09:42 AM
"Go away." Skylar said right away, then slammed the door in Luke's face.
Luke shrugged, feeling that maybe this was a sign. Maybe he shouldn't have tracked Skylar down, maybe he shouldn't have spent the past three months crying and sulking about her not being there anymore. Maybe him and Skylar just weren't meant to end up together.
Luke didn't care about 'maybes', though, so he knocked on the door again.
"I don't want to talk to you!" He heard Skylar yell through the door, and Luke just knocked again. He wasn't going to give up this time, he wasn't going to leave until he got what he wanted, and that was to give Skylar a full apology for all of the shit that he'd caused in her life.
"I'm not planning on talking!" Luke yelled back. "I told you, I wrote you a song."
"You want to sing to me?" Skylar questioned, still speaking through the closed door of her apartment.
"If that's alright with you." Luke shrugged.
"It's a little too late for that." Skylar yelled.
"I know, I know that it's too late, Sky, but please just listen to me." Luke begged. "I want to make things right."
"It's too late for that, too." Skylar said.
"I'm sorry, Sky, just please listen to me." Luke pleaded, knocking on the door again.
"Can't I listen to you from here?" Skylar asked, and Luke let out a small chuckle.
"No, you can't." Luke laughed softly. "Please just open the door, Sky. I really need to talk to you."
Luke could hear Skylar let out another big sigh as she opened the door, revealing herself once again. She was still just as beautiful as she had been three months ago, and it took everything in Luke to not just run up and kiss her.
"Hi." Skylar said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hi," Luke said nervously. He dug around in his back pocket for a minute before pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Skylar.
"Is this - ?"
"I wrote this song for you, Sky, it's only the chorus, actually, but I'm still working on it a little." Luke stammered. He got his guitar ready and began to strum some chords while he continued to speak. "There were so many things that I should have said to you that day that we met, but I didn't and I hate myself for it every single day."
Skylar just nodded, telling Luke to go on. She was staring down at the paper, at the lyrics of Luke's song, and probably wondering why he hadn't started to sing it yet.
"I feel so lost without you, Sky, I miss you so much it hurts and I want you back in my life, baby, I really do." Luke said, still playing the melody of the song he'd written on his guitar. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to sing it it, he had too much to say.
"Then why didn't you - "
"I was stupid, I still am stupid, and I thought that I would be protecting you if I pushed you away like that. I was wrong - I was wrong because I need you Skylar and I don't think that I'll ever really stop needing you." Luke continued, taking a big breath. "So this is the song I wrote for you, and I hope it makes up for everything I didn't say."
"Taking every breath away, with all of the mistakes I've made, from all the letters that I've saved, this is everything I didn't say." Luke sang, his voice still a little shaky. He really hadn't sang in almost three months, since before he even met Skylar. But Luke continued anyway. "I wish I could've made you stay, and I'm the only one to blame. I know that it's a little too late, this is everything I didn't say."
"You wrote that for me?" Skylar asked as Luke finished, looking up at him. The corners of her eyes were filled with tears, and Luke wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. With Skylar, it could mean both.
"Yeah, I, um, yeah." Luke said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"That was really sweet." Skylar said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile. "No one's ever written me a song before."
"Good, I don't want anyone else to write you songs. I want to be the only person that ever writes a song for you." Luke said, biting his lip.
"I don't think anyone else is ever going to actually care about me enough to write me a song." Skylar chuckled nervously, playing with her fingers again like she always had.
"Good. Because I don't ever want anyone to - "
"But Luke, I have a question for you." Skylar cut him off, sounding a lot more serious than she had been a second before. She looked up at him again, a very confused expression on her face. "Are these - are these blood stains, on the paper?"
She held the paper out for Luke to see, and she was right. Luke had been hoping that Skylar wouldn't notice that, that she'd be too focused on the lyrics than the dried blood on the paper he'd written them on. But she did notice, of course, and now Luke had no other choice than to tell her about it.
"I had a bit of a rough night a few weeks ago." Luke chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes flicking down to the floor. He was embarrassed, to say the least.
"Luke," Skylar said softly. She stared up at him, her eyes wide. "You promised that you would never do it again."
"But - but I'm Luke Hemmings," Luke said, and he actually had to physically swallow down a sob. "I break promises."
Luke quickly composed himself again and wiped at his eyes with the back of his sleeve, while Skylar stared down at the floor that was separating the space between them. She nervously bit at her own lip for at least a minute or two before looking up at him again.
"Come in." She said, reaching out and grabbing his free hand, pulling him inside her apartment.
Luke followed Skylar into her apartment, setting his guitar down and resting it against the doorframe. He let Skylar lead him into the living room, where she had a couch and a TV and a nice coffee table. Skylar sat down, patting a place on the couch next to her for Luke to sit as well.
"Luke, I'm - "
"Shh, wait wait, I have some other things to say to you first." Luke cut her off, raising his hands up to stop her from saying anything yet.
"Okay," Skylar said hesitantly, "Go ahead."
"So I was sitting at home thinking and I realized that there may come a day where you meet a guy and spend another amazing 24 hours with him, but he's not a huge asshole who's afraid of commitment. He'll love you and care about you the right way and make sure that you know how special you are every chance he gets." Luke said, ignoring the gross feeling he got in his stomach when he thought of Skylar being with someone other than him. "You'll start dating and he'll be the one holding you when you cry and kissing you and hugging you and having sex with you every night, and you know what, Sky? It really fucking hurts knowing that, someday, that guy may not be me."
"I don't - " Luke didn't even care, he cut her off again.
"I want to be the one holding you when you cry, and kissing you, hugging you, and making love to you, God dammit and I don't care if you want this or not, it's was I want." Luke practically snapped, with clearly caught Skylar a little off guard, because she flinched. "I'm-I'm sorry, I just needed to get that off of my chest."
"It's - it's alright." Skylar said softy, obviously startled from Luke's sudden outburst. He didn't blame her, he'd be startled if someone showed up at this house and yelled at him about wanting to make love to him, too.
"I am so, so sorry that I pushed you away like I did. I thought that I was being smart, because I couldn't trust myself and I didn't think that I would be able to make you happy if we were together. Telling you to leave me was the biggest mistake I ever made, because I need you so much it hurts." Luke reached out and grabbed both of Skylar's hands, squeezing them tightly.
"It's not your fault - "
"But it is my fault, Sky, everything was my fault. These last three months have been actual hell for me, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you and I just need you in my life. I feel empty without you, I need you." Luke was practically begging now, begging for Skylar to forgive him and just be in his life again. He didn't even need her to agree to be his girlfriend, Luke just wanted to have Skylar around because Skylar made him happy.
"Luke, I - " Skylar tried to speak, but Luke cut her off one more time. He felt that it he didn't say what was on his mind right at this second he never would.
"I'm in love with you, Skylar, there's no other explanation. I fell in love with you over 24 hours of fights and little things and secrets and some drinking and almost having sex and more fights," Luke paused and took a big breath before continuing. "And I want more than just 24 hours. I want days with you, Sky, or months, or even years! I'm in love with you and I really hope that you can somehow find a way to love me back."
Skylar stayed quiet for a very long time after that and picked at her chewed fingernails, seeming to be very deep in thought about what Luke had just said. Luke almost wanted to yell at her, and demand that she speaks to him, but he didn't. He gave Skylar the time that she needed.
"Luke." She finally said, looking up from the place on her lap that she'd been so focused on.
"Yeah?" Luke blinked back at her, seeming very hopeful.
The corners of Skylar's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Yes."
"What?" Luke asked, almost startled by Skylar's answer.
"I do, Luke." Skylar whispered, scooting closer to him so their noses were just barely brushing. "I do love you back."