Sunshine || l.h. {complete}

Thirty Five

eeeeep okay so i hope you guys like this chapter it shows luke being kinda emotional

ps, trigger warning in this chapter so beware x 

Belle runs her palms over her arms and wets her lips, "Look, I'm alive. I'm not dead, he didn't rape me. I am one hundred percent fine."

Luke moves towards her and she flinches away, "If you were one hundred percent fine, you shouldn't look like a frightened squirrel whenever I try to touch you." He sighs and steps back from her, his hands flying up to run through his hair, "I knew something was up, I just thought you were still mad at me."

His voice is level, his jaw clenched as the inward anger builds, "This is so much more, Sunshine."

Belle looks down at the floor, twisting her feet inward so they're touching one another. "It's not a big deal, Luke, really..."

"Oh my g—seriously?!" Luke covers his face. "You seriously don't think that you having bruises between your thighs because some guy was trying to pull them apart is a big deal?!"

A shrug shakes her shoulders, "I'm okay."

"Stop saying that!" he snaps, his fists returning at his sides. "You're not! You're obviously not."

Belle feels herself shutting down. She's done talking about it because the terrible feelings are coming back again and she doesn't want to feel as though she'd rather be puking or bleeding than talking about what happened.

"You were almost raped," Luke paces again, "That is a big deal. It's a lot to deal with, Belle, and you're not wanting to deal with it!"

She clasps and unclasps her fingers to make her hands busy so they won't float back to her forearms, "It's, I'm not—"

"Don't you dare say it again."

Luke's eyes fall level with hers and the intensity in his gaze makes her whimper and move away, sliding down onto the bed.

"B-But," she tries, but Luke lets out a growl and tosses his head back. The noise itself makes Belle spill a few tears because it sounds like he's in physical pain.

Before she can try and do anything, he turns around and walks out of the van, not even bothering to shut the door behind him. She calls his name and runs to the door, but he's already halfway down the path to the meadow.

He's angry, and somehow he's still managing to put her first in trying to deal with his anger without hurting her.

Belle begins picking at her arm with her fingernails, careful not to touch old scabs.

"Now you've gone and upset him," Belle mumbles to herself as she falls back to the bed. "Why can't you stop messing things up?! When are you going to make his life better instead of worse?!"

The only reason she notices she's crying is because the salty tears stain her red, raw arms.

"And now you're crying like a big baby," she chastises herself, cradling her throbbing arms to her chest. She feels worse now, feeling terrible for scraping at herself and so she bites at her lip and cries.

Belle cries until she can't feel her chest and then the water works just end, nothing left to spill. Her arms are burning now, exposed to the biting cold air inside of Luke's van. The windows are down but the chill is nice, keeping her head as clear as possible.

She sniffles and wipes at her face with a towel that's hung over a rung inside the van, clearing her skin of any sign of tears or snot.

The door opens back up and Luke returns, his breathing raggedly dragging his chest up and down, a sheen of sweat across his chest and shoulders. Little beads of the salty liquid drip down from his temples and forehead.