Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[35]

Night had fallen and it had started to pour as a thunderstorm raged outside but Camille and George hadn't yet returned. Luke had offered to drop Steph back home once George returned with his car but the hours were ticking by and there was no sign of their return.

Finally he called his Dad who told him that they couldn't come back due to the storm so the two would not be returning home instead they would stay at the hotel close to the seminar hall.

"I'm sorry Steph, they're not coming back," he told her as he hung up, "if we could call Alex, maybe he would take you back?"

"It's alright, Luke, I'll call him."

However, Alex was out too when Steph called Dora so she thought of calling Jason instead but decided against it, recalling the last time she had called him to pick her up in the middle of a thunderstorm and he had switched off his phone instead.

"Is it okay if I stay?"

He was surprised but nodded, "yeah, we've got a spare room. It's right next to mine."

She smiled, "thanks."

They decided to watch a movie till they felt sleepy and when the movie ended, Luke led her to the spare room. She bid him goodnight and watched him step into the room beside hers.

She was thinking that anyone else would have steered the situation down a different track and she wouldn't have really objected if he took the first step.

But Lucas was very different, unlike anyone she had dated before.

She got into bed at last after texting Barbara that she would be back by morning. After a while, she went to sleep, curling into the soft sheets.

However, in the middle of the night she was woken up by a crashing sound from outside so she got up alert. Another crash sounded and she got worried, stepping out.

Silence had swept all over but she pushed open Luke's door, "Lucas, are you okay?"

She got no response so she switched on the light and saw that his desk that was beside the bed was toppled over and the sheets were dragged down as well as if he had fallen off.

She edged towards the bathroom door, hearing the sound of water running.

She gently tapped her knuckles on the door, "Luke, are you alright?"

There was no reply from inside which concerned her.

"Luke?"

"I'm fine," he replied after a long pause though it seemed as if his voice was choked, "it's just a nosebleed..."

The trace of concern was evident in her tone, "oh. Do you need any help?"

"No, thank you," his voice was shaking uncontrollably even then she got even more worried. 

She waited, picking up his stuff that had toppled over as she paced the room anxiously. Her eyes flickered towards the clock again, noting that it was way past midnight.

The sound of the shower running could still be heard but then it stopped and a while later, the door opened.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly as he stepped out.

He nodded, knowing that his voice was still not steady enough for him to reply. Her hands gently held him by the arms as she made him sit down on the bed, eyes observing him closely, trying to make sure that he was okay.

His eyes were slightly red and he was freezing cold though that could be because of the fact that he had kept his head under cold water for long, wet hair sticking to his face. She grabbed a towel and dried his head off so that he wouldn't catch a cold.

"Steph... I'm fine," he spoke up at last, "relax..."

She shook her head, taking his hands in her own, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," he gently squeezed her hands in reassurance, "I... I had a very bad dream and I think the stress from it caused this nosebleed. I'm fine now. Really, there's nothing to worry about."

"Oh," Steph understood that feeling of having such a frightening nightmare that it messed up with the head awfully and right then seeing Luke she could judge the situation wasn't much different. "You know the best way to forget about the nightmare is to distract yourself either by doing something else or as Tim puts it, by consuming one's favorite drink."

"Well... That doesn't sound bad," gradually his tone was coming back to normal, the shivering lessened and with her hands entwined in his, he felt better already.

A soft smile graced her features, "I asked Dora the recipe to your favorite drink so want me to give it a try?"

His hazel eyes connected with her green irises in a soft adoring look, "Stephanie... You're a blessing."

"I know, right?" She laughed, relieved to see that he was recovering eventually, "now stay here, I'll just be back with two glasses of milk and cardamom."

But he didn't let go of her hands and stood up with her, "no, I'm coming with you."

She leaned closer, brushing her lips against his softly, "why? Do you think I'll get lost here? I know where the kitchen is."

"Yeah but I feel lost when you're not around," he remarked and watched the smile widen on her features and her lips touched his again in a sweet lingering kiss.

"Alright then, lead the way," she spoke as they pulled apart.

Reaching the kitchen, he took out the saucepan, the milk and the jar of cardamom, watching her take everything from him with a smile on her face. She stirred the cardamom in the warm milk, pouring it out into two cups.

"Do you know, I have never had cardamom in milk before," she remarked, handing him the cup.

"It tastes good," he replied, "thank you."

"You're welcome."

After finishing the drink, they went back upstairs. But Luke paused at the doorway, slightly reluctant to go in. Steph noted his reluctance so she took his hand in hers and brought him over to the spare room.

He stopped, quite hesitant, "Steph, I..."

"It's okay," she looked at him reassuringly, "we could just talk. And it will be morning really soon so your parents would be back too."

"Yeah," he was a bit uncomfortable at first but with Steph's friendly attitude, he settled down. The two sat together at the bed, with Steph telling him about her family and the antics they got into on a daily basis, in order to distract him from whatever that was troubling him earlier.

Gradually, he relaxed in her presence, easing himself down on the pillow at last when he felt sleep overcome him. Her fingers gently ran through his deep brown hair as she laid beside him, green eyes gazing softly in hazel.

He spoke up at last, "Stephanie... Thank you so much."

"For what?" Her hand trailed down to gently caress his cheek, watching him lean into her touch.

"For bearing with me today," he lifted his hand that was entwined in hers, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

***