Thalia sat at the edge of the beach and dipped her bare and callused feet in the salty ocean water. She closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands. She never knew how hard this could be, running away. It was just so hard living on her own. She just couldn't take it anymore. Tears streamed down her face and she began to bawl.
"Hey, I'm done with the shelter!" Luke called excitedly. He then glimpsed at her face and his expression darkened. "Thalia," he spoke, his tone full of sorrow. "What's wrong?"
She sighed and looked up at him, choking on her tears. "Luke, can I please just be alone?"
He sighed coldly. "Fine!" he spat. "Every time I accomplish something, you're too sad about yourself to even care!"
Her eyes were full of anger now, the tears still falling. "Luke, please! You have no idea what I'm going through! You have no idea how hard it is!"
"Thalia, stop! Just stop! At least your mother isn't suffering from insanity! Stop making a big deal out your petty little problems!" he shouted angrily at her.
Her eyes were now becoming swollen and scarlet from her tears that continued to fall. "Don't you dare call my problems 'petty,' Luke Castellan! I really doubt that yours is an alcoholic for heaven's sake!"
She sunk to the ground and buried her face in the white, grainy sand. Her stormy blue eyes kept filling up with tears and endlessly flood the rough texture of the sand.
Luke's eyes immediately were filled with sorrow and regret. "Thalia," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't know. You never…You never told me."
"Well it's not really a topic that comes up in conversation," she said cruelly.
"Thalia," he repeated softly as he crouched down next to her. "I'm sorry. I regret what I said. Please, Thalia, forgive me."
"No!" she told him seriously as her tears overpowered her.
"Please."
She looked up at him mournfully pursing her lips. The sorrow in his eyes didn't lie. She could tell that there was pure honesty coming straight from his heart.
"Okay," she sniffled. "I'm sorry, too. It's just been really hard on me lately, you know. I thought that running away would be easy. We could just do whatever we want, be reckless and wild, but I was wrong. It's so damn hard. There's nowhere to live; you practically have to find everything on your own. It's just so…difficult."
"Well, remember this: you're not alone, and you never will be."
That was all she needed to hear. Reassurance filled her mind, and she felt so relieved that Luke was saying this to her. She knew that she always had Luke, but as their friendship bond grew stronger, she felt closer to him, like they were more than just best friends. She turned to him, her eyes fiery with passion. "I love you."
His blue eyes lit up as soon as he heard those three words. "I love you, too."