***Connor’s POV***
“Time for school! Time for school! Wakey, wakey Connor-poo!”
I groaned and pulled the covers over my head, turning away from Luka. He was shaking me violently, trying to wake me up.
“Luka, go shower,” I groaned.
“Not until you’re up,” he whined.
I groaned again, knowing what was coming next. Luka stopped shaking me and I gripped the covers tightly, determined not to give in this time.
“Connor? Baby, please get out of bed,” Luka sad in the Voice.
I sighed and sat up, pulling the covers off of my head. He smiled brightly at me as I ran a hand through my messy and severely tangled hair.
“Good morning Connor! I’m going to go jump in the shower! You can use my bathroom, and I’ll use my parents!” he said before skipping out of his bedroom with a change of clothes in his hands.
I got out of Luka’s bed and pulled on my boxers just in case his parents were in the hallway. I grabbed clean clothes and left his room, going into the bathroom next to his room.
I showered quickly before pulling my clothes on. I dried my hair, fixed it, brushed my teeth, and left the bathroom.
I went into Luka’s room and fell back on his bed, exhausted. Luka and I had stayed up late last night, having a little fun.
Even when we stayed up late, Luka was still an overly optimistic and bright person in the morning. Hell, you could probably shoot the kid and he’d pull the bullet out, hand it back, and apologize for getting blood on it.
Not that I would ever let anybody hurt Luka. I would give my life to protect him and make him happy.
Luka came into his bedroom and smiled happily. “Aw, you finished getting ready before I did! But let’s go get some breakfast. You need to eat to wake you up in the morning,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of his bedroom and down to the kitchen.
He sat me down at the kitchen table and made us toast and eggs. We ate before leaving for school.
I knew that this would be the first day I would see Blake since Saturday. But I wasn’t worried. I had made my point quite clear. I was a little guilty about how cruel I had been about the whole thing, but it had been necessary.
I parked the car and we got out and went into the school. I took Luka’s hand in mine and followed after him as he began to skip down the hall towards the senior lockers.
I sighed and began to skip with him, laughing and ignoring the stares we got from other people. Luka smiled widely at me as we stopped at his locker.
“You’ve been in such a good mood Connor! I’m glad that you’re feeling better,” he said joyfully, putting in his locker combination.
“Well, how can I not be in a good mood? I have the most amazing boyfriend ever,” I said, smiling at him and kissing him.
“Aw! I love when you’re cliché. It’s so adorable,” Luka said, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tightly. “You’re adorable Connor! Cliché Connor!”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. He shut his locker when he was done exchanging his books and grabbed my hand.
“Come on Connor! Let’s go find Blake and Felix,” he said, pulling me down the hallway.
I had to keep reminding myself that seeing Blake wouldn’t be a problem. I had clearly gotten my point across to him. If I had to pretend that everything was normal, I would. But only for Luka’s sake. Other than that, I didn’t want anything more to do with Blake.
“Felix! Where’s Blake?” Luka asked curiously, going over to Felix.
Felix shrugged as we stepped up to him. “He said he had to go talk to his math teacher about something. He probably won’t catch up to us before first period, but he’ll be there during lunch,” he said.
Huh, was Blake trying to avoid me? Or did he really have to talk to his math teacher?
I let it drop from my mind as the bell exploded. We waved to each other before taking off to class. When lunch came around, we sat at our usual table with no sign of Blake.
“Where’s Blake?” Luka asked with a frown. “I haven’t seen him all day!”
“Good to know I’ve been missed.”
We all turned to face Blake. He grinned at us and took his usual seat at the table. He didn’t look at me as sat down.
“Where have you been all day Blake?” Luka asked curiously.
“I’ve been around,” Blake said with a shrug. “Sorry I didn’t see you guys this morning. I had to talk to my teacher.”
“It’s okay! Hey, guys, guess what?” Luka was bouncing up and down in excitement.
“What, Luka?” we all asked at the same time.
He grinned widely, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a brown paper bag. “I brought Connor lunch! Now he has to eat.” He shoved the bag at me. “Here Connor!”
“And Connor loses to Luka again,” Felix said, watching in amusement.
“Yea, Connor seems to lose a lot,” Blake said, his eyes flashing.
I ignored that comment as I took the lunch from Luka, kissing him before beginning to eat. Luka watched me with a smile on his face.
“You know Connor, you don’t usually eat a lot, but you’re appetite seems to be better. You haven’t skipped a meal since Saturday,” Luka said, looking like he was about to explode with happiness.
“Yea, I feel a lot better,” I said, smiling and kissing his cheek. “And I told you I would work on my appetite.”
Honestly, I was beginning to feel better now that I had ended things with Blake. My appetite was coming back, I had slept better, and I was just generally happier. All from two days of knowing my affair was officially over.
“Do you guys want to hang out tonight?” Lukas asked curiously, standing up and plopping down in my lap. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder.
“I don’t know Luka. Connor and I have a project to work on,” Blake said, his eyes finally coming to rest on me.
I shook my head at him, keeping a calm façade. “No we don’t, Blake. We concluded everything on Saturday.”
“Oh, we did? I don’t think we finished everything, Connor.” A smirk danced on his lips. “There were some things we had to change.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that Blake. I fixed everything. It’s done and over with for good. It was a stubborn project to finish, but it’s done now. I promise,” I said.
“I just want to go over everything with you Connor. To make sure we both understand what was going on during the project,” he said, the smirk now potent on his face.
“Too late. Like I said, it was done. So I turned it in. We don’t have to worry about it anymore,” I said with a shrug.
“You know Connor, if you weren’t careful with the way you finished it, it’ll come back to haunt you,” he said, his smirk getting wider.
“I’m not worried about that,” I said flatly.
“I feel like you guys aren’t actually talking about a science project,” Felix said, staring between the two of us in confusion.
“Oh, we are,” Blake lied with a reassuring smile. “I just didn’t want to get a low grade, you know? I wanted to make sure Connor was careful with it. That’s all. Well, if it’s done, then I guess we can all hang out tonight.”
“Yay!” Luka cheered, bouncing in excitement. I grunted and held him down before we had a little problem popping up, and Luka gave me an apologetic smile.
The bell rang and we got up and began to head towards class. Blake reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of earshot of Luka and Felix.
“Hey Connor, how upset do you think Luka would be if we were fighting?” he asked.
“Luka would be very upset. Which is why I’m pretending I give a shit about you,” I snarled, yanking my arm out of his grip and storming away from him.
I forced a smile as I approached Luka. He gave me a curious look and I shook my head at him, pulling him into a hug before we began to walk again.
“He’s still worried about the project. But there’s nothing to worry about. I took care of it,” I said confidently.
Afterschool, everyone came over to Luka’s house. We went out back and laid down on the chairs by the pool.
“Easy Connor, too long in the sun and you’ll turn into a lobster,” Felix joked.
“Haha Felix. You’re so funny,” I grumbled sarcastically, pouting at my Irish skin.
“Don’t pick on Connor! I’ll beat you up!” Luka said, raising his fists.
“Luka, you would never hurt a fly,” Felix said as we laughed at Luka’s stance.
Luka frowned and dropped his fists. “Yea. I wouldn’t,” he said with a defeated sigh.
I sat up and pulled Luka into my lap, kissing his cheek. He smiled at me and poked my nose, cocking his head to the side curiously.
“Do you think I could beat anyone up Connor?” he asked.
“Luka, you’re adorable,” I said, laughing and pulling his finger away from my nose. I leaned forward and kissed him deeply.
“Luka, you should go get us popsicles. It’s hot out,” Blake said.
Luka nodded and jumped off of my lap. “Yea! Popsicles! Come help me carry water out too, Felix!” Luka said, grabbing Felix and dragging him into the pool house.
Blake stood up and came over to me. I slung my arm over my eyes, shutting them and pretending he wasn’t there.
Blake grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Connor, stop pretending I’m not here. I’m not going to go away,” he said, smirking.
“Leave me alone Blake,” I said, pulling my arm out of his grip.
“What if I told him, Connor? Do you think he’d believe me?” Blake asked curiously.
“Shut up Blake. He would never believe you over me,” I hissed, shoving him backwards.
“But it would put doubt in his mind,” Blake said, that stupid smirk back on his face as he caught his balance.
I stepped up to him, gripping his shirt tightly. “I love Luka. I would die for him. I would do anything, absolutely anything, for him. You? I don’t give a shit about you Blake. And it’s me you hate, not Luka. You don’t want to hurt Luka,” I growled.
“Connor? Blake?”
Luka’s alarmed voice made my eyes widen. Blake gripped my wrists, tugging at them, making it look like we were struggling.
“Connor!” Blake cried as he flung himself backwards into the pool.
He resurfaced as Luka and Felix hurried to the edge of the pool. Felix knelt down and helped Blake out of the pool.
“Why did you have to do that Connor?” Blake shouted angrily. “I was just trying to make sure you were okay! You didn’t have to push me into the pool!”
I stared at him, shocked. I opened my mouth, ready to yell at him about what a liar he was. But I stopped myself.
If I said that Blake was lying, Luka would question him about it. And what if he did tell Luka that we’d had an affair together? I could deny it, sure, but Blake was right. It would plant doubt in Luka’s head. He wouldn’t trust me as much.
“I’m sorry Blake,” I mumbled, hating the words as they left my mouth. But now Luka wouldn’t question Blake about it. He would question me about it.
Luka hurried to get Blake a towel, shooting me a concerned look. Blake wrapped the towel around himself and glared at me.
“I have to go home. I’m not staying here soaking wet,” he growled.
“I’ll drive you,” Felix said, also shooting me a concerned look. “Uh…I guess we’ll see you guys tomorrow. Bye.”
He and Blake got in Blake’s car together. Felix pulled out of the driveway and the car disappeared down the street.
“What in the world was that Connor?” Luka asked, looking a little afraid. “Why would you push him into the pool like that?!”
“I don’t know Luka,” I said quietly, sitting down. Great. Now Luka was afraid of me.
Luka sat down next to me and put an arm around me. “Did something happen between you two? You and Blake have never fought before. Baby, what happened?”
“I just got mad. I’m sorry Luka,” I said. I wasn’t going to bother telling him it wouldn’t happen again. I had a feeling Blake would make damn well sure it happened again.
So this was what he meant at lunch. He was going to make it look like we were fighting to upset Luka. And he was going to make me look violent, so that Luka would be afraid of me.
“Connor, you know I hate it when friends fight,” Luka said, dropping his head sadly.
No. No, I never wanted to see Luka sad or upset. How could Blake do this? Upset Luka just to upset me?
I hugged Luka tightly. “I’m sorry Luka. I’m so sorry,” I said miserably. I didn’t know how to fix this.
“Can you guys please talk it out? I don’t want to see you fight,” he begged.
“I’ll talk to him Luka,” I promised. And I would. We just wouldn’t have the conversation Luka thought we would have. “I’ll try to fix everything. Please don’t be upset baby.”
Luka rested his head on my shoulder. “I just hate to see friends fighting. And I don’t like it when you get violent. You’re rarely violent,” he said, his voice going small. “No matter how mad you get, you have to promise me you’ll never hurt Blake. Or anyone, for that matter.”
“I promise Luka,” I said, kissing his lips. “I’m sorry.”
“Connor, you’ve been acting so strange. Last week you pushed Blake to the ground, and now you pushed him in the pool. Why are you angry lately? Did something happen at home?” he asked, taking my hand in his and squeezing it lightly.
“Nothing happened at home Luka,” I assured. “You know nothing ever does.”
“That’s the problem,” Luka said with a sad sigh. “But do you promise that you’ll tell me if something does happen at home? Even if it’s just…what usually goes on. You know you can stay here anytime you want to. I don’t want to see you become violent just because of what goes on at your house.” His grip on my hand tightened.
“Nothing goes on at my house Luka,” I said, laughing softly. “And I promise I’ll tell you if something happens. But things at home have been the same as they always are. Quiet.”
I kissed Luka and we fell into a comfortable silence. Tomorrow I’d have to try to talk to Blake. I didn’t care if he was mad at me and tried to make me upset. But using Luka to do it was wrong. Luka hadn’t done anything wrong. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Luka, even if it was just him being a little sad that friends were fighting. Luka wasn’t paying for what I had done to, and with, Blake.