one summer

isle of flightless birds.

first day of my life.

"but now i don't care, i could go anywhere with you. and i'd probably be happy."

******

"Luke no!" I yelled, laughter between the yells to stop.

"I just like tickling you," he smiled, "Because of your smile, and your laugh."

"Well ain't that dandy," I rolled my eyes.

"Hey," he tickled me slightly, "Don't roll your eyes at me. You like me too much to do that."

"That's very true," I sighed happily.

"Well I like you a lot too," he grinned, and wrapped his arms around me, burying his head in my neck.

We were cuddled up on the couch in Luke's basement, watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Netflix. We had finished one show on already; that being The Office. So now we were onto another show.

It was currently the end of April. The weather was starting to get nicer once again, so we were outside earlier. I was hoping that it meant summer was going to be here before we even really knew it. Luke was just hoping for the days left of school to dwindle down as quickly as possible.

Luke and I had been dating for almost four months now. Although, it had felt like we had been for much longer than that. He was my favorite person to be around, and just my favorite person in general. I loved that he was my best friend.

I had finally told him that I liked him in the middle of September, just a week or so before homecoming. At the time, he said he didn't quite know how he felt about me, but he didn't want to just cut me out of his life. So, we kept talking to one another constantly.

Eventually, I got him to open up to me some too. And we finally put a label on us as talking. Talking lasted a couple months, till the end of December. That's when we were calling one another. I had forgotten what his voice sounded like over the course of the summer, so I loved hearing it again.

The last week of winter break was the better one. Since I was doing stats for the wrestling team, I was required to go to a wrestling tournament hosted by the school Luke wrestled for. So that meant I was going to be seeing him in person.

Although we had sent numerous selfies and such to one another before, this was a lot different than seeing one another over the summer. I was going to be smiling like an idiot a lot more than I was during work nights.

The first day of the tournament, I was nervous on the bus ride there. I caught myself fixing my appearance a lot, as well as checking my phone to see if he was there not not yet. I was just assuming I was probably going to be acting like a complete idiot around him the entire time. However, I knew he was probably just as nervous as I was. Plus, he had to wrestle too, so he was probably a mess.

The first day of that tournament was definitely something. I had gotten a few hugs, as well as I didn't fuck up entirely. I wasn't as nervous each time he came over to talk to me, but I was sure I was acting like a dork. Plus, my mom wasn't helping much either because she was acting like an idiot too. When we said goodbye, I really wanted to kiss him, but just didn't get the chance.

The second day of the tournament, we made plans to hang out New Year's Eve, which was the day after. Luke got to meet my parents, which was nice. They finally got to meet the boy I had never shut up about. My friends got to meet him too, which, they approved of him instantly.

On New Year's Eve, he picked me up and we got to hang out. I finally got to kiss him, as well as cuddle with him. Since I had been wanting to kiss him since May, it was a really fucking good feeling to finally be able to.

Since hanging out with him, I've been a lot more comfortable around him. I've never met someone in my life who I've been able to be myself completely around. It was really nice to have someone like that. Especially for me. Luke was one of the first people I had actually opened up to completely, and I was content with that.

Now, I was at his house, with him, in his arms. I didn't want it any other way, and I couldn't even have imagined it any differently. Since we began dating, I liked him a lot more than I did already. He meant a lot more to me than I thought he ever would.

Plus, we just had so much in common. We had the same sense of humor, as well as interests and music taste. So, we got along pretty damn well. The fact that we were friends for so long, then finally got to open up to one another is really what made us click in my opinion.

He also had a lot of things about him that I really adored. I loved his eyes. They were the prettiest brown eyes I had ever seen, and whenever I was around him, I couldn't help but look at them. I also adored his smile. It was the thing I loved about him the most. Mainly because I was the one who made him smile. I didn't even know I could make people smile.

I guess I just didn't ever expect to go after him in all honesty. Well, it was just a little harmless statement that one night I said, "Hey, you're pretty cute."

I don't think that I minded that I decided to go after Luke all those months ago. I wouldn't want it to be any different. He was mine, and I was his. I couldn't believe that I had spent nights over the past summer even wondering why anyone would ever want to be with me. Luke made me realize that there were lots of good things about myself.

It wasn't all just him that made me happier. It was myself too. He just helped, a lot.

He poked my nose, "Auggie."

"Hmm?" I blinked.

"You were spacing out on me," he frowned slightly, "You okay?"

I nodded, "Mhmmm."

"Good," he kissed my forehead, "I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot too," I smiled, and kissed him.

"Good," he grinned, "Because I'm not leaving."

"I'm glad you aren't," I laughed.

That one  summer was an eventful one for sure. But time made him a lot more worth it. He was so worth it.