Chapter 35 The Price Of Love
Natalie kept rubbing the tissues nervously. Her hands were wet with water and sweat.
"As your current boyfriend, should I not ask you that?"
Luke said slowly and casually. There were jealousy and tenderness in his voice. What he said made Natalie almost believe that they were in love now.
Natalie paused. The whole world was quiet.
After coming back from the supermarket, they seemed to have a thing for each other, but not in a certain relationship. That day, Natalie asked Luke who he thought he was to her, but Luke just said that it was up to her.
However, Luke was not anyone else.
How could she make a decision for him?
Natalie didn't sleep all night to figure out who Luke was to her. It seemed that Luke had a crush on her, but he never tell Natalie that he loved her.
Natalie never thought that she would get the answer at this moment all of a sudden.
She once thought of leaving away, but Natalie had to admit that she had fallen in love with Luke.
Involuntarily, she fell in love with him.
Natalie turned her head to hide her smile and pretended to look outside the window.
"What are you thinking?" Luke said while gently smoothing Natalie's long hair back.
Her heart throbbed when Luke touched her ear.
Her cheeks burned with shyness and she immediately caught Luke's hand and pull it down.
"Stop doing that..." Natalie said, in a soft voice.
Luke said calmly, "Your hair covered your face. I want to see your face!"
No one could ignore Luke's look at this time and so neither Natalie. After a while, Natalie asked, "Why do you want to see my face?"
The tree projected a shadow on the grass and it danced in the breeze. Natalie gently asked as if she was seeking the last confirmation.
Luke held Natalie's hand and rubbed it gently while he looked at her. "You know the reason, Nata. Or, you don't love me?"
Luke's meaning was obvious.
Natalie bit her lip. She lowered her head and whispered, "No!"
Luke's eyes changed slightly. As he was about to ask her what he should do to gain her love, Natalie raised her head and looked at Luke with a pure face.
"You need to chase me first!" Natalie said softly with a serious look.
They looked at each other for a while and Luke suddenly smiled. "Do I have to do that?"
Natalie was also not sure how she felt now. She just didn't want to make the same mistake that she once made in her previous relationship and wanted to be treated seriously in love.
Even though she failed in her first relationship, Natalie still looked forward to falling into a wonderful love.
But Natalie felt too embarrassed to tell Luke when facing him.
Natalie held her hand back and looked at Luke discontentedly. She raised her voice at Luke, "I've never been chased by someone! Why can't you chase me if you love me?"
"I don't believe that!" Luke flicked Natalie's head gently and said, "I still remember those men we met before!"
Natalie said nothing.
"Since when does he be so jealous?" she thought.
But Natalie said the truth. Except for Forrest, no one dared to chat her up since Mia protected her so well.
Therefore, Natalie was never chased by someone.
However, Luke still questioned the veracity of her story.
Considering Luke's personality, Natalie explained patiently, "I just treat them as my brothers."
Luke sneered.
He looked a bit scary. With a frown, Natalie said, "There's nothing between us! Why do you so dislike them?"
With folded arms, Luke leaned against the back of the seat and silenced for a while. Then, he said in a calm but unhappy tone, "You went to take a bath in a hot spring with them!"
Natalie froze.
Luke shot a cold glance at her and continued, "And you chatted with them very happily!"
After a while, Natalie finally realized that Luke was talking about the thing that she went to Mt. Waters.
Natalie looked at Luke in surprise and suddenly didn't know what to say.
"He is really an unforgiving man," Natalie complained in her heart.
Meanwhile, she felt that Luke was a bit cute.
Natalie smiled secretly and deliberately murmured, "You're so petty."
"So it's my fault now? Who has a prejudice against me and called me bastard without hearing my explanation at that time?" Luke mentioned the past again as if he was trying to get even.
Facing Luke's questions, Natalie lowered her head to clear her hands. She murmured in a very low voice, "I can go there with you the next time."
With a raised eyebrow, Luke pretended that he didn't hear what she said and asked, "What did you say?"
"Only with you..." Natalie whispered in a lower voice.
What Natalie said lingered in Luke's ears. It sounded so attractive that Luke even wanted to go there right now.
He couldn't help but smile. All of a sudden, Luke realized that he was easy to please.
"What time can we go there?" Luke stopped thinking and asked.
Natalie smiled and clapped the scraps of tissues off. "Well, it depends," she said.
Obviously, Natalie was tantalizing him. Luke pinched Natalie's cheek and said, "You're playing with my emotions."
Natalie pushed his hand away and glared at Luke with her hand rubbing her cheek. "Is this should be your attitude to your beloved girl?"
Luke opened his mouth but in the end, he said nothing but smile.
Anyway, he had got all the time in the world.
...
After they came back, they all went to take a shower. Then, they changed their clothes and stayed in the living room.
Natalie had made chicken soup.
Luke didn't like the flavor of the chicken soup.
However, Natalie asked Luke to drink it all. "Better than you have a cold," she said.
"You have to listen to me since now you're chasing me!"
"If you don't take my advice, you'll regret it, I promise you."
"Luke, drink it or I will never talk to you!"
...
This was probably the first time in his life that Luke was threatened but couldn't do anything. Luke took a deep breath and drank the chicken soup, even though he was very reluctant.
He handed the empty bowl to Natalie. Natalie then smiled happily, and then she took out candy from her pocket and gave it to him as a reward.
Luke sat on the sofa with his legs crossed while his arm was lazily resting on the armrest.
Natalie sat right next to Luke's leg on the carpet with Fourteen.
Luke did not move for a long time and Natalie showed the candy in her hand to Luke and said, "Give me your hand."
Luke looked down at Natalie and required, "Feed me."
Natalie was speechless.
Thinking of Luke's uncomfortable look with a frown when he drank the chicken soup just now, Natalie felt a little guilty.
Therefore, she hesitated for a moment and decided to fulfill his request.
She tore open the candy wrapper and took out the candy inside. Then, she sat up and delivered the candy to him.
Luke stretched her neck forward and opened his mouth to eat the candy. Intentionally or not, his lips gently touched Natalie's fingertips.
Her heart missed a beat. Natalie's fingers trembled slightly. She suddenly held her hand back and looked at Luke with embarrassment.
However, Luke just stared at Natalie with an innocent look while eating the candy as if nothing had happened.
Natalie put her hand into her pocket. Her fingers were still trembling and she could still sense the feeling that his lips touched her fingers.
Natalie wanted to ask Luke if he would stay in Alcomara for the coming New Year, but now Natalie was too embarrassed to say anything because of what had just happened.
Suddenly, Luke patted her head gently.
Natalie raised her head and met Luke's smiling gaze.
"I will go back to Athana tomorrow."
Natalie was silent for a moment. Her sunny mood suddenly darkened but she didn't show it. Then she pretended to be calm and said, "Got it."
Natalie didn't ask Luke what he was going to do in Athana or when he was coming back. She thought Luke shouldn't be able to come back before the New Year if he went back to Athana at this time. New Year was the time for a family reunion. Natalie didn't want luke to stay here just because of her. That would be too selfish of her.
Luke waited for a while, but Natalie just kept silent without saying anything else. Luke couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to come with me?"
Hearing Luke's words, Natalie hesitated for a moment. After a few seconds, she shook her head quietly.
That night, Natalie couldn't sleep but kept tossing and turning in bed all night. What Forrest said in the day kept echoing in her mind.
"Natalie, do you really think that he will marry you? Or can you come back to Athana for him?"
She was not very sure.
At least for now, she couldn't do it even for Luke.
Of course, Natalie understood that Luke wouldn't stay in Alcomara forever. After all, the root of the Benningtons was in Athana, and now Luke stayed here just because he had something to do and could leave for the time being.
To be honest, Natalie had no idea what she should do now. She felt like a ship, drifting on the sea in the darkness of the night, gradually lost without the guidance of a lighthouse.
But she was an adult.
And as an adult, she was aware of what risk she would take when she decided to fall in love.
...
The next morning, just as Natalie and Luke finished their breakfast, the car that took Luke to the airport came. Luke left without any luggage and only brought his passport and every other type of necessary document, which made Natalie feel that he was just going out for a walk.
After Luke left, Natalie sat in the living room staring blankly for nearly five minutes. The room was so large and so empty that
Natalie suddenly felt a deep sense of loneliness in her heart.
Suddenly, a thought flitted through her mind.
Natalie wanted to get her ears pierced while Luke was not here and then, she would bring the pair of pink diamond ear clips to a jewelry store to have them changed into ear studs.
Natalie and Mia arranged to meet at a jewelry store downtown. When Mia arrived at the jewelry store, the ear clips had already been changed into ear studs and Natalie was standing at the door waiting for her.
At first, the manager of the jewelry store was reluctant to take this job because the pink diamonds were so valuable that they were worth more than even all the diamond rings in the display case. The manager of the jewelry store was worried that Natalie would not be satisfied with the result. After Natalie pleaded several times and promised that she would take all the responsibility, the manager finally agreed to do this work.
Fortunately, the ear clips were successfully changed into ear studs. After the clips were removed, sterling silver studs were installed. The original shape had not been destroyed at all.
As the New Year was approaching, Mia had been very busy for a while. Therefore, Natalie and Mia had not seen each other for a long time. Naturally, Mia didn't know what happened to Natalie recently.
Since Natalie had several sturdy bodyguards following her when she went out now, Natalie knew it would be hard to hide from Mia the fact that she was staying at Luke's house when she met Mia today.
Natalie told Mia everything. In fact, she originally wanted to talk to her later.
Mia was greatly shocked at Natalie's words.
Then, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart that the little girl she used to protect had grown up now.
But soon, Mia began to ask Natalie some weird questions, like "Does he wear a condom?" or "Do you feel good?"...
Natalie was speechless.
She immediately covered Mia's mouth.
Subconsciously, Natalie looked at the bodyguards behind her. Some of the bodyguards scratched their heads in embarrassment while some of them looked away with blushed faces. They all pretended that they didn't hear what Mia said.
Natalie was suddenly worried about that if they would tell Luke what they heard today.
The reason Natalie had not been to pierce her ears was that she did not feel the need to do so. After all, she wasn't very interested in wearing the jewels.
Of course, there was another reason, which was that Natalie was afraid of pain. She was told that it was painless when piercing ears, but who knew.
Eventually, Natalie chose to go to a nearby hospital and had her ears pierced by a laser, which would be safer with a shorter recovery period. The nurse told her that only one week needed to get recovered with proper care.
It was impossible to be completely painless, but still within Natalie's tolerable range for pain. Just like drawing blood, Natalie only felt a little painful for the first second.
After leaving the hospital, Natalie walked down the street with the cold wind blowing to her face.
Natalie felt very sober at this time.
She deeply understood what she was doing right now was irrevocable, just like piercing her ears. Once that happened, it couldn't be taken back.
"It's so chill today!" Mia was so cold that he kept shivering. She and Natalie were now standing before the hospital waiting for the bodyguard to drive up.
Natalie suddenly called Mia's name, "Mia."
"Yeah?" Mia stamped her feet to stay warm. "What's up? Natalie."
Natalie looked at the sky and exhaled. "Do you think that I can get married to him?"
Obviously, Natalie meant Luke.
Mia suddenly paused and looked at Natalie with a serious look.
There were so many girls who loved Luke, but actually, they were all clear that it took courage to be in a relationship with him.
It was a dangerous thing to fall in love with a man who was inconstant in love.
Mia silenced for a while. Then, she held Natalie's arm and said sincerely, "Don't think too much, Nata! The most important thing is to follow your heart! If you really love him, then go ahead! No one knows what is the best choice. Listen, sometimes, love is fruitless. In the world of grow-ups, it's quite normal to fall in love and break up."
Natalie thought about Mia's words. After a while, she suddenly smiled.
It was indeed too early to think about the result.
"I see!" Natalie nodded.
Mia gave Natalie a comforting pat on her shoulder and said, "Do you want to come to my family for the New Year? My parents miss you so much."
Natalie knew that Mia was afraid that she would feel lonely. But anyway, she wouldn't go to the Harts this year. After all, someone wouldn't like to see her.
Natalie thought for a while. In the end, she said, "Maybe the next time. I need to stay here to accompany Fourteen."
"Fourteen?" Mia was confused.
Natalie smiled. "It's his dog."
...
That night, Natalie stood in front of the bathroom mirror, holding a cotton swab moistened with iodine to apply around the ear hole.
The doctor said that she had to do that twice a day and keep the ear hole not getting wet by water.
After getting into bed, Natalie felt uncomfortable no matter how she lay on the bed. She was still not used to wearing a pair of sterling silver earrings and was afraid that they would be pressed when she was lying on the bed.
Natalia couldn't help but regret her decision to get her ears pierced. Restless, she lay on her back. The night lamp glowed softly in the darkness. She sighed a breath and then began to blame this all on Luke in her mind.
"It's all his fault!" Natalie thought.
As she was complaining about Luke in her heart, she received Luke's call.
Immediately, Natalie was delighted. When she answered the phone, Natalie carefully concealed the pleasure.
"Luke?" Natalie said, pretending to be calm.
"Are you going to sleep now?" Luke asked in a low-pitched and lazy voice. It sounded like he just lay on the bed after a day's work.
"I just went to bed," Natalie responded in a lower voice.
"I've heard that..."
Luke suddenly paused. Natalie was immediately nervous. She couldn't help but hold her breath and think, "Did they really tell Luke what Mia said today?"
"You went out today?" After a while, Luke said.
Natalie felt relieved.
It really scared her just now.
"Yeah, I went out with my friend..." Natalie hesitated for a moment and in the end, she decided not to tell Luke that she got her ears pierced today. "We had dinner together."
"What did you have for dinner?"
"We had the Thailand food."
...
After chatting with Luke for a while, Natalie soon relaxed in the atmosphere of the night. Then, Luke suddenly smiled meaningfully.
"Do you really think that I called you just to ask you what you have for dinner today?"
With a husky, deep voice, Luke said. Natalie couldn't help but think of something romantic.
Natalie blushed. At this moment, she was so glad that Luke wasn't here so that he wouldn't tease her. She grumbled softly, "Don't know what you're talking about."
Luke smiled. "But I haven't said it yet."
Natalie decided to keep silent and made no reply.
Then, Luke's voice sounded again, "Well, I'm going to tell you something serious now."
"What's it?" Natalie turned over in the quilt. At this time, all her attention was focused on Luke so Natalie forgot the earrings on her ears.
Luke said seriously, "You look so beautiful in the wedding dress."
Natalie's heart missed a beat. After a while, she realized that Luke had seen the photos she had taken before.
Luke then said slowly, "If you don't wear..."
Natalie suddenly came back to her sense. She immediately realized what Luke was going to say. The next second, she snapped, "Luke!"
Luke answered smilingly, "I'm here!"