Finally Free | L.P.

Chapter Fourteen: Homebound

I never thought I would hear his voice again, but knowing Jack is alive is all I can think about.

Three days after I got the call, he was on a plane headed back towards the states. Luke knows a lot more than he's letting on, and I get sick of waiting for him to tell me.

"LUKE!" I walk into the studio, chucking a pillow at him. He ducks out of habit and lifts his head back up with big puppy eyes.

"Are you ok?" He asks, moving quickly towards me, hands out like he's gonna catch me if I go down, while glancing between my face and shoulder. We haven't really talked about the whole running thing yet but he's also been a lot more attentive to me lately. Probably because I've also been through a lot in the past three days.

"Can we talk?" I ask. He nods, reaching a hand out and motioning towards the loft. I grab his hand and we walk to the ladder, before he hesitates.

"Can you get up one handed?" He asks.

"Yeah." I mean, I did it with Alex yesterday.

I grab with one hand, and I feel both his hands on my waist.

"I'm fine Luke." I tell him, and he slowly let's go. He slowly works his way up behind me, hand on my back every now and then to make sure I'm balanced.

We finally get up and sit down on the bean bags.

"We need to talk." I tell him. He nods, eyes frantic.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" He asks, reaching out to me again.

"What happened with you and Jack? How did you find him?" I ask, grabbing his hand. He relaxes a little bit once I get the question out.

"You're going to get mad." He breathes out, scrunching his eyebrows at the ground.

"Luke just tell me." I plead.

"I went to your old house. I wanted to know if it was as bad as you said. While I was there Laken showed up, mad at me for being there. I asked him about Jack and he said that he knew where he was but couldn't get him out. Alex showed up during the conversation and said he would help us, so we broke Jack out. I knew you would be mad I went to your house so I haven't talked about it." He finishes, running his free hand through his messy hair.

"Why would you go there?" I ask, feeling ready to cry. He knows. He knows how they are.

"Because I thought that if I did, I would understand you better, and I could help you through the fear." He pulls his hand away from mine and stands up. "I guess I was wrong." He poofs out.

"LUCAS PATTERSON GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW." I yell to the empty studio. All of a sudden Alex poofs in, clearly having no idea what just happened. I can't hold back the tears anymore and curl up into a ball, trying to muffle my crying with my knees.

"Emmie?! What happened?!" Alex charges up the ladder, rushing to get to me.

"He left Alex, he left and I didn't even get to say a word!" I tuck my head tighter, just wanting to not be seen.

"About what?" He asks gently, putting a hand on my back and using his other hand to try and lift my head up.

"I just wanted him to know I wasn't mad he went there, I'm just afraid they're going to find me, and I wanted to say thank you for helping Jack and I wanted to say I was sorry for screaming at him but he left before I could say anything." I manage.

"Hey, he'll be back ok? He's going through a lot right now." Alex excuses him.

"I know." I whisper.

"Let's head down and we can go play Mario Kart with Carlos." He suggests. I nod.

"I'll follow you down." I tell him. He nods, understanding I need a minute. He heads down, and I sit there, thinking hard.

"Why did you leave me?" I whisper at the ceiling, referring to my dad. "I need you dad I'm afraid of mom. She's going to take Jack from me." I whisper, having a gut feeling he's going to end up choosing her over me.

"What do you mean?" A voice from the garage floor scares me. I whip my head down to see Reggie.

"Nothing." I say. He poofs up to me. "I'm sorry, I'm not in a good mood right now, and I don't wanna fight." I tell him. He shrugs and pulls me into a hug.

"Not here to talk. I'm just here to sit by you." He tells me.

"Why is Luke so frickin stubborn?" I ask.

"Because that's the way he is. Trust me, he still cares." He tells me. I nod. Digging around, I find a blank piece of paper and a pen. I write a quick note, handing it to Reggie.

"When he comes back, give this to him." I say. Reggie nods, looking questioningly at me. "I have to go play Alex and Carlos in Mario Kart before they think I died in here." I joke. He cracks a smile, and I know it'll be ok.