gone ✧*｡ luke a.u.

9: may 15th 2011

LUKE

THURSDAY, MAY 15TH, 2011

Luke was not quite sure what he was doing.

He'd grabbed Jack's car keys and left almost straight after he got Ellie's messages, only telling Ben he was leaving. Jack could find out later, after he'd finished getting jerked off upstairs. Luke honestly did not give a shit.

He'd completely forgotten he even had Ellie on Facebook -- he finally remembered her last name: Harrington -- and her message took him by surprise. He'd been busy scrolling through the group chat when her message popped up; if he hadn't been looking right at that very moment, he might've missed it entirely.

As it was, he didn't. And now he was in a car driving to a place with very badly-given directions, to pick up a girl from his year level that he hardly knew and two kids he'd never spoken to.

He hadn't told anyone about Ellie, and the dinner, and Ellie being at the dinner. Not yet, anyway. He'd contemplated telling the boys his shock at seeing her and the truth about Jack's latest haggard hookup, because, well, he told the boys everything. But something stopped him, some nagging feeling of guilt or responsibility that he couldn't shake.

When he reached the freeway it wasn't hard to spot the car. It was a gross greenish colour, faded almost to brown, and was smoking from the bonnet. Inside, the lights were all blacked.

Ellie was outside sitting on the hood of the car, her dark hair reflecting the gold of the streetlights like a beacon. She didn't move when he parked his car behind hers; not until he had approached her did she stir, standing up and taking a step towards him. She had her hands tucked in the sleeves of her hoodie like paws.

"Dan and Ro are still in there," was all she said, quietly. "We aren't sure what to do about the car."

"We should probably call insurance or something." He ignored the raise of her eyebrows when he said we. "There's probably some sort of emergency vehicle breakdown service we could call."

"I don't have insurance, though, Luke," she said, shaking her head. "My dad's in Perth and I've never done anything like this before." She was trying to keep herself calm, he could tell, but her eyes were panicked and nervous.

"It's okay, I can call my mum," he said, but she stopped him with his phone halfway up.

"No!" she interrupted, stepping forward quickly. Then she realised what she'd done. "No," she said again, more calmly this time. "Can we not involve parents?"

"We have to do something," he pointed out, tapping the back of his phone impatiently with his fingers. "My mum's nice, I promise. She's just at one of my dad's work dinners. It's fine, Ellie."

Ellie studied him for a second, picking him apart like she was trying to find some sort of secret. When she found nothing, she took a step back and gave a tiny nod. That was all the consent Luke needed.

Liz picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Mum," Luke said into the phone, pacing back and forth in front of Ellie's car. He gave Liz a quick rundown of what had happened, omitting the parts about Morgan and Jack, and the things he had guessed about Morgan's treatment of her kids. He was all too aware of Ellie keenly watching him from beside the driver's door.

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen," Liz said, once he'd finished. "You alright to wait that long?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he said. He wasn't sure if it would be, but it wasn't like he was going to ask Ellie about it. "Thanks so much, Mum."

"No problem. Love you." She hung up. She hadn't said much, but he knew she'd take good care of what had happened once she arrived.

Without the sound of conversation, the air felt empty and strange. Luke walked over to Ellie. She had her hands, still tucked in paws, at her chest now. He held back a smile. Cute, he thought.

"There's smoke rising from the bonnet of your car," he told her. "You should probably get Dan and Roman out."

She nodded. "Good idea," she said, then opened the door and leaned in. "Hey, kiddos," he heard her murmur. "Pretty sure this thing's gonna blow up in a minute or two if you're feeling like hopping out."

Dan, who had been almost silent the whole evening, opened his door and stepped out obediently; Roman just shouted, "EXPLOSIONS!"

Luke held back a chuckle. He heard Ellie laugh quietly, too. "Come on, Ro," she said. She pulled her youngest brother out by the hand, then gave him a gentle shove away from the car. He pouted back at her.

"But I wanna see the explosions," he whined.

"You can still see the explosions," she responded with a smile, "just so long as you're not, you know, in them."

"Oh," Roman said, then walked off, now content, towards Dan.

"You're good with kids," Luke said, once the boy had gone.

Ellie just shrugged. "I've had to be," she said. "I'm the only one that looks after them. And besides," she added, "they aren't really kids anymore."

"You're still good with them," he said, and she smiled.

"Thanks."

Luke spent most of the next thirteen minutes waiting in silence. Ellie stayed quiet, almost like she was shy, then went over to Dan and Roman. Luke watched them for a little while. Roman had jumped on her back, and she carted him around while he yelled and tugged at her shoulders. It was the first time Luke had seen Ellie look genuinely happy for the whole night. Since he'd known her, really. And Dan, too, who hadn't spoken two words to Luke but looked more than at home at his siblings' sides.

Luke went straight to his mum's car when she arrived, pulling up across the road from where they were. He didn't want her to disturb or worry Ellie just yet, and he knew it'd be easier to talk to his mum alone.

"We need to call someone, Luke," Liz said, as soon as she'd greeted him and seen the state of the car from across the road. "It needs repairs. How are they supposed to get home?"

He shrugged. "I can take them."

Liz blew some of her hair out of her face. "Is it her car?" she asked, in reference to Ellie. She must've forgotten her name.

"Her mum's, I think," he responded. "It's sort of in shit condition. Her mum stayed the night with Jack at our place, so Ellie had to drive herself home . . ."

"I still feel strange about Jack dating someone's mum," Liz muttered, watching as Ellie tripped up Dan and sent him sprawling. The three of them burst into laughter. "It doesn't feel right. I miss . . ." She trailed off.

Luke knew she was going to say Celeste, the name of Jack's old girlfriend, but he also knew Liz didn't like interfering with Jack's life. She was a firm believer that her son was an adult, and could hence make his own decisions. The same went for Ben, and even Luke, sort of, although he was still a minor.

Luke liked that about his mum, he did, but a part of him wished she was just a bit stricter. He didn't like the new Jack. He didn't like the strange women. He wondered if Jack had seen the handprint branded on the side of Ellie's face, or if he'd just chosen to ignore it. Luke couldn't figure out which would be worse.

Liz eyed the wrecked car, and let out a long breath. "Okay, Luke," she said. "Let's help this girl out."

~:~

i've been 1673% stressed over the past few days so i thought i'd update bc seeing positive feedback on my stories makes me smile ily