Sunshine || l.h. {complete}

Forty

PSA: TURNS OUT I SKIPPED A PART. IT'S PUBLISHED NOW. SORRY!!

SO I'M A TOTAL BUTTHEAD FOR BEING GONE FOR SO LONG BUT IT'S SUMMER NOW AND HOPEFULLY I WILL BE LESS OF A BUTTHEAD

butt {hehe} this chapter will hopefully hit you in your honey nut feelios

enjoy

He takes her back to the meadow at the homeless camp, allowing them to forget about the world crashing around them and to be able to find solace in each other even if for a short moment in time.

Belle has his head cradled in her lap with her deft fingertips running through his hair that is already beginning to grow back out. His eyes are staring up at the stars but every time she looks away at something in the distance, he sneaks a look at her. Once, she catches him.

"What?" she asks, a shy smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

He reaches up with his hand furthest from her and cradles her cheek, "We're alone."

Belle raises her eyebrows and a tiny chuckle escapes her mouth, "Yes, Luke. We are. Just you, me, and the night."

"I used to dream about getting to be with you," he starts, his eyes boring into hers. His voice is low, serious, "I would stare at you in science class, my little secret, and think about what it would be like getting to walk beside you and just carry on a simple conversation."

A sigh parts his lips and his eyelids settle closed, "I walked behind you a lot. We had almost all our classes together, and I saw people messing with you. I don't know if it was because of your brother or because you were quiet."

He chuckles, "My icy stare was perfected that year."

Belle kisses him square on the lips with her hands stiff against his cheeks.

When she pulls away from him, his eyes take a moment to open and it looks as if little stars are settled in his irises. "W-What was that for?"

"For protecting me," she murmurs, her dark eyes softening the longer she looks at him. "For always protecting me."

His smile turns wry and he looks sad, but she doesn't ask why. Instead she asks him to tell more stories about his life.

"I never stayed anywhere for more than a couple of months," he admits, his eyes settling back on the stars. "Five was my max. It started when I was nine. The cops found the place I was staying, somewhere up in Tennessee. They took all our stuff and shoved us out from the little spot under the bridge we were staying. I hitched a ride with one of the guys who took me under his wing, Stephen, and he brought me to Atlanta."

Luke sounds like he is just telling another one of his stories, like from the fables book. It takes all Belle can do not to cry; this was his life – is his life.

"We got separated, but I found this shoddy gym. He'd take me there before I got lost and he started fighting for them. He made a couple bucks before he was outed. But they managed to get a few lessons in me prior to when Stephen had to escape. I didn't realize it was illegal, only that we didn't invite people to come watch the fights and that money exchanged hands. I took to it easy, and then everywhere I hopped, I found an underground gym. I stayed in bigger cities, until I was fifteen."

Belle's head perks, "What happened when you were fifteen?"

"I moved here."

Her eyes water, "W-What?"