Lines // hemmings

Chapter 22

ABBY

"Aren't you coming too?"

"No, I'm just gonna wait here," Jack says and sits down on one of the benches outside the visiting center. It reminds me of a doctor's waiting room, only there's no soft music playing in the background and there won't be a doctor calling your name. But the atmosphere is the same.

"Why?" I ask confused.

I thought one of the reasons why he brought me here again was because he wanted to talk to him. Jack told me he felt a little guilty for not visiting him more often before so now he's trying to make up for it.

"I think Luke rather talk with you alone," he says and smiles up at me. "But if you want me to-"

"No!" I say quickly. "I mean...uhm..."

I look down on the ground feeling embarrassed but Jack assures me it's fine and that he will talk to Luke later, after I've talked to him. So I walk inside the same waiting center I went to a week ago and I go to the same table. Only this time it's empty along with practically all the other tables. We, the visitors, were let in a little earlier than the prisoners today. They said it had something to do with safety. I take the same seat as last time, figuring Luke sat himself in the other seat for some special reason, and wait for him to arrive.

It doesn't take long before the room is filled with new sounds and I turn around, only to meet those clear blue eyes coming closer to me. There's a small smile playing on his lips and I feel my stomach doing a turn. Oh my...he really is beautiful. He's wearing the same grey t-shirt, only this time there are black sleeves underneath.

I stand up and we stare at each other before he gives me a quick hug, ignoring the guard who clears her throat. It's the same guard as the week before and she looks just as bored and tired.

"Hey," he says, biting his lip, when he sits down in front of me.

"Hi," I reply, doing the same thing. "How are you?"

"I'm good, and you?"

The conversation starts off that way. He tells me what has happened the past week; about his job, stacking books, reading, hanging out more with Ashton, gone to the gym... Then I tell him what I've been up to, which is only working. I can't tell him that I've been thinking about him pretty much 24/7.

"So uhm...have you told anyone about where I am?" He asks carefully and I shake my head. "Why not? I mean I'm glad you haven't but...why haven't you?"

I chuckle lightly at his words. He sounds nervous, just as nervous as I am.

"I don't exactly know what to say," I shrug, letting my eyes trace down his face, down his arms until they hit his hands. My hands are on the table too and if I moved them just a few inches and he did the same, we'd touch. I'd really like that but I'm scared of the guard so I keep my thoughts to myself.

"Who knows about me? That you've been talking, or writing to me."

"Dad, Calum and Felicity, my dad's receptionist. And Jack."

"That's good," I hear him mumble and I give him a confused look. "I mean...yeah, I don't know what I mean," he adds with a chuckle.

"Jack's waiting outside, by the way. He wants to talk to you later," I say after a while of just staring at each other.

God, I could stare at Luke all day. He didn't look like the other prisoners, not the ones I saw last week. He looks much younger than the others, his face not as rough. He doesn't look like he belong here. His hair isn't in a quiff like in Jack's photo; it's flat against his head. Guess there's no hair gel for him to use here. I notice him frowning a little, a confused look spreading over his face and I continue talking.