42. THE DEPARTURE OF A TRUE FRIEND

remember to vote! it would mean a lot :)

ACT SEVEN SCENE THREE

THE DEPARTURE OF A TRUE FRIEND

third person

PERSPECTIVE

LUCA FINALLY RETURNED to his normal life. However, all he could think about was his feelings towards Sahar. He was completely aware that even if he confessed to her the third time, he'd taste the bitterness of rejection. He loved her enough to remain her friend, he didn't want to pursue a relationship with her because he knew that she enjoyed the company of someone else. That someone being Asher.

But after being released out of the hospital, he hadn't heard from Asher. It was as if the platinum blonde was purposely ignoring him.

"Luca, is everything okay?" Sahar questions, placing her hand on his shoulder. One thing Luca couldn't understand was Sahar, ever since the day at the hospital she has become a lot more physical when expressing things and it slightly hurt. He'd prefer her not doing it at all, each time he thinks about it, all he could see is how she'd never be his.

"Did something happen the night you visited me?" Luca questions, he wanted to confirm his suspicions for a while now. He was certain Sahar had an idea of his secret.

"No." she lies.

"I know Helius told you." Luca says, glancing at her, waiting for any reaction.

"You knew." she murmurs, her words cause Luca to look away. The pain, he could feel it rush inside his heart, he knew it was too good to be true. The reason why she kept touching him wasn't because it was a sign of comfort but because she knew about his secret.

"You didn't have to pretend to not know Sahar." Luca says, glancing down at the pretty girl with a sad smile. "You can finally help me with something I've been wanting to do for a while."

"I need you to just show my father that I'm no longer allergic to touch." he says, leaning against his car. And after that, he'll leave Devon Academy forever. His father will no longer have control over him, he will be free of the constraints his parents had of him, he will finally live his life according to how he wants to live it.

"That's all? I guess I could do that." Sahar says. Luca pulls her beside him, placing both his hands on her shoulder, gazing deeply into her eyes.

"Thank you, for everything Sahar."

Without Sahar, Luca would've been lost and still restricted by his family. And after he finally proves to his father that he can no longer be blackmailed, everything will be perfect.

"You're welcome." she smiles, looking into his eyes.

She leans closer towards him, Luca could feel his heart burning from her touch. He knew it was wrong to even look at her like this, he knew that he shouldn't lay a single hand on her; she's Asher's first ever love. Instead of reciprocating her actions, he stops her.

"This isn't what you want." Luca says, it's what I want and you're only doing this because you pity me — was what he wanted to say.

"Luca." Sahar whispers, her eyes melting into his. "It is what I want." she holds his hand, tightening her hold on it. He didn't want to deny the way he felt but he knew he couldn't accept it either. He could sense her pity from a mile away, if she didn't know his secret, she wouldn't be doing this at all.

"Think about Asher."

Luca watches as her eyes soften at the mention of his name. He wished his theory wasn't correct, but sadly, it was. She loved him, it's always been Asher for her and she didn't realise it herself. She's trying to convince herself that it's Luca she wants but when really and truly she doesn't want to accept the reality in which her heart longs for Asher.

"It's okay." Luca says, pulling her into a hug.

"This isn't okay." she exclaims, gripping tightly on to Luca. "What's wrong with me, why do I have to think about him all the time?"

"There's nothing wrong with that, stop denying you like him, I'm sure he likes you too." Luca encourages, but each time he speaks, he felt knives plunge into his heart. He was yearning for just a tiny speck of her love.

"I'm so sorry Luca, I truly am sorry."

That's what they all say. He simply smiles, it was all he could do as he listened to her wordlessly.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" Luca pulls away from Sahar immediately, he watches as Asher walks towards them with that particular glint in his eyes he always harboured when he noticed them.

"Not at all," Luca says, glancing back at Sahar who avoided Asher's gaze.

"Why are you here Sahar?"

Before she could answer, Luca does it for her. "She's going to help me with my parents, we'll walk in and prove to my father that my allergy disappeared."

Asher seems shocked. "You know his secret?" he asks Sahar.

"Yeah I have for the past two weeks." she says softly, still not used to his presence.

"Oh." is all Asher says.

"I guess we should do it, there's no point in delaying this." Luca says, breaking the awkward tension.

"Right." Asher states.

Luca and Sahar walk ahead, with Asher trailing behind. The caramel haired boy opens the door, entangling his hand with Sahar as they both sauntered into the room in which Luca's father sat.

His father almost chokes on the coffee he's drinking as he notices Luca physically hold someone without bursting into a allergic reaction. Asher internally screams, finally, Luca will finally be free.

"Father, this is Sahar." Luca mentions the girl beside him, he watches as his father stares at him with his mouth wide open, he didn't want to believe that his stupid son finally was cured of his illness.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Valdez." Sahar acknowledged.

He smiles falsely. "Nice to meet you too."

"This is the last time I'll ever see you, I'm leaving and you can't stop me." Luca snaps, not caring whether Sahar is in the room. He finally felt the ropes tied around his body loosen, he was free to do what he wanted to do.

His father simply watches, unable to comprehend his words.

"Leaving?" Asher murmurs, he was confused, is Luca leaving town? Or is he leaving his home.

"I decided I'd be better off in London, the branch of my company needs better aid." his words shock both Sahar and Asher, the two widen their eyes as they watch Luca slam a couple of documents on to the table. "In these documents are evidence of every single corrupt act you've ever done, I made sure to record everything in hopes of finally being cured of my illness and taking you off my back once and for all."

"This is a bad idea." his father claims incredulously. "You won't be able to manage without my help!"

"When have you ever helped me? I made a start up and made my company what it is to this point without your help. If anything you wanted to take all my hard work and claim it as your own." Luca shouts, he felt the rush of adrenaline in his body. He was doing something he wished to do since he was a mere child, heck, he wanted to do this the moment his mother and father hurt him over liking Sahar as a child.

Luca's father stood up abruptly, ready to hurt Luca, not caring whether there were observers. But before he could launch an attack on the caramel haired boy, Asher jumps forward, grabbing his hand. "Don't touch him, I'm warning you Mr Valdez, I won't hold back his father or not." he says bitterly, clenching his jaw.

"Let's go, I don't want to see his face ever again." Luca says. Asher gives Mr Valdez one last threatening glare, following after Luca and Sahar.

After the three of them left the house, they made their way towards Asher's favourite cafe.

"You're leaving?" Asher exclaims.

Luca nods his head, glancing at the pair. "It's been a dream of mine to go abroad to work."

"But you can't just leave." Sahar murmurs, glancing at the boy. He wasn't cured, it was all an act. Without her, she wasn't sure if he would survive in London. What if he hurts himself? She at least wanted to help him by being by his side.

Luca glances down, not meeting their eyes. "It's for the best, I have bad memories associated with this town; moving would be better for me."

Asher clenches his fists. "But if you leave, who will take care of our club?"

"You." Luca says, handing Asher a key. "If there's anyone who could lead everyone, it would be you."

Asher looks at him astounded. "I can't do that." he stood up, pushing the key towards Luca. "You made this club, so you need to stay to the very end of it."

Luca chuckles at his reaction. "You helped me, think of it as a goodbye gift."

Asher felt his eyes tear up. He didn't want Luca to leave, they're best friends. Friends don't leave each other just like that, they're supposed to be forever. Without Luca, Asher wouldn't be able to go through with the hardships of life, after all, Luca was the only person who understood him.

"Please Luca, why don't you stay." Asher pleads, he didn't want to accept his best friends departure.

Luca glances at Sahar who remained silent.

"I just can't be here anymore." he says softly.

"Why?" Asher bellows, slamming his fists on the table.

"I told you that I'd protect you from your father, I said I would help you with anything but why do you want to leave so badly? Was everything I did not enough for you?"

"No that's not it." Luca sighs.

"Then what is it?" Asher demands.

"I don't want to talk about it." he says, glancing at the two one last time. "But I hope the two of you could talk it out, there's a lot of things unsaid between the both of you."

"Luca if you leave I won't ever talk to you again!" Asher exclaims, his eyes cold and serious.

"It's okay, I'll still text you even if you don't respond. I enjoyed our friendship, I hope you do forget me, after all, I was quite a nuisance to your life. Everything you did was for me, not once did you think about yourself and I regret that part of my life so much. The amount of pressure I subjected you to as a friend was wrong, if anything, I deserve to be forgotten." Luca says, standing up.

Asher felt his tears burn his skin. "Don't go."

"Come on Asher, it's not like you can't visit me in London."

"And Sahar, thank you for everything, you helped me more than you know: you really did make my life worth living." Luca smiles, handing her an envelope. "Give this to Helius for me, I hope it's enough for him to forgive me."

"Thank you for everything too Luca, you helped me a lot too." Sahar says, getting up from her seat. She wraps her arms around the boy tightly, making sure he felt her sincerity through her body language . "I hope you get cured so you could hold on to someone just like this." she whispers, causing Luca to gulp. He'll miss her, he'll miss her a lot more than he wanted to.

"I guess this is goodbye, the two of you saved my life and I'm truly thankful for that." and with those words Luca gives them one last glance, making his way out of the cafe, ready to accept the obstacles he has waiting ahead of him.

Asher remains silent.

He hated that it had to be this way.

Whoever thought that losing a friend would feel so miserable?

—

the book is nearing its end! i hope you enjoyed this chapter:)