All Black Everything // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 31

Mum, Luke and I had lunch together, and afterwards, we watched television for a while.

"Why don't you two stay at you flat for a while? I'll be okay." Mum tried to convince us to leave.

"Well, we just feel like we should stay with you for a few days. It's no trouble, I like to be here." Luke said.

"No! No, it's okay. You toe just go, okay? We can eat dinner tomorrow or something?" Mum replied, practically pushing us out the door.

"Mum, come on let us stay it's not a big deal." I said.

"Ana, I know you guys think hat after..you know, that I need to be looked after. I don't! Just, go and have fun. I'll still be alive tomorrow, okay?" She said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes, but we left. Once we got in the car, I said,

"Wonder why that was about..."

"Well, she's right. I mean she's an adult. Sure, she may be scared, but we don't have to take care of her." He said.

I nodded, and we drove to the beach. When we got there, my phone was gone, probably with the police. The cigarette my dad used was on the ground. I looked at it briefly, but Luke grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

We walked along the coast for a little while, then found our cave. It was like a safe haven for us. It seemed like we were the only people who knew about it. We sat against one of its walls, and Luke pulled me close to him. My head was on his chest, and his arm was around me.

The only thing I could think about was my dad. I thought of the way his face looked under the light of hither street, and how angry he looked, and how his hand gripped my wrist. I said I would speak when we went to court, but I didn't know what to say, or if I could even handle it.

"Stop thinking about it, Ana." Luke said, interrupting my thoughts.

"I'm not..." I lied.

"Yes you are. Now stop. It's over, you're safe. He's gone." He said, looking out at the ocean.

"What is he's proved innocent, and he finds us again. That couldn't happen....could it?" I said, more to myself.

"This isn't Judge Judy," he said with a small smile. "He's going to be thrown into prison, and we're going to keep living on without him, okay?" He squeezed me tighter.

"No, I'm not really okay." I said. His smile faded.

"Look," he said, turning to face me. " I know you won't ever really be okay. But can't you try and make it easier for yourself?"

"How am I supposed to do that? Go back in time and just not go to the beach?" I retaliated.

"No, I mean..." He thought for a moment. "Like, like in the now. Yes, it happened only a couple of days ago, but that's a lot of hours, okay? And a hell of a lot more minutes."

"What's your point?" I said, confused.

"My point is, don't dwell on the past, no matter how fucked up it was." He said.

That made me smile. "Okay, I get it. Jesus, you should really be a therapist." I said jokingly.

"Ha, funny." He said, giggling.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"you wanna leave?" He asked.

"Where should we go?" I asked back.

"I don't know. I don't care. Let's just drive a while." He said.

"What if we get lost?" I said.

"Then we get lost. There's still a way back, we'd just have to find it." He said, standing up. He held a hand out, and I grabbed it, pulling me up.

When we got in the car, Luke played the alternative channel. He did that a lot. He said he like the variety of it, and the music was generally pretty good. He was really into Green Day, and Blink 1-8-2, so he occasionally played a few songs by them.

We drove for what seemed like hours. He was holding my hand almost the entire time, before I told him that if we get in a wreck it would be his fault for holding my hand. He laughed, but let go.

When we saw the sun start to set, Luke drove us back to the beach. We stayed in the car, and just watched the sunset. There were a few clouds in the sky, but overall it was clear. The sky started turning an ombré of different reds, and purples, and pinks. I took multiple pictures with my phone.

"I have an idea." I said, getting out of the car. In the back seat, was all my camera equipment. I had putt pit there a time ago, just never got it out. I got out my tripod and my camera, and set it up in from of the car. I pressed record, and watched as the sunset started turning into darker shades of red and purple, until eventually it was a dark navy, then black, covered in stars.

"What was all that about?" He asked when I stopped recording.

"I recorded it, and when we get back to the house I'm going to speed it up. It's quite cool, actually." I replied, and our my equipment in the back.

"I believe you." Luke said, and we drove home.

For just an hour or so, I forgot everything but us.