rogue ⇒ l.h

[22]

[22]

i closed my eyes wishing that it was all just a nightmare. but erik's lips were still on skin, his hands still on my body. i was almost naked, with only my undergarments on.

i thought of luke, how his ocean blue eyes always lit up, the way his smile took up his whole face, how he always played with his lip ring, our meals together , the times we shared his bed, and our kiss. i thought of raven, the way her mysterious eyes always seemed to be hiding something, her laughing smile, her sense of humor, her care and concern. i thought of cade and all the times we laughed and spent time in the library together. our first meeting and our last.

i realized i couldn't give up. i still had people worth living for. i still had a life that was waiting for me.

playing along, i kissed erik back. i wrapped my legs around his waist and grabbed his shoulder. he took that as approval and kissed me harder with more force. i moved my hands lower and lower till they were at the waistband of his jeans. surely he had one, surely he— my hands clasped onto a cold metal object and i knew i hit the jackpot.

i whipped the gun out and jumped out of erik's arms and pressed it against erik's forehead. he was stunned. i wasted no time in shooting him in the forehead.

erik crumpled onto the floor lifeless and and i hurried towards luke. i shot the ropes binding him off and he grabbed me tightly against his chest, both of us shaking.

---

we got out of the damn house surprise without any trouble. turns out that this was erik's private land and he didn't want any guards patrolling. he overestimated himself.

luke and i managed to pack enough goods and belongings before we made it out. we got into the first motel we found. we cleaned up and decided to sleep early. it was funny how drastic things changed; earlier luke almost died and i was almost raped.

"marie?" luke asked as we lay on the bed side by side.

"yeah?" i was wearing several layers of clothing because of how dirty and dangerous i felt.

"erik told me something. you know that drug he said that was immune to your touch?" luke said, "he told me that there was a key ingredient in it which matched a part of my dna. i guess he told me that because he knew i was going to die and i was never going to touch you."

i bolted upright, mindblown from what luke had explained to me. "what does that mean?"

"it means i can touch you. i won't die from your touch. and i love you, marie. i love you so so much it hurts so much seeing you hurt and if that ever happens again i'll die."

luke brushed a strand of hair from my forehead and my lips trembled. "i love you luke, so much."

he held my face with his callused hands softly. i closed my eyes and he placed his lips on mine. so gently and perfectly, it was hard to imagine someone else's lips were on mine just now.

and it wasn't fireworks anymore. it was a meteoroid crashing onto earth. it was so amazing, so beautiful, so unbelievable.

that night, i fell asleep to the sound of luke's heartbeats and the echoes of i-love-yous.