Every Reason I loved her

Chapter 19

"You can be very impatient, you know that." She meets my eyes.

"I know." I hold the box out to her "please accept my gift, Lana." She looks at the box in my hand, holding the two necklaces.

"It's just a gift, right?" She asks "because you were thinking of me, it's not because you feel guilty about Heather or anything else, right?"

"I promise you, Lana, I got these because I saw them in the shop window and I knew you'd love them." I watch her, she considers me and then the necklaces for a moment before her usual smile crawls over her lips and she holds her hand out.

"Then I will accept your gift, Theo."

I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her with all my strength "you are the most amazing, kind, wonderful, thought person in the entire world, Lana." I press a kiss to her lips "never forget that."

She giggles and nuzzles me before she maneuvers me onto the couch so that I can hug her from behind while she pulls the necklaces out of the box.

"Here, put it on me." She hands me the necklace and lifts her hair. Her name is in an elegant script on the front and half of the message I wrote on the back. Lana has made me very good at necklace clasps although the cast did make it a little harder.

"You next." She pulls the necklace around my neck and clasps it.

"So..." she says sitting on my lap with her arms around my neck

"So..." I repeat, prompting her to continue.

"You do remember what today is, don't you?" she asks.

"Of...course?" It's not our anniversary, it's not a birthday, not that I know her real birthday. She rolls her eyes at me and holds my casted arm up.

"Cast removal day." She exclaims.

"Is that today?" I laugh.

She nods "now get changed, you smell like cheap beer and poor decisions." She hops off my lap, looking adorable as ever in her sweat pants and tank top. Her hair in knots all around her face.

"You know it's gonna stink, right?" I call after her. She's right, I do smell like cheap beer.

"You will shower until it doesn't." She calls back.

"Whatever you say, Lana."

****

The doctor walks in and I laugh as Lana bounces on her heels beside me. The doctor smiles at her.

"She's more excited than you are." The doctor chuckles as the nurse brings in the little saw.

"Alright, we'll get this off, get some new X rays and go from there, Mr. Bell." The doctor explained.

"Sounds good." Lana says for me, her hands on my shoulder. She looks cute in her teal tights and long sleeved mustard yellow dress. Very specifically mustard yellow because Lana spent way too long explaining to me the difference between yellow yellow and mustard yellow, for me to ever get it wrong again.

Lana is a ball of excitement as the nurses take me in and out and the X ray's come back. Lana squeals when the she sees the X ray.

"It's all better." She claps then throws her arms around my neck and smashes a kiss to my cheek. The doctor chuckles "you're a lucky guy, Mr. Bell."

"How's that?" I ask pulling Lana against my side with my un-casted arm.

"You have such a caring girlfriend."

Lana rests her head against mine "I'm the lucky one, he broke his hand protecting me from this jerk in the club."

"Noble." The doctor seems a little like he's mocking me but I don't care all that much. I'd never been the big guy, Alex always stuck up for me and I helped him in English class and write poems to woo his girlfriends. Although, Shaina makes him write them on his own now.

"Getting married anytime soon?" he asks, jotting things down on the chart. I open my mouth to answer him.

"In good time." Lana says with a smile. The doctor is almost surprised by her answer.

"Yep, that was my answer too." I lie. I was going to say yes. Lana takes my freshly freed hand and holds it between her hands as if she were holding something precious.

"I look forward to the invitation." The doctor chuckles and hands the clipboard to the nurse. "Alright, Mr. Bell, you're all set. Follow up if you experience any consistent pain."

"He will." Lana gives me a pointed look.

"I trust you will." The doctor and nurse ducks out and Lana clings to my freed arm as we walk out.

"Now no more doing that." Lana says as we make our way along the streets, it's getting colder out.

"Doing what?" I try to play it off. She cocks her brow at me and fists her hand on her hip.

"get hurt because of me." She says seriously.

"Lana..." I shake my head at her "if me getting hurt is the only way to save you I'm going to choose you over me every time."

Her eyes widen the slightest bit and she looks torn between her version of anger and a smile. "You..." she sighs and hugs my arm to her chest "you're too sweet and for someone so smart you can be so stupid."

It's possibly the meanest thing she's ever said.

"You would do the same, Lana." I lift her chin toward me "this." I tell her "us, it's all even. I love you and I trust you and I'd do anything to keep you safe and I know you'd do the same." She smiles and shakes her head.

"Are you gonna use that line in one of your stories, or have you already done that?" she asks.

"I haven't but now that you say that... probably."

"Which story?" She asks, allowing us to keep moving.

"Maybe a story I write about you." I kiss the top of her head.

"It wouldn't be very interesting if it was about me." She laughs "I like my life but it's not one that's very exciting to read or write about."

"You never know what people are going to like." I tell her. "I like your life too, by the way." She squeezes my arm tighter.

Lana's phone beeps, she checks it right next to me because she always does, she looks opens the text in full view. It's just a number at the top of the text. Lana freezes, staring at the screen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

"Who's that?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"It's not your birthday..." I look at her, but her hair is covering her face. "is it?" I nudge her the slightest bit, I don't want to scare her "Lana?"

"We should go home." Lana glances around as if she were looking for someone. As if she were trying to hide from someone.

"Lana," I pull her back into my arms "what is it, what's wrong." she pushes away from me.

"I want to go home, Theo." Lana's face is full of worry and maybe even fear. She's rarely actually afraid afraid of something. It's easy to forget she actually experiences any kind of negative emotion.

"Please, Theo, I want to go home." She tugs on my arm as if she were a little girl.

"Okay." I pull her under my arm. "we're going, do you still want to walk or take the subway?"

"Subway, I don't feel so well." She wraps both arms around my waist and half hides her face in my shoulder.

"Alright, Lana, we're going." I lead the way "but you have to tell me what this ia about when we get home, okay?"

She nods but her jaw is stiff her eyes are tight, she's nervous and she's lying, she doesn't want to tell me.

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