LUCIFER » SIMON MINTER

Chapter 59

Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you might believe you've been buried.

Maybe you've been planted.

Bloom.

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Even though I was on holiday, I couldn't push university deadlines to the back of my mind. My camera hung from my neck everyday, wherever we went. I made sure to make use of this natural sunlight that we don't see very often back at home. Freya and Sarah were my models, which they of course didn't mind because it meant their Instagram would be looking 'on point' again. And Josh was happy because this was their form of a maternity shoot (Freya didn't want a proper one because she felt like a whale, even though I told her she could never look like one).

We were all out as a group, which kept my mind from wandering too far. We spent most of our time making fun of how Will and Gee had to save up for months to be able to afford this trip, but I kept my head down and didn't say a word. I hadn't had a conversation with Will in four months, and that was okay with me. He hadn't made any efforts, either.

Towards the end of the day, we all finally headed home. I felt sun kissed, and Josh a little more than sun kissed, but it was a productive day. I was excited to head back to the villa so that I could download all of my pictures and edit the ones I liked most so that I can feel more prepared for my deadlines. Every night I went to bed thinking about how much I was procrastinating, and maybe tonight I'd finally sleep well.

"I can't wait to sit down again. My back is killing me," Freya complained with a smile on her face. We decided to walk back home instead of take an Uber (which we realised was a mistake when we had to walk up the hill to our villa) and quite frankly, I felt the same. I slowed down to walk next to her after we had dropped Sarah off at the hotel a little bit further down. "And I have a stomach ache," She added.

I linked my arms with hers, showing her that I would give her some support if she needed it. "Too much of that ice cream?" I joked.

She huffed and held her stomach. "Probably," She said, laughing off the pain.

Luckily for us, the villa was cool and refreshing because one of us accidentally left the AC on. I went straight up to one of the spare guest bedrooms which I decided to stay in for the last couple of days. By now, I had completely unpacked my suitcase and stored all my clothing neatly in the cupboards. I had some of my smaller cameras spread out on my nightstand, my desk and on a small bookshelf so it really looked like I was going to move in. I created a little cocoon, and I wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

I sat down eagerly at the small desk and started up my laptop, putting the memory chip of my camera into the side and waited impatiently for today's pictures to download. One by one, they slowly started showing up on my screen. I sifted through a few, trying to think of which I could use for my final university project. The first ones were all taken in town; Josh and Freya with their ice creams, then Josh pressing his ice cream against Freya's nose, Sarah and Callux holding hands whilst Sarah pointed at a store she was interested in. After 3 years of uni, I think I finally figured out I was most interested in taking pictures of humans rather than anything else. And graduation was only two months away.

"Lu?" Freya called out loudly from downstairs. I frowned, thinking of what she could possibly want at this time. Josh and Simon were downstairs with her, why would she want me? I focused on saving all of the pictures on my computer, but she called out once more before I finished. "Lu!"

"What is it?" I shouted back, taking my eyes off of my screen for a brief moment.

"Can you come down here for a sec? I'm in my room," She asked. With an annoyed huff, I pushed myself up and made my way down the stairs. I was so excited to start editing, but she just had to call me right now.

When I made it to the living room, I kept my eyes down to avoid looking at Simon. I turned around the corner and headed to Freya's room. I opened the door cautiously, and then froze when I saw her. She was standing in the doorway of her private bathroom, holding onto the door frames and staring back at me with equally wide eyes.

My instinct was to rush back out of the room immediately, skidding over the tiled floor in my socks to run to Josh, who was sitting on the couch. "Josh! We need to go to the hospital, now!" I screamed, looking around for Freya's emergency baby bag. Josh was off the couch and on his feet within seconds, and before I knew it, he had the bag hung over his shoulder. Terrified screams were coming from Freya's room, and I watched in horror as Josh walked out with Freya in his arms, heading straight for his rental car parked outside. Simon hopped in the car seat behind the wheel whilst Josh sat with Freya in the back.

I ran back inside to grab my shoes, yelling, "Wait for me!"

But Josh poked his head out of the back seat door to look at me. "You're staying here!" I paused and looked at him with a frown, only for him to slam the car door shut. They left speeding down the road before I could say something else. So I stood there, at the entrance of our villa, alone, watching as my best friend went into labour without me.

My phone buzzed in my hand, getting my hopes up because I thought it would be Freya or Josh or maybe even Simon.

Lachlan: heard ur alone in the villa, wanna come over? We ordered pizza and we're having foosball competitions against each other :)

Dad: when will you be home from Croatia? We miss you and haven't seen you in a long time, were thinking about coming to visit you early before graduation xx

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this chapter is dramatic af and really badly written but I couldn't be bothered to rewrite it all, so comment some baby names below :)

Also I'm on study leave right now and I have three weeks of final exams ahead of me, so I might not post until after my graduation :/ sorry guys (wow I just realised Lu and I are graduating at the same time I'm shook)

Mel xx

Disclaimer: the lil poem at the beginning isn't mine, I think I saw it on insta or tumblr somewhere