text: Luke found it incredibly hard to say no. It didn’t matter who it was or what they needed; he always found a way to help them out, so it was certainly understandable that the night he got a call from an old friend asking him for a favor, he couldn’t turn his back. Sophie was her name. They met in high school but barely talked to each other at all. One day, Luke fell into trouble he couldn’t handle alone and she was the only person who chased after him to help. Complete strangers yet she came to him, offering a helping hand during a distressing time in his life that he preferred not to think about. After that, their relationship sparked into a deep friendship. That friendship slowly heated into desire, and Luke found himself developing feelings for her. He kept it hidden and decided it was best to keep it a secret, so he never spoke of it. Eventually, he found out that Sophie had felt the same way. They dated, they kissed, and they fell in love quickly. They were inseparable and completely mad about each other. A few years later, they split up. It wasn’t because they didn’t love each other anymore or because it didn’t feel right, but because their paths led them down different roads. Sophie wanted to go to school in a different part of the country, but Luke didn’t know what he wanted to do. He offered to go with her, but at the last minute she told him it wasn’t a good idea. She left and he watched her leave, not knowing what he was going to do without her. “It’s been three years.” Luke mumbled to himself as he sat in his parked car, running the engine in front of the airport. The small radio clock on his dashboard faintly read the time and played a soft rock station through dusty speakers. With the window slightly cracked, he took a long drag of his cigarette and blew it out into the open. Smoke filled the air and spiraled around him. The open window didn’t help at all, but he didn’t mind either way. It was Sophie who was going to have a problem with the smoke. That’s why he was there at the airport, sitting in an idle car in the middle of the night. He was lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, when he got a call from an unknown number. He could barely believe his ears when Sophie’s voice sounded through the speaker of his cellphone. She was back in town for a few weeks to visit but her ride cancelled, and she needed a way home. I don’t have anyone I can call... she had said. Please? Luke leaned back in his seat and groaned. “Who even gives a shit?” He cursed, taking an even longer hit from his cigarette, letting the stress flow out of his body. “Why did I even come here?” A knocking on the passenger side window caught his attention, turning his head in the direction of a sight that took his breath away. Her hair was shorter but still wavy, softly framing her flushed face with auburn curls. It barely brushed past the pink wool scarf wrapped around her neck. Her eyes, a cool shade of green, pierced through the glass window. Even after all of these years she still had the same effect on him. He reached over and pulled the door handle, letting her open it and slip inside the passenger seat. She slammed the door shut and let out a long sigh, sounding as though she were out of breath herself. A strand of her hair stuck to her strawberry pink lip gloss; the same lip gloss she always wore when she was with him. Her brown leather bag sat on her lap and Luke couldn’t help but check out her legs in black nylons and dark grey ankle boots. “Hey.” She spoke up in the silence between them. It took a brief second after or her to feel the hair attached to her lips. With the quick movement of her gloved hand, she moved the strand and continued to look at him. He gave her a half smile and sat back into his seat, immediately putting the car into drive. “Where to?” His voice was cold and gruff. He didn’t want Sophie to have the satisfaction of his kindness. Although the fact that he showed up at all defeated the purpose. Sophie sat back into her seat as well and stared out the window. “The Samlier Hotel. I have a reservation there.” She spoke softly. Luke gave her a side glance as he drove out of the airport parking lot. “Hotel? Why aren’t you staying with family or something?” He asked. She said nothing in response, continuing to stare out the window. Luke shrugged it off and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a pack of smokes. A swift movement of his hand made one of them slip out of its packaging and stick out enough for him to pull it out with his lips. He lit the cigarette with a quick flip of his lighter. The first hit filled his entire body and helped soothe his uneasiness. “When did you start smoking?” Sophie asked, breaking her silence. Luke smirked and slipped the lighter back into his pocket. “After you left.” His response made the atmosphere tense and the air even colder than it’d been before. He knew his reply hit her hard - hard enough to ensure she wouldn’t say another word the entire ride. A part of him only wanted to give her a ride so he could make her feel badly for all she had put him through, and for the most part it seemed to be working. Yet he couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t as satisfying as he had hoped. Despite his feelings, he felt... wrong. Sophie brought her head down and played with her fingers, pinching the fabric of her gloves. “I had a feeling you would do this to me.” She admitted. Luke let the smoke out of his lungs with a sigh. “Do what, exactly?” “You know what.” “No, enlighten me. What am I doing? The same thing you did to me?” His voice started to rise up. Sophie turned her head away again and didn’t reply back. Luke scoffed and focused back onto the road. “Didn’t think so.” For the rest of the ride, they didn’t speak to each other. Sophie coughed a few times from the smoke and eventually opened her window so she could get fresh air. Luke messed with the radio in an attempt to find a station but decided he wasn’t in the mood for music and shut it off completely. The tension between them was incredibly thick and that alone was worse than the smoke. Luke pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and turned his car off, letting the keys hang from the ignition. “Well, here we are.” He said unenthusiastically. The entire ride was awful, and he was relieved that it was almost over. When he didn’t get a reply from her, he peered over and observed Sophie sitting perfectly still in her seat. She had her head completely turned away from him, concentrating on the world outside her window. Her hands were clenched around the strap of her purse. “Hey, did you hear me? I said we’re here.” Still no response. Luke was becoming aggravated at this point. “Hey!” He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her slightly so he could see her face. Sophie finally looked over to him with tears in his eyes. Her make-up was slightly messed up and her eyes were pink, indicating that she must have been crying for quite some time. Luke pulled his hand back slowly, his heart racing. “Why are you crying...?” Seeing her upset and vulnerable was too much for him. Any negative feelings he had about her were completely wiped from his mind, replaced with compassion and concern. “Luke...” She turned her body around, slipped off her glove, and reached her hand out to his face. His mind told him to retract - pull away from her touch, but he found himself unable to. He let her hand touch his cheek and brush along the prickly stubble of his facial hair. Her touch sent shivers down his spine and made his head spin. Without thinking, he reached his own hand up and touched hers, holding it in his grasp. “Sophie...” Tears started to well in his eyes. Emotions flowed through him faster than he could process. It was so overwhelming and confusing for him that he didn’t know what to think or do next. Sophie smiled at him and unbuckled her seatbelt. She leaned over and moved closer to him. He could feel the heat radiating from her body and he could hear her hesitant breathing. “I... I’m so sorry... I just... missed you.” Sophie leaned even closer in and caught him in a tender kiss. Luke couldn’t help his reaction and kissed her back, deeply and passionately. When they parted, he pulled her in for another, and another, each one more intense than the next. Every time they parted for air he could hear Sophie’s soft and quick breathing. He didn’t think he had any want for her until the moment he saw her. “Stay with me in my room.” Sophie whispered, but Luke shook his head and captured her lips in another kiss. “No, come back with me. I’ll take you back to my apartment. It’ll feel like - “ “Like I never left.” Sophie finished his sentence, looking deeply into his eyes. The sparkle in her eyes were the same they’d been three years before. It didn’t take long for Luke to weave through late night traffic and make it to his apartment deep in the city. They both left his car and rushed into the building, taking the elevator to his floor. They scurried to his room door and Luke fumbled with his keys to open the door to his cold and messy apartment. Empty bottles of beer and several other types of alcohol were cluttered in corners and laid scattered across the floor. The bed was unmade, crumbled up pieces of paper overflowed the trash bin, and his clothes, dirty and clean, were either on the floor or strung across pieces of furniture. “Maybe we should’ve gone to the hotel...” Luke thought, feeling slightly embarrassed for the state of his home. Sophie didn’t seem to mind the mess and focused her attention on Luke, pulling him for another series of passionate kisses. It almost felt as though time had frozen while they were together. The light of the moon beamed through his window, illuminating every curve and detail on their bodies. They laid together, looking in each other’s eyes until Sophie fell asleep. Luke stayed awake, completely lost in thought. Everything that had happened was so much to handle at once. It took small movements or a sleepy moan from her to make him remember that it was all happening. It was real. The sound of her gentle breathing and early morning birds singing outside his window eased Luke to sleep and into a dream he never wanted to end.