Alice's POV

I was worried. Extremely worried. Luke was acting all smiley and happy. He didn't act as though nothing had happened, but he definitely wasn't okay. How did I know? I had been through exactly what he had, and the fake smile that I saw on his face was one that I used to see on my own a lot, and had been seeing for the past two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Stella's passing, and I don't think any of us had come to terms with it yet. Yes, we spread her ashes in the sea, but that didn't mean that all the pain would just go away. Nothing in the world would ever take that away, but we would have to learn to live with it. To accept it, and continue with our lives.

I walked inside the Daniels mansion, wanting to see Luke. Ajax and Serena were gone grocery shopping, and they knew that I was coming over. The house was quiet, not a single sound coming from anywhere. It felt weird. The place seemed like a broken skeleton of the once lively place that I had grown to love. Not it's looks, but the atmosphere

I walked upstairs, hearing the sound of my footsteps on the hard floor. I could sense the tense atmosphere, and I knew that something was wrong. Nervously, I made my way down the hallway, stopping right outside Luke's room's door. I took in a deep breath, nervously gulping, and knocked on the hard surface.

Suddenly, I heard a grunt from inside the room, and I took that as a signal to go inside. As soon as I turned the handle and stepped inside the room, the smell of alcohol hit me like a truck, making me cough instantly. It was extremely strong, and that just made me more nervous to look in the direction of the figure that I saw from the corner of my eyes, laying on the floor.

As soon as I turned to look at my drunk best friend on the floor, shock penetrated through my mind. He was on the floor, his eyes red, clearly tipsy, and was staring at the sky from his huge window. I could see a few empty bottles of alcohol on his side, and one was broken, huge shards scattered across the floor.

Quickly getting over my surprise, I rushed towards his bathroom, grabbing a towel and hurrying towards Luke, starting to pick up the shards. But before I could throw them away, he put his arm out, grabbing my wrist.

He looked at me, his bleary eyes puffy, and said, "Don't. I like them. They're broken, just like me. I want them to stay here."

Feeling very confused and extremely concerned, I got back up, allowing him to grab me and put me on his other side, making me lay down and stare out the window beside him.

"I look like a sh*t show, I know. But I'm not gonna do anything about it, so don't even ask me to.", he said, right as I was about to comment on his appearance.

I closed my mouth, silenced. Suddenly, he got up, putting his back against the window and staying upright in a seated position, his knees bent. My heart was pounding inside my chest, my brain wondering what Luke would do next. I had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation.

He picked up a large shard of glass, putting it in his palm and staring at it. After observing it for a few minutes, he held it out to me, showing me it.

"You see this? This used to be attached to a whole thing, and formed an object. But now it's broken into irreparable shards. Again, just like me."

I could feel moisture gathering in my eyes, but I quickly blinked it away.

Looking up at me from the shard, he closed his palm, tightening it. My eyes widened as I saw blood pouring out of his palm.

"You see this? Now this shard will do nothing but hurt other things. It's just a useless piece of sh*t that no one wants or needs. In fact, they want to get rid of it.", he said, his expression stoic as blood continued to drip down his veiny arms.

I hurriedly got up, getting the first aid kit from the cabinet underneath the bathroom shelves.

"Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing?!", I shouted, alarmed at his shocking behavior.

I rushed towards him, grabbing his hand, and loosened it, taking out the huge glass shard from in between his fingers. There was a big gash on his hand, and he definitely needed stitches.

I got up, turning towards him, and saying, "Come. We need to get you to the hospital. You need stitches."

He said nothing, just sitting there, blood still dripping from his hand. He looked so... lost. So broken. It was like he had no idea what the heck was going on anymore. He was away from reality, completely absorbed in his own, dark mind.

"We can get this stupid wound fixed later.", he whispered. Suddenly, he looked up at me, a tear dropping out of the corner of his eye. "But the wound that her death has left in my heart will never be fixed."

That was all it took for my heart to break into minuscule pieces, all of them scattering in different directions. The strong expression that I had tried to hold up wavered, and I could feel a few tears dropping out of my own eyes.

I grabbed him in an embrace, hugging him tight. As he snuggled into my shoulder, I continuously patted his back, not caring that the bloody hand that he had on my shoulder was soaking my shirt.

His broken sobs felt like burning hot rods being stabbed into my heart, and all of the depression, anxiety and feeling of loss settled in, breaking me.

I was finally broken.

And that only meant that I could finally be healed, just like Luke could.

One question: Should I put a TW up for this chapter? Or is it okay as it is? Also, did you like it? This book is getting extremely sad... Anywho, make sure to comment, vote and share! I love you guys! Peace out!