Lost Without You » [Luke Patterson]-Au

Chapter 3

Tanna Carson

"Don't even think about it if you're driving her home Luke." Alex says with a serious expression on his face leaning back against the counter with a beer in his hand.

"I wasn't going to." Luke holds his hands up in defense, letting his eyes trail away from the drinks towards Alex.

I laugh quietly, watching the interaction between the two as I walk over to pick up a sealed beer can.

I can feel their eyes on me, watching my actions as I walk back over to Luke, placing my hand on Luke's shoulder while holding out the can in front of him.

"It's okay baby, I'll drive us home." I smile, watching his eyebrows raise and facial expression turn into one of surprise as he slowly takes the can from me.

"Tan, are you sure?"

"It's not like I'm old enough to drink anyways, besides, beer is disgusting." He nods, biting his lip before looking away from me to open the can.

"I hope you're not planning on driving home either Al." I say, letting my hand fall from Luke's shoulder to intertwine with his hand as I keep my eyes on Alex.

"You know I wouldn't. Willie's going to drop me home later."

"Ooh, yeah?" I say, teasing him playfully, laughing as his cheeks turn a light shade of pink underneath the dull kitchen lights. "You and Willie alone, so many possibilities."

"Who are you to talk, you and Luke go at it like rabbits." I couldn't help the way my mouth opened and my cheeks heated up almost immediately, not expecting him to say that.

I hear Luke chuckle deeply next to me, clearly amused with the conversation but it definitely didn't help the situation I landed myself in.

I lifted my head up to look at Luke, who kept his gaze forward as he took a sip of his beer, avoiding my gaze.

"You're avoiding the conversation. Is someone not coming home tonight?" I shake my head, turning back to Alex as he shakes his head.

"Reggie is joining the drive home considering he's already wondered off drinking, if that settles whatever ideas you're playing in your mind right now."

"Do you think he's okay?" I ask curiously, thinking about the way he immediately made his way to the drinks as soon as we got inside.

"He gets a bit wild when he's drunk, maybe we should be a bit worried." Luke says, turning his head to look out to the dance floor as his eyes search for Reggie. "I'm going to go look for him, I'll be back eh?"

I nod, letting my hand drop from his as he walks towards the crowd of people.

"Al, Reg is okay right?" I ask, stepping closer to lean against the counter next to him.

"I think he's okay. He's just been missing Ella a lot, but you know that." I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder as the two of us keep our eyes on the crowd in front of us.

"Yeah, long distance is really hard. I mean, I had to do it with my best friend for years, I'd know." He laughs, nudging me gently before leaning his head on top of mine. "I just don't want Reg to be upset."

"I don't think we can change that unless we physically fly her out. I think we just need to be there for him."

"We can do that." I say softly, thinking about everything until my eyes trail over to Reggie and Luke, downing shots on the other side of the dance floor. "I think Luke found Reggie."

I nudge Alex gently before pointing towards the two boys who are downing shot after shot.

"Who would have thought Reggie was the bad influence out of the three of you?"

Alex and I both start laughing as soon as his eyes land on the two of them.

"I'm honestly not surprised, Reggie can be really convincing sometimes."

"Speak for yourself, I'm surprised, I thought it'd be the other way round." Another laugh slips out of my lips which soon gets interrupted by Alex's phone beeping.

I feel his head lift off of mine, looking down at the message as I keep my eyes on Luke and Reggie.

"Um, I'll be back, give me a minute Tan." I lift my head up, nodding quickly as I watch Alex make his way outside for a second.

I turn around, grabbing a clean cup and filling it up with water as I wait for Alex to come back.

"Tanna." I turn my head to the side at Don's voice, letting a smile cross my face as he walks over.

"Hey Don, what're you doing here?"

"Um, I'm at the party I guess." His voice comes out as more of a question which makes me laugh at my stupidity.

"Yeah, ignore that, sorry."

"I think I should be the one asking why you're in here alone?" I nod, holding the cup next to my waist before responding.

"Well my boyfriend and dork of a friend are taking shots somewhere and my best friend needed to respond to a message."

"Ah, I guess I just caught you at the right time then."

"I guess you did." I smile at him, watching him smile back before some girl came up to him, tugging him away. "It's okay go, Alex is coming back now."

I wave at him as he gets pulled away into the crowd, turning my gaze to Alex as he walks back over with a bothered expression on his face.

"Al, is everything okay?" I slowly saw his body tense up slightly before relaxing again as he nods.

"Yeah, everything's good. Willie just wasn't feeling well." I nod, smiling at how cute the two of them are together. "I saw Laura."

I felt my body freeze for a split second, following Alex's gaze to the dance floor, only to see that Luke and Reggie had disappeared.

"I'm not worried, I trust Luke." The words that left my lips sounded more like I was trying to convince myself than convince Alex. "I know he wouldn't do anything."

"Luke's not the one you need to be worried about Tan but he's probably more than tipsy at this point and Laura is definitely not someone you can trust."

I bite down on my lip, deep in thought as everything rushes through my mind all at once.

I know Luke and I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me, sober or not, but I can't say the same about Laura.

"Maybe I should go look for him."