chasing stars || lrh

seven

february 14

luke was in love with estrella, and he was sure of it, too.

for valentine's day, the two planned to go out to dinner. (not a fancy one; it just wasn't their style.) afterwards, they would watch a movie (and cuddle, of course) at luke's house.

at around 6 p.m., luke knocked on the front door of estrella's house. he had a typical small bouquet of red roses (cliché, yes, but all love has their cliché moments and without them, what is love anyways?); he had picked the freshest and newest looking ones just for her.

a few moments later, estrella swung the door open and smiled at the sight of luke.

"these are gorgeous! thank you, luke," he had handed her the flowers shyly, and she stuffed her face in them to smell the pleasant aroma.

"come in; my dad is still at work," estrella ushered luke into her house, the bouquet held gently against her chest.

"mom!" she yelled out, holding luke's hand so he was trailing behind her, "can you put these in my room?"

"oh, wow! those are beautiful, luke," estrella's mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her flour-covered apron. she took them from estrella and walked back into the kitchen.

"so should w-," luke started to ask, looking down at estrella.

"no, not yet. my mom made something for you," she looked back at him, squeezing his hand. her face shone with the smile he fell in love with.

"luke, estrella's father has another business trip coming up next month. you should come over for dinner. and i've also made some fruit empanadas for you to take home," estrella's mom walked in, her face beaming with almost the same smile estrella had.

"yeah, that sounds great. and thank you so much for the food," he smiled back. at least her mom liked him.

they drove directly to pizza hut and ordered pepperoni pizza with stuffed crust and jalopeños on one half. they talked about nothing and everything. they laughed loudly and maybe too much; luke ended up spurting out his soda onto his pizza, and estrella received the stares of judgmental people. but it was okay, luke was happy and in love, and everyone could see that. no one could miss how luke would look at estrella like she was the sun and moon and stars.

at luke's house, they had to stay in the living room so liz could keep an eye on them (well, it was valentine's day, the day of love). luke and estrella didn't really watch the movie, though. if you asked them what it was about, they wouldn't be able to answer correctly. they just couldn't help talking to each other and making each other laugh and smile.

when the movie was over, estrella suggested that she should go home. when luke and estrella were in the freezing car, she received a text message from her dad, and it made her panic.

"hey, luke, we should go to some sort of motel and spend the night there," estrella blurted out.

"um, are you sure? won't your dad get mad?" luke turned the ignition and put the heaters on full blast.

"he's mad enough," desperation was clearly evident in her voice, and she sounded so vulnerable. it made him feel weak and helpless so he only nodded. he drove to a motel in the outskirts of town and called his mom to inform her where he was and to not worry.

at the motel, the two checked into a single bedroom. there was only innocence on their minds.

"i made you something," she pulled a notebook from her bag as she sat on the edge of their shared bed.

"you didn't have to get me anything," luke awkwardly scratched the back of his neck; he knew he should've gotten estrella something besides flowers.

"it's a journal...kinda like a scrapbook. i already started it. so when we have to go to our separate colleges, you won't forget me," estrella handed him the notebook shyly. luke smiled so big, his dimples were maybe a bit deeper; he flipped through the pages, examining every picture of estrella and him. he couldn't help himself, and he hugged estrella so tightly; he was a bubbly soda that was about to spill over.

"i love you," he ended up spilling, releasing his feelings of her in those three simple and complicated words, creating a beautiful and lovely and confusing mess for her.

"i love you, too," she rushed them as if these words were what needed to keep this mess alive, but she was only driven into a euphoric confusion. luke didn't see this, and he kissed her until the two were smiling too much and too hard.

what luke didn't understand was that at about two a.m., he woke up to estrella's muffled cries. they were almost too painful to hear. but luke didn't do anything, because what luke didn't understand was how someone so happy can be so sad.

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aw omg but don't worry, they won't break up... and I dedicate this chapter to frickno because why not and u da best cousin B)🐌