Chapter 1

"One week, guys,"

I sighed and dropped my bag to the ground, sliding into the seat opposite Luke. He flashed me a grin. "Hey, Leah," He greeted.

"Hey," I returned. Sometimes I wondered if he genuinely thought my name was Leah. After 10 years of friendship, he still called me it, despite knowing that my name was actually Emilia. Most people called me Emily or even Ellie as a nickname, but not Luke.

The first day I met him, after he moved in next door, he had mistakenly thought my name was actually Leah. Since then it stuck. I didn't mind. I didn't care what Luke called me.

We had been best friends since we were seven, since he moved in next door to me. We were partners in crime most of the time, and always fought, just never seriously. We just got each other, and somewhere along the way, I'd had the misfortune to fall completely and irreparably in love with him.

What's the problem with that, you might ask? Well the problem with that came gliding over to the table then, sitting down beside him and twisting her fingers through his. Paige. His girlfriend of two years and my other best friend.

I averted my eyes as they kissed, staring at the pizza that sat untouched in front of me, trying to still the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

I'd probably known Paige for even longer than I'd known Luke, and once upon a time we'd been inseparable. We still were, in a sense. I told her everything. She listened, she gave advice. We laughed, we had fun, but that didn't make her a good friend, and I realised that when she started going out with Luke.

She knew I liked him. I'd told her. We'd had lengthy discussions about it. But did that influence her decision when Luke asked her out? No.

At some point over the last two years I seemed to have been able to convince her that I didn't have feelings for Luke anymore. Either that or she'd forgotten or simply didn't care.

Matthew slid into the seat beside me, Cody not far behind him. "Gross," Matthew complained loudly, and Luke chuckled against Paige's lips.

It was enough to get them to stop making out, and Paige started picking at her own slice of pizza, Luke's arm slung across her back.

"One week guys," Cody commented, and I couldn't decide if he was excited or nervous. Hell, I couldn't decide if I was excited or nervous!

"One week?" Luke repeated, his eyes wide. "Shit," He sighed. His alarm was only visible for a few seconds before he masked it with a smile. I reached out, nudging his calf with my toe.

His converse nudged me back and I bit back a small smile. Paige was nodding, her mouth full of food.

In one week we would graduate from high school. Then at the end of the summer we'd go our separate ways. I was going to college in California. Luke was going travelling. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it. I glanced up at Luke, but he was already looking at me. He inclined his head slightly and raised his eyebrows, giving a smile that said 'I'll talk to you later'.

I nodded and Matthew sighed loudly. "They're speaking through private jokes or some shit again,"

Luke rolled his eyes and ignored his friend, leaning across Paige to pick up her last slice of pizza and take a big bite of it before she could protest. She rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the arm, but she was laughing.

 

That night, in the early hours of the morning, I lay awake. I couldn't sleep. My mind was running wild, busy with thoughts. I hauled myself up onto my window seat, heaving open the window with a sigh.

From here I could see Luke's room, and within a few minutes the light flickered on and he was sitting on his own window seat, window wide open.

"Can't sleep?" He called quietly.

I shook my head.

When I was little I used to think that our windows were so close that if I reached far enough I could climb into his bedroom.

"One week," He whispered, letting out a low whistle.

"I know," I sighed, tucking my knees up under my chin.

We always did this. Weekends, summer, Christmas holidays. Whenever we couldn't sleep we'd sit out here at 2 and 3 am, talking through the windows to each other, usually either until it got bright or one of us fell asleep.

"That's only like, two more months until you leave…"

I couldn't decide if he was talking about me leaving to go to college or that I was leaving him.

"I know," I repeated, my mouth dry.

Luke angled his head up, looking at the darkened sky. "Are you excited?" He asked softly.

I thought about it for a minute, I even considered lying to him, but in the end I couldn't do that. He was Luke. He knew me better than anyone else.

"No," I replied, and he glanced at me. Before either of us could say anything further we both started laughing.

"Leah, I'm—" He was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing inside his room. "One minute," He said, raising a finger. He got up with a sigh and I could see his silhouetted figure scrambling around his room looking for the phone.

He returned a few minutes later, his brow furrowed. "That was Paige," He said. "I have to go,"

"Oh," My stomach sank. I knew I should ask. "Is she okay?"

He sighed heavily, running his hands across his face and through his hair. "I don't know," He replied, and before I could ask anything further, his phone beeped to alert an incoming text message and he swore quietly.

"Night, Leah,"

"Night, Luke,"

He disappeared from the window and a few minutes later I heard the engine of his car purr and come to life. I got down from the window, closing it, and went back to bed.

 

The following morning I was walking to Starbucks with Luke, who was surprisingly chirpy considering his apparent lack of sleep last night. There were dark rings circling his eyes but there was a certain skip in his step that hadn't been there yesterday.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

I was half expecting him to tell me he got laid last night and that's what was with him. If that was the case he usually came right out and said it. "You know when I got that call from Paige last night?" He said.

I nodded. "Well don't ask me how it happened, apparently she was out with her cousin. They were at some bar downtown, and she got really drunk. She needed someone to drive her home," He continued.

I frowned, more out of confusion than anything else. "So why are you happy again?"

His grin widened. "I went to pick her up and when I got there somehow I got to chatting to the owner of the place, and he mentioned that he wanted to start getting bands in for live music every now and again,"

I was starting to catch on.

"So when I told him about my band, he said to give him my number and he'd definitely consider hiring us for a gig," He beamed.

Luke had been in a band with a few other guys from school for the past year. I knew that it was what he always wanted to do, and he had a gorgeous voice, he really did, it was so sexy, but I'd never taken him seriously when he spoke about it.

Maybe it was the fact that their idea of rehearsal was playing FIFA or Call of Duty in someone's garage and ordering pizza.

I grinned non-the-less. "That's great!"

He looked so excited, it was so sweet. "Isn't it! You'll come, won't you?"

"Of course," I promised.

His grin stretched wider, if that was even possible. "Thanks, Leah," He said, slinging his arm over my shoulder and hugging me to his side.

2: "60 days,"

Chapter 2

---

"60 days,"

---

The day of graduation came and passed and I felt no different. I was officially no longer a high-school student. I should feel more mature, more grown up, more prepared, surely?

Nope.

Evidently it didn't work like that, and I was just as nervous and anxious about going to college as I had been before. I had 60 more days before I left for California. Semester didn't start until September, but I had to get there early and move into my apartment and get all my stuff sorted out.

My phone buzzed to alert me to a new text. It was from Luke. I slid my finger across the screen, unlocking it.

'On my way home from work. See you soon.'

I thought for a minute before typing back my response. 'Okay cool. Mexican or Chinese?'

His reply arrived within seconds. 'Pizza' I rolled my eyes at his response. Of course he'd just have to choose something that I hadn't suggested.

'Fine but you have to pick it up' I texted back, before sliding my phone into my pocket.

Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and Luke breezed in, holding two large pizzas and a 2 litre bottle of Diet Coke, because he knew I didn't like the normal Coke.

"You took your time," I grumbled, helping him in. He only grinned. "It's great to see you too, I missed you too,"

I rolled my eyes, laughing. "Yeah, Luke, I missed you. It's been a whole 24 hours, poor me," I said sarcastically.

He snickered quietly to himself and we made our way into the sitting room. He sat down, kicking off his shoes. "Are your parents home?" He asked.

I shook my head, disappearing into the kitchen to grab us two glasses for our drinks. When I got back he'd opened the pizza boxes. It smelled so good.

I handed him his glass, which he accepted with a grin. "How was work?"

"Long," He sighed, pouring the Diet Coke.

I gave him a sympathetic look. "Hey, at least you can spend all night eating and being lazy on the couch with me now,"

"There's nothing I'd rather do," He smiled, sitting back and picking up a slice of pizza. He sighed heavily and picked up the remote in his other hand.

"You still got Netflix?"

I nodded. "Great," He grinned. "What do you want to watch?"

I shrugged. "Anything," I said, "But not Taken," I added quickly.

Luke's smile quickly dropped and he pouted at me. "Aw, why not?"

"Because I don't want to sit here for two hours listening to you fangirling about Liam Neeson,"

He looked offended. "Okay, first of all, I do not fangirl," He said pointedly. "I'm just very enthusiastic."

I laughed but nodded, signalling for him to continue. "And second of all, it's Liam Neeson!" He whined.

Eventually we decided to watch Pitch Perfect, the only thing the two of us could agree on without arguing. About half an hour into the movie I glanced at Luke and realized he'd fallen asleep.

My lips curled into a smile. He looked so cute like that.

I took the opportunity to look at him properly. He was sitting on the couch with his head hanging back, his eyes tightly shut. The lip piercing was dark against his lips, which were barely parted. My eyes traced the lines of his jaw and cheekbones.

His blonde hair, which was usually styled in a perfectly undone quiff, was messy now, and the SnapBack which he had worn back to front on his head lay somewhere on the ground by his feet.

He looked so tired, he looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake him if I had any choice on the matter.

I tried to focus on the movie, but it was hard with him snoring gently on the sofa opposite me and eventually I gave in and got up to turn it off. Luke jumped awake at the sudden lack of sound.

He blinked blearily, sitting up straight and rubbing his neck. "Shit, did I fall asleep?" He asked, squinting.

I nodded and he sighed, placing his head in his hands. "Sorry," He mumbled, and I could tell he was still half asleep. The pizza boxes sat empty on the coffee table, as did our glasses.

My eyes flickered to his face to see him already looking at me. "C'mere," He mumbled, patting the spot beside him on the sofa.

I padded across barefoot and sat down beside him. He was still running his hand across his face and through his hair. He gave a yawn.

"How long until you...?" He trailed off.

"60 days," I replied.

He gulped. "Already?" He asked weakly and I nodded.

"Well," He said with a grin, "We'd better make the most of it,"

He abruptly stood up, taking me by the hand and dragging me with him. "Where are we going?" I laughed.

Luke tapped the side of his nose, already pulling on his shoes and jacket. "It's need to know," He said tauntingly. He gave me a pointed look. "C'mon, don't just stand there. Go get your shoes." He said, heaving a sigh as though I was the biggest burden he'd ever have to deal with.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head laughing. "Don't tell me what to do," I warned, but I reached for my shoes all the same. As soon as I'd tied the last knot in my laces, Luke's hand was reaching for mine again, dragging me with him.

I grabbed keys from beside the door on the way out before he'd pushed me out the door, closing it behind us. I laughed. "Alright, alright, chill out,"

He shook his head, blue eyes gleaming. "Can't do that," He said with a wide grin. "C'mon, hurry up!"

He dragged me down the street, ushering me out of our quiet housing estate into the surrounding suburbia. "Where are you taking me?" I asked again, a little breathless.

Luke looked a little offended. "You seriously haven't figured it out, yet?" He asked in disbelief.

I frowned a little. Where could he possibly be taking me? There was the record store, but it was late. That'd be closed. Then there were countless restaurants and fast food joints we loved to go to. There was the cinema, but that wasn't really within walking distance. "Where are we-oh!" I said as everything clicked into place.

We neared the school. The big football pitch was unlocked, and Luke dragged me by the hands up the bleachers. Standing at the top, he turned to me and grinned.

"You know how we always said it'd be cool to have a party or a concert up here?" He asked. I nodded. "Well," He continued, "Now we can,"

I gave him a funny look but he cut me off before I could reply, already talking again. "I mean I know there's no food or beer or whatever,"

"Or people," I interrupted. He shot me a dark look.

"But I'm here, and everyone knows I'm the life and soul of the party, so." He grinned. I rolled my eyes and sat down. "You're an idiot," I informed him.

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow, already delving into his pocket. He came out with his phone and a wide, dimpled grin. "Let's see. What good music do I have here?" He mumbled to himself.

I started laughing, but he ignored me. He was such a dork.

"Here!" He exclaimed, tapping his phone and looking at me expectantly. Mr Brightside started blaring and I groaned loudly, laughing as I put my head in my hands, even though it was one of my favourite songs.

Luke was laughing and when I looked up he was already playing the air guitar. He started singing along loudly.

"Coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine-c'mon Leah," He teased. I laughed and shook my head, peeking out from between my fingers.

He switched to the drums nodding his head in time to the music. When he got to the chorus he was shouting, and I was sure he was going to wake up anyone in a hundred mile radius. I burst out laughing. He had no shame.

I reached for his arm, taking him by the elbow, but he just pulled me up so I was standing with him and started pulling me along with him, jumping down the bleachers as he sang at the top of his lungs, laughing the whole time.

At some point over the next few songs, which included Backstreet Boys, Coldplay, Justin Bieber and Nirvana (a real mixture of songs), I gave up and joined in, singing with him.

After a while someone appeared on the football pitch, torch in hand. "Hey! You up there! This is private property," He called and Luke burst out laughing, grabbing me by the hand and sprinting down the bleachers and past the surly security guard.

We ran nearly all the way back to my house, where we stood on the front porch eyes gleaming and completely breathless. I let us in and we burst out laughing as soon as we were inside the door.

We went back into the sitting room where I flopped down on the couch. Luke sat down beside me heavily, grinning. He draped an arm the back of the sofa.

When we eventually calmed down I shifted my weight, resting my head on the space between his neck and shoulder.

I was tired, my eyes were heavy, and they fluttered closed.

Somewhere, between sleep and consciousness, I heard him sigh next to me. "I am going to miss you Emily Davis."

 

3: "Are you scared?"

Chapter 3

---

"Are you scared?"

---

Luke's voice sounded crackly through the phone. The reception was really bad here.

"What do you mean we don't even have a full month left?"

I sighed. "Luke, there's only a little bit over two weeks left until you leave. A week after that I'm going to college,"

I could almost hear him trying to work it out in his head. "That can't be right," He mumbled eventually.

"But it is," I replied.

"But—"

"Luke,"

He sighed then, and said nothing for a few moments. All I could hear was the sound of him breathing on the other end of the phone. "Where are you?"

"I'm nearly home, I won't be long." I answered, pressing the button on the traffic lights and waiting for the beep that would signal it was safe to cross.

"Have you passed the record shop yet?" He asked.

I shook my head, even though he couldn't see me. "No,"

"Okay, cool, I have to drive home from Paige's house anyway, so I could meet you there?"

Paige's house was only five minutes from the record shop, and I wasn't much further on foot. "Yeah, okay," I agreed.

"See you soon," He replied, and the beep sounded, telling me that the call had ended. I locked my phone and put it back into my pocket.

The record shop had been like our own secret den since we were teenagers. Luke and I were there constantly, fuelling our insatiable love for music.

Generally we loved the same kinds of music, with a few exceptions (Luke's strange love for country music being one of them), and for that reason we spent most of our free time at the place.

We'd grown to know the owner of the store, and the clerk, Mandy, who was nearly always on the till. Luke didn't believe me, but I knew that she had a crush on him.

There was a small jingle as I pushed open the door to the shop, finding Luke standing on the other side, talking excitedly to Mandy.

"Oh my god, no way!" He exclaimed.

I laughed, making my way over to where they were standing. "What is it? A new shipment of Garth Brooks memorabilia?" I teased.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ignore her. She'll claim otherwise but I know for a fact she has more than one 'N Sync CD lying around at home. Her opinion is invalid,"

Mandy laughed and shook her head. "No, I was telling Luke that we're getting a new shipment of guitars in soon," She replied.

"Oh," I nodded.

Mandy then excused herself to return to the till to ring something up for someone and Luke and I started walking through the aisles of CDs, quietly talking.

"Oh, here, you have to get this," Luke said with a grin, tossing me Pearl Jam's latest CD.

I scoffed quietly. "I didn't even know these guys were still around."

"Well they are, and they're great so hush up," Luke shook his head.

I handed him Ed Sheeran's new CD. "For you,"

Luke grinned. "I actually wanted to get this," He admitted.

We kept on like this for a while, walking through the aisles and picking up CDs at random, handing them to each other. We usually did this, shared out the CDs like that so we both wouldn't have to buy loads.

After that then we'd just lend them to each other and swap them as we saw fit.

We paid for our small stacks of CDs and made our way back out to Luke's car. It was a beat up little Volkswagen Golf, and the blue paint was scratched and fading in places, but I loved it.

I climbed into the passenger seat, depositing the CDs at my feet. The ground was littered with half empty bottles of water, books from school and Luke's hoodies, as usual.

"Sorry about the mess," He mumbled as he started the car, but I knew he wasn't really that sorry.

"It's fine," I shrugged.

We drove back to Luke's house and as he pulled into the garden, he grinned. "You're coming over for dinner, right? My folks haven't stopped talking about it all day."

"Yeah, of course," I nodded. We made our way out of the car and into the house, Luke slamming the door behind him loudly.

"We're home!" He called out.

There was some movement from the kitchen and his mom came out wearing a wide smile. "Emily!" She greeted with a grin, hurrying over to hug me.

I suppose in a way, Mr and Mrs Watson, Luke's parents, were like my own second set of parents. I basically grew up in this house, spending nearly as much time here as I did in my own house, possibly even more.

"We've missed you, honey," She greeted.

"Where's Dad?" Luke asked. "He's not home from work. Dinner will be in a while. I'll call you when it's ready," She answered.

A few hours later we were lying on our backs on Luke's bed. I stared up at the ceiling, which was full of posters. Luke was weird like that. He liked to put posters and photos on his ceiling as opposed to his wall. He claimed that way the things he liked most were the first thing he saw when he woke up and the last thing he saw before he fell asleep.

I loved Luke's room, probably more than my own room. It was just so familiar. I could have drawn it in my sleep. The covers were always messy on his bed. There were always random notebooks and pieces of paper strewn across his room.

His acoustic guitar was usually found either on the end of his bed or on the window seat. Despite this, his room, unlike his car, was usually quite tidy. Or at least, you could always see the floor.

Luke's fingers were tracing soft half-moons on my shoulder. In 18 days Luke was going travelling. He called it touring with his band, but we both knew that he was just going to go see the world.

In 23 days I was leaving for college.

Luke's voice sounded beside me and I knew that his thoughts were in the exact same place as mine at that moment.

"Are you scared?"

I let out a low laugh, more out of relief than anything. "Yes," I said emphatically.

I heard Luke laugh. "Thank god I'm not the only one," He sighed in relief.

"What time is your flight at?" I asked.

"2am," He replied.

"Where are you going first?"

"Germany,"

I sighed and said nothing.

"It's going to be so weird without you, Leah," He said, so quietly I almost doubted I heard it.

"It's only for a year or two," I shrugged.

"Yeah, but when I get back you're going to be well settled in California in some big shot school. You'll have forgotten about me,"

I laughed and turned over, propping myself up on my elbow so I could look at him. "Do you really think that's going to happen?" I asked.

He looked doubtful. "You have to write to me," He said, avoiding my question.

"Write to you?" I replied.

"Yeah, because I can't be sure if I'll always have my phone or even internet, but a pen and paper isn't hard to come by," He explained.

I nodded slowly, lying back down, my head on his chest. "Okay," I agreed. "I'll write to you,"

"Really?" He asked, still sounding nervous.

"Really," I confirmed. I heard him exhale loudly, letting his worries leave him as the air rushed from his lungs.

 

4: Luke 1 - Germany

Luke 1:

---

Germany

---

Dear Leah,

Well, I made it in one piece, surprisingly.

I'm in Germany.

I'm staying in a hostel at the moment; we're going InterRailing in a few days, so I'll get to see most of Europe that way. I'm pretty excited to check it all out, you know how I am, I've always wanted to visit Europe.

The flight here was long, so long. And cramped. And uncomfortable. There was a kid behind me who literally wouldn't stop kicking my chair. He had a little snivelly nose and he kept crying and kicking the chair. Every ten seconds. Thump. Thump. Thump.

As if that wasn't bad enough there was this guy beside me who in all honesty should have paid for two seats. I'm not trying to sound bad, Leah, but oh wow, this guy was huge. I had barely any room.

Enough complaining, though, because fuck, it was worth it. It's so cool here. I've barely seen anything yet and I'm already having the time of my life.

I wish you were here.

You're so sensible and smart and reliable. You'd have us all under control. It's hard enough for me to keep track of myself and remember everything for myself, never mind Cody too. You were always so on top of things. You'd be great.

Cody forgot his passport. We drove to the airport, remembered it, had to drive home and get it and come back and check in. And then guess what he did? He lost his bag. It could literally be anywhere in the world right now. So as soon as we got to Germany we had to go shopping and buy him some clothes and a toothbrush. I had clothes, but not that many. Everything I brought fits into a single backpack for when we go InterRailing.

It's going to be so cool. Basically, they're these trains that span across all of Europe and Eastern Europe.

Apparently a lot of young people around here get those trains around the continent and stay in hostels. It's pretty good, because that way we have money to go out and get smashed.

Speaking of, you know what's awesome about Germany? The legal drinking age is eighteen! I don't think I even need to tell you about what happened when the boys and I found out about that.

The hostel we're staying in at the moment is so cool. I shit you not, we have an upstairs to our room. I'm not ashamed to admit we all screamed like little girls when we saw it and bounded up the stairs. There's a set of bunk beds downstairs and another upstairs, and a small bathroom downstairs too. Showers are communal, but clean, so I guess that's all I could ask for. There's wifi, too, hallelujah!

There's a TV room with a load of cool DVDs, and guess what we watched last night? Only my favourite movie of all time, Taken! I know when we'd watch it back home most of the time you'd slag me and sit there complaining because you don't understand the genius that is Liam Neeson, and that's okay, but I have to admit I missed your whiny voice.

How's college going? Have you joined a kinky little sorority? Please say yes and give me something to think about late at night.

No? Oh, okay. What about your dorms, what are they like? Your roommates? Any cool people?

How's Paige doing? Have you spoken to her?

My phone won't work here, something about not having roaming properly enabled, so there's no point calling me on it. If you need me, call me on the landline of the hostel. The lady's pretty nice. She'll get me for you if it's an emergency.

For now, though, we'll just have to put in a bit of effort and write to each other. Ew, I know, why would you waste time writing to me? And the answer is I don't know, but I hope you do.

Germany's crazy, man. I can't understand anything anyone says to me. And I know what you'd say to that if you were here. You'd roll your eyes and do that laugh of yours and say with equal measures of exasperation and sarcasm that it's "because they're speaking German, maybe?" but you know what I'd say back to that. Two words. Seven letters. No prizes for guessing correctly.

I don't remember any of what happened on the first night, and considering I woke up in the kitchen of a Noodle Bar, I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm going to say a bit of both, because judging by how I woke up there was the possibility of kitchen sex, but I have no idea who with.

Plus, Paige wouldn't be too happy. Shit, don't tell her about that.

I don't think I have much else to tell you.

I wish you were here with me,

Luke x