Charlotte ➵
I had slept over in Luke's hospital room last night, and the doctors surprisingly didn't mind me there at all.
Luke would complain every time they asked me to leave, and they said at this point he shouldn't have to raise his heartbeat so much.
Cute.
Everything Luke said last night felt so foreign to me. No one had ever been that cute with me. I finally had to admit to myself, someone has destroyed my life. And I happen to like the boy who destructed it. Dammit Luke.
"Are you okay?" I ask when I see that Luke has awoken.
He gave me a small smile. "I'm okay."
And as that happened, I remember what Derrick told me that day. He warned me to stay away. He threatened me.
I needed to tell Luke, I couldn't keep hiding it from him, could I? It's been a week, I tell myself. Not that long. But I still felt the guilt.
"Luke," I start.
He tries to prop himself on one arm, looking at me. "Charlotte."
"I know that Derrick told you that he ran into me on the street that day, why aren't you mad at me?"
Luke sighed, groaning. "I am mad, beyond pissed. But honestly, I can't stay mad at you forever. I can't resist it. I was so worried. I thought that Derrick had to be messing with me. He had to be, because I trusted you enough, Charlotte, that you would tell me if something like that had happened. I guess I was wrong, and I didn't want to be wrong for this situation. I wished you had told me. And then you just left for stupid ass California without telling a single damn soul! We're your friends, we were worried."
"Who the hell is 'we're'? You're my only friend, and I suppose Calum since you told him I never kissed Michael."
Luke sighed again. "Okay, look, your other friends are kind of ashamed of what you did, or rather, what you didn't do but thought you did, but they don't hate you."
It's my turn to sigh, as I rub my temples. "Maybe not all them hate me, but I know that Julie does. And Michael has to hate me. He liked Julie so much, and I ruined it for him. Well, you did, but he has to hate me for being there."
Luke shakes his head. "Are you mad at Michael?"
I scoff. "Of course not! He didn't do anything. He's just drowning in his sorrows at this point."
Luke nods. "Exactly, and you didn't do anything either. He can't be mad at you. He could only be mad at me. And possibly Julie."
Luke's logic seemed to make a lot of sense. "Oh," Is all I manage to say.
"Look, Luke, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you when I ran into Derrick. I thought that you wouldn't want me to put that kind of extra stress on you."
"Well, that backfired didn't it? It ended up giving me more stress than it would've, and then it gave you stress too, because you thought you knew what to do with the minimal knowledge you have."
"I'm sorry, Luke. Really, genuinely sorry. I was just so scared. He told me to stay away from you. He saw us kiss that one day on the roof. And he thought I knew things about you and his relationship or whatever, and threatened me."
"What did he say?"
"That he was capable of killing me, like you've told me before." I fiddle with my fingers, sheepishly looking down at my feet. "I didn't want to run into you again, I was afraid he was watching. I was paranoid that if I saw you, he'd be there with a gun or a knife or whatever he'd use to kill me. And then he'd also end up killing you somehow. I don't know."
