Love, Dahlia // B2

[28]

Luke's P.O.V.

"The club is empty," I mumble as I sit alone on the stage.

"I need something new," Caleb says from behind me. I quickly stand up and face him.

"Sir," I say, bowing my head out of habit.

"You've been playing for too long. They're bored of me," he says, rubbing his forehead. He looks drained, almost old. His usually slicked back, voluminous hair is flat and clinging to his forehead. It was odd to see him so stressed. I wasn't sure how to feel or react.

"Ca-"

"Leave me to think," he cut me off. Turning around and walking off the stage. I had noticed then that he wasn't wearing one of his glamorous suits. Instead he wore plain black pants, cuffed at the ankles and a white button down with suspenders. He looked like a newspaper boy from the 1915, his usual speakeasy-owning, bootlegger look gone.

I didn't hesitate to poof out of the club. I appear in the Molina house, only to find it empty. I shake my head and go up to Dahlia's room. It's empty. I check the studio, peering in through the windows. It's empty. I quickly sit down and focus on Dahlia. I find her sitting in a chair, holding her hands out to someone.

"Dahlia?"

She lifts her head up, turning her head slightly. She must have heard me.

"Where are you?"

She shakes her head and smiles. "I'll be right back, Jake. I have to go to the bathroom."

I watched as she walked down the hallway and pulled a phone out of her pocket. She held it up to her ear before talking to me.

"Hey, buddy," she says. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" I repeat. "I'm at your house and you're not here. Are you in a hospital? What is that?" I ask, staring at the AED machine behind her.

"Yeah, I'm at the hospital right now. I'm seeing visiting my friend Jake. He was just telling me how he was home for not even two days before he had to come back to the hospital," she says. I can see her eyes filling with tears. "But he might be coming home soon, so that's good."

"Dahl?" I ask. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she shakes her head, wiping her cheek. "Yeah I'm okay."

"I'm going there," I shake my head. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Baker's hospital on the north end of L.A." she answers. "But don't expect me to talk to you a lot once you get here. I'm not leaving Jake again."

She "hangs up" the phone and walks back toward the hospital room. I open my eyes and shake out my hair. I quickly stand up and think about Baker's Hospital, trying to force myself to focus on it. I won't show up at the right place if I don't think hard enough about it.

I appear on an empty side street. Somewhere on Hollywood Boulevard. I look through the smog in the alley at a wall on the far end. There it is.

That damn couch.

*****
Dahlia's P.O.V.

I sit back down next to Jake and grab his hand. "Hey. How ya doing?"

"The same as I was doing since the last time you asked, Dahlia," he chuckles. "Which was 15 seconds ago."

"Right. Sorry," I close my eyes and look at the ground.

"How are you doing?" Jake asks.

I look back up. "Me?"

Jake turns his head, looking around the room. "Well, seeing as you're the only one here. Yes, you."

"I'm-" I pause, thinking. Was I okay? Was I hurting? I guess I hadn't really thought about myself much since I heard about Jake. "I'm tired."

Jake slides over in his bed, creating enough room for another person to lay. "Come on." He tips his head up, encouraging me to lay next to him.

"Jake-"

"I assure you it's better than trying to sleep in that chair all the time," he cuts me off. "And I'm not going to be gross. Trust me Dahlia, I'm not into you."

I laugh a little before standing up and climbing into the bed. He's right. It is better than the chair. I lay on my side, facing Jake. He looks bigger up this close. Or maybe it's just because of how small I've gotten.

"I'm assuming you don't sleep well at home," Jake whispers.

"No," I admit.

"That explains why you always fall asleep here," he laughs.

"I don't do it on purpose," I mumble. "I'm not trying to be a party pooper."

"Shut up," Jake chuckles. "You need to start worry about yourself too you know. You can't be up thinking about me all the time."

"I'm allowed to worry about my friends," I argue.

"Just," Jake runs a hand through my hair. It's more soothing than he knows. "Get some sleep."

"It's the middle of the afternoon," I point out.

"It's Saturday, you can sleep whenever you want," he strokes my head. It's enough to get me to close my eyes and keep them closed. It isn't long before I can feel my body slowly shutting down, falling into deep sleep.

A.N.

Hey guys!

We're driving home from South Dakota right now. My mom is letting my brother and I listen to Julie and The Phantoms in the car (my dad was actually singing Unsaid Emily earlier and it made me fully understand where I just my beautiful singing voice from😌)

Anywho! I'll probably update soon again because I've still got 3 and a half hours to get home.

Love y'all!

-Redd

💫🦋🧔🏼👁👄👁🤠💕☠🌟👹🌲😤🤷‍♀️🐰🌵