"Why are you picking me up instead of Luke?" I asked Michael. This whole situation was weird and for all I know, I could be getting kidnapped right now.
He glanced over at me then adjusted the rear view mirror. "Because Luke doesn't know you're coming."
I raised an eyebrow at him, very obviously confused. "He texted me that he wanted me to come over."
"Luke said he wanted to see you. I decided that you guys were going to see each other tonight."
I paused, "So...Luke doesn't want to see me tonight?"
"Of course he does. He texted you, panicked, then threw his phone at me and left his house. I assume he came back. He always likes to throw little temper tantrums." He explained.
I sighed. The situation put me in the middle. Luke himself didn't invite me over, but Michael told me he wanted me to come over, but then at the same time I really don't care and kind of just want to go home.
My heart beat raced as I thought about my curfew that I was breaking. My dad was going to be livid. I tried to shake it off, just enjoying the casual ride towards Luke's.
"So what am I supposed to say when I get there?" I asked.
He shrugged, pulling up to Luke's gate and entering the code. "I don't really know. Just say that you love him and want to make sweet love to him."
I scoffed, "None of those things are true."
"But it'll make you happy, won't it?"
I met eyes with Michael. He was smiling, he seemed to oblivious of anything that had happened between me and Luke. I wondered if he knew. All of the kisses, Kat, the silence.
"No." I whispered. At that moment I decided to give Luke a piece of my mind. I wasn't here to cuddle up to him and pretend he was mine. I was here to rip him a new one.
Michael swung the car around to Luke's front door. "Go get 'em, tiger." He joked.
"Whatever," I mumbled. I felt a fire burning inside me, and not a good one this time.
This wasn't a love fire or affection or sexual fire. This was pure anger. My dad always taught me to be slow to anger, to be patient and kind. But not tonight. Tonight that was flying out the window.
I hobbled up the steps. My body was still sore from my wreck. I didn't bother to knock, I just let myself in. I breathed in the familiar scent of his home as I stepped through the doorway. I peered around the large living room, Luke was nowhere to be found.
I kept running over a list in my mind of what I should say to Luke. As the familiarity flooded my mind the nicer and more loving I wanted to be. Stern, but loving.
I don't love him. I like him, a lot. He's not even my boyfriend. He's not even really single.
A majority of the lights were off. The sun had been down for a couple hours now. It was all so eery. Being in a big empty house by myself that I've never fully explored. I roamed into the kitchen and towards the garage.
I slowly opened the garage door, calling out for Luke softly. Nothing.
I sighed. Maybe Michael was wrong, maybe Luke wasn't home. Maybe Luke didn't want to see me. I shut the door slowly, feeling tears well up in my eyes. Luke doesn't care he-
"Ands?"
I swiftly turned my head over my shoulder. Luke stood still in the dim light. His silhouette was enchanting.
A single tear fell from my eye, "Luke?"
He stepped into brighter light, his confused expression meeting mine. "What are you doing here? And why are you crying?" He asked. His expression turned into extreme concern. His thumb brushed over my lightly bruised eye from the wreck. "And what happened here? Is everything alright?
"I don't-I don't know," I choked out. I wiped the tear from my cheek as Luke embraced me.
"Andy, don't do that. There's no reason to cry." He assured me, smoothing down the back of my frizzy hair.
"But there is," I whispered.
He pulled away from me and rested his hands carefully on my shoulders. He stared into my eyes as if he was searching for something. "What is it?"
"You know," I awkwardly laughed. My face was dry. Luke's presence had erased any sadness within me.
He nodded and looked down at his feet. Luke removed his hands from my shoulders and put them in his pocket, "You deserve a very long talk from me."
He grabbed my hand and led me to the couch in his living room. We sat in the dark, only the rumbling air vents being heard. If it wasn't for that, you would be able to hear my heart beat from where he was sitting next to me.
Luke turned to me, "First of all, where the hell did this bruise come from on your eye?"
"I got in an accident a couple days ago. It's fine, I'm fine." I assured him.
"And you didn't tell me? Are you okay? Is anything broken? What happened-"
I stopped him there, "I'm seriously okay. It was just me driving. Just some bruising. I'm fine, really."
His hair fell into his face as he nodded. There was a long pause and silence crept over us. I just sat and stared at him as he fiddled with the holes in his jeans.
"I'm sorry." Luke whispered. "About everything. Kat, skipping school, not talking to you. Everything. I wish I could give you an explanation, but the best thing I can come up with is I'm just confused and broken and I don't know how to cope with anything."
My heart ached for him, but my heart ached for myself too. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but at the same time he lost his first love and she was all he knew.
He sighed again and stared at me with a sullen pout. "Andy, I loved Kat. Or I thought I did. And losing her was so hard." He admitted. My heart was so broken over this, over him. I wanted to cry again. I was so afraid of him choosing her over me. It's any girl's nightmare. "But losing you would be harder."
My heart skipped a beat, the second of joy flushed my cheeks. All I could do was stay silent and let him speak.
"I ran back to Kat when I was unsure or scared or vulnerable. But I don't want her, okay? I want you, and only you, and all of you. And I needed time to figure that out. I needed to spend time with myself to figure out what was best for me and my brokenness." His tone was so serious and so convincing. "I'm not perfect by any means and you know that. And I want to be better for you."
Luke took my hand in his, squeezing it gently. "I want to be with you, Andy."
I felt overjoyed. I felt loved and cared for. But then I remembered...everything else. All of the dark and gloomy times where I didn't feel either of those things. I looked down at our hands that were loosely holing each others. "I don't know, Luke. One day we were right here on this couch getting way too close for people who are supposed to be friends, and then I found out you were still seeing her. How do you think that makes me feel?"
He huffed, letting go of my hand. I could tell he was getting upset with himself. "Shitty. I know it does. I know how you feel. And the fact that I've made you feel that way makes me sick."
"I'm not trying to guilt you, okay? I'm not trying to make you feel horrible about yourself or that you're some kind of monster. I just need you to understand." I explained to him as kindly as I could. I felt so guilty for wanting to be an asshole to him when I first got here.
"I do. I really do. And I'm sorry that I took my hurt out on the wrong things." He said. "I'm an idiot." Luke grumbled, shoving his face into his hands.
"You're not an idiot," I told him. "You made a mistake." I peered around the dark room, looking for something to say as if it would pop up in thin air. "I want to trust you."
His head popped up from his hands. We stared intensely at each other.
"Prove to me that I can trust you." I lowly said. I watched as he scooted over closer to me.
"I will." He fiddled with my hair, twisting it around his fingers and letting it fall.
I softly touched his wrist. "Prove to me that I'm the only one," I whispered.
A small smile broke out on him. "I will," he whispered back. He leaned into me and my heart raced again.
I stopped him, pulling my head back and away from him. I looked up at him, batting my eyelashes at him. "Promise me that I'm the only one."
He tucked my hair behind my ear, his stare on my lips only getting heavier. "I promise."
Luke slowly leaned into me, tilting his head to the left and leaving a soft kiss on my lips. The stubble on his face tickled my upper lip and left it tingling after he pulled away.
He took a sharp breath in, "Tell me something."
I was so fond of his voice. Deep, compelling, soft. "Hmmm," I hummed, still l recovering from his kiss.
He fiddled with my hand for a few seconds and firmly placed his hand on my knee. He leaned in closer to me again and my smile grew larger.
Luke got close enough to where I could feel his gentle breathing on my lips. I wanted nothing more than to close that gap between us.
He squeezed my knee a little harder and gazed deeply into my eyes, "Tell me you love me."
-
A/N:
OH SHIT THERE GOES LUKE WITH THE PREMATURE "I LOVE YOU"
it's okay literally everyone does it
DOES EVERYONE LIKE THIS BC I WAS SCREAMING THE WHOLE TIME I WROTE THIS
thank u guys so much for reading i appreciate it so so much i love u guys
if u see this comment ur age so everyone who doesn't read this gets confused as to why everyone is commenting numbers