Permanent Vacation // Luke Hemmings [au]

7

"Are you feeling any better?" Luke asks, running his thumb over my forehead lightly. I can tell he's upset about what happened this afternoon, but he hasn't said anything yet. I'm afraid he'll explode if I ask him.

"I'm okay" I tell him, before sitting up. I know I better ask him, because if I don't, it's going to build up inside of him, "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Luke laughs, "I'm not the one who passed out and hit my head on the floor"

"You know what I mean" I say calmly, "I can see you're upset"

His strong act falters, and he looks down, letting out a sad laugh that turns into a sigh, "I guess I am". For a second, his voice cracks, indicating he may cry, which is something that would break my heart to see, "It's just a lot to all take in"

I take his hand, knowing that it's going to be hard for him to talk about.

"I've never known my Dad" He sighs, "I mean, I grew up with him and everything, but he's always been distant. I thought it was bad enough that he was always gone, but he completely left Ashton. I took Ashton's father, and I took you too" His eyes are watery, but he blinks away the tears before they can come out.

"You didn't take anything from him Luke" I tell him, "Just because you two have the same Dad, isn't your fault. I was never his Luke, you couldn't have taken me from him if I never belonged to him. Ashton is not a good person. He is a murderer"

"He's my brother" he sobs, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I love you" escapes my lips, and my eyes immediately widen. I stand up from the bed, feeling slightly dizzy but not enough to fall over again. I cough lightly and watch for his expression.

"I've been waiting so long to hear you say that" he smiles, standing up and walking towards me. He wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me up, spinning me around. "I love you, I love you, I love you Violet"

He lowers me down to my toes and I kiss him, pulling his head towards mine. My fingers tangle through the back of his hair and I smile into the kiss. Luke's mouth does the same as mine, and before I know it we've pulled away and are smiling at each other, our foreheads pressed together.

"Are Ashton and his mom still here?" I ask, pulling away from the best fucking thing that's ever happened to me.

"They left after you passed out. Ashton isn't coming back" he sighs, sitting back on the bed. "You don't want him to come back, do you?"

"I-I don't know" I stutter, sitting next to him. "I grew up with him, he was my best friend for years. It's hard to let something like that go"

"Okay" he simple sighs, walking towards the ensuite. "I'm showering. Feel free to join" he finishes his sentence with a small sob, and I know he's upset again.

-

I come up behind him in the shower and hug him from behind, feeling the warmth of his body engulf me. My chin rests on the side of his shoulder, mostly because I'm not tall enough to reach the top of his head.

"Luke" I whisper, still hearing his slight sobs, "it's going to be okay"

"I know" he chuckles sadly, "I'm just so confused. Too much happening at the same time, you know?"

"I know, baby. I love you" I remind him, loving the sound of those words rolling off my lips.

"I love you" he replies, turning around and placing his lips on mine.

-

"What do you want to do? You know, when you're older" Luke asks, his tangled with mine as the warm duvet covers our bodies. I'm not sure what time it is now, but it's definately late. It's easy to lose track of time when you get to just talk and cuddle.

"I never really thought I'd have a future other than West Hill, so i'm not too sure" I shrug, "What about you?"

"I'd like to own a company some day, maybe be a CEO" He tells me. I can picture it now. His hair slicked back with a suit on. God, he'd be the hottest CEO on this planet.

"And one day, we'll live in a huge house and have a bunch of kids" He smiles brightly at his words. My stomach sinks lightly when I hear those words, and I know exactly why.

"I don't think I could trust myself around kids" I mumble.

"Why not?"

"Because I literally lit my family on fire"

"I just won't let you near the stove then" he smiles and laughs, making me laugh too.

"Do you think your mom has dinner ready?" I ask, sitting up. "I'm pretty hungry now"

"Yeah it's got to be close to eight o'clock now" he chuckles, throwing the covers off of us and leading me towards the door. We make our way downstairs and find Liz sitting at the table, which is completely full of food, looking distraught and confused. I notice that Luke's father isn't here, and that's probably why she is upset.

"Wow this looks amazing" I smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Thank you so much"

"No problem... Sweetheart" she smiles, with tears brimming her eyes. I wonder if she even knew about her husband's other son...?

Luke and I take our seats at the table, grabbing as much food as we can handle. Liz has made up steak and mashed potatoes, so I'm really excited. I take a huge glob of potatoes onto my plate and take a bite, falling in love with them. Luke notices my affection toward the potatoes and laughs, "do I have some competition here?"

"The potatoes are more comforting than you" I tease, sticking my tongue out at him, he rolls his eyes and takes a delicious looking piece of steak.

I continue eating potatoes, not having eaten a lot of them at West Hill. I remember the few times we did have mashed potatoes, at Christmas or thanksgiving. I remember how happy and excited Michael would get, given that they're his favourite food. He would always-

"Where's Michael?" I ask, interrupting my own thoughts.

I look up at Luke who stares at me wide eyed. He looks just as alarmed as I feel.

I peer at Liz who has the same expression on her face.

Is Michael missing?