Laced • Luke Dunphy

XI

Years later

Jamie's pov

I contemplate my choices as I flip my hood over my head. Raspberry or lemon sherbet? Ouu, maybe stracciatella..

"Find anything?" Luke's voice asks from the end of the frozen aisle as he walks toward me. I shake my head and rub my arms. He comes and hugs me from behind, placing his head on mine, and looks over the ice cream flavors in the freezer below.

"How about those?" He says excitedly, pointing at a box of ice cream sandwiches. I giggle and open the freezer, picking up the box and handing it to him.

"Good choice, Betty." He feigns offense and grabs the box from me.

"Thanks, Jimbo." He turns on his heels and walks away with his chin up. Laughing, I catch up with him and we link arms.

We go pay for our ice cream and leave. As Luke parks into the driveway, I notice banners hung up inside the house through the windows. I don't think much of it, that's just how the Dunphy's are. I smile to myself as I open my door and get out of the car.

"I'll go put the ice cream in the freezer." Luke says and I nod, thanking him. Something feels off, I think to myself, a good kind of off, but still off.

"Oh, hello, darling!" The Dunphy's elderly neighbor, Mrs. Duncan, calls from her patio, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hello, Mrs. Duncan," I call back, waving, "nice day, isn't it?" She smiles, watching a bird fly around before settling on one of the branches of her old oak tree.

"It really is," she answers, looking up at the sky, "perfect spring day." We stand there in a comfortable silence, admiring the world around us. I don't notice as the front door opens and Luke comes up behind me.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Duncan." I jump slightly at the sound of his voice and he chuckles. He waves at her and she waves back.

He grabs my hand and drags me inside. I give him a confused look as he stops in the middle of the hallway heading towards the kitchen.

"You're acting weird." I say, laughing nervously.

"Sorry," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. I smile softly and hug him, laying my head on his chest. He kisses the top of my head before placing his own on it, hugging back. He starts swaying from foot to foot and I follow suit, laughing.

"I love you." He whispers as he starts turning slowly and we're eventually sort of dancing.

"I love you too." I say into his chest, my words muffled. The house is unusually silent but I don't care. All I can hear is the sound of his heart and his steady breathing, the soft patter of our feet shuffling slowly on the wooden floor.

Luke starts humming and at first I don't recognize the song. I give him a small squeeze as the memory of the melody fills my head.

Suddenly, I'm a teenager again, sitting in Luke's bedroom, looking out of his window at the street below.

"Watcha singin'?" His voice asks behind me.

"The healing incantation from Tangled," I reply, not bothering to turn around.

"The what?" He asks, genuinely confused.

"You know, from that recent Disney movie, Rapunzel?" I say, waving my hand and looking down at Phil tending the garden.

"Oh, yeah. I don't recognize the name of the song, though,"

"It's the one she uses to heal him, you know?" He stays silent, indicating that he doesn't know what I'm talking about.

I start humming along with him, our voices fitting perfectly together.

"Marry me." He says when the song is finished. We stop dancing and I lift up my head.

"What?" I ask, not sure if I heard him correctly. He smiles down at me.

"Will you marry me?" He repeats himself. I stare at him for a moment, trying to register the words. He kneels down on the ground and I take a surprised step back, looking down at him as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small box.

Before he can even open it, I'm down on my knees as well. I pull him into a tight hug, my shoulders shaking gently as tears start sliding down my flushed cheeks.

"Is that a yes?" He asks innocently, his voice drowned out by my hair. I laugh loudly, pulling away.

"Of course, silly!" The words burst out as if I'd been holding them in for a long time. The minute the words leave my lips, a ruckus of happy voices breaks the silence and his whole family appears from the living room.

Luke and I laugh and he wipes my tears, which is useless as more keep pouring out. We both stand up and he picks me up, spinning me around. Suddenly, time stands still. For a moment, the sound of everyone congratulating us feels far away and unreal. All I can see is Luke. It feels like we're the only two people in the whole world.

It's over in a split second and he puts me down again, his hands trembling as he opens the little box and puts the ring on my finger.

•

A/n
I'm back, bitches. Did ya miss me? UHHH so hi I'm super sorry for taking so long to update I was just super unmotivated and I didn't like the story anymore. But I do like the ending, I like the way the story has closure. Anyways, there's one last chapter and then.. that's it. I hope you guys like it, I don't wanna disappoint u guys..