaving the band for me, Luke," I whisper as I lower my hands from his face to rest between him and I. "I don't want you doing that."

"No, no," he shakes his head. "I'm not leaving the band. But..." he whispers, looking into my eyes as they grow heavier. "But I was wondering if you'd be willing to leave with me?"

"I'm leaving for New York in the summer," I look up at him, cutting him off before he gets too far in his sentence. It's not that I don't want to leave with him. I do, I just... this is my dream, too. "I'm going to be living in New York soon. In a few months."

And as I say this, his eyes widen. He lets out a soft gasp as he hears my words.

"What?" 

"This guy who has connections to Broadway or something," I ramble, my eyes wide as I see his surprised reaction. "I'm going to NYU, and during the summer hopefully I'll be on Broadway. But..." I feel my body tense up at how he turns to lay on his back. And as he raises himself off of the mattress, I'm afraid that I've angered him. "But I'm definitely going to NYU." 

He walks towards his items laying on the floor. He says nothing, grabbing the gift bag that I had thought he had emptied. 

"You're fucking insane," he shakes his head as he pulls out an envelope. "Did Michael say anything? That bastard."

"No," I whisper, my eyes wide as I hold the blanket up to cover my bare chest. Besides our guitar pic necklaces, we're both completely nude. "No one said anything." 

"I bought us plane tickets to New York for your Spring Break," he smiles as he sits down at the edge of the bed, handing over a small envelope containing the tickets. And I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding. "We could look for apartments or something. If you wanted to."

"We?" I smile over at him, nibbling my bottom lip as I move my hair behind my ear. "You want to move in with me?"

"Well, I'll be in New York about, like, twice or three times a month," he responds nervously. "And I don't want you living alone."

"And I would hate for you to stay in a hotel and waste your money," I smirk, playfully trying to hide how incredibly excited I am to start this chapter with him. "And I wouldn't mind waking up and seeing my beautiful boyfriend making me breakfast."

"Can you imagine how great that would be?" He whispers as he leans over to press a gentle kiss to my jawline. "It's not ideal, but it's better than it is now."

I flutter my eyes closed as I wrap my arms around him. I listen to his laughter as I pull him closer to me, pushing him down on the bed as I crawl on top of him. I feel the butterflies in my stomach as I lean down to press a sleepy yet excited kiss to his lips, his hands on my hips as he pulls the blanket up over me. 

"We're going to be so happy," I whisper, listening to his soft moans as my lips move against his. "You and I. We're going to be so happy, Luke."

"So, so happy," he smiles as he wraps his arms around my body. And as we watch the sun rise, our eyes flutter closed.