The Way We Were

2.13

Chapter 13

Ariel's POV

I slip the chain of my necklace through the clasp and toss my hair back, taking in my full reflection in the mirror. Tonight's my second date with Ian, and I'm even more nervous than I was the first time. I smooth out my casual dress and then turn to leave my room. Zoey's in the hallway waiting for me. "You look great!" she says, but her smile falls quickly when she sees the nervous look on my face. "Is everything alright?" she asks and I nod my head.

"I'm just nervous." I tell her. "Hey, there's nothing to be nervous about. Ian likes you. And if you get married, we'll be related!" she squeals, clapping her hands together. "We're going on our second date, Zoey. An engagement is so out of the question," I laugh and go downstairs.

As I reach the foot of the stairs, the doorbell rings, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I assume it's Ian, so I gladly open the door. I suck at assuming.

Luke is standing in the doorway, a good foot away from the house, like he's afraid to come closer. I feel like hitting him. "What are you doing here?" I ask, not able to hide the bitterness in my voice. Why is here after he told me what he told me in the grocery store? "I...I don't know." he says. "I have somewhere to be. You need to go." I tell him. I'm about to close the door when he pushes his hand against it, holding it open.

I grit my teeth together and I'm about to say something to him when I see a car pull into the lot and watch as Ian steps out. He has a flower in his hand and he looks happy, but then confused when he sees me and Luke in the position we're in, in the middle of the doorway. I smile at him, hoping to relax him, but he nears the door cautiously. Luke turns around.

He doesn't say anything, and Ian gives me a nervous smile. "Like I said, I have somewhere I need to be." I say to Luke and his hand relaxes and falls from the door. He steps aside so I can get past him and I take Ian's hand. I don't bother to look back. I don't care anymore.

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Luke's POV

I watch as Ariel gets into the car with that guy, and I have to hold back a look of disgust. What is she doing? I hope he doesn't touch her. If he touches her, if he hurts her, I'll kill him. Metaphorically. But still.

"What are you doing here?" Zoey asks, her tone the same as Ariel's. Annoyed and angry. "I came to see Ariel." I say as she takes a seat on the couch and turns the television on. I'm still standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?" I ask. She doesn't look at me. "Depends. Ariel's not here." she says. "I know, I just watched her walk off with pretty boy." I say and she whips her head around to glare at me.

"That's my cousin, so watch it. And I wouldn't go around calling other people "pretty" like it's an insult. You don't stray far from that path, yourself." she says. "And if you know that Ariel just left, why are you still standing here?" she says. "I want to talk to you. About her." I say and she looks back at the TV. "I don't want to talk to you. And especially not about her." she says.

"Can you please just help me out?" my voice raises an octave and I shrink back a step. "Why would I ever help you? All you've done is hurt my best friend. You've caused her nothing but pain." she says. "That's not true. We were happy. Once..." I say and I look down at the ground. "Yeah, for like five minutes. Then you were a train wreck that kept on moving down the tracks. It was a hot mess and you were moving too fast to stop it. You had to know you were going to hurt her one way or another." she says. Ouch.