Epilogue Part Two

"How's my girl?" Luke bursted into the store, smiling as he walked over to me. He jumped over the counter, grabbing me and pulling me into a hug.

"I'm great. Kind of a slow day for the store, though. How are you?" I laughed. I felt Luke's every breath, causing shivers up my spine as he glared down at me. The way he looked at me as if I was the most amazing person he's ever seen always made me smile.

"Now that I'm with you? I'm on top of the world," he smiled, connecting our lips and pulling me even closer.

"I thought you had work today," I commented as he pulled away. He moved behind me as he started to massage my shoulders. His massages always felt really good, especially after a long, tedious work day like this.

"My boss let me get off early," Luke explained, "It's a shame, really. I just love my job." he joked sarcastically.

"Oh, the struggles of being a barista," I teased.

"You know it," Luke laughed, "By the way, I stole some of your favorite coffee cake for you before I left work today. It's in the car. I also made you your favorite coffee but I got thirsty on the way here and kinda drank it all. So... sorry about that,"

"Oh wow, how sweet of you," I rolled my eyes, chuckling.

"Isn't it?" Luke continued to massage my shoulders, leaning forward and planting a bunch of small little kisses on the side of my neck.

"Alright you two, let's keep it PG," Calum called over to us from across the store. Luke and I both looked over to him, laughing as he stocked the shelves.

"Sorry, Cal. We love you!" I called back.

"Hey, Calum, is it alright if I steal Violet for the day?" Luke asked, wrapping his arm around me.

"Go ahead." he shrugged, "You've been doing this for months I'm used to it," he joked.

"Again: we love you, Calum," I said, smiling at him. "Make sure to lock up the store and everything."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the procedure. Luke, have her back home by 11," he joked, "You two have fun."

Luke excitedly pulled me over to the door. Before we could leave, Calum yelled, "But not too much fun!"

"No promises," Luke winked at Calum, causing me to burst into laughter as we finally exited the store.

-

"Why did we need to get all dressed fancy again?" I asked, looking down at my dress and heels. I looked back up to Luke, who was wearing a tuxedo. My heart fluttered at the sight. It sure was different than the typical black skinny jeans and band t-shirts he would wear, but I wasn't complaining.

The sun was just beginning to set and we were in Luke's car, driving down the road.

"Because, my love, we are going to eat a very fancy dinner," Luke reached over, grabbing my hand as he continued to drive.

"Last time you said that, we ended up going to McDonald's and sharing a 20 pack of chicken nuggets and large fries," I pointed out.

"Ok, but this time, I'm serious." Luke nodded. He pulled the car into a parking space as we got out.

"And this fancy dinner just so happens to be in your apartment complex?" I laughed at him.

"Exactly," he smiled at me. He walked over to me, scooping me up into his arms bridal style.

"Luke!" I exclaimed, giggling, "I can walk, put me down,"

"Not today, princess," he planted a small kiss on my lips before carrying me to his apartment. I tried to ignore the weird stares we were receiving from people passing by.

As we reached his apartment door, he finally set me down. He inserted the key, twisting it and pushing the door open.

"Luke...what is this?" I asked, my jaw dropping as a path of rose petals was scattered across the floor. The apartment was pitch black, only lit up by a row of candles along the floor as well.

"It's for you," he said, intertwining our fingers as we walked into his apartment, following the rose petals.

They led out to Luke's balcony, where a small table was set up, draped in fancy table cloths and also lit up by candles. I've always loved Luke's balcony, because it provided a fantastic view of the sunset.

"Luke, this is amazing!" I exclaimed, observing the cute little set up. Rose petals were still scattered everywhere, adding to the look.

"An amazing dinner for the most amazing girl in the world," Luke turned to me, "It's only fair, isn't it?"

"As long as I get to share it with the most amazing guy in the world," I smiled.

"Well, unfortunately, Ryan Reynolds couldn't be here tonight so I guess you'll just have to share it with me instead," Luke joked.

"Shut up," I laughed, shaking my head, "You're a dork. And you're amazing."

Luke grabbed me, pulling me towards him as our lips met. Except this time was different. The kiss wasn't slow and steady this time, instead it was powerful and passionate. Luke's hands slid up and down my back as my hands held his cheeks.

Slowly, Luke pulled away, his eyes still closed from the kiss. He then opened them, revealing his blue eyes and staring into mine. 

"I'm guessing you might want to know what's on the menu for tonight," he whispered, chuckling softly. "Have a seat. I'll be out in a sec."

I took a seat at the cute little table, looking out at the sun as it set. It was honestly a breath taking view. Luke and I spent a lot of time out here on his balcony. Whenever I would come over, we always cuddled and watched the sunset together. Occasionally, we would even sleep out here. This balcony meant so much to me, and I'm sure it did to Luke too.

When Luke came out, I looked over to him. When I saw a box of pizza in his hands, I wasn't very surprised.

"Your favorite," Luke laughed, setting down the pizza on the table.

"Of course," I smiled.

He then set down two wine glasses, pulling out what seemed to be an expensive wine bottle.

He looked to the bottle, squinting his eyes at it, "Amour de Deutz," he read in a terribly fake french accent before he began to pour it into our glasses.

I laughed at his poor attempt at a french accent, "Aren't we a tad bit underage for consumption of alcohol?" I raised an eyebrow at him, tilting my head.

"We're both 20. We're basically legal," he claimed, "Call the police if you want,"

"Maybe I will," I teased.

Luke rolled his eyes at me, leaning across the table and kissing me. He then pulled away, sitting back at his seat as we both grabbed slices of pizza.

As I took a sip of the wine, I realized Luke was staring at me in awe.

"What?" I asked, laughing.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" Luke asked.

"Um-"

"Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question," Luke chuckled, "What I'm saying is...you're beautiful. Sometimes I wonder why you even stick around with a guy like me."

"Because I love you," I replied. "I've loved you since the first day I met you."

Luke looked relieved, "I love you, too. And I really mean it when I say that, you know. It's kinda crazy but this past year with you has been the year of my life. And even now, I still get butterflies in my stomach whenever I walk into your store and see you standing there, working hard for what you want. I get chills whenever you look my way or your hand brushes up against mine. When I come home from a long day at work and see you randomly curled up asleep in my bed, I can't help but to fall in love with you more and more."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling at him.

"I know this all sounds very cheesy, but hear me out," Luke laughed, "Okay? I'm most certainly in love with you. I'm in love with everything about you. Even the way you cry at almost everything when it's that time of the month or how you scold me for drinking out of the milk carton."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as he said all these things about me. A couple of them began to stream down my cheeks as I quickly wiped them away.

"Did I say something wrong?" Luke became suddenly worried, wiping away tears for me.

"No," I laughed, shaking my head, "I just...I love you so much," I choked out, my voice wavering slightly. 

Luke watched me, his eyes full of love and sadness. He didn't know what to say, and neither did I at this point.

Luke sighed, looking down at his lap while shaking his head, "You know, I was going to do this later tonight but with the way you're looking at me, I can't wait any longer."

"What?" I asked quietly.

"Um..." Luke's voice shook, as if he was nervous. "Okay."

I was still kind of confused when Luke hesitantly stood up. I watched as he reached into his pocket, pulling something out.

"Vi, I know we're both still very young and have only known each other for a short time but these feelings are too strong for me to ignore," Luke began, still trembling. He then proceeded to get down on one knee, looking directly into my eyes.

"Oh my God," I whispered, almost to myself.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He pulled out a small box, opening it up and revealing a ring to me, "Violet, will you marry me?"

I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as I took this moment in. "Oh my God," I repeated.

"I'm extremely nervous here, Vi, is that a yes or no," he chuckled nervously, biting his lip.

"Of course I'll marry you," I said, overwhelmed with emotions, "Oh my God, yes!"

Relieved, Luke set the ring on the table, standing up, and pulling me up with him, "You'll marry me?" he asked as if he couldn't believe this was happening.

"What, did you think i was going to say no?" I giggled at him.

"A little bit, yeah," he admitted.

"Oh my God, I love you," I shook my head, pulling on his tuxedo so that his lips met mine. Luke's hands wrapped around me, pressing me closer and closer to him. We both couldn't help but to smile at one another, overwhelmed with excitement and love.

As Luke and I kissed and fell more and more in love with each other, I couldn't help but to think that Michael was smiling proudly at us- wherever the hell he was.