𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 ; lucas zumann

[31] REAL LIFE

LORIE FELT READY to see Lucas. A part of her wanted to go back to her room and go over about her other options, but she knew if she did that Lorie would never tell him how she felt. The girl made a quick stop in one of the communal bathrooms on the way to Lucas' room, where she wiped her eyes and cleaned up all the excess mascara that had flooded down her face when she was crying. She looked herself in the eyes and smiled her Lorelei smile. The girl took her wavy hair out of it's ponytail and wiped her face with a paper towel before marching out of the toilets. As she walked along, Lorie scribbled down what she might say on some of the toilet roll from the bathroom.

When Lorie reached Lucas' dorm room she was significantly less ready to storm in there and tell him she loved him. Her hands were shaking, which was absolutely gross because she was never the nervous one. Lorelei Jacobs made other people shake with nervousness, not herself. Lorie swallowed the lump of anxiousness and knocked on the door. She heard footsteps approach it and her heart beat faster, she heard the doorknob turn and saw the door open. But it wasn't Lucas who answered the door. It was Reggie.

"If it isn't Lorelei Jacobs," he said, leaning against the doorframe. "What can I do you for?"

"Is Lucas in?" She asked plainly.

"He's out," Reggie said. "He'll be back in about ten minutes."

Lorie sighed, that had to be the biggest anticlimax ever.

"You can stay though," he said.

Lorie really didn't want to stay, but she forced herself to cross the threshold and enter the room. If she didn't do it now she'd never do it.

"Sure," Lorie said nervously and walked into the room, arms crossed.

Lorie actually hadn't ever been inside Lucas' room before. She'd expected his side of the room to be less of a mess than it was but she was obviously wrong. The girl sat down on his bed opposite to Reggie's and grimaced inwardly at what the boy was eating. It was a raw freezer potato waffle that still had bits of ice on.

"What?" He said through a mouthful of icy hard potato. "Times are hard!"

Lorie raised an eyebrow.

"You're eating iced spuds, mate," She said. "You could've bought a sandwich with the same money."

"I clearly didn't think that through, did I?" Reggie said, chucking the remains of his potato waffle in the bin. "Not all of us have generous parents, you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

Reggie opened his mouth to speak but stopped as soon as the door opened. Lorie looked up and her eyes met Lucas. She stood up quickly.

Oh god. He wasn't smiling or nor did he say hi. Lorie was beginning to think that this was the worst idea she'd ever had and she should just leg it down the hallway and never see Lucas again but even if she wanted to she couldn't because her legs were stuck to the ground.

"I'll give you two a minute," Reggie said, flashing his charming smile and tip toeing out of the room.

"So..." Lucas said.

"So."

"Yeah. What are you doing here?" He asked.

God, he clearly hated her guts.

"I came to tell you something," Lorie gulped but stuck to her guns.

"What is it?"

"We should probably sit down," Lorie said.

The pair sat down on Lucas' bed side by side and stayed silent for a moment before Lorie pulled out her paper towel.

"I've been thinking about why I fuck everything up, and I think this is why. All my life I've been around people who hate each other," she said shakily. "Before I came here the only person I cared about was my baby brother."

"Lorie, I'm sorry you had a sad childhood or something, but it doesn't re—" Lucas began.

"Let me finish."

Lorie scrunched up the paper towel and threw it in the bin where it landed among the remains of Reggie's potato waffles.

"I owe you the biggest apology," Lorie told him. "This is me trying to make it up to you."

Lucas said nothing. Bad sign.

"Anyway, my mum and dad had a good few years before I was born and then I came along and they fell out of love," she went on. "My childhood was pretty pathetic to say the least. I thought that was just what life was like, what love was like."

"But—" Lucas began.

"What I'm trying to say is I'm a fuck up, and I know I can't blame my parents for everything but I can at least explain why I was so scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Caring," Lorie said quietly. "I've not just had a bad experience with my parents, Lucas. All my boyfriends have been absolute lower colons and treated me like shit."

"I'm sorry for that, bu—"

"Wait a minute. What I'm trying to say is you're different," the girl told him. "You're the one person in my life that's ever made me want to be better. You make me want to care."

"So why did you do everything you did?"

"Because it didn't seem that simple and I was terrified of getting hurt," Lorie said. "But today I realised I can't always be scared. Sometimes I have to make a bold move and not think about the risks."

"You don't ever seem scared," Lucas murmured.

"Then I've done a really fucking good job hiding it," she told him. "I'm scared shitless right now and I'm sorry for what I did because of it."

"You aren't just apologising are you?" Lucas said. "Why are you really here?"

Lorie felt every cell in her body freeze for a moment like they were all telling her this was it. This was her moment.

"Because I love you," Lorie told him.

The silence following her statement sent shivers down Lorie's spine. It was the waiting for Lucas' response that really made her toes curl. She couldn't stand the anticipation.

"You...?" He whispered.

"I tried to make it go away, believe me," she said. "I'm so sorry I fucked with your head."

Lucas was gaping.

"I should go," Lorie told him, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Lucas called after her as he stood up from the bed.

Lorie turned around and suddenly she was crying. She was feeling more in that second than she ever had in her life and it was like a crushing weight on her shoulders.

"Is this... real?" He asked, walking over. "You have to tell me now. You have to know now."

"Yes! It's all real!" Lorie told him. "Every last bit."

"I love you too," he said. "So much."

Lorie gasped, tears barrelling down her cheeks for the second time that day. Lucas reached forward and wiped them off her face. Lorie felt a smile on her face. She was happy, for once. Then Lucas was smiling too, and kissing her on the lips, on the cheeks.

Lorie kissed him back and, with her hands on his shoulders, pushed him over to the bed.

"Wait," Lucas said, pulling away from the kiss. "Are you sure you wa—"

"Shut up!" Lorie said, kissing him again and pulling her top over her head.

Maybe it was the roaring adrenaline or the sheer shock of what had just happened but for the first time in what had felt like a lifetime Lorelei Jacobs was happy.

And had a pretty hot boyfriend...