The Bet || l.h.

- 38 -

I stare at the machines that are the only thing keeping Luke alive, their constant, steady beeping returned to normal.

I rest my chin on my knees, letting my hair hang in front of my face. I don't want to see the sympathetic look on Ashton's face, the knowing one on Michael's. The pain in Calum's eyes as he watches his best friend's life unravel before his eyes.

"What happened?" Jack asks quietly. His blue eyes flicker over to mine when I look at him in surprise. "With you and Luke, I mean."

I flinch. 

"It wasn't what I wanted it to be," I murmur.

"What did you want it to be?"

"Real."

Jack frowns as he looks back over at his younger brother. "From what I heard it seemed pretty real."

"It was all a bet!" I snap. "Why do none of you get that? He doesn't love me. And he never did."

"Then why are you still here?" Jack demands, not taking any of my attitude.

"Because somehow, after all of this shit, I can't find it in me to hate him," I say, sinking back in my seat.

"Maybe-" Jack starts, but Liz interrupts him as she strides into the room purposefully.

"I spoke with the doctor and they think that there may be a way to wake him up," she says cheerfully, but her tone doesn't match the doubt shining in her eyes.

" 'The doctors will fix him'," Jack mutters as he turns his gaze toward the window. " 'Let him ruin his life. One day he'll wake up and fix it himself.' "

He looks his mother dead in the eyes. "When did you ever bother to help him? When you gave him money for pizza, knowing he'd use it to buy drugs?"

Liz slams her purse down on the little table by the door. "I won't take any of your pointed comments, Jack."

My arms wrap around my waist to try and calm the sick feeling in my stomach. 

"Excuse me," I mumble as I slip into the hallway.

The world spins as I rest my head against the wall. How many times do I have to go through this to get it through my head? Luke is a player, a heartbreaker, a liar. He never cared about me or any of the other girls he dumped the second they weren't useful to him anymore.

I shuffle toward the waiting area just down the hallway, curling up on one of the couches. I can't go back in that room and face them, knowing that I don't belong there. That life doesn't belong to me anymore.

**

I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder.

"Wha?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes. "Ashton?"

"Come quick," Ashton says, his hazel eyes wide and panicked. "Luke's awake."

I lurch to my feet, relief washing over me. But dread punches me in the stomach before I can start celebrating.

Ashton's hand is on my elbow as he steers me down the hallway, his footsteps hurried as we rush down the hallway.

I hesitate before the door, my heart pounding. What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he really does hate me?

Before I can talk myself out of it, I take a deep breath and step inside.

"Why do you insist on ruining your life?!" Jack is nearly screaming, his eyes pained.

"Well there's not much to ruin, is there?" Luke snaps back viciously.

Not quite knowing what I'm doing, I rush forward to hold Jack back as he starts toward his brother.