Luke's P.O.V
I stood there for ten seconds waiting for the excruciating pain to begin coursing through my body and my breaths to become weak, but nothing happened.
The loud grunts and skin to skin contact was the sound that filled my ears next causing my eyes to snap open.
I took in my surroundings; Ella now fighting off the seven or so guys in Jai's gang like they were nothing. The sight of how strong she's become sent a smile to my face, but it quickly dissolved once I saw the body on the ground at Ella's feet.
My hands automatically began to search my middle frantically for any bullet wounds but there was nothing there.
I felt shock absorb my body as my eyes landed on the face of the man whom Ella shot instead of me. Jai lied motionless, his stomach not moving indicating that he had stopped breathing.
My eyes landed back to Ella who by now had nearly taken out the entire all seven. I hardly recognized her anymore with her hard set stare showing no weakness or vulnerability.
She wasn't the same girl who I met 5 months ago in her room at her brother's party. She wasn't the lost girl who thought there was nothing else in her life.
She was strong and more beautiful than ever, because she was finally free from herself.
I took a moment to collect myself from my near death experience before jumping in and helping Ella with the rest of the guys.
It took us nearly five minutes before all of them were lying unconscious on the ground.
We both stood there, staring at one another for a long while trying catching our breaths from the fight. Ella was the first to move, running over to where I stood before I engulfed her small fragile body in my arms.
I heard her soft weeping as she held on to me tighter like I would slip threw her fingers.
Bringing my head down, I kissed her lightly on her forehead before bringing my lips down to meet hers.
"I'm here now," I told her wiping the tears that were still staining her cheeks off with my thumbs. "You're safe."
-
Ella's P.O.V
We were at the police station for most of the day, filling out reports and documents.
I remember my parents and brother coming through the front doors of the office and swallowing me up in their arms.
My mom and I both cried together telling one another how much we loved the other and how she'd never let anything like that happen to me again.
I remember looking up into my dad's usually cold set stare seeing them brim with tears as he gave me one last hug and a kiss on the head.
Luca didn't bother holding back his tears, too over joyed to see me home safe and sound.
"I still can't believe you dyed your hair." My mom mutter making a smile crack on my lips.
"It's not like I had much of a choice," I told her. "Jai wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be recognized easily."
"But you had the prettiest honey coloured hair." She whined, picking up a strand of the blonde hair and twirling it around her index finger.
"It was either that or cutting it all off."
Most of the day consisted of paper work: filling out a found person document and the use of a gun in defense. Though I did kill Jai, the police let me off telling me that it was out of protection for myself and Luke.
"I'll drive you home." Luke whispered in my ear as I signed the last paper that was given to us.
I shook my head. "I don't want to go home," Before he could question me I continued. "I want to spend time with you. I mean how long has it been since I beat you in Grand Theft Auto?"
I felt Luke smile with his cheek against the side of my head looking over my shoulder as I finally finished all the paper work.
"I thought we did a blood oath to never speak of that again." A small laugh escaped from inside me causing both of us to go into a fit of laughter.
"You have no idea how much I missed you." He whispered in my ear.
I turned to him taking hold of his hand before signalling to my parents that I was going with Luke. "Believe me," I began. "It wasn't much of a paradise for me either."
His hand tightened around mind as if trying to tell me that he's never going to let anything like that happen to me again.
We both made it out into the parking lot spotting his run down car easily before hopping in and beginning our drive.
We stopped at a local pizza parlor to eat before Luke forced me to go with him on a private beach.
"Luke," I hissed at him in a hushed voice like someone would catch us. He looked down at me from the top of the fence with a cheeky smile on his face.
"This is called trespassing and I think there has been already too many laws broken this past month."
He just shrugged moving closer to the edge, "So I guess breaking one more law can't hurt." And with that he disappeared to the other side.
I did a full circle making sure no one was watching though there wasn't a person for miles.
"I swear to God Luke, if I fall..." I continued on, heaving myself over the nine foot fense before dropping into Luke's arms.
He gave me a smirk before leaning down and kissing my lips quickly as he gently placed me back on my feet.
I let out a small gasp once my eyes moved from Luke's face, landing on the pink glowing sky of a sun set.
"Luke," I whispered. "It's so beautiful."
I knew he was smiling from accomplishment. "I knew you'd like it."
He then pulled my arm gently, dragging me closer to the ocean. "I don't have a bathing suit, Luke." I laughed as he picked me up bridal style and began wading his way through the water.
"Who says you need a bathing suit to swim?"
With that, He threw me into the cool autumn water causing a small yelp to escape my mouth as I resurfaced.
"You're gonna pay, Hemmings!" I laughed not caring about the volume of my voice anymore or the fact that anyone could catch us on private property.
We splashed and dunked one another for another twenty minutes before noticing that the sun was almost down. With all of our clothes wet, we began our way back to Luke's car driving back to his house.
"Parents are gone to New Zealand for my dad's business trip." Luke told me. "And both my brother's are back in university so it looks like we have the house to ourselves." He sent a wink over my way causing me to laugh.
"I can't stay that long," I told him. "My mom's probably expecting me home soon."
We pulled into his driveway, making our way up to his front door before letting ourselves inside.
"Do you have anything I can change into?" I asked him
"Ya." He nodded, both of us making our way downstairs to his room. I waited for him in the games room to find some clothes for me to change into while I looked at the wall of photos again.
"The track pants are probably gonna be too big," I heard him say from behind me as I turned to face him. "But they have drawstrings so-" He stopped mid sentence, taking in my face. "What's wrong?"
I brought my hands up to my cheeks noticing that tears were streaming down them before looking him back in the eye.
I didn't remember when I began crying, didn't even realize I was crying until he pointed it out. And once I stared into his deep ocean blue irises, I felt more of them stinging in the corners of my eyes.
"I killed two people," I choked out before watching Luke drop the clothing from his hands and bringing me into his arms.
I felt myself leaning against him not able to support my own body weight anymore. "I'm a monster." I whispered to him.
"You're anything but a monster," Luke gently lifted my head to look him in the eyes. "You didn't kill two people, Jai did.
You did that because you had no choice." He whispered to me bringing his hands up to cradle my damp cheeks. "You're not a monster, Ella. Jai is." He slowly lowered his head down to my lips planting a gentle kiss on them.
My hands automatically wrapped around his neck, tangling my fingers into his soft hair. I felt his arms snaking around my waist bringing me as close as he possibly could to his warm solid body.
"You're beautiful and smart and strong." He whispered on my lips. "You're anything but a monster."
That was the last thing he told me before placing his lips back on mine where they belonged and gently pushed me back into his room. His hands sent shock wave rippling though my entire body no matter where he touched me.
The night was filled with love and passion. It was a night that I've never experienced before as he showed me an entirely new world.
And I knew from the moment when he whispered my name in my ear and nuzzling into my neck that I loved him in a way I never thought I could feel 5 months ago.