Rejects // Punk Luke Hemmings

>Chapter Fifty<

"What are we gonna do about my mum?" His voice was strained, like he was fighting tears as he spoke.

I thought for a moment. What were we going to do? How was this going to go down? Was she going to like me? Was I going to mess everything up in front of her?

"I guess we'll just have to play it by ear..." I whispered.

"I hope you know that I don't care whether or not she likes you," he stated firmly, facing me. "You're my addiction at this point, and if she tries to make me leave you things won't end very well..."

I chuckled and closed my eyes. "Luke?" I asked after a few beats of quiet.

"Yeah Kara?"

"What's gonna happen to us when we graduate?"

He was silent then, long enough so that I opened my eyes to peer at him worriedly. "We'll probably end up apart but I don't want us to end. I don't ever want us to end. Whether that means we call or text or Skype, I will find a way to keep in touch."

"That's what I was thinking..." I gave a small laugh and ran a hand through my hair. "How am I already worrying about that? The school year is hardly half over and I'm contemplating what will happen after."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing Kara," he stated simply. "The only thing I know about what I want to do after school is that I want to be a musician. I'm not even thinking about college, just music. But I want you to do whatever makes you happy because that might not be what I want to do. I can't hold you back from your aspirations. Now, that's not to say that we'll have to break up since that's the last thing I want. It's just..." His voice faded, leaving what we both knew hanging in the silence between us.

"I hate thinking about the future." I looked at my feet, shifting around some wood chips with the toe of my shoe. "There are so many 'if's and 'hopefully' sand 'maybe's. It scares me sometimes to be honest."

"You can't worry about the inevitable, Kar. What's gonna happen will happen, but I'll be there for as long as you want me, and I'll try to be what you need when you need it." Luke's words sent shivers down my spine. I thought of what to say, unable to come up with anything as emotional as what he just said.

"Luke, I feel like I always rely on you to be my knight in shining armor, and it feels nice that I can do that. I know if I'm having a bad day I can even just look at you and it makes me so happy. But I you know that if anything is ever wrong with you, I'm going to be there for you as well, right? I don't want our support to be a one way street. If you have a stressful day or a nightmare and I'm not around you can always call, no matter what time it is. If you're in the area and want to just spend some time together I'll be up for whatever. If you ever need anything, I'll be here for you too."

He was quiet for a long time, and I was afraid I'd said something wrong. As I was about to ask if everything was alright, he spoke. "Do you really feel like you just rely on me for help?" His voice was soft and sounded a bit strained, as though he were fighting off tears.

"Kara, you should know by now what you've done for me. Sure, I've been there for you physically and emotionally when you've needed me. But most of my problems are in here," he began and I watched as he raised a finger to tap his head. "Every time I feel like I could break down, I think of you and it makes me forget what was going to destroy me. Whenever I remember the things I've done in the past, I remember you telling me that no matter what I've done you'll still love me. You fixed my mind, whereas I can only comfort you. You did what was probably the most difficult thing to do for anyone. You healed my past."

Tears stung at the backs of my eyes as I slowly stood and stepped over to stand before him. Placing my hands over his where they held the chains of the swing, I leaned down to kiss his cheek gently. I was surprised to find it was damp and as I pulled back I swiped my tongue over my lips, finding what I had expected.

Tears.

"Please don't cry Luke," I whispered. Placing my hands now I either side of his face, I ran my thumbs over his cheeks to get rid of the salty emotions there.

"I don't want to think about all this, but I know I'll have to eventually," he chuckled bitterly. "Time makes cowards of us all, doesn't it..."

He took one of my hands in his own before standing. Placing my hand over the place where his heart was, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. In the dim streetlight, I could just barely make out the small smile on his lips as he took a deep breath.

"Do you feel that?" He whispered after a long moment.

"Yes," I nodded. His heart thumped steadily in his chest, like the constant, soft rhythm of a song.

"It's yours. Now, and always. I don't want it if you won't accept it, so as long as I'm alive, I'll always love you. I'll always be yours for the taking, as long as you want me."

"Luke Hemmings..." I breathed not a beat later. "I will always want you."

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a/n

there it is guys. there's the last chapter. i hope you enjoyed it. i still have the epilogue to post, but i'll be waiting until the weekend to post it since i have midterms on friday and i have to study tomorrow. i should've already started today but i needed to get this up because i told myself when the story got 60,000 reads i'd post the epilogue but that happened sooner than i'd expected so yeah. i refuse to use uppercase letters right now because i just feel like it plus i'm keeping this short and simple to let you guys think about that last line and whatnot. thank you for everything and i look forward to the epilogue and the little surprise i've got planned for you all after that. it's gonna be great. i love you all, have a wonderful day, and i need to go so i can study for a bio midterm that i know nothing about. this one goes out to jkervs1234 as well as Lover_LarryShipper and mrsallamerican97 and mulberrymalum for being such amazing people.

~CC xoxoxoxo