CHAPTER 3: How Do You Let Go?
Karen's face grew extremely pale as she began to come out of the state of shock she had been thrown into. Lucas shifted uneasily on his feet, and glanced at Andy, who was just as shocked as his girlfriend.
"W-what! Lucas…how could you keep this from me! How dare you lie to me!" She jumped to her feet and slapped Lucas hard across his cheek, then reached back to hit him again, but Andy intervened and grabbed her hand. Lucas' head remained turned and his eyes were closed in sadness. When he slowly turned back to look at his mother, tears were falling down his cheek. He sent a quick, grateful glance at Andy, who was still holding Karen to him tightly.
Lucas lat his sky blue gaze drop to the floor "Mom…I was scared. I didn't want to burden you any more than I already do. The medication was too expensive, I knew you'd feel like you needed to do something if I told you-"
"Lucas! You're my son! You've never been a burden! And of course I need to do something…because I love you and don't know what I would do without you. Hey," She pulled away from Andy and lifted her son's chin so he was looking into her eyes, now also filling with tears. "You mean more to me than anything…I'd do anything for you. Money doesn't matter when it comes to your health. But you have to tell me when something's wrong."
A sob escaped Lucas' throat, and he felt himself leaning down into her hand for comfort. Andy stepped forward, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm scared, Mom. What are we going to do?"
Andy quietly guided them to the back room, where Lucas and Karen hugged, both crying. He watched them for a moment sadly; still in slight shock that Lucas had the heart condition. He didn't understand why such a great kid had to go through so much pain. He'd been abandoned by his father, and grown up with a tight budget, to name a couple of things. But just looking at the mother and son, Andy could see that he'd been raised well. There was a fatherly protection that he felt towards Lucas, especially after he'd moved in with Dan and things had begun to get very complicated.
A sudden thought hit Andy, and he smiled. "I'll pay for the medication," he stated. Lucas and Karen both looked up at him in confusion, causing him to laugh. "I will pay for the medication…I have more than enough to pay for it."
Karen shook her head. "Andy, I can't ask you to do that for us…it's too much. We can figure something out."
Lucas nodded. "Yeah…even though I really appreciate it, Andy, the medicine costs a lot of money."
Andy shook his head, and stepped up to face Lucas. "Ever since I met your mother, I've just felt this uncanny…desire…to do anything for the both of you. Especially if it meant that it would help keep you safe and healthy. That's why I hired the investigator…because I had a feeling that I needed to protect you from Dan…even though I didn't know him." He shrugged. "I don't know what it is, but I can't-and don't want to-fight it."
Lucas' eyes filled with fresh tears, and he stepped forward and threw his arms around Andy's neck. The older man rubbed his back soothingly, and just held him as he cried. In that moment, they both felt a bond forming that resembled that of a father and son. Karen, who was standing back a few feet, stared at the two most important men in her life, and saw the same thing. In that moment, each of them realized that they were a family…
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The next day, Lucas packed his room and moved it back to his mother's house. As Lucas looked around the room, he remembered why he loved it there so much. It was more…him. He loved it more at his mothers, for obvious reasons.
"Luke?" a small voice asked softly from his door. He turned, and smiled sadly at the girl in his doorway.
"Hey, Crazy Girl. What're you doing here…I thought you'd be getting ready to leave. What're you doing over here?" He lifted a box off of his lap, and stood to face her. "Isn't your flight leaving in an hour?"
Brooke nodded, tears filling her eyes and despair marring her features. "I don't want to go, Luke. I don't want to leave you," she cried. He instinctively pulled her against his chest and held her close to him. She sobbed hard and her tears soaked his shirt, but all he cared about was her, and that she was there in that moment.
"There has to be some way for you to stay…you're not even done school. The year's almost over…how can they expect you to start over now? Oh, God, Brooke, this can't be it. It can't be over just like this."
And so they stood, holding each other as if they'd never let go. For how long, neither of them knew. But it didn't matter, because they both knew it was very likely that they would never see one another again.
"You have to go…you'll miss your flight," Lucas insisted heavy-heartedly. Brooke pulled away and stared into his eyes sadly, and nodded. "I'm going to miss you so much…call me as soon as you get there, okay?"
Brooke nodded, more tears slipping down her cheeks as she leaned into Lucas once more and then reached up to kiss his cheek tenderly. "Goodbye, Broody."
As soon as Brooke was out of the house, Lucas went to his mother desperately. "Mom, we have to do something…I can't just let her walk out of my life forever…there has to be something we can do." He thought as hard as he could, until his mother gasped, and looked at him.
"She could stay here! We have an extra bed downstairs. But she has to have permission from her mother first…"
"But she's on her way to the airport! How will she be able to get permission in time! I have to stop her. I'll be back…hopefully with Brooke…"
With that, Lucas rushed out to of the house and jumped into his car and rushed to the airport. Glancing at his watch as he ran into the building, he saw that he had about twenty minutes before the flight took off. "Just find her," he ordered himself. He took a quick glance at a flight board and saw that Brooke's flight was leaving from Gate 8C. Without hesitating, he took off in that direction, praying he wasn't too late.
"Brooke! Brooke!" he called as he ran, not seeing her gate for an achingly long time. When it finally came into view, he spotted her giving the attendant her ticket. "Brooke!"
Lucas breathed a huge sigh of relief when she turned to look at him, and stopped. The look on her face told him that she didn't want to see him again, but he just had to get her to stay. "Brooke…stay with me. We have room. Stay at my house. How am I supposed to let you go?" he pleaded, on the verge of tears.
The beautiful brunette before him took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. Tears slid like crystals down her cheek "Luke, please don't make this any harder than it already is. You know I can't stay…my parents are waiting for me in California as it is. I'm sorry…I wish it were different, but it's not. Just let me go…please." She started to turn back to the attendant.
"I love you, Brooke," Lucas blurted suddenly, surprising not only himself, but Brooke as well. She froze, and faced him again. He couldn't decipher the look in her eyes, but his heart pleaded that she loved him back. He'd laid his heart out in front of her. Now, she could either accept it, or break it.
"Lucas," she murmured, barely getting his name out before sobbing. She dropped her bags, and before he knew what was going on, she was kissing him with everything she had. His hands slid to the small of her back and into her hair, and let the kiss linger for a beautiful moment so that they could escape the pain of their reality, even if for a few fleeting seconds.
When they finally drew back, Brooke was crying. "Lucas, I love you too." Then she lifted her bags, and grabbed her ticket from the attendant. Before she walked through the gate to board her plane, she paused and turned back to Lucas. "I'm so sorry…but this is how it has to be."
Then she was gone.
Lucas felt his body grow limp with grief. He let himself fall to his knees, and then held his head in his hands. Tears fell freely from his eyes as he tried to comprehend that the woman that he loved more than anything had just walked out of his life for good…after telling him that she loved him too.
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Please don't hurt me or send me hate messages…do you really think I'd let it be over just like that? I think not! More will come soon I promise!
