repercussions | l.h

TWO: SHE WON'T SAY IT

"You never answered my message," he said, looking at the shirt she wore. He couldn't help but notice it looked familiar, he was just trying to figure out why.

"Yeah, but I heard it," Nellie said, quietly.

Luke frowned when she said it, his hand clutching a stuffed bear he had brought for Gemma. Nellie glanced at it before he tried to hand it to her. It was one she had seen before, and truthfully had been looking for everywhere. She remembered when he had gotten it, too. The gift being one he brought while she was pregnant with Gemma.

He brought it because Nellie was having a bad week, hoping that the bear would remind her that all the pain she was feeling was worth it. Nellie couldn't really tell if it was an odd reminder from the universe of what it symbolized originally, or if it was literally just a gift for Gemma.

She looked at it for a moment, feeling a tightness in her throat at the thought before she pushed it back towards him gently, the action causing her fingers to touch his own. "You can give to her," Nellie said.

Luke nodded, stepping past his ex-lover a few seconds later when she moved out of the way. As she closed the door she heard Gemma squeal again, and when she turned around the little girl had her arms out towards him. Nellie couldn't help but notice that Luke was smiling like an idiot. It made her smile for a moment, too; but then it made her heart ache.

Luke put the toy on the counter before he took Gemma out of her height chair. It was a sight to see, and a feeling to thrive on. It was better than Luke had felt in a long time, and he truly couldn't wait to tell Michael about it. He smiled at her as he lifted her up, her little hands touching his cheeks as she giggled with him. Nellie opened the fridge as more guilt started to crawl up on her.

She stepped up behind Luke, touching his back softly as she placed a container on the countertop. Luke felt his heart skip a few beats at the feeling of her fingers. It was something that felt gently nostalgic in more ways than one, and the harder he thought about it the more it took his breath away.

"She likes blueberries," Nellie said. She opened them before she walked into her bathroom, Luke hearing her dig for God knows what. He held Gemma and handed her blueberries as Nellie did so. She took each one quickly, opening her hands towards her father as she chewed on one.

"Gem, I can't give you more until you finish that one," he said, the little girl scrunching her nose up at his word. He laughed slightly, handing her another one once she swallowed the one she had. Nellie came back in a few seconds later, climbing onto the counter with the help of a chair. Luke furrowed his eyebrows as she did it, watching her as she moved to sit right in front of him. "What are you doing?" He said.

"Gemma likes to pull hair," she said, leaning closer to him, "so I'm doing you a favor."

She pulled his hair up for him, not really thinking twice about the action. He didn't really mind, if anything it was making him forget why he was mad at her. She tucked back his stray hairs, smiling slightly to herself over the quick job before she leaned back on her knees.

"See," she said, "it's cute!"

Luke raised an eyebrow at her before she realized what she had said. The girl quickly cleared her throat before she pushed him back gently and hopped off the counter. Nellie didn't mean to say it, but now that she did she couldn't take it back.

Luke watched her as she tried to avoid what she had just said. It merely slipped, but Luke knew it wouldn't have slipped if it wasn't true. He leaned against the counter as she filled a glass of water for herself and a cup of juice for Gemma.

"So you like the hair?" He asked.

"I didn't say that," Nellie said.

"You said it's cute."