[Waste]

“LUCIEN!”

Luke groaned and rolled onto his front, pulling his pillow over his head. He heard the shout again and curled his hands into fists. A few minutes later he heard his door open and footsteps came into the room and towards the bed “Lucien!” her sharp voice hurt.

“Luke.” he groaned.

“Lucien.” Wendy repeated as she pulled the duvet off of him, he felt his bare torso go cold and groaned again, burrowing his face into his mattress, the woman’s voice pierced his skull and just stayed there, ringing.

“Luke.” He repeated, his voice muffled. He took a deep breath as he tensed his shoulders and arched his back a little. Wendy pulled the pillow off of his head and threw it aside, he felt her fingers knit into his thick hair and pull. He gritted his teeth as he let her pull him up.

“It’s half 12. Rise and shine!” No one in their right mind was that happy in the mornings, then again Wendy was always happy when she was abusing him. The 40 year old ‘nanny’ seemed to have some sort of sadistic crush on the 19 year old boy.

“I don’t know about the shining part.” He mumbled as he sat back on his heels, her fingers slipped out of his hair, and he watched her give a curt nod from the corner of his eye then leave the room. He fell forward and burrowed his head into the pillow.

“I’ll be back Lucien!” her voice carried through the door that she’d slammed.

Luke rolled over and sat back up, he was faced with an image of himself sitting up in bed, reflected by the mirror on his wall. The face of a hangover. His dusty blonde hair was tousled, in need of a brush and his green eyes dull, he could see the pain in them, the pain his head was giving him. He let his shoulders slump before turning so his legs hung off the side of his double bed, he could hear murmurs coming from downstairs, what had Wendy said about the time? He shook his head unable to really remember, all he could hear was the ringing in his head, and it was so painful.

He pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes and saw lights dance across his eyelids then let his hands fall to the mattress, he touched his feet to the cold wood floor and winced as he pushed himself up. Never again. He kept thinking as he shuffled into his private bathroom, never again.


Luke came back out half an hour later, a white towel hanging over his neck. He was rubbing one end against his damp hair. There was another towel secured around his narrow hips, he glanced around the room suspiciously. His bed had been made and his room tidied. He really needed a lock on his door to stop such invasions of privacy.

Just as he pulled open his wardrobe the door opened again and Wendy came in carrying a pile of clothes, he glanced over his shoulder but didn’t turn around, he could feel her sharp eyes scanning over his bare back, it made him physically shudder.

“Thank you Wendy.” He said quietly, he retrieved a t-shirt from his wardrobe and pulled it on after taking the towel from around his neck, he heard her dump his stuff on the bed and then leave, “Knock next time!” he called after her as she shut the door. She didn’t reply.

Luke finished off dressing and came out of his room in a pair of beige cargo pants that hung loosely around his hips and a tight black long sleeved T. He’d dried his hair and combed it back, so it was out of his eyes and swept into a point at the back of his head. Luke went down the stairs that were just outside his loft bedroom door and came out on the first floor landing, he looked around and descended to the ground floor.

Luke walked into his kitchen and something hard hit the back of his head, he stumbled forward and turned to face his father. He held up his hands “Peace, dad.” he said quietly, his eyes wide and almost fearful, he didn’t need this after just waking up.

Lord James Willard surveyed his son “Where were you last night?” he asked. His green eyes flicked over Luke, Lord Willard was a tall man, built like Luke with broad shoulders and narrow hips, although he had more muscle and a stronger jaw line, lines around his eyes and thinning hair.

“I went out.” Luke crossed the kitchen and opened the fridge, he felt someone hit the back of his hand and pulled back sharply. He shot a look at Wendy.

“You will spoil your lunch.” she snapped, he felt a heavy hand grab his shoulder and spin him around. What was these? Abuse Luke day? He sighed, of course, it always was.

“I told you that Lady Reads was coming for dinner last night.” His father growled.

“You did.” Luke agreed.

“Then why weren’t you there?”

“You didn’t specifically request my presence.”

Lord Willard gave his son a warning glare, “You know that I expected you to be there.”

Luke sighed, his eyes flicking to his fathers, he could almost see the anger building up inside. If he pushed him any further it could prove painful. “Yeah, I’m sorry.” he looked away.

“You’re sorry.” Lord Willard shook his head “I see.”

“What else do you want me to say?”

Lord Willard didn’t answer, he just turned away. When he reached the door he paused “General Bank is coming for dinner tomorrow night, I expect you to attend.” Luke nodded, although his father couldn’t see it, “Oh and Lucien?” He winced at the use of his name, “I want you to be here for dinner tonight as well, we haven’t had dinner together for a long time.” Lord Willard turned and gave his son a smile.

Luke forced one in return, he wouldn’t come, he’d rather take the hit than spend his night in awkward silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” His father gave him a long look before he left the room.

Luke gave a sigh of relief, he heard Wendy laugh and gritted his teeth.

“Do you want me to tell him now or later that you can not go?”

“Preferably when I’m not in the house”

Wendy opened her mouth to answer but Luke held up his hand, he could feel his mobile vibrating in his pocket. He fished out the small silver phone and flipped it open, he gave Wendy a light smile before putting the phone to his ear and sauntering out of the room.

“Missed you last night.” he said quietly.

He heard Tammy give a small giggle “Yeah, my family suck.”

Luke had been seeing Tammy Weller for a few weeks to date, she was different from some of the other girls he was seeing, a little sweeter, a little shier, way more annoying. She thought her family sucked? She hadn’t actually met his father yet, although she had heard of him, who hadn’t heard of Lord Willard and the car crashed that had killed his wife, put his only daughter into a wheel chair and killed her twin brother?

Poor man, he lost a wife and son he never really paid attention to then got off on the ‘fame’ it gave him. The thought made Luke want to hit something, then it made him tear up, he wiped his eyes angrily.

“Hello? Luke?”

“Tammy.” He said softly “I’m thinking of going out again tonight, want to meet me at Roads?”

“It couldn’t be just me and you could it?” Hopeful. Luke shook his head a little.

“No, the guys would castrate me if I went without them.”

“Ok.” she did sound disappointed “Reads at seven then?”

“See you there.”

“Bye Luke” she disconnected. Luke sighed and slipped his phone into his pocket, he leant against the wall, he’d been walking whilst on the phone and now found himself outside his sisters room. He knew why his thoughts were so heavy this morning, even why his father wanted them to have dinner together tonight. He was leaning on the wall opposite her door, just staring at it.

It had been five years since Lord Willard had received the call that had changed everything, five years exactly. “My Lord I am afraid we have some grave news…” the 14 year old Luke watched on as his father listened, the mans eyes widening as the doctor spoke. “They died on impact, but your daughter can still be saved,”


“Bella.” Luke uttered her name as he stepped forward and knocked on the door. Her reply was sing song as usual, happy.

“Come on in.”

Luke pushed the door open and slipped into her room, his eleven year old sister sat in her chair her cheek resting against the back of one hand as she read from the book in her other hand, her bright green eyes flicked up to meet his.

“You finally rose from your tomb?” she asked, moving the hand she was resting on to tuck a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear, she had a heart shaped face, like her mothers, and a very faint sprinkle of freckles spread over her cheeks. “Luke?” her smile faltered a little “What’s wrong?”

Luke’s eyes widened a little “Nothing,” he said, “Nothing”

She raised a thin eyebrow, “I don’t believe that.” Bella set her book aside and wheeled her chair forward, she reached out and took his hand, her touch made him want to cry, he swallowed.

“I just came to see if you were awake, that’s all.”

“Liar, you know I don’t sleep.”

Luke dropped his gaze, giving a small smile, they both knew why he was actually there. Lord Willard wouldn’t have bothered, but his son did, he’d be there as both her brother and her father, as promised.