chasing stars || lrh

epilogue

luke moved on.

after her death, he truly thought of jumping in front of a moving car and have his life taken away the same tragic way estrella's life was robbed. but he had a lot of people who cared for him and who watched him carefully. the suicidal thoughts eventually drifted away, and that's when luke knew that time would make his broken, aching heart bearable to live with. he didn't know it at the time, but there was another lover waiting for him.

luke moved on.

the same year of her death, luke went to the college he had planned to go to since he was a sophomore. he studied to become an engineer, and along the way, he met renae. they dated for a couple of years, and luke was in love with her. he ended up proposing. when she said yes, she had shed a few joyful tears. luke felt extremely happy, too; last time he felt this euphoric was in the beginning of senior year, when he had asked estrella out on a date, and she had said yes.

luke moved on.

a few days before their wedding, renae had finally gathered the courage to ask luke what the star tattoo on his chest symbolized. the question caught luke off guard as faded memories of her swooped in his mind and seemed to flash before him. his breath was caught in his throat, and he felt a pressure in his chest as his thoughts clouded. everything felt like it was crashing down, and suddenly trying to breathe and trying to think became painful. it was an intense short and long moment. the pain finally dulled, and he was able to state numbly and coldly that the tattoo really didn't mean much besides the fact that he loves the brightest star. renae didn't question it; she could tell that he wasn't lying, and she smiled.

"oh, so the star sirius?" she liked stars, too. he only shook his head as he glanced at her innocent and sweet face. and suddenly renae wanted luke to show her the brightest star, so that she could love it as much as he did.

luke moved on.

the day before their wedding, luke was so estactic and so jumpy. he couldn't wait to get married. if he could've, he would have married renae right then and there. he smiled all day that his cheeks began to hurt at the end of the day.

maybe it was irrational, but that night, luke snuck out of the shared apartment while renae was sound asleep. he bought a typical small bouquet of red roses; he had picked the freshest and newest looking ones just for her. he drove straight to the graveyard where estrella slept (he liked thinking about it in that way). he laid the roses in front of the tombstone, and he layed down next to it. he could just barely see the fading memory of when he gave her the roses on valentine's day, and how she buried her nose in them; he sadly smiled at the blurry thought. he stared up at the skyful of stars and wished on each and every one that estrella could just wake up. he began to talk to her as if she was lying down next to him. luke talked about how he was getting married in a few mere hours and how happy he was. he talked about how renae was like and how she made him smile. how if estrella was still breathing and alive and well, she would've liked renae. the two could've became best friends. as luke kept on talking, he started to cry. it started off as just a few happy tears that had slipped, but they quickly turned into heartwrenching sobs of how much he missed her. loved her. the broken pieces of his heart still needed mending. luke repeatedly cried out 'i love you', in hopes that she would come back and love him the same way he still loved her.

luke moved on.

luke and renae had finally bought a house. it was kinda small, but they weren't planning on having too many kids. it had a nice small deck that overlooked a pond and lots of trees; it gave the backyard privacy from nosy neighbors. luke developed a liking to the deck. every night he would sit alone on a deck chair with a cup of coffee in his hands. he would sip the coffee every once in a while as he thought about the past and future. one warm summer night, the married couple had returned home from a dinner date. luke made some instant coffee and walked out to the deck, fumbling with his wallet. he was trying to put it his back pocket, but he was so concentrated on testing how hot his drink was when he dropped the wallet. he groaned and set his mug on the little table next to his chair and crouched down to pick the wallet up. he noticed that an old, creased photo had fallen out. he also picked it up and examined it closely; his lips twitched as a smile tried to make an appearance. he had forgotten about the picture he had carried everywhere. the picture was from his and estrella's first date. estrella had shamelessly asked if she could take a picuture with him, saying that she knew it wouldn't be the only one. he could still remember how she smiled so big and so bright, staring into her phone's camera and how he couldn't help but turn his head and stare at her. estrella had noticed he was staring at her, so she turned her head a little, a question in her eyes. that's what the camera captured; luke staring at a smiling estrella as she looked back at him. he remembered how she took another one where they both actually looked at the camera and smiled, but he personally thought this one was better. even in a photo, you could clearly see the way luke looked at her like she was the most precious star; his jaw had dropped a little in awe, and his stare screamed of adoration and infatuation. you could clearly see how in love he was with her before he had even known it.