wrong number - lh

EPILOGUE - ONE

the sound of leaves crunching under a shoe caused her eyes to flutter open, her head turning to see michael coming out. "can i have a hit?" he asked, a small smile on his lips. sam nodded, handing him the joint with a soft smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes once more. "hard to believe you're getting married in less than two weeks." he broke the silence again, sam humming in response.

"crazy, right? i never thought i'd be getting married to someone who wasn't—." she stopped herself, hiding where she was going with it and forced a small timid smile. "adam is a great guy. he's good for me."

michael chuckled, handing the joint back to her before leaning next to her and staring up at the sunset with her. "i never said he wasn't." he said softly, his eyes moving over to his best friend. "do you still think of him?" he questioned, sam letting out a deep exhale of the smoke she had held for a moment.

"a lot." she admitted, guilt causing the color on her cheeks to turn pink. "more than i'd like to admit." she said, her voice much quieter now. michael watched her carefully, almost as if he was studying her reaction. "but, he was so bad for me, and i was bad for him."

michael didn't say anything for a moment. he was currently trying to piece together a response, carefully thinking over how to approach the conversation. "i think it was just bad timing. you and him met at the wrong time. you guys were literally the epitome of right person wrong time." he said carefully, gauging her reaction to determine if he could continue.

when she kept the same expression on her face, he finally began speaking again. "s, if you think you still love—."

she shook her head, immediately silencing her best friend. "please don't say his name." she pleaded, her eyes dropping to the pavement under her white heels. she grew quiet, conflicted inside more than ever. did she still love him? she couldn't, it had been years, and she was marrying another. it was unfair to her future husband to be thinking of another man, especially at their engagement party.

yet, luke lingered in her mind. he was like a ghost she couldn't forget, a song continually stuck in a loop in her head. with that thought, she cleared her throat, passing him back the small little bit of the joint left, which he happily accepted.

they stood in silence, both of them knowing she shouldn't marry adam, but both of them also knowing she would. luke was a part of her past, a part she wished to let go but couldn't. still, she couldn't spend her whole life on the what if's about luke. luke made it clear when he walked away that the two of them didn't work, their timing was always off and it never ended well.

michael glanced over at sam, who was deep in thought. his smile was sad, his eyes holding a bit of guilt. he wasn't trying to uproot her life, but he couldn't stand by and let her marry someone if his best friend was still what she wanted.

a sad expression briefly flashed on her face, but it was gone as fast as it was there. her smile, very blatantly false, formed back onto her lips, as if she had done it a million times. it worried michael how good samantha was at faking her happiness, wondering if she was faking it all or most of the time with her soon to be beau.

"look, if you want to forget what i'm about to say, you have every right. but, i'm gonna leave my phone out here, on luke's contact, and i'm gonna go inside. what you do, is entirely up to you. maybe, though, it would give you some closure so you can marry adam without any second thoughts." michael said slowly, tugging his phone out before placing it onto the outside table.

he glanced back at sam one last time before disappearing inside to find his wife and keep her distracted. sam stared at the phone, temptation filling her body. maybe she should, but maybe she shouldn't. both thoughts crossed her mind a million times as she stared at his phone with luke's name on the screen.