My Best Friends Brother

Chapter 143

Zoe shouts after me to make sure I'm okay as I almost send the pyramid toppling down when racing past them all, but I don't have time to explain right now. Chasing the shadow of him I can see through the oaks, Luke is almost on the other side already; about to step out towards the gate and make a run from the entire school when I catch up with him.

"Luke!" He hardly pauses, just glancing back over his shoulder to see that it's me.

"Fuck off Milo." Why is this guy always so fucking angry? I'd say he needs to get fucking laid or something but I feel like him channelling that anger into someone is going to result in them losing all the ability to use their fucking legs.

He's definitely not trying to get away at full speed, I manage to grab hold of his bag and pull him back just before he reaches the gate, walking us away from the people I can see gathered on the other side and dragging him back through into the forestry. He doesn't fight me, I think in some ways that's worse.

When we're far enough in that I know no one can hear us, I let him go and am very much surprised when he doesn't even try to run away again, slumping against the nearest tree and letting his whole body slide down to the floor before resting his head in his hands.

He looks so fucking defeated. It's actually kind of heart-breaking. No, it's definitely heart-breaking.

I don't really know what to say to him, there's no words that are going to make this situation better. Luke isn't the type of guy you can go up and hug so instead I just sit against the tree opposite him, giving him the space to breathe that he obviously needs.

You'd never guess we were so close to Christmas now, the air is so warm as the sun flitters down through the leaves until I'm basking my face in it. The trees providing a comforting shield around us that blocks out the noise of the outside world until the most overwhelming sound is his deep breaths combining with the songs of the birds high above us.

Luke's hands slip from his face onto the back of his head, his fingers weaving into his dirty blonde hair as he starts to pull roughly at the roots.

"Don't do that..." Josh kept doing a similar motion whenever it all got too much for him after his confession to me, almost like he was using the pain to anchor himself back to reality. "Don't hurt yourself Luke, just talk to me."

Shit. His face...

Luke looks up from his knees and now I can see how close he is to fucking crying, he's fighting it all the way though. I bet it's something his fucking father has told him not to do, all that 'man up' shit that just teaches guys that suppressing and hiding their emotions is better than dealing with them.

No wonder the number one killer of guys our age is fucking suicide with people being raised this way. How the fuck is he supposed to deal with what he's feeling if he won't let himself actually feel it?

I really want to comfort him, but I know the moment I take a step closer than where I currently am he's just going to bolt.

"Why the fuck are you acting like you give a shit?" Luke asks, trying to force the anger into his voice but he's so transparent right now he couldn't hide his emotions from me if he tried. "I know what you must think of him, I know that Victor killed your boyfriend's first one... Guess that worked out alright for you in the end though right?"

He's trying to make me snap, trying to push my buttons so that I'll just fuck off and leave him here but I'm not worked that easily.

"Harley, his name was Harley." Luke's eyes dart off to the side, clearly unhappy that his little ploy to try and rile me up didn't fucking work. "He actually did a lot more than that; he shot my brother, he threatened to rape my sister, he held a gun to her chest and left her with a scar that she'll never get rid of. He killed my brothers best friend, and he almost destroyed my entire fucking family, not to mention every other fucking person that he ended that night."