Emily's POV

Tuesday. A day after which the calendar literally goes WTF. Who invented the days anyway? I am going to strangle the person who gave Monday the name 'Monday'. Tuesday is just as bad. Anyways...

I woke up squinting at the sunlight and stretched out my arms and legs. I yawn loudly and make a weird sound, then heard Luke say,

"Finally! The bear wakes up from her hibernation."

I shoot him a glare and enter the bathroom. I take in my reflection and visibly cringe from how horrible I look. My eyes are red from crying last night and my face feels like plastic from the dried up tears. My hair looks like a bird's nest and I have a massive headache.

I sigh and start brushing my teeth. I take a warm shower and dress up in my daily attire, jeans and a black t-shirt. I brush my hair and tie it back in a ponytail. I never wear make up, so I walk out of the bathroom. I don't see Luke anywhere so I assume he's gone out.

Classes on Tuesday don't start until noon so we have the morning free. I sit on my desk and stare at the stack of books on my desk. I don't have any homework or any important test today so I get up again and sit on my bed. I take out my guitar and tune it again. Its only been two days since I played my guitar but to me it seems like a lifetime.

I start playing random tunes letting my mind wander about different things. I remember the memory of my dad teaching me to play the guitar for the first time when I was ten. I smile remembering the day...

-Flashback-

"C'mon now give me a C chord." Dad says.

I try putting in my fingers on the right frets and then press the strings. I give a strum but most of it comes out mute. I sigh getting frustrated.

"Try again honey." My dad says, encouragingly.

"I cant. My fingers are aching." I whine. My dad chuckles, showing his perfect white teeth. He takes the guitar from me and takes my hands. He starts rubbing the red fingers to soothe the pain.

"You will get used to it, princess." He says, rubbing my small hands.

"I hate playing guitar." I mumble. Dad laughs again and continues to rub my hands.

"Don't give up so fast, princess. Have hope and faith. You remember what I told about hope?" he asks, his brown eyes staring at my own brown ones. I nod eagerly.

"HOPE. Hold On, Pain Ends." I reply, quoting exactly what he had told me.

"Exactly. Have patience Emily." He says. I nod. He then softly adds,

"Remember, pain is temporary but quitting is forever."

-Flashback Ends-

I smile remembering how determined I was to learn to play the guitar the next day. Dad and I used to sit on the backyard porch for hours. He would always rub ice on my fingers when they hurt too much or got cut. He taught me how to improvise tunes and change chords. We would make new tunes and sing songs together. It was a perfect father daughter relationship.

He taught me that quitting is never the answer. You have to endure pain to achieve happiness. I chuckle remembering how I was going to quit playing guitar so easily because I didn't want to suffer the pain but now I just cant stop playing. I have grown so attached to this hobby. I am addicted to it.

It calms my nerves. Playing guitar and singing give me an internal pleasure. Its an outlet for me to escape from reality and live just like it used to be before.

"Honey, I'm home!" a voice enters my ears as Luke walks in the dorm. I roll my eyes at his childish behavior and look down staring at my guitar.

"You okay, pumpkin?" Luke asks, sitting on my bed. I give him a weak smile and nod.

"I'm fine. Where were you by the way?" I ask.

"I went to get us breakfast." He says, taking out two sandwiches and wraps from a plastic bag.

He hands me a sandwich and takes a wrap for himself. I look at the sandwich in my hands warily.

"Start eating, Ems." Luke says, taking a bite from his wrap. I sigh and take a small bite.

I look up to Luke who is staring at the desk thinking deeply about something. I notice that his eyes are slightly red and he has a tired look on his flawless face.

"You look tired." I blurt out. He looks at me and gives me a warm smile.

"I'm fine. Just need to catch up on some sleep." He replies, taking another bit from his wrap. I nod and take another small bit from my sandwich.

We eat in silence. Its not awkward. It's a comfortable silence. I look down at my sandwich and see that I've eaten only a quarter of it and already feel full. Just like yesterday. I sigh and push the sandwich towards Luke. He sighs and looks at me.

"Eat more, Ems." He says, pushing the sandwich towards me again.

"I'm full." I say. Looking down, ashamed.

"Just two more bites?" he asks.

"I cant." I reply.

"Just try, Emily. For me?" he asks, softly. I look up at him and see a look of hope in his face. His eyes have a determination in them. My heart melts at his attempt to help me. The determined look on his face reminds me of my father. How he was always determined to complete a task, no matter how small or big it was.

I take the sandwich from him and take a slow bite. Luke has finished his wrap and is now sitting cross-legged on my bed fiddling with his phone. I take in his features. His vibrant blue eyes that can put the sky to shame. His soft brown hair that is always messy yet very sexy at the same time. His pink lips that are neither too thin nor too plump. Just perfect. Oh how would they feel against-...

I quickly shake my head and get rid of the thoughts.

He is just a friend. I remind myself.

I quickly take another small bit from the sandwich and gulp it down, trying to keep it down. I nudge Luke who looks up and give the sandwich to him. He smiles and takes the sandwich, he hands me a small bottle of water.

"That's my girl. I knew you could do it." He says. My heart flutters when he says, 'my girl'. I feel somewhat proud of myself for finally eating more than what I had ate last night. Progress.

I drink some water and lay back on my bed. Stretching my legs open so now they lie on Luke's laps.

"Your feet smell, you know?" he says, pushing my feet away.

"Shut up." I say, rolling my eyes. We sit in silence until I check the time. 11:40am.

"C'mon, its time to leave." I say, getting up and putting on my converse.

We both get ready for the classes and leave the dorm together.

"I'll meet you at lunch in the cafeteria." He says.

"Okay." I reply and we walk to our separate classes.

...........................

I munch on an apple while I sit beside Justin in the cafeteria. Its 3pm in the afternoon, its pretty late for lunch but we have late classes on Tuesdays. We make a small talk and I see Luke and Alex entering the cafeteria. They both sit across from us and Luke smiles when he sees I'm eating an apple.

"Where are Alice and Cole?" I ask them curiously.

"They have gone on a lunch date." Alex replies. I nod. How cute. Cole and Alice are literally a match made in heaven. They both gleam when they talk to each other. They have been together since high school, which is pretty awesome considering the fact that relationships don't last too long now a days. They are #relationship_goals.

We all eat peacefully. Luke is revising for a test while eating some noodles while Alex and Justin are talking about something and I am trying to finish my apple. I almost halfway done through my apple when I feel full. Luke is busy studying and not looking at my way so I kick lightly at his feet to get his attention, not wanting to look suspicious to Justin and Alex.

Luke looks up at me and raises his eyebrows. I wave the apple lightly in my hand, signaling him that I'm full. He nods but puts up three fingers, telling me to eat three more bites. I sigh and take a small bite. He smiles encouragingly at me.

Wow. I really feel motivated today. I feel like I'm not alone anymore. That I have someone who cares about me. Someone who is willing to help me just like my parents. That someone is Luke.

I smile and take another small bite from the apple and soon enough, I take the third bite and gulp it down. I nudge him again, telling him that I've eaten three bites. He smiles widely looking proud of me and does a quiet round of applause discreetly. I feel butterflies in my stomach from his kind and genuine actions and feel myself smiling along with him.

Justin and Alex get up to leave for the last class of the day and bid us goodbye. I throw the half eaten apple away and walk out with Luke from the cafeteria.

"Well done, pumpkin" he says, patting my back slightly. I nod and we continue walking. When Luke turns to enter his class I wish him,

"All the best for the test."

"Thanks" he says, giving me a smile and entering the class. I walk to my own class.

An hour later, I walk out from the class sighing in relief. This was the last class, now I'm free! I decide to wait for Luke to complete his test so we could walk back together so I start walking towards his class.

I see that the test is still going on so I just wait outside leaning on the wall.

"Oh look! The fatty is back!" exclaims an all too familiar voice. Millie. I sigh and decide to ignore her, thinking she would leave me alone. But I guess I was wrong when I was turned around forcefully to meet a furious Millie. Two of her minions are behind her snickering.

"Don't you dare ignore me, bitch." She sneers. I sigh again, rolling my eyes.

"How can I help you?" I ask annoyed.

"Don't use that tone with me. I hope you have denied to go to the party with Luke, you whore." She attacks with her words.

"No I haven't." I say, trying to keep calm. I see her getting angrier.

If looks could kill, I'd already be six feet under.

She comes closer to me. Her face only inches from mine.

"Don't you get it? He doesn't want go with you. You're so pathetic." She says. Her words icy and cold.

I take a deep breath. I cant let her get to me this time. I exhale loudly, trying to maintain my composure.

"Actually, I want to go with her." A voice says from behind us. I turn around to see Luke standing behind me.

"Don't you see it Luke? She will just embarrass you." Millie says, a little surprised.

"I'm pretty sure she wont." Luke says with a blank expression on his face.

"Luke, you and me both know I'm a much better choice. She must have persuaded you to go with her." She says, placing a hand on her chest, pointing to herself.

"I honestly think Emily is a much better company and no, she did not persuade me. She is not desperate like you." Luke says. Millie looks taken aback, not expecting the rejection. Burn bitch burn!

When she doesn't say anything, Luke adds,

"And I think its time to go. Farewell Millie. Sorry not sorry." he finishes. He places his warm hand on my upper back and guides me back to our dorm.

'our' dorm. Hehe.

I chuckle a little at how he spoke to her and see her speechless expression. Warmth spreads through my body at how Luke defended me. Although I do feel disappointed with myself. I couldn't stand up for myself against those bitches. I was letting them get to me. Again. I'm such a coward.

"Thanks for backing me up back there..." I trail off while we are walking. He flashes me a warm smile and I literally die.

"No problem at all." He says.

"I couldn't even stand up for myself..." I mutter looking down, feeling ashamed of myself.

"Its okay, Emily. Don't worry about it, okay?" he ensures me. I nod, not saying anything.

Once we reach the dorm, we part in different directions busying ourselves. I start doing my homework while he walks into the washroom for a shower. We just do our work until its dinnertime.

"I'm going to buy us some dinner, alright?" Luke says, tying his shoes.

"Yup." I reply distracted, not taking my eyes off the novel I'm currently reading. I hear a thud signaling that Luke is gone.

Ten minutes later, Luke walks back in with packed pasta. He sits cross-legged on my bed across from me and opens the pack. He puts one in front of me but I don't take my eyes off the novel. Its just the last ten pages left.

"Ems, start eating, your pasta will get cold." He says. I hum in reply, not paying attention to what he is saying.

After a minute, the novel is yanked from my hands.

"Hey!" I protest.

"I told you to eat." Luke says examining the cover of the novel. I sigh and start taking small bites from the pasta.

"The Da Vinci Code." Luke says taking a bite from his plate.

"Yeah, it's a pretty intense book. I cant believe that Teabing was actually behind all that." I say shaking my head. I actually liked Teabing's character.

"I agree. The book's good. Although I doubted Teabing from the beginning. He was a sketchy character." Luke says.

"Yup. Dan Brown just drops the bomb anytime." I say.

"Yeah. That guy is just epic. I want to know how his brain works." He says.

Dan Brown is pretty epic. He surely grasps the reader's attention.

Luke's plate is already empty and he is now reading the book again. I look down at my own plate to find it still full. I've only taken like ten bites and I'm full.

"Luke." I softly call out to him. He looks up from the book towards me. I slowly motion towards my plate.

"It looks like you've barely touched it, Ems. Eat more." He says.

"I cant." I say slowly.

"You can Emily. Try." He encourages. I shake my head no.

"I'm full, Luke. I cant. I'm sorry." I whisper, looking down ashamed. I hear him sigh.

"Its okay, pumpkin. Don't apologize." He says. I nod, not looking up. I'm still ashamed of myself.

"Look at me, Ems." Luke says softly. I meet his blue eyes.

"Don't feel ashamed. Its okay. I'm not forcing you to eat." He says, looking at me intensely.

"Okay" I mutter.

He takes my plate and finishes the rest of the pasta. How can he eat two plates of pasta so quick?

"You eat like a pig." I blurt out. He puts his hand on his heart and pretends to be hurt.

"A man needs food to live, Emily! How can you say such a thing?!" he says dramatically.

Idiot.

"Shut up." I say, taking my book back. He laughs and clears the plastic plates.

"Do you mind if I practice on your guitar? Haven't got the chance to do that lately." He asks, sitting back on my bed.

"Sure." I reply and resume reading my book. I hear him strumming various chords. I look at him trying to play a strumming pattern.

He looks extremely focused while playing. His eyebrows furrow every time the sound comes out wrong or muted. His tongue sticks out slightly making him look extremely cute. Like a small kid.

I smile at the sight and return to my book.

After completing the book, I get ready for bed. I lie down on my bed and listen to Luke who is still playing the guitar.

"My fingers are aching, Ems!" Luke calls out childishly.

"Rub some ice on them." I reply with closed eyes. He's such a baby sometimes. I hear him opening the mini fridge and taking out ice. I hear him sigh in satisfaction and relief.

"Better?" I ask, not opening my eyes.

"Yeah" he replies.

After some time, I hear the lamp switch off.

"Good night, Ems" Luke says.

"Good night, Luke." I reply but don't close my eyes.

I think about how much he has helped me today. He didn't force me shove food down my throat or didn't stand there staring creepily at me and waiting for me to finish my food. He acted just like my parents and aunt Tess. He was patient. He encouraged me to take a bite or two extra, just like my parents. He showed me how proud he was to see me trying. It gave me hope.

Hope that maybe, everything will be okay.

With that thought, I felt myself being pulled into a dreamless slumber.

.............................................................................................................................................

SHOULD I CONTINUE?

Nothing is going my way right now. I am terribly sick while my birthday is approaching.

The next update will be on my birthday. Probably.

Love you all for reading this far!

Bye!