The conversation with Liz was a little awkward, but the boys stuck close to Luna. To say Liz was angry was quite the understatement of the century. She wrapped Luna in her arms, grumbling about speaking with Lane's parents. When she was released Luna twisted her hands together.
"I'm sorry, Liz."
"Sorry? Lu, you didn't do anything wrong."
Luna sighed softly as she nodded, she wasn't entirely sure why she was feeling this way. It was silent for a few moments when Andy walked in the front door.
"Hello, hello everyone." The kids all waved as Liz stood, adjusting her clothes.
"Oh good, you're home. Listen, kids, why don't you lot go upstairs while I get dinner ready."
The boys began making their way immediately, while Luna trudged behind slightly. Halfway to the top of the stairs Michael looked back to make sure she was there. He held out his hand for her to take, which she did after a moments hesitation. She was led into Luke's room, where the boys were setting up their instruments and camera.
"How about we play you a song? Sound good?"
Luna nodded as she settled into her spot behind the camera. Luke gave her a thumbs up and she hit the record button.
"Hi guys, we're here with yet another cover, but first we just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to you guys. We really appreciate the support we've been getting from you." Luke chuckled a little as he readjusted his guitar.
"We love you!!" Mikey couldn't resist shouting and throwing up his hands in the shape of a heart enthusiastically as Luke finished.
"We really do! Now, this is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry." Ashton counted the boys in and they began singing. It took everything Luna had not to sink into Luke's bed, and just be comfortable. She couldn't get enough of her friends performing, for both her and their small following that they had amassed already.
Halfway through the song she felt eyes trained on her, she glanced over to find Michael gazing at her. He was grinning softly as he sang the harmonies, still strumming his guitar perfectly. For a few bars the two simply stared at each other, neither wanting to break contact. Luna, however, remembered that there were three other people in the room and she turned her gaze to the camera. She waited as they neared the end of the song, and when Luke gave her a subtle nod, she pressed stop.
"That was really good you guys." She beamed at her friends as they began packing up.
"I wonder what everyone is going to think of this one. Luna, any comments on the song choice?"
"It's a little different, but you guys did great with it." Luna began plugging the camera into Luke's computer.
"Here Lu, I'll do that later."
"Okay." Moving to the bed, she flopped down and curled into Luke's comforter. She heard laughter from the boys, but she simply ignored them. Luna was warm and safe, and soon she was asleep.
"Hey Red, it's time to wake up. Liz has dinner ready." Ashton's voice called to her softly as he tugged the blanket away from her face. Luna scrunched her nose slightly causing his mouth to twitch upwards. She mumbled unintelligibly as he poked her cheek.
"C'mon Lu, it's time to come out of your cocoon and eat." Luna cracked an eye open to peer up at her friend, finally.
"Food can wait, I'm too warm." She attempted to burrow deeper into the blanket, but Ash seized the moment to yank on the end causing her shelter to unravel. As she sat up and glared at him, he simply giggled.
"Don't look at me like that, I told you it was time to get up. Goodness, you and Lauren are so alike it isn't funny."
"Your sister?"
"The very one, maybe sometime soon we can have band rehearsal at my place and you can meet her."
Standing he held a hand out to help her to her feet. As they made their way downstairs, Luna thought back to the ice cream parlor for a split second before shaking her head. In the dining room, she pulled a chair out in between Luke and Michael.
Dinner was kind of a quiet affair tonight, Luna knew that Liz had spoken to Andy about what had happened. Andy kept glancing over to her, but so far had not said a word. As everyone was nearly finished Andy cleared his throat.
"Liz told me what happened today, are you feeling okay, Lu?" Luna felt a hand fall onto her knee as she thought of her answer.
"I'm a little shaken up, but I feel fine. I'm just glad the boys came to get me in time." She felt a gentle squeeze upon her knee causing her to glance at Michael. He looked upset, but he kept quiet, glancing at Luke every few seconds.
"Luna, we've been in contact with Lane's parents. Unfortunately, they refused to believe that their son would do something like this."
Luna nodded, she understood all too easily. Lane, after all was a rather good actor, he played the role of charming well. Michael stiffened next to her, a discontent sound rumbled in his chest.
"Andy, there has to be something that can be done." Michael spoke quickly, angered at the thought of that slime ball getting off scot free.
"Michael, we're all upset about how he treated Luna, but we have to stay calm about this."
"Mikey, I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm just happy that it's over." Luna softly placed her hand over his as she tried to placate him. She felt funny as she did so, a kind of warm feeling spreading from her fingertips to the rest of her body. Luna could feel Luke's eyes trained on their hands, but she didn't care at the moment.
"As of right now, I feel okay. I just know that I don't want to be around him again."
"Do you want to go back to your old school?" Liz's voice offered. Luna blanched slightly, that thought had never even crossed her mind.
"No, I don't want to run."
"Okay then, but if he begins to become a problem again. Let us know, please."
"I will, I promise."
"Good, also tonight is your night to clean up. After that you have some laundry that needs to be taken to your room."
"Sure thing, mumma. I'm just going to get started on cleaning if everyone is done." She glanced around to make sure before getting up and getting started.
- Mikey POV-
"Mikey, can we talk upstairs?" Luke's voice caused him to break his gaze on Luna as she moved about.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." The four boys ambled up to Luke's room, where Michael was ushered into the desk chair surrounded by the boys. He knew that this was going to be about how he acts with Luna. He still wasn't exactly sure of what he felt towards her. He just knew that he wanted to be around her.
"I thought we talked about this already, Mikey."
"I know, Luke, I know. I'm not trying to act this way."
"I need to know. Do you like Luna?" Luke's voice was strained causing Michael to swallow noisily. He glanced between Cal and Ash, trying to ask for help, but they had none to offer.
"I don't know."
"Then can you not touch her the way you do? It makes me nervous enough that one of my best mates might like my sister, but don't make moves if you're unsure of how you feel."
Michael felt like the wind had been punched out of his lungs. Leading Luna on had not even been in any of his intentions.
"Luke, guys, how I reacted downstairs was just some form of automatic response. I wanted to comfort her more than anything."
"We get that Mikey." Ash spoke up before Luke had a chance as his chest puffed out slightly. Taking a deep breath, Luke sighed once more.
"I'm sorry, I'm going about this wrong and I'm being overbearingly protective again."
"What happens if I finally figure my feelings out Luke? How will you feel then?"
Luke was silent. He hadn't been expecting that, even if Mikey did like Luna, in the end it was all her decision. Luke gazed at a spot on the floor, chewing on his words before he released them.
"I think. . .that whatever happens between you and Luna is just that, between the two of you. Do I enjoy the thought of one of my best mates having anything other than platonic feelings for Luna? I can't say that I do to be honest. However, I can't speak for her. Just please, please be careful with her."
Michael blanched at Luke's answer, it was a rather adult and composed decision. He looked to Calum and Ashton momentarily to see them nodding in agreement.
"Okay, I'll figure myself out then."
"Good." The boys were quiet again as a knock reverberated through the room.
- Luna POV -
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Luna walked into Luke's room after knocking and perched upon the bed.
"Just talking about stuff." Ashton scratched the back of his neck as his eyes darted between Michael and Luke.
"Do I get to know about the stuff?"
"Not this stuff, sorry Lu." Cal shot her a quick smile causing her to huff slightly.
"Fine, what do you boys want to do now?"
"Actually Lu, I need to head home." Michael stood up followed by Ashton and Calum making noises of agreement.
"Okay, we'll see you boys at school." Her teeth shined a bit as she gave them a grin and reached her arms up for goodbye hugs. Calum and Ashton have her the tightest hugs a girl could ever ask for. They picked up their backpacks as Michael swooped in for his hug. Michael was warm. All Luna wanted was to curl up in his side and stay there. As they broke apart, she gave them a wave as Michael was led away by the other two boys.
"Now, what did you really talk about?" She turned to Luke with an expectant face. Rolling his eyes, he stood and began gathering things for a shower.
"Lu, if you're meant to know you'll find out. I'm going to go take a shower, you staying in here for a bit?"
"Yeah, I want to talk some more before bed."
"Alright, I'll be quick." He kissed the top of her head and ducked out of the room. Flopping back onto Luke's pillows, Luna rubbed her face roughly. Today had been a relatively okay day despite the Lane debacle. She had made it through a change in schools and hopefully made a new friend.
Her thoughts raced back to Michael, bringing his smirking, soft face to the front of her brain. Why did she get a warm feeling every time she was around him? Did he feel it to? He couldn't possibly, could he? After all, Michael was Michael. Does he intentionally try to make her feel this way?
"There's no way, besides he's one of Luke's best friends. It just not plausible." Luna mumbled as she stood and began moving around Luke's room. She picked up his guitar and sat in the desk chair. Gently, she plucked at the strings, not even in a way that made sense.
"Planning on joining the band?" Luke chuckled as he startled her, causing her to nearly drop his guitar. He lurched forward to help her keep her hands on it.
"Jesus, Luke. Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry, I thought you heard me come back in." He crawled onto his bed getting comfortable, and motioned for her to join him.
"So, want to tell me how your first day went? I mean, besides the obvious."
"It was good, just a little strange, but I think that'll get better. I'm hoping I made a new friend today, while I was in the girls bathroom after I left study hall."
"Ah, that's where you went."
"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky I didn't get lost."
"Was she nice?"
"She helped me figure some things out. We talked about Michael."
"Why did you talk about him?" Luke's eyes glanced at her quickly and then away.
"Well, I told her how he was acting after I had made the horrible decision to go on a date with Lane. She actually said that Mikey probably liked me, which I told her just wasn't plausible so don't worry."
Luke's eyes grew slightly wider as Luna kept speaking. He shifted his weight, and looked at her. He began wondering if she felt something a little more than platonic for Michael. He cringed as he opened his mouth,
"Lu, can I ask you something?"
"You know you can." She turned her large eyes to him as she softly grinned. How was he supposed to ask her this?
"Do you like Michael?"
"Of course I like Mikey, why wouldn't I?" Luna's brows furrowed as Luke swiped his tongue across his bottom lip.
"No, I don't mean in a platonic way."
Luna's eyes grew large as she sat there gaping like a fish. She couldn't believe he was asking her this. What should she say? Did she have an answer?
"Uh, why do you, uh, what?" She stammered quickly as she felt the heat rising to her cheeks.
"You do, don't you?" Luna caught her lip between her teeth.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No, c'mon Luke, I just met him like a month ago. He's my friend. I don't know what I feel. Besides, even if I did like him, I wouldn't pursue it."
Luna began playing with the ends of her hair as Luke sat quietly. He felt like he had cracked some sort of code in the case of his two friends. His chest felt a little tight as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Why not?"
"Because you have such a great friendship, and I'm getting closer with them all too. I wouldn't want to jeopardize anything, after all my relationships don't tend to end well. Plus you guys have the band to think about." Luke sighed, unsure of whether he should say what he wanted to say.
"Lu, listen to me, and just think of this hypothetically. Do I particularly enjoy the thought of my two friends, one who is technically now my sister, having feelings for each other? Not exactly. Does it worry me? A little."
"Luke -"
"Nope, hang on I'm not done. If anything were to ever happen between the two of you, hypothetically, it would be exactly that, between the two of you. As for the endings of your other relationships, they were mainly the ones at fault. Just if you do decide you like him, don't be afraid to tell me. I know I'm not the most open about it, but I don't want you to fear telling me."
Luna sat in silence as he finished his big speech. She wasn't sure what to say, so she said the only thing she could,
"Okay."
Luke nodded, satisfied with himself. He hoped he had made the right decision on talking with her about it. He also hoped that things would turn out okay, should they go down that road. They were both quiet and yawning, and soon Luna crawled out of his bed.
"I think it's time for bed, I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, Lu."
"Night." She yawned once more as she made her way to her room. As she curled up in bed, one final thought passed through her mind. How did she actually feel about Michael?