Rebel Girl

24} Jane Austen Couldn't Come Up With A Better Love Confession

© Amber Kalkes 2015

Song: "No Rain" By Blind Melon

Chapter Twenty-Four: Jane Austen Couldn’t Come Up With A Better Love Confession

I hiss in pain as Lou places a bag of frozen peas on my cheek. He doesn’t look much better than me. The skin under his left eye is starting to darken into an impressively wince worthy bruise. Pressing the bag to my cheek Lou settles onto the living room couch beside me with his own bag of frozen vegetables pressed to his eye. I have the urge to laugh the longer we sit like this because honestly, we look like idiots.

Eventually I lose my composer when Lou glances at me out of the corner of his eye. My lips sputter into laughter and I put my hand against my mouth as I let out a few strangled laughs. Lou smiles at me, his eyes soft as he lowers his bag of frozen carrots to watch me completely lose my mind.

“I’m sorry.” I breathe, trying to stop laughing, “I just…we just make such a pair don’t we?”

“Is that a bad or good thing?”

I shrug with a little smile, “I don’t know but its something.”

“I’m proud of you, you know.”

I lift a brow as I reach over to guide his hand so the carrots are back on his eye, “Why?”

He winces, “You could have just cowered in fear but you stood up for yourself and you fought back. I couldn’t be more proud of you right now if I tried.”

“Even if you tried really, really hard?”

“Cute.” He says dryly before moving closer to me so he’s sitting right beside me before throwing his arm over my shoulders, “I’m being serious though.”

Laying my head back against his arm I stare at the ceiling, “I didn’t do anything special, Lou. Saying those things didn’t affect him anyway. He won’t remember them when he wakes up. In fact with enough booze I’m sure he’ll even forget I even existed.”

“Fuck him.” Lou says lowly as he takes my free hand in his and entwines our fingers, “You don’t need him.”

“I don’t.” I agree as I look at out hands with a smile, “I never really did.”

I feel him moving closer to me and I look up to see him reaching towards me. His bag is balancing on his leg again while he slowly moves mine out of the way. He slowly touches my cheekbone and I wince at how tender it feels. His narrow at the sight of my discomfort and his fingers moves down under they settle under my chin. Looking into his dark green eyes I feel my stomach break out with annoying butterflies.

“No one is ever going to hurt you again.” He says solemnly.

“You can’t protect me from everything.”

He leans forward and kisses me gently, “No, I can’t but I’m going to get as much of it as I can.”

I smile a little, “You’re starting to make me think that you hire a script writer for these moments.”

“I take it I’m doing a good job of winning you over then.”

“Well I’m still here so…” I trail with a teasing smile that I quickly drop when my cheek begins to throb.

With a sigh he takes my hand and lifts it so the frozen peas are back on my cheek. Sitting back on the couch he lifts his own bag back to his eye as well. There’s some Ancient Aliens episode on the TV so though neither of us are really watching it we pretend we are. I don’t know whom we’re pretending for but we’re doing it.