waitress // lrh

31 // my girl

// cate //

She had waited for half an hour after Luke said he would be home, and still his car hadn't pulled up the driveway. Cate didn't want to call him or anything, lest she be perceived as too clingy. But still, she had no idea why he wasn't home yet.

Maybe the traffic was bad.

She sighed, sinking further into her chair. The book she had been struggling to read for the past hour sat on the little table beside her silently. Almost like a challenge to even try getting through the first chapter again.

But she couldn't. She didn't know why.

Cate was in the study. The door was partially shut, and there weren't any lights on, despite the day being very dark and gloomy due to cloud cover, threatening an oncoming thunderstorm. She had lit her indigo candle, though, mainly because the second day she met Luke they had spent an odd amount of time discussing it. Maybe she wanted to think of a time when there wasn't the big secret of being with Luke that anyone could end up finding out at any time.

God, she needed to stop moping. There wasn't anything to mope about. Mali wasn't going to tell- she never told anyone secrets Cate had asked her to keep, and she was sure she wasn't going to say anything about this one. It wasn't as if it was a danger to anyone. It just was a surprise. Something that would upset a lot of people if they knew. But they didn't, so she did her best to keep it at that.

Glancing out the study window again, Cate's face lit up to see the familiar car approaching the driveway. Luke.

She felt that going down to get him was a lot of effort, and besides, he would always come and find her.

Cate strained her ears to find the sound of his car door shutting, and then- if she listened very very very closely, the front door shutting. There were so many floors in their house that it was difficult to hear anything even a floor below, but the fact that she was next to a window that was directly above the front door helped her to hear what was happening outside better.

Cate figured she would only have to wait about five minutes until Luke would come to the conclusion that she was in the study, and he would come inside to find her.

It was like a big game of hide and seek, except Cate wasn't hiding- she just didn't feel like moving.

Only a few minutes later, Luke's footsteps grew closer, and Cate smiled to see the lanky blonde peering through the doorway. He looked tired, and her smile dropped when she noticed see the beginnings of a black eye.

"Luke, what happened? Are you okay?" she asked immediately, starting to get up, but Luke walked towards her, arms outstretched.

"Don't worry about me, princess, I'm okay. I just want to cuddle you," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.

"But your eye-"

"But cuddles," he mocked her in good humor, gently leading her back to the large chair she had rested in.

Luke curled up against the cushions, tugging Cate into his lap and wrapping his arms around her.

"What happened to your eye?" she mumbled. "Why are you home so late? Don't you have to go back to work?"

He chuckled wearily. "May I cuddle now and explain later?"

"You can cuddle later and explain now," Cate mumbled indignantly.

"Fine, little girl, but promise me no more questions," he gave in.

"Okay."

"A grown man punched me in the face because I told him not to degrade women, I'm home late because Burt yelled at me for fighting in the parking lot, and he won't let me go back to work until tomorrow. Good?" Luke told her nonchalantly, tugging her closer to his chest.