𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 ─── birthday wishes

Flatbush Ave., April 27th 2007

𝔏uke's arms around her waist was the only way that Ellie ever wanted to wake up on her birthday again. He was a warm presence behind her, as he brushed her hair from her face and grinned widely.

"Morning baby." Luke pulled her closer, pressing another kiss to her head. "Happy birthday to my favourite girl."

"I'm so glad you're here." Ellie stated, rolling over to admire her blond boyfriend. "This is like the best birthday gift ever, you know that right?"

"I'm glad to be with you." Luke pulled the covers further around them, burying his head into Ellie's neck as he hummed. He began to press sleepy kisses up and down her neck, grinning. "Sleep, and then breakfast?"

"Yes please." Ellie nodded, burying her head back into the cover as Luke and her slowly began to drift in and out of sleep. They stayed like that for a further few hours, relishing in the heat of the bed and being next to each other. Finally, as it got closer to eleven in the morning, Luke managed to pull himself out of bed.

"Alright, I'm getting up." Luke huffed, stretching as he sat upright. Ellie whined, grabbing onto the back of his shirt to pull him back down onto the bed. "Ellie, baby, no."

He sat back upright, before pressing a kiss to her hand.

"I'm gonna shower and then make pancakes."

"You can cook?"

"Yes." Luke chuckled, before sitting back upright. "I'm going to cook, you stay in bed and rest. I'll bring the food to you."

Ellie hummed, slumping back into the pillows as Luke grabbed his hoodie for her to curl into. She pulled it on immediately, and Luke knew that she'd been having a tough week. 

"Can we have a Harry Potter movie marathon tonight?" Ellie called as Luke turned the shower on. 

"Absolutely." He pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it in the wash basket. "Oh, and I did the sorting hat quiz thing."

Ellie turned to look at him, his hoodie way too large on her body. She pushed the hood back from her eyes and grinned.

"You did?" He nodded, checking the shower temperature. "What did you get?"

"Gryffindor. House of the brave." Luke shrugged. He thought that this was slightly bullshit, because he obviously wasn't Gryffindor but this made Ellie happy, so he would comply.

"That makes sense." Luke shook his head. "You run around with a sword, fighting monsters and probably saving people."

Luke didn't have the heart to tell her that most in his world saw him as completely evil.

"Speaking of, name and type of sword for a birthday present?" Luke laughed.

"Keep dreaming, Ellie, not gonna happen." He pressed another kiss to her lips, before looking back at the shower. "I need to shower. Have to look my best, for the birthday girl."

"You always look handsome, Luke," Arabella called, as the blond man laughed.

"Thank you, Ellie," She began chuckling to herself. "What?"

"It's all in the abs." Luke just rolled his eyes and laughed, jumping into the shower as Ellie's laugh rattled around his head.

∘☽༓☾∘

Luke flipped the final pancake, brushing his drying hair out of his face as he added it to the plates to take to Ellie. There was still no sign of movement, but Luke didn't take that too heart, entering the room to find Ellie half-awake.

"Food."

"Thanks, Luke." Ellie shuffled upright, as Luke placed the plate in her lap, the pair beginning to eat before the sound of the doorbell interrupted them. "Seriously?"

"It's alright, I've got it." Luke turned, placing his food down and kicking his sword under the shoe rack. His spare dagger was on the countertop, and he slid it into a holster beneath his shirt before opening the door. You could never be too careful.

"And I was-" The woman's sentence cut off as she saw Luke. "You're not Arabella."

Luke raised an eyebrow at the woman, trying to work out who she was. She seemed familiar.

"No, I'm not Arabella." The woman glanced at the young girl next to her, as Luke tried to quickly process who they were. Finally, his eyes went wide. "Oh, you must be Arabella's mom and sister. She said you might come round."

"Yes, but, that still doesn't explain who you are." Her mother brushed past him into the house as Luke's eyes narrowed. "Arabella Elizabeth Carter! What are you still doing in bed? At this hour? And eating in bed!"

"Mom."

"I expect better of you, especially allowing some random guy to stay over. Have you no common decency?"

"Mom, that's Luke. This is my boyfriend, the one I was telling you about." Luke closed the door, taking a deep breath, before entering the bedroom where Arabella's mom was intent on berating her daughter. The young girl was sitting on the sofa, eyes on her phone.

"You could have told us he was here!"

"I didn't know you guys were coming round. I'm really sorry, mom." Ellie's voice was meek, her shoulders slumping as she turned in on herself.

"I didn't expect you two to still be dating. Lord knows that you can never keep a man, what with your degree and lack of people skills." Ellie continued to slump down. "How long is this new one gonna last?"

"I plan on sticking around." Luke commented, his arms folded across his chest. Ellie shot him a look, already getting out of bed and holding out a placating hand.

"Luke, meet my mother, Dot. Mom, this is Luke Castellan, my boyfriend." Dot turned, fixing a sharp glare on the man and looking him up and down.

"Your sister's here as well." Dot spoke sharply, as Ellie winced.

"And the younger girl is my little sister, Jade." Ellie exited her room, taking Luke with her to point at the young girl sitting on the sofa. "Jade, this is Luke! My boyfriend."

Jade hummed, not looking up from her phone as Luke continued to watch his girlfriend's ever deflating form. His temper grew, eyes narrowing into a dark glare as he watched the two women.

"Arabella, are you going to offer us something to drink?" Her younger sister was watching Luke, who narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't particularly like the way that she was staring at him, like he was some product in a shop window.

"Sorry, mom." Ellie's voice was quiet, and Luke wrapped an arm around her waist, tracing circles into her back. "What would you like?"

"Gin and tonic."

"I don't have any of that mom. I'm not twenty-one." Ellie shook her head. Her mom huffed like she expected better, before waving her hand. 

"Water will do."

"Sure thing." Ellie walked off, and Luke quickly followed, ducking into the kitchen with her. Her hands were trembling as she grabbed two glasses, filling them with water and ice. 

"Ellie." Luke nudged her gently, staring down at her small form. "I've got it."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not." Luke shook his head. He took the glasses from her hand, pressing a kiss to her head as she clung onto him a little tighter. "I'll say something."

"Please don't. It's fine." Ellie repeated again. "She's my mom and you know, she's just a bit more critical than others. She wants the best for me though. She just wants me to do the best I can."

"It's not fine, she's being rude. It's your birthday." Luke hissed. 

"Arabella, I'm growing old waiting." Ellie took the glasses back, before walking back to her mother and sister and placing the glasses in her hand. "Thank you. I'm glad some manners were still extended into adulthood."

"Why are you guys here?" Ellie asked, as Luke sat on the armrest of her chair, keeping one hand on her back.

"Well, we wanted to come and celebrate your birthday, since you refused to call and make plans." Her mom sighed. "Then we find this man in your house..."

"I can't believe you're dating." Jade finally looked up as Luke tensed. "He's way out of your league."

"No, he looks like he was part of a gang."

"He's sitting right here." Luke replied, trying not to start an argument, "and I wasn't part of a gang. I was in an unfortunate accident as a child."

"Your parents never thought of having that altered?" Her mom cocked an eyebrow. "I'm a plastic surgeon. I could do it for you."

"I'm quite happy with my scar thanks." Luke shot her a cold smile. 

"Well, my Arabella only deserves the best to be with her." Luke couldn't even process the turn of Dot, from speaking of how she was surprised Arabella even got him to date her to he was far below Ellie's league. "What do you do?"

"I run a company." Luke replied, grinding his teeth. "Private security sector."

"You're a good employee?"

"I'm the boss." Luke smiled, as Ellie tightened her grip on him. She'd never heard him speak about his job before. 

"What degree?"

"Didn't do one."

"High school?"

"Dropped out." Luke grinned. Dot looked more annoyed.

"Salary?"

"None of your business." He nodded, and Ellie squeezed sharply.

"Well, you sure picked a right charmer, Arabella." Dot hissed. Luke went to retort, but Ellie prodded his leg, shaking her head. "But I'll let it slide. It's your birthday after all."

"Thank you." Ellie nodded and Luke grinded his teeth. He didn't like this. 

"So, did you get me a gift?" Luke froze, before turning to look at the woman. "For giving birth to you."

"I didn't know you were coming today." Ellie muttered. "So it's in the post."

"Arabella-"

"It'll be here tomorrow."

"But your birthday's today." Her mother shook her head.

"I've been really busy with school, mom. I've got exams and finals are coming up and I've got to think about my work placement." Ellie stumbled over her words.

"Well, I told you not to take such an intensive course." Dot replied. "But you just had to try and do your own special thing and even then, you couldn't even be a doctor. You had to be a nurse!"

Ellie looked down as Luke's glare darkened.

"Not like Jade. She's top of her class, captain of the cheer squad and she's still makes time to spend with her mom." Ellie still said nothing and finally, Luke grew annoyed.

"I'm sorry. Ellie and I have reservations now." He glared at the pair who were upsetting his girlfriend. "Let me show you out."

"Uh excu-"

"Ellie, we should get going." Luke pulled his girlfriend up, ushering her towards their bedroom with a smile and a wink. As her mother stood, Luke opened the door, grinned and motioned. "It was wonderful meeting you."

"Are you kicking me out?" 

"No. But Ellie and I need to go, so wonderful to meet you but we need to leave." Luke watched as they exited the door, before attempting not to slam it in their faces. He glared at the closed door, muttering Ancient Greek curses under his breath as he went to find his girlfriend.

Ellie was curled beneath the covers once more, her face hidden from him as Luke went to crouch by her side.

"I'm sorry, Ellie." She quickly brushed away the tears on her face.

"It's fine, I'm alright." Luke sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." He nodded. "You know I'm here if you need to talk, yeah?"

"I know." Luke hated seeing her this small, the look of despair plastered on her face. 

"I've got something that might make today better."

"What?" She looked up at him, eyes wide as Luke brushed her tears away.

"That co-worker's in New York at the moment." Luke grinned. "We can watch Hercules."

"You'll watch it?" Luke normally refused to watch the Disney movie, for some reason hating the mythology movie. "And introduce me to your co-worker?"

"Yeah. More birthday presents." He kissed her head, before grabbing her phone. "I'm gonna call him, then we can have a good birthday."

∘☽༓☾∘

Luke opened the door to Ellie's apartment, glaring at the man and holding a hand out.

"You upset my girlfriend or make any stupid comments about the demigod shit, I will kill you. Yes?" Luke hissed.

"Damn. You're in a great mood." Ethan Nakamura shot Luke a glare, holding a bag in one hand. Finally, he turned and looked past Luke. "This is Arabella?"

"Bella's fine." Ellie waved, still dressed in Luke's hoodie and a pair of shorts.

"I'm Ethan." The son of Nemesis shoved Luke out of the way, brushing past him with a wide grin. "You are way too pretty for Luke. I brought cake, popcorn and other snacks. Didn't know what you liked but got a lot."

"It's nice to meet Luke's co-worker."

"Please, I'm his best friend." Ethan shot Luke a glare. "His only friend because he keeps threatening to kill everyone else."

"I do not." Luke muttered, already regretting introducing them.

"What's he been calling me?"

"His co-worker." Ellie began to grin again.

"Cold, Luke, cold."

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

The chaos has started and we've got Ethan and Ellie together, trust me when I say mayhem. Arabella's family is horrible and Ethan is going to bully him about having a girlfriend for all eternity. 

Quick Note ; In this book, Ethan is maybe a year or two younger than Luke and Ellie and hasn't lost his eye yet, but is helping Luke.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx