"What?"
Luke extended his hand to me as soft, slow music began to play, "C'mon, dance with me." I took his open offer and he pulled me close by the small of my back. He held me tight as we slowly swayed to the music.
"I didn't know you could dance."
He chuckled softly and replied, "I don't. I just saw this in a movie." I laughed then leaned my head into his chest. It felt weird, since it wasn't Michael, but it felt right because it wasn't Michael...
We continued to just sway along with the light melody of what was playing. And to be honest I couldn't even hear it. It sounded like a song but I couldn't really make out the lyrics. Lead alone who it was singing the damn song. The lights around us seemed a little darker and the music began to bleed with itself.
I felt, happy. It felt like dancing with your guy friend. And I was totally cool with that. He made me feel weightless and still and relaxed and kinda lost in the moment. At some point I think I fell asleep because Luke shook me and I opened my eyes and ears to the lights almost off and the song being over.
"Wes."
"Hm?" I was looking up at him face to face, and it was the first time I really got to look at him. He had a black little lip ring on the left side of his bottom lip, and he worked it really well. And now that I thought about it he was constantly playing with it. He had regular teenager skin, and a pretty well proportioned face, which is kinda hard to find. But out of everything, his eyes were the main center piece. They were a striking baby blue that were cold and hot all at the same time.
"Wesley?"
"Huh? Sorry, I was just, looking at your, eyes."
"Ha, I was looking at yours too." For a second I was frozen, and so was he.
Oh god. What was he doing? Or what was he thinking? Was he.. was he trying to kiss me? Oh god, oh god oh god.
oh dear lord.
Please do it before he comes.
Luke closed his eyes and began to lean in. I wanted to lean in to, but just couldn't. I was stuck in a glass box and looking out. He was barely a centimeter from my face when Michael walked in. Luke's eyes sprung open and he tripped over me as I spun out of his way.
"Whoa Luke, bro you okay?" Luke struggled up, rubbing his arm and glancing at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He muttered. I blushed and tried to hide under my hat. Michael patted Luke on the back and Luke left in a hurry. I don't blame him though.
"Hey, sorry I took long. I hope Luke didn't mess with you," Michael chuckled.
"W-what," I asked nervously, "No, no we didn't even like uh, talk and stuff."
"Hey, relax, I'm just kiddin' Blake." I sighed as he pulled me in for a sweet hug. I cuddled into him and held on tightly, not wanting to lose grip on reality.
Michael was real. I knew that. I mean sure, it's only been a week, but he's a good guy. Heck, he's a great guy. This boy was everything I needed.
Luke, oh god.
Luke was everything I wanted.
Wait, no. What am I saying? It was only a really awkward moment we had. And I swear, it'll never happen again. I am not one to complicate things.
Michael led me back to the main dance room as Maroon 5's song This Summer's Gonna Hurt Like A MotherF***** played loud. The beat shook the walls and the drinks. He pulled me inside the hoard of sweaty bodies and we both moved along with the people around us.
It was fun, lots of fun. He began to scream the lyrics along with everyone and I copied. Calum danced with Ashton as Ashton tried his best to do the robot. When the song fell to the last slow verse before the drop for the last chorus, I got pulled.
Luke pulled me by the waist and up to his chest. And the rest of the song was his. He spun me and held me close. I got a bit nervous but noticed Michael was just headbanging.
"We need to talk," Luke whispered in my ear.
"No we don't."
"Whatever." He passed me back to Michael who caught me with open arms. When I looked back, I was disappointed to see that Luke disappeared.
"BLAKE!"
"What?!"
"I THINK I LOVE YOU!" Michael picked me up and, out of shock, I quickly wrapped my legs around his waist as a safety net. When he let me slip down a bit, we were eye level with each other. Michael leaned in, and kissed me.
I kissed back, and I have to say, that was pretty damn romantic. When he pulled away, set me down and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck I could hear Ashton hollering.
"YEH, YOU GET EM' MIKEY BOY!" I giggled as we walked to the side to dry off the sweat and energy.
"Was that fun or what?"
"Haha, that was really fun. And, I think I love you too."
Michael smiled and pecked my lips. As the night dragged on we would go in and dance for a good 20 minutes and come back out for a quick two minute break. After we would enter the crossfire all over again. But throughout the whole thing, Luke was nowhere to be found. Ashton and Calum were with us, or chilling by the bar. I hung out with Michael the rest of the night. Luke stayed missing.
Finally, the party ended and people began to pack up, throw up, and leave. Ashton gave Calum a ride and waved goodbye.
"We are POOPED! And I'm afraid if I don't get Calum home to his bed he'll be cranky in the morning and eat me,"Ashton screamed to us.
"ASHTON GET THE CAR!"
"COMING BABE!" Asthon ran out after Calum frantically, and as always, dramatically. They were like brothers.
Michael put his arm around me and kissed my forehead, "Can your roommate come pick you up?"
"Um, I don't think so because it's kinda late."
"Alright, is it cool if you come home with me?" I nodded and took his hand as he lead me out to his car. We drove for a short amount of time, and soon made it to their apartment. It was quiet and dark, except for in the kitchen where light seemed to emanate from.
"I'm sorry I forgot!" Calum squeaked as he tried to hide away.
"Great," Ashton huffed.
"Whoa, what's going on Ash?" Michael gestured for me to sit at the small table as he tried to figure out what Calum and Ashton were bickering about.
"Calum had booked time in the studio like, right now."
"What! Right now?!"
"Yeah, he thought it was 2pm but it was actually 2am."
"Calum!"
Calum rubbed his face in frustratinon, "I kinda wondered why the block was so cheap."
"Well, who still needs to record," Michael asked the boys.
Ashton leaned on the counter behind him and sighed, "Everyone except Luke, he got a block about a week ago for himself."
"Oh yeah." The boys thought for a bit then unanimously decided to go.
"Blake, I'm so sorry but I'll see you tomorrow morning. Luke's here I think so if you need anything you can ask him."
I nodded waved goodbye after he kissed my cheek. The three left in a hurry and when the door closed it felt like the room fell asleep. No sounds were being made except for the light sound of the ceiling fan. When I got closer to the bedrooms I heard the sound of a guitar being played, and I was immediately drawn to it.
I slowly opened the door, hoping I wouldn't disturb the player, and not make such a loud entrance. When I finally peered behind the door I found Luke strumming away. He wasn't singing, or doing any stable melody. He was just playing strings that sounded good together. He looked up at me and quickly looked down.
I approached him the way I'd approach a deer, stealthily and subtly. I gently sat myself next to him and watched his fingers work magic on the strings of this beautiful acoustic guitar. And just as I was about to start humming to the captivating tune, he abruptly came to a stop.
"What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't get a ride home so Michael said it's okay for me to stay here."
"Here?"
"Yeah."
"In my room?"
"No, wait that's not what I meant."
He stood up and put his guitar up against the wall, "What do you want Wes."
"I just wanted to listen. You play very well."
"I've been playing for a very long time." He crossed his arms and looked everywhere but at me.
"Can you just sit with me? Please?" He did as I asked.
"Look about what happened,"
"It was my fault. I shouldn't have leaned in. Okay?"
"Luke, wait-"
"What Wesley? Are you saying you wanted me to do it? Despite you being in a relationship with MY BEST FRIEND?"
"It's not like that!"
"Then how is it! Look I made a mistake and I regret it and will NEVER do it again. But the fact that you're bringing it up means you still want to reminisce on it."
"Stop, you're putting words in my mouth!"
He laid all the way down in his bed with his hands behind his head. He was upset. Okay, maybe it was my fault for bringing up and I should've just left it the way it was and forgot it ever happened. But I couldn't. There was no way I could. I mean, I barely know him and I already feel something. I feel like he has me wrapped around his finger, and there's no way to get loose.
I didn't know what to say. We kinda just sat there silent just looking in opposite directions. When I thought about it, it kind of reminded me of the way me and Wyatt used to be on bad nights. Which was most nights.
Most nights, we'd fight and scream at each other until one of us needed a cough drop. Then at the end we would avoid each other, avoid the problem, and try to move on. That wasn't the right way to go about things. I know that now. But I wish that, maybe one of us would've been smart and just cut it off before we got hurt. We used to be each other's medicine, but now, we're just each other's poison.
As I glanced back at Luke lying passive aggressive on his bed, memories flashed in my mind, and so did the emotions. I felt the tears well up, and turned away quickly so he couldn't see me.
"Wes?"
Oh god, just, don't look at me. Turn around, turn around.
He sat up a bit more and put his hand on my shoulder, "Wesley are you crying?"
Nope, can't do this. I sprinted out of his room, letting my hat fly off, and running through the apartment for a way out. When I got to the living room I found a large window on the other side and immediately went for it. As I tried to loosen the window open I heard Luke leave his room.
"Wesley! Come back!"
I pushed the window all the way up and looked down. There was a fire escape, thankfully. I carefully but quickly made my way down to the iron, trying to not be seen. But I didn't do a good job.
"WESLEY!"
I was quickly picked up and pulled back into the apartment then set down on the couch. I started crying as Luke shut the window and rushed back to me.
I couldn't stop. The tears just poured out of me and I was clueless. I didn't want to break down like this, here, right now. I'd rather do it in the comfort of my own home or with Julia. I felt alone. I attempted to snuggle against the couch for a sense of comfort but Luke easily pulled me into him. Desperate for any care, I hugged him tightly as my salty tears fell on his white tee shirt.
Now I was crying a waterfall along with all the hiccups and sniffs.
In a swift motion, Luke sat on the couch and pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly and gingerly against his chest. As it became more evident to him that I wouldn't stop crying he made an attempt to soothe me by brushing my hair.
"Shh, it's okay Wes. I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"N-no, it's n-not t-that," I barely mumbled out.
He titled my head up to face him with his hand gently and wiped away some of the water, "Then what is it?"
"I hate fighting."
"We weren't fighting though."
"But it felt like that.. me and my ex, Wyatt, we always, argued. E-every night it was s-something new and every n-night it always ended up like the way w-we were just a f-few minutes ago." Luke stayed quiet for a bit before he responded.
"Wes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up at you like that."
"Luke.."
"Yes?"
"If you're gonna c-call me by m-my real name, say the wh-whole thing."
"Why?"
"My dad called me Wes."
"I'm sorry."
"N-no, you didn't kn-know."
My crying came down to a soft sniffle, and I felt more in control of myself. I was about to get up when Luke held me down. I turned towards him confused. With those same intriguing, sharp blue eyes he looked into mine. I didn't dare move. Well, not myself at least.
Luke, all while keeping his gaze on me, laid me down length wise on the sofa, and held himself above me. I didn't notice it until I saw that behind his head was the ceiling. And under me and this sofa was the floor. I felt a bit of panic get caught in my throat.
"Luke-"
"Wesley, will you get mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad?"
"I need to know something, and to find out, I need to do something."
With a lot of apprehension, I asked, "What do you need to do..."
Luke leaned closer to my face, and my heart stopped. It's like I was trying to play dead to be invisible to this wolf.
"I gotta kiss you," he whispered. His warm breath against my neck sent goosebumps along my skin. I swallowed hard and he went back to being right in front of me. My mind went blank and all I could hear was the loud beating of my heart in my ear and the uneven breathing of him and I.
Michael was out...
Wait what? What was I saying?
"Luke, I'm with Michael, I can't-"
"You don't have to kiss me back."
"..."
Luke leaned in and closed his eyes. I kept mine open though, totally forgetting the rules of kissing. Right when his lips barely grazed mine, there was a short pause between us. Our breath intertwined and his chest was up against mine. Any sudden movement from me and my lips would press against him. Any movement whatsoever.
I was just about to say something, when he kissed me.
And I know he said I didn't have to kiss back, and I know that I was with Michael, but...
I couldn't resist..