fifteen ; l.h.

her

"so this is it," noelle stood with calum near his car after he'd put his things inside. "you sure you don't wanna stay longer? take a tour?"

he chuckled and shook his head sadly. "wish i could. my family actually doesn't know i'm gone, so..."

"jesus, cal," she pursed her lips. "why didn't you tell them?"

"too much to explain," he shrugged, "figured they wouldn't care much, anyways."

noelle wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead on his chest. "go home. they miss you. they're your family, of course they care."

calum returned her embrace, chest deflating as he spoke. "i'll talk to you soon, alright? call me if there's any trouble."

"sure." with a smile, noelle let him go.

he ruffled her hair once for good measure and shot her a wink before entering his car and driving away. a long sigh escaped her mouth before she walked back into the building and headed back to her apartment.

immediately, noelle was greeted by her parents - whom she had successfully avoided since the night prior. she feebly tried to push past them, but they wouldn't let her.

"we need to talk," her mother said sternly.

"well, i have nothing else i could possibly say to you," she retorted. "everything i had to say was said last night."

"you got your turn, now it's ours," the older woman shot back. "noelle, please understand that whatever we do is so that you can have a good future. so you can make good choices."

"god, i always make good choices! i always do what's expected of me. can you blame me for wanting to live in the moment, to be a little crazy for once?"

"you don't have any right to be crazy!" her dad bellowed. "we didn't raise you like that!"

"you didn't," noelle spat. "but now i'm becoming my own person and i'm sick of being 'raised' to be this perfect porcelain doll. i'm going to do what makes me happy and you're not going to stop me!"

"when did you become so selfish?" she flinched back from her dad's growl, but quickly fixed herself.

"when i fell in love, dad!" she screamed back. "when i fell in love with a boy that you would never - even in a million years - approve of because he makes me feel more at home than you two ever did! he makes me feel free and happy and like i'm not trapped in a goddamn cage all the time!"

the two adults stood silently at their daughter, feeling mixtures of anger and confusion. noelle couldn't even look at them, instead shifting her gaze to the wall beside her. things were getting too difficult and she was getting too tired.

"i forbid you from seeing that boy," her dad said lowly. "you won't see or talk to him again, do you understand?"

"no, i don't understand," noelle replied calmly. "i'm not going to stop loving him. ever. i could live a thousand lifetimes and still love him. nothing you say or do will change that. so stop. trying."

not giving them another chance to make her feel worse, noelle finally got past them and approached her door. however, upon seeing kaiden standing in front of it with tears in his eyes, she froze.

"ellie? do you hate us?"

she quickly shook her head and lead him into her room, sitting him on the bed before shutting the door.

"i could never hate you guys," she admitted. "i'm just not having a very good time right now, you get that right?"

"i hate seeing them yell at you. you haven't done anything wrong," he confessed.

"and i hate fighting with them," noelle agreed. "but let me give you some advice...when you want something, you have to fight for it. no matter who it is that stands in your way. whether it be mom or dad, friends, even me. fight for it."

"what are you fighting for?"

noelle thought for a moment. what was she fighting for? the answer came easier than she expected.

"my right to be happy."

-

the two devereaux siblings ended up falling asleep on the older one's bed. they were wrapped around each other protectively, looking slightly like two cubs in a den.

in the middle of the night, noelle woke, in need of fresh air. the room was getting too stuffy for her, what with their combined body heat.

she quietly climbed onto the fire escape and up to the roof, cringing every time a step creaked. once she reached the too, arms wrapping around her as the cold air whipped her drowsy form, her heart nearly burst out of her chest.

on the ledge, looking just as he had the night they'd met, was luke.

"lucas?" the sweet name fell out of her mouth softly, almost as if he'd disappear if she spoke too loudly.

said boy turned to her, stepping off the ledge as he looked at her in awe. his lip ring glinted under the city lights and his quiff was messier than usual.

"noelle," he breathed out just as quietly. "it's about time you showed up."

all the bottled up feelings erupted in noelle's stomach. love, sadness, anger.

"you- you idiot!" she yelled, rushing up to him and poking his chest condescendingly. "how dare you. how dare you leave and just reappear as if nothing happened!"

luke simply stood there, letting her scream her heart out.

"do you know how worried and fucking terrified i've been? do you have any idea how long i waited to finally see you again?"

she punched his chest weakly.

"and all you have to say is, 'it's about time i showed up'?! i'm not the one who went missing! godammit, say something luke! anything! please let me know this isn't just some twisted dream!"

she kept punching his chest, breathing heavily as she tried to get a reaction out of him. how was he so calm?

finally, he moved to grab her wrists and held them against his chest, right where his heart was. she looked up at him, tears running freely down her face.

"have I ever told you that i love you?"

she let out a choked sob and shook her head. "not in person."

"well i do. i love you, noelle leann devereaux. with everything i have to offer."

with his free hand, he grasped the back of her neck and connected their foreheads. the mixture of his deep blue eyes staring into hers and his heart beating under her hands was enough to make her stomach burst in butterflies.

"i love you too," she managed to whisper before he pressed his lips to hers.

the cool metal of his lip ring felt like ice on her heated face and the softness of his lips felt so completely real that it was impossible to convince herself that it wasn't.

luke was back. he was with her and she could feel him in every cell of her body with just a simple kiss.

it was perfect.

+

IM CRYKNG BUE IM SO HAPPY I FINALLY GOT TO WRITE THAT THEYRE BACK TOGETHER QND IGH I CANNOT DO THIS

I hope y'all liked this chapter! I tried to make it seem not too rushed but honestly I was excited for lukelle's reunion sorry not sorry

QUESTION OF THE DAY: what is your current obsession?

Mine is Ian Nelson bc DAMN BOY HE IS FIIINE. He was on like two episodes of teen wolf and I'm in love my heart hurts xx