Now Online [Lucah]

[Belle Harrington]

Belle sat at her desk starring into her computer screen. She had just spent the last hour talking with her father over Skype and was more than delighted to hear that not only were things going very well for him, but that he was making plans to come visit her in Pilot Ridge. The idea of seeing her dad again since the summer made her ecstatic, she had missed him so much and had recently been very lonely with Lucah being away in college.

Belle was about to close her computer when she heard the familiar ping of someone coming online, thinking it was her father again Belle rushed back to Skype to hopefully talk to her father for a bit longer, but that's when she noticed Lucah's screen name.

'He's online,' Belle thought to herself, as her heart jumped and the butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She needed to make a decision and she needed to make it fast, was she going to message him or not? Belle couldn't come to the decision, she remembered their night of celebration when Lucah was accepted into college but she was almost positive that Lucah had now continued on in his life without her.

Finally Belle sucked it up and figured that it wouldn't hurt to just say hi.

[Belle]: Salut, Ce mai faci? =)

And with that Belle pressed send and let out a little giggle at her lameness of messaging the "Romanian Princess" (as he had been called many times before by Romeo) in Romanian, but deep inside of her fear bounced around the idea that he wouldn't message her back.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

College was a pain in the ass. Didn't help that a few douches from his hall had started asking about that girl that had gone into his room a couple weeks ago and why she hadn't come back. Of course if he'd mentioned that they were over the questioning would only intensify and Luc really just didn't want to deal with them or their remarks about how poor his love life was. Then again, they'd probably tell him to find another 'piece of ass' and stop bitching about it like a woman. So, Luc kept his mouth shut.

It also sucked being away at college because he barely got any time with Callie when he wished he could see her everyday. Not that it would be a good idea for him to stick around Hammel everyday because that would end up with him getting into a fight with one of the minors and he couldn't afford being jailed for it. Even if either of his roommates deserved it. Funny how Noah was lumped in with Romeo now.

After having talked to Callie for a while on the phone, Lucah decided to hop on his laptop to see if by some miracle his baby sister was logged in on skype. Just recently she'd acquired one and it wasn't in any part due to his father. Nausiica had assisted her in signing up without Dimitri finding out and once every few weeks, Luc would get to see her, hear her and talk to her. Technology was his hero at this point.

Unfortunately, she was not on though.

His eyes traveled down the logged in page and locked on one name in particular. A name he hadn't spoken in several weeks, months even. College was taking over his life, he'd barely had any time for those few friends that he had. It didn't help that he was still trying to keep some distance between him and his old flame.

Just as he was about to log off (because he was too afraid to start a conversation), the message appeared before him and he bit down on his lip. Lucah was surprised at her choice of language to use, but was slightly amused by it. She'd always loved the sound of his native tongue, not that he blamed her. Americans talked weird.

RomanianPrince]: Hello, Belle. I'm fine, how have you been?

Typical, he just couldn't keep from sounding so damn formal. Friends or not, he still couldn't go back to just being relaxed around her. Which sucked. A lot.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle had to keep reminding herself to blink as she starred harder into her computer screen, she was trying her best to keep distracted. LOLcats? Yes please. Epicfail.com? Haha faceplants. But Belle couldn't keep her eyes and mind off of the skype chat box.

Part of her hoped that Lucah wouldn't replay back to her, that he would just ignore her message and continue on his life like he had been doing, and a bigger part of her wanted him to respond. So when she heard that well known ping Belle couldn't help it that her heart jumped into her throat. He had actually messaged her back!

[Belle]: Salut, Ce mai faci? =)
[RomanianPrince]: Hello, Belle. I'm fine, how have you been?

Belle couldn't help the pain in her heart when she read Lucah's reply. He was being so formal and cold again, she wondered what had happened. Maybe he was just keeping his distance or maybe he was just being a dick. Belle didn't know what was going on but she thought he would always be comfortable with her. Oh well, she thought to herself with a shrug before replying.

[Belle]: I'm doing well actually Lucah, nothing too special, but I guess sometimes no news is good news right? haha... How's college? Learning lots I hope!

Belle sat there silently looking at her response. It felt so awkward and uncomfortable, but it WAS awkward and uncomfortable, it's always weird talking to your ex, but Belle had hoped that they would never be like this. But she was obviously wrong. With a sad smile, Belle pressed send and waited again for the Romanian boy's response.

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Honestly the attitude Luc was projecting didn’t have much to do with Belle or the fact that she was his ex. And he was comfortable with her. The problem was that he kept getting screwed over when he got too comfortable with someone, whether it be his own doing or someone else’s in the most recent case. Ravyn had scarred him this last time, far more than he could have scarred her those years ago. He wasn’t really in the best mindset to be ‘comfortable’ with any girl that he’d had a problem with in the past.

Belle just happened to fall into that category whether she deserved it or not.

He hadn’t been the same since after him and Belle broke up. Just as he’d begun to get back into that happy state he’d been in prior to breaking up with her, he’d been struck harder than he thought possible. It was one thing to try and make him break up with the girl he was seeing like Ki, it was a totally different thing to be cheated on with someone deemed as ‘just a friend.’ Things like that just didn’t help the whole him being a nice guy thing.

[Belle]: Salut, Ce mai faci? =)
RomanianPrince]: Hello, Belle. I’m fine, how have you been?
[Belle]: I’m doing well actually Lucah, nothing too special, but I guess sometimes no news is good news right? Haha… How’s college? Learning lots I hope!

How one could be so chipper in IMs was beyond Luc. He wasn’t very partial to emoticons and rarely did he see the need to indicate laughter with ROFL or LMAO. Text talk annoyed him greatly, so he was formal in just about any form of technology. What was he supposed to say to her question? That he hated his dorm hall, he’d been cheated on and had another girl in mind? Yeah, that’d sure go over well. Not.

So simplest thing for him to do was to be vague.

[RomanianPrince]: College is boring. I do not see what all of the hype is about honestly. I have been learning nothing of value to me in most classes. How has Hammel been? Quiet I assume, with the exception of Romeo of course.

He just desperately hoped rumors hadn’t started spreading yet. If anyone else caught wind of what had happened between him and Ravyn, he didn’t want to know what the reaction would be. Least of all if Belle found out. Luc had problem enough with Callie knowing, but she'd helped him.

[Belle Harrington]

Belle smiled when she heard the returning ping from Lucah, it was nice to talk to him again. Even if it was just small talk, it was better than nothing. Belle knew she had missed Lucah, she felt it everyday, but she didn't realize exactly how much she had missed him until now.

Everything was different between them, their lives had continued in their own way, and Belle hoped that they would never drift a part but it was only inevitable. After all, Lucah was away in University and she was stuck within the walls of Hammel, unable to reach him.

Opening the chat box, Belle's smile fell into a frown. How was it that even through chat Lucah was still able to sound so cold and distant?

[Belle]: Salut, Ce mai faci? =)
[RomanianPrince]: Hello, Belle. I’m fine, how have you been?
[Belle]: I’m doing well actually Lucah, nothing too special, but I guess sometimes no news is good news right? Haha… How’s college? Learning lots I hope!
[RomanianPrince]: College is boring. I do not see what all of the hype is about honestly. I have been learning nothing of value to me in most classes. How has Hammel been? Quiet I assume, with the exception of Romeo of course.

Belle sat quietly as she thought over her response. Should she continue to be her happy and chipper self or should return the formality and coldness he was giving to her. With a shrug she typed back...

[Belle]: Maybe you just need to make it interesting? You know? And Hammel is the same. Quiet as usual. And honestly, I haven't really seen Romeo around. I've just kept to myself, made some new friends though! That was interesting haha.

After pressing send Belle added in,

[Belle]: I do miss seeing you though Lucah, if you're not busy maybe we can go somewhere and catch up? =)