Luke woke up the next morning with Ashley practically on top of him again, her arms wrapped around his bare torso.
He stayed still, not wanting to make any sudden movements to wake Ashley. Usually Luke would have gotten up and not cared if Ashley woke up after him or not, but today was different. Luke didn't mind laying in bed with her for some extra time today.
After a while Ashley finally began to stir awake, and Luke looked away to pretend that he hadn't been staring at Ashley while she slept. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at Luke, her cheeks tinting pink as she realized how close they'd been to each other.
"Hi." Luke whispered.
"Hi." Ashley laughed. She untangled herself from Luke and rolled onto the other side of the bed.
"Did you sleep alright?" Luke questioned. He pulled the blankets up a the way again, trying to shield himself from how cold it was in his room.
"Yeah." Ashley shrugged.
"That's good." Luke smiled, turning to look at Ashley. Her hair was messy and she had some makeup smudged under her eyes but she still looked good which made Luke feel a little bad because he probably looked like death at the moment.
"What about you? Do you feel better?" Ashley asked. She rolled onto her stomach and propped her head up with her hands, getting s better view of Luke.
"My head hurts a little, but it's nothing I'm not used to." Luke sighed. "This is what usually happens."
"Do you want me to get you anything?" Ashley asked, already moving to get out of bed and get Luke something to make his head feel better.
"No." Luke shook his head. He reached out and grabbed Ashley's hand, pulling her back to bed. "Stay."
"Okay." Ashley nodded, her voice dropping down to a whisper. She crawled closer and rested her chin on Luke's chest so she was looking right at him, their faces only inches apart.
"I had this really weird dream last night, actually." Luke chuckled. "There were these dancing fish and they were all eating Popsicles."
"Oh my God, are you sure you weren't drugged?" Ashley laughed loudly, covering her mouth.
"I was definitely not drugged." Luke giggled.
"Well, your dream was definitely not normal." Ashley sighed, rolling her eyes.
"You know," Luke started, clearing his throat. "I meant what I said last night."
"What are you talking about?" Ashley chuckled. "You said a lot of things, Luke."
"I think you're my best friend." Luke repeated. He really did mean it, Ashley was the best friend that Luke had. Calum and Michael and Ashton used to be Luke's best friends until recently, when they decided that his sex life was more important that anything else. Now they were just jerks, and they hardly even spoke unless it was something involving Luke's virginity.
"Alright." Ashley nodded, a small smile forming across her lips. "I think you're my best friend too."
"Really? But, you have so many other friends!" Luke said, surprised that Ashley felt the same way.
"Not really. I have, like, two friends that I actually like and then there are these two other girls that hang out with us sometimes." Ashley shrugged. "I only like Becca and Kristie."
"Becca's the one with pink hair, right?" Luke asked. He thought that Becca was in his math class, only he wasn't really sure because Luke sat up in the front of the room and Becca sat in the back.
"Yeah." Ashley nodded.
"Has she fucked Michael yet?" Luke asked, rolling his eyes. Michael was always changing up his hair color and it seemed like Becca was too, so they were a perfect match for each other.
"Yeah, like, 8 times." Ashley laughed. "I introduced them to each other because Becca's had a crush on Michael since the sixth grade and now they hook up all the time."
"Who's Kristie?" Luke asked, changing the subject a little. "Is she the one with blonde hair? She's dating that one guy, right?"
"Mark? Yeah, that's her." Ashley nodded. "They keep cheating on each other, though, so I don't understand why they're still together."
"They cheat on each other?" Luke gasped. He really just hated the idea of cheating in general, it made him feel sick.
"Yeah, Mark hooks up with Bridget - she's one of those girls that I hang out but I don't really like - and Kristie hooks up with this guy named Brad. He's a junior, I think." Ashley explained, shaking her head.
"Wow." Luke said, letting out a deep sigh. He didn't understand the whole concept of cheating; if two people were unhappy with their relationship then they should just break up, not cheat on each other. "That sucks."
"Uh huh." Ashley nodded. She rolled over again so she was laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling. "This is why you shouldn't have sex, Luke, because everything gets complicated after you do."
"Is that what happened to you?" Luke questioned. He wanted to know more about Ashley's past and her asshole ex-boyfriend but at the same time he didn't want to pry, so Luke was trying to be cautious when asking this.
"Well... Yeah." Ashley answered slowly, still refusing to look at Luke.
"Wh-What happened?" Luke asked softly.
"It doesn't matter." Ashley said, shaking her head.
"Sure it does." Luke shrugged. He wanted to know about Ashley's problems and he wanted to help her if she needed it, because that was what friends did for each other.
"No, Luke, it's not a big deal." Ashley insisted.
"Well you're upset now, so obviously it is." Luke sighed. Suddenly a wave of confidence rushed over Luke and he crawled on top of Ashley, straddling her like she'd done to him the night before. "Tell me."
"It's really nothing." Ashley giggled, covering her face with her hands to hide herself from Luke.
"I've told you my secrets." Luke whispered, hoping that that would get Ashley to open up a little more.
"You've told me that you used to get nightmares as a child." Ashley chuckled, uncovering her face. She brought a hand up to Luke's head, running her fingers through his hair.
"That's a big deal!" Luke argued. "I have other secrets too."
"Oh, really?" Ashley asked sarcastically, cocking her head to the side. "Tell me."
"When I was little - " Luke stopped himself, realizing that this wasn't what he originally intended to do. "You're supposed to be telling me your secrets."
"My secrets aren't important." Ashley sighed.
"I think they are." Luke shrugged.
"Once I tell you you're going to realize that they really aren't." Ashley laughed. "I'm sure that you have many secrets that are much more interesting than mine."
"I'm sure that I - " Luke didn't get to finish his sentence because he heard the bedroom door open and immediately climbed off of Ashley, throwing himself to the other side of the bed.
Luke wanted to think that it was just his mom, but he knew deep down that Liz always knocked, no matter what, so it definitely wasn't her. And there was only one other person that would come into Luke's room uninvited.
"Oh, what do we have here?" Ashton laughed, entering the room with Charlie following shortly behind him.
"I'm sleeping, get out of my room." Luke groaned, covering his face with the covers. He reached up and grabbed Ashley, pulling her down as well.
"You guys are obviously not sleeping." Ashton scoffed. "Seriously, Luke, don't think I didn't see what was going on a few seconds ago."
"Nothing was going on! We were having a conversation!" Luke yelled.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Ashton laughed again. Luke stayed under the covers, knowing that Charlie was in the room somewhere. He didn't want to see her at all for once, he just wished that both Charlie and Ashton would go away.
"Why are you here?" Luke called, wondering why it was necessarily for Ashton to barge in here so early in the morning.
"It's a funny story, actually." Ashton chuckled. "Are you going to come out of the covers?"
"Fine." Luke groaned, throwing the covers off of him and Ashley and sitting up. Ashley sat up as well, staying silent as Ashton and Charlie stared back at them.
"It's a funny story." Ashton repeated.
"Then tell me!" Luke yelled. He was getting frustrated now, he didn't understand why Ashton always had to do things like this.
"Okay, so Charlie and I were going to go out for breakfast today with Calum and Amy and I made reservations at this really nice restaurant for the four of us." Ashton explained. Luke quickly looked over at Ashley, who had a very confused expression on her face.
"What does this have to do with me?" Luke questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm getting there." Ashton rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm around Charlie's shoulders. She still hadn't said anything to Luke or Ashley and she didn't look like she was happy to be there at all. "I just called Calum and he said that him and Amy are too hungover to come out with us."
"So?" Luke scoffed, still not understanding.
"I was gonna call Michael and ask him to come but he'd just be an awkward third wheel, so I figured that you'd want to come and bring your...friend." Ashton chuckled. He kissed the top of Charlie's head and she barely glanced up at him for a second before looking down at the floor.
"My friend has a name." Luke snapped. "It's Ashley."
"Okay, fine." Ashton said blankly. "Will you come to breakfast with us?"
"I don't know." Luke mumbled, looking down at his lap. He really didn't want to sit through a whole meal with Ashton, but at the same time he did want to go so he could make sure that everything was alright with Charlie. She was acting strange, and Luke didn't like it.
"I don't care." Ashley said softly, so only Luke could hear, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "We can go."
"Really? We don't have to if you don't want to." Luke whispered.
"But you want to." Ashley whispered back, leaning in closer to Luke.
"Yeah, I do, but if you don't want to go then we can stay here." Luke insisted. He didn't want Ashley to get mad at him for dragging her out to eat with Ashton and Charlie.
"Well you want to go, so we can. I don't care, I have nothing better to do." Ashley shrugged. She didn't seem bothered by it at all. Ashley would probably have an alright time if they went out, she got along well with Charlie, they could talk about girl stuff together.
"Okay, that's fine." Luke nodded. "I just want to make sure that you are okay with this."
"Wow, you guys are, like, totally adorable." Ashton said sarcastically, earning himself a hard slap on the chest from Charlie. "Can we go now?"
Luke looked at Ashley one more time and revived a nod from her, letting him know that this was okay.
"Yes, Ashton, we'll go with you. Just give us a few minutes to get ready, Jesus Christ." Luke groaned, rolling out of bed as he rubbed his eyes.
"Hey, don't be so rude." Ashton said playfully, leading Charlie out of Luke's room and slamming the door behind them. "Be ready in 10 or we'll leave without you!"
Once Ashton and Charlie were gone Luke let out a huge sigh, picking up a pillow from his bed and throwing it at the wall on the other side of his room. He whined and muttered a few profanities under his breath before finally calming himself down again, deciding that all he could really do now was get ready.
"Are you sure you're alright with this?" Luke asked, looking over to Ashley, who was sitting up in the bed, waiting for Luke to be done with his little meltdown.
"Yeah, it's totally fine." Ashley nodded. "I mean, I still don't like the fact that you're hanging out with him, but if this is what you want to do..."
"Oh, so you are upset." Luke groaned. He grabbed a pair of pants from the floor, the same jeans he'd worn the night before, and wiggled into them.
"I'm not upset, Luke, calm down." Ashley sighed. She crawled off of the bed and walked over to Luke, who was desperately searching around for a fresh shirt to wear. She opened his dresser drawn and pulled out a clean shirt, tossing it over to him.
"I don't want you to be bored or upset or anything." Luke mumbled, tugging the shirt on over his head. He ruffled up his hair, hoping that it would look decent enough for him to leave his house.
"I won't be." Ashley said, shaking her head. "I can tell that you really want to go with them because of Charlie, so I'll push all of my bad feelings about Ashton aside for now."
"Ugh, you're way too nice to me." Luke groaned.
"I know." Ashley sighed.
"Do you want to wear one of my shirts? I mean, you wore that same shirt all night... Do you want to change into something else?" Luke asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Uh... I guess." Ashley said slowly.
"Okay." Luke nodded. He quickly walked over to the dresser again and grabbed a shirt (it was actually one of his favorites, but that was okay) for Ashley, handing it to her.
Ashley didn't even give Luke a warning and she stripped down right in front of him, the sweatpants included. He'd seen her shirtless before, yeah, but that was when the lights were off. And he was really drunk.
Luke almost had a heart attack as Ashley walked past him and picked her jeans up from the floor, effortless sliding them onto her legs.
"Holy shit." Luke gasped, clapping his hands over his eyes. If he stared at her any longer he would probably get a boned, and that would just be really awkward.
"What?" Ashley snapped.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're, like, super hot?" Luke asked, his hands still covering his eyes.
"Once or twice." Ashley said, sounding very nonchalant about the whole thing.
"You have a nice butt." Luke said, refusing to look at her. "It's cute, I like it. I'd touch it but then I'd probably hyperventilate."
"Oh, shut up." Ashley scoffed, shoving Luke off to the side. He still had his eyes closed and covered, so he had no idea if she was clothed or not. "You can look at me now, it's okay!"
"Oh, good." Luke giggled, uncovering his eyes. "Are you ready?"
"I need to wash my face and stuff and then we can go, okay?" Ashley said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walked away from Luke and in to the bathroom.
"Got it." Luke nodded. He followed Ashley out of his room and into the bathroom, quickly jumping in there in front of her so he could brush his teeth. Then Luke went into the living room to wait for her, joining Ashton and Charlie on the couch.
They were silent for the first few seconds, and Luke had no idea what he was supposed to say to try and entertain them. Charlie was sitting extremely close to Ashton, their hands intertwined and resting on her lap. She still looked kind of upset, but of course Luke had no way to find out why.
"So..." Ashton started, trying to make conversation between the three of them.
"Are you and Ashley dating yet?" Charlie asked Luke, speaking up for the first time all morning.
"Ha, no." Luke answered quickly, his whole face heating up at the mention of Ashley. "We're really just friends, I swear."
"What were you guys doing when we walked in, then?" Ashton questioned. Luke wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear, the last thing he wanted was to be accused of liking someone else in front of the girl that he actually liked.
"Oh, we were just talking." Luke shrugged.
"You were on top of her - "
"That's how we talk." Luke said, cutting Ashton off. "We're very close."
"Yeah, I can tell." Charlie laughed, staring down at her and Ashton's hands in her lap.
"So are you guys fuck buddies or something?" Ashton asked, ignoring the glare he got from Charlie as he turned to Luke.
"Ashton!" Charlie scolded him, slapping Ashton on the chest again. He just giggled and pulled her forward for a second, quickly pressing his lips to herself.
"Oh, uh, no." Luke stammered. "No, we're not."
"Maybe she'll be willing to fuck you, Luke, have you asked her yet?" Ashton asked smugly. He turned to Charlie, a big smirk on his face. "Luke's still a virgin."
"Ashton!" Charlie yelled again and slapped him one more time, noticing the expression on Luke's face.
"I'm - I'm not going to - "
Ashley walked into the room before Luke could finish putting together a coherent thought and everyone else went quiet, not wanting to talk about what they'd been discussing a few seconds earlier.
"I'm ready..?" Ashley said slowly, seeing that there was some tension in the room.
Luke immediately got up and walked over to her, grabbing her hand and dragging her outside. Ashton and Charlie walked out after them, leading the way to their car.
"Are you alright?" Ashley asked quietly, giving Luke's hand a small squeeze.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just fine." Luke said bitterly, getting in the backseat of the car and pulling in Ashley after him.
The ride to the restaurant was quiet as well, only the sound of the radio playing too loudly filled the car. Ashton and Charlie didn't make out at every red light like they usually did and that honestly worried Luke, because they definitely weren't acting like themselves.
Things started to get better when they got to the restaurant and were seated at their table. Ashley and Charlie began to make some small talk while Luke stared intently down at his menu, trying not to make eye contact with Ashton. Finally Ashton said something to a Charlie and they engaged in conversation while Luke and Ashley sat quietly and watched.
"I'm bored." Luke whispered after a few seconds of watching Ashton and Charlie laugh with each other about how toast was really just warm bread. Luke was honestly amazed at how stupid Ashton was.
"Same." Ashley nodded.
"Can I finger you while we wait for our food?" Luke leaned in closer to her, whispering in Ashley's ear so only she could hear him. He slowly ran his hand up her thigh, waiting for Ashley to get annoyed and slap it off.
"No." She said softly, shaking her head.
"Are you sure?" Luke teased.
"Yes, I'm sure." Ashley giggled. She slapped his hand away from her, grabbing the attention of both Ashton and Charlie. "Stop it, Luke."
Everyone laughed and they soon found something new to talk about, the four of them making casual conversation as they waited for their food to come. When Luke's chocolate pancakes came he let out a little squeal and everyone laughed at him again, but he didn't care. Chocolate pancakes were awesome.
"So, like, where did you guys even meet?" Ashton asked, referring to Luke and Ashley.
"Well..." Ashley said hesitantly, like she wasn't sure where to begin.
"Ashley's gone to school with me since elementary school." Luke said brightly, giving Ashton a big smile. "She's in my English class this year so we started talking more."
"Yeah." Ashley nodded.
"You guys have gotten really close in the last few weeks." Ashton said slowly, like he still didn't understand. He probably didn't, he was pretty stupid.
"That's just how these things work, I guess." Luke shrugged. He hoped that no one would bring up the fact that Luke and Ashley almost hooked up at a party, because that would just make things 100 times worse.
"It only took us a few weeks to really get to know each other." Charlie said quietly, looking up at Ashton. She had that look on her face again, the one that showed how much she really loved Ashton. It made Luke sick.
"Yeah, that's different." Ashton smirked, leaning down and quickly kissing Charlie on the cheek.
Everyone fell into a comfortable silence again, all of them eating their food and pretending to be more interested in what was on their plates than each other. Ashley finally broke the silence, bumping her shoulder against Luke's to gain his attention.
"Are those good?" Ashley asked with her mouth full, pointing down to Luke's plate.
"Yeah, do you want a bite?" Luke asked, his mouth also full of food. He held out his fork for Ashley and let her take a bite of his pancakes.
"Yeah, those are good." She nodded. "Do you want to try my food?"
"Ew, no." Luke said, scrunching his nose up as he spoke. Ashley was eating some weird omelette thing and Luke hated eggs.
"Right, you're dorky and you don't like eggs." Ashley teased him, poking Luke in the stomach.
"It's not dorky." He pouted. "I just don't like the taste of them, is that so bad?"
"Eggs are great." Ashley rolled her eyes at Luke, taking another bit of her food.
"I love eggs." Ashton, whose food also had eggs in it, spoke up. He gently nudged Charlie in the side, getting her attention. "You like eggs too, don't you?"
"No." Charlie said, shaking her head. She glared at Ashton, like she was upset that he didn't know this little fact about her. "I don't eat eggs."
"Oh." Ashton said softly, obviously not aware of this very important detail about his girlfriend.
Charlie smiled and leaned over, quickly pecking Ashton on the lips, and he instantly seemed happier.
"I love you." Ashton mumbled, returning to the food in front of him.
"I love you too." Charlie smiled widely back at him. Luke tried to ignore the hurt feeling he hand in his chest as he watched them, but it was hard.
"Luke, eggs are good." Ashley said, still hung up on how Luke didn't like eggs. Or maybe she was just trying to distract Luke from what was going on in front of him. "They're a good source of protein."
"Too bad I had the way they taste." Luke said sarcastically, cracking a small smile.
"Ugh, you don't like the way anything tastes." Ashley groaned.
"Oh, I know, right?" Ashton laughed, agreeing with Ashley. "Luke is the pickiest eater I know."
"He only likes cookies." Charlie added, biting down on her bottom lip.
"I like - "
"He basically likes anything his mom cooks for him." Ashton chuckled. "If Liz doesn't make it, Luke won't eat it."
"That's not - "
"That's totally true." Ashley agreed, and Charlie nodded again.
"Uh huh." Charlie nodded, giggling softly. "His mom was telling me that when Luke was younger and they went out to eat he'd only order macaroni and cheese or PB&J."
Luke gave up trying to save himself and pouted, pushing his plate away from him and folding his arms over his chest. No matter what he did, his friends found something to tease him for.
"Aw, sweetie, don't pout." Ashley laughed, tapping the top of Luke's nose with her finger and making Luke blush. "Your pickiness is cute."
The rest of their meal went pretty well, no one made fun of Luke anymore and no one tried to force him to eat eggs. When they were done Ashton paid for everyone and went out to go get the car, forcing the other three to stay inside and wait for him. Ashley quickly excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Luke and Charlie alone.
"Thanks for coming." Charlie was the first one to speak, breaking the awkward silence between them.
"Oh, it's no problem." Luke smiled at her, shuffling his feet back and forth.
"I think I like going out in groups with Ashton better than going out alone with him." She said softly, barely loud enough for Luke to hear.
"Why is that?" He questioned.
"I don't know... I guess it seems like every time we're alone together we end up arguing. If you or one of Ashton's other friends come with then we don't." Charlie explained, her shoulders moving up in a small shrug.
"What type of things do you argue about?" Luke asked. He hoped that Charlie didn't think that he was being too nosy, he was just interested. He was very curious about Ashton and Charlie's relationship, Luke used to think that it was perfect but now he was realizing that it really wasn't.
"Everything, really." Charlie sighed. "It's like... I say one wrong thing and he just gets so upset with me, but when he tries to apologize I end up getting mad at him."
"That's not good." Luke said, not sure what else he was supposed to do.
"Yeah." Charlie shrugged. "We're working on things, though. It's getting better."
"Good." Luke nodded. He hated himself for what he said next, but he did it anyway. "Ashton really loves you."
"I know he does. I love him too, of course, things just get difficult sometimes." Charlie sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Ashley says that after you have sex things get complicated." Luke mumbled, staring down at his feet.
"I think she's right." Charlie laughed her laugh that Luke absolutely loved, tugging at the sleeves of her jacket. "Speaking of Ashley..."
"Oh boy." Luke chuckled nervously, already knowing what was coming next.
"Are you sure that there's nothing going on between you two?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Luke blushed. He paused for a second, needing to think things over. "We're just friends."
"Alright." Charlie nodded, fighting back a smile. "You just seem awfully flirty for two people who are 'just friends'."
"That's just how we act around each other." Luke shrugged. "I don't like her, I swear. I actually like someone else."
"Oh, really?" Charlie asked, biting down on her bottom lip.
"Yes, really. I like her a lot. She's really pretty and nice and funny." Luke shook his head, correcting himself. "I mean, Ashley's really pretty and nice and funny too, but she's not the girl that I like."
"I see." Charlie said, nodding again. "Does this girl know how you feel about her?"
"Uh, I think she does." Luke giggled nervously.
"Does she like you back?" Charlie questioned. Luke felt his stomach do flips, wishing that he could just tell Charlie exactly what he meant. He assumed that she already knew that he was talking about her, but it coming out and saying it was completely different.
"No, I don't think she does." Luke sighed softly.
"Well, that's stupid." Charlie pouted, folding her arms over her chest. "Any girl would be lucky to have a guy like you crushing on her."
"Yeah." Luke blushed, chewing at his bottom lip.
Ashton pulled up and Ashley came back outside at the same time and Luke wasn't able to say anything else to Charlie before they all filed into the car. Luke sat quietly in the backseat while Ashton sang loudly along to the radio and Charlie used the mirror to try and fix her hair. Ashley was sitting silently beside him, staring out the window.
Luke slowly slid his hand across the seat between them until it reached Ashley's, his fingers brushing against hers. He laced their fingers together, his thumb rubbing over the top of her hand, immediately noticing how cold it was.
"You're hands are freezing." Luke whispered, just loud enough so only Ashley could hear him.
"I know." Ashley smiled, not seeming phased at all by the fact that Luke was holding her hand like this.
They'd held hands before, it wasn't unusual, but never like this. Most of the time Luke would grab Ashley's hand to lead her somewhere or Ashley would hold his hand to pull Luke along when he was walking too slow. They never just sat there and simply held hands.
"It's okay." Luke whispered back, giving Ashley a small smile.
Ashley stared down at their intertwined hands for a moment and then went back to looking out the window, not saying anything else to Luke. He continues to look at their hands, though, because he was still trying to process this.
He liked it. He liked holding hands with Ashley and spending time with her and how they cuddling in bed together and watched movies. He liked her, but he didn't know what kind of like.
He enjoyed doing all of this with Ashley, but at the end if the day of you asked Luke who he really liked he'd still answer Charlie, and that's what worried him.
-
OK WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT TO HAPPEN NEXT BECAUSE I HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF IDEAS BUT THEYRE ALL FOR LATER IN THE STORY SO I NEED SOMETHING TO HAPPEN IN BETWEEN THEN OK PLEASE TELL ME YOUR IDEAS!!!!!
also this was short I am sorry