I'm back!!
Thank you guys SO MUCH for the reviews :P I guess my writers block is getting a bit better, however still there...
MauraFan228: They never split up, so they cant really get back together :P But I see how it might have looked like it...
Jenanis: Here, have some Luby time :P
Hope you guys had a nice christmas and New Years... The fireworks here in Copenhagen rocked as always :P
ENJOY!!!
Chapter 44 - Kiss It All Better
They had barely reached the top of the stairs before Luka pulled Abby into his bedroom and locked the door, quickly turning around to face her and placing his hands on her upper arms.
"Are you alright?" His tone was so different from what it had been less than a minute before. Much softer and much more caring. She just stared at him for a few seconds before slightly nodding.
"I'm fine." She felt like pushing him away, wanting to put up her thick wall, but couldn't find the willpower for it. So instead she just let him guide her to his bed where she sat down and started staring at her bitten down finger nails. "I'm sorry..."
"What?" His sharp voice forced her head to snap up so she was starring into his completely confused and surprised eyes. He almost seemed angry. "Why are you... What for?" She looked back down during his ramble, trying to recompose herself.
"I damaged things between you and Ni..." She was cut off mid-sentence by Luka's lips briefly brushing against her own.
"Abby," Shocked by his actions, although not in a bad way, she let him carefully lift her chin. Their eyes met, and for a short while they stayed like that until Luka placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Abby closed her eyes as his lips lingered on her skin, enjoying the feeling she hadn't even realized until now how much she was missing. She almost felt disappointed as he carefully retreated again. "You have nothing to apologize for."
She let her glance shift back towards the floor as he released his hand from her face. It was one of those awkward silences and she really felt the need to break it, but she never got a chance to say anything, not that she had any idea what to say, before she felt Luka's arms wrap around her. She winced slightly as his embrace came in contact with the still fresh'ish wounds on her back, but decided to just swallow her pride and leaned into him as she realized he had sat down next to her on the bed.
"So I was thinking," Abby looked up at him briefly as good as she could without having to move out of their currently very comfortable position. "Since it's weekend, want to disappear with me?" Confused, Abby was about to get up, but Luka tightened his grip on her, not letting her move. "I don't mean literally disappear, I just thought you might want to get out of here for a bit."
"I would." She grabbed the hem of Luka's shirt, absentmindedly running it through the fingers. "I'm going stir-crazy." A tiny smile forced its way to Luka's lips. He knew how much she hated being stuck somewhere, and that she'd probably do anything to be able to return to school. "But I have to go to the hospital tomorrow."
He let out a low, almost disappointed-sounding sigh. "It's only a quick check-up," She was trying to save the atmosphere in the room, not wanting to ruin the almost good mood they'd created. "We still have plenty of time when I get home. Or Sunday." She added the last part, knowing it probably wouldn't be as quick as she made it sound like. Going to the hospital meant tons of check-ups and 'psych-ward-appointments ' as they felt like to her, having to talk to the police and her shrink. Sure, it was Luka's mom, but she tried to only go completely psychiatrist on her during their 'sessions'.
"Is something wrong?" Luka was unusually quiet, and after a while the awkward silence had gotten to her. He just stiffened, but as Abby attempted to sit up he started gently stroking her side where a small piece of her skin had been exposed due to her shirt having rolled up a bit, surprised when she didn't automatically recoil.
"No." This time it was Abby who sighed, while rolling her eyes. It was obvious that he was holding something back
"Luka..." Taking a deep breath, he stopped the movement of his hand, not looking down although he could feel Abby staring at him.
"Okay, so there is this one thing which has been really bothering me." He felt Abby tense up momentarily, then relax a bit again as Luke let out the air he wasn't aware he'd been holding.
"Abby please," This time he looked down at her, once again amazed by the fact that she didn't automatically pull away or brake their eye contact. "Tell me the truth. Just this one time." He could see her taking a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm and not just back out.
"Why?" She looked confused, and he knew that if he wanted to ask her, it had to be now. "Why did you keep telling me you would be safe? Why did say he wouldn't come back?" She broke the connection, looking down in her lap.
"He wouldn't have." Her voice was low and weak and it was easy to hear that she didn't like thinking about it. Luka was about to cut her off after a short silence, about to ask her more questions connected to her answer, but was interrupted by her body slightly shaking as her hands started fiddling with one of her bandages. "But they called him, told him I hadn't shown up for work." She had barely even finished the sentence before Luka pushed her away, although still holding on to both of her arms so he could look at her.
For a while he just stared at her, unable to accept what she'd just said. He had been the one keeping her home, telling her not to go. He had forced her not to leave the house even though she had practically begged him. He had literally gotten her beaten up, almost killed. She had most likely known what was going to happen because of his actions. As if reading his thoughts, she started frantically shaking her head.
"Luka..."
"Oh God! You must hate me! I... I did this to you... I..." He was rambling, not really sure what about, and continued doing so until Abby pulled him out of his train of thoughts.
"No, Luka! Don't blame yourself! It wasn't your fault!"
"But it is." She was about to once again disagree with him, but before she could he continued. "We both know I would have never let you go, no matter what you said or how much you tried." She stayed quiet, biting her lip, knowing that he was right. But she wouldn't let him blame himself, she didn't blame him. She just didn't know what to say.
Closing her eyes she pulled out of his grip, which he willingly let her do, most likely thinking that he couldn't blame her for hating, maybe even despising him. But in stead of turning around or leaving him as he had expected her to do, she moved closer and leaned back into him. She still felt pretty uncomfortable by all the physical contact, but at the moment she was able to ignore it, knowing this was the only way to get Luka to realize that she didn't hate or blame him for anything, to show him that she trusted him.
"Abby..." He was taken aback by her actions but was near about to protest. Realizing he'd have to give up the fight, he sighed and once again rested his arm around a quiet Abby.
"So has he ehm... hurt you... many times because of me?" He felt her take a deep breath, trying to stall. "And please, don't lie."
"Luka..." He just nodded as she trailed off, even though he knew she couldn't see it. Sure, she hadn't said it straight out, but she hadn't denied it either. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." He couldn't really blame her for that and besides, he didn't really want to either. Carefully rubbing her arm he looked around the room, but as he noticed the clock on the wall he practically jumped out of the bed.
"Oh shit!"
"What?" Abby looked confused, almost scared at him. He just grabbed her hand and pulled her after him out of the room.
"I hadn't realized how long time we'd just been sitting there." She still just looked at him confused as he led her don the stairs, not knowing how to respond. "I promised my parents would start dinner since they got caught up at work." Abby couldn't help but let a small smile form on her lips as she watched Luka looking frantically through the fridge after having let go of her hand once they'd reached the kitchen.
"Damn! Half of the things I need are missing. I was supposed to go grocery shopping after I had dropped off my school stuff at home. How am I supposed..."
"Luka!" He stopped rambling as she placed her hand on his arm. "We'll just make something else."
"But..."
"You've got plenty of vegetables. Just chop them up and put them all on the pan. We can even add some of the mango and pineapple." He just stared at her, so she sighed impatiently.
"Wouldn't it be easer to just make some pasta then?" She rolled her eyes. Typical boys. They would probably live their entire lives without eating any fruit or vegetables if it was up to themselves.
"Fine. Let's make a deal. You'll make pasta and I'll do the vegetables. Then we can just add the pasta on the pan for a little while in the end." Luka seemed to be thinking for a little while, but then held out his hand.
"Deal." She once again rolled her eyes as she shook it. Boys! Shaking her head she once again opened the fridge to retrieve everything she needed, her and Luka's previous conversation forgotten for the moment as they instead just concentrated on getting the dinner ready.
"Ouch!" Abby jumped down from the kitchen counter as Luka quickly pulled his hand away from the stove.
"Let me see." He held his hand out and Abby carefully assessed the born on the side of his hand where he'd accidentally hit the burning plate. "It doesn't look too bad." He winced as she barely even grazed it with her finger. "Hold on a second." She left him standing in the middle of the kitchen as she grabbed a cloth and soaked it with cold water.
"I thought I was supposed to put it under the tab." Once again we winced slightly as she placed the cloth on his hand with a gentle grip. "Abby?" She was just looking down at their hands, being very quiet.
"I.." He could feel that she was uncomfortable, so he squeezed her hand as reassurance. And it must have worked, because she looked up, although she couldn't get herself to look in his eyes. "In my experience this works better. It makes it stop hurting faster." Luka just stayed quiet, not sure what to say. He couldn't really think of an appropriate respond, so he figured that none at all was better. "Anyways," She lifted the cloth to get a quick look at it. "It's small. It shouldn't even leave a scar." He just took a hold of the cloth himself as she went back to the stove to stir the pasta.
"Or maybe you could kiss it better for me?" Dropping the spoon into the pot she burst out laughing, a sound Luka had really missed. "What?" He sounded genuinely innocent, like he had absolutely no idea what was so funny.
"Luka, my brother grew out of that years ago!" Noticing the big smile on his lips she knew he had just been kidding. But of course he had, and she should have known that. She did know that, but where was the fun killing the jokes? "Sure, I'll kiss it." Before he had a chance of responding she'd removed the cloth and gently kissed the sore area, her lips leaving his skin much to quickly after his opinion. "All better?"
"Much." She gave him a smile before returning to food, pouring the pasta into the pan with the vegetables just as they heard Luka's parents enter the front door.
