Oceans Away || lrh [sequel to skht]

twenty

m a e

After Luke had asked her to be his girlfriend, the two of them sat in her backyard for hours, just talking and laughing as if they've been together for an eternity. Which in reality, it felt as if they they truly have been. Whenever Mae is with Luke or whenever she simply thinks about him, she can't help but smile the biggest smile imaginable.

She's happy with him, and she never wants to lose him.

As she lays in bed reminiscing on the night's events, she suddenly has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach — what if she does lose him? What if all of this is just like before, a dream that she'll wake up from at any moment?

She quickly sits forward and looks intently at her arm. After a moment, she pinches herself, once, twice, three times. Then another. And another.

It's not a dream, Mae, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, Luke's words resonated in Mae's mind, calming her.

It's not a dream. It couldn't be.

She's drawn from her thoughts by the sound of a buzzing coming from underneath her leg. She quickly grabs her phone to see an incoming FaceTime call from none other than Luke.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling instantly as his face came onto the screen.

"Hey, beautiful." He smiled just as wide as her, causing butterflies inside her stomach.

It's almost as if he could sense that something was troubling her.

His deep blue eyes stared intently through the screen as she failed to communicate back to him.

"Are you okay?" His question hung in the air as she thought long and hard about it. Honestly, she wasn't okay, but how could she tell him that? It's only been a few hours since he asked her out, and now she's acting like a crazy person. The last thing she wants is to scare him off. However, she can't help but worry that this isn't real.

"Tell me what's wrong. Please."

The concern etched into his perfect features made her heart melt. He wants to know and she needs to tell him. Besides there shouldn't be any secrets between them, right?

"I'm just worried," she began, slowly easing herself in, "It was all a dream before, and I can't handle that again. I was so sure it was real — all of it. Everything just felt so genuine and unique and I fell so fast, but in the end it was all a lie. My mind created this perfect relationship with the perfect guy and then it ripped it right from under me, without any warning."

Her rambling finally came to an end, and all she could think of was that she said too much. She shared her most vulnerable state, and now all she wanted was to take it back. To rewind the past three minutes as if she were in a movie.

Luke looked at her with a sincere look as he took in all she had to say. He waited a few moments, curious if there was more to come, and once he realized she was finished, he began.

l u k e

"I've never been lucky enough to have such vivid dreams — I guess my imagination is broken or something," he chuckled, "so I know I can't tell you that I've felt that way or that I know what you've gone through." He glanced away for a moment, composing his next thought, making sure he wasn't sounding like a complete idiot.