choose | luke hemmings

chapter 25✿

He brings his hand to my face and wipes my cheek.

"Don't cry." He says in a soft tone.

I wasn't aware I was crying.

Michael clears his throat from behind us. I almost forget he was in the room, i'm sure Luke forgot too.

"I'll leave you two alone." Luke says to Michael as he walks out of the room.

"You okay?" Michael asks me.

"Yeah, she's a bitch." I say, putting up a front.

"Yeah, she is." He agrees.

"You're not going back to that house with her, ever again." I tell him.

"May, you don't get it. I can't just live in Luke's house forever. Her house is my house too. And besides, she needs help." He says.

"Are you kidding me? You've tried to help her already. The last time you tried to help her she hit you! She doesn't need any more of your help or compassion. She's on her own now, Mikey." I say.

"Yeah well now so am I." He says, sadness laced through his voice.

"No you're not. You're not on your own. I'm right here with you." I say.

"Yeah, right here with me until summer's over. Then what? I go right back to being mums doormat."

I can't keep it from him anymore. I decide now is the right time to tell him i'm moving here.

"I'll be here after summer ends." I tell him.

"What? Until when?" He asks.

"I'm staying, Mikey. For good." I smile.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, stunned.

"I'm moving to Sydney."

"What? When? What about school? What about your friends? You're graduating this year. What about all your stuff? You grew up their, May." He says.

"None of it matters. I'm moving to Sydney and that's final. There's schools here. And I can make new friends. And before summer ends i'm flying back to Melbourne, to tell dad and to get my stuff."

"How do you think dad's gonna take it? What if he thinks you're moving here to live with mom instead of him? He'll think you chose a drunk over him." Michael says worriedly.

"I'll explain everything to him when I go back. But in the end it doesn't matter what he thinks. Yeah of course I want him to be on board but even if he isn't, i'm still moving here." I tell him.

"You're serious about all of this?" He asks.

I nod my head. He rushes over to me and engulfs me in a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." He whispers.

We pull away from the hug with smiles plastered on both of our faces. Finally, we were going to be living together again.

"I was thinking, for the time being we could live with Luke. We could both get jobs and then when we save up enough money, you and I could buy an apartment of our own. No dad, no drunk mum- just us." I say.

"I can't believe this. This is amazing." He says, clearly still in shock about it all.

"What made you decide all of this?" He asks.

"Luke actually kind of talked me into it." I laugh.

"Luke? Really?" He asks.

"Yeah."