Luca Cornering Alstroemeria
A few days had passed since the final presentation, and both Alstroemeria and Luca had done exceptionally well. To celebrate their success, the Taylors unexpectedly invited the Valerians over for a gathering, as it was known that their children had been project partners. The atmosphere was filled with polite conversation, but beneath it all, the tension between Alstroemeria and Luca simmered.
The Taylors' estate was bustling with activity, an air of celebration filling the large, meticulously decorated ballroom. Guests mingled, glasses of wine clinked, and laughter echoed through the room. The success of the final presentation was the talk of the evening, and it seemed that for once, there was no tension between the Taylors and the Valerians—at least not outwardly.
Alstroemeria stood near the corner of the room, her fingers wrapped around a glass of wine she wasn't even sure she'd had a sip of. She tried to keep herself hidden in the shadows, away from the endless compliments and the prying eyes that came with being part of the Taylor family. Her eyes flickered over to Luca, standing across the room, speaking to her father. His posture was perfect, commanding the room with his silent confidence. She couldn't help but notice how different he seemed in this setting—almost at ease, despite their history.
Why am I thinking about him? she thought, shaking her head slightly, as if she could dispel the thoughts. But it was impossible. After their last interaction, after everything that had happened, he had somehow managed to creep into her mind more than she cared to admit.
A quiet sigh escaped her as she turned away, looking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights from the outside casting a golden glow across the room. She needed some air, a break from the artificial warmth of the gathering.
Before she could take a step, she felt the sharp, familiar presence of someone behind her.
"Alstroemeria." The low, cool voice sent a shiver down her spine.
She didn't need to turn around to know it was Luca. Her name, spoken from his lips, always felt too heavy, like he was giving it weight he shouldn't.
"What do you want, Luca?" she asked, her tone sharp despite the calm exterior she was trying to project. She could feel the pressure building inside her chest again, the familiar discomfort she hadn't quite learned how to handle around him.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, she could sense his movements, the slight shift in the air as he took a step closer, positioning himself so that she couldn't simply walk away.
"I think we need to talk," Luca said, his voice steady, but there was something in the way he said it that made her heart skip a beat.
She turned her head slowly, giving him a cool, dismissive glance. "About what?"
"About this," he gestured vaguely at the space between them, his eyes glinting with something unreadable. "About how you keep pretending nothing is wrong, when everything is clearly…" He paused, the smirk that tugged at his lips making her pulse race. "Different."
Alstroemeria's lips pressed together tightly. "You're insane if you think I'm going to have this conversation now, Luca."
"Why not?" His voice was like velvet, soft and dangerous. He stepped closer again, and her heart fluttered, though she didn't want it to. "We're both adults. The project is over. The success is celebrated. Don't you think it's time to acknowledge what's really been going on between us?"
Her chest tightened. She should have known that this wouldn't stay in the past. That after everything—after how they'd worked together, after the brief, fleeting moments of connection—the tension between them wouldn't just dissipate. But she didn't want to deal with this now, not in front of everyone, not when there was so much at stake.
"I'm not going to talk to you about this here," she said firmly, her voice cold, pushing him away with more than just words. "Not now, and not with everyone watching."
Luca's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched for a moment. Then, without another word, he reached out, taking her wrist gently but firmly, pulling her slightly away from the crowded ballroom.
"Luca, let me go," she snapped, yanking her wrist out of his grasp, but he didn't release his hold. Instead, he merely gave her an unreadable glance.
"Come with me," he said, not asking, but commanding.
Her pulse quickened, and a small part of her wanted to push him away, to resist him entirely. But there was something in his gaze—a fire that wouldn't die out, something intense that made her feel both infuriated and intrigued at the same time.
Without waiting for her answer, Luca started walking, pulling her along with him. They passed the crowd of guests, their footsteps barely making a sound against the polished floor. He led her to a small, private study, away from the noise of the celebration. The door closed behind them with a soft click, the air immediately cooler, quieter.
Alstroemeria was on edge now, the calmness she'd tried to maintain shattering with every second she spent in this intimate, private space with him.
"What do you want, Luca?" she asked again, this time her voice softening slightly, though still tinged with frustration.
Luca turned to face her, his silver eyes unwavering. "I want the truth. No more games, Alstroemeria. Why are you avoiding me? What are you so afraid of?"
Alstroemeria swallowed hard, her breath catching. She had to fight the overwhelming urge to turn away, to put up the walls again, to retreat back to what she knew best: keeping everyone at arm's length.
But something in Luca's eyes made it hard to do that. He wasn't like anyone else.
"I'm not afraid," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible. "I just… I can't afford to make this complicated. Not with you. Not with us."
Luca's gaze softened, his hand reaching out to gently touch the side of her arm. The contact was brief, but it made her heart race in a way she couldn't control.
"You think it's complicated?" he asked, his voice low, almost tender. "I think it's just getting started."
The way he said it, so sure, so intense—it rattled her, making her question everything she thought she knew about herself, about him, and about where this strange, electric tension between them could lead.
For a moment, they stood there, the silence between them thick, neither one sure of what would come next.
But Alstroemeria couldn't stay in this moment forever. She couldn't let herself be swept away by whatever this was.
"I can't do this," she said finally, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm not… I'm not what you think I am, Luca."
"Then show me," he replied, his voice soft, but insistent.
And for the first time in a long time, Alstroemeria wasn't sure if she could keep running.
Alstroemeria's breath caught in her throat as Luca's words hung in the air. There was something undeniable in the way he spoke, like he could see right through the walls she had carefully built around herself.
"You're lying to yourself if you think that's all this is."
She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to keep her composure. The last thing she wanted was to be vulnerable, especially in front of him. But the weight of his gaze, the intensity of his presence, made her heart race, and she could feel the walls she'd worked so hard to construct starting to crack.
"No," she said, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to stay strong. "It's not about lying. It's about reality. You and I—our families—this can't happen. It's too complicated."
Luca's eyes softened, a flicker of something deeper passing through them. He stepped a little closer, just enough for her to feel the heat of his body. "You think I don't know that?" His voice dropped to a near whisper, and for a moment, the room around them seemed to fade into the background. "I've known from the beginning what our families are, what they represent. But I can't deny what's been happening between us, Alstroemeria. You can't either."
Her chest tightened, and she took a step back, breaking the sudden closeness. "You're right. I can't deny it. But it doesn't change anything, Luca." Her voice was barely above a whisper now. "Our families... we're enemies. The Taylors and the Valerians..."
"I know," Luca interrupted, his voice sharp but tinged with frustration. "But does that mean we are supposed to be enemies too? Does it mean we can't..."
His words faltered as he searched her face for any sign of understanding, any sign that she felt the same. Alstroemeria could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and despite herself, she stepped forward, just a fraction. Her fingers tingled with the impulse to reach out, to close the distance between them.
"I don't know, Luca," she confessed, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I don't know what to do with this. With you." Her eyes met his, and for the first time, she allowed herself to really see him—not as a Valerian, not as an enemy, but as him.
Luca's gaze flickered with something almost tender. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, his touch fleeting yet enough to send a jolt through her. "I can't stop thinking about you, Alstroemeria. Every time I see you, every time we're near each other, I feel like everything else disappears. It's not just about our families. It's about us."
The admission hung in the air between them, raw and unfiltered. Alstroemeria's breath caught as she absorbed the weight of his words. She felt the pull of him, stronger than ever, like an invisible thread that tied them together despite everything that should keep them apart.
"I feel it too," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "But I don't know how we can get past all of this. The history. The rivalry. Our families..."
Luca's gaze softened, and he took another small step forward, closing the remaining distance between them. "Maybe we can't get past it. Maybe it will always be there. But I'm willing to try if you are."
Alstroemeria's heart raced. She could feel her walls crumbling, but she was still terrified. "You think I'm ready for that? For whatever this is?" She shook her head, stepping back, though it felt like the hardest thing she'd ever done. "I don't even know if I'm strong enough to face what would come after."
Luca studied her face for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then, with a small sigh, he nodded slowly. "I know. But I'm here, Alstroemeria. And I'm not going anywhere."
Her chest tightened, a mix of fear and something else—a quiet longing—filling her. "Luca, I don't—"
"I don't have all the answers," he interrupted, his voice steady but filled with an emotion she couldn't name. "But I do know this... what we have here, between us, it's real. And I can't let it slip away because of something as meaningless as our families."
Alstroemeria's heart fluttered, her breath shallow. He was right. Everything about this felt real, even if it shouldn't. She could feel the weight of their families' expectations, the decades of rivalry pushing against them, but in that moment, standing face to face with Luca, all she wanted was to let go of everything else.
But the fear still lingered, gnawing at her. What would their families say? What would this mean for everything they'd worked for?
"I can't just... forget everything," she whispered, shaking her head as if trying to clear the storm in her mind. "I don't know how to be with you... not when everything feels like it's built on a lie."
Luca's gaze softened again, and he placed a hand gently on her arm, a quiet reassurance. "Neither do I. But I'd rather take the risk and find out than spend my life wondering what could've been."
Alstroemeria swallowed, her thoughts a swirl of conflicting emotions. She didn't know what the future held for them, or if they could even make it work. But in this moment, she realized something—she couldn't push him away anymore. Not when every part of her was drawn to him, not when the connection between them was undeniable.
"I don't know what this means, Luca," she said softly, her voice trembling slightly. "But I don't want to let it go, either."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Alstroemeria felt like she was allowing herself to breathe. She didn't have all the answers, and neither did Luca. But one thing was clear: they couldn't ignore what was happening between them. No matter how complicated, no matter how dangerous it was.
Luca's lips curled into a small, almost reluctant smile. "Then let's figure it out together."
The conversation hung in the air, charged with the electricity of their shared confession. The world around them seemed to fall away, leaving only the two of them standing there, caught in the gravity of what had just transpired. But the reality of their families' expectations loomed over them like an unspoken shadow.
Alstroemeria took a deep breath, her mind racing. "So, what now?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, though there was a flicker of something between them that felt like a spark in the dark. "We can't just... walk into the house and tell our families we're dating. They'd have a heart attack."
Luca chuckled softly, though it lacked any true humor. It was a dry, almost resigned laugh. "Yeah, that would be one way to ruin dinner." He ran a hand through his hair, the motion familiar but different somehow now, as if he was processing the enormity of their situation. "We'll have to take it slow. Let things happen one step at a time."
Alstroemeria nodded, though a nervous excitement churned in her stomach. "Yeah, it's not like we can go public with this overnight. The Taylors and the Valerians? They'd lose their minds."
Luca's eyes darkened for a brief moment, but his expression shifted into a wry smile. "It'd be *interesting* to see their reactions. I can just picture it now—the Taylors in one corner, the Valerians in the other, both of them sputtering in disbelief."
She raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I can't imagine my mother's face when she hears about this. She'll probably think I've lost my mind."
"Oh, my dad would *definitely* get a vein in his forehead," Luca joked, though his voice betrayed a hint of tension. "But hey, we can blame it on the whole 'forbidden love' thing."
At that, Alstroemeria let out a laugh, despite herself. "*Forbidden love*," she repeated with a soft chuckle, the words almost absurd coming from her own mouth. "I guess it kind of fits, huh?"
Luca leaned back slightly, his gaze shifting from her eyes to the ground for a moment, then back again. "It does. But it's more than that, Alstroemeria. It's us. Whatever our families think, it doesn't change what's between us."
She met his gaze, her heart skipping a beat at the sincerity in his voice. The connection between them was undeniable, something that couldn't be easily dismissed, even by the weight of their family names.
"Right," she agreed softly, though the doubts still lingered. "But we'll need to be careful. We can't just drop a bomb on them all at once. It'll be too much for them to process."
Luca nodded in understanding, his expression serious now, though there was still a spark of something playful in his eyes. "We'll ease them into it. One family member at a time. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, just a little slower."
Alstroemeria let out a soft sigh, feeling both relieved and overwhelmed by the path ahead. "I can't believe we're actually doing this. We're seriously going to date... in secret."
"Yeah," Luca said, his voice lightening a little. "It's like a spy operation. We'll be undercover. *Romeo and Juliet*, but without all the tragic ending stuff."
Alstroemeria couldn't help but smile at the comparison. "I'm not sure I'm ready to end up in a tomb just yet."
He laughed softly, his shoulders relaxing. "No promises on the dramatic ending. But hey, as long as we're not getting caught, I think we'll be fine."
She smiled, feeling an unexpected weight lift from her chest. It was absurd, yes, the secrecy, the tension of their families' hatred for each other. But for the first time, the uncertainty didn't feel so suffocating. It felt like a challenge.
"So," she said, her tone taking on a mischievous edge. "How do we make sure we're not caught?"
Luca raised an eyebrow, a smirk curling on his lips. "We'll have to get creative. *No public hand-holding at family dinners*."
"Noted," Alstroemeria said, her voice playful but also serious. The thought of their families finding out made her stomach flip, but Luca's presence beside her steadied her.
"Alright," Luca said, his tone turning more serious, though the playful glint never left his eyes. "We'll keep this between us for now. Take it slow. And, when we're ready... we'll let them know, one at a time."
"Yeah," Alstroemeria agreed, feeling a sense of relief in the decision, despite the uncertainty ahead. "One at a time."
There was a brief silence between them, an unspoken agreement to face what was ahead, but also an unspoken acknowledgment that this was only the beginning. The journey ahead wouldn't be easy, and the consequences of their families finding out were unknown, but for now, they would take it one step at a time.
"I guess this is our 'forbidden love' story," she said, her voice soft but filled with the weight of what they were about to embark on.
Luca looked at her with a steady gaze, a flicker of something deeper in his eyes. "Yeah," he said quietly, his tone almost contemplative. "But it's ours."
And in that moment, Alstroemeria realized that no matter the obstacles, no matter how many walls their families would try to build, this—what they were beginning—was something she wasn't ready to let go of.