freefall |[ luke kuechly ]|

|[kickoff]|

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September 9, 2013
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Walking up the stairs to her seat in Bank Of America Stadium, Ellen was reminded of the first time she was here. Luke begged her to come to his preseason game and eventually she agreed. The weather was similar today, very hot, but as Luke described it "perfect football weather." She didn't knew if that was true or not, but she believed him.

If only she would have known then how big of a part he would play in her life. How much he would make her want to be here. She sat between Eileen and Tom. She felt proud of herself for learning the game of football for Luke, football was his second love and Ellen wanted to be able to share that with him.

Ellen could hear the pounding of a drum. She looked for the sounds and saw smoke rising from the ground as the Panthers came rolling out of the tunnel. She saw Luke instantly. The man was huge compared to most of his teammates, besides Cam. The number 59 ran away from her and she felt herself clutch the matching number on her shirt. She was so proud of him out there, even though he hadn't even played a down yet.

She watched intently. The sun was beginning to set over the stadium. She watched as Luke moved around the field, he always seemed to be on top of the ball. Whether it was thrown or ran, he was there. Ellen had no idea he made such an impact on the field. She watched the Seahawks score rise above the Panthers as the seconds ticked off the clock. She felt bad. She saw how hard Luke tried to win this game, how much he wanted, how much work he put in during the offseason only to be let down.

She stood from her hard metal seat and stretched. "Too bad," Tom said as he stood from his spot.

"Is he going to be upset?" Ellen asked cautiously. She had never been with Luke after a loss, she had no idea how he reacted.

"Well, he won't be happy. But Luke has always been a gracious loser. This game doesn't mean much right now, he'll be okay. He won't be too upset," Eileen assured her. Ellen tossed her purse over her shoulder.

"I'm going to go find him and make sure he's okay. I'll meet you guys back at the apartment. Thank you for watching with me," Ellen said kindly. She hugged each of them before disappearing down the flight of stairs.

She found herself in the same hallway where Luke first kissed her cheek. It was a nervous kiss, nothing compared to the passionate ones they shared now, but it was meaningful nonetheless. She ran her hand across the pictures of past Panther players. The ones who Luke wanted to be compared too. The ones Luke wanted to be on the wall by. She waited there, across from the locker room waiting for Luke to come out.

Finally, after many players exited the locker room her fiancée came out. He didn't see her right away, and almost walked past her. "Hey, where are you going?"she asked. She picked herself off from the wall and started walking towards him. He turned to her, and surprisingly smiled.

"I was going to go home. I didn't know you waited for me," Luke said. She was finally close to him and he grabbed her hand, he wanted he works to know that she was his.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Ellen replied. She smiled shyly at him as her cheeks filled with color.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be? I get to play the game I love, every single day, I have the most beautiful woman standing here holding my hand, and I have family waiting for me at home," Luke answered. The loss didn't seem to bother him.

"Luke, I had no idea how good you were. You never told me," Ellen said shocked. "It's like a totally different Luke cons out when you step on the field."

"I'm not that good. I just try to be the best that I can," Luke answered modestly. Of course he wasn't going to admit he was good, he wasn't that kind of person.

"I have a question for you, but you need to cooperate with me," Ellen said squeezing his hand tighter.

"Okay, what is it?" Luke said excitedly. It sounded like a game.

"I want you to shut your eyes," Ellen began. Luke squeezed his eye lids closed. "Think of your happy place," Ellen said as a faint smile speed across Luke's face. "Do you have it?" Ellen asked. Luke nodded vigorously. "Open your eyes," Ellen instructed. "Was this it? Was this place your happy place?" Else asked spinning around to get the whole effect of the now empty stadium.

"I don't really know where I was. There was white everywhere but in the middle was you. Football isn't the most important thing in life. You are my happy place, not this stadium. As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy," Luke preached. He took his and Ellen's joined hands and kissed then softly. Ellen's brain went mushy and she instantly wrapped her frisk arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

"You are my happy place too," she sexily  whispered just loud enough for Luke to hear.

Short chapter but I wanted to get an update out. Make sure to leave feedback! It helped me write what you guys want to see! Goal is 25 votes and 9 comments! 😘😁☺️