Toxic Lips [l.h]

f o r t y

"Make sure you bring a nice dress or something in case we go out for dinner," my Mum says through the phone. "There's this new Thai place we wanted to try out. Thai sound good to you? Maybe on Saturday night?"

"Sure," I say. "Thai sounds great."

"Great. Did you double check you have everything? You wouldn't want to leave something behind."

"Yes, Mum, I have everything," I say through the phone as I zip up my suit case.

"How long is your flight?"

"About five hours," i say, looking at my information.

"Oh, that's not too long. You'll be here in time for dinner."

"Yeah," I say. "I should really get going noe, though. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Alright, see you soon!"

I hang up and haul my bag out of my apartment and into the hallway. I lock my apart,ent carefully and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. I'm so nervous to see my sister, but I guess I'll just have to suck it up.

"Alaska?"

I turn around and meet Luke's eyee, a jacket slung over his shoulder. He is in his work clothes, the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows.

"Hi," I say.

"Going somwhere?"

"Uh, yeah," I say, sticking my hands in my pockets. "I'm flying to Perth for the weekend."

Luke's eyebrows shoot up, shock evident on his face. "Really?"

"Yeah, Mum wanted me to."

"That's probably good, that you're going," he says.

"Why?"

"I was planning to talk Drew this weekend... It's good that you won't be here incase..." Incase he decides to send someone to ransack my apartment again.

"Oh, right," I say and Luke nods, shifting his gaze to the floor.

We both walk to the elevator, silence descending on us. This is such an odd neutral state we're in, whenever we aren't fighting. I can't complain about it though; this truce we have covers some of the loneliness I've been feeling since Tyler and I broke up.

It's been a few days now, and Tyler has practically blown my phone up with calls, voicemails and text messages. At first they were sorry and apologetic, but now they have morphed in to angry, vengeful messages.

"When will you be back?"

I look up to see Luke already staring at me. The elevator doors chime open and we step into the lobby together.

"Sunday night," I say. "I'll be back at work on Monday."

We walk to my car, and Luke helps me with my bags. I admore the small tatoos scattered his forearms as he shuts my trunk, turning back around to face me.

"Well, have a safe trip," he says, meeting my gaze. He smiles at me, his delicate dimples appearing into his cheeks.

"Thanks," I say. "Have fun not doing work."

He rolls his eyes and I laugh. "I do work," he protests, and now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"You work on ways to annoy the shit out of me," I tease and he shrugs, both of us laughing.

It's going to be odd not seeing Luke for a whole weekend; I don't think that's been the case since I moved to Sydney. With him as ny neighbour and my co-worker, barely a day has gone by where we haven't seen each other.

And now, I can't say I mind it too much.

"Are you going to be seeing your sister?" Luke asks, his tone suddenyl more serious.

"Yes," I say quietly.

Luke digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out a pen. He reaches out for my hand and scribbling something on it.

I watch curiously as he lets go of my hand and puts the pen back into his pocket. I look at the palm of my hand, ten neat digits written across it.

"If you ever need to talk, just call me," he says.

I smile. "Thanks."

"That's what friends are for," he says, a small smile appearing on his face.

I quickly pull out my phone and check the time. "My flight is in an hour. I should probably get going."

Luke nods. "Have a good trip," he says as he turns to walk towards his own car.

"Bye," I call after him. He lifts his hand in a friendly wave, a smile planted on his rosy pink lips, the wind blowing around his neatly gelled quiff.

I look back down at the numbers on my hand and make a plan to call him as soon as I land in Perth.

The rest of the morning seems to speed by as I check myself in and find my way to the gate. I take a seat and sigh, pulling my long brown hair into a ponytail.

"Flight 137 to Perth, Western Australia boarding now."

I stand from my seat, grabbing my things. This is it; I'm going home to see my family. Despite my worry about seeing Elise, excitement sparks inside me at the thought of going back to the place where I grew up.

I stand in line, and soon I'm seated on the plane, peering out the small window. My phone buzzes in my lap, and I grimace at Tyler's caller ID.

What more could he possibly want from me? He was a horrible boyfriend, and he expects me to talk to him? I angrily hi the ignore button and shut my phone off.

Someone sits beside me and I shift my belongings closer to me. I plan on writing some songs for Mr Connery on the flight.

The person next to me bumps my elbow by accident, and I turn to apologise, but my throat goes dry.

"Calum?"