"Do you have everything?" you asked, half hoping that he might've forgotten to pack something so that you could prolong the amount of time the both of you had together, even if it was only by a few seconds.
"Yeah, I think so," Luke replied, his expression as sad as yours.
His lips were turned down ever so slightly at the corners and his bottom lip was trembling. His eyes were wide and glossy with clouds hanging over the usual brightness, a small pool of tears threatening to teeter over the edge of his eyelids and spill onto his flushed pink cheeks.
You nodded as you struggled to keep your floodgates shut. Reaching toward him, he clasped his hand with yours. Sharing a short glance and watery smile, you both walked out of your house to the car, the only sound coming from the crunching gravel under your feet and the wheels of the massive suitcase he was lugging behind him.
Slipping into the driver's seat, you slammed the door shut before letting a small, choked sound out of your throat, trying to clear the thick heaviness that had overtaken it the moment you had woken up. The heaviness still present, you composed yourself before Luke plopped onto the passenger's seat, not wanting him to know how much you were hurting.
You knew this was his dream. Traveling the world, meeting and playing for the fans. It was something he has always wanted since the moment he had picked up his first guitar all those years ago. So, you sucked back all of the tears and unhappy thoughts and put on a smile for your boyfriend. You were determined not to cry. You were determined to be a loving and supportive girlfriend no matter how much it hurt for you to think that this was goodbye for almost a year.
You'll never forget how it felt when you saw the airport.
Your heart skipped a beat, your stomach dropped, and you felt like you were going to be sick. You had to use every fiber in your body to stop yourself from turning the car around and driving back home.
Pulling up to the parking lot, you stopped the car in one of the many spaces. The moment you removed your hands from the steering wheel, they began to tremble. It took you three tries to get them out of the ignition and even more to stuff them into your tiny jeans pocket.
You felt overwhelming sadness crash over your body like tidal waves as you reached for the door handle, and you just barely managed to keep yourself from breaking down there and then. Suddenly, you felt a soft, warm hand in yours and you turned your head to look at Luke, his eyes reflecting your sadness as his fingers brushed against your knuckles comfortingly. Neither of you talked, for fear that you would lose all control and start sobbing. After a couple moments, the tidal waves grew just a bit smaller and you managed to rein all of your emotions back. You shot him a small watery smile, your eyes not crinkling in the corners like they usually did. He returned your smile and brought your hand up to his mouth and pressed his pink, plush lips against your knuckles before releasing your hand and getting out of the car.
Dropping your hand limply to your side, you got out of the car as well, waiting patiently for him to return by your side with his suitcase. When he did, the both of you entwined fingers once more before walking into the airport. The both of you got through security pretty quickly and proceeded to the gate. The boys were already there. They were sitting on the various seats outside of the entrance, obviously waiting for Luke. The moment they saw his tall frame, they immediately stood up, about to bounce toward him. Cal and Michael were just about to waltz towards Luke and you but Ash quickly pushed them back into their seats, him recognizing the sad look in your eyes seeing as he was wearing one similar to yours.
You shot him a grateful smile and a small wave to the other boys before turning toward Luke, entwining both of your hands together. Sucking in a deep breath, you tilted your head up to meet Luke's gaze, his expression breaking your heart.
His button nose and squishy cheeks were bright red. His lips were curled into a tight grimace and his baby blue eyes were shut tight with tears streaming down his face.
You immediately let the tears you tried to hold back for so long spill, and within a few seconds, the both of you were sobbing into each others arms. Your face was buried in his chest and his was buried in the crook of your neck, tears soaking both of your shirts.
Pressing tear covered lips against yours, he cupped both of your cheeks with his hands, his thumb rubbing comfortingly against your skin.
"I-I love you," he whispered, his lips barely brushing against yours.
"I love you too," you whispered back before leaning forward and catching his lips again.
Who knows how long you stood there with your lips pressed against hiss. Who knows how long you stood there with hands roaming. Who knows how long you stood there scanning every feature of his face. Who knows how long you stood there memorizing every little thing about him, from the sparkle in his eyes to the way he shuffled his feet. Who knows?
Letting out a small sigh, you pulled away from him. The intercom had just said that his flight was boarding, sending a feeling similar to the one you had felt when you had seen the airport shooting through your body. Sniffling, you pressed your lips against his again before he shot you a small smile and turned away from you, hands shoved in his hoodie as he walked toward the entrance. Just before he stepped onto the plane, you ran forward and grabbed his arm, spinning him around so you could see his face. Raising your hand, you cupped his scruff-ridden cheek and gazed into his deep, blue eyes. Standing up on your tip-toes, you planting a small kiss on the tip of his nose before doing the same to his lips. Clasping his hand with yours to only let go a couple seconds later, he blew you a kiss and whispered a last goodbye before turning around and heading deeper into the tunnel.
The moment his tall frame was gone from sight, you felt your legs go weak just before you collapsed onto the ground, your whole body wracking with pain-filled sobs. Clutching the fabric above your chest, you stared down the blurry tunnel the love of your life just walked down as a small, weak whisper floated past your lips, gracing nonexistent ears.
"Goodbye, Luke."
