A soft humming could be heard around my apartment. Luke was gently strumming his guitar while singing under his breath. I sat on the settee next to him with my mug of coffee warming up my hands while I watched him. His eyebrows were lower than usual and the top of his tongue was poking out of his mouth as he concentrated on the strumming pattern.

"We'll never be..." He sang quietly. "...as young as we are now."

My smile grew bigger as he continued to sing.

"That's beautiful, Luke..." I whispered once he stopped playing.

"It's just something me and the boys are working on." He bit his lip, avoiding eye contact with me.

I tilted my head to the side while I looked at him. "Luke? Are you okay?" I stretched my arm out so I could stroke his back.

"I-yeah..." He mumbled while adding an unnecessary cough.

"Luke...stop." My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Our band manager called us this morning..."

"And? What did he say?" I asked excitedly even though Luke sounded glum.

"As soon as we release our album we're going on tour." He pressed his lips together and looked down.

"That's...amazing," I said with a shocked expression painted on my face. I leant forward, placing my mug on the coffee table, to hug Luke. "I'm so proud of you," I whispered into his ear.

"Gab, we'll be apart for months."

"Oh...right. I'll be fine." I lied while keeping a strong smile on my face even though he was only glancing at me.

"Gabbie, I don't want to leave you." He finally locked his eyes with mine which immediately made my heart fall. His eyes were dark and the rings around his eyes were more prominent than ever. I frowned at him while shuffling back to my seat.

"I'm not standing in the way of your career, Luke." I protested, crossing my arms.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Luke! This is your whole life, your big chance. I love you and I know you love me but I'm not gonna let you stay here instead of doing the thing you've always wanted."

"I want you-"

"-No. What is your problem? Why don't you want to go?"

"I'm afraid." His voice was wobbly and he appeared to be weak. I had never seen him in such a state before.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Losing you. Messing up my dream. I don't want to let you down, or my parents, or the boys."

"Baby...you have worked so incredibly hard for this. You've been working on that album for...so long. You need to go."

A sigh left Luke's lips.

"I know..."

"When do you go?"

"The album is due to be released in three weeks and then we go the week after."

My throat went dry as he told me the limited amount of weeks we would have together. He had been on tour before, sure, but he hadn't met me yet. His band supported One Direction, just before he met my sister.

"Right..." I nodded, grabbing my half-empty mug and rushing into the kitchen. I stood over the sink like I was frozen. I was frozen. I tried to remind myself he wasn't leaving me forever, just a few months.

My life had become accustomed to Luke and his ways. I would be woken up by his call or he would wake me up with kisses all over my face. I would cook dinner with Luke or facetime him while I tried my best to make a meal. He would sing me to sleep when I found it hard. He would watch any movie I wanted even if he hated it. He was my everything.

I rubbed my face with the palm of my hands as I waited for my brain to tell me what to do next. I knew I was going to cry, it was inevitable. I took a shaky breath in then out.

Sing, the voice in my head told me. I knew it would calm me down, it always did, but I felt like the lyrics would barely get past my lips.

"You must think that I'm heartless..." I shakily began to sing. "You must think that I'm a fool..."

As I continued to sing my voice grew stronger and more powerful. It became easier for me to sing without stumbling over myself.

"I'm way too good at goodbyes."

"You're such a good singer, baby," Luke said quietly from the doorway. I jumped at his voice, avoiding eye contact.

"Thanks," I mumbled to the floor.

"Come here..." He opened his arms, allowing me to fling myself into his chest. He held me tight, rubbing his hand up and down my back. "I'll call you every day."

"Luke, that's unrealistic," I spoke into his t-shirt, soaking it with my tears.

"You'll still be my girlfriend, baby. I'm always thinking of you. I always want to have you with me." He reassured me.

"What about all the girls you'll meet while on tour? What if they're better than me?" I whimpered with tears dramatically rolling down my cheeks

"Stop worrying yourself." His voice calmed down until my cheeks were just sticky instead of wet. I sniffed and let go of him.

"I'm sorry," I said before pressing my lips to his. The familiar feeling returned and I quickly found myself tangling my hands in his soft hair that hadn't been styled yet. Our lips gracefully parted and I felt calmer.

"We still have a few weeks. Let's make the most of them, okay?" He smiled down at me, making my heart flutter. I nodded my head while smiling to show him I was feeling better. Suddenly, the familiar generic ringtone rung around my apartment as Luke frantically reached for his phone. His face fell when he saw the screen. "It's work...I'm so sorry."

He kissed my cheek before answering the phone, putting it to his ear, and walking off. I sighed sadly and slumped against the kitchen counter again. I could hear the faint murmur of his voice through the wall which made me sink further and further down until I was sat on the floor.

Maybe it was a bad idea dating Luke. It was bad from the start, with my sister hating our relationship to our fights. Now we can't even hang out together with our friends because of Becky and Ashton's break up.

Then the realisation hit me. We weren't going to last forever. Eventually, everything breaks, so do relationships. If I broke up with him then, then we wouldn't have to struggle with the pain of long distance until we decide we should break up.

Just thinking about not being with Luke brought a pain to my chest that wouldn't go away. I knew I had to tell him, then and there, but my body just wouldn't move. I clumsily stood up, grabbing onto the counter to support my weight. I shuffled into the living room where Luke was sat with his head in his hands.

"Luke..." His head shot up at me, a surprised look etched on his face. He swallowed hard before attempting a smile at me. "We need to talk."

A lump in my throat tried to stop me saying what seemed like my worst nightmare. Only days before we were so happy and so in love...

-flashback-

Luke's hand tucked away a few loose strands of hair that were covering my face while I lay half asleep. I could hear his soft and consistent breathing fanning my face as we both fell asleep in each other's comfort. He gently inched his face closer to mine so our noses were touching.

"I know you're asleep but maybe you'll wake up and briefly remember this."

I felt like smiling at how sweet he was but I resisted the urge so he would continue.

"I don't know what I'd do without you. You're the reason I get up every day, well and my music. Oh, my music. I know you have to deal with me constantly working on songs with the guys but you're so understanding. I love you, Angel."

-end of flashback-

Tears immediately began to fill up my eyes making my vision blurry, which was a curse and a blessing. That way I didn't have to look at Luke but at the same time, I was crying so it wasn't great.

"What's wrong, Princess? Come here." I shook my head at him, refusing to fall into his embrace again.

"I can't keep doing this. I'm so sorry." The tears that blurred my eyesight quickly spilt from my eyes, allowing me to see an extremely hurt Luke. "I don't want to go through a whole ordeal with long distance only to break up when we realise we can't do it anymore."

"How do you know that's gonna happen, Gabbie?" He was rubbing his temples in a frustrated manner.

"Because I'm weak and you're handsome and soon enough you'll be famous. Which means you'll have girls everywhere who want you. I don't know if you really love me enough to stay true."

"So you don't trust me?"

"I trust you but not when you're hundreds and thousands of miles away from me!"

"I can't believe you're breaking up with me." I hadn't thought about it enough yet so when he said it out loud I could barely speak. "I love you, Gabbie."

"Stop," I whispered, staring at my shoes.

"I'll just go..." He mumbled, walking past me and pausing as he got next to me. He opened his mouth to speak but bit his lip instead and walked away and out of the apartment. I quickly checked he was gone before running to my bedroom.

I sunk my head into my pillows, making them wet. It was like I couldn't control my body anymore. I had no reason to get up, or to stop crying, or to talk to anyone. I heard a soft knock on my door and at first, I thought it might be Luke, but deep down I knew It wasn't.

"Go away," I mumbled towards the door, not really sure if I wanted company or not.

"Gabbie? What happened?" Becky cooed me as she let herself into my bedroom.

"I'm not in the mood to chat, Beck." I turned to face away from her so she couldn't see the pain in my eyes.

"Is it about Luke?" His name sent me into floods of tears, It wasn't a pretty sight. "What happened?"

"I broke up with him." I hugged Becky, sniffing into her shoulder.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I didn't want him to go on tour and forget about me. I let him go so he was free from me."

"When are they going on tour?" I could hear a wobble in her voice replicating mine. She still loved Ashton. This would hurt her just as much as it hurt me.

"In about three weeks but he was on the phone to his manager so who knows."

She had no reply. She just gently rubbed my back and held me until the tears stopped. Only temporarily, but they paused. She had red eyes when I finally looked at her face and I couldn't help but feel guilty for only thinking about myself. I was going to say something before she beat me to it.

"I'm staying at my parents' house tonight. If you want to come-"

"-Nah, I'm good." I swallowed the lump in my throat. I just wanted to be by myself.

"I don't know if that's a good idea..."

"Becky, I'll be fine. I promise." Becky looked at me with a raised eyebrow but nodded and walked out anyway.

I lay in bed for two solid hours after Becky left for her parents' house, just listening to sad songs and crying. A knock at the front door broke me from my bubble and forced me to actually get up. I shuffled towards the door, furiously wiping under my eyes to dry the tears. I opened it to become face to face with Michael and Ashton.

They both looked at me with pitiful eyes that hurt when I looked into them. Ashton hugged me then Mikey joined in the hug. I laughed sadly into their chests even though it brought back memories of Luke.

"Can we come in?" Mikey asked after we broke apart from the hug. I nodded and made space for them to come through before shutting it again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Luke was devastated when he came home." Ashton started, taking a seat on the couch with Michael. My eyebrows furrowed together as I began to feel anxious about Luke.

"Why did you leave him by himself?" I asked, almost mad.

"We didn't, Calum is with him," Michael responded. I remained stood up because I had too many nerves going through my body.

"He explained what happened. We thought Becky might be here." Ashton said, quickly scanning the room for her.

"She's staying at her parents' house tonight. I think she's upset about you guys going on tour."

"Oh...right."

"How are you coping?" Michael asked me with comforting eyes. I shrugged with a sad smile resting on my lips.

"I'm not."

"Do you really not trust him?"

"I trust him, I do. It's just that, people change. Fame changes people and I don't think I can watch him change." As soon as I said it I had tears in my eyes which made both of the boys to sigh.

"He's considering not going on tour now." Ashton looked at me as he spoke. I rushed over to them and took a seat in between them.

"No, you can't let him do that. Promise me. He's not stopping all of your chances to fulfil your dreams." I looked between them both desperately.

"We tried but he's almost set on it now."

"I'll call him. I just- I don't want to let you guys down." I looked down to the floor.

"You could never." Michael side hugged me while Ashton handed me his phone with Luke's contact lit up on the screen. My heart pounded harder and harder as I put the phone to my ear.

Ring...Ring...Ring...

"It went to voicemail," I say, taking it away from my ear feeling half relieved. Just as I'm about to hand the phone back to Ash his name flicks on screen. I look up at Ash who is looking at me desperately. I squeezed my eyes shut but answered the phone.

"Hello?" Luke sniffed in a much huskier voice than usual. It sounded like when he had just woken up in the morning and his voice hadn't cleared yet.

"Luke..." I almost whispered, not sure how to address him.

"Baby?" My heart skipped a beat when he responded with an old nickname. It had only been a few hours without him and I already felt like a part of me had been taken away.

"You have to go on tour."

"I want you back. I don't care about fame or fortune, I want you. I've never wanted anything more."

Without even realising I had tears streaming down my face, I took in a sharp breath like it was my last.

"What about Michael, Ashton and Calum? This is their dream, Luke, you can't take it from them."

"They can go without me."

"Luke, don't be stupid." I tried to steady my voice so I sounded more serious.

"I love you."

"Stop. You need to move on."

"I don't want to move on!"

"This is just as hard for me but I'm trying my best. Please go. Please, for me."

"But..."

"...Luke. I need you to do this." I chocked up at the end of my sentence.

"O-Okay." I could hear the constant breaks in his voice as he spoke to me. Every word he said tore me more and more apart. I ended the call before I had a chance to ruin everything even further.

"He's doing it. He's going on tour." I glanced between my two friends who, in return, trapped me in another hug.

"We're releasing the album in a week!" Ashton exclaimed to Michael with big, happy eyes.

"And we're going on tour in two weeks!"

Just as I suspected, they were going early. That's why Luke looked so stressed out before I dumped him. I hated that expression. Dumped him. It sounded like he was an old toy that you hadn't used since you were 5 and it was always your last choice. Like he meant nothing to me.

Michael and Ashton were quick to leave my apartment leaving an eerie silence behind.

It's funny really. How one day you can be so in love and the next rethink everything. Painful? Yes, but maybe it happens for a reason. Maybe Luke was just another part of my life that I have to get over and ignore. Maybe he was just an obstical.

But then again, he was my first love. My only love and my everything. Maybe I messed up. Maybe I shouldn't have let him go...