Chapter Forty-One
"Lost Love."
I stood underneath the flickering streetlight as i watched the huge white house, listening to the shouts of my mother attacking Andrew. (a/n Idek if I need to put this here but she's not attacking him physically but with words.)
I didn't blame her though, because somewhere along the lines of her shouting I heard the name 'Liz' pop up, taking me back to the night when I was tossed underneath Luke's bed. Andrew was involved with liz, I wasn't quite sure how he was but I'm assuming not in a great way since my mother's shouts were loud and never ending.
I shivered a little as a cold gust of wind ran through my hair, sending cold chills throughout my entire body. I should probably just go inside or even go back to Baileys house, anything but stand outside in the cold darkness. I felt like I was from a scene in a cliche horror movie, just waiting for an axe killer to jump out and cut me into pieces.
But, something was stopping me from doing so. Whether it the screams of my mother or the fact that I'm too much of a wimp to even come near to confessing my feelings to Luke. Though, I'm leaning towards the second option -- if i can't even say the words out loud then how do i say them to the boy's face? Even if i could say the three words aloud, it still doesn't change the fact of what happened a night prior.
I shook the memory out of my mind with a blink of an eye, not wanting to relive the scene once more. I'd already relived it about thirty times too many -- one more would most likely kill me.
When the yelling of the house finally died down, i decided to just suck it up and go inside because if stay another moment outside, maybe not an axe killer, but surely the animals of Sydney would get to me.
With one last glance around the, now silent, empty street I slowly padded up to the door and placed my hand on the brass knob. But, before i could twist it the knob quickly turned the other way and swung open, revealing my mother with a bag clutched tightly in her hand.
"Amber, when did you get home?" She spoke, eyeing me up and down with slightly spooked eyes. I began to open my mouth but before words could leave it, i was cut off by my moms voice. "Nevermind. We're leaving, come on."
Only now did i notice that her eyes were red and puffy and her words were coming out in cracks. I would have felt bad for her if i hadn't noticed Luke's sad blue eyes from behind the curtains, his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he watched me and my mother from inside. His eyes met mine for a split second before i quickly returned my gaze back to my mother, not daring to look at him for much longer because if i did, i'd probably start crying.
"Where are we going?" I asked her , surprisingly calm being as which my insides were twisting and turning into oblivion.
"To your aunt's house." She told me, gazing back sadly at the house before returning her gaze to me. "Just for a few days."
"Why, what happened?" I asked, though i already knew -- I'm pretty sure the whole street knew why my mom was packing her bags and leaving.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." She told me, "Lets go before it gets any later."
With her words, she was off and away to the car - leaving me behind to stare at Luke through the window, watching him physically break as he watched me make my way to the car; wiping tears small tears from my cheeks as i walked down the pathway, joining my mom in her car.
I promise you nothing has ever hurt me more in my entire lifetime then watching Luke shatter as we drove away...
*
The drive to Aunt Anne's house was dreadfully quiet, as you'd probably expect. It wasn't even the good type of silence like when I'd wake up next to luke, cuddled into his chest as soft snores left his lips - it was the type of silence that left you alone in your horrifying thoughts.
But, to my gratitude, i wasn't left with my thoughts of Luke for long because we'd arrived to the suburban house in record time, most likely from my mothers reckless speeding down the highway.
My mother ripped the key out of the ignition and grabbed her bag, storming off and into the house without uttering a single word to me. Which, is what she usually did but you'd think she'd actually have something to say to me after she just went up and ripped me from my home, bringing me to a place i hadn't been to in years without any explanation at all.
I simply rolled my eyes at her child like actions and unbuckled, hopping out of the car and heading towards the door - not wanting to spend another second outside.
"Ambie!" Pandora's voice filled my ears as i was engulfed in a hug from the behind. I smiled, and turned around, quickly hugging her back. Only she, could make me smile when i felt like my whole world was crashing down. "Why the long face?"
"I'll tell you later." I whispered, turning back around to my aunt and mother who were just feet away, watching our small reunion. Pandora nodded, seeing where i was getting at and took off to her room.
"Amber, haven't you grown." My aunt spoke, pulling me into a hug.
I chuckled, "Since i was thirteen? yeah i guess i have."
"I see you still have your sense of humor." My aunt noted, a warm smile overtaking her features.
My mother scoffed, "She sure does."
I awkwardly excused myself after my mom's crude comment and took off to Pandora's room, not wanting to spend another second in the tension filled room.
"So are you going to tell me whats wrong with you? And, don't say its because of your mom and Andrew because i knew you never wanted that ship to sail in the first place." She knew me so well that i didn't even have to utter a single word about my mom's relationship for her to know that i hated it.
"Well, no its not about my mother's relationship.. I'm sort of happy that ended.. its more so about my relationship." I spoke, keeping my voice low because i didn't dare risk my mother hearing the words leaving my mouth.
"Your what?!" Pandora shrieked. I quickly shushed her and nodded slowly, feeling my heart break a little more. "Okay, okay. But, you need to tell me... who is it?"
"Uhm.." I began, feeling my cheeks heat up. The last time we spoke i had told her i had hated Luke, and now i'm telling her the complete opposite. "Promise you won't freak out?"
"I promise." She stuck out her pinkie and i stuck out mine, we formed a link and shook it slowly - i knew she could never ever break a pinkie promise, it was against her so called 'Pandora code'.
"So.. the guy is sorta-kinda Luke." I told her, closing my eyes as i waited for her shrieks to come. They came, but more of a whisper shout type screech than her usual wail.
"Your stepbrother Luke!? The guy you told me you hate Luke!?"
"Yes, the guy i told you I hate luke." I mumbled, confirming her thoughts. To my words, she whisper-shrieked once more.
"Okay, okay so I think I've got it figured out now. You're upset because you had to leave him tonight?" Pandora asked, and I nodded slowly.
I let out a low huff, "But that's not all..."
"Theres more?" I nodded. "God this is like a movie."
Ignoring her comment I continued, "He told me he loved me tonight."
"He what?!" Pandora full on screeched, her eyes going wide. I quickly shushed her once again and told her that that my story didn't end there.
"And I realized I love him tonight, too."
"Well, whats the problem with that? You both realize you love each other, your guy's parents aren't getting married anymore, and I'm already mentally planning your wedding. I see zero flaws there." She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.
"A few nights ago, luke and I went to a party-"
"Oh god no, parties never end well. Haven't you seen any high school movie ever?" Pandora interrupted. I shot her a look and she nodded quickly, telling me to go on.
"Anyways, I went off to get a drink by myself and when I came back to Luke I found him talking to a girl and the girl was feeling him up,"
"I told you parties never end well." Pandora whispered, shaking her head lightly. "But, girls feel up boys all the time at parties without their consent. Are you sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding? It usually is in the movies."
"Okay, first off all my life isn't a movie." I told the girl, rolling my eyes. "And second of all he wasn't stopping her, plus the girl came in asking for him a couple minutes prior to that."
"What did he say happened?" Pandora asked, seeming in the edge of her seat as she tried to find out what happened next.
"Well, I haven't spoken to him since that happened..." i began slowly, feeling a blush approach my cheeks.
"Amber, you always have to hear the other persons side of the story even if it's straight bull shit."
"I know." I spoke quietly, fumbling with my fingers.
"I say you call him up right now and get everything sorted out." She smiled, handing me my phone that i'd put on her nightstand.
"Are you sure?" I asked, hesitantly taking the phone from her hands.
She nodded, smiling widely. "Positive."
I scrolled through my contacts with a shaking hands before coming across Luke's, clicking it and slowly pressing call.
I waited with the phone pressed against my ear, chewing on my bottom lip nervously. All the while Pandora shot me thumbs up and mouthed 'you can do it'.
Fifteen seconds went by until the call finally went through, a light static overtaking my ears.
"Hello? This is Luke's phone, who's this?" A female voice broke through,
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You thought it was over hunny im just getting started, and btw this is the climax of the book if you couldn't tell.
If you guys have any predictions on who the girl is, please comment it bc i love reading those. Or if you have any predictions on the book overall, i love reading those too. ;;;;)))
ALSO I'm sorry for being the absolute worst wattpad author ever and not updating on time. I was going to and I finished a whole chapter and all but then it got deleted and I lost all motivation to rewrite it again.
I love you guys so much ♡♡
-maddy xx