back to you • lrh

49

Chapter 49:
"Bet she's feisty."

Eloise-Anne

Luke squeezes my hand a little tighter as he rings the bell. He insisted on meeting his parents. He wanted it so bad that there was no way I could possibly say no. Slowly but surely, the door opens. I am actually quite nervous. We've talked this through and he told me not to worry about it. If he loves me, so will they. We were thinking about going to my parents as well, but we both came to the conclusion that would make this the most emotionally draining day. We'll visit them another day.

"Lucas!" His mother says excitingly. I bite my lip when I hear the name. I never knew his full name was Lucas. This way I can tease him the way he teased me with my full name.

"Hey mum," he says, hugging the tinier woman in front of him. I smile at the picture my eyes capture.

"Who's that girl you brought with you?" I hear her whisper. "She's pretty." I feel my cheeks flush at the words and patiently wait until they break their hug. "Come in, come in!" She says motioning that we should come in. She walks back into the house and Luke looks back at me, reaching out his hand. I grab his hand and inhale deeply.

"Do your brothers also live here?" I ask him. I know he has two brothers, but I have no clue if they live on their own or not. They are older,  but that doesn't have to mean a damn thing.

"No, but I did ask them to come over." He says casually. I feel my heartbeat pulsating. "Speaking of the devils." He looks over me which makes me turn around and see two other blonde, tall figures. They definitely are brothers, there's no doubt about that. They hug each other and a smile creeps up my lips. Before I can even say a thing, such as a proper hello or introduction, Luke has dragged me inside. I can feel how his hand has become more sweaty and shaky.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He nods and looks around. "I'm going to introduce myself, how about you just breathe for a moment." I chuckle. He nods and I walk into the living room, finding the lady from before and an older man. "I'm Eloise, Luke's girlfriend," I tell him, their jaws almost drop.

"Girlfriend you said?" The man asks. I nod to the question and reach out my hand to them.

"It's nice to finally meet you." I smile.

"I'm sorry, come again? Luke has a girlfriend?" His dad asks. I nod at him.

"Did I hear that correctly? You're little Lucas' girlfriend?" One of his brothers smirks. Is it such a big deal that he does? Was I not what they expected? Do I even reach their expectations? "I'm so sorry," he apologizes. "I suppose you know about Heather?" His father asks me, and I nod. "We never really thought he'd get a girlfriend after... her."

"It's only a good thing, Andrew." His mother says. "Please excuse me for his manners. I'm Liz and this is Andrew." I want to shake her hand, but she pulls me in a hug. I can't help but smile. "And that's Jack and Ben, Luke's older brothers." A smile grows on her face. "I'm happy Luke has found himself a girlfriend. Can I get you something to drink, some tea perhaps?"

"I'd like that, thank you." I smile at her. I notice how Luke still hasn't walked into the living room and walk back to find him, sitting on the stairs, his hands in his hair. "Are you okay?" I ask him, sitting down beside him. He exhales deeply and lets his arms fall. "Luke, talk to me."

"It's just," he says softly. "The last time I brought a girl."

"It's Heather, I know," I tell him. "It's okay to still think about her," I tell him.

"I never expected it to be so hard," he mumbles, a crack hearable in his voice. I lift my head up to see tears rolling down his face. I have never seen him this way. "I just wanted you to meet my parents, I forgot all about her and now that I'm here it keeps on playing in my mind. My parents hated her." He chuckles. "She tried really hard, but she was always dressed in black and her image was just not something my parents.. liked." I wipe away a tear from his cheek while I listen to his story. "She always had a very strong opinion which led to several arguments in this house. My parents told me I should break up with her, that she was nothing good to me. After all, she wasn't. She made me happy and I truly loved her, but after a while, you start to notice small flaws. Especially when other people point them out." Another tear rolls out of his eyes. "I just never got to say goodbye, I didn't even get to go to her funeral. Her parents also didn't want us together and they gave me another date." He breathes deeply. "So I stood there in front of the building to get told that it was the day before."