K I S S • L. Hughes

Chapter • Twenty Four

Luke's POV
There were people upstairs getting drinks and such. I was about to walk out the door when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Where ya goin Elle? Cant handle a little fun?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth I felt mad. I turned around quickly ready to fight this asshole. I went to swing when someone grabbed me.

I couldn't fight him so I went with yelling. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

"She was asking for it looking like that!" John laughed.

"Don't talk about her like that!" I said as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Awe little man can't handle the pain?" He chucked.

I pushed against tyler who was holding me back. "You hurt her you asshole!"

"Yeah whatever." He said walking away. I pushed against Tyler who held me tighter.

"Common dude let's just go." He said trying to pull me out of the house.

"No dude I have to fight him." I said pushing back.

"Luke! Chill out and let's focus on getting Ellie out of here." I lightened and went to walk out to Jakes car. I knew what he was saying was true. I saw Jake hugging Ellie outside of the car who was crying into his arms. I felt bad. I probably just made her nightmare worse. Jake shot me a glare then said something to Ellie who looked up at me.

Ellerie's POV
I was slowly gaining control of reality. I didn't feel super drunk anymore, but nothing felt real. Luke was walking back out to the car while Jake was holding me in his arms. I looked up to see Luke rushing over to me. Jake helped me into the backseat of his car and Luke followed. I cuddled into him and he held me tight.

"Can we go to my house?" I asked Luke.

"Yeah, let's go to your house." He answered rubbing my arm. Jake drove quietly to my house not even having music play.

Once we got there Luke got out as Jake helped me out of the car and into my house. My mom had left for a meeting in New York at eight so she was gone and I think Seamus was over at one of the boys houses.

Once Luke and I were inside I turned to give Jake a hug. By now I couldn't see out of my left eye it was so swollen.

"Thank you Jakey." I said into his chest.

"Any time Elle." He said hugging back. "Call me if you ever need anything."

I could tell he was serious so I just nodded. I went towards the kitchen and I heard Jake and Luke talking.

"Just take care of her man." Jake said to Luke.

"I will dude I promise." He answered.

"Get ice on her eye and clean up those cuts ok?" Jake asked Luke again.

"Yeah." Luke answered. "I'll see you tomorrow." I heard Jake leave and I went into the freezer to get an ice pack. I grabbed one and turned around to see Luke. He smiled softly at me.

"Let's go get you cleaned up yeah?" Luke asked taking the ice from me.

"Yeah." I said grabbing his hand. We walked up into my room then my bathroom. I am really tired and I'm not feeling totally like myself. Luke lifted me onto the counter and grabbed my first aid kit from the cabinet.

"This is gonna sting baby." Luke said grabbing anti-bacterial wash. I nodded and closed my eyes holding my hand on one of his arms. He started to clean it and it hurt so bad. I held his arm and winced at the pain a little. I saw Luke's face soften. "I know cutie."

He was finally done and put small bandaids over my cut. He also went to clean up my nose.

"That tickles!" I laughed quietly. Luke cracked a small smile. Once everything was cleaned up he helped me off the counter.

"Let's got you to bed cutie." Luke said. "But first Advil."

I smiled and took three from him. We both swallowed the pills with water. I went into my closet and put on some blue Nike pros and one of Luke's little Caesars hoodies.

"Come here baby." Luke said pulling me onto the bed with him. He had grabbed a pair of Seamus' sweats and no shirt. I laid down on his chest and he held the ice to my eye. It felt nice to have the ice on my eye.

"I should have come with you to get a drink." Luke said rubbing my back.

"It's ok Luke you didn't know anything would happen." I said quietly.

"Yeah but you were drunk I should have come with you still." He said with his voice cracking.

"Luke it's not your fault really I promise." I said sadly.

"But he hurt you." Luke cried. "I should have protected you."

"Stop blaming yourself." I said sadly. "Please Luke."

"Ok." He said his voice breaking. "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to but did he rape you?" He asked softly.

I was quiet for a moment. "Yeah." I said feeling ashamed. "I tried to stop him Luke. I really did." We both were silent.

"I'm so sorry Ellie." He said wrapping his arms around me. I cried softly into Luke's chest. "I wish I had come earlier."

"I'm just glad you found me." I said wrapping my hand in his. "And I'm glad you helped me."

"Me too baby." He said back.

"I feel dirty, like I need to shower." I said to him.

"Then let's get you in the shower." Luke said going to stand up. "I'll go start it."

I got up and followed behind him grabbing my towel. He turned on the shower and then went to leave the bathroom.

"Um Luke can you stay?" I asked nervously. "I don't want to be alone."

"Of course." He answered.

"Thanks." I answered quietly. I again took my clothes off and opened my shower door. Luke sat on the floor outside of the glass while I washed every inch of my body. After washing my body and hair I just sat on the floor. Even a shower didn't help me. I still felt dirty and worthless.

"Hey Luke?" I asked from inside the shower.

"Yeah Ellie?" He asked from behind me.

"Am I worthless?" I asked sadly.

"Ellie? How could you think that about yourself?" He said in disbelief. "You are far from worthless. Your an amazing horseback rider, you are fantastic in school, your family loves you, all your friends adore you, and I love you more than anything."

I was quiet for a moment. "Really?" I asked him.

"Of course Ellie." He answered. "Ever since you moved here in our freshman year I thought you were gorgeous. I've always loved your personality. Your goofy and happy and your smile, oh my gosh ellie it's the best thing ever. I was always scared to talk to you, even though we have the same group of friends. Ellerie Rose I'm so in love with you it's not even funny."

I could hear his smile from the way he was talking. "As soon as I got to know you I knew I liked you. I've always thought you were super handsome, but I thought you were out of my league. I've always loved you Luke." I said smiling.

"I'm glad we finally found each other." Luke said to me. He had managed to get my mind off of what had happened tonight. "Me too."

I reached to turn off the shower and Luke handed me my towel. Once I have my towel on Luke stood up, towering over me like always. I reached up to his cheeks and brought his lips to mine. It was a short kiss, and I'm sure it was because Luke didn't want to push it.

"Luke it's ok you can touch me." I said trying to reassure him.

"I know, I just don't want to scare you." He answered putting his hands on my hips.

"Luke I trust you with my life." I said seriously. We leaned in for one more kiss before heading off to bed.