Streaker.

36

"It's okay, Mom." Luke repeated. This was over now, his father wasn't coming back again and Luke's mom didn't need to beat herself up about how upset he got a few weeks ago.

"Really? I know that you were really upset about this, you've barely spoken to me for the last few weeks..." Liz trailed off, clearly confused with the way Luke was acting.

"I'm not upset about it anymore, Mom, I just needed some time to think." Luke explained. He felt a huge lump beginning to form in his throat, and even though Luke was trying very hard not to cry, he knew that he was going to end up doing so.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liz questioned.

Luke paused for a second until he finally decided that he couldn't just keep everything bottled up inside him. He needed help. He needed his mom.

"No, Mom." Luke shook his head, already able to feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "I'm really not okay."

"Aw, sweetie." Liz sighed and pulled Luke forward in a hug. She gently rubbed Luke's back, letting him cry onto her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Luke cried. he cried for a while and Liz silently rubbed his back and tried her best to comfort him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Liz asked and he just shook his head, too scared to tell his mom the truth. He didn't want to get in trouble.

"I've just been going through a lot lately." Luke sniffed, pulling away from Liz and wiping his eyes. "Ashley and I broke up and I'm not talking to any of my friends at the moment and it's just such a mess."

"What? You and Ashley broke up?" Liz questioned, surprised. "Why?"

"I don't know, Mom, things just happened." Luke mumbled, looking down at his feet. "It was just a silly-a silly thing, it's not like we were serious..."

"Luke." Liz said, already knowing that Luke was lying.

"I loved her, Mom." Luke choked out, feeling tears well up in his eyes again.

"Oh I know, honey, I know." Liz said and pulled Luke in for another hug, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"I just don't know what to do." Luke said, still crying softly.

"I'm so sorry, Luke, I had no idea you were going through this." Liz said softly, continuing to rub Luke's back. "You've been ignoring me for the last few weeks, I feel awful about the fact that I didn't realize you were so upset."

"I know, it's not your fault, Mom, I was just so pissed about what happened that I didn't want to talk to you. I didn't think I needed you. I'm sorry." Luke spilled out, not sure if Liz could even understand him because he was crying so hard.

"It's alright, Luke, we both made mistakes." Liz said and looked up at Luke, wiping away the tears under his eyes.

"I love you, Mom." Luke said, feeling much better now that he'd had a chance to really talk to her.

"I love you too, Luke." Liz said and stepped away from him again, seeing that Luke wasn't so upset anymore. "Do you want to come with me to the store?"

"No." Luke sighed, even though he was feeling a little better he still wasn't in the mood to go out shopping with his mom. "I think I might go take a walk."

"A walk? Where?" Liz questioned. She was worried about Luke, which was understandable, but he wished she wouldn't be. Sure, Luke loved that his mother cared about him, but he was still capeable of being on his own.

"I don't know, just around." Luke said, shrugging. "I haven't been out of the house in a while."

"Oh, well, okay. Are you sure? Do you want me to get you anything from the store?" Liz asked, still seeming concerned as she slowly backed away from Luke.