My Daddy || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 42-

Once I enter the address into the GPS on my phone, I realize running won't get me there quick enough.

"Damn it!" I shriek in frustration. My eyes find the old bicycle I had in Ohio, sitting in the garage, surrounded by heavy boxes.

Good enough, I decide, and I spend five minutes shuffling boxes around. When I can reach the bike, I hop on and click the bicycle transportation option on the GPS.

It tells me it will take precisely fifteen minutes to reach my destination, so I take a deep breath and head off.

It's still light outside, but I can tell the sun is setting fast.

The breeze whips my hair into my face, blinding me, until I stop to pull it into a ponytail.

My legs burn and feel like jello by the time I arrive. It's a small, two story white house with a fenced-in yard.

I text Luke telling him I'm here, as I'm not sure if he wanted me to come to the door.

Luke: just come inside, go upstairs and my room is the first on the right

With this information, I push past the wooden gate and into the house. It's warm and smells like cinnamon. Hearing a female voice somewhere in another room, I panic and race up the staircase, which luckily was near the front door.

The floor is carpeted, so it makes no noise as I run upstairs. Reaching Luke's door, I knock quietly and twist the door knob, pushing the door open.

I step inside and close the door behind me. The room is an absolute mess, clothes all over the floor, old food containers littering the surfaces. On the bed, I see a long lump beneath a dark blue blanket.

"Luke?" I whisper, stepping closer.

From under the blankets he croaks out in a pleading tone, "come here."

I slip off my shoes and sit on the bed, lying down beside the still-covered Luke.

Suddenly Luke whips off the blanket, only to cover us both up to shoulders. For a moment, only our eyes speak. I can see the sadness, his blue eyes misting over as soon as they meet mine.

"What happened?" I murmur, reaching over to press my cold hand to his warm cheek, catching the tears that fall.

"M-my grandma d-died," he whimpers.

It's like I can feel my heart break in my chest, as a gasp escapes my lips and my eyes tear up. "Maria?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah," he answers me, his voice shaking. "Will you stay with me? Please? I promise I'll get you to school on time."

I ponder the idea. My mother wouldn't like it, but I had better try to convince her.

"I have to call my mom first." I pull my phone out from my pocket. "I'm sure she'll let me," I assure Luke.

After hitting her contact, I put the ear to my phone and wait for her to answer. When she does, I greet her as kindly as I can.

"Hey, mom? My friend really needs me to stay the night, I swear I will get to school on time."

"What? Sorry, dear, it's a school night. My answer is no."

"Mom! Please, please, please." I sigh into the phone. "Please, mommy."

"Fine," she replies, but she drags it out, making it sound like 'fineeeeee.' "And I forgot to tell you, sweets, someone named Tyler called earlier."

"Um, okay, thank you mom."

I set my phone on the ground by Luke's bed and flip around to face him. "I'm so sorry, Luke."

"I'll get over it, I guess," he sniffs. "But it just hurts so much."