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eighteen

I opened the door to my parent's house, trying to tiptoe up the stairs and into my room, hoping to god that the alarm was off.

I was wrong. As soon as the door opened, the alarms started blaring through the house, without a doubt waking my parents.

I internally groaned, punching in the code before watching my parents move into the living room. Surprisingly, there were dressed in their day clothes, their faces holding frowns.

"There you are," my mom said. "We've been worried about you."

"I'm fine," I quickly said, trying to move upstairs. "I really want to take a shower."

"Arabella, please-"

"Mom!" I yelled, turning around to face her. "Chill the fuck out, okay? Stop treating me like I'm a child, I'm going to take a shower."

"Wow, there's a sight I thought I'd never see," my older sister's voice rung in from the kitchen. "My baby sister telling my mom to 'chill the fuck out.'"

"Anna!" I grinned, running over and wrapping my arms around my sister.

"Hey, Bella," she smiled before pulling back and pushing the hair back from my face. "How are you?"

I pulled back and met her eyes. "I'm doing okay."

"We still don't know where you were last night." My mom said from behind me.

"Look at her hair, even get a nice whiff of her," my sister smiled, pulling a strand of my hair. "She had sex last night."

I pushed Anna, my jaw dropping. "Shut up!"

"Is that true?" My dad asked me.

I opened my mouth to talk but quickly shut it, standing up straighter. "I'm an adult, I can do what I want."

"Who were you with?" my mom asked. "Luke?"

"I really need that shower-"

"We told you to stay away from him-"

"Mom!" I groaned, moving up the stairs. "I'm going to take a shower. And don't worry, you don't have to worry about me seeing him anymore."

I quickly moved up the stairs before they could say anything else, ignoring the frown that took place on my lips.

I was still not understanding everything Luke had said. I mean, we shared a romantic night, I told him I loved him and suddenly, it didn't mean anything to him. I know that maybe for him, this was more difficult in loving a completely new person, but it was the same for me.

I was learning to love someone that told me how much he loved me for weeks. I did love the person who didn't bombard me with everything they wanted me to be, who let me find myself in him, who taught me how to love him again, he just- he just left.

I quickly washed my hair before getting out and changing into a tee shirt and shorts. 

I went downstairs, my parents now gone out for lunch, probably, Anna sitting on the couch. 

I smiled softly at her as she stood up. "Wanna talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Not right now. Want to go with me somewhere?"

"Sure." She smiled as I grabbed my keys and headed out to the car.

I pulled up beside the coffee shop, sighing heavily. I just needed one last thing, I needed one last Luke and I moment before I let go like he wanted me to.

I walked inside, smiling at Molly as she started to make my regular, Anna ordering whatever she wanted. I took the coffee from her hand, my eyes flickering over to the table Luke usually sat at, my eyes widening at I sat him standing there, his eyes on me.

I immediately moved over, Anna right behind me. 

I stopped in front of the table, my mouth opening in an apology. "Sorry for intruding in your space, I just wanted one last coffee-"

"Our space," he corrected, closing his book and setting it on the table. "It's alright."

"Luke." Anna greeted from behind me.

"Anna." He said, his eyes still on me.

"You two know each other?" I asked.

"Your sister was the first person you told about us."

"Well, uh.." I trailed off awkwardly. "I'll leave you to it, bye Luke."

"Bye, Bell," he said as I started walking with Ann to the doors. "Wait!"

I spun around quickly, meeting his blue eyes. I rose my eyebrows in question as he pulled a stack of letters from his bag.

"Here's the rest of the letters," he said, handing them to me. "I-uh-wrote a lot of them."

"Thanks." I said to him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, smiling softly at me. "See you later."

I nodded, giving into Anna's tugging on my hand. "See you later."

Once we got back into the car, Anna turned to me, punching me in the arm. "Ow!"

I frowned, rubbing my arm. "What was that for?"

"Letters?" she gaped. "Bella, tell me everything. Now."

I chuckled, heading towards home. "Fine."