tourniquet, luke hughes

two

Once we'd made it outside, I noticed the sudden chill and goosebumps formed around my body. The decision to wear little clothes was hitting me hard.

"Here take my jacket," Luke tried handing me his sweater, but it instantly refused. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" He seemed honestly confused.

"Acting like nothing happened," I replied hastily, not wanting to him to put on an act.

We continued walking and finally turned to corner to where you could no longer hear the noises from the bar. Which reminded me to text Audrey to let her know where I went.

Addie
i just left,
i'm walking
outside with luke

Audrey
i assumed 😵‍💫
be safe okay?
don't forget what he did
to you

Addie
i'll be safe, promise 
love you

When I looked I met Luke's eyes, just staring at me. "You look different." He stated blankly, while still just staring at me.

I felt my palms instantly start sweating, and it felt like the temperature had been raised 30 degrees.

"Yeah, I would assume, it's been a while since we've seen each other."

"I'm sorry," He said while obviously wanting me to look him in the eyes.

"I'd hoped you would be." I continued to speak, "What else do you have to say to me?"

He continued to just stare at me, honestly just looking stupid. He finally opened his mouth,"I don't know how to express how sorry I am. Dammit- I've gone through how I was going to do this over and over again with my mom."

"Ellen does give the best advice," I nodded, "Well if you don't know where to start, I sure as hell do."

I started to get genuinely angry with him, "How dare you do that to me? After all that we've been through together? You were my best friend, I told you everything! You made me look like an absolute idiot, and now that you finally saw me in person, you decided everything was okay now?" I started to lightly hit him in the chest, which made him almost trip back.

Throughout my entire friendship with Luke, I hadn't kept but one secret from him. I told him about how I had trouble talking to new people, about my insecurities, and worst of all, I confided in him throughout my parents' hardships.

I continued to speak, honestly just baffled at the situation we found ourselves in, "I trusted you, and that's how you repaid me? All of a sudden you go to college, and leave me behind?"

There was a slight silence, but it didn't last for long until Luke started to speak, "I was jealous."

I rolled my eyes, "You were jealous? Of what Luke, you had everything," I felt tears start to fall out of my eyes.

"I didn't have you," he said looking to be completely serious.

"Adelaide, don't cry over me. I'm not worth it, please"

He took a step towards me and engulfed me into a hug. I knew if Audrey saw this she would be upset with me, but she wasn't here right now. And honestly, it felt good.

Luke had always given some of the best hugs and I wasn't one for physical touch.

After a while, I realized how bizarre this situation was and how if you told me what was happening now a week ago I definitely would've laughed in your face.

I found myself laughing in Luke's chest so hard, I had to back away to catch my breathe.

He looked at me like I was the most bizarre human being alive. "I missed you a lot, you know"