Reputation| l.h au|

thirty three

When Luke came home and saw his father sitting in the living room, Luke felt the anger bubble into him yet again. He was mad at his father, so mad because he was the reason his mother ended up as an alcoholic. It was his father's fault. He had cheated on her. Cheating was wrong, so wrong and Luke was so mad that his father chose to cheat and leave his family, his son. 

"Lucas." his father said, nodding. Luke wanted to snort, roll his eyes and shake his head all at once. "My name's not Lucas." he grumbled, in the mood to go into his room and text Rosa the whole night. He had just come home from the hospital. His father didn't even pick him up so Rosa and Luke took the bus. It was nice though, he liked spending time with Rosa.

"Luke." he corrected himself. Luke just stood there, staring at him with no emotions. "We should talk." Andrew sighed, making Luke furrow his eyebrows. He didn't want to talk to his father, he had nothing to say. His father had proven that he didn't want to be a part of Luke's life when he left Luke and his mother. All he did was to send money to them, nothing else. 

Andrew pointed to the couch and Luke rolled his eyes, not really in the mood to have a talk with his father. What were they even going to talk about? Luke hadn't had a proper converstation with his father for years. Should they talk about the weather or something stupid like that? Luke didn't know, so he sat down in the couch and stayed silent.

It was quiet after that. He could feel his father's eyes on him and Luke wanted to tell him to stop staring at him. Staring wasn't nice. His father didn't teach him that, but even Luke knew that staring wasn't nice.

After some minutes, Luke decided to make eye contact with his father, get this over with as quickly as possible. "So Luke, how are you?" Andrew asked. Luke felt the need to snort. How was he? What question was that? "What do you think?" Luke asked, crossing his arms. "I think you're having quite a tough time right now.  I mean with your mother and then going to the hospital." Andrew explained. Luke sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah?" Luke asked, not sure what to say. He didn't want to pour his feelings out to his father. His father lost his chance to be a father when he left Luke and his mother.

"I know we haven't been close, but I'm here now and I want you to be okay. I was thinking that maybe you should move in with me?" Andrew asked. Luke's eyes widened and he wanted to scream, yell and hit something. His father lived so far away from here and he couldn't move for so many reasons. He wanted to be close to Rosa, he wanted to be able to drive to visit his mother and he wanted to stay here. 

"I'm not moving in with you." Luke muttered, his eyes narrowing at his father. How could he actually think that Luke would want to move in with him? His father hadn't cared for Luke enough to stay in his childhood. They only thing he did was to send money, nothing more. Not a phone call, not a visit when he had birthday, nothing. He left Luke with his mother who was so broken and hurt that Luke had to take care of her.

"I think it would be best if you had someone there with you. You shouldn't be alone, Luke. With your mother in rehab and everything, you can't stay in this house alone." Andrew explained. Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm soon eighteen dad. I'm not moving in with you. You live too far away. And I do have someone here with me.". When his father stared laughing a bitter laugh, Luke felt his anger again. It was so hard to stay calm. "You're talking about that girlfriend of yours? Do you seriously think that your relationship will last?". Luke frowned, not liking how his father was laughing at their relationship.

He knew it was a chance that they would break up some time, but he didn't need to think about that now? He loved Rosa and the thought of them breaking up now made him sad. He knew Rosa loved him too.

When Luke didn't say anything, Andrew sighed. "Look, Lucas." he began, but stopped when Luke glared at him. "Luke." he coughed. "I know you're still a teenager and in love, but you're going trough a tough time with your mother and everything. I think it would be best if you just moved in with me.". Luke shook his head, standing up. He was not in the mood to sit and talk more to his father now. "I'm not moving in with you. Not now, not later. I don't really need you here either. I've grown up without a father figure. Hell I grew up with an alcoholic mother and I had to act like a grown up when I was eight. I was the one who cleaned the house, took care of my mum, made dinner and everything. I am sure I'll be just fine on my own. I don't need you. So we can just continue doing what we did before you decided that it was a clever idea to make me move in with you. The only good thin you have done, is to send money and that, I'm thankful for. So let's just continue not staying in touch and do what we did before. I don't need you in my life, I don't fucking need a father!" Luke yelled.

His father was suprised by Luke's yelling, but Luke was so sick of his father now. He should have known that Luke wasn't going to move in with him. Why would he? They weren't close nor would they ever be. Before Andrew could say anything else, Luke walked up the stairs and away from his father. 

*
When his father hadn't left the morning after, Luke groaned loudly. He was happy he had school though, so he didn't have to talk to his father. During breakfast, They were both quiet. Luke didn't understand why he didn't leave. It didn't look like he wanted to appologize for being away from Luke's life. He just wanted him to live with him for some weird reason and Luke didn't want that. He could take care of himself.

After eating, he got up from the chair and rushed over to his backpack, putting it on. He also put on a beanie before he walked out of the house without saying good bye. It didn't seem like his father minded, he was too busy with his phone anyways.

Luke picked up Rosa and Max after that, driving Max to school first. Rosa looked exhausted and Luke felt bad for her. He grabbed her hand as he drove out of Max's school. "How are you?" he asked, kissing her hand. "Max had nightmares and we were awake the whole night." she sighed. Luke frowned. "His nightmares are always pretty bad and he doesn't want to sleep again after them." she explained. "That sucks." Luke mumbled as Rosa closed her eyes.

She looked so tired and Luke knew she probably felt like hell. When he didn't drive towards the school, she didn't even notice. Luke couldn't let her go to school like this. He knew Rosa wasn't a fan of skipping, but when she was so tired, she wouldn't even focus on school.

When they came to her driveway, Rosa opened her eyes in confusion. "You're not going to school like that. You're too tired." Luke said, walking out of the car and opening the door for her. Rosa didn't protest so she must have been really exhausted. She didn't move from her seat, only opened her arms.  "Can you carry me?" she pouted. 

Luke smiled down at his beautiful girlfriend. Her green eyes were so pleading and he couldn't say no. "Of course, baby." he said, wrapping his arms around her and lifted her up. She leaned her head on his shoulder. She yawned and clung to him which made his heart flutter. He loved how she made Luke feel. He felt loved, he felt cared about.

He laid her down on the couch and Rosa grabbed his hand. "Please don't leave me." she whispered. Luke chuckled, squeezing her small hand. "Wouldn't dream of it, let's cuddle." he said, laying down beside her. Their bodies tangled together and it was perfect how their bodies fit together like this. He liked holding her close, reminding her that she was safe with him. Her hands traced up and down his shoulders and he closed his eyes too, nuzzling his head in the crook of her neck. He could feel her smile and he smiled too.

Rosa smelled like strawberries and he loved the scent. "Play with my hair, please?" Luke begged, grabbing both of her hands. She giggled, tugging lightly at his hair and he kissed her neck slowly. "I love you so much." he whispered, wanting to remind her about it as often as possible. Because he did. He loved her more than she could ever imagine. He hadn't loved anybody like he loved Rosa. With Rosa, everything was okay. No everything was more than okay. Everything he was worried about, everything that bothered him faded away when he laid beside Rosa, hearing her heartbeat and feeling soft breath that tickled his face. 

Luke didn't care about what his father told him. That his relationship with Rosa wouldn't last. Because who was he to know that? He didn't want to worry about the future. He wanted to live in the present with Rosa. He was happy with Rosa and that was all that mattered. They loved each other. No one knew what the future would bring, but who could know that they didn't end up together? No one knew that. 

His relationship with Rosa would be the best one ever. And even if they broke up, he knew he would never forget her. Forget how she made him feel. Because Rosa was the first girl he loved and maybe she would be the last too? No one knew, but it wasn't up to anyone else than them. They would form their future and everything was perfect between them now, so that was what Luke was going to focus on.