sunset || l.h.

chapter ten

a/n: i know it's been a while but this chapter is angsty and emotional and also fluffy/hawt so i hope you like it!! also it's 3600 words!

"She's going to be here."

"No, she's not. She lied."

"She's going to make it, I promise."

"Stop, you can't promise that – she's not going to. Don't get my hopes up."

"Lu, seriously, babe-"

"I probably won't even remember what she looks like, Sunshine. Oh my gosh, what if I don't know who my mom is?"

"Shuddup, you dweeb, it'll be fine-"

"We're literally in line to walk out and I haven't seen her ye-"

Belle surges up on her toes to kiss him square on the lips. She breaks away and takes advantage of his stunned silence, "She's coming all the way from Michigan, Lu, she might have gotten delayed or lost or turned around or something. She'll be here."

He groans and the teachers make their last rounds, so he pushes her by the hip, "You need to go stand in line where you're supposed to be, missy. Not up here. You are definitely nowhere near the H's, Miss Sinclair."

"Yes'ir," she rolls her eyes, mock saluting him before scurrying off to her position in line.

The curtain is pulled back and the alma mater plays. The students walk out and Luke can't stop searching the crowd for his mother. He remembers her blonde hair and he thinks he has her nose. It's been ten years since he's last seen her, and that fact alone is what scares him the most.

How has she changed? He knows that he has changed, but will his mom be okay with it? Will she understand who he is now? What will she be like now? Will she be warm and inviting like he remembers her being? Will she have forgiven him?

Luke finds his seat, making sure to keep his cap on his head, and he listens to the speeches but he doesn't really hear them. He watches as both valedictorian and salutatorian speak, and the class president gives a short thank you to the faculty and staff.

He watches as all the people he tried so hard to keep himself distanced from walk across the stage. He hears his own name and he's numb as he forces himself to stride toward the principal, shaking his hand and taking the cursory photo.

Luke clutches the diploma in his shaking fingertips when he hears screams from the crowd of students. He looks down to see Belle with her thumbs up and the brightest smile he's ever seen splitting her cheeks.

The warmth in his heart grows and he pushes himself forward, off the stage and back toward where the students loop around to take their seats again.

The rest of the ceremony passes as a blur until Belle's name is called fifteen minutes later. He can't help it when he claps loudly as she stands in for her own photo with the principal. He even presses his lips together and whistles at her.

Somehow she finds him and glares at him in the most innocent of ways, a bright blush taking over her cheeks. He holds up his hand in the 'I love you' sign, and with a grin she's waving back at him before taking her own steps off the stage.

The ceremony takes another half hour before it is finally over. The final words are uttered and caps are thrown.

Luke feels his anxiety creep up in his throat as he looks around for Belle, unable to immediately locate her in the field of people surging around him. He feels a hand wrap around his wrist and he's ready to shove them off when he recognizes the grip all too well.