Differences

Chapter 13 - Alaina

New Chapter!!!!

This chapter is pretty long, so I do recomment reading it when you have time :) 😘

Warning : The idea of eating disorder is mentioned within this chapter. Please read what is comfortable for you.

Enjoy your read!! 👠💘

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I've never felt so content with interacting with this many people. Sure, a good handful of people avoided me, which was a given, after all, I was known to suck the lives out of people with more methods than many serial killers combined could think of.

But so many others were quite happy to get to know me. Or perhaps they just wanted to fall in the good graces of the Taylors or may be even the De Luca's. I wasn't sure, and frankly for some unknown reason, I didn't care.

Being led so carefully, and kindly by my husband, I loved this atmosphere, the lights, the people, my husband.

It was perfect and I was loving every second of it.

What I wasn't loving, was me underestimating the time I would spend here and the lack of food I had consumed in the past 48 hours as well as these stupid heels.

I never had the need to wear heels, especially since I never went outside to events like these and was therefore highly, inexperienced. My feet ached so much, and the straps were digging into my ankles. Bearable pain, but it was those annoying kind of pain that you can't quite manage to ignore. And the early onset of dizziness and my vision starting to blur was no help at all.

I was very glad that my husband had a firm hold of me, providing me with the physical stability I very much needed. I shifted the weight on my foot from right to left, right to left, hopefully being discreet, while still looking engaged with the conversation, which I was not.

I continued to shift my weight on my the balls of my feet but I abruptly stopped when I realise my husband was directly looking at me. Eyes focused, sharp, observing me. I immediately stood up straighter, now very conscious that I must've looked ridiculous doing that. But instead of saying anything, he motioned us to walk over to the other side of the hall, which had a small door which I hadn't recognised it even existed in the past three hourse I was here. Behind the small door, there was vintage couch that was unoccupied, and he had directed me to sit.

I did so, unsure what we were doing or why we were even here. He took off his mask, and I instinctively did the same, but instantly regret when the view I could see was so much better than the view he had to see.

Then he crouched down, one knee on the floor, the other bent.

"Give me your left foot" He asked, sounding more like a statement than request.

"What?"

"Alaina, give me your left foot." He repeats, affirming his remark, making me comply immediately. He grabs my foot softly and starts loosening the straps of my heels.

"Wait, Lu- I mean uh Mr Taylor, what are you doing?"

"Call me Luke. I'm taking off your heels. Now give me your right foot" He says, and again for  unknown reasons I comply, giving my right foot, which he takes and starts unstrapping the heel and then places both pairs of heels next to him.

"You're looking tired. You didn't look like that when we first came. Is it just the shoes?" He asks, concern etched into his words. Why . . . Why does he care?

I nod, I wasn't gonna say that I was stupid enough to voluntarily not eat for the past two days just because I wanted to at least look physically good in a dress at my first ball.

He searched my eyes, which I tried to stray away from, unsuccessfully, and he wasn't convinced.

"Don't lie to me, Love. I can see right through you. What else?"  He interrogates, but softly.

Why was he asking so softly? Kindly? I wasn't sure. And he seemed to like referring me to Love, throughout tonight, and I still wasn't sure if he was saying that for show or it was his way of marking his people. I do remember him coding names for his men.

"I don't know, I feel tired. Maybe a little dizzy." I explain, not giving the full truth, but it was the truth, nonetheless. And it seemed to be enough because he accepted the answer with a nod.

"Then we can leave. Lets go home, Love." And with that he grabs my heels, scoops me up with his strong arms, bridal style and my eyes enlarges to size I have never knew it could.

"Mr Ta-, Luke, please put me down, I can walk."

"No, you can't, those straps were digging deep. You should've told me earlier. We can't have you hurt", he says, and I felt the inside of me melt as a whole. I was expected to come home bloody and bruised, never not injured.

But he didn't want that.

"Shouldn't we say our farewells?" I ask, concerned if us leaving without a word because of me, could cause some major inconveniences to him. Which was likely when you're dealing with people of our kind.

"No. We leave, when we want to leave." He replies easily, and I feel myself relax, his large dominatnt figure consuming me whole in a pleasant, comforting way I never knew was possible.

We make our way down another gorgeous flights stairs of the back exit, and as though our driver had miraculously expected us to come out of these doors right now, our car was there, engine already running, the driver, Mark, outside the car, ready to open the door. Which he did, and Luke lightly places me on my seat and then goes around to other side of the car to join me.

"You alright?" He asks, as soon as he sits beside me, concern plastered on his face.

"Yes. I'm fine" I reply, genuinely, "Luke?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for tonight. I really enjoyed it."

"No, thank you. I don't really like balls like these, but with you, it was rather enjoyable. I'm gonna bring you to every other ball I have to go from now on" He says casually.

It was probably just some easy comment he added on the end, but the thought that I would be able to stand by him at these luxurious events in these gorgeous dresses made something within me spark.

"I'd like that" I reply hoping I sounded just as casual, but sounded more like a child excited to go to a party instead. Feeling embarrassed, I try to quickly turn away, but he grabs my arm and takes my chin with his other hand, forcing me to face him. Oh lord please save me; he was astonishingly too good for a person like me. And his eyes. They never failed to fascinate me. He was a work of art. Something irreplicable, and something definitely irreplaceable.

"Don't turn away from me. I like seeing your face." He says, and I didn't know how to respond. Words, vocabulary, all gone, mind blank.

I just stared into his face. He stared into my face too, but then he smiled and then, laughed. He never laughs. Well at least in the past three weeks I've known him, he never did. So, if my face was confused earlier, it was beyond confused now.

"I'm not laughing at you. No, maybe I am. Your confused face is really cute. I like it. But I do prefer your smiling face more. You shouldn't hide them" He explains. Now, I didn't know what my face looked like anymore.

"Uh, really?" I question

"Yes really." He replies, and a smile made its way to form on my face, my hands naturally going its way to cover it, but a hand grabs it, his hand, and now my hand was sandwhiched nicely between his hand and his lap. My body lights up, fatigue long gone and I just ogle at his hand on top of mine. I was overly aware of it, but it seemed my future hus- I mean Luke couldn't care less that my hands were on his lap.

And for the rest of drive home, it stayed there. And I made no attempt to pull away. I still didn't know what to make of it, and I couldn't fathom why he did that, but I was beyond content with the action and honestly couldn't care less.

I just knew that, that action, and tonight as a whole would be something that would stay in my memory.

Forever