sunset || l.h.

chapter one

i'm dedicating this chapter to @iinsomniac @lustingluke @calsass @AngelFray @ZelsDagasar @kramir09 @WtF_Hood @stiles-banshees and anyone else i'm forgetting that helped me out with this chapter!!

NOTE: there is a part towards the end that we see belle relapse sorta kinda. i'll mark it in the chapter to let you know when it starts/ends. happy reading!

"She offered for you to stay with us," she says as she steps around clothes strewn on the floor, "and you chose to stay here instead?"

He looks up from his research, "Sunshine, I don't think living with you and your parents is the right decision right now."

"I just hate that you're not even staying with Ashton," she sighs, picking up his dirty laundry and piling it in the corner of the hotel room. "This is possibly the dingiest place I've ever seen in my whole life."

"Consider yourself lucky," he smirks over his shoulder at her.

"It's Christmas Eve, Luke," Belle presses herself against his chair, her fingers finding his hair easily. "Shouldn't you give this a rest for tonight, let's go cuddle or something?"

He sighs, "I-I just can't get the images out of my head."

"I know," she responds, her voice faraway. Belle sighs and twirls his hair between her fingers, the short curls entertaining. "Neither can I, but staring at it any longer isn't going to do you any good."

"I have to figure it out," Luke snaps, shaking her hands away from him. He groans, "Jamie and Ella and Vern and Harry are counting on me."

Belle takes a deep breath and runs her hands back over his cheeks, swallowing her pride, "Atlas, take the world off your shoulders for a little bit and just relax."

"Belle," he groans, dropping his head to the desk.

"It's Christmas Eve," she repeats, softer this time.

Memories flash against her eyelids of blood red stains on windshields and police lights and sirens and she swallows the knot in her throat.

"It is," he murmurs, turning his head to watch his thumbnail tracing the outline of a road on a map, "and you should be in bed so Santa will come to your house."

"I don't want to," she whispers, her fingertips stalling in his blonde locks.

Luke pulls himself out of the stupor he's in to turn at the sound of the break in her voice. "I'm so sorry," he murmurs, standing to his feet and enveloping her in his arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whispers, tucking her arms against her chest. "I just don't wanna be alone."

"I'm right here," he kisses her hair, the earlier conversation forgotten. Luke brushes his thumbs against her damp cheeks, grinning down at her with a light shining in his eyes. "Your parents know you're here?"

"I told them I was with Elaine," Belle swallows, looking up at him with watery green eyes. "I told them I didn't want to be at home tonight."

"Okay," Luke nods. He squats down far enough to wrap his arms around her legs and hoist her into the air, "It's not too late, why don't we go for a walk?"

Belle laughs dejectedly, tucking her face into his neck, "I could use the fresh air."

They tie up their sneakers and he holds her hand tight in his own, walking her down the stairs and out the front door of the hotel.

"How are you even managing to pay for this place?" she asks him, looking at the blinking neon sign.

"I won that fight that night," he explains, tugging her closer to him as they walk down the asphalt. "I have the money and I paid up front with cash, so they offered me a discount."