I Fell Again - Luke Patterson

Chapter 18

3rd PERSON POV

It was after the dance and the boys were home in the garage. They tried to stay up to wait for Adira but they knew that she was too upset to come home. Luke decided to sleep on the couch that night. He was hoping that she would come home and he'd have a chance to explain himself. He knows he messed up, and that he broke a promise. Luke knew that she was beginning to trust him again, but he let his anger get in the way. He always did.

Luke tossed and turned, he huffed and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't get Adira's sad face out of his mind, it brought him back to the one night in his bedroom.

Flashback 1994

Luke was half asleep in bed. When he heard the window open, he knew it was Adira. She sniffled as she looked down and saw the clothes that were laid out for her. Smiling slightly, she changed quickly and laid in Luke's awaiting arms.

"What happened?" Luke whispered. He tried not to shiver as her face laid on his bare chest. He could feel her fingers tracing patterns along his stomach. "We broke up. He cheated on me" tears fell down Adira's face at the fresh memory.

"I just don't understand. We were good together. No arguments, no jealousy, nothing. How could he do that?" Luke let her cry it out as he pulled her closer and ran his fingers through her hair. He was never good at comforting people, but he always tried with Adira.

"He's an idiot. And you're better off without him. He looked like a stick" Luke joked which caused Adira to laugh. "Shut up" she smiled and sniffled. "It's true! I swear, you put that guy in all brown, you'll see a resemblance. I promise" Luke continued to make her laugh.

He loved making her laugh, it always let him know she was ok in that moment. Luke knew she had a history of having terrible days just because. And on those days Luke tried his hardest to be there for her, even if it was just to hold her.

"Luke?" Adira looked up at him. "Hmm?" His eyes were closed. He was kinda tired and she was warm against him. That's always made him fall asleep so fast when they were together. "Luke" Adira said once more, this time her hand touching his face. Luke leaned into her touch.

"Can you open your eyes? I wanna talk to my friend" Luke groaned childishly but still opened his eyes. "Tell me about your day" and he did. There really wasn't much going on at the time. He hung out with Adira and the boys, came home, argued with his parents, then left for a couple hours. Now, he's back here.

"Thanks for leaving your window open" she yawned and turned over, her back pressed against Luke's chest. "Anytime" he buried his head in her neck and pressed a gentle kiss on it before closing his eyes and sighing.

Luke sat up for a few more minutes while thinking and holding Adira. He never understood her choice in guys. They were all assholes except when they were around just her. The only exception was when she was with the guys. Luke and the boys never liked any of her boyfriend, they could see through the guys facade.

Luke never told the guys or Adira this but her recent ex-boyfriend had one day walked up to him in the hallway and told him to stay away from Adira. The guys kept getting in Luke's face and he was this close to fighting him till Adira walked by and gave him a smile.

Luke let it go, but obviously not before slapping him in the head and running down the hall trying to find Reggie or Alex. He loved to mess with her boyfriends. When they were around, he'd always walk up to Adira and throw an arm over her shoulder and pull her close, even give her a little kiss on the cheek.

Luke never wanted to see Adira hurt ever again. He promised himself he wasn't going to ever hurt her.

End of flashback

"Luke. Luke! Get up" Luke opened his eyes to see Adira standing over him. "Adira!" Luke sat up quickly and jumped to his feet. "I'm so, so sorry! We shouldn't have bailed, and I know I messed up, again! God, I'm s-" a gentle touch to his face caused him to stop rambling.

"Luke, slow down" he looked into her dark brown eyes and breathed. "I'm sorry. We bailed when we were all supposed to be there. It was messed up. I promised you that we'd be there and I let you down. I just wanted to get back at Bobby, for stealing our songs, for messing up the band" Luke hesitated before saying his next sentence. "For causing me to make one of the biggest mistakes in my life" Adira furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Luke, I quit the band, yes. But trust and forgiveness can always be earned back. You know that" Adira said softly. Which made Luke feel worse. He wanted Adira to get out her anger. To yell, scream, hit him, anything to make her feel better. "Adira, I messed up, again so bad with you. How do you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?" Adira was confused. "Find a way to forgive me? I've been such an ass" she laughed and took his hand and intertwined their fingers. She leaned forward so their foreheads tocuhed. Nose brushing against each other. "I love you, Adira" Luke whispered as his lips brushed over hers.

"Luke?" Luke's eyes looked down at her lips. "Hmm?" He asked. "You're dreaming" he leaned back in surprise. "What?" He was confused to say the least. "This is a dream, silly. You're subconscious is feeling guilty about what happened and it's manifesting into your dreams" Adira explained.

"Wait, what?" Luke was still confused. Everything felt so real. The way she looked, talked, dressed, ....felt. "I will say though, I didn't expect you to say that you love me. Well, dream me" Adira said with an amused look on her face. "What? I meant that in a friendly way" Luke stood up and followed Adira around.

"I'm sure you did. Luke, you were getting ready to kiss me. Friends don't do that" Adira pointed out, which made Luke flustered. "You want my advice?" Luke huffed and threw his arms in the air. "I mean, you're in my head, so... I guess" she chuckled and walked forward. Laying her hand on his cheek. Luke wanted so bad to lean into her touch.

"Tell her how you feel. Well, at least figure out your emotions first. Boy, you are dense as a can be" Luke looked into her eyes. "What if I do like her and she doesn't feel the same?" Luke asked. Adira shrugged her shoulders. She was a dream, what could she tell him?

"Well, live like it's now or never, no? Goodbye, Luke" Luke laughed and closed his eyes.

He shot you off the couch, looking around. He was on the couch in Julie's garage. The sun was beginning to rise and Luke was taking a look around. Alex and Reggie were still asleep. Luke walked over to the desk and saw Adira songbook laying there.

He decided to open it and look through it. Luke wanted to find that one song he heard her singing in the garage the other day, but saw a page was ripped out. "Smart" Luke mumbled. He flipped to a random section in the book and was amazed. He never knew Adira could draw.

There was a drawing of herself and Julie, Reggie, Adira, and Alex. Even one of the bands name. What really got him was there was a drawing of Luke and her, laughing and smiling. It wasn't colored in yet, but he liked it better sketched out.

"How am I going to make this up to her?" Luke groaned. He saw just how much she cared about them in that book, and he broke her trust a few hours prior.

He'll have to gain her trust all over again. Knowing Adira, it was going to be hard. And even harder for her to join the band.