Dating the Dead • lrh

30. hope

As much as I hated the cat, he's surprisingly calming me down. He leapt on my lap and snuggled as I run my hand over his soft fur. "Why are you outside, anyway," I said, my voice hoarse.

Lukey lifted his head, big blue eyes blinking back at me. He meowed as if he understood what I said and was responding. If I were to guess, he meowed back my question.

"Why are you outside?"

I widened my eyes at the feline and held his tiny head with one hand. "Holy fuck, you talk."

Lukey bared his sharp teeth and hissed at me, leaping to the ground. He meowed loudly at me as if to say, 'what's wrong with you, hooman?'

I heard a soft chuckle behind me and I spun to see my dad picking up the cat. "Actually, it was me," he said, sitting down beside me. "What are you doing out here, Luke?"

"Nothing." I turned away and roughly wiped my cheeks. "I should get going," I cleared my throat and stood up.

Dad sighed, and with Lukey in his arms, they almost looked comical. Almost. He held the cat in one arm while the other slung over my shoulders as he guided us back on the steps.

"Why don't you humor your old man a bit, yeah?" He said, retrieving his arm to pet Lukey.

I gave him small nod which earned a smile from him. "Okay."

"What a nice suit you're wearing. Think it could fit me on your cousin Joffrey's wedding?" He laughed, knowing he won't be able to fit in it. I forced a smile and saw his expression turn serious. "Where did you get it? What happened?"

I let out a deep breath and told him what transpired during dinner leaving the parts where I kissed Shelby. "And then I slumped here to think," I concluded.

My dad's face was solemn. "What was the last thing she said?"

I scrunched up my eyebrows, trying to recall Shelby's exact words. "Send my regards to your mum?" I told him, quite unsure why I had to repeat that.

"I mean, the one before that." He shook his head as if what I told him disrupted a good thought.

I sighed, getting tired of remembering her. "At least for tonight."

She wanted me to leave even when I refused to. Somehow, she managed to push me away. The girl who broke into my window about two nights ago didn't want anything to do with me anymore.

"Luke, are you listening to me, bud?" My dad snapped his fingers in front of me and I raised an eyebrow. "I said, you didn't exactly lost the girl. She told you to go, 'at least for tonight'-" he used his both hands to air quote, making Lukey hiss at us and leap from Dad's lap.

I, on the other hand, stood up, finally catching on what he was saying. And then Shelby's words echoed back to me.

'If you're regretting you didn't make the most out of what we just did, you can always have another go.'

My lips stretched into a smile as my eyes focused on nothing in particular but I can imagine hope rising into the horizon. "That's what life is, too. Sometimes, it gives you another shot at it," I grumbled, repeating what Shelby told me.

"Huh?" My dad twisted his body enough to look at me properly that I fear he's going to complain about his joints in the morning. He eyed me like I grew another mouth on my forehead.

"I still have a chance!" I beamed at him, unable to hide my glee. "Thanks dad!" I bent to kiss him on the forehead, which tasted salty, and then ran inside the house.

I still have a chance!

-

"You're here again?" Charlie yelled as he got out of the house in front of Shelby's.

I ignored him, walking on the front steps. If it weren't for Charlie, and his big built, I would have broken the door with my furious banging and I couldn't care less if I break my own hand.

It's been a whole week since I last saw Shelby. And every single day, I've gone to the hotel and to her house, I even went as far as the orphanage, just so I could see her. But she wasn't anywhere I thought she might be.

These jerks weren't telling me anything, either.

"Stop it, jesus," he mumbled, dragging me away from the wooden door.

"If I were Jesus I would've found her already." I spat sarcasm as I couldn't think of anything else.

Charlie took a deep breath, one hand on his hip and the other running over his dark, buzz-cut head. "Look kid, she's not here, okay? Go home."

I huffed out a breath, trying to release some tension. "I just want to see her. Please! For the millionth time, where is she?"

"And for the millionth time, we don't know. Go home, kid, you won't find her here."

He picked up my bicycle that was lying on the pavement and shoved it in my hands. I grunted as the handlebar hit me in the stomach. With one last glance at Shelby's house and one last glare at Charlie, I hopped on my bike and pedaled away.

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