Running From the Truth- Luke Hemmings

Jeff Goldblum Weird

Luke smirks as he turns into a driveway, facing me and holding his arm out as if to beckon me into the gravel drive of the ranch style home. "Oh but darling, we're already here," he says in a grandiose tone.

Calum's house is homey and warmly lit once Luke and I get past an overly excited Rottweiler guarding the doorway. Calum greets luke and I with hugs, which startles me seeing as I've known him for not even a whole day. I guess getting almost killed really brings people together.

"Carrie, dude I'm so sorry this happened. You're safe here for now, but Hannah's at home since she got hit pretty hard."

"Oh my god! Is she okay?"

"Oh she's fine, she's fine, Hannah gets over stuff bigger than this all the time. We've got some shit to deal with now that Ricky had to go and fuck everything up, but don't worry about your sister."

Calum's remark reminds me that I'm not getting the whole story on this weird thing with Ricky and those guys. "Yeah, what the hell is the deal with ricky? Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on between you guys without being vague as fuck? Like my life might be in danger here and it's just... not important to give me the entire truth as to why?" I direct this question at both Luke and Calum, not yelling or demanding, but obviously peeved at the least.

Luke once again grimaces. "Look, it's not like that. We'd tell you stuff if you needed to know; we're just trying to keep you safe. The less we talk about this, the better. I made some shitty mistakes, okay, and they're already affecting your sister and the guys ,and I don't want them to hurt you too. So we can't tell you the whole story. I'm sorry."

"I just don't understand! Why are you already in trouble with the freaking cops? You killed that guy like it was nothing just because he put his fucking hands on me! Do you do that shit often? Am I safe here? Are you some sort of fucking mob boss?" I come off less angry and more stressed and flustered.

Luke sounds like he's begging. "I know it sounds messed up and like I'm some kind of criminal or something but it's really not like that and I can't prove it to you so you're just gonna have to trust me right now."

Calum pipes up, "Look, Carrie, knowing the whole story is just going to make it harder and scarier and more confusing. We're not trying to baby you or be condescending or anything like that, we just know that you're Hannah's little sister so she would beat us to a pulp if we let anything happen to you."

I frown, but back down from questioning everything. Calum speaks once more, "And speaking of keeping you safe, what the hell happened there?" At first I'm confused, but then I look down to where Calum is motioning and see that in the kitchen light the cut in my side looks much worse than it did on the walk here. There is a huge hole in my shirt, exposing a gash looking to be a centimeter or two deep, angry red with tears of blood still leaking down the right side of my abdomen, My shirt is patchy brick red, and the edges of the wound are starting to get dark with coagulated blood. 

"Oh shit," Luke says. 

I reply, "I know right!"

"I had no idea it was that bad!"

I laugh a little, "No, man, I'm talking about the shirt! It's ruined! It's my fucking snoopy shirt, man!"

Calum chuckles, "I see you get your sense of humor from your sister then."

"Say that again and I'll hit you!"

"And the sense of violence too! One is never safe in the Hannah and Carrie household!"

I laugh until the cut on my side starts to hurt, and Luke ushers me into the laundry room where there is apparently a first aid kit. When we get there, he turns the light on, opens a cupboard high above the washing machine, and reveals a messy shelf full of supplies ranging from band-aids and Neosporin to giant strips of gauze and medical tape. 

"Dude, what's all this stuff for? Either Calum is training to become a nurse, or one of you guys has a death wish and the other is just prepared."

A quirky smile crosses Luke's face, "I... think it's more like the second option."

Before I can ask what he means by that Luke is sweeping me up by the waist and plopping me down on top of the washing machine. I let out a startled, "Aaaaaeeek!" which makes Luke laugh, and then exclaim, "What the hell, man?" 

Luke winks one sparking gemstone eye and says, "For access to the wound," like it's the simplest answer in the world. Then, "Can I...?" motioning to the wound.

I sigh. "Go for it. Just don't get me dead with your grubby murder hands. 

"Murder hands?"

"Murder hands. I stand by what I said."

Luke starts to work on cleaning the wound, beginning by rolling up my shirt and tucking it under my bra so it stays out of the way. I sit up straight so my stomach doesn't roll and make the cut hard to get to, but Luke notices that it's tough to stay still and maneuvers me so I'm laying down on the washer and dryer on my back. Then, he pulls out a little packet of some sort of wipes that smell like the stuff they put on your arm at the doctor's office before you get a shot, and starts to gently clean the wound. It stings, but not so badly that I can't handle it. My whole side sort of throbs,  but it's been hurting all night and I'm honestly starting to get used to it. Being able to lay down for the first time in so long after all that running is a relief, and I'm feeling sleepier than ever.

Luke hums while he works. I can't tell what he's humming, but the melody is soft and sweet. His hands are equally so, working deftly to clean and cover my knife wound. It occurs to me now for the first time tonight how tired he must be. He's provably equally as exhausted as me if not more, and now he's got to patch up some loud bitch at god knows what hour in the morning? I start to feel guilty, but give up once I realize that guilt is for well-slept people. I am not one of those people. 

Luke's humming slowly trails off and he beings to speak, lulling me out of my tired washer-top daze, "I get hurt sort of a lot, so Calum's learned to keep stuff here to patch me up. His mom is super cool and she's a nurse, so she brings home stuff like this every once in a while. If not for Calum, I'd probably be dead or in the hospital ten times over by now."

"Sheesh, what do you do to get hurt so much?"

Luke is silent. He makes sure not to look up at me from dressing the wound. I sigh, "Ha. That was worth a shot. Someday I'm gonna make you tell me all about this secret life of yours."

A sly smile plays on Luke's lips. "Not if I can help it."

A/N: Hello my good pals! I'd really appreciate some comments or even votes if you like the story! I've written stories like this before but I always ended up giving up before they really caught on so I never got a chance to see what people thought, so it would be really cool to get some feedback. I'll be trying to update as soon as possible, but break ends today so I'll be back at school tomorrow and I don't know how much time I'll have to write. Expect a new part at some point by next week, and thanks for reading!