The Book Thief 》Hemmings A.U

44.00

dresses for those of you who said you couldn't picture it :)

"GOD, YOU LOOK SO grown up." My father says, mouth a cross between a smile and a frown. I'm leaning more towards a smile full of pride, with a hint of longing for the loss of time, of how quickly I seemed to grow up in his eyes.

It is a comment recited a million times a day all over the world, but somehow hearing him say it puts the statement in an entirely different perspective.

It's the fact that he can say it. That he is here in front me, standing beside my mother as they snap picture after picture of me grinning by the staircase in my dress. In the beautiful dress that I love so much, with a genuine smile upon my lips and all but two wisps of hair on either side of my face falling along the center of my back in an intricate braid. With pink pumps that have an orange lining and manage to make me reach a somewhat average height, and euphoria coursing through my veins.

My parents slept in the house last night, the both of them. It might not have seemed like much, but, considering the extent of their separation and how angry they had been with each other for the past few months, it was a huge step. And tonight was my prom and this was the height of my high school career and at first I couldn't care any less about this day but now that it is actually here, I am in love with every part of it.

The event is being held at the River Walk Landing, which was one of the most beautiful places in all of Wilmington, and, thanks to successful fundraising over the past four years and a school discount, tickets were only twenty five dollars each.

I had tried to purchase my own ticket on account of the complete ability to do so, but, Luke not only being Luke but also my date had already gotten them beforehand, and would have refused to let me buy it anyways.

"I just ran out of storage on my phone, hold on." My mother hisses, angry as her brows furrow and she rushes to delete applications and anything else she might not need at the moment. In the middle of her frantic clearing of space, the door is pushed open and in comes Lucy, grinning widely with Luke in tow. She stands in front of the door, one beige heel covered foot in front of the other, and fans the bottom of her dress apart for the full effect. I take in her bright red lipstick and the way her dark eye makeup makes her electric blue eyes pop, and her lightly curled blonde hair and squeal loudly, rushing over to hug her.

"You look so beautiful, but, what else is new?" I mumble into her arm and she laughs, shaking her head.

Since John's assault, Lucy had slowly progressed into letting people touch her again, and she wasn't as jumpy or frightened when the touch was unexpected.

I think that given the circumstances, she was doing a whole lot better than anyone expected at this point; be it because of her refusal to acknowledge the incident or because of pure strength. But that was just the way that Lucy was. She shined in absolutely everything that she did, and there was nothing in this world that could tear her down; not completely, and not for very long.

Once our hug is over and she gushes on how she picked the perfect dress for me and that it was so beautiful and that we would both be the cutest ones there, and I wholeheartedly agree with minimal banter, I turn to Luke.

My parents are none the wiser as they try to help each other make more space on their phones, so, when he snakes his arms around my waist and very quickly presses his lips against mine, it's like it never happened. He doesn't even say anything, he just looks at me with wide blue eyes full of adoration, and it is a perfect, silent exchange. Luke has just pinned a corsage to my chest, and is in the middle of telling me that I must get prettier every time he sees me when my parents finally acquire more storage, and then they take a variety of pictures of all three of us (either in a group or in each different pairing) until the door opens for a second time tonight.