"For the last time, Calum, just because you have sex with lots of girls doesn't mean that you're an expert in chemistry." Michael doesn't even look up from his game, scowling. "It just means that you probably have an STD."
Ashton snickers and Calum gives him a dark look.
Luke watches his friends with an unreadable expression, his arm thrown casually around my shoulders.
"A party will be fun," Cal says enthusiastically, leaning on Michael. "Maybe Cora will be there."
Michael's expression twists and he pauses the game, whipping around to face Calum. "Cora doesn't want anything to do with me," he says in a low voice. Hurt shines in his green eyes. "You know that."
Calum frowns. "Maybe if you tried to explain it to her-"
"I already did!" Michael explodes. "And she hates me. Leave it alone."
He stalks down the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him.
Ashton's brows draw together as he looks back over at Calum. "You know he doesn't like talking about Cora," he says quietly.
Calum throws his hands into the air. "I only wanted to help him! He's been moody for weeks! Maybe it's time he moved on-"
"Maybe he doesn't want to move on," Ashton snaps. "He loved her, Calum. You have to give him time."
With that, he gets to his feet and goes after his friend, not bothering to say anything else.
Calum sighs, his shoulders slumping in defeat. His dark eyes trail over to our side of the couch. "I just want him to be happy again," he says miserably.
Luke offers him a small smile, reaching over to pat his leg. "I know, Cal. He knows that too. But you can't keep pushing him to get better."
A heavy silence falls before Calum clears his throat.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, tears shining in his eyes as he looks at his best friend. "For saying that you should go back to rehab... I know what that place did to you."
Luke flinches but forces a smile onto his face. "I know why you did it, Cal," he says. "And I'm not mad. You just wanted to help."
Calum stares down at his hands, twisting them together nervously in his lap.
"Michael's not mad at you," I say gently, drawing his attention. "He's mad at himself for what happened with Cora."
"I still think a party would help," Calum mutters.
Luke opens his mouth to say something else, but a loud bang down the hallway cuts him off.
"Alright, shitheads, here's the plan," Michael says, walking back into the living room of Cal's basement. "We're going to go to this party and look like the sexiest motherfuckers in there. We're going to make out with lots of girls and Luke's gonna make sure he and Emmy don't fuck in front of us. And no one mentions Cora again. I'm done with her."
I look to where Ashton appears behind him. He shrugs.
"Oh, and Em, you should invite those friends of yours. Especially Natalie, she's cute," Michael throws in.
I hide a smile as I take out my phone. If only Natalie knew that Michael Clifford called her cute... She'd be having a heart attack.
"I'll make sure they're there," I say. "Actually, I should probably change before the party anyway." I frown down at my leggings and one of Luke's shirts. "I'll text Lindsay to pick me up."
"No need," Luke says, getting to his feet. "I'll drive you."
"If you can drive without pulling out a condom," Ashton mutters, earning a scowl from Luke. "You know we love you both, but we don't need little versions of you running around just yet."
I roll my eyes as I follow Luke to the stairs. "Bye, Ashton," I call over my shoulder to cut off his next smart response.
Luke chuckles as he holds open the door for me. "He's a piece of work, but I don't mind him being right."
He wiggles his eyebrows at me as I slide in the passenger seat.
I laugh as I playfully shove his shoulder. "You can't go five seconds without hitting on a girl, can you?" I say, remembering saying a similar thing to him the night we met at that party nearly three weeks ago.
His smile mirrors mine. "That's what I do, babe," he replies, leaning in press a slow kiss to my lips.
I want to slide forward and close the distance between us, but I force myself to pull away. We don't have time to make out in his car no matter how badly I wish we could.
"Lindsay lives just down the street from me," I tell him as he backs out of Calum's driveway. "You can just drop me off at her house."
Luke nods, pulling onto the main road.
I lean over and fiddle with the radio, smiling to myself when a familiar song comes in through the speakers, humming the lyrics under my breath. It's comfortable riding with Luke. He's perfectly content with just sitting in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence.
I frown when he turns down the volume, cutting the music. What's more surprising is the nervous look on his face.
"I was thinking," he coughs awkwardly. "We've been going out for awhile now..."
I raise my eyebrow as he anxiously adjusts his grip on the steering wheel.
"And I was wondering if you wanted to make things a little more official... ?"
A slow grin creeps up my face. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"
Luke blushes furiously. "Am I doing a bad job? I don't really know how to do this, I've never done this before."
He puts the car in park and I realize for the first time that we're here.
I smile as I reach over to kiss him, tugging him close to me. "It's cute when you get nervous," I say. "Sometimes it's hard to believe that you can get nervous."
"Only when I'm with you," he murmurs, cradling my face with his hands. "Is that why you're not giving me an answer? Because you like it when I'm nervous?"
I smile as I lock my arms around his neck. "I'd love to be your girlfriend, Luke."
"Good," he whispers as he smashes his mouth against mine. "Because I didn't know what I was going to do if you said no."
I laugh, drawing him in for another kiss. The taste of him is so addicting, but giving in is so much fun.
"Hey! Emmy!" Lindsay calls from her porch. "Leave Hemmings and come get ready with us! You'll have plenty of time to fuck him at the party. There's no need to do it in my driveway."
I roll my eyes at my friend, leaning in for one last kiss before pulling away. "I better go before Lindsay drags me out of the car."
Luke chuckles, his eyes following me as I get out of his car and walk over to my friend.
He blows me a kiss as he throws the car into reverse, smirking at my reaction.
"Sorry to ruin your chances of having sex with him in his car, but you'll have lots of chances in the future," Lindsay says as she leads me inside, playfully flipping Luke off as he drives away. He honks the horn at her as he goes by.
"What are you anyways?" Lindsay continues as we walk up the stairs to her room. "Friends with benefits? Hook ups?"
"Um, he's my boyfriend," I say awkwardly, testing the new title out.
Lindsay almost trips over a bump in the carpet. "I thought he didn't date???"
I shrug. "We've been on a couple dates and I spend most of my time with him anyways. He just asked me to be his girlfriend."
"I don't think he's ever actually dated anyone before," Lindsay says as she pushes open the door to her room. "I didn't think he had it in him, but I'm happy for you. Just know that if he hurts you, I will break every bone in his body."
I laugh as I sit down on her bed. "Thanks, Linds."
"What are best friends for?" She gives me a smile as she starts hunting through her rack of clothes. "This would look bomb on Natalie," she says, tossing a dress onto the bed.
"Kayla's not coming, she's out of town with her family. But I convinced Nat to join us, which was a miracle." Lindsay throws something at me, that I barely catch. "Try that."
I sigh as I hold up the tank top. "Fine."
I toss Luke's shirt on the bed as I pull on the tight shirt, frowning as I look at myself in the mirror.
Lindsay looks over at me and shakes her head. "Nope." She yanks something else down from her closet and tosses it to me.
I end up in a tight red leather skirt and a black tank top that went lower than I was expecting. Lindsay scolds me when I mess with it.
"You look fucking amazing, Em, don't worry," she assures me, hooking a necklace around my neck. "Luke's not going to be able to take his eyes off you."
I blush as look back at my reflection. "I don't know..."
"I wouldn't let you look like an idiot, would I?" Lindsay says as she adjusts my hair over my shoulder.
"Ehh," I say and she scowls at me as she looks for an outfit for herself.
"Oh shut up."
I smile to myself, fiddling with the necklace. It was hard not to second the guess the outfit. It was bold and daring - everything I wasn't.
I look over at the door when Natalie enters. "Alright, I'm ready to get this over with," she says.
Lindsay squeals and drags her over to where she's set out an outfit already. "Nat, you're not going to regret this at all."
"I don't know," she says, picking up the dress. "It's rather small, don't you think?"
Lindsay rolls her eyes. "That's the point."
Natalie gives me a look that says, Help.
I chuckle as I shake my head. We all know Lindsay won't stop when she gets like this.
"I see you talking about me. You're not as slick as you think," Lindsay teases with a smirk as she pulls on the black mesh shirt. It looks great on her, but everything does.
"Cuz you're so much slicker," Natalie says. "Everyone knows about that time you had sex with Ashton Irwin last year in Kelsey Bailey's hot tub."
Lindsay shrugs it off, but I can see the blush coloring her cheeks. "It doesn't matter, he was only looking for a distraction from that terrible girlfriend of his. Maddie was a total nightmare."
"Oh! Natalie, I forgot to tell you," I say, sliding closer to her. "Michael says that he thinks you're cute. You should talk to him tonight."
Natalie turns a deep shade of scarlet. "Michael said I'm cute? Michael Clifford?"
I nod. "The one and only."
She blushes even harder, nervously ducking her head. "Why would Michael Clifford ever be interested in me?"
"Because you're fucking awesome, that's why," Lindsay says as she runs dark red lipstick over her lips. "Don't doubt yourself, Nat. You should have guys like Michael begging down on their knees for you."
But Natalie doesn't look like she believes her.
I set a hand on her shoulder. "She's right, you know? If someone like me can get someone like Luke, you can have whoever you want. You'll have guys lined up at your door."
"I don't need a line of guys. I just need one," Natalie says in a soft voice as she lets me fix her hair. "All I want is someone who looks at me the way Luke looks at you when you're not paying attention."
I hide the blush I feel creeping up my neck. "What do you mean?"
Lindsay overhears our conversation and comes to look over my shoulder into the mirror. "He looks at you like you're the only girl he's ever seen. Like, really seen."
I arch an eyebrow. "Have you been hitting the good stuff, Linds?"
She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "Hey, I can be a romantic when I want to."
Natalie and I exchange a glance, trying to hide our smiles.
"Oh be quiet," Lindsay scoffs. She moves to pick up her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. "Let's just go before I break into my liquor stash and become too drunk to drive."
She stalks out of the room and I whisper to Natalie as we head down the hallways, "Someone's a little touchy."
"I heard that!" Lindsay shouts.
A/N:
Hey guys! :-)
How have you been? Thanks so freaking much for keeping up with this story, I know it kinda sucks
My updates will probably be a little slower for the next week or two, but don't give up on me just yet
It's also crazy how we're barely a week into 2020 and world war 3 is trending. What is the internet anymore?
Thanks for being awesome, I love you guys!!! <33
Please vote and comment for me, it means a lot!! :)
- A