His Secret (l.h)

Chapter Thirty-One

May 27th 2022

Six days had passed since Luke had gifted her a new ring and Maeve showed it off to Eliza and the others. Maeve and Luke had also decided since the last few days that they had become tired of hiding. Luke knew secrets would not be kept forever, and sooner or later, everyone would know. But Luke wanted to take one step at a time.

So he took it upon himself to spend the day out with just Maeve. Liz was happy to take care of Elizabeth for the day and she even ushered the two out the door. Claiming that, Luke's break will be over before you know it. She was not wrong, that they both knew.

The two had decided to head down to the beach, the day was nice and weather was warm as they neared the beginning of June. Spring had practically come and gone. Maeve was excited to just the spend the day out with Luke, her hand tangled in his hair as he drove down the busy roads. The two would sing softly with the magic playing through the car.

Maeve wore a pair of black sunglasses, her hair down but she had a hair tie on her worst at the ready. A dress that can just be unbuttoned from the front, it was a black and gold pattern and transparent, her swimwear could be seen underneath. Luke had one hand on her thigh and one on the steering wheel as he pulled up to the car park.

The two stepped out of the car, Luke grabbed her hand as they met in the middle and walked down the pathway. California's sun beaming down on the two, they passed the little shops and looked at what was on show. Cultural foods were being made and the smell of the foods was delicious and Maeve hummed as they came to stand and watched a man make up Thai food.

The man moved two small bowls of food forward and nodded to them both. Luke looked down to Maeve and the two shrugged before taking bites out of one of the smaller bowls. Luke hummed with a closed smile, his eyes wide as he watched Maeve take her first bite.

Maeve closed her eyes and hunkered as she took another bite. "Thank you." Luke told the man and placed his hand on the back of Maeve and gently guided her towards the pier. The two shared the small bowl of food as they walked up the wooden steps.

Maeve grinned up at the sky as she watched the large gulls soar the sky, the sound of the waves splashing against the wooden pillars of the pier. The sound of the speedboats racing out, the faint screams of teenagers on the roller coaster. Luke's hand found hers as they walked along the pier and the strong smell of sea salt hits their faces, along with the sweet smell of popcorn and candy floss. Children ran along the sand screaming with a giggle followed after as their sibling chased after them.

As they reached the end of pier, Maeve bought a vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce on top, whereas Luke had gotten a chocolate chip vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce. They both leant against the bars as they stared out at the ocean. Everything was so blue, Maeve licked her lips as she stared ahead where it seemed that the ocean and the sky finally met. How both colours that were so close were very much different reminded her of Luke. The light blue that slowly merged with the dark. But in the dark blue of the ocean, there was that light colours of blue with a glimmer from the beaming sun.

A soft breeze brushed their skin and Maeve sighed softly, she placed her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist and enjoyed the blissful silence that somehow held so many words.

Luke shared some of his ice cream with Maeve for her to only scrunch up her nose. "It's okay. I prefer the basics. The caramel is nice, but the chocolate chip I'm not so sure." Maeve pushed back his hand and went back to her own. Luke only shrugged and carried on eating his.

"You just don't have taste." Luke sighed with a smirk and Maeve nudged his side gently with a small smile that played on her lips.

Time felt like it had slowed down since they had arrived at the beach, and two did not complain. Luke would tighten his grip around her at the thought of time. Time. Time is a funny little thing. Because you do not know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Maeve stared up at the sky and watched the little clouds slowly move across the blue sky. Luke lifted his head watched with her, a smile found itself on his lips before he turned his head towards Maeve and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.