a/n: hello silent readers! don't be silent! ☺️ <3 enjoy your reading lovelies!

*Laurel's P.O.V*
September 1st

It's been three months since I last talked to Luke, and some aspects in my life certainly changed. For instance, nobody can talk about Australia, penguins, dogs, vegemite, Nemo and How I Met Your Mother. His name is completely out of my vocabulary, I haven't listened to 5sos or AC/DC since June. Hey There Delilah? I cannot even think about it. I deleted Beautiful Goodbye from my playlist. One Call Away doesn't even exist anymore.

However, a lot of situations are not under my control, and when any of those things show up on my way I hold my breath and cry when I get home. I've lost so much weight; I can't eat properly yet. I've got bags under my eyes and my hair is a complete mess all the time. For some reason I don't care about the way I look anymore.

Riley has tried lots of times to go out with me and have fun, but I end up feeling "sick" and we return so I can lay down and brood over the moments I had with Luke. Those were the best of my life, and now I've got nothing left but this: memories.

It's Sunday, 4:42pm. Riley and I are watching some Hitchcock movie. She's got the bowl of popcorn on her lap just for herself while I am holding my knees against my chest on top of the armchair, DV by my side. I'm actually not paying attention to the movie but since Riley insisted on it I decided to pretend I was feeling better.

My phone rings. I lazily stand up to grab it on top of the table, knowing that it's probably Jim asking for my report - which I should have done this week but didn't because I can't work when I'm sad - but I stop my hand on its way when I see who's calling.

My heart is beating like crazy.

"What the hell?" I whisper, my stomach twisting and contracting. "Huh... Riley?"

"Hmm?"

"Michael is calling me"

She turns around fast as a lightning, her eyes wide open.

"Michael Michael? That Michael?" She frowns.

I nod, holding my breath.

"What do I do?" I'm panicking.

"Don't pick up!"

Both of us wait patiently until the phone stops floundering. When it does I let out a relieved sigh, turning around to get back to my armchair.

However, it rings again.

"He won't quit" Riley analyses. "You'd better answer, then. It could be important"

I bite my lip, throwing the phone at her.

"There, you pick up!" I point at it, shaking. "Put it on the loudspeaker"

Riley looks at me like I'm crazy but ends up doing as I say.

"Uh, hello?" She says.

"Hi, who's this? Laurel?" asks Michael on the other side.

Whoa, it's been a long time since I last listened to this accent.

"No, this is Riley, I'm her, um, her friend. We live together."

"But this is Laurel's phone, isn't it? Where is she?" He enquires. Riley looks at me freaked out and I shake my head.

"She's... not here. She's taking a shower." She squints and I curse her on my mind for being a worse liar than me.

"Oh, okay... When she gets back can you please ask her to text me? It's important."

I wave at Riley for her to look at me and whisper ask what is it about at her. She nods.

"Uh... what's, what's it about?" She asks. Michael remains silent for a moment.

"Laurel, you're there, aren't you? You're listening."

Shit.

Riley's jaw drops and she hands me the phone. I take it and nervously take it to my ear, turning off the loudspeaker.

"Hum... hi Michael." I gulp. "It's been quite some time."

"Yes, tell me about it" He replies. "Listen up, I would never call you if it wasn't important, but we need your help."

"For what?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Luke is completely out of his mind. He doesn't stop drinking and it's hindering his career. Our manager already threatened kicking him out of the band for some time until he gets better. He shows up out of orbit to the gigs, he sleeps all the time and he's fucking whomever he finds available at the clubs he goes to every goddamn night."

I feel like throwing up.

"And what ca-can I do, exactly?" I stutter, wanting to cry. "We are over, I think you know that."

"Yes, I do, and this is why he's so miserable. He doesn't listen to anyone, not even his family. We are seriously worried about him and the dudes and I agree that you're our last hope."

I'm not okay with this.

"I still don't get what's my part in all this, Mikey." I shake my head, walking towards my bedroom and collapsing on my bed.

"Laurel, you're the reason why everything is happening." He explains, impatiently. "Liz suggested that we should ask you to talk with him, maybe it makes him feel better."

I'm shaking so much right now, and I'm extremely nervous.

"I, I don't think I should, I..."

"Laurel, please. We are begging you. Perhaps you haven't checked his social media, or the videos of the gigs, or even the news about Luke, but it's notorious to everybody that there's something going on with him."

"Do you think I'm not suffering with this?" I defend myself. "I can't eat, I'm a complete mess, I don't work properly, I don't go out, I barely talk. He's not the only one suffering!"

"But apparently you're dealing with it better than he is since you've found another guy already" He spits.

I stop.

"What?"

Michael groans.

"Luke saw a photo on your Instagram. He thinks that's Jim. Everything got worse when he saw it. He thinks you moved on."

"Jim is a friend, oh my God" I massage my temples, feeling the tears forming in my eyes. "I can't believe this is all my fault."

Michael sighs.

"Hey, sorry I freaked out... but I'm very worried about Luke... I care a lot about him, and I know you do too. So please, just consider it. I think if you simply talk to him, say hi, things will be better, it will help him. Please."

I'm speechless. Now I'm crying, I know I am. If Luke is bad, I'm bad. This cannot be happening.

"I'll think about it. And then I'll text you."

Michael sighs, relieved.

"Thank you. We're counting on you"

I get back to the living room and Riley is shaking her legs in expectation.

"So?"

"Luke is in trouble," I whine, wiping my eyes. "because of me. Michael wants me to help. Luke's mother suggested I should talk to him."

"And will you?"

"I'm afraid the walls I'm building might just fall down and I'll have to start all over." I mourn. "Michael said I should check out information about Luke if I wanted to check if it was all true."

"Then let's do it."

So, I begin my research. Firstly I go on gossiping websites, and they were all talking about how Luke's good looks seem to have decreased considerably. Some even have pictures of him leaving nightclubs with different women. I feel sick. Even more when I look at his face. He's really unhappy.

He got into three fights with paparazzi. Perez Hilton said Luke has been going out with A again, but that's no news for me. I skip this part, otherwise I may just want to punch someone.

Riley loads YouTube videos while I unblock him on Twitter and check his tweets.

i can't sleep

i deleted all acdc songs from my playlist

*tweets something funny*

:)

i'm asking for your help, i am going through hell, afraid nothing can save me but the sound of your voice..

I stop at this one. This is a Maroon 5 song called How. I tweeted some of its lyrics once, before him. It was: "why does the one you love become the one who makes you want to cry?" but I never thought he would read it.

"Laurel, check this out" Riley passes me her phone. It was from a concert in Jakarta. Before it's over Luke says something to Ashton and he nods. So he comes back and announces he's going to cover a song that means a lot to him at the moment.

They start playing How.

My heart literally stops in a mix of sadness and excitement.

"Do you think that was for me?" I ask Riley. She shrugs.

"Well, he is a musician. Musicians usually say things through music, don't they?"

After the song is over the boys thank the audience and Luke is the first one to leave the stage, taking his hand to his eyes; looks like he's crying.

Now I'm the one who's crying.

"Riley... He looks sorrowful, depressed. Could this all be because of me?" I cover my mouth with my hand.

"Laurel, have you looked yourself in the mirror lately? You're also a disaster-- oh, but no offense." She responds. I gasp.

"I'm feeling a terrible human being" I hide my face, silently crying. Riley wraps her arm around me.

"Baby, it's about time you both fix this situation, isn't it? All you need to do is talk to him. I believe that both you and him will feel better. It doesn't hurt to try."

I look up at Riley and nod like a child. So I text Michael.

I'm gonna talk to him.

In less than 5 minutes Michael is calling again. I'm sweating, shaking, about to pass out.

"Hey" I pick up in a shaky voice.

"I'm gonna call him, wait." Michael replies. I hear him screaming Luke's name a bunch of times and weird noises. A voice I know very well mumbles something. "Take this call, there's someone who wants to talk with you, man"

Luke coughs a couple times and then groggily picks up.

"Hello? Who's this?"

My heart stops at the sound of this voice.

"Hi... it's me." I gulp.

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That was a long chapter haha but I love it so much, it's my second favorite. What's happening next? Vote, comment! Don't forget to tell me what you think! Thank you for reading this, I love you for that!

Stay beautiful 💗 xo