Just saying "Hi" (Lucah)

[Belle Harrington]

It had been months since Belle watched Lucah run away from her. When she found out from Romeo that he had moved on and had been with the werewolf.

Months too long for Belle. She had yearned to speak to Lucah the whole time, but she knew she shouldn't. It was exam time and she needed to study, she could not have the distraction and heart break she knew Lucah was capable of causing. So she stayed quiet, she stayed in her dorm studying, only leaving to eat, attend class and to go on the occasional walk, but either than that she locked herself up. She didn't want to risk chance of running into Lucah again.

Now, Belle sat at her desk, pen in hand scribbled some notes as she read. She was almost done. All her studying and hard work was almost done, she just needed to keep pushing. "Almost done," she chanted to herself as she continued writing. Finally, with a period at the end, Belle dropped her pen and slammed her book shut, "DONE!" she exclaimed happily as she got up and stretched.

"I'm finally done!" she said with a yawn and looked around her room. Now what? She had spent all her time recently just studying and now that she was done, she didn't know what to do. That's when she saw the picture of her and Lucah, the one she had made a copy for Lucah as well. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered how he had been doing. It had been awhile since they had spoken.

Grabbing her cell phone from her desk, Belle sat on her bed as she opened a new text message.

To: Lucah Ivaskov <3

Just wanted to say hi and to see how you're doing. I hope all is well.

Belle read through her text again and shrugged, very simple and straight to the point. She just wanted to know if he was doing okay.

With that Belle sighed and hit send, she didn't know if what she was doing was smart, and she knew that she could just get hurt again by opening up communication with Lucah, but she knew it her heart it was the right thing to do. No matter how much she hated to admit, she still loved him as much as she always did.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Months had gone by since Luc and Alyssa had broken up. It was a mutual thing, Lyssa knew he was distracted by Belle still and he didn’t want to string her along so they both ended it and stayed friends. Of course he felt guilty for how things had ended (having broken two girls’ hearts in the past year), he really did feel like a prick. It had also been months since he’d talked to Belle, since he’d bolted because of his harsh reality hitting him. He still loved her and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get rid of the feelings.

He didn’t like not talking to her. In fact, he hated it. The only thing that had been distracting him from thinking about her was the fact that he was graduating and that was what he’d had to focus on. It also helped that he’d made a new friend, or well, a distraction that he hoped would end up staying his friend. She was a lot like Belle, so optimistic and sweet. It gave him the brighter look on life that he needed and that he couldn’t get from his ex girlfriend who had been MIA the past few months. In all honesty, if he wasn’t so hung up on Belle, he might have actually fallen for Kiara, but he was still very much in love with his little bird.

That didn’t exactly mean he wouldn’t try to move on like he had told Belle to. After all, maybe this would help him get over it. Get over her. He’d written that letter to her months ago and realized that his former roommate had given it to her. He just hoped she’d forgotten about it. He had tried to, but it didn’t work. She still invaded his mind constantly and he still wished that he could be with her.

Luc sat in his dorm room, still having to wait until he could move into the one at U of V. Romeo was gone, he was alone and was tempted to call Ki and see if she was busy. But before he had the chance to, his phone buzzed and the name that flashed on the screen had his eyes bugging out.

Belle Harrington.

And all of the feelings came rushing back, making his chest ache and the images of her crying flood his mind. Would they ever go away? Possibly, but only if he got to see her smile again and know that it was him that had made her smile. That was all he’d wanted.

Lucah had to compose himself, get his fingers to stop shaking so he could answer. It took him a few minutes, but he finally got them to slow and he took a deep breath. All he had to do was act as if everything was okay. As if he was actually happy.

To: Belle Harrington

Hello. I’m doing well. Graduated finally How have you been? Studying for exams I imagine?

And SEND. There. He’d done it. Happy, simple, not showing any of how much this was costing him.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle laid back on her bed. Her eyes on the ceiling. Would he message back? She wondered as the minutes ticked away. Maybe he didn't want to talk to her? Maybe he had already moved on? Maybe he hated her? So many different things ran through her mind as she waited.

The soft chiming sound from her phone brought her back to reality. A text! She thought excitedly as she lunged for her phone on her night stand.

The lunge misfired. Landing with a thud on the floor, Belle quickly stood as if nothing happened and grabbed her phone. Nothing mattered to her at this moment either than seeing what Lucah had to say.

Belle wouldn't lie that she was a bit let down when she read his text. It was like they were strangers, but she knew that at this time they basically were. But she still replied,

To: Lucah Ivaskov <3

Congratulations on graduating! If you're still at Hammel we should go celebrate! And yes, I've been studying like a crazy person, but I just finished. So happy to be done.

With that Belle pressed send, she hoped he would take well to her basically asking to see him again, even if it is just to celebrate his graduation, she just needed to see him.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. And Fuck.

Why had he sent that? It was so distant as if they hardly knew each other at all! Wasn't he supposed to be working on warming up to people? If he couldn't be that way with Belle, how could he be that way with anyone else? This was the girl he loved for crying out loud! Things were just too difficult.

But it was too late, he'd sent it and now all he could do was wait for the reply. For all he knew, she'd see that he was being his usual cold-hearted self and ignore him. Yes, she'd texted him first, but still. He was acting just as he had before and look at where that had gotten him! All he wanted to do now was bang his head against the wall repeatedly and hope that maybe it would knock some sense into him.

His phone buzzed again and he grabbed it a little too quickly, fumbling it around until it slipped out of his hand and he nearly dropped it. Damn, he was not good with phones. If he broke this one, well, that would suck. He flipped it open and peeked at the message hesitantly.

Wait...what? Celebrate? Together?

Lucah's eyes widened and he hopped up from his bed and fist pumped. Yes, Lucah Ivaskov just fist pumped. Getting control of himself again, he tried to be smooth about this. Aloof. Indifferent.

To: Belle Harrington

Thank you, thank you. Here's another reason to celebrate, I'm staying in Vermont! U of V accepted me, I start in the fall. And I'm glad you survived the hardcore study sessions! That gives us three reasons to go out and celebrate! Lemme know when and where and I'll pick you up. We can go to the club, maybe dance? xD

(Lucah had just suggested going dancing, what they hell was wrong with him?)

He sent the message and a smile lit his face. This was the affect she had on him. Lucah never danced, and yet, he'd do whatever dance she asked him to if he could be with her when he did it.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle hadn't expected Lucah to respond so quickly. But when he did, she knew he was waiting around like she was for the texts, and that made her smile. Reading Lucah's text made her smile more. So he was going to stay in Vermont? The idea of him not moving away made Belle's heart flutter. So he wasn't going to run back to Romania to marry that girl and become his father. There was still a chance. If not for the two to be together, but for Lucah not to become that cold, miserable monster his father is.

Belle couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Lucah dancing. She had never seen him dance either than little excited/silly jigs he did when they were alone. She didn't really care where they went or what they did, she just wanted to see him again. But the idea of them going dancing, her for the first time, excited her so she quickly responded:

To: Lucah Ivaskov <3

When: In 30 minutes.
Where: Anywhere you want go.
Let's just celebrate our current freedom! Okay?

And with that Belle set off into her closet to look for something to wear out. She wanted to look cute like Lucah was used to, but at the same time show him what he missed out on. She wanted to look sexy, make his jaw drop. Pulling out what she felt was the perfect dress, Belle waited with butterflies for Lucah to respond before she started getting ready.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

So much for aloof and indifferent. He felt like a girl in that moment, ya know the type of girls that squeal and giggle. Yeah, he shouldn’t feel like that, but he couldn’t help it. She wanted to hang out with him! How was he supposed to act aloof?! It just wouldn’t happen. He was practically dancing already, unable to sit back down because he had a sudden burst of energy. Maybe…maybe there was a possibility for them. And if there was, he would not mess it up by being cold and cruel. Nope, that side of him would be reserved for those who deserved it.

Everyone who knew Lucah knew that he didn’t dance. At least not in public. It didn’t mean he couldn’t, just that he chose not to. The only dancing ever did was when he was incredibly happy or excited about something, Belle had witnessed those moments where he’d pop his collar and shimmy a few times. Oh yes, he shimmied. If they went dancing, well, it’d be interesting. All that bumping and grinding was a little much for him, but hey, it was with Belle so did that matter? No.

Another quick response had him shimmying all over again. 30 minutes! Hell yeah! Salsa club anyone? Lucah had learned plenty of Latin dances from Nausicca when he’d been growing up. Often his mother would join in on the lessons and soon became his original dance partner. Once she died, Nausicca had tried getting Lucah back into it, but the only dancing he ever did after that was twirling little baby Jezebel around in his arms. He’d never considered dancing like that again, but if Belle was his partner, the memories wouldn’t hurt as much.

To: Belle Harrington

Perfect! I’ll see you at your dorm in a half hour, wear something that you can twirl in

As soon as he sent it, Luc got dressed in his usual clubbing attire, black on black with a blue tie. She’d once said how much she loved the look on him because it made his eyes pop even more. He’d use whatever he needed to in order to get the upper hand again.