a/n i like the concept of this chapter hehe and it's quite long too :)

Chapter 68 | Laying in the rain & bookshops

Isabella:

We get back to asking and answering the basic questions again and it continues on like this for a while.

I end up finding out a lot more from Lucas, ranging from what his favourite car is to what his favourite sex position is all whilst the sky continues to grow increasingly darker and the clouds grow more angry looking.

When the wind picks up even more and a gust surges through us, Lucas halts our quick fire questioning.

"I think we should head back to the car before it starts raining," he says, pointing at the sky just as the first drops of rain begin pelting down on our skin. "You're finished right? If you are we can begin to pack up."

My eyebrows draw together. "Finished what?"

Lucas gestures to the plate in my lap and I follow where his finger is pointing.

I blink once. Then twice.

"Where's all the food gone?" I exclaim, glancing down at my empty paper plate. I shake it upside down like I'm expecting the food to appear out of the inside of the plate or something.

When I gaze back up at Lucas he's smirking like crazy. "I guess you managed to eat it all, Izz," he says proudly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"How?..." I glance back down at the empty plate then back up at him. Realisation then floods through me. "You sly fuck," I say accusingly and in a slow manner. "You did that question game to distract me didn't you?"

"Yeah," Lucas grins. "I even fed you mango pieces and you didn't even notice."

I gape at him, then back down to the picnic blanket where only empty food packaging lay. The packets of food are all empty, it's only rubbish that's left.

I ate everything that was on my plate.

Oh fuck.

The corner's of my lips tip down into a frown and twisting in my stomach makes a reappearance. I ate that all. I ate that all.

Shit.

Slight nausea begins to overwhelm me and I nibble on my bottom lip, eyes still flitting across all the empty food packets.

Sensing my unease, Lucas leans forward and tips my chin up with his index finger so that I'm making eye contact with him.

"Hey," he says, eyes darting back and forth between my eyes. "Progress," he reminds me with a raise of his eyebrows, levelling me with a steady look. "Remind yourself this is progress. You did well Bella."

That's right. Progress. It's progress.

I stare into Lucas' hazel eyes and seeing the slight pride in them eases me. I begin to nod slowly and square my shoulders before pushing away the tightening in my stomach and the flutter in my chest also. "You're right," I blow out a breath. "This is an accomplishment. This is the first time I've eaten snacks like this in a long time."

"Yes, exactly." Lucas' mouth curls into a small smile. "That's my girl."

I shoot him a small smile as he pulls back and begins to collect all the rubbish, stuffing them into various target bags. I begin to help him - the tidying helping to pre occupy my thoughts.

As I help clear away our things, I continue to remind myself that it's a good thing that I ate, repeating it in my head like a mantra.

It's progress and this is what I want. I shouldn't feel bad about eating because it's a step forward in my recovery.

I continue to remind myself that not eating makes me feel much worse than eating and slowly slowly, the tightening feeling in my chest and the nauseating feeling in my stomach begins to pass.

I pack away the blanket and then grab the target bag containing the empty packets and straighten up, looking around the field for a garbage can. I spot one a little distance away and go ahead to throw away the rubbish.

As I walk, it begins to downpour like crazy. Fat raindrops pelt down onto my skin, slicking down my hair and the fresh smell of rain begins to linger in the air, the grass wet beneath my feet.

When I return back to our spot, I raise a hand to my eyes and try and look through the rain, scouring my surroundings in search for Lucas who had disappeared mid tidying.

My eyes take in the park, noticing how pretty and isolated it is here. We had chosen a spot right in the middle, away from the children's playground and a spot thats pretty secluded.

Facing forward, it's all field here, that looks endless and seems to stretch on for ages but when I look behind, a line of tall, still baren, trees surround the perimeter.

(kinda like this)

I continue to spin around slowly, still searching for Lucas but when I look left, I spot him only a second later, standing a couple of meters away, gazing up at the sky.

Amongst the monotonous colours of the park; the dark grey sky and the dull green of the trees and grass, Lucas is the only burst of colour in his bright pink and rainbow coloured attire.

I watch him for a second confusedly, wondering what he's doing. He's merely standing there, still a statue, his head tilted backwards so his face is looking up to the sky.

Lucas stays like this for 30 seconds or so before he brings his head down, lifts his hands up begins to rub his face like crazy. My confusion only heightens as I try to apprehend what he's trying to do.

"Hey!" I call out to him, my eyebrows furrowing. "What are you doing?"

Lucas' head snaps in my direction and his eyes widen slightly when his gaze meets mine. A guilty look flashes across his face before he turns around and promptly begins to jog off, running mindlessly somewhere further away.

What the hell?

"HEY!" I break out into a jog and still confusedly may I add, chase after him, the target bag containing the blanket gripped in my hand and hitting my thigh every so often as I run.

When Lucas pauses a second later and does the same thing; lifts his head up to the sky for a moment before bringing it down and rubbing his face, realisation courses through me and I pause to gape at him in disbelief.

"You cheater!" I shriek across the empty park, squinting through the very heavy rain. "You can't use the rain to wipe your make up off!"

I run after Lucas, following as he jogs around in circles and wack the target bag across the back of his head when I get close enough to reach him.

"Please Izzy, my face was itching!"

I scowl, watching as the colour runs down his face. It's all almost wiped off except the splash of pink and green on his left cheek. "My art!" I cry, flailing my hands in the air. "All my hard work!"

Lucas throws me a sheepish look. "Sorry Bells, but my face was really itchy." He shrugs his shoulders and I wack him with the blanket bag again.

I do it repeatedly and after my third hit, Lucas gets tired at my abuse, dodges my fourth attempt of whacking him and sprints off again.

I continue to chase after him, screaming his name and yelling at him to come back here but Lucas is a fast runner and I struggle to catch up to him.

He runs in various directions, switching from time to time, therefore confusing me which continuously sets me back a couple of seconds.

I carry on screaming obscenities at him, my voice carrying through the air, all whilst the rain pounds down on us heavily. My boots don't have much grip on the bottom of the soles so I almost slip and die a few times which only heightens my rage towards Lucas.

In the midst of his running through the field, he pulls down the tutu that's complete soaked and turns around to chuck it in my direction. This action allows me time to catch up to him but the issue is, when I get closer and the skirt gets thrown at me, it hits me square in the face and the intensity of the throw, paired with the heaviness of the skirt causes me to stumble back, slip on the grass, trip on what I presume is a twig and promptly fall backwards onto the grass.

I curse loudly as I fall, my butt beginning to zing in pain from the impact of my drop. I grab the sopping wet tutu and peel it off from my face before chucking it away mindlessly to the side.

When that's out of the way, I rub my nose, groaning as it stings from hurt and as I'm doing so, I hear the pattering of footsteps approach me before Lucas' worried face come into view.

"Sorry!" He yells apologetically, crouching down slightly, his mouth turned down into a grimace. "I wasn't supposed to hit you!"

My scowl deepens. "Idiot." I mutter before lifting up my leg and kicking him in the balls. "Well it did and that hurt!"

Lucas folds over immediately with a grunt and I kick the side of his ass so he falls onto his knees on the ground beside me. "That's what you get, you made me fall on my bruised back and ass!"

"Bella," he groans, clutching his dick. "That hurt!"

"You wiping your makeup off hurt me!" I shoot back. "Admit it your face wasn't itchy! You just wanted to remove the makeup!"

"Mgfmh."

"Admit it Lucas!" I slap his knee.

"Fine, I saw my chance with the rain and took it! I'm sorry!" He exclaims. "But you got your revenge with the kicking and wacking so let's call it a truce!"

"Please!" He adds pleadingly when I haven't replied.

I wait a couple of seconds before responding to to torture him slightly.

"Okay," I grumble reluctantly after a beat. "Truce."

Lucas mumbles something incoherent under his breath, probably cursing me for breaking his balls before he leans forward and gazes at my face. "Are you gonna get up or stay laying on the floor?" He asks me in  a sulky manner.

"Stay laying," I mumble in reply. "My butt is still throbbing in pain."

"Fine," he grumbles, shifting so he settles down onto the grass beside me. "My fucking dick is too."

To get more comfortable, Lucas unwinds the feather boa's from around his neck and places it onto the ground beside him. He then begins to pull of the bows and clips from his hair, grunting when they tug at his locks before shoving the smaller clips into the pocket of his jeans for safekeeping and putting the bigger sized bows on top of the feather boa's.

Poor Lucy, all of her clothes are probably ruined with rain.

He mimics my position as we stay laying down beside each other on the ground in silence. He rests his hands atop one another on his stomach and keeps his head facing the sky like I am.

The rain only continues to increase over time and with the thunder rumbling in the distance, there is no doubt that there is going to be a storm coming shortly. The wind also kicks up a lot and is ruffling my clothes, my hair and nipping at my cheeks. My jeans cling onto my legs like second skin and my hair is drenched, raindrops further collect on my eyelashes and trickle down my face.

The sky is so dark it seems like night time is approaching and the heads of the trees wave raucously. The wild and chaotic weather around us is a stark contrast to the calm and stillness I feel on the inside and I shut my eyes once again in tranquillity.

I don't know how long we stay like this; laying in the grass, in the middle of the park in the rain, in silence but however long it has been I'm just treasuring how peaceful I feel.

Although I have a love-hate relationship with the rain, the ambience of it has always been something I've enjoyed. The pattering of raindrops falling and wetting every surface is the most peaceful sound I think I've ever heard. It never fails to make me drowsy or simple calm me. People often associate the rain with bad moods or the type of weather that ruins plans but I definitely think that should not be the case. If they payed more attention, they'd understand why in movies and books the main characters always seem to lay or dance in the rain because with its gentle pattering and the gloomy look it usually brings - the atmosphere is so lovely.

I genuinely think I doze off for a few minutes and I think Lucas does too. He hasn't uttered a word since laying down, nor has he moved a single muscle either.

Huh maybe he's still asleep. I should check.

I turn my head to look at Lucas; to try and see if he's awake or not. He has his eyes shut and from the steady rise and fall of his chest, both are an indication that he probably is sleeping.

The features on his face are softened as his head remains facing the sky and both of his hands, his fingers that are adorned with rings, are laced together as the rest on his chest.

Strands of his dark hair that are limp and wet from the rain rest on his forehead. His pale cheeks are pinched pink and raindrops roll down each crevice of his face; rolling over his sharp nose and plump lips, across his high cheekbones and down to his neck. And fuck, if that's not a sight to see.

It is unbelievable how pretty Lucas is. His features are definitely model worthy; they're angular and boyish all at the same time. Simultaneously sharp and soft also.

Behind his closed eyelids are striking hazel eyes that blaze green when vivid with emotion and he has the longest, thickest eyelashes that I know most girls would eat a lung to have.

When he smiles, the crinkles that form at corners of his eyes, the two front teeth that are slightly longer than the rest and the dimples that pop out in each cheek add a youthful charm to his face, making him actually look like a sixteen year old.

His smile is so gorgeous.

He is gorgeous.

I can't draw my eyes away from him.

I maybe continue staring at him for 30 seconds (15 minutes) and something super weird, something oddly resembling a flutter, occurs in my chest as I watch him like a weirdo.

"Stop staring at me you creep," Lucas murmurs, his deep voice cutting through the howling wind and my heart leaps in my chest in surprise. Okay I guess he's not asleep then.

"I'm not staring," I quickly shoot back in denial.

Fuck, I answered that too fast. That's bound to make me appear guilty.

"Sure," he drawls in a teasing manner. Lucas doesn't open his eyes but I know for sure if they had been, humour would be flaring in his irises.

I merely roll my eyes at him in response, even though he can't see and my mouth curls into an involuntary smile.

"I think we should go now," I say, swiftly changing the subject and still shamelessly boring holes into the side of his face. "If we stay out here any longer I think we'll catch a cold."

"No, 5 more minutes," Lucas murmurs in response.

"You'll get sick."

"Please," he peeks an eye open and side glances my way. "I'll let you be in charge of the music on the way to the book store."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Lucas nods his head. "But you can't play fucking Victorious songs."

My eyebrows immediately furrow together. "Why not?" I exclaim. "Best friends brother is such a good song."

"No it's not."

"Er yeah it is."

"No it's not."

"Yeah it is."

"No."

"Yes. It. Is," I argue.

"No. It's. Not."

"BFB, BFB my best friends brother is the one for me-"

Lucas shoots be a bemused look as I begin singing.

"Stop singing," he says, his face scrunching up in pain.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, my best friend's brother is the one for me-"

"Izzy-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, a punk rock drummer and he's six foot three-"

"Bella-"

I continue to ignore him. "I don't want tooooo, but I want toooo 'cause I just can't get him out of my miiiiind-"

"Isabella-"

"And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah my best friend's brother is the one for me!" I sing the last bit at an obnoxiously loud voice and tone and Lucas covers his ears with his large hands.

When I next begin to sing 'Take a hint', Lucas repeatedly shakes his head and begins groaning in annoyance.

"You know what," he sits back up abruptly, before turning, leaning over me and grabbing my arms to yank me up along with him. "Let's just go now. I can't listen to anymore of this."

"Why?" I pout. "I thought you liked my singing." I watch as he begins grabbing all of our things, stuffing the tutu and feather boa's in the target bag with the blanket.

"I change my mind," he grumbles, glaring down playfully at me. "Now let's go. I'm going to be in charge of the music."

"No fair."

"Yes fair. Lets go."

+

Lucas:

I pick out a piece of grass from her hair as the bell of the bookshop rings as we push open the door and step inside. Bella's hair falls down her back in limp ringlets, still wet from the rain and slightly wavy after she had taken out her braids. There's a glow to her face and her cheeks are slightly nipped pink from the cold but barely visible on her tan skin.

Inhaling deeply after we get inside and the door shuts closed behind us, Isabella rubs her hands together to rejuvenate warmth, a large grin resting on her lips as she turns to me excitedly. "I love the smell of book shops," she says enthusiastically.

I quirk an eyebrow and sniff the air. "It smells of rain in here."

"That's because of us," she points out, gesturing to our soaking wet clothes and hair. I look down and see a small puddle of water that has formed beneath our feet.

"Oh right."

The car drive here hadn't dried us off properly. My own hair rests damply over my forehead, darker in colour from the water and my black t-shirt and jeans cling onto my body like second skin. We had left the sopping wet tutu and feather boa's in a target bag in the back seat of my car.

They both would need a deep clean before being returned to Lucy.

I don't think the old, grandfatherly looking owner of the shop appreciates the puddles Bella and I are creating; it's obvious from the narrowed eyed look he is shooting our way. I return an apologetic smile to him as he turns away and shuffles to the other side of the till, feeling kind of bad.

When I look back, Bella has begun to venture off deeper into the store. She is in the midst of looking around and I quicken my pace and begin to follow so I don't lose her.

I eye the interior of the book store, like Isabella, as I follow, taking note of the dim inside lighting and the old vibe the book shop has to it.

All the shelves are made from deep mahogany wood and the signs showing each section look old and tattered. Old faded rug line the the narrow hallway that's right ahead of us, where Isabella is currently walking towards and there's a tunnel of books surrounding the perimeter of that walkway. I eye some of the books on the shelves as we walk past, running my fingers across the thick spines.