Springsteen

Chapter 2

The pic on the side is of Grace.

Leaves rustle behind me. I don't move, nor do I lift my head.
Only one person knows about this spot.
"I'm sorry."
I look up. It's not Luke, it's Mom.
Luke didn't come for me.
I don't say anything; I just keep grabbing dead leaves and breaking them to crumbs.
"I know how you're feeling."
Mom and Dad hate Luke, so why was he at their house anyways?
Mom though, she knows exactly how I'm feeling. Mom is the whole reason I don't like being home alone. She was kidnapped when I was ten by (surprise surprise) Eric Black.
She was gone until I was twelve and she got away.
"Who did it?" she whispers.
"The same guy." I whisper.
"Oh sweetie." She wraps me in her arms. I cry into her shoulder for two reasons.
One, I'm emotionally unstable, and two, because Luke isn't here.
"The only reason Luke didn't come was because I told him that I understand better than you do."
I don't say anything.
"I know you're wondering why he's at our house when we hate him." she says. "We don't hate him." she says. "When you went missing, he took it the hardest. Every day he came over to make sure you didn't come back. We flew all over the country to every single place you'd ever said you wanted to go. He only gave up a few months ago. We realize he really does love you. It's our fault you were taken. If we had just said yes to him sleeping over that night, you never would've been taken. He would've protected you." she pauses when I don't say anything. "Come on, let's go home."
I get up, and she stands up too, and we walk away from the cliffs at the airport.
"How'd you know where that was?" I ask.
"Because Luke told me where to find you." she says.
I get in the passenger seat.
"I want you to drive." She says. "You're twenty two now. I want to make sure you still know how."
I move to the driver's seat and Mom gets in the passenger.
I still remember how to drive.
We drive in silence for whole ride.
I pull into the driveway. It's dark now.
Mom and I get out, and mom walks in the house first.
"Was she there?" Luke asks. "I have tons of other places she could be." He says.
I walk in the house after Mom and everyone gets all quiet again.
Daddy comes and gives me a giant hug.
Kara looks at a text on her phone, and then gasps.
"Oh my god, turn on channel thirteen!"
Grandma grabs the remote and turns on the TV.
Helicopters are swarming a house and a women is standing outside.
"Finally folks, the man who kidnapped Lisa Parker and her daughter, Gracelynn Parker, has been arrested and is in custody."
The elderly women that helped me out comes on.
"Yeah, I mean, a girl came to my door and asked to use my phone. I didn't recognize her, but my daughter Katie did. She said it was Gracelynn. She was so polite and sweet. After everything she's been through, she was still standing strong. She was at my place for a little over an hour. We let her shower and change clothes and such. The police took her. I never even knew that she was right down the street this whole time. I'm glad that bastard is behind bars."
Grandma shuts the TV off.
"You must be hungry." Mom says. "You need some meat on your tiny bones." She pulls me into the kitchen and starts to whip up Chicken Fettuccine Alfrado. My favorite.
I wait for her to cook it, and then she makes me chocolate milk and sets it at the table.
"Eat." she says.
I don't need to be told twice.
I swear, I almost moan when the first bite hits my tongue.
For a girl who's had bread for five years, this shit is like orgasm.
She smiles as I devour it.
I'm trying to avoid Luke because I'm nervous to talk to him.
"You should talk to him." Mom whispers.
I gulp, nervous. I wash my dish and my drink and put them in the cabinet after drying them.
"I'm nervous." I whisper.
"Well at least come in the living room." Mom says.
I nod and she pulls me into the living room.
Luke stands up and stretches. He's gorgeous.
"Okay, I'm leaving." He says.
He walks over to the door, which is right next to me.
"Wanna come?" he asks gently.
His voice makes my insides melt like chocolate thrown into a fire.
"Okay." I whisper.
He opens the door and gestures for me to go.
"I promise I'll bring her back." He says. "I'll have her call."
"You take care of my daughter." Dad says.
"I always do." He smiles.
I follow him to a car that isn't the jeep that he used to have. He opens the door for me and waits until I'm in to shut it, and then gets in the passenger seat.
On instinct, he links his fingers through mine, and then he pauses.
"I can let go if you want me to honey." He says. "And I don't have to call you honey."
"Don't let go." I say. "And don't stop calling me cute names."
He smiles, but he doesn't say anything else.
He backs out of the driveway and starts to drive towards Atlanta.
He has a military haircut...
"Why is your hair cut for the military?" I blurt.
I casts me a glance.
"Because I'm in the military."
I'm hit with a memory.

The bell rings, signally the end of seventh period. I go flying down the halls. My teacher made us listen to the song Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood. I run right to Luke's locker.
"Hey pumpkin, how was-"
"Promise me you'll never join the military, because the song Just a Dream is sad about the military and her husband or fiancé or whatever dies and I can't live without you and-"
He silences my words with his lips. "I promise I'll never join the military."

"I know what you're thinking." He says quietly.
Instead of finishing on the road that leads to Atlanta, he makes a right into an apartment complex.
"I promised you I would never join, but I was, am, well not anymore, but so depressed without you. I wanted to die. The military seemed like the right way to go."
"When do you go back?" I whisper.
"Well..." he hesitates. "I'm supposed to leave...tomorrow."
My heart feels like it was stomped on.
"But you happened to show up at the end of my contract." He says. "So tomorrow morningI sign a new one or I don't." he parks and gets out and runs around to open my door. "And baby, with you back, whether you are still mine or not, I'm not signing a new one."
"Can I ask you something?" I mutter as he leads me up a flight of stairs. He unlocks apartment 378 and I walk in. It smells like him.
"Sure." He says.
"What did you think when I was gone? What did you think happened?
He frowns, thinking.
"I knew something was up. You were so happy that night." He smiles at the memory. "You wouldn't have just left."
I don't say anything. He's so right though.
I sink down on the couch. He sits next to me.
"I wanted our fairy tail. I want heaven back."
"Baby girl, I'm all yours. All you have to do is ask." He whispers.
"I want to be yours."
"Okay. Will you be my girlfriend again?"
"Please." I whisper. "Yes please."