freefall |[ luke kuechly ]|

|[phone calls]|

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July 30th, 2012
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Training camp was just starting up again so that meant Nicole was at the stadium more than usual, leaving Ellen to herself.

Nicole was walking down a large corridor in the stadium one day when she heard a voice yelling towards her. "Excuse me! Hi!" Luke said running to catch up to Nicole.

"Hi Luke," Nicole said, turning to see the rookie linebacker who was now in perfect stride with her.

"Hi. Nicole right?" He asked knitting his eyebrows together trying to remember if that was the right name.

"Yup," Nicole said proudly and upbeat. She was always the more optimistic sister, while Ellen was a realist.

"Great. So I was talking to your sister at the gala," Luke started.

"Was she rude to you? I'm sorry, I told her to play nice, it's just football isn't her thing," Nicole quickly apologized.

"No, she wasn't rude. I was just wondering if you could give her something for me?" Luke shyly asked. He pulled an envelope from the back pocket of his dark blue jeans that were fitted perfectly.

"Sure, I can do that," Nicole said snatching the envelope from Luke's hand.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Luke said as he ran off so he wasn't late to practice.

After work, Nicole got home to see Ellen lazily laying on the couch. She was wearing her glasses with an old light gray sweatshirt and black leggings. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun. "Hey Nic. How was work?" Ellen asked peaking up from the couch.

"It was good, I actually have something for you," Nicole said fishing for the envelope in her purse.

"Ooooooh how exciting!" Ellen said perking up and twiddling her fingers together. Nicole finally found the envelope and handed it over to Ellen. "An envelope?" Ellen said raising an eyebrow.

"Just open it," Nicole scolded. Ellen began opening the envelope and paused.

"Who is this even from?" Ellen asked.

"Just open it!" Nicole said in anticipation. Ellen did as she was told and carefully opened the envelope. She pulled out two tickets to the Panthers upcoming preseason game against the Texans. There was a note attached to the tickets. It read Give football one more chance. -Luke. The note had his phone number written on it. Ellen rolled her eyes and threw the envelope on the ground. "Well, aren't you going to call him?" Nicole asked anxiously.

"No, why would I call him?" Ellen asked almost offended.

"Why wouldn't you call him?" Nicole argued.

"I don't even know him," Ellen defended herself.

"And you never will if you don't call him!" Nicole said.

"Trust me, I'm okay with that," Ellen said going back to watching tv.

"Call him!" Nicole yelled seriously this time.

"Ughhh," Ellen stomped off to her room with the envelope to call Luke. Nicole smiled in satisfaction.

Ellen begrudgingly called and he picked up the phone on the first ring "I knew you would call," Luke answered the phone with glee.

"You did not know I would call, I didn't even think I would call," Ellen sarcastically replied back.

"It doesn't matter, you still called. So are you going to come to my game?" Luke asked excitedly. He was like a little kid, the way he got so excited and energetic.

"I doubt it, I'm busy that night," Ellen lied.

"What night is it then?" Luke asked. He caught Ellen off guard. She hadn't looked at the tickets closely enough to see what day the game was.

"Ummmmm August 6th," Ellen guessed.

"Great, so I will see you August 11th at the game then. No excuses you will be there," Luke said she could tell he was smiling through the phone.

"Damnit," Ellen said causing Luke to let out a loud laugh.

"Why don't you like me?" Luke asked with a smudge of sadness in his voice.

"Aren't all football players the same? Womanizers? I don't want that. I don't like being made a fool of," Ellen said.

"Let me prove you wrong. What's your address? I'll be there in 5," Luke said.

"Luke-" Ellen began to protest.

"No excuses. Tell me or I'll call Nicole," Luke lied, he didn't have Nicole's number and he probably wouldn't have called her anyways.

"Ughhhh fine," Ellen said as she told him the address. She put on jean shorts put kept her sweatshirt on and put on eyeliner. Luke was there in 5 minutes like he said he would be. Ellen raised her eyebrows at his 2012 Chevy Silverado truck he drove.

"Nice to see you again," Luke said as he opened the truck door for Ellen and watched her climb in.

"Yeah," Ellen said as Luke got back to the drivers side. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Luke said slyly. He was careful not to spoil the surprise. They drove for a while until they arrived at a beach. "Come on," Luke said grabbing Ellen's hand and racing towards the sand. They reached a picnic blanket near the water, that Ellen assumed Luke set up. Luke sat on one side of the blanket and Ellen on the other. He took out a thermos and mugs that he filled with hot chocolate to warm them from the cool South Carolina coastal air. "Let's play a game. I'll ask you a question, you answer and then ask me a question," Luke said. "I'll start. Favorite color?"

"Pink. Favorite food?" Ellen answered, finally warming up to Luke.

"Steak. Favorite show?"

"One Tree Hill. Favorite band?" Ellen asked.

"Aerosmith. Why are you so independent?" Luke asked putting the questions at halt. He caught Ellen off guard again. Ellen twisted the mug in her hands to think about her answer.

"Whoa. Um. Well, I guess that's how I was raised. My mom and dad divorced when I was young and he just left, leaving my mom to raise Nicole and I. She worked for everything we had with no help. She taught me that I don't need anyone to make me happy, and that if I want happiness I have to create it for myself, no one else can create it for me," Ellen finally answered.

"You never talk to your dad?" Luke asked with empathy. Ellen shook her head looking down. "New game. Let's look at the stars," Luke said laying down on the blanket. He put his arm out for Ellen to lay in it but she refused and laid away from him at first. Eventually she scooted closer and was in his arm like he planned. They spent the rest of the night there, no talking, no kissing, no nothing. Just silence. And Luke couldn't ask for anything more.

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So sorry for the delay in updating! I will try to be better about updating from now on. Be sure to leave feedback in the comments, vote, and give me a follow! Thanks for reading 😊