A Lockdown to Remember

Chapter Twelve

After we got home, I got on my bike and rode straight to the Beckwick's house. I had to at least tell Mr. Beckwick. That would have been awkward.

When I got there, I rammed on the door as loud as I could. "Mr. Beckwick!" I shouted. "Luke!"

I was greeted by an angry-looking Mr. Beckwick in a face mask similar to the one I was currently wearing.

"Krystal, I told you to go home. I'm very busy right now-"

"Doing what?"

Then I heard a voice coming from the living room. "Kris, is that you?"

"Yea, Luke."

"Don't come in."

Uh oh. He already had it.

Mr. Beckwick seemed to know what I was thinking and he nodded.

Luke was going to die.

I started to cry, as I told Mr. Beckwick that I had it too.

His facial expression softened, and he stepped aside to let me into the house. Inside lying on the couch was Luke, covered in a blanket.

"Luke?"

"Hi, Kris."

"How are you?"

He laughed and smiled as if to say, "How good can I be?"

"Oh, right."

I stood there awkwardly holding back tears until I couldn't help it any longer. I bent knelt next to him and gave him the biggest hug I had ever given anybody, and I started sobbing into his shoulder.

"Luke, what are you going to do? What are we going to do?"

He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. "We are going to make the best of it. The very, very best."

His words reassured me.

Luke handed me an envelope. "When you go home," he said, "give this to your parents."

I wondered what was inside, but I didn't want to pry. I nodded and placed it in my very large hoodie pocket.

Mr. Beckwick walked away, giving us privacy.

"I bet you want to know what's in there, don't you?" He asked me, with a huge grin on his face.

"Obviously," I said, messing up his neatly combed dark brown hair.

"Guess what?" He said.

"What?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

I stuck out my bottom lip and crossed my arms, but the act only lasted for a few seconds before I burst out laughing.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said.

He sat up and pointed at the seat next to him, which I accepted. "Can I tell you something?" He said as he put his arm around me.

"Anything," I said, taking some of his blanket and wrapping it around myself.

"I really don't feel that bad. I mean, sure, it hurts a little when I laugh, or breathe too big. But that's happened to me before. My dad is just being super overprotective. There was this one time that he made me sit out soccer practice for two weeks because I said that my chest hurt. It makes sense, though.""What makes sense?"

"Why he's so overprotective. My mom died of something similar to the coronavirus, but much rarer. I can't imagine how freaked out he must be right now. He's lost his wife, and now he's going to lose his only son."

"Don't say that, there's still a chance. Right?"

He shook his head. "One percent."

"Oh."

"Yea. It hasn't really sunk in yet, though. I'm sure once it does, you'll be the first one to know."

I smiled and cuddled up against him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about what the future could have held.

"I'm sorry," I eventually said.

"For what?"

"For freaking basically giving you a death sentence, Luke. I'm the one who gave this to you, I know it. We spent every day together for the past month. Then I- well- then I kissed you, and that basically sealed your fate. I'm sorry," I said, burying my face in his shoulder again.

"Kris," he said, "don't be sorry. You shouldn't be sorry about anything. Don't blame yourself for something so out of your control."

"You're not mad?"

"How could I be mad at you? You're too breathtaking."

That was a not-very-smart choice of words, so I glared at him.

"Okay," he said, "I need you to go home and give that to your parents. I can't wait anymore."

"Fine," I said, "but only if you promise not to overwork yourself while I'm gone."

"Don't be my dad, we only need one of him," he teased.

I laughed and opened the door to leave. "Bye, Luke."

"Bye, beautiful," he said, as I shut the door.

I was grinning from ear to ear. He called me beautiful. Nobody had called me that before. Sure, I had been called cute, hot, and pretty. But never beautiful.

I loved him.