Lonely Hearts Club // Book One

Chapter Thirteen

February 3rd, 2014

"Luke, Luke! Just tell me what happened; okay? Just tell me," said Calum, holding both of the tall boy's wrists in his hands.

"H-he, he-"

"He? Luke; who? Who?" Cal asked. I was too busy watching them to do or say anything. Luke was having so much difficulty just breathing on his own, while Calum looked like a teenage girl in a horror movie. I guess I was shaking myself, too, with no idea of what was going on and being overly worried for Luke. And I wasn't even sure if he noticed that I was here, he was too busy thinking of what to say to Calum.

"J-John, he, he hit me and M-Maggie just sto-ood there..." John? Maggie? Luke's stuttering caused Calum to sit him down on the love seat, and that's when Luke caught my eye. He was shocked to see me, but I was shocked to see that there was a highly visible bruise on his left cheek, and his eyes were puffy and red. Luke was crying. "P-Paige?" he whispered in a barely audible voice. Suddenly his breathing caught back up again and the shaking got even worse.

"Should I leave?" I croaked over to Calum, but I couldn't necessarily hold the tears that began to form in my eyes either. Just as he was about to answer, I saw Luke shake his head.

"N-no," he said. "No," he repeated firmly. Luke set his head in his hands, maybe to hide himself from me, but right when Calum noticed that Luke couldn't see anything, he walked over to me.

"Could you comfort him?"

"What?" I asked, even though I clearly heard what Calum said.

"Comfort Luke, you'll do a better job at calming him down than I will. Imagine me, with my manly hands to pat his knee awkwardly. Now you, it's a little bit more nice and comforting. Okay?" Cal pushed me up before I could answer just so he could eventually steal my seat. Luke was still facing down and seem startled by my presence- for it wasn't a 6 ft male anymore. Just a tiny 5'7" girl who had no clue of what was happening.

I did what Calum explained and set my hand on Luke's knee. I could feel his gaze on me, though, as I eventually looked up at him. His eyes were so bloodshot that the white wasn't able to be seen anymore. And his bruise made me sick. The love seat was big enough for two people, so I squeezed in next to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. He was still shaking, I could feel it, but the crying stopped. At least the crying stopped, he was already beginning to calm down.

I thought that, that would have been enough, just me being there next to him. Hell no. His hands met on my lower back, so his arms hugged me as he set his chin on my shoulder. Luke nestled in my neck. I mean, it felt weird, but if it was comfortable for him then I was fine. I set my other arm around his shoulder and hugged him back. He had to have been one of the greatest huggers I've ever known.

Although the hug was nice, he was unable to be still, but that just made me hold onto him even tighter. And when my grip tightened, so did his. We were clinging onto each other like Rose and Jack. Pretty soon I could hear Luke's soft sobs muffled by my t-shirt. He fingers on both hands found the soft fabric and clenched it tightly. And all I could do was sit there and let him cry. But the least I could do was say something to him. He beat me to it.

"I-I hate them so much, Paige," I could just hardly hear him. Luke pulled away before I could say anything. His face was bright red and his cheeks we red. He was so broken, I didn't know what to do. "I thought of what you said the other day... a-about the we learn to love the things we hate and- and I just can't love them. I could never love them. T-they ruined my life." By now, he was no longer having a panic attack, he was just crying. It was okay to cry.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Calum had left the room, so instead of hugging Luke again- my mind took over. I rested my hand on his soft, yet wet cheek and caressed my thumb against it. His eyes didn't leave mine when I began to lean in closer. Despite the twisting inside my stomach, I couldn't stop myself. A quick peck would be okay, right?