caught☽ luke | ✓

Nine | Blue

[ i just wanna say upfront that this is my favorite chapter that i've written so far ok bye ]

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At school on monday, Luke sat with Audrey at lunch, who was doodling into her notebook. Something was different about her, but Luke couldn't figure out what it was.

"Is something wrong?" he finally asked her, knowing that there was definitely something wrong. She was usually always so confident and bright, but now she seemed insecure, and maybe a little broken.

Before they had even kissed on Luke's roof, Audrey seemed to be acting strange. Was it something he did? Luke didn't know, but he also didn't know why the brown haired girl was even in front of his house that night to begin with. Did something happen at her house that made her want to leave?

"No, I'm fine," she whispered, giving Luke a weak smile. Her hair was hanging loosely in front of her face, and Luke desperately wanted to run his fingers through it and make her feel better.

"Audrey, I know you're not. Tell me what's wrong," he said, feeling a certain confidence within himself that he usually didn't feel.

At first, Audrey didn't say anything, but then, as if remembering that she could trust him, she sighed and leaned her head on Luke's shoulder.

"It's not a big deal. It's just my parents. They've been fighting my sister about getting custody over me again, and I really don't want them to. I was in such a bad place when I lived with them. I don't know what to do," she told Luke, who draped his arm around her.

"Why do they want custody again?" Luke questioned her.

She shrugged. "My sister has a baby now. I mean, I guess it would be best if I didn't live with her because I know that she won't be able to provide for me much longer, but I just can't stand the thought of living with my parents. Luke, they destroyed me. I don't want them to do it again."

As soon as the first tear fell down her cheek, Luke was hugging Audrey tightly, not wanting to let go. Seeing her in pain put him in pain, and all he wanted to do was to make everything better.

He had no idea where he stood with Audrey, especially after their kiss on the roof. He couldn't tell if it was just a friendly kiss, or if Audrey was finally starting to have feelings for Luke. Either way, Luke just wanted to be there for her.

"I'm sorry, Audrey. Don't cry, please don't cry," Luke told her, wiping her tears away. "It'll be okay."

"I'm sorry, Luke," she apologized, realizing that she had gotten her makeup all over Luke's flannel. "And I'm sorry for being so fucking confusing and messed up and-"

Luke cupped her face gently in his hands and looked into her teary eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't be sorry, alright? It's okay," Luke assured her, then finally ran his fingers through her long brown hair.

"Can we go? Please," Audrey asked Luke, who nodded and stood up from the table.

"Where are we going?" he asked, grabbing Audreys hand in his and walking out of the lunch room.

"There's this old art room on the second floor. The teacher got fired last semester so people usually only go in there after school to work on their projects. I go there sometimes," Audrey told him, then led the way upstairs to the classroom that Luke had never even heard of.

Audrey sat down in front of an empty canvas and took out a pencil. She began sketching something that Luke didn't recognize until she took out a paintbrush and started stroking various shades of blue onto it. It was effortless, the way that she created art without pausing for a second. She looked as if the only things that existed in the world were the paintbrush and the canvas.

"Is that me?" Luke asked, amazed by the simple sketch that was transforming into a masterpiece before his eyes.

Audrey only used blue, but with different shades. The lightest blue was his skin, and the darkest was his eyes.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry, it just, it calms me down."

"Audrey, that's amazing. It looks just like me. How did you-"

Luke had to stop himself because the next period bell rang, but neither of them left the room. Instead, Luke sat next to Audrey and looked closer at the painting.

"Why blue?" he asked.

"Blue is my favorite color," she told him. "And you, you're my favorite person."

Luke wanted to kiss her so badly, but he couldn't. She'd just painted a portrait of him in her favorite color, and then proceeded to tell him that he was her favorite person. She had left the door wide open, so what was stopping him?

He was. He was stopping himself. The only person in his way was him.

Luke grazed his tongue over his lip ring and grabbed Audrey's hands in his.

"You're so amazing, you know that?" he told her, making circular motions on her skin with his thumb.

"Luke, you act like I'm a goddess or something. I'm not perfect," Audrey told Luke.

Luke looked into Audrey's eyes, gently pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Well, to me, you are," Luke admitted, and then, as if on cue, the door opened and in walked one of the art teachers from the first floor.

"What are you two doing in here?" the short women asked, glancing between Audrey and Luke in their close proximity state.

Audrey cleared her throat. "Sorry, Mrs. Pomphret. I was just drawing a portrait for him during lunch and we totally lost track of time."

"Let me see that," Mrs. Pomphret said, taking a step forward and examining the painting.

She looked at it for a while until she finally took a step back and looked back at Audrey. "This is very good, Audrey. I didn't know that you could paint like this."

"Thank you," Audrey smiled.

Luke shuffled around awkwardly, feeling out of place. He didn't want to get a detention, especially since he was already in enough trouble with his mom as it was, but he had faith in Audrey. She knew how to talk to adults.

"Well, I guess I can let you two go just this once. Don't let me find you in here again, deal?" Mrs. Pomphret said, looking between the two seventeen year olds for reassurance.

Audrey and Luke nodded simultaneously and grabbed all of their stuff, feeling relieved that they hadn't gotten in any trouble.

"Alright, now get to class," she finished, then proceeded to exit the room.

Audrey picked up the painting and handed it to Luke before they both walked out of the classroom together.

"Look who's getting caught now," Luke teased, happy with himself. Of course, he ignored the fact that he had gotten caught as well, but to him, it didn't really matter.

"Hey, that only happened because you were with me," Audrey smiled. "But I'm glad you were."

Audrey had a way of making Luke feel like he was going to throw up--but in a good way. He'd get butterflies whenever he saw her, his breathing would hitch whenever their hands would touch, and his legs would feel like jelly whenever she said something sweet to him.

"I'm glad that I was, too." Luke smiled, then proceeded to trip over a rogue pencil and nearly fell on his face.

"Are you okay?" Audrey said between fits of laughter as she attempted to help Luke up, but ended up falling on her butt as well.

"Now I am," Luke chuckled, looking into the eyes of the mysterious girl who quite possibly was more of a dork than he was.

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hope you enjoyed this chapter! please remember to vote and comment! love you, nuggets. :)