Faded Away

|SIX|

Luke and I arrived at his house a short while after our walk. He unlocked the door and the moment we set foot inside, Bo and Tate came barreling towards him. He wrapped the both of them in his arms before they greeted me with hugs as well. I smiled as they immediately asked a billion questions about what we did and if I was staying. Our little conversation was interrupted by Luke's cell phone ringing. He groaned and apologized.

"Boys don't pester Jackie, please." Luke said before answering the phone and stepping out onto the back patio. The boys asked if I could okay with them for a bit so I agreed and followed them upstairs and to their playroom.

"Alright my little dudes, what are we gonna do?" I said sitting crossed legged on the carpet.

"LEGOS!" Tate shrieked. Bo sighed in desperation. He obviously was uninterested in playing with Legos. We went through every suggestion possible and they were not satisfied. I racked my brain trying to think of a game or activity they'd want to take part in.

"Do you have Nerf guns?" I asked and Bo jumped up, pulling out a toy chest filled with an unimaginable amount of Nerf guns. "You have super soakers?" I asked wide eyed. I'm a kid at heart, what can I say? Bo and Tate nodded proudly and we all high-fived before running downstairs with the water guns. We filled them up in the kitchen and headed outside. Luke was still on the phone when we walked out on the patio. He gave me a smirk as I chased the boys off the steps.

"READY OR NOT HERE I COME!" I chanted as I searched for them. Tate jumped out from behind a beach chair and attempted to squirt me with water. The game continued on and I wound up hiding from the boys to avoid being soaked. I crouched down behind the grill waiting for the perfect moment to run to another spot. I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye so I got up and started running towards the patio. I heard Luke laugh and I was picked up by my waist.

"Get her boys!" He hollered and in an instant I was drenched in cold water. I was laughing and somewhat yelling.

"Okay! I surrender!" I said, sputtering the water in between laughter. They stopped spraying me and continued their fit of giggles as the went inside. When Luke finally let me go, I heard a splat and Luke groan. I turned around to see pieces of a water balloon on him and his head soaking wet. I cracked up as he shook his head to get the balloon fragments off. "You look like a dog doing that." I laughed.

"Oh I'll show you a dog." He smirked and pulled me to him. He started kissing me and I was laughing.

"Okay okay no more mister. The boys are inside." I said, pulling out of his arms. He gave me a pouty face before ducking to give me another kiss. We went back inside and found the boys already in bed and asleep. LeClaire,the girls and Til were also in their respectable rooms. Luke and I went to his room to dry off. He pulled out a pair of pajamas for himself then let me borrow some of his clothes. I grabbed a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt before heading to the bathroom to change. I noticed an orange toothbrush with a sticky note attached to it. It said that the toothbrush was now mine to keep at the house since I was staying there. I took of my makeup and brushed my teeth before laying down.

I was comfy under the covers when Luke entered the room, turned off the light and jumped into the bed. We both laughed when we smacked our heads together. He got comfortable and he held me in his arms with my head rested in the crook of his neck.

"So have you thought about your end of this whole situation?" He asked. In all honesty, it had slipped my mind. I had three days to actually come up with a decision. I wanted to go with him but there were parts of me that knew I couldn't.

"Yeah, of course I have..." I lied.

"Can you tell me what you think you wanna do?" He seemed so anxious about it. My heart thudded and I sat up in the bed. What was I supposed to say? Luke noticed I was having difficulty articulating what was going through my mind. His expression softened and he said that it was fine if I wanted to keep it to myself as long I was thinking about it. I laid back down, facing away from him and he pulled me to him. Within minutes, he was snoring lightly.

The entire night I was restless, tossing and turning. I gave up on the idea of getting any sleep so I laid there with Luke's limbs tangled around me, staring up at the ceiling.

Did I want to stay? A little bit. It was my home. I had my own home, a job, and other responsibilities. I couldn't just drop everything and run off with him. But, I was tired of feeling alone and missing him. I was tired of the nights where I'd cry because I thought he wasn't coming back. I couldn't imagine going through it again. This time, Luke wouldn't be coming back. It was his last spring break performing at PCB. If I decided to stay, there would be no more Luke. The past days have been amazing and I never want this feeling of bliss to end. The one thing I was certain of was that I was hopelessly falling for Luke all over again.

The hours passed and the sky began to light up, signaling the sun rise. I carefully slipped out of Luke's arms and decided I was going to watch the sun rise. I slowly opened the door leading to the balcony of his room and slipped outside. I got settled in one of the chairs and clutched a pillow to my chest as the sun peaked against the horizon. The warm breeze hit me and the thoughts about what would happen in the few short days following did too. I let tears slip and roll down my cheeks. What was I going to do?

I looked down at my phone to see text messages from one of my coworkers saying they couldn't go in and wanting to know if I could cover for them. I agreed and luckily their shift didn't start until 2 pm. I clicked the screen off and sat on the balcony enjoying the silence.

"What are doing up so early?" Luke asked, groggily making me jump a bit. He walked out and stretched before sitting down in a chair next to me.

"I couldn't sleep and I wanted to watch the sun come up." I said. I got up to put my phone back inside since I wouldn't be needing it anytime soon. Luke grabbed me by my waist and sat me down on his lap with his arms wrapped tightly around me. He kissed my cheek and rested his head on my shoulder.

"Can I tell you something?" He mumbled. I nodded and looked down as he intertwined our hands. "I know this might come off as crazy, insane even, but I thought you should know that I'm in love with you Jackie. I have been since the first time we met. I'm just so glad that you actually gave me a chance even if years have passed."

"Can I tell you something as well?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"Of course, baby." He smiled.

"You're in love with me, please be gentle. My hands tremble, and I speak way too fast. I'm scared. I'm falling in love with you, I promise I'll be gentle. Even when you're hands tremble, too. You're in love with me, please remember that I've been through enough and my heart has felt enough pain to last a lifetime. I'll forgive if you break it, though. I'm falling in love with you and I'll be kind. I am kind. I understand that you have probably seen horrible things, just like everyone else. I hope you'll forgive me if I ever forget. You're in love with me, so I ask that you please pay attention. I hope you will notice when my voice shakes. Please notice, please be patient. I have so many bad nights. I'm falling in love with you, I will try to be everything you need. But even when I'm not, I'll be patient. You're in love with me so please don't forget that I'm still falling and I'm going to need a little help." My voice cracked and I let a few tears slip. Luke nodded and held me tighter. He kissed my forehead, then my cheek and my lips.

"I love you so much, Jackie." He said, wiping away my tears with his thumbs.

"One last thing.." I said softly.

"Yes?"

"I don't think I'm falling in love with you anymore, Luke." I paused and saw his expression change. "I am in love with you, I always have been and I'll always will be. I was oblivious to it all and I can't believe it's taken me this long to figure it out."

Author's Note:
She has three days. What is she going to decide?

Also, I changed the cover so let me know what you think about it.

Thanks for reading.

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ily guys 💙

-sam✨