Something Changed: Day 11

Word Count: 66,466

Summary of Events:

The week after their first kiss, Ella gave Luke a note with her phone number and social media names on it; not wanting her to be unnerved when he contacted and followed her, Luke did the same the following week. Because Finn noticed him paying a lot of attention to his cellphone as a result of his texting with Ella regularly, Luke admitted that Ella was now officially his girlfriend. The next week, just before Luke went down to have supper, he saw Ella had posted a drawing on social media that looked an awful lot like him, albeit with a few artistic liberties having been taken. He liked the picture and only looked forward to going to the Domino Group so that he could compliment her on it in person . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

She looked up at him and smiled as he arrived and sat down beside her. Despite the smile, Luke got the sense that something wasn’t quite right. The smile didn’t seem as full or genuine, it seemed almost held back.

“Is something wrong?” Luke asked.

“No,” Ella replied, looking a little surprised, but still like there was, in fact, something wrong.

“I liked that picture you posted today,” Luke said. “It was really good.”

The trouble lurking in the background of her face seemed to creep closer.

“Did you use me as inspiration for it?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” she replied simply, looking almost completely troubled.

“You even had my bracelet in it,” Luke said. “That was what convinced me it was me.”

“Are you offended?” Ella asked.

Her eyes showed fear verging on terror clearly as she looked at him. Luke was confused. What was she worried about?

“No,” he replied, making sure there was a softness to his voice and that it wasn’t flippant. “I’m not offended. I liked it. Like, the artistic liberties you took with my body, I liked them. I don’t know that I’d necessarily make what you imagined on me a reality someday, but making something like that a reality someday is something that I want to do. I wanted to tell you that last week, but then Vance started that dumb game. I’m actually kind of glad that you like — and want — tattoos like I do.”

Ella looked somewhat relieved — but not entirely. “I just couldn’t help it.”

“And I’m okay with that,” Luke said. “Was someone else not or something? I’ve never seen you like this. You look like you’re freaking out.”

“It cost me my first boyfriend,” Ella replied. “He made me delete all the pictures I had of it and burn the original. He’d never given me the impression that he hated tattoos before I drew the picture, but…”

Tears traced trails down her cheeks and Luke immediately put his arm around her and kissed her forehead softly. “I would never do that to you. Never. I promise. I’ve imagined all kinds of stuff with your body in my mind. I don’t want to prevent you from imagining all kinds of stuff with my body in your mind. In fact, considering what you’ve put down on paper, I’d love to know more about what you imagine of me.”

Ella sniffled and Luke wished he had a tissue to offer her, but, unfortunately, he didn’t make a habit of carrying those.

“Do you really mean that promise?” Ella asked.

Luke lifted her head and tilted it to look at him so that he could look her in the eyes.

“Yes,” he replied. “You have every right to destroy me if I break it.”

Ella didn’t necessarily look convinced, but she did looked somewhat settled. Luke hoped that Ella would believe him, and he wished Vance hadn’t interrupted their conversation last week, as he was sure that if he’d been allowed to finish she wouldn’t have had any anxieties whatsoever about what she’d done.