(Luke's POV)
I slumped against Laura's apartment door feeling defeated. She didn't feel the same. It was clear in her confused expression that she had no clue that i'd developed feelings for her very quickly. I hadn't planned the kiss, I wouldn't have even dreamt of plotting something like that a couple of hours ago but it was the heat of the moment. She just looked so perfect with her hair tumbling over her bare shoulders and laughing. She looked even prettier lay beneath me, a playful glint in her eyes as she tried to fight me off as I tickled her. I was such an idiot for acting on my feelings without thinking of the consequences.
Taking in a deep breath I ambled up the stairs, completely drained of the happiness I'd felt in the pit of my stomach when I was with her just half an hour earlier. The memory of her soft warm lips pressed to mine crept up on me, she'd kissed me back, I was sure of it. But I don't think she liked me back and that would always taint the memory of it. When I made it to my flat I bounced on the spot for a minute, trying to gear myself up for Ashton's questions, knowing he'd be eager for answers.
I opened the door slowly and scanned the open room quickly, spotting his figure in the doorway of the bathroom as he washed his hands.
"Luke?" He frowned.
"Hey" I grunted, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and plonking myself down on my bed.
"Why are you back so early?"
"Fucked it up mate"
"What? How? I'm sure it's not that bad" He tried to comfort me, sitting next to me and squeezing my shoulder.
"I kissed her" I mumbled.
"You what?"
"I know. It was far too soon. I couldn't help it"
"How was it?" He grinned.
"Amazing." I admitted.
"So what's the problem?" He frowned again, clearly not understanding.
"She looked more confused than anything. She definitely didn't look overjoyed"
"Oh"
"Yeah. Oh"
"I'm sorry mate."
I shrugged and lay down, rubbing my eyes roughly with the heels of my hand.
"Maybe she's just not sure how she feels yet?"
"You remember what she said. She's not looking for a relationship"
"She also didn't want any friends but that's changed" He offered hopefully.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that anymore. I've probably ruined it for everyone." I groaned.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow"
"I'm going to have a shower" I grunted and got up, dragging myself to the bathroom.
"Good idea. Have you eaten?"
"We had pizza" I called and shut the door behind me.
I looked in the small mirror that hung above the sink and sighed tiredly. I really was an idiot. I stripped off my clothes and turned on the shower, testing the temperature with my hand. When it was hot enough I stepped under the stream, letting it rinse over my back and wash off the uneasy feeling that tonight's events had left me with. I brought my hands up to my face and washed it, I didn't want to lose the taste of Laura's lips but then again, I wouldn't and couldn't forget it any time soon.
Running through the events of the night I made a list of things I should have done differently. I shouldn't have kissed her first of all. I shouldn't have picked some stupid rom-com. I shouldn't have left so suddenly after the kiss but I freaked out and panicked. It was too late to just go back downstairs and try and talk to her about it now. I closed my fists tightly and slammed them into the shower wall, I hated myself for ruining it so quickly. I didn't even like her that much, there were definitely feelings there but they weren't developed, I barely know her for christ's sake. But if I hadn't have kissed her, I would have at least had time to get to know her and figure out how I felt.
I washed my hair and body quickly, just wanting to climb into bed and leave today behind. I wrapped the biggest towel we had around my waist and went back to the beds where Ashton was typing busily on his laptop.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Mmm. I just want to get into bed and not think about it anymore."
"Alright."
"I've got a late start tomorrow so I think I'll skip getting a lift with you"
"You sure?"
"I don't want to see Laura" I grunted and dug through my beside drawer for a clean pair of boxers and slipped them on under the towel.
"Won't it make it awkward if you put it off?"
"Just leave it Ash. I'm going in late" I snapped and climbed into bed, finding my i-pod under my pillow and scanning through for something loud and meaningless to distract me enough so I could sleep.
"Alright, sorry"
I pressed my earphones in a turned up the volume to full blast, rolling over and facing the wall. The sooner this day was over, the better.
(Laura's POV)
It was good that Luke had left when he did because mum came home only twenty minutes after. I couldn't deal with her knowing about this, she was pretty invasive at times, especially with boys. It seemed like she'd been rooting for something to happen with Luke and I.
"No Luke?" She'd asked when she walked in the door and seen me alone in front of the TV.
"No, he had to cancel" I lied.
"Are you guys going to reschedule?" She asked hopefully.
"No. I'll see him in college a lot. It wasn't a date or anything"
"Alright, alright!" She raised her hands, sensing I was a little tense about it.
"I'm going to go to bed." I announced and turned off the TV.
"Alright sweetie, night" She smiled.
I shut my bedroom door behind me softly and sighed to myself. Today had not gone to plan. Though there wasn't ever a plan to stick by really. I just really really wasn't expecting Luke to have kissed me. I hadn't even considered him or any of the boys in that way because I was adamant that I didn't want a relationship to distract me from college. I still felt the same but I could lie to myself and say my stomach hadn't flipped when I realised why he was leaning in.
He was good looking, very handsome with his tall frame and muscled arms. Thinking of him now, I blushed to myself. Maybe I did like him? But I couldn't be sure, I'd barely had time to think about how I felt he left the flat so quickly. Hopefully I could talk to him tomorrow about it and find out how he felt. It might not even be a big deal. In fact it probably was just a heat of the moment thing and he feels as daft as I do right now.
With that in mind, i crawled into bed, clutching the duvet up to my chin and quickly falling to sleep, I was still tired from staying up late the previous night.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to face college, unlike the day before. I got ready quickly, putting a bit of effort in as I had plenty of time to. I picked out a cute dress with long sleeves that flared out slightly at the waist with thick black tights and some chunky boots. I even straightened my hair so it was smooth and glossy. I had time to flick through my textbooks while I waited for Ashton to come and get me. When he did Calum and Michael were with him but no Luke.
"Where's Luke?" I asked out loud.
"He had a late start so stayed in bed" Ashton shot me a little smile, letting me know Luke had told him.
"Yeah the lazy fucker can't be bothered to get up and study like me" Calum boasted proudly
"Oh. Let's go then" I smiled, trying to hide my disappointment.
We got to college pretty quickly and beat the traffic. The boys sang along to the radio loudly but I couldn't focus enough to join in. I wondered if Luke hadn't come in because of me or if he just wanted to take advantage of a lie-in. I suppose I'd get my answer at break time and just had to make it through first lesson.
I had English Language which was okay, I had some extra work I wanted the teacher to look over and was excited to hand in so that would keep my mind busy for a little while. I broke away from the boys as quietly as I could, trying to be unnoticed but Ashton caught me out and came after me.
"Laura, wait"
"Hey"
"Are you alright? You were really quiet this morning"
"I know. Luke told you about last night, right?"
He nodded.
"Just a bit worried I suppose"
"There's nothing to worry about, don't fret" He soothed, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"Is he okay? Did he say anything?"
"I think it's best if you talk to him really"
"Oh."
"Sorry. Look I'll give you his number and you can arrange to talk, okay?"
"Yeah. Okay" I nodded but felt my stomach flip at the idea of actually having to talk to Luke about this. Surely it was going to be pretty awkward? Ashton grabbed my hand and quickly scrawled the number down.
"I better head off, I have work to do. Just don't worry, it will be fine." He said and gave me quick hug before heading off.
I trudged to the English building through the waterlogged field praying I wouldn't slip up and get my dress muddy. I made it and walked into my classroom to find I was one of the first few there. I sat down in the seat I'd been assigned on Monday and let out a heavy sigh. The girl who sat next to me came in shortly after and started chatting away about some party she'd been to. I smiled and nodded along trying to be polite but all I wanted to do was text Luke to get an idea of what he was thinking.
The teacher came in just as I was about to pull out my phone and asked the room for silence. Most of the class was in by now and I was actually happy to have something else to think about for an hour. We were given the texts we had to analyse and a homework essay to do by Monday which I silently thanked her for. Something to keep me busy so I wasn't just sat in the flat mulling over the kiss between work and college.
I waited until everyone had left the room and got out the extra work I had done to show my teacher. She read through it slowly, making sure to be thorough which i'd usually have been delighted with, but I couldn't help but think about how quickly break time was slipping away from me.
"Laura, this is wonderful. You have a lot of potential and I am so pleased to see that you're working hard already to get the grade you deserve. Most students have no clue what's going on at the start of the year. You just need to keep it up now"
"Thank you, miss. Is there anything I could improve on?" I asked quickly.
"Nothing springs to mind. Just keep working hard" She smiled approvingly and I said a hurried goodbye before practically running to the table in the cafe where our group sat at break.
Everyone was there. Luke included. I steadied my breath but couldn't stop my heart from jumping at the sight of him I wasn't sure why it did it could have been nerves, fear, anger or possibly lust. I swallowed the feeling and shook it off, striding towards him, trying to show him I was confident.
"Hey, can we talk please?" I asked him, knowing I had a free next so we'd have plenty of time to talk.
"Uh sure" He looked a little shocked that I'd come right out with it, but I wasn't about to tip-toe around the subject and let it become more awkward.
"Wanna go and sit on the benches?" I said and he nodded. We walked side-by-side in an uneasy silence until we found a free bench and sat down.
"So..." I said slowly.
"Listen, It wasn't okay to just kiss you like that, I'm sorry." He hung his head and blushed furiously.
"You are?" I frowned.
"Yeah. Well, we barely know each other right?"
"I guess" I shrugged.
"It was a total dick move" He laughed and finally built up the courage to look me in the eyes.
I just nodded silently. I actually felt kind of hurt. I guess a small part of me did hope he liked me, it wouldn't have hurt to at least get to know him better, right?
"Friends?" He offered.
"Yeah, uh, friends" I smiled weakly.
"Great" He opened his arms and gave me a warm hug. "Well, I best get going to my lesson" He stood up and turned to leave.
"Wait, Luke" I called after him, stopping him in his tracks. "So you don't like me? At all?"
"Not in that way, no" He snorted "Like I say, I barely know you. It was a heat of the moment thing"
"Okay" I nodded and followed him back to the cafe where Ashton was waiting for us to update him.
Luke went over to him first and mumbled something in his ear which made Ashton smile and come straight over to me.
"Are you free now?" He asked.
"Yeah"
"I am too. Let's go get a coffee or something and talk, yeah?"
"Uh, okay?"
Twenty minutes later and we'd gone through a McDonald's drive through and were sat in the car park sipping on our drinks with the radio on quietly for background noise.
"So you guys sorted things?" He asked suddenly.
"Sort of. I think" I said uncertainly
"Luke said that you were okay"
"I think he thinks we are"
"What do you mean?" Ashton locked eyes with me, sipping his coffee.
"I don't know. He seemed to be able to just brush it all off as a mistake"
"Do you not feel the same?"
"I don't know how I feel. I guess I haven't been given much time to make my mind up"
"That's very true"
"I didn't even think about him in that way and then he kissed me, then I did start to wonder if i did or possibly could like him. Now he's just acting as if it was no biggie?"
"All I'd suggest is waiting a while and just letting this die down a bit before you do anything else"
"I can do that I suppose. It's still awkward though"
"Only if you make it" He shrugged.
"Thanks, Ash"
"Hey, don't worry about it."
"You've not even known me a week and I'm already stirring up drama"
"Making my life more interesting" He winked.
"Guess we should get back to college" I sighed.
"Why? We've still got half an hour. Let's just chill"
"Okay" I beamed and sipped on my mango and pineapple smoothie.