✭𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕒✭
The next morning my legs were sore. Like I'd just worked out. I got up and brushed my teeth and went to the kitchen, my mom had made breakfast. I got a plate and went into the dining area.
"Morning" I said sitting next to Caitlin.
"Hey"
"Did you enjoy your birthday"
"Yes I did" I couldn't help but smile. My Dad got me a new phone.
"Lucas was so sweet yesterday"
"He was" I said,
"Wait you said he was getting another present, what was it?"
"Well"I said, I looked around, my mom was still in the kitchen,
"Wait did you?" I nodded. She then screamed.
"Oh my gosh shut up" I said.
"You had sex!?" She whispered loudly
"Yeah and be quiet"
"Oh my gosh, wait how was it?" She said quieter.
"So good"
"No wonder you were limping.You need to tell me everything"
"Yeah but not here"
"Let's go to my room"
"What about my breakfast?"
"Bring it with you" she grabbed my plate and dragged me to her room.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you actually had sex, how did it happen?"
✪𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕤✪
I'd just gotten dressed when I got a call from Amy.
"Congratulations" she said excitedly.
"For what?"
"Finally having sex with Liv" she then cheered.
"How the hell do you know about that?" I hadn't even had breakfast and it's gone around that Liv and I had sex already.
"Aria told me"
"How did she find out?"
"From Caitlin" Aria said, showing her face.
"Damn, I literally just woke up and people know all ready"
"Yeah sorry, but how was it?" She asked,
"It was good, I think she enjoyed it"
"Oh trust me she did" Aria said popping her head in frame and I smiled.
"You okay?" Amy asked.
"Yeah I'm good, I don't regret it, I was ready"
"That's so good, this is so exciting" she said,
"It's not that exciting and I don't want to talk about this anymore" I said, I felt myself go red.
"Aw look at you getting embarrassed, I've never seen you get embarrassed about sex" Amy said,
"I'm not embarrassed, it's just different, it means a lot more"
"Aww" I heard Aria say.
"I understand. Are you excited to go back to your house see your family?" Amy asked,
"Yeah, I'm really excited, a bit nervous"
"Let me know how it goes and call me when you're with your grandmother, I want to see if she remembers me" Amy said.
"I will" I said, I then hung up soon after. I then left the room to find Caitlin and Liv, who were no doubt talking about me.
✤ ✤ ✤ ✤
The next day
Livs Dad dropped to Calais where the house was. It wasn't too far a journey. I was going to spend the next week or so with them until school started.
I knocked on the door. My aunt opened she immediately smiled. She gave me a massive hug.
"Lucas" she said giving me a hug. "I'm so glad you're here"
I went inside the house. I then saw an elderly lady sitting round the table. It was really her.
"Oh, Lucas, c'est toi ?" She said in excitement "You're so tall."
(It's you)
I gave her a hug, I'd missed her so much, the house was exactly as I remembered it. It still smelt like Vanilla.
"You look so much like your mother, you've grown up so much"
"Come, sit, tell me about everything, your friends, what's happened over the years" she said sitting down on the sofa. It was a long story,
"How have things been?" She asked.
"They've been okay." I said,
"Your dad, you aunt told me he would hit you?" Wow, she went straight there.
"Yeah - he'd beat me a lot, and said horrible stuff"
"I'm so sorry my dear, you sound so different, what happened after your mother's funeral?
"He stopped speaking to me, he wouldn't let me talk to you guys. He told me that I wasn't coming back her during the summer. I was really confused, he eventually stopped letting me speak to him in French, it had to be in English. I had a really strong accent which he didn't like so he made me change the way I spoke. That's why I sound different"
"I hope you haven't forgotten French?"
"Never"
"Are you okay though?" She asked holding my hand.
"Sort of, I'm working through it, it's a process" she smiled.
"When you're ready to talk about it, I'm here" she said, and I nodded. "Do you have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, I don't judge" I smiled.
"I have a girlfriend" I got out my phone and showed her a picture,
"Your girlfriend is very pretty"
"I know" I said,
"How did you meet?"
"We met at school"
"Aw high school sweet hearts, me and your grandfather met at school. You know, we were married for over forty years" he died when I was a toddler, so I barely knew him.
"Wow, that's a long time" I hoped Liv and I would be like that one day.
"Do you think you're going to marry her?" I nodded,
"I think so, I haven't scared her off yet so"
"That's what I like to see, I've been trying to get Elliot to settle down and find a girl but he's not interested, teenagers these days."
"That's was me last year, he'll grow out of it. Where is everyone? Where did they go?" I asked realising it was just us. Aunt Charlotte disappeared.
"They've gone to pick up the cake for your party"
"Party?" They were throwing me a party?
"Your welcome back party, the family haven't seen you in eight years, we're so excited to have you back. Don't tell them I told you" I nodded. "Come here" she said then she gave me a hug.
"Come. I made some pastries for you, pain au chocolat, those used to be your favourite" she said walking towards the kitchen. She always used this hazelnut and chocolate filling, I loved them. I then ate one, they were soft and crispy, buttery and chocolatey. I was definitely going to take some home with me.
It was honestly surreal seeing her again, I knew there was a lot to talk to my family about, lots of bad things. I wasn't sure if I even wanted them to know, I was scared they'd view me differently.
My grandmother showed me to where I'd be staying, I was going to be sharing with Elliot. Like old times,
"Are you not hot in that?" She asked me, I was wearing a zip up hoodie. I was scared of showing them all my scars. Especially on my back, if we went to the beach or used the pool they'd all see. It was almost easier with strangers, you'd never see them again but with people who know you like family it's different. They'd stare and wonder what my Dad to me and know how mentally ill I was to do what I did to my arms. I just wanted to settle in first.
"No. I'm fine" I said,
"Okay, your cousins will be back soon, so go and put on something nice for the party" she said leaving the room. I went into my suit case and found a white shirt and shorts, that would do.
As I was putting on the shirt, I heard a knock at the door, my grandmother soon came in with a bunch of cards.
"All your birthday and Christmas cards we sent, they were returned back" she said handing them to me. "I gave the presents to charity, I didn't you'd be interested in toy race cars now" she said and I smiled,
"Thank you" I said. I'd definitely go through all of them tonight. It was soon time for the 'surprise party' my whole family was there which was nice, they didn't need to that for me. My aunt had planned the whole week with things to do together.
She even said I could stay if I wanted to. I wasn't sure, if she'd asked me a few years ago I would've said yes. But I wanted to graduate and go to college, I didn't do all that work for nothing. Also being on the opposite side of the world from all my friends and Liv wasn't something I was ready for. I decided to visit during the holidays like summer and winter break and maybe someday in the future I'd come back and live here.
✤ ✤ ✤ ✤
The week went by so fast, we did some much stuff. I loved it, I got to see family and friends I hadn't seen in like ten years. One thing I appreciated is no one commented about the marks on my body, I knew they all noticed, but they didn't judge me which made me feel a lot better. Liv was right when she told me I was worrying about nothing.
Senior year. I started school a few days, I couldn't believe I'd be a senior, next year I'd be in college. I genuinely never thought I'd make it this far. Words couldn't described how grateful I was for the people that helped me get here, I never would've made it otherwise. I didn't know what the future had in store, there were lots of things happening and I knew life would be hard at times but what reassured me was the people I had around me.
The End.
Besties, it's been a long ride, I started this book like three years ago, it's taken me ages to finish due to school and other stuff, and for those who have made it to the end, thank you so much for reading it and following along on Lucas and Olivia's, journey. I hope you enjoyed it. I didn't feel alone in my struggles anymore,
However it's not the end.
I'll post an epilogue in a few days time. I also have a few bonus chapters, some which are sweet and others quite traumatic, let me know if I should post them.
Also here are a few characters, I am wanting to write stories on.
Nick - with his journey struggle with depression and self worth.
Jasper - with his problems with addiction and working through the trauma he went through in foster care.
Eloise - (set in the future) her coming to terms with who her father is and what actually happened to her and her brother as a child and how she navigates that.
Does that sound good? If there are other characters you want to see let me know. I'll also be writing separate books about the topic of abuse as well.
I now need to do some deep editing to fix all the mistakes!
Thank you again <3