Titanium Promises

Bonus 1 - Epilogue Part Two

Luke's POV

Reid in the hospital feels like yesterday. And it's taken an entire year to process it.

I play with a strand of my newly brown hair, twirling it in my fingers. Mav insisted I go blonde, but I knew that wouldn't be easy to do with my annoyingly black hair, so I stuck with brown. It was cheaper to do, too.

"You still alive?" Mav asks from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, still alive," I say, releasing the strand of hair.

I go to twist my earring—a nervous habit—only to grasp at my earlobe. God, I hate not having earrings in. It feels wrong. I even had to get rid of my rings, but at least Mav got to keep them.

"Good," Mav says. "You were saying something about finally seeing him?"

I suck in a breath. "Yeah."

I've been in California for three months now, and I've waited—or procrastinated—long enough. I still don't even know the reason for my waiting. I guess I've been... worried. But not scared.

I was never afraid of anything until I had him to lose. That terrified me.

The time before California is still a blur. I did jobs without asking questions—killed without blinking an eye. I couldn't risk it. I couldn't risk losing the protection of Reid.

"How did you find him, anyway?" Mav asks.

I think back on how it happened. At first I thought about going to his house, but I knew showing up at his front door would be a mistake. Especially if it was his father who answered.

I was scrolling through my phone one day when an ad popped up for the winners of an annual art competition. It was the same one Reid had mentioned what felt like years ago. I clicked on the link and it showed the names of the winners, and there he was. Getting tickets to the winners' event was the tricky part, but I managed to find a way.

"It just kind of happened," I tell Mav.

"Must be fate," he says sarcastically. "How's being a dead man treating you, anyway?"

I laugh, even though I know I shouldn't.

Only Mav knows I'm alive. To everyone else, I was killed on a job in Nevada that Mav and I were forced to deal with. Shot through the head by an unseen sniper—killed immediately. I guess even the prodigal Luke has a limit.

Dad, apparently, didn't waste his precious time mourning. He was pissed and ended up beating two men to death in a deadly rage. Apparently, he kept cursing me the entire time. Yelling about how he lost an important investment.

The thought of it makes me smile.

I drove to California from where we were in Nevada, and didn't stop for anything until I made it to LA.

Even my nana thinks I'm gone. And even though I hate the thought  of her crying for me, it's for her safety, too. I couldn't have stayed with her and risked her getting killed. Enough people have already almost died because of me.

I still don't know why Mav helped me fake my death. And I don't think he'll ever give me a real reason. I've just been telling myself it's him making up for shooting me a year ago. My shoulder has a nasty scar to prove it.

I didn't have an initial plan. I didn't know how I was going to do it, only that I would find a way.

Mav somehow caught onto my plan, and I thought he would turn me in for some form of abandonment. Until he called my father and spoke two words.

"Luke's dead."

And that was it.

"What name did you decide on again?" Mav asks. "Something that makes you sound like a tight-ass, right?"

"How is 'Grayson' a tight-ass name?"

"I don't know. Just is."

There's a pause.

"How's August?" I manage to ask.

He doesn't speak for a moment. "Fine, I guess. He's not speaking to Dad. But it's always been that way ever since—"

"Yeah," I interrupt. "Since then."

"Mom is breaking," he says slowly, "but she won't let anyone see it."

I know she is. That's always been how she's dealt with her problems. There was never anyone to help her.

"You'll find a way to help her, right?" I ask.

There's a pause. "I'm trying."

I let out a sigh. "Good."

Another pause.

"I should get going," Mav says. "And I don't think we'll be able to talk for a while after this. People are already getting suspicious about your death."

I had a feeling that would happen. There have been hundreds of assassination attempts on me. But it only takes one to kill me.

"Right," I say, adjusting my pair of sunglasses, which, since it's nearly night, makes it nearly impossible to see. "Thanks, Mav."

"I can't remember the last time you said that and meant it."

I smirk. "I do mean it."

"I know. Now hang up. Your boyfriend's waiting."

He's not my boyfriend anymore. "Yeah."

"And don't pull any shit that will get you killed before we talk again, got it? I can't have you dying for real."

"I won't."

"Okay."

He hangs up, and I keep the phone against my ear for a moment before lowering it.

I look up at the entrance to the building and at the people slowly making their way inside, talking amongst themselves as they walk. None of them seem to have a care in the world.

I take a step forward to join them. But my heart freezes.

He looks older now. His round face has sharpened, and his hair is longer now than it was before. The skin around his eyes creases as he smiles, the reaction making my heart lurch. He looks taller, too, and I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to get up to my height.

"You nervous?" I hear his dad ask, even from all the way over here.

I wait an eternity to hear his voice again.

"A little," he says.

I nearly fall to my knees, and I have to lean my arm against the tree next to me to avoid falling.

His voice is the same, and all I want him to do is keep talking. But he enters the building, leaving me in silence.

I nearly trip as I follow after him, carefully sliding past the tightly packed people to get inside. His figure is lost in the crowds, and I follow the current of bodies into a large auditorium. I look around desperately, clutching the folded piece of paper in my pocket.

All I have to do is give it to him. I'll leave it up to him to see me. After everything I've done, I can't force him to talk to me again. If he wants, he'll find me. If he doesn't...

The thought of it makes my heart pound, but I'll accept it no matter what. It's the least I could do after everything.

His view of me could have easily changed after all these years. He's different now. We both are. And even with all those differences... my heart still belongs to him.

And I know that truth will always be unbreakable.