𝒜 𝒟𝒶𝒾𝓈𝓎 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝐻𝒾𝓈 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

Lukas: 17

The room glows red when I wake up, and I notice the red velvet curtains of Valentina's room shining some light through, and I smile softly at Valentina, who is sound asleep on my chest. Her chest rises and falls, with a small smile on her face.

I kiss the top of her head, and she slowly stirs, looking up at me.

She looks at me with such purity, the lashes of her wide eyes slowly parting with her gaze. pale face is flawless, and I feel like fainting at the stunning angel in front of me.

This is why I'm in lo-

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Yes? Nope, definitely no.

I can't be in love with Valentina like that... we're supposed to be enemies! I mean, we made out and stuff, but that was like, platonically, right?

Right?

This can't be happening. She's too good for me; beautiful, smart, hard working, kind, she's got it all. She hates me. I can't love her.... but I do.

I thought I loved her in a firsts way. Like, thanks for being my first love and being a great frenemy, but... I love her in a different way, I now realize.

I love her in a way that I want to spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what makes her happy, what I can do to make her smirk that sly way, how I can convince her I can be the man she's dreamt of in a her most hopeful unlikely dreams.

The more I debate this predicament, the more I realize I'm okay with it.

I love her. And I fell hard, hard.

"Morning, gorgeous." I rasp out, voice tired from last night. "Don't wake up on my account."

"You woke me, handsome." She groaned, voice crisp and hoarse.

"Fair enough," I nod, twirling her hair with a rueful grin. "Awake now?"

"Yes.." She sniffles, but closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.

I watch her breathing become more calm, and hold her close.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I mumble, staring down at her pink cheeks.

"Hmm?" She looks up suddenly, and I flush, not realizing she was awake.

"Nothing!" I say all too quickly, but she's too tired to question my behavior.

She falls asleep again, and in about five minutes, after admiring her beauty and ensuring that she's asleep, I slowly crawl out from under her.

I scrawl out a note on her bedside drawer, saying that I am going back to my castle to start my day, and that she can call me if she needs anything.

And, because I've learned she makes me quite the romantic, my look back at her makes me kiss her cheek softly before walking out the door.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

Tate rushes out to me when I approach the palace steps.

"Oh my god, oh my god, Lukas help." She exclaims, eyes wide with panic.

"Tate?" I take her flailing arms and look her in the eye. "What's wrong? Was there another attack? Are you hurt?"

"My heart? Yes." She cries. "I got myself into a mess."

"Calm down, whatever it is, all messes can be fixed." I say, slapping my palms onto her cheeks and forcing her to look me in the eye.

"Not this one." She looks really scared.

"Okay, well, talk to me." I nod, concerned for her now.

"Not here." She hisses. "If anyone hears us, I could lose my job."

Oh. Oh.

So it is something big.

"Okay, let's head back to my bedroom chambers, alright? Then I can help you." I lead her into the palace.

We make our way up the stairs, and I let her into my room to sit her down on my bed. I lock the door, not wanting anyone to hear whatever this is.

"Tate, calm down." I say as she starts breathing rapidly. "What is it?"

"Lukas... well, you know how William and I were together, right? Or, not together together, but like, hookup buddies? God, that sounds awful, but um-" Tate beats around the bush.

"Get to the point, sis." I shake my head in knowing how worked up she gets, and so I take her hand and squeeze it. "It's just me, you best friend Lukas. Ten years, Tate. You can trust me with anything. What about William?"

"I'm... um... god, I don't know how to say this..." She groans. "I'm..."

"You're...?" I egg her on.

"I'm carrying his child." She blurts out, wincing.

Carrying-

"Oh my... T-Tate... like..." I glance down at her stomach. "Like you're... pregnant?"

She nods, unable to do anything but nod as tears slip down her cheeks.

"How far in are you?" I'm freaking out on the inside, but I need to put on a face brave enough for the both of us.

"I don't know, maybe like three months? Gosh, I'm terrible... I didn't even notice the signs, and I was feeling sick today, so I went to the doctors, and well.." Her lower lip quivers. "Here I am."

"Oh my..." I backtrack a bit. "You're sure it's his?"

"Yes! He ran away about three months ago, which I had seen him a last time the night before-"

"Gross," I shudder, but she ignores me.

"And I haven't seen anyone since then!" She wipes tears furiously off of her cheeks.

"Okay, okay. I'm not going to say calm down because you hate that," I earn a glare from her. "But I need to know what the next steps are. Did you find out if it's a boy or a girl?"

My attempt to lighten the mood go uncredited as she throws up her arms.

"I don't know! I didn't ask!" She lets more tears drip down her cheeks. "Is it stupid of me to want Will to be here, with me? Or do you think he'd even care at all?"

"Of course he'd care." I nod. "William is... well, as we all know, not the most reliable person, but there's no way he'd miss his child's birth. That wouldn't be fair to you. He really cared about you, you know. He fell harder than you did.""

"Neither of us fell." Tate grimaces. "It was easy, stress relieving fun, with no strings attached, until it wasn't. Now look at me, three months after he's disappeared, and I'm already showing!"

Once she says it, I can tell. Not by much, but there's already the smallest bump that wasn't there before.

"What kind of symptoms are you getting?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Yesterday I sobbed over a shampoo commercial because there were too many flowers and the lady was walking in a meadow with her hair in the breeze. You tell me how it's going." She mutters, blowing hair out of her face. "I really need to figure out how I'm going to pay for a kid."

"Well, I'm going to try to get a hold of William, and you keep calling him too, okay? As soon as we can get a hold of him, we can get him to come home. And until then, I'll take money from William and help pay for your bills and baby stuff." I tell her. "Don't worry. We'll get him home in time."

"I don't know if it's a good thing..." Tate bites her lip. "Of course I want his help, and a partner in this journey, but I can't help but be worried about us raising a child and them him splitting again. It wouldn't be just me he's hurting this time."

"I know. It's not ideal, but as his brother, I promise I will do what I can to talk some sense into him. He's never liked the idea of settling down, but there's no way I'm letting him hurt the two of you." I smile down at her stomach. "I get to be an uncle, then?"

"I guess you do." Tate laughs for the first time in a while.