gone ✧*｡ luke a.u.

29: august 27 2011

LUKE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27TH, 2011

Luke swung himself into the seat beside Ellie on her lunch table, grinning widely at the look of surprise on her face. "Surprised to see me?" he asked cheekily.

"Luke!" she exclaimed, and flung her arms around his neck. He laughed and rocked back with the sudden weight of her. Jesus Christ, he had missed this. "You didn't tell me you were going to be back this early?"

"I thought I'd surprise you," he said, smirking. "I guess it worked."

For the past week and a half, Luke had been staying in Victoria with the rest of his family, helping Jack settle in at AMD Mental Rehabilitation Centre just outside of Melbourne. They'd flown out six days after Jack woke up, once the details of the rehab were finalised and they'd ensured his health was completely stable. He had remained out of it for a few days after he woke up, but that was the worst of the repercussions. He hadn't even put up a fight; he had just accepted the rehab with no questions asked, as though he always knew it was going to come. As far as Luke knew, Jack never saw Morgan before he left.

"Everyone's looking at us," Ellie said self-consciously, pulling back from him.

"Not everyone," Luke said. She raised an eyebrow dubiously and he grinned. "Okay, maybe, like, fifty people. But who fucking cares?" He leaned in, trying to press his face into the crook of her neck, but she placed her hands on his chest and held him off. "Ellie," he whined.

"Luke," she whined back. "My friends don't even know you exist. Just keep it on the down-low for now, alright?"

"Okay," he grumbled. Sure enough, her friends -- no one Luke had ever spoken to in his life -- were looking between the two of them in confusion, and across the room he could hear Allie Roberts talking about him.

Ellie poked his leg to take his attention away from the scrutiny and smiled softly up at him. "Hi," she said. Her hair was down, falling over her shoulders and cascading to her waist. "I've missed you."

He couldn't stop himself from smiling back at her. "Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi." She was whispering now, and Luke wanted so badly to kiss her. It had been weeks since he had last kissed her, and the longing for it was torturous to him. He knew they were taking each day slowly, but sometimes he just wanted to grab her face and kiss the hell out of her.

Instead, Luke grabbed her hand and started playing with her fingers, making a mental note to kiss the hell out of her later. "How have you been?" he asked.

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

"Just okay," she said solemnly. Luke frowned, but decided not to interrogate her. He had missed her too much to get in an argument.

"Let's go somewhere," he said, after a moment. "I feel weird with your friends looking at me like that."

Ellie started giggling. She pulled her hands away from his, then glanced over at the people on her table. "Guys, this is Luke," she called out.

One of the friends, a girl with hair so red and wild it was impossible to miss, just raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. Luke swallowed.

"Hi, Luke. I'm Ciana," said the other girl at the table. She had a sweet face and honey-brown hair, and was the only one smiling.

"Wes," one of the guys mumbled, but he was paying more attention to his DS than to the conversation, and didn't bother trying to hide it.

"I'm Maxie," said the redhead, still looking at Luke skeptically. "And that kid over there is Zac, but don't bother trying to make conversation with him."