The Plan | l.r.h

thirty-five

Luke's POV

After my reflection in bed this morning, I realized that Ryan may be feeling conflicted because before last night, Sam was just a person from my past who probably didn't even exist to Ryan. But now that Sam's been found, I think it's starting to hit her that Sam is a real person. Also, Ryan doesn't know that I realized I never was in love with Sam, so she is probably thinking that I might be conflicted, which is not the case at all. So, I decided I needed to have that conversation with Ryan, but I'm not sure where to begin.

After Ryan and I laid in bed for about 15 minutes, she turned over and got out of bed. By the look on her face, I could tell that she had something on her mind, so I figured it was probably everything with Sam. Hell, she probably feels like, now that Sam is a real person to her, that she is living in a place where Sam would have been had she not gone missing. I waited about 15 minutes for Ryan to do her morning bathroom routine, and then when she went straight into the walk-in closet to get changed, I slipped into the bathroom.

When I was done, I grabbed a plain blue t-shirt and some black skinny jeans, changed, and headed downstairs. Ryan was by the Keurig making herself a cup of coffee. I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and placed my lips in the crook of her neck.

"I love you," I mumbled against her skin. She gently placed her hands on mine and released herself from my grip. She turned to face me and there was a sad look on her face. Her eyes were clouded over and I could tell she was having a hard time. "What's wrong?" I asked with complete concern. I realized now more than ever I needed to tell her my thoughts and where I stood with Sam.

"I think you should maybe go to dinner with Samantha. You know, see how she's doing and catch up." The look on her face made it obvious that this was something that was hard for her to say. "I just... I need you to be sure, is all. It would be wrong of me to dismiss your past and your possible neglected feelings."

"Ryan, I don't need to..."

"Maybe not, but I need you to." She looked up into my eyes and I knew that this was something I had to do. I not only had to tell her about my reflection and revelation, but I also had to tell Sam tonight at dinner.

"Okay," I agreed. She nodded her head and hesitated, before stretching up to kiss my cheek. Then, without a moment's pause, she trotted back upstairs with her coffee in hand to get ready for work in an hour.

☆

Ryan's POV

It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I needed to. I needed Luke to go to dinner with Samantha, so that they can catch up and he can know for sure whether his feelings for her are in the past. If they're aren't, then the wedding can simply not go through. It was easy for me to pretend that Samantha didn't exist when she was still missing, but now that she's back, it would be immoral for me to blindly ignore the fact that she's here again. Luke and Samantha need to move on if this wedding is going to go through and they can't do that if they don't sit down together and talk everything through.

This day at work was probably one of the worst days I've ever had. It was clear that my heart wasn't in it and that my head was elsewhere. Luckily, I didn't mess up any of my clients hair, but I did feel bad because to them it probably seemed like I couldn't care less about their problems. See, hairdressing is half the time doing someone's hair and the other half being the client's therapist. I don't ever want my client's to feel like I'm bored or I don't care or I would rather be doing anything else than talking to them, but I was just so distracted that I just couldn't focus.

"Ryan!" Amy yelled, waving her hand in front of my face. "Girl, where have you been? I've been talking to you while you've been folding hair towels for the past 20 minutes and you haven't said a word."

"Amy, I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on." I apologized, bringing my head back into the real word and away from my thoughts.

"I know, hun. I heard about the trial, that must have been so hard and I'm sorry." She gave me a hug and I almost felt tears threatening to fall. "Now, when the hell were you gonna tell me about that ROCK on your finger?!" I laughed and explained the proposal, in vague details, to her. She was very excited and I promised her she would be at the wedding.

☆

At 5p.m., I waved goodbye to everyone and walked out to my car to head home. I was lucky that the drive was pretty short because I wanted to catch Luke before he left to go meet Samantha. I needed him to know I love him before he went to see her, especially after how distant and cold I was this morning.

When I opened the door, I called out for Luke, but he wasn't there. My heart sank a little bit knowing he left before I could get home. I walked in and placed my bag on the table and I noticed an envelope sitting on the counter with my name written on the front. I opened it and saw that it was a handwritten letter from Luke. Before I could even start reading it, my stomach dropped.

The only reason he would write me a handwritten letter was if it said he was leaving me for Samantha. My worst nightmare.