Petals and Thorns / l.h ✔️

20

~Juno's POV~

"June?" Mom asked as she and I stood in the kitchen together. She was stood in front of the stove while she cooked and I was stood to the side of the stove, just watching her. "Yeah?" I responded, looking away from the pan to direct my gaze up to her.

Mom paused for a moment, pursing her lips as she stirred the meat around in the pan. "What's...What is going on with you and Luke? I mean, I've noticed that you two have grown quite close." She said, a hint of a smile on the edge of her lips. I blushed softly and looked away, embarrassed. "I don't know what exactly you mean." I said shyly, biting my cheek as I looked down at the countertop so as to avoid having to make eye contact. Instead of buying my clearly obvious lie, mom just laughed and smiled wider, glancing down at me with amusement. "Oh, please." She snickered. "Don't think I've forgotten about that kiss I caught you and him in earlier, Juno." She chuckled, turning off the stove.

I blushed brighter at the memory of her catching us and anxiously fiddled around with the bottom of the red and black flannel I had on over my tank top, embarrassed. It had only been a few hours ago that mom had walked into my room, catching Luke and I while we had been making out. Thankfully she'd come in before he and I could've gotten caught doing much worse, but it was still embarrassing, especially because of the way my mom had grinned like a maniac at the sight of us kissing and then giggled to herself before she'd left my room. Luke had just been amused about her reaction, while I was beyond embarrassed of not only how she'd reacted but also because we'd just been caught by my mom. Nobody ever wants that to happen.

"I wish you would forget about it." I grumbled back to her, crossing my arms over my chest. Of course, she just laughed again, placing a lid on top of the pan. "Unfortunately for you, that's not happening." She tsked, still grinning. I just grumbled under my breath and then let out a sigh. "Yes," I began in a mutter, sparing her a very brief glance. "Unfortunately is exactly correct." I said.

She snorted and rolled her eyes as she turned away from the stove, shaking her head at what she often called my melodramatics. "Oh, hush." She said, walking over to the pantry. "There's much worse things that you could have been caught doing." She added, making me cringe. I was all too aware of that fact, and I did not want to think about the possibility of that ever happening. Ever.

When I didn't bother to respond, mom looked over at me and raised her brows, a box of macaroni in her hands. "Well?" She asked expectantly, making me just dumbly stare back at her. "Are you ever going to answer my question?" She pressed as she gave me an impatient look, waiting on my response. But I simply stared at her some more, having forgotten by now what her question even was. I just remember it had to do with Luke, but that was it. She seemed to understand that, rolling her eyes as she shut the pantry door and set three boxes of macaroni noodles on the island counter. "You have the memory of a piece of paper sometimes." She sighed, making me frown. "Mom, paper isn't alive. It can't remember anything." I said.

"Neither can you." She shot back, giving me a look that made me scowl. "Oh, har-har. You're so funny." I said flatly, huffing.

Instead of getting angry for my sass, mom just laughed, knowing that I was only messing with her. Just like I knew that she was only messing with me. "But anyways, I asked about what's going on with you and Luke." She reminded me, her curious blue eyes peering over at me. I bit my lip and shrugged my shoulders gently, looking down at the floor as I frowned. "We've been...well, he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend or anything but... I don't know." I mumbled, frowning. I didn't really know what to think. Luke had said he wanted us to get to know each other before dating, but that was almost four months ago now and we'd already had sex, but he still hadn't asked me. "You clearly like him." Mom said, to which I nodded my head. "I do." I agreed softly.

"And, well, it's rather obvious that he likes you, too." She added, raising a brow. "So what's the problem? What don't you know?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

I sighed and looked up at her, frowning deeply. "I don't know if he likes me or if he just likes being able to touch me. He said we should get to know each other and we have, but... he hasn't asked me or anything. We haven't spoken about it in months." I explained, frowning still. For a moment, mom just looked at me quietly. "Honey, if that boy didn't like you for you, then I highly doubt he'd be around you all the time. If he's not taking care of your sister, he just follows you around like a lost puppy. What guy would waste time like that on a girl he supposedly doesn't love?" She said, raising a brow.

My cheeks warmed. "Love?" I echoed quietly, surprised. Did she really think that he loved me? How could he when he was so out of my league?

She smiled widely and gently kissed my forehead before wrapping me in a hug, surrounding me with the comfort of her motherly embrace. "You should talk to him about your relationship if you want to know, Juno. There's no problem you can't solve by talking it out." She said softly, giving me a smile. I hugged her back and then pulled away, nodding my head as I realized she was right. "Thank you." I said quietly, making up my mind. I needed to talk to him about everything, but I didn't know when or how.

Little did I know that Luke himself stood just outside the kitchen, listening closely.