𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 ─── reunions

Flatbush Ave., 14th October 2007

"𝔏uke!" The blond man grinned widely, picking Ellie up and swinging her around. She laughed, before pulling away to kiss him as hard as she could. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you even more," She laughed once more, before placing her head back into the crook of his neck. "How was Greece? Tell me all about it!"

"Of course!" He grinned again, before grabbing her bag and placing it inside the house. "Have you killed Ethan yet?"

"I was called away before I got the chance to." Ellie grinned, as Luke finally set her down. She kicked off her shoes, before looking at the table, which was set.

"You didn't!"

"Despite popular opinion," Luke's arms snaked around her waist, as he leant down to press a kiss to her cheek. Ellie beamed, her cheeks flushing beneath his touch. "I am able to cook decently."

"You haven't burnt it?"

"That's your speciality, baby," He grinned, poking her ribs, as Ellie spasmed and laughed. "Anyway, take a seat and dinner will be provided for you."

Ellie grinned once more, as Luke bowed and pulled her seat out for her, in an over dramatic fashion. He gave instructions not to look, so all Ellie could do was listen to the sounds of the kitchen and try to work out what Luke was doing.

Moments later, Luke reappeared, placing a plate off food down in front of the older woman, a grin on his face. Ellie stared at the appetising plate of macaroni and cheese, complete with bacon lardons and green beans as well as garlic bread.

"Luke, this looks heavenly." Ellie muttered to her boyfriend, who laughed. "Didn't break my entire kitchen?"

"Nope," He grinned, watching as she took the first bite, tapping his fingers along the table as he waited for her opinion. "Thoughts?"

"If I could marry your cooking, I would," Ellie murmured, as Luke breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat too. "How did you know when I was getting back?"

"Guessed." Ellie watched him with a raised eyebrow. "My dad taught me how to do it when I was young, to, you know, guess when people were gonna turn back up from their travels. I still know how to do it, even now."

"Well, at least he was good for a two things." Luke cocked his eyebrow. "Well, the other one was making you."

Luke blushed all the way to his ears, as Ellie laughed. It was rare to make her boyfriend blush, but when he did it was so cute.

"Ellie, where is this boldness coming from? I'm loving it," 

"Iris' wife gave me a list of things to say to you." He raised an eyebrow again. "Ava's ridiculously good at flirting, and thought that I'd need to up my game to out do you."

"Challenge accepted, darling," Luke grinned once more, the type of competitive smirk that made you think he was going to win. "Prepared to lose?"

"Oh, Luke." Ellie smirked, eating the last of her food and licking her lips with a grin. She leant forward onto her hand and winked. "I never lose."

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"You totally lost," Luke murmured, his arms tightening around Ellie's waist, as she resisted the urge to punch her gloating boyfriend. 

"You cheated."

"I would never." He replied, as Ellie flipped over to glare at the idiot she was dating.

"Yes, you did! Kisses aren't allowed. Everyone knows that!" He laughed quietly, pulling her close once more and pressing their foreheads together.

"You never specified the rules, baby."

"You were just annoyed that I was winning." Ellie tried to cross her arms in indignation, but there was so little space between the pair, that she couldn't even if she wanted to. "I bet you're a sore loser."

"Wouldn't know, never lost." He grinned, before peppering kissed all over her face as she began to squirm and laugh. "Come on, Ellie, accept my love and the fact that I won."

"I will dude-zone you, try me." She slapped at the man's hands, trying to push him off.

"Sure you would," He chuckled, as Ellie scooted back even further. However, she misjudged the amount of space between her and the edge, falling off the bed with a loud thump. There was a pause, before Luke appeared, a grin on his lips. "You all right down there?"

"Peachy," He grinned, before leaning down and wrapping his arms around her to yank her back up and into his chest with ease. "Thanks, Luke."

"That's okay, baby." The pair nestled down once more, curling around each other. 

"Oh, I've got something for Annabeth." Luke stiffened in her arms, his eyes shooting open as he stared at her.

"What?" 

"I told you about it in the last letter." She opened her eyes as well, her eyebrows furrowing at Luke's pale face. "Hey, is everything all right?"

He sat up, running a hand through his messy hair, as Ellie watched in confusion.

"Luke, hey, baby, what is it?" He didn't say anything for a moment, his head in his hands, as Ellie sat up and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing kisses to the warm skin of his exposed back. "What's the matter?"

"I don't think I can give her that." Ellie paused, resting her chin on her boyfriend's shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Has something happened?" Luke didn't answer, licking his lips. "You don't have to tell me, and I'm not going to push it at all. If you can't give it to her now, then give it to her later, yeah? When whatever's going on has been sorted."

"I don't think she's going to forgive me though," Luke murmured, and for a moment, Ellie saw the vulnerability that Luke liked to hide behind a façade of braveness. She wasn't blind. She could see how tired, and emotionally worn down, her boyfriend was. She was training to be a nurse, it was practically her job to see how he was.

"Luke," Ellie murmured, gently pulling the boy back down, wrapping her arms around him, as she started to card her fingers through his hair. "She's your sister. Whatever has happened, I'm sure you can talk it through."

"Not this, Ellie," Luke murmured, curling further into his girlfriend. "I don't think there's any coming back from what I've done."

"There's always time for a second chance," She replied. Deep in her gut, she had this sinking feeling that it was something to do with the monsters that roamed around the city, masked to the rest of the world. "At any given point in time, you can start over and change your mind."

"But it won't erase what I've done," He huffed.

"There's no changing the past, only the future." Ellie pressed a kiss to his head. "We can only learn from our mistakes and carry on forward, changing into a better person as we go."

"How did I get someone like you to date me?" He replied, looking up at her, his blue eyes shimmering in the darkness, as she ran a finger over his scar. "You're a literal goddess on Earth."

"Then, what does that make you." Luke smiled ruefully.

"The monster."

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Hiya,

Luke just is generally having major regrets about his life decisions, which is a mood. Also, I love how no one picked up on the fact that they said 'I love you' to one and other last chapter :) anyhow, Ellie and Luke are adorable. That's it. That's the chapter.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx