my whole body is trembling as i clasp my hand over my mouth.
"what?" i breathily say into the phone. this cannot be happening; this is all some surreal dream.
"sophia," the almost familiar voice pleads into the phone. "we're not safe here anymore." he begins to cry, my taped up heart fracturing into small fragments again.
"oh my god." i choke out, my eyes filling with tears of relief yet worry.
for a moment, there's only the sound of our heavy breaths.
"luke." i whisper, my voice cracking as i begin to silently cry.
he sniffles on the other side of the line. "yeah," he says, his voice low and rough. he doesn't sound the same, but of course he won't. it's been so long. "i've missed you so much."
i burst into tears, clutching the phone to my ear. "luke, oh my god." i say, the tears spilling onto my hot cheeks. "where are you? i- i thought you were dead," i manage between my loud sobs. "the police said you were."
"no," he weakly whispers. "there's a lot i need to explain." he says, his tears of relief pouring through the speaker that i can almost taste the salt. "i- i'm in a phone box somewhere. i didn't want to call the police so i called you instead. i needed to hear you voice." he whispers.
"are you coming home?" i ask him.
there's a pause before luke's quivering breath can be heard. "we're not safe here. i'm not safe here, and neither are you. they're coming for both of us."
"what?" i ask, my heart picking up.
"we have to leave," he chokes out. "i let them trust me and now neither of us are safe," he explains. "i- i've been running for what feels like hours until i found the phone box."
i keep crying, the tears slowly spilling onto my jeans.
"don't cry," he weakly pleas with me. "we're going to be okay, i promise you."
is he asking for me to run away? i don't fucking understand. i run a hand through my tangled hair and bury my head in my pillow as i listen to luke.
"i'm going to come to your house," he says. "is your mum in?"
"come here and then you'll be safe," i hurridely say. "i'll call the police and-"
"you're not safe," he anxiously says. "i mean it soph, we need to go away."
"away?" i choke out, my lungs filling with tears. when i think about it, running away with luke may not be the worse idea. i miss him, more than anything.
"yeah, as fast as we can. we just need to go, okay? i'll explain everything," he hurridely speaks. he sounds different, but i know luke is in there somewhere. he's been hidden away for two years - of course he will be different, which causes my chest to ache. "pack a bag. i promise i will be there soon. i lo-"
there's a bleeping on the line as the phone call runs out.
i toss my phone to my bed, the combination of panicked and relieved tears spilling onto my cheeks. as i grab a small rucksack, i know that i have to trust luke. which will be easy, since he has always been the one i can trust with my life.
i throw my drawers open as i begin to carelessly pick out underwear and shirts. i have to be quick; i'm not sure how far away luke is.
i cannot comprehend this. as i begin to shove the first items of clothing i see into my bag, my phone begins to vibrate on the bed. i frantically glance across at it, dismissing it as soon as i notice it's only kian.
i don't know how i feel about leaving my mum. i should leave a note, but we need to leave without a trace. we need to stay safe. this is the right thing to so, right?
as i zip the bag up and there's a hurrided banging of a fist on the front door, i cannot believe this is happening. i only have time to grab my phone before the banging on the door sounds from downstairs again. i leave my camera behind as i throw my bedroom door open, my feet taking me at a fast pace down the stairs. the tears gather in my eyes as i fumble with the keys in the lock, knowing luke is less than a foot away.
as soon as i manage to unlock the door and i pull it open, my bag falls to my feet and i'm wrapping my arms around luke's neck. it's all a blur as i hold onto him. he wraps his arms around me tightly, gripping onto my clothing as he bursts into tears.
his quivering and frightened breaths that brush against my skin make me hold onto him tighter as i bury my face into his chest.
"i have missed you," he chokes out. "so much."
he smells different and he feels different, but i know that's luke.
i pull away and stare up at his grey, lifeless eyes that are overflowering with tears. his blonde hair is longer, darker and curlier and the facial hair around is jawline knocks the breath out of me a little. he looks so different, but it doesn't stop me from cupping his cheeks and pressing my salty, damp lips to his.
"i've missed you too," i quietly cry out. "i thought you were dead." i weakly say as i run my hand through hs hair and stare up at him with.
he takes ahold of my other hand and gives me a sad, heartbroken smile. "when we get somewhere safe, we can have all the time in the world together. i promise."
i silently nod as i'm pulled along. i don't lock the door behind me, but what does it matter.
"how long have i been away?" it starts with asking me.
"two years today." i quietly say.
"oh, fuck." he says, fighting back his tears. "i- i didn't realise it was that long."
"they never told you?" i ask. he sullenly shakes his head and puffs out his cheeks. he glances both ways before hurridely crossing the road.
"what have you been doing all this time? where have you been?" i ask him with sad eyes.
"everywhere," he says. "in quiet areas underground. we were going to hide out over seas but they decided against it so we could be closer to you. it was a risk, but they took it."
my heart breaks a little as i stare at him. he looks so broken and detatched from himself.
"did you know they left me notes?" i ask him. he sucks in a sharp breath as we head down an alley way before nodding.
"yeah, all the time. they wouldn't let me see you because it would give them away. the amount of times they tried to abduct you," he says with a shaky breath. "they would always fail because you would never be alone."
i frown and swallow down my fears. i cannot believe these past two years i haven't been safe.
"why didn't they leave me alone from day one?" i ask, my eyebrows pulling together in a frown.
"because you knew too much," he lowly says. "i'm guessing you told the police everything?"
i nod and he sighs, "i knew you'd do the right thing."
i turn to him as we keep running down a back road. he seems to know what he's doing, almost like he's been trained. he is much taller and his shoulders are broader than they used to be. he's wearing black jeans that fit his legs snugly and a loose, ragged sweater.
a small cut has been made along his cheekbone and there's a tiny graze along his jawline.
"why did they keep you alive?" i ask him as i let out a shaky breath.
"i- i don't know," he shrugs. "they decided to keep me alive."
"what about the photo of you on the carousel?" i ask with a pained expression.
"they made me do it," he sighs. "i couldn't say no. i had no choice. whatever they said i had to do."
"did they treat you okay?" i ask him, tears threatening to spill again.
"as far as okay goes," he shrugs. "they... they fed me and clothed me. but i spent a lot of time indoors," he says, his deep voice cracking. "they wouldn't let me see the sun for days, and they never told me the date. i- i've missed out on so much, haven't i?" he asks with desperate eyes.
i frown and hesitantly nod. "and my mum," he looks at me with saddening eyes. "is she okay?"
"i've always looked after her." i tell him. he pulls me into his side and kisses my forehead.
"i love you." he whispers, his voice rough yet soft meanwhile.
"i love you too," i say, a small, relieved smile playing on my lips. "where are we going?" i ask him.
"did you bring your phone?" he asks me. i nod and hand it to him as we slowly come to a halt down a back road. we slip behind some shrubbery as luke sits on the ground to regain his breath. "i think we've got far enough for now. we need to get them off our backs. they will probably go looking for you at home."
"but my mum," i loudly say. "she'll be there."
luke stares at me, his grey eyes filling with sadness. "there's nothing we can do," he quietly says. "i- i'm sorry."
i shake away the terrible thoughts and watch luke closely as he dialls a number on my phone. i know as long as i trust him everything will be okay.
"how did you get away?" i quietly ask as he presses the phone to his ear.
"it's complicated," he sighs, running a hand through his hair. he glances at me as the phone rings on the other line, his eyes swimming in worry. "i won't lose you again, right? promise me i won't." he says, his voice cracking.
"no," i frown and grab his hand. "no, i'll always be here. i promise. i'm not losing you again."
he places his hand on my thigh, a relieved smile on his lips. i smile from his lingering touch which he keeps there when the line is picked up.
"louis," he roughly says. "i need to be able to trust you."
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LUKE AND SOPHIA ARE BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER GUYS HOW EXCITING THEYRE SO CUTE
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