Pure of Heart / l.h ✔️

32

My knees went weak as he kissed me with fervor, holding me like he never wanted to let me go. I tried to pull away at first, but when he bit my lip, a soft whimper escaped me and I melted into his chest, grabbing his shirt with my left and my right reaching up to tangle into his curls. He grinned against my lips and pulled away, leaving me blushing red and with jello legs as he released me. "I'll see you when I get home tonight." He said, some of my red lipgloss on his lips. I giggled softly and reached up, wiping it off of his lips. "Okay." I responded, giving him a smile and then a hug.

I saw him smile softly and he grabbed me again before I could leave, ducking down to place a kiss on my cheek. My heart melted and I shivered, wishing that I could just spend the whole day with him. I didn't want to leave. "I love you." He murmured to me, nuzzling his cheek into my hair.

Those three words made my eyes widen in surprise and I paused, my heart racing faster. Had I heard him right? "W-What?" I stuttered, taken aback. I felt his arms tighten around me and he sighed softly. "I love you, Nina." He repeated softly, brushing his fingers through my hair. I gazed up at him in awe, wondering how to respond. My feelings for Luke were strong and they had grown so fast, but I didn't know what to say. This was the first time I'd ever had someone who was in love with me as much as I was with them. It was new and it was amazing.

Then, I began to wonder if it was too soon for me to say it back. Not because I didn't feel it, but what would he think if I said that I loved him after only a month and a half of us being together? Then again, he'd lived here for almost seven months now, and I had began to fall for him just two months ago. Would he think that I was stupid for saying it back so soon? I pushed those thoughts away and shook my head at myself, knowing that that wasn't the case. Luke would never think of me that way. I was just overwhelmed. The last thing I'd expected was for him to tell me that he loved me, yet I somehow knew exactly how I felt about him as well.

My heart still racing and my stomach churning nervously, I barely managed to speak. "I-I love you too." I said shyly, causing him to grin so wide you'd have thought he'd just been told that he won the lottery. He kissed me again, not caring about the lipgloss on his mouth when he pulled away. "You should go before I'm even more tempted to call out of work and make you stay here with me today." He advised, a happy glint in his eyes. I don't think that I had ever seen one person so happy about three little words in my life.

And to know that it was because of me just made me all the more fuzzy inside.

**

"What's up with you?" Enzo asked me as we sat in calculus together, eyeing me with suspicion. I blinked out of my thoughts and looked at him, a smile growing on my face. "What do you mean?" I asked back, confused. He sent me a look, narrowing his eyes. "You've been much more perky today than usual. Like, all day. And you keep staring off into space." He said, looking at me closely.

I giggled softly and tapped the eraser end of my pencil against my textbook, the smile on my face growing. "It's not a crime to be in a good mood." I said innocently, shrugging my shoulders.

Enzo narrowed his eyes and hummed to himself in thought. "Well, when it borders on creepy it should be." He muttered, causing me to giggle again. "Sorry. I can't help it." I said apologetically, giving him a smile. I mean, Luke told me he loved me! That knowledge had had me in a good mood all day. For the first time, I was not the only one in love. I hadn't known how good it would feel to know that. It didn't matter to me that I seemed creepy for being happy because I was on cloud nine. I felt like I deserved this, didn't I? To be in love with someone and know they loved me just as much?

"You going to share what's got you shitting rainbows or what?" Enzo asked, raising a brow at me. As his best friend, I knew Enzo, and I knew that he could pretend to be as creeped out and disturbed by my good mood as much as he wanted. At the end of the day, his curiosity overruled that. He was curious and that was that. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell him. I assumed that Luke didn't want anyone to know who could possibly tell Carmen, and obviously that included Enzo. So I couldn't tell him, as much as I wanted to. Maybe he'd realize that I was over him and then no longer would he feel bad for not having loved me back. I knew he felt guilty for that, but even when I had had feelings for him, I'd never been angry or resentful towards him for it. I know better than anyone that we don't control who we love.

"Well," I began softly, clearing my throat as I tried to come up with an excuse. "I...am just happy because I-I...I passed the calculus test last week." I lied horribly, causing him to stare at me with a flat look on his face. I wasn't used to lying, because I'd never had any reason to lie before. Obviously, I'm horrible at it. "Phina, you pass every test, every time, in every class." He said, raising a brow at me as if to say he knew I was lying.

Embarrassed at being caught in my lie, I awkwardly pursed my lips and looked down, tapping my pencil eraser on my textbook. "So?" I mumbled, flushing in embarrassment beneath my layer of makeup. At least he couldn't see it. "So," He began, looking over at me with his brows raised. "Why would you be so happy about that? You're never this happy just about passing a test." He said, busting me in my lie even more. I fiddled with my fingers and bit my lip, not wanting to say anything about Luke and I. "It's really not important." I said, trying to change the subject. "Have you finished your paper?" I asked, looking down at the paper that he had in front of him on the desk. I had already finished my work, so now I was merely waiting for the class to be over. I'd spent my free time day dreaming and, as Enzo had described it, staring off into space.

His steel gray eyes looked down at the papers and he gently shrugged his shoulders, grabbing his pencil and flicking it against the edge of his desk. "Not exactly." He muttered, making me smile softly. "Sounds like you should." I smiled, pushing my hair out of my face.

Enzo chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, pretty much ignoring my suggestion. "You up to hang out on Saturday?" He asked, making me pause for the first time, uncertain. I normally would have jumped at the opportunity, but I could only think about the fact that I wanted to hang out with Luke as well. However, then I smiled at him and nodded my head at him, deciding that I would love that. It had been a little while since Enzo and I had hung out with each other outside of school. With him playing football, we didn't have a lot of time together because he had practice a lot. Besides, I had a lot of time to hang out with Luke.

"Great." He grinned, pulling his paper towards him more, as it had somehow been turned upside down. "You'd better be up before twelve, or I'll use that key under your mat and come wake you myself." He said, making me laugh. I had forgotten that we had a house key under the mat outside our front door, but he evidently still remembered.

"I'll be up." I assured, shutting my textbook. His lips twitched up and he decided to take my advice, going back to completing his work while I waited for the bell to ring. Luckily for me, he didn't try to ask me anything else about my odd behavior that day.