Fall.

Chapter 17.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice hushed.

"I didn't know where else to go." Luke whispered. He wiped under his eyes one more time before letting himself inside.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I stammered out, more than a million questions racing through my mind at a time.

"No." Luke shook his head. He ran his hands through his hair, only making it look worse.

"Are you hurt?" I asked. Him being hurt was my main concern, after I found out that his mom sometimes hits him when their fights get a little too out of hand. I immediately thoughts that things had gone too far this time.

"No." Luke said, again shaking his head.

I brought my hands up to Luke's face, letting my thumbs gently rub over the dried tears on his cheeks. Something had made him upset enough to break down. "Are you crying?"

"Not anymore." Luke shrugged.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, suddenly remembering that Ashton was still in my room.

"Me, I'm what's wrong." Luke said, grabbing on to my hands and keeping them pressed up to his face.

"Luke, stop it, there's nothing wrong with you." I sighed. I hated the way Luke was always putting himself down like this, he didn't deserve it at all.

"I just - I just felt so empty, you know? Like there's no point." Luke whispered.

Luke was hurting inside, and it was hurting me as well. My heart physically ached for this boy, this boy that wasn't even supposed to be anything more than a friend to me. I couldn't stand seeing him upset, even though he was trying his very best not to show it right now.

"I came here because you were the only person I could think of, the only person I wanted to be with." Luke licked his lips.

"Luke," I whispered, "those pills you're supposed to take, you're taking then, right? For me? You said you would."

I knew that Luke didn't like the idea of taking those pills to help him out, but I also knew that he needed to, I needed him too. The last thing we needed was for him to get in a mood like this and do something he couldn't take back.

"I'm trying, Stel. I'm trying." Luke's voice broke, and I was scared that he was going to cry again but he took a deep breath, and held it all down.

I felt as though I had figured Luke out. He hated looking weak. He hated crying in front of people, that's why he waited until he was done before coming over. He always needed to be seen as the one who didn't care about anything, the one that could put up with anything. But in reality Luke was the same as everyone else, he had his insecurities and flaws just like the rest of us.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" I asked, but Luke only nodded and let me lead him over to the couch. He sat down, still not saying anything to me.

I sat down next to Luke for a minute and rested my head on his shoulder, letting him wrap and arm around me and hold me close to him. It seemed so peaceful, despite the fact that Luke was so upset right now. I could sit in a comfortable silence with him for hours and never bother to suggest we do anything else.

"I'll be back in a little bit. I promise." I said, standing up again. I figured that Ashton would probably be wondering if I had been abducted by now.

"Ashton's here, isn't he?" Luke said, his voice cracking once again. I nodded. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." I shook my head, resting my hands on Luke's shoulders so he couldn't try to get up and leave. When I was sure he wasn't going to, I released him.