The rest of the day goes by pretty fast. I don't see Luke at lunch, so I am able to tell Linley about the incident in the hallway. She responds by telling me the same thing that she always tells me, that he is crazy and that he loves me. I refuse to believe the last part.
I want to hate Luke, and part of me already does. I want to be able to not think about him all of the time but that seems impossible. Something about him sticks in my mind. I want to know his motives, why he acts like he despises me but claims to care about me. Why would he care about me? What makes me different from the other girls?
Maybe I wasn't different, maybe he didn't really care about me. Maybe he just wanted to get in my pants and telling me he cared about me was a new tactic he was trying out. All I knew was that I had been hurt too many times and I wouldn't let myself get hurt by Luke Hemmings.
"Would you date him?" Linley blurts out and I am brought back to reality.
"What?" I snap.
"Oh come on, just answer the question Al," Michael says. I didn't even realize the others were listening until I look around the table and all eyes are on me. "We're all dying to know," he speaks again.
"I mean I don't know but I don't think we have to worry about that," I say back.
"Do you at least think he's hot?" Lin laughs.
"Why are you guys asking me this?" I shout.
"It's a yes or no question Allis," Ashton says with a giggle.
"I mean even I think Luke is hot," Calum says with a smirk, causing me and the others to laugh.
I let out a long sigh. "Yes, I think Luke is a nice looking guy."
"Good. I just hope the sexual tension ends soon," Michael says and everybody laughs except me.
"There is no sexual tension!" I yell as I cross my arms.
"Please, you could feel the tension all the way back in America," Linley says.
"Whatever, I'm done with this conversation," I smirk and luckily the bell rings.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After school, I attempt to do some homework while trying not to fall asleep. I tell myself that I can take a nap after I finish, but end up passing out anyways.
I wake up around midnight and realize that I have missed dinner and didn't even see my mom when she came home from work. She probably knew how tired I was and decided to let me sleep, which I appreciated. I look at the scattered papers all over my bed and realize that I didn't finish my homework. With a sigh I gather the papers and folders and try to work on it again since I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon. Suddenly I hear what sounds like tapping on the doors to my balcony. Hoping it was just the wind or something, I ignore it and continue my work.
I freeze when I hear it again. I slowly get up and walk over to the doors. I put my ear up to the glass to see if maybe I can hear anything but am out of luck when all I hear is rain. I slowly pull the curtain back a tiny bit and peek my head through the crack. My stomach does a complete flip when I see the tall, familiar figure. When he sees me he taps on the window again and I can hear him yelling something.
I open the door and a soaking wet Luke runs inside.
"You're a little wet," I say to him as he is now dripping all over my floor.
"Yeah maybe I wouldn't be so drenched if you would've let me in sooner," he snaps back and I notice he is shivering.
"Sorry that I wasn't expecting you and thought I was about to get murdered," I say a little more calmly as I get him a blanket from my closet.
"I don't need it," he says when I try to hand it to him.
"You're freezing and you're going to get sick. Now take it," I snap and realize I'm probably being a little loud.
"No," he calmly says.
"God dammit Luke," I whisper. I unfold the blanket and stand in front of him as I wrap it around him. To my surprise he doesn't move. As I hold it around his still shivering body, I realize how close we are. I step away, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. "Why are you here?" I ask as I sit on my bed and look up at him.
"I don't know," he says back. He finally takes hold of the blanket and wraps it tighter around him.
"I'm not doing this again," I shake my head and start to get up before he walks over to me, making me sit back down. He is now hovering over me.
"Stop, I do know why I'm here," he says and I give him a look to let him know that I'm waiting. "I just..I wanted to..."
"Spit it out Luke," I say impatiently.
"I'm sorry, okay?" He turns around and won't let me see his face. I am actually surprised at his words, I didn't think he was capable of apologizing.
"For what?" I ask even though I already know the answer.
"You already know for what," he shoots back, still not facing me. I know not to argue with him, apologizing period was good enough for me at the moment.
I sigh and get off of my bed. I walk over and am now standing in front of him. "Thank you," I say and he looks up at me. His eyes are tired and I can sense his stress. The lights are dim, but they give off enough light for me to see his beautiful features. He is wearing a beanie that is covering his flat hair. "You can sit down," I motion towards my bed and he sits without hesitation. "How did you even get up here?" I let out a small laugh, not sure if I am to the point where I can laugh in front of Luke yet.
"I climbed," he simply said and a small smile appeared on his lips. I get a weird feeling in my stomach, it almost feels like butterflies. This is the first time Luke has ever smiled at me. Seeing him smile makes him even more beautiful and I feel as if my breath has been taken away from me.
I walk over to my bed and am now standing over him, but not too close since I didn't know what he was feeling. "Can I ask you something without you yelling at me?"
"Depends on what it is." He looks up at me and his beautiful blue eyes sparkle in the light. It was so hard to hate this boy.
I roll my eyes and ask him anyways. "How did you find Tate and I in the hallway?"
"I was in the hall and heard people talking so I turned the corner and there you were." I could tell he was lying, but I wasn't going to say anything and risk starting something.
Instead I sigh and decide to ask him something else. "Why did you punch Tate?"
"Because he's an asshole," he pauses. "And he hurt you."
"But why does that matter to you?" I feel like I might be pushing him too far but I just need to know.
He bites his lip and takes his lip ring in between his teeth. "Because it's you." He reaches his hand out and takes mine in his, pulling me towards him. "I feel like I need to protect you Allis." My heart is skipping beats and I feel as if I'm going to fall over.
"Why?" I manage to get out. I feel tears coming and I don't know why. I hold them back as much as I can.
"Because I don't want anything to happen to you." He is still holding my hand and he is looking straight up at me.
All I can do is stand there and take this all in. I am frozen with shock and my stomach is doing flips as we speak. We sit there in silence for what seems like hours but is actually only a few minutes.
"Can I hold you?" He eventually says quietly. I felt like I was dreaming.
"Yes," is all I say. He scoots back on my bed, still wrapped in my blanket. I lay down on the pillows and move towards him. He holds out the blanket and pulls me towards him, wrapping me up tight. He is now dry and I am overwhelmed with warmth from him. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"
"Of course," he says and his voice is suddenly raspy.
He smells like rain and a mixture of berries. It is only minutes until I slowly drift off to sleep in his arms. I look at him once more before finally closing my eyes. He doesn't notice me looking at him and he is staring at something off in the distance. His eyes are still glistening in the light and his skin is glowing.
I was already in too deep.