Sunshine || l.h. {complete}

Thirty Two

A/N SO I KNOW I HAVEN'T BEEN GOOD BUT SCHOOL JUST STARTED AND I'M TRYING TO BE A GOOD STUDENT SO DON'T HATE ME

AND ALSO THIS CHAPTER SHOULD MAKE UP FOR ANY LACK OF POSTING BECAUSE IT IS 4K WORDS AND NOTHING BUT FLUFF

Something of a sputtered breath comes from his throat but he's kissing her collarbone quickly after, yawning just a bit. Belle isn't tired, especially not after her nap in the car. She runs her fingers through Luke's hair and it's obvious that he's trying not to fall asleep, his eyelids drooping the longer they sit in silence.

"Belle," he mumbles after a groan, forcing his eyes back open, "Why don't you try and sleep?"

Belle sighs and dips her head further into his pillows, running her fingernails back across his shoulders before digging the pads of her fingers into his muscle, "I simply can't. My brain won't slow down."

Luke tightens his hold on her frame, his hands brushing over the tender flesh of her hips. A thought crosses her mind – what if it's bruised? – and even though she secretly hopes the answer is yes, she won't look now because it would only make Luke upset.

"How about I tell you a story?"

Belle moves to get up, shifting, and Luke pushes her back down, his hips locking her into place, "Where are you going?" She pauses, looking down at him, "To get your book..."

He shakes his head with a laugh, "I know lots of stories, Sunshine. Give me a moment to think and I'll have you one."

Settling back in, Belle begins tracing her fingers over his skin again, feeling the warmth seeping into her fingerprints and sending a trail of heat all the way through her veins. She waits and waits, and his breathing is even so she thinks he's fallen asleep but then he clears his throat.

"Once upon a time," he begins, his voice somewhat scratchy with the need for sleep, "there was a prince. He lived in a high tower at the very top of a mountain overlooking his kingdom below. He was very cold, very cruel, and he did not love anything or anyone. He—"

"Even his mum?!" Belle interjects.

"Yes, even his mum..."

"Oh, that is cruel."

"Anyways...He was the ruler of the small village and every day he would look down on his people from a telescope and say, "Oh, look at those fools! They work their ugly fingers to the bone for nothing, no one cares about them!" Then one day, as he was glaring and shouting, he noticed a young maiden. She was beautiful, absolutely the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He saw her going—"

"What did she look like, Luke?!"

"She had...beautiful brown hair, and eyes that were a watery green, they looked like they sparkled from where he sat up in his tower. And, uh, she had light skin, because she didn't stay outside very much, and she was tall."

"Oh, she sounds pretty."

"Yes," he chuckles, kissing a spot on her neck, "Okay, so the prince saw the maiden going to the poor people, handing them bread and cleaning their wounds, even playing around with the village children to make them laugh and smile. It made the prince's heart swell within his chest, and he longed for her to love him. So, he called his guards and sent them down the mountain to get the girl."

Luke yawns, blinking blearily before nuzzling his head back into the crook of her neck and shoulder, "The guards brought her back and she was not happy. She saw the prince and told him that he had to release her because she needed to be down in the village with her people. This upset the prince and he cast her into the dungeon with the other pris—"