"So... Can you tell us what happened now?" I question the slightly shivering form of the girl I continued to consider my best friend.
"Y-Yeah... Where should I start?" She responds, gripping on to her mug of tea as if it would disappear.
"How about why you started a fight with Andy?" Luke growls, anger clear on his face.
"Yeah, that's probably a good place." She weakly laughs. "It's a really long story."
"We have time." I respond, wrapping an arm around Luke as we sat on the opposite side of the table, the kitchen silent after my statement.
"Well, um, you remember Darryn?" She paused as I nodded.
"I don't," Luke spoke up.
"He was my ex-boyfriend and he was involved in some bad... things. He didn't tell me until I told him I loved him, about 5 months into our relationship. When he told me i tried to leave him, but he wouldn't let me. He said if I left him he would send the gang after me and bring me back. I didn't think he was serious to I left, that's why I was on edge this winter. After February came around I figured I would be safe so I relaxed. I went back to living my life and even got a job at the little coffee shop downtown, Jade's Java, the really cheesy one? Well, anyway, it turns out he was serious. One day I had the night shift and after I locked up the shop and got my bike I noticed someone in the alleyway between the shop and the library next door. I beat it and headed home but I didn't get there fast enough. Darryn was waiting for me on my porch, I tried to sneak around back but he saw me-"
"Red, I-"
"Let me finish," She held up her hands. "I ended up finally getting back into my house but I was still beaten up badly. Mom was coming downstairs for a glass of water and saw me before I could clean the blood off my face. That was last Monday, it's happened 3 times since, and Mom decided to take it into her own hands when my eyes swelled up so much I couldn't see. Darryn was arrested but they're moving me to keep me safe in case he gets out or some of his members look for me." She took a deep breath, eyes slightly watering with the memory.
"Why would you start a fight with me?" I quietly asked, trying to meet her eyes.
"I didn't want you to be dragged down for being my friend. I thought it was pretty stupid but then I found out I was moving and I didn't want you to be hurt very much since I'm not supposed to be telling you all of this. I figured if I could get you to hate me you would be fine when I left, but then lover boy over here came over and called my bullshit. He told me how much it hurt you and I couldn't leave knowing I didn't give you a reason. So now you see, I didn't trip and fall on anything when I got these," She motioned to the bruises littering her face and arms.
"Oh, Red." I sighed, standing up and pulling her into my arms.
"You're not mad?"
"You tried to protect me, how can I be mad for that?" I laugh, squeezing her tighter.
"I have a question." Luke quietly states from across the table. "Not to be inconsiderate, but how much longer do you have before you leave?"
"I leave next Saturday," She sighed, pulling away from our embrace.
"It's already Thursday night, we only have about a week" I frown, sitting down beside Luke once again.
"A week's better than a day." He responds, placing a gentle kiss to my temple.
I shrug in response as Red continues to look at us, as if we were separated by more than a table,
~~~
"Okay, you're leaving tomorrow. We need to make tonight the best night you've ever had." I tell Red as I continue to pull various strands of her hair back into the braid I was creating.
"And how exactly are you going to do that?" She smirks, but I can still hear the sadness in her voice.
"First we're going to a movie, then go-karting, after that we're going back to Jade's one more time and then we're coming back here and hanging out for the rest of the night up until we have to get you to the airport." I explain.
"Is Luke coming, too?"
"He said he would be our chauffeur but he doesn't have to hang out if you don't want him to."
"No, let him come. It'll be nice." She smiles as a strand of scarlet falls in her face.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay, well he's pulling up now," I say as I peek out the blinds covering my window. "We better go."
We quickly gather our jackets and purses as we stumble out of my room and down the stairs.
"Bye, Mom!" I yell as Red exclaims something along the same lines, knowing she'll have a proper goodbye later.
"Hey, babe." Luke stupidly grins as Red and I get into the backseat, a chauffeur hat sitting on his head.
"Are you seriously wearing that?" I ask and he nods, grinning. "You're such a dork."
"But you love me!" He chimes in before reversing out of my driveway and heading to our first destination.
"Can't argue with that." I quietly mumble before returning to my conversation with Red.
"And here we are, ladies. Our first stop tonight is at our local movie theater." Luke speaks in a terrible imitation of a British butler before he gets out and opens the door, the hat still residing on his head.
"Aren't you coming?" Red calls out, turning around as she speaks.
"I thought I was just the butler?" Luke responds, confused.
"You're more than a butler. Trouble, get your idiot." I hastily comply, not wanting her to change her mind.
We're a few feet from the car when I suddenly stop, pulling on Luke's hand to make him stop, too.
"What?" Luke questions me, confused.
"You are not wearing that inside." I use my free hand to motion to his hat.
"And why not?"
"Because I won't kiss you for 24 hours if you do."
He hastily runs back to the car, ripping the hat off as he goes. I laugh at his behavior, knowing we were both getting strange looks from the public.
"You're an idiot." I shake my head as he pulls me along behind him.
"I thought I was a dork?"
I think for a second before answering, "You're a dorky idiot." I conclude, using my free hand to give him a thumbs up.
"You're mean," He pouts.
"And you're my dorky idiot."
"I'm going to throw up, why did I invite him?" Red questions from where she was standing by the theater's entrance.
"Because he makes me happy and you like me happy?" I try.
"Nah, I think it's so I'm not the one doing embarrassing stuff for once."
"Fair enough." I shrug as Luke continues to pull me to the theater until we're at the ticket booth.
"No, Loki is obviously better." I argue as we step out of the theater after seeing the new Thor movie, lens-free 3D glasses on our faces.
"Not true, Thor is amazing. He has a hammer." Luke nods at Red's argument.
"Loki can manipulate reality and stuff." I respond, shrugging and letting her win this time.
"Fine, you win," I laugh. "Let's head to go-karting now."
"Ready to get your ass kicked?" Red smirks as she links her arm through mine, pushing me into the car as Luke holds the door open for us, his stupid hat back on his head.
"So, ladies, how has your evening been so far?" Luke asks, winking at me as he glanced in the mirror.
"Splendid, thank you," Red replies with a grin covering the lower half of her face.
"Quite well, but our chauffeur is wearing an awful piece of headgear." I giggle as he looks offended before refocusing on the road.
"You know I would have been fine just staying home and watching movies, right?" Red whispers in my ear, a smile still playing on her face.
"I know, but this is good for stories." I shrug.
"True, as long as you're going to tell them with me." She nudged me with her shoulder.
"Always,"
"Promise?" She holds her right pinkie out to me.
"Promise." I confirm, wrapping my finger around hers. "Excuse me, Lucas. Please put on the music I prepared." I snapped my fingers teasingly as Luke inserted the CD into the disk tray.
I watched Red's face light up as her favorite song played through the speakers, 'A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"' by Fall Out Boy.
"I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it..." I quietly join in, before belting out the next verse with Red as we dissolve into a fit of giggles.
"I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late!" We finish as Luke shakes his head from the drivers seat.
"What am I even doing?" I hear him mutter under his breath.
"You aren't turning left when you need to." I point out with a smirk growing on my face as we pass the go-karting place, Grand Prix III.
"Shut it, smart ass."
"Hey! I'm just trying to be helpful," I keep a straight face as Red collapses into the seat, gasping through her laughter.
"No, you're just trying to be a smart ass." Luke points out and I can only shrug in response as laughter bubbles inside me.
"Well, we're here now." Red smiles as she jumps out of the car, not waiting for Luke to help her out like earlier.
I get out of the car as I hear a squeal so high pitched only Red could make it. I smile as I see her engulfed in Sophia's tall frame, both of them shaking with laughter at Red's unintended noise.
"Trouble! Did you do this, too?" She gestured to Sophia who, to her knowledge, was attending an out of state seminar for writing.
I just smiled and nodded in response, stumbling as I was throwback a few feet from her sudden embrace.
"You're the best friend I could ever have!" She exclaimed, amber eyes shining.
"Only the best for my sister," I replied as she squeezed me tighter "You might want to get off now, I need to breathe."
"Oh, sorry," She paused, turning back to where Luke was awkwardly standing by the car. "C'mon, lover boy! Can't have my sister over here being a third friendship wheel."
He grinned in response and nodded, walking a few feet before turning around and throwing the hat back into the passenger seat. He quickly bounded up before pulling me to the ticket counter, almost identical to what he had done at the movie theater.
"I can pay for myse-"
"Don't even start, I know you can pay for yourself but I'm paying for you tonight." He replies while he hands the money for our tickets to the cashier. "Okay?"
"Okay." I smile, realizing the reference he had made to one of my favorite books, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.
"Yes, I do realize I just referenced a John Green book but you need to stop grinning like an idiot, we gotta go kick some butt!"
"We are the champions, you are the losers..." Red and Sophia continue to chant on our way to the parking lot as the sun continued to sink deeper into the sky, a slight chill becoming evident in the early evening air.
"We'll meet you at Jade's, I'm going to ride with Soph this time!" Red called out as she climbed into Sophia's jeep.
"I swear they should not get along as easily as they do, they're total opposites." I tell Luke as we watch the vehicle speed away.
"Maybe it's that whole opposites attract thing. I mean, after all it's kind of what happened with you and me."
"What do you mean?" I question him. "We're not that different."
"Not anymore, but at first I was still that shy nerd who would barely talk to anyone."
"And what about me?" We finally arrive at his car where he opens the passenger side door for me, laughing slightly as I throw the hat into the backseat.
"You had this bad ass vibe about you, like you didn't care but at the same time you did. It's pretty awesome." He shrugged.
"And now?"
"And now?" He mimics.
"We're not so different anymore?"
"We're still different, we're just... Us. We know how to piss each other off and get under each others skin. But I'm not as shy and studious as I used to be, I actually have a social life now. And you, you've started taking school seriously." He paused. "I think we're the lucky ones. We get to bring out the best in each other and that's pretty awesome."
I was in shock, I could only think of one thing to say, "I love you."
"I love you too."
"About time you got here!" Red calls out from our normal booth in the corner, Sophia at her side.
I quickly slid into the seat before Luke could, resting my head on the window as I looked at the numerous people moving aimlessly around that small shops surrounding us. I jolt back into reality as Luke softly nudges my shoulder with his elbow before handing me my coffee, a small French Vanilla Latte. I quietly thank him before leaning my head on his shoulder and taking a small sip of the deliciously hot beverage.
"Right, Trouble?" I'm awoken from my coffee induced haze much too soon for my liking.
"What?"
"I said, we're just going to go back to yours after we talk to Jade and drink our coffee, right?"
"Oh, right." I nodded in confirmation before taking another small sip of the steaming beverage.
"Hello! How are you all?" Jade comes to our booth almost as if she had heard our conversation.
We all muttered a form of hello back before explaining why we were here so late for a few caffeinated drinks.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry to hear that. Just remember, if you get back and I'm still here you're welcome to a job."
"Thank you, Jade." She responds before she lets Sophia take control of the conversation.
I continue to relax as I take in the familiar surroundings, Luke's arm thrown haphazardly across my shoulders as I sip on the beverage I wasn't allowed to pay for.
"You ready to go?" Luke quietly whispers in my ear before pressing a small kiss to my temple.
I nod in response, knowing we should go and set everything up. "Let's go."
"Ta da!" Luke and I exclaim in unison as Red and Sophia walk through the door.
"Wow..." Red breathes out as she looks around the family room, which has now been converted into one giant fort.
"Like it?" I nervously ask as I slide closer to Luke.
"No," She shakes her head. "I absolutely love it!" I breathe out a sigh of relief at her words.
"So, Harry Potter movie marathon anyone?" Sophia asks, holding up the box set.
We all cheer in agreement before crawling in the open side of the tent which was angled toward the TV so we could comfortably watch.
"You're my Ginny and I'm your Harry." Luke informs me as we watch the Half-Blood Prince.
I smile before responding. "And why is that? Don't I have any say?"
"If we aren't Harry and Ginny then who are we?"
"I say Hermione and Ron,"
"And why is that?"
"Why not?" I respond with a smile on my face as Red turns around and shushes us.
"Touche," Luke responds, letting me know I won this argument.
~~~
"I'm going to miss you so much." I cry out as I wrap my arms around Red's trembling frame.
"I'll miss you more." She replies, squeezing her arms around me.
"Doubt it," I smile. "Stay safe, okay? Make sure to keep in touch."
"Of course." She replies, hugging me one last time before saying her goodbyes to Sophia.
"She'll be alright, you don't have to worry." Luke whispers in my ear as he wraps his arms around me from where e stands, directly behind me.
"I know, but I'm going to miss her." I tell him as I turn around and nuzzle my head into his collarbone.
"So will I, but we have to be strong. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay." I bit my lip as I looked up at him.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No," I reply. "I'm just wondering how I got so lucky."
I finish speaking as they call Red's flight to board. She turned around from where she was standing with her mom, Claire, and offered a sad smile and a small wave. The three of us did the same, Luke holding me close with his left arm as he waved with his right.
She finally turned around and left the airport, heading to the plane she would be taking to get away. We stood there for a moment before deciding it was time for us to leave as well.Luke pulled me closer still, and even I didn't think it was possible.
"Oh, by the way, I'm the lucky one."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know I'm not sure how frequent the updates will be since I'm writing this and Rapturous on my good friend PrincessJH's account, as well as having roughly 2 hours of basketball practice everyday except Sunday, and pretty much drowning in homework. Hopefully I'll see you guys (kind of) soon!
Much Love,
Emily {IrwinArmy}