Fall.

Chapter 33.

I had determined that Luke's mom wasn't all that bad anymore. I really believe that she had gotten better, just like Luke had. She didn't hit Luke anymore, at least that's what Luke had told me. I trusted him, though, and I know that he would tell me if something was wrong again. I think the two of them were going through a bit of a rough patch before, but things were getting to be okay for them again. Luke and his mom were really the only family the two of them had left at this point, they were going to get through this.

"Uh huh." Luke continued, "Can you pick up my prescription on your way home tonight? I called over there earlier and told them I ran out again, yet said they'd have it ready around dinner time."

I sat up and smiled to myself, happy that Luke was taking his medication again. No matter what Luke said, it was really helping him out. I knew that he didn't like to take it, but it was what was best for him and everyone else around him. It kept things normal.

"Okay, bye mom. I'll see you later tonight." Luke said, finally hanging up the phone. He turned to me, giving me a cheesy smile. "I'm sorry, that was my mom. You know how she likes to act like my personal assistant sometimes." Luke chuckled.

"It's fine. It's kind of cute, actually, how she likes to keep you all organized like that." I laughed.

"I guess." Luke shrugged.

"Did you ever find out where she went that one night?" I asked, referring to when Luke called me over here a few weeks ago. He had mentioned that his mom was gone, but I never found out what he meant by that. Within the next couple days she was back, acting like nothing had ever happened.

"No, and it doesn't really matter now. I had been freaking out like that all day, she probably just needed a little break from me." Luke chuckled softly, splashing at the water with his feet.

"Things with her are better now, right?" I asked, just to make sure.

"I think so, yeah." Luke nodded. "I mean, she had been that way for two and a half years, but I think her finding me passed out on the bathroom floor scared her out of it."

I nodded, not able to find the right words to say.

"I don't think she ever expected to have to call 911 because her son tried commuting suicide." Luke went on, his voice cracking a little. This was a touchy subject for Luke, both his mom and his past suicide attempts. We had never spoken about this before, how Luke thought his mom felt about all of this. I knew why, though, because Luke's mom and him wanting to kill himself were two things that he rarely ever wanted to talk about in the first place, and putting them together almost made it worse.

"Luke," I sighed. I reached out and grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together.

"Don't worry about me, babe, I'm okay now, remember? Everything's going to be okay." Luke gave me a wide smile, his light blue eyes sparkling.

"I know," I smiled, leaning my head on Luke's shoulder. "I just want you to be happy, that's all."

"I'm very happy, when you're around at least. You've always been able to bring out the best in me, Stel. Ever since I met you." Luke said quietly. He wrapped an arm around my waist from behind and closed the space between us, bringing me into his side.

"You're so sappy, Lucas." I rolled my eyes at him, even though he couldn't see me at the moment.

"Stella Anne, how many times am I going to have to tell you that my name isn't actually Lucas?" He chuckled beside me.

"Only a million." I shrugged.

Luke laughed one more time before finally standing up again, holding out his hands to help me to my feet as well. "Okay, then I'll just have to spend the rest of my life reminding you."