The secret ingredient

Chapter 22

Elijah and me are sitting in the cafe. He made us some drinks before he has to close the coffee shop.

Elijah takes a sip out of his drink, looking at something on my chest.

,,Hm? What is it?,, I look down and see my necklace with the letter L attached to it.

I touch it and shake my head ,,It's nothing.,,.

He tilts his head, ,,L for...? Love? Life? Libra? Don't tell me it's LoL.,,

I laugh shortly as I shake my head, ,,First of all how corny do you think I am? And second of all, no it's not any of these words. It's for the name Luna.,, I say rushingly, not wanting to talk about it. ,,So.. when will you close up?,,

He continues to stare curiously at my necklace. ,,Who's Luna? Or do you mean the moon?,, he will not let it go.

A groan escapes my mouth, ,,Elijah, it's nothing. I don't want to talk about it.,,

His hand trails toward mine. There it is. The scar on his hand. Now that I look at it again, it's so large and goes up his arm.

I gently stroke his scar ,,Where did you get this scar?,, I keep my eyes focused on it. Fuck, I didn't mean to-

He holds my hand even tighter now. His knuckles turn white, but it doesn't hurt. ,,Can I tell you something, D?,, I nod. ,,So when I was 14, me, my dad, my twin sister and my older brother where on a road trip. As we were driving, I hear my dad yelling and honking at some cars. I noticed that we were driving pretty fast and I got scared, so I held on to my sisters hand. Suddenly we crash into a car and the next thing I know, is that we were upside down. It was silent when I opened my eyes. The car wasn't even on the road anymore. I was still holding hands with my sister and I shook her. I got no response and my dad and my brother were quiet too. No one said anything when I called out their names. After that, I noticed that my other hand was bleeding and I saw the bone sticking out of my arm. I screamed out of pain and got unconscious. When I woke up, I found myself in a hospital bed next to no one. I was alone. My arm and hand were in a bandage and I had some scratches on my back and stomach. When I looked around, I noticed how not even my twin sister was in the same room as me. I was alone. After some time, a doctor came in followed by my mom, she was crying. I thought it was happy tears because we all were saved, but no. My dad, my twin sister and my brother were dead. I was the only one who survived. And that's when I lost lust for life. Why me? Why couldn't I die instead of them? I overthought everything my whole life after that day. But as I grew up, I had to continue to take care of my mother. She got a little sick and told me to live here because I'd have Jim. Now I'm scared that I won't even have him anymore. And recently I mostly think of my sister, because she was my other half. So when I met you, I felt that again. The lust for life, being able to smile. Yeah.. anyways, that's how I got this scar.,,

I'm speechless. I'm crying as always. Now I embrace him, feeling his tears on my shirt. Gosh, I just fell in love with him even more.

"Let it out, every single bit, my love" He gently says to me. He's the one who should be crying.

,,I'm so so so sorry. No one deserves to go through something that horrible. I'll always be there for you, Elijah. I'm sorry I've been so shitty to you. I just.. I was afraid that if I let another person into my life, that I would have to go through pain again. But I would go through anything, just to have you in my heart and in my life. Because.. Elijah, I love you. I swear I do.,, He hugs me tighter and kisses my head.

His face comes to mine but we don't kiss. We just stare into each other. ,,Now, will you tell me who Luna is? Secret for a secret?,, He whispers.

I giggle through tears, ,,It's me. Luna is my second name. My mom used to call me it all the time. I loved the moon so much as a child so my mom gave me that name.,,

He kisses me fast and pulls back again. ,,So.. Luna, earlier you said you love me. Well, no surprise, I love you too.,, His raspy, low quiet voice makes it more attractive.

The bell rings as the shop's door opens. Lora, the most nicest waiter in this coffee shop, is standing by the door, smiling at us. ,,I drove by and saw that the light is still on. Elijah it's 11 pm, you were supposed to be done by 9.,,

We both just sit up straight. I'm waiting for Elijah to say something but he just nods at her.

She tilts her head at us ,,Y'all okay?,,

I stand up and nod ,,Yeah. Elijah was about to close, we just lost track of time while chatting. We'll leave soon.,,

She smiles at me and leaves. I turn to Elijah, ,,Cmon let's close this up and get some sleep. Crying makes me tired.,,

He scoffs and stands up. ,,Yeah you're right, Luna. Let's leave.,,

He's getting used to that name pretty fast and I already love it.