LUCAS
A buzzing woke Lucas up.
It was an insistent buzzing, even though it had just started, the kind of buzzing that seemed like it would never end. But it did, after Lucas pushed himself up, rubbing a hand over his face, and stepped across the room, over clothes scattered across the floor, and grabbed his phone. He pressed answer without looking at who was calling, looking at Jens in the dark and moonlight, who had moved when the buzzing started, covering his face and turning away.
"Hello?" Lucas's voice was rough as he answered the phone quietly, rubbing his eyes and stretching his back.
"Is this Lucas Van Der Heijden?" a woman's voice asked.
"Uhm..." Lucas opened his eyes, a dread building in his chest. "Yes, that's me." He felt his heart begin to beat faster.
"Hi, Lucas." She sounded gentle like she was soothing a scared puppy. "I'm calling to let you know that your mother has been admitted to the St. Antonius Hospital here in Utrecht—"
Lucas's breath escaped his lungs and his darted around the room—"after a recent episode."
"Okay, uh..." Lucas could feel his heartbeat everywhere, pounding like it was trying to get out. "How..."
"She's okay, she was just...cold."
Lucas tried to catch his breath, feeling like he'd just run a mile, his head too light and his limbs too heavy.
"I can be there in a few hours," he said shakily.
"That's not necessary, Lucas, we just wanted to let you know that she's safe and uninjured."
It took a few breathless seconds before Lucas processed what she had said.
"I can be there in a few hours," he repeated.
"Lucas—"
He hung up, immediately scanning the ground and grabbing his hoodie and pants, pulling them on swiftly and then grabbing his duffle bag, pulling it over his head, his breath stuttering and stuck in his throat. His hands shook violently, and he pressed them to his stomach, sliding them across and down his legs as he scanned the room, looking for anything he'd missed.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..."
He made his way to the door of the room, not thinking he was missing anything, his phone stuffed in his front pocket, and everything he'd brought to Antwerp in his bag.
But he did miss something.
He didn't hear Jens, groggily mumbling, "Baby?" as he heard Lucas shuffle around the room, the zip of his jeans, the huffing of his breath.
He didn't hear Jens, Jens saying, "Lucas?" worriedly as he slipped out the door, shutting it behind himself.
JENS
"Lucas?" Jens awoke to Lucas moving around the room, only able to see his movement, only able to hear him, his muttered curses. He sounded scared, frantic.
"Baby?"
Lucas didn't stop, almost like he couldn't hear Jens at all. He moved to the door, opening it with a click, and slipped out, not opening it all the way.
"Lucas?" Jens called out louder. He pushed himself up, stumbling across the room to the door, opening it and leaning his head out, seeing Lucas disappear down the hall.
"Lu..." He pulled his head back into the room and turned on the lights, squinting in the sudden brightness as he felt across the floor, pulling on his pants and shirt, and then left the room, rushing down the hall to the stairs without looking behind himself, the lights still on and the door still cracked.
When he reached the lobby, out of breath, he watched as Lucas slammed the entrance door behind himself. Jens ran to the door, opening it and stepping back at the gust of icy air that hit him, before rushing outside, stepping into the middle of the empty street, watching as Lucas skateboarded away from him, against the tide of the wind.
Jens's shoulders dropped, his eyes stung, his lip quivered, as he
just
stood
there.
YOU ARE READING
Starstruck (the Idea of Always)
Fanfiction"Just let me." Jens's voice was all he could hear. "Let me love you." Lucas let him.
