“I wondered what happened when you offered yourself to someone, and they opened you, only to discover you were not the gift they expected and they had to smile and nod and say thank you all the same.” ― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper
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For the next thirty minutes, Annie's mind was full of question marks. Why? Well, she doesn’t know what Luke was up to. They’ve been circling London for a while now, and if you’d ask her, it seems that Luke was doing it on purpose, maybe to stall some time.
She was busy with her thoughts when suddenly, she jolted as she felt her hand getting grabbed. She looked at the source and saw Luke. The latter didn’t even look at her but he was smiling as he was looking ahead. Annie knew he was only trying to look cool and macho since the light shade of red on his ears betrayed him. She inwardly snickered at the thought and absentmindedly tightened her grip on Luke's hand. The two of them continued to walk through the busy streets of London for God knows where.
Another thirty minutes has passed and Annie was growing tired. She inwardly cursed herself for wearing heels as she was pretty sure there were already blisters on her feet. Her legs were growing numb, causing her to walk like she was limping or something. Luke seemed to notice and chuckled. He led her to the nearest bench he found and help her sit down. What he did next made Annie's eyes grow wide.
He kneeled on the cement in front of her and looked at her in the eyes. He lightly chuckled and eyed her feet. He softly grabber her left foot and removed her killer heels. He did it really carefully as if the thing he was holding was priceless. He slightly frowned when he saw blisters and cursed himself for dragging her with him for too long. After cursing himself, he began massaging Annie's foot, then after doing the same for her right one.
Annie's cheeks were in a bright shade of red from the moment he kneeled in front of her till he finished massaging her feet. She didn’t expect him doing that move, and honestly, her heart fluttered. Never did she experience a simple yet fluttering gesture as this before. She was thankful, but at the same time embarrassed. She saw a lot of people, more specifically couples, eyeing and pointing at them while chuckling at the scene at the same time. She was embarrassed indeed, but what the heck. She enjoyed the simple gesture, and she was really thankful as she felt her as energized as ever.
When Luke was finished, he glanced at Annie, still kneeling and said, “Are you tired, still?”
Annie absentmindedly shook her head, as if she was in a daze. Luke misunderstood it that she was still feeling tired, so he grabbed her heels and spun backwards, letting Annie face his back, “Hop on.”
“W-what?” Annie stuttered.
‘Does he want me to ride his back? I haven’t rode a guy’s back besides my dad’s though.”
A few seconds passed by and Luke didn’t feel any movement. He was about to face her again when he felt her arms circling his neck, and her body drooping on his back. The both of them instantly felt hot with the close proximity.
Annie felt awkward, but she thought that she might as well enjoy the experience so she sighed nonchantly and dropped her head on the crook of his neck. The latter felt his face grew red as he felt her breath on his neck, but shrugged the feeling off. He felt his phone vibrate on his pocket, so he jumped slightly, making sure Annie wouldn’t fall, and grabbed his phone on his pocket. Thankful that she was holding on his neck, he read the message and smiled.
‘It’s time.” He thought.
His happy thought were broken when she spoke. “I’m sorry.”
He frowned slightly. Why would she say sorry? Shouldn’t she be thankful that he carried her instead? Weird girl, indeed.
“What for?”
“Well, I’m sorry if I’m boring you. I m-mean… I’m pretty sure I’m not like the other girls you’ve dated before. And secondly… I’m h-heavy.”
He frowned at her words but flinched slightly; not because of her words, but because he felt Annie's pout and it lightly grazed his neck’s skin.
Her warm breath caressing it didn’t help the situation as well. Annie surely didn’t realize what she’s done, and Luke was silently thankful for that, but he fought hard to control himself as he felt his hormones hiking up. He controlled himself and fought hard to stay as normal as possible. “Y-you don’t need to be sorry Annie. You’re right, you’re not like the other girls I’ve date before, but that doesn’t mean I’m bored with you. I wasn’t even bored in the first place. Plus, you’re special Annie. Remember that. Oh, and you’re not heavy. I’m surprised you’re as light as a stick. Doesn’t the giant feed you enough food? I should give him the beating this time.”
She lightly chucked at his words, her warm breath giving its way to his skin yet again, and oh my… his hormones. Oh the joy of indirect skinship. “Enough drama. Where are we going?” She asked.
Luke stuck his tongue out mockingly as if Annie would see it. “Not telling. It’s for me to know and for you to find out. That is... if you find out.” He said, mockingly.
“Whatever.” She shrugged coolly. He grinned widely; typical Annie she is, right?
Annie's eyes were already drooping when Luke hailed a cab. He took the blindfold out of his pocket and blindfolded her, taking advantage of her sleeping. The taxi driver looked at him accusingly, and he chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck in nervousness.
“Mister, I’m not kidnapping her. I swear! She’s my girlfriend, and I’m planning on surprising her tonight.” He said, waving his left hand in defense in the process.
The driver looked at him questioningly and shrugged like he didn’t care at all in the first place, “So where to?”
Luke mentally sighed in relief and thanked the old man mentally for not pushing it further. As if he really did kidnap her in the first place. Pssh. “To the park, sir.” He said, pertaining to the park he and Annie meet most of the time. (A/N: I don’t know what to name it. Sorry.)
A few minutes later, the two of them arrived to the said park. Luke paid the driver, then lightly shook Annie. She woke up and planned to rub her eyes, only to find out that she was blindfolded.
“Luke. What’s this?” She said, her voice hoarse from waking up, although it sounded sexy to Luke.
“Secret, princess. Now let’s go. We’re here.”
“We are? Where’s where?”
Luke didn’t answer her anymore and took her hands instead, guiding her out of the car. He closed the door, and the taxi immediately fled off. Luke looked at the park and smiled, seeing his surprise ready. He held hands with Annie again and softly placed his other hand on the small of her back, guiding her closer to his said surprise.
When they were finally there, he finally removed the blindfold. Annie let her eyes adjust and from the moment she saw her surroundings, she was in awe. They were in the park, but it was decorated, like really decorated. There were heart balloons and candles everywhere making the atmosphere somehow romantic, and at the middle, there was a table with plates and everything, the arrangement looked like that of a restaurant’s. She looked at Luke questioningly, Luke himself was in slight awe as well. Annie knew for sure that he wasn’t the one who arranged this stuff.
“Hey,” she called lightly as she slapped his sturdy chest, “You didn’t prepare this didn’t you?”
Luke grinned sheepishly, “How’d you know?”
“Your expression says it all.” She stuck her tongue out. She was definitely in a good mood right now.
Luke guided her to one of the seats, pulling the chair for her like a gentleman. She smiled at him, thankful, and sat. A waiter magically appeared out of nowhere, carelessly carrying two trays full of food to their table. It wasn’t any other waiter though. It was none other than Mike!
“Mike?” Annie asked questioningly, “What are you doing here?” Her question sounded as if she was shocked as well.
The said waited didn’t answer her question and placed the food on the table wordlessly instead. When he was done, he exited, still not saying a single word, not even a glance at his sister.
Luke lightly chuckled at Annie's bewildered expression.
The latter glared playfully at him though, “You planned together with then didn’t you?”
“Yeah. So what?” He challenged back.
Annie shook her head in defeat. She didn’t wanted to argue as there was no point anyways. Plus, she was happy but at the same time weirded out that her brother was a part of this plan when he hasn’t even agreed to this relationship anyways. Wait, how did he know about us anyway?
“Did you tell him?” Annie asked Luke
Luke's eyes softened. He grabbed her hand on the table and softly caressed it. They heard awes from the background but they didn’t mind it as both of their hearts were both fluttering from the skinship. “Yes, and don’t worry. We talked it out, and I promised him that I’ll take care of you, always, so don’t worry.”
Annie mentally sighed in relief now that her brother finally accepts Luke. Why didn’t he just agree in the first place? Bipolar Giant.
They started to eat, constantly making small talks here and there, and sometimes Annie cracks up a joke, surprising the both of them, and the audience from afar.
When they were done with their food, Luke suddenly flicked his finger in the air, causing Annie to look at him questioningly. A few moments later, five men appeared A.K.A Harry, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Louis, who were carrying instruments.
‘Is this what I think it is?’ Annie questioned herself, and her thought were proven right as Mike played a song on his phone, with the five musketeers acting like they were playing when they were clearly not. Buffoons.
Luke led out his hand in front of her, “Do you want a dance with me, my lady?”
She huffed at him, but accepted it anyways as she felt multiple eyes on her. “I’m not good with dancing though.”
“Don’t worry princess. I’ll lead the way~”
Luke placed his hand on her waist, and his other hand caressingly flowed from her arms towards her hand. Annie felt like there was electricity flowing on her skin when their skins touched, and her face grew hot almost immediately. She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder and gasped when he held her close, too close that their faces were three inches apart. Once they were in that intimate position, the five ‘buffoons’ started singing together, their voices bending perfectly with each other.
Annie was close to laughing as she thought that they were only fooling around in the first place when they weren’t, well maybe just Mike. Mike looked like he was on his own world. He placed his phone on the table and danced with himself on the five singers’ side. And yeah, he was dancing weird, puckering his lips in the process and making kissing sounds.
The happy couple laughed at the scene and continued to dance freely, and flawlessly. They stopped once the music ended, much to Annie's dismay. She really felt happy when they were dancing. She felt secured, safe, and cared, but most of all… she felt loved.
Her eyes watered as she saw Luke kneeling yet again in front of her. He took out a small box from his back pocket and opened it, revealing two rings, more specifically couple rings.
Luke sighed lightly as he felt suddenly nervous, “Annie. I know that it hasn’t been long before we met, but I didn’t lie when I said I fell in love with you. I really did when we first met here in this very spot. You got me curious as I’ve never met a girl as stoned as you. You intrigued me, and you somehow made me admire you for that,” he paused staring deeply at Annie's eyes intensely before continuing, “I know you haven’t moved on yet from your past, but I’m willing to help you in every step of the way. I promise to be with you, to never leave you like what he did to you before. Annie Clifford, will you be my girlfriend?” He ended it with looking downwards, getting ready for what’s to come.
A few seconds passed by and Annie didn’t make any move. His heart started to sink at the possibility of her rejecting him and his shoulders started to slump. His shoulders turned rigid when he heard a faint “yes.” He glanced at her face and saw a tear slip.
“W-wha—“
“Yes.” She said confidently, “Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend,” and smiled at him.
It took him a few moments to let her words sink in before he started jumping around and hugged her tightly, only to back off again when he remembered the rings. He took the smaller one off and placed in on Annie's finger, and wore the other one on himself. “Thank you, Annie. Thank you for accepting me.” He said softly and caressed her cheeks, removing some of her tears in the process. He leaned in and placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips.
“Finally!”
“Ah! At last they kissed. I was almost squished up there!”
“Hey guys! Let’s upload the video later. I bet it’s get a lot of views.”
“Hey! Did you record my dance too? No!! My precious reputation! What will the girls at school say?”
“Don’t worry, Hazza. The girls from school never liked you anyways.”
The now official couple chuckled as they pulled away from each other. They glanced at the boys as they hurried towards them and congratulated them. Luke approached the smiling brother at the back and smiled at him too.
“Thanks Mike, for accepting me. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have the guts to do this for her.” Luke said.
“No sweat, Lukey-pie. And sorry for punching you before. I mean, what kind of fan punches his idol. Oh wait… Am I your sasaeng fan now?” Mike gasped dramatically, but his expression softened yet again once he took a look at his sister. He tapped Luke's shoulders in comfort, “Just take care of her, like you promised me you would.” And with that, he went to the boys.
“I will,” Luke whispered to himself and smiled.
Annie, on the other hand, was staring at the ring on her hands. Unknowingly, a tear slipped form her eyes, but it wasn’t from happiness. It was because she remembered something. A ring in particular. The way the words Kaiden and Annie was engraved on the ring was too similar to the one with her ring with Kaiden, and an unexpected wave of nostalgia hit her, but she immediately shrugged it off and fought her tears that were close to spilling as she saw her now boyfriend walking towards her. She smiled at him and the latter kissed her forehead.
Someone from afar was watching everything. Everything; from the moment the boys were arranging the venue to the celebration as they congratulated the couple. He sighed and racked his hair messily. His face was crestfallen and there were tears spilling on his eyes.
“I was late. I was too late."