One Thousand Songs Later

Funny how the world seems so perfect and then Hades decides to unleash all horrors of hell. Louis's is right, how do I stay positive? Every time I see a glimmer of hope, it just fizzes out. I'm so tired of feeling like a target. I'm just an ordinary girl, I don't have any bad intentions. I make mistakes, does that mean I have to go through so much?

Why can't I have a normal life? Free of drama and full of happiness. I suppose life doesn't work that way and without problems, things would be boring. I can't believe I resulted in complaining about my life, children are starving in India and dying from terrorists. No matter how big my problems look, it will never match the true cruelties of this world.

I am so lucky to be the daughter or Louis and Eleanor, to live in an enormous house, to have experienced love, to be breathing really. I smiled, at these humbling thoughts. Yes, things would be alright because life is beautiful.

Hearing a buzz from my phone, I leaned backwards to grab it from the bedside table. It's amazing how much the iPhone has changed, right now were on the iPhone 10 and iOS 12, the newest addition more incredible than the one before. Technology has really changed and everything has become sleeker, smaller, and more metallic.

Things have gotten more expensive but luckily One Direction is still in full spin; now the boys write their own songs. They're becoming more successful and authentic, writing more than just love songs; more meaningful. They have more than just a teenage girl fan base now. They've even won a Grammy.

I got to listen to their new album, even though it's not going to come out for four more months. Louis wrote the most songs out of all the boys and I couldn't be more proud of my Dad. He even wrote a song about me which is my favorite on the album. I wouldn't be surprised if their new album or one of the songs is nominated for a Grammy next year in 2019.

Things have changed a lot since 2013, when everything started and I first met Eleanor. I can't believe six years have gone past, I have lost so much and gained even more.

Unlocking my phone, I ran my hands through my hair nervously, seeing what the text read:

You need to leave.

Don't worry, it's not from Kyle. It's from Luke's mom, Teresa. Over the summer, we got really close and now, she's telling me to board the private plane (Louis insisted) to Princeton without Luke. Something I will never do. I'm not sure why she's even bothering to try. I won't leave Luke.

I know that Luke will wake up, I can feel it. And if he doesn't . . . I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it. Luke has been on lots of drugs and they're supposed to help ease the pain. They have helped, when he was last awake about a month ago, he was in a lot of pain. He isn't in as much pain when he's asleep though.

I'm just praying that he'll eventually be able to be pain-free consciously. When I had first seen him, back in Africa, I stopped, frozen, horrified at the sight of his mangled body. Kyle took that as an opportunity to shoot me. Luckily, his aim was terrible and I got shot in the shoulder which isn't as fatal as the chest. But I did loose a lot of blood and was hospitalized for a week.

But Luke ended up much worse than I. Apparently, it doesn't matter if your blood related or not, if you get in Kyle's way, you will be hurt. And what happened to Luke is just gruesome. Kyle had built another cubed room for Luke literally right next Louis's and I's cube. Kyle is a genius with sound engineering and technology but before he had kidnapped me, he was majoring at Oxford as a surgeon.

The police told me that we were missing for a total of five days. I must of been unconscious for two days. Unlike Louis and I, Kyle didn't give Luke an enormous amount of the sleeping drought, giving him more time for Kyle to torture Luke. During those five days, Kyle was beating Luke, but using his medical training to keep him alive just enough to keep hurting him.

Luke's body is littered with scabs, cuts, bruises, and gashes. For two weeks, Luke was in a full body cast, no part of his body was left unscarred. Almost all of his bones were broken and nothing about his body is the same as before. But he survived.

What I'm worried now is what's going to happen to him after he gets out of the hospital. He can barely move, never mind walk freely to classes in Princeton. Even if he does wake up, how is he going to manage?

I slowly texted Teresa back:

I'm not leaving without Luke.

I immediately got a text back saying:

Have it your way then.

I halfheartedly smiled, thank God she understood, or else things would've gotten ugly. I set my phone down and leaned forward, taking Luke's hand into mine. Even though he was scared everywhere and I flinch nearly every time I see him, he's still handsome. He's just ruffed up.

The doctors say he's awake a lot, he just can't open his eyes, it's too hard for him. They feed him through these tubes with "food" that looks like throw up (and trust me, I know what throw up looks like) and I don't want to even think about how he uses the restroom.

I thought back to last month, when he finally woke up. He was so pale then, all the wounds were finally starting to close and he was slowly gaining weight. We had only exchanged a total of eight words. It was at one in the morning and I was up because he had been fidgeting and he kept murmuring things; I could tell he was going to wake.

"Lily." He had whispered. He tried to firmly grasp my hand but cried out in pain, he had moved his arm too fast. I began to cry, it was too much to see him in pain. He slowly brought his hand to my face and wiped away my tears.

"I love you." He croaked.

"I love you too." I whispered and placed my hand on top of his. After that, he fell asleep, exhausted and I cried more. The past few months I have been sitting in the same chair, next to his bed, practically living in it, with the same soreness in my neck because I always have my head turned to the left; facing Luke. He's only waken up that one time but the doctors predict he'll be waking soon, for good.

But sometimes soon isn't enough.

Trying to cheer myself up, I recalled the time that Louis, Eleanor, Liam, Niall, Zayn, and Harry tried pulling me away from the hospital bed. When they eventually carried me out and forced me to go out to dinner, I didn't utter a word. They eventually relented and let me go back to the hospital and sit next to Luke. Yeah, I'm definitely the best at being stubborn.

Suddenly the door swung open and I jumped in my seat, startled at the unexpected movement. Teresa was at the doorway with Louis, Niall, Zayn, Liam, and Harry.

"I'm not leaving." I warned as they walked towards me.

"Yes you will, with Luke." The boys picked up Luke and set him in some sort of cart, which kind of looked like a plastic crib except for adults. I sprang up from my seat and followed the cart to the entrance of the hospital.

"Are you sure that's safe?" I asked as the boys folded up the legs of the cart and slid it in the trunk of the car. I knew they were all decent drivers but I can't help but be worried.

"It's like she doesn't trust us." Snorted Zayn and settled extra pillows around Luke's head.

"After everything we've been through you'd think she's trust us!" Said Niall as he tied the cart securely to the back of the car seat. I glared at all of them as they smirked at me.

"Excuse me for worrying about the best thing that's ever happened to me!" I exclaimed. All the boy's jaws dropped.

"Okay, I give you a family and a roof to live under and I'm not good enough for you? I see how it is." Louis grumbled.

The boys each added their own additional complaints and for the rest of the ride didn't speak to me. And when I tried to talk to one of them, they said something like:

"What was that? Did you hear that? It was coming from over there! I think it was a ghost!" And related shit.

By the time we had reached the field where the plane was, I had hit all the boys twice. Except Liam, although the boys had corrupted him, he was still the decent one.

When the car came to a halt, I watched as Luke got hauled in the plane. All annoyance melted away when I realized this was goodbye and I wouldn't see any of the boys until Thanksgiving. I gave them all a hug goodbye and was about to enter but then I spotted Eleanor's car into the distance.

Eleanor is known for being a very cautious driver and I was surprised to see that she was speeding and kicked up a lot of gravel on poor Louis when she screeched to a halt. I ran up to her as she got out the car to give her a hug.

When we pulled apart I spotted traces of tears on her still-gorgeous face. I wiped them away and gave her my signature reassuring smile.

"I just got you back and now your leaving again." She whispered; I chuckled softly.

"I'll miss you too." I said, Eleanor nodded sadly and held my hand as she lead me to the plane.

"Tell Leo I love him." I told Eleanor before boarding the plane. Eleanor swallowed before nodding. I waved to the boys and stepped inside the cabin.

"Wait! Lily!" I heard Louis shout. He rushed up the stairs and faced me on the platform.

"Please, please, don't get into any trouble while your there, I don't think Eleanor and I will be able to handle anything else." Louis begged. I gave him a small smile.

"I'll try." Then I walked into the cabin and sat in the leather seat next to Luke who's cart was tied down.

I glanced around the plane and couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by all the luxurious scenery - quite different from the white hospital room I've grown accustomed to. My eyes flitted from the all the finery and focused on Luke. His cheeks were flushed and the tips of his lips were pointed upwards, the first sign of the old Luke.

Ignoring the flashing seatbelt sign, I kneeled at his side and pulled his hand into my own. They were warm. I knew he was going to wake up now. I quickly stood up and rushed over to the mini fridge to grab some water, he would want it. After scanning the arrangement of snacks, I carefully chose a granola bar - hopefully his stomach wouldn't explode from actual food.

I sat back down next to Luke's cart and put the refreshments on a tray. I watched him, expectedly, waiting for him to arise and give that smile that would erase all my doubts and soothe my conflicted heart.

It was nearly three o'clock when I had fallen asleep, still eagerly waiting for Luke to awake. And I will never stop waiting.

Notes

Sorry it took awhile to update again, I'm already starting to work on the new chapter so you won't have to wait as long.
Love you my faithful readers,
-Louistomlinson