Sunshine ♡ muke

31 ↠ stop apologizing

Luke

"I'm sorry." He said for the hundredth time in the last thirty minutes.

He finally looked up from the band around his wrist that had his name on it.

His entire family, including Ben and Jack, was there. He only wanted to tell the story once. Luke didn't know if he'd handle explaining himself more than he already did.

"I'm sorry." Luke looked up in surprise. It was Erin who spoke up and came closer to his bed.

She didn't reach for his hand but Luke could see she wanted to. So, he offered her his hand and smiled at her surprised face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I do," Erin complained. "You're my best friend and I knew you were struggling. I even saw the pills once but the name wasn't yours so I didn't say anything. I did Google what they were for and realized you were probably taking them instead of the other medication that was supposed to help you sleep not keep you awake."

"Erin, Luke is right." Liz finally spoke up. "It's not your fault." She turned towards her family. "Can I speak with my son alone?"

Erin took the opportunity and quickly hugged Luke before leaving the room and closing the door after herself.

"My baby." Was all she said and Luke was already crying.

"I'm sorry mum."

She hugged him and held him tightly as he cried. After Michael broke up with him, he cried for just a moment before calling the doctor and telling him the truth. Then he called his family. And now Luke was crying as she held him close.

"Stop apologizing." Her voice was soft and collected.

After a few minutes when he managed to calm down, she made him look at her. "Luke, I love you. You know that. But I won't lie to you... I am disappointed. I am shocked and I am confused. On the other hand, Erin was also right. I noticed there was something off too, I just expected you'll come to me when you'd need my help."

Luke leaned into her as she kissed his forehead.

"I think we all stopped worrying when Michael came around but you can't rely on one person to heal you. He did because a couple of months ago you'd flinch if I'd try and hug you. But I think we both know that things that happened to you were not something I kid should go through and that leaves a scar."

Luke wanted to say that it had nothing to do with that but he knew he'd be lying.

"I wanted to do well in school, I wanted to be normal. And when I used the medication for my insomnia... I sometimes had nightmares which were worse than not sleeping."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"You had enough to worry about."

"Luke. You're my son. Just because you know how to talk and walk and you can drive yourself home from school doesn't mean I don't care about you or won't care for you."

"I love you," Luke said and it was rare but he meant it.

"I love you too, my dear boy. Now we need to talk."