Chapter 89 | Mrs Bellucas

Isabella:

I think the bouquet of chocolates is too much.

In the time it takes for me to ring the doorbell and for Lucas to open the door, I consider throwing it into the hedge beside me but I had spent a good amount of money, effort and time trying to put this chocolate bouquet mumbo jumbo together so in the last minute, I tell myself to suck it up and present my creation to a bleary eyed, half asleep Lucas.

"Woah, what is this?" He asks, his voice still deep and husky from just waking up merely minutes before. He takes the bouquet from me and inspects it slightly before peeking around the huge thing to look at my face, cracking a grin when he sees me smiling up at him. "What's got you in a cheery mood this morning baby?" He asks, "and why are you here at the crack of dawn, I didn't even get to wake you up yet."

"I'll tell you in a second," I reply, quirking a mischievous brow before getting on my tiptoes so I can press a kiss against Lucas' lips.

Much to my dismay however, he wrinkles his nose and moves his head away. "Sorry Izzy," Lucas says apologetically, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

I frown.

"Want a hug instead though?" He asks, cocking his head to the side before engulfing me in his arms as I nod yes.

As Lucas is still in his pjs, a shirtless and grey sweatpants combo, my face gets smooshed right against his bare chest and I revel in the warmth of his skin and his clean, natural woodsy scent. My arms snake around his waist and Lucas splays one of his hands on the back of my head, holding me in place and I hear a sigh escape his lips.

The way Lucas holds me tight against him, tighter than he typically does, tells me that he needs this hug more than I do. My heart sinks as I realise the reason being is because he's still facing the after effects of yesterday's face down with his parents.

It however, does make me glad for not chucking my chocolate bouquet, an attempt in cheering Lucas up, into the bush.

Yesterday evening, I had found Lucas hiding out in his room, pretty upset (no surprise there) and it had taken me a severe amount of self control, to not go back downstairs and punch the shit out of both his mom and dad when I saw the absolute dejection flaring in his glassy eyes.

I had decided then that today I was going to take Lucas on a day out to help ease his mind off things and hopefully raise his mood. The date I had planned was obviously last minute so it wasn't anything super elaborate, just a day out at the beach, hitting the sand and the sea as well as the boardwalk where a couple of rides were situated as well as an arcade then followed by a desert pit stop at Millie's.

After we seperate, I follow Lucas inside and up into his room where he places the excessively large bouquet onto his dresser before falling face flat onto his messy bed with a tired groan. His ass is right there so obviously I give it a loving thwack before moving across his room to open the curtains to let light stream into the dimness of his bedroom.

By the time I've done so, as well as having pulled on one of Lucas' hoodies that I find draped over his desk chair, I turn back to Lucas to see him now leaning against the bed frame, hands behind his head just watching me with a sleepy grin. He pats the space beside him. "Come sit."

"Wait, before that," I hold up my finger as I take a couple of steps towards him until I'm standing beside him on the bed. "I have something to give you," I say, digging into the back pocket of my jeans.

Lucas gazes at me quizzically, "What is it?" He asks as I dig into the back pocket of my jeans and pull the little item into view.

I watch Lucas' eyebrows shoot up in recognition when I wave the teddy's little paw at him.

"Mr Bellucas," he grins, taking the bear from my hand and toying it's faded fur before flitting his eyes back to me.

"I thought this would cheer you up," I smile.

His eyes soften and with a tug of my arm, Lucas pulls me down onto his bed. "Thank you Izzy," he mirrors my smile, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"No probs," I reply, brushing a strand of hair from off his forehead before brushing my lips across the skin there, then pulling back and flicking the same place I had just kissed. "Now can you go brush your teeth please so we can kiss properly."

***

"Bella, you still haven't told me what you're doing here so early," Lucas says from where he's standing at the foot of the bed, pulling a shirt over his head as I lay under his covers, his duvet tucked right under my chin.

Once Lucas had returned back to his room after brushing his teeth, the two of us had crawled back into his bed and had killed a good hour huddled up beside each other just simply talking and making out. I had been meaning to tell him the itinerary of today as we had been cuddled up but every time the words had even come to mind, it coincidentally would have been the same time Lucas' lips found their place on my mouth or my neck, evidently distracting me.

An hour later however, I had kicked Lucas out of bed to get ready so that we could set off on time.

"Oh yeah," I murmur, sitting up slightly in bed, my clothes undoubtedly creased by now. I let out a short exhale. "I honestly wanted to keep this a surprise for you but you're the one that's gonna have to drive so unfortunately that won't work."

Lucas laughs at my solemn look as he pulls on black shorts.

I shake my head and continue. "Anyways," I say, before throwing my hands up into very cheesy jazz hands, a grin playing on my lips. "We're going to the beach!" I speak with as much enthusiasm as I can muster to make the beach sound more exciting than it actually is.

"The beach?" Lucas cocks an eyebrow. "Just the two of us?"

"Yep," I rake a hand through my hair, "I'm taking you on a date."

His lips curve into a smile at my words. "You're taking me on a date huh?"

"Mhm." I nod with a grin. "I would say it's going to be better than your date but you basically reenacted the whole of Tangled with me so that would be a very huge lie." Lucas chuckles and my eyes soften. "But I hope it's going to be nice."

"It's going to be perfect," Lucas nods firmly. "Anywhere I go with you would be the perfect date."

I blush and throw my hand in a dismissive wave. "Oh shush you."

Lucas grins. "So what are we gonna do at the beach? Are we gonna hit the boardwalk?"

"Yep and the arcade."

"Are you gonna go on the rides there? You were always too scared to go on them with me when we were younger."

"No I wasn't," I reply indignantly, sitting up and crossing my arms across my chest. "The last time we went, we were only 9 and only you, Aidan and Grace were tall enough to go on the scary rides." I slant Lucas a look. "Mia, Dylan and I were stuck rotating on the freaking teacups whilst you guys had fun."

"Mhm sure," Lucas teases. "We'll see about that when we get there."

"Funny you're teasing me about being scared of rides," I quirk an eyebrow, "weren't you afraid of going on the freaking ferris wheel because you were shit scared of heights."

"Yeah, up until I was 8," Lucas shoots back drylily.

"Mhm sure," I copy with a knowing smirk, "we'll see about that when we get there."

"Oh," Lucas moves forward and stretches over the bed so our faces are now inches apart,"will we?"

I nod with a wrinkle of my nose. "We will."

***

"Jesus, Mary, Joseph, this is fucking scary." Lucas' shouts, his voice barely audible over the loud, cranky noise of the ride we're on.

It's not that the ride itself is that scary, it's the horrendous creaky noises that it's emitting, making it seem as if it's seconds away from falling apart and breaking that is fucking horrifying. But, I can't prove Lucas that he was right so I swallow down my fear.

"Told you that you'd be scared," I instead reply, hoping I sound stubborn and cocky rather than shaky and scared.

I'm met with no reply, just the sound of screams from others on the ride as we're thrown up into the sky again and of course the sound of more creaking.

As we come back down, I try to twist my head to see if Lucas is alright seeing as he has gone freakishly silent; no more high pitched screams escaping his mouth either but when I turn, I catch him with his eyes shut, neutral expression drawn on his face with his head perpetually lolled to the side. Oh my God did he pass out?

Panic flutters through me. "Lucas?" I scream his name, trying to get my voice louder than the noises of the ride. "Are you dead?"

Again, no reply.

Shit.

"Lucas!" I scream again, with more urgency this time.

I try to kick one of my legs in his direction but his leg only flops to the side and he doesn't stir in his seat.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"LUCAS!!!!!" Nausea furls through me as the ride spins us upside down and dread trickles down my spine.

I keep my head glued to the seat, as I continue screaming his name. I've probably been screaming for a good minute but it feels like 10, my voice feels hoarse and I'm riddled with worry.

Oh God, when is this ride going to end?

"LUCAS!"

My breathing hitches when finally, I manage to catch a muscle in Lucas' face moving.

I hold my breath as his mouth twitches.

"Lucas?" I shout once again, watching intently as his eyes fly open. "Shit, Lucas, are you okay?"

Lucas doesn't say anything in reply, his eyes merely meet mine, then, a rush of laughter passes through his lips in a matter of a second.

I blink.

"You-you should've heard yourself," Lucas' laughter grows harder as does my confusion.

"What?" I scream in reply, my brain scrambling to make any sense of why he's laughing right now, especially because we're continually being thrown into the air and back down again, my brain has no peace to think.

It's when Lucas begins to mimic my worried screaming that it clicks in my brain.

"Lucas! Lucas! Are you dead?" He screams in a ridiculously high pitched voice.

My mouth gapes open. "You were fucking joking?" I sputter out in exclaimation, "Wowwww, you are such a dick! I can't believe you!"

I sit in disbelief and endure Lucas' wild cackling until the ride ends then I promptly pinch and twist his left nipple once we get off.

"Ouch!" Lucas yelps, smacking my hand away. "What was that for Izzy!"

"For being an ass!" I shoot back with narrowed eyes, "You actually scared me! I thought you passed out!"

Lucas chuckles as I turn away from him, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Look I'm sorry," he laughs, making his apology not seem sincere in the slightest. "It was funny!"

"It was not," I huff, still stubbornly turning away from him even as Lucas grasps my arm and tries to make me twist to face him again.

He then ducks his head to make me look at him but I move my own head away. "You gotta admit it sort of was." I hear the smile in his voice as I continue with my refusal to face him.

When I don't reply, he moves to step in front of me so he's close and obscuring my entire vision. "Izzy," he says. "Look at me."

I keep my gaze downcasted not wanting to gaze up at his face.

Lucas lets out a dramatic sigh and hooks his thumb under my chin, pushing my face up so I'm forced to meet his stare. He raises an eyebrow and I see his lips twitch as he fights back a smile at the glare I'm shooting his way. "Okaaayyy," he drawls, "how about I make it up to you for scaring you?"

I cock my head to the side, eyes narrowing again. I pause for a moment before finally responding purely for dramatic effect.

"In what way?" I ask slowly.

Lucas grins and wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Why don't I show you?"

He weaves the two of us through the crowds, away from the ride where we were situated and deeper into the flurry of the boardwalk.

It's the early afternoon, the morning sun is now obscured by grey, looming clouds but it still is relatively warm. Lucas and I had spent the morning getting on all the rides on the boardwalk before the crowds began to hit, starting off with the easy non scary rides and moving onto the scarier ones that we both stubbornly tried to prove to each other that neither of us were scared of.

The ride that Lucas had just pulled that ridiculous stunt had been our last so that paired with the direction we're walking in provided me with an inkling of where the two of us were headed.

After a few minutes of walking and a couple of turns, my suspicions are proven correct.

I try to school my happiness as the sight of the flickering red and gold sign of the arcade comes into view.

"After you," Lucas pushes open the black door, letting me through first before following.

After I throw a quiet thanks to Lucas, my eyes scan the surroundings, taking in my favorite part of the beach, a place I haven't visited in 6 years. It is significantly warmer inside and the arcade still has that familiar slightly musty beach smell mixed with candyfloss and corndogs.

It's pretty packed inside, no surprise there, the arcade is very popular and the screams of both defeat and excitement fill the air as Lucas and I stroll deeper into the dim room. I'm filled with a burst of nostalgia as I pass the games Mia, Grace, Lucas, Dylan, Aidan and I used to competitively play as kids.

Every summer we all used to hit the beach at least twice minimum and the arcade used to always be our last pit stop before we left. Playing pacman and those racing games with everyone late into the summer evening, wet hair from swimming in the sea, sand crunching in our sun dried clothes, used to be the highlight of the holidays for me.

Lucas intertwines his fingers with mine, urging me to move faster and ultimately snapping me out of my nostalgia-induced daze as we walk right to the back of the arcade, the side which crowds for the most part leave deserted.

Tucked right into the back corner of the arcade room is the old and faded claw machine. The claw machine had never been a popular game in this particular arcade, with the location it was in, barley anyone noticed that it was here but for Lucas and I, it was our game, something we used to religiously play everytime we came to beach, especially after the year we won Mr Bellucas.

The machine looks significantly older now, the light inside flickering and dim and most of the red paint scraped off but the memories and sentiment around the game gives it a lil glow in my eyes.

"Look who's smiling now," Lucas teases, pinching my cheek with his thumb and forefinger.

I slap his hand away and wrinkle my nose, turning to look up at him. "You gonna win me another Mr Bellucas huh?"

Lucas nods with a grin before digging into the pocket of his shorts and pulling out the OG teddy bear. "Lets find him a friend yeah?"

After inserting a quarter into the machine and a hard kick to the side, the machine finally whirrs into life. Lucas maneuvers the spinny buttons that move the claw, pushing it down and to the side to pick up one of the several tiny teddy bears inside. This machine doesn't look like it's been under any maintenance for a good couple months because there are no longer any of all the huge prizes inside, just the little teddies and a couple other frankly ugly toys.

The time shortly runs out and Lucas hasn't managed to pick up any toys. The claw is much slow and creaky than it had been years prior so it's harder to move the machine properly, much less pick up those small ass prizes.

Lucas frowns as he inserts another quarter and the next kick to the side of the machine is a tad more aggressive than necessary and we both flinch at the loud clunking noise it emits. When a worker glances oddly in our direction, Lucas blooms pink and awkwardly strokes the side of the machine that he had kicked.

"Uh sorry machine, he mumbles, his ears growing red.

I stifle a laugh.

When finally the workers attention is drawn elsewhere, onto a kid that throws up by the street fighter machine, and the claw machine comes back alive, Lucas focuses back onto the game at hand.

Again, time runs out and he still hasn't won anything.

"Third times a charm?" I offer my encouragement as Lucas inserts another quarter.

"Let's hope so," he grumbles.

He presses the buttons so the claw moves in a different direction to how he had previously been maneuvering it. The claw hovers over a larger pile of teddies in the corner before Lucas slowly inches it down. It grabs a hold of a handful of the tiny prizes and Lucas skillfully drives it closer to the drop of hole. The claw creaks creepily at the incredibly slow pace it's moving, Lucas' tongue poking out of his mouth out of pure concentration.

We both groan when the first fluffy bird falls out of the claw as well as the blue teddy that follows but Lucas manages to drop the last remaining teddy into the hole meaning that we've won something.

A breath of relief rushes through my lips and Lucas throws me a satisfied grin as he reaches into the metal flap to pull out the prize.

He inspects the little teddy in his palm before closing his fingers over it and turning back to me. He lifts his index finger in the air. "Izzy, drum roll please," he says rather dramatically.

I throw Lucas a dry look but he merely urges me to start the drum roll with a wave of his hand.

I sigh but follow through with his command and begin slapping the tops of my thighs in a poorly coordinated, out of tune drumroll. Lucas doesn't mind however because as my drumroll comes to a pause he lifts his right hand containing the prize into the air.

"Presenting....Mrs Bellucas!" He unfurls his fingers and brings his large hand closer to me. "Here you go Izzy!"

With an amused expression drawn across my face I take the little teddy from Lucas' hand. It's identical to the original Mr Bellucas just with a purple ascot around it's tiny neck.

"Thank you," I tell him with a giggle, brushing her fur against my cheek. "I love her already."

Lucas nods his head and grins before tilting his head to the side. "Does that mean you accept my apology?"

I scrunch my nose at him and pretend I'm in thought for a beat before I release a long breath and nod my head solemnly. "Sure," I fight back my smile that threatens to peek out. "You're forgiven."

"Great," Lucas' grin widens before he smacks a kiss on my lips and grabs my arm, hauling me in the direction of one of the duo car racing games. "Let's see who wins this game, I'll bet you 5 dollars that it'll be me."

"Sure, whatever you say buddy."

━

AUTHORS NOTE:

guys there are literally only about 4-6 chapters left until this story ends i'm gonna die i'm too attached to this story i don't know how i'm gonna cope when it's over :(

hugs and kisses - mai x