The Runaways

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Go, go, go!" I yell to Luke.

Luke sticks the disc in the DVD player, hits play, then scrambles back toward my bed. He leaps onto the blue comforter, landing on top of me. My face is squished against the mattress under the blankets.

"Ugh! Luke! You're heavy!" I yell, though it's very muffled.

I feel him laugh from above me.

"What movie is this again?" He asks as gets off of me.

I prop myself on my elbows and uncover my head from the blankets.

"The Princess Bride," I say as I fix my hair, "I still can't believe you've never seen this movie! It's a classic!"

The beginning titles appear on the screen. Luke still stands on my bed, trying to find a place to sit.

"Come on, it's starting!" I grab his hand, pulling him to sit down next to/ on top of me.

Luke grabs the comforter and tugs it toward him, letting me receive a blast of frigid air from the air conditioner.

"Aha, no," I say as I plop down on my butt next to Luke's legs. "Share."

After a few seconds, he wraps the blanket and his arms around me. "Better?"

I just smile and move closer to him.

I've seen this movie a thousand times. I still love it.

It's hard to think that only two years ago I was living at Miss Hayes' Home for Girls, being bullied, crying all the time, and always so lonely.

It's a crazy comparison to today. I live in an apartment that's two floors above Jeremy. I'm taking online college classes, and I work at a coffee shop that's four blocks down the street.

An extremely cute boy happens to work there, too.

His name is Luke Dunham.

Are Luke and I serious?

We have a very steady relationship. I completely trust him with my life, and would love to spend the rest of it with him.

So I'm happy as can be.

I actually never thought that I could be this happy in my life. My dad calls every month or so, and I appreciate it. He's gotten so much better, and I'm so proud of him.

I also turned 19 last week.

Luke showed up at my door that morning with a tiny, fuzzy puppy.

Too adorable.

Both of them.

"Margo! Come here, girl!" I call to the little ball of fur curled up on the floor.

She raises her floppy ears, stands up, then clumsily runs up to the bed. After a few failed attempts of jumping up to me, I just lean down, pick her up, and set her in my lap.

Luke seems to like the movie. His arms are around me, keeping me warm. During one of the funny parts of the movie he laughs, making me and the bed shake.

He now thinks that it's absolutely hilarious that my bed squeaks.

I don't get it.

About half-way into the movie, he kisses me on my cheek.

You know, I still get butterflies in my stomach whenever he does that.

The large window in my apartment lights the room better than any overhead light could. Every once in a while I glance outside, because I remember that I can always see the sun disappear perfectly over the Atlanta skyline.

Eventually, the beloved movie ends.

"Okay," I smile, turning to Luke, but being careful of the sleeping Margo still in my lap, "Did you love it? Or did you love it?"

He shrugs, "I dunno."

"Are you serious?! Did you even pay attention?" I ask, pushing him.

Luke starts to laugh, "I'm just kidding! Just kidding!"

He picks Margo up from my lap. "I loved it," he says as he puts tiny Margo on her blanket by the door.

Luke and I sit on my bed and watch the sun move closer and closer to the skyline. Soon it's just barely shining over the tops of the dark buildings.

We sit and listen to music, talk about the most random and stupid things, and watch movies for hours.

Exhausted, Luke and I crash onto my bed after having an insanely serious pillow-fight.

"Hey," Luke says, his face smushed into a pillow.

"Huh?" I answer, rolling onto my back.

"You know I won, right?" He says, sitting up on his elbows to smile at me.

"Uhh... sure," I laugh as I sit up, "Whatever floats your boat."

Luke still smiles at me as I put my hair into a ponytail.

I glance at him. "What? Is there a piece of hair I missed or something?"

He shakes his head, still grinning. "No, I just think you're beautiful." Luke stands up and puts a few pillows back on the bed.

He is the cutest thing in the world.

"You're so sweet," I say as I stand up and kiss him. "Wait, it's almost midnight. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

He looks at the floor. "Yeah, but.. I have a quick question for you."

He gets down on one knee.

"Skyler?"

Luke pulls something out of his pocket.

I'm frozen, my hands covering my mouth.

"Would you please marry me?"

My eyes fill with tears.

He opens a small box, holding a single diamond on a gold band inside.

I nod. I nod over and over and over as he puts the gorgeous ring on my finger.

So many things were said that night, but I will always remember one specific phrase that Luke said.

"I love you so much," I had told Luke as I hugged him.

He had let me go, and replied, "But I loved you first."

And that is the story of two runaways.