Banner by addiction_01

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Luke and Ellie had been close all their lives. Ever since they met at Ellie's second birthday party, they had been best friends. Not the kind that exchanged bracelets but the kind that mocked each other with serious faces and fought like any regular friends, acted like they didn't know each other at times and never acknowledged the fact that they were best friends kind of best friends.

It all changed when Luke's parents died.

The day had started out like any other normal day, with both of them fighting over the passenger seat in Luke's father's car. Ellie had won that round. They went their separate ways, only meeting up for lunch, then to go home again. But when they searched for Luke's car, there was no sign of it.

A half hour later, they learned that his parents had been in a car crash. Then Luke was taken to a foster home two days later. It all happened so fast that there was no time to say a proper goodbye. A week later, it was like Ellie had never had a neighbour, his house was empty, his yard was cleaned, the shed was repainted. But Ellie missed him terribly. He had been with her for 14 years after all. Two days later, on Luke's 16th birthday, she said a silent 'happy birthday' to him at his house, then turned and left, promising herself never to look back again.

Luke had never before been lonelier. Ellie had been his daily source of entertainment, best friend, best comforter, best everything. He had lost his parents and his best friend in the same week, not to mention his house and town and school and other friends. He did have enough wealth left to him but he would have gladly traded everything for the ones he had lost. His new foster family was nice but he always felt like an outsider, a person to help manage everything, but not family, never family. His true family was three hours away by car, three hours that he could not spare just to catch a glimpse of his fellows and lawns and his house. He lived the next two years until his eighteenth birthday in silent mourning, promising himself a life once he was finally eligible to go out to the world alone, answerable to no one.