"i wish i could fly, i'd pick you up and we'd go back in time"
—— taylor swift
luke decided to plan a birthday celebration early since he knew i wouldn't be home on his actual birthday.
this was perfect because i have to give him his gift as soon as possible if he needs to time to pack his stuff. my mom was super excited to meet luke, i told her all about him, and even a bit about jack. quinn was thrown into the picture a couple of times but it was really only about luke and jack.
my mom thinks i like jack but i wasn't gonna tell her that i do cause then she'd tell luke and she would be nothing but a pest if she knew.
my mom asked me if we wanted to stay at her house since she does have the space to house both luke and i but she has that stupid boyfriend of hers and i don't want luke dealing with their constant arguing.
i was just planning on taking him to my house a few times, take him around downtown, also we were going to watch the new horror movie called the turning.
we were staying in a hotel around my house so it wasn't a super far drive.
as of right now i'm getting dressed into a cardigan and a black pencil skirt, curling my hair and putting on a pair of black doc martens.
i grabbed luke's gift and left my apartment. his party wasn't supposed to start for another hour but i thought i'd get there a few minutes early to help set up.
they told me that only close friends and immediate family would be going to his party so it wouldn't be too crowded.
i drove the thirty minutes to his house and texted luke that i was there. he just told me to walk in so i did and was met with chaos.
ellen was running around the house trying to pick up confetti from the floor, luke and jack were chasing each other around the house and quinn and jim were just sitting and being no help to ellen.
"what did i just walk in to?"
"deli, help me!" luke shouted and hid behind me.
"i hope you realize you are eleven inches taller than me, this does nothing."
"hi, lilah. you look gorgeous as always."
"thanks. you don't look to bad yourself." i smiled at jack, "why are you chasing luke?"
"he stole my pineapple from the fridge."
"oh, ok then." i said and stepped aside.
"hey! what?!" luke shouted running away.
jack eventually caught up to luke and smacked his head.
"this'll teach you to stay away from my pineapple."
"delilah, why!?"
"if someone stole my pineapple i'd be mad too. luckily connor doesn't like pineapple."
"see, she gets me." jack said wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
"hey, hun." ellen said giving me a quick kiss on the forehead before running back to the kitchen.
i followed her and saw that it was a disaster. there were dishes everywhere and the oven was completely full. there was flour on the counter and cracked egg shells in a bowl.
"hey, do you need help?"
"oh my goodness, can you? the boys are no help and there is such a big mess."
"of course i can."
"thank you so much, sweetheart."
i threw my hair up in a ponytail and started putting all the dishes in the sink, quickly rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher. once it was full i started it and hand washed the rest, drying them and putting them away with help from ellen.
i sprayed the counter and let it sit there to clean up all the residue from the food and then wiped it down.
then ellen and i took all the food out of the oven and she plated it while i cut some fruit and vegetables for a fruit tray and a salad.
we placed everything on the counter and sighed once it was done.
"i should have you come around more often. you were a big help."
"just give me a call and i'll help whenever."
"mom! grandma and grandpa are here!" luke shouted from the living room.
we both walked out of the kitchen and jack walked up to me.
"thank you for helping my mom, she won't let us in the kitchen cause apparently we weren't doing anything right."
"it's no problem, i'll always help your family." i chuckled.
he put his hands on my waist and kissed my forehead. i blushed and put my head down.
"and who's this beautiful girl?" i heard a woman ask.
"grandma, this is delilah, luke went to college with her. delilah this is my grandma."
"you can call me your grandma too, you seem like close friends."
"nice to meet you." i laughed giving her a hug.
"you too sweetheart."
i briefly met jacks grandpa and decided to continue calling him mr. hughes. he seemed to be the interrogative type.
more family came before alex, ty, trevor, mikey, john and nico came in together.
"hey wisconsin dells."
"hey, z. hey guys."
"hey delilah."
"there's the birthday boy." trevor said pulling luke in a head lock.
we all laughed as luke struggled to get free. once he was let go he took a deep exaggerated breath, putting his hands on his knees.
i mostly stayed with trevor and nico while everyone else kind of dispersed and the hughes brothers all got whisped away into talking to family they haven't seen in a while.
but sooner or later luke came to us and told us everyone was going to the kitchen to sing happy birthday and cut the cake.
once that was over people started leaving but the hughes family insisted i stayed longer even though it was already really late. i only agreed because i wanted luke to open my gift.
so he sat down in the living room as i handed him the wrapped box.
ellen was recording because i told her my plan and she agreed so he could have a parents consent because he isn't eighteen yet.
he unwrapped the box and saw the shoes.
"oh my god, finally some new shoes."
"i know, you've been complaining about your other ones for too long." ellen laughed.
"look at the wrapping paper, luke."
he grabbed it and there were the plane tickets taped on the inside of the wrapping paper.
he read them and then looked at me with wide eyes. ellen and i laughed at him while the others were confused asking him what it was.
"you didn't."
"i did."
"what? what is it?"
"you're taking me to chicago with you?"
"yup. my moms been asking about meeting you and i thought it would be a fun trip for us before you start hockey and before i have to worry about finals and stuff."
"there's no way you paid for this by yourself."
"i did. and you can't say no cause the tickets were non-refundable."
"dude this is insane, thank you delilah."
"of course." i laughed and gave him a hug.
"i'm offended i'm not going with." jack pouted.
"yeah i can barely deal with luke alone if i had to deal with you and luke all hell would break lose."
we all laughed together and then i called it a night and left the hughes house.
little did i know i wouldn't be seeing them for a long time..