*3 Weeks Later*

No letter. Nothing.

Luke's hand rubs up and down my tense back as he places a kiss to my temple. He leaves tomorrow and there is no way of me or him knowing if I'm going to go to Alabama not.

My hope is slowly running out.

Especially since I have already gotten acceptance letters from other colleges like UNC and Texas A&M.

The past three weeks have unfortunately flown by. Not a day goes by without Luke and I being together. It's almost like I live at his house now.

Mom and I's relationship just keeps spiraling downhill.

A week ago, we had a pretty big argument. The argument was quite ridiculous and it was about getting a case for all of dad's belongings so that they wouldn't have to stay in that moving box for any longer.

She didn't find the need to spend money on something so 'useless'.

I didn't think it was useless, though. I think dad's things deserve to be in a better place. Not just in some cardboard box.

So using my own money, I bought a classy, vintage case to put his things in.

She was not happy.

"There was no need to make such a dumb purchase! It's just old clothes and medals!"

Hearing her speak about the beloved medals that he had earned from many years of hard work really hurt me.

And they weren't just clothes. They were his old fancy uniforms and they weren't something that I was ever going to get rid of.

She spoke about him like he was nothing and she just hated anything that belonged to him. I don't know what caused her hatred but it really isn't nice.

Rick was there throughout the whole argument. He didn't say a word. He actually pretended like there weren't two people in front of him arguing while he just drank some coffee.

I tried to hide the whole argument from Luke but when he asked about the new case in my room, I told him everything.

He was not happy.

Since then, I've stayed at his house. I haven't talked to my mother and I think it's better that way if I'm being honest with myself.

Granddaddy was right, I do need to keep a close eye on her.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Luke questions softly.

"My mom," I reply quietly.

He lets out a scoff. He really doesn't like her much.

He looks up at the ceiling and he sighs. He tightens his arm around me and pulls me on top of him.

He buries his face in my neck and holds me tight in a gentle embrace.

"I'm going to miss you," I whisper before laying my head down on his shoulder.

"Still nothing?" He asks and I shake my head. He lets out a sigh and he plants a kiss on my head.

"We'll figure it out," he nods.

The door to Luke's room opens and we turn our gazes to the person.

Eli stands with his hands covering his eyes and I giggle.

"Eli, you don't have to cover your eyes. We aren't doing anything," I sit up and Luke does too.

Eli slowly uncovers his eyes.

"I just don't want another bloody nose," Eli grumbles and I give Luke the snake eyes.

"We're all going out to eat," Eli says, "I wanted all of us to get together before we leave tomorrow."

My expression turns sad and as much as I try to hide it, Luke sees it. He runs his hand down my back in a comforting manner.

He stands up and lifts me with him.

"Aw, Aubrey, don't be sad," Eli opens his arms wide and Luke hesitantly lets me go.

I walk into Eli's warm hug. After only a few seconds, Luke is pulling me back to him by one of the belt loops of my jeans.

Eli rolls his eyes and we head downstairs.

_____________________________

"The trick to crop dusting is what you do after," Eli goes on as we walk into 'Riverside Steak House'.

"Eli, why are you talking about this?" Ryan pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Let me finish dumbass," he chides before continuing, "After you float the air biscuit, you've got to get into a good position where you can see the person when they smell it. That's what makes it funny."

I let out a quiet laugh and I shake my head at what just came out of Eli's mouth.

Any other time, Luke would be the one to tell him to shut up, most likely using other profanities as well.

Right now though, all he does is stay quiet. He's right behind me, his front pressed right up against my back and he's got his arms draped around my waist. His chin sits softly on top of my head and he's so close, I can feel the beat of his heart on the top of my shoulder blade.

I brush my hand over his arm that's around my waist softly and with his other hand that's sitting at the front of my waist, he gently draws circles on my stomach with his thumb.

"How long does it take to get a damn seat around here?" Olivia grumbles as we stand and wait to be brought to our seats.

She's only acting like that because she's standing right next to Ryan in this small entryway. Unfortunately, things just aren't that smooth with them. They aren't doing well with being friends; they're just awkward around each other.

Luke moves his chin from the top of my head and he leans down beside my ear.

"I love you," he places a soft lingering kiss on my cheek.

"I love you too," I reply with a smile.

"Hm?" He questions and I giggle.

"I love you," I say a little louder and I know he can hear me.

"A little louder, love," He ushers.

"I'm not doing this here," I whisper and he smirks at me before pecking my lips softly.

After another minute or so, a fancy looking man comes and takes us to our seats.

"Your waitress will be with you momentarily," he says handing us all a menu before walking away.

I pick up my menu and open it to the first page. A warm hand rests itself on my thigh and slowly, it moves up my leg.

I ignore his hand for a little while but eventually, it gets too high up for our surroundings. I place my hand over the top of his, stopping it in its track. He turns his hand over and we interlace our fingers.

I let my eyes go over all the items on the menu. Half of them are fish, which isn't so great for me.

"It's all fish," Luke grumbles as he lays his chin on my shoulder.

"It's okay," I smile at his concern.

"So when do you guys leave again?" Ryan asks and Luke removes his chin from my shoulder turning toward him.

"Tomorrow afternoon we drive down there," he explains with a tense voice.

"You guys are driving all the way down there?" Izzy questions.

"It's just easier," Eli explains, "we'll have our cars down there already and I can sing all I want."

"It's a win-win for everybody," Luke mumbles, talking about Eli's not-so-heavenly singing.

I'm really going to miss these fools.

I go over my menu again and when an unfamiliar female voice speaks up, my eyes dart to the source.

"I'm Sarah. What can I get you guys to drink?" she questions raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Sprite"

"A beer. Kidding, Pepsi," Eli says and Luke rolls his eyes while I shake my head and smile at the terrible joke.

"Water"

"Sweet tea," Luke says and she gives him a smile.

"Sweet tea too, please," I smile up at her but unfortunately, she doesn't smile back making mine falter a little.

"Water, with lemon," Olivia's eyes slightly narrow at the woman.

"I'll be back with your drinks and to take your order," her eyes stay fixed beside me but I try my best to pay no attention to it.

Olivia nudges me and I look over to her. She narrows her eyes and tilts her head back to the place where the waitress was standing.

I just shrug and lean back correctly in my seat glancing over at Luke.

I can understand why she was staring at him. He's very handsome. Chiseled features such as a strong, sharp jaw and dark hair with light eyes. The very light freckles that litter the top of his cheeks, which can only be seen close-up are a factor in not only making him very handsome but, at least to me, cute too. His teeth are perfectly straight and white.

I'm quite jealous actually because to get my teeth as straight as they are now, I had to go through two years of braces.

I truthfully can't understand what he saw in me. When I look in the mirror, I don't really see anything special. Sure, my blue eyes are very blue but nothing out of the ordinary. I have short legs and larger thighs than what I think I should. Dull in-between colored hair that can't choose to just be brown or be blonde. Small freckles litter my nose and a single deep dimple lives on my right cheek but that doesn't mean anything to my self-consciousness.

"You okay?" his deep voice asks me softly and I bring my eyes up to his. Deep gray eyes stare back at me and a small smile appears on his face.

"Is there something on my face?" he teases and a light blush covers my cheeks as I shake my head. He leans forward and places a kiss on my cheek.

"I think Luke has a new admirer," Eli blurts from the other side of the table. Luke pulls away from me and he rolls his eyes annoyedly.

I just ignore him and pick my menu up to look for what I want to order.

After a few minutes, the waitress comes back and she sits out drinks in the correct spots.

"I'll take your orders," she says and she starts taking down our orders. I just continue to have my nose shoved in my menu, not wanting to see her eyes trained on my Luke.

I can't help but to look when he orders though.

He orders a T-bone steak and what he wants to go with it. Her eyes watch his face the whole time, and she, I guess, totally forgets about writing his order down.

"And will that be all for you?" She questions before biting her lip. From across me, I see Eli contain his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.

"Yeah," he replies in a 'no bull poop' tone but her eyes don't move from his.

"You're sure?" She lets out a quiet giggle and Eli gags silently.

"He's sure," I put on a fake smile.

"What do you want to order, babe?" He questions, leaning closer to me, making sure she gets the memo.

_____________________________

After eating our meal and listening to Luke be mad at Eli for an hour for getting shrimp, we all walk out the front door.

I walk forward to talk to Izzy and Olivia but I don't even make it to where they are. As soon as I leave Luke's side, he's grabbing onto my sides and pulling me flush against him.

He moves my hair out of the way before placing his lips on my neck.

"Stay with me," he says softly before bringing his lips to mine.

He pulls away and his hand brushing a French fry crumb off my shirt.

My face turns pink and he chuckles.

"You're so cute," he kisses my forehead.

"Even though you're a bitch," I catch what Ryan is saying to Eli, "I guess I'll miss you."

Eli lets out a loud gasp and he nearly tackles Ryan to the ground in a hug. I always knew they never really hated each other.

"Get in on this Lucas," Eli calls out, holding out an arm for Luke. From beside me, Luke lets out a sound in his throat which basically means "no".

"Oh go, Luke," I pull away from him and shove him towards the two. He reluctantly walks towards them and Eli grabs him by the shoulder, which earns him a punch to the stomach, but in the end, they do have a mini group hug. Sort of, but it's as close as they'll ever get.

The Taylor's may be huggers but Luke sure is not. Luke likes to have his personal space which is ironic though considering I have to be attached to his hip at all times.

"Isn't that so nice?" I say happily to the two girls beside me, discreetly handing Izzy my phone so she can take pictures of them together at this moment.

As they pull away, I see Ryan giving a look to an oblivious Luke. I know that look, and it's not good.

Luke continues to say something to Eli but when Ryan's hand comes and slaps him across the face, everything becomes dead silent.

"He's going to die. I'm serious," Izzy whispers with widened eyes as Luke turns his gaze to a now frightened Ryan.

"Before you murder me!" Ryan puts his hands in the air, stepping away from a very angry Luke, "I've just always wanted to do that!"

Luke's shoulders become less tense and he has us all fooled for a second. That is before his hand flies back and he punches Ryan square in the nose.

A gasp escapes my lips and Olivia and Izzy laugh out loud. Thank goodness he at least didn't hit him as hard as everyone knows he could.

"Hey!" Eli exclaims excitedly before laughing, "He did that to me too!"

So that's why Eli's nose was bleeding all that time ago.

Ryan wipes his bloodied nose on a stack of napkins Izzy had in her purse and a laugh leaves his lips.

"I'll miss you guys," he says and Eli smiles.

"We'll miss you too, yeah yeah," Luke waves a hand in the air and rolls his eyes. A giggle escapes my lips at his attempt to be sentimental and he turns and narrows his eyes at me while holding back a smirk.

"I've got to get going," Ryan smiles, still holding a napkin to his nose, "Bye guys."

We watch as Ryan drives away and then Eli turns to us. He says his goodbyes to Izzy and Olivia and I try to control my emotions when he stops in front of me.

He sends me a sad smile and his eyes become a little bit glossy which only makes me want to crawl in a ball.

"You're going to make me cry, Eli," I whisper and a quiet chuckle escapes his lips. He flicks Luke off before pulling me towards him and crushing my body against him.

"You're the best little person I've ever met," he says and I laugh. He looks up at Luke who is standing beside us and he raises his hand and waves him off. Luke just rolls his eyes before walking away.

Eli pulls away and holds me at arm's length.

"Thank you," he smiles and I turn confused.

"For what?" I question.

"For being my best friend when Ryan was a douche. For bringing us all together," my eyes well up with tears, "and everything you've done for Luke."

"Eli," I whine at him making me cry.

"He's changed because of you, and I thank you for that. Even though he's a mean big guy, he did deserve to have something good in his life. And that was you, now he's half mean and half a teddy bear," Eli laughs and I do too.

"I love you, Eli," I smile up at him and he grabs his heart.

"As a neglected child," I laugh considering he's far from a neglected child, "and a guy who has never heard those words come from any other girl beside his mom and little sister, my heart just grew like the Grinch's did in the movie."

"And I love you too, boo-boo," he pulls my head into his chest like he used to do all the time for our morning hugs.

___________________________

Luke extends his arms out towards me and I giggle as I walk back over the bed where he is laying.

"I'm right here, Luke," I move my wet hair off my shoulder and adjust my leggings.

I hate putting leggings on when just getting out the shower. It's truly a pain in the butt.

"But I want you right here," he whines, pointing at a spot on the bed that is right up against him. I climb onto the bed and lay right in the spot he told me to, facing him.

He wraps one arm around me and pulls me impossibly closer. His other hand grabs one of mine and he lifts it up to his lips. He kisses the palm of my hand, my middle knuckles, and the bigger knuckles.

He places my hand on his cheek and a small smile reaches my lips as he cuddles in close to me. Eli was right, he's a big teddy bear.

I brush my thumb over his jaw and he lets out a content sigh.

"I'm hungry," he mumbles into my shoulder and I giggle.

Of course he's hungry only an hour after eating.

______________________________

"If you continue, I'll let your chicken burn," I warn Luke as I flip the cooking chicken. He pauses his kisses along my neck and he chuckles against me.

"I just want you close to me," he grumbles, wrapping his strong arms around my waist from behind me.

"And I don't want to listen to the sound of your stomach growling," I chide, "I already have to hear your snoring."

"Well shit, just point out all my flaws why don't you," his hand hits my hind-end. I slap the chicken down on the pan, purposefully making sure a little bit of hot grease hits him.

A splash of grease lands on his arm and he curses.

"Jokes on you cause' now you get to kiss it better and listen to me whine about it."

Finishing up his stupid chicken, I put it on a plate and turn around. I peer up at him with narrowed eyes and he smiles.

"Thank you, my love," he takes the plate and sits at the island.

After a few minutes, I feel a presence missing.

"What happened to my salt shakers?" I look around the counters and his hand pauses halfway to his mouth.

Those were the cutest salt shakers.

"I have no idea," he lies terribly which is odd, considering he's usually a great liar to everyone else.

"Luke."

"I broke them," he winces and my eyes widen before I slap the back of his head.

"Ow," he mumbles.

"Why would you break them?!" I question angrily.

"I was mad and I broke them. I'm sorry, I'll get you new ones," he explains.

"How could you have the heart to break those cute cows? And new ones wouldn't be the same as the originals. I'll have to switch to another animal," I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

He pushes his now empty plate in front of him and he scoots his chair back a bit. He grabs a hold of one of my arms and he pulls me down onto his lap.

"Then I'll get you new ones of a different animal," he drapes his arms around my waist, keeping me positioned facing towards him on his lap.

"Okay," I grumble and he kisses my slight pout.

Those cows, whose names were hefty and hefta, were beyond cute. They were like my children, and them being gone makes me upset for two reasons. One, they were broken in a terrible, cruel act of violence, and two, it took me this long to notice they were gone.

He lays his head down on my chest and my hands find their way to his hair.

"I love you," he says softly, sitting his chin on my sternum and looking up at me.

"I love you too," I press a light kiss to his temple.

After tomorrow, nothing will be the same anymore.

_____________________________

I wake up due to a strong, hurtful ache in my stomach.

Before period cramps.

Luke's arms that are wrapped around me, holding me close to him, aren't helping the situation at all.

A small whimper leaves my lips as the pain gets slightly worse. This is by far the worst part of having a period.

At least for me. I've got the worst cramps known to man, and only the good Lord knows when they're coming.

I try and pull Luke's arms off of me but he just lets out a deep grumble in refusal, in his gosh darn sleep.

My eyes water at the stupid pain as another whimper leaves my lips. It's the type of pain where you need something but you just don't know what that is.

Like you want to try everything you can to make it go away like, walking, sitting up, standing, and stuff like that.

But first, I need his legs for arms off of me.

"Luke," I whine and shove his arms, which finally wakes his tail up.

"What?" he says deeply and I would have swooned if my stomach didn't feel like it was killing itself.

I sit up and his arms drop from around me. I wrap my arms around my own stomach and he sits up beside me with a dramatic noise.

When sitting up doesn't make the pain go away, either.

"What's wrong?" Luke asks worriedly, sitting up when I do. I don't say anything as I focus on trying to get the pain to go away.

"Baby?" he places a hand on the small of my back. My eyes water and finally the pain lessons to a tolerable amount.

"Aubrey, you're scaring me," he moves a curl out of my face so he can see me. I let out a deep breath and I lean back against the headboard.

"My stomach hurts," I answer him softly.

"Did you eat something?" he questions as he takes the hair tie from my wrist and he gently puts my hair up.

"No, it's not that," I hesitate, not necessarily wanting to tell him I'm about to have my period sometime soon and I'm having cramps.

He looks at me and urges me to go on and tell him what it is.

"They're cramps," his face turns to a look of realization and he nods as an understanding look comes onto his face.

"How do I make it better?" I smile softly at his question and I walk to where I sat my purse. I take some Ibuprofen and then return to the bed.

I lay down on my back and Luke lays on his side beside me, tucking my head underneath his chin.

"Does it hurt here?" he questions as he places his large hand on my lower stomach. Even from laying his hand over top of my clothes, I feel the heat radiating off of it and it feels really good.

He lifts up my shirt to above my belly button and he moves my sweatpants down from right under my belly button, to my hip bone before placing his warm hand on the bare spot and gently rubbing it.

"God, I'm going to hate waking up without you beside me," he whispers in my ear right as I'm drifting off.

Dear God, please help us find some way to make this work.

____________________________

The next morning, I woke up before Luke. I was clinging to him like the teddy bear he is and he was peacefully sleeping with his head tucked under my chin.

He woke up not shortly after but we still stayed in the same position. Neither of us wanted to let go of each other.

When we did finally get up, we still barely left each others' side. To Luke's satisfaction, we even showered together.

He helped me pack away all my things that I had at his house and then we went out for lunch.

After eating, we went to my house and spent the rest of the time we had left together.

Five o'clock rolls around and he begins to reluctantly unwrap his arms from me. That only lasts for a few seconds though because as soon as he sees my teary eyes, he's lifting me up like a caveman and hugging me to him.

"Please don't cry, Aubrey," he says painfully.

Maybe I wouldn't cry if he was allowed to come and visit on the weekends. The only way of us seeing each other for the next, God knows how long, is facetime.

And If I don't get accepted to Alabama, then it will be mostly face timing for four years.

He wipes my face and sets me back down on the floor.

"I'll call and facetime you every chance I get, I promise," he leans down and presses a lingering, emotional kiss on my lips.

He looks at the clock beside my bed and he lets out a sigh.

"I've gotta go, sweetheart," he says quietly with my face still in his hands, "I would love for you to walk me out but if you do, I'm not sure I'd be able to drive away from you."

A mix between a laugh and a cry leaves my lips and he leaves one last kiss on my lips.

"I love you, Aubrey," he softly murmurs against my lips.

"I love you too," I wrap my arms around his large torso, "and please be careful on the way."

"I will," we pull apart from each other and I keep my emotions at bay as he leaves one final kiss on my forehead before walking out of my room.

Only a minute later, I listen to the sound of his truck drive away and my heart turns heavy.

__________________________

Five hours later, the front door opens and mom and Rick walk in. It's only seven and they aren't supposed to be home until eleven.

I sit up from my lying down position on the couch, mom's eyes dart towards me and her smile drops from her face.

"Did that boy finally leave?" she says snootily and my eyebrows furrow at her. Why would she say something like that?

"Y-Yes," I say quietly and she lets out a forced laugh.

"He was such a bad influence on you," she sneers and my eyes well up.

I don't understand what I did to her to make her act this way towards me.

Luke is far from bad. If anything, he helped me out of my shell and he even taught me how to love, which he says I did the same for him but to me, he did all the heavy lifting of our relationship, something that he would heavily disagree with.

"Since knowing him, you've become so disrespectful. All you do is act all quiet when you are here, which is rare, and when you do talk, it's never loud enough. It's like you hate me," she looks me up and down and I wipe a tear from under my eye.

I want dad.

"He'll realize his mistake with you and hopefully you two are done talking," she crosses her arms and I don't bother to wipe the tears anymore.

"I think that's enough, Claire," Rick finally speaks up, but he does so not so sure.

"Oh, she's fine," she rolls her eyes, "she needs to grow up anyways."

"I can't wait until I get out of here," I begin quietly, but as I go on, my voice becomes stronger, "you have been nothing but a cruel person to me and far from a mother for months now. I've done nothing to you and neither has dad. After summer is over, you can expect to never hear from me again."

"Your father never had time for me! He was always too busy worrying about himself! I would try to call him while he was away but he'd rarely answer!" she tries to justify her leaving but she only makes herself sound worse.

"Maybe that's because he was too busy making sure everyone around him stayed alive! You don't know a single thing about him," a deep feeling of sympathy washes over me for dad.

"Do you want the truth? I'll give it to you, you hateful child! I hadn't loved your father! You were just the result of a one night stand while he was on break!" my heart crumbles, "I was young and I couldn't afford to raise a child so I had to stay with him. Thank God I found Rick and as soon as I was offered to live up here, I took it."

I swallow down a sob that was stuck in my throat and look into her eyes in search of any kind of remorse.

I was only met with a cold look.

Memories of when Michelle first brought me here circle my mind.

She was pretending to care in front of the social worker. She only showed affection around other people.

How could I have been so blind?

"You're a horrible person," I tell her truthfully before putting shoes on, grabbing my keys, and rushing out the front door.

___________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Easier way", my ass.

After ten and a half hours on the road, we make it to Tuscaloosa. Another fifteen brings us to where everyone who goes to training camp stays.

Eli falls out his Jeep and he lays on the pavement for a while until Jon comes jogging out, his round stomach shaking and all.

"Bout' time ya'll made it here! Ya'll are the last two to arrive," his loud, booming voice wakes us up a bit.

Eli gets up and walks in the building sluggishly and I get my phone from the truck. I check the time and it's only twelve-thirty here.

But one-thirty where Aubrey is.

I send her a text telling her I made it without dying or getting arrested for assault because of all the incapable drivers that were out today.

"Let's go on inside, Taylor!" Jon urges me to follow him and I do.

I walk in the building and the sound of a bunch of guys talking hits my ears making me want to go back outside.

I just want to sleep. A back rub would be nice too, but no, I'm not allowed to stay only a little over an hour away, at grandma's, so that Aubrey can come with me and give me back rubs and her love and affection like I need.

Just my fuckin' luck.

______________________________

I let out a groan when Aubrey doesn't answer.

"I'm sleeping here so I would appreciate it i-" I cut Eli off, not wanting to hear his shit right now.

"Shut up."

I can't believe they're making me share a room with him all summer. I'll murder him, I'm not sure if I'm kidding.

"Aw, you miss her don't you?" he questions.

He knows the answer to that question.

"She won't answer," I grumble.

"Well duh, it's two a.m there," he says.

The door to our room bursts open and in walks Jon with the biggest bag of pork rinds I've ever seen.

We don't say anything, we just look over at him waiting for him to say what he wants.

"Damn, aren't y'all a lively bunch?" He laughs at himself.

"Oh no Jon, you can't laugh in here. It's a no laughing zone. Only heartbroken people are allowed," Eli chides sending a sideways glare at me.

His laughing sounds like a hyena, I had to set some rules if we're going to be staying in the same room.

"Heartbroken?" Jon asks sitting his pork rinds down on my bed. I kick the bag off and he grabs his heart.

"You're the devil's brother," Eli laughs at Jon's insult.

"Why are you heartbroken?" He asks either of us but I don't answer and just slam my head down against the headboard.

"Luke had to leave his woman," Eli says and I roll my eyes.

"The time will fly by, you'll see her soon," Jon assures but that's not what I'm worried about.

She's still not gotten accepted.

"Every day," Eli begins and I just know he's going to say something stupid, "he's got to have a least a certain amount of Aubrey time or he'll be the biggest asshole in all of eternity. I know, believe me."

I pick up my water bottle and throw it at his head.

__________________________

The first thing I do in the morning is call her.

I wipe my face after brushing my teeth and my heart races as anticipation of seeing her grows and when she answers and Izzy's face appears on the screen my face falls.

"Oh hey! Great to see you too," she says sarcastically and I just ignore the comment.

"Where's Aubrey? Is she okay?" Memories from the reaction come to mind.

"Oh she's fine," she sighs, her eyes looking at something behind the phone, "she just had a rough day yesterday."

"Why is that?" I question.

"Well firstly, you left," guilt in leaving her fills my head, "and she had-"

Her eyes fall on something on the other side of the phone and she puts the phone on mute as she argues with someone.

After about a minute, someone grabs the phone from her hands.

"Good morning, beautiful," I smirk at her disheveled hair. Although she must've just woken up, she's still the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.

I already miss her.

"Good morning," her soft voice travels through the phone and it if it weren't for Eli snoring his ass off across the room, I would've thought I was in heaven.

She tries to tame her curls with her free hand but when it doesn't work, Izzy sits behind her and begins to do whatever she's doing to it.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer you last night," a soft smile appears on her pretty lips, "I was asleep."

"That's okay."

"Tell him or I wil-" she cuts Izzy off the sound by putting the mute on and I sigh. I wanna know too.

From across the room, Eli snorts and coughs himself awake.

"What'd you say?" he questions me and my eyebrows furrow.

"I'm not talking to you, jackass," I reply and his already squinting eyes become even smaller. He clumsily gets out of his bed, hitting the wall with his shoulder and running a hand through his wild hair.

He turns towards me and opens his mouth to say something. A long, dried drool mark sits on his chin and I almost get sick.

Instead of waking up next to Aubrey, what do I get? I get to sleep alone and then see this ugly motherfucker when I get up.

"You know what? You're not kind," he walks into the bathroom.

*3RD PERSON POV* (it's back bitches)

"He should know Aubrey!" Izzy stresses and Aubrey knows that it's true.

"She should not have talked to you like that and he's your boyfriend, he deserves to know," Olivia nods from beside the other two girls.

There are multiple reasons as to why Aubrey doesn't want to tell Luke about the horrendous conversation that went down the previous night. One, because she knows Luke will have a hissy fit. Two, because it's embarrassing to have your own blood talk to you like that. And three, she doesn't want him to worry about her.

Which is quite funny considering he does it anyway.

She looks back to the screen on her phone and she sees his head turned as his mouth moves, talking to someone. Her fingers itch to trace his very nice jawline but that would be impossible through a phone.

They really need to improve technology.

she unmutes the phone and the sound of Luke's foul language reaches her ears. Although she hates the language, she loves the voice.

"Ya'll better tell me what you're hiding," he warns, "I won't hesitate to unleash Ella Taylor on you. I'll send her up there quicker than you can imagine."

Aubrey doesn't doubt that one bit.

"I'll start this off," Olivia leans into the view of Aubrey's phone and she locks her hands together with an evil look.

"Claire St. No-One-Cares is the biggest bitch and the worst mother on the entire planet. Basically, she told yours truly," she places her hand on the side of Aubrey's head and pulls it to her shoulder, "that she was a mistake. She insulted Aubrey, she insulted you, and she even insulted Aubrey's dad!"

Aubrey peers over at her phone to see Luke's face from Olivia's shoulder and she's shocked to see his face calm.

But not a nice calm, an eerily, too calm type of calm. One where the deadly eyes tell how angry the person really is but the rest of the face shows nothing. The worst type of calm and the worst type of anger.

"I'm sorry she insulted you," Aubrey says quietly, at least attempting to make him less angry.

"I could give two shits about what the old bat says about me," his voice comes through the phone and Izzy snickers, "but she can go to hell for what she said about you."

Of course Luke wasn't there for the whole conversation. He doesn't know half of what truly was said but did he care? No.

Someone truly insulted who Eli calls Luke's' woman', and he can tell just by looking at the way she's acting that it really hurt her.

Therefore, the 'old bat' can go to hell, it's simple really.

In Luke's eyes, she's the farthest thing from a mistake that God has ever made.

And he goes on. Talking more than Izzy and Olivia had ever seen him do all while throwing hilarious insults right back at Aubrey's mom. After around two minutes of him still going, he gets up, pausing his insults.

"I'm hungry," he mumbles as he rises from his bed and he walks out his room. Without a care in the world, he walks through the house-like building he's staying at until he gets into the kitchen.

"She needs to jump off her shitty little high horse and find something else better to do than ruin your life just because she hates her own," Luke chides and a loud, unfamiliar laugh is heard behind him. He turns around and sees a large group of guys all red-faced staring back at him all while holding their laughter and not trying to interrupt his call. He doesn't seem to care as he picks an apple up from a fruit basket.

Of course, when Luke had come into the room looking quite angry, they figured it was best to leave him alone. They'd heard from Jon that he had a temper sometimes and the last thing the guys wanted to do was set him off. So, when he walked into the room, they tried their best to ignore him and the person on the call.

But, that all went to shit when they listened to what came out of his mouth.

Usually, Luke wouldn't say things like he had. If he were telling someone off, he'd use more cursing and more...rude terms. But, talking to his Aubrey, he wanted to keep it at least PG-13 or she might get upset with him.

He never wants her upset with him.

"Maybe she just had a bad day at work-" Luke cuts off her soft, sweet voice by placing his apple back on the table harshly.

"Don't you even start," he narrows his eyes at her and she shrinks back into Izzy who is still doing her hair.

The one thing that gets Luke all frustrated is the fact that Aubrey is constantly trying to make up for people's behavior. She tries to justify their terrible actions and they don't deserve it a bit.

A long time ago, they had gotten into a fight about that and it resulted in a crying girlfriend and that was something Luke never wanted. So, he never really brought up the touchy subject like that again but even now, he still tells her not to do it.

He picks his apple back off and heads back to his room for a more private conversation.

"Move bitch," he curses Eli as he runs into him walking through the door of their room.

"Luke," Aubrey shakes her head at his choice of language.

"Is that Aubrey?!" Eli questions excitedly and he looks at Luke's phone.

"Hi, Eli!" Aubrey giggles happily and Luke smiles softly at the sound.

The thought of not seeing her for almost two months wipes the smile right off his face. Plus, the thought of barely seeing her for four years.

Luke doesn't say much as he listens to Aubrey, Eli, and the two girls talk for a while. When a shout comes from the main room telling everyone to meet there, Luke sighs.

He wishes he could just talk to her for hours- actually, better yet, he wishes he could be with her.

"You've got to go?" Aubrey questions, an adorable tilt to her head after she tells goodbye to Eli.

"I'm sorry, darlin'," Luke says.

"Okay," she smiles a small, dimpled smile and he swoons, "I love you!"

"I love you too, baby," they both reluctantly hang up and Luke puts his phone in his pocket knowing that if he just leaves it alone in the room, Eli will get ahold of it and take hundreds of pictures of his feet.

He only does it because he knows how much Luke hates his ugly feet.

He walks in, a little later than everyone but did he care? Absolutely not; he was talking to Aubrey, they can wait.

"Taylor!" Jon calls out as he walks into the room, "come meet everyone, you got here after we all met last night."

Introduction after introduction and Luke finds himself not liking half the guys. He knew that would happen though, it's not a surprise.

The final guy sits glaring at another before his attention his caught by Jon.

"Blackwell! Stop hating on Kris and get over here!" Jon ushers the last guy over and Luke continues eating his apple, turned away from everyone else.

"Luke," Jon taps the shoulder of Luke continuously which annoys him to no end. He closes his eyes in an attempt to not snap at the man and he turns around.

"What Jon?" He grits his teeth.

Aiden Blackwell smirks a little at the encounter between the two. He sure as hell feels the same way.

"Aiden Blackwell," he introduces himself and Luke's attention turns to him.

"Luke Taylor," Luke introduces back.

"I think you two'll get along," Jon starts, "Ya both hate everyone.

"Fuck you," the two guys say simultaneously, slightly shocking both of them.

Maybe, just maybe, Luke has made a new acquaintance.

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|It's been a while, sorry! Hopefully writing the longest chapter I've ever written will make up for it:) 7,431 words to be exact. The ending of this chapter isn't my favorite but hopefully, it isn't too bad. Thanks for reading!

*I don't edit*

-Ashlyn M.