𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐄; Luke Patterson

twenty two

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"I- I can't do this." I sigh and turn my back on them.

"Just give us a moment." I hear Luke say.

"Lorelei, look at me." He pleads and I command. I turn to him and his hand that was caressing my lower back grabs my waist. "Everything is going to be ok. They will love you." He speaks with a soft smile.

"But they abandoned me!" I whisper. He takes a step closer to me, our bodies were practically glued. His breath tickled my nose and his eyes pierced through mine.

"Didn't it feel good when you talked it out with your mother?" He asks letting his other hand cup my face. I nod not only to answer him but also to feel his fingertips brushing against my skin. "Then take a risk. I will be here if anything goes wrong. I will always be here." He encourages me. I smile at his words and close my eyes momentarily just enjoying the moment.

"Thank you." I say and rest my forehead against his, looking into his mesmerizing eyes.

"I was going to do this after we put all this behind you but... I can't hold it any longer." He started and the hand that still secured my waist also went to cup my face. We separated our faces slightly so that it was easier to understand each other. "I really like you. And I don't care about anyone else, I like you and only. I want to be with you. I'm so sorry for taking so long to realize this. I don't think there was ever a doubt but I was scared of admitting it to myself, but I'm not anymore. I like you. Always and Forever." He rambled and I couldn't find the right words to answer the revelation.

I look at him and smile, getting our faces closer. I let our noses brush against one another for a few seconds teasing him before he grabbed my face and our lips finally connected.
It started slow but after a few seconds his hands slid down from my face to my lower back and my hands went to play with the ends of his hair. I trip backwards slightly and my back gets pressed against a tree with Luke's weight on me. I giggle in between kisses but, eventually, we had to separate due to the lack of air.

"I like you. Always and Forever." I repeat his words and a huge boyish grin grows on his face.

"How romantic." I hear Reggie gush. I look past Luke and see both Alex and Reggie standing there just smiling at us.

"Which one is it?" I ask and they all looked at me confused. "The house." I explain.

"Blue gates." Reggie points out and I stroll there, I look back and give them a thumbs up before pressing the doorbell.

"Hello?" An older lady comes to the door. "Lorelei?" She recognizes me.

"Hi." I say shyly. She engulfs me in a hug and drags me inside. Before I enter, I catch a last glimpse of the boys smiling at me. They did this for me.

***

"Please come here more often." Gerry, my grandfather asked.

"I will try." I smile and hug my grandmother, Celia, one last time before waving goodbye.

I spent more than three hours in there. We talked, we cried, we made up and we ate some delicious cookies. The main topics of conversation were my father and Reggie. She told me that before Reggie died, they were about to get a divorce and were constantly fighting. After the accident, they got closer to mourn the loss of their son, but in the way, they lost contact with their other son after a huge fight. My dad got jealous because his parents gave Reggie a lot of attention despite him being dead and he ran away and cut all contact with them. I was disappointed in my dad but I didn't want to have any negative emotions towards him when he wasn't here to defend himself. After my dad's death, they said that they didn't want to intrude in our lives so they just kept their distance.

After they closed the door, I run to Reggie and engulf him in a tight hug. He laughs taken back by the sudden affection.

"Thank you! I love you, Reggie." I whisper in his ear.

"I love you too, Lorelei." He replies and in a matter of seconds I fall forward. Reggie had disappeared into thin air. I look at the boys and we all shared the same emotion. Panic.

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AN After twenty two chapters, they finally kissed. You can thank me now. Talk about a slow burn lmao
Don't kill me for making Reggie disappear, please. Does it feel kind of rushed? I'm sorry if it does, that's not my intention but I'm running out of ideas to end this story so I'm just going with the flow