Fight

Chapter 4

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong? Penny, babe, what's wrong?" Luke asked, running to the bed.

"Luke?"

"Alofa, don't cry."

"You're here? You're really here? It wasn't just a dream?" I tearfully asked, taking his face in my hands.

"The dream? I've had it too, babe, I'm right here and so are you. This is real, we are real." he whispered, pulling me into his lap.

"You had the dream? You're really here?"

"I'm really here, Penny, calm down babe." he said, caressing my hair softly.

" Luke, I . . . I missed you so much, I'm so sorry." I cried, wrapping my arms around his neck.

It was at this moment that I realized that I was wearing his t-shirt. He ran into the room, from the bathroom, in boxers and it reminded me of those first few weeks that we had. He's here, he's really here and I'm in his arms. He tried to wipe away my tears but they were falling too quickly.

"Babe, lo'u alofa, you can stop crying. I'm not going anywhere." he whispered, kissing the side of my head.

"I . . . you're really here." I cried.

"Penelope, how long have you been having these dreams? Do you always wake up like this?" he worriedly asked.

"I've been having them for months. My reaction has gotten worse over time."

"Why would you make it so hard for me to find you lo'u alofa?" he asked, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

"As much as the separation hurt me, I didn't want to be found."

"Why? Penny, why would you hide from me like this?"

"I had to, my family only knows that I'm on the island but not where. I wanted to stay under the radar and safe. What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you since I got back from Brazil. I'm not giving up on us, I can't."

"I'm not going back to LA."

"I know but I can come back here."

"What?"

"If you'll have me, I can come to you. I thought about what you said, I couldn't get those words out of my head even if I wanted to."

"Hobbs, your career . . ."

"My job isn't a good enough reason to lose you. I thought about it so much, I swear that I did, but I can't give you up. There's no way that this job will separate us."

"Luke . . ."

"Stop right there, you took the choice out of my hands once and I let you, I lost you for the better part of a year. I'm not gonna let you do that again, I choose you, I choose us and . . ."

"And your career because I refuse to let you throw it away." I insisted, tears still falling.

"I'll keep working and come visit you every chance that I can get, okay? I'm not gonna lose you again. I let you walk away from me once, let you make that choice for both of us but I won't let that happen ever again."

"I missed you so much." I cried.

"Lo'u alofa, don't cry anymore, you don't have to. I'm here, I'm real, we're real and we will be real for a long time. I'm trying to find a way to clear you so that you can come back, I'll figure it out even if it's the last thing I do." he promised, kissing the tip of my nose.

"We'll see what happens, how much longer do I have you here?" I asked him.

"10 days, I took two weeks off in hopes of finding you, woman. You did not make this easy."