5 Seconds of Summer Preferences

Trying to fix a divorce part 3 (Luke)

This is the third and final part. You can find parts 1 and 2 in the table of contents if you haven't read them or want to refresh your memory since its been months since part 2. Enjoy :)
Credit (5secondsofimagines)
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He took baby steps.

He gave you space, even though the other side of his bed was cold without you by his side.

He gave you time, even though every fibre of his being was craving your presence.

He gave you what you needed because he knew he had neglected you for too long, even though now all you needed was to have him away from you, just for a while.

And it was difficult, sleeping on a bed made for two; blankets too big and mattress to empty. It was difficult opening the closet and seeing just his clothes there when he was so used to having to fish them out from underneath a pile of your shirts; to walk through the house and not hear your daughter's chatter or the quiet ruffle of you turning the pages of a book in the morning.

But he knew it was nothing compared to what he did to you.

So he waits because he knows that you need time to mull over his words; that you'd need a few nights curled up on the couch weighing your options and a few days full of coffee and pursed lips to decide what to do with his promise.

And he slowly makes his way up.

A text, telling you good morning. Another wishing you a good night.

You don't reply to it, and for all he knows you don't see it at all - but you know and he knows that you open every message from him and you analyze every word before you go to sleep at night.

And when he starts to get a reply - however curt and cold, it's still a reply - he makes small conversation, light and casual.

-Hey, how are you?

-Fine.

-How was your day?

-I survived.

He makes stupid jokes that take you back to the time when you were seventeen and reading his texts from your phone beneath the desk, trying to supress your laughter in the middle of a lecture.

-Why can't zoo animals take tests?

-Are you serious?

-Because there's too many cheetahs!

-You're so stupid.

He laughs, and it's not from his own stupid joke - there's a small smile on his lips because he can hear your voice saying that phrase that you used to tell him so many times before it feels so familiar, and he's missed it so much.

You feel too much like a stranger and he wants to erase all the bitterness in your words that he caused and fill it with all the love he wants to recreate with you.

In time. He's still taking baby steps, after all.

And so are you.

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He starts off small and the progress is slow, but Luke makes his way from a one-worded text reply to a fairly decent conversation with you.

And it's not the banter he used to have with you, but it's more than what he had a few months ago and he'll take anything at this point.

He works up the courage to call you and he's scared that he's moving too fast; that you'll see his number and you won't pick up.

But after six agonizing rings, he hears your voice on the other end.

Hello?

And he thinks he stops breathing because he hasn't heard your voice in weeks, since you've given him another chance, since he started to change his ways.