caught☽ luke | ✓

Thirty One | Truth

By the time Audrey and Luke had reached the diner, the sun had already set. They sat in a small booth side by side, awaiting Vera's arrival. The diner was mostly empty, aside from a few people sitting alone on their laptops with their earbuds in.

Shaking with nerves, Audrey couldn't help but to stare at the door nonstop to see exactly when the purple haired girl would walk in. Even Luke couldn't distract her from her thoughts. She couldn't even draw to calm herself down. All she could do was stare.

"Babe, calm down," Luke said, taking her hand in his. "It's gonna be alright."

Audrey smiled at him, but didn't say anything. She simply rested her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath,  her gaze still locked in on the door.

The door finally opened, and in walked Vera, with her long purple locks and bright blue eyes. She looked around until she caught sight of Audrey and Luke, then walked towards them.

Audrey's grip on Luke's hand tightened, watching as the girl who she hated more than anyone else sat right in front of her, a smile on her face. It made Audrey mad to see that Vera could be smiling at a time like this.

Vera put her hands together and looked between Audrey and Luke.

"Hey," she finally said.

"Hi," Audrey said, without any emotion at all. She was good at hiding that.

"I want to apologize for everything I've done to both you and Luke. I overreacted about the entire situation, and honestly I think that I was very immature and quite frankly a bitch to the two of you. I'm really sorry," Vera told them, but Audrey ignored her.

"I want to know everything," she demanded, not caring about the apology. It didn't really matter unless Audrey knew the truth.

Vera nodded. "Okay."

Audrey and Luke awaited what Vera would end up telling them. They hoped that whatever she told them was true. The truth was all they had left.

"Michael has been in love with you since freshman year. Maybe even before that. He used to call me at night, asking for advice on how to win you over. He'd cry, saying that there was no way you'd ever fall for him. One night, I told him that you did love him, but just as a friend, you know? But then, he just got angry and hung up, never called me again. Actually, never even talked to me again."

"Was this before or after you hooked up with Ashton?" Audrey asked.

"After. I noticed that Michael started hanging around with Ashton a lot after that. And, I'm pretty sure that he's the one who got Ashton into drugs and drinking. At first, I thought it was just his way of dealing with heartbreak, but I think Michael just didn't want you to go back to Ash. He figured that if he made Ashton into a druggy and an alcoholic, you wouldn't want anything to do with him, but that wasn't the case."

Audrey took a deep breath. "A week after I got back together with Ashton, Michael told me that you slept with him."

"But I didn't, Audrey, I swear. I didn't even know that he said that about me until today. I never would have done something like that," Vera told her.

Audrey nodded. "Then what about everything else? Luke, my parents, the cops?"

"Okay, when I met Luke, I had no idea that he came to the party with you. Luke knows that too, right Luke?" Vera asked him.

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, you were pretty pissed when you found out, actually."

"I actually really liked you, Luke. I definitely took it overboard using Ashton to make you guys jealous, but I don't know what I was thinking. Michael was the one who invited us to Rain's party, which I never really thought twice about before, but I think he knew me and Ashton were gonna do something stupid to you guys. I'm sorry."

"And my parents? How'd they get my number?" Audrey asked.

"I'm sorry, Audrey, but it really wasn't me or Ashton. I really think Michael did it to break you and Luke up, which it did, right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Audrey, think about it. Michael has always been there. He almost always knows what's going on in your life, is always around when trouble happens, and he's one of the few people that had your phone number," Luke told her.

"Did Ashton really cheat on me again?" Audrey asked Vera, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer or not.

"No, Michael lied about that too."

Audrey shook her head. "No, I can't- I can't believe it. Why would Mikey do all of this?"

Tears fell down her cheeks as she buried her face in Luke's chest. He held her tightly, rubbing her back gently.

"People do the craziest things for love," Luke said.

Vera nodded. "And it doesn't matter who gets hurt."

Audrey wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up. She looked from Vera to Luke and took a deep breath.

"Well, then I guess it's time to tell Michael that we know the truth."

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short chapter, but lots of dirt!! guys what do you thinks gonna happen???? I'm actually so excited to write the next chapter but at the same time i'm not bc fml the books ending :(((