A/N: Surviving Sang was originally inspired by this one-shot I wrote, so I couldn't not include it, right? It's been revamped to fit with the story more in case you're worried about a re-read, and there's about 1,500 more words in this chapter than the one-shot.
Chapter Twelve: 18 Minutes in Heaven
"How many more minutes?"
"Luke, you literally just put the cookies in the oven," I grinned at him fondly from my perch on the countertop. What a silly boy.
"I say we give them five minutes, and then check again," Luke nodded his head decisively from his kneeling position in front of the oven. The oven light was on, and his narrowed eyes were focused so intently on the cookie dough blobs inside, I was surprised they didn't finish baking on his command.
"Or we can work on homework for the full eighteen minutes the cookies are supposed to bake, then check again?" I offered, swinging my legs back and forth underneath the countertop. We'd gotten lucky that Uncle and North weren't going to be home for awhile. Plenty of time to binge on cookies and destroy the evidence.
I'd tried to apologize to Luke for scaring him and walking out yesterday, but he just waved me off and said I deserved some chocolate chip cookies after everything that happened. Apparently chocolate would help refill the happiness levels that crying my eyes out had diminished, according to his expertise.
After all of the seriousness with North and Silas, I was grateful for his lightheartedness.
"Nah," Luke immediately dismissed my suggestion, popping up from the floor and turning towards me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "But I can think of something else we can do for eighteen minutes."
"You know Kota wants homework finished right after school, and I already skipped today," I tried to look stern, but I was too busy fighting off a giggle as I watched Luke saunter towards me with an extra sway in his hips. He was batting his eyelashes and licking his lips while staring straight into my eyes. After an incredibly exaggerated hip movement, I gave in and cracked up with giggles. "What are you doing, Luke?"
"I'm seducing you, Cupcake," Luke said with a deep voice, wiggling his eyebrows at me. Once he reached the counter, I swung my legs around his hips and pulled him against me. "Is it working?"
"Hmm," I pretended to look like I was debating it, rubbing my chin a few times for good measure before blinking down at Luke innocently. "I'm not sure."
"Not sure?" Luke raised an eyebrow while smiling at the challenge. He stepped closer to me, pulling my body slowly toward him on the counter until we were pressed flush against each other and I was teetering off the edge. I bit my lip at the contact, feeling my chest mold against his as our breaths matched. Luke purposely lowered his voice an octave as he growled, "Well maybe I can convince you."
I giggled and pecked Luke's cheek before he spun around and reached his hands behind him to grab my thighs.
"Hop on, sweetheart! Your love nest awaits," Luke announced, lightly popping my thigh when I hadn't moved yet. With a grin, I hopped onto Luke's back and held on as he took off down the hallway before climbing the steps with ease.
"Where is this so-called love nest, Sir Lucian?" I asked with a giggle, blowing his untamed hair out of my face.
"In a magical land, my queen," he responded, opening the door to his room and trotting inside. "A land where daydreams always come true and North allows chocolate for every meal."
"Oh wow, I didn't think such a place was possible!" I gasped dramatically, laughing as Luke collapsed on his bed which caused me to let go of him. We both tumbled over the mattress, and rolled until we were facing each other.
"It's very possible, Your Highness," Luke said as he positioned himself on his side, angling one arm to hold his head up. I mirrored his pose, but used one foot to nudge against his smooth ankle.
"And where is this so called 'seduction,' Sir Lucian?" I asked softly, looking him in the eye. His eyes twinkled back at me.
"The good lady sure seems ready to be rid of her virtue!" Luke announced to the room as if we had an audience.
"Who needs virtue when you can have a handsome knight?" I asked playfully, winking at him. I felt ridiculous, but was determined to play along.
This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Luke's face completely shut down in front of me. I was momentarily shocked at how blank his face became before he looked down at the bedspread.
"Luke?" I asked, worried I'd said something wrong. "What's wrong?"
Was I too forward? Did it turn him off?
"Luke?" I asked again when he didn't look up. Sliding closer, I gently placed my hand on his forearm that was playing with a thread on the comforter.
"Gah. I'm sorry, Sang," he whispered, still not looking up at me. "I'm being stupid."
"What is it?" I asked softly. "Did I do something wrong."
"No, no." Luke quickly shook his head, finally looking up at me. His eyes had lost their mischievous sparkle and he looked pained. "I just...I want...I wish I still had my...virtue."
"Your virtue?" I repeated, my eyebrows skyrocketing. "Luke, you know I was just playing around—"
"I just hate that I can't give you that, Sang," Luke cut me off, his expression regretful before he huffed a disbelieving laugh. "I never thought I'd say this, but I wish I was still a virgin."
My heart ached. I knew most of the boys were more experienced than me, but I hadn't been faced with hearing it so blatantly before.
"Luke, no," I shook my head and gave his arm a gentle squeeze, trying to push away the painful squeeze of my heart at the vocal confirmation that he's been that far with girls before me. "Why would you...please don't regret that."
"Why shouldn't I?" He asked in a pained voice, letting his head fall back against the mattress. "I love you more than anything, and I can't even give that to you."
My arm stilled, and I froze. My eyes managed to blink down at him, and I held my breath as my heart floated in my chest. That didn't sound like one of Gabriel's playful declarations of love that he threw at all of us. That sounded real.
"I don't expect you to," I assured him quietly, before rubbing my hand up and down his arm that was still playing with the thread. "You had a life before me; I understand that. I didn't expect to be your first kiss, so why would I expect that? What you've given me now—your heart—is more than I could've ever hoped for."
"But Sang," Luke huffed, pushing off the mattress and moving to sit Indian style in front of me. I slowly mirrored his position again, but he avoided my eyes. "You're so pure and giving everything to us. In a weird way, I envy Kota and the guys who are still virgins."
"You envy them?" I asked, confused and a little wary. I thought we'd gotten a handle on most of the jealousy issues that I could see. Besides, not many teenage boys would say they envied a virgin.
"Because they get to experience their first time with you," Luke whispered, looking at his lap. "With someone they love. And they get to give themselves to you. All of themselves."
His confession was burning my heart, and I knew I needed to put a stop to this before it got out of control.
"Luke, look at me," I cupped his cheek and pulled his gaze back to mine. "You're still you. Not being a virgin doesn't change that. You are giving me all of you. I wasn't going to bring this up, because it doesn't matter— honestly, it doesn't—but let me try to explain something. Just...hypothetically, let's say you've slept with five girls before me—"
"What?" Luke squeaked out, and I blinked at him before giggling at the ridiculously high voice he just achieved. My stomach was in knots, but I was grateful for the reprieve.
"Did you just squeak?" I laughed, causing Luke to pout at me.
"Five? Who told you five?" Luke frowned down at me, re-crossing his legs and grabbing my hips to slide me closer to him. I scooted a little further until our knees touched.
"Nobody told me anything, I just made up a number," I answered honestly, with a light shrug. "I'm just using it as an example to make my point!"
"Well, I haven't slept with five," Luke answered, still frowning. He had that guilty expression again, and I really wanted to make him understand that this didn't matter to me.
"Would it bother you if I've slept with five?" I asked cautiously.
Luke blinked once, then five more times really quickly as he cleared his throat. "If you slept with five girls? Well shoot, that's a loaded question. I mean, it'd be pretty hot if it were in my dreams—"
"Luke!" I admonished, scowling lightly at him. "That's not what I meant!"
"I figured." One side of Luke's lips tilted into a smile. "But I swear I haven't slept with five."
"Luke, it doesn't matter," I repeated in a whisper, looking him in the eye. "You could've slept with a thousand women, and the only thing I'd worry about would be STDs and your emotional wellbeing. Well, and miniature little blonde-headed Lukes running around that we don't know about."
Luke let out a strangled sound.
"How, Sang?" Luke asked in disbelief. "You smiled at Corey one time, and I wanted to throw a cake at his face. And I don't waste cake."
My brow furrowed, not following what he was talking about. That guy from the Diner months ago?
"Because it was before me." I shrugged, reaching up to cup his cheek. "It's not like you cheated on me. If I got jealous of girls you'd been with before me, how can I expect you guys to be okay with sharing me at the same time?"
"It's different, Sang," Luke started shaking his head, but I just sighed.
"We're getting off my point," I cut him off softly. "Let's just say that you slept with five girl—"
"One," Luke interrupted me quietly, brown eyes locked on mine as he looked the shyest I've ever seen him. "I slept with one."
"Okay," I said back just as quietly, swallowing nervously. "Let's say that you slept with one girl before me. Then, and this is completely hypothetical, let's say I lose my virginity to Silas. Then I sleep with Kota. Then Nathan. Then I sleep with you. That means I slept with three guys before you. Would that matter to you? Would that stop you from loving me or wanting to be with me?"
I honestly wasn't sure if it would, and realized this reasoning could completely backfire on me.
"No, Sang, but it's still different," Luke sighed, running a hand through his hair. His blonde locks fell down to frame his face, and I thought he looked beautiful. "We're not a normal group, and this works for us. If it was some outside guy...like Corey or Derrick, I'd be worse than North. But we all love you and each other, and we not only agreed to this—we believe in it. I didn't love that girl."
I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.
"If anything, that makes me feel better," I admitted shakily, unable to stop a small smile from forming. "I know I said it didn't matter, but this might be where I draw the line on rationality. If you loved another girl, before me or not, then I might not be able to stop myself from...from Hulking Out."
I winced, but it was the only thing I could think of to explain how jealous I felt when I thought of Luke having loved another girl before me. I had Nathan and Silas to thank for watching a movie about some green giant who wasn't so jolly with me last week.
"Hulking Out?" Luke laughed deeply, leaning back and grabbing his stomach. It was a relief to see him laugh again during such a serious talk. Luke was a ray of sunshine; my own personal sugar high. Seeing my boys' different sides during alone time with them had always been something I treasured, but Luke deserved to always have a smile on his face. "Sang, I can't picture you hurting a flower, let alone another girl."
"Hey, I can get mad if one of my boys is involved!" I stuck my tongue out at him, then abruptly squealed and leaned back when Luke reached out to pinch it.
"Your boys, huh?" He smirked, leaning up on his elbows until he could support himself with both hands behind him. His chest was puffed out like a proud pigeon and I giggled before scooting closer to him.
"Luke, listen," I started, feeling my smile fade away and internally begging him not to look away. "I want to be fully honest. The girls were before me and I'm okay with that, but I still don't like...I don't like actively thinking of you with other girls. It actually makes me feel a little nauseous. I have no clue how you guys do it now."
Luke's playful smirk dropped, his lips pursing in front of me.
"But I get it." I shrugged, reaching out and letting my finger trail down to the collar of his shirt as my eyes followed it. "And I don't hold anything against you. We weren't in a relationship; you didn't cheat on me."
"Sometimes it feels like I cheated on you," Luke mumbled, his nimble fingers nudging my chin up until I was staring into his somber, brown eyes again as he huffed a laugh. "Heck, sometimes it feels like I cheated on myself."
"You...what?"
"I know it's an odd thing to feel weird about, and I'm probably the only guy in the world that would say this, but I had no idea what it could be like," Luke explained, shaking his head. "Until I met you, I had no clue how much I could feel from a simple kiss. A kiss being blocked by a pair of fingers, even! Or how much I'd crave doing something as simple as holding hands. Honestly, Cupcake, you kinda lucked out."
My eyelids fluttered in confusion.
"...Pardon?" I asked quizzically, not sure where he was going with this. "Because there are nine of you? I know it's selfish—"
"No, no. Well, I mean yeah, but no. You'll probably end up getting sick of us macking on you all the time." Luke shrugged, and my eyebrows skyrocketed. Tired of the boys kissing me and touching me? That sounded impossible. "But I meant you've never had a bad kiss."
My head cocked to the side, eyeing Luke curiously.
"How do you know I've never had a bad one?" I asked, my lips twitching as they threatened to break into a smile.
"Well, I'm just guessing," Luke back-tracked with a sheepish grin. "I mean, I could be wrong. For all we know, Mr. B swaps saliva like a squid when—"
"No, no, no!" I interrupted, waving my hands in front of Luke to cut him off. "Mr. Blackbourne is a wonderful kisser!"
Luke looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to be amused or grossed out, so he settled for snorting at me as my blush caught up with my words.
"I mean, he's, he's—"
"He's what, Cupcake?" Luke prodded, lips twitching up in the corners. "Go on."
My shoulders slumped in defeat.
"He's a good kisser," I grumbled.
"I wouldn't know, but I think I'll just take your word for it," Luke teased. His hand came up, softly caressing the skin at my temple.
"So...you've had bad kisses?" I asked quietly, not able to push away my morbid curiosity. I didn't think I wanted to open that can of worms, but he had started it.
"More like straight up awful," Luke snorted, brushing a stray piece of my hair back from my forehead. His fingers trailed along my temple, leaving a path of goosebumps as they grazed down my cheek. "Have any of the guys told you about my first out-of-state assignment?"
"No," I answered, intrigued. "What happened?"
"Long story short, I was undercover and a lesbian tried to make out with me," Luke answered casually, as if he was telling me what he had for lunch today.
"Wait...you...what?" I stuttered, blinking down at him as I forced myself to sit up higher. "Why was a lesbian kissing you?"
"Probably had something to do with my cover." Luke shrugged against the bedspread. His hands slid down my sides before settling on my hips. "Honestly, I have no clue how chicks deal with getting their chests groped. I had fake boobs, and it hurt!"
"Luke!" I cried in disbelief, unable to even form a mental image that might explain the picture he was trying to paint for me. "Actually...I don't want to know."
"Nah, it's a pretty short story, really," Luke squeezed my sides, and his beaming grin stole the show. "She realized the boobs were fake, and kneed me where the sun don't shine. For a girl who claims to bat for the other team, she sure knew her way around down there. I thought they might've fallen off."
I grimaced in sympathy, not liking the mental image.
"Poor baby," I crooned as he winced in remembered pain.
"Yeah, well, that's what I get for being so attractive," he sighed ruefully.
"Oh, shush," I chided, tracing a finger along his jaw. Although I had to admit, it was a nice jaw. "Or I'll pout until Gabriel chops off all of your hair."
The smile was slow to take, and it looked almost painful, but each tooth peeked out until it spread across his face from ear to ear. Luke's face lit up so brightly, his eyes turned into melted pools of chocolate that were tempting me beyond reason.
How had I ever gotten so lucky?
"I love you, Luke," I whispered shakily, leaning against his chest and gently planting my lips against his. He responded right away with a chaste, closed-mouth kiss that was as sweet as a cupcake.
"I love you, Sang," Luke murmured against my lips, closing his chocolate eyes. We had some time before North or Uncle got home, and I wanted to make the most of it. Closing my eyes, I traced my tongue playfully along his lower lip. Luke immediately opened his mouth and slid his tongue across mine. French kissing still freaked me out a little bit, despite how much I'd done it now, but at the same time I found the entire act so...nice. It made my belly tingle, and my hands impulsively tangled themselves into Luke's hair as a reaction.
"You're so sweet, Sang," Luke whispered against my lips, breaking away from the kiss. I took the opportunity to kiss along his jaw and down his neck, sliding my legs onto each side of his lap so I was straddling him on the bed. "You taste like strawberries."
"Gabriel got new lip gloss," I muttered against his skin, nibbling on the skin between his neck and shoulder lightly. He groaned in response, and his grip on my hips tightened.
"Remind me to thank him later," Luke chuckled, grabbing the sides of my face and pulling me away from his neck. I looked up into his darkening eyes and couldn't hold back a pout, my gaze flickering back to his neck longingly.
"Luke...," I whispered, trying to move my head out of his hold and back to his delicious skin. He just shook his head with a small grin and leaned in towards my ear.
"Let me take care of you, Cupcake," Luke said in a slightly husky voice as his lips tickled my ear. With a quick nip to my earlobe, he flipped me over on my back and we bounced lightly against the mattress until his body hovered over mine. "Are you sure you're not made of chocolate? Because I want to devour you."
"Luke," I laughed, playfully shoving his shoulder.
My giggles were cut off by his lips as they molded to mine in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. I couldn't hold back a mewl as his tongue caressed mine and his thumbs started rubbing small circles on the skin between my shirt and shorts. I was completely surrounded by the smell of vanilla, and my nose was in heaven.
In some far, far away corner of my mind I was aware that the Earth was still revolving around the Sun, gravity kept us from floating off into Space, and cookies were currently baking in the oven. None of this existed to me as Luke's arms held me tight against him, though. As his lips began their tortuous path down my neck, I felt like the Earth revolved around us. As his hands delicately lifted my shirt up and over my head while his lips continued their assault down my chest and to my stomach, I was positive we were floating somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn. And when Luke's tongue circled my belly button once, twice, then slipped inside, I had no idea what cookies were.
My hands were tangled in Luke's hair, but they couldn't decide if they wanted to tug his sinful tongue back up to my lips or push it down and find out what Nathan was talking about yesterday morning. After a mental tug-of-war, I pulled at his locks and Luke crawled his way up my body with more open-mouthed kisses.
"I could spend forever getting to know your body, Sang," Luke murmured as he licked his way up my neck. I moaned at the contact, arching up slightly into his hold.
"You're licking me like I've seen you lick icing off a cupcake, Luke!" I giggled when a lick got particularly strong.
"Mmm, icing on my Cupcake. That's a delicious idea," Luke hummed happily. The vibration from his lips sent sparks down my spine, and I fidgeted. He pulled back, balancing with both elbows on either side of my head to hover over me.
"Luke," I whispered, running my fingers through his hair and hitching an ankle over his right leg. His deep, brown eyes gazed down into mine, and my bones rattled from the desire I saw staring back at me. "Kiss me."
"Gladly," Luke whispered back, leaning towards my face with his beautiful grin. His lips touched mine again, and my tongue immediately darted out to trace his lower lip again. His lips opened instantly, and our tongues started a playful fight for dominance.
I lost myself again in the kiss, in Luke, and in his vanilla scent that made me feel warm and fuzzy all over. Kota's ongoing order to finish our homework before dinner was long gone. I was completely entranced by the feel of Luke's lips dancing with mine. I heard angels singing and bells ringing, celebrating the love I felt wanting to burst out of my heart.
Only those weren't bells.
They were the smoke alarm.
And I couldn't smell Luke's vanilla scent anymore.
It was covered by the smell of something burning.
And those definitely weren't angels.
"Who the fuck let you and Sang Baby make cookies, Luke? I told you to give her a banana, you idiot!" I heard my North Star bellow from the floor below us, his deep voice being heard easily over the sound of the smoke alarm. "And why does it look like a fucking bomb went off in here? What is this shit?"
Luke groaned against my lips, pulling back until he could bury his face into my neck.
"North is home!" I grinned, wincing when I thought of the lecture we were in for.
A/N: I appreciate you. :)