Lunar Crest University (Forbidden Fruit)

Chapter Forty-Six

FINLEY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 2023

B eep. Beep. Beep.

Weakly pushing open my eyelids, which feel as heavy as bricks, I squint at the bright lamp in the corner that makes my eyes sting slightly. My surroundings are blurred, and all I can make out is a fuzzy haze as I blink profusely.

Is my vision going to stay like this?

A searing pain rips through my abdomen, distracting me from my eyesight and reminding me of what happened. Just the recollection of the stabbings and the fire and the smoke makes my blood pressure rise. My subconscious had tried its best to convince me that it was all a horrible dream, but the pain, the needles in my arms, the pulse oximeter on my finger, and the tubes in my nose—they’re all just a reminder that everything is real.

Where is Luca? Where is Levi? Javier ?

My eyes finally adjust to the light as I slowly look around the room, a humongous sigh of relief leaving my chest as I see Luca slumped down in the seat next to my bed, sleeping. Warmth floods me to see he’s okay, alive , sitting only a foot away from me. My hand shakes as I try to reach for him, but I’m hooked up to so many tubes that my strength runs out just trying to fight against them, and my hand limply falls back to my side.

“Luca,” I croak out, immediately wincing as the burning sensation rips through my throat like wildfire. My mouth is so dry, my saliva feels like thick cotton.

He grimaces faintly, groaning as he slowly opens his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he blinks steadily as he tries to adjust to being awoken from his slumber. Those dark eyes lift to look at me, widening immediately as he scrambles from the chair and takes my face gently in his hands, as if I could break at the slightest movement.

“You’re awake,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to my forehead, my nose, my cheeks. He peppers quick kisses all over my face.

The solace that pools in my stomach is overwhelming, so much so that tears fill my eyes and spill over and down my cheeks in mere seconds. He positions himself on the edge of my bed, leaning toward me and pressing my head against his large chest. My feeble fingers grip his shirt as tightly as I can.

I’m so happy, I could scream, but that would be thoroughly impossible with the way my throat feels right now. I can’t even audibly cry because it’s so dry.

As he pulls back, I meekly place my hand on my throat, clearing it faintly as my eyebrows pull together in a silent plea. A muffled curse leaves his lips as he hurries off the bed, and his movements are panicked as he grabs the pink cup from the bedside table and brings it to me. He holds the straw as I take a few sips, easing the sting in my esophagus.

“You’re okay,” I rasp, reaching for him. “Your house… You… What happened?”

He grabs my hand as he leans to put the water back down before he sits next to me once more. I’m so desperate for touch, I’m practically trembling as I squeeze his hand in my fingers.

“It’s okay, mi amor . My house— our house—well, it’s destroyed, but I’m okay. You’re okay. That’s all I care about.”

“Tell me everything,” I plead. “Tell me what happened.”

“I took care of everything,” he says, bringing our intertwined hands to his mouth as he kisses my knuckles. “We have nothing else to worry about, Finley. He’s gone. It’s all gone.”

“He’s gone,” I repeat, my voice cracking.

“He’s gone.”

Letting go of me, he shoves his hands underneath my body, lifting gingerly and scooting me over a few inches. He shimmies into the spot beside me, and I immediately curl deeper into his side as his arm wraps around my shoulders. I can’t move too much without soreness ripping through me, but I can do it enough to press myself against him and soak in the warmth that radiates off his body.

I freeze, craning my neck to look up at him.

“Levi?”

“He’s okay, too. Actually—” Luca stops to look at the watch on his wrist. “He and your parents should be getting here soon.”

My parents are here? He called them to make sure they knew I was in the hospital? Of course, he did. He’s always taking care of me, even when I’m unconscious. My eyes well up with more tears as I give him a tight-lipped smile, scared that if I make any sudden movements, I might burst into complete sobs, and that would not feel too great on my abdomen.

“They’re here?” I whisper. “God, do they know? Does everyone know?”

“No, they don’t know,” he tells me softly. “They think you and Levi were mugged in an alley.”

Right. A cover story.

Nodding, I swallow thickly. “How long was I…”

“Six days.”

“Oh my God ,” I sputter.

“You’re okay.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Everything else is just background noise. You are okay .”

Back at the compound, amongst the red lights and alarm blaring as smoke took over my lungs and stung my eyes, I really thought that was it. I thought I was fading for good as I bled out on that concrete floor with Levi trying to make me feel better. I thought I was going to scar my best friend for life by dying in front of him.

“You’re free?” I breathe.

He nods.

Reaching up to grip his shirt, I pull him further down until his lips press against mine. His kiss is soft, warm , and his scent invades my nostrils as I breathe him in. His arm around my shoulders tightens its grip as he brings his hand up to cup my cheek, and I can’t help but faintly whine at the contact. I’ve missed him so much.

“I’m so happy to see you,” I croak out, pulling back just a smidge as I look up at those dark eyes. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again, Luca.”

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

There’s a shimmer to his eyes in the glow of the lamp, and I swear, it looks like he could cry, but I don’t point it out. Instead, I press my face against his chest, curling up to him and closing my eyes as he cradles my head. The thought of him crying while I’ve been asleep in this bed tugs at the strings of my heart.

“Scared the shit out of me, Princesa ,” he murmurs in my ear.

A knock sounds at the door, and we both look up to see Levi standing in the doorway with his mouth popped open. He’s frozen for a second, like his brain hasn’t caught up with what’s going on, before he darts toward me. Sitting on the other side of me, he wraps his arms around me just as Luca removes his from my shoulders.

“Thank God,” Levi breathes.

“You’re okay?” I ask, pulling back slightly as I feebly reach out to touch the bandage on his neck. Flickers of the blood trickling down it under Javier’s blade flash through my mind, and I try not to shudder at the thought.

Grabbing my hand before I can get to it, he gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’m okay. We both are, thanks to this crazy fucker.”

Levi points a finger at Luca, and my eyebrows raise as they both start to chuckle at the comment. My head tentatively turns to look back and forth between them, and my heart begins to swell in my chest. They’re not at each other’s throats. When did this happen?

“You guys don’t hate each other?” I squeak.

They both share a knowing look.

“Trauma bonding, I think,” Levi jokes.

I pout playfully despite the actual tears that fill my eyes again. As soon as Levi notices, he shakes his head, but they’re falling down my cheeks before he can reach up to catch them.

“Don’t cry,” he shushes quietly, rubbing my shoulder. “Hey, look at me, Finn. I don’t want you to cry, okay?”

“They’re happy tears.”

More movement in the doorway catches my eye, and I turn my head to see my parents standing there, gawking at me like they’re seeing a ghost. My mom looks like she has been crying for days; her eyes are puffy and swollen with dark bags underneath. My dad looks just as tired, but he’s rubbing Mom’s back comfortingly as her shoulders shake with small sobs. I haven’t seen them in so long, it feels like a dream.

The boys move from my bed as my parents descend upon me, pulling me into a group hug that’s also the tightest bear hug I’ve ever had. I can hardly breathe, and my stomach aches from the pressure, but I don’t care. I’ve missed them so much.

“Oh, my baby,” Mom cries.

“I’m sorry.”

Pulling back, she brushes my hair out of my face as she cradles my head delicately. “Why are you apologizing, my girl?”

“I know I haven’t visited in a while,” I say, fighting the tears so I can get the words out. “I hate that this is why we’re finally getting to see each other.”

“Oh, honey,” she coos. “No. None of that.”

“Don’t say things like that, kiddo,” Dad says, his hand gripping my calf and giving it a comforting squeeze as he stands behind my mom. “We’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

My chest feels so… full . All the people I care about are here, safe and intact, in this room with me. There was a point when I was fading on that concrete floor that I thought I’d never get to see them again, never get to tell them goodbye. Only a couple of days ago, everything was on the brink of being ripped away from me completely.

“The nurse will be doing her rounds soon,” Luca cuts in, his eyebrows knitting apologetically as he looks between all of us before finally landing on me. “Want me to stall her?”

I shake my head. “No, actually, would you grab her now? I think I just want to get this part over with.”

He nods once, giving me a tiny smile as he turns to leave. He and Levi share another look, and I don’t know what was shared between them, but Levi follows closely behind him as they both leave the room. It’s then I realize Luca must know me better than I know myself sometimes because he’s giving me the space to just be with my parents for a minute. He knows how much I have missed them and how much the guilt has eaten me alive some days when I haven’t taken the time to go see them.

“He hasn’t left your side for six days.”

I lift my head to look up at my dad, frowning.

“He hasn’t left at all,” he continues. “He showers here, sleeps here, eats here.”

“He does?” I whisper.

Of course, he does.

Dad nods. “So, who is he?”

Luca didn’t tell them. For the hundredth time since opening my eyes, I tear up. As terrible as this situation has been, going through what I have in the last week, it has been an eye-opener when it comes to him. I love him, and I’ve loved him nearly since I met him, but seeing how much he has done for me since this all happened… God, I love him so much. Every time I think there’s no possible way I could fall any deeper into this, he goes and surprises me. He didn’t divulge anything to them because he knows it’s important to me that I explain everything to them in my own words, my own voice. He saved that just for me and is giving me the space now to do so.

He was paying attention to me the entire time I thought he wasn’t.

Always taking care of me.

“He tells us he’s your friend,” Mom adds, a knowing smile dancing across her lips.

“Well, he, uh…” I swallow before taking a deep breath. “We haven’t really put a label on it, so I guess we are friends? I don’t know what we are, but I do know I love him.”

Mom’s smile turns into her laughing excitedly, grasping my hand and squeezing it eagerly. “Where did you meet him?”

“I met him at the…university.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. Any story would have sufficed; they would never second guess a random meet-cute, but it’s quite clear he’s older than the average student at a university. My alarm heightens as I see the realization flash across my dad’s features while the information is still lost on my mom. If he’s angry, it doesn’t show, and they don’t have time to respond before Luca and Levi return to the room with my nurse.

It would have to be a conversation for another day. I just hope that when that day comes, they can try to understand.