Lost Soul, Now Found
Chapter Fifteen
Luke couldn't believe what was happening. He realized that he had told Abigail everything. It literally broke him, he didn't care anymore. The guilt and pain had finally got to him, he turned away from her and finally let his tears flow. He didn't know how close she was and felt her touch his face. He opened his eyes now and saw her looking right into his eyes. What she did next surprised him, she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. An old familiar feeling returned to him, a feeling he thought he would never feel again. Love, and happiness, something that he thought died with Abigail was now making its return. He finally embraced it, he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. He had always felt responsible for her death, and for fifteen years, he let the guilt weigh on his heart and mind, now things seemed different. Finally, they broke the kiss, Luke was speechless and Abigail looked at him in concern. She finally got him to speak to her but never knew that he hid such a dark secret for so long. He had kept his thoughts and emotions hidden from the world for fifteen years, he was a man broken by guilt, she only hoped that she could fix him. Right after she kissed him, she looked in his eyes and could already see signs of the old Luke she had grown up with.
"Luke...?"
He didn't really know what to say, he only looked at her, she still had her hand on his face.
"Luke I had no idea... You've felt this way for fifteen years. I saw it Luke... I saw the pain in your eyes. I always wondered why I was given a second chance, now I understand... It wasn't just for me... I'm here for you... I wasn't sent here to haunt you, I mean you no harm, all I want to do... Is help you Luke. You feel responsible for my death... I know before I died, we weren't really getting along, but I never blamed you. In fact, I wish I would have listened to you, because you were right, I just realized it too late. If I had listened to you, none of this would have happened... I wouldn't have died, we wouldn't have been separated for fifteen years, and you wouldn't be feeling this way. I want to help you Luke... I want to set your heart and mind at ease... My death, was not your fault... I want to help you find happiness again..."
Abigail had been crying too. He still hadn't said anything. She looked up at him and hugged him.
"Please... Say something Luke."
Luke looked at her, he never thought he would get to hold her in his arms, and yet here she was. He wrapped his arms around her, and breathed out a breath of relief, feeling a great deal of pressure leave his chest. He finally spoke to her.
"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that... All I've wanted for fifteen years is for the end to come, to have your forgiveness."
"There is nothing to forgive... None of this was your fault."
"I never told anyone about what I was feeling... I've always been afraid to tell anyone... Especially Bray."
"Why?"
"Because of how close you and Bray have always been. If he ever found out that I..."
"You didn't do anything Luke... You have nothing to be afraid of. Just talk to him... Maybe he can help."
"This... This wasn't the only thing bothering me..."
"What else is bothering you?"
"I feel like we were starting to get close again... Then there was this whole thing with Ambrose and a note I found... I thought you wrote it."
"What note?"
"Something about you knew how I felt about you and you said something about seeing other people. I was going to talk to you about it when I saw you kissing Ambrose."
"I didn't write a note... And he kissed me. I'm sorry... You must have thought that I wanted him to kiss me."
"It hurt because... I did have feelings for you... I still do actually..."
Abigail remembered that she had just kissed him, she looked down at the ground for a minute before she spoke again.
"How long have you felt this way?"
"I always have... That's probably also why it hurt so bad when you died. I had... Plenty of opportunities to tell you how I felt but I never did... That childhood crush... Never went away, it only grew stronger as we got older. Then when you came back... It was like I fell for you all over again."
All of this was very touching to Abigail, she went up to Luke and went to kiss him again, only this time Luke pulled away. Abigail was surprised and kind of hurt that he pulled away.
"Please Abigail... Please don't do this because you feel sorry for me. I don't want you to do this because you feel sorry for me."
Abigail wasn't just feeling sorry for him. Maybe she hadn't always shown it, but as they were growing up together she was just waiting for Luke to give her a sign that he wanted to be more than friends. She only dated someone else because she wasn't sure if Luke would make a move. Now it made since why Luke acted the way he did. He was jealous, he had always had feelings for her and it hurt him when he found out that she was with someone else. Abigail had feelings for Luke before she died and realized that maybe her feelings had returned stronger when she saw him again. She finally spoke to him again.
"I still wanted to thank you... I didn't expect for you to come in and save me since you were upset with me. I thought Ambrose was going to make the same thing happen again."
"It didn't matter how I felt... Once I heard you in the locker room, I knew something wasn't right. I always try to do what's right even if I feel like I've been done wrong. Also... I wasn't there for you before and I lost you... I lost you once... I don't want to lose you again."
They were both quiet now, the sun had went down and the only light out now was the light from Bray's lantern, the fireflies, and a little bit of light from the moon. Luke didn't expect for anyone to follow him and he was out longer than he usually was.
"We should head back."
Abigail only nodded as she followed him. He still warned her about something.
"Watch your step, I stayed out a little too long once, I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle because it got too dark, that's why I started carrying Bray's lantern. Also... More animals come out at night... Stay close to me."
She forgot about there being a big step up she took when she was on her up. Now they were walking down a hill, Luke had her stop for a minute, he stepped down and turned back to her holding his hand out. She actually smiled at him now and took his hand as he helped her step down. There was one thing that she had to know.
"So... You could have had feelings for anyone... Why me?"
Luke shrugged his shoulders.
"Somethings just can't be explained, but if I had to say why, I could give a few reasons... Um... You're smart... You're a caring person, you took care of Bray, but mostly... You're beautiful... Sorry... I'm not really good at things like this."
Abigail only smiled at him as she continued to hold his hand.
"No it's fine... You're very sweet Luke. Now that I think about it... You were probably the one that got me the flowers."
"Well... You were upset that day and I wanted to try to make you happy."
They didn't have to walk very long before that were at The Wyatt house. The lights were still on inside the house. Bray was actually still awake, he could see the light from his lantern as Luke and Abigail returned. He could see that something seemed different between them, they seemed happier. He watched them curiously, as they came closer he noticed that they were holding hands. As they got closer to the house Abigail stopped and looked at Luke.
"There is something different about you Luke."
"I feel different... Like finally someone else knows everything. I'm glad you followed me out there... I enjoyed your company."
"I won't pressure you, but I still think that you should talk to Bray about how you've felt for the last fifteen years."
"I know...Soon."
"And Luke... I didn't just kiss you because I felt sorry for you... I mean it!... Don't go feeling guilty, my death was not your fault. I really meant it when I said I wanted to help you find happiness again... You spent so long trying to make me happy that you've neglected to be happy yourself. Whenever you feel like something is bothering you talk to me... I'm here to help you, not hurt you. I think tonight we finally started getting where we need to be. Set your heart and mind at ease... Good night Luke... Sleep peacefully."
Luke didn't let her kiss his lips the last time she went for a kiss, she gently put her hand on his face and kissed his cheek. Maybe it was better to take things slow. She looked at him for a reaction, his lips slowly curved into a smile and he spoke to her.
"Good night Abigail... Sleep tight."
Abigail blushed and slowly started making her way into the house.
"Good night."
Luke watched her as she went into the house. One thing he knew he would do from that moment on is swear to protect her, he wasn't going to lose her again. Something that Luke and Abigail were both wondering was where do they go from here? Abigail had wanted things with Luke to be the way they were when they were friends, but now she had learned that Luke had feelings for her and realized that her feelings towards him were changing. It hurt a little when he didn't kiss her when she went to kiss him again. She had just kissed his cheek and blushed, he seemed ok with that because he smiled back at her. Things were definitely changing between them, but who said that change had to be bad? Bray saw the whole thing, he wasn't sure what to think about it, if there was one person he trusted around Abigail, it was Luke, he was the one that always seemed to be there for Abigail as they grew up, and nothing had really changed. He did want to talk to Luke the next time he saw him, Luke knew the sooner he talked to Bray, the better. Abigail went to bed with a smile on her face, she only hoped that Luke could feel happy too. It was an emotional night, he finally confessed to someone how he had been feeling. Now maybe the pain would go away. Now the healing began, she wanted to help him find his happiness. She realized that she was given a second chance to help heal Luke. She wasn't going to deny how she felt, maybe she was also given a second chance at life so that they could both have a second chance... A chance to start over, and maybe even a chance at love.
(To be continued. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading. Review.)