June 8th, 2016
Waiting was never fun.
Tonight I found myself waiting for Luke to pick up his phone and it was only on the second ring. Even though I did this every night I was afraid that one day he wasn't going to answer.
"Hi Autumn." Luke's voice was softly heard through my speaker and I smiled.
"Hi." I replied as I stopped pacing around my kitchen.
"How are you?" He asked, fumbling with something over the line.
"Tired." I sighed, moving towards my living room and sitting down on the same couch I've had since Luke and I lived together 3 years ago.
Luke paused for a second, "Did graduation wear you out?" He questioned, his genuine tone being noticeable.
"It did." I frowned. I let out a quiet sigh as Luke did too.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come." He sheepishly said.
I softly laughed, "Don't be, I couldn't go to yours either." I shifted on my couch, wanting more than anything for Luke to be sitting right next to me. Not on his couch 2,500 miles away.
"We'll figure something out. It's the summer and we're out of college and soon we'll be flying back and forth to see each other." He assured me, which he always did.
Two years ago, at the end of our second year of college, I wasn't satisfied with New York and the school I was at. After a visit or two more to California, at the same spot as spring break a while back, I decided to apply for the next year at a college out there. I was accepted on short notice and packed up and left.
I didn't have one regret about it, I was happier now and figuring out my own life. There was just the disadvantage of being so far from Luke. After being able to keep our relationship steady for about three and a half years, it was pretty hard to leave him. It was hard on him to since he had also just found everything good in his life.
We talked about breaking up because of the distance and we talked about making it work and it's obvious which one we chose. At the time, Luke had just been getting out of his dark spot in his life and I didn't want to be the reason he went back to it. It took him a bit to get through it, but now he seemed more alive than ever.
It's been tough since I've seen him about 7 times over the course of 2 years. If flights from New York to California weren't so expensive and we weren't college students living off of a small income, then it would be a different story.
"I've actually been saving up. Ever since I got a raise my paychecks have been getting a little bigger." I told him, which only made me more excited. I had a small amount of money set aside for a ticket and other expenses just to see him, but it's been a bit slow. The raise in my income wasn't much, but just enough.
"Really?" He asked."My boss is still an asshole, if you're wondering. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a monkey." He said.
I giggled at his response and tucked my legs in to my chest, "At least he's paying you."
"That's true," He replied, the rest of his words drowning out from my apartment door being knocked on. "What was that?" He asked.
"The door." I replied, getting up and heading over to it while Luke quickly went back to what he was saying.
"But I think I could get a ticket to come see you. I have just enough for the ticket, but I would be eating your money while I was there." He chuckled, making me miss his laugh more than anything.
I sighed again, winding through my kitchen to get to my front door. I slowly unlocked it as I kept blabbering to Luke.
"But it would be nice for me to see everyone," I began. "Like my family and stuff, you know? I haven't seen them-" I stopped myself as I opened my front door, nearly dropping my phone in the process.
"Surprise." Luke grinned, still talking into his phone even though mine was in my hand.
My hand went straight for my mouth as I ran right to him. It was just a few steps I had to take, but I'd never moved faster. My arms clung tightly around his neck as his went around my torso.
"Oh my God," I breathed out, inhaling deeply and loving the faint smell of cologne he's always had.
He pulled his head back, instantly going back in and kissing me. I practically melted into him and was overjoyed when he pulled back again.
"I haven't seen your face in ages." He quietly said, his smile still as big. It had been over 9 months since I had seen him, our last visit was in September, on labor day to be exact. I stayed at my parents house for the 5 day break and made sure I was seeing him.
I put my hands to either side of his face, as if I was making sure that he was actually here in California standing outside my apartment.
"Oh my God." I repeated. "I can't believe this is happening." I shook my head, wrapping my arms tighter around him once more as he kept kissing the parts of my face he could reach.
I let my arms fall and I took both of his hands in mine. Luckily he had brought anything except a bag slung over his shoulders of his stuff and that was it. I backed up from him and stepped backwards inside as I pulled Luke along with me. He shut the door behind him with his foot and slid his backpack off his shoulders as he moved back into kiss me harder than he has before.
You can guess the rest.
-
December 24th, 2017
We were just now setting up our Christmas tree.
Luke and I were a horrible team, if we're going to be honest. We were on our fifth month of living together again and it was a hectic as the first time. But this time I was making sure not to let this slip through.
"I never thought I'd be spending Christmas in California with you." Luke laughed, struggling to hang up the ornaments. He already broke one and he was trying not to break another.
"Well, here you are." I teased, pushing on his shoulder a little which had caused him to drop the glass ball.
"Primrose!" He yelled, jumping back from the shattered glass.
"Luke!" I shouted back, trying to keep my laughter contained. He looked at the tree then at the red glass, then over to me.
"This is your fault," he said as he narrowed his eyes at me.
I glared at him, "You're 23, take the blame." I joked. He shook his head at me and bent down to pick up the pieces. I nearly stopped him, but simply picked up the pieces with him. We each had a handful of glass and tossed it in the garbage, seeing green pieces at the bottom of the trash as well.
We decided to give up on our tree, it was getting late and we were far too lazy to actually finish it. Luke sat down on the couch and held a hand out to me which I took. He pulled me down next to him and I instantly leaned my head on his shoulder.
We were quiet for a few minutes, the only thing being heard was the crackle of the fire place we had. Surprisingly, we haven't burned down the house yet like Luke predicted.
"I cannot believe I have spent 16 Christmas' with you." Luke sighed, lazily throwing his arm around my shoulder.
I picked my head up off of him, "Except the one three years ago." I pointed out. He waved me off as I giggled at him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said. He looked out the window and to the surrounding city. He always left the curtains open since he said it reminds him of home. He turned back to me, "Still, it would be nice to spend 16 more together. Maybe 50 more, I don't know." He told me. I smiled at him, which he returned, just a little softer.
"Which I think is a great idea." He added. He leaned away from me a little, digging through his pocket of his pants. I watched as he pulled out a small black box which made my heart skip a beat. "And I hope you think it is too," he said, holding it out so we could both see it.
He took in a sharp breath and I went back to locking eyes with him, "I love you. A lot, if you couldn't tell." He chuckled, his laugh shaking a bit from what I figured was nerves. "And you've been there for every good and bad situation in my life and, shit, I am so thankful for that." He continued. "I am so thankful for you." He told me, his eyes brightening. He opened the box, a thin silver band with a single diamond sitting in the middle sparkling even in the dim light of our house. "So do you want to get married?" He asked.
I gently put my hand over my mouth, trying to hid my laughter that I was getting from my butterflies in my stomach and because of his little speech. He tilted his head at me as went back to talking.
"Did I ask that wrong?" He questioned. He held up a finger, his eyebrows raising. "Will you marry me?" He asked again then when I started laughing again he tried again. "Wait-"
"Stop," I interrupted, chuckling as his cheeks tinted to a light pink. I glanced at the ring then back to him, nodding quickly. "Yes, I will. A thousand times yes." I answered, biting back my lip just to keep myself from screaming because, holy shit, I'm getting married to Luke.
He grabbed my left hand and kept it flat, pulling the ring from the box and slipping it onto my ring finger. I watched intently as I did this since he did it so carefully, like he was trying to piece together the world.
He centered it and let go of my hand. My eyes lingered on it before going back to Luke who I couldn't tell if was still nervous or just beyond happy. It was like he had a doubt that I would actually say no.
We might have been a bit young, but with no plans for a family soon or really anything like that, it seemed to be such a perfect time for it. And it was just that.
-
May 21st, 2018
This was my second wedding I've ever been to. And it was my own.
It was small and held right on the beach, like Travis'. Everything seemed to be going just as planned, all the guests had shown up and the food was amazing, thanks to Luke, and right now I was supposed to be walking down the little aisle, but of course I was a bit late.
I had my arm linked with my dad's and we were rushed outside from the small condo type of room I got ready in. Everyone had turned around as they had noticed me along with the music. I glanced over to my dad who was already looking down at my with a goofy face.
There were a few laughs from the families and it was then when I looked up at Luke who had just gotten his arm slapped by his best man which was Calum. This happened so Luke would turn around and have his attention on me. Thank you for Calum.
Luke looked like a million bucks since he always cleaned up well, but he looked just a little sharper. I neared him and he just could't stop smiling, neither of us could. My dad had let go of my arm and the ceremony went on. I stepped up in front of Luke and realized that I was marrying this idiot and there was no way out and I was so happy to have this.
Now as we went through our vows and what we were told to say, we couldn't stop laughing. We don't know why, but it was probably the best part of the wedding. We had to restart what we were going to say more than a few times and I felt so young again. Like we were both 18 again back in New York just trying to figure things out. It was a major déjà vu moment.
Now the kiss at the end was so cheesy since he did that stupid thing were he grabbed me and made me cling my arms around his neck and dipped me low with a tight grip around my waist. He told me he planned on doing that and even after I told him not to he went for it which I secretly didn't mind.
Our reception after was literally like an after party. My bridesmaids and his groomsmen had all brought dates along with a few friends made up a big group of 20 something year olds that wanted to have some fun apparently.
"Effy, when did you get so tall?" Luke asked my sister who was now 13 and about to turn 14. He hadn't seen her in a while and still loved her just as much as when she was little.
"Shut up, Luke." She replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Effy!" I laughed, turning to look at Luke who was glaring at her.
"I'm kidding, but congrats on the whole marriage thing. I'm happy you guys went through with it." She told us, flattening out her dress as she did so.
I shook my head at her, "Thanks." Was all I said, giving her a sincere smile.
My family seemed bright and alive again, Amber had her boyfriend of two years by her side and Travis and his wife with a set of twins on the way. My parents had gone on a ton of vacations to 'renew their vows' which we knew that they weren't and just wanted to spend time together at sandy and sunny locations, but it did make them closer.
My parents type of relationship was all I ever wanted and now that's what I'm getting and I couldn't be in anymore of a better place.
-
May 10th, 2019.
It was an accident.
"Luke?" I nervously called out as I heard him get home from work. I had stayed home that day and called in sick, hoping that my boss wouldn't chew me out tomorrow.
I rounded the corner into our living room as he shut the door behind him.
"It's nice to see you too." He chuckled, setting his things down by the door and slipping off his shoes. "Hi," he said, pulling me in for a hug and kissing my forehead.
"Luke." I repeated, this time a little quieter to make sure he knew I was being serious with him.
"What?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows at me. His nose and cheeks were still red from our trip we had taken to Mexico just a week ago. With both of us working pretty well paying jobs we were able to save up some cash and go travel every now and then. It's what we've wanted to do together since as long as I can remember.
"We have a problem." I told him.
"What's the problem?" He asked this a bit sternly since he was beyond worried by now. Instead of telling him I showed him. I pulled him into our bathroom and let him find the two white sticks sitting out on the counter. He immediately walked to them, picking both of them up and reading them.
I knew they both had two pink lines on them which told me that I was in fact carrying a child in my stomach.
His eyebrows raised at this new information he had just gotten and he set them down, quickly looking over at me.
"You're pregnant?" He asked, as if he really needed any more clarification. I nodded slowly, unsure of how exactly he was going to react.
We didn't plan this at all. We weren't even sure if we even wanted to have a kid together down the road let alone one right now. I'm not so sure how it happened since there's always some type of protection, but there's always that one percent with things like that.
He stood right in front of me, peering down at me. I glanced away from him to fight the urge of crying since I was more than afraid right now because I'm only 24 and have no idea how to be a parent and also how this was going to affect us just a little over a year into being married.
"Autumn," Luke slowly said, getting my attention. His face was blank, but he still grabbed my hands and gripped them tightly. "This isn't a problem." He told me, a faint smile appearing on his face. "This is a good thing." He assured me.
"But it's so unexpected. I thought we didn't even know what we wanted yet," I said, the worry evident in my tone.
"We have nine months to figure things out." He gave me a look than was more than helpful in calming my mood. "Just worry about making sure that you and this one-" he paused, poking my stomach, "Are okay."
"So, this is okay?" I asked him, which I probably shouldn't have.
"Of course it's okay, Autumn. We're starting on things a little early than expected, but it'll all be fine." He pulled me in for a hug and I inhaled deeply, shutting my eyes are realizing that things were about to get a whole lot different. "And what isn't cool about have a kid that's yours? Like a child that it going to look and talk like us that's ours." He added, rubbing my back to comfort me.
"I just don't feel ready." I admitted to him.
"I'm not ready either, but I don't think anyone is ever really ready." He sighed, letting go of me. "Just remember that it's going to get a little difficult and no matter what I'm still going to love you just as much or probably even more than now, alright?"
"Alright."
-
February 14th, 2020
Scarlett Primrose Hemmings. You can guess who chose the name. I was still in love with it as well as the baby in Luke's arms that was just a few hours old.
"She's so small." Luke whispered, looking down at her while I watched him from my hospital bed. I couldn't believe that our child was currently in his arms simply because I can't believe this is actually real. It's so surreal.
"7 pounds right on the spot." I replied, a faint smile on my face from being so tired.
It was almost 6am and I had been up all night except for an hour or two of sleep I got. Luke was still up and looked like he was full of energy. Then again he didn't just have a child.
He was sitting in a chair right next to me, a smile that seemed to be stuck right on his face. She had his nose and his eyes which I will be forever jealous of. Her thin hair was as dark as mine and the rest of her features we'll have to wait a little to see.
"Well, Happy Valentines Day." He chuckled, looking up at me.
I stared back and just watched the two interact. I finally had a family of my own, something that I never thought I'd really prepare for. But by the look on Luke's face and the shut eyes on Scarlett, ever ounce of doubt I had washed away.
-
July 15th, 2025
"Autumn!" Luke yelped, as I had hit his arm with the closest thing which was a rubber spatula.
"Don't touch the cake!" I yelled back. Tomorrow was Luke's 29th birthday and he wasn't too happy when the only thing I put on his cake were the words 'you're old'.
"Why aren't you nice to me?" He questioned, still sticking his bottom lip out at me like he has since he was little.
"I am nice to you." I replied, leaning towards him and giving him a quick kiss to his cheek.
"That doesn't make up for the fact that you just beat me with a spatula." He laughed, rubbing his upper arm.
I glared at him and picked it up again, acting if I was going to.
"Stop!" He groaned, putting his hands down.
"Okay, I love you, I'm sorry. It probably won't happen again." I joked, pushing him away from me. He rolled his eyes at me and left the kitchen and seconds later Scarlett, or now wanting to go by Primrose, came skipping by my side.
"What is that?" She asked, pointing her finger up at the cake. I glanced down at her then at the words written on top, laughing quietly.
"It's a cake for daddy. Did you remember that his birthday is tomorrow?" I reminded her. Luke was receiving a present from both of us, one was an RC car and another was three plane tickets to New York. I'm sure you can guess who got Luke what.
"Primrose?" Luke called as he walked into the kitchen.
"What?" I answered, realizing that Scarlett had answered at the same time as me. Luke's eyes widened as he stared at the both of us.
He put his hand to his forehead, "Oh my God." He mumbled. He looked up at his and shook his head. "Who chose to give you guys the same name?" He asked.
I raised an eyebrow at him, "That was you." I reminded him.
He waved me off as if it didn't matter, "Anyways, I'm referring to the little one here." He smiled down at Scarlett as she skipped back over to him.
They were discussing school and how excited she was for kindergarten and Luke seemed just as enthusiastic. It was then I realized how he loved someone just as much as me and it was Scarlett. If there ever came a time where he was in another spot of darkness he had both me and her to help him out and restore everything good.
I guess that's what happens when we collide.
-
A/N:
cheesy ending give me life
sorry if you hated this, it was sort of generic, but i'm happy with it!!!
**OKAY DON'T DELETE THIS YET** i'll be putting up little snippets of their lives, like from when they were younger to when they're 1,000 years old and i think i'll just be adding onto this, unless you want me to make a whole new book then i guess i could do that, it just wouldn't be a story
ONE SHOTS ARE STILL GOING ON, THERE IS NO LIMITATIONS AND THE DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 25TH!!
again, thank you thank you thank you for literally everything i love you fam!! :)