Icebound Hearts

44 : Tears and Reunions

"The night we met."
➹♡➷➹♡➷➹♡➷
Luke

I'm stuck in a never ending time loop, and I can't seem to get out of it.

Nothing in my life has made sense since seeing Lizzie, seeing her tears while knowing I was the cause of them. It broke me.

Every night I'm reacquainted with the image of her standing there, staring at me with her wide teary eyed brown eyes. I wanted to go after her, to tell her the truth but I couldn't. Not when I knew that she was fine without me in her life, I was the one who fucked it up.

She shouldn't have to be a victim to my fucked up mind.

I tear off my hoodie when I step foot in my apartment, dropping my hockey bag and making a beeline towards my room. The team provided me with a penthouse for my first season, It's got an amazing view of the city from its wide windows.

No part of it feels like home, the insides are dull and empty with no decorations. I never got around to decorating it, after my first two months of living here I decided to leave it be.

Changing into a pair of grey sweatpants I make my way towards the kitchen, grabbing a cola out of the fridge. Scrolling through my phone I reply to one of many of Eve's texts, ignoring the many missed calls from my dads assistant Bryan. I blocked my dads number the day I arrived in Vancouver, but I had to have known I couldn't get rid of his presence.

The ache in my mind, is eating away at my consciousness. I could never be okay.

My phone buzzes reputedly in my hand, I reluctantly press the answer button.

"What's up my man!" Christian, one of my new tolerable teammates, shouts through the line.

"What's up."

"Me and some of the guys on the team are going to the bar tonight, wanna come?" My doorbell rings and I get up slowly,

"I don't know, let me check-" I cut my words off, my phone nearly dropping from my hands as I open the door.

Her gaze is trapped on the floor , her posture stiff and closed off, her hair is separated in two dutch braids. I blink once and she's still there, I pinch myself and she's still there.

She's here.

"Luke?" Christians voice pulls me back to reality, I don't take my eyes off her as I end the call, stepping forward.

Lizzie Myers is at my door, and she's holding a mini suitcase.

When her eyes finally meet mine I feel a rush of adrenaline that I haven't felt in the months that she's been away from me.

"Lizzie? What are you doing here?" I say breaking the silence, she visibly winces and I want to slap myself for how my words came out but before I can say anything her words cut me off.

"I gave up on us." She blurts out and I feel my lips turn into a frown.

"That night, when the truth came out. I didn't fight for us." She rushes out to explain,

"Lizzie-" I start not wanting her to take the blame of something that was entirely my fault.

"Let me finish first. When you left I broke, you took a part of me with you. And when you came back, my emotions overtook me. I couldn't understand why I couldn't get over you, but I know now."

"It's always been you. Even when I didn't want it to be. Even when it broke my heart, over and over again-." A tear slides down her cheek as she whispers the words, and I want nothing more to wipe it away.

"You've taken sacrifices for our relationship but I haven't, I realise that now. I-uh, I booked a one way ticket here the day after you left. I applied for a transfer to the university here to finish my senior year and I got accepted."

It takes me a second to process her words, a second to realise that she just chose me, chose us.

"What about your family?"

"They're stable, they got an anonymous donation from a charity."  I know, it took a week for the bank to let me get out the money.

"I want you to know that just because I moved here doesn't mean you have to say yes to us being back together, if you don't want me anymore I can make sure our paths will never cross." She whispers not looking me in my eyes, I can't stop myself when I stalk over to her taking her chin in my hands and kissing her.

Tangling our paths forever.

"I will always fucking want you Elizabeth." I say in between kisses.

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you so much baby, so much." I say, because no words can ever be equivalent to the amount of love my body holds for her.

She breaks apart from our kiss, her curious eyes full of light as she stares at the new addition of black ink on my forearm. Her delicate fingers lightly stoke the tattoo.

20.11.23

"Our anniversary." She breathes out shakily, my hand comes up to her cheek caressing it. Her lips crash onto mine and my hands slide down to her waist, tracing the curves of her body.

I'm never letting her go, never again.

"Are you that obsessed with me?" She teases, I bite her lip and she giggles. I've fucking missed her.

Before I can blink she's slipped out of my hold and rushed into my - our - apartment, her giggles bouncing off the walls as she looks over her shoulder and shouts to me.

"Whoever gets to the bedroom last has to cook dinner." She shouts before slipping out of my view, I shut the door and lean back against it.

A smile fixing itself on my lips, I breathe in the cent of her lingering perfume.

Lizzie Myers made me breathe again.

She brought me back to life.

➹♡➷➹♡➷➹♡➷

TEARS TEARS TEARS

but don't worry guys I'm not officially done yet, we've still got the epilogue and three more bonus chapters!!

IM COMING BACK FOR MORE DON'T WORRY 💗💗

I've been so busy trying to write all of the chapters so that I can publish them at the same time 😆