Eighteen.

Chapter 14.

Luke's exams flew past.

Before he knew it, he was back on his night shifts- Carl had generously agreed to take over to allow him a tiny bit of study time, and Luke had accepted gratefully. As a result, he felt okay about how he'd done, and he'd also managed to keep his personal shifts up.

Exams hadn't gone so well for Aimee. Jen was high on end of term cheer, along with the joys of Christmas, and so she'd ended up being dragged to parties.

Unsurprisingly, Luke hadn't attended any of these, but she'd looked for him all the same.

Aimee pushed the idea of her final exams out of her head at these parties. She struggled to push Luke's face from her mind, and didn't have much success.

As a result, she was only half focused on the atmosphere of the parties- one she hadn't been completely comfortable in to begin with.

She sat her exams with little confident, and breathed in a huge sigh of relief once they ended.

One year down, she mused, praising a higher being. Three more left.

The day before she left for home, her cases all packed up and stored on the buses that lined the car park, she heard music floating toward her room. It wasn't coming from a dorm anywhere near them... It seemed to be from behind the building itself. She headed out to investigate, savouring the beautiful tone of the male voice.

"There's this movie that I think you'll like.
A guy decides to quit his job and head to New York city...
This cowboy's running from himself,
And she's been sitting on the highest shelf.
Oh, oh...
And they come undone."

Aimee stopped around the corner, taking a seat on the sun bleached grass as she listened to the familiar song.

"Running down to the riptide,
Taken away to the dark side...
I wanna be your left hand man.
I love you, when you're singing that song..."

She giggled quietly as she hummed along, her mind wondering who exactly it could be.

When he finished singing, she heard the clunk of a guitar being put back in its case, and the heavy thud of the lid shutting. She could almost breathe in the old-leather smell that every guitar case carried.

She felt a shadow block out her sun and looked up, an apologetic smile on her face. It slid right back off once she recognised the face, and a blush took its place.

"Luke," she said quietly.

Luke's face pulled up into a tight smile. "Aimee! I, um... I thought everyone had gone home. I haven't seen anyone around."

He prayed she didn't notice the slight tremor in his voice, or the sheen of sweat that had made its way onto his forehead. Sweat, of course, that wasn't the result of his choice of clothing in an Australian December.

Aimee hadn't.

What she did, notice, however, was that he'd finally ditched the thick hoodies, opting instead for a black t shirt teamed with ripped black skinny jeans.

She shot him an easier smile. "It was good, though. I liked it. Most of my building's gone... I think I might be the last one left. I'm leaving for Adelaide tomorrow. How come you're still here?"

She mentally facepalmed at the amount of words she'd managed to get out in such a small amount of time. She was rambling. Luke made her ramble. Nobody made her ramble.

Luke just shot her a smile closer in appearance to his usual. "I opted to stick around for a bit. I, er... Wanted to sort some stuff out."

Aimee nodded, though she was unsure exactly what he meant. His smile, though, hypnotised her, the same way it always did. She found herself blurting her thoughts, the same way he always made her do.

"Can you play for me? Please?"

Luke blinked at her, as if he didn't speak the same language. She was about to take it back when his hand reached for the clasp on his worn guitar case, brushing a small ladybug from it.

Aimee watched the ladybug fly into the air, getting about three feet away before it landed in a tuft of grass.

She adjusted her seating position slightly to get the blazing sun from her back, watching Luke slide the guitar out.

He didn't speak, so Aimee kept her eyes trained on his fingers, watching them dance over the frets as he decided where to place them.

His voice didn't catch her off guard as it should have. Instead, once he began to sing, she melted straight into it, as if she'd been listening to him forever.

" If you must wait,
Wait for them here in my arms as I shake
If you must weep,
Do it right here in my bed as I sleep
If you must mourn, my love
Mourn with the moon and the stars up above
If you must mourn,
Don't do it alone

If you must leave,
Leave as though fire burns under your feet
If you must speak,
Speak every word as though it were unique."

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lol I think I've confirmed that I'm the worst updater in history
IM SORRY GUYS EUGH
anyway
You by Keaton Henson
That song got me feeling some kinda way bro
QOTC: What is your favourite song rn?
AOTC: Riptide by Vance Joy. Also involved in this chapter bc I'm actually obsessed.
OKAY TYSM SO MUCH FOR READING ILYSFM
MEGHAN XOX