Second Chances: Chapter 12
#1 of Ar
Hey guys... sorry it's been such a long time, I've just been SUPER busy with RL... RL sucks sometimes lol. Well here's chapter 12, let me know what you think please.
I awoke lethargically, in that first disoriented and groggy state that seems to plague me every morning. Slowly my dulled senses came back one by one, the slight taste of salt from my dried tears, the smell of myself in the linens, the blurred angry red alarm clock that screamed 5:46 A.M. at me, and the sound of nothingness. That's what scared me most about my parent's home there was a certain feeling of loneliness that slowly consumed you, devouring you slowly, bit by bit, piece by piece until you were left as hollow as the rest of the house. It was that special combination of the just too big bed, where I could never quite learn to sleep in the middle of, and that silence. The cold silence that was what chilled my heart, and let my mind dwell on the failures I couldn't seem to shake. I shook what I could, flipping my head back and forth, which seemed to only extend to my lethargy. Tossing the disheveled covers back onto the untouched left side of my bed I swung my foot paws out of bed right, and then left. A slight cold breeze ruffled my fur, and brought my attention to what had disappeared, namely my door, and that slight recognition let my life come crashing down on my emptiness. The tides of yesterday and the renewed thoughts of Luke started to wash away the gaping hole in my heart that Luke was starting to fill. A small joy to cover the expansive emptiness.
A smile cracked the morning ice of my expression, this smile made even more impressive, though slight, as it seemed to pull at the fur that was matted downs from my tears last night. The tears I seemed to cry every night, but this time there were less. How could there not be? Finally I shifted all my weight to my foot paws and stood up; walking forward on creaky knees I made my way to the bathroom and started the shower. A change of pace was needed. Yes. Today was going to be about change. A day of looking up thanks to Luke, I wonder if he knows how deeply he has affected me, hell I'm even taking a warm shower in the morning today instead of my usual cold one. The cold showers, I had rationalized, woke me up but they also made me tense, today I just wanted to relax, hopefully in Luke's arms. Luke's warm arms, that's what the water helped me fantasize about; Luke's warmth. Not just in his body but the warmth that seemed to permeate his entire being. I went through the motions of my shower in a daydreaming state and went about my morning routine in much the same half conscious way. Well the exception of not having a door threw me a bit but I recovered quickly. Being naked to change into my school clothes didn't bother me nearly as much as I had anticipated, who was home to see? Nobody there except for the ghosts of the past and my dark friend emptiness, someone who I wasn't accustomed to ignoring but Luke's acceptance of me made ignoring him all the easier.
Another change, instead of skipping breakfast I'll grab a piece of fruit, it's healthier and the irony is just enough to make me roll my eyes at myself without gagging. A small smirk played its way across my face; I believe it was Shakespeare who once said that puns were the highest of all humors. Today was going to be a good day. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, snatched an apricot from the fruit bowl, and grabbed 'the list'. 'The list' was a list of chores that seemed to appear whenever my parents were mad at me, or if they felt I had done something wrong and I had deserved punishment. Despite this fact my father insisted that this list was just a duty that I had as a proper member of this family, and was most certainly not punishment. I've given up on arguing the point, my sway being less than nil over him; I honestly hadn't even felt the need to start the conversation. I locked the door on my way out and began the trek down the dirty white concrete of the sidewalk to school. Even though I was without my usual car I had regained all my strength from the hospital and the walk was not nearly as unpleasant as the day before, especially when I heard the quiet hum of an engine slow down next to me and a voice I knew all too well wafted over to me.
"Hey there stranger, want a ride?" Luke called out softly. I had to steel my knees to keep from falling; his words came to me as if each syllable were carried to my ears by angels.
"I dunno, my mommy taught me never to accept rides from strangers," I replied beaming and speaking perhaps a bit too loud for the early hour in the neighborhood.
"Well if you insist," Luke began and let his voice drift off, rolling up the window on his passenger side window slowly and letting out an exasperated sigh. I couldn't keep up the playful act any longer, my yearning to be with him, as close as possible to him, in every possible moment overwhelmed me to a point where I had to restrain my sprint to a brisk few steps to the car door. I opened the door and Luke chimed merrily with a brilliant sparkle in his clear sky blue eyes, "I thought you didn't take rides from strangers?"
Admittedly I had expected a response like this from him so I had prepared my reply, "well how am I supposed to resist when you offer me things as sweet as you," I spun these words hoping they didn't sound too rehearsed, hoping he would feel a little bit of that special warm cotton candy in the pit of his chest that just talking to him made me feel. He just smiled lightly at me and responded, "Is that all I need to do to get someone as cute as you to take a ride with me babe? Because if so I'll bring candy next time." I giggled as I plopped down in the passenger seat and pulled the passenger door closed and buckled my seatbelt. I slowly and deeply inhaled that scent that was so uniquely Luke, the mixture of heavily scented apple shampoo and Luke's light musk made me shiver slightly. I froze, a bit. We weren't moving yet. Why weren't we moving yet? I looked nervously over to Luke and found him staring at me, which caused me to blush heavily. Did he see me take in that deep breath of him? Was that weird of me? Oh no, he probably thinks I'm some sort of freak now.
Blank. My mind went blank for a moment. It was then I began to register what was going on, Luke was kissing me lightly and I was just sitting there like an idiot. As soon as I realized I began to push back softly murring into the kiss and time itself evaporated in the heat of Luke's lips. Clouds were jealous of the softness of his lips, I'm sure of it.
"S-sorry," Luke blushed lightly, "I just couldn't resist babe, you're just so cute sometimes."
"'Luke, you are the last person in the existence of the universe that should ever apologize to me for a kiss," I said as firmly as I could, even though Luke had just turned my body to some odd mixture between Jello and pudding.
"Thanks babe," Luke said softly, and then he turned to drive the short distance to the school.
"Ya know I think I really need to get crackin' on finding a sweet pet name for you too," I said to him with a smile. "What do you mean?"
"Well," I started, "you always call me 'babe' so I was beginning to think it was like your pet name for me. Which," I had to cut him off, "I love, I just need to find one befitting of you."
Luke smiled and kept his attention on the road, "so, what did you have in mind? I can be your brainstorming buddy," he chuckled and gave me a wink when we pulled into the relatively empty parking lot of the school.
"I don't know, there's just so much about you I love, I just wish I could find a name that was personal and had meaning, and I want you to like it of course."
"Wow," Luke said as he pulled into a spot and turned off the engine to his focus, now able to turn his attention to me fully, "now I feel bad for using 'babe', I didn't put nearly as much thought into it as you are into me."
"I love babe though!" I exclaimed in a half whine, instilling the other half of the tone with conviction, "I just want you to love it as much as I love it when you call me babe."
"Alright, alright," Luke chuckled, throwing his paws up in a faux surrender to my proposal, "I guess the least I can do is tell you which one I like the best." I smiled at his willingness to let me call him a pet name.
"Don't laugh, but there's so many I thought of I think I may as well of just wrote a book of names," I mentioned shyly, embarrassed at my own inability to make a firm decision on something as simple as a pet name.
"Well now ya gotta tell em all to me, you have me super curious," he smiled that brilliant smile at me. He knew I couldn't resist his smile in a million years, forget years I couldn't resist his smile in a million lifetimes.
"Fine, but I'm leaving the best for last," I winked at him and he let out another soft chuckle. At least I was keeping him happy enough to chuckle, which alone was worth more to me than anyone could ever imagine. "Ready?"
"Yes! Yes!" Luke excitedly said, with a certain amount of impatience that comes from being teased with information.
"Ok... Pup?"
"Too submissive,"
"I thought so too... Darlin'?"
"kinda strange... I don't think it suites you,"
"Yeah, you're right. Besides, my favorite is 'sugar'"
"Sugar?"
"Yeah, because you're such a sweet person, if I could compare you to anything it would be... well... sugar." I looked down at the floor of his car, slightly embarrassed by my cheesy nature but it was at the moment when my cheeks had reached a light blush that I felt Luke's paw on my chin. Gently bringing my gaze up to meet his, I felt the other thing that was so sweet about him brush lightly against my lips as he gave me another one of those shallow kisses. His kisses always sent me in a torrent of emotion, so soft that they left me wanting more, so passionate it made me whine, and so unexpected it left me with a constant feeling of butterflies just in anticipation of when the next one would come.
"I love it," he whispered in my ear.
"What?" my dazed response came, I was still lost in the kiss he had just pulled away from.
"The name silly, I love it." I beamed; proud I had found a decent name for my idol.
"I'm glad," I paused and moved my maw close to his ear so I could whisper to him, just as he had to me, "Sugar." An even bigger smile came when I saw a slight shiver come from the back of his neck. It was probably just the feeling of my breath against his neck that made him shiver but I'll let my imagination tell him it was the words not the physical that made him do it. That was when he pulled back and looked at me in the eyes before planting a solid kiss on my lips, I couldn't help but return it. My world began to spin again, but not that sickening spin you get from sitting on a whirling ride for too long no it was that pleasant spin where you just can't seem to focus and everything goes soft. It was like a special electricity that was passed through his lips and traveled through my body, its mission being simply to warm my heart. It was doing a fantastic job as my body turned to gelatin once more, but there was an odd sense of invigoration too. It was my first make out session with the guy of my dreams and all I could feel, see, smell, and taste was Luke. Total immersion in such a thing was dangerous for the concept of time and perception of the things around you, especially noted when a loud rapping came from Luke's window breaking us to apart and causing me to make a small yip of surprise. The rapping came again and I looked out the passenger window to see Ruppin and Monroe
So this chapter was majorly lacking in character development and depth of plot... at least it was cuddly I guess