*3rd Person POV*
-A Couple of Days Later-
Aubrey awoke at the bright and early time of seven-thirty. Waking early had always been one of those things she had done ever since she was little.
In high school, that one tradition tended to annoy Luke to no end. When she would wake early, nine times out of ten, she would get up and do something, therefore leaving him with no one to hold onto.
The night previous, Luke had gotten out of practice a lot later than usual. Instead of getting out a six, the meeting after practice had caused it to last an additional three hours.
Once Luke had gotten out, he went back to his dorm, took a nice, long shower, and he texted Aubrey for her to come over.
She hadn't responded to him and he had grown very anxious and needy for her touch.
Especially under the circumstances that he was about to go through, he just wanted her with him.
Of course, she didn't purposely ignore him, she was just fast asleep. While waiting for the text telling her Luke had gotten out of practice nice, safe, and injury-free, she picked up a book but soon fell asleep with it still in her hand.
Luke had figured that was what happened. Although he had really needed her, he didn't want to wake her.
He'd just have to push through the night.
This morning, he'd awoken to his alarm. His six in the morning alarm. He'd have no problem waking up at six if it weren't for a few things.
One, Aubrey was the first thing he got to see when waking up. He thought it was adorable when his alarm would be blaring and she'd still be sleeping soundly, clutching onto him.
Two, he didn't stub his toe on his bed frame.
Lastly, there wouldn't be as big of a problem if it wasn't his momma's birthday today.
Just the last reason made him want to crawl back into bed. He unplugged his phone and checked it for any messages from Aubrey. He looked over all the condolence messages sent by his family and went straight to her contact.
When he saw no messages and that his text hadn't even been read, he had banged his head on his wall.
"Did you just fall?!" Eli had questioned out loudly but Luke didn't feel like responding.
Knowing his grandmother would get upset if he didn't respond to her text, she was the only other one he responded to. Besides his dad, of course. Who was back in Virginia getting the house ready to sell before moving back to Alabama. But after doing that, he had turned his phone off as the messages had constantly flooded through his mind.
He was thankful his family cared but he was hurting pretty badly at that moment.
He had sluggishly gone and got dressed for weightlifting before eating some breakfast and slamming his fist into Eli's door, a sound which basically meant, "hurry the fuck up."
The two of them had made a new tradition of taking turns driving each other to morning training.
This morning it was Luke's turn.
No words were exchanged between the two. Eli could feel sense tenseness in Luke's movements but he knew better than to say anything. He also didn't want another bloodied nose any time soon.
In the short car ride, Eli, of course, had tried to play music like always. As soon as he had turned it up, Luke reached forward and turned it down.
More often than not, when Eli had wanted to listen to music, he'd let him. After all, it was only a couple minute drive.
Today was different and Eli could see that.
"What's wrong with you?" Eli questions sincerely. Luke takes a quick glance over at him only to see his stone-serious face.
"Nothing," Luke had mumbled but Eli wasn't fooled.
There was a glint of sadness in Luke's eyes; a glint Eli had seen before. One that he had seen after noticing that drastic change in his best friend's behavior those three years ago.
The ride was over as quickly as it started and training began.
An hour into training with only thirty minutes left, Luke made his way to the last lifting station, his muscles bulging more than usual a clear indication he had been lifting weights.
Usually, practices and training tended to be longer. But, considering that the season hasn't started yet, the players are stuck to a limited amount of pre-season practicing and training.
Before every transition, the player at their station is expected to remove his set weights, leaving the set weights at zero for the next person to set his own weight.
Everyone got the concept of, you're supposed to do that before the transition happens. Kris, apparently did not.
He'd do it after the transition sound went off and Luke was really feeling the need to throat-punch him.
So, as the transition sound sounds, Luke bites his lip to keep the horrifying curses he wanted to throw at Kris contained, he closes his eyes when holding his mouth shut almost doesn't work and he cracks his knuckles due to how hard he's clenching them.
Hoping that by now Kris has taken his weights off, he reopens his eyes. Kris calmly and slowly removes one weight at a time and Luke nearly loses his shit.
"Just fuckin' move," he brushes past Kris harshly, taking a hold of his weights and removing them all at once.
"Didn't know we had a strict time limit," Kris chides and Luke's grip tightens onto one of the weights and he raises it slightly thinking about throwing it at him.
"Why don't you take your ass on somewhere?" Aiden points to the empty station that Kris is supposed to be at.
Kris just raises his hands in mock surrender and he finally moves to his new station.
"I'm sure coach wouldn't be thrilled if he found out you had thrown a weight at someone," Aiden chuckles, taking his place at the station beside Luke.
Meanwhile, Aubrey rubs her cramping wrist from the way she fell asleep on it while holding her book.
She glances over at the bed across from hers and she figures Blair must still be gone from the party she went to last night. One she had once again tried to convince Aubrey to go to.
Blair had no idea how serious the relationship between her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend was.
She also had no idea who he was. She wasn't really the type to follow sports.
She had only seen him that one time and when she did, she couldn't get over how hot he was. Although he was heavily attractive, she had morals and she religiously reminded herself not to mess with guys in relationships. It would just complicate things.
Like Luke would actually even think about doing a single thing with anyone other than Aubrey.
Aubrey picks herself up from her comfortable and warm bed and she drags her feet until she gets to the bathroom. She takes a quick shower and she puts some clothes on.
She walks back to her bed and goes on a search for her phone which she recalls was laying on her pillow before she fell asleep last night.
She finally finds it near the bottom of her bed and she turns it on. One message, in particular, catches her eye and she instantly feels bad for not responding.
Although she has no idea what today is, the thought of him wanting her there and her not responding or even showing up, made her feel terrible.
So, she quickly sends a message back apologizing and telling him he can stop by her dorm whenever his training is done, having no idea what time he would finish with his shower after.
Just as Luke finishes with his last weight station, the phone dings with the text. His hands already itch to touch her and he and Eli leave soon after.
They get back to their dorm within a couple of minutes and Luke rushes to take his shower.
Fifteen minutes later, he's in the elevator on the way to her room. His hands continuously fidget as more frustration builds up at the slightest things. Whether it be the light ticking sound above him or the small smudge in the mirror-like doors of the elevator, he's just getting more and more frustrated.
The elevator doors finally open and he nearly runs into a girl as he rushes out into the all-female hall.
He stops in front of the room number he knows by heart and he wishes he could just walk in like he did when he'd go to her house. His tense fists knock on the door and within a few seconds, the door opens.
All his pent up frustration fades away as his eyes fall on her. His emotions that have been built up since this morning all unleash and his eyes fill with water.
He just misses his momma.
Aubrey lets a quiet gasp escapes her lips at seeing him look so sad. She takes ahold of his hand gently and she pulls him into her room. Just as she's turning around to see if he's okay, he grabs her by her underarms and he lifts her up.
He holds her to him in a tight grip and he cries into her shoulder. She runs her hand through the top of his hair and he walks her over to the bed.
All he wants is for her to hold him.
He sits her on her tall bed gently and she brings him into her arms.
"What's wrong?" she asks in the softest tone possible in worry that she might make him even more upset. He gets on the bed after her and he lays her down. He lays his head on her chest and he wraps his strong arms around her torso.
"It's mom's birthday," he says quietly and she nearly cries for him. She holds him extra close to her and he thanks God that he's got her.
More guilt floods her head as she thinks about how upset he must've been when she wasn't there for him last night but she keeps quiet.
She lifts his head up until she can see his face. She kisses his lips softly and she wipes his cheeks with her thumbs. He leans into her touch and she pushes some hair off his forehead.
"I love you," she lays his head back in his previous position.
"I love you too," she whispers and a small smile reaches his lips at hearing her words.
They stay in the same position for a while until Aubrey notices his feet hanging off her bed.
"That won't do," she mumbles and she slowly sits up with Luke still clinging to her torso. She moves a portion of her thick comforter over the top of the wooden bed frame where his feet were hanging over, making sure it doesn't hurt him.
She lays back down and he adjusts his head to the same spot he had it. Her hand rubs up and down his back as she softly hums a tune and he nearly proposes to her on the spot.
"Are you comfy?" she whispers and he nods softly.
There's nowhere he'd rather be.
__________________________
Luke soon falls asleep in the arms of the girl he loves while she gently plays with his soft locks.
Her sympathy towards him consumed her more than the guilt she felt for not being with him the night before. She knows how terrible and upset he feels.
Months ago, around January, she had dealt with the same thing. It was the first year that her dad wasn't alive for his own birthday and that took a toll on her.
Luke was there with her, comforting and helping her through it and as of now, she was prepared to do the same for him.
But she had no idea how he had been through it three times. In her eyes, he was so, so strong.
Lost in her thoughts, she barely hears Blair opening the door. She walks in, quite loudly, and Aubrey tries her best to get her attention, trying not to be too loud knowing that Luke isn't a heavy sleeper.
"What?" Blair talks loudly at the motion to be quiet Aubrey is giving her. Blair squints her eyes, the lights hurting her head due to her hangover.
She walks closer to Aubrey's bed and she finally catches sight of a still peacefully sleeping Luke.
"Oh," she whispers, "I'm just going to go to sleep."
Blair crawls on her own bed and before she turns to face the wall, she catches sight of Aubrey and Luke.
While still asleep, Luke nestles his head further into her embrace. She kisses the side of his head and even in his sleep, he recognizes the touch of her and a satisfied smile reaches his lips.
A strong feeling of harmless envy shadows over her at seeing the two obviously so in love with each other.
Maybe not exactly at the moment, but in the near future, she wanted something like that. All her meaningless one night stands seemed to be useless at seeing what she could be having with someone.
She turns and faces the wall, a small smile on her face. She thought the two were cute together.
_____________________
The preplanned trip to Ella's house began to feel more and more impossible as the four of them stop at their third restaurant.
After Luke woke up from his hour and a half nap, he was feeling much better. The four of them got ready for their little road trip and they left all in good time.
Then, fifteen minutes in, Aiden became hungry. They stopped and Luke and Aiden got something to eat. Then, another twenty or so minutes later, Eli became hungry. So, Eli got some food and Luke got some more. Only ten minutes later, Luke realizes Aubrey got nothing so of course, he had to stop somewhere else. He may have gotten himself even more food too.
"Fatass," Aiden chuckles at Luke as he eats his fourth cheeseburger. Luke calmly hands Aubrey his burger with a smirk, he picks up his almost empty drink cup from two stops ago, he pops the lid off, and he throws the rest of the contents of the cup onto Aiden who gasps loudly.
"You old bitch," Aiden chides and Eli laughs, giving him a high five.
Since his birthday, which was at the end of July, he'd been getting tons of 'old' comments from the two guys, being the oldest one out of the guys and Aubrey.
He knows they're just jealous.
Only a short few minutes later, Aiden goes silent while in the middle of his sentence.
"Stop somewhere," he tells Luke.
"No, we only have twenty-five minutes left-"
"Unless you want me to shit in this truck, stop somewhere," Aiden groans and Eli begins to wail out suffering cries.
"If you so much as float a fuckin' air biscuit in this truck, I will slit your throat," Luke turns onto an exit to stop somewhere.
"I shouldn't have had that milkshake," Aiden holds his stomach knowing that his lactose intolerance was getting the best of him.
While Luke and Eli throw insults at Aiden, Aubrey worries for him.
"Are you okay?" She turns and asks him and he gives her a strained nod.
"He's like sweating," she turns and murmurs to Luke and he sighs.
"He's going to have to wait. There's nowhere to stop in Coosada," he explains as he knows everywhere around like the back of his hand.
After about eight minutes, the longest eight minutes of Aiden's life, they finally make it to a Walmart.
Eli drags Aubrey into the store and Luke reluctantly follows the two. Once close enough to her, he grabs her small hand in his and he pulls her back to walk with him.
He kisses the top of her head and her hand grips the back of his Roll Tide football shirt as they walk.
As the three of them walk around, waiting for Aiden to finish his business, the two guys get plenty of attention. Not only is it because they're wearing shirts that only players get, but many people know who they are.
Luke and his family are no strangers to Montgomery and it's surrounding counties and cities.
Aubrey didn't mind it. She would just float to the back of the view and look at things along the aisles. She was proud of him and Eli. They both worked hard to get where they are now and to see them be recognized made her happy.
"C'mere, beautiful," Luke ushers her over, not wanting her to feel like she shouldn't be apart of the conversations.
He holds open his arm and she leans into him while his strong arm rests on her shoulders.
_______________________
"I'm telling you, I feel bad for whoever has to clean that bathroom," Aiden laughs at himself as Luke turns onto his Grandma's long driveway.
"You need to be put down," Eli offers death as a solution and Luke is thankful Aubrey is sleeping soundly.
They pile out of the truck and Luke walks to Aubrey's side. He opens the door and fawns at how adorable she is.
"Aubrey! Wake up, girlfriend!" Eli shouts and Luke turns and glares at him.
"Oh my God, oh my God! Is that my best friend!?" Sam asks all while running out the house as Luke gently shakes Aubrey awake.
She doesn't wake up.
"Excuse me?" Eli confronts Sam, "I'd love to know who do you think you are?"
"Goddamn baby, wake up. You sleep like a rock," Luke brushes a curl away from her face.
"I'm Samuel motherfuckin' Taylor," he shoves a finger in Eli's chest. Eli flicks Sam's finger off him and Aiden is left in surprise.
He's never met Sammy before.
"Who's that? Is that Aubrey's second boyfriend?" Sam points to Aiden knowing damn well a reaction will come from Luke.
Luke picks up the closest item, Aubrey's shoe, and he throws it at his cousin's head.
Sam charges Luke who moves at the last second. Sam runs into the side of Luke's truck, effectively waking Aubrey up with a jolt.
"You're awake!" He smiles and helps her out of the tall truck.
"Hi Sammy," she smiles and he gives her a hug.
"May's here. She'll be happy to see you," he smiles and he leads her into the house, the three guys following.
A little bit of worry runs through Aubrey's mind at the mention of Marina. Eli and Marina, who used to have a thing over the summer, no longer have that thing.
Surprisingly, Eli was the one who called it off.
The two liked each other, but their relationship wasn't going anywhere. To Eli, it wasn't exciting anymore, which is horrible but true. The rebellious factor of hiding the romance from the rest of the Taylor's had worn off and there wasn't much left.
Marina was very upset. She thought she was heartbroken but when she had called and asked Aubrey what to do, Aubrey explained how it felt when she and Luke broke up. That was when May realized she wasn't heartbroken.
Unlike Aubrey and Luke, when Eli broke up with her, she didn't feel the way they had felt.
And Luke doesn't know about the split.
Aubrey never told him because she felt it wasn't her place and Eli was a little too nervous to see his reaction.
After all, May is one of two full blood, girl cousins he has. Everyone is protective over them.
"How're you doing?" Sam puts an arm over Luke's shoulders while referring to what day it is.
Luke's eyes fall upon Aubrey and his heart swells.
"I'm good," he answers and Sam smiles.
"I'm glad," Sam smiles before yanking his arm away.
"Ew, Roll Tide," he refers to Luke's shirt.
"Ew, Auburn," Luke grimaces at his cousins Auburn football sweatshirt.
"Is that who I think it is?" Ella calls out and everyone walks into the kitchen.
Ella catches sight of Luke first and her heart turns heavy for her grandson. She just hates that he had to go through his momma's death at such a tough age.
She walks right up to his towering and muscular figure and she opens her arms. He bends down and lets her embrace him.
"How are you today, baby?" she holds him at arm's length away.
"I'm okay," he smiles softly, kissing her cheek. A large smile reaches her lips and she thanks God Luke has Aubrey.
In previous years, he had never been okay on today.
Ella leaves him and she walks up to Aubrey, embracing her tightly.
"I'm so glad you two found each other, you're such a sweetheart," Ella whispers before pulling away and wiping her under eyes.
At hearing voices, Marina makes her way into the kitchen. Her eyes fall upon Luke as he lifts Aubrey up on one of the tall island chairs.
Luke notices her enter and he sends a smile her way. She walks to him and they share a hug. Luke kisses her cheek, just like he had done with Ella.
"You okay?" She questions and he nods before making his way back to stand behind Aubrey's chair.
May's eyes run around the rest of the room until they land on Eli. A slight pain reaches her mind as he looks everywhere but at her.
Luke looks between the two, expecting Eli to at least acknowledge his, from what he heard last, girlfriend.
His eyebrows furrow when Eli doesn't do a single thing. The look deepens when he sees his little cousins face turn sad. Aubrey notices the change in his features and she realizes that Eli still must not have told him.
She turns around in her chair and she gazes up at him to see if he's still looking between the two with a frown. He notices her movement, forgetting about Eli and May, he bends his torso. and places a soft kiss on the side of her neck.
"So pretty," he places a kiss on her lips and she giggles softly as he leaves one more on her nose.
Marina watches the interaction between the two and she's brought even further to the realization that Eli and she weren't the best match for each other.
May and Aubrey greet each other and talk for a while until she admits that she feels a little too tense in the house.
"I think I'm just going to go home," she smiles a tight smile and Aubrey smiles sadly as she gets up.
"Well, it was nice seeing you," May hugs Aubrey, Luke, and Ella before leaving without a single word spoken between her and Eli.
Eli takes a seat to the left of Aubrey and Aiden just stands, still in a deep conversation with Ella.
"Why weren't they talking?" Luke questions her and she remains silent while figuring out if she should tell him or not.
"Um," she hesitates and his eyebrows furrow at the way she looks away from him.
He bends his torso once more and he grabs her chin gently, turning her face back to his so that she's looking right at him.
He doesn't like it when her focus is somewhere else when talking to him. He loves it for those blues to be on him.
"Hm?" he questions letting go of her chin.
"They broke up," she whispers softly and his head fills with confusion.
He thought May liked Eli. Why would she break up with him if she liked him so much?
"Why'd she break up with him?" he asks and she so desperately wants to run away from the conversation. Lord knows how he'd react hearing that that's not what went down.
"He broke up with her," she explains slowly and his face turns emotionless as he looks at an oblivious Eli in the chair beside Aubrey.
Before Aubrey can grab his arm to stop him, he kicks Eli's chair over, sending him to the ground.
As he starts walking over to Eli, who's still on the ground, Aubrey grabs his arm to try and stop him from doing anything further.
"Luke, what on earth!" Ella exclaims.
"What the fuck, Eli?" Luke stays behind Aubrey's chair as she holds onto his arm.
"What the fuck, Luke!" Eli returns. standing up and holding his lower back. He looks at Luke with surprise written all over his face.
Most times, to get a reaction from Luke, he'll annoy him in some way but last time he checked he was just sitting in a chair.
Aiden just stands near Ella watching the commotion and eating some peanuts.
He's not much help.
"What'd May ever do to you?" he questions Eli, gently removing Aubrey's dainty hand from his arm and walking closer to Eli.
Realization spreads across Eli's face and he sighs. He knew Luke would eventually find out and react not-so-happily.
"I just didn't think we were working," he explains and Luke scoffs.
"What was the big deal? Did ya'll have a fight or something?" he tries to make more sense of the situation.
"Wouldn't you not want to be with someone if you aren't happy?" Eli questions and even though the situation makes Luke a little mad at him, he could be madder.
"I wouldn't know," Aubrey invades his mind and just the thought of her cute face makes him smile, "but I get it."
"Aw, I wanted to see you punch him, Luke," Aiden pops a bunch of peanuts into his mouth and Eli sneakily gives him the finger, not wanting to get in trouble by Ella.
An idea pops into Eli's head and he nearly smirks.
Time for payback.
"I didn't kick the chair you were sitting on when you broke up with Aubrey," he tries to hide his smirk when Luke turns and glances at him with a glare and a clenched jaw.
"You did what?" Ella says eerily calmly while her hand curls around a large black spatula.
Aubrey just sits in her chair, having no idea what to say to make things better.
"It was more complicated than that grandm-" he begins to explain but is cut off when she hurriedly walks across the island and strikes him with the spatula.
Eli can barely contain his laughter as Ella repeatedly hits his butt with the spatula.
After a few more hits, Luke snatches the spatula and he throws it across the room. Ella looks at him with a glare.
"Grandma look," he gently lifts Aubrey out her chair and sets her beside him, "we're back together. It was a short period of time and it'll never ever happen again."
Ella looks at Aubrey like if she's saying 'is this true?'
"It was mostly my fault Ella. I was really scared that we would lose touch if I didn't get accepted and since I turned my application late, I didn't think I was going to go. It was my fault, but I promise we're perfectly fine now," she explains and Ella's looks convinced.
"But what about that fight you guys had a couple days ago. The one where Luke was being very rude to Aubrey?" Aiden chides, a little smirk on his face.
"Oh yeah, I remember that one. It wasn't pleasant to hear him yell so, very, extremely loudly at the poor Aubrey," Eli instigates.
Smoke nearly comes out of Ella's hears and she leans over the island and grabs another spatula. This time, it's a rubber one.
The smacking continues until Aubrey finally steps in.
"Ella, please stop," Aubrey speaks softly as she stands in front of Luke.
Ella lowers her spatula as she looks at Aubrey.
"It was just a small fight. And he didn't yell at me, he only raised his voice to get the point across," she explains and Ella's face cools down.
She gives Luke the 'is this true?' face and he nods.
"It's true. The fight was all my fault but it only lasted a little while before I apologized. Those idiots are just instigating," he glares at Eli and Aiden.
"Well, I'm sorry for hitting you then," she pulls Luke's head down and she kisses his forehead.
"My ass hurts," he grumbles.
_______________________
"Why'd you hate me when you first met me?" Aubrey asks the question she's thought about for a long time.
He pulls his head out of her neck and he looks at her face.
"I've never hated you, darlin'," he moves a curl off of her face.
"You're just so fuckin' pretty and sweet, when I first saw you, I knew I couldn't have you," Aubrey's eyebrows furrow.
"Why not?" She asks with a tilt to her head. He leans forward and places a kiss on her irresistible lips.
"I was so mean and I hated everything. I didn't think you would ever like someone like me and that made me frustrated towards you," he explains, "well, I'm still a little mean but I've always been that way."
"So why'd you start being nice to me after a while?" She sits up on her knees and smoothes out the wrinkles on his shirt that lays over his strong bicep.
"The more I saw the way you talked to other people and acted, I couldn't keep myself away from you. When I told you about my mom, you made me feel so much better and I knew that without a doubt I was gonna end up in love," his arm wraps around her waist and he pulls her onto his lap.
His mind goes back to the time when they barely knew each other. The very first time he saw her, she was in the hallway and talking to Eli. Being the way he was back then, he shamelessly let his eyes travel down her form and he found himself very attracted to her.
It wasn't some fairytale. He didn't automatically fall in love with her and he didn't even think they would end up dating. All he knew was that she was hot. And that he wanted to do things with her.
He had explained that to her before, which caused them to get into a fight but at least he was honest with her.
Once he got to know her, that was when he knew he would fall in love.
"When I first saw you," she pauses and thinks, "I thought your hair looked really soft."
"You thought my hair looked soft?" he chuckles and she giggles into his shoulder, "is that it?"
"I thought you were tall and a little scary. Especially when you looked at me with that resting mean face you have," she smiles at the memory and he sighs at the thought of her sitting there and thinking he was a jerk.
"I'm sorry," he kisses the side of her neck.
"Oh, I'm not done," she pulls away and raises a finger at him which undeniably turns him on a little.
"Later that day, we were at lunch and I just casually looked up at you and you raised an eyebrow at me," she imitates the look he had given her forever ago.
He doesn't remember doing that but of course, she does.
The door to their room bursts open and Aiden and Eli pile in, obviously listening in on their conversation.
"Well, my beloved boo-boo, I'll let you in on a few secrets," Eli winks at her as him and Aiden jump on their bed.
Aiden sits beside Luke, ready to listen to whatever Eli is about to say.
"That first day," Eli remembers that day like it was yesterday, "your boy-toy here came up to me before our first class and told me and I quote, 'That girl is fucking gorgeous. I'd do her in a heartbeat,' so that's one thing."
Luke pinches the bridge of his nose at hearing Eli recall his words perfectly. Aubrey turns shocked and she lightly hits his chest.
"And what'd you say back to him, Eli?" Aiden questions, knowing the answer considering he's heard the story once before.
Eli freezes and he laughs sheepishly at Aubrey.
"Yeah, let's hear what you said," Luke encourages, also knowing what he had said.
"Truly, I cannot seem to recall my words," he fakely racks his brain.
"You're lying, tell me," Aubrey pressures.
"I-I," he stops himself and throws his head onto the bed, groaning into it before raising it back up.
"I said something like-" he starts but is cut off by Aiden.
"Nope, quote it word for word, you know what you said," Aiden chuckles and Eli gives him the finger.
Eli rubs his hands down his face before finally getting the courage to repeat his words he had once uttered.
"I said, and I quote, 'She's hot,' see not that bad," he shrugs but Luke gives him a look, "I also mentioned that I'd do you too but hey! What's in the past is in the past and now you're like my little sister so everything is fine!"
"I gave you a bandaid and that's all you think about?"
"Of course!" he exclaims before realizing what he had just said and covering his mouth.
Luke leans up against the bed frame and he gives his best friend a special kind of glare. One that says 'fix this or I'll rearrange your face.'
"Maybe I'm not so innocent but what about Aubrey hm?" he turns his gaze back to her and her eyes widen.
"What'd you think when you first saw me?" Eli questions, a sly smirk on his face.
He knows he's far from ugly. He also knows that if Aubrey lies, Luke can tell if she is and his reaction to her answer will give it away.
Meanwhile, Aubrey sits in front of the three, trying to figure out a way to make her answer sound okay.
"I thought you were, you know," she shrugs one shoulder and Luke's eyes narrow, already seeing a slight twitch to her nose, "I thought you were baby-cute."
"Lying to my fucking face is what you're doin' right now," Luke chides and Eli laughs so hard it's silent.
"I-I'm," she sighs, knowing that there is no use, "Fine, Eli, I thought you were attractive."
Luke's lip turns to the slightest pout and Aiden nudges him, laughing at his solemn face.
"At least she knows I didn't hate her," Eli snickers and Luke nearly attacks him.
"I didn't fucking hate her bitch," he sneers.
"Oh, you're right. My bad. You actually told me how much you wanted to-" before Eli could finish, Luke tackles him off the bed.
As the two wrestle and fight on the ground, Aiden smiles at Aubrey.
"You know honey, sometimes I just feel like you and I are the only civil ones," he speaks kindly and she giggles.
"Fuck you!" Eli shouts and Luke kicks him in the side. Eli accidentally elbows Luke in the mouth and their fighting pauses. Luke brings his hand up to his mouth and he wipes his lip and looks at his hand.
Red paints his fingers and he looks at a wide-eyed Eli. Both Aiden and Aubrey look up at Luke with wide eyes and Eli shoots up off the ground, standing in front of an eerily calm Luke.
"I'm going to kill you."
Eli runs towards the door but Luke grabs the back of his shirt and throws him the ground. Eli gets up quicker than the blink of an eye and he gets about four feet from Luke before he trips over the bed frame.
He falls forward and his hands reach out in an attempt to grab anything to keep him from falling, with one hand hitting Aubrey across the face. She had thought her position on the bed was safe but apparently not.
Her hand flies to her mouth as the room goes completely silent. She feels her hand turn wet and a numb sensation on her lip. Aiden is frozen beside her and Eli can't believe what he'd just done.
Of course, it was only an accident but damn if it didn't make him feel horrible.
Luke rushes to her side and he bends down to cup her face. Thank goodness adrenaline is a thing because if it wasn't, she's sure she'd be in much more pain. After all, Eli's hands aren't small and when he's flailing them around like he was when falling, it'd hurt really bad if it hadn't gone numb.
"Let me see it, baby," he holds a hand over hers which now has blood seeping through the cracks in between her fingers.
She removes her hands and he sees her busted lip.
Eli stands from the floor and he looks at what he's done. He nearly faints at seeing the blood but he keeps strong as he repeatedly apologizes to her.
"It's okay, Eli," she answers him softly, not trying to move her lip too much. Luke helps her stand and walk to the bathroom.
She begins to tend to her busted lip in the bathroom and Luke would help but he truly has no idea what to do.
Luke stands at the bathroom door, a glare on his face and his arms crossed as he stares at Eli.
"I didn't mean to," Eli whines and Luke rolls his eyes before walking into the bathroom to see Aubrey washes her hands. He sees her lip has already stopped bleeding and now there just lies a cut.
She dries her hands and he pulls her head into his chest.
"Are you okay?" he questions and she pulls away with a small smile.
"I'm okay, and don't be mad at him, it was only an accident," she points a finger up at him before realizing they're both sporting a messed up lip.
"Look!" she giggles pointing to his lip, then back to hers, "we have the same thing."
Luke just chuckles and kisses the top of her head.
They walk out of the bathroom and Eli nearly falls to his knees.
"I'm so sorry Aubrey. Please forgive me! I promise I'm not a woman beater! You can punch me back- actually no, Luke can punch me if it will make you feel better!" he pleads and Aubrey can't help but giggle.
"I promise it's okay. And Luke is not going to punch you," she makes sure to give Luke a stern look when she mentions that he will not be punching Eli.
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At the very early time of four in the morning, Aubrey awakes. She sits up in Luke's arms and she looks around.
Luke lays behind her, Eli lays at her feet, and Aiden lays with his feet in Eli's face and his head propped up against the wooden bedframe at the end of the bed.
Aubrey takes a pillow and she gently lifts the back of Aiden's head. She places the pillow under his head and she lowers his head onto it. She gently takes the remote from his hand and she turns the tv off from when they were watching a movie.
She returns to her spot beside Luke and Eli lays his head on one of her legs.
In his sleep, Luke recollects her into his arms and after a few minutes, she goes back to sleep.
Four hours later, she awakens once again. She's sitting up right as Ella enters the bedroom. Ella chuckles at the four of them fitting onto the bed and she smiles at Aubrey.
Feeling Aubrey move so much, Luke wakes up which starts a chain reaction. Once everyone in the room is awake Ella comes closer.
"Breakfast is almost ready," she tells them before noticing Aubrey's lip, "what happened to your lip sweet pea?"
"Eli punched her in the face," Luke replies so seriously that actually makes it sound like Eli actually punched her.
"What?!"
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| Thank ya'll for reading! I've got some plans for the next sequel chapter so get ready! Also, get ready for a little bit of a time jump!
Word count: 6740
-Ashlyn Montgomery