2: Beneath Orion, Worlds Apart 06

Luke's alive; she could hardly believe the sight as he emerged from the jet – emerged as a hero. Audrey was right; he reallywasa hero.

He looked worn down and his arm was in a sling, but he stepped out with such resolve. He had a quiet air of confidence about him as he stood tall in his uniform. He looked handsome, so incredibly handsome!

With a crooked smile, Luke paused for a moment and waved to the crowd before walking down the stairs; everyone cheered wildly. Kaylee giggled; she knew Luke well enough recognize an uncomfortable, forced smile and an awkward wave. Maybe he looked like G.I. Joe – a far cry from the silly nerd she knew in high school – but it was good to know he was the same old Luke, still uncomfortable in public. That alone would have made her light up.

Her eyes began to mist over as Ryan, Jessica, and Faith ran up the red carpet to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. Kaylee couldn't hold back; her hands went up to her face, trying to contain the falling tears.

"Told you not to wear your mascara," Audrey lectured playfully, yelling above the crowd, wiping away her own tears. Kaylee even noticed out of the corner of her eye that Aaron was tearing up while rapidly snapping away pictures on his oversized camera.

Leaning in to Kaylee, trying to sniff through his own tears, Aaron yelled, "I always knew he'd be doing great things, but I always thought it would be as a CEO of some computer company, or at least something white collar. I never would have guessed this."

Watching Luke embrace his family was beyond heartwarming. She was jealous of his parents and sister; she wanted to hold him close like that, more than anything. But she was incredibly happy for them and couldn't contain her smile.

She could have watched the Patton family hug each other all day long now that they were finally reunited, even though she could barely wait for her own turn. Luke lifted his head, still holding his family, looking into the crowd. Despite the enormous wall of people spaning out from left to right, he looked directly at Kaylee.

Kaylee gasped; there was something about his penetrating piercing eyes that made her freeze. She wanted to jump over the velvet rope, but her legs wouldn't move. She found that his gaze was overwhelming; she could barely lock her eyes with his.

His family must have felt him relax his grip because they finally, although with great reluctance, let him go.

Luke walked forward and deliberately towards Kaylee. Kaylee tried to look at him – she really wanted to – but she couldn't manage to raise her eyes. Instead she watched his boots march forward, step by step, until he was directly in front of her, her eyes staring at his chest.

Everything was moving too fast. Her ex-boyfriend, her ex-best friend and her current hero stood directly in front of her alive and in the flesh, close enough to feel the warmth of his breath.

Two soft fingers gently touched her chin, lightly tilting it until her eyes were forced to meet his. Her body trembled as Luke lowered his lips towards hers, his thumb moving across her cheek and fingers sliding to the back of her neck. The moment his lips connected with hers, there was a spark that surged throughout her entire body from her head to her toes. It was electric and unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was almost their first kiss all over again. Actually, it was more like her first kiss ever. The slightest simple touch from his lips to hers was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced in her life. There was a passion there that she never realized before, not even through the wonderful times they already experienced before he left for the military.

She even managed to suppress Audrey's giggles and Aaron's photo taking. Kaylee now had no doubts that Luke was real, that he was alive. She half expected some kind of Hollywood illusion when Luke stepped off the jet, like his stunt double.

So she was a cynic, a doubting Thomas. She knew it. But once his lips connected with hers... that was the moment she knew she wasn't dreaming.

Or, if it was a dream, she was at least there with him, in his own little dream world.

It all began to make sense again. She just knew. This was real. Luke was back, and he was alive.

Her mind was racing, spinning out of control. For the millionth time, Luke made her cry; tears streamed down her face as she leaped towards him, ignoring the velvet rope between them. Kaylee threw her arms around his shoulders, bawling uncontrollably and kissing his face all over. Luke caught her with his one good arm, embracing her and kissing her back passionately. She didn't want to let go of Luke, not ever. She didn't want him to let go of her, either.

Her heart fluttered and her legs grew weak. The warmth she felt from Luke was simply incredible. It felt like she belonged in his arms. Kaylee wanted to tell him how much she had missed him, how overjoyed she was to see him. She wanted to tell him how thankful she was that he was alive. How she loved him. The words she desired were elusive, escaping from her lips before she could utter those words. It was almost as if, subconsciously, she didn't trust her self to say those powerful words.

Even though she and Luke had broken up, Luke's kiss was so passionate, so breathtaking; it was as if she was his soul mate. They had a connection she couldn't explain. If Luke was still seeing this other girl, she knew she could easily win him back if she wanted to – not that Luke deserved it. Besides, the way he was kissing her right now told her the other girl was probably history. She was still pissed off at him for the way he broke up with her, and there were no guarantees she would take him back even if he crawled back to her on his hands and knees, but there would be time to deal with that later. Right now, she was caught up in the moment, celebrating Luke's return along with everyone else.

She didn't want to let him go. His shoulder was soaked from her tears, but she held him tighter and tighter, refusing to let go. For now Luke returned her embrace; she bit her lip, hoping he would continue holding her tightly.

There was no way she would take him for granted this time. This was the second time he came back to her. A few years back, just before they graduated high school, she was told he nearly died in a car accident. Recently, she was told hehaddied overseas. Kaylee didn't know if she could take much more.

She loved him, more than she could imagine loving anyone, but she was scared. Now that Luke had her in his arms, she was terrified. Kaylee was torn between letting herself go, melding into his arms and staying there for eternity, versus keeping her guard up and protecting herself.

It wasn't that she didn't feel safe and peaceful when he held her in his arms; she did, more than she could ever have imagined. But at the same time, all of her fears were surfacing. Why now of all moments in time, she didn't know, but the thought of losing him a third time petrified her.

She wanted him so badly, but at the same time she was too afraid to take him. The pain of nearly losing him was too much for her to process. She wanted to squeeze him tighter, but at the same time she wanted to push him away and run; run as far away from him as she could and not look back.

Leaning back and placing her hands on his face, she stared at Luke with huge tears in her eyes. The expression on her face almost immediately turned from an incredible joy to a devastating sadness, as if she suddenly experienced an unimaginable loss.

"I... I'm sorry," she quietly squeaked out, her bottom lip quivering, looking at him with eyes of remorse that begged for forgiveness.

Kaylee turned around and broke out of Luke's grasp. She ran away as fast as she could, pushing people in the crowd out of her way. Luke, completely caught off guard, tried to step over the velvet rope to chase her but his reaction was too slow; within moments she was gone, she had vanished into the crowd.

Luke was still in shock but he didn't give up; he was determined to stop Kaylee despite whatever reason she had for running. He tried pushing his way through the wall of admiring fans, but he couldn't find a way through, especially with his bad shoulder.

Kaylee hesitated, stopping and turning her head over her shoulder when she heard Luke shouting her name. He was desperate; he called out to her over and over again, barely audible through the noise of the crowd. She almost broke down and fell to her knees. He called out to her frantically, looking all over for her, but she noticed he didn't see her.

Kaylee turned around and kept running.

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Epilogue

Luke couldn't believe what had just happened. One moment he had Kaylee in his arms; everything felt so right, just like it had so long ago. And then before he knew it, she turned and ran away. He felt his jaw tightening as he tried to process what had just happened. He wasn't sure whether to be dejected or furious.

Audrey and Aaron, who had both just witnessed the event, were equally stunned.

Luke tried pushing through the crowd, but with only one good arm against all of the cheering people surrounding him it was like going up against a brick wall. He didn't make it more than ten feet.

Running his fingers through his hair, fighting his frustration, Luke was ready to charge through one last time until he felt an arm on his shoulder. Luke turned around as Audrey embraced him. She told him, "I can't believe you're back! You had us all scared, you know. Welcome home!"

Luke tried to smile, "Thanks, Audrey, it's good to be back."

Aaron took a moment to step out from behind the camera to shake Luke's hand, still filming the entire event. "You have balls, my friend," he told him dryly. "I never thought I'd ever even have to say this, since we've always been together, pretty much since Kindergarten, but it'sreallygood to see you."

Luke said, with mixed emotions, "Thanks, it's good to be back. I'm glad to see you both." He stole another glance into the crowd, hoping to see Kaylee.

Audrey sadly told Luke, "Just give her some time; this was a lot for her to process. You know how she feels about you."

Shaking his head, trying to comprehend what had just happened, he muttered, "But why would she... I mean it's not like we're... but still..."

"Luke, it isn't like her to run from anything, especially from you. She's probably just scared. As you know better than anyone, all of this is a lot to take. Kaylee is probably just having a hard time letting it all soak in."

"Maybe," Luke said, and he wasn't smiling. "I probably deserved that after what I did... but I just thought..."

He quickly shifted gears. Looking back towards his friends, he said, "We'll have to catch up. I have a lot of fanfare I have to deal with, thanks to Uncle Sam, but my fifteen minutes of fame won't last forever, thank goodness."

"We can wait, Luke. Just enjoy your family for now and your new status as a hero," Audrey grinned as her face turned red. "Just don't give up on Kaylee, ok? You might be everyone's hero now, but you'vealwaysbeen Kaylee's hero."

Luke nodded in agreement, but he wasn't looking at her. Instead Luke was looking past Audrey through the crowd, hoping Kaylee might have stopped to at least turn around, but she was nowhere to be found.

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Thank you for reading; look for Book Three coming in a month or two as we continue the saga of Luke and Kaylee, to once and for all determine their fate. Luke is home, but has he changed? Will Kaylee come back? Hope you enjoyed the story, and see you for Book Three!