leaked (l.h.)

46

"So..." He smiles as he looks down at me, my arm wrapped around his bicep. We walk side by side, keeping close to me as he looks around the town square. I carry my guitar case around my shoulder, and it's heavy. But I don't complain, after all - I told Luke I could handle the long walk with this thing around me. "This is the marketplace?"

"Yep," I smile at him, taking a bag of clementines and lowering them into the mesh bag Luke holds for me, along with his own acoustic guitar. I pull one out though, digging my fingertips into the peel and slowly tearing it off. I discard it in the trashcan, breaking the fruit in half and and handing it to him. "This is where I spend my Sunday mornings."

Luke pops a wedge between his pink lips, smiling as he tastes how sweet it is. I can't see his eyes through the sunglasses he wore to prevent people from noticing him, and the hoodie up over his head only adds to his anonymity. But most of these people are too old to know who he may or may not be. 

"I like it here," he looks around. "It's definitely better than the grocery store."

"It makes me feel... productive," I smile as I lead him to the park that I had, once upon a time, learned guitar with him. With five strings instead of six, but this morning Luke fixed mine for me, like he promised he would. "As if I'm, like, an adult or something."

"Well, you are," he chuckles as he looks around at the thawing trees. It's still cold, but instead of winter coat weather I am perfectly fine in a sweater and leggings. Luke's been home for about a week or two now, and he's nearing the end of his escape before he has to go back. Before we have to go back. "We both are, I guess."

"That's crazy. It seems like I was, like, sixteen a week ago." I admit as I sit him down under the tree I sat at the last time I was here. "I guess my childhood was cut way too short, huh?"

He doesn't know what to say that could make me feel any better. And as I approach a year since Tyler, since the incident, since the trial, things have been harder. I'm trying to forget about him, but when I feel the cold air mixed with the warm sun I am reminded of the long walks home afterward. I'm reminded of how lonely those were, and how incredibly terrified I was of letting my photo leak. But now that it's out there, now that the first thing people see when the google my name is the now viral video of me breaking down during the song I had once thought I butchered, I understand that I've come a long way since then. Longer than where I would have been if I had just allowed him to blackmail me. If I had gotten through that week alone. 

Instead of trying to say anything, Luke unzips his guitar case. And I do the same, licking my lips slowly as I lay the newly-fixed instrument on my lap. The way I feel the cold air run across my bare neck brings me back into reality and back to the beautiful boy beside me. And as he pulls out his shiny guitar I see him turn to me. 

"Do you remember that one song we wrote, on my birthday last summer?" He smiles as he brings one of those handmade guitar pics between his teeth. "Best Years?"

"Yeah," I say breathily, placing my fingers on the neck of the guitar as I find my fingertips gently strumming across the strings. "I remember."

"Well," he takes a deep breath as he looks at me. "You're listed as one of the writers."

My eyes move from the instrument and towards him, raising my eyebrow as I beg to hear his point. He tends to trail off a lot, but I don't mind. It reminds me of the innocence that dances at the end of every word, and I love to hear his voice. He could talk about anything he wanted to, and I'd be so incredibly infatuated with it. 

"You'll be getting paid royalties," he smiles over at me as he begins playing the first few chords on the guitar. "I thought that could help with tuition and rent.

I watch his fingers move across his guitar, and like I did so many times over video chat I try my best to mimic them. It's much easier now that he's in front of me. "Royalties?" 

"You'll get paid a bit of each time it's streamed," he explains as he reaches over to fix my fingers on the neck of the guitar. They're gentle on my hand, and I can't help but watch how beautifully the music comes together when he fixes my fingers. It's like magic, the way it's supposed to be played. "It was just you and I, so we both can put the money to rent."

"And..." I look up at him. "How much do you usually get from royalties?"

"For She Looks So Perfect," he whispers, reaching up to move a strand of my hair out of my eyes as I play. "I made about four-hundred thousand in a month or so."

My eyes widen as I look up at him. I stop the music as I hear this number. "That's a lot of money, Luke."

"We could go to Italy during the summer," he smiles as he looks into my eyes. I let out a stressed yet sort of overwhelmed laugh as I break the eye contact to look down at my guitar. "You know, when your tuition is paid off and when we get our apartment situated."

"I think I'm going to faint," I beam up at him, covering my mouth with my hand as I put my guitar to the side. My heart stops as I shake my head, placing my hand over my heart as I feel Luke's loud giggle wrap around me like a blanket. And before I know it, he's behind me with his arms wrapped around my body. I lower my head back to rest on his shoulder, smiling as he holds me close to calm me down. He knows that this is my weakness. 

"I don't know why," he chuckles as he and I stare at the trees above us. They're still bare, but they're covered in red buds that reminds me that the winter is nearly over. "You wrote it. It's your money."

"Luke," I whisper, running my fingertips across his arms. "I know we are young, but is it too early to be fantasizing about growing old with you?"

"I don't think so," he responds after a moment or two. "I've been thinking about that since the day we met." 

I turn towards him after he says these words, placing my hands on his face I watch how he looks down at my lips. And slowly, I find mine meeting his. Like always, the cold lip ring sending even more shock throughout my body. But this time, I taste a hint of clementine against them. I should feed him those more often. 

"I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you, if you'd let me," I ask him if I pull away. "Is that cool?"

"Yeah," he chuckles, fluttering his eyes opened after I see how breathless my kiss has left him. He leans forward again, tilting his head to the side as he begs for more of a taste that he just received. "That's cool with me."

I giggle as I lean in again, wrapping my arms around his neck as he wraps his around my waist. "Good," I mumble against his kiss. "Because I'm not going anywhere." 

- 

Before I begin the last chapter, I just want to thank you all for reading my story. This was absolute hell to write, and I often found myself in tears during the entire process. But my readers and my viewers keep me motivated. Thank you all so much for sticking through this with me! I've already got a new story drafted, and I can't want to show it to you all when I finish this one! 

What was your favorite part of this series? I think my favorite part was when Luke found the card and came to win his girl over. That was definitely such fun to write, especially since it was so hard to keep them from getting together from the get-go!

Once again, thank you to everyone who is reading my series. Feel free to message me, I'd love to get to know you all!

-creationofeve