Rebecca finished the last finishing touches on her beachy painting. She had been drawing that all day and now the sun was setting and the lights were on. She was almost done when the door was being knocked on and it opened to reveal Rocco.
"Go away," Rebecca said, adding just a little bit more dark blue to the skies and the beach. She dabbed some more green on the summery palm trees that she loved and some more purple on the hibiscus.
"That looks amazing," Rocco told her. His black dress shoes tapped against the tiled floors of their parents' large home and Rebecca rolled her eyes.
"What part of 'go away' don't you understand?" Rebecca asked.
"Touchy touchy. Why, Luke won't sleep with you because you've got your period?" her obnoxious brother snickered. Rebecca stayed quiet. That wasn't the problem. She was bored, she wasn't working because her mum thought she was sick. But she knew now, it wasn't sickness she was fighting.
"Where's Priscilla, or the other one?" Rebecca asked.
"Home," Rocco, "Don't change the subject."
"Was there even a subject?"
"No. I want to talk to you. It's been a long time Hēhita."
"Have you been speaking with Taua lately? You don't speak Māori unless you've been talking to her."
"I have. She wants us to visit. I was thinking since Luke's going on tour soon, you're not with Noah anymore, you'd like to head to Wellington with me for her birthday."
Rebecca thought about it. Her grandmother hadn't seen her since she was a little girl. She remembered her Taua teaching her simple words in Māori as Rocco was nearly fluent. He spoke to a conversational level but if you asked him to write a note or something in the old language, he wouldn't be able to. Rebecca didn't want to learn because she thought it was stupid. But now, she wished she knew. Rebecca's grandmother was not getting any younger and that meant her English wasn't getting any better.
"Yeah," she said finally, "That sounds amazing."
"Great, so I'll book a flight for the first week of February. In the mean time, catch me up on #ruke drama would you?" Rocco said, sitting on the formal lounge with golden accents. Rebecca chuckled, slightly confused.
"What?" she laughed.
"You know, #ruke. Rebecca and Luke. Tell me, what's up? Did you guys kiss yet? Have you seen him naked? Oh wait, did he walk you home?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. Rocco knew well enough what was happening between her and Luke but it didn't hurt to tell him all the details. She told him about what Luke told her on the beach, and how Rebecca chose Luke. She told her brother the feelings she had when she first saw Luke. She told him everything, even the stupid tattoo that Luke was so embarrassed of. Rebecca made Rocco promise he wouldn't say anything. Rocco promised and soon, it was too late and their mother had requested them to head to their old rooms to sleep.
"I'll see you in the morning Becc," Rocco said, turning on the light of his room but Rebecca pulled his arm.
"Roc?" she called.
"What's up?"
"Do you think I'm doing the right thing? I mean, with Luke and Noah."
Rocco took in a deep breath and smiled at his younger sister. Rebecca searched his eyes and she didn't know what to think.
"If you're happy, then you're doing the right damn thing," Rocco said. He placed a quick kiss on Rebecca's forehead and walked into his room.
A smile crossed Rebecca's face and she walked into her old room. She showered, changed and went to charge her phone which had been playing music all day for her. Once she settled into bed, Rebecca went to her messages and went to Luke's name.
Rebecca: just checking on you, and reminding you that i love you ♡
After hitting the blue 'send' button, Rebecca waited for Luke to reply as she turned off her bedside lamp and lowered the brightness of her iPhone. Then, a few seconds of doing nothing had passed and Rebecca received Luke's reply.
Luke: playing board games with my family. Sleeping over again. Call me when you wake up, lots to talk about x love you too :-)
Rebecca fell asleep with a pretty smile on her face.
In the morning, Luke couldn't pick Rebecca up do to a meeting that was going to take all morning. Rocco had left for work at six and her parents were out doing things. Rebecca couldn't call Amy because she was on a holiday in France. She and her mother had been planning it for months now. No one could take Rebecca back to Lynn's. Lynn didn't drive but she had a red convertible in her garage anyway.
Rebecca rang her last resort: Noah Scott.
"Noah Scott," she heard.
"Hey," she said uneasily.
"Becca. Hey. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just need a ride somewhere. I could've called a driver... actually. This was stupid. Gosh Noah I'm sorry."
"No! No, I can give you a ride. I was heading out anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. It will also keep me from being on Scotts in Sydney."
Rebecca let out a gentle laugh. "Okay. I'm at my parents' house."
"Great. Give me fifteen minutes."
The line went dead and Rebecca didn't know if she had to tell Luke she was getting a ride from her ex-fiancé. She decided it was no big deal. Things with Noah were over.
Rebecca got freshened up, changed and got a quick breakfast before Noah rang the doorbell to her home and she ran to the door to open it. There, Noah had a lazy smile on his face and his hair was done perfectly. He looked good in his suit that was just a tad bit too tight but it showed off how broad he was.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi," Rebecca replied, "Want to come in?"
Noah walked in and went to the lounge room where they usually hung out. He sat on the couch that he had sat on with Rebecca in his arms, kissing her senselessly. The thoughts made Rebecca uneasy. She was Luke's now, in some sort of way.
"How are things with Luke?" Noah asked.
"I feel like I should be asking you that," Rebecca laughed softly.
"I've asked him to hang out... to a bar one time but he's too busy," Noah shook his head. Rebecca frowned.
"He's like that. Somedays he is totally bored and the other days he is hustling and bustling around."
It was silent between them. Rebecca found it extremely awkward. She shouldn't have done this but she wasn't keen on taking the bus back to Lynn's mostly because she had no idea which buses to take.
"So should we get going?" Noah asked.
"Yeah," Rebecca breathed, standing up, "Let me just get my bag."
She ran upstairs to get her bag and went back down to see Noah all ready to go. Speechless, they walked toward Noah's car and climbed in. The car ride was also speechless, silent and stiff. Rebecca didn't know what to say. She wanted to talk about Luke and how wonderful things were with him but she was going to marry Noah before all of this. It wasn't her place to say.
"So you and Luke are all right?" Noah asked. Rebecca nodded. Maybe it was going to be fine between them. She wanted that. She wanted peace.
"And you and Luke?" she asked.
"He texted me just now, responding to my request to hang out," Noah shrugged.
"He's not bad once you get to know him," Rebecca laughed.
"I noticed. I wish we just... hit it off in a better situation, you know?"
"I get it."
"Look, Becca I'm not blaming you for any of this... I admit, before I did but then I realised you can't help your feelings for him and I can't help my feelings for you. I'm just going to have to move on."
Rebecca looked to her right to see Noah's arm grip the steering wheel a little bit tighter and she turned her head a little more to see Noah's face. He turned to face her too at a red light and they caught each other's gaze. Rebecca saw it now, his anger was no longer there but he was devastated.
"Thank you," Rebecca whispered, "Thank you so much."
"We might not be together anymore, but know that I still would do anything for you," Noah said, pressing his foot on the accelerator and they were making their way to Lynn's house.
"This way right?" Noah asked, changing the subject.
"Yes," Rebecca said.
Instead of Lynn's house, Rebecca showed Luke's house. She knew Luke often forgot his key and kept one inside the soil of his palm shrubs.
"So this is Luke's house," Noah said slowly, looking at the yellow painted concrete. If it weren't so bright in this neighbourhood, the house would look weird but it looked nice in the sun with the redbrick roofs and mediterranean feel.
"Yep," Rebecca clipped.
"It's... big for one guy," Noah commented.
"Yeah. The ground floor is just a practice room, and upstairs is the living area," Rebecca said, "Come in, I owe you a drink."
Noah smiled tightly at Rebecca and she spotted the golden key in the plant pot before dusting it off and turning the key into the hole and opening the orangey-red door.
She kicked off her shoes and Noah did the same with his. They trudged up the wooden stairs and Rebecca went into the fridge for two bottles of water.
"Rumour says he leaves for tour in three weeks," Noah said.
"That's right," Rebecca nodded.
"Can you do that? Be away from him for so many months?"
Rebecca and Noah were sitting on the bar stools, only a foot apart.
"I'm willing to try," Rebecca reasoned.
"He didn't even ask you to come?"
Rebecca shook her head and Noah scoffed angrily.
"He's just going to get lonely and break your heart," he said.
"Don't do that," Rebecca said, shaking her head.
"You don't want me to do this because you know it's true."
"Don't. Noah it's not true!"
"It is! Rockstars break your heart! Everyone knows it and you're too oblivious to believe it."
"COO's do the same thing."
"I don't know, E. L. James could beg to differ."
"But she isn't here now is she? So it's just you. This right here," Rebecca circled her arm around the space between Noah and her and exhaled deeply. "This is breaking my heart and everyone knows it."
Noah stopped talking and Rebecca took this chance. "Thank you for the ride Noah, but you can leave now."
She stood from the chair and Noah followed in suit, shoving his shoes on and walking out the door. Luke's black car was in the driveway and Rebecca cursed under her breath when he slammed his car door at the sight of Noah.
"I didn't know you had a visitor," Luke bellowed. He yanked Rebecca away from Noah, who had a suprisingly calm stance.
"I just dropped her home, no big deal," Noah shrugged.
"It is a big deal, but thank you," Luke muttered.
"No problem. I'll... see you guys around."
Rebecca watched Noah walk away and once she heard the roar of his engine, Luke pulled Rebecca into the house and closed the door, pressing her against it. Her heart beat so fast. There was something about seeing Luke so angry that made him seem ten times more attractive, but at the same time, it scared the lights out of her.
"Why didn't you call me?" His voice was soft, low, vulnerable. Luke kept his hands on the cold door, on either side of Rebecca's head. His eyes closed at her hitched breathing.
"You were busy and I needed a ride," Rebecca said.
"You could've called me. The meeting wasn't exactly something I wanted to do anyway; why didn't you call me?"
"I told you! I didn't want to disturb you."
"Well the next time, I'd appreciate if you disturb me rather than you ringing up your ex."
Luke looked away, letting go of the door and he walked up the stairs, barefoot now. Rebecca followed him shortly and pulled on his arm when he was at the fridge. When Luke didn't budge, Rebecca wrapped her arms around his torso, keeping him close to her. She could hear his heart beating so frantically and she felt her own heart doing the same. It was almost like their hearts beat at the same time, at the same speed. They were almost like one and the same.
"I'm sorry," she muttered into the hollow of Luke's back. Luke's body twisted in Rebecca's arms and she looked up at his angry face.
"I am too," he said, utterly defeated, "My jealousy got the best of me; though I can't promise it won't happen again, I'll try to contain it."
Rebecca smiled. "You act like every thing that happens between us is your fault," she said.
"Isn't it though? It shouldn't matter who gave you a ride. Yes he's your ex but I should trust you to be with him," Luke sighed.
"So you don't trust me? Is that it?"
"Of course I trust you Princess. It's just... it's hard for me. All of this, it's hard for me. You left me three, nearly four years ago, so many things have changed."
Rebecca sighed. She knew things would be a lot different when she told Luke that she loved him. She knew it but the thought was simply nothing until now when she realised how different things actually were. She knew about it, but she didn't notice it. Now, in this moment, she found out how hard it was dating Luke. It was nothing like the way it was before.
"We have had our fair share of mistakes. I think it's best if we just ignore those and move on," Rebecca said, scrunching Luke's dark singlet in her hands and pulling him closer, as if that were possible.
"I love you Rebecca Richards," Luke told her and Rebecca felt her whole body light up and lift. He had this effect on her and it was something she never wanted to stop. She loved it and she knew she loved him just as much.
"I love you," she said in response.
"Speaking of moving on... I've been meaning to give this to you and I had so many ideas of how to do it. But I think right now is the perfect time."
Luke reached into his tight jeans pocket and pulled out a little blue box. Rebecca's eyes shut and her breath hitched and she put her hands on Luke to stop him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"You can't ask me to marry you," Rebecca said.
Luke laughed. "I'm not."
"You're not?" Rebecca looked up at Luke's beautiful blue eyes and he shook his head.
"It's a promise ring. It's stupid, I know but I just... I thought maybe you could wear it so I know you're serious about us. You're serious about wanting to be with me and this isn't just some way to stop your wedding."
"It's not stupid," Rebecca murmured, "It's the cutest thing anyone's ever done for me."
"Well would you let me put it on then?"
Luke opened the box to have a little diamond on the platinum band. Smaller diamonds went around the band and Rebecca gasped. It wasn't as big as her old engagement ring and she really didn't care. It came from the heart and that was more than she could ever ask for.
Rebecca bounced up and down like a little girl as Luke slid the beautiful ring on her left ring finger. Then, he looked her in the eye and took her face in his hands, pulling Rebecca forward him and kissing her on the lips. Eventually, they made their way to the bedroom and not once did they stop.
* * * * *
"So you know how I told you that I won't get involved with you until you and Noah are on good terms?" Rebecca said, playing with Luke's dog-chain necklace. There was a name on it but she didn't recognise it so she let go of it and stared at her ring.
"Yes," Luke said, hoarsely.
"Yeah well that's out of the plan," Rebecca laughed.
"I know. I realised when I took off your clothes and you didn't object."
"About that... I was thinking about what the doctor said. Maybe we should... try birth control or something."
Luke looked over at Rebecca and she turned her head to the left slightly to meet his eyes. "I used a condom."
"I'm aware but sometimes those don't work," Rebecca said.
"Okay, so you're going to take pills? Would you be okay with that?"
"I guess so, I've never really... needed to take them. Noah and I didn't get that far."
Luke left out a laugh and Rebecca looked at him.
"What?" she said.
"You guys never had sex? Are you kidding me? Just looking at him I'd think he'd have sex with four billion girls."
"Can we not talk about his sexual status? This is awkward."
Rebecca stared at Luke, heavy in thought and then a smirk played on his lips.
"You've only had sex with me!"
Her cheeks turned red and she hopped out of bed, slipping her clothes back on as she stared at the red numbers on her clock 5:34 pm it showed. Rebecca didn't want to discuss this.
"It's a good thing!" Luke yelled as Rebecca was now in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. She wanted to calm herself when her body was hot with embarrassment. She couldn't think of the possible number of girls that Luke had been intimate. The thought bothered her.
Soon, Luke was in the kitchen, with his shirt on and pants back on. His hair was messy, sticking up in all places but neither of them cared. Rebecca's hair was tied in a messy bun atop her head with some strands falling out to frame her face.
"I like that," Luke said softly, "Your body has only touched mine, I like that."
"Shut up," Rebecca groaned. She put her glass down on the marbled bench and covered her face. It wasn't long until she felt Luke's arms at her waist and his face at her neck.
"I love you. You shouldn't be embarrassed," he said, kissing her earlobe.
"It is embarrassing. I mean how many girls have you slept with? Is it in the thousands or something?" Rebecca rolled her eyes, trying to fight the stupid tears. This was a delicate subject and she knew but what Noah told her before and her self-esteem diminishing as she remembered how beautiful most of Luke's fans were.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is us. I like being with you, holding you, touching you, kissing you. Those girls meant absolutely nothing to me."
Rebecca smiled but it disappeared when she remembered Noah's words. "When you're lonely on tour, what are you going to do?" she asked.
"Sext you," Luke chuckled.
"I'm serious," Rebecca frowned.
"I don't know, call you? Text you? I'll try and communicate with you. Why?"
"You won't go to your nearest groupie and root her?"
"Ew, of course not. Why are you asking? You think I will?"
It was like the redness of Rebecca's skin never ran away. She was forever and always blushing because she felt stupid asking Luke these questions.
"You're being ridiculous. Why would I want some trashy girl when I have you to come home to?" Luke said. He took Rebecca's hand and twirled her like a ballerina in the middle of the large kitchen. Rebecca squealed and giggled. "Just look at you, you're outstanding. So beautiful, terrific. The list goes on Becc."
"My point is, you have my ring. You're the one wearing it and I have yours. You have my heart and my body. I don't want anyone else, do you understand?" Rebecca nodded at Luke's words and he lifted her chin so gently and pecked her lips like a feather. "I love you," he muttered on her lips.
"I will always love you," he said.
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Super late update. You may punish me lol by the way this story is unedited! Will edit as soon as it's finished :)