we don't belong here • lrh

Chapter thirty three | he's here and he's gone

Chapter thirty three | he's here and he's gone

L U K E

Valentine's face was one of shock as she stared at the one man who caused her the most pain. The man that beat her so serious for even challenging him. The man that pisses me off. I still don't understand how you can beat a sweet innocent girl. How can you even touch her without gentle care?

As I started to get heated, I stood up and quickly pulled the IVs out of my arm. With a wince of pain, I dropped the cords to the ground and watched as red seep out of my pale arm.

My body was sore but I pushed forward with the help of adrenaline to protect my baby girl. Valentine looked back with terrified eyes and a quivering lip. The door slipped from her hands as she ran toward my open arms. She hid behind my back with her arms encircled around my waist. Her eyes were peeking from the side of my back and she reminded me of that little girl with pigtails in year 7 again. The one with the brightest smile but who I knew felt the most pain.

"What are you doing here, Nikolas?"

Nikolas. I haven't said or even thought of that name in almost a year. I hated that name more than I hated anything else in this world. Maybe it was the man behind the name that I despised rather than the name that is the source of my hatred, but even so the name is a bile riser. Even saying the pathetic name now leaves an absolutely disgusting aftertaste in my mouth.

The said man quickly pushed the heavy door off of his body and let it slam shut. The echo of the wood hitting the clip of metal was heard throughout the small hospital room and Valentine's flinch was felt by me and me alone. I honestly just wanted to grab Val and squeeze her in a hug to block out everything except the two of us.

"I came to get my daughter back," Nikolas' menacing smile radiated of him like a garbage can does with stink. His tall stature stood tall but not as tall as I remember as an eighteen year old. I must've gotten taller and I'm glad that I did, for now I can protect even the top of Valentine's head from her evil father. "And somehow I knew she would be with you."

Valentine's quivering arms tightened around my waist as her father steps became closer to the both of us. I could feel water droplets fall on the back of my shoulder, right under my shoulder blade, the same height as my precious Valentine.

"Stop where you are, Nikolas!" I screamed and push Valentine further behind me. The man's veiny hand slipped inside his pocket and felt around for quite awhile.

"You must be joking. What are you going to do to stop me?"

Just as Nikolas said that, something black and shiny flashed from the opening in his trousers. Oh no. A gun.

"Valentine get back!"

I pushed forward and tackled Nikolas to the ground as quickly as possible as I felt a sharp pain in my side. I ignored it and continued to handle Val's corrupt father. I had him pinned and the gun slid across the tiled floor and hit the bed pole. I pressed the man's hands to the ground with all of my mite as I started to give instructions to Valentine.

"Go get help! Now, baby! Please!"

Valentine's teary face turned pink as she nodded her head, her black hair quivering as her head did, and rushed to the door. She opened it, and I imagine, ran to the closest nurse. Nikolas' smile was still there.

"You think she still loves you? That's laughable," he cackled as my hands pushed his bulky shoulders to the ground with more force then before. "She's gonna leave you just like her mother left me."

"Valentine is nothing like her. And Victoria left because you hurt her deeply. You're nothing but a pathetic, lowlife alcoholic who deserves everything that's coming to him."

All I could see was red as I looked straight through Nikolas. He was such a horrible person and in my book, horrible people shouldn't get to live. My eyes flashed over to the gun. You're a better person than this Luke. Don't go to his level.

Suddenly, Nikolas pushed me off of him and quickly crawled to the metal weapon. He stood up with the gun in hand and said, "I might be a bad person, but if Valentine would stay with me, she won't have you either."

And then he fired.

I quickly dropped to the ground, and as I did the bullet flew into the metal wall behind me. Instead of creating a new hole in the wall (which he couldn't because it was metal), the bullet bounced off of the wall and straight back at Nikolas.

Before I could even register what had happened, Nikolas was on the ground covered in blood. The bullet went right into his head and killed him instantly. I sucked in a sharp breathe as the wooden door opened again and in came Valentine. She looked at her father on the ground and then me. She stepped over the dead body and flung herself in my arms.

"Luke. I thought he shot you," her tears seem to never dry nowadays. I wish I could hold her and conceal her from everything bad in this fucked world. "I thought I lost you. God, I love you."

To think back when we're only just friends, her sitting crisscrossed on her carpeted floor with me right in front of her. Me leaning in to kiss her on the lips for the first time ever. Her shocked expression at first but then leaning in to kiss me back.

I miss those days more and more as the weeks pass, but now maybe we can live in peace and have a happy life together. One without drama and without worry. One with me, Valentine, and our love.

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Soooooo... how did this end for you? I finally finished this book after so long and I'm really excited to write the epilogue. I was also thinking of writing an alternate ending, maybe i'm not sure yet. I hope you enjoyed We Don't Belong Here and i will hopefully see you in another book.

Thank you ~ Val