== Luke's POV ==
I'm woken up to a peck on the lips from Hannah, who proceeds to giggle and poke my nose lightly. Though I keep my eyes shut, I'm fully conscious now and aware of everything. I know, at least, that I'm stripped down to my boxers in my bedroom with a pounding headache. I squeeze my eyes closed even harder and pinch the bridge of my nose before finally opening them.
Immediately brought into my view is Hannah, perched above me with a smile on her face. She smells just as she did last night -- like a mix of her floral-scented perfume and vodka. But with my hangover this morning, it's a lot less appealing. In an attempt to hide my distaste, I smirk up at her lazily.
"Morning, beautiful," I whisper. My voice is groggy and I'm forced to notice the scratchiness in the back of my throat. Hannah's smile widens and she leans in to give me a quick kiss.
The kiss, somehow, reminds me of last night. Of finally persuading Maddie to willingly be with me before her brother had to be a cockblock. Maybe it's the hint of alcohol that was on Maddie's breath that still remains on Hannah's, or maybe I'm just being an idiot. Either way, my mind goes right to it, and then to the image of Ashton making out with her and backing up to go upstairs. None of this should mean anything to me, but I can't shake the thought.
"Sorry I woke you," Hannah seems to take the far-off stare I had as anger and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear shyly, "I was bored."
"Do you think Ashton and Maddie have something going on?" I say abruptly. The moment the words leave my mouth, Hannah's face scrunches up in confusion. She slides her hand from it's spot on my chest and moves so she's laying beside me. I regret asking, but there is no turning back now.
"Why do you care?" she says, her own words overflowing with newfound annoyance.
"I just want to know," I pause and turn my head toward her. She already looks pissed beyond return, so I might as well. "Why she will fuck him and not me. I mean, I'm the one she was obsessed with, right?"
Hannah crosses her arms over her chest and scrunches her face up even more, "You're looking more obsessed than she ever did."
"You think I'm obsessed? I'm just saying, it doesn't make sense."
"You know, I'd love to talk about your bruised ego some more," She snaps sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "But normal girlfriends don't talk to their boyfriend about how another girl doesn't want to fuck him."
"When have we ever been a normal couple, Hannah?" I snap right back at her as soon as she finishes, my tone mimicking hers. My head starts to pound even harder and I feel like I'm going to puke. This is definitely not the conversation I should be having the morning after a party.
Her scowl falls and her face softens almost immediately. I can tell she's biting the inside of her bottom lip, which with much experience I am aware foreshadows the waterworks. My own angry look doesn't leave, but I try to see her as the Hannah I was actually in love with not even a year ago. I can't.
"How many times do you want me to apologize for sleeping with him?" a tear slips down her cheek despite her efforts to keep them in. Part of me wants to make a move to wipe it away but the reminder is enough to keep me from doing so.
Instead, I roll over onto my side with my back to her. "I thought we agreed to forget it happened?" I mumble.
"It's been months," she sniffles, "Are we really never going to talk about it?"
I flip back over so I'm laying on my back and squeeze my eyes shut again. Even the sound of the birds chirping outside my window adds to my longing to punch something right now. "What is there to talk about? There was nothing you weren't getting from me that you got from him. You fucked up, that's it."
"How about how much hurt I felt after? Huh?"
"How much you hurt?" I let out a single, loud laugh. How could she possibly think for a second that I would take her seriously? "You're the one who cheated on me when everything was perfectly fine. I may be a dick but I've never cheated on you, ever."
"Then what would you call trying to sleep with Maddie?" the bitchiness is back in her voice and I'm quick to become void of any sympathy whatsoever.
"A game? I don't know!" I throw my hand up in the air in frustration before laying it down over my eyes, "At least it means nothing to me. You clearly developed feelings for--"
"Shut the fuck up! I didn't and you know it." Although Hannah has calmed down, her voice makes it clear that she's about to cry again any second. I wonder if she has a hangover now too. If she does, this conversation does nothing for anyone and should probably stop. "If there's anyone here that had a crush on him, it's you. You didn't even let me explain before you ran off and took his side, and let all your friends treat me like shit."
"What was I supposed to do? Oh my god," I whisper, covering my face fully now, "Let him kill himself while you were prancing around, still claiming he forced himself on you? That was a load of bullshit anyway."
Hannah lets out a breath of defeat and I take my palms off my eyes to see her slumped down in her spot. She looks so distraught and I wish things could be simple again so it wouldn't feel wrong of me to care. But she's the reason that it isn't simple and she's the reason that she's upset, so I should just let it go.
"I didn't want to lose you," she frowns, looking down at her hands.
"Well being honest would've solved that one better! Or how about just not--" A pain ripples through my forehead and causes me to stop myself. I grip my temples in agony and try not to make myself any more annoyed with this. "You didn't lose me anyway, clearly. So just leave it. Okay?"
Just by the look in her eyes I know Hannah wants to argue with that too, but she thankfully nods in agreement instead. I close my eyes and sigh, taking in the peace and quiet and letting my anger dissapate. The silence between us doesn't last long, though, and Hannah speaks up again.
"Do you want me to give you a blowjob or something, then?" Her voice has gone from sad to suggestive in a matter of seconds and her hands return to my chest. "'Cuz I really don't want to talk about Maddie."
She moves them futher under the covers until they reach the waistline of my boxers. The same old chill is sent through me but I'm my own cockblock today. Being sober has lead to a lot more confusion over Maddie and Ashton and that is enough to keep me from being aroused. I grab her hands in mine and look up at her.
"I really just want to sleep more."
Her eyes shine with dissidence but again she only nods. She takes her hands out of mine and moves so she's laying beside me, her frown returning. Now that the frustrating conversation is over, I'm capable of feeling bad for her and I pull her closer to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She leans her head on my chest for a moment before tilting it up and kissing my jaw lightly.
"I love you," she murmurs, but I try my hardest to pretend I'm already asleep.
--
==Maddie's POV==
I hurry into the house with only so much as a wave back to Ashton. As excited as I am that he asked me out, I'm equally as nervous about leaving Milly waiting for me for as long as she did. He drives away once I get inside and I'm only left to worry more when the living room is completely vacant.
Would she have actually left? My first chance at having an actual friend that is a girl and not involved in any of this drama with Luke, and I ruined it. By getting drunk. What the hell? That doesn't even sound like me and I can't believe myself. What makes it even more unbelievable is that Luke talked me into it.
"That's...nice," Milly's soft, awkward laugh keeps me from scolding myself any longer and allows me to stop my panic attack before it happens. I rush right to the kitchen where it came from, to see her sitting at the counter with her back toward me, across from Cooper. At that sight, my state of panic returns.
He has his usual smirk on his face as he spins his glass of water around in its place on the countertop. It's like it's always there, until he notices me and a grimace replaces it. There was nothing I could do to avoid his wrath in this situation, but for some reason it catches me off guard. He purses his lips, stopping the movement of his glass and causing Milly to turn around. At least she looks thankful to see me.
"Where the fuck have you been?" he snarls. Clearly having a guest isn't going to stop him from making a complete ass of himself. He must know she's into him, anyway, so he doesn't care. "I told Ashton to look after you, not fuck you."
"For the last time, Cooper, I'm not sleeping with your best friends," I sigh, leaning on the doorframe, "Hey, Milly. Sorry I'm so late."
I want to brag to Cooper that his best friend asked me out and prove to him that I'm not the whore he thinks I am, or whatever. But we all know what happened last time, and I'm not about to have him pushing me out of the house again. It's better that he doesn't know anyway. Even if he doesn't react that same way, he definitely would have a temper tantrum just the same. So I keep my lips sealed.
"It's okay, it hasn't been that long," Milly voices and gets up from her seat, but Cooper jumps right in before we even start to leave the kitchen.
"So, how's your first hangover, Mads? Did Ashton make it go away?" His smirk has returned and although I've gotten to the point of pulling Milly out of the room with me, he's decided to follow us and continues to speak while we walk up the stairs, "I heard sex helps make hangovers go away."
"We're not fucking," I sing through gritted teeth. Milly continues to stay silent, glancing at me curiously and then back at Cooper. Contrary to her belief that he's an asshole, she giggles at whatever gesture -- something obscene, probably -- that he makes.
I may still be on cloud nine, but that isn't going to stop me from giving him a piece of my mind as soon as we make it to the top of the stairs. He still has a smug look and he huffs as though he were chasing us, his hands on his hips. He beats me to the point of speaking first.
"You guys can't hide it from me. Ashton's my best friend, I can tell when he's lusting after someone."
My heart nearly skips a beat when I hear him, but once I process his words more fully I know he didn't mean it the way I think. No one has ever seen Ashton actually falling for a girl or wanting to date her like he claims he has with me, so all Cooper is saying is that he knows Ashton wants to sleep with me. Which I don't want to think about.
"Lusting after me doesn't mean he's getting any, Cooper," I turn to walk toward my room and hope that Milly follows. I hear two sets of footsteps behind me, so I'm both grateful and bothered by the sound. I let Milly into my room but stop at the door before my brother can follow us any further.
"But that's where you staying over his house comes in," He snickers, "It's obvious you're fucking."
A realization comes to my mind and I cock an eyebrow, placing a hand on my own hip, "You don't seem very displeased about this one."
"At least it's not Luke," Cooper turns around and starts to walk to his room with a shrug. His door is only a few feet away from mine and he stops to look at me before going inside, "And I can also tell when he gives a shit about someone."
Now, I decide, is an appropriate time for my heart to skip a beat, and it does. He doesn't give me a chance to respond, though, before he disappears into his bedroom and flings the door closed behind him. I try to hide my smile and turn back to Milly, who's still standing right behind me. I close my door too and walk over to my bed, gesturing for her to follow.
"You're brother is acting really weird," she says through laughter once we both sit down, "Like he was actually being nice to me, kind of."
"Yeah," I breathe, "He's usually not that nice to me, either. I have no idea what has gotten into him."
"Maybe he finally got laid," She grins and the both of us burst into a fit of giggles. Once that dies down, though, and I have no idea what to say, everything gets awkward. I have no idea how to make friends. "So, um, what's this about you and Ashton?" she asks after what I assume was her own brainstorming of what to say.
"He, um," I feel the heat creep up in my cheeks and try to keep my voice down so Cooper doesn't hear, "He asked me out just a little bit ago."
"You're kidding!" She exclaims, taking in the announcement. "You guys are probably so cute. Just from what I've heard from Mikey, I already know you guys are, like, meant to be."
"Shut up," I attempt to cover my reddened cheeks with my hand but I don't think it works. I have no idea what Michael has told her but it was obviously good things, so I don't bother asking. There's another silence between the two of us and, like he knows he was being talked about, my phone dings with a text from Ashton to distract me from the awkwardness.
Ashton: Hey ugly >:P
I smile to myself and roll my eyes before typing back, Hey buttface.
"I've never had a boyfriend. You'll have to tell me what it's like," Milly smiles at me as I close the screen on my phone and throw it face down beside me. There's a hint of jealousy in her voice, but its sad rather than spiteful. I wish there was something I could do, but the only guy I know she's interested in is Cooper. So instead, I think I should just change the subject.
"I never had one before this either so I'm sure I will," I grin back, "I'm sorry my house is so boring. I didn't see your car in the driveway, and I don't drive. I wish we could go somewhere or something."
"Well, Mikey drives." she shrugs, pulling her thin, blonde hair up and securing it quickly with a hairband, "I bet we can convince him to take us somewhere and get pizza. No, I'm sure of it."
I know I said I was going to change the subject, and I fully intended on that remark about how boring my house is being the means of doing that. But unfortunately for me, and probably for Milly, it only led to an idea being sparked into my mind regarding the subject.
"You and Michael should date," I say simply, as though it didn't completely come out of nowhere. Milly's face, though, proves that it did kind of come out of nowhere and it was definitely not the right thing to say.
"Maddie, that's gross!" She sticks her tongue out in disgust with a giggle, "He's like my brother. I've known him since elementary school. I would never."
"Fine," I hold my hands up in defense, "We'll just have to find you someone who looks like Cooper but isn't a complete idiot."
"Deal," She nods, pulling her phone out from her pocket. It isn't a smartphone like mine, but rather one of the older, sliding ones with the full keyboard. I pull my legs up onto the bed and sit crosslegged while I watch her scroll through her contacts, "So you want me to call Mikey?"
I shake my head in approval, not wanting to turn pizza down myself. She puts her phone to her ear and gets up to pace around my room, waiting for him to pick up. While she does that, I figure it wouldn't be rude to see what Ashton texted me. I absolutely hate when other people text when I'm with them, so I ignored it when it dinged a second time.
Ashton: Yea, my face is definitely a butt. U got me there. What are you up to? Feelin' better?
You called me ugly first! Kind of :) I'm going to get pizza with Milly, I think. I go back and forth with adding Michael's name in there, too. I'm not sure if it would really matter to him, but I end up deciding to leave the fact that Michael is taking us out of it. Judging by how oddly he acted about me even knowing who Michael was, it's questionable how he would react.
He texts back faster than lightning.
Ashton: Cool :) Harry and I are watching Batman. He keeps saying how much of a loser you are for not liking superheroes ;)
Before I can respond, Milly is already hanging up her phone and returning to her spot beside me on the bed. She confirms the plans with a bob of her head and I put my phone back down next to me without replying, the screen facing down again.
"I mentioned pizza and he said he'd be here in 5 minutes."
"Michael's a dork," I laugh and she nods quickly like that's the most true thing she's ever heard.
"Okay, he's obsessed with pizza, video games, Star Wars, and now suddenly comics. It's like the definition of dork. I don't even know how we get along sometimes."
"Ashton's obsessed with comics too," I say feeling kind of bad that I'm bringing him up again, but it's the only thing I could think of. I pull my hair to the side and begin braiding it slowly, "It doesn't make any sense."
It isn't long at all before the doorbell rings...and rings...and rings. We both jump up from our seats and I grab my phone before leading her down the stairs. It keeps ringing to the point where Cooper screams down the stairs, "Maddie, answer the door! It's probably your fuck buddy!"
I ignore him, running to the door just so he'll stop and open it to reveal Michael with a bright smile on his face. His hair is no longer purple, but instead a bright turquoise and, as if on cue, he runs his fingers through it to fix it. I can't help but take notice of his Pokemon shirt and hold back my laughter at Milly's mention of his obsessions.
"You dye your hair too much," Milly greets him before I can, reaching over to mess it up. "It's going to fall out."
"Shut up," he jumps away from her and starts to fix it again, smiling down at his boots, "Hey Maddie."
"Hey, Michael."
"So are we going to get pizza or what? I'm a busy guy, I've got things to do," He leans over as if he's going to lean on something and almost falls, much to Milly's amusement. A hint of pink shows up in his cheeks as he catches his balance and smooths himself out, "Seriously."
"Like what? World of Warcraft?" Milly continues to laugh and I can't believe neither of them have ever considered dating. She crosses her arms about her chest with a smug look on her face, while an embarrassed one comes across Michael's.
"Uh, yeah!" He plays it off, "I'm a level 90 fire mage now, hello!"
"Whatever that is," Milly shakes her head, her ponytail moving in sync with it. Michael rolls his eyes and looks to me for support, but I have none to give him. I know absolutely nothing about that either. "I have to go to the bathroom first and then we can go."
"God, Milly, you always have to pee," Michael whines.
"It's a normal bodily function needed for homeostasis, hello!" She mocks him, looking over to me questionably.
"It's up the stairs," I point the directions as best as I can, "Across from my room. There's one in my room, too if you get lost."
"Thanks!" She hurries up the stairs and I'm left to redirect my attention to Michael, who is still standing weirdly in the doorway.
"Why don't you call me Mikey like everyone else?"
"It doesn't sound right coming off my lips, I don't know," I take a few steps back and point to the couch right next to me, "You can come in you know."
"Oh, right!" He's caught off-guard and takes a big step in, looking around. It's actually really weird having him in my house, when I only ever spoke to him a few times. But I guess it's the same with Milly, so it doesn't really matter. He shuts the door behind him and leans back on it, evidently not wanting to waste any time getting up from the couch once Milly is ready. "So, how are you?"
"I'm good," I cross one of my legs in front of the other and watch him as he watches me, curiously. I draw out my words slowly, making my confusion clear, "How are you..?"
"I'm good," He nods, mimicking the position of my legs, "How's Ashton?"
"Ashton's...good," I can't tell if he would be willing to hear that Ashton asked me out or not, but if he apparently told Milly a bunch of cute things about us, he can't be totally against it. Plus, I want to tell someone who I won't feel bad telling, "I guess I'm his girlfriend now."
Unexpectedly, Michael's face falls. I don't mean in surprise, but visibly goes from his happy-go-lucky self to a slightly distraught, disappointed version. He's quick to pick it back up and smile again, but I catch it and it only leaves me more lost in everything involving Ashton and Michael.
"Like I didn't see that one coming," He uncrosses his legs and stands so he's no longer leaning against the wall.
"Well, I didn't," I defend.
"That's because you're blind as a bat when it comes to Ashton," He snickers lightly, "But I guess I didn't think he had the balls to do it, either."
The way he's talking completely contradicts the look he had just had on his face, and I begin to almost forget it. It was probably just something in my imagination, especially when I can't think of a single reason he would be disappointed in hearing that.
"It's kind of weird how nervous he gets with me," I admit, taking my hair out of its braid and pulling it up in a ponytail. Michael's thinking about something, a distant look on his face similar to the one Ashton's been having lately, but he breaks out of it himself and laughs it off.
"Well, he does like you a lot."
"How are you guys friends?" I ask randomly, wondering if he would answer more truthfully or with less weirdness than Ashton. His eyebrows knit together and he looks at me like he doesn't understand what I'm asking, but at least that's a lot less weird than the way Ashton reacted, "I mean, you guys seem like unlikely friends. No offense."
"You guys seem like an unlikely couple," he shoots back, pretending to be offended. He laughs again, looking up at the stairs. I look back, but Milly still isn't coming down, so I return my gaze to him, "Well, I don't know if you want the story I tell my friends or the real one because I have no idea what Ashton's told you."
"I want the real one, obviously," I look up at him hopefully and he sighs.
"Did Ashton tell you about last spring? The hospital and whatever?"
"Yeah," I tilt my head to the side, trying to think how that could apply to the question. Before I can think very long, he's already continuing.
"Well, he and I were there at the same time," He speaks fast, more embarrassed than he'd ever be of almost falling over in my front yard. "We were roommates. So I got to know him. He's cool, and even then he liked you a lot."
"Oh, that--"
"I know it's weird," His lisp is more evident, too, now that he's talking so fast, "I didn't tell anyone, so don't mention it to Mills, okay? They just think I know him from art. Okay, is she like taking a shit or something it's taking forever."
Michael bites his lip and wipes his hands over his face before bolting in the direction of the stairs. Since he knows my house even less than Milly does, I follow him and try to keep up with him. A giggle sounds from down the hall, in the opposite direction of the bathroom. In...Cooper's room?
He looks at me with a sly, suggestive grin but I can't think of it that way. With Cooper being so in love with Lily and Milly having such a hopeless crush on him, I wouldn't think of that possible in a million years. Still Michael rushes in the direction of the giggle and I follow him just the same. Of course, as I expected, there's nothing even remotely sexual going on.
The door open, Cooper is standing behind Milly, his hands on her shoulders while she attempts to dribble a soccer ball on her knee. Just as she messes up and lets out another giggle, my brother is the first to notice his audience like always and moves from her with wide eyes. Milly turns her head, too, and makes the same face.
"What's going on here?" Michael wiggles his eyebrows and Milly immeditately flushes. I squint at Cooper, but he refuses to look at me.
--
"Michael, I'm serious, there was absolutely nothing going on there," Milly whines from the passanger seat as Michael practically speeds out of my driveway and down the street. He made enough jokes about it to last a life time in just the few minutes we've been in the car, but he still hasn't stopped. I know there isn't anything going on, but it's completely clear in the way Milly uses his full name that she isn't messing around.
"Then tell me exactly what happened," He still cannot stop laughing and I'm kind of afraid to be in the car with him at the moment, even if I am in the safest seat.
"Alright, fine. I went upstairs and I was completely ready to follow your directions, Maddie. But I guess you closed your door and so I didn't remember which one was yours. So I kind of just started opening random doors to try to find either yours or the bathroom. And I ended up opening Cooper's and of course I was embarrassed."
"But why didn't you leave and go to the next door, huh?" Michael taunts and she glares at him.
"I guess he was trying to break his record for dribbling the soccer ball? And when I opened the door he was all, 'You messed me up,' and okay he looked so hot -- sorry Maddie -- but I was just like 'Sorry?' and I don't know why but he goes, 'Wait wait, watch this,' and he started dribbling again and I literally stood there for what felt like an hour watching him cuz he got to like 600," She turns around in her seat to look at me, "How the hell is he so good at soccer? Anyway, so that's what I asked him. I was like 'How the hell can you do that?'"
"This sounds like flirting to me."
"Michael, shut up! So, I don't even know why but he was like 'It's easy, I'll show you.' And he made me try doing it but I kept moving so he yelled at me and held me in place. And holy shit he was like breathing down my neck. I couldn't believe I was that close to Cooper, but it was completely platonic on his part. And I still have to pee."
Michael bursts out laughing again and even makes a show of it by banging on his steering wheel. He hasn't veered to any side of the road yet, thankfully. And I hope to God he doesn't. Milly looks from him to me with an innocently taken aback look on her face, and my mind keeps going from worrying about my safety to that situation.
It may have seemed platonic to her, but to me that's a whole different story. The only people I've ever seen Cooper act even remotely that kind toward were Lily, Ashton, and Luke. Whatever has gotten into my brother, as pleasant as it may be, is too weird to not be questioned.
((FINALLY AN UPDATE IM SORRY GUYS ILYSM THANK U FOR WAITING ILY))