Re: James/Luke's Apt: Beginning of a New Me [Lucas]

[Guest]

James got up off the couch and tossed his phone onto it, "Fuck, I honestly don't care."

Although he knew now that this really effected his mood now, and he was pissed now that just as he stopped thinking about her, she had to be annoying and bothering him again.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke eyed his best friend and felt somewhat depressed. Here he had just been on an awesome date, was over the moon and James was being mentally torn apart. It didn't seem fair that Evelyn could still hurt him. But then, Luke reasoned, they were both cutting each other down so viciously, neither of them would ever be whole again. It was one vicious cycle of pain.

Luke cleared his throat. "Okay, so, I heard that there's this awesome street festival down on 43rd street," he said. "You wanna go check it out? It has bumper cars with no age limit, I hear."

[Guest]

James ears seemed to perk up and he felt a small grin twitching the corner of his lips, "Bumper cars you say?"

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke grinned. "Yeah. Let's go, but grab a jacket. It's getting cold."

He led the way out of the apartment, picking up his cell phone and texting Ashlee to see if she wanted to bring along her new roommate to hang with them there. He gave her the address ("somewhere on 43rd"). Ashlee had said her roommate had moved in. And she'd called her a bitch. But she couldn't be worse than Evelyn.

[Guest]

"Whoo!" James shouted kind of like an overexcited kid, he went in his room and grabbed a jacket and yanked at Luke.

"Let's go!"

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke snickered and let James drag him down the hallway, after ensuring they'd locked the apartment.

[[to Streets of Manhattan]]

[Guest]

[[From the Streets]]


James came to their door pulling out his key he unlocked the door slamming it open, the door made a loud thud against the wall.

He stormed in taking off his jacket and tossing it.

He started to pace, running a hand through his hair he glared up at Luke.

"How long Luke, how long were you and, and Ash and Alexis going to wait? Huh? How long?" His voice low, laced with anger.

James felt himself shaking with anger. He felt so betrayed, so hurt.

Not that he had seen Evelyn, no that his friends chose to lie to him right to his face.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke shot him a disbelieving look as he entered and draped his wet jacket over a chair to dry. He shut the door, realizing it had almost made a dent in the wall.

He turned to face James, clearing his throat. "You and Evelyn were better off not knowing. We did it for your sake. Now you know she's here...and you're not over her, she's just going to ruin your day."

[Guest]

"I have every right to be angry Lucas! You lied to me! And its not like you lied about losing something stupid like my basketball or whatever!" He shouted unable to tone his voice down.

James paced around their apartment even more and ranted some more, "I mean did you honestly think that her and I would never run into each other? I mean granted our school is big but Luke you honestly think you guys could have kept us apart? God damn it!" James yelled through clenched teeth kicking their flimsy kitchen table and watching the leg give out as it cracked and fell over.

"How would you feel if you still had feelings for Ash and Ev and I and Alexis went off trying to keep you two seperated or act like the other wasn't here and lying to your face about it. I knew something was off when you kept saying that I was "visiting" to just about everyone. But I don't I blew it of."

James sighed looking back at the table he pretty much just broke.

"You know what I'll get over her, its obvious she has since she just made me look like a major idiot just now, but this. This whole lying to me, "Oh James you're such a pal, he's visiting crap. You've really done it this time."

"I just..." He couldn't speak he didn't want to he had such a headache from this whole day he wanted nothing more than to sleep but he knew that wasn't happening again tonight either.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke flinched and sat down on the couch, completely wordless. He bit his lip, glancing up at James. Like hell James was about to get over it. "Alexis didn't say Evelyn even met anyone. I don't know how the hell she just suddenly has a boyfriend."

[Guest]

James felt his heart hurting, literally his chest hurt. When he saw Evelyn with that Jacob dude he wanted to punch his face into the ground.

"You know what Luke yeah it hurt like hell, it hurt like major hell cause I just told her she would never find someone, and there she is with this guy, and what do I have to show?"

"That I haven't moved on, I'm stuck stil loving her, and my friends lied to me." James went down the list and closed his eyes clenching his fists.

"I'm pathetic I'm really fucking pathetic. And stupid so god damn stupid."
James voice was quiet, he scoffed.

"I was an idiot out there letting her get to me like that, letting that, that moron see that she ripped my heart out... well no more. I've had enough, she got her closure, and I'm fucking getting mine." He said through grit teeth.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke sat up, alarmed. James sounded angrier than the time he'd planned his attack on Cody Johanssen or whatever."You believe her then?"

Luke, for his part, thought Evelyn was fibbing. If she were really all that okay, why hadn't she been able to meet James' eye, much less even acknowledged him just one time?

[Guest]

"I don't know and I don't care. If she hired the guy that's fine, or if its legit then whoo hoo for her. I'm just done with this. I'm done feeling like some loser waiting around for her when its obvious she wants nothing to do with me. Its over, its done no more." James told Luke, hoping that hearing it out loud would help him in moving on.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke examined James carefully and then got up to reset the table back on three legs before turning to face his roommate. "You didn't wait around for her," he said carefully. But he was being honest. James hadn't exactly sat around like some saint. He'd been out there looking for her replacement. And if Evelyn had found a replacement for him, then could they really fault her?

[Guest]

James didn't really want to hear what Luke had to say at the moment, because on top of all of the crap he had with Evelyn, he had to lie on top of it.

James stared Luke dead in the eyes, he clenched his fists, bringing back his left arm he hooked right square in the jaw.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke reeled backwards, stunned beyond belief. He caught himself on the unevenly balanced table - and the table collapsed, taking him down with it.

"Oww..." he mumbled. His face felt like it was about to crack where James had hit him and he lay still for a second to check the extent of the damage before glancing up.

James had never, in their fifteen years of friendship, aimed a serious blow his way. He might have been short-tempered, but never to Luke. Luke had always taken comfort in that.

Not anymore, clearly.

He sat up, holding his jaw in one hand, meeting James' eyes. His friend looked enraged, bewildered and more than a little lost. Behind the anger in his blue eyes, Luke saw pain. But he wasn't sure what hurt James more: his friends' lie or Evelyn's apparent closure.

"I deserved that," Luke muttered painfully around his swelling jaw. "But you know you've kept it inside too long."

[Guest]

James unclenched his fist and shook his hand, his knuckles hurt from when he made contact with Luke's jaw.

James expelled a breath saying quietly to Lucas, "I'm going to bed."

James turned leaving Luke with the broken table.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke scrambled to his feet and hobbled to the fridge to pull out an icepack. He applied it to his face, adn decided to leave the damn table where it was.

It was too broken beyond repair anyways. Just like Evelyn and James's relationship.

Or was it?

Luke's memory nagged at him. He sighed and sank onto the couch, deciding to give James some alone-time to vent.

Luke sincerely hoped James wouldn't take it out with collateral damage.

"I saw her around campus," Jake had said. Evelyn had come to New York on Sunday. She'd spent the whole day wiht Alexis, at least, he thought she had. But he'd seen her at the frosh party adn she hadn't been....

She'd been with Jake at that party, he recalled with a wince. But then she and Alexis had left very early. So that wasn't how they'd gotten together. Couldn't be.

The next day, Alexis had told him via FB, they'd had a cat problem. With Jake. Again, this guy just kept popping up and Luke had a sudden urge to suggest James use Jake as a punching bag.

After the cat problem, Evelyn ahd said on FB that she and Alexis were going shopping or some girly crap. They'd met Frogger and no one else. Luke assumed that Evelyn's rude commentary on Facebook to Jake meant at that point she hadn't hooked up with him at that point.

But there was a period of time Alexis had been wiht Luke, and none of them knew where Evelyn had been. She could have spent all evening wiht Jake, for all they knew. But...

Luke flipped open the FB app on his iPhone, scanning down Evelyn's news feed. She and Jake had been verbally sparring just minutes before she and James ahd their blowout. SO she hadn't been with Jake in the evening. Only at night when she mentioned thunderstorms and psychos after her night with Alexis. And Alexis had said she'd gone home, while Evelyn's status was updated to show she was still out with "Psycho 2".

Why would she refer to her beau as a psycho?

Unless she'd been fibbing. Luke leaned back on the couch, gnawing on his lip and flinched as his bruise swelled. What closure was Evelyn talking about when she made up boyfriends on the spot and couldn't even look James in the eye?

[Guest]

James walked into their room, he just wanted to sleep, he didn't want to change out of his clothes but they were soaked through from being out in the rain, he quickly pulled them off throwing them in the corner of the room.

He went into his suitcase and pulled out a pair of black sweats, and matching black hoodie, he turned off the light in their room and before getting into bed, he locked the door to their room.

James got into bed, and sighed closing his eyes, he felt so exhausted he closed his eyes falling asleep.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke stifled a yawn. Maybe hisi thinking was all wrong. Maybe Jake had asked Evelyn out that evening after her argument with James. That would explain how Jake had had time to change her opinion about him.

Luke's eyes flickered tiredly and he lay his head back on the armrest of the couch. He closed his eyes and felt himself drift off into dreamless sleep.

[[Next day]]

When he woke the next morning, he text Ashlee and Alexis to meet him at the quad if they didn't have a class, at eight. Then he showered quickly and went to grab some clothes, wrapping his towel around his waist.

Seeing James was still asleep, Luke went back to the bathroom, changed and then returned to check on his friend. He glanced at the schedule pinned above James' desk. He didn't have a class that morning, so Luke decided he'd let him sleep in. James deserved that small reprieve.

Luke grabbed his keys and backpack and headed out the door, leaping over a dead squirrel in the hallway.

[[Luke to Around Campus]]

[Guest]

James woke up, he lifted his eye lids to the clock but didn't really bother to see what time it was.

He lay in bed for a moment not really feeling rested, just restless. He felt some guilt too for having punched Luke in the jaw.

But he deserved it for lying.

James got up, going to the bathroom he showered and changed into dark jeans and dark t-shirt, he threw on his basketball sweater, that had his last name and the number twenty-three written in Old English.

Although he honestly did not feel like going anywhere at all today, he was in the apartment all day the day before so he figured he'd attempt to go to class today.

He knew he could always leavnd go unnoticed which was a joy to him.

He put on his shoes and headed out the door, grabbing his backpack.

[[James to School Days]]

[Guest]

[[James and Luke from Streets of Manhattan]]

James unlocked the door to the apartment. He swung it open walking in he took off his sweater tossing it on the couch, he went to the bathroom and turned on the light. He examined himself in the mirror.

He looked grotesque, he grabbed the roll of toilet paper and ripped off the paper, soaking it in col water he went to wipe the dried blood from his face.

He winced as the damp paper made contact with his skin, but continued.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke pulled off his jacket and went to hang it up in his closet. He shoved his shoes under his bed adn then went to find his roommate.

James was still wearing his torn wife-beater. Luke snorted loudly as he leaned against the bathroom doorway. "How's the face?"

[Guest]

James cringed each time the paper towel made contact with his nose, "Ugh if that bastard broke it." James groaned and looked at Luke, then back at his reflection.

"Suprisngly I think I've seen worse." James said throwing the bloody toilet paper in the wastebasket.

[Tiger-Lily]

Luke snorted. "Really? Jake definitely knows how to fight. City boys, I guess. Comes with the territory. You were a moron to rise to his bait about her, you know that."

In his mind, the question rose again and again: what the hell did Evelyn see in Jake?

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