lucifer, l.hemmings

chapter twenty-two ➝ "sledgehammer"

Chapter Twenty-Two: "Sledgehammer" by Fifth Harmony.

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Once I was finally in the safety of Austin's car, I allowed myself to collapse against his leather seats. My chest was rising and falling heavily as I tried to even out my breathing.

"I'm going to kill you," I choked out in between pants. If I had the energy I would've reached over and slapped him.

"It's not my fault your shrieking caused the police to come." Austin defended himself before pulling out from the curb.

The lack of heavy breathing coming from Austin had me concerned. He clearly wasn't as unfit as I was. I sunk down in the seat and just pouted.

"Got to admit though, I distracted you." He grinned.

"For a little while, yeah." I agreed, glancing out the window. However, now that I wasn't dodging dry paint or running from the police my mind easily found its way back to Luke.

"That was thrilling." Austin smirked as he began to drive in the direction of his grandmother's house.

"What are you doing?" I groaned. "Oh my god, I am not in the mood to deal with your psychotic grandmother."

"Well, we can't go to your house." Austin gave my colourful body a pointed look. "Your brother would've heard about what went down at the school and if you show up looking like a freaking crayon box then he's going to put two and two together."

"Let's go to your house." I pleaded. "That woman is bat shit crazy. The last time I hung out with her I went for an unexpected sky-dive trip via tree branch."

There were a few minutes of silence in which Austin hadn't answered me. What was the big deal about going to his house? He was at mine every other day.

"Austin?" I let out a low whine, and Austin merely tightened his grip on the steering wheel. I raised my eyebrow in mock concern. "You okay over there?"

"Luke is at my house." Austin said quietly, so quietly that I almost thought I didn't hear him correctly.

"Oh." I was admittedly surprised at that. "Why?"

"Our parents are still friends so once in awhile they invite his family over for dinner. I always find an excuse to leave. Thankfully my parents thought I was heroic, if not slightly insane, missing dinner to comfort my friend after a break-up." Austin explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

Austin didn't want me seeing Luke that much was obvious. I didn't necessarily want to see him either but I needed to. I had to prove to myself that it was really over with him. Maybe seeing him now after he broke-up with me would be the harsh reality slap I needed to get out of the rut I was in.

"Look, he clearly has no intention in being in either of our lives." I cleared my throat and tried not to show Austin how much that admittance hurt. "I'm going to have to see him eventually, and maybe if I do it now whilst I'm still on my happy high then it'll hurt less. I want to rip the Band-Aid off and I know I'm going to need you there when I attempt it."