"I might have been a little rude to turn you down twice." I said and we both let out a soft chuckle.
"5 weeks long, I doubted to ask you to be mine. All because you turned me down those two times. You made me feel so insecure because I was so afraid of losing you. You were already my longest relationship before I even made you my girlfriend and you were the first girl I ever loved. No longer a hook up or a short fling." He said while he reached for my hand again. I looked down at our hands for a mere second before looking at him again. "I still regret the way I asked you, you deserved so much more than that. You deserved a romantic date and so many more words about how you made me weak in the knees from the day we met."
"It was perfect Luke, you had me wrapped around your finger so I would have said yes, no matterhow you asked." I replied and he let out a soft laugh, at my use of words. I had fallen so deep for him that by the time he finally got the guts to ask me, there was not a single thought of doubt in my mind. I always tried to protect myself from getting hurt, to prevent the heartache that followed a break up but when he asked me that night, I knew my answer right away. I never gave my chaotic mind time to overthink it. To this day, I have no regrets of allowing him to hold my hand that day or for saying yes that evening.
—
"Good morning Alice" Luke said so cheerfull and eager the second I walked through my front door. I nodded at him before I went to the shed beside the house to take my bike. He patiently waited for me by the fence, already sitting on his bike and balancing himself by holding onto our fence. I walked over to him, my leather boots leaving prints in the thin layer of snow that was left on our front yard. "All roads have been cleared of snow so we should have no trouble to get to school." He said just as cheerfull as his goodmorning. I couldn't comprehend how he did it, how he always stayed so happy and how he had so much energy in the morning. I was his opposite in so many ways. I needed more time to wake up, I needed people to be quiet in the morning, I needed the city to be more quiet but I don't think I was getting any of those today.
I slipped on my gloves and hat before I got on my bike too. He let go of the fence and gave me a second to catch up before we went on with our usual, rather rapid pace.
"I know you're not the most friendly person in the morning but am I not even getting a hello?" He asked and when I looked at him to shot him a glare, he was grinning so widely and laughed when our eyes connected for a second. I tried so hard not to do it, but a small smile formed on my lips when I heard his loud laugh.
"Good morning Hemmings." I said and he seemed so satisfied with his good morning.
"So, I've got a question." He said and it changed so rapidly, his voice was shaking lightly and I could hear the nerves so clearly. He was looking down at the ground in front of him, unable to look at me.
"Shoot"
"Can I-" he said but he stopped his sentence again, even more nervous as before. "Can I hold your hand when we get to school? Like when we walk in the hallways or sit at lunch? We don't have to if you don't want to but it's been 5 weeks since I took you out on our first date. I just want to hold your hand and show you off."
"I'm not really worth showing off. It wouldn't be any good for your reputation." I replied now nervous too.
"Are you kidding me?" He asked as he pressed down on his brakes and made an abrupt stop, I stopped too and turned around to look at him.
"We're going to be late if we don't keep going." I said to him and he just shook his head.
"Do you really think you would bring down my reputation?" He asked and I gave him a soft nod and a 'yeah' which made him laugh. "Do you even see how people look at you when you walk through the hallway? Do you have any idea how many guys would want to be in my place? Did you not see that senior trying to hit on you last week? Do you not see any of that?" He sounded so in disbelieve that I didn't know. But how could I know how people look at me when all I do is stare at the ground right in front of me when I walk? How could I know how guys felt about me when I never talk to them?
