LIGHT IT UP

[TWO]

Caroline was finally able to get Luke inside of her rental home after much fuss and stumbling around in the driveway. Luke got past the vomiting stage of being drunk and became overly friendly her. His slurred jokes made Caroline giggle but she focused in getting him inside safely and to sleep. As she unlocked her front door, she grabbed hold of Luke before he toppled over on the front porch then practically dragged him inside.

Despite her petite stature, Caroline was more than capable to pull the six foot something man to her bedroom and get him to go to sleep. She yanked off his scuffed boots of off his feet, placed his hat on the night stand, the proceeded to cover him with the duvet of her bed. As she turned on her heel to exit the room, Luke's calloused and large hand grabbed hold of her wrist. The sudden contact made her jolt in response before she saw his smile in the bit of light that peered through the fairly sized window in her bedroom. The tightness in her chest and butterflies she experienced earlier that night made a second appearance in that moment. Little did she know, that Luke felt it too and the sight of her ice blue eyes smiling back drove him crazy.

"You're pretty." Luke slurred a bit and gave her an ear to ear grin. Caroline counted her blessings for the lights being off and the bit that peered through the window was not enough for him to see how her cheeks burned a bright crimson color.

He pulled her hand up to his mouth and placed his lips on the back of her hand. The butterflies in Caroline's chest turned it what felt like fireworks, exploding bright colors in the night sky. Her heart was thudding against her chest and she felt it rapidly pulsating throughout her body. Luke patted her hand with his and kept his blurring vision on her silhouette that was illuminated but the moonlight that shown through the curtains. She wished him a good night and shut the door softly behind her.

Luke pulled out his cellphone from the pocket of his jeans and saw a text message from his best friend, Michael Carter, who asked how he was doing. He sighed and figured that it was far too late to reply to him. After placing the cell phone on the night stand, Luke rolled over to face the window in hopes of falling asleep. Something in his mind crept up and kept him from relaxing. He wanted to pick up the phone and call Abby, the woman that had walked out on him that early afternoon. He wanted to hear her voice and ask her what drove her away. The part of not knowing drove him mad.

After much of an internal battle, he did it. He rolled back over, picked up the phone, and punched in Abby's phone number. He waited for the call to go through and prayed she would answer. One, two rings then a click were heard on the line. He tried again and still couldn't get through. Luke finally decided to to text her. As anyone know, late night drunk texts never go well. Usually resulting in the "lost lover" feeling irritable and and ignoring the other person. On the other side of town, Abby was having the time of her life while ignoring every possible form of contact attempted by Luke.

Caroline laid on her couch, staring up at the ceiling fan blade spinning around and around. She was in disbelief about the fact that she let a complete stranger pull her out on a dance floor and now he's sleeping her bed. Had it been any other night, Caroline would've never accepted his invitation to a "dance or two." She would've left him puking up his guts in the parking lot dirt of a bar at 2 AM. There was something different about Luke and she didn't know what it was.

_____________________________________________________

The smell of bacon crackling on the hot stove wafted through the house and into Caroline's bedroom where Luke laid fast asleep until it hit him. He stretched out his arms and rubbed his eyelids with his fists before realizing where he was. The gray duvet covered with yellow daisies threw him off a bit and he about had a heart attack when he saw Caroline's bra hanging from the door nob. He immediately assumed the worst of all situations that could've happened while he was as drunk as a skunk.

Luke jolted out of the bed and pulled on his clothing, which he had unconsciously taken off during the middle of the night. He made his way the down the hall way and into the kitchen where Caroline stood cooking breakfast. She didn't hear Luke but the feeling that she was being watched made her turn around and see him standing near the island of the kitchen.

"Good morning. How do you like your eggs?" She gave him a smile as she asked. She turned back around so Luke wouldn't see the fact that she was holding back laughter. Caroline had noticed that he was wearing his shirt inside-out and backwards and his hair was poofed up like Elvis had forgotten to put gel in.

"Scrambled is fine. Thank you." He replied groggily. His voice made Caroline's hair stand on end and she felt a chill run up her spine. She continued to cook breakfast and tried to hide the rosy color that crept up on her face when she caught sight of his disheveled hair and sleepy grin. Luke sat at the small kitchen table and decided to look at his phone. He saw the desperate texts messages he had sent to Abby the night before.  A wash of guilt come over him as he read the messages. He was lonely, that might've been the only reason he blew up her phone. 

As Caroline set a plate of hot food in front of him along with a cup of coffee, she gave him a smile that made Luke's heart thud against his chest. He set his phone down and began to eat the savory breakfast. Luke praised Caroline for how delicious the food was and he noticed how bright her eyes were and her cheeks began to heat up with each passing moment. 

Suddenly, the shrill sound of Luke's cell phone startled both of them and caused them to drop the gaze they held together. Luke grabbed his phone and saw Abby's face lighting up his screen. He gulped before apologizing to Caroline and excusing himself from the table. He walked out the front door and onto the front porch to take the phone call. 

"I got your texts." Abby stated in a smug tone. 

"I figured. Listen, I'm sorry and I'm well aware that I shouldn't have said the things I said." Luke and Abby finally agreed to meet later on that day. During this time, Caroline sat at the table trying to finish her meal. She was deep in her thoughts trying to figure out her current state and she realized that she was utterly smitten with Luke. 

"What's wrong with you? You act like you've e=never seen a guy like him before." Caroline thought to herself. She settled her nerves for a moment until Luke came strolling in through the front door with a wide grin on his face. It felt like a scene from a movie to Caroline as her heart raced and her hands began to feel clammy. 

"The Lord must've taken his sweet time with this man." thought Caroline. Luke sat down while feeling all too pleased with himself. He noticed that Caroline stealing glances at him from across the table. His heart fluttered as a sneaky smile appeared on her face each time she looked at him. 

"Do I have something on my face? Is that why you keep smiling like that each time you look over at me?" Luke chuckled as a surprised look came over Caroline's face. 

"Uh no, actually, your shirt is inside out and backwards." She giggled as Luke looked down to see that his shirt was in fact on completely wrong. He stood up, turned his back to Caroline and took of his shirt to put it on properly. Caroline felt her breath get caught in her throat as he did so. He was definitely perfect in her eyes. 

After gathering his belongings, Luke asked Caroline for a ride back to his truck at the bar. They talked minimally on the drive over but listened to the country station to keep the awkward silence from taking over. 

"Here we are." Caroline said as she pulled up next to Luke's truck in the dirt parking lot. 

"Maybe I can take you out sometime. Only if you want to, y'know?" Luke said, trying not to stumble over his words. 

"I'd like that." Caroline grinned as she rummaged through the console to find something. Luke watched as she pulled out a pen and a napkin and scribbled something on it. She clicked the pen and handed over the napkin to Luke, which he folded up and placed inside of his pocket. 

"Thank you for everything." He smiled as he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Caroline's cheek before getting out of the vehicle. Caroline watched as he out and started up his truck before driving away. Luke sat in his truck as he pulled out the napkin from his pocket. She had written her name and phone number on the napkin. Luke punched the roof of the cab in celebration and tore down the road to get home.