Runaway. || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 24

"I really need you."

His voice echoed around and around my head, like a bird that was trapped in a cage it wasn't destined to be in. He looked at me. "But we can't be together."

My heart dropped, my breath heavy. "What? Why not?"

"Because."

"Luke, I... I never thought somebody who I never even talked to could mean so much to me in such a... short space of time."

I watched him. His jawline was so square, buckling with each swallow. It tensed, then un-tensed, then tensed again. We needed this. We needed to be with each other, and I don't think we could hold it back anymore.

"Luke?"

"What." He looked at me, his eyes sad. I warily brought myself closer to him, wiping a small wet tear from his cheek. I placed my hands on his shoulders, sitting into his lap. My voice, tinier than ever, shook with fright. "What's wrong?"

He breathed heavily, his eyes traveling in step-motion up the length of my body. His hands crawled onto my waists, setting off a million fireworks in my stomach. My breathing hitched, although nothing had happened, yet. He looked down, but I wanted him to look at me, so I raised his chin gently with my finger, forcing him to. I whispered, "Tell me what's wrong."

"Everything, just..." He slowly looked up at me. His hands squeezed at my hips, making me gasp softly. He paused. "I need you so much and I feel like I shouldn't have you." He laughed a bit, but it wasn't a real laugh. He shook his head. "I need you so bad, Bel. You don't even know."

I searched for speech, but nothing would appear. I wanted to tell him I needed him too, but I just couldn't form the words in my mouth. I ran my fingers through his hair, then touching my lips off it. I whispered quietly, "you mean so much to me, Luke," as my fingers slid down his face, interrupted by his moist lips. I took them away and turned his head to face me.

"And I've hid it all this time." He breathed, shushing me with his finger pressed against my lips. I shook my head slowly as one of his hands crawled over my back. The atmosphere was tense, rushed and needy. It was like all these emotions, these feelings built up for months and now finally coming to light. I couldn't hold it in anymore, especially now that I had him all to myself, even if it was just for a tiny while. I knew what happened to Natalia, which taught me not to waste time. Do today what you could do tomorrow.

And all this time, our eyes were locked. It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I slid my fingers through his hair once more and let out a sigh as my hand cupped over his shoulder, massaging it. "I need you so bad." He whispered, flushing my heartbeat once again. He took a part of my hair and ran it through his fingers as my eyes scanned over his dimly-lit face. The sun had not fully risen yet, it was like half of it was exposed whereas half of it stayed hidden beneath the clouds. His cheekbones jumped out, outlined by a golden ray of sunlight. And after a long while of tenseness, waiting, a smile grew onto his lips. "I knew this would happen eventually."

I nodded, his fingers still wandering over me. He walked them up my thighs, around my waists, up my back to my hair, and down again. It was like a routine to him already, I guess. And I liked the feeling. "I guess I kind of did, too."

"You know the way down at the river-," he began. Was he listening to my one-sided conversation with Natalia?

"-What you said about fate, and how her death was, I don't know, meant to happen." He raised his head. "Do you think fate tempted... this?" He laced a hand with mine and lifted it, showing me what he meant by 'this'.

I shrugged. "Maybe it did. Who knows."

And then for some reason, he laughed, then looked at me, then shook his head. "God, you mean so much to me, Bel." He whispered, his pink tongue running over his lips. "I know this seems fast, but I think you always did mean a lot to me. I mean... Even when we didn't know each other."

My chest instantly felt as if it was flooded with warmth, although the mist was encircling us, pushing its foggy dampness down on top of us. We were caught inside this... dome. I scratched my neck, and at this very moment, I felt everything I had felt for Luke plenty of times before: to just grab his face and press my lips against his as the snow fell around us, warm, safe in each others arms. I knew we needed to feel each others lips, but I wanted to wait until the time was right. I didn't want to rush too fast. So, as he looked at me for a while I looked back, then finally curled up into his chest, his arms immediately enclosing around me, our bodies fitting together like a jig-saw puzzle.