submerged » l.h {FINISHED}

3.1 » let it happen again

"It was just like any other day," Luke whispered, shaking his head once, his eyebrows screwing up as he looked into Kaity's eyes as if he were asking her a question that didn't have an answer. "We were going surfing after school, and everything was going fine until the swell started to get bigger"

"Jenna insisted that she get one last good ride in before leaving," he said. "I should have stopped her, but I wanted to see if she could ride the bigger waves we always talked about."

Luke took a settling breath, his eyes flashing away from Kaity's again. "And I watched as she dropped in, but the wave was too powerful for her and she went under," he explained, capturing his lip between his teeth. "And I waited and waited for her to come back up, but she never did. And I know that I should have done something – I should have gone in and tried to help her, but I didn't and I just couldn't let that happen again!" Luke exclaimed, his words jumbling together as he talked faster.

Kaity reached up, cradling his face with the palm of her hand, her thumb smoothing over his cheekbone. "Hey, hey," Kaity cooed, his eyes flashing up to hers. "You can't blame yourself for this. You were just a child, there wasn't much that you could have done," Kaity said, even though she knew it wouldn't change what was already done.

"I know," Luke said, his eyes now shimmering with unshed tears. "But I could have done something other than just stand there, waiting for her to come back up. I could have screamed for help, I could have ran and got someone," he sniffled.

Kaity rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone again, wishing that she could make all his pain go away. "She died, Kaity. She lost her life because of me," he continued, his face contorting into one of pain.

"She did not die because of you," Kaity said sternly. She didn't know what was rising up inside her, but she hated the way Luke was talking. "She died because of that wave. She didn't die because you didn't help or because you didn't run and get someone. And even if you did, it still wouldn't have been your fault."

Luke stared at her with wide, wet eyes. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Kaity cut him off, not finished with what she was saying. "Because of her, you've saved countless other lives. You became a lifeguard so no one else would die. You saved me. You can't keep living in the past because you couldn't save her. You have to keep moving forward."

Luke went to speak again, but was cut off again. Only this time, it wasn't by Kaity, but her phone. It was blasting the power ranger's theme song and that could only belong to one person.

"Michael," Kaity breathed, her eyes flashing to the bedside table where her phone laid, vibrating and displaying Michael's name on the screen. Her eyes snapped back to Luke's, the tears from before gone. They were dark, like the sea just before a storm.

"Take it," he finally said, nodding towards her phone.

"Are you sure?" Kaity asked, biting down on her lip. She didn't want to leave Luke in the middle of their conversation, especially this one. But all he replied with was a simple, curt nod.

Kaity sighed, sitting back so she was no longer lying on his chest and grabbed her phone before it could go to voicemail. She slid off Luke's lap, pressing the receiver to her ear. "Hello?" She answered, watching as Luke flipped the covers up over his legs and scooted farther down beneath them, his legs stretching out behind her.

"Kaity Bug, I'm in love," Michael swooned, dragging out the last word.

Kaity couldn't help but laugh, knowing that he was in a seemingly good mood. "Okay, yes," Kaity shook her head. "I think we established that a long time ago, but is Neely in love?" She asked.

"She loved it," Michael answered. "And we worked everything out, Kaity. Every single thing. She loved the boat ride, my singing – everything," he almost sang.

"Good!" Kaity smiled, throwing a small glance over her shoulder to look at Luke. His back was turned to her, his arm rising and falling with his chest. Kaity hoped that he wasn't asleep yet because she really wanted to finish their conversation. "I take it you're a couple now, then?" She asked, turning her head forward again.

"You've always been the smart one in this friendship, Bug," Michael smirked, and Kaity almost squealed.

They talked for a little while more, just catching up before Kaity told him she had to go. Michael understood, knowing that she was with Luke and it was late. Kaity placed her phone on the bedside table before crawling underneath the covers, watching Luke's still frame.

"Luke," she whispered, her hand coming to rest on his upper arm. He hummed in response and Kaity only scooted closer to him, her lips pressed against his shoulder blade. "Luke, I'm sorry."

Luke shifted, flipping over so he was now facing her. His hand found her hip, pulling her to him. "Don't be sorry, Kaity. I just – can we finish this tomorrow? I'm tired," he said, his voice deep and tinted with sleep.

Kaity could see it in his eyes that he was telling the truth. Deep circles hung beneath his eyes and his usual bright blue color was now almost grey. "Of course," Kaity murmured back, reaching forward and pressing a soft, feather-like kiss to the tip of his nose. "I love you," she continued, her head falling against his bare chest.

"I love you, more," Luke simply replied, tucking his head above hers and letting his eyes fall shut.

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i'm sorry this is so short

i've been very busy lately and couldn't find much time to write

but hopefully you enjoyed this, now you know what happened to luke!