luke had fallen asleep on the couch minutes after they'd entered the irwin home. he wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but when he came to, ashton and noelle were sitting on the floor in front of the couch, watching a movie.

"hey guys," he croaked, voice hoarse with fatigue. the two turned their heads to him and smiled, noelle placing a kiss on his forehead.

"how are you feeling?" she questioned.

"better," he replied, stretching as he sat upright. "less tired. have you guys been there the whole time?"

"pretty much," ashton shrugged. "noelle took a nap, but other than that, we've been here."

"you don't mind if we go out around town do you?" luke raised an eyebrow at his friend after a moment.

"not at all," he chirped. "enjoy yourselves. call me if you need anything."

"will do," the taller blonde got up and took noelle by the hand, leading her out the front door after grabbing his keys.

as soon as they'd gotten into the car, the air went solemnly silent as luke planned out where he was going to take her. he could tell by the way that she tensed that she noticed it, but was glad when she didn't bring it up.

the decision to take her was whirling around in his mind since they'd driven to brooklyn, and even as they approached the area did he have second thoughts about it.

"luke, is this...?" noelle's voice was quiet as she stared through the car window at the sign they'd parked in front of.

"yeah. it's the cemetery they're buried in," he replied just as softly.

her dimple appeared on her cheek as she pursed her lips, obvious trepidation crossing her features.

"are you sure?"

"no," he admitted. "but i trust you - literally - with my life. so i think you deserve to meet them."

then he heard her seat belt click and the car door open, wind blowing inside the car as she stepped outside. a small ounce of relief flooded his stomach as he exited as well, wrapping an arm around her as he led her to their graves.

when they stopped in front of the three marble stones in the soil, luke could only bring her closer. his mind was filled with wishes that they could've been alive to meet her. that they could've physically hugged her and seen just how beautiful she was.

"hi guys," luke's voice wavered just as it had the first time he'd spoken to them. "i'm back and this time i brought someone really special to me." he breathed in and out slowly, trying to compose his thoughts.

"this is noelle. she's my girlfriend. gosh, you guys would've loved her. she's amazing."

he looked down at her only to find that she was already looking up at him in awe and adoration, making this entire thing a hundred times easier for him to do.

"hi mr. and mrs. hemmings, jack," she looked at the graves with a sad smile. "your son is so indescribably strong. i'm sure that you're all so proud of him. he's been through so much and he's grown up to be a fine young man."

luke pressed a kiss to her head in silent thanks as she continued, still having so much to say but not enough words to say it.

"honestly, thank you for raising luke and forming him into the person he is today. i just want you three to know that i love him with every inch of my being and that i promise to look after him as long as i continue to do so. which will be for a very long time, i can tell you that."

"forever and always," he mumbled her own words into her hair and she smiled serenely. "told you guys that she was a keeper."

the two teens laughed, the weight of the world still on their shoulders. still, they figured that it was alright as long as they got to share the weight together.

-

the rest of their day and a few days after that were spent with ashton, doing what you'd expect three eighteen / nineteen year olds to do. watching movies, building forts, singing too loudly really badly.

luke himself felt rather at ease in the presence of two of the most important people in his life. he finally felt the sense of freedom that he'd been longing for since the accident.

truth be told, he felt almost guilty about it, but he knew that his parents and brother would encourage it, saying that it wasn't his fault. and for once, he'd believe them.

some time during an impromptu dance battle, luke had left to go buy some food from the groceries. the other two had both offered to come along, but the tall boy refused for the sake of being polite. besides, he did need some thinking time for himself as well.

once he'd returned, mind clearer than before and three plastic bags in his hand, he opened the front door to hear noelle and ashton in deep conversation.

"-don't want him getting hurt," she was saying. luke shut the door silently behind him as to keep up with the illusion that he was still out.

"you have to tell him, noelle."

tell him what? he was confused and semi-hurt that she was keeping something from him.

"this whole running away with him thing," she paused and he imagined her biting her lip. "it was kind of an excuse to ignore my problems. to put off telling him what's going to happen."

ashton sighed loudly. "you're only going to make things worse by waiting. you know that, don't you?"

"of course i do! don't you think it bothers me that i've been keeping this huge secret and he thinks everything's fine?"

luke heard shuffling and he vaguely wanted to look at what they were doing. when noelle spoke again, it was muffled, suggesting that she was burying her head into his friend's shoulder.

"i don't want to leave, ash. i can't leave him. i don't have the capacity to say goodbye again."

his heart fell into the depths of his stomach and his grip on the grocery bags became so slack that he had to gently set them down so he wouldn't completely drop them and blow his cover.

goodbye was a word he'd never wanted to hear come out of her mouth. now that it had, he wasn't sure why she was saying it.

"i understand that it's hard," ashton soothed her. "and i get that you're scared. i guess the best thing you can do is enjoy the time you have left together. you just got here and i think that maybe you're right. you two could use some last few days together before...y'know."

"sorry," she muttered, sniffles coming soon afterwards. "you met me barely two days ago and i'm already dumping all my problems onto you."

"it's no problem," he chuckled. "just try and think about what i've said, alright? luke is one of the most understanding people i've ever known. he'll move on."

"that's the problem," noelle whimpered. "what if he does move on? what do i do then? i'll have lost the one person i've ever loved like this."

the prospect of him ever moving on from her was so insane, luke nearly scoffed aloud. his feelings for her were too strong - they hit too deep - for him to ever move on from. he could try, but he would never succeed.

that aside, the rest of him was heartbroken. she was leaving and the sound of her torn apart voice sent waves of agony through his veins. he wanted to know the whole story. needed to.

why was she leaving?

when was she leaving?

was it because of him?

too many questions racked his brain and he was sure that he would barely have the time to get the answers to half of them, which further managed to crush the remaining pieces of his heart.

luke knew then that acting as if he hadn't heard this conversation would be next to impossible. in order to stop himself from having to endure more, he reopened the door and closed it slightly louder to be sure that they heard him enter this time.

he lifted the bags back into his shaky hands and plastered on a smile as the pair greeted him at the door. ashton took two of the bags and went back into the kitchen, humming a song nonchalantly, ignoring the slight tension in the room.

noelle took the remaining bag from his hand, hazel eyes meeting blue. from the look that entered hers, he could tell that she could read his distraught expression perfectly. she knew that he'd heard their conversation.

"i think i owe you an explanation."

+

the drama llama has arrived!! i wonder what's going onnnnn??? where's noelle going??? oh no!!!

LOL JK I KNOW AND I FEEL BAD FOR MAKING THIS ALL HAPPEN BUT ITS ESSENTIAL FOR THE SEQUEL.

SPEAKING OF, THE INTRO TO MY SEQUEL IS POSTED!! THE TITLE IS 'ZERO' AND IT'LL BE KINDA SAD I THINK BC THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THE REST OF THIS STORY AREN'T GOING TO BE VERY FUN.

SORRY IN ADVANCE GUYS. IS IT ME OR ARE MY CHAPTERS GETTING WORSE IDK HELP I'M JUST TRYING TO BALANCE BETWEEN SCHOOL AND VOLLEYBALL AND THIS

QUESTION OF THE DAY: all time favorite book / book series?

mine would have to be the great gatsby. idk i read it in 8th grade and i didn't get it, so i read it again last year and i feLL IN LOVE. the writing is so eloquent and hard to understand and i love it when writers make you think

it's a fetish of mine (jk not really i just love it)