the first one • j. hughes

34

kennedy
hey
i'm coming over is that ok

luke skywalker
I'm not home
Do you need me to be?
I can head there

kennedy
no just need to see you
where are u
i'll come to you

luke skywalker
We're at a bar

kennedy
send the location

luke skywalker
alright
Jack's here jsyk

kennedy
cool

* * * * *

I spot Luke immediately and make my way over to him. He's with some of his teammates. Something's off though. The moment I make eye contact with him, I can tell something's up. He looks as if he's got a bomb strapped to him. Not entirely but his eyes for sure. They're wider than I've ever seen them.

"Hey, Lu," I say, cautiously.

He pulls me into a tight hug. Then, when he pulls back, he grabs onto my shoulders and rotates me until we're facing the other way. He makes sure I stay there too. His hands don't loosen their grip in the slightest.

Alarms go off in my head. "What's up?"

"Nothin'," he says way too fast. "Just getting a good look at you."

"Oh, the first twenty years of seeing me wasn't enough?" I ask.

He smiles. It's a good chance. I try to glance over my shoulder and one of Luke's hands grabs me by the jaw and turns my face. His face is now completely void of a smile. This is freaking me out. Did he take something? Oh, god I hope and pray he didn't take anything.

"Luke," I state, my word a little garbled by the grip he has on my jaw.

"Kennedy."

"What's up?"

He shrugs. "Nothin'."

"Dude, I'm gonna kick you," I warn.

Knowing I'm dead serious, Luke drops his hold on me. He tries a warning of his own with a look and while it makes me a bit nervous, I still turn around. A knife wound comes out of thin air. When did a knife get into my stomach? When did someone start twisting it?

Jack's smiling and leaning close to a girl's ear to tell her something. She throws her head back in laughter. Would this be a bad time to reference Justin Bieber? Because, well, that should be me. From behind me, Luke puts a solemn hand on my shoulder. I screw my eyes shut and try to focus on his hand. Nothing else. Not that sight I saw.

"You okay?" My best friend asks.

My eyes snap open. "No. Fuck that. He doesn't— Fuck him. I'm going to—"

"Don't do anything dumb," Luke says, squeezing my shoulder once before he lets go.

My feet move on their own, storming over to the boy who I've waited for my whole life. For him to back out of it right before I could tell him he's all I've ever wanted. Truly, everyone else was just me killing time until we were both available and ready. I was ready. He backed out. On me. On us. Now he's at a bar that he came to with his teammates but is practically all over a girl?