waitress // lrh

18 // whimpering

// cate //

"Can I kiss you again?"

And Luke had grinned, trying his best to hide it. She saw, despite his attempts. He had quickly said yes, and Cate had propped herself up onto her elbow.

She had pressed her soft lips against his cheek, the feeling of his stubble tickling slightly. He had ruffled her hair, and then Catelynn had laid down again, gingerly wrapping an arm across his bare torso.

He had smiled happily, and grazed his fingers lightly over the area she had kissed.

And then they both fell asleep.

So when Ashton started knocking on the door with slight aggression, the little girl jumped up, clearly startled. Cate wasn't sure where she was at first, but when her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she realized she was in Luke's room.

Luke. She swiveled her head over to the see the sleeping blonde, his head resting on the mattress. All of the pillows had been propped up for him to sit against, but now that he had tried to sleep, it was kind of useless.

"Cate?" Ashton called.

"Yes?" she replied, trying to make her voice loud enough that Ash could hear it but still let Luke sleep peacefully.

"It's like seven-thirty now, you want to leave anytime soon?"

Her eyes widened. "Seven-thirty?"

Cate clapped a hand over her mouth the second the loud exclamation left her mouth, checking to make sure that the lanky blonde beside her was still sleeping. She didn't want to wake him up, especially after the events of the day. He definitely needed his sleep.

Ashton chuckled through the door, making her glance back over. "I'll be out in the living room when you want to go."

"O- okay."

Warm fingers grasped her wrist she was holding hesitantly in front of her, gently tugging her back down to the mattress. She stifled a noise of surprise, finding herself lying against Luke's side once more.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked softly, biting her lip.

He shook his head groggily. "Mm-mm." Even though that wasn't the complete truth. Ashton knocking had woken him up a little, but Cate's voice was really was snapped him out of it. Luke didn't mind, however, since he had been knocked out for the last at least four hours.

Cate exhaled, her hand reaching out to comb yet another strand of hair out of his face.

The last time she had done that, he had kissed her hand. She was aware it was just a kiss on her hand, and she was also aware that her kisses were just small ones on his cheek. But Cate had never kissed anyone before except Luke, even just a quick peck on the cheek, so just thinking about it made a smile threaten to surface on her face.

"So," he mumbled. "I've thought about it."

Her brow furrowed. "It?"

Luke bit back a chuckle. "Yeah, and I've decided that you guys are right. I probably shouldn't stay here like this."

"Oh."

"Sweetheart," he mumbled, "did Calum say he was just going to stay at the office?"

"Uhm," she felt mouth go dry, knowing Luke couldn't help the new pet names that just seemed to roll off of his tongue. "I think."

He hummed in response.

"Where did you want to stay, then?" Cate asked, curious. She really wouldn't mind if he stayed at their house, even though he might be more comfortable with just Ashton or Michael around all the time. There were too many people in their house, not counting her actual family that lived there. And besides, he was closer with the two Australians sitting in his living room. Just because he had stayed the night at her house a couple times didn't mean that he wanted to. She had asked him to, and it probably would have been impolite to say no.