1.

Introduction
2. Prologue
3. Part 1 "Holy snickerdoodles"
4. Part 2 "Watch out for the devil."
5. Part 3 "5'0? No that can't be right, I'm 5'1"
6. Part 4 "Why the hell are you in school?"
7. Part 5 "What is wrong with me?"
8. Part 6 "Liam likes to think his shit doesn't stink"
9. Part 7 "Father, forgive Chris for he knows not what he does"
10. Part 8 "He was obviously just looking to frickle-frackle"
11. Part 9 "He is a very healthy human being"
12. Part 10 "So what's it like having Luke Taylor as your baby daddy?"
13. Part 11 "Fuck it, this class doesn't give me any useful credits anyway"
14. Part 12 "You really don't know anything"
15. Part 13 "Why? Jealous?"
16. Part 14 "I could be a professional ninja if I wanted to"
17. Part 15 "I need a vomit bucket"
18. Part 16 "Just trust me"
19. Part 17 "Heartbreaking reality"
20. Part 18 "I'm going to beat his ass!"
21. Part 19 "Why is my pillow hugging me?"
22. Part 20 "That's my butt"
23. Part 21 "Sorry, I have to watch out for your cooties"
24. Part 22 "Does a detention go on my record?"
25. Part 23 "I'll call child protective services"
26. Part 24 "Pay attention to me"
27. Part 25 "You're gonna regret that"
28. Part 26 "Can we get a new waiter? This one sucks"
29. Part 27 "I don't want to talk to you"
30. Part 28 "How could he do such a thing?"
31. Part 29 "I'll never get it back"
32. Part 30 "Did you just call me a bratty little kid?"
33. Part 31 "Is he on crack?"
34. Part 32 "Wait, that sounded bad"
35. Part 33 "I'm not a violent person"
36. Part 34 "I'm much better at punching people than talking"
37. Part 35 "Suck it up buttercup"
38. Part 36 "Family Feud"
39. Part 37 "All you care about is yourself!"
40. Part 38 "The good feeling"
41. Part 39 "Something bad happened"
42. Part 40 "She was beautiful"
43. Part 41 "Losing"
44. Epilogue
45. Sequel Chapter 1 "Sometimes it's better to be selfish"
46. Sequel Chapter 2 "I'm selfish"
47. Sequel Chapter 3 "The Truth"
48. Sequel Chapter 4 "Heartbreak is an everyday occurrence"
49. Sequel Chapter 5 "Amen sister"
50. Sequel Chapter 6 "I'd do you too"
51. Sequel Chapter 7 "Another vomit bucket"
52. Sequel Chapter 8 "The sour to his Skittle"
53. Sequel Chapter 9 "A good bone"
54. Sequel Chapter 10 "My cuddle buddy"
55. Sequel Chapter 11 "You look panicked, sir"
56. Sequel Chapter 12 "Happy anniversary"
57. Sequel Chapter 13 "I promise to always feed you"
58. Sequel Chapter 14 "What the hell are you doing here?"
59. Sequel Chapter 15 "Blink if he's holding you against your will"
60. Sequel Chapter 16 "Sucks to suck"
61. Final Epilogue "Without You"
Introduction
Hi! Welcome to my story!

Before you begin reading, I feel as if you should know a few things.

1) This story has

strong

language, occasional bullying scenes, and acts of violence.

2)

There is a large height difference between the main character and the
love interest

3) The story features a religious main character (of the Christian

religion). Don't worry, it's nothing overboard, just occasional praying
and words to God. I just wanted to mention it. (The last thing I want to
do is offend anyone!) 4) Although this story contains American football,
it is not based around it.

5) The main character is shy, blushy/nervous around guys, and soft-

spoken.

6) My story can have occasional inappropriate-ness and mature scenes

towards later chapters, but nothing too crazy!

7) Thank you, thank you, thank you @

i_for_idontcare

for making the gorgeous cover!!

8) I understand (going through this story now that it's finished) that
some parts are ridiculous or don't really make sense. This story was an
experiment and it is my very first story

. So please refrain from commenting hurtful things. I'd really

appreciate it you could keep it to yourself. Saying rude and degrading
things towards a writer can really ruin their enjoyment of writing.

This is my first story! I'm still learning so bear with me! I've realized
the first couple chapters go slow, and they don't all really flow that
well, but they're just explanations and fillers for what's to come!

Now, the boring stuff you always see in the introduction chapter: Please
don't copy my story! I've worked really hard on it and it would kill me
to see someone take my hard work away! All similarities seen in this
story compared to others are purely coincidental.

Okay, the boring stuff is over now.

I love to read everyone's comments so don't be shy!

You can also feel free to give any kind constructive criticism you want,
it helps me to learn what ya'll like to read!

Thank you for choosing my story!

Sincerely,

Ashlyn Montgomery

(AKA skinny peni- jk)

Prologue
As I looked to my right I could see the "Virginia welcomes you" sign. I
sighed and turned back right into my seat.

"I understand this is hard for you sweetie I really do but since you aren't 18
yet we can't let you live by yourself" Michelle, my social worker says with
a pitied look on her face.

"I know Michelle, I just miss him that's all", I say choking up at the end.
With one last glance at me, Michelle finally turns her attention back to the
road.

I haven't seen my mother in person since I was 14. My parents got divorced
when I was 7 and I hadn't seen much of her growing up. It was usually just
me and dad.

I watch the pretty scenery as it goes by my and eventually, I find my eyes

closing to the soft hum of the radio.

_____________________________________________

"Wake up Aubrey, we are at your mother's house", Michelle said as she

shook me awake. I sat up rubbing my eyes and I looked around. It appears
my mother has been doing pretty well.

The house was really beautiful. It was a simple two-story house with beige
colored siding and a white front porch. Around the front porch was a
skillfully planted garden with multiple different kinds of colorful flowers.

As soon as I got out of the car my mother's front door opened and she came
running out. My mother still looked as pretty as I remembered her. Same
shoulder length, stylish cut brown hair, deep green eyes, and her short
frame.

Much like my short frame.

My mother immediately started crying as soon as she saw me and that also
caused me to tear up.

"Oh my poor baby", she began to sob which only made me start to cry.

Losing my father was something that had never even crossed my mind. I
figured that since he had gone and come back so many other times, this one
would be no different.

But it was. It was so, heartbreakingly different.

My father was my hero. A true, kind-hearted man who was my best friend.

++++Flashback++++

I wipe my hands on the cute blue and red dishrag hanging beside me as I
hear the doorbell ring. I make my way to the door, unlock it, then open it.

An older man stands on the other side of my door, in his fancy, shmancy
uniform, which caught my eye right away.

"Miss Wilson?" he questions, catching my attention.

"Y-Yes?" I question worriedly, hoping this isn't what I think this is.

Praying that this man isn't about to give me a message I had watched a few
neighbors receive.

"Why don't we go inside and talk?" he asks mannerly.

"Okay," I open the door wider for him and he enters. I lead him to the
couch and we both take a seat.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, I'm alright," he smiles with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Your father, miss Wilson, what is your father's full name?" He asks and my
eyebrows furrow. Why would he ask that?
"Nicholas Malcolm Wilson," I say softly, and he takes a deep breath before
letting it out slowly and dragging his eyes up to mine.

"The commandant of the Marine Corps has entrusted me to express his

deep regret that your father, Nicholas Wilson, was killed in action in
Afganistan late yesterday. The commandant extends his deepest sympathy to
you in your loss."

My heart pangs with sadness and I feel a tear roll down my cheek.

He said he was coming back.

I just sit there with silent, large tears traveling down my face.

"I'm very sorry Miss Wilson."

++++Flashback End++++

As we walked into my mother's house I noticed a big pool in the backyard. I

would love to be in that pool not worrying about a thing right now. As we
walked further into the house I noticed my step-father, Rick, coming to give
me a hug with, once again, a pitiful face.

I understand people feel bad but giving me that face just reminds me of
what happened over and over again.

As we both pulled away from the hug Rick wipes away my tears that I
hadn't noticed. We then all sat down in the living room and began to talk.

"Along with Nick's will, he also wanted you to have all of his medals,
uniforms, badges, and his folded flag when it comes time for the funeral",
Michelle said kindly to me. I had to leave, I just needed some air, this all
hurt too much.

"I need some air. Is there a certain place I can go?" I asked my mother while
standing up.

"Oh honey, I know it's hard. You can take a walk, there is a park nearby, it is
pretty easy to find, but keep your phone on", my mother said. I nodded as I
walked out the front door.

I didn't want to go to the park, people would see me cry. I decided to just go
into the backyard and dip my feet into the pool making sure my back was
turned away from the glass doors as I silently cried. Throughout this whole
week I never once really cried hard. It still really hasn't sunk in yet.

A few minutes later I decided to walk back into the house.

"His body still hasn't been recovered from Afganistan yet, but they are
hoping it will be back within two weeks, if not then they will go ahead and
have funeral anyway", I heard Michelle tell my mother as I walked back
into the living room. That sentence alone was just about enough to send me
right back out to the pool.

"Hey sweetie, you alright?", Rick asked when he saw me. I just nodded my
head.

"Well since it's Sunday night, and you just got here, you have the rest of the
day today to get settled. I know that sucks but you have to start going to
school." Michelle says with an annoyed look on her face.

"That really is stupid", my mother says, "you don't have to go if you feel
you can't"

"No mom, I think it'll be good for me, it might help me get my mind off of
things", I say with a small encouraging smile.

"As long as you are comfortable", My mom says with an uncertain look on
her face.

"Well I must get going, I have to get back to my office, so let's go get all of
your suitcases out of my trunk", Michelle says and we all follow her out of
the door.

_____________________________________________

Once we finally have gotten everything taken out of Michelle's car she
walks up to me and gives me a big hug.
"Once again I'm so sorry for what has happened, your father was such a
wonderful man", Michelle says pulling away from me and holding me at
arm's length. As I look back at Michelle I can't help but be thankful that I
had her to help me through this, she is such a wonderful lady.

"Oh dear, you are going to make me cry, I don't need anymore wrinkle lines
than I already have", Michelle says and I let out a small laugh.

"I will be calling within a few weeks to check up on you, goodbye

sweetheart," Michelle says as a last goodbye then she gets into her nice
BMW and drives away.

"Well let's start getting you unpacked honey", my mother says with a bright
smile that I can't help but to return.

_______________________________________________

|||

| Well that was the first chapter, and I am super sorry if it kinda
sucked. This is my first story and I am just learning how to use
Wattpad on my computer. I really used to hate when I would read short
chapters of other people's books but I totally understand now. Writing
a chapter that is long is super hard.

This prologue is just mostly about Aubrey and her getting to her
mother's house. In future chapters, they will be a lot different and
hopefully longer since I didn't have a lot of time to do this chapter
(school tomorrow and it is already 12:14 am)

I am also currently enrolled in a school (lol kill me) so that means that I
have homework and I also have chores (kill me again).

Anyway, I really hope that you actually did like my story because I will
be posting more. Also, I don't have any kind of posting schedule or
anything so my updates will kind of be at random.

- Ashlyn M.
Part 1 "Holy snickerdoodles"
I walked over to the piano in the dining room and took a seat on the duet
bench. My fingers were itching to play but I just couldn't bring myself to do
it.

I loved playing the piano. I taught myself the piano at a young age. I
remember the first time I touched a piano key. I loved the sound it made so
I started teaching myself by watching videos and watching my elementary
school teacher during music class.

Looking at the piano now just brought back memories of my dad. After I
learned how to play, I would come home and learn to play songs.

After a while, I started to sing along to them and since dad liked it so much,
I would do it for him often.

___________________________

'Our lives are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain, But I'd of
had to miss, the dance '

"That was beautiful Ree," my father said as I turned to look at his reaction.

"Thanks dad," I said with a shy smile. My dad saw my hesitant smile and
came and sat on the bench.

"Don't be hesitant Ree, trust me, I wouldn't let you sing if you were bad,"
dad said with a chuckle.

"Thank you", I said with a laugh.

"When I get back, I want you to sing me somethin' else," he said with a
stern look, "I'll be thinkin' of one."
____________________________

I came back to reality when I heard someone enter the room. I quickly
wiped my tear-stained cheeks and turned around.

"Are you going to sit there, or play?" Mom asks me.

"S-Sorry," I mutter quietly, "I'm going to go to bed."

Once I got to my room, I admired the finished look. The floor was halfway
covered with a white fluffy carpet that I absolutely loved. My walls were a
navy blue and around the ceiling, white fairy lights were draped around it.
My bed was covered in a huge white feather-filled comforter and on top of
that was a dark pink fleece blanket.

In one corner of my room was a huge white dresser and closet which
contained my clothes and on top of the dresser was all of my accessories
like my necklaces and earrings. On the right side of my king-sized bed,
there was a bathroom which when I first saw it I stopped and silently
prayed, thanking the lord. Also on the right side of my bed, there was my
desk and above the desk was a big cork board where I put up only the
pictures of close friends and family back in North Carolina.

As I took a seat on my bed, anxiety began to kick in.

What if the kids at my new school think I'm weird?

What happens if I fall on my face in front of everyone tomorrow because

lord knows I'm really clumsy?

What if tom-

I was broken away from my worry party when a 'ping' noise comes from
my phone.

Kelsey: I miss you :( I hope you're settling in well!

"Who was that?" Mom walks into my room looking at me suspiciously.

"Oh just a friend from back home," I replied sadly.

"Here's your school schedule," she said with another suspicious look. I took
the paper giving her smile a hesitant smile and looked at the paper.

Locker #: 882

Locker Combo: 14-60-28

1st Period: AP English with Mr. Matcherson

2nd Period: AP Calculus BC with Ms. Myers

3rd Period: Geography with Mr. Wills

4th Period: Physical Education with Mrs. Siding or Music with Mrs. A
(They rotate each day) 5th Period: Second lunch

6th Period: Free Period ( Would have been Spanish, French etc.)

7th Period: AP Chemistry with Mr. Ryker

8th Period: Government with Ms. Lonio

The school will let you in at 7:30 but your first class doesn't start until 8:00.

Thank you for joining Greenwood High School!

I looked up at my mother. "Music is an elective..." I said remembering what

happened earlier.

"Oh yes, I know. Good luck," she walks out of my room.

I sighed and flopped back on my bed.

After a few minutes of sitting there contemplating life, I got up and picked
out clothes for tomorrow.

I wish I could just wear pajamas.

I picked out a gray sweater

since it is definitely colder here than down south

and some dark blue jeans. With that outfit, I am wearing a burgundy scarf

once again since it's fall and colder

and some brown boots.

Once I'm done with the outfit I hop in the shower.

I have

always

taken a shower the night before school so that I can wake up later. The more
sleep the better.

After I'm out the shower I brush my teeth, change into soft purple leggings
and one of my dad's black shirts. I usually don't sleep with his shirts on but
tonight I just think I need to get as close to him as I can. I walk over to my
bed and get down on my knees. I fold my hands together and bow my head.

I thank God for sending me to a place where I will be taken care of and I
pray that my father has safely arrived in heaven.

As I started to drift off, with tears coming down my cheeks, I said

goodnight to my father one more time then finally sleep.

____________________________

"Get up," my mother says shaking me. I opened my eyes and sat up nodding
my head. As soon as my mother left I let out a big sigh.

Five minutes later, here I am still sitting in the exact same spot staring off
into space, thinking if school is even worth it.

At least mom woke me up.

I can't wake up to alarms. I learned that the hard way, unfortunately. I'd
always been a heavy, deep sleeper so waking up to alarms was always a
challenge.

I finally decided to get up and get dressed.

I walk into my bathroom and start figuring out what I'm going to do with
my mess of a hair. Brushing it isn't an option considering the fact that if I
do, it will be poofy and frizzy.

I guess putting it up will just have to do for today.

Lastly, I just put on some mascara. I've never really been one to put on
much makeup. Who am I trying to impress anyway? Plus, I'm not the
greatest makeup artist.

Dad never really liked it when I put makeup on. He would say things like,
"Oh Ree, you don't need that ole stuff," or, "You're already pretty."

Of course I would laugh at him when he'd say that. He was my dad, part of
being a dad, or even a parent is to tell your child that they or handsome or
pretty.

I put on mascara anyway.

____________________________

"Good morning Aubrey," Rick said as I walked into the kitchen. I smiled
back and gave a quiet good morning.

I don't know how some people don't eat breakfast in the morning. Like, I
just went around 8 to 9 hours without food and if I don't get some soon I
may faint.

"Do you have eggs? I can fix it myself if that's okay?" I ask quietly.

Living basically on my own has definitely taught me how to cook. I am

happy to say I am pretty great at cooking. Honestly though, it's only
because I didn't have money to order pizza every night so I had to figure
something else out.

"Yeah," my mom waves her hand, her nose buried in her phone.

"I have got to get going to work," Rick said standing up.

"Good luck today sweetie," he says to me. I nodded sending him a sad
smile. He went over gave my mom a quick kiss and left out the door.

"The delivery people brought your car earlier this morning," she says and I
just nod, finding conversation to be a bit tense and awkward.

"Another thing I wanted to tell you is that this morning is one of the only
mornings where you will see Rick and I. We both usually leave around the
time you get up," she stands.

"Do you think you could maybe just wake me up before you leave," I asked
shyly.

"I guess," she sighs making me feel a little bad about asking

"Wash that after school," she points down to my plate, a stern look on her
face.

"Of course," I nod. It doesn't really bother me. I'm used to doing them.

"Lock the house when you leave, I'll see you later," she mumbles before
putting a sweater over her blouse, grabbing her keys and purse, and walking
out the front door.

I went upstairs, brushed my teeth and grabbed my backpack and then went
downstairs and grabbed my keys off the table.

I locked the door and walked out to my car. I opened the door of my car. I
put the high school in the GPS since I had no idea where it was because I
was getting beauty sleep in the car on the way here.

__________________________
About ten minutes later I pulled into the school parking lot and the nerves
started kicking in once again.

The school was actually really pretty. It was also a lot bigger than my one
back in North Carolina.

It was a two-story long brick building with a lot of windows. In front of the
school, there was a fountain where a bunch of kids was sitting near. There
was also one section of the school where the walls were windows and you
could see right in. That room appeared to be the cafeteria.

I parked my car in a parking space a little ways from the school since most
of them were taken. I got out of my car, straightened my sweater, and
grabbed my bag. As I was walking up to the school, I couldn't help but feel
really weird.

I felt so out of place. I know it's only because I'm new but I just feel so
awkward. As I came near the fountain I saw an empty bench and took a
seat. I figured it would be best to get out my schedule now then to stop in
the middle of the hallway in the building and probably embarrass myself.

I took out the paper and looked at the time on my phone.

7:43

I'm actually kind of surprised so many kids are here this early.

I walked into the school with my paper in my hands and started looking for
locker 882.

"Looking for something?" A male voice asked causing me to jump almost

five feet in the air gasping and grabbing my heart.

I looked to the source of the voice with my widened eyes and hand still on
my heart. He was looking at me with his eyebrows raised and a surprised
smirk on his lips. He had light blonde hair, bright green eyes, a muscular
body, and a pretty nice jawline if I could say so myself.

He looks sweet.
"You scared me," I said trying to control my beating heart. He just laughed.

"I'm sorry," he said still laughing at me.

"I was looking for my locker," I said looking down embarrassed.

"Oh not a problem, I can help you," he said mocking me in an extreme

southern accent. I looked up at him and he gave a playful smile.

"Thank you," I said laughing at his attempt of a southern accent. I handed

him my paper and he started walking. I just followed like a lost puppy,
trying to keep up with his long strides.

"So short stuff, I'm Eli," he said still walking.

"I-I'm Aubrey," I said still trying to keep up with him.

"Here you are," he said stopping at a locker near the end of the row.

"Thank you," I said in a shy quiet voice. He just stood there looking at me.
He looked like he was thinking about something. All of a sudden he spoke.

"You wanna be my best friend?" he asked with a cheeky smile. That

question slightly took me off guard but thankfully I recovered quickly. I
was about to answer when another guy came up to where we were. Another
tall

guy might I add. This guy had a muscular build as well and was slightly
shorter than Eli. He had black hair and pretty brown eyes, unlike Eli.

"Eli, leave the poor new girl alone, I'm sure she doesn't want to be your best
friend," the new guys said looking at Eli with a disappointed look.

"Well you're the reason why I want one," he turns back to me and rolls his
eyes. I just let out a giggle at the argument between the two.

"She thinks you're mental," the black haired guy says looking at Eli.
"Listen up here Ryan, I don't know who you think you are bu-," Eli cut
himself off when he moved his elbow up and slammed it against the edge of
my open locker. He stood there with a pained face expression before
bending over like he's trying to catch his breath.

He lets out a quiet groan before shooting back up.

"Didn't even hurt," he struggles.

I tilt my head and look at his elbow. There wasn't much of a cut but there
still was one.

"You're bleeding a little bit," I point to the cut and he lifts his elbow up so
he can see it.

His eyes widen and he leans up against the lockers like he's going to faint.

"I'm going to faint," he takes a deep breath, "What if I bleed out?"

"He's serious," Ryan tells me when I give Eli and 'Are you sure?' face.

"Here let me see it," he shoves his elbow out towards me and I take a small
bandaid from a compartment in my backpack out and place it on his horrific
wound.

"You don't have a choice anymore," he smiles at me, totally forgetting about
his deadly wound, "You have been declared my best bud."

I let a laugh escape my lips right as the bell rings.

"I should probably start looking for my first class, It was nice meeting you
two," I wave and start walking.

____________________________

I got to my first block a little early thankfully. I didn't want to walk in

during the middle of the class. That would be really awkward.
"Ah, you must be new in my class," a low voice said causing me to jump a
little. I turned to look at my teacher and saw a middle-aged man with dark
grey hair and rectangular glasses standing with a stern look. He looked
kinda mean.

"Y-yes sir, I'm Aubrey Wilson," I said in a quiet voice. Apparently, he

realized something because he lost his stern look and sent me a small sad
smile.

"Yes I've heard of you Aubrey, I just didn't know you would be in my class.
Please take a seat, Ms. Wilson," he said sadly pointing out the seats, but I
ignore his sad glance. I turned and took a seat near the middle of the room
and sat.

Dang it, I'm supposed to be getting that off my mind.

"Thank you," I smile.

He just nodded and soon students started coming into the classroom.

"Are you new?" A girly voice said from beside me.

"Uh, yes" I nod nervously. She looks down at me from head to toe
analyzing my outfit.

"Where did you come from?" she asks turning her attention to me fully.

"Oh I'm from North Carolina," I say smiling slightly..

"My name's Aubrey," I said remembering to introduce myself, a tip Kelsey

told me when trying to make friends.

I guess I'm not the world's most social person.

"Yeah, I heard your name being mentioned in the hallway on the way here,"
she said with a light laugh, "Eli Jennings is your new best friend huh?"

"Oh," I said with a small laugh, "he helped me finding my locker this
morning and I just gave him a band-aid."
"Yeah he was showing it off to all his teammates," she said with a chuckle,
"can you believe he's on the football team?"

I shake my head with a laugh.

"I'm guessing that he really gives the team physician a helluva time," she
said with another laugh, "I'm Olivia by the way."

"Alright class let us get started, and Aubrey you can rely on Olivia for help
if you need any," Mr. Matcherson said looking at me with yet another sad
smile.

"Why is he so nice to you, he hates everyone else," Olivia whispered but I

just shrug.

very

tall and muscular figure walks in and stops at Mr. Matcherson's desk. His
large frame towers over the desk and I bet over everyone. The black shirt
he's wearing clings to his back muscles, showing how they contract every
time he moves. His light brown hair looked softer than any hair I'd ever
seen before and even though it's weird, I would love to touch it.

Holy mother of gosh.

I couldn't see his face from here but I bet it is just a gorgeous as the rest of
him. I discreetly watch him as he turns and starts walking to his seat.

I finally caught sight of his face and heavens to Murgatroyd, I was right.

I was very, very right.

His tanned skin goes very well with his light eyes and dark hair. His face
was emotionless which also only made me curious.

From what I could see from my seat, his skin was clear and he had very
nice lips. Why am I looking at his lips?
Holy snickerdoodles, that guy is smoking hot.

As he walks past me, his eyes drop down to mine. They stay on me until
he's out of my line of sight, his eyes show nothing of what he was feeling.

I caught up with how long I'd been staring and I look down at my desk, my
cheeks now red.

___________________________________

"You may all have the rest of class to finish the worksheet, and if not
accomplished it becomes homework," Mr. Matcherson announced before
typing on his computer.

"So, what's the rest of your schedule?" Olivia asked me with her eyes still
concentrated on her worksheet. I took out my schedule and handed it to her.
She took it and started reading it over.

"We have lunch and free period together," she said with an excited smile
giving me back my paper.

"That's great," I said retrieving my paper and putting it back.

"You should eat lunch with me," she said with a tone that meant there is no
room for argument. I just nodded and soon after the bell rang. I got up and
grabbed my textbook off the desk and turned around to put it into my
backpack but I was stopped when I ran into somebody. My books fell to the
floor with a loud smack and I looked up. Like way, way up.

The king of Holy Snickerdoodles Land from earlier bent down and picked
up the book.

"There's space under your chair for a reason," he hands over my textbook
and I blush, unfortunately right in front of him.

I'm shocked at how deep and manly his voice sounds. In his voice, I also
notice an accent very similar and just as prominent as mine.

I
wonder where he's from?

"T-thank you," He looks down into my eyes for a second before giving no
sign that he heard me, then he walks out of the room.

"Well," Olivia starts, "That could have gone much worse."

"Who was that?" My curiosity gets the best of me and his gorgeous eyes
can't seem to leave my head.

"Luke Taylor," she packs up her bag, "he's an ass sometimes, but as I said,
what just happened could've gone a lot worse."

"Oh," I mumble and she looks back up at me.

"I'll see you at lunch!"

__________________________

I walked into my calculus class a little late since I had no idea where I was.
I stopped in front in front of my teacher and before I say anything she looks
up.

"Oh hello darling, welcome welcome," she said excitedly. I took a tiny step
back surprised by her burst of energy. She looked about 50 and she had
bright red hair with slight grey streaks and striking green eyes.

"We don't have many seats in this classroom since it's small and there is
only one left so just take a seat," she said ushering me over to the seat
beside...would you look there, it's that handsome guy from my last class.

I sat down awkwardly and took out my supplies, remembering what had
happened in the previous class.
I feel his gaze on the side of my face as class begins. The entire class
period, my face has a red tint to it and no matter what I do, it won't go away.

I try my hardest to keep my gaze away from, him all class but for some
reason, my eyes just seem to travel to him and his extremely handsome
face.

_________________________________

I find my way to my music class all while rehearsing what I'm going to say
to my music teacher. Once in the room, I ask to speak to her.

"Mrs. A?" I question her softly and she turns her attention to me.

"Oh, you're the new student!" she smiles, "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could just watch for a few days? I haven't played the
piano in so long, I need to practice a bit more at home first," I explain in a
little lie, which I feel horrible for doing and she nods.

"Of course! That's perfectly fine. Make sure you get your practice," she
smiles and when she walks away, I let out a breath of relief before finding a
seat.

______________________

"Izzy, this is Aubrey, she's going to be our new friend," Olivia said sitting
me down at her lunch table on the other side of Izzy.

Izzy looked up at me and gave a nice smile. She and Olivia are both pretty.
Olivia has light blonde hair and light brown eyes and Izzy has long dark
brown hair and hazel eyes.

"I'm Isabelle but you can call me Izzy," she says and I utter a small hello.

"You are super pretty, especially your eyes," Izzy asked referring to my
bright blue eyes.
"Thank you, I got them from my mom's side of the family," I said back
causing her to gasp.

"I think you'll fit right in with us," Izzy smiles.

"Look who it is, it's the world's best, best friend," A loud voice I recognized
as Eli says as he takes a seat next to me. Izzy and Olivia look above me
with wide eyes and I look up as well.

About five guys, including the very good looking guy and Ryan, were all
standing right behind me. A few of them had on football sweatshirts and I
can only imagine that's why the guy's biceps are as big as me.

"So I just came over here to say thank you for the band-aid. You are kind of
like a mother bird slash doctor slash better friend than Ryan and I thank you
for that," he smiles.

"Anyways I want to introduce you to my other so-called 'friends'," he says

and I smile.

I see Luke roll his eyes and I try and contain a smile. Luke sees me seeing
him and he raises a single eyebrow in question while still keeping an
emotionless face.

I look away from him and back down at the table, a blush threatening to
make its way onto my face. Just my luck he would catch me looking at him.

"So you already know me, the best one out of this group, by the way, you
know Ryan, nobody likes him, Luke is right here," he points to the kind of
Holy Snickerdoodles Land.

"Right beside Luke is Jayden, aka Jay, he is kinda quiet and weird bu-"

"I'm not weird," The blonde hair, blue-eyed guy standing a few inches
shorter than Eli, rolls his eyes.

"Next but definitely least is Jackson, he and Jayden are twins by the way,
but you probably already knew that since you are super duper smart," Eli
said giving me a pointed look while I just smiled shyly.
"Hi," I uttered quietly to the guys with a blush. Out of all of them, Luke
stands out the most. Maybe it's just me but for some reason, he's just
inhumanely attractive, not to mention taller than the rest of the guys.

They are all quite handsome though, but, only one of them has me blushing
like an idiot, even when he hasn't done anything.

____________________________

After the guys left the table I finally got to take out my L.L. Bean lunch bag
with my monogram on it. I began eating my Alfredo noodles when I looked
up at Izzy and Olivia. They were still looking at me with widened eyes. I
just gave them a small smile and a shrug. They soon began eating as well.

"Well I have Chemistry with you, p.e., free period but that's it, and
geography," Izzy said handing me back my paper.

"Where do we go for free period?" I asked them.

"Well since most seniors have it, they sometimes hang out by the fountain
out front, or in the yard out back," Olivia says picking at her sandwich.

After a few minutes, the bell rang and we all went outside to the grass out
back. We sat under a tree and I took my scarf off because it was hotter
outside than it was this morning.

"Oh wow, That's pretty," Izzy said grabbing my cross necklace that dangled
from around my neck.

I got the necklace as a birthday present from my dad last year. It has
diamonds over it and engraved on the side is my dad's name.

He gave it to me and said:

"If anything happens to me, just hold that necklace and I'll be there right
beside you."

"Thank you, Izzy," I said trying not to sound sad.

_________________________

As I walked into my government class I notice some girls in the back. They
were wearing quite provocative clothing might I add.

I took a seat in the middle of the room and took out all the supplies I
needed.

"Aubrey, right?" a high-pitched voice asked. I turned my head and saw one
of the girls that I saw from the back looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

"Where did you get your eye contacts? Dr. Reagan? Or maybe Dr. Snite.
And your hair extensions are honestly the shit," she said with a little laugh
at the end. I winced at her choice of vulgar language.

"I don't wear contacts," I answer feeling quite uncomfortable, "or

extensions."

She looked at me with a tilted head and narrowed eyes like she thought I
was playing a joke on her.

"Leave her alone Karen," a voice I recognized as Eli said.

"My name is Ana, where did you even get Karen," Ana scoffed.

"Doesn't matter Sarah," Luke glares at her as him and Eli took a seat on
either side of me. I just laughed and shook my head as the teacher walked
into the classroom holding a donut.

I wish I had a donut right now.

"Alright kids, we are doing a project in groups of three to five, I really don't
care who you are with but you cannot do it in class because it'll be too
rowdy so do it wherever you want once again I don't care," Ms. Lonio says
in a monotone voice with a donut hanging halfway out of her mouth, "It's
due whenever within the next month." She added putting up a rubric on the
projector screen.
"Oh, let's work together," Eli said excitedly looked at both me and Luke.

Luke says nothing and he leans back in his chair, looking quite bored.

"Okay," I say.

"We can work at my house," Luke says sitting up.

"Dude, your dog literally hates my guts, he hates everybody's guts, even
yours!" Eli exclaimed.

I love dogs. I used to have one back in North Carolina. It was a Saint
Bernard. His name was Bruce and he was so sweet. He died about three
years ago and I just couldn't bring myself to get another one.

"I love dogs," I blurted out accidentally interrupting whatever conversation

was going on.

Whatever though, my love for dogs is far more important than their
conversation.

"Yeah, I thought I did too, until I met

Leo,"

Eli admitted shuttering at the mention of the dog's name. I just laughed and
thought he can't be that

bad.

___________________________

After the final bell rang, I followed Luke and Eli out the school doors.

I'm actually really nervous about going to his house. With two guys. I can't
even talk to any guy without blushing and turning into a nervous mess.

And what if they decide to turn crazy on me? What if they hold me
hostage? I don't really know these guys that well.
For some reason though, a voice in the back of my head is telling me that
I'll be perfectly safe.

"I swear we're not psychopaths," Eli places his arm over my shoulder, "and
I also swear that you should have no fear because the only thing you need to
worry about is Leo, el diablo."

Even though I'm doing everything my dad told me to never do.

"Never go to a strangers house."

"Don't talk to boys, they only want one thing and you're too good for them"

I had laughed when my dad told me the last one.

Luke walks to his truck and he starts it up.

It was loud. It actually startled me at first.

To my embarrassment, I even looked up at the sky thinking it was thunder.

It wasn't thunder.

Eli continued to walk beside me before we got to my car he bid goodbye

and got into a matte silver jeep with black rims.

I used to want a Jeep. That was before doing research and finding out how
easily they flipped.

I got into my car and began following Eli's Jeep.

_________________________________

|
|There's the official part 1! I really hope you liked it and considering
this is my first story, I'm sorry if there are any type of errors.

Don't hesitate to leave any sort of comments about what you like or
dislike throughout, so I can fix something!

- Ashlyn M.
Part 2 "Watch out for the devil."
This house was

ginormous.

I honestly almost ran into his mailbox because I was too busy staring at the
house.

I parked my car right beside Eli's and got out still staring at the house. The
house was so big that it had wings! Like a west wing and an east wing, not
actual wings...that wouldn't be right.

Dear lord, I could stare at the house all day.

"Alright when you go in, watch out for the dog," Eli warns me.

We started walking up the front door when Eli stopped.

"You know we

could

do this at my place instead," Eli said with a hopeful look.

I can't wait to see this dog.

"Yeah, It's not like we're already here," Luke mutters sarcastically, his deep
voice startling me for a quick second.

"Your rude comments are unnecessary and unwanted," Eli said pointing his
finger at Luke.

Eli comes and stands behind me looking like he's ready to fight something.
"Alright, let's do this," Eli says with a determined face. Luke pushes open
the door and I enter behind the two somewhat nervously.

Pounding toenails could be heard coming from another room. As the

seconds went on I couldn't help but feel more and more excited.

"Oh no he's getting closer," Eli whisper-yelled while Luke still stood there
in front of me barely letting me see the pup about to come around the
corner.

"Hey, Leo," Eli says nervously. The dog growls a deep growl resounding
throughout the tall, luxurious house.

The dog sounded huge. Even better.

I peeked around Luke an almost let out a loud squeal at how freaking cute
the puppy looked.

He had a beautiful grey coat with matching grey eyes and he was
mesmerizing. He was a Great Dane and he looked like he was about to be
petted, by me.

I watch the two guys, wondering if I should actually go pet the dog or not.

"Oh my god. Luke, do something! She'll be killed! In our hands! You're 18,
you're the adult here!" he sends Luke a small shove, only to be met with a
glare.

"I'm going to get arrested for contributing to a murder," I hear Eli nearly
hyperventilate from behind me when I turn around, not being able to control
myself.

I looked the pup in the eyes and I could tell he wasn't mean. He just looked
like he had been through a lot.

Poor thing.

Leo just stood there looking at me probably figuring out if I was a threat or
not.
I looked at Eli hiding behind Luke with his hands covering his eyes.

I put my hand in front of his nose so that he could get used to my smell.
After a second I felt a cold, wet nose on my hand. He sniffed for a few
seconds and I moved my hand and patted his head.

Leo nuzzled his head into my hand as I rubbed it.

When I say the dog was huge, I mean huge. If he was standing on his hind
legs, he had to be near seven feet tall.

I continued rubbing him until he sat down. I looked over to the guys to see
Eli slowly uncovering his eyes and looking in my direction.

I caressed Leo's face and ears and he completely relaxed.

The poor guy just needed some love.

I looked back over to the guys and saw Eli looking at me with a
disbelieving look.

I move my eyes back over to Luke and he's looking right back at me with a
small tilt to his head.

Like he's trying to figure me out.

The most emotion I've ever seen on his face.

"He isn't bad at all," I said scratching the top of Leo's head.

"I don't know

how

you managed to get him to act like that but thank the lord he isn't after me,"
Eli said with a relieved look.

"Luke? Are you home?" A deep voice asked from a nearby room.
"Mhm," Luke replies still looking in my direction but I was too busy giving
Leo a belly rub.

I heard footsteps enter a room and stop. I looked up to find a very tall man
wearing casual jeans and a flannel shirt. This guy looked almost exactly like
Luke, even as tall. Who I assumed to be Luke's father, is glancing at me in
surprise .

I stand up giving Mr. Taylor a sorry look. Leo stands up with me and starts
walking in circles around me, rubbing up against me.

"Hi! I should've asked before petting him, I'm sorry," I say with a nervous
chuckle at the end.

"No, it's perfectly fine," he said moving his eyes back to mine.

"I-I'm Aubrey," I said and started walking towards him to shake his hand. It
was kind of hard to walk with a huge dog still circling me but I managed to
get to him.

He held out his hand and I took it shaking it softly and dropping my hand
back at my side.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Taylor," I said with a kind smile.

"Please, call me James," he returned with a smile.

"Sup papa Taylor, " Eli said cautiously coming from out behind Luke who
was still looking at me. James pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a
sigh.

"Hello Eli," he said through the sigh removing his hand. "You didn't tell me
we were going to be having company Luke," James said and I could hear a
clear accent.

Now I know they aren't from here.

Luke just shrugs.

He's not much of a talker I guess.

"Your house is beautiful, James," I say looking up and admiring the high
ceiling.

"Thank you darlin', now tell me where you're from," he said ushering me
into the next room of the house.

We entered a very large kitchen with amazing brand new appliances.

The counters were covered with brown and tan colored counter tops. The
light mahogany color of the cabinets and the chairs were gorgeous paired up
with the brown color.

This is such a pretty kitchen.

"I just moved here from North Carolina actually," I said sitting down in one
of the mahogany chairs he pulled out for me. Leo was right by my side and
ended up sitting on the floor with his head in my lap.

"It's beautiful down there, I have been there on a few occasions on some
business trips," he said with a thoughtful face, "what part are you from?"

Deep breaths, just take deep breaths.

"Jacksonville," I said giving him a weary smile at the end.

"Oh, that's near Camp Lejeune, right?" he asked and my breath caught in
my throat.

"Y-Yeah, " I said distracting myself with the necklace around my neck.

"That's nice, do you have a paren-" James was cut off when Eli and Luke
came through the door very loudly and headed to the pantry. Eli grabbed
three little bags of chips and Luke just took a pack of sour skittles.

"Come on Aubrey, let's start to get working," Eli announced shoving a few
chips in his mouth.
James looked at me and shook his head at Eli's antics.

"I'll see you later James," I said getting up and starting to follow Eli and
Luke. Not without Leo of course. Leo stayed right by my side the whole
time.

We stopped in the living room and Eli plopped down on the couch with his
backpack and his chips. Luke takes a seat beside me on the two-seater
couch, accidentally brushing his arm against mine.

My eyes dart to his and as soon as they connect, I'm looking away.

Being around him, especially being so close to him, makes me nervous.

"Project ideas?" Eli asked turning his head towards me.

"Wait, what's the project about again?" he adds.

______________________________

It was about 7:30 when I realized I hadn't told my mom I wasn't coming
home straight away.

I grabbed my phone and turned it on.

No new messages.

Oh, okay.

I texted my mom saying where I was and that I would be home soon. I
turned my phone off and laid back on the couch once again and continued
writing.

After a few minutes, my phone dinged. I grabbed from the phone and
looked at the message.

Mom: I don't care, I don't get home until late anyway.

Sometimes it's hard to really understand the tone behind a text but to me,
she doesn't sound like the happiest person ever.

I didn't mean to make her mad. I just wanted to let her know. When dad was
home, he always would want to know everything.

I just thought she would too.

I feel a gaze on me and I turn to see Luke's gorgeous gray eyes on me. He
clears his throat and averts his eyes back down to his work.

"I'm gonna take a quick break and go outside for a minute," I say attempting
to smile.

I walked outside and sat on the little step right outside the door.

I have never liked crying, especially in front of other people. Crying always
makes my head hurt and I just hate the feeling of a pounding head.

After a minute or two outside I decided to go back inside.

"No one, no one, no ooooneeee.....likes you Luke," I heard Eli sing as I

walked into the living room.

I let out a quiet giggle as I see Eli in the front of the room in a pose sticking
his hip out and pointing to an annoyed Luke.

"Oh hey boo-boo," he said as he saw me. "You know, I think that is going to
be your nickname from now on because you fixed my boo-boo."

"I finished the writing part of the project so I'm gonna head home now," I
said putting my notebook in my backpack and smiling at Eli.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiles. Luke doesn't say anything. He
stands up out of his seat and walks out of the room.

"Sorry about him, he's awkward around new people." Eli laughs at the end,
dodging a shoe that comes flying at his face from the direction Luke just
went.
A giggle escapes my lips.

_________________________

I arrived home after putting my address in the GPS because I had no idea
where I was. I walked inside and put my bags in my room. I walked around
the dark house without turning on any lights.

Sometimes I just like it to be completely silent and dark.

I walk into the dining room and go over to the piano. I take a deep breath
before sitting down on the bench.

My fingers hover over the keys before I finally lower them and feel the
familiar feeling of the smooth ivory against my fingers. I pressed down on a
key with one finger and a high pitched ping could be heard throughout the
room.

I placed my other hand over another key and pressed it as well.

Slow and steady.

The room soon filled with a beautiful, melodic song. I closed my eyes not
letting the tears escape. I needed

to do this. Eventually, I'll have to do

something

in music class.

I took my hands off the keys and opened my eyes. I could almost see dad
standing right here, telling me that I better put my hands on those keys
before he starts singing.

He couldn't sing. At all.

I wiped the tears that escaped and I started again.

As I was playing the song I couldn't help but hum, then eventually sing
along.

_____________________________

I laid back on my bed after picking out my outfit for tomorrow. A small
ache hits my heart and I find myself missing the voice of my best friend.

I pick up my phone, scroll through my not too many contacts, and I click on
her name. The phone rings for a few seconds before she answers.

"Hey, girl!" she calls out through the phone and I smile at hearing her voice.

"Hi, Kelsey."

"So what's up with you? How's everything?" she asks with concern lacing
her voice.

"Today didn't go has horrible as I thought it would. I just miss dad, you
know," I don't complain too much, not wanting to shove my problems onto
her.

"I'm sorry, Aubrey. I wish I could be there with you," her tone turns sad.

"They would be pretty great," I giggle, hopefully lightening the mood.

"What about friends? Did you take my advice? Did you meet anyone nice?"
she asks questions similar to ones a mother would ask her child on their
first day.

"I did use some of your advice, and I did meet some nice people!" I exclaim
excitedly.

If I'm being honest, I didn't think I would meet or even talk to anybody
today.

"I love that for you. Any cute guys?" she asks and I just knew that question
would come up.
"Yes," I mutter shyly.

"I love that even more for you," she sings happily.

"What about you? Is everythi-" I'm cut off by the sound of a crying child.
Kelsey lets out a groan and I come to the conclusion that something must've
happened.

"JJ just fell off his swing," she refers to her cute five-year-old brother, "I'm
sorry I've got to go."

"It's okay! Don't worry! Tell JJ I said hi," I smile at the thought of little JJ,
"Bye."

"Love you bit-"

I hung up the phone before I could hear that nasty word that just so happens
to be Kelsey's favorite one.

After taking a long, needed shower I put on some pj's and just lied in my
bed after praying.

I hear the sound of the front door opening and I sit up in my bed. The sound
of my mom's talking echoes throughout the house but even with my door
open, she doesn't come and tell me goodnight.

I guess that's something I'll just have to get used to.

I wish dad were here to tell me goodnight.

_____________________

||||

|This chapter was quite a bit shorter than the last one but I hope that's
okay.

Thanks for reading anyways though!!

- Ashlyn M.
Part 3 "5'0? No that can't be right,
I'm 5'1"
I walk into Mr. Matcherson's class early and take a seat in the same place as
yesterday. Soon after other kids started filing in the classroom.

"You are in my seat," a voice sneers from beside me. I turn and look at the
person that it came from. He was pretty tall and pretty scary. He also wore
all black. A black sweatshirt with the hood up, black jeans, black shoes,
black hair, and even black piercings. That wasn't the worst part though. The
worst part was the white eye contacts he had in and the scary neck tattoo's.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," I stutter, shakily standing up and gathering my things.

This guy really terrified me.

"Find another fuckin' seat, Chris," Luke glares at Chris as he passes him. He
grabs ahold of my arm gently and he moves me back to my seat.

If I were Chris, I would probably poop myself at how scarily Luke is

looking at him. But for some reason, I don't think Chris cares.

"It's

Chris the dark lord of the underworld,

you useless jock," Chris scoffed like everybody already knew that was his
whole name. Luke just starts walking to his seat while shaking his head.

The class drags on and I try my hardest to focus on the lesson. After a long
hour, the bell finally decides to ring.

"Thank you for helping me with The Dark Lor- Chris," I correct myself
mid-sentence, and look down at my feet.
I'm a pro at embarrassing myself.

"Mhm," he hardly takes a look at me before brushing past me and walking

out of the class.

He didn't have to be so mean.

I walk into my math class and sit down in the same seat as yesterday. A few
seconds later Luke comes in and sits next to me.

"Alright class, let's get started," Ms. Myers said excitedly, "So, we are doing
a really fun activity but in order to do this activity..." she trailed off walking
into a closet, "aha, you need these," she said coming out of the closet and
holding up tape measures.

"You will need these to measure the exact height of the person sitting right
next to you and you will also be able to help each other for this little
project."

Wow okay, so how on earth am I supposed to measure a giant?

"

Alright, you may get started now," Ms. Myers says finishing passing out the
tape measures.

Everyone stood up with their partners who at the most were maybe 4 or 5
inches taller than the other. Except me and the giant over here. He's got a
least 9 feet on me.

Maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit.

I take a glance over at Luke and see he's leaning his strong arms on my
desk. I can't help but take a look at the veins that run down his forearms.

After noticing that I've been staring at his arms for way too long, I look
back up at him. Expecting him to be looking straight back at me, I see he's
doing what I was just doing.
His eyes run over my barely exposed collarbone before they travel to the
rest of me.

"Damn, you're pretty," he mutters quietly, mostly to himself. I nearly fall

out of my chair and my heart begins pounding, a telltale sign that my
cheeks have most likely turned a shade of pink.

Should I respond to that? Does he know I heard him? Am I okay?

"I'll do you first," Luke sighs, removing his strong arms from my desk,
picking up the tape measure and I guess, forgetting about what had just
come out of his mouth.

I stand from my seat and I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.

"Lift your foot," I lift my foot and be bends down and puts the lip
underneath my foot. He slowly brings up the tape measure and I become
nervous as his warmth radiates off his body and onto me.

I keep my eyes on the floor, not wanting to take a chance of him catching
me staring at him again. Although I tried very hard, I just couldn't keep my
eyes away.

I look up at him only to see he's looking right at me too.

His eyes are so gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it. I think I could
look at them all day.

I bring my gaze away from him and try to stand as tall as I can.

"You're 5 feet tall," he carefully brings down the tape measure, making sure
it doesn't snap back.

Either my doctor lied to my face when he said I grew from when I was
twelve, or his measuring skills are slightly off.

"5'0. No, that can't be right, I'm 5'1," I furrowed my eyebrows. Have I just
become a scientific miracle? Is it possible to shrink at the age of seventeen?
"It's cute," he speaks nonchalantly. Why is it that I just keep having heart
palpitations today? I can't handle it.

Today is just crazy.

"I'm telling you that can't be right," I said shaking my head. He raises an
eyebrow and calls over Ms. Myers with a wave of his hand.

"I can't- I shouldn't be-," I sigh, "I'm 5'1?"

"Alright, pass me the tape measure," She says and Luke hands her the tape
measure.

She puts one end under my foot and brings up the other end to the top of my
head.

"Nope, 5'0!" she smiles, handing me the tape measure.

Well, dagnabbit.

"Thank you, Ms. Myers," I sigh with a little pout, and watch as she goes to
help another student.

"You were right," I inaudibly mumble, attempting to get the little measurer
out of its hole. I struggle with it for a while until it's Luke's hand brushes
against mine as he takes it out of my hand.

"Thank you," I mumble when he hands it back to me, the measurer now
pulled out.

I put the bottom lip under his foot. I bring up the other end of the tape
measure until I am on my very tiptoes.

Meanwhile

, he just stands there watching me in complete amusement. I even catch a

little glimpse of the ghost of a smile on his lips.

Well, at least we're getting somewhere.

I let out a small wince as my big toe begins to cramp. I grab a chair and
bring it up right next to him and finally get to the top of his head.

"Okay, you are 78 inches....78?!" I let out a quiet squeal and hop off the
chair.

"No wonder I can't reach your head," I giggle, "In case you haven't noticed
yet, that's pretty tall!"

I look up at him to see him looking back at me with this

look

. A look that makes a teensy blush appear on my cheeks.

He didn't look all mean like he usually does when I see him, just..opposite
of that? Before we both could do anything, Ms. Myers speaks up.

"Get your things together, please. We need to start on the second part before
we run out of time!" she searches through the piles of paper on her desk.

_______________________________

"78 inches Olivia, I'm telling you. I'm the one who measured him! I couldn't
even reach his head! I had to stand on a chair," I throw my hands in the air.

"Well I mean, what are you? Like, 4'2?" Her and Izzy laugh. I just watch,
not amused at them laughing at my lack of tallness.

"You can't even act mad, you're too nice," Olivia says walking over to me
while I playfully roll my eyes.

"Well I thought I was 5'1 but

apparently

I'm only 5 foot. Not to sure if I trust his measuring methods though, or Ms.
Myers' " I thought aloud.
"I'm 5'7," Olivia smirked.

"and I'm 5'8," Izzy stated proudly.

"You guys, just because you are really tall, doesn't mean you can rub it in
my face," I pouted.

"I still think it's cute," a voice said from behind me as we walked into the
cafeteria. All three of us turned around and saw Luke giving me a sly smirk
while his eyes travel up and down my frame. My face immediately heated
up and Olivia awed from beside me.

Luke walked past me not taking his eyes off mine once.

He smirked! Not much bigger than before but still.

I almost squeal in delight just thinking about it.

"

He

just did that!" Olivia said excitedly. Izzy came beside me and put her arm
around my shoulders.

"Honey, when you see a man who looks at you like that, you need to claim
him before someone else tries to," Izzy said quietly as we walked to our
table causing me to get red-faced once more.

"You guys are crazy," I smiled shaking my head.

Looks at me like what?

_________________________

"Alright, hello little miss Aubrey," Mrs. Siding smiles and a few laughs and
chuckles were heard along with a few awes. My face once again turns
bright red.
I must have broken some sort of record for the number of times someone
has blushed in a day.

"You may sit with the rest of the class now."

I walk over and sit down beside Izzy on the gym floor.

"Ahem," a voice said from a few people behind me.

"Ahem," It said a little louder.

"Ahem!" it said gaining the attention of the students.

"Ahem! Aubrey, come sit next to me please," the voice yelled. I turned
around and saw that it was the whole group of guys and the one who was
yelling was none other than Eli.

I stood up and motioned for Izzy to follow me.

I would not want to sit with all of those guys by myself, too much
testosterone and I would become a blushing mess.

I sat down in the space that Eli made for me after he pushed someone out of
the way which also happened to be beside Luke too.

Luke looks pretty darn-tootin' good right now if I do say so myself.

_________________________

As I walk into my government class, I'm startled when someone bumps into
me.

I step backward, in an attempt to keep myself from falling and I run into a
chest. Large hands go out and grip my waist as my head hits against a chest.

"Watch it loser," the girl squeals like I had done something wrong. All of a
sudden I hear a loud gasp. That gasp lasted for about ten seconds before Eli
ran out of breath.
"Sheila,

you

need to watch where

you

are going, I don't know who you think you are but you cannot go around
hitting teeny fragile beings like this little one right hither," Eli said after
catching his breath and pointing towards me.

"My. Name. Is. ANA," She shouts annoyedly once again.

At feeling me move away from him, Luke lets his hands fall off my sides.

"Is it though? Is it

really

?" Eli eggs her on and she grows more frustrated before eventually just
walking out of the class.

____________________________

"So we are done with our project right?" Eli sighs looking like he's
suddenly been through a ton of hardships although, we haven't done pretty
much anything during this class. I nod then continue on reading my book.

I sneak a glance over to my right and Luke lays with his head in his arm,
asleep.

How does he get his hair to look that soft?

I turn back to my highly dramatic reading and chew on my bottom lip as the
main character gets stuck in a tornado.

All too soon, the bell rings and I'm forced to put my reading down. I
carefully close my book and place it in my bag. Eli gives my head a good
pat while telling me goodbye and I turn to Luke.

Most of the class was already gone by now but Luke was still asleep beside
me.

"Luke," I nudge him softly while calling his name but he doesn't budge.

"Luke," I lightly place my hand on his strong back.

He slowly lifts his head up and looks at me with cute tired eyes. If only I
looked nearly as good as he does when just waking up.

"The bell just rang," I tell him and he stands from his chair, grabbing his
things.

"Thank you," he looks down at me and I grow timid under his gaze.

"Of course, I mean, I couldn't just leave someone sleeping in class. I'm sure
Ms. Lonio would have just looked right over you. Eli already left, I
should've asked him to wait up for you, I'm sorry, I-" he cuts off my
rambling.

"Aubrey," my heart pounds as my name escapes his lips.

"Yes? Sorry," I apologize again.

"Stop apologizing," his emotionless face picks up an amused look.

"Right, sorr-, right," I catch myself, giving him a nod.

"Are you okay?" he questions when I take a deep breath.

"Yes," I nearly smack my forehead at how ridiculous I'm being. I really,

truly need to calm myself.

"H-Have a good rest of your day," I give him a quick smile before rushing
past him and leaving the room.

I can't believe myself.

"What were you two doing in there all by yourselves, hmm?" Olivia
wiggles her eyebrows once I meet her and Izzy a little way down the
hallway from my last class.

"He fell asleep and I just woke him up," I tuck a curl behind my ear and
memories of what just went down flash through my mind.

"Damn, I was hoping to hear some juicy shiz-nit," she slaps her knee.

"We thought we could come hang with you," Izzy smiles.

"Oh okay," I smile, happy that I'm making friends.

Izzy and Olivia open a set of doors and we walk outside. I could see a large
field where a bunch of guys with shoulder pads was pushing blocking sleds
and a few others were throwing and catching.

"Luke's the quarterback," Izzy smirked, turning to look at me.

"Yep! He's damn good too. Like so good, he's featured on ESPN and
everything, Izzy says turning to me and I smile shyly before turning my
gaze back to the parking lot.

We walk into the parking lot and I lead them to my car. My beloved
Volkswagen Tiguan.

"I love your car," Izzy smiles.

"Thank you," I smile sadly getting into my car.

My dad paid a lot of money for this car and he gave it to me for my 17th
birthday.

Since he wasn't home that much, he didn't use a car, so he figured he would
spend quite a good amount of money to give it to me.

_______________________________

|||
|Sorry for the little break! Thank you for reading!!

- Ashlyn M.
Part 4 "Why the hell are you in
school?"
I pulled up into my driveway and all of us got out of the car.

"Your house is so pretty," Izzy gushed while Olivia nodded in agreement.

We walked up to the front door and I took out my keys and unlocked it then
walked inside.

"This is really nice," Olivia observed. I mumbled a thank you and I

continued on to the kitchen since I was really hungry.

"No dogs?" Izzy asked seemingly disappointed.

"No, I wish," I replied. Olivia went over to a white door and pointed to it.

"What is behind this door?" She asked.

I haven't really spent much time exploring the house.

I walked over to the door and opened it. A set of stairs led down to a
hallway but I couldn't see further than that.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Olivia and Izzy both looked at each other
confused.

"Why haven't you explored this place, it is awesome, I would be excited to

move and exploring would be the first thing I would do," Olivia said
turning back to me.

I wasn't exactly excited to move.

I began walking down the stairs with the two girls trailing behind me. I
came to the hallway and could see two different doorways. I chose the one
on the right while the other two chose the one on the left. I opened the door
and walked inside.

There was a huge movie screen on the wall with about ten, black,
comfortable looking chairs and a few sofas facing towards it all with
decorated pillows and blankets. On the other side of there is a huge kitchen
with a fridge and everything. On the wall straight ahead of me, almost the
whole wall is made up of a glass sliding door that leads out to the pool
where I sat with my feet in yesterday.

"Wow," I whispered to myself.

"Wow is right, holy crap this place is awesome," Izzy exclaimed coming
beside me.

"How did your parents get all of your house set up in a couple of days?"
Olivia asked with a disbelieving tone. I froze. I don't know if I should tell
them or not, they may ask more questions.

Questions I'm not sure I'm ready to answer yet.

I guess it won't hurt.

"I-I

moved from North Carolina, not my mom or step-dad," I said in a shaky

voice and Olivia nodded then she turned confused.

"Then why di-," Olivia was fortunately cut off by Izzy squealing.

Thank you, Izzy.

"Oh my gosh, I found the pool!" Izzy yelled excitedly. Olivia and I laughed
then joined Izzy outside the glass doors.

_______________________________

"I wish my room was this pretty," Olivia looked around my room.
"I mean come on, a personal bathroom? I have to share a bathroom with my
fifteen-year-old brother and it is horrid," Izzy said with a disgusted face.

"You aren't finished unpacking yet?" Olivia asked pointing to the box filled
with my dad's medals and uniforms. I froze and my eyes widened. If I knew
they were coming I would have hidden the box.

"U-um, we were waiting to get a special tub for that stuff

because....it's....important stuff," I struggled moving around my bed and
towards the box to put in in my closet.

"What's in it, I wanna see what's in it," Olivia said jumping off my bed and
going toward the box.

"W-Well, maybe we should just leave it be," I said trying not to sound
desperate.

"Oh, It'll be okay," Izzy shrugged then she opened the box. I turned the
other way trying not to see the things in the box.

"Oh, this is shiny what is the medal fo-," she cut herself off and both girls
went silent. I could hear the ruffling of my dad's uniforms being taken out
of the box a single tear slowly made its way down my face.

I heard both of the girls stand and begin to walk over to me. Two pairs of
arms wrapped around me and more tears made their way down my face.

"T-Those were my dads," I began trying to control my emotions.

"I'm sorry for opening it," Olivia whispers, "I just thought it was a box of
clothes."

"That's...that's the reason why I moved here. I lived with my dad in North
Carolina, in Jacksonville. A place called Camp Lejeune, he worked there
when not on tours," I quietly remember.

"Aubrey, you don't need to tell us this, it's okay," Izzy consoles me.
"I think I need to at least tell someone," I replied looking over at Izzy
appreciatively.

"About 5 months ago, my dad was deployed to Afganistan for the.....I think
his 15th time. A week and a half ago, I got a knock on my door and..and," I
had to stop myself and count to ten before continuing.

"I got the letter saying he was gone and a few hours later, social services
show up and since I'm not 18, I had to come here with my mom," I finished
then looked at both of their reactions.

They both had sad looks on their faces.

"Why the

hell

are you in school then?" Izzy asked angrily.

"My social worker said that I needed to go, I guess it is because it is my last
year or something," I shrugged.

"Question, how much do you know about your social worker, where and
who does she work for?" Olivia says with an outraged face and I giggle.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me friends that make me laugh.

"Alright, alright, enough of this pity party, we should do something fun," I

said wiping my damp face.

"I think we could put that theater room to use," Olivia smirked.

"Walmart isn't too far from here, we can get snacks!" Izzy yelled all of a
sudden.

"Good idea," I said and we all jumped off my bed and raced down the
stairs, outside, and to my car.
"I have no idea where I'm going," I said typing in the nearest Walmart into
the GPS.

__________________________

"Olivia I'm pretty sure that you don't look 21," Izzy said.

"Hey, maybe if I flirt with the cashier he would just give it to me anyway,"
Olivia shrugged.

"I don't think so," I said taking the wine bottle out of her hand and walking
to the aisle to put it back.

Turning the corner, I run into a large frame, effectively dropping and
shattering the wine bottle.

The wine bottle I'm not even supposed to be holding, considering I'm a high
school student.

I look up to see Luke looking down at the red wine all over the floor.

"Wine? Not even the good stuff?" he questions with a scoff and I attempt to
stutter out an answer, although failing miserably.

"I-I wasn't go-"

I notice Eli, the twins, and Ryan come around the corner and when Eli's
sees the red on the floor, his eyes widen.

"Oh my god. Who just got shanked?" he questions, taking ahold of my arm
and spinning my body, checking for any stab wounds.

"Aubrey, what on earth is taking you so long- oh no," she looks down at the
wine all over the floor.

"Clean up on aisle four, amirite?"

"Aubrey, I don't want to be near this isle anymore if you aren't gonna let me
try to get any alcohol, so please let's g-" Olivia starts before cutting herself
off noticing the guys and then the wine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Ryan stand a little taller.

Hmm?

A lady, wearing a workers vest stops abruptly when she sees us surrounding
a large amount of floor-covered wine.

"What is going on here?" she asks, looking around at all of us.

"I'm sorry," I apologize to the woman. After all, it was my fault. I wasn't
watching where I was going, too busy watching my own feet.

She looks back at me, a glare on her face, which only makes me feel
horrible. I didn't mean to do it.

"This is ridiculous. I'm getting my manager. You shouldn't even have

alcohol in your hands. I'm sure the police will be getting invol-" Luke steps
in front of me, blocking my view from the woman.

"I think we can work something else out, can't we?" he questions her with a
smooth chivalrous voice.

The lady stands speechless before a small smile breaks out onto her face. If
I was her, a smile would break out on my face too.

Luke is straight up very handsome.

"Well, I'm sure we could," her voice turns higher not that she's not angry-
talking to me. I watch Luke in amazement as he smooth talks his way out of
her getting her manager and calling the police.

I probably would've started crying if the woman's manager was called, I

can't imagine what I would've done if the police would arrive.

"Squeeze his butt," Izzy whispers, pointing to Luke's very nice butt. A blush
rises to my cheeks and I grab her hand, lowering it so she's not pointing at
him anymore.
"Do it," Eli joins in, giving me a wink.

I puff out my cheeks, in an attempt to cool them down which are probably
as red as the wine on the floor.

I catch a glance of the woman writing something on a small piece of paper.

Luke takes the paper from her, and she glances up at him with a sly smile.

"I'll get this taken care of," she smiles at him again, "just make sure to give
me a call."

"I would never forget," his smooth voice nearly knocks me off my feet and
I'm not even the one he's talking to.

He turns around and his face drops to emotionless.

We all begin walking away from the aisle and I find myself wanting to
apologize to him, but not knowing how to.

With nothing in our hands to buy, we all just walk to the exit.

"I'm sorry, Luke," I wince to myself, staring down at my feet and he stops
in front of me.

He doesn't say anything so eventually, I gather my courage and look up at

him.

"There you go," he begins talking now that I'm looking at him.

"You'll just have to owe me one," he crumples up the paper the lady gave
him and he tosses it in the trash can across from us.

"Okay," I mutter shyly, looking back down at my feet.

"Do you do that a lot?" he questions, looking down at my feet as well.

"Do what?"
"Just look at your feet. When you walk and when you talk to other people?"
he adds, a small smirk on his face and I have to keep from looking back
down at my feet.

Of course, I don't look down at my feet when I'm talking to other people.

Pretty much, only him.

Although, I always do it when I walk.

"Um, well, just when I get nervous," I accidentally blurt and he tilts his
head down at me.

"Do I make you nervous?" his voice turns into the tone I heard him speak
only a few minutes ago to the worker and I find myself not knowing what to
do with myself.

"'Scuse me!" Eli clears his throat loudly, all the way from the middle of the
parking lot.

"Party at Luke's house, woo bitch!" Eli shouts at us, roughly shaking Ryan
excitedly.

Taking that as the perfect opportunity to leave from the conversation

without further embarrassing myself, I walk out into the parking lot.

"Change of plans, but we'll definitely have a movie night next weekend,"
Izzy explains and I just nod.

After all, I would love to see Leo again.

_______________________________

"Do you like Ryan?" I ask Olivia.

"She has liked Ryan for forever," Izzy chuckles.

"You two would look good together," I smile remembering his reaction to
her when he saw her.
"Holy shi-tarky," Olivia saves herself when I throw her a look.

"That's a honking house!" Izzy says climbing out the back seat.

Once we are all out of the car we see all of the guys waiting outside on the
front porch.

"We were waiting for you because we're scared, you should have seen us
right after practice, It took us fifteen minutes to get the courage to just
unlock the door," Eli laughed.

"Not true," Luke sends him a glare, shoving him into the railing of the
porch which makes Eli dramatically grab his hip.

Luke takes out his keys and he swiftly unlocks the door before opening it.

"3...2...1," just like the first time after three seconds we hear the pounding
of large claws coming across the hardwood floor.

"Get. Behind. Her," Eli whisper yells to everyone and they all come behind
me.

Leo comes around the corner and as soon as he sees me his ears flop down
from their up position and his tail wags quicker than ever.

"Aww, hi Leo," I say walking over to him and going down on my knees
which makes him plop down on the floor right in front of me.

After a few seconds of petting Leo, I turn to look at everyone. For the
exception of Luke and Eli, everyone else was wide eyed and open mouthed.

"That dog is huge," Izzy squeaks and Olivia nodded beside her.

"I don't understand how you are doing that," One of the twins says shaking
his head. I stand up and Leo stands up and I walk back over to everyone.
They all immediately flinch backward since the dog is right beside me.

We walk to his living room and we all sit on the couch. Before Eli could sit
next to me Leo jumps on the couch and growls at him.
Olivia sits beside me on the other side and Izzy just sits on the floor in front
of me.

Maybe it won't be so bad living up here.

__________________________

|Sorry, it was a short chapter, it was kind of a filler.

Thanks for reading!

Word count: 1863

-Ashlyn M.
Part 5 "What is wrong with me?"
*AUBREY'S POV*

At about 9:00 that night we decided that it would be best if we went home.
We all started walking outside and that's when I realized I forgot my
glasses.

I can't see very well in the dark, everything just gets more blurry and I
didn't think we were going to be coming to Luke's house so I left them at
home.

I said goodbye to Leo and we all went out the door. I made it about ten
steps away from the lights on Luke's front porch before I started walking
like I was drunk.

I swayed a little to the right and tried to bring my other foot over to regain
my balance. That same foot then stepped off the pathway and I could feel
myself going down.

I grabbed onto the closest thing which just so happened to be the back of
Luke's shirt.

I let out a squeal as I fell down on one knee. Since I'm so short, Luke's got
pulled back a little by the way I held onto him.

This is so embarrassing.

"I'm so sorry Luke," I said getting back up. He straightened his shirt and
turned to me.

He just raises both his eyebrows in question.

Thank gosh he isn't mad. He actually looks really cute when he does that.

"I-I can't see," I said sheepishly putting my head down.

"Oh, Lord! She's legally blind!!" Eli said throwing his hands up.

"No, I just can't see in the dark," I replied.

"Whew! Thank you, Lord Jesus," Eli said wiping the invisible sweat off his
forehead.

Sometimes my eyeballs decide to have bad days. But, other than that, I just
wear them at night and when I read.

"So you can't drive?" Izzy asked getting excited.

"Nope."

"So, I can drive?" she smiled excitedly.

"Yeah," I shrugged. Izzy then grabbed my keys out of my hand and ran to
my car.

Somebody's eager.

"Aw you poor thing," Eli said linking our arms, "I'll be your guide boo-
boo."

We all walked to our cars and Eli let me go once he picked me up

and placed me into the car. He even buckled my seat belt.

I'm not that blind.

Izzy dropped Olivia off at her house and then we went to the school to get
her car.

"Alright, so how are we going to do this," Izzy placed a finger on her chin.
Our tactic wouldn't work since I wouldn't be able to see to drive home.

"Would your mom care if I spent the night at your house," Izzy asked
turning to me.
"Probably not," I replied looking down.

"Okay then we can do that," she said starting my car back up. I opened up
my phone, clicked on messages, and opened up my mom and I's chat.

Me: Can one of my friends spend the night tonight?

Mom: I don't care.

I sighed, shook my head slightly, and turned my phone off.

"Did she say it was okay?" Izzy asked. I just nod.

_____________________________

Izzy and I had been talking for about thirty minutes and we had gotten to
know more about each other.

I'm so thankful her, Olivia, and I get along so well.

I learned that she has an older sister named Marie and that her parents were
currently on an anniversary trip to Brazil for 2 weeks. Her sister is in
college and her 15-year-old brother goes to our school.

While she was in the bathroom I figured it would be a good time to pray. I
got down on my knees and began praying.

"What are you doing?" I heard Izzy ask. I hadn't noticed she came out of the
bathroom. I turned around a looked at her.

"Praying" I smiled.

"Can I join?" she asked with hope.

"Of course!" I said excitedly. We joined hands and she got on her knees.

We both prayed our own prayers but together. When I got choked up, she
grabbed my hand and held it tight.
_____________________________

"Aubrey? Wake up!" I opened my eyes and looked at the source of the very
loud noise.

"It took me ten minutes to wake you up," Izzy whines.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. I got up and put on my clothes. I put on a white

UNC sweatshirt, black leggings, and my white converse. I walked into the
bathroom where Izzy was brushing her teeth and I pulled my hair out of my
ponytail.

"Why do I feel like I look like a potato when I wear sweatshirts but you still
manage to look really good?" She says spitting out her toothpaste.

"I think you look perfectly fine," I said truthfully. She really did look good.
I wish I had long legs and straight pretty hair like hers. If anything I'm the
one who looks like a potato.

"I love your hair," she compliments and I smile.

"Thank you, sometimes it's a pain in the butt," I giggle, "But your hair is
pretty too!"

"I wish I had curly hair," she says shaking her head and applying some of
my mascara to her eyelashes. I put my hair in another ponytail and start
brushing my teeth.

"I have to say when I first saw you I wasn't sure I would like you," Izzy said
after a while looking a little guilty. I spit out the last of my toothpaste,
wiped my mouth and looked up at Izzy.

"What? Why?" I asked with a little laugh.

"I don't know. I'm not really one to make new friends easily," she shrugs.

"Don't tell anybody this, not even Olivia."

"I won't" I motioned for her to go on.

"I used to best friends with Ana," she says.

I stand there stunned.

"Really? What happened?" I question.

"Freshman year she just started hanging out with the wrong people. We
grew apart and I don't even know who she is anymore," she shakes her head
and I can tell that the subject is bothering her so I don't ask any more
questions.

"I'm sorry."

_______________________________

After a while, we were finally on the way to school. Once I parked in a spot
we got out of my car and we started walking towards the school building.

"I really cannot believe you two made me ride the bus this morning!" Olivia
said coming up beside me.

"I'm not that sorry," Izzy said controlling her growing smile.

"Sorry Olivia," I smiled.

Soon we all separated and went to our own lockers to get our things.
Thankfully all of our lockers are in the same hall.

"Can you see me?" Eli said coming up next to my locker.

"Yes, I can Eli," I said chuckling.

"That sweatshirt looks comfy I want on-" Eli cut himself off when I turned
around and he saw the front. He gags at the team on the front of my
sweatshirt and I giggle.

"Oh Jesus honey, I know you're from down there and all but come on,"
He says covering his eyes so that he doesn't see the sweatshirt. I turned back
around, shut my locker, and just walked away leaving him there.

I make my way over to Olivia's locker and tried starting a conversation but
that didn't work too well because Eli decided to follow me.

"Well don't leave me boo-boo," Eli pouted.

"Well you don't like my sweatshirt," I pouted right back at him.

"I'm sorry," He says hugging me really tightly.

"You are going to kill her," Olivia says from beside me. He lets go and
gives me a sympathetic look.

"That's right, you're teeny tiny. "

_____________________________

Once me and Olivia are in first block we take a seat in the same place we
did yesterday, class started soon after.

"So there is a football game on Friday, do you want to come?" Olivia

whispers. I haven't been to one of those for a while.

"Yeah that'll be fun," I nod.

After about 35 minutes class ended and I made my way to math. I walked
into the classroom and Luke was already in there. I don't know how though,
we come from the same class. Maybe it's because he has longer legs than
me.

"Okay, so as you remember, you took your partner's height yesterday

correct?" We all nodded and Ms. Myers continued.

I drifted off as she continues speaking about what we are going to do today.
I kept thinking about how awkward I'm being since I practically clawed at
Luke's shirt last night.
Wow, that sounded awful.

And that he asked me if he makes me nervous. I mean come on, how am I

supposed to answer that question? I can't say no with confidence and I also
can't say yes without blushing my whole entire face off.

Why does everything have to be so difficult?

I focused back on what the teacher was saying and we began to work.

__________________________

"I don't know, I just felt kind of awkward, we didn't really say anything to
each other. Why do I have to be so embarrassing?" I tell Izzy as she walks
with me to the cafeteria.

"Well it is probably you just making it seem awkward, I'm sure he's fine,"
Izzy shrugs.

"You are not very good at giving advice," I told her as nicely as I could.

"Sorry," she laughs.

Izzy and I enter the lunch room and we find Olivia along the way. We all
take a seat and begin eating our lunch.

As I was sitting there, a ranchy spinach leaf handing halfway out of my

mouth, Luke decides to walk up and stand right beside the table and look
right at me.

My face heated up so quickly and turned very red. I tried covering my

mouth and pushing the spinach into my mouth with my fork but I just
looked like a weirdo. Then, Eli came up next to Luke.

Once I finally got everything situated I looked back up and gave an

embarrassed smile. He probably thinks I'm gross now.

"You left your math book in calculus," My face probably got even redder.
What is wrong with me?

I looked over to Eli and he was wriggling his eyebrows and looking
between me and Luke.

"Thank you," I said putting my notebook back into my backpack.

"I'll see you," Luke says walking back to his table, his face emotionless. Eli
wiggles his eyebrows at me once more before following after Luke.

I looked over to the girls and they were both raising their brows at me and
giving me smirks.

"Aw, your face was so red the entire time," Olivia says.

__________________________

"I'll see you guys later," Olivia says as she separates from us. I make my
way into chemistry and Izzy and I take our seats.

"Try and finish your projects today," Mr. Ryker says from his seat at his
desk.

"So you are coming to the game Friday right? Olivia asked and you said yes
right?" Izzy asks.

"Yeah, I'm going," I smile.

We worked on our projects almost the whole time only stopping when I had
to help Luke pull the tape out of his hair thanks to Eli.

I kinda think Eli did it on purpose though because the whole time I was
helping Luke, Eli and Izzy were both giving us these smirks and Luke was
glaring harshly at Eli.

Luke's hair was really soft too

.
A while later the bell rung and it was finally the last class of the day.

________________________

|||||| I'm sorry I haven't updated in 2.74 million years.

Remember I don't edit so if there are errors then sorry. Especially since
it is 4 in the morning where I live right now, there are definitely gonna
be errors.

- Ashlyn M.
Part 6 "Liam likes to think his shit
doesn't stink"
I sat down in last period beside Luke and Eli like usual. Ms. Lonio came in
late as usual and she sat at her desk.

"Today class, we will be watching a documentary," Ms. Lonio clicks play

and the Star Spangled Banner came on. The title of the documentary
appears on the screen.

Serving Our Country: The Military

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. The documentary

starts playing and talking about men and women who had lost their lives.

A single tear drips down my face as they started showing footage of things
getting blown up. I stood abruptly causing my chair to screech back. I wipe
the tear from my face.

"Aubrey?" Luke asked sitting up looking alert from his previous position
where his head was rested on his arms.

That caught the attention of Eli and he looked very alarmed as well, nearly
choking on the Gushers he was eating.

I grabbed my phone off the desk and made a run for it. I got to the
classroom door and that's when I first heard footsteps coming behind me. I
opened the door and darted out. I made it maybe two classrooms away
before a hand grabbed mine and turned me around.

Luke stood there confusion all over his face.

I bet I looked like a complete mess with my tear covered cheeks. I looked
down so he couldn't see my face.
"Hey hey hey," he said and he took my chin and tilted my head back up. He
looks into my eyes for a few seconds with an unexplainable look of his own
before pulling my head into his chest.

I cry softly into his chest for a few minutes until I realize what I've gotten
myself into. I mean come on, I've known this guy for a week, he probably
thinks I'm some crazy girl.

"Sorry," I said trying to wipe the tear stains off his shirt.

He has some pretty good chest muscles.

"It's okay," he takes my hand off his chest but doesn't let go of it "are you
okay?" he asks sincerely.

I'm actually really surprised he followed me out. He usually just has an 'I
don't care' aura about him but now he's got a new emotion to add to the
small list I've seen.

"Yes thank you," I blush and look down since he was still holding my hand.

"Let's go," he says pulling me in the opposite direction of the classroom.

"W-where are we going?"

"You don't wanna go back in there right?" He asks. I shake my head and he
continues to pull me.

We end up under a big oak tree on the school campus.

"Tell me about you," His deep voice startles me. I didn't think he would
talk. I also didn't think he would ask me

to talk...about myself.

"Oh well, there isn't much to know about me, I'm kinda plain," I laughed a
little at the end.
"I don't think you're plain," I feel his gaze on the side of my face. I blush
and look down.

Soon after a long conversation got started about our favorite things ranging
from shows to colors and animals. He wouldn't give totally detailed answers
and most of them were one worded but he did make me feel better.

During the time we were talking I learned a few things about Luke. First, he
can be cocky at times, well when he does talk. Also, he seemed to be more
involved in our conversation than what I had seen of him in other
conversations. I think it was just because he was talking about things he
loves though.

I also learned how much he loved football. He didn't directly say he loved it
but I could tell by the way his eyes lit up every time he talked about it.

It was quite cute, actually.

________________________________

"Alright, enough about me," I laughed remembering the story I had just told
him about when I fell flat on my face in 7th grade in front of the entire
class. I was telling him how clumsy I tended to be.

"I moved here my sophomore year from Alabama," he shrugged.

"I've been wondering where you're from! I could tell you weren't from
here," I exclaim excitedly.

"Definitely not from here," he shakes his head.

"This is bullshit, I have to walk around this whole damn campus looking for
them carrying two extra heavy ass backpacks!" A voice exclaims and we
turn to look at it. Eli is at the front of the schoolyard looking around it. He
spots us and starts making his way over here.

He comes up and plops beside us on the ground.

"You guys," he pauses to catch his breath, "You guys couldn't have taken
your bags when you left?"

"Sorry Eli, thank you," I say grabbing my bag.

"The bell rang?" Luke asks.

"Yeah, like, ten minutes ago," Eli responds.

"We have practice," Luke says.

"I don't wanna go, I already know I'm good," Eli says smugly and I giggle
at his bluntness.

Luke rolls his eyes.

"Are you saying I'm not good?" Eli asks with mock hurt.

Luke shrugs, "You can take it however you want to."

"Okay listen here buddy, you don't have to shove it into my face you are the
world's best quarterback!"

"Eli y-"

"No! It is my time to talk right now!"

"Eli!"

"What?!"

"The country not world," Luke smirks cockily. I find myself fawning over
that smirk.

"What? Oh. Whatever, you ass, that's what I meant. " Eli then looks over to
me.

"Hey, boo-boo!" I wave back and smile.

"Eli we gotta go," Luke says standing up and holding his hand out to me. I
take it trying not to blush and stand up.

"Yeah yeah yeah, bye Aubrey," Eli says as he starts walking back towards
the school. Luke turns towards me and looks down at me.

"I gotta go, sweetheart," I blush and look down so he can't see it. I have a
feeling he's smirking though.

"I'll see you at the game Friday right?" He 'asks.' It was almost more of like
a 'don't argue' type thing.

"Yeah," I smile and look back up at him.

"And I'll see you at the after party when we win?" He questions and I smile
at how open he's now being. Maybe he's not really opened up, but he's
better than before.

I don't think he hates me anymore.

"I'm not sure," I shrug.

"Well, I'll just have to make that a yes tomorrow then won't I?" I blush once
again and smile shyly when he raises his eyebrow.

"Goodbye Luke," I smile, grab my bag, start walking to the parking lot still
blushing like crazy.

______________________________

Once I got home, I did my homework, which thankfully I didn't have a lot
of. I took out my phone and looked at all the new messages. All 36 of them.

1 from Kelsey and 35 of them from the group chat of me, Izzy, and Olivia.
Olivia and Izzy were asking about where I went and what happened.
Apparently, after school, we are all supposed to meet up at Ms. Lonio's door
but since I wasn't there, they thought I got kidnapped.
Me: Don't worry guys I just left class a little early and went out to the
back of the school with Luke.

Izzy: Oh ok.

Olivia: Oh

Izzy: WAIT WITH LUKE BACK UP A MINUTE

OLIVIA: HOLD UP HONEY DID YOU SAY WITH LUKE AS IN

LUKE TAYLOR?!

Me: Gov. class took a turn so we just talked under the oak tree.

Olivia: That's actually so cute, I might faint.

Izzy: Aww he took you out there cuz you were upset?

Me: Yes.

Olivia: I'm loving this.

I clicked out the group message and read Kelsey's message.

Kels: Hey, we didn't talk last night so I just wanted to make sure you
were okay.

Me: Yeah I'm fine Kelsey thank you

I turned my phone off and decided to take a nap.

_______________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

That look in her eyes when she was crying. I've seen the look, I've had that
look in my own eyes.
For some reason, I can't seem to get her out of my head. Maybe she and I
aren't so different after all.

And damn is she hot as hell.

"Hey man, you know that new girl?" I barely hear from the other side of the
locker room but I can tell it's coming from Liam, the shittiest linebacker
ever. Liam likes to think his shit doesn't stink.

He's a cocky son of a bitch and to be completely honest, as soon as he gives

me a reason to knock his ass out, I will.

"Yeah" I hear someone reply. As I start walking to the other end of the
locker room, a strong feeling taking over my thoughts.

A feeling I've never felt before.

"She has such a nice ass, damn man. I would love to take her," he says and
something just clicks. I walk over to where he his and completely tower
over his frame.

"Shut the fuck up," I warn him and watch as his face contorts with fear.

"Woah man," he says putting both hands up. By now the whole locker room
is silent.

I try my best not to fight with teammates but, I don't consider him a
teammate.

"Hey! What is going on in here guys?" Coach asks coming over to where I
am currently still towering over Liam looking down at him with a deadly
glare.

"Coach all I did was...

compliment

one of the girls at our school and he went crazy," Liam says trying to sound
innocent.
Bitch.

I turned my gaze over to Coach and he met my glare.

It's my word against Liam's and coach trusts me, he kinda has to if I'm
captain. Obviously, he's not the brightest.

"Don't disrespect women. The next time I hear you disrespect a woman, you
will no longer get to wear that jersey, you hear?"

"Yes sir," Liam glares at the ground and coach leaves the locker room.

"Really dude? You act like she's yours!" Liam exclaims and I freeze before
turning my gaze back to him.

"She is," I walk back to my locker.

"I'll be honest, sometimes you scare me," Eli says stuffing his things into
his duffel bag.

"You like Aubrey?!" Ryan asks coming up beside me.

"I didn't say I liked her," I mumble, tying up my cleats.

"Than what was that about?" he questions.

"I just said she's mine."

___________________________

|||||Hopefully that wasn't too boring. Next chapter will be pretty

eventful. Sorry that this chapter was shorter than usual too.

Thanks for reading!

-Ashlyn M.
Part 7 "Father, forgive Chris for he
knows not what he does"
"Get up!" my mother shook me awake. I woke up and looked around.

Did I really just sleep for 14 hours?

I got up and quickly jumped into the shower. I took a record-breaking

shower of 5 and a half minutes. I got out of the shower, dried my body and
decided to just keep my hair down and to let it curl back into its natural
loose ringlets. I put on a little bit of mascara and went to my closet.

I grabbed a pair of light blue ripped jeans and pulled them on trying my
hardest since my legs weren't completely dry. Then I got a plain white v-
neck and I put it on. I slipped on a pair of cute light pink, velvety flats,
grabbed my necklace, and starting making my way downstairs while
hooking the necklace.

By now Rick and my mom have already made their way to work. I quickly
fixed myself some oatmeal and eat it.

By the time I got to my car, my hair was thankfully only damp and very

curly.

Maybe I should have brushed it. Right now it is a little

too

natural.

I parked my car and started walking to the school right on time.

"Oh my gosh, your hair is so gorgeous!" Olivia says from behind me as I

stop at my locker.
"Thank you" I smile shyly, "I just left it natural because I had a lot to do this
morning."

A squeal was heard from across the hall an Olivia and I turned to look. Izzy
was running over here with her hands out in front of her.

"Yes! I love it!" She exclaims as she feels the softness of my newly dried
hair, "and I thought it was pretty in a ponytail," she scoffs as if she were
crazy for thinking that.

"We are gonna be late if we don't go to class! Bye Izzy!" Olivia says as she
drags me away from Izzy heading towards Mr. Matcherson's.

________________________

We take a seat in our usual spot and wait for the teacher to start class. Right
before class starts the door opens and Luke walks in. His eyes catch mine
and he gives me a slight smirk before letting his eyes travel over the rest of
me. His smirk falters a little but soon it comes back.

He starts walking towards the back where his desk his and on the way, his
eyes don't leave mine. Right as he passes my desk, I get a quick whiff of
him and let me just say, he smells too darn good.

"I think he likes it," Olivia wiggles her brows and I blush.

Thankfully first period went by quickly and now I had math. I walked into
math, once again, getting there after Luke.

"How do you get here so fast?" I ask taking a seat beside him.

"Long legs, love," he tilts his head and I get a full and amazing view of his
really nice jaw. Really nice.

"Alrighty, class! Today we are going to be doing another in-class project!

Although, this time you are going to be partnered up with someone from
Mrs. Daniels' class. They aren't in this high of a class so you are going to
have to bear with them." Ms. Myers says energetically.
A few minutes later we are walking to Mrs. Daniel's room. We enter her
room and I look around trying to find if I see anybody I know. The only
people I recognize are Ana, Izzy, and scary Chris.

"Let us pair you up!" Mrs. Daniels says. Mrs. Daniels is a kind looking
woman maybe around the age of forty.

I drift off until I hear my name being called.

"Aubrey and Liam"

"Izzy and Ana"

"Luke and Chris"

I wonder who Liam is?

"Oh come on." Luke clenches his jaw which gave me another really good
mini show.

"It is The Dark Lord of The Underworld!" Chris yells out causing the whole
room to become silent. He rushes out of the classroom in anger.

"Luke you can work with Liam and Aubrey then," Ms. Myers says,
recovering from what just occurred.

Luke makes his way over to a guy sitting near the back of the class. I follow
him and take a seat.

"Father, forgive Chris for he knows not what he does," I silently whisper to
myself before kissing my cross and taking a look at my two partners.

Luke is glaring daggers at Liam and Liam is sitting there with fear adorning
his face. I wonder what has gotten him so mad all of a sudden.

I looked over to Liam. He looked quite small next to Luke even though he
wasn't that small. His light, strawberry blonde hair shines brightly against
the artificial lights of the room and his eyes appear to be a dark shade of
forest green.
I turned my attention to Izzy and she mouthes "I have something to tell
you" excitedly.

The two teachers start explaining the lesson and soon enough we start
working.

"So I think we sh-"

"Shut up," Luke cuts off Liam.

Every time Liam opens his mouth to say something Luke would either turn
and glare at him or tell him to 'shut up' or 'shut the...eff up'.

"Luke?" I question. He looks up at me, huffs then he leans back in his chair.
I motion for Liam to go on and he does but giving not-so-great ideas.

"Maybe we could like get a slice of pizza and do the project on that!" He
says excitedly.

Well, at least he is trying.

___________________________

Izzy and I walked into geography class and we took our seats.

"All right, so about what I had to tell you" she squeaks excitedly at the end.
I nod for her to go on.

"Okay, so Luke was mad and all when you sat down right?" she asks. I nod
and she continues.

"I know why," she squeals once again.

"Why!"

"Because Liam was looking at you all flirty! Anyways Luke saw it and I
think the
Luke Taylor has a thing for you, you lucky bitch!" She says and starts
jumping in her seat. I cringe at her language and she quickly says she is
sorry.

"I don't think so. We're just friends, if that." I say and Izzy looks at me with
disbelief.

"Are you for real! He has never, ever looked at any of his girlfriends like he
looks at you! And you two only met almost a week ago!" She exclaims.

"He's had, girlfriends?" I accidentally say out loud. Of course he's had
girlfriends, what am I thinking? He's gorgeous.

"Not really, they're just flings. He did date Ana but he hates her guts." She
snorts.

"He dated Ana?" I asked suddenly very interested.

"Back at the beginning of junior year, they dated for like, a month or
something. He hated her guts the whole time and you could tell. She would
always try to be all touchy with him. Now, it is so hilarious! He ignores her
all the time," She laughs.

"Oh."

"But don't you worry about that, he hates her, trust me," she says sincerely.

________________________

Geography soon ended and now it was time for physical education. Izzy
and I went to the locker rooms and we changed out.

I wish Olivia had more classes with Izzy and me.

"Oh, I love your curls," Eli says in a girly tone making me laugh. We all sit
down on the gym floor and the teacher comes up to talk.

"Okay guys, we are going to be doing a project. Now, many of you know
what this is going to be because many of you saw the seniors last year
walking around with babies. You all will pair off with one other person
from this class, and you will have to take care of and look after a
mechanical baby for an entire week, plus the weekend." Different reactions
were heard around the room.

Some were excited and some weren't.

"Wherever you go, the baby must go as well. Don't let this stop you from
going to your little parties either. This is the point of the whole project. At
the end of that week, I will send the babies back off to the company, they
will look through the sensors on the baby, and they will determine your
grade and send it back to me in a few weeks time. You will get your babies
Monday during class. Find a partner and be thinking about baby names."
She ended her explanation and walked over to her little desk in the corner
of the gym and got on her phone.

I turned around and saw a lot of people getting up and going to try to find
their partners. Jayden and Jackson were already paired with two girls. Izzy
was talking to a guy with a man bun. I guess that is her partner. I looked in
front of me and saw Luke and Eli both trying to stand up and walk over to
me. They kept trying to get ahead of each other and I could barely hold
back a laugh.

Finally Luke used his long legs and muscles to push Eli away from him, trip
him, then give him a good kick to the back. Finally, he made his way over
to me very calmly and smirking.

"Luke!" A voice I recognized as Ana's say, "be my partner!" she screeched.

He pretended like he didn't hear her and he kept his eyes on me, still
walking towards me. I looked at where Ana was and saw she was being
paired up with Eli since they were the only two left.

"Poor Eli," I pouted slightly.

"He'll get over it."

___________________________
"Okay so baby names.." I trailed off thinking of names.

"I want a girl," Luke says. I would definitely want a boy first, but then a
girl.

"A boy it is," He says after he sees my reaction.

"Oh! I know! What about Dick! He can be named after his father!" Eli yells
from where he and Ana are sitting behind us.

"Eli," Luke shakes his head, "

I'm

the father of this baby not you, so that name wouldn't work."

"I

hate

you" Eli mouths back to Luke.

"What about Weston, West for short!" I say excitedly.

"Only if I can give him his middle name," Luke smirks mischievously. I
nodded giving him a hesitant look. He thinks for a minute then I see his
eyes light up with an idea.

"Weston Dipthong Taylor!"

"Oh my goodness gracious, okay!"

"Wait really?"

" I got to pick his first name so it's only right," I shrug giving him a warm
smile.

"Now just because that is his middle name, doesn't mean we are going to
tell
people that is his middle name" I laugh and thankfully he agrees.

________________________

"I hope he would be as tall as you," I say to Luke.

"I hope he has your dimple" He looks over at me causing me to smile. He

points to the dimple on the right side of my cheek.

"Alright you guys can leave early since you only have lunch next," Mrs.
Siding says releasing us.

Izzy and I walk back to the locker rooms, change back out then go to the
cafeteria.

What was the point of changing our clothes?

"So who is your partner?" I ask since I still don't know anybody's name.

"His name is Max, he's in my English class. I don't like anybody in that
class and he doesn't either so naturally, we got along," she shrugs.

"I cannot believe Luke! I was going to be partners with you but no! He just
had

to be partners with you making me have to be partners with Sheila!" Eli

says and he, Luke, and Ryan take a seat at our table.

Luke sits beside me and I look down, focusing on my food in front of me.

"Who's Sheila?" Izzy asked very confusedly.

"Ana," everyone at the table says including me.

*Ting*

I look down at my phone and see that it is a message from Olivia.

Olivia: I need you to come to the girl's bathroom right across from the
cafeteria doors, please!

Me: I'm coming. Are you okay?

Olivia: Nope, I'm dying.

I walk into the bathroom and see Olivia pacing around it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask worriedly.

"It's Ryan! I have had a huge crush on him since like, 5th grade? Maybe
4th. I feel like I just get so awkward around him and now he is sitting at our
lunch table!" she freaks out.

"Just stay calm and you'll be fine. Come on," we walk out the bathroom
doors," plus, I think he likes you too!"

_________________________

After coming back to the lunch table, with Olivia, everything went
smoothly and we had a great time all eating together.

Soon, Izzy and I found ourselves in chemistry finishing our projects. We

ended up finishing our projects early and since Eli and Luke were a little
behind, Mr. Ryker asked us to help them.

We were currently gluing paint brush bristles which were being used as hair
to a wonderful drawing that Eli drew himself.

Luke thought Eli's four-year-old sister drew it but according to Eli, she only
instructed

him on how to do it.

We cut the bristles off paintbrushes and glue them to the heads of the
drawings. I tried asking what the project they were doing was about but Eli
just said it had to do with a chemical reaction between cow spit and the
human hair. Luke then assured me it was all Eli's idea and Eli happily took
credit for it.

Once we were done the bell rang right as Eli and Luke were turning their
papers in. Mr. Ryker got a good laugh when he saw the drawings, which
slightly offended Eli so he just flipped his invisible long hair and strutted
out the class.

I walked in between the two trees on the way to AP government. It kind of

felt like I was beside two tall buildings.

Eli kept bumping into me and I swear he couldn't walk in a straight line
even if he wanted to. One strong bump sends me running into Luke and he
wraps his strong arm around my shoulder, straightening me back into place.

Eli looked down at my burning cheeks and he gave me a wink.

The three of us took our seats and this time Ms. Lonio was in class on time.
But she was asleep. I honestly don't know how this lady still has a job.

"So the after party?" Luke asks leaning closer to me. I blush, of course.

He smells so good.

"Yes?" I shyly smile.

"There'll be a dog" he smirks knowing what my reaction would be.

"I'll be there," I smile brightly this time.

"What did you guys name your child?" Eli says slightly glaring at Luke
when he smirked because he got me as a partner.

"Weston Taylor," I said hoping Luke would just leave out his middle name.

"Weston

Dipthong
Taylor" He just had to add the middle part.

After telling Eli Weston's middle name, he laughed for about five minutes.

We talked for the rest of the time and soon later the bell rang.

__________________________

"Bye boo-boo!"

"Bye Eli!"

"I'll see you tomorrow Aubrey" Luke smirks and walks away.

Izzy and Olivia soon find me and we make our way out to the parking lot.
We go our separate ways and I go home.

Once I'm home I do my homework and binge watch "The Office". At about
9 I decided to get up, do my nightly routine, shower, pick out clothes for
tomorrow, pray, then fall asleep to the sound of Prison Mike.

____________________________

|||||Thank you for reading!

*Remember I don't edit most of the time*

Word count: 2683

-Ashlyn M.
Part 8 "He was obviously just
looking to frickle-frackle"
I pulled into the school parking lot after very lazily going through my
morning routine. I walked into the school and saw a few lockers decorated
with school colors.

Those must be football players' lockers.

I made my way to my locker and got out my English notebook. I turned

around to look and see if Izzy or Olivia was here and I was met with a
muscular chest.

Arms go out to my waist to help me regain my balance. I look up and see

Luke's face smirking down at me.

Arrogant butthole.

"Hi," I say shyly.

"Hi," he says and I look up at him. I look down at his shirt and see he is
wearing a Greenwood football sweatshirt with his number and the letters
"QB" on it. I would imagine his last name on the back as well.

He caught me staring at his chest so I decided to play it off cool.

"This is such a nice sweatshirt, I like it," I said patting his chest. A second
later I realized I patted his chest and I could feel my cheeks tinge pink.

It really was nice, it looked very warm too.

"Thank you," he says softly leaning down a little so he could get closer, his
hands still resting on my waist.
One of his arms unwrapped from my waist and he raised it up to beside my
head. He kept his eyes down on mine as he closed the locker.

The locker shut and he gave me a genuine smile.

I never knew a smile could knock the breath out of someone.

"Hey, Aubrey!" Eli shouts coming through the people crowding the hallway.
Luke slowly unwrapped his other hand off of me, never taking his eyes off
mine. He twists around and leans his back against the locker beside mine.

"Hi, Eli!" I say back energetically and happily. I'm just so excited to have
seen Luke actually smile.

"Where is your school spirit? You don't have any blue or yellow!" Eli says
throwing his hands in the air.

"Don't worry, I am here for the rescue!" Olivia says coming up beside me
holding a blue t-shirt jersey with yellow numbers.

"It's your number Luke, that was the only one I could find, I hope you don't
mind" she smirks.

"I don't mind," he turns towards me and smirks a teasing smirk. I blush,
take the shirt and go to the bathroom dragging Olivia with me.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" I ask suspiciously.

"What? I would

never,

" she says adding a little devilish smile at the end. I give her a "really" look.

"Okay so maybe I did. But! He was fine with it! He actually seemed very

fine with it!" She says encouragingly.

"But people are going to think we're together or something," I say
remembering that at my old school, the guys would give a girl his number
or jersey and she would wear it, being his girlfriend.

"Well I mean, it is only a matter of time," she mumbles shrugging.

"Olivia!"

"What? Ask anyone! They would say the same."

"I don't know," I mumble softly.

"You don't understand how lucky you are! Just put on the damn shirt!" She
yells and I give her a look to which she just rolls her eyes.

I walk in a stall and swap my shirts. It was only just a teeny bit tight on my
chest area but that was alright, when looking at it you could barely tell there
was a difference than my other shirts.

I walk out the stall, put my shirt in my bag, and turn so that Olivia can see
me.

"How nice!" She claps her hands excitedly, "Let's go back out!"

She grabs my hand and I plant my feet to the ground. She turns to me and
gives me a dumb look.

"You know I can drag you very easily if I wanted to."

I un-plant my feet and walk out of the restroom. The bell is about to ring so
Olivia and I just head to English.

We sit in our regular seats and a minute after we do that Luke walks into the
room. His eyes immediately darted towards me and he looks down at my
shirt. He rolls his bottom lip into his mouth and I can tell he's holding back
a smile.

He walks past me but instead of going to his seat, he sits behind me. When
he sits his legs go all the way over to my desk where my feet are sitting. I
look down at his feet and turn and look at him with a questioning gaze.

"Gotta stretch em,' it's game day," He smirks. I turn back around and see
Olivia giving me smirk sideways.

After about half of the class has passed and I'm currently doing a worksheet
with my English textbook. All of a sudden I heard a chair scraping the floor
from behind me.

"

Love

your shirt," Luke whispers in my ear and he scoots back in his chair. I puff
out my cheek and look at Olivia.

She had her fist to her mouth and she was holding in a laugh.

20 minutes later the bell rang and I made my way to math.

Don't blush.

I walked in and sat beside Luke. Before either of us could say anything, Ms.
Myers said we had to go back to Mrs. Daniel's classroom to finish our
assignment. Luke let out a big huff then we both got up and made our way
to her room.

We sat at the table with Liam and we immediately began to work.

Luke still glared at Liam the whole time.

We finished the assignment with about 10 minutes left in class. I decided to

walk over to Izzy.

She and Ana had finished the work at about the same time as my group and
thankfully Izzy moved back to her own seat.

I got up and walked over to her and I noticed how her eyes would dart
behind me every second.
"What were you looking at behind me?" I asked sitting down at the empty
seat beside her. She looked at me with a secretive smile.

"Your man was looking at your butt."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I put my hands on them to cool them down.

"I'm sure he was looking at something else," I shrug before freezing and
realizing I didn't correct her when she said 'my man.'

The bell rings a few minutes later and Izzy and I go to geo.

Geography is boring to me but it isn't as bad as it could be. Usually, nothing

happens in that class and the same went for today.

After geo, I went to music where the only thing we did was watch a part of
the movie "The Sound of Music".

On my way to the lunchroom, I saw a really skinny guy maybe six inches
taller than me get pushed into a locker. The boy looked like a ninth grader
and according to his shirt, he was the water boy for the football team.

I felt really bad for him and I wanted to help him but I was scared that the
bulky guy, just a little taller than the ninth grader, would turn on me. He
looked a little scary.

"Why are you stopped in the middle of the hallway?" Luke asked coming
up next to me. I shyly nodded over to the guy who was now continuously
shoving the poor ninth grader. Luke looked over to where they were and his
face contorts in anger.

He stormed over to the guy, grabbed him by his collar, shoved him into the
lockers, and lifted him off the ground so that he was almost eye level with
him.

I speed-walked over to the ninth grader who looked as if he were trying to

calm his racing heart.
"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size! Or age! I would love to
see you try to pull that shit on me." I heard Luke sneer too

calmly as I grabbed the young guy's shoulder and pulled him to the other
side of the hall.

"Are you okay?" I ask with a sorry smile.

"Y-yeah" He gives a weak smile.

"What's your name?" I ask still smiling.

"Matthew."

"I'm Aubrey! I was going to help you myself but, I don't look too
intimidating," I joke referring to my 5' frame.

He laughs a little and I can hear Luke warn the guy one last time before he
makes his way over to us.

"Hey water boy," Luke claps Matthew on his back causing him to lose his
balance a little.

"Hey, Luke," Matthew rubs the spot where Luke hit him.

"Thanks, you guys. Brad is always on my back," Matthew rolls his eyes.

"You could just sock him in the nuts" Luke shrugs and I give him a dirty
look causing him to smile.

Another one!

"Luke, you have to remember not everybody is as tall as a doorway and as

strong as an ox," Matthew says in an obvious tone.

"Minor detail," Luke shrugs, "I'll see you later, Matt."

"Bye Matthew!" I smile. He waves back and Luke and I start walking to the
cafeteria.
___________________

I sit down in between Izzy and Olivia and started telling them I was late.

"He lifted him off the ground?!" Izzy asked incredulously.

"Yeah, high up too!" I laughed.

"Who are they playing tonight?" Olivia asks.

"I think Southwest High School," Izzy answers.

"What time does the game start?" I asked realizing that was a question I
should have asked days ago.

"It starts at five," Olivia says as the bell rings.

"Yeah and we just stay here since we would have to come back anyway,"
Izzy adds.

Today, instead of walking out back, we go out front where the fountain is.

Apparently, a whole bunch of the senior football players does too.

"Oh my god! It's my best friend," I heard Eli shout. I turned around and Eli
and the rest of the group were coming over to where I was.

He gave me a big hug and the rest of the guys greeted me. I saw a few
unfamiliar faces in the group though.

After free period was over, all of my afternoon classes went by quickly and
we didn't really do anything since it was Friday.

"Oh, I am so pumped up, you don't even know!" Eli tells me as we leave AP
government.

I swear he's got too much energy sometimes.

_____________________
"It's almost 4:00 now so if we want front seats we better go the field now,"
Izzy says as she gets up from the spot she was sitting in the grass at the
back of the school.

Olivia gets up and we follow her walking to the big field.

We got to where the concession stands were and we could see that the large
bleachers were already starting to fill up.

We rushed to front seat right where we could see everything perfectly and
we waited and talked.

"I can't wait to see Ryan in those tight pants," Olivia said in a
very...distinctive way.

"You have issues," I laughed.

"Ladies and gentleman, introducing your home players, Greenwood High's

Trojan's!!" A loud voice said over the stadium's intercoms said.

Our school's football team running out of the locker rooms and onto the
field.

"In case you forget, Luke is number 9," Olivia tells me with a devilish
smile.

Somehow or another, my eyes just happen to come across number 9 leading

his team and running on the field.

His butt looks absolutely amazing.

What is happening to me?

I blush a little at my own thoughts just as the announcer announces the

other team.

"And your guest team, Southwest High's Tigers!!"

The Tigers run onto the field just like our team and both teams go to their
own sidelines.

"Eli is number 18 and Ryan is number 32. Luke, Ryan, and Eli are the three
that go up to the coin toss," Izzy informs me because Olivia was too busy
staring at Ryan.

The three people from each team go up and they shake hands. It's obvious
that the other team is intimidated by our team.

I would be too if I was standing in front of Luke on that field.

The guy's win the coin toss and soon the game really starts.

_________________________

Only one quarter into the game and I can totally see how Luke is already on
ESPN. He makes no errors and he throws perfect throws. Eli is amazing
too. He is quick, with very good footwork, and he catches everything
thrown to him with no problem.

By halftime, we are winning 38-0.

Izzy, Olivia, and I decide to get up and get a drink since we are cheering
quite a bit.

"Luke is really really good," I say.

"He really is, he has so many scholarships it isn't even funny" Izzy shakes
her head.

By the end of the game, we had won 69-0.

That is just a little embarrassing for the other team.

We decided to stay a little after the game since there would be a lot of
traffic with all the people leaving school.
We walked out near the concession stands where there were some picnic
tables and we decided to sit there. It was also near both of the locker room
exits and we could see some of the guys from both teams exiting the rooms.

"Hey ladies," an unfamiliar guy smirks and sits right across from us at the
picnic table.

I'm pretty sure he is from the other school according to the looks on Izzy
and Olivia's face.

"You, my dear," he takes my hand, brings it up to his lips, and kisses it, "are
very beautiful" He smiles.

He wasn't unattractive at all but he was obviously just looking to frickle-

frackle. He had light brown hair, a sharp jaw, and pretty pale green eyes. He
was also pretty tall but he wasn't anywhere near how tall Luke was.

Why am I thinking about Luke right now?

I blushed, not being used to people called me beautiful.

"Shit, that pass you threw to me in the last minute was gorge-" Eli cut
himself off when he caught sight of the random guy holding my hand. Luke
noticed this and looked in the same direction. I could see his jaw clench and
he started walking over here. On the way, Eli got right of beside him and
was saying something inaudible to Luke.

"Hey Taylor, you have such fine women at your school. I was just having a
little chat with these ones. Especially this pretty little thing right here," He
nudges my hand and I look down suddenly finding the table extremely
interesting.

"Yeah? Well, why don't you just go back to wherever the hell you came
from Vince," Luke says angrily as he grabs the hood of this "Vince" guys
sweatshirt and lifts him so he is standing.

"Woah big guy," he raises his hands in surrender, "I don't want any trouble"
he looks a little frightened now by the reminder of their height and size
difference.

"Why don't you just leave Vince," Eli suggests in a final warning tone.
Vince turns to leave but not before winking at me.

"You best stop thinking those thoughts about her you stupid little prick!!"
Eli yells after him and starts walking after him but Luke grabs his ear and
keeps him here.

"Well then," Olivia clears her throat, " Where is the after party this week?"

"At my house! My mom and dad are gone for the weekend on a "romantic
getaway" and my sister is at my aunt's," Eli says.

"Alright, we'll meet you there," Izzy says and we all start walking to the
parking lot.

"Told you we were gonna win," Luke smirks nudging my arms with his.

"Yeah, you did. And you did really good," I smile looking up at him. He
gives me a sweet smile in return.

My heart has officially stopped.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he says and I feel my cheeks go pink.

I don't think I'll ever stop blushing around him.

"I'll see you in a little while," I say as I get into my car with Olivia in the
passenger seat and Izzy in her own car.

"You two are the cutest," she smiles excitedly and I just roll my eyes even
though a teeny tiny smile forms on my lips.

__________________________

Olivia told me the directions to Eli's house since apparently, this wasn't his
only party. We got there quickly and parked right across the street where
Izzy was.
Eli's house was big and beautiful. He had a two-story brick house with a
side part on each side, He also had many colorful plants on the sides of the
walkway leading up to his porch.

I'm sure our mothers would get along.

We walked in and the house was pretty on the inside as well. There was a
nice big staircase leading up the stairs, a large chandelier hanging from the
tall ceilings, dark beige colored walls, and dark furniture.

I looked around more and saw that this party since it was only an after
party, wasn't as wild as other parties I had heard about.

I have never been to an actual party before.

"Hey, boo-boo!" Eli comes up and hugs me like we hadn't seen each other
in weeks but in reality, we saw each other twenty minutes ago.

"Oh hell, I have to go!" Eli says and he runs over to a guy with a vase in his
hands.

"I swear to you, Peter! If you do not put my mother's god-forbidden vase
down, I am going to punch you in the throat!!" I hear Eli yell as he walks
further into his house following "Peter".

"You want like a beer or anything?" Izzy asks.

"No thanks, I don't drink" I smile.

"Of course you don't," Izzy says walking away mumbling something about
me being a "goody-goody".

"I don't drink much either," Olivia shrugs before chugging a beer.

"So what do you do at parties like these?" I ask.

"Well, we don't do much at after parties because they aren't like real parties.
We kind of just sit, drink a little bit, and in like an hour we all go home,"
Olivia explains and I nod.
We sit there for about ten minutes before I see Luke coming my way.

"Oh look, here comes your man," Olivia mumbles so that only I can hear. I
give her a look and she laughs brushing it off.

Luke sits beside me on one of the kitchen chairs.

"You look like you're havin' a

great

time," he says a little sarcastically.

"It's okay," I shrug, "I just haven't found the dog yet," I smile.

"I'll show you," he stands up and motions for me to follow. He leads me

down a hallway and when we stop in front of a door, Luke places his hand
on the small of my back and he opens it for me.

We walk down the stairs and into a very nice finished basement.

"Eli keeps Rosco down here when people are over," Luke says and he
points to a couch.

I go over to the couch and see the cutest little bulldog sprawled out on it
sleeping soundly.

I put my hand over my mouth keeping in my aw.

I look back over to Luke and he stomps his foot causing Rosco to wake
himself up with an adorable snort. Rosco looks up at me and he starts
wagging his little tail which is only making his butt shake.

He is too cute.

"Eli said he got a bulldog because it reminds him of himself," Luke

explains, a small smile on his lips as he glances at me.
I squeal and walk over to Rosco the rest of the way. I sit down on the couch
and Rosco comes and lays his body over my legs.

I rub his cute little wrinkles and he rolls on his belly causing me to let out a
giggle. I look over to where Luke his only to find him already looking at
me. He walks over to where I'm sitting and he sits next to me.

Rosco gets up from my lap, walks over to Luke, and he starts trying to walk
all the way up his chest. When that doesn't work he just stands on his hind
legs and leans his front paws on Luke's chest, licking Luke's face.

"Aww, he loves you," I smile and watch Luke try to move his face away
from Rosco.

Apparently, Rosco got tired and he was out like a light in two minutes with
half his body on my legs and half of his body on Luke's.

"Thank you for taking me to see Rosco," I say stroking Rosco's ears.

"You're welcome, darlin'."

*Ding*

I take my phone out of my pocket and look at the text I just got from the
group chat.

Izzy: Where the fudge did you go??

Olivia: We are planning to leave soon so where are you, child?

Me: I'm downstairs with a puppy :)

Izzy: WHERES THE STAIRS?!?!

I hear two sets of footsteps running down the stairs and soon I see a flash of
blonde and brunette hair before Izzy and Olivia are both in front of me
awing down at the puppy.

"Wake him up," Izzy demands.

"Rosco," I shake him and he doesn't wake up.

"You are gonna have to be louder than that, that dog is the heaviest sleeper I
know," Luke rolls his eyes.

"Then you've never had to wake Aubrey up," Izzy calls me out and I laugh
sheepishly.

"Rosco!" Olivia yells and Rosco once again snorts awake.

__________________________

| Thank you for reading!!

Word count: 3691

-Ashlyn M.
Part 9 "He is a very healthy human
being"
I sit up in my bed and stretch my muscles. I grab my phone from my bed
side table and look at the time.

8:21? Who wakes up at that time on a Saturday?

I ungracefully roll out of bed and walk over to my dresser, open the top
drawer, and grab a pair of fluffy socks since the floor is really cold.

I control my crazy hair and I walk out of my bedroom and go down the tan
carpeted steps.

I get to the bottom of the step, go to turn, and fall flat on my stomach.

Stupid slippery socks.

I lay there for a moment wondering if I should even get up or just go back
to sleep. On the floor.

I decide to get up when my stomach grumbles, hungry for food.

"We will see you at 7 tonight," Mom says as soon as I enter the kitchen.

Alone once again.

_________________________

Me: Y'all can come over

Olivia: Alright we're coming

Me: Ok
30 minutes later, I'm sitting on my couch watching old episodes of Untold
Stories of the E.R when the front door bursts open. I can feel my heart jump
out of my chest as I jump in my seat.

"What's up bitch!! We're here!" Izzy shouts coming into the living room
where I am.

"Oh my heavens," I say referring to her language and her just barging into
my house.

They just laugh and plop down beside me.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Olivia says laying her legs over mine.

We sit there for ten minutes not saying a word and thinking about what we
should do.

"Maybe we could just swim," Izzy shrugs.

"I'm down," Olivia nods enthusiastically.

I agree and we all go to change. I go to my bathroom, Izzy changes in my

bedroom, and Olivia changes in the hall bathroom.

I walk out of my bathroom in my white and black two-piece halter-neck

bathing suit.

I see Izzy's suit which the top is a pale pink and the bottoms are a darker
blue.

Olivia is wearing a grape purple bikini with semi high-waisted bottoms.

They both look amazing and I probably look like a mongoose.

"You look so amazing!" Olivia says once she realizes I had entered the
room.

"Yes, girl! Look at you!" Izzy says twirling me around.

"Thank you, ya'll look amazing too."

____________________

We all go out back and go towards the pool. I dip my foot into the side of
the pool and see that the heaters must be on.

We all put our phones on the side of the pool and Olivia put on music. The
music was only coming from her phone speaker so it wasn't too loud.

After talking for thirty minutes about stuff ranging from our family
members to if water is wet.

After a while, I've got to pee.

I got up out of the pool and walked to the supply house to get a towel.

"Why are you getting out?" Olivia asked with a pout.

"I gotta pee!" I laughed.

I dried off the best I could and went inside the house. I went to the nearest
bathroom, did my business, and then sat there for another minute to look
around the nice beach themed bathroom.

After about a minute, I washed my hands and went back outside. I took my
towel off and lied it on one of the pool chairs. I walked to the other side of
the pool and jumped in making sure to not get our phones wet.

"Eli texted you," Izzy says picking up my phone from the other side of the
pool. I swam over to her and grabbed my phone.

Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): Bad news boo-boo

Me: Uh-oh

Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): You know that government project right?

Me: Yes
Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): And you know the part of it I was supposed
to do?

Me: Yeah

Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): Well the part I did got lost soooo Me: Eli!
Really?

Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): I know boo-boo, all my fault. She said it is
like due whenever. Where is your house because to do this project I
need notes and I don't have those.

Me: Today?

Ur bestest friend evr (ELI): Yes

Me: Okay

sent Eli my address and told him to walk right in and we were in the back.
He then proceeded to tell me he wasn't alone. Ryan and Luke were also
with him.

I guess it's now just a party at Aubrey's house. Yay.

I turned back around to the girls and told them the news.

"So our swimming is gonna be cut short?" Izzy asks a little disappointed.

"No! We can still swim, all I have to do is go get my notes real quick when
they get here" I answered and Izzy's face brightened back up again.

I got up out of the pool again to get my towel only to notice it is really wet.
I sigh and go back to the supply house to get another one.
"Hey, girlfriends!!" Eli shouts coming through the door as I'm about
halfway to the supply house.

I turn around and accidentally meet the eyes of Luke who is looking straight
at me. I turn around and blush. I grab a big towel from the closet then shut
back the doors.

I wrap the towel around me and start patting down my arms. I walk back
over to where Eli is.

"I didn't know you would be here so quick."

"Oh, we were already driving around" He shrugs.

"Is this pool heated?" Ryan asks as he bends down and sticks his hand in.

"Yeah" Olivia answers him then turns around.

She's probably blushing, awww.

"I'll go get the notes," I say and Eli declares he is coming with me.

We walk up the stairs and into my room. The first thing Eli does is lay on
my bed. I go to the corner of my room where my backpack is and open it. I
take out my government binder and turn to give it to Eli.

"Where is this from?" He asks holding up one of dad's old dog tags.

"Nowhere," I say taking it from him and giving him my notebook.

We both walk downstairs again and out back to the pool. Eli sits on one of
the pool chairs and starts doing his portion of the project all over again. I
place my towel on one of the other chairs and walk back towards the pool.

I can feel eyes burning the backside of me and I resist the urge to turn
around. Mostly because I am already a blushing mess.

I go to the side of the pool and drop myself in at the side.

Luke and Ryan come up to the side of the pool, sit down, and dip their feet
in.

"This water feels so nice" Ryan smiles.

I look over towards Izzy and she's looking at me with a sly smile.

She comes a little closer to me and says "He was looking at your booty
again" I blush and once again ignore the urge to turn around.

"I'm gonna get in" I hear Ryan. We all turn to look at them. Luke stands up,
takes his shirt off, and I almost drown.

I watch as he walks over to one of the pool chairs, his rippling muscles
tensing as he tosses his shirt onto the chair.

He is a

very

healthy human being.

As Luke took his shirt off, Izzy continuously nudged me with her arm.

He slides into the pool, his biceps and pectorals flexing and I feel my breath
being taken away.

Ryan does the same and he stands up taking his shirt off. When he does
that, I hear Olivia take in a sharp breath.

Ryan slides into the pool and leans up against the side.

"Now I look like a loser just sitting here doing homework" Eli pouts from
his pool chair.

I dunk my head underwater noticing how the top of my head was getting
dry and making me look like a wet dog. I come back up and see Luke
walking over to me, his eyes darting all over me.
He is walking so peacefully in the pool. When I walk in the pool I have to
leap or just swim or I would look really awkward.

He comes up and leans back on the side of the pool right next to me, his
arm brushing against mine, making my skin turn hot.

He doesn't say anything, he just stands close to me, but everyone once in a
while, when we would connect eyes, he would smirk at me and I would
blush my face off.

__________________________

After about another 45 minutes of swimming, talking, and Eli doing his
project, we got out of the pool since it was getting a little bit colder outside
of the water.

We exited the pool and I went over to the supply closet to get towels for
everyone.

I got the rest of the towels on the bottom shelf of the closet and handed
them to Izzy, Olivia, and Ryan. I went back to the closet and saw the last
two on the top shelf.

I stood on my very tip toes and extended my arms all the way up trying to
reach the towels.

Short people problems.

I heard someone from behind me and I lowered back to my normal height.

Luke came up beside me and got the two towels off the top very easily.

"Thank you" I muttered taking the towel and wrapping it around my body.

"Are y'all hungry?" I ask Olivia and Izzy once I walk back over to where
they were.

"Heck yeah!" Olivia says excitedly.

"Are you gonna make something?" Izzy asks hopefully.

"I can if you want me to" I shrug.

Izzy jumps up excitedly and walks towards the door ready to go inside.

"Let's go!!" Izzy says when we just look at her confusedly.

"I'm hungry!" She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, I'm hungry too!" Eli says throwing down his books and walking over
to where Izzy is. We go inside and up to the kitchen.

Olivia, Izzy, and I walk back up to my bedroom to put our clothes back on
and then we head back downstairs.

"Okay, so what do you want?" I ask them.

"Breakfast, it's still early," Eli responds quickly.

"Oh my god! That french toast you made when I was here that time! It was
so freaking good!" Izzy exclaims and soon I begin to make french toast for
all of us.

___________________________

I make the french toast and remind myself that we are gonna need eggs
soon. Then, I make grits and I set them both on the table along with syrup
and butter.

"What is that?" Izzy asks.

"Grits" Luke and I say at the same time.

"What are grits?" She asks very confusedly.

"You don't know what grits are?" I ask incredulously. She just shakes her
head.

I add all the butter to the grits along with salt and pepper and I give each
person a spoonful.
They all take a bite and their eyes widen.

"Oh my gosh! Why haven't I ever tried this before?" Eli asks taking in
another spoonful of grits.

I go back to eating until I realize Luke staring at the grits.

"You okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah," he says unsure.

"You want some grits?" He looks up at me.

"Please," I hand him the bowl and he takes a big spoonful and digs in.

___________________________

*LUKES POV*

The last time I had grits was when my momma made them.

Looking at those grits now made her memory come back and I was not
prepared for it at all.

I tasted the food Aubrey cooked up and it was like heaven on earth. It
reminded me of my momma.

After we ate, we all went to Aubrey's living room and sat talking. I looked
over to Aubrey and saw her beautiful face without any makeup on.

How could anybody manage to look so beautiful?

Her hair was still drying but you could already see her gorgeous natural
curls.

And those eyes.

I turned my attention away from her before she caught me and my eyes
caught Eli's. The bastard was smirking at me. I put my middle finger up and
scratched my nose, flicking him off. He snickered and turned and told Izzy
something. I just rolled my eyes and found myself looking around her living
room.

There weren't any pictures of Aubrey up on the mantle or on the walls and
that was somewhat confusing.

There was only one picture of Aubrey in my line of sight and it was a
picture of her that had to be her last year junior pictures.

Of course, she was beautiful then too.

____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

After talking for a couple hours, I hear the front door open. My mother
walks into the living room and completely catches me by surprise. She
wasn't supposed to be home until 7 on the weekends and it's only 4:30.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting a group of people to be here" her unhappy face

turns into a smile. I get up from my seat and walk over to her.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were supposed to be home at 7. I can tell them to
leave if it bothers you" I say sheepishly.

"Oh no honey, it's okay! I need to go down to the store anyway. Just
introduce me before I go," She smiles once again, looking around the room.

Everyone stands up and walks over to where we are.

"This is Izzy" I point to Izzy and Izzy greets her.

"Olivia"

"Ryan"

"This is Eli," I say and Eli gives my mom a nice big hug.
"Your daughter is the greatest ever," He says to her.

"And this is Luke" My mother smiles with slightly widened eyes.

"Wow! Luke, you are very tall. You're definitely sturdy as well!" She says
referring to his height and muscles.

"Well I must be going, I'll be back a little later" She hugs me goodbye,
something she never does, and I shut the door behind her.

"I thought she wasn't supposed to be here until 7?" Izzy says.

"That's what I thought too" I close my eyes and sigh.

____________________________

*Ring Ring*

I pull my phone out and look at the caller ID.

Social Worker (Michelle)

Izzy leans over and looks at my phone when she hears me suck in a breath.
Pretty much the whole living room stopped what they were talking about
actually.

Izzy looks back up at me with concern and worry.

I put on a fake smile and get up to answer the call. I walk to the kitchen and
press answer.

"Hello?"

"Aubrey! Hey sweetie! I'm just calling to check on you! It is just company
procedures. So, is everything alright?"

I let out a breath and quickly thank the Lord.

"Yeah Michelle, everything is great here. Thanks for checking up on me"

"Oh, no problem! So, I know you don't want to hear this but, your father
still hasn't been fully processed to be brought over here."

And there goes the phone call.

"Yeah"

"So we have about a week left before we just go right on ahead with the
funeral"

"I u-understand," I utter.

"Alright well, I'll talk to you later honey. Remember to call me if you need
anything, anything at all."

"Y-yes ma'am."

I hang up my phone and sit down at the kitchen table. I put my head in my
hands and cover my eyes.

I was having such a good day until now.

I get up, wipe under my eyes, and think happy thoughts before going out
back into the living room.

As soon as I enter, all eyes are on me. I plaster on a smile and sit back down
in my seat. I can feel Luke's calculated gaze on me and it makes me worry
if he can see through my smile.

Nobody has so far.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asks looking at me with nothing but concern.

"She-um, she was just checking up on me" I smile.

____________________________

"Come on....get up...come on," Eli says pulling Luke's arm to try
to get him off the couch. It isn't really moving him that much though.

"What do you eat?" Eli asks incredulously once Luke stands up.

Luke smirks "Everything."

"No shit-" Eli catches my glance and smiles.

"Are you calling me fat?" Luke asks seriously but by the way he tilts his
head, we know he's joking.

"Totally, I mean, you may wanna try Sears," Eli says in a girly tone.

"You aren't much better," Luke says punching Eli in the stomach.

"Regina, you sure do have a manly punch," Eli says painfully holding his
stomach.

We all bust out laughing, especially at Eli's Mean Girls reference.

Luke isn't fat. Not at all. Eli, along with the rest of us know that. He's like a
wall of muscle and height.

"I have to go, I got distracted and now I have to go back home and finish
the project." Eli sighed and shook his head.

"I'll give you your notes back Monday boo-boo" Eli gave me a hug and
walked out the front door.

"We rode with him" Ryan rolled his eyes and followed Eli out.

"Thank you for breakfast," Luke smirked and walked out the door as well.

I turned around to see Izzy and Olivia awing.

"He so likes you," Izzy says excitedly and Olivia nods enthusiastically too.

__________________________
|

| Sorry, I haven't updated for a while.

*Not Edited*

Word count: 3228

- Ashlyn M.
Part 10 "So what's it like having
Luke Taylor as your baby daddy?"
I woke up by myself Monday morning and I felt horrible. A pounding
headache and bad cramps.

I slowly and painfully slid off my bed. I rolled over to my bathroom and
turned on the shower.

"Wake- Aubrey?"

"In the bathroom" I groaned.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Mom says looking down at my
sprawled out figure.

"I hurt don't feel good."

"There's Tylenol downstairs," Mom leaves and I stay in my same position.

"Can you get my glasses?" I ask sitting up.

"I guess," she sighs.

A few minutes later, I'm in the shower and washing my body. I can't really
see since my glasses have water droplets on them but at least it is making
my head feel a little better.

After ten more minutes I get out of the shower and put on my clothes.

I walk downstairs and eat a banana. I also make myself a cup of hot
chocolate, maybe that'll help with the pain, and I hate coffee.

I feel like I'm being stabbed from the inside.

I drive to school and get there a little bit early. Once I arrive, I sit in my car
with my head leaned back on the head rest.

I hear all the doors to my car and I jump almost managing to spill my hot
chocolate all over myself.

"Hey boo-boo" Eli says from the backseat.

I mumble a hello and close my eyes.

"What's wrong Aubrey?" Izzy asks taking my hot chocolate and sitting in in
a cup holder.

"Other than feeling like I've been ran over by a train, I would say nothing,"
I say putting down sun visor so the sun isn't in my eyes.

It doesn't work so I just put it back up and huff in annoyance.

"You were fine yesterday" Olivia says confusedly.

"Oh, Aunt Flo?" Izzy says sympathetically rubbing my shoulder.

"Oh holy heavens, my time to leave! Hope you feel better boo-boo" Eli
chuckles and exits the car.

"We should probably go" I mumble taking my hot chocolate and getting out
of the car.

_____________________

I sat in first block and as soon as the late bell rang, Luke came waltzing in.

His eyes caught mine and he smirked. I blushed and looked down. He took
a seat behind me and a minute later I could hear his chair scooting forward.

"Are you okay?" Luke asks as he moves a curl off my shoulder, placing his
arm around the back of my chair, sending me some of his body heat.
I turn my head and look right at him. His face was about six inches from
mine and it made my cheeks tinge pink.

"Yeah, just a headache" I smile. I turn back around and I feel Luke playing
with the ends of my hair.

That feels so good.

I lean my head back a little and let him continue what he's doing.

Every now and then, his hand would brush against my back and I'd have a
mini heart attack.

He knew what he was doing to me too.

_____________________

"Alright guys, today, we are going to be handing out the babies. You will
get your baby and you will spend the rest of class deciding which days each
parent will have the baby." Mrs. Siding says once we sit down on the gym
floor.

After calling out the names of most of the groups, Mrs. Siding finally called
out Luke and I's name.

"Here is your baby child!" Mrs. Siding laughs at her self and she hands the
baby to Luke.

Luke grabs the leg of the baby and he starts walking back to our seat.

"Luke!" I come up behind him, "You can't hold him like that!"

I take the baby and realize that he looks like a newborn. He is really small
and even smaller compared to the size of Luke's arms.

I move the baby so that the baby's body is along Luke's forearm and its
head is resting on his huge hand, all while I try and ignore looks gaze that is
on me.
"Look!" I laugh, "He fits perfectly!"

Luke raises his eyebrow at me, almost causing me to swoon and we sit
down in our spot.

"Aw look! Yours is so small!" Izzy says coming up beside me with her baby
in her arms.

Her baby is huge. Definitely a lot bigger than ours.

"What did you name yall's baby?"

"Oh, we haven't really decided but her name is

going

to be Sierra" Izzy smiled.

"I did not agre-"

"

This

, is my partner! His name is Max, he's kind of a brat" She smiles.

"I can hear you Isabelle!! Max shouts.

"I told you not to call me Isabelle you slut!" She yells back.

And she said they naturally get along?

"Hi, you're Aubrey right?" Max asks ignoring Izzy as she glares at his head.

"Yes!" I smile.

"It's nice to meet you! A lot of people have been talking about you so it's
nice to know what all the talk's about" He waves goodbye and walks away
with Izzy right beside him.
Why are people talking about me?

"They all just can't get over how pretty you are," he shrugs nonchalantly.

I blush darkly and we begin talking about which days we want to have the
baby.

"I have an away game Wednesday," Luke says.

"Okay, I can take him them," I smile and a light blush appears on my
cheeks me his eyes travel along my body before returning to my eyes, a
smirk on his face.

_____________________

I walk out the gym with West in my arms and I see every other person
holding a baby. Thankfully, West is quiet unlike a lot of other babies.

"I'll take him for lunch" Luke grabs West.

"Okay" I reply and I watch as Luke gives me a wink and walks away with
the baby in his hands.

I make it to the lunch table and I sit down and begin to eat.

"So what is it like having Luke Taylor as your baby daddy?" Olivia asks
and I almost choke on my water. Olivia and Izzy just laugh at my red
cheeks and I roll my eyes with a huff.

Throughout lunch, pretty much the only thing you could hear was baby
cries and frustrated groans.

"Take this fuckin' thing from me," Luke rushes up beside my table and
holds out a crying West.

I gently grab West from Luke and cradle him in my arms.

"Did you feed him?" I ask looking back up at Luke.

"Of course I didn't. You can't expect but so much," He throws his hands up
and I giggle.

"My goodness," I shake my head at him.

I take out the bottle from my backpack and I start feeding West.

"Do you know how to feed a baby?" I ask Luke as he takes a seat beside
me.

"Not exactly."

I hand the baby over to Luke and he holds West by the leg.

"What did I tell you about holding him like that?" I raise an eyebrow.

"No to," Luke looks at me with another smirk. I adjust West in Luke's arms
and I can feel his gaze on me.

"Support his head doofus," I tell Luke when I notice West's head bending in
an odd direction.

Luke fixes it and puts the bottle up to the baby's mouth.

Luke looks very unamused while feeding the baby. He's quite pitiful if you
ask me.

I stand up and I can feel the Tylenol from this morning wearing off.

"I'll take West home tonight, just give me him in last period," I tell Luke
and I start to walk out of the cafeteria.

I follow Izzy and Olivia out to the back of the school and I plop down.

"What's wrong?" I hear Izzy ask from beside me.

"The headache is coming back" I take off my glasses and rub my eyes.
"Here, I have some Ibuprofen," Olivia says and she holds out two dark tan
pills.

I take them with a thank you and I swallow them down with my water.

"Aubrey," Izzy groans, "If Luke was looking at me like he looks at you, I
would have jumped him."

I shake my head at her smirk and I take out my math homework and get a
head start on it.

"Sometimes you are so boring" Izzy groans at me.

"Why? I'm not even doing anything."

"Exactly!"

"Well excuse me for not wanting to waste my entire night doing homework"
I point out.

"You have a good point," Izzy mumbles like she was annoyed to admit it.

______________________________

Izzy walks into the science room after free period and I follow close behind
her.

I made it to my desk and I took a seat.

"This child has cried four times since lunch," Luke whispers behind me.

"Well did you change his diaper?" I turn around to look at him.

"I have to change his diaper?"

"Yes" I smile.

Bless his heart.

"Don't worry, the day's almost over. Then he's all mine to worry about." I
reassure him.

By last block Luke is quite excited to hand over West. Me, on the other
hand, I am not excited to have to be waking up in the middle of the night
for a fake child.

"Hey boo-boo, hold this for me" Eli walks into class and tosses his baby
over to me.

"Goodness!!" I exclaim quickly catching the flying baby while still trying to
hold on to my own.

"Eli!!" I exclaim once again.

"What? He likes to be tossed. He hasn't even cried once because of it." Eli
shrugs. I just shake my head and sit down in my seat. Still cradling two
babies at once.

This is gonna be a long period.

____________________________

At the end of government, I say goodbye to Luke and Eli and they go to
practice. I walk out of the class and Izzy and Olivia joins me.

"Hey, new girl!" A voice screeches from behind me. I turn around and
become face to face with Ana.

"Why don't you stay away from Luke, okay? I don't need you meddling into
my life any more than you already have."

"Pardon?" I question confused with the situation. I wasn't even aware I was
doing anything.

"Pardon",

she mocks
in a strong southern accent.

"I love to just smack that stupid pretty look off your face!" She suddenly
yells and storms away.

I turn towards Izzy and Olivia with widened, confused eyes.

"What did I do to her?" I question them.

"She's just a jealous little shit" Izzy rolls her eyes. I give her a look and she
gives a sarcastic smile.

Devil child.

"I'll see ya'll tomorrow!" I wave goodbye to the two girls and climb into my
car. I sit little West in the passenger seat and buckle him up to the best of
my ability.

Once I get home, I walk inside and fall straight onto the couch. I pick up
West and I look at his semi-closed brown eyes. They were really dull and
just...bleh. I guess that's only because it's a robot thankfully.

*Three hours later*

"And you know what gets on my nerves? When people are rude for no
reason! One time, there was this family that had just moved from New York
down to Camp Lejeune and I found out that they had a daughter around my
age. So, me being me, I went to introduce myself and to be nice. She was
the rudest person I had ever met and I did absolutely nothing to her!" I
ranted to West.

The robotic child who doesn't even have a real butt.

Soon after finishing my rants, I made a quick chicken dinner and ate it in
the peace and quiet. Well, until West decided to start screaming his head off.
"No, no, no! West!" I got up from my seat at the kitchen table and I picked
up West. He wasn't hungry because I fed him right before I ate so his diaper
must need to be changed.

I quickly changed his diaper, thankful the baby doesn't actually poop, and I
soon finished dinner.

I decided to take my shower early today since I would have to be feeding

West at the regular time I take one.

I got in the shower and about ten minutes into it, I hear a loud cry from
outside the bathroom door.

"West!! You couldn't wait ten more minutes?" I groan while wrapping a
towel around me. I walk out into my bedroom and he is just screaming.

I pick him up, still in my towel, and I try to figure out what's wrong. I just
fed him, I just changed him, what is the flippin' issue?

I decided to just hold him since I couldn't figure anything out and about five
minutes later he was asleep.

Thank you, Lord.

I finished my shower, changed into leggings and dads sweatshirt, then I sat
down on my bed. I began to do homework and thankfully since it wasn't a
lot, I finished quite early.

I then went on Netflix and turned on my favorite show, The Office. I picked
up West and cuddled him into my arms.

He just looked so lonely sitting at the end of my bed.

Ping!

I looked down at my phone and I read the text that Kelsey just sent.

Kels: I'm face timing u betch :)

A second later my phone rings again and I accept the face time call.

"Hey, Kels!"

"Hey, girl! What is that child do-" She suddenly gasps, "Do you have
something to tell me!?"

"It's just for a project at school Kelsey" I giggle.

"Whew, I was about to drive my butt all the way up there!"

"I wish you would," I say getting sad.

"Hey, hey, hey, I know you miss me, I'll come and visit soon okay?"

"Okay," I smile.

"Anyways, so do you have a partner for this project or what?"

"Yeah I do, it's one of those like "Parenthood preparedness" projects or

something" I try to remember what Mrs. Siding said.

"Oh, I see. Who's your partner?" She wiggles her eyebrows and I chuckle at
her weirdness.

"His name is Luke" I smile.

"Oooh is he cute?" She smiles flirtatiously.

"Why do you always ask that?" I shake my head at her.

"Well because I'm looking for a mans" she laughs.

"Yes, he-he's actually really cute." I blush at the thought of him.

"Oh my gosh, you're blushing!" She giggles.

"What? me? Never!" I cover my cheeks.

"What's his full name, I need to do some research"

"Kelsey!"

"What? I need to know who my best friend gets hot and bothered by" She
shrugs nonchalantly.

"I can't believe we're having this conversation."

"Yeah okay, what's his full name!"

"All I know is Luke Taylor" I shrug.

"Tell me more about him."

"Um, he is tall, like really tall. He plays football, the quarterback actually.
He's really good."

"Oh wow, that's hot" Kelsey smiles. I just shake my head and yawn.

"Well, I'm gonna get goin' Kels, I'm tired. I'll talk to you soon!"

"Bye bit-"

I hang up the face time and take out Wests bottle. I feed him and by 10:45
I'm done praying and I get back up in the bed. I hold West and begin to drift
off.

Right before I drift off, I catch a big whiff of dads sweatshirt and I begin to
cry.

I guess tonight will be a long night.

____________________________

|
|

| Sorry it took a while to update!

Thanks for reading!

Word count: 2575

-Ashlyn M.
Part 11 "Fuck it, this class doesn't
give me any useful credits anyway"
*LUKES POV*

I awoke to the sound of my alarm and groggily crawled out of bed. I threw
on a pair of grey Nike sweats and a long sleeve black shirt.

I walked downstairs stealthily, and I enter the kitchen. I get a large cup of
coffee and my stomach lets out a monstrous growl.

I really want Aubrey's cooking right now.

I tiptoed carefully back up to my room, brushed my teeth and hair, put on

my shoes, and grabbed my school bag and my duffel bag for practice.

I quietly made my way back down the stair still cautious of Leo attacking
me.

I turned my head behind me so quickly at the sound of Leo's growl I think I

got whiplash. Leo was standing right in the middle of the hallway as I tried
making my way towards the front door.

"Leo," I groan.

Even though Leo is the spawn of Satan, I still try my absolute hardest to be
nice to him.

Before my mom died two years ago, Leo loved her. She and Leo were very
close and he was very protective of her.

It was shocking to see that be acted the same way around Aubrey.

I know Leo misses mom and I don't blame him. I do too, more than
anything. I just wish he didn't hate me.
"Hey Leo," I walked forward slowly, trying to show him I'm being nice
dammit.

I get up to his head and decide not to touch that particular part of his body. I
move down to his back and the whole time he is watching me with mean
eyes.

Damn, this dog is a killer.

I finally let my hand touch his back and I relax when he doesn't move. I try
to go higher up but he snaps at me and I jerk my hand back.

Well, at least we're getting somewhere

________________________

I pulled into the school's parking lot after finally persuading Leo to get out
of the way with 14 Milk Bones. I'm surprised I'm not late.

I get out of my truck and begin walking towards school.

"Lucas!" I hear Eli shout from the window of his jeep as he parks beside my
truck.

"I told you not to call me that," I say to him once he gets caught up with me.

"Yeah and I don't care what yo-" Eli gets cut off my intake of breath and
cursing.

Too busy talking to his dumb ass, I forgot to duck my head when walking
into the locker hall.

"Shit," I rubbed the top of my head. I glared over at Eli only to see he's
trying to keep his laugh in.

I raise my fist and he tries to run away. I grab the back of his shirt and he
flops to the ground.

All sprawled out, he just lays there.

"That's what you get bitch," I kick him.

I hear soft footsteps from behind me and I turn around. I see Aubrey right as
she passes me and she tries to walk to her locker while holding, what
appears to be, a sleeping West.

I swear she just keeps getting prettier.

She looks down at Eli as he grabs her leg and holds on to it.

"Boo-boo, I've fallen and I can't get up" Eli whines.

"What do you want me to do about it, Eli?" She giggles and it sounds like
heaven. Unlike most girls, her giggle is genuine and damn if it isn't music to
my ears.

"I want you to drag me to class" Eli shrugs on the floor.

Aubrey tries to walk but she isn't moving even a centimeter. She grabs onto
a door frame and she tries to pull her leg out of his grasp but it still isn't
moving.

"Eli!" I say as he starts pulling her towards him. She loses her balance and I
go up an catch her right before she falls. West falls though.

I pick her up and stand her up straight.

She's so tiny.

"Whoops!" Eli laughs, picks up West, and throws him up into the air.
Aubrey rushes to catch him and Eli stands.

"Oh poor baby!" She laughs taking West and brushing him off.

"I have to go, guys I'm a little late today," Aubrey says smiling softly as she
waves, then walks away.

I watch her behind as she walks away biting my lip and admiring the fine
view.
I just can't help it when it comes to her.

"You can stop staring at her ass now you horn-dog" Eli kicks my shin.

"Shut up."

Eli and I walk to our lockers and we put out duffel bags in them.

"Are you guys ready for today?" Ryan comes up behind us and he asks
energetically.

"What's today?"

"We get to start practicing with the underclassmen today."

Every year, anyone in high school can try out for varsity and that means
some freshman and sophomores try out.

During try-outs, coach lets the best underclassmen join the varsity team
they just can't play. Unless they are really, really good.

I was on varsity when I was a freshman back in Alabama and for half the
year before I moved here. When I moved here, I had to try out in the middle
of the season but I still made it and coach let me play. We won states
sophomore year and my junior year here. We almost won nationals last year
too. We were two wins away.

Coach lets the underclassmen have the "varsity" label but they have to play
on junior varsity to get play time. Today will be the first practice the
underclassmen will have with us.

Before today, they were having their own practice.

"I'm ready for today," Eli smirks.

___________________________

I walk into English and immediately go and sit behind Aubrey. She turns
around in her seat and hands me my "son".
"I just fed and changed him so he should be good for a while" I looked at
her gratefully and took West.

"Thanks, sweetheart," I send her a smirk, loving how it drives her crazy.

I see her begin to blush as she turns around and I quietly chuckle.

She's so cute.

I look down at West and cringe.

What a weird looking child.

I sat West on the empty chair beside me and tried to do my worksheet.

It's kinda hard to do a worksheet when you hear gorgeous laughter in front
of you though.

After English ended, I picked up West by a limb only to get scolded by

Aubrey.

I fixed West in my arms and smirked at Aubrey before walking out the
class.

I love getting a reaction from her.

"Hey what's up man!" Derek, the second string tight end said giving me the
signature "bro-shake".

"I'm on baby duty" He laughs and shakes his head.

It wasn't a joke, I don't know why he's laughing.

"I gotta get going to class man, I'll see you at practice," He says and I walk
off.

That guy's a douche.

I walk into math and don't see Aubrey yet.

She says it's because of her short legs.

A minute later I see her happy little self waltz right in here and take her
seat.

I have got to stop thinking about this girl.

My own thoughts were cut off when I heard a barely audible humming.
Even though it was really quiet, it was addicting to listen to. I never wanted
it to stop.

If Heaven had a sound, that would be it.

I looked to where the sound was coming from and my eyes found Aubrey.

She was looking up at the board, taking notes and tapping her foot to the
beat.

I found myself leaning closer to her to hear her better. When that wasn't
enough, I silently picked up my chair and moved it to where it was only
about an inch away from hers.

She stops humming and looks at me confusedly.

"Don't stop," I smirk. She opens her mouth about to say something, but then
she closes it.

"Don't be shy, darlin'," I encouraged. She blushed and went back to

humming. A little more shyly this time though.

____________________________

I walk into fourth-period art and sit down next to Eli and Ryan with a huff.

I have no artistic ability.

Ryan on the other hand, the lucky asswipe, is great at it.

"How's your baby mama? I haven't seen her today," Ryan smirks. I glare at
him even though I'm still slightly smiling.

"His baby mama is perfect for him as always," Eli gives me a sly smirk.

"Guess what this little horn-dog did this morning?" Eli points at me.

"What did he do?" Ryan asks excitedly putting his chin in both of his hands.

Eli went full detail into the story about me watching Aubrey this morning.

I don't say anything in return. I just sit back in my chair and go over the
memory.

"Yeah I mean, I don't blame you bu-" I punch Ryan's arm and he hisses.

"Shithead" He mutters.

"Huh? What was that?" I cup my ear and lean towards him.

"I never said anything! You might wanna get your ears checked" He shrugs
and I roll my eyes.

I began drawing my tree, the assigned drawing, but soon gave up when it
started looking nothing like a tree.

"Fuck it, this class doesn't give me any useful credits anyway," I say
crumpling up my paper and throwing it in the trash.

"Luke?" Mr. Archer gives me a stern look. I turn and narrow my eyes at
him. I never liked him.

"What did you just throw away?" He asks suspiciously.

"My tree, " I say with my eyes still narrowed.

Everyone knows about Mr. Archer and I's hate-hate relationship.

"Start a new one, you need to turn one in." He narrows his eyes back.
"I'm not doing another one" I argue, crossing my arms like a kid.

"Well then go get that one out the trash," He sighs.

"No" I deadpan.

"Do I need to call your mother?" He smirks. I raise my eyebrow at him. I

know

that son of a bitch knows my mother is dead, it shows it on my fucking

school contact list, which every teacher has for each student.

My unamused look automatically turns into a deadly glare as I take long

strides up to his desk.

Mr. Archer's eyes widen and he takes a step back.

"You low life piece of shit," I said lowly enough so that the whole class
wouldn't hear me.

"Luke I-I forgot abou-" Mr. Archer's pathetic rant got cut off when Eli came
up behind me and patted my shoulder.

I turned my glare towards him and he dropped his hand from my shoulder
immediately.

"You can go straight to Hell," I tell him before swiftly exiting the room,
maneuvering my way around the standing, and wide-eyed, Ryan and Eli.
Also, forgetting West but I'll get him later.

I walk the halls slowly trying to cool down when I hear a piano playing
from the music room. As I get closer, I can hear an angelic voice singing.

I walk up to the door and look at the door's small window.

All my anger fades away when I see Aubrey sitting there playing the piano
and singing.

Before I can hear the song, it ends, to my disappointment.

I

hear the music room roar in applause and I smile when I see Aubrey getting
up and walking back to her seat blushing bright red.

Damn.

____________________________

I walk back into art only a couple minutes before the bell rings and I start
gathering up my things. Ryan and Eli are still completely silent and I know
they have no idea why I flipped out. No one does.

I haven't told a single person about my mother's death.

"You guys can quit acting like I'm gonna explode and kill you at any
second, now," I smirk at them. They both visibly relax and smile back. The
bell rings and I hurry to try and finish putting all my stuff back. Eli and
Ryan take their time and wait for me.

I hear cautious footsteps behind me and I turn around to see Mr. Archer. The
glare I had on my face from earlier reappears and I hear Eli whisper a
"yoikes" from behind me.

"Luke, listen I-" He starts.

I give him one last glare, turn, and the three of us walk out the classroom.
Of course not forgetting West though. I hold him on my arm the way
Aubrey placed him that one time. Kinda like a football.

Eli, Ryan, and I walk into the cafeteria and most people stop what they are
doing and turn to look right at me.

I guess news spreads quickly.

We walk over to our table and as soon as I sit down West starts crying.
Apparently, him crying woke up Eli's baby which started a chain reaction
and now all the guys' babies were crying.

I took out the bottle and began to feed West. As soon as I did that he
stopped crying.

"How did you do that?!" Eli asks frantically.

"How did you get it to stop?" Jackson asks.

"What do I do?"

"Where did you get that bottle from?"

"Aubrey..?" I shrug unsure.

Every guy at the table gets up and they all go on a hunt to find Aubrey.

I find her first and go up beside her table.

"Sorry in advance," I give a sheepish look.

"I found her!!"

_______________________

"Here, you have to hold the baby like this," She adjusts the baby in
Jackson's arms, "then, you just put the bottle in her mouth. You have to hold
it there for ten minutes. No more, no less."

Jackson nods and he joins the rest of the guys with their now quiet babies.

All thanks to Aubrey.

Aubrey turns her gaze up to me and gives me a "really" look.

"Sorry."

"Make sure you find time to change him next block too okay?" Aubrey asks
and I nod.
I go back to my seat and finish my lunch thankfully, with no more babies
crying at our table.

I walk out to the front fountain and take a seat on one of the benches. All
the guys surround me sitting on benches near mine or they sprawl out on
the floor.

"I heard they're all cocky son's of bitches," Ryan says.

"Yeah, we'll see who's cocky at the end of practice today" Jack adds and he
and his brother fist bump laughing.

All of a sudden I hear a cry coming from West.

"Shit," I roll my eyes when the guys laugh at me and stand up.

Maybe I forgot to change him.

"Where's Aubrey? I don't know how to change a diaper" I look around for
her.

"I'm pretty sure she is out back at that big Oak tree," Eli says and I walk off
towards the back.

"Aubrey!" I say once I get to where she is sat next to Isabelle and Olivia.

They all looked up and I plopped down next to Aubrey.

"I need your help," I nudge her arm.

"Does he need to be changed?" She asks tilting her head, referring to West.

My mind runs off as I watch the cute dimple on the side of her cheek as she
talks.

"What? Oh, yeah he needs to be changed," I shake my head, clearing my

thoughts.
She takes West out of my hands and lays him down on the jacket she lied on
the ground.

She starts undoing West's diaper and I stop her putting my hand over hers.
Her eyes come up and meet mine and she blushes. I smirk a little at that.

"Does he have a dick?" I ask genuinely. Her eyes widen and her blush
deepens. I hear Izzy and Olivia laughing and soon enough Aubrey does too.

I watch her with a smile as she tilts her head back and closes her eyes
letting out a beautiful laugh.

"A little one," she nods and she wipes her eyes.

No son of mine would have a "little one." It's impossible.

She begins changing his diaper and teaching me how to do it. Every time I
get distracted by looking at her face, she never notices but Izzy or Olivia
nudge me to get my focus back on the doll.

After my diaper changing lesson, the bell rings and I walk with Izzy and
Aubrey to chemistry.

____________________

After handing the baby over to Aubrey, I walked to the locker rooms with
Eli.

We got changed into our practice uniforms and walked we walked out the
field.

The underclassmen were already there and as soon as they saw me leading
the group, they visibly tensed.

"Underclassmen, this is your varsity team," Coach says as the team comes
to a stop in front of the small, skinny freshman and sophomores.

"This is your captain, I'm sure you've all seen him around the halls, he's
kind of hard to miss," Coach chuckles and so do the guys.
"Anyways, so your captain, Luke, and all your first string players" He
points to all of us.

"The rest of the players you can learn yourselves," He throws his hands in
the air.

"Alright, have fun guys," Coach chuckles and walks away after clapping
my back.

"Get ready for hell boy- guys what are you looking at? Pay attention to
me!" Eli claps, stomping his foot.

I look over to where a few of the guys are looking at and I see Aubrey
trying to catch up with Izzy and Olivia.

I feel Ryan nudge my shoulder and I look over at him only to see him
smirking and wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes and turn back to the team.

"Alright, who here is the quarterback?" I question the boys wanting to know
who my replacement is going to be after I graduate this year.

A tall, lanky kid raises his arm and I smirk at him.

"We gotta get you into the weight room," I say and the guys behind me
laugh.

I start walking to the other end of the lined up underclassmen when I

suddenly hear a voice behind me.

"Asshole" I knew exactly who was too.

I walk straight up to him and his head only reaches my chin. He realizes
that and his eyes widen. I cross my arms out in front of me and he looks at
them. If it's even possible, is eyes widen more.

"What was that,

toothpick

?" I lowly murmur.

"N-nothing, I didn't mea-" I cut him off by barely pushing his shoulder
causing him to fall to the ground.

I kneel down next to him as he props himself up on his elbows.

"

That

is exactly why you need to hit the weight room, you can barely take a hit."

_______________________

"Come on toothpick! I know damn well you can lift more than that!" I yell
as Tristan tries to lift the weights less than his body weight, and I bet the kid
only weighs 14 pounds, max.

Tristan and I were the only ones still in the weight room. Everyone else left
and went onto the field to do more practicing.

Tristan here just isn't all that great at weights.

"Why the hell are you pushing me so hard!" He yells back as he stands up
from trying to lift the weights.

"Because the second you get out on that big field, they won't hold back.
Their main target is you and sometimes your defense can't stop them. If you
get hit now, it looks like you'd break every bone in your body." I point out.

"Well it's hard!" He says and I roll my eyes handing him a towel.

"No shit it's hard. Do you think I came into this world looking like this?" I
roll my eyes. I've been there, done that.
"You get really skinny when you shoot up in height, I get that. C'mon, I'm
6'6, I get it

."

"When I was a freshman, there was this big buff senior-"

"Sounds like someone I know," he says and tilts his head in my direction I
ignore his comment and continue.

"That guy would always be on my back even though I was a better football
player than him. Soon, I got tired of his shit and by mid-freshman year, I
began lifting weights, little at a time. By junior year, I look like this and I
found out that jerk got arrested for a DUI. It was a win-win," I snort.

I can't leave this place with a shit quarterback. I've gotta leave him at least a
little advice.

_______________________

After another 30 minutes in the weight room, Tristan and I went outside to
where the team was.

Tristan joined the guys and I walked over to where Eli was.

"How did it go?" He questioned.

"A little rough at first but we're good now," I say.

After an hour we decide the guys have had enough.

"You guys did well," I say to them as they kneel.

"For freshies," Jayden chuckles and I roll my eyes.

"Go home, get rest, and be ready for tomorrow," I say and we walk back to
the locker rooms.

Damn, I'm hungry.

____________________________

| Thanks for reading doods :)

Word count: 4009

*I don't edit*

-Ashlyn M.
Part 12 "You really don't know
anything"
*Sergeant Owen Robertson's pov*

++++++Flashback+++++++

"Captain! Time to get up capt.!" I laugh. He was currently lying with his
head on his pack and the rest of his body propped up by a big rock.

He shook awake and shook his sleep away.

"Tired old man?" I tease.

"Shut your mouth boy" He smiles, "Calm out here?"

"Everything has been all quiet" I nod.

"I can't wait to get back home" capt. says with a longing look on his face.

"I wish I could meet that beautiful daughter of yours," I smirk at him.

"Boy, I may be older than you but I can still unleash a can of whoop ass!"

"I was kidding" I laugh at his defensive stance.

"You best b-" capt. gets cut off by an RPG strike to our right.

We all scramble to take cover and hide behind the dirt mounds.

"Captain!! What should we do?!" Private first class, Evan Smart yells over
the gunfire.

"Move forward, but stay covered at all times. Protect your brothers,"
Captain says as he stands up from his places motioning us to follow.
I feel my heart beating at 200 beats per minute and I feel adrenaline rush
through my veins.

We all run forward, some of us stopping to take aim.

"Private! Radio base and tell them we need air support!" Capt. yell and
stands up charging forward.

I follow right beside him. He has been nothing but a father figure out here
with me and I trust him with my entire life.

Since I'm younger than Capt. by quite a few years, my speed is a little
quicker than his. I soon find myself a few feet in front of him.

"Owen IED!" Capt. yells from behind me and I try my best to skid to a stop
but I can't.

I try bracing myself for the explosion but the back of my pack is pulled and
I land on top of something.

I open my eyes to see the halfway buried IED right beside me. I get up
carefully and turn around to see what I landed on.

"Thank God for you capt!" I exclaim helping him up.

"You're heavier than shit. Keep moving!" He replies and moves forward.

____________________________

"Ya'll be careful walking round' here! It looks like they dropped a damn
defective one," Captain rolls his eyes as we walk into the town where the
combatants were firing from.

We all started searching the town for any survivors and thankfully, we
haven't found any yet.

Just as we turn what feels like the twentieth corner, a bloody and battered
adversary shoots a cheap and almost ruined rifle. The bullet flies right
beside me and we automatically execute him.
I turn to see where Captain went since usually after a single execution he
would contact base but all I saw was him on the ground holding his chest
with bloodied hands.

"Get the medic!" I shout and the guys scramble trying to find the medic.
Half the guys stand there shocked with horrified faces. The guys on their
first tours who have never seen an American get shot.

"Move!" I shout.

"Captain, oh my-" The young medic freezes when he sees his superior.

"What the fuck are you just standing there for, do something!" I yell at him
desperately.

He will not die, he has a daughter who needs him, he won't die.

"Captain, stay with me, come on," I say pulling his head onto my lap.

He looks up at me and I can see his tired eyes through my blurry ones.

Captain suddenly coughs and blood sputters out his mouth.

"No, no, no, you'll be alright," I wipe the blood from his mouth.

"I-it doesn't hurt as bad as the one I had in my shoulder," He slightly

chuckles only causing him to cough out more blood.

"Work fucking faster!" I shout at the medic once I see Captain's health
deteriorating.

"When you get outta here in a couple weeks, I want you to-"

"No, you are coming with me when I get out. Don't say you aren't," I
demand.

This man has been more of a father to me than my actual one ever was.
"Owen, y-you and I both know this'll be it," He tries to laugh but it only
comes out as a quiet gasp.

"Tell her," He chokes, "T-That I'm sorry, a-and I love her," a single stream
of blood trails out of his mouth and I just know he's not getting out of here
alive.

"Who capt?" I question trying to keep him talking even though I know he's
talking about his daughter.

"Aubrey," He struggles and I know he can't talk for much longer.

I look at the medic and he looks at me through teary eyes. The poor medic
has never dealt with a dying brother before, I can just tell as he looks at me.

"There's nothing else I can do. Medevac is coming," He whispers.

"Y-You'll tell her?" He questions, his painful look cast upon me.

"Yes sir," I hold my breath as his eyes get droopy.

"You kill t-these fuckers," he pauses and chokes on blood, "that's an order."

"Roger," I whisper as he fades away.

"Ya did good kid," he rasps, "did good."

I turn my head back and see that his eyes rest in a dazed state.

"Captain? Nick!" I try shaking him awake but he doesn't respond. He's
gone.

God his daughter, his poor daughter.

I just watched my hero die right in front of me.

+++++Flashback over+++++

Almost three weeks later here I am at Michelle Ravolta's office.

I told Colonel Timms about what Captain had told me he wanted me to do
and he pointed me in the direction of Nicks files.

"I can't do much. I'm actually not supposed to do this but, he was such a
good man and a close friend. Go to Camp Lejeune, I'll email Colonel
Matthews down there and tell him to give you his file."

I went down to Camp Lejeune and looked at his files. The most it told me
about where his daughter was, is under the name, Michelle Ravolta. I did
more research and found out that she was a social worker.

So, here I am, now in Virginia, sitting in a waiting room. Also in my hot
uniform which is causing me to be even more sweaty than I already was
due to nervousness.

"Mr. Robertson? Mrs. Ravolta is ready for you." The receptionist gives a
kind smile and I stand up.

I knock on Mrs. Ravolta's door and I hear a faint "come in."

I open the door and let myself in. An older woman turns around in her seat
and she looks up at me. She quietly gasps and stands up.

"Please, please, take a seat," she points to the chair in front of her desk.

"Alright honey," She hesitates, "what can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm looking for Aubrey Wilson."

She lets out another gasp and she looks back at me.

"Did you happen to know Nicholas Wilson?" She questions quietly.

"Yes ma'am" I nod keeping my emotions at bay.

"Company rules say I can't do that hun," She says dejectedly.

"
Please,

Mrs. Ravolta. Nick gave me an order. I have to complete his last mission," I
shake my head as my eyes tear up.

"I can give you the town and school she's at" She wipes her eyes, "There's
nothing else I can do-" my thoughts cut her off.

"There's nothing else I can do. Medevac is coming."

"Owen? Are you okay?" Mrs. Ravolta questions worriedly and I'm sent
back into reality.

"That's all I need. Thank you

so

much." I say standing up once she hands me the papers.

"Thank you for your service dear." She smiles and I nod, walking out of her
office.

I make it to Aubrey's school by 2:45 pm, and I decide it would just be best
to wait until she gets out of school.

By 2:55, I am out the truck and walking towards the front entrance. I keep
my eyes open looking for the same girl that I saw in the pictures Captain
used to show me of his beloved daughter.

__________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

The bell rang and I stood up and stretched my arms. While stretching
someone ran into me causing me to literally

fall right onto Luke's lap.

"Well sweetheart, If you wanted to sit here, all you had to do is ask," Luke
smirks with his hands rested on my waist.

I don't think I've ever blushed this red before.

"Sorry," I say shyly. I look over to Eli fully expecting him to be wiggling
his eyebrows at me but he is sound asleep.

"Wake up shit-ass," Luke kicks Eli's chair and Eli wakes up with a jolt. I
give Luke a look and he just gives an innocent smile.

I pick up West from my desk and put my backpack on too. I begin walking
out of the classroom. Luke and Eli go their separate ways and I meet up
with Izzy and Olivia.

We all walk out the front doors and start going towards our cars. I look
down at my shoes as I walk since I'm too short to see things in front of me
so what's the point.

I feel Olivia beside me tap me easily at first, then she starts hitting me hard.

"Ouch Izzy," I pout and rub my shoulder. I look up at her and I just now
realize we have all stopped.

She turns her head to me and looks worried. I give her a confused look and
she turns her head back around and points.

I follow the direction that her finger is pointing in and I see a younger guy
in the same uniform my dad used to wear. Just by seeing him tears formed
in my eyes. Then, to see his eyes set on mine, tears of his own about to fall,
I let the first tear slide down my cheek.

I don't know him but it looks like he definitely knows me.

"We are gonna go. I'll give West to Luke," Izzy grabs West and they walk
off.

Seeing this guy could almost mean anything but the first thing that came to
mind was that they had found my fathers body.
"A-Aubrey?" The man questions almost unsure.

I give a very hesitant nod and his face contorts in sadness.

"I'm Sergeant Owen Robertson. Your father was my Captain." He says and I
feel my heart drop.

"Do you wanna go somewhere and talk?" I ask him.

"Yes ma'am," He says politely.

"We can go to my house, just follow my car," I tell him and we both walk to
our vehicles not saying a single word.

_______________________________

"You have a beautiful home ma'am," He smiles and sits down at the kitchen
table.

"You don't have to call me ma'am," I smile tiredly.

"So," I smile sadly as I sit down a cup of coffee for him, "Why travel so far
from your hometown just to see me?"

"Well, I was given one last order," He smiles sadly and I feel my eyes tear
up once again.

"You know, he would always talk about how proud of you he was and how
sweet and beautiful you are," I wipe the tear off my face and try not to make
a sound while he's talking.

"The day your dad...passed, I was right there beside him. He was the only
father figure I had in my life and he was a hero to me," he explains
sincerely.

He was a hero to me too.

"That day, I was given my last order from him. He made me promise that I
would find you and that I would tell you that he-he," He stops himself and I
swallow a sob.

"He wanted me to tell you that he was sorry for leaving you and that he
loves you so

much," He says and I feel tears pouring down my face.

I cover my face with my hands and try not to cry as hard as I know I need
to.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. Your dad was the greatest man I have ever
known and you, you shouldn't have to go through this," He shakes his head.

"Ca-Can you tell me more about him? He usually never talked to me about
what happened when he was over there. I've always wanted to know," I ask
hopefully and he smiles.

"Of course."

He proceeded to tell me all the funny and happy memories he had with my
dad and the whole time I cried quietly.

"The most recent one though, your dad saved me from an IED. I was
running straight for it. I just wasn't paying attention to it. He grabbed my
pack and pulled me down, taking the fall." He smiled at the memory.

I looked at the time and I realized it was already past 8. I wiped my face
and smiled at him.

"Are you going back over there?" I questioned him.

"I lied," he says and my eyebrows scrunch in confusion, "I was given two
orders, not one. So yeah, I'm going back."

For some reason, I felt like he wasn't telling me something. Just by the way
he wouldn't look at my face.

"Can I ask one more thing?" I question and he nods.

"H-How did it happen? How did he go?"

"Searching a bombed town, he led, like always. But this time there was one
guy that didn't die from the bomb. Nick was shot right here," he points to
his chest.

I nodded and I've never tried so hard to keep my real emotions in.

"Well, I guess I should get going," He sighs and stands up.

I stand up too and walk over to him.

"He always would say how much of a tiny little thing you were," He smiles
down at me.

I stand on my tippy toes and I hug him.

"Thank you so much, thank you" I cry into his shoulder.

"Here" I take a pen off of the counter and I hand it to him, "so that we can
talk anytime."

_________________________________

I shut my door behind him and walk over to the couch waiting for the real
crying to come. For some reason, it doesn't. I take out my phone from my
room and text the group chat.

Me: Hey

Izzy: Hey Aubrey

Olivia: Hi

Me: I'm alright, goodnight guys.

I end the conversation there and take my shower. I pray like I do every
night but tonight I just seemed to be at a loss of words. I did my best
anyways and soon I'm falling asleep.
"Wake up," My mom shakes me awake and I just look up at the ceiling.

"Aubrey, I said wake up," she sighs.

"Can I stay home today?" I ask with a lone tear rolling out the corner of my
eye.

I can't bare going to school today. I had been working so

hard

and

going to school being all happy but today I didn't have it in me.

Mom looked at me suspiciously.

"I guess," she shrugs before leaving my room.

I roll on my side and go back to sleep.

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

I wake up and look over at my phone.

59 messages and 22 missed calls.

45 texts and 19 missed calls from Izzy and Olivia.

5 texts from Luke and 1 missed call.

9 texts from Eli and 2 missed calls from Eli.

I sigh and look at the time. It's lunchtime.

I get up and walk downstairs to the kitchen. I see the kitchen table where
Owen and I talked for hours last night and I automatically did a u-turn. I
walked right back up to my bed and buried my damp cheeks in my pillow.

__________________________

I wake up once again and sit up in my bed. It's now dark outside and I'm
just glad that I haven't been disturbed.

I hear the front door open downstairs and I make no effort to get up.

Let em' kidnap me. I dare em'.

"I'm home early," Mom says as she peers into my room.

"I'm gonna take a shower then I'll probably just go to bed."

"Okay."

I get my clothes ready and soon I hop in the shower.

After showering I do my night routine and somehow still fall asleep even
though I have been sleeping all day.

____________________________

"Are you going today?" Mom comes into my room.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go today," I nod and I get up out the bed.

I put on my clothes, leave my hair down in its natural curls and go down
and eat breakfast. After eating breakfast, I brush my teeth and drive to
school.

As soon as I get out of the car at school I feel two sets of arms wrap around
me.
"Hey guys," I sigh still feeling a little emotionally drained.

"Are you okay," Izzy asks worriedly.

"Yeah," Olivia agrees with her.

"I wasn't but I am now. The guy that showed up, he was with dad when
he..yeah," I say not trying to cry this morning. I have had enough crying. I
think my tear ducts are going to drain out soon if I don't quit.

"Oh you poor thing, come on, give us some more hugs," Olivia says and
they pull me back into a hug.

"Oh no!" I suddenly gasp.

"Oh! What!" Izzy asked startled by my outburst.

"I left Luke with the baby and he had a game yesterday."

"He can suck it up," Izzy rolls her eyes.

We all three soon make our way to our lockers and I open up mine.

About a minute later, I can sense a large presence behind me. I turn around
and I meet the glaring eyes of Luke.

That can't be good.

I look over to Izzy and Olivia from across the hall and they slowly but
surely start making their way over to where I am.

"What the hell Aubrey? I had a game last night. You were supposed to take
the damn child!" He raised his voice at me and I would be lying if I said I
didn't get a little bit scared.

I've seen him angry before, considering he does get angry at people often
but it has never been directed at me until now.

"Luke I-" He cuts me off.

"Aubrey you said you would have him covered yesterday but I had to put a
crying baby in the locker rooms," He says, his voice lowered and deeper, a
telltale sign he's mad.

He is mad and he has the right to be mad, but, if he would let me explain,
hopefully, it would cool him down a little bit.

"Luke there is a reas-" He cut me off again.

"Where the fuck were you?"

He questions andI shrink down hearing him curse at me.

I look down not wanting him to see my watery eyes.

I feel some tears fall down my face and I look up at Olivia silently begging
her to do something.

"Luke just sto-" He cuts

her

off too.

"Aubrey, what was so damn important?" He questions again.

I raise my head and look right up at him. His eyes considerably soften and
travel down my face once he sees my tears.

"You don't have to be so rude. You really don't know anything," I shake my
head and I push past him. I hear him call out my name but I keep going.

"Hey, boo-bo- Aubrey? Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Eli runs into me and is
about to give me his usual morning hug until he sees my face.

I just sniffle and don't say a word. He pulls my face into his chest and he
smooths out my hair.
"Who did this?" He questions in the most serious voice I've ever heard him
talk in.

"It was no one Eli, I'm fine."

"Obviously you aren't fine boo," He sighs.

_______________________________

*LUKES POV*

"Aubrey what was so damn important?" I angrily question her.

Last night, I got so mad because I had to worry about what to do with the
stupid baby. Then, I also had to spend the night with a crying baby.

It was hell and she didn't answer my calls or give me a reason why she left
me with the baby.

She looks up at me through her long eyelashes and I see her red-rimmed,
teary eyes.

I didn't mean to make her cry.

"You don't have to be so rude. You really don't know anything," She says
quietly and for some reason, my heart drops seeing that her tears are
because of me.

She pushes past me and I instantly feel an immense amount of regret wash
over me.

"Aubrey," I call out and try to grab her but she just keeps walking. I turn
back around and I see Olivia and Izzy both giving me death glares.

"Sometimes you are such an asshole!" Izzy says and she walks in the
direction of where Aubrey went.

"Why couldn't you have stopped when we told you?" Olivia asks as she too
walks past me. I look over to Ryan and he is pursing his lips and slightly
shaking his head.

"Damn it," I curse quietly. I start walking in the direction of where Aubrey
went.

I see Eli coming towards me looking surprisingly serious.

He must've found out.

"What the shit Luke! I come into school and Aubrey runs into me, crying!"
He puts his hands on his hips.

"I know, it's all my fault. Where is she, I need to talk to her," I ask him with
hopeful eyes. He sighs and looks as if he is weighing his options.

"She is up at that big oak tree," He finally says and I head out the front
doors.

_______________________

I make it out back and I see a tiny figure sitting at the base of the big oak. I
walk up to her and sit down beside her. She doesn't move or look up at me.

"Aubrey, I'm

so

sorry. I shouldn't ha-"

"It's fine" She interrupts me and sniffles.

"You didn't deserve to be spoken to like that. A person as sweet as you

should never be treated like that," I grab her chin and tilt it up so she can
see the truth in my eyes.

"I was going to explain to you why I wasn't here," Her eyes dart to the
ground, and I find myself only ever wanting her eyes on me.
"And I should've let you," I nod, "I'm sorry I got angry so quick, today is
just a hard day for me."

Two years ago today, my momma took her last breath as my father and I sat
right beside her in her hospital bed. My mind just got all jumbled with
feelings and I took it all out on the person who least deserved it.

"I understand bad days," She sadly smiles and I let go of her chin.

Everybody has bad days. How worse could her day be than mine?

"Today is the second anniversary of my mom's death," I say and I look at

her and see she is holding back tears.

"No, don't cry please," I shake my head.

"I'm really sorry," She turns and looks at me. I see right through her. I see a
horrible loss and pain in her eyes, but she said sorry to me.

I give a sad smile and I begin the story that I've never told a single soul.

_________________________

|Sorry if there are a lot of errors. I didn't really go back much at all on
this chapter.

Thanks for reading!

*I don't edit*

Word count: 3993

- Ashlyn M.
Part 13 "Why? Jealous?"
*AUBREY'S POV*

"Two years ago, we moved here from Alabama to get my mom better
treatment. The treatments on her type of leukemia were better researched up
here so we left Montgomery," Luke tells me while picking on a piece of
grass.

I can tell he is sad by talking about it so I scoot closer to him and lean my
head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Luke," I softly squeeze his forearm.

I may not know exactly what he's going through but I understand his pain.

"I moved from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Well, technically, Base Camp
Lejeune, " I tell Luke and he softly nods.

"My dad was deployed five months ago and almost three weeks ago," I take
a deep breath, "I got, a letter, saying he wasn't coming back."

I wipe the stupid tears off my face frustratingly and look back up at Luke.
He is looking at me with such regret and that causes me to cry even more.

"Aubrey,"

He says almost desperately as he pulls me closer to him.

"Two days ago, the guy that was with my dad when he died came to see me.
He told me he made a promise with my dad that he would come to see me,"
I wipe more tears remembering Owen.

Luke takes my face in his hands and he looks right into my eyes.

"I am so sorry Aubrey."

"It's okay Luke, you didn't know," I tell him, not wanting him to feel guilty
or anything.

"Come here," Luke says as he lifts me from where I'm sitting and onto his
lap facing him.

I blush as he places my legs on either side of his torso. He pulls me into him
and I wrap my arms around his neck and we hug.

He smells super good.

"A real baby would never be as unpredictable as West right?" Luke asks me
pulling away from our hug after about two minutes.

"No" I giggle.

"Good," He smiles, "I was fixing to throw him in the dumpster for crying
randomly."

I gasp at him and laugh again. I look down and realize I'm still on his lap.

I blush and then blush more when I notice his arms still securely wrapped
around my waist.

I look back at him to see him giving me a small but breathtaking smile.

"Where's West?" I question changing the subject

hopefully

subtly.

"I'm sure somebody's taking care of him" He shrugs.

I just shake my head at him. Of course he would say that.

"Let's get outta here," He says suddenly.

"But-, what about school?" I ask.

I've never just up and left school before.

"It's only one day," he says surprisingly softly.

I weigh my options and think It'll be okay to skip. Only for one day though.

"Okay."

Luke stands up with me still in his arms and I squeal, holding onto him
tighter.

"You okay?" He smirks.

"I'm not used to being this high up." I look down at the ground and it feels
like it's a mile away.

"You're cute," Luke says and he takes my hand, leading me down the hill.

A deep, dark blush covers my cheeks and I turn my head away to hide it
from him knowing he'll probably just laugh at me.

Which is exactly what he does.

Arrogant booty-hole.

We come up to his truck and I just now notice how tall it is.

He walks to the passenger door and he opens it. He looks back down at me
and gives me a teasing smirk.

He picks me up by my waist and gently places me in the passenger seat.

"Thank you," I huff annoyed by my short height. He smiles and shuts the
door.

While putting my seat belt on, I take a second to look around the truck. His
truck is clean and it smells like him.

I like it.
The only things in his truck are his duffel bag, which is right at my feet, a
sweatshirt seated in the back, and two packets of empty sour skittles in the
cup holder.

He opens his door and easily climbs into his truck. He sees the skittles
packets and he takes them, holding them up.

"Sour Skittles are my favorite," he smiles then he throws the packs into the
back.

"I like the regular ones," I say proudly. He turns on his truck which roars to
life.

"Yuck"

he smirks looking back at me.

"Where are we going?" I ask Luke as he pulls out the school parking lot.

"I don't know," He shrugs.

I go to take out my phone to text the girls where I'm at but I find out that
I've left my phone in my backpack. Which is at school.

Luke leans over and clicks a button on the radio. A song starts playing and
it just so happens to be one of my favorites.

Luke rolls down the windows and I feel the breeze blow across my face.

I start off by humming the song but I soon realize that wasn't enough.

'Wanna be those words that fill you up,

Pull your windows down and keeps you young,

Makes you believe you're right where you belong'

I glance over to Luke and see he is focused on the road but looking at it
with a small but gorgeous smile on his handsome face.
The song soon ends and I look out the window to see we're on some
highway now.

"This was my mom's favorite song," Luke says with his eyes trained on the
road.

'Darling just once let yesterday go,

and you'll find more love,

then you've ever known'

I feel a sad sensation come over in the air. I put my hand over Luke's right
hand which is laying on the middle armrest.

"She had an amazing taste in music," I smile lightening the mood.

"Yeah, she did."

_________________________

"Was that a roller skating rink?!" I ask Luke excitedly.

I may not be too good at roller skating but I love to do it.

"Yeah?" Luke answers unsure.

"Let's go there!" I bounce once in my seat.

"If that's what you want," Luke mumbles as he turns the truck around and
starts driving back to the rink.

We walk into the rink and we go up to the counter where we get shoes.

"Welcome! What size shoe do you bro's wear?" A lean guy with greasy long
hair asks.

"Do you have a size 16?" Luke asks and I almost choke.
I mean, I get that he's 6'6 but my goodness!

"Woah, dude! I'll go check with my boss." The worker walks away and he
goes to the back of the room. He knocks on a door and a short little man
with a big round belly opens it.

"What do you want?" The man questions angrily and I let out a little gasp.

The two guys' conversation goes on and eventually, the original worker
comes back.

"Yeah we have the size bro" he nods and just stands there.

"Well can I have it?" Luke rolls his eyes.

"Oh shit man, right! I'll be right back." He says and I scrunch my nose.

Luke turns towards me and gives me a "can you believe this guy?" look. I
laugh it off and the guy comes back with the shoes.

"Here you go man" Luke takes the shoes but never says thanks.

How rude.

"Thank you!" I say to the guy for Luke and nod at him, rolling my eyes.

"Thank you" Luke mocks me.

"And what size would you like babe?" The worker asks nonchalantly. I, of
course blush, not used to such words being said to me.

"Size 6 please," I tell him looking down at my feet. The guy walks off and
goes to get my shoes.

I hear footsteps and I look up.

"Here you go ba-"

"Thank you,
for that

bro,"

Luke grabs my skates from the guy with a jerk. Luke grabs my hand and
leads me over to the benches where we put skates on.

"What a douche," I hear Luke mumble as we sit down.

____________________________

"I can't stand up," I tell Luke once I finally finished putting my skates on.

I know, as soon as I stand up, I'm going to fall straight back down.

"Sweetheart, you'll be fine," Luke says as he stands in front of me putting

his hand out.

I hesitantly take his hand and stand up.

Jesus take the wheel.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Luke asks me.

"Oh, just you wait."

"Let's go," He says and he starts to walk to the actual rink.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're goin' too fast!" He has to remember his legs are a
lot longer than mine. One of his steps equals like three of mine.

Luke starts walking

really

slow, taking one step every few seconds.

"I didn't say go slower than my grandma," I smirk up at him.

"You're too cute," He smiles.

Once we finally made it to the rink part, I was nervous as can be. I really
didn't want to fall in front of Luke. It would be really embarrassing, but, I
also knew that it was inevitable.

I can't roller skate to save my life.

Why did I want to come here?

"Look, you're gettin' it!" Luke says. I'm actually

not

getting

it, I'm just holding onto his arm for dear life.

All of a sudden, the little rubber stopper on my skates gets caught on the
ground and one of my legs is stuck while the other is still rolling.

"Luke, Luke!" I say and he looks down.

I'm practically doing the splits right now and no matter how hard I try to get
that stuck skate off the ground, it isn't working.

Thankfully Luke stops rolling. Even if it is just to laugh.

Then, he decides to let go of my arms and I drop to the ground now fully in
a split.

And let me tell you, it does not feel too good.

"You poor thing," He says and he rolls over to me.

"Help" I look up at him and raise my arms knowing it will be the only way
out of this position.
He bends down and picks me up by my underarms. I straighten my legs out
and he sits me back on my feet carefully.

________________________

"Just try it"

I don't want to 'try it' because as soon as I let go of him, I'm going come
tumbling down.

"Fine" I huff and let go of his arm.

He rolls in front of me and I don't move a single muscle.

"Sweetheart, you have to move."

"No, I don't," I say concentrating on keeping my balance even though I'm

not moving.

He skates behind me and puts his hands on my waist.

"If you push me, I'm taking you with me when I fall," I say through my
blush.

"I think I can handle that," he says into my ear and he gives me a good
push.

I surge forward and I almost think I won't fall. Two seconds after the push, I
fall to the ground right on my butt.

That's gonna leave a bruise.

"I thought you said you were gonna take me down with you?" Luke teases
while helping me up.

"I thought you said you were gonna take me down with you?"

I mock in the deepest voice I could go.

"What time is it?" I question.

"12:48"

"Do you think we should go back to school now?"

"Nope. But, we can go somewhere to eat. I need to eat," He rubs his

stomach.

He takes my hand and he starts leading us back to where we put the shoes
on. I still blush even though we have been holding hands a lot today.

"How are you so good at roller skating? You never fell once." I jealously
say.

"Why? Jealous?" He smirks.

"Y-no" I catch myself and turn red at my mistake.

He hears my mistake and shakes his head with a smile.

We turn in our skates and Luke gives the guy a twenty dollar bill.

"I could've paid," I mumble as we walk back to Luke's truck.

"With what sweetheart? Invisible money?" Luke smirks as he lifts me and

places me in his truck but he doesn't go anywhere, waiting to hear my
response.

"

If

I had my money which is in my backpack," I state.

"Well, even

If
you

had your money, I still wouldn't let you pay," he gives a cheeky smile, shuts
my door, and walks over to his side, getting in.

______________________________

Luke and I walk into Cookout, such an amazing burger and milkshake
place.

"Can I get three, double bacon cheeseburgers with ketchup only. Also, a
large fry, a hotdog, and a cookie dough milkshake" Luke orders and I smile
at his huge order.

That's a lot of cheeseburgers.

"Can I have a cheeseburger with ketchup, a small fry, and an Oreo

milkshake please?" I smile at the cashier.

As much as I would love to order as much as Luke, it would probably take

me a week to finish all he ordered.

Once we got our food we sat down and began eating.

"You weren't lying when you said you ate a lot," I laugh at Luke.

"I don't get all this energy from just one burger babe," Luke smirks.

I hide my blush by taking a drink from my milkshake.

"I'll just work all this off at practice tomorrow or something" He shrugs.

"You don't have practice tonight?" I question chewing on a fry. He usually

has practice every night.

"No," he sips his shake, "We played really well at our game yesterday so
Coach decided to give us a day off."
"Well, that was sweet,"

"Yeah, I guess," He shrugs, "It probably just means he'll work us twice as
hard tomorrow."

"I still feel bad about this morning," Luke says with a guilty face.

"No, please don't feel bad about it," I shake my head, "It's really okay."

"I'm sure my momma would kill me if she heard how I talked to you."

Now that, I smile at.

"She really sounds like an amazing person," I smile at him sweetly and he
nods.

"She really was. She was really selfless, sometimes too selfless, but she
definitely had my dad to balance her out," He smiles thinking about her.

______________________________

*LUKES POV*

"She reminds me of you" Is what I wanted to say next but I decided not too.

"And Leo, he loved her to death." I shake my head at the thought of that
damn dog.

"Why haven't you told anybody else about your mom?" She asks hesitantly
like I'm not gonna want to answer.

"I didn't want anybody acting weird around me and since most of my
friends are on the team, I just thought it would be better if they didn't know.
I don't want them treating me any differently."

It feels so good to tell her all these bottled up things I have kept inside of
me for two years. I feel like I can tell her anything.
Except I don't know why I can't gather up the courage to tell her how
beautiful she is and that I want to take her out on a real date. This usually
never happens with any other girls I'm with.

It's confusing the hell outta me.

After we are both done eating, we walk out to my truck.

I lift her in the passenger seat which is now one of my favorite things for
two reasons. One, I think it's absolutely adorable, and two, I get to grip onto
that amazing waist of hers.

"I don't want to go back to school," I huff.

I hear a humming from beside me and I turn up the music so hopefully,

she'd speak up a little louder.

On the way back to school, I take a few detours so that I will be able to hear
her sing for longer.

Once we get back to school it's 2:45 and we are supposed to be in last
period government.

We walk into school and head straight for room 213. I open the door and
hold it open for Aubrey.

I walked in after Aubrey and I saw that Ms. Lonio is asleep. We both sit
down at our seats and Eli is there staring right at both of us.

"What the friggin frick?!" Eli whisper-shouts.

"We went roller skating," Aubrey smiles cutely.

Eli looks at us with 'are you kidding me' looks.

"During lunch, Izzy and Olivia were worried sick about you guys. Oh, and
they have all your stuff, Aubrey. Including West," Eli informs us.

The bell rings and I'm shocked at how little time we were actually in class.
"Oh, would you look at that! I'm sure you guys learned so much in all
your," He stops and looks at his invisible watch, "5 minutes at school."

"You talk too much," I roll my eyes at him.

"Excuse me?" He gasps, "Well you talk too much about Au-" I put my hand
over his mouth and I feel my cheeks heating up. Eli looks at me like I've
gone crazy.

"Bye Aubrey, I'll see you later."

"Bye," She smiles beautifully and she walks out of the class.

"Di-did you jus-no. Did you blush?" Eli asks the question expecting me to
say no. When I don't say anything he smiles so wide I'm surprised his jaw
didn't come out of place.

"Oh my goodness. You

really

like her! Listen here, buddy! I better be your best man at the wedding!" Eli
points a finger at me.

I just roll my eyes at him.

____________________

|||||Thank you all for reading and giving my story a chance!

*I don't edit*

Word count: 2971

-Ashlyn M.
Part 14 "I could be a professional
ninja if I wanted to"
"So, homecoming is coming up," Olivia tells me as I take a seat at our lunch
table, "In a few weeks."

"Oh, that's nice," I nod. I don't really know what she wants me to say right
now.

"Yep...who are you going with?" She asks.

"I probably won't go," I shrug with a smile.

"Well I think Luke should ask yo-" She begins but is cut off.

"Boo-boo, you know what they did today?" Eli asks taking a seat in front of
me, beside Olivia.

"They canceled our game today because the fields are soaked," Eli rolls his
eyes.

Since yesterday, mother nature decided to unleash a whole bunch of H2O

on us. In other words, it has been raining since last night.

"Yeah, it's stupid. We have played in the rain before," Ryan rolls his eyes as
he too sits beside Olivia. I look up at her and she is looking down at her
sandwich with wide eyes and tinged cheeks.

"

So

, we are gonna all go to Eli's house," Luke nudges my shoulder accidentally

with his very broad one, taking a seat beside me.
"And since you are my best friend, you're gonna come. Sound good?
Good." Eli smiles.

"I guess I don't have a choice," I laugh.

_________________________

At the end of the day, I meet up with Izzy and Olivia like we always do.

"So are we going straight to Eli's or..?" Izzy asks as we enter the parking
lot.

"I have to go home first. I don't know how late we're gonna stay so I'm
gonna get my glasses." I tell them.

"We'll come too." They decide and we all drive to my house.

We arrive at home and we walk inside.

"I'm going to get something to eat in your pantry," Izzy smiles and heads to
the kitchen.

"Same, I think lunch is too early," Olivia follows Izzy.

I walk upstairs and get my glasses. I walk back downstairs to find the girls
and I see them arguing over the last bit of kiwi-strawberry Kool-Aid.

Olivia jerks the jug and the top flies off and the rest of the juice splatters all
over me. The room goes silent.

Did that really just happen?

I start laughing because the situation is actually hilarious. Soon, they realize
I'm not mad and they laugh along with me.

"I'm so sorry Aubrey," Olivia laughs.

"Oh Lord, I'm gettin' sticky! I'm gonna go take a shower. By the way, there
are more Kool-Aid packets in that cabinet right there." I point to the corner
cabinet of the kitchen and head upstairs.

I get in the shower and scrub the stickiness from my arms and face. I also
wash my hair and the rest of my body so that tonight I won't have to take a
shower.

Soon, I get out and change into my clothes. I put on a pair of black leggings
and a long sleeve, grey, and black Nike shirt.

I put on my socks and shoes and walk back downstairs. I turn the corner
into the kitchen cautiously, making sure that there are no more beverages
being spilled.

"Are ya'll ready to go?" I ask the girls and they nod.

"I'm going to ride with Aubrey this time Izzy," Olivia teases Izzy as she gets
into my car.

________________________

We arrive at Eli's house and his orders were to come right in.

Izzy has no problem with that and she just barges right in.

I follow behind her shyly and I spot Rosco.

"Rosco!!" I gasp and squeal excitedly. I go over and pet an asleep Rosco.

Wow, he's a real fun dog!

"Hey, I found the guys! They're out back," Izzy nods toward a glass sliding
door.

We walk out and we see Luke throwing a football to a running Eli while
Jayden is trying to block Ryan from tackling him and Jackson is trying to
tackle Luke.
I've never been more proud of myself. I have finally learned the difference
between Jayden and Jackson. Jayden is a bit more muscular than Jackson.
He is also slightly taller...and he has a birthmark above his eye, unlike
Jackson.

The guys are all soaked from falling in the wet grass and poor Jayden has
mud smeared all over his blue shirt.

I look over a Luke and see he is wearing a grey shirt that is wet and clinging
very

nicely to a 6-pack. I guess playing all that football has paid off for him
physically. Or me since I get to look at it.

"Boo-boo!" Eli sees me and starts running towards me.

I squeal and run away from him, not wanting to get wet. He chases me
around his patio and I start running on the wet grass.

"Come here!!" Eli shouts from behind me, "Why do you run so fast?!"

Soon, all the guys are chasing me. I've escaped them numerous times by
ducking under they're arms at the right moment but now, I'm getting tired
from all this running. An unfit person can only run but so much.

I feel a set of arms wrap around my waist and the next thing I know I'm up
in the air.

"I got you," Luke smirks.

"I don't wanna get wet," I whine.

Luke carefully places me down in the wet grass and all of a sudden I get
tackled to the ground.

I look to the person who tackled me and I see the piercing brown eyes of
Olivia.
"I think you broke my hip," I stand up grasping my side. She may not have
hit me hard but it doesn't take a lot to knock me over.

I hear a battle cry and I turn to see Izzy running straight toward Olivia. I
jump out of the way and I watch as Izzy body slams Olivia.

"Those two are vicious," Eli whispers from beside me.

"Did you see Rosco when yo-"

Eli's sentence was cut off when Ryan speared him.

"Am I okay?" He asks no one in particular whilst still sprawled out on the
ground.

I decide now is the perfect time to try and escape and just go hang out with
Rosco.

I start sneakily making my way through the yard and I'm almost to the patio
when a large body collides with mine, sending me flying down to the
ground.

I land on my back and let me tell you, it feels like I've been hit by a bus.

"Ow," I murmer and I open my eyes and look at the culprit.

"Hey," Luke smirks, his body hovering over mine.

Of course, I start to blush.

I really need to get that under control.

"That hurt," I slightly poke my bottom lip out. His eyes quickly dart down
to my lip and I notice that, and I stick my tongue out at him.

I use his distraction to my advantage and I manage to roll upwards and

away from him.
I try and get up but he's a lot quicker so he grabs onto the back of my leg. I,
being the quick thinker I am, take off the shoe on my other foot and throw it
at him.

I hit him square in the forehead but thankfully I didn't throw it that

hard.

Luke gasps when the shoe hits his forehead and I try and stand up again.

He still has a grip on my leg so getting rid of my beloved shoe was a

terrible idea.

Way to go.

I slide my hands forewords on the grass and slam my torso onto the ground.
I jerk my head forward too, making it look like I slammed my nose onto the
ground.

"Ouch!" I grab my nose and almost immediately Luke no longer has a grip
on his leg.

I sit up, still holding my nose and Luke sits in front of me.

He grabs my face in his hands almost making me blush,

almost.

"Let me see it, sweetheart," he says softly and I quickly push his torso
backward and run for the house.

"You tricked me!" I hear Luke yell from behind me.

I run in the house and past a sleeping Rosco.

I need to hide somewhere.

I see a door and I open it. It leads me to a laundry room and I decide to hide
in the laundry rooms closet.
"Aubrey?" I hear Izzy whisper when she opens the laundry room door.

"I'm in here," I whisper back and I crack open the closet door.

"Luke's in the house and they are all on a search for you," she laughs seeing
my hiding spot.

"Don't tell them I'm here!"

"I won't," we both hear footsteps going down the stairs and she looks back
at me, "peace!"

I close back my closet door and a few seconds later, I hear the laundry too
door open again.

I look through the little cracks in the door and I see Luke.

Fudge nuggets!

"Aubrey?" He asks and he looks around the room.

He goes to a different closet and jerks it open.

He closes it once he sees I'm not in there and I figure it is my time to strike.

I quietly open the doors of my closet and sneak out.

Luke, is right now looking in the corner of the room in empty tubs.

I climb up on the drier very quietly, might I add.

I could be a professional ninja if I wanted to.

I jump off the drier and onto Lukes back, clinging onto his shoulders.

He has

very nice
shoulders.

"Got ya," I whisper in his ear. He turns his head and looks at me with a
smile.

"Mhm, now try to get down," he says with a challenging smirk.

I look down at the ground and it is not okay. I feel like I would break a foot
if I jumped down.

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit but it really is high.

I turn my head back and look a Luke who is still looking at me.

"I think I'll just hang out here," I sheepishly smile.

Luke smirks and he walks out to the living room with me still clinging to
him like a monkey.

"Hey! You found her," Izzy smirks in my direction.

"Boo-boo, you've got grass in your hair," Eli laughs at me once he comes
down the stairs.

I bring my hand up to my hair and run my finger through it. A whole bunch
of grass fragments falls onto my hands.

Olivia hands me a paper towel and I wipe the grass onto it. I take a look at
Luke's hair and he also has grass in it.

Should I

get it?I can't just leave it there.

I run my hands through it and get the grass stuck in between my fingers. I
wipe that on the towel and I notice more towards the front.

Luke leans his head back, reading my mind, and I repeat the process.
After all the grass is out, Luke twists his torso and he moves my body
around to his front.

I blush and he smirks.

He sits me down on a kitchen stool and he grabs a piece of grass from the
front of my hair.

I probably look like a mess. When do I not though?

_____________________

"My clothes are soaked," I tell the girls while squeezing out water from my
shirt by twisting it.

"He had his eyes closed and his head leaned back, I think he liked that,"
Olivia keeps bothering me about the entire

situation from when we first got here and until the guys said they were
going to take turns showering and changing.

"

Izzy,"

I say desperately hoping she would make it stop.

"It was adorable though!" She is no help at all.

"Okay, it was "adorable," now what are we gonna wear? Our clothes are
soaked," I say once again.

"I'm sure we can borrow something," Olivia shrugs.

"Come hither my wonderful babies," Eli motions us to go over to him after

he walks down the stairs. He is carrying an arm full of clothes.

"So, I have clothes you guys can wear since your clothes are all wet."
He lays out the clothes and I already know I'm going to drown in them.

Izzy and Olivia find the clothes they want to wear and that only leaves me
with a pair of Adidas track pants. Not even a shirt.

"I think I need a shirt too, you counted wrong," I giggle and I notice Luke
walking down the stairs.

"Lucas! Can you please go get me a sweatshirt or something for Aubrey?!"

Eli yells and Luke glares at him.

"Don't call me Lucas," he mumbles taking off his blue football sweatshirt.

"Here," He hands it to me.

"Thank you," I say shyly and I quickly go to the bathroom to change.

I hold the pants up to my waist and they are about a mile too long. I slide
them on and I fold over the waistband about five times. They're still too
long but whatever.

I take my wet shirt off and put it with my leggings. I put on Luke's
sweatshirt and it smells like him.

It smells pretty darn good.

The sweatshirt goes down to, pretty much, my knees so I roll the bottom of
that too only for it to roll back down.

Great.

I put my hair up in a bun all while still trying to hold my pants up. The
stupid pants decide to keep on falling down.

I walk out of the bathroom holding up my pants and my clothes.

I walk in the kitchen and apparently, everyone is done changing and out of
the showers.
"Awww," Izzy and Olivia say in unison once they see me.

They take my clothes and put them in a bag that Eli gave them.

"You look so tiny," Eli gushes giving me a tight hug. He's holding my arms
against my body so I can't hold my pants up.

I can just feel them slowly sliding down.

"Eli, my pants!"

"I know, sorry they're too big," he sighs dejectedly, still hugging me
oblivious to the fact that they are almost down to my mid-thighs now.

I feel hands grab the waistband of my pants and pull them up. I turn my
head and see Olivia standing right behind me, holding my pants up at my
waist so they don't fall again.

"Thank you" I mouth to her.

Eli finally let's go and I hold onto my own pants now.

___________________

By 8:00, the only thing we've done has been eating and talking.

After changing our clothes and stuff, everyone said they were hungry so we
ordered like 5 pizzas. We ate all the pizzas, talked and the guys told stories
about their childhoods.

Now, we are sitting in the living room and I'm freezing my booty off.
Apparently, Eli doesn't know how to work the thermostat so it is 56 degrees
Fahrenheit in the house.

Everyone else seems perfectly fine with the fact that it's only 20 some
degrees from freezing but since I'm a small being, my body heat is limited.

Not to mention my poor feet. It feels like my toes are going to turn black
from frostbite.
"Okay, I have-" Eli cuts himself off when Luke comes and sits beside me
with a big bag of chips.

"Did I

say

you could have my chips," Eli ask with his hands on his hips.

"I didn't

ask

," Luke replies in the same tone putting the bag of chips in between us. He
motions to the bag saying I can have some too. Since sour cream and onion
chips are my favorite, I gladly take some.

"Someone go pick out a movie," Eli huffs, sitting down beside Jackson.

I look down at my delicious chips and I see one with a burn spot on it.

I never eat the ones with burn spots on them. People say you can't taste the
difference but I wouldn't know, I have never eaten those and I don't plan on
it.

I scrunch my nose at it and move to put it back into the bag. I'll probably
come across the chip later but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

"What's wrong with that one?" Luke asks right before I drop the chip in the
bag.

"It has a brown spot," I say childishly.

"It tastes the same," Luke says taking it from my hand and eating it.

After every brown or too green chip, all I do is hand it over to him.

"Okay, since no one has gotten up to get a movie, I'll pick one," Ryan says
getting up from his spot beside a flushed Olivia.
I feel Rosco move his position from beside me and he moves and plops
down on my lap, sniffing the bag of chips.

Maybe he'll keep me warm.

I give him a chip and he eats it without chewing.

"Let's watch Conjuring 2," Ryan smirks.

I don't

hate

horror

movies, they just scare me quite a bit.

"Let's go make popcorn!" Eli yells grabbing mine and Izzy's hands. We
walk into the kitchen and he grabs four packs of popcorn from a cabinet. He
puts two in the microwave and then turns around.

"The only reason Ryan picked that movie was because he wants to cuddle
with Olivia," Eli smirks confirming my theory.

"I knew it!" Izzy laughs.

"I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind doing the same to Aubrey," Eli says to Izzy
and nudges her like I'm not standing right in front of them.

"Ya'll are too much," I shake my head and we take the bowls of popcorn out
to the living room.

______________________________

||||||Thanks for reading!

*I don't edit*
Next chapter will come up pretty soon but after that it will be longer
periods of time before they go out. Spring break is just about to end.

Word count: 3127

-Ashlyn M.
Part 15 "I need a vomit bucket"
The movie starts and I can already feel my heart rate increase. I pet an
asleep Rosco to calm my nerves and thankfully it's working.

I pull my blanket tighter around me and feel its fluffiness. Eli gave me a
blanket after I told him I was going to freeze to death.

Luke and I are sharing a popcorn, Ryan and Olivia are sharing one, Eli has
one all to himself. His excuse for that was "I am the one hosting this party,
girlfriend."

He can really be such a drama queen sometimes.

The twins are also sharing a bowl.

Further into the movie, our shrieks got so bad that they woke up Rosco. By
"our" shrieks I mean Izzy and Eli's. Whenever a scary moment comes up, I
hide my face in the blanket or Luke's shoulder which he purposely moved
closer for me to do.

I noticed that.

At one point, Rosco was even barking at the demon on the tv. He is such a
cutie.

By the end of the movie we are all pretty freaked out.

"Where's West?" I asks suddenly noticing the disappearance of all the

babies.

"I left him at my house," he smiles sheepishly.

"We're gonna get an F," I smile and shake my head.

I look up at the clock on the wall and see that it's 11:00 pm.
"It's late, we should probably go," I say and I stand up.

As soon as I do my pants fall straight to my knees. The whole room erupts

in laughter and my face turns bright red.

I quickly pull them back up and make sure to hold them up this time.

"You guys should just stay here, it's really late," Eli says wiping his tears.

The girls look to me, waiting for confirmation. I knew they would want to.

I also know mom wouldn't care so why not?

"Okay," I nod and I sit back down yawning. I lay my head on the arm of the
couch and yawn again.

"Goodnight," Eli yawns as he leans his recliner back. Everyone else in the
room lays down on their sofas and say their good-nights.

I soon hear the quiet snores of some people in the room.

I bow my head and fold my hands in prayer.

After finishing, I open my eyes and I see Luke sitting up on his end of the
couch. I wipe my cheeks and he moves over to me.

"Come on," he opens his arms and I move into them. He moves us so that
my back is against the back of the couch and that he's facing me, with his
back facing towards the tv. One of his arms is around my neck holding me
in close to him and his other arm is laying on his side.

He pulls me away and looks at my face. He wipes my tears.

"It's okay sweetheart," he coos in my ear and I relax completely in his arms.

After a minute or so, I'm asleep.

________________________
*Click*

"This is adorable!"

"Shut up and let us sleep," I hear Luke groan and bury his face deeper into
my neck. I take notice that we are still in the same position as we were last
night except now, his other arms is wrapped around my waist and holding
me impossibly closer.

"Did you get that?" I hear Izzy ask Olivia.

"Yes, such a cute pic!!" Olivia squeals in response.

"Why are you squealing?" I hear a tired sounding Eli ask. He must've just
woken up.

"Look!!" The girls say in unison and I hear a gasp.

"Take more pictures! She's waking up, hurry!" Eli says.

I sit slowly and Luke moves his head so I can, but he doesn't move his arms
from around my waist and they are heavy as crap!

He lays his head back down and starts to go back to sleep.

He looks so cute. His hair is falling on his forehead and his face is relaxed.

I look back up to the three other people in the room and they all smirk at
me.

I shake my head at them and move to get up. I can barely move and I look
back down at the arms around my waist. I try again to get up but I'm pulled
back into the chest of Luke. I look at his face and he's still sleeping.

"Help," I mouth to the three still standing there looking at me.

"Peace"Eli says an he leave the room.

"I have to use the pooper," I sigh disappointingly at Izzy's excuse and she
leaves the room.

"I uh, have to, feel the carpet," Olivia just acts like she doesn't hear me and
she awkwardly leaves the room.

How rude

I turn my attention back towards Luke. His chin is now on top of my head
and I can't see if he's awake or not.

I really need to get up or I'm going to pee on myself and it will not be
pretty.

"Luke, wake up," I whisper and poke his arm.

"No," he whispers back.

"Please?"

"Kiss me first," he says and I gasp. Is he for real?

"Kidding, unless you want to?" He says and he finally sits up.

___________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

She sits up when I do and I look at her bright red face.

Her ponytail is falling out and her curls are everywhere. Her face is bare
and I can see her nose full of freckles. Her clothes are huge on her and she
looks as if she is drowning in them. She looks so tiny sitting here compared
to me.

She looks absolutely beautiful.

"I'm up," I sigh dramatically and she giggles and stands up. Her pants start
to fall again and she squeals, pulling them back up.

She looks back at me to see if I saw that and she sees that I'm smiling at her.
She gives a sheepish smile and walks off.

I chuckle, stand up, and walk to the kitchen.

"Hey," Eli says when I enter the kitchen. I look around to all of the guys and
they are all smirking at me.

"I'm assuming you slept well?" Eli smirks devilishly.

Damn right I did. I had her fine body pressed up against me all night.

Eli pushes a cup of coffee over to me and I gratefully take it and sip it.

A few minutes later, all the girls come back and I notice Aubrey let her hair
down.

She still looks as beautiful as can be.

'It's the remix to Ignition, hot and fresh out the kitche-'

"Yello? Hey mom!" Eli answers his phone and I snicker at his ringtone.

Sometimes it's embarrassing to go out in public with him.

"Yes. Oh, I have friends over....yes mother, I

do

have

friends

,
love you too," Eli hangs up his phone and huffs, rolling his eyes.

"That woman

knows

have friends, she's just being mean."

"Sure," Jayden says sarcastically causing us to laugh.

"You think you are so funny, don't you?" Eli narrows his eyes.

"I'm hungry!" Ryan blurts out, causing Aubrey to jump in surprise beside
me.

"We should go to Ihop!!" Eli yells too.

______________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

And we're off to Ihop. I don't know how that's going to work considering I
don't really have any clothes.

I am definitely not about to wear the getup I have on now, to a restaurant.

"Okay let's see," Olivia twists her invisible mustache while trying to think
of what we are going to do.

"We could stop by my house on the way?" I ask.

"No, Ihop is the opposite way of your house," Izzy says, "Oh, but not
mine!!"

"I don't fit in your clothes," I say, poking my short legs.

"I promise, we will find something."

"Let's go children," Eli bangs on the bathroom door.

"We're coming!!!" Izzy screams back slamming open the door. Eli's eyes
widen and he whispers a sorry.

We walk out to my car and tell the guys to follow my car to Izzy's house.

I toss Izzy my keys and she gets in and we take off.

After blaring Olivia's music the whole car ride, we arrive at Izzy's house. I
step out the backseat and look at her house.

They put me in the backseat in my own car.

Izzy's house is a cute and simple, white, two story house with dark blue
shudders. A stone walkway leads up to her small, wooden, porch and her
baby blue front door sits near the right side of her house.

We hear cars and a truck pull in behind us. We all walk up to Izzy's front
door and she knocks on it.

"I forgot my keys," She sheepishly smiles.

The door opens wide and I see a tall kid that I may have seen around the
halls before. His hazel eyes travel over everyone of us and they eventually
stop down me.

I am still holding up my pants and my sweatshirt is just making me look

like a crazy person.

"Hi," I squeak. He looks at me confusingly and he leaves the door open for
us to come in.

"So, this is Eli, Ryan, Jayden and Jacks-" Izzy gets cut off by her brother.

"I know who they are," he cuts her off.

"Fine then Mr. Popular," she mocks him and I giggle.

"I'm Aubrey!" I introduce myself happily. He looks down at me and his

eyes travel over my attire. Not rudely or anything, I think he was amused by
it. I would be too.

"I would shake your hand, or hug you or something but, my hands are kinda
busy," I laugh shyly.

"It's okay," he smiles and Izzy kicks him in the shin. He grunts in pain and
moves his eyes away from me. I give Izzy a questioning look by she just
smiles innocently.

____________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I watch his horny ass as his eyes travel over Aubrey's face hungrily. This
kid is fifteen for goodness sake! I nudge Izzy and she looks up at her
brother. She nails him in the shin and he grunts.

Serves his ass right.

His eyes meet mine and I narrow mine. His eyes get a little bigger and he
finally decides he'll make his way to another part of the house.

"You guys can just sit on the couch or whatever. Be quiet though, my sister
is home from college. I'm pretty sure she is downstairs." Izzy says and she
takes Olivia and Aubrey's hands, dragging them both upstairs.

"Hey Tristan! Why don't you come in here with us bud!" Ryan calls as he
sits on the sofa. I stand leaning on the frame in the entrance of the living
room.

A hesitant looking Tristan walks slowly into view from the kitchen door and
I snicker.

"Come here man," Ryan smirks and pats the couch next to him.
Tristan slowly makes his way across the room, obviously trying to keep his
eyes off of all the guys' smirks. He takes a seat stiffly and clears his throat
awkwardly.

"Loosen up man, we aren't gonna hurt you," I cough hiding my laugh.

"So, you got a girl?" Ryan asks nudging Tristan's shoulder.

"No..you?"

"Well, I'm working on it," Ryan sighs and shakes his head. He's thinking
about Olivia. He's definitely liked her for a good while now.

I walk over and sit on the sofa beside Tristan. Thank gosh this couch is big,
my legs are hurting from standing.

I see from the corner of my eye Tristan turn is head to me. I know what he's
about to ask.

"You?"

The guys snicker and sit up in their seats, anxious for my answer. Of course
I have girls but not the one that I have been wanting for a little while now. I
guess in a way she is

my girl. She just doesn't really know that yet.

"Mmm..ye-n?" I answer unsure. The guys burst into laughter at my non-

English answer.

"He wants her bad," Jackson speaks up raising his brows and smirking at
me.

"True that!" Eli says.

"Shut up," I cover my face.

"Boy, are you blushing?!" Jayden asks loudly making a big deal out of it. So
what if they've never seen me blush before?
I remove my hands and I still feel the light tinge on my cheeks. When the
guys see this, they start hootin' and hollerin' all over again.

"Who is it?" Tristan asks once everyone has calmed down a bit. I don't
know if I should tell him. He might tell someone who is gonna tell Aubrey.

Oh Jesus, what is this? 3rd grade?

"I'll tell yo-"

"Hello, I don't think Tristan told us he was having

friends

over," a girl in a pair of ripped jean shorts and a black cropped top says. Her
face is completely covered in makeup and she is just quite unattractive. I
can already tell I'm going to want her to go back to wherever the hell she
came from.

"Hey sis," Tristan sighs at hearing her voice, "they...they just stopped by."

We all stand up to greet her and her eyes widen and she takes a surprised
step back.

"I'm Jayden and this is my brother Jackson," Jayden introduces himself and
Jack. She nods and gives them a flirty smile, same goes with the rest of the
guys.

She finally got to me and I wasn't impressed by her at all.

"Luke," I nod at her.

"Wow, you are so..muscular," she giggles, "are you sure you're in high
school?"

"Yes," I say through gritted teeth.

When I grit my teeth she tilts her head up and looks at my jaw. A seductive
smiles makes its way onto her face.
I need a vomit bucket.

We here footsteps coming down the stairs and I see the girls making their
way down.

Thank god.

My eyes immediately find Aubrey and she looks as gorgeous as ever. She
must've taken a shower because her hair is damp and it is curling up to her
natural curls.

No makeup sits on her face and I'm in awe.

When am I not in awe around her?

She

is wearing black leggings that are rolled up at the bottom since she's too
short for Izzy's clothes.

God, she's so cute.

Her shirt is quite long on her and it goes over her butt. Unfortunately.

I definitely wouldn't mind if her shirt wasn't covering her ass.

I feel someone nudge my leg and I look behind me to see Eli, even though
I'm still kinda in a daze.

Eli nods to the girl in front of me and reality comes back. The girl is still
standing in front of me but now, instead of looking at me, she has her eyes
narrowed in Aubrey's direction.

I think the fuck not.

"Goodbye," I step away from her and I nod to the door she came from. She
turns back to me, and her narrowed eyes become seductive again. She tries
to jump up and reach my cheek but I step back and turn my head causing
her to trip on the coffee table.

I make no move to stop her from falling and she lands right on her butt. The
guys snicker.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" Aubrey asks coming over and reaching her hand
out to help her up.

Always the sweetheart.

"I don't want your help you fu-"

I quickly grab Aubrey's arm, pull her towards my chest, and cover her ears.
She doesn't need to hear the words coming out of this nasty ass girls mouth
right now.

I feel Aubrey's hair from where my hands are on her ears and it's so soft. I
could play with it all day.

"Get the fuck out of my house Marie! You cannot talk to her that way! You
are the whore not her! Leave!" Izzy yells out interrupting Marie's cursing
rant about Aubrey.

I think Aubrey heard that part since she put her arms around my waist and
also since Izzy yelled really loudly and she's standing right beside me.

Tristan grabs the arm of Marie, walks her to the door, opens it, and pushes
her out.

I take my hands off of Aubrey's ears and she slowly unwraps her arms from
my waist. I look at her face and she looks sad.

"She's nasty sweetheart, nothing was your fault," I assure her and I move a
curl from her face.

"No, it wasn't your fault Aubrey. I promise. I've always hated that bitch of
an older sister," Izzy rolls her eyes and then apologizes for her language.
Aubrey nods and I let go of her small waist.

"Let's go eat, I'm still hungry boo-boo," Eli says giving her an encouraging
smile.

"

That's

who it is," Tristan smirks once the girls leave out the house.

"What do you mean?" I ask even though I know damn well what he's
talking about.

"That's who you want?" he smiles. I smile back and a very

tiny blush makes its way onto my cheeks making the guys coo at me.

"Yeah." I smile.

________________________________

| Thanks for reading!!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 2884

-Ashlyn M.
Part 16 "Just trust me"
*LUKE'S POV*

I walk through the school doors on Monday morning, and head straight to
the gym. I turn West in and I may actually miss him.

After turning him in I go towards the cafeteria. The guys were meeting up
with the new kids on the team again today.

I opened the doors to the cafeteria and the new guys' eyes widened.

I walk up to a table where Eli and Ryan are sitting, pull out a chair, and take
a seat.

Today is when the underclassmen hey assigned with an upperclassman, one

of the most annoying traditions I have to deal with.

"All right let's get started," I clap once. I take out the paper with the names
of all the underclassmen and who they're paired with.

I call out the names and the one kid I was okay about being paired with me
was paired with Liam.

Eli was paired with a short kid named David, Ryan was paired with a guy
named Terrell and to be honest, Terrell seemed like a jackass.

Glad he isn't paired with me.

Jayden's partner was a very red head kid named Connor and Jackson was
paired with an Andre.

I looked at the bottom of the page and I see my name and the name "Garrett
Scott" across from me.

Not this kid.

"Who am I with?" His nasally voice asks when I fold up the paper, not
mentioning he's with me.

"You're not on the list," I grumble.

"Well let me just take a look at that," Eli snatches the paper from the table
before I can grab it.

"Garrett, it looks like you're with the captain!" Eli smiles and I sigh. The
guys beside me snicker and I turn and give them a glare, making them stop.
Well everyone except Eli. He still sounds like a hyena.

The thing is, Garrett is just the full package. He's really cocky, just like his
brother Terrell. He's also really weird. During our practice, I find him doing
the weirdest shit. For example, I walked into the younger guys' changing
rooms to see if anyone left anything, and I saw Garrett sitting there, eating a
Snickers bar, staring at the white wall, and humming the happy birthday
song.

I told the guys about him and they each told there stories about him.

He's just

weird

"Okay," Garrett chuckles and comes to sit on the table right beside me.

Who does he think he is?

I raise my head up and glare at him. I can also hear Eli started to choke
from holding in a laugh.

"Get your

ass
off the table, and away from me," I sneer. He jumps off the table quickly
and stands behind me.

Eli can't control himself and his ugly laughter causes the others to laugh
too.

I look back down at my phone and I feel a presence over my shoulder. I

whip my head around see Garrett looking down over my shoulder, at my
phone.

Is this guy for real?

stand

up quickly from my chair and I start walking to class. He follows me.

This day is going to suck.

"Shouldn't I be carrying something?" He asks.

Like I would want his crusty ass touching my stuff.

"No," I grunt.

__________________________

We walk into English and I make my way to my seat behind Aubrey.

Garrett looks around for a seat, standing beside my chair awkwardly.

Aubrey gives me a questioning look, glancing at Garrett.

"He has to walk with me all day," I give her an unimpressed look and I roll
my eyes at Garrett when he sits on the ground, crossing his legs.
Aubrey laughs lightly at that making me to smile at her.

This girl.

_________________________

By lunch, I want more than anything, for Garrett to be gone. I have snapped
at him at least twenty times since the ending of English and he just keeps
on.

We walk into the lunch room and I take a seat at my usual table.
Unfortunately, Garrett follows.

From the corner of my eye, I see three figures walk past our table and
Garrett turns in his seat.

"Damn!" He whistles after them.

This guy is fifteen!

I turn and look at the girls who he said it to.

I clench my jaw and my hands curl into fists.

Aubrey looks back at me with a bright red face. Not the blushing kind of
red like I make her do, but her face is red because she is embarrassed.

She looks down at her feet and I've had it with this little shit.

I stand up from my seat, grab Garrett's shirt on each side where his
shoulders are, and lift him off the seat and into the air.

The cafeteria goes silent but I can hear pulsing in my ear due to anger.

"I have fucking had it with you!" Garrett's eyes widen to an almost
impossible size.

"You annoy me to no end and you treat women like shit!" I say quieter than
the first time even though I'm sure half of the cafeteria heard it.
I drop him on the ground and he lands on his feet but looses balance, falling
down.

"S-sorry," he says getting up quickly and he runs out the cafeteria.

I turn back around, an angry look still on my face, and I see the whole
cafeteria looking at me. I raise my eyebrow, questioning all of them and
they all turn back around.

I sit down back in my seat and I avoid eye contact with Aubrey.

I hate to admit it but I'm scared to see how she is looking at me. I do look
up at Eli though. His eyebrows are raised and he looks surprised but he also
has a slight smirk forming on his face.

I look back down at my phone and a few seconds later I feel a presence sit
beside me. I turn my head, ready to tell off whoever sat next to me, but I see
those breathtaking blue eyes and immediately stop.

Aubrey smiles at me tilting her head a little to the right.

"Are you okay?" She puts her arm on my forearm, and I swear I feel sparks.

That's so corny.

"Yeah," I smile back at her.

"I-I'm sorry about my brother," Terrell speaks up from a chair at the end of
the table.

At least he's got some sense.

"It's fine," I shrug not really wanting to talk to anyone but Aubrey right
now.

"T-thank you," she smiles again, "I mean, that was a little scary, but thank
you." She rambles and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Since I'm too busy oogling her face, I don't have time to tell her it was no
problem before she gets up, red face and all, and walks away with the two
other girls.

I look up to the guys and they all look very pleased.

Bastards.

____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"I can not believe it!" Olivia shouts in excitement. We just got out of lunch
and we came to the big oak tree.

"He got so mad! He was so not having another guy talk to you that way!"
Izzy squeals.

"I

know

he likes you! I know it!" Olivia nudges my arms happily.

"I don't really know if that was because he "likes" me or because he maybe
just doesn't like to see girls getting talked to like that," I shrug. They both
look at me with "are you serious?" looks.

"Come

on,

you

seriously don't see how he looks at you?" Olivia asks.

How ironic, Ryan looks at her like she is everything and she doesn't notice
at all.

"Do you like him?" Izzy asks, turning serious.

"I-I don't know?"

Of course I like him. I liked him as soon as I saw him. He is very

likable, other than being temperamental and a little mean sometimes, he's
actually sweet. Not to mention his charming, hilarious, and undeniably
teddy-bear-like personality. Well when he does talk, he's like that. He's
really unlike anyone I've ever met. And his smile, his smile is perfect. So is
the rest of him.

"Yes or no?" Olivia asks eagerly.

"I mean, I...maybe," I shrug sheepishly.

I've had "little crushes" before. When I have little crushes though, whenever
I touched the guy I liked, I didn't get a tingly feeling like I did with Luke.

Maybe my hormones are messed up right now or something.

"Yes!!" They both go into a squealing fit and I laugh at their crazy behavior.
They are squealing so loud, I almost don't hear my phone ring.

I take my phone out my pocket, not bothering to check the caller I.D, and I
accept the call.

"Hello?" I ask happily.

"Hi sweetie, it's Michelle," my social worker answers with a sad tone. The
girls notice my change in mood and concern fills their eyes.

"Hi Michelle," I make eye contact with the girls. They know who she is.

"It is so hard to tell you this but, your dad is being flown home now, they
got his body fully processed so he's on a plane." She sniffles a little at the
end and it feels as if my heart is cracking.

My face contorts into one of absolute pain and I try my best to hold back
tears but they break through the barrier.

I feel Izzy and Olivia grab my shoulders, squeezing them for comfort.

"Wo-w," my voice cracks, trying to hold back the tears.

"I'm so sorry. I'll be in town tomorrow for the service," Michelle hangs up
and I slowly take the phone away from my ear.

Two of the greatest people I have ever met stare at me with so much worry
it makes me want to just wipe it all away from them.

"Well," I swallow down my emotions, "h-he's on his way. On a plane and

the funeral is tomorrow."

They say nothing, they just embrace me as I cry silently.

"I think we need to take you home," Izzy nods, pulling away.

I agree, I don't think I could make it through the rest of the day.

We walk back into the school, and I'm wiping my face so people couldn't
see me. If they did, they would probably just start rumors and stuff. I don't
need that right now.

We walk to the front of the school and I realize that I'm going to have to
walk out the front where most of the senior class is standing. Including all
the guys.

I walk out the front door with Olivia and Izzy at my side, wiping my face
clean of the tears. I'm sure my eyes are red though.

Thankfully, we make it to our cars without anyone seeing me.

_____________________________
"You guys don't have to stay if you don't want to," I tell the girls once we
are all lying on my bed.

"We are going to stay whether you like it or not," Olivia smiles.

"I need to call one of my friends from back home and tell her," I tell them
referring to Kelsey.

They nod and I call Kelsey.

Kelsey: Why in the world are you calling me during school hours?

Me: Dad's on a plane back home right now.

I hear her gasp.

Kelsey: Oh my god. I'll be at your house in 8 hours tops. I'm so sorry.

Me: You don't have to come, I just wanted to tell you.

His

funeral is at 4 tomorrow.

Kelsey: Then I'm definitely coming now. I gotta go. I'm going to go
home, pack, and I'll be on my way soon.

Me: Okay, bye.

Kelsey: Bye.

I hang up the phone and wipe my wet cheeks. We hear the front door open
and my mother comes into the living room.

"Oh honey," she walks up to me after seeing the girls and she pulls me into
her arms, and I cry into her shoulder.

"I need to go to the church, and set everything up. You shouldn't have to
worry about that so just stay here okay?" Mom says and I nod.
"I'll be back a little later," she sighs.

__________________________

After a few hours, the girls both have to leave to get clothes from their
houses for the funeral tomorrow. They told me they were spending the night
her whether I like it or not and that they were coming tomorrow whether I
like it or not.

I just agreed, thankful that I have such amazing friends.

I take the time to contact Owen and tell him about tomorrow.

He said he would be here in time for the funeral and I'm definitely thankful
for that.

A few minutes later the girls are back and they go up to my room to put
their clothes away. They come back downstairs and we put on a movie.

Throughout the movie, I don't really pay attention. I'm too busy stressing
about tomorrow. I wish this never happened.

My dad was so amazing, he never did anything wrong. He served our

country all while still being a wonderful father. He didn't deserve this.

Those were my last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.

"She always has been a heavy sleeper." I hear a very familiar voice say as
I'm waking up. I crack open my sore eyes and see Kelsey.

"Oh my gosh," I jump up and hug her. We hug for a few minutes and I cry
into her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay," she sniffles.

"How long was I asleep?" I ask the girls.

"Like, 7 hours," Izzy gives a sad smile.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Kelsey, this is Isabelle, Izzy for short, and Olivia," I point to
the two girls, "and girls this is Kelsey."

They say their greetings and I take the time to notice that Kelsey put some
brown highlights in her naturally, sandy, blonde hair.

Kelsey is absolutely gorgeous. She is actually the opposite of me. Very

straight blonde hair, 5'8 height, long, skinny legs, and beautiful light green
eyes.

All the guys back at my old school loved her. She mostly didn't pay
attention to a lot of them when they would go up to her and ask her things
but she always seemed to go for the jerks.

"I like what you did with your hair," I smile at her.

"Thanks, I wasn't too sure about it."

"I think it looks great! Your hair color is super pretty," Olivia compliments.

"Thank you! So, what I think we need to do is we need to get your mind off
of things. We should looks at your guys' school yearbook!" Kelsey suggests.

"We don't have one here," I pout.

"We can go on an adventure to find one then!" Izzy says laughs.

Leave it up to these girls to make me feel better.

________________________

We all pile up in my car and start off to Izzy's house. She says she thinks
she has one.

We arrive at her house and of course, she forgot her keys again. This time,
her brother wasn't home though.

"What are we gonna do?" I ask.

"We are going to break into my house," Izzy smiles and my eyes widen. I've
never done anything like that before.

Izzy comes up to me with an innocent smile. This must mean she wants
something.

"HeyAubrey?" She asks.

"Yes?"

"You see where there is a roof above the front porch?" She asks and I nod.

"Well, we are going to lift you up there, and my window is the one on the
left and it should be unlocked so please?" She asks in all one breath. I look
around to the two other girls and they are giving me encouraging smiles.

"B-but, I'm scared of heights," I shiver at the thought of being that high up.

"Just don't look down and you'll be fine!" Olivia says.

That never works. The first thing I'm gonna do when I get up there is look
down.

"I guess," I sigh.

The girls come all around me and they lift me up with my feet on their
hands.

"Wait!" I yell right before I'm supposed to get onto the roof. They lower me
back down.

"Why can't we just go into a different window?"

"Because my parents keep every other window locked," Izzy sighs.

"Then why is yours open?" Kelsey asks.

"Because what if a prince charming wants to come visit me or something,"

she shrugs and we all laugh.
"Alright, I'm ready," I tell them and they lift me up and I jump onto the
roof.

I turn and looks down at the ground and even though it isn't that far up, it is
horrifying me.

"I said don't look down!!"

"Sorry," I squeak.

I turn around and go to Izzy's window. I try and push it open but it isn't
budging. I'm pretty sure the thing is locked.

"Izzy, it's locked," I wine.

"My mom must've locked it," she curses under her breath.

"Try the one beside it," Olivia calls up to me.

I carefully make my way to the other window and it's locked too.

"Welp," Kelsey sighs.

I slowly go over to the edge ready to get down. I look down at the girls and
I don't think I'm going to be able to get down.

"Just jump, someone'll catch you," Kelsey says, not making my situation
any better by telling me someone

will catch me.

I feel my heart rate increase and my palms become sweaty. I think I'm
gonna faint.

"I can't, I'm scared," I sound so dumb I almost laugh at myself.

"Don't worry! I think my dad has a ladder in his shed. I'll go get it," Izzy
walks off.
I sit down on the roof and control my nerves.

"Bad news," Izzy says coming back into view, "the shed is locked."

I'm going to be stuck up here forever.

"Hold on, we'll think of something," Olivia says and the three girls below
me start talking.

"Okay! We've got it!" Izzy yells and I turn my attention to her.

"We are going to call Luke," Olivia blurts out happily. My eyes widen.

"What? No! Why can't you just find a ladder somewhere?" I really don't
want him to see me just sitting on a roof, too scared to jump down.

"Because! He's the tallest person we know! Plus, I know he'll want to see
you," Izzy smirks and I try not to blush.

"Plus, plus, I'll get to meet him! You told me he was hot! I wanna see for
myself!" Kelsey says and Izzy and Olivia look up at me with giant smiles.

"We knew you liked him!!" Olivia squeals.

"That's not what-, never mind," I stop myself not seeing the point in
denying it anymore.

"Do you want to call him," Olivia smiles giddily, "or do you want us?"

"You can," I sit down with my legs crossed and rest my chin on my hand.

Izzy takes out her phone and dials his number.

"Hey Luke!" She greets.

I can't hear what he's saying but Kelsey does and she looks up at me.

"Deep voice," she mouths and smirks creepily at me. I shake my head at her
crazy action.
"So, we have a bit of an issue and we kind of need you,"

"You see, we are at my house right now and I forgot my keys. Tristan isn't
here right now so we had to try and go in through my window which I
thought was unlocked."

"Long story short, Aubrey is stuck on my roof," she laughs at her self and I
put my face in my hands.

"She's scared of heights, poor thing," she glances at me.

"Okay. Thanks, bye." Izzy hangs up the phone and smiles.

"He'll be here in ten minutes! Oh, and Eli's with him," she tells me.

This is going to be so embarrassing.

_______________________

About ten minutes later, we heard Luke's loud truck coming up the road. He
parks in Izzy's driveway and him and Eli get out his truck.

I look down at Kelsey and she is staring at me with eyes the size of saucers.

"Holy crap" she mouths then clears her throat and turns back to the rest of
the people actually on the ground.

I sigh and continue to lay my chin in my hand.

A second later, Luke comes up to the side of the house and he smiles up at
me.

"Hi," I mumble.

"Hey sweetheart," he smirks up at me.

I scoot closer to the edge so I can see better.

"Come down, I'll catch you," Luke encourages.

"I-I'm scared," I cover my reddening cheeks.

"You won't fall, I promise. Just trust me."

I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and slide off the roof.

__________________________

|||||||Thanks for reading!!

*I don't edit*

Word count: 3545

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Part 17 "Heartbreaking reality"
I peel open my eyes and look up. Luke's smirking face is staring right down
at me. My cheeks heat up once I realize the position I'm in, in his arms. He
notices that and carefully places me back onto the ground.

"Thank you," I murmur quietly.

"You're such a silly goose Aubrey," Eli shakes his head at me. The girls
laugh at that.

"Luke, Eli, this is Kelsey. She's one of my friends from back home," I
introduce. They all shake hands and I notice Kelsey giving a look to Luke.

Weird?

"Well, thank you for coming but, we should really get back to Aubrey's
now," Izzy thanks Luke one more time and we climb into my car.

Once we return to my house, I'm drained. Pulling myself up, onto that roof,
has been my workout for the year.

The rest of the night we just lay around and watch a whole bunch of happy
movies.

Tomorrow, is gonna be the hardest day of my life.

_____________________________

"Aubrey," I feel a hand brush a curl off my forehead. I open my eyes and
look up at my mom.

She's wearing a black dress with 3/4 quarter length sleeves.

"It's time," she says sadly. I sigh and get up.

The day hasn't even started and my emotions are already everywhere.

I get in the shower deciding to let my hair do its natural thing.

Dad loved it when I did that.

After my shower, I put on the long, flowy, black dress that the girls picked
out for me last night. I decide on no makeup, knowing that the tears would
just wash it right off anyway.

I walk out my bathroom and I see the three girls sitting on my bed, in their
depressing black dresses, looking at me.

They all give me sad smiles and I try and smile back.

A knock is heard coming from outside my door and I go and open it.

"Are you girls ready?" My mom asks. We nod and head down to the cars.

Izzy drives and I sit in the back, gazing out the window.

I miss you so much dad.

We pull into a parking space at the cemetery and get out the car.

In dad's will, he specifically stated that he only wanted graveside. He didn't

want a funeral in the church and at graveside. He was a very straight-
forward man.

"Hey Aubrey," I hear a voice say from behind me. I turn around and see
Owen standing there, looking very handsome, in his fancy dress uniform. I
smile sadly back at him.

I used to love it when dad wore his dress uniform.

"You okay?" He asks pulling me into a hug. I only nod. I feel like if I talk I
won't be able to get through my words.
"This is Kelsey, Izzy, Olivia," I say pulling away from the hug and pointing,
"and this is my mom and Rick."

"Nice to meet you all," he smiles sadly and shakes Rick's hand.

We walk to the graveyard and when we are close enough, I see many men
and women dressed in their uniforms. I also see two large pictures of my
father. The first one is of him smiling brightly at the camera. The second
one is of him in his uniform.

I haven't seen a picture of him in quite a while.

Of course, my eyes start watering and I have to stop and collect myself.

Michelle comes over and greets me and she holds out a tissue for me to
wipe my eyes.

After a while of talking with her, she goes and begins to talk to someone
else.

Owen comes beside me and holds his arm out giving me a sad, but
encouraging smile.

I hook my arms with his and we continue to walk.

We make it to where everyone is gathered and I see a few familiar faces. I

see a few friends of my dad's and a few distant family members.

"Hey sweet girl," Colonel Matthews pulls me into a strong, warm hug. My
dad and him had been friends since I was born and I always thought of him
as a father figure.

As he's hugging me, I can't help but notice tears have already starting
rolling down my face.

He pulls away and looks at me with watery eyes of his own.

"I know, I know," he hugs me again, "he didn't deserve this one bit."
After greeting many more people, and tons of more hugs, I get word that
dad is arriving soon. When I hear that news it makes me want to crawl in a
hole of my own.

We hear sirens in the distance and soon we see a dark black hearse turn onto
the road of the cemetery with police motorcycles and cars right behind it.

With tears still steadily coming, I get handed a bright orange Lilly flower.

I looks down at the flower and start to cry even more.

Dad absolutely loved Lillies and his favorite color was the same orange
color.

I look up at mom and she nods, confirming that she knew that.

I watch as Owen and Colonel Matthews leave my side and go to where the
hearse has backed in, right near the curb.

My mother takes one of my hands and I feel one of the girls take the other.

We walk up to where we are supposed to stand, close to the hearse. The

back door of the hearse opens and I close my eyes and try to control my
emotions.

This isn't real. This isn't real. I'm not here right now. I'm back in
Jacksonville drying the dishes as my dad washes them, singing along to
'Paradise City'.

He looks over at me with a mischievous smile and suddenly sprays me with

the dish sprayer.

"Dad!" I squeal at him. I fling the towel at his face and it lands right on top
of his head, "ha!"

"You're gonna regret that Ree!" He laughs, pulling the towel off his head.
He grabs a cup from the counter, fills it up with water and dumps it over my
head.
"Dad!!" I yell and try not to slip on the watery floor. Dad picks up the dish
towel from beside him and he starts walking towards me.

He slips on the floor and falls with a loud thump.

We laughed for ten minutes straight after that.

I open my eyes, expecting to see him still sprawled out on the floor but I see
the heartbreaking reality.

A large mahogany casket, with an American flag draped over top the top.

A feeling of excruciating pain runs through my chest. It feels like a knife

has been driven right through my heart and I break. I finally break.

A loud sob breaks through me and feel my mother grip tighter onto my
hand, trying her hardest to keep me standing.

Once she realizes that I'm struggling quite a bit, she pulls me into a strong
hug and lets me sob into her shoulder.

God, why is this so hard?

As much as I want to cry, I still need to stay strong for everyone here and
for dad.

I pull away from my mom and wipe the tears of my face the best I can.

I watch as six men, all in uniforms, carry my father towards his final resting
place.

The men walk to where the empty vault is and pause.

The close family members and friends walk to where the three rows of dark
green chairs are sitting.

I stand in front of the very first chair all the way to the right, with my mom
on my left.
The pallbearers lift the casket up high and wait a few seconds before
lowering it down, and placing it on the vault.

I swallow my emotions as the men grab a hold of the flag and raise it above
the casket.

"You may rest"

"Our brother Nicholas has gone to his rest in the peace of Christ. The Lord
now welcomes him to the table of God's children in heaven. With faith and
hope and eternal life, let us assist him now with our prayers. May we who
mourn be reunited with our brother Nicholas, so that together we might all
meet Jesus and he, who is our life, will appear in his glory," the priest reads
from his bible.

"It is not the length of the life Nicholas Wilson lived, but the depth. He
lived and loved deeply," the priests eyes find mine.

"So let us commend our brother Nicholas to the Lord, so that the Lord may
embrace him in peace," the elder man decked out in his clerical clothing
ends.

"Salute"

We all place our hands on our hearts, except for the ones who have served.

Just breathe, you can get through this Aubrey.

A series of commands are heard and seven men, all in uniforms, raise their
rifles, and fire.

I silently cry when all three volleys are fired.

Right after the 21-gun salute, a single bugler starts playing Taps.

I begin to cry harder, hearing the song.

I close my eyes, trying to clear the tears from my water line.

When I reopen them, the song is over and I look in front of me to see the
pallbearers beginning to fold up the flag.

They slowly and carefully fold up the flag, making sure it is perfect. The
front man takes the flag, holds it up to his chest as if he is hugging it, and
smooths it over with his hand.

I watch as he hands it to an older man with many medals. The older man
salutes him and takes the flag. Once he has the flag, the younger one salutes
him.

The elder man turns, and starts making his way towards me.

As he walks towards me, all I want to do is run away from him. I don't want
this to happen.

I don't want it to be real.

He comes right in front of me and I swallow a sob. He kneels down and

looks right into my eyes. A flicker of sorrow flashes across his eyes before
it's gone.

"On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Marine
Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our
appreciation for your father's honorable and faithful service." He says.

A quiet sob escapes my mouth and I nod. He carefully places the flag in my
hands and stands up.

I hold the flag as close to me as possible when he salutes. He bends back

down.

"I'm sorry for your loss ma'am. Your father was an amazing man," he
shakes my hand with a sad smile and moves on to shake my mother's hand.

Colonel Matthews comes to me next and bends down as well.

"Sweet girl," he says with sad eyes, "you were everything to your dad. I
know, if he were here, he would be so proud of you for being so strong."
I wipe my tears off my face harshly. He wouldn't be proud of me for being
strong. I'm weeping like a baby.

"It's okay to cry sweet girl, crying doesn't make you weak. It just shows
how strong you are. You're the strongest little one I know," he gives me a
sad smile.

"Thank you," I laugh through my tears at how he still calls me little one.

He smiles again, "there's that beautiful smile."

"And you're always welcome," he kisses my forehead and moves to greet

my mom.

After he's done, the people from the last row get up and go and place their
flowers on my dad's casket.

When I'm the only one left, I slowly rise from my seat, still clutching the
flag, and I walk over to his casket.

"Hi daddy," I run my hand over the smooth mahogany, "I-I'm going to miss
you so much."

"I know I never told you this but, you were my hero. You still are. I hope I-"
I struggle through my sentence, "I hope it's nice up there. I love you." I
would give absolutely everything I have just to hear him answer me.

I let a sob rack through my body and I lean my head onto the casket.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do without you daddy."

I'm never going to see his never ending smiling face again.

I feel a hand on my back and I turn around and see all the girls kneeling
down right beside me. Owen is also kneeling at my side, giving me his
silent support.

After a minute or so, we all stand up. I place my bright orange Lilly on top
of a sea of white roses.
The only colorful flower there was mine.

I lean down, place a kiss on the casket and say a prayer.

I wipe my tears, turn around, and walk away from the casket.

_____________________

Finally getting the thought of that you're never going to see your father
alive again is the worst part. Never going to hear him tell you he loves you.
Never going to be able to sing to him when he begged me to. Never being
able give him the biggest hug in the world after he comes home from a long
day at work or even being away for six months.

None of that is ever happening again. No matter how much you want it to,
it's impossible.

Just the feeling, of never seeing someone who has always been so close to
you and apart of your life is heartbreaking.

It feels like my heart is cracked so badly, it's almost to the point of where it
might completely fall apart.

God, I just want to him to be here. I just want to hear his voice one last
time.

I never got to say goodbye.

"We're at your house Aubrey," a soft voice says, breaking me away from my
prayer. I open my eyes and look into the red eyes of Kelsey.

I try giving her a smile but I don't think it showed.

We climb out of the car and walk into the house.

hate
living in a house without dad in it.

hate

having to cry myself to sleep whenever I think of him not being on this
earth anymore.

hate

how someone so wonderful, got something so undeserving.

I don't want to hate anything.

Hate

isn't good thing , but I can't help it. The pain I'm feeling is making me hate
everything.

_____________________

*The next day*

I slowly open my eyes and sit up. Kelsey left late last night after her parents
called her wondering where on earth she went.

Apparently, she forgot to tell her parents she was driving 8 hours away to
see me.

She told them her reasoning and they said she wouldn't be punished as long
as she's home before sunrise the next morning.

The rest of the girls also left because they had school to attend. It is only
Wednesday after all.
I've decided that not going to school for the rest of the week would be the
best option for me and mom totally agreed.

I don't think I would be able to make it one hour in school, let alone three
days.

I slowly get out of bed, ready for a nice, hot shower.

______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I walk into school and go straight for Eli's locker.

"Are they here today?" I ask as soon as I reach him.

Yesterday none of the girls were at school and it was quite miserable,
especially for Eli. He was moping all day saying that his "boo-boo" left him
all alone with Ryan.

"I saw Olivia this morning but no-oh wait there's Izzy!" He points to a
drained-looking Izzy, who is walking over to Olivia's locker.

They both actually look upset.

"No Aubrey?" I ask a little disappointed. He shakes his head and I sigh.

The bells soon rings and I make my way into first period, still hoping
Aubrey might show up.

My hopes are crushed when I walk into first and don't see her.

She's always here before me. Even Olivia's here.

I take a seat beside Olivia.

"Where's Aubrey?" I question. She turns her head towards me, a devastated
look on her face.
My eyebrows scrunch in confusion.

"She's at home." Is all she tells me.

"Is she okay?" I ask, still concerned.

Why do both her and Izzy look so sad today?

"No. She had a

really

rough

day yesterday."

I'm about to ask her another question but Mr. What's-his-face, starts talking.

____________________

By lunch, I still have a limited amount of information.

All I know is that Aubrey's day yesterday was horrible, but what could
make it so bad?

A sudden thought hits me causing me to kick my long leg forward and into
something.

"Oww man! Watch the shins!" Eli whines.

"Shut it," I tell him before getting up and walking to the two girls' cafeteria
table.

"Is it her dad?" I question once I sit down. They look up from their lunches
and reluctantly nod.

_____________________
*AUBREY'S POV*

By the end of the week, I'm feeling a little better.

I've come to except it more.

Currently, I'm sat on my couch with a blanket tightly wrapped around me.

Why is it cold everywhere I am?

I have gotten multiple visits from the girls and tons of texts from the guys
asking how I'm doing.

The guys still don't know about dad but they are asking how I'm doing
anyway. Besides Luke of course.

"Hey, gir- what are you doing?" Izzy asks when she barges into my house
and sees me bundled up in my blue, fluffy blanket.

"I'm chilly."

Olivia laughs and they sit down beside me on the couch.

"Is there a game tonight?" I sit up.

"Yeah! The boys are playing at Jefferson high school today," Izzy nods.

"How far away is that?" I ask them. I need to get out of this house. Dad
wouldn't want me moping around "Only like fifteen minutes away," Olivia
shrugs, "why?"

"Let's go!" I say excitedly and I jump off the couch.

"Are you sure," Izzy asks unsure.

"Yes! Now what should I wear?"

____________________
After a couple of minutes of searching, we finally find a cute, royal blue t-
shirt dress that looked casual enough for a football game and it matched one
of our school's colors.

I applied a little bit of mascara and walked out the bathroom.

"You look great! Let's go before we're late!" They compliment and we rush
out the house.

I get in the passenger seat of my car and buckle up.

It seems like Izzy is driving my car more that I ever will.

After about fifteen minutes, we pull into the school's parking lot.

All right Aubrey, it's your first time going out since the funeral. You've got
this.

We get out my car and I look up at the school. It's a little smaller than ours
but definitely prettier. It looks more modern with its smooth, tan front wall
and bold name spelling out "Jefferson High School."

We follow the direction of where the football fields lights are and soon we
come across the field. The school is prettier than ours but the field isn't
prettier than ours.

Don't get me wrong, it is really nice but, ours is better.

Luckily, we find seats only a few rows from the front row.

"I'm gonna go get some fries, you want anything?" I ask, excited for the
fries I'm about to get.

"No, I'm good."

"Oh, can you get me a hot dog?"

I laugh at Olivia's request but nod and start walking back to the concession
stands we saw when walking to our seats.
I look around and see a whole bunch of people just standing and talking. I
also see a group of three, really pretty girls talking animatedly to each other.

They don't go to our school, that much I can tell.

All three of their makeup is applied amazingly and they have gorgeous long
legs, and really skinny frames. I take a quick peek down at my short legs
and sigh.

I bet Luke would never like me. Especially when there are girls like the
three still talking, huddled together, all around.

I sigh once again and buy the french fries and Olivia's hot dog.

I return to my seat just in time. The game's announcer, announces the

Jefferson High Knights and they all come running onto the field.

After they're on the field, the announcer repeats his lines except now saying
our school and mascot.

The guys run onto the field and I find myself looking for a certain someone.

___________________

The game went extremely well and we won 59-12.

The guys are

really

good.

"That game was great," Olivia comments, shoving the rest of her hot dog in
her mouth. She was too busy the whole game shouting at the guys even
though they were winning. By a lot.

We start getting up and I look back out at the field. I make eye contact with
Eli and he freaks out. He jumps up and down and shakes Luke, who has his
back turned.
Luke turns around, glaring at Eli. Eli says something and points up to me.

Luke's eyes follow his finger and he finally sees me. A smile lights up his
handsome face and I wave, giving him an excited smile.

Eli totally disregards the rules of having to go to the locker rooms right
after the game and he starts running towards the stands. More specifically
towards me. Luke follows right after him and soon rushes past him.

Eli tries running faster but Luke's legs are longer. Eli then tries a different
method and he throws his helmet at Luke's back.

Luke flicks him off still running and the girls and I laugh.

Luke makes it to the railing, separating the field and the seats, and he's
about to jump over it when Eli pushes him straight into it and jumps over
the railing, away from Luke as quickly as he can.

Eli engulfs me in a huge bear hug.

"You're all sweaty," I laugh as he pulls away from the hug.

"I missed you boo-boo! You left me all alone with Ryan! You know how
much of a horrible friend he is," he pouts.

"You're a shithead," Luke shoves Eli to the ground as payback. We laugh as

Eli grabs onto everything he can when falling. Including one of those girls I
saw earlier.

"What the hell?!" She screams and pulls herself together. Eli puts a hand on
his heart, his face holding a look of disbelief.

"Well

excuse me

," Eli retorts sassily.

The girls' eyes find Luke and she looks as if an idea popped into her brain.
She struts up to Luke slowly and stands in front of him.

She's a relatively tall girl but Luke still towers over her. He towers over
pretty much everyone. The only person within a few inches of his height is
his dad.

"Hey, you're Luke Taylor right," she giggles flirtatiously.

I turn away from the scene when a little pain goes through my chest.

I don't want to see Luke and this girl flirt.

I bend down, grabbing my phone from the bleacher and I gather up the
courage to turn back around.

"Maybe you could invite me to the after party and we could

hang

out

," she puts an emphasis on the words hang out. Luke's face visibly cringes
and relief strangely floods through me.

"Yeah sorry, I'm taken," Luke shrugs and my heart sinks a little.

He has a girlfriend?!

"Then where the hell is she," she asks snootily, crossing her arms.

I look down at the ground, preparing myself to hear whoever the lucky girl
is.

I feel a large, warm hand, grab mine. I look up just in time and I'm pulled
into Luke's chest.

"This beaut' right here," he rubs his hand up and down my arm.
I blush harder than I ever have before.

She scoffs and turns away, walking away with her two her friends.

What on earth just happened?

_____________________

| That chapter took a while, sorry. The next chapter should be up pretty
soon, I have an idea about what's gonna happen in it.

Sorry it's sad too:/

After the next chapter, it might be awhile before I update again. It is

pretty much the end of the school year and I definitely need to study for
finals.

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 4070

-Ashlyn M.
Part 18 "I'm going to beat his ass!"
"This beaut' right here"

Izzy mocks Luke in the deepest voice she could manage.

Olivia squeals for the tenth time in the matter of three minutes and the
never ending blush currently on my face grows hotter once again.

"That was just too good," Izzy sighs happily.

Izzy pulls into the driveway of a big pretty house.

Why does everyone here have such gorgeous houses?

I got out the car and saw quite a few people drinking and talking outside. I
heard loud music coming from the inside and from what I can tell through a
semi-open window is that there are people dancing and drinking in there
too.

I've never been to a party this crazy before.

The house is a dark tan color with black shudders on all of its many
windows; lower floor and upper floor. He's got an attached garage that
looks like it's apart of the house. He also has a porch that wraps around half
of his house.

We walk right into the front door and I see a lot of people talking with
drinks in their hands and quite a few people dancing with each other.

Soon after that whole ordeal with Luke, him and Eli left to get ready and
take showers in the locker rooms. I can't help but wish he was here.

I don't know why though.

The girls and I walk through the people and into a big kitchen where drinks
cover the counter tops.

Izzy goes straight for the drinks and Olivia stays back with me. After Izzy
gets her drink fix, we get separated as we step back out the kitchen into the
large crowd.

As soon as I turn the corner, walking out the kitchen, I slam into someone.

Arms wrap around my shoulders and I'm met with a shirt that smells like
alcohol. I cringe at the smell and look up.

Liam is staring right back down at me with a lazy smirk.

He's definitely drunk.

"S-sorry," I say and try to pull away from his hold, feeling a little bit
uncomfortable.

"uh, uh, uh, you're not going anywhere," he slurs and my heart begins to
race.

I look back at Izzy and Olivia with frantic eyes as I try shoving him away
from me. Olivia is trying to shove people out of the way to get to me and
Izzy is looking around the crowd for something.

"Damn, you look so fine," he licks his lips and I feel his hands travel down
my back and to my waist. I grab his hand my waist and I attempt to pry it
off.

"Liam, please stop. You're drunk." I tell him with the strongest voice I can
manage.

"Yeah? So what? I want your body," he pulls me closer against his body and
I feel tears burn at the back of my eyes. I bring my elbows in front of me to
get some more distance in between us but he shoves them out of the way.

I hear Olivia shouting from behind me but all I'm focused on is the fact that
he has moved his hands down to my thigh and pushed me against the wall.
"You're so fucking hot," he bends his head down towards my neck but
before his lips make contact, he's ripped away from me and thrown onto the
floor.

I look up through my teary eyes and see Luke pulling Liam off the ground
by his shirt and up into the air.

Luke shoves him into the wall across from me and the whole place goes
silent.

"I swear to God Liam, you just fuckin' love trying me. Don't ever

touch her. Got it?" Luke shoves him harder into the wall.

"But when you're done with her, give her to me," Liam says before
receiving a powerful

punch to the face, knocking him out cold.

Luke was about to continue but was held back by Eli and Ryan.

Luke turns around and meets my fearful eyes.

"Take a walk Luke," Eli nudges Luke towards the door and he leaves.

I look up at Eli, he gives me a small smile, and nods to the door Luke just
walked out of.

He wants me to go with him.

I head out the door and run after Luke.

"Luke!" I yell after him, still running.

Wow, I'm really unfit.

I finally catch up to his long strides and I'm out of breath.

Luke turns to me and once he sees me put up my finger telling him to wait a
second while I catch my breath, a smile starts growing on his face.

"Are you okay?" I see his bruised hand and ask after catching my breath.

"It's been worse," he shrugs and I take his hand, inspecting it.

There's a small reddish, purple bruise forming on his pointer and middle
knuckles.

I look back up at him only to see he's already looking at me. I blush and let
go of his hand.

We start walking again in silence and thank goodness it isn't awkward, I'm
never good in awkward situations.

Luke may not talk much but he usually talks more than this.

We come to a bench and we take a seat.

"I heard something happened with your dad," Luke turns his head towards
me.

"Yeah," I nod, "his funeral."

"That's the worst part," he nods and I look back at him.

"I never got to see him," I whisper, "you know, when he was in the casket.
O-Or before that."

"I'm so sorry," he stares deeply into my now teared up eyes and pulls me
into his chest.

I can't imagine how hard it has been for him to keep his secret from all of
his friends. He's such a nice person and he deserves to have people listen to
him and help him with his mourning.

Maybe I could be one of those people.

___________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"You didn't have to hit him or anything," Aubrey says with her head lying
on my shoulder.

I'm not just going to let that little prick touch my girl like that.

"He shouldn't have touched you like that," I wipe a curl away from her face.

We go into a comfortable silence but soon, I feel Aubrey's start to shake.

Is she upset?

Is she cold?

What did I say?

What do I do?

"When does it start hurting less?" She questions with a sniffle.

The pain really never stops. It's always there, whether it's in the back of
your mind or not.

Recently it has been a lot better for me.

It's been better since I told Aubrey about mom.

"You can't let it take over your life. It gets easier when you learn how to
move on," I explain.

"It sucks. It sucks a lot but it gets easier. It got easier once I told you." I
look down at her pretty face and smile. I wipe a lone tear off her face with
my thumb and she starts to blush.

I love making her blush.

I've made a lot of girls blush in the past. I was a flirt. A big one. I used to
get laid at every party.

But, those girls meant absolutely nothing to me and sitting here, with the
one girl who has ever meant

something to me, I am regretting everything I use to do.

I used to use girls to try and get away from the pain and memory of losing
my mom, but after a while the girls couldn't make it go away anymore.

I started focusing extra hard on schoolwork and football, so much that I

became distant with the guys.

All I wanted to do was finish school, and get the hell outta there. I wanted
to go back home.

But, a few weeks ago, this cute little, curly-headed, girl waltzed right into
my life, and I found somebody who I could tell everything too.

I thought she was the perfect girl. She has the looks, she has the personality,
and even the way she treats other people is admirable. Even when those
certain people don't deserve to be treated as great as they were.

And don't

even

get me started on that body of hers. Her ass, her beautiful little legs, and
those eyes.

I was a dick to her for thinking she had the perfect life but instead of her
exploding at me for being rude, she was still calm and sweet.

She doesn't deserve anything less than everything.

She definitely deserves better than me but, I don't think I'll be able to stay
away now.
I look down at her plump, teasing lips that are perfectly resting in a relaxed
line.

I look back into her eyes and I know she saw me look at her lips.

I bring my hand up to the side of her face and stroke her smooth cheek with
my thumb.

I start leaning in and once I see she starts leaning in a little too, I close my
eyes.

I can her feel breath, coming from her nose, on my cheek and I get excited.

*Ring Ring*

A phone sounds out and I sigh and rest my forehead on hers. I give her a
peck on the forehead and she takes out her cellphone, with a bright red
blush, and answers it.

"H-hello?" She asks.

I hear Izzy's voice slur on the other line and I know we aren't going to get
our kiss.

I sigh quietly and soon she hangs up.

"I should probably go help Izzy," she tucks a curl behind her ear.

"Yeah," I stand up and we both start walking back to the house.

I think I'm getting to close to this girl. I mean seriously, I have never been
so excited to kiss someone.

Ever.

We walk back into the party and Izzy is right at the front door being held up
by Olivia.
"This child has been dancing on tables, squirting me with a water gun, and
running around like a mad person, we need to go," Olivia huffs angrily.

"Okay, okay, sorry for leaving you. We can go," Aubrey nods.

"Bye Luke." She gives me a heartwarming smile and I nod, too lost for
words.

I watch her and the two others walk out the house before going to the
kitchen.

I grab a beer and run into Eli on the way out.

"Wassup broski!!" He slurs, shouting.

Before I can answer, he leans up against the wall, and loses consciousness.

I walk around him, not bothering to help him at all, and make my way to a
dark brown plush couch. I sit and take a sip of my beer.

"Hey, why are you sitting here so lonely?" A seductive voice asks from
beside me.

I turn and see a dark brown haired girl with hazelnut eyes. She was wearing
a tight purple dress and quite a bit of makeup.

She was okay I guess but absolutely nothing compared to Aubrey.

Again thinking about her. Maybe this girl could be a good distraction.

The girl whose name I don't know, and I, make our way up to one of the
bedrooms and she turns and locks the door.

We kiss for a while and soon enough, she's missing certain articles of
clothing.

Even though this girl is pretty good at what she's doing, my mind still drifts
off to Aubrey.
Why does it feel like I'm doing something bad? It has never felt bad before.

Why do I want this girl to be Aubrey?

"Look," I remove the girls hand from my chest and stand up from the bed,
"It's late and I gotta go."

I pick up my jacket and turn to the door.

"What? Why are you leaving?" She whines.

"I told you, it's late and I want to go," I grow frustrated.

"I think it's something else. I mean, I know you do this stuff, you did it with
one of my friends not even a month ago," she stands, walks over to me, and
runs her hand down my chest.

I grab her hand and hold it away from me.

"Well I'm not like that anymore," I glare.

"We'll see," I hear her say as I exit the room.

"Hey Luke! I saw you walk up with Katrina," Ryan's eyebrows scrunch in
confusion.

"Yeah, nothing happened. I'm gonna go, I'll see you," I walk out the front
door and go to my truck.

I miss my mom. I'm sure she would be more than happy to give me girl
advice right now.

This girl was going to claim me. And I'm perfectly fine with it.

__________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"My
head

still

hurts from Friday night," Izzy sighs and takes off her sunglasses as we walk
into school.

"Good! You made me follow your ass around to make sure you wouldn't
start stripping!" Olivia shouts at her.

"Sorry," Izzy smiles sheepishly.

We stop by my locker first and my eyes catch onto Luke's figure. A girl is
standing right beside him, a flirty smile on her face, and her hand on his
chest. I look back at Luke's face and it's emotionless.

I feel my heart drop and I turn back around to my locker before he can see
me.

Was he just playing with me Friday?

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Why did you get all quiet?" Olivia asks
noticing my quietness.

"Oh nothing! I'm just wondering where my morning hug is," I put on my
best smile.

"It's right here boo-boo, don't you worry," Eli embraces me in a bear hug
and I laugh.

We pull away from our hug and Izzy looks at me with a look.

I think she saw Luke too. It was kinda a sympathetic look.

"Well, we should go to class," Olivia sighs dramatically.

____________________
She was the complete opposite of me too. She had shoulder length, dark
brown hair, dark eyes. She was really tall too. Probably bordering 6 feet
with her heels on.

They would really look amazing together.

I don't know why I'm still thinking about this. It's not like I ever had a
chance.

"Okay, seriously, what's wrong?" Olivia asks sitting beside me near the oak
tree.

I look over at Izzy and realize that there is no room for argument.

I tell them about how we almost kissed Friday night and how I saw him
with that girl in the hall.

"I saw that too," Izzy states sadly.

"That little shit! I know he doesn't think he can just play with you! I'm
going to beat his ass!" Olivia stands up only to be pulled back down by Izzy
and I.

"No, he doesn't even know I like him so you just going up to him and
punching him wouldn't do any good," I sigh.

"Plus, I think they look great together," I smile sadly.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"That hag belongs with a freaking baboon not your man!" Izzy shouts
making me blush and look around to see if anyone heard.

I just shrug.

There isn't anything I can do.

Soon enough, the bell rings and Izzy and I go to chemistry.

We walk into the class and I'm about to sit down in my seat when a speedy,
tall, figure zooms behind me, pushes me away, and sits in my chair.

My butt hits the ground and I wince.

I look up to see the face of Katrina. Izzy told me Katrina was the one
talking to Luke this morning. She really had such a pretty name.

My cheeks turn red from embarrassment and I see a fuming Luke stand up
from his chair.

"What is wrong with you?" He asks her before bending down and helping
me stand the rest of the way up.

"Sorry," she giggles, "she's so short I just didn't see her."

"We all know you saw her," Izzy seethes.

Katrina just shrugs and sits down in my chair.

"That isn't your seat," Eli rolls his eyes.

"Well I don't see her name on it," she rolls her eyes right back.

"It's okay, I can sit somewhere else," I smile sheepishly.

I hate confrontations.

I walk over to a seat and Izzy follows.

We sit in our seats and a minute later, two people plop behind us. We turn
and see Eli and Luke.

"She gets on my nerves," Eli huffs.

"Mine too," Luke agrees.

I feel Izzy nudge me once we turn back around and I look at her. She gives
an encouraging smile.

Maybe all that stuff this morning was a misunderstanding.

_____________________________

||||||Thank you for reading!!

*I don't edit right away*

Word count: 2744

-Ashlyn M.
Part 19 "Why is my pillow hugging
me?"
"I wanna dance with somebody! I wanna feel the heat with somebody"

Eli nudges my shoulder with his and I giggle.

He's crazy.

He has been trying to convince me to be his partner for a project Ms. Lonio
just introduced. The reason he is trying too convince me is because Luke
also asked. They both asked me at the same time.

Luke has been touchy with me all day. Putting his hand on my lower back
when we're walking somewhere, brushing his hand over mine occasionally,
and when I look up at him he's always looking like nothing ever happened.

Speaking of that, I feel Luke's hand come around and rest on the back of my
chair. A second later, his hand is brushing up and down my arm.

"You can't do that! That's cheating!" Eli shouts, smacking Luke's hand
away.

"Shut your mouth Eli."

Eli narrows his eyes, huffs, then mumbles something along the lines of
"seducing is not allowed."

"Please! Please just be my partner!" Eli begs.

"No!" Luke argues pulling me closer to him.

"Yes!"

"No."
"Ye-"

"I'm gonna work by myself," a smile threatens my lips when the guys stop
the argument immediately.

"What!" They say simultaneously.

"You guys can just work together," I smile.

"No we can't! He's mean!" Eli points to Luke.

"Yeah? Well you're an idiot!" Luke retorts.

"See!" Eli throws his hands in the air.

"Sorry, but good luck though!" I smile as the bell rings.

They start leaving to go to practice but before they're out of sight, Luke
turns and gives me one more pleading look.

I smile at his handsome face, shake my head before walking, and meet up
with the two girls.

_________________________

Once I get home I start working on my project. At about 6, I hear the

doorbell go off.

..People elect officeholders.

*Ding dong*

I finish my sentence and place my pen on my project board and hop off my
bed.

*Ding dong*

*Ding dong*
Good gosh, somebody's impatient.

I open my door and see three things.

Luke's tinged, angry face, Eli's smiling face, and Leo's cute puppy face.

I open the door wider for the guys to come in and they do just that.

"What happened?" I look between both of their annoyed faces.

Eli's face turns melancholy and Luke looks disbelievingly at him.

"He is being extra mean to me today boo-boo," Eli sighs sadly.

Oh, poor thing.

Eli comes forward and buries me in a hug, sighing sadly once again.

"Bullshit!" Luke tugs the back of Eli's backpack, making him release me.

"

You

said Au-

something,

that I didn't like!" Luke catches himself with a slight blush now on his face.

"Mhm, and what did I say to make you so mad?" Eli questions with a smirk
on his lips.

"You know what you said," Luke mumbles angrily and Eli snickers.

"This is why we can't work together!" Eli flicks his hand at Luke.

"Then just stay here and work on your project with me," I suggest with a
shrug.
"That is exactly why we came!" Eli ruffles my hair.

"Bitch," Luke mutters to Eli as we walk upstairs.

I turn and give Luke a look.

"Sorry," he smirks.

We make it up to my room I sit in the middle of my bed. Luke sits on my

right, Eli sits on my left, and Leo sits on the floor at the end of the bed,
keeping watch over the two guys.

The guys take out their work and I continue on mine.

"Move your damn foot," Luke sneers at Eli after only ten minutes of
working.

"You move your leg!" Eli retorts.

Still looking at my project, I grab a pillow from behind me, and shove it in
between their legs.

"Thank you," Luke pats my thigh and I puff out my cheeks in an attempt to
cover the blush.

__________________________

I snuggle deeper into my pillow and come to the realization that I had fallen
asleep.

Why is my pillow hugging me?

I blink open my eyes and I see a chest. Luke's chest actually.

I lift my head and see he's peacefully sleeping.

He looks so handsome and calm.

I look behind me to see where Eli is and he's asleep with one leg on the
ground, his head under

a pillow, and his arms are spread out, making him take up most of the bed.

I turn back to look at Luke and I see his gorgeous grey eyes staring brightly
back at me.

I blush and hide my face. I feel his chest vibrate and I look up to see him
laughing quietly.

"You're so beautiful," he looks back down at me.

"Thank you," I smile shyly.

Luke starts leaning in and I feel my heartbeat quicken. When he's only
about an inch away, we hear the loudest groan escape Eli's lips.

I look over and see him still sleeping in the same position he was only a
minute ago.

"Jackass," Luke sighs and I giggle.

Luke unwraps his arms from me and we both sit up. Luke stands up and
goes to the other side of the bed where Eli is still

asleep.

Luke grabs Eli's leg and pulls him off the bed. He lands with a thump and
jumps awake.

"Oww," he moans, getting up slowly, holding his back.

____________________________

*Next day*

"Guess what!" Izzy excitedly asks me.

"What!" I ask back excitedly as well.

"Anthony Mackle asks me to homecoming!!!" She squeals.

"That's great! Who is that?"

"He's the hottest guy on the soccer team!" She smiles.

Kelsey used to play soccer. I would never play it though, too much running
for me.

"Then I'm happy for you!" I smile and give her a hug.

"Alright students! Listen up," Mr.Wills announces, "I will be handing out
your field trip permission slips! We are going on a nature tour a few hours
away in two weeks time, exactly a week after homecoming." He passes out
the permission slips.

"Turn these in by this Friday and get back to work," he says before sitting
back down at his desk and typing on his computer.

"Yay, this will be so fun," Izzy sighs and rolls her eyes.

After Geography, Izzy and I start making our way to the girls locker rooms
for P.E.

We walk in the locker room and start changing our clothes.

I feel someone harshly bump into me causing my head to slam forward. I

feel my nose clash with the metal locker and my eyes automatically start
watering.

I bring my hands up to my nose and it feels wet. I look down at my hands

and see that they are covered in red.

I turn around to see who bumped into me and I see Katrina.

Did
she purposely

bump into me? Why did I deserve that?

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Izzy yells at them. She looks over at
my face and she sees all the blood. Her eyes widen and she calls over a girl
who's already dressed.

"Mae, can you take her to the nurse please?" She asks pushing me towards a
pretty dark-skinned girl.

"Oh God!" Mae's eyes widen but she nods, and leads me out the locker
room.

As soon as we step out, we're met with Luke, Eli and the twins.

"What the hell happened?" Luke asks, totally forgetting his conversation
with the guys.

"Oh!" Mae jumps startled, "Um, someone pushed her into the lockers an-"

"Who?" Luke asks with a clenched jaw.

"It doesn't matter, It's just a nose bleed," I say trying to loosen some of the
tension.

"I'll take her to the nurse, you can go back to the gym," Luke wraps his arm
around my shoulder and pulls me into his side.

"O-oh okay," Mae nods and she walks back into the locker room.

Luke pulls me away from his side, and bends down to my level. He puts a
finger under my chin and looks at my nose.

"Poor thing," he removes his hand and kisses my forehead, "let's go to the
nurse."

"Bye boo-boo," Eli covers his eyes from the sight of my blood.
Luke and I walk to the nurse, with me tucked into his side once again.

"Seriously, who did it?" He asks.

"Katrina," I mumble so quietly that he can't hear me.

"I

definitely

heard what you just said," he says sarcastically.

"It was Katrina."

"But I'm sure it was just an accident," I add once I see that his jaw is
clenched once again.

Luke looks down at me unbelievably.

"Why do you always make excuses for everyone?" He stops us only a few
rooms from the nurse.

"It's not an

excuse.

I don't want to make a big deal out of nothing." I look down at my feet
quickly, not wanting to make eye contact with Luke.

"Aubrey, look at you! If you're hurt, especially bleeding, than it's a big deal.
At least to me it is." He says stubbornly.

I just nod not wanting to argue and we continue to the nurse's.

Luke opens the door to the nurse's and he lets me in. An elderly woman
dressed in pale pink scrubs sees me and immediately jumps out her desk
chair.
"Oh sweet goodness! Here, here," she hands me a gauze pad and ushers me
to sit.

I take a seat and Luke sits beside me.

"Okay, I'm going to show you what to do," she says before coming closer to
me.

She tilts my head foreword, and she applies pressure to the bridge of my
nose.

"Hold it just like that okay?" She gives me a kind smile and I nod.

"So, what happened?" She asks therapeutically.

"She got pushed into her locker," Luke answers before I can. I turn my head
towards him and give him a look, he just shrugs.

"These children are so mean sometimes. Why would anybody want to hurt
you?" She shakes her head.

A few minutes later, she takes the paper towel off and looks at my nose.

"The bleeding has stopped, thank heavens. Your nose is probably going to
be sore for a while but there shouldn't be that much bruising."

"Thank you," I smile gratefully and Luke and I start heading back to the
gym.

________________________

"Are you okay Miss Wilson?" Mrs. Siding asks me as Luke and I take a
seat.

"Yes ma'am," I nod.

"Alright class, today we'll be taking it easy today. It's a beautiful day
outside so we are going to walk the track!" She smiles and ushers everyone
to get up and start going outside.
"Oh I'm so going to tell Olivia about Katrina! That way, each of us will
have one to beat up. She can take Ana and I can take Katrina," Izzy says
with an evil tone.

"I don't think it's that serious Izzy," I laugh. Izzy's eyes go over my head and
she looks as if she's listening to someone behind me. I turn my head and see
Luke right as he's turning his head away.

He looks back at me innocently and smiles.

"I swear, they need to make the track closer to school. I can't walk up here,
it is too far," Eli groans.

"Lazy ass," Luke mumbles.

"Huh? What was that

Lucas

?" Eli smirks evilly. Luke turns and glares at Eli.

"You're a little shi-"

"Luke!!" An excited yell is heard coming from the track. We make it to the
track and enter.

The track has a whole bunch of elementary school kids walking around it.

A group of little boys run up to Luke.

"Hey guys!" He smiles down at them.

"Luke! I went to the game last Friday!" A boy with dark brown hair and a
school football shirt says.

"I never get any attention," A sad voice says quietly from beside me.

"You poor thing," Izzy says sarcastically.

I feel someone pull the back of my shirt lightly and I turn around.

A cute little girl with pretty beach blonde hair is standing behind me and
looking at me with very green, wide eyes.

"Hi," she says shyly.

"Hi!"

"Can I walk with you? Nobody else will let me," she says sadly.

"Of course you can!" I say excitedly, "I'm Aubrey!"

"I'm Keeley," she answers happily.

"Oh my gosh! I love your name Keeley!" Izzy says from beside me, causing
a huge smile to break out on Keeley's face.

"Thank you!"

"Do you wanna meet my friends?" I bend down and ask her she nods a little
reluctantly.

"This is Izzy," I point to Izzy, "and this big guy right here is Eli."

"He's really funny," I add once I see she looks hesitant about Eli.

After only ten minutes, she really warms up to us and she is even swinging
in between mine and Eli's hands.

I look up at the field in the middle of the track and I see Luke playing
football happily with the group of boys.

"That one is the red is my big brother!" Keeley points to a taller boy with
the same beach blonde hair as her.

"He's in fourth grade. I'm only in third." She explains.

"I thought he looked just like you," I smile, "what's his name?"
"Ryder! I call him bubba though," she smiles talking about him. She really
loves her brother.

Growing up, I used to want to have a sibling. It could get really boring just
playing by yourself. After a while though, I got used to it.

"Ryder wants to be just like Luke. He goes to almost every one of his
football games," she giggles.

I think it is so adorable how all those little boys look up to Luke like that.

___________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Who's that girl with Keeley?" My favorite little buddy, Ryder asks.

I look up and my eyes search around the track for a little blonde headed
girl. I finally spot her clinging on to Aubrey's hand. A smile automatically
makes its way onto my face.

I look back down and I see all the guys huddled around waiting for my
answer.

I bend down, "Why? Do ya'll think she's pretty?"

They blush and look at each other while I smirk. I knew that would get a
reaction out of them.

"Do you?" One of them fires back.

"I think she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen," my eyes find Aubrey once
again.

"Oooh, Luke's got a crush," they coo at me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"I'm gonna go tell her!" Derron shouts as he starts running towards her.
Well, shit.

"Derron! No," I shout back at him and before I know it, all of them are
running towards her.

Why did I tell a bunch of 8 year olds that?

I run after them and barely get there before Derron does.

Aubrey looks up at us and her eyes widen.

"Keeley come here!" Ryder tells his sister.

I narrow my eyes at him and give him the "don't you dare" look.

That doesn't work and he bends down and whispers in her ear. A second
later, Keeley is jumping up and down happily.

Guess who's not my favorite little buddy anymore?

He definitely told her. I need to meet up with the superintendent of the

school and I need to tell him to raise funds for another school track. We
can't keep sharing with the elementary school.

"Aubrey!" Keeley runs up to Aubrey and hugs her waist.

"Yeah Keeley?" Her angelic voice asks.

"Luke thinks you are pretty," she giggles. Aubrey blushes and looks up at
me.

I give her a smile and she looks down shyly.

"Seniors! Let's go!" Mrs.Siding calls out.

Eli comes beside me as we walk in and I can just tell he's looking at me
with a smirk on his stupid face.

"Stop."
"Why won't you just tell her already?" He groans as we walk inside the
gym.

"I just haven't found the right time," I shrug and start changing my clothes
once we're in the locker room.

That was not entirely false. I really

haven't

found the right time. The other reason I haven't done anything is because,
even though I hate to admit it, I'm scared of her

rejection.

For the first time in my life, I'm scared of a girls rejection.

This girl, she's really something.

_________________________

"Ole Miss isn't going to make it Ryan. Look at their stats, they are going
dow-" I cut myself off when someone sits down on my lap.

I shove Katrina off my lap and she hits the ground with a thud.

"What the fuck Katrina?" I clench my jaw.

That place is reserved for Aubrey and Aubrey only.

Well, if she wants it.

"Oh Lukey! Sorry I scared you," she giggles annoyingly and gets up and
she comes back over to our table.

Eli gags at the nickname she just so thoughtfully gave me and Ryan laughs
at him.

I look at her in disbelief and the rest of the guys do too.

How desperate can someone be?

"Katrina, you need to understand that I want

nothing

to do with you." I grit out.

She looks around the cafeteria and she sees all the people looking at her.

"Fine then," she huffs and she leans closer to me, "but when you get tired of
that bitch

Aubrey, call me."

I glare at her back as she walks away.

I turn back to the guys with the glare still preset on my face. They look at
me reluctantly and the rest of lunch, our table is pretty much silent.

______________________

|||||| Thanks for reading!

I have an idea for the next chapter so it should be up pretty soon. Also,
sorry this chapter was a little shorter than most.

*Remember I don't edit*

Word Count: 3044

-Ashlyn M.
Part 20 "That's my butt"
*

"Holy freaking guacamole! It is monsooning outside!" Eli removes his hood

from his head.

"Looks like there isn't going to be a game tonight," Izzy says causing Eli to
pout.

I feel a strong arm land on my shoulders and I look up and meet the gaze of
Luke. He smiles and leans us back against the lockers.

We watch and laugh as Izzy, Olivia,

and

Eli all argue about their ideas on the field trip that is supposed to happen
two weeks from today.

"Are you going?" Luke leans close to me and asks.

"I don't know yet," I shrug.

"I'll go if you do," he kisses my cheek and they automatically heat up, "so
cute."

Looks like I'm turning in my field trip form.

"I guess we're going then," I smile up at him.

My crush on Luke Taylor has tripled from what it was a week ago. Now, I
can't even barely think about him without blushing.
He went from a little crush to the biggest crush I've ever had in only a few
days.

"I was really looking foreword to this game too," Eli pouts and changes the
subject back to what it was originally.

"The rain'll ease up by then Eli," Luke says from beside me.

A minute or so later the bell rings and Olivia, Luke, and I start walking to
English.

___________________

"Luke and you would just be perfect together!" Olivia squeaks.

I take out my chicken salad and dig in.

I think we either need to have two lunches or we need to make our lunch
earlier. I am always so hungry when it comes time to eat.

"Why don't we talk about you and Ryan?" I smile.

"O-oh," she blushes, "what about us?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious you are totally in love with him," Izzy snorts.

"Shut up Anthony lover!" Olivia sticks her tongue out a Izzy. Izzy thrusts
her fork at Olivia's tongue and Olivia gasps.

"You almost cut my tongue off!" She says disbelievingly.

"Aw, you'll be fine."

"So, what about you and Ryan," I urge.

"I've liked him for a long time. I don't think he likes me. I don't even think
he knew my name up until this year," she sighs dejectedly.
"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out," I sneak a glance at Izzy
remembering our conversation with Eli a week or so back when he told us
Ryan liked Olivia.

"Yeah okay! You wouldn't even know! You have Luke practically falling at
your feet!" She blurts out before looking at me guiltily for yelling at me.

Luke isn't

falling at my feet.

Right? Yeah that's right.

"Calm your tits Olivia, she's only trying to help you," Izzy adds in.

"I know. I'm sorry," she looks at me apologetically, "It's just, unlike you, the
person I like doesn't like me back."

I rub my hand up and down her back in a comforting way. I push over my
bag of ranch flavored veggie straws to her and she gratefully takes them.

"If you are so sure he doesn't like you then don't waste your time on him,"
Izzy shrugs when I give her a "what are you doing?" look.

"It's not that easy," she grumbles, "especially when I've liked him for as
long as I have."

"Then make him jealous! Find a guy who you're friends with and tell him
your plan to make Ryan jealous! Flirt with the guy when Ryan is around or
whatever." Izzy says.

"I guess I could try," Olivia concludes, looking a little more hopeful now.

I don't know if that is a good idea or not.

"I'm gonna go use the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute," I smile and leave
to go to the bathroom.
I enter the bathroom and go into a stall. I hate using school bathrooms but I
really have to go. I shouldn't have drank a whole bottle of water during
music this morning.

I sit and start doing my business peacefully until I hear the bathroom door
open and two sets of heels strut in.

I feel my heart start to pound.

Do they know I'm in here?

"That Aubrey girl better not be at the game tonight," Ana scoffs.

"If she is, I may just have to

accidentally

push her down the stadium stairs," Katrina's sarcastic words put my heart
into a whole other frenzy.

Would she actually do that? I mean, she did make my nose bleed, but that?

"Do I look good?" Ana asks snootily, as if she already knows the answer.

"Duh. What about me? You think Luke will like my hair since it's curled
like hers

now," Katrina's voice gets dark and mean at the end.

"Absolutely! My blue contacts aren't making my eyes red are they?" Ana
asks.

"Nope, let's go," Katrina replies and I hear their footsteps walk to the door
and exit.

Why are they changing themselves just to be noticed by a guy? Luke, more
specifically.

Guess I'm not going to the game tonight.

_________________________

"Did you shit?" Olivia asks once I get out to the big oak tree.

It took a while in the bathroom, and not because I was pooing.

I give her a look and shake my head.

"Well it took you long enough," she laughs.

After a few more minutes, the bell rings and Izzy and soon enough, Izzy
and I head to chemistry after free period.

We walk into class and start going to our seats.

I'm almost to my seat when I am barely able to see a heel shoot out in front
of me. The heel hits my shin and I feel myself start to fall.

Here we go. I'm going to embarrass myself.

A strong arm wraps around the front of my waist and it stops me from
falling. I look over to see Luke reaching out of his chair glaring at the
outstretched foot.

He stands me up right and continues to glare at Katrina.

Eli pulls me down to a seat next to him as we both watch the scene unfold.

Izzy rushes over to Katrina and roughly pulls her up by her arm.

I look towards Mr. Ryker and see he's staring at the ground in front of him
with widened eyes.

"Why do you have such a problem with her?" Izzy questions.

I feel so useless right now. Why can't I just stand up for myself?

At my old school, I never had to deal with anyone like this. We all respected
each other. Here, it's so different.
"What is your deal?" Luke adds.

"Alright, alright. Break it up. It was probably just an accident," Mr. Ryker
comes in between the three.

"Oh come on man, you know

that wasn't an accident," Luke rolls his eyes as he takes his seat.

"Next time you won't be so lucky," I hear Izzy warn. She can be really scary
when she wants to be.

"You didn't have to do that but, thank you," I smile gratefully at Izzy when
she takes her seat beside me.

"If she says anything else to you, please tell me! I would love to break her
plastic nose."

I sigh at Izzy's response and begin to listen to the lesson Mr. Ryker was
beginning to teach.

____________________________

The bell rings and I quickly put my chemistry notebook into my bag. I
throw my bag over my shoulders, say goodbye to Izzy, and meet Luke and
Eli right beside the door.

We always walk to last period together.

Once we get into government, we take our seats and start waiting for Ms.
Lonio to get to class.

"Hey Luke," Ana's hand wraps around Luke's shoulder that is closest to me.
Luke sighs and turns around.

"What do you wan-," he cuts himself off when he looks up and sees Ana's
bright blue contacts. Ana flutters her eyelashes and smiles brightly.
"What are you doing with your face," Eli shivers in disgust.

"Oh, just being beautiful," she replies like it's obvious.

I let out an almost inaudible snort but when Ana's eyes dart to mine, I know
she heard it.

"Do you have something to say,

Audrey

," she purposely says my name wrong.

"Why are you wearing contacts?" I ask quietly and avoid eye contact with
her.

"Says you!" She raises her voice and points at me.

Does she seriously still think I wear

eye contacts?

"What?" Eli and Luke both ask.

"I'm not the fake one! She is!" Ana glares darkly at me.

"Really?" Luke asks incredulously, "You're crazier than I thought."

Before I know it, Ana is right in front of me. My eyes widen as she sneers
down at me.

"This hair is fake, just watch!" She tugs the back of my curls and I bite my
lip to hold back a yelp. My hand automatically goes up to where she is
pulling on it. She lets go of my hair and I place my hand on my throbbing
head.

How hard did she pull it? I'm surprised my hair hasn't fallen out.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Luke stands up out of his seat, "Why
don't you take your jealous ass somewhere else."

"Miss whatever your name is, get out of the classroom," Ms.Lonio
announces. Ana's face turns red before she angrily stomps out the
classroom.

I sigh and remove my hand from my head. I don't understand why they both
hate me so much.

I know it has something to do with Luke though. Maybe I should stay away
from him for a while.

"Are you okay boo-boo," Eli winces.

I nod and attempt to smile. Eli gives me a look and I just ignore it and get
back to work, also ignoring Luke's gaze.

_________________________

After school ends, I dart out of the classroom and out of the school. If I
walk out with the girls then they are going to know something happened
just by looking at my face.

They would also probably try to convince me to go to the game tonight.

I make it home and plop on my bed.

Today has definitely been tiring.

Right as I'm drifting off, my phone rings.

I'll get it later.

*Thump

I groan and roll over on my back. This is why I should never fall asleep on
the edge of my bed.
My head is still throbbing in the spot where Ana yanked it. It is probably
gonna be sore for a few days.

I stand up ungracefully and look at the clock on my phone.

5:58pm

Half of the football game should already be done by now. I look at the rest
of my phone and see that there are a whole bunch of messages from the
girls. They range from "did you leave school early, or did you get
kidnapped," to, "You are probably sleeping so have a great nap, unless
you're kidnapped that is."

I change out of my school clothes and put on some leggings and a teal
Under Armour long sleeve.

I climb into bed and turn on my tv. I click the Hulu button and I start
watching Nightwatch.

I love that show.

After about an hour of Nightwatch, and massaging my pounding head, I

hear a knock on the front door downstairs.

I make it downstairs and I open the door. I come face to face with a
muscular chest and I look up.

"Hi Luke," I say somewhat confused.

What is he doing here?

"Hey, I'm gonna come in," he nods and walks in. I shut the door behind him
and turn around. He has his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised at me.

He looks amazing right now, but that's besides the point.

His muscles bulge out and his face, don't get me started. His perfectly
sculpted jaw line is sharp as can be, and his gorgeous gray eyes are heart
stopping. Not to mention the light freckles that are spread out over his nose
and cheeks.

God really spent extra time on Luke.

"I won't mind if you take a picture," Luke smirks, "you know, It'll last
longer."

My cheeks automatically heat up and Luke chuckles.

An actual chuckle and I find myself fawning over that too. If his chuckle is
attractive, I can't imagine how attractive his actual full on laughter would
be.

"I-I wasn't," I stop trying to make the excuse and just groan.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?" I question shyly. It sounded like I was

suggesting

something.

"Woah, we haven't gone on any dates yet though," he gasps sarcastically.

My eyes widen and I gasp.

Did he say 'yet'?

"I'm just teasing," he smiles and starts heading up the stairs.

I make it to my room after him and I see him already lied out on my bed.
He scoots over and pats the space beside him.

I try my best not to blush as I lay beside him on my stomach, just like him.

"Why weren't you at the game tonight?" He questions, turning on his side,
and propping his head up on his hand.

"I was really tired. It was a long day today," I nod, trying to make it sound
more believable.
He stares at me for a few seconds with a small smile.

"Did you know that when you lie, your nose twitches?" He finally says.

"No," I say shamefully and laugh.

I look back up at Luke to see he's still looking at me with that smile.

"I won't mind if you take a picture," I mock in the deepest voice I can, "It'll
last longer."

"Oh come on," he laughs, "You can't use my own words against me."

"You messed with my head when you weren't there, you're always at my
games." He turns serious.

I shouldn't tell him about Ana and Katrina. It wasn't that big of a deal. Plus
he'll probably think I'm just weak and that I can't stand up for myself.

can't

stand up for myself though. I don't know how.

"I'm sorry. I..." I hesitate," I heard

somebody

saying that if I went, it wouldn't end well for me."

"Plus, I really was tired so that only had a little effect on me," I add once I
see his jaw clench and is eyes harden.

"It was Ana wasn't it?" His hard eyes meet mine.

"and Katrina," I nod and sigh defeatedly.

"You shouldn't believe them sweetheart. Their threats are empty and they're
just jealous of you," Luke tilts my chin up so he can see my face.

"I don't know why they're jealous of me," I mumble.

"Are you kidding me?" He looks at me like I just told him I'm secretly a
professional sumo wrestler.

"You are beautiful Aubrey. Your curls are absolutely perfect. That little
dimple right there, " he smiles and pokes my right cheek, "and don't even

get me started on those eyes. Nobody has eyes as pretty and as unique as
yours. I've never seen anything like it," he leans forward, kisses my cheek
softly, and I think my heart stops for a few moments.

"Thank you," I reply pathetically. Thankfully, Luke just laughs at my

reaction and changes the subject.

"My grandma is supposed to come up here Sunday," he groans and rolls

back on his stomach.

"That's great!" I laugh, "what's so bad about that?"

"Believe me, I love my grandma. She...she's just a handful," he shakes his

head with a smile on his lips.

I bet she's an amazing lady. My mom's parents live all the way in Nevada so
I haven't seen them in ten years. My dad's mom died when I was very little.
She was in a car wreck. A drunk driver was driving on the wrong side of the
road and they hit head on. Grandma Lia was on her way to our house at
seven at night. Dad had just gotten called into work and they only lived
about thirty minutes away. She was coming to watch me.

I grew up with my granddaddy watching me a lot. He was like a second

dad. When he found out about dad, it was too much for him.

He sent me a letter saying how sorry he was and that he was going away for
a little while. I think he said he was going to Florida.
I was hoping to at least see him at dads funeral but he was a no-show.

"Why'd you get so quiet," Luke's softened voice asks from beside me.

"I was just thinking about my grandparents," I smile softly.

I really do miss my granddaddy. I wish he would at least send another letter

so I know he's okay.

____________________________

"Well do you know where he is? If you did you could send him something,"
Luke suggests after I finish telling him about grandpa.

"All I know is that he's somewhere in Florida."

I told him all about my small little family. I didn't have a lot of family. Both
of my parents were only kids and the family I did have, lived in far away
states.

My mom is originally from Arizona and although my dad is from North

Carolina, most of the family down there has moved.

"Tell me about your family, enough about mine," I say. I find my family
quite boring for the most part since there aren't very much of them.

The only cool thing about my family is that my dad comes from a long line
of military men. That's how he got into being a marine. He wanted to be just
like grandpa.

He lets out a chuckle, "where do I start? I have a huge family."

I smile happily and prop my head up on my hands.

"My dad has 7 brothers and no sisters. They all have kids of their own and
out of all of them, there are, I think, two girls," Luke says and I gasp
unbelievably.

"I think there's around 30 some boys between my seven uncles," he laughs.
"I feel bad for the poor two girls then," I can't imagine how hard it is
growing up with 30

boy cousins. Luke nods in agreement.

"My mom had three older brothers and one sister, they live in Alabama
too," he smiles thinking about his moms family.

"D-do you miss home?" I ask hesitantly. I know I miss home more than
anything. I miss dad, grandpa, Kelsey, and everyone back home.

"Yeah," he whispers, his eyes meeting mine.

Luke clears his throat and looks over at my tv.

"What were you watching," he furrows his eyebrows.

I look over at the screen and I see that I paused it at a horrible time.

The camera was man zooming in on a stab wound.

"Oh sorry," I giggle and click the back button on the remote.

"The show's called Nightwatch. It's about paramedics and police in New
Orleans."

"It's graphic," he shudders, "that doesn't faze you at all?"

"Not really. I'm thinking of becoming a nurse," I smile happily.

Ever since I was little, I found myself always wanting to help people. A
police officer wasn't an option because a 5' girl doesn't look intimidating
and a firefighter wasn't an option because I don't think I would be able to
move with all of the stuff they have to put on. So, I settled for a nurse.

"I can see you being a nurse," Luke cutely smiles at me.

"I can see you being a plumber," I try and keep in my laughter. I can't
imagine this huge guy fixing toilets.
Luke's mouth drops open before a smirk takes its place.

"How did you know that was my dream job?" He asks incredulously.

I roll over on my back in a fit of laughter.

"I can see it now. Taylor's Plumbing." I make a rainbow motion on the
ceiling.

"That's right," Luke smiles from beside me.

I look over at my bedside table and see that it's already almost 11. Mom's
gonna be home soon.

"My parents are gonna be home any minute now," I sigh and turn back over,
facing Luke.

"Do you want me to go?" Luke asks looking down at my comforter.

Of course I don't want him to go.

"I don't know how my mom would react seeing someones truck in the
driveway."

"Good thing I parked it on the side of the street then," Luke smirks.

"Smart thinking," I say surprised.

"Oh I know," he replies cockily.

I hear the front door downstairs open and my eyes widen. The first thing
mom always does as soon as she gets home is come see me.

"Crap! Hide somewhere!" I whisper shout as Luke jumps up.

"Where could you possibly hide

me
?" He whispers back.

He's right. He's too big to fit under my bed since its low to the ground, and
too tall to fit in my closet. Especially since my closet is a mess right now.

"Go in there," I push him in my bathroom and hope there aren't any
tampons laying around. That would be embarrassing.

My bedroom door opens and my mom walks in giving me a smile.

"Hey," she appears in my doorway and my eyes find Luke's Shoeslying on

the floor beside my bed. My eyes widen and I feel my heart beat faster.

"Why are you so flushed?" Mom asks suspiciously.

"Oh, I was doing yoga," I move to where the shoes are. She just keeps her
eyes narrowed.

"And watching Cops," I mumble out the other excuse peering over at my tv
where a cop car is.

"You know," I do a yoga move and skillfully kick his shoes under the bed
without her noticing, "like that."

"Okay, well we are going to bed."

She gives me one last odd look and she leaves my room. I let out a breath of
relief and I hear the bathroom door start to open.

"I would love for you to show me some of those yoga moves," Luke smirks
and my face heats up.

"Well I had to think of something," I fall back on my bed.

"You thought of yoga. And Cops?" He questions.

"I also had to find a way to hide your boat sized shoes! You forgot them
when you went in the bathroom. I didn't think she bought the whole yoga
thing so I just added to it," I giggle.
"My bad," he falls on the bed beside me.

_____________________

"I'm hungry," Luke's stomach growls.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What? I need food like every hour. Give me a break, you can't expect
energy for a guy the size of me to come from only three meals a day." He
snickers.

"Yeah but you didn't eat before coming here?" I ask.

"I did. I had a cheeseburger," he smiles.

"Luke. You know you need more than just one cheeseburger," I scold.

"I wasn't

that

hungry then." He defends.

"Why because you had a few hotdogs during the game?" I put my hands on
my hips as I look up at him.

"Yeah," he laughs because I was right. I giggle and shake my head too.

"Okay, we have to be quiet though," I open my bedroom door and walk out
silently.

Luke follows behind me and closes my bedroom door softly behind him.

Great, I can't see anything because it's pitch black. We can't even turn on
any lights because if we do, mom will wake up since their bedroom is only
two doors away from mine.

"Luke?" I whisper as quietly as I can.

"Yeah?"

"Give me your hand," I try and squint my eyes to see better. I feel a hand on
my butt and I almost gasp.

"That's my butt," I try and stay as quiet as I can.

"I know," I can hear the smirk and laughter in his voice.

I remove his large hand from my butt and interlace our fingers.

I start walking and feeling around for the railing of the stairs.

"We need to go down on our butts," I whisper.

"Why?" Luke asks confusedly.

"Because I fall down the stairs in daylight. I won't make it one step in the
pitch black," I sigh and I can feel Luke shake in silent laughter.

"Okay," he answers once he contains himself.

I bend down and sit down on the top step.

I feel my way down the stairs and once I'm finally on the ground I make a
'cha-ching' motion to my embarrassment. Hopefully, it's too dark and Luke
didn't see that.

Luke walks behind me and I realize he did not go down on his butt.

I guess that works too.

After more feeling around, we make it to the kitchen and I turn the light on.
They can't see the kitchen light from where we are in the house.

"You're having cereal," I say with no room for argument. There is no way I
could make something without making any noise.

I go up to the cabinets and open them. I look at the selection of bowls.

"These don't look big enough," I mumble to myself. I open another cabinet
and see a salad bowl.

That'll work. I stand on my tippy toes and grab it down.

I show it to Luke for confirmation and he smiles happily and nods.

"Pick which one you want," I point to the top of the fridge where all the
cereals are lined up.

I grab the milk from the fridge and he hands me the Captain Crunch.

I pour the rest of the Captain Crunch in the bowl and look at him.

"You owe me a Captain Crunch."

I pour the milk in, put a spoon in there, and hand it to him.

He takes it gratefully and we start on the long journey back up to my room.

__________________

After taking ten minutes to make it up to my room, we are finally here.

I close my bedroom door softly behind me and lock it.

I don't want mom coming in here in the morning and seeing Luke.

I go over to my dresser and grab some clothes.

"I'm gonna take a shower. When you're done with the bowl, just sit it on the
table," I say shyly and he just nods, too focused on Nightwatch which is
now playing.

I take a nice, warm shower and wash my hair extra careful of the extremely
sore spot on my head. I should probably take Tylenol for that.

After exiting the shower I put on my pajamas. Velvet feeling black leggings
and an old UNC shirt.
I put my towels in the hamper and walk out the bathroom. Luke is laying
with his head on a pillow and intently watching the tv.

I open the drawer to my bedside table, grab a Tylenol pill, and swallow it
using my water bottle.

"What'd you need that for?" Luke asks now turned towards me.

"My head's hurting," I turn off the light and walk over to the bed.

"Are you gonna get under the covers?" I ask.

I can't sleep without the covers on. I've watched too many scary movies and
I need the covers to protect me.

"Yeah," he gets up lazily and I pull the covers back.

Luke takes his shirt off and my breath hitches in my throat.

I can't believe I'm standing this close to a six-pack.

Luke's

six pack to be more specific.

It is so perfectly sculpted. It really makes me wonder how he eats so much

and still looks like this.

"I don't sleep with shirts on," Luke smirks at my stillness, "or pants."

He starts undoing his pants and I squeal and hide my face in a pillow. I'm
not ready to see what's down there

yet.

Yet? Did I just say yet?

I feel him climb into bed beside me.

"You're good now," he chuckles.

I remove my face from my pillow and brush the drying curls out my face.

"Come here," he whines once he realizes how much space is between us.

I blush bright red and scoot a little closer to him. He grabs me and pulls me
to his chest.

"See. That's not so bad," he smiles as he begins to softly massage my scalp

where it's tender.

"You wear socks to bed but not a shirt or pants?" I giggle.

"They keep my feet warm," he reasons.

He scoots down so that his head is laying on my chest and he wraps his
arms around my torso.

I blush once again and we continue watching the show.

Luke really likes to cuddle, I've noticed.

He also doesn't like blood or open wounds. Every time he sees one on the
show, he hides his face in my shoulder until I tell him everything is clear.

Other than that, he likes the show too.

I feel a hand creep down to my butt and stay there.

"Luke?"

No answer.

"Luke." I move my head down until I see his face. His eyes are closed and
he's peacefully sleeping.

I sigh and lay my head back down. I grab the remote and turn the tv off.
I send up a quick prayer before letting my eyes close.

____________________

|Sorry it took so long to get this chapter written. It took a lot of time
thinking of how to go about this chapter. I promise next chapter will be
up within a few days.

Thanks for reading!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 4958

-Ashlyn M.
Part 21 "Sorry, I have to watch out
for your cooties"
*LUKE'S POV*

I pull Aubrey closer to me and tighten my arms around her. She feels extra
soft this morning.

I open my eyes and see a white pillow staring right back at me instead of
her beautiful blues.

Well that's not what I wanted.

I sit up wiping the sleep from my eyes and look around the room. I see a
notepad on the bedside table and I pick it up and look at the small, neat
letters.

I'm downstairs in case you're wondering and there's a new toothbrush in the
left drawer in the bathroom if you want to use it right when you wake up:) I
put the notepad back down on the table and get up. I lazily walk to the
bathroom and throw some warm water on my face.

I grab the toothbrush and the toothpaste and I brush my teeth. I walk back
into Aubrey's room and decide that I should at least put my pants back on.

As I'm walking down the stairs, I smell a heavenly smell. I walk into the
kitchen and a smile lights up my face.

She's softly singing and slightly swaying her beautiful hips to the beat while
flipping pancakes.

God, this girl.

She turns around suddenly and gasps, her cheeks now aflame.
"You don't have to stop," my eyes travel down her gorgeous body, "I was
enjoying that."

she blushes darkly before turning back around to the pancakes.

I go up behind her and watch what she's doing over her shoulder.

I'm mostly watching her as she's looking down at the pancakes.

"You're making me feel shorter than I already am," she huffs and places the
pancakes on a plate.

I laugh at her cuteness and follow her to the kitchen table. Sitting on the
table is a bowl of eggs, grits, and bacon.

This girl is amazing.

"My mom used to make grits," I grab a spoonful of grits. "When you made
them here a few weeks ago, I hadn't had them in almost two years."

"Dad can't cook for shit. 'Scuze my french," I apologize for cursing.

"You must get it from him then," she hides her giggle by eating a bite of
pancake.

"Did Eli tell you about me burning the eggs," I'm gonna kill Eli.

"Yep, both times." She smiles.

Her phone dings and since I can see it from where I'm sitting, I gladly look
at it.

Owen

Who the fuck is Owen?

"Who's Owen?" I try and say nonchalantly.

"The guy who was with my dad," she pushes around egg on her plate.
"Oh."

"Who's 'Lady Killer'?" She laughs loudly. I look down at my phone and see
the incoming facetime call is indeed from 'Lady Killer'.

I'm gonna kill Eli for touching my phone.

"Hey, hoe!" Eli shouts once I press the answer button.

"I'm going to kill you," I mumble and shove some bacon in my mouth.

"Where did you get bacon from?!"

I turn my phone around and show Aubrey.

"Hey boo boo! Whachu doin' girl!" He yells happily and I roll my eyes.

"Hi Eli," she giggles and the brooding look on my face instantly disappears.

"I want some," he whines.

"No, it's mine," I turn the phone back around.

"Listen here, everyone's coming over to my house for something. Izzy told
me she and Olivia are coming too so bring Aubrey. I have to go, mama
Jennings is making me wash dishes," Eli hangs up.

We soon finish eating and clean up.

"I need to get dressed," Aubrey sighs from beside me on the bed.

"Why? You look fine right now."

"Luke, I'm wearing pajamas," she laughs.

"That doesn't mean you don't look hot," I nudge her hand.

"Stop," she mumbles shyly.

"It's true," I tease.

She gets up from her spot and walks over to her closet.

I stare at her luscious butt as she browses through her closet.

"Stop looking at my butt," she continues to look through her closet.

"I'm not looking at your butt," I say still looking at her butt.

"I can see you through the mirror," she turns and points to the mirror.

"Well, you have a great behind," I smile cheekily.

"Last night you fell asleep with your hand on my butt," she walks into the
bathroom.

Oh, I know.

"Really?" I mock surprise.

"You knew you did, didn't you?" She peeks her head out of the bathroom.

"Maybe," I smirk and she goes back into the bathroom laughing.

__________________

"We have to stop by my house first," I pick her up and place her in my
truck.

"Okay."

I walk around to my side, get in, and start driving.

We pull up to my house and I see an unfamiliar new black Cadillac

Escalade.

I park my truck in my regular spot beside dads truck and get out. I go to the
other side and get Aubrey out.
I continue to hold onto her hand as we walk to the front door. I open the
front door for her and she walks in with a smile.

She's so cute. She's probably excited to see Leo.

We hear the pounding of his toenails and his evil face soon comes around
the corner. It still amazes me how every time he sees her, his ears flop down
and his tongue hangs out his mouth.

"Leo," she says as he happily runs up to her.

"Lucas! Is that you baby?" My eyes widen. Aubrey's confused gaze meets
my widened eyes.

'Grandma' I mouth to her and a look of realization comes across her face.

"I thought she was coming tomorrow?" She whispers.

"That's what I thought too," I whisper back.

"Oh, Luke! Look how handsome my grand-baby is!" Grandma comes up to

me and pulls me in a tight hug. I look behind her and see my grandpa and
dad staring back at me.

"I haven't seen you in so long!" She pulls me out of the hug and examines
me.

Ella Taylor. My, wealthy, religious, and judgmental grandmother. She

doesn't like many people and she'll let you know if she doesn't like you.
But, if she does like you, she is the sweetest grandmother ever. I love her to
death but she better love Aubrey.

"You are so big and so strong! Look at him, Charlie!" She turns me around
so I'm facing my grandpa.

Charlie Taylor. Charlie Taylor is where pretty much our whole family gets
their height and size from. He's 6'8, a former NFL linebacker, and he's a
total suck up to my grandma. He doesn't talk much, mostly because
grandma does all the talking, but when he does talk, he's much nicer than
grandma.

They keep each other in check.

"I see it, Ella," his deep voice rumbles with the accent as he smiles.

I look back behind me and see Aubrey standing there trying to control her
smile. I smile sheepishly back at her and she continues to scratch Leo's ears.

They still haven't seen her yet.

"Oh my goodness! He's brought a girl Charlie!" Grandma nudges grandpa

and he nods.

I motion for Aubrey to come forward and she does so shyly with Leo right
beside her, rubbing up against her.

"What's your name?" my grandma's judging eyes find Aubrey's. She's

deciding whether or not she likes Aubrey and it's making me nervous as
shit.

"I'm Aubrey," she says confidently and smiles a beautiful dimpled smile.

How could she not like her?

As I look down at Aubrey, I try to find a reason why grandma wouldn't like
her.

I can't find one.

Natural face, not to mention a gorgeous one, an appropriate outfit that

doesn't show off her killer breasts, regular skinny jeans with no provocative
rips, none at all actually, and she's sporting a cross necklace.

Grandma

has
to like her. I'm kinda hoping to keep her around for a while.

"Well Aubrey, you're no bigger than a minnow in a fishin' pond baby!"

Grandma exclaims and I feel myself letting out a breath of relief.

First of all, she's playing around with her, which is the first good sign.

Second, she called her

baby.

She doesn't call anyone but the family baby. She must really like her.

Grandma walks up to her and takes her hand.

"Come on baby, let's go chat in the kitchen," they walk off.

I look up at my dad and grandpa and see that they are both looking at me
with surprised looks.

"Momma likes her Luke," Dad smiles at me and nudges my shoulder.

"Let's go in the kitchen 'fore I get in trouble," Grandpa says before walking
into the kitchen.

We sit down in the chairs beside the two women and I listen in on their
conversation.

"Isn't she pretty as a peach Charlie?"

"Yes ma'am," he agrees.

"Momma, I'm sure they've got somewhere to be-" dad starts.

"You best hush your mouth James Edward, I'm trying to hear what she's
saying!" Grandma glares at dad and I have to bite my lip to hold back a
laugh.

"Ella," Grandpa warns.

"So why'd you move here sweet pea?" Grandma ignores grandpa.

"Grandma," I warn.

I don't know how Aubrey'll feel talking about her dad. Aubrey looks at me
and gives a soft smile and a nod.

"My dad was in the marines and he was killed in action so, I had to move
up here from North Carolina and live with my mom," she says strongly and
I find myself proud of her.

"Well goodness me, you poor thing," grandma gives her a hug.

'I'm gonna go change' I mouth to Aubrey and she nods, still hugging my
grandma.

____________________

"We have to go now, grandma," I say once I walk back into the kitchen after
quickly showering and changing my clothes.

"Alright, go do your teenager things," she says bringing Aubrey into

another hug.

"Make sure you continue to keep my boy in check alright baby?" I hear her
whisper into Aubrey's ear. Aubrey nods, a blush forming on her face.

"It was nice meeting you," she smiles and walks over to me.

"Oh it was so wonderful meetin' you sweet pea, wasn't it Charlie?"

Grandma walks right into grandpa's open arms and he gives a friendly
smile.

"Nice meetin' you hun."

"Come right here baby," grandma points her finger to right beside her and I
walk over to where she is after telling Aubrey to meet me at the door.

"I want to be seeing more of her, you understand me?"

"Yes ma'am," I smile.

"Good. Love you, baby," she kisses me on both cheeks and pats my butt.

I give grandpa and hug, go out and meet Aubrey and we walk to the truck.

"They love you," I sit my hands on her waist once we come up to the
passenger side of my truck.

She blushes and I find myself smiling at her as I lift her into her seat.

I love when she blushes. Especially when I'm the one who makes her blush.

"I'm not surprised," I tuck a loose curl behind her ear, "You are

pretty likable."

I shut her door, walk to the drivers side, get in, and start driving to Eli's
house.

__________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

His hand is on my leg.

His thumb is rubbing circles on my leg.

I take a silent deep breath and try to control my burning cheeks. No guy has
ever done this to me before so I'm a little shooked.

I don't mind that he's touchy, I actually like it, it makes me feel warm
inside. A little warning would be nice though since I'm not used to it.

We pull up to Eli's house and Luke gets out.

Okay. I have five seconds to contain myself before he opens the door.
I take another deep breath and hope my cheeks aren't as flushed as I think
they are.

My door opens and Luke gives me a smirk. He grabs my waist and pulls me
flush against him. I let out a surprised gasp and his smirk widens.

With me still pulled against him, he lifts me from my seat and holds me.

His hand travels up and rests on my side. He brings his face closer and I
feel my breath catch in my throat.

He breaks eye contact with me and his eyes land on my neck. He places a
soft peck right under my ear and I find myself closing my eyes as he does it.

He pulls his head out of my neck and smiles again. He gives my butt a light
tap before placing me on the ground and shutting the truck door.

"What was that for?" I ask shakily.

"Oh nothin'. I just thought you looked extra pretty sittin' there," he turns and
smiles at my flushed face before placing a hand on my lower back and
leading me to Eli's front door.

Luke opens the door for me and we walk right in.

Olivia, Izzy, Eli, and Ryan are all standing by the front window doing
completely random things.

Olivia is looking at her nails, Izzy is tying her already tied shoes, Ryan is
counting the blades on the ceiling fan, and Eli is carefully examining a
lampshade.

I'm guessing they're trying to 'act natural'.

"Oh hey boo boo! I didn't hear you two pull up!" Eli says finally tearing his
gaze away from the lamp shade.

"No you didn't hear us, you watched us. Come on guys," Luke rolls his eyes
with a chuckle.
Confused and surprised noises are heard throughout the room.

"Whaaat? Oh come on! I know I was inspecting a..." Eli snaps his fingers,
trying to look for the word.

"Lampshade," Ryan whispers to him.

"A lampshade!"

"Oh okay," Luke sarcastically nods.

____________________

"Elias!" A stern voice says as soon as the front door opens.

Eli sighs and turns in the direction of the woman.

"Hi mom."

Eli's mom was a strict looking lady. She had shoulder length, straight
blonde hair and piercing green eyes just like Eli, she was very pretty.

They looked a lot alike.

"I thought I told you to wash the dishes!" She walks up to him, pointing her
finger.

"I did," he says quietly and Ryan tries to hold back his laugh.

"Good boy," she grabs the back of his head, pulls it down to her, and she
kisses his forehead.

"Hi boys!" She says happily.

I like this lady.

"Hey mama J," Ryan and Luke say simultaneously and the girls and I kinda
stand, leaning on the kitchen island awkwardly.
"Oh mom! These are the girls," Eli says.

"That is Izzy, and over there is Olivia, an-"

"This must be Aubrey!" She says excitedly.

"Hi," I say shyly.

"Oh she's so cute! I can see why you like her," she whispers the last part to
Luke as she nudges him making a light blush appear on his cheeks.

Is he blushing!?

"Alright!" She laughs, "I've already caused enough embarrassment. I'm

going to head to the mall."

"Bye mom," Eli says, still trying to cover his laugh from when his mom
made Luke blush.

"Bye sweets," she kisses all the guys' foreheads and she waves bye.

__________________

"Let's do something," Eli groans from his reclined position on the couch.

I hear a small snore from my lap and I pet Rosco to calm him.

"I'm gonna beat your ass," Luke mumbles from beside me. I turn my head
to him and look at him in confusion.

"Give me that back," he grumbles, glaring at Ryan.

"I'm hungry too! You can't just hog the whole bag!" Ryan says placing
another handful of chips in his mouth.

"I don't care. Give me it back," his deep voice says as he starts to stand up.

"Oooh, you better run," Eli teases Ryan. Ryan jumps up quicker than I've
ever seen and runs towards the back doors.
Luke charges after him only a step behind.

We all jump up and chase after them wanting to see the action.

Right as we all get out there, Luke spears Ryan and Ryan goes flying.

"If he's not dead then that dude has broken ribs," Eli says from beside me
and my eyes widen.

Luke pulls Ryan up harshly and basically drags him back into the house.

"You know I don't share." Luke shoves Ryan back onto the couch.

"It was a bag of chips you ass," Ryan rubs his probably bruised ribs.

"Yeah,

my

bag of chips fucktard- sorry Aubrey," he apologizes, taking a glance at me.

"Stop being a baby," Luke rolls his eyes sitting down beside me and draping
his arm around the top of the couch.

"A

baby

?! You are 245 pounds

and

6'6!!" He exclaims.

"Don't take what's mine then, and I'm 235, don't call me fat, bitch," Luke's
eyes narrow.

"Alright break it up girls," Eli says.

"Kidding," Eli laughs nervously once Luke's glare gets turned towards him.

"And you guys said Olivia and I were crazy," Izzy snorts.

"Are you okay?" I look up at Luke. He's still glaring.

"I'm hangry," his eyes soften and he turns and smiles softly at me.

"Well that's bullshit, all of a sudden he's happy," Ryan mumbles.

"Watch your language motherfucker, " Luke tells Ryan, the glare back on
his face.

We hear the front door open once again and someone happily walks in.

"Gueth what?! I'm back from printheth camp!!" A young voice shouts as a
cute little girl with straight blonde hair runs into the living room.

"Uncle Wuke!!" She squeals and jumps on Luke.

"Hey Eva," he smiles.

"It was tho fun!!"

"It was horrendous," the man who I'm assuming to be Eli and Eva's father
says.

"A week of pink and glittery princess costumes. I'm worn out. Hey son," He
fist bumps Eli.

I can see Eli must be a lot like his dad.

"Hey E! I mithed you," she jumps over to Eli and they talk and hug.

I still wish I had a little sibling. Or at least a sibling. I know that when I
have kids one day, they'll have at least one sibling.

"Hi, I'm Eva!" She says to Izzy, "You're pwetty."

"Hi, I'm Eva!" She moves over to Olivia, "You're pwetty too!"

"Hi, I'm Eva! "She says to me energetically, "You're weally pwetty too!
Wow!"

"Thank you Eva," I smile happily. She's so cute.

"What's you's name?" She asks me.

"Aubrey."

"I have to tell you a secwet Aubwey," she whispers taking a cautious glance
over a Luke.

I look over a Luke to see he's giving a questioning look to Eva.

"Come pwease," she ushers me away from Luke. I scoot close to her and
she puts her mouth next to my ear.

"So, I fink Wuke finks you awe pwetty too." I pull my head away from her
and look at her face. She raises her little eyebrows and nods. I bite my lip to
hide my smile. She ushers me closer once again.

"I wanted to tell you to watch out fow guy cooties. E told me all about
those," she nods at me with a sweet smile before looking over at Luke and
narrowing her eyes at him.

"Thank you for telling me Eva," I nod, "I'll watch out then."

She gives a thumbs up and goes to visit 'Uncle Wyan'.

"What did she tell you?" Luke questions once I sit back down beside him. I
lean in closely, all while keeping my eyes directly on his.

"That's confidential information Luke," I whisper.

"Oh really," he smirks, moving his face closer to mine.

"I'm afraid so," I smile. He moves his face closer but just as he's about to
kiss my cheek, I turn my head and he ends up kissing the side of my head.

"Sorry, " I shrug, "I have to watch out for your cooties."

I look over at Eva who is watching me with a proud look. I laugh and give
her two thumbs up.

"I see what's going on now."

_____________________

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shawn, Eli and Eva's dad," Shawn
smiles and puts his hand out for me to shake it.

"I'm Aubrey," I smile.

"Hey, dad?" Eli asks.

"What do you want now?"

"We're going out, bye," Eli says walking out the front door.

"Oh hey, yeah love you too," he rolls his eyes at his son.

"I'll see you all later," he says waving as we all exit the house.

"I call shotgun!" Eli shouts and starts running up to the passenger side of
Luke's truck.

"No." Luke deadpans.

"Why-oh right. It's Aubrey's seat," Eli whines.

"Sorry, Eli," I pat Eli's shoulder.

"If you were really sorry, you would let me sit up front," Eli whispers so
only him and I could hear.
"The back seats don't have buttwarmers," I answer back before walking up
to the passenger side where Luke is waiting for me.

___________________

"Where are we going?" I ask turning around and looking at the four people
in the backseat.

That's right. Izzy, Olivia, Ryan, and Eli were all squished together in the
back. It looked hilarious.

To be completely honest though, I did feel bad. I'm the smallest out of all of
them and I'm sitting in the front.

Too late now though.

"Wouldn't you like to know,

Aubrey

?"

"I said I'm sorry Eli."

"

Sorry

doesn't make up for the fact that, not only is my butt cold, but I'm stuck next
to Ryan." Eli deadpans and I have to turn around so he wouldn't see me
trying to hold in a laugh.

"We're going to eat," Izzy laughs.

"Are we almost there," Eli asks glumly.

"Don't start with that shit," Luke grumbles.

Ten minutes later, we pull into a Popeyes. We go in, place our orders, and
Izzy Olivia and I take our seats.

"Oh my gosh. Luke is non-stop looking at you."

"Have you two kissed yet?

"He kissed your effing neck and 'almost' cheek all in one day. My best
friend is dating Luke Taylor. Oh my god."

"Ya'll need to calm down," I giggle.

I mean come on, it's not

that

big of a deal.

"We haven't kissed yet, and I knew you guys were watching us this
morning!"

"We had to! We needed to

see

," Izzy explains.

"What are we talking about?" Eli asks taking a seat next to me.

"Luke."

"Oh fun! He's smitten over you," Eli nudges my shoulder.

"So you forgive me?" I ask hopefully.

"I was being dramatic. I'm sorry boo-boo. Let's never fight again," Eli
drapes his arm over my shoulders as Luke and Ryan take a seat with our
food.
They start handing out food and Luke grabs a box and looks up at Eli. His
emotionless face turns to a glare and I feel Luke kick Eli under the table.

"Ouch! Sorry! Gah," Eli raises his arm off my shoulder in surrender and I'm
left confused.

Luke throws Eli's box of chicken at him and Ryan hands me my chicken
sandwich.

I look over at Olivia questioningly and she's holding her heart and making
an 'aww' face.

Well okay.

___________________

| I got this chapter up in the time I said I would, yay!

Thanks for reading!

Word count: 3907

-Ashlyn M.
Part 22 "Does a detention go on my
record?"
I yawn, and walk slowly to music. Why am I so tired today?

Oh, maybe it was because I was up half the night thinking about Luke.

I walk into music class and take a seat.

"Okay class!" Mrs. A claps her hands, "We are going to be getting our
partners for the duets today!"

She starts calling out the names of the people in the class and their partners.

What really sucks is that I don't really know anybody in this class. I just
hope my partner is halfway decent.

"Aubrey and Lee, you two will be working together," she calls out and I
look around the room.

A boy with stylish, dirty blonde hair stands up and walks towards me.

He looks nice.

He sits next to me and smiles.

He's got pretty light brown eyes and dimples on both of his cheeks.

"Hi, I'm Lee," he introduces.

"Aubrey," I smile back.

"Alright, now that everyone is partnered, I want one of you to come up and
pick a song out of this jar," Mrs. A holds up a large jar filled with little
pieces of paper.
"I'll go get it," Lee says before standing up and walking to the jar. He picks
a paper out of it and walks back to his seat.

"Islands in the Stream."

"Do you know that song?" I ask since when he read it he had a confused
face.

"Nope," he laughs, "sorry."

"It's okay, the words are pretty easy."

"Alright! Now, class is almost over so I just want to say that you should be
ready to perform your songs by Thursday!" She says and the bell rings.

"Hey, Aubrey! Can I walk with you?" He asks coming up beside me as I

walk out of the classroom.

"Sure."

"Great!" He says happily.

"So, maybe we should stay after school and practice this," I laugh a little.

"Yeah, hopefully I'll get it all down by Thursday," he shakes his head.

"I'm sure you'll get it," I pat his shoulder and I notice a blush on his cheeks.

Weird?

"Well I guess that means I'll see you after school?" He asks.

"Yep! You can meet me by the big oak tree," I tell him.

"Okay," he nods.

"Bye," I laugh once he just stands there.

"Right sorry, bye," he blushes again and walks into the lunchroom.
"Who was that?" Luke's deep voice asks from behind me.

"My music partner," I smile and turn around.

"Music partner?" He asks walking closer to me and placing one of his large
hands on the side of my waist. He looks down at me curiously and I smile
softly up at him.

"Y-yep," I stutter shyly and my back hits the wall. Luke removes his hand
and he cages me in with his arms and he looks down at me with a
questioning look.

"Like a duet partner," I say nervously biting my lip at how close he is to me.
I take a look around the hallway and no one is around; they're all in lunch.

Why am I so nervous? Maybe because the world's most attractive guy is a

foot in front of me.

His eyes travel down to my lips and my heart skips a beat. He brings his
hand up and pulls my lip away from my teeth.

"You've gotta stop doing that," he whispers with his finger still on my lip.

"We um, we're gonna miss lunch," I avert my eyes from his.

"Right," he smiles. He leans away and looks around. I watch his strong jaw
as he looks both ways down the hallway. He leans down once more and
gives me a soft kiss on my lips. He pulls away after a second and I'm left in
complete shock.

"A goodbye kiss, not a real one."

We start walking to the cafeteria and we're almost there when I feel a love-
tap on the butt. I turn around and meet the mischievous eyes of none other
than Luke Taylor.

He grabs my wrist in his strong arm and he pulls me back to his chest. He
gently brushes a thick curl from my face and he leans down, kissing my
blazing cheeks.
"I'll see you," he smirks and walks into the cafeteria.

After a minute of me trying to calm down my blush, and get the fact that the
kiss was only a goodbye one, I walk in the cafeteria and head straight for
my table.

"Where were you?" Izzy asks as soon as I sit down.

"I was in the bathroom," I nod and Olivia looks at me like she's trying to
read my soul.

"Mhm," she smirks.

"Anyways, you know that duet I told ya'll about yesterday?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Well I found out my partner's name is Lee," I take out my sandwich.

"Lee Andrews?" Izzy asks.

"Is there any other Lee?" I question.

"No"

"Then yes, Lee Andrews," I nod.

"He's kind of cute," Izzy shrugs.

"Excuse you but you are in a flirtationship with Mr. Anthony Mackle,"
Olivia wiggles her finger in Izzy's face.

"I only said he was cute," Izzy rolls her eyes as we watch a nervous looking
Lee approach our table.

"Hey Aubrey, I just wanted to make sure you meant the big oak tree out
back. You know, since there are more oak trees around the school and stuff.
Well, you did say big
oak tree so-"

"Yes, I meant the big one out back," I cut off his rambling with a smile and
his cheeks turn pink.

"Okay," he nods, "sorry for bothering your lunch."

"It's fine Lee," I laugh at his nervousness.

He is a cutie.

"Why don't you sit with us Lee," Izzy smiles, "we could use another lunch
buddy for today."

"O-oh. I don't kn-" he cuts himself off when he looks up. His eyes widen
slightly and his Adam's apple bobs slightly.

I look up to where his gaze is set and I see a not so happy looking Luke
walking to our table with Eli and Ryan right beside him.

Luke comes up to my side and lightly shoves Lee back with a little side-eye
glare. Luke takes a seat beside, unintentionally nudging me with his broad
shoulder and he places his arm around the back of my chair with a sigh.

"What's your name?" Eli asks Lee genuinely confused.

"Lee," Lee says nervously.

"Right well, are you just gonna stand there or?" Luke asks with a slight
attitude and I sigh at his mean demeanor.

"I-I'm just gonna go," Lee answers.

"Bye Lee," I say with a sad wave.

He didn't have to go.

"What's wrong," I tilt my head at Luke's annoyed expression.

"Katrina," he rolls his eyes, "she's giving me a headache."

"Want me to rub it?" I say teasingly as I run my hand over his muscular
back.

"Yes." He answers and I let out a laugh. Of course he does.

After a few more minutes the bell rings and Luke jumps up quickly pulling
me with him.

"Why are you walking so fast?" I question as we all try to keep up with his
long strides, me especially.

We make it to the big oak tree and I sit down. Luke lays his body in
between my legs and he lays his head in my lap. He grabs my hands and
puts them on his head. I begin to run my fingers through his hair and he
closes his eyes.

"He's so privileged," Eli huffs plopping down along with the rest of us.

"What were we talking about before? Oh yeah, Lee," Izzy says.

"He's sweet," she adds.

"He's cute," I think about his blushing face.

All of a sudden I feel a pinch on my leg.

"Ouch!" I yelp he rubs the place he pinched.

"Cute?" I look down at his narrowed, gorgeous, gray eyes and I hear the
girls and even Eli snicker.

"Yes, he's like a little baby. He's cute."

Luke just nods his head and I run my thumbs along his forehead.

"What song are you two singing?" Olivia questions.

"Islands in the Stream," I say and I feel Luke open his eyes again.

I look down at him and he looks displeased.

"Does it not feel good?" I stop.

"No it feels great, keep going," he brings my hand back up to his hair and I
continue.

____________________

"Why do you sleep so much?" Eli asks Luke once I wake him up.

"Why do you do nothing but run your mouth?" Luke asks back.

"Touche," Eli huffs.

I wish I could sleep during classes. If I fall asleep during my classes,

without a doubt, I will fail. I'm the type of person who has to listen very
closely to understand what we're learning and I also have to take a lot of
notes.

Apparently, Luke doesn't need to do that and he gets great grades anyway.

Luke puts his arm around the back of my chair and he leans back in his
own.

Chemistry finally ends and I bid goodbye to Izzy. Eli, Luke, and I walk to
government and take our seats.

Luke, once again, places his arm on the back of my chair and a light blush
appears on my cheeks.

I really need to learn to control this.

Just as the late bell is about to ring, the door to the class opens and Lee
walks right in.

I didn't know he was in this class.

"Hey, Aubrey!" He walks in front of my desk and he greets.

"I didn't know you were in this class," I say.

"Yep," he smiles.

"Do you need something?" Luke asks dryly after Lee stands there a minute
just looking at me.

"Oh uh, sorry," he smiles sheepishly and he walks to his seat.

"That was mean," I lean my head on his shoulder.

"I don't like him," his low voice answers as he lays his head on top of mine.

"You don't like anybody," Eli voices in.

"Your point?"

The door to the classroom opens once again and a very stern looking old
man walks in.

"Hello children," he greets snootily while unnecessarily slamming down his

briefcase onto his desk.

"I'm your substitute, Mr. Adams," he writes his name on the board in almost
unreadable cursive.

"You two!" He turns around abruptly, "detention the both of you!"

I jump in my seat in shock and Luke rubs my shoulder to calm me. He

knows I've never been to detention before. Heck, I've never even been in
trouble before!

I didn't even do anything!

"What?" Luke laughs.

"I said detention!" Mr. Adams

"The hell are you sending us, especially her, to detention for?" Luke asks
growing angry now.

"Because!" His face turns red in frustration, "Sleeping is not allowed!"

"Their eyes were open Mr. Sir!" Eli points out.

"Do you want detention too?" Mr. Adam questions.

"Give it to me you old fart!" Eli retorts.

"I will! And, I'll talk to Coach Felmer about your behavior as well Mr.
Quarterback!

"

Oh dear Lord Jesus. Does a detention go on my record? Will colleges even

except me after this?

"That's fine. I know damn good and well he'll take my side and not yours,"
Luke stands up.

"Come on sweetheart," he bends down picking up his duffel bag and telling
me quietly.

I stand up and grab my backpack. Luke grabs my hand and all three of us
start walking out of the classroom.

"Dumbass," Luke sneers as we pass the teacher on our way to the door.

"I heard that young man!" Mr. Adams calls after Luke.

"Good!" He shouts back as we exit the room.

"I'm sorry," Luke rubs his thumb over my hand.

"It's okay," I say quietly.

"Poor
freakin

' Aubrey. You didn't do anything!" Eli throws his hands up in the air.

__________________

We walk into the detention room and up to the desk where a pretty young
male teacher is on his computer.

He looks up from his computer and at the guys.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" He sighs.

"It was a jackass substitute teacher who sent us here for nothing." Luke
rumbles.

"We didn't do shit," Eli huffs.

They have to know him, right?

"Who's this?" His eyes travel from the guys to me.

"Aubrey," Luke smiles down at me.

"Aubrey- Oh! I see," the teacher smirks at Luke and wiggles his eyebrows.

They

must

be friends with this teacher or something.

"What did you get sent here for little lady?" His eyebrows scrunch together.

"We don't know!" Eli throws his hands in the air once again.

"The guy must be mental. That's all I can think of. We were just sitting there
and all of a sudden he turns around and tells us we have detention." Luke
explains.
"Was it that Adams guy?" The teacher asks.

"Yep!" Eli answers.

"God that guy's a douche," the teacher shakes his head and my eyes widen
slightly.

"Oh sorry," he laughs, "I'm Mr. Mullins but you can call me Evan. The guys
on the football team do."

"It's okay," I smile.

"Well just take a seat and do whatever," he shrugs.

We all sit in the front row and Eli and Evan start up a conversation.

"He's the defensive line coach, he's cool," Luke explains and I nod.

"This isn't going on my record right?" I question shyly.

"No," he laughs.

After a while, the last bell rings.

"I'll see you guys in a few minutes," he tells the guys and he bids me
goodbye.

After leaving the detention room, I go out to where I told Lee to meet me.

"Hey Lee," I sit down beside him.

"Hey!" He smiles, "you totally didn't deserve that by the way. Mr. Adams is
just a rude old man."

"Thanks Lee," I laugh.

_________________

*LUKE'S POV*
"You just don't like him because he likes Aubrey," Eli laughs as he pulls his
practice jersey over his head.

"Damn right," I mumble angrily.

This 'Lee' figure is not okay. I don't like him one bit.

I finish tying my shoes and I walk out to the practice field. After a few
minutes, the whole team has arrived, even the underclassmen.

"Alright boys! Let's head up to the weight room!" Coach Felmer says and
he starts walking in the direction of the weight room.

"Look," Eli nudges me and points at the big oak tree as we pass it.

Aubrey and Lee are sitting there and of course he's staring directly at her.
She's looking down at something she's writing and she's biting her delicious
looking plump lips.

She drives me insane when she does that.

"He needs to stop fucking her with his eyes," I mumble angrily under my
breath.

"Yeah, because only you are allowed to do that," Eli says from beside me
giving me another nudge.

All of a sudden she looks up and her eyes lock with mine. A beautiful smile
comes across her lips and a smile automatically makes its way onto my
face.

Only she has ever caused that reaction.

We finally make it to the weight room and I head off the bench press
station.

Tristan goes before me and I stand above him as the spotter.

"Do I have to do this?" He whines.

"Duh," I roll my eyes as I put weights on the ends of the barbell.

I put a total of 100 pounds on the barbell for a start.

"100? I don't know," Tristan says nervously.

"You've got this, you'll be fine." I encourage.

"Yeah, easy for you to say!" he huffs as he lays down.

He puts his hands on the bars and he lifts. The bar raises about 3 quarters of
the way before I have to help him.

"Spread out your hands more and breathe when you lift," I advise him. The
next time he does as I say and he lifts it all the way on his own.

"See." I say in an 'I told you so' manner.

"Now do that ten more times."

__________________

"Alright let's head out boys!" Coach says after an hour and a half of weight
lifting.

"I think I pulled a butt muscle," Eli says as we walk back to the practice
field.

"You're ridiculous," I shake my head.

We make it back to the practice field and we do our regular running and
warming up drills.

After doing those, we go through different plays and we practice them

multiple times for Friday's homecoming game.

By the end of practice, I'm hungry and I want to go to sleep.

I hop in my truck and drive home.

"Luke?" I hear grandma ask as I walk into the house.

"Yes ma'am?" I answer setting down my duffel bag and walking into the
kitchen.

I sit down in one of the island chairs and grandma walks right up to me.

"You hungry baby? I know you've been workin' hard," she rubs my back.

I almost love it as much as I love it when Aubrey does it.

"Yes ma'am," I nod and she gets to work.

She ends up making some chicken and beans. I eat that quickly and tell
grandma goodbye as she leaves to go back to her hotel.

Dad told her she and grandpa could stay in the house since there is plenty of
room but she insisted they would be 'too loud' during the night.

That statement scarred me for life.

I take a much-needed shower and get in bed. After a few minutes, I feel
myself drift off thinking about a certain someone.

____________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I watch my father as he walks through a random Taliban town. I want to

reach out and touch him so badly but it seems as if there is some type of
barrier keeping me from doing so.

Dad interacts with many different men around him as they joke and laugh. I
watch and wish I could hear his laugh again in person.

All the men he's with I can't make out. I can only see the backs of their
heads and I can't read any of their names. Except for Owen's and my dad's.
All of a sudden and loud shot rings out. Everything else, including all the
guys my dad's with goes black. It's only my bleeding father in a black space.

"Dad!" I scream as I watch blood pour from his chest.

"No dad, please no," I weep as I watch him helplessly as he lies there.

I watch as my father turns his head towards me and he tries to smile.

"I-I love y-you."

I sit up in my bed breathing heavily and with tears steadily streaming down
my face.

Why would I dream that?

I continue to cry as I pick up my phone from my bedside table.

need

someone right now.

Me: Are you up?

I look at the clock on my phone and it says 2:32 am. He probably isn't up.

Luke: I am now. What's up?

Me: Can I come over?

Luke: It's 2:30 in the morning but if you want, yeah.

I jump up from my bed and grab random clothes for in the morning. I sneak
downstairs, grab my car keys and start driving to his house not even caring
that I'm only wearing a sports bra and some Nike sweatpants.
Every time I blink my eyes, I can see my dad's pained face just staring back
at me. I step on the accelerator and drive faster.

I make it to Luke's house in ten minutes and I jump out my car leaving
everything inside it.

Right as I come to his front door, it opens. I immediately hug him and
ignore the fact that he's only in a pair of pajama pants.

I cry into his chest and he hugs me tightly. He picks me up and wraps my
legs around his torso. He shuts his front door and he begins walking up the
stairs to, I'm assuming, his bedroom.

He opens his bedroom door, walks in, and shuts it behind him. He walks
over to his bed and he sits down with me on his lap.

"What's wrong beautiful?" He asks softly, cupping my face and wiping my

tears.

"I-I saw my dad," I wipe an escaping tear, "and he was dying and...he talked
to me."

Luke lays us down on his bed and he pulls the covers over us. I continue to
cry and he holds me close and he whispers sweet, calming words into my
ear.

"Sorry I woke you," I raise my head out of his chest and look at him.

"It's okay, I promise," he says sincerely, "It doesn't bother me."

I lay my back down onto his chest and try my hardest to go to sleep. I feel
his rapid heartbeat and I lean up and look at him again.

"Why's your heart beating so fast?" I question softly. He looks down at me

and smiles a little bit of a shy smile.

"Because you're so close to me." He pulls me even closer to him.

"I think you smell good," I shrug softly.

"Thanks," his chest vibrates as he talks.

"Where's your grandma?" I ask quietly.

"At her hotel," he replies while running a hand through my hair.

"Do you think something good will come out of this?" I ask after a while.

"Out of what?"

"Out of everything. My dad passing, me moving here.." I explain. He leans

down, kisses my forehead and I feel flutters in my stomach.

"I know something good'll come out of it."

_________________

| Sorry it took me a while to come out with this chapter.

Thanks for reading!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 3585

-Ashlyn M.
Part 23 "I'll call child protective
services"
"Luke, wake up," I rub my hand up and down his back and I feel him wake.
I stand up off the bed and stand in front of it.

His eyes open and they find me.

"We're gonna be late for school," I smile down at him as he tiredly pulls the
covers over his head.

I've been up for thirty minutes. I've already gone and got my clothes out my
car, I've brushed my teeth with the emergency essential kit in my car, I've
done my hair, and put on some mascara which is also in that kit.

I don't know how I woke up this early, but I did.

I walk over to Luke's side of the bed and I bend down.

"Don't make me get Leo," I whisper. The covers fly off Luke's head and he
sits up.

"That's an evil thing to say," he rubs the sleep out of his eyes and I think he
looks totally adorable.

He stands up and pats my butt as he walks towards the bathroom.

A blush appears on my face and I turn on his tv for a distraction. Of course,

his last channel he was on was ESPN. I pick up the remote and scan
through the channels. I find Ridiculousness on MTV.

After about ten minutes, the bathroom door opens and Luke steps out with
only a towel around his waist.

I squeal and throw the comforter over my head.

I was not prepared for that!

"Sorry," he chuckles, "I didn't have any clothes in there."

I hear the sliding of his dresser drawers and in about a minute he says it's all
clear.

I wish I could pick my outfits that quick.

I remove the blanket from my head and look up at Luke.

"You're so cute," he bear hugs me and we both fall back onto the bed. He
cuddles into me and sighs.

He smells amazing right now, holy shmoly.

"We're gonna be late," I remind him while massaging his scalp. I know he
loves it when I do that.

"Right," he says but he doesn't move.

"Luke!" I laugh.

"You wanna go to homecoming with me?"

I stop rubbing his head and I look down at his head which is lying on my
shoulder. He looks at me and I think I see a little bit of nervousness in his
gaze.

"I know I didn't make it a big thing, about asking you-"

"It's okay," I smile, "and I would love to go with you."

"Really?" He asks unsure and I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes.

"Of course," I blush.

"Good," he smiles and I have to stop myself from swooning.

"Let's go!" I jump up to keep him from seeing my blush.

I don't even have my dress!

___________________

"Why're you so quiet?" Luke asks as we sit in line a Mcdonalds.

Because I'm thinking about what kind of dress I'm going to get.

"I'm tired. It was a long night," I smile sadly. He grabs my hand from across
the console and he intertwines our fingers, bringing them up to his lips.

"I know sweetheart," he kisses the back of my hand and I have to keep
myself from squealing.

He keeps our hands intertwined the whole time he's ordering, and on the
way to school.

"Here," he hands me the bag of food while he gets out the truck. He walks
to my side and helps me out.

We walk inside the school and that's when we take out our food and start
eating.

"Did you get me anything?" Eli comes up beside my locker and he peeks
into the empty brown bag.

"No." Luke takes another bite of his Mcgriddle.

"How rude." Eli pouts.

"Olivia!" I call out, walking to her locker.

"He- who the the

hell

, did you get a hash brown from?" She asks, whilst crossing her arms.
"Mcdonalds. Anyway, I need a homecoming dress. We need to go to the
mall or something." I tell her.

"I thought you weren't going to homecoming?" She asks suspiciously.

"Well," I start blushing, "that was before Luke asked me."

Olivia's eyes widen and a huge smile breaks out on her face.

"IZZY!" She calls out excitedly and Izzy makes her way to us.

"What?" She asks.

"Luke asked her to homecoming," she says as quietly as she can but still
very loudly.

Izzy squeals and they both start jumping up and down.

They're more excited than me.

______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"You asked her to homecoming?!" Eli asks while excitedly shoving Ryan to
get his attention.

"What Eli?" Ryan asks irritably.

"He asked Aubrey to homecoming!"

Ryan gasps loudly and excitedly, catching the attention of most of the
cafeteria.

"No way

bitch

," Ryan says quieter.

"He did," Eli nods.

"Finally, damn."

"Shut up. At least I have the balls to even acknowledge the girl I like." I fire
at him.

"I

acknowledge

her!" He says defensively.

"No you don't. Aubrey told me Olivia says you don't even know who she
is." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"That's not good," Eli says after just watching our conversation.

"Olivia talks about me?" Ryan asks happily.

"Duh," I roll my eyes at his stupid behavior even though I can't help but
wonder if Aubrey talks about me too.

"Jayden, Jayden, Jayden! Guess what Luke did?" Eli says as the twins sit
down at the lunch table.

Maybe I shouldn't have told Eli.

__________________

"Did you hear about what's happening tomorrow?" Ryan asks as we walk
towards the fountain for free period.

"No," I shake my head.

"The elementary school is putting on another play," he winces.

"Great." I say sarcastically.

Every year, the elementary school puts on a play for us on one of the days
near homecoming. Everyone dreads it. This'll be my third year going to one
and they have all been horrible. I do know that there are elementary schools
who actually have good plays. Ours just doesn't.

The worst part about it is that, it is mandatory we go.

We sit down with the rest of the guys and they begin to talk about the
homecoming game coming up.

All I'm thinking about is Aubrey. She really seems to be the only thing on
my mind lately. I know what I feel for her is long past lust.

If it took me this long to ask her to homecoming, I can't imagine how long
it's gonna be before I get the balls to ask her out officially. Or to kiss her,
and I really

want to.

After free period ends, I make my way to chemistry and meet Aubrey in the
hallway. I place my arm over her shoulders and she jumps in fright.

"You scared me!" She smiles beautifully and I can't help but to smile back.

We walk into class and take our seats while Mr. Ryker starts speaking
gibberish. Chemistry, well science in general, has never been one of my
strong points and I would be lying if I said I wasn't struggling to maintain
an 'okay' grade.

I have a C- in chemistry.

I look over at Aubrey and I see she's writing down notes. Am I supposed to
be doing that? I sigh and lean back in my chair.

Mr. Ryker turns around from where he's writing nonsense on the board and
he asks a question. To me, the question sounds like he's talking in a foreign
language.
"What does the azimuthal quantum number reveal about the quantum
mechanical model of an atom?"

"The hell is an 'azimuthal'?" I ask Eli beside me.

"Do you really think I know that shit?" He replies and I shake my head.

Aubrey raises her hand quickly and bounces in her seat excitedly.

She's so fucking cute.

"Luke?" He calls on me and my head jerks away from Aubrey.

"What?" I ask and I hear Eli snicker from beside me.

"Do you know the answer?" Mr. Ryker smirks like an idiot.

"Repeat the question please," I say with a sarcastic smile.

He turns around to point to the board while repeating his question and I feel
a light kick on my leg.

I look over at Aubrey.

"The shape and number of subshells in an energy level," she whispers

quickly before sitting back up straight at her desk.

I smile and turn back to Mr. Ryker as he finishes the question.

"The shape and number of subshells in the energy level."

"Good job,

Aubrey

," He nods towards Aubrey and she hangs her head as a light blush appears
on her cheeks.
"Well I would've just asked you to repeat the question again if she hadn't
helped," I shrug, trying to get most of the attention off Aubrey.

I think I need a chemistry tutor.

I also know who would be a great one.

__________________

"Hey Aubrey," I smile sweetly at her as I put my arm on the back of her
chair.

"Hi?" She laughs at my extra sweet behavior.

"So, I need a favor." She raises her eyebrow for me to continue.

"Well. You see," I play with one of her curls, "chemistry isn't one of my best
subjects and you seem to be great at it."

"I don't know about

great

."

"Well sweetheart you're better than me," I laugh.

"Anyways, I was wondering if you could help me get my grade up a little."

"Sure," she nods.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Can you come to my house? My grandma wants to see you again," I smile
and roll my eyes "Yes, I will." She smiles.

___________________
*AUBREY'S POV*

At 6pm, I make it to Luke's house for his 'tutoring session.' He opens the
door for me and I walk in, happily greeting Leo.

"Hey baby! I'm so happy you're here sweet pea! Lucas has been annoyin'
me to no end!" She laughs at herself.

"No I haven't," Luke mumbles from beside me and I giggle at their

conversation.

"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and start dinner. I'll call y'all when it's ready,"
she smiles warmly.

"Okay grandma," Luke nods before putting his hand on the middle of my
back and directing me out the kitchen.

We come to the living room and we take a seat on the couch. We grab our
notebooks and notes out our bags and begin.

________________

"I'm not wrong!" I laugh when Luke accuses me of having an 'error in my

logic.'

"You're right, I was testing you," he bites back a laugh when he rereads the
problem asked. I can't help but let out a loud laugh at that.

After studying for about an hour, he's finally starting to get the concept of
'chemistry.' At first he was completely bored and all he wanted to do was
quote, "take a nap and snuggle."

Even though I was secretly up for the idea, I knew I had a job to do. After I
finally got him to listen, he was doing pretty well. Every once and a while
he would get frustrated when he got a question wrong, but I promised him a
bag of sour skittles if he calmed down and continued. Of course he agreed.

"Alright y'all, dinners ready!" Ella yells from the kitchen and Luke jumps
up pulling me with him.
"Let's go!" He pulls me to the kitchen.

We enter the kitchen and I and surrounded by the three

extremely

tall men.

"You'll get used to looking up all the time," Ella says coming up beside me.

"I should know, all my boys are over 6 feet," she huffs, shaking her head.

We take a seat at the dinner table and say a prayer. Ella had cooked up
steak, green beans, and potato cakes.

It was amazing.

After dinner, I help Ella clean up and wash the dishes. During that, she tells
me all about her family. Her kids, her grandkids, and even some of her own
siblings.

"Ella, I think you're talkin' the poor girls ear off," Charlie comes up and
kisses the top of Ella's head. I smile at the encounter between the two, that's
so cute.

"Oh Charlie, you're such a party pooper," she swats at his chest, "I guess
you won't get dessert."

"I'll go sit down over there," He rushes back to his seat where Luke and his
dad are snickering at him.

"Would you like to help me make dessert?" Ella asks happily.

"I would love too!" I respond just as soon excitedly.

I do love to cook. But even more than cooking, I love baking. I find baking
a little more fun than cooking.
Ella and I end up making a pecan pie. I showed her an old recipe that my
grandma had taught me at a young age. I know the recipe by heart and Ella
said she wasn't the best at pies.

"This is the best pie I've ever had," Charlie mumbles while putting his third
slice of pie onto his plate.

"It was all Aubrey," Ella smiles kindly at me.

"This is damn good," James nods in agreement.

"Say another one of those words and I'll beat you with a spatula here in
front of God and everybody," she points at her son with her fork.

"I'll call child protective services," he retorts. I try my best to hold back my
laugh. Ella's son aka, Luke's Dad, is threatening to call child services on his
own Momma. Keep in mind he has to be in his forties.

I just think that's funny.

"Break it up killers," Charlie laughs.

_____________

"Get back to yer studying!" Ella ushers Luke out the kitchen and she winks
at me.

"Teach em somethin' good," she smiles.

I walk back out to the living room only to find Luke not in there.

"Luke?" I call out looking around.

Maybe he went to the bathroom

I'm about to walk over to the couch when I feel a pair of large, muscular
arms lift me into the air. I let out a gasp as Luke throws me over his
shoulder.

"Luke!" I laugh. He throws me on the couch and jumps on it after me,

casually laying his head in my lap.

"You ready for the play tomorrow?" He snorts.

"I guess so," I sigh. Izzy and Olivia told me all about how the plays work.
I'm actually kinda excited to see how it'll turn out. I know they said the
plays are all bad but, they should give them some credit, they're young and
they probably have a lot of better things they want to do.

"Make sure you sit next to me," Luke says, pulling my hand away from my
side and putting it in his hair.

"Okay," I blush and rub his scalp.

"Aren't we supposed to be studying?" I whisper after a few minutes.

"I'm studying the back of my eyelids."

I roll my eyes and laugh at him once I realize his eyes are actually closed.

I take out my phone and look at the time.

8:04 pm

"Do you need to go?" Luke asks cutely.

"It

is

getting late," I nod and he sighs.

"I'll walk you out," he stands up and grabs my hand, helping me up as well.
We walk to the kitchen and see his grandma.

"Goodbye Ella," I smile and she turns around.

"I'll see you later baby. Charlie and I are going back home tomorrow," her
expression saddens slightly, "It was so

nice meetin' you!"

"Nice to meet you too," I smile back and she opens her arms for a hug. I
walk into her hug.

"I'll see you again, don't you worry," she winks. We say our goodbyes once
again and I tell Charlie goodbye as well.

After our goodbyes, Luke and I walk out to my car.

"Thank you for putting up with me," Luke smiles sweetly as we come up to
my car.

"You weren't that bad," I smile back.

Luke walks closer and I feel my heartbeat quicken. He leans down and he
places soft kiss on my cheek.

"Don't forget to get my skittles," he whispers in my ear before kissing my

temple. I blush and shake my head at him.

Only

he

could make that sound romantic.

"I won't," I smile up at him, still blushing.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he chuckles before turning and waking back to his
house.
On the way home, I pick up two packs of skittles from the store, the whole
time with a foolish smile gracing my lips.

Luke Taylor is really something else.

_____________________

"Leave your things here, and we are now going to make our way to the
auditorium for the play," Ms. Lonio announces as soon as we enter her
classroom for last period. We all drop our stuff at our seats and head out the
room.

In the hallway, I meet up with Olivia and Izzy and we walk together to the
auditorium. Right as we're about to enter, a large hand swallows mine, and I
feel a muscular chest press up against my back.

I follow Izzy and Olivia to where we are going to sit with Luke still
clinging onto my hand. Right as we're about to enter into an aisle, a guy
rushes past me, almost knocking me over.

I pull on Luke's hand to keep my balance. I would rather embarrass myself

in front of Luke and not everyone in the auditorium.

"Watch where you're going dumbass!" Luke's voice rumbles from behind
me and the boy looks back at us, his eyes go widening. I look up at Luke
and see he's glaring at the guy.

"It's okay," I nod up at Luke with a smile, and his face softens.

"You're okay," I turn back to the guy and smile kindly. I'm sure it was an
accident, he probably didn't see me. I am

pretty hard to miss sometimes.

When I see Luke still giving the death glare to the poor guy, I continue on
walking to where I see Izzy has sat.

I take a seat next to Izzy and she nudges me. I look over at her and she
smirks. I furrow my eyebrows, completely confused on what she's trying to
say with her eyes.

She motions her eyes towards my hand. I look down at my hand and I see
that it's still in Luke's. He's too busy talking to Ryan, who's beside him to
notice I guess.

I,

of

course

, blush and look back at her.

"Oh and '

Watch where you're going dumbass!

' I heard that too," she whispers, still smirking weirdly.

"Would you stop!" I blush and she laughs.

____________________

"Oh looky, it's starting," Luke grumbles from beside me.

"You're being a grump, are you hungry?" I ask and he glances at me before
looking down at his feet.

"Yes," he mumbles quietly. I grab my sweater from the back of the

auditorium chair and reach into the pocket, retrieving the bag of cookies I
made yesterday after getting home.

"Here," I hand him the bag of cookies. His eyes stay on mine as he takes the
bag and chuckles.

"You're somethin' else," he smiles, shaking his head as he opens the bag.
"I want a cookie!" I hear Eli say from the row of seats behind us.

"No," Luke deadpans and he shoves a cookie in his mouth.

"They smell really good," Ryan leans closer and attempts to get one out the
bag. Luke swats his hand away and glares daggers at him.

"

No.

"

"Luke Taylor!" A teacher raises out of his seat and struts over to where
we're sitting. Luke just watches him with an unimpressed look.

"You know you're not allowed to eat in the auditorium!" The teacher points
an accusing finger at him and I can't help but feel bad. I mean, I'm

the one who gave him the cookies.

I'm about to fess up but Luke speaks before me.

"I

was

hungry," he says.

"Hand over the bag!" The mean old teacher holds his hand out and Luke
rolls his eyes.

Luke puts the rest of the cookies into his hand before handing the empty
bag over to the teacher. Both Eli and Ryan laugh loudly at that.
"Mr. Taylor," his face starts turning red, "Don't make me call your father!"

"It's only a few cookies Mr. Nave," He says innocently as he takes a bite of
another cookie.

"Mr. Nave! We need you to come help set up the speakers!" Principle
Johnson calls out and Mr. Nave sends one last look to Luke before
stomping away, with the baggie still in his hand.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," I say sheepishly fiddling my thumbs.

"It wasn't your fault, kay?" He places one of his hands into mine and he
pulls it onto his lap. I turn my head the opposite way and blush red as a
cherry.

____________________

"If you don't shut the fuck up, I'm going to break your goddam nose in the
middle of this fucking play," Luke turns in his seat to say to Eli.

"Sorry Aubrey," he brings my hand up to his lips, which is still connected to

his.

"I'm just singing to myself," Eli responds.

"Well stop."

"

Well

stop,"

Eli mocks in a high pitched voice and Izzy, Olivia, and I laugh at him. He's
going to get hit in a minute.
Luke turns back around only to see Eli sitting back in his chair and pointing
at the oblivious guy beside him.

"Alright! Sorry for the wait, the play will now begin!" A woman, who I
assume is the elementary school principle, says. She walks off the stage and
the lights dim.

"He kissed your hand," Izzy whispers as quietly as she can and the lights
dim.

"I have to tell Olivia about this!"

The curtains open and a lost looking boy is standing there. Is this a part of
the play? He looks up at the crows and visibly gulps.

"Aw, poor thing," I whisper sadly to myself. I understand what he's feeling.
When I was in third grade, I guess I was feeling confident or something, but
I tried out for the school drama club and I got in. I remember being excited
practicing and all but when it came to showtime, I froze up and ran off
stage.

Dad let me stay home the rest of that week.

I shake the sad thoughts from my head as another student comes from
behind the curtains and starts her lines.

She reads off a paper which she holds in her hands. I don't think that's a bad
thing. Especially for their ages. They have a lot running through their
minds.

I feel something on my arm and I look over to see that Luke is leaning on
his arm on the arm rest, trying to stay awake. He's too cute. I move a little
closer to him and he lays his head on my shoulder. After a few minutes, he's
out like a light.

___________________

||||||Thanks for reading!!!!!

Word count: 3885

-Ashlyn M.
Part 24 "Pay attention to me"
The play ends suddenly after only 45 minutes of being on. Out of the whole
high school, only a few people clap. Of course, one of them was me.

The play was cute. The story line was a bit messed up and some of the kids
couldn't read their lines very well, but nevertheless, it was cute.

"Luke," I poke his cheek in attempt to wake him up. He stirs a little before
his gorgeous gray eyes meet mine.

Luke's about to say something when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look

behind me and I meet the nervous eyes of Lee.

"Hey Aubrey! I was going to ask you this before but you walked out of
class too quick. C-Can we practice our song together after school today? I
think I've got my words down," He says nervously. I find that cute. How
he's nervous and all.

"Of course! We can do it in the music room," I smile and feel a tug on my
hand. I look up to see Luke waiting for me to stand with him with another
moody look on his face.

"I'll see you in a few Lee," I bid goodbye and stand up. Luke pulls me and
pushes past people. What's wrong with him?

"Luke?" I question once we've exited the auditorium. I tug on his hand and
plant my feet into the ground, making him stop.

He stops and turns but he doesn't meet my eyes. He's actually looking
everywhere but my eyes.

"Luke what's wrong?" I ask softly once again. His hard eyes meet mine and
they soften. He sighs and shakes his head.
"Can I come over tonight? Like for the night?" He questions as his hand
fidgets.

"Sure, that's fine," I try and keep my composure in front of him. On the
inside, I'm freaking out.

"Good," he kisses my forehead quickly before letting go of my hand and

walking off.

Oh my Lord Jesus.

_______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I'm jealous.

Jealous

. Of what?

Lee

fucking Andrews.

He's crazy about her and it's obvious. He follows her like a lost puppy and
is always looking at her with this look,

this lovesick look. He's probably just acting like this sentimental guy to get
her to like him.

Does she like sentimental guys?

"You look angrier than usual," Eli says from beside me in the locker room.

"Well I am angrier than usual," I grumble while slamming my duffel bag

onto the ground, causing it to make a loud noise. The whole locker room
goes silent.

"Could ya'll fucking proceed? Damn," I rolls my eyes and turn back around.

"What's up with you?" Eli asks stopping what he's doing.

Even though I give Eli a hard time a lot. He's my best friend and that's
something I will never tell him because I don't think his ego needs a boost.

I tell Eli pretty much everything. Everything except my mom. I know I

should tell him about being jealous, but my ego would take a large blow if I
did.

"Nothing's wrong," I grumble finishing changing and walking out the locker
room. The only way to the practice field is past the music room and
knowing Lee and Aubrey are in there, I peek in.

Lee is singing what I assume to be, is his part of the song. Aubrey's
watching him with a smile and I feel my jealousy grow stronger.

Does she like guys who can sing?

I know damn well I can't sing for shit.

Should I even go to her house tonight?

"Oh. I see what's going on," Eli says suddenly from beside me.

"Nothing."

"You are jealous," he says with no humor at all. He's being serious right
now which is a rarity. I just sigh.

"You aren't going to deny it," he asks a little surprised.

"I won't confirm it," I grumble.

"Why?"
"It's embarrassing," I admit after a few seconds of silence and he laughs his
hyena sounding laugh.

"It is a little," he agrees.

"Way to help dipshit," I roll my eyes.

"Well I just don't think there is anything to worry about," he shrugs.

"How would you know that?" I follow him out to the field.

"I don't know," he shrugs again, " I just have a feeling she likes tall guys."

______________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"I think we've got it!" I say happily.

"Yeah! You sound really good by the way," his cheeks tinge.

"Thank you, you sound great too! I know we'll do good tomorrow."

"Yeah," he says before turning extremely nervous.

"Are you okay?" I place my hand on his shoulder because he looks like he's
about to faint.

"Y-Yeah. I was wondering though, do you want to go out sometime? L-Like

a date?" He asks and my breath catches in my throat.

I don't feel that way about him. He's like a friend to me. Did I lead him on?
I think if we went on a date, it would be awkward. I'd rather just remain
friends with him.

"Lee..." I start.

"It's okay! I-I didn't expect you to say yes. I-I was just...I'll see you
tomorrow," he forces a smile onto his face before exiting the music room.
Wow, now I feel horrible.

______________________

I make it home and plop down on my bed. I just can't wrap my head around
why Luke was behaving weirdly today. He would be fine one minute, then
annoyed the next. Hopefully he'll explain himself when he comes over
tonight.

While thinking of Luke, I remember I

still

haven't gotten my homecoming dress.

Eh whatever, I'll get it tomorrow.

I pick up my phone and call Kelsey, I haven't talked to her in a while.

"Wassup girl!" I hear her shout through the phone.

"Hey," I laugh.

"Why haven't you called me in a few days?" She asks.

"Sorry, I've been having some after school activities," I reply, referring to
the practices I've had with Lee.

"Alright, I'll let it slide this time," she sighs.

"So what have you been up to?" I ask.

"Oh nothing much, we all miss you down here!" Her voice turns sad,
"People ask about you all the time."

"They ask about lil ole me?" My heart swells.

"Duh! Everyone loved you! You're kinda amazing," she says like it's
obvious.
"Oh stop, you're making me blush," I fan my cheeks.

"So what about you and that hottie. You know the tall one," I can almost see
her smirk.

"Not much has changed," I lie just a smidge, "he did ask me to homecoming
though."

I hear a loud squeal from the phone and I wince, taking it away from my
ear.

"You lucky b-word!!" She shouts and I smile at her craziness.

"In all seriousness though, how are you?" She asks seriously.

"I've actually been okay," I nod even though she can't see me. Even though
it hasn't been long since the funeral, I think I've been okay. It probably helps
talking so much with Luke about it.

"That's a relief," Kelsey sighs, "Well, I've gotta get going."

"I'll talk to you later Kels," we say our goodbyes and hang up. I turn on my
tv and start watching more episodes of The Office. When I find my eyes
closing, I pause the tv and drift off.

__________________

When I wake up, I feel something twirling my hair. I open my eyes and
look up to find Luke Taylor sitting up on my bed, one hand on my head, the
other clicking on his phone, with my head on his shoulder.

I almost choke.

My face turns hot and I sit up quickly.

"Hey sweetheart, you're a really heavy sleeper." Luke chuckles from behind
me.

"How'd you get in?" I ask.

"You're front door was unlocked which is not safe by the way, you need to
make sure you lock it," he grabs my waist pulling me back to him before
cuddling into me.

"Why were you so moody today?" I ask quietly, changing the subject. He
sighs before taking a minute to answer.

"I was just having a bad day, that's all," he hesitates. I can tell he's lying.

"You know you can tell me anything," I say referring to me being the only
person he's told his mom about.

"I know." He kisses the back of my head, "how was your practice with
Dee?"

"Lee." I correct and he grunts.

"Whatever."

"It was....a little thorny," I admit. He sits up quickly and pulls me up with
him. He situates me in front of him and looks me in the eyes with his
narrowed ones.

"What do you mean

thorny

?" He asks suspiciously, "Did he do something?"

"No, no!" I shake my head quickly.

"Then what?"

"Well, he asked me to go on a date with him," I mumble, looking down at

my comforter and the room goes dead silent.

"I told him no! It was just..awkward after that," I add and I

think
I hear a tiny breath of relief come from Luke. I could be wrong. I'm
probably wrong.

The sound of my phone is heard and I rush to find it. I finally find it on the
floor beside my bed and I pick it up. I glance at the time before answering
and I find that I've been asleep for three hours.

"Hey Olivia!" I answer slightly out of breath, while sitting up right on my

bed.

Holy fuzz am I out of shape.

"There's a problem," she groans. Luke scoots closer to me.

"I wanna hear," he mouths.

"No," I mouth back. What she has to say could be personal. She probably
wouldn't care, but still no.

"Yes!" He whisper shouts.

"Luke," I warn. He takes my phone out of my hand and I reach for it back.
He gets up from my bed and starts walking around the room with it.

"Luke!" I whisper shout. He looks back at me as he's pressing the speaker

button.

I stand up on my bed and jump onto him.

"Are you okay Aubrey? It sounds like you are fighting someone," she
laughs.

"I'm just..doing yoga," I say as my excuse causing Luke to chuckle. He

probably remembers when I told that to my mom. What a butt.

"Who was that?" She asks.

"The tv!" I give a pointed look to Luke.

When I almost get a hold of phone, I'm on Luke's front, still up in the air,
and his hand is resting on my butt. I can't decide if his hand is on my butt
because he's trying to make sure I don't fall, or he's being a pervert like
usual.

"Can you pause your freaking yoga so I can talk to you?!" Olivia shouts and
Luke and I pause our struggling. Well, my struggling.

"Sorry, go ahead," I glare at Luke. He just smirks at me, not letting me go.

"So, my cousin from Delaware is moving here and she has to pick if she's
going to Delmont Private School or Greenwood." Olivia sighs.

"That's great!" I say excitedly.

"No it's not, my cousin is like the devils adopted child. She is horrible," she
explains.

"Oh," my excitement deflates and Luke frowns slightly at my mood change.

"She's coming to spend like a day in our school to see if she likes it. Rich
bitches, they always get what they want," she grumbles towards the end and
I hold back a laugh and look at Luke.

"Okay, what is it?"

"I need you and Izzy to help me make the school sound horrible. I can't let
her attend our school," she pleads.

"I-I don't know Olivia. Wouldn't that be like lying?" I ask unsure.

"Well, I mean, you don't have to talk about it but when Izzy and I do, just
like, agree," she explains.

"Okay, I think I can do that," I reply now determined.

"Alright well I'm going to call Izzy now so bye!" she says.

"Bye!"
"Tell Luke I said bye too," she says.

"Okay. Wait what?" I say but she's already hung up.

I turn my attention back to Luke and I see he's already looking at me.

"What?" I blush and look down realizing he's still holding me. If it's
possible, I blush harder.

"You're a terrible liar, I don't know how you'll manage tomorrow," he

smiles, sitting me back on the bed to my relief.

....And slight disappointment.

What am I saying? Am I drunk? On...sleep?

"Are you talking to yourself?" Luke asks.

"What? Pff..no," I lie skillfully.

"Oh okay," he says sarcastically.

____________________

"You cheated!" I point an accusing finger at Luke. He gasps and brings his
hand to his heart.

"Sweetheart

, how dare you make such assumptions!" He exclaims.

"Empty your pockets," I cross my arms over my chest. This bootyhole

thinks he can just cheat in Monopoly. I think not.

Luke sucks on his teeth and hesitates "No."

"Why not?" I smirk.

"Because...." he tries to come up with an excuse.

"Empty your pockets," I say in a therapeutic way.

"Okay but if there is something in there, I don't know where it came from,"
he shrugs and begins emptying his pockets.

He takes out his wallet, his phone, and over 100,000 dollars worth of
Monopoly money.

"You thief!" I point at him. The only way he could've gotten that money is
by robbing the monopoly bank. And I bet he did just that when I went and
got the pizza from the pizza man.

"That was there before."

"Okay so, you walk around everywhere with Monopoly money?" I ask
sarcastically.

"Some places take it," he shrugs and I laugh aloud.

"Fine, you won," he finally gives in and I smile cockily. I look at the time
and I see it's already 11pm. My parents should be home soon.

Right on cue, the front door opens and Luke, already knowing the drill,
picks up his shoes and walks into my bathroom. A minute or so later, mom
comes walking into my room.

"Hey, we're home," she says.

"Hey mom."

"Were....Were you playing Monopoly by yourself?" She questions looking

at me like I'm crazy.

"Well, yes. I was practicing my Monopoly skills for when I play with other
people. You know, like practicing tricks and all that...jazz," I hesitantly
laugh, hoping she believes that horrible lie.

"Um, okay?" Her lip curls into a nasty look as she looks at me.
"You need a therapist," she mumbles to herself.

"I think I'm just tired," I smile tiredly.

"Yeah...okay," she shakes her head and she walks out of my room.

Luke opens my bathroom door and we walks into my room.

"Mom thinks I'm crazy," I cross my arms and he releases his lip from his
teeth.

"Aw darlin' don't be mad," Luke walks to me and puts his arms around my
waist.

"She's going to think I'm crazy and she's gonna send me..," his face comes
closer to mine, "to uh, mental hospital."

"You overthink too much," he whispers back, his face only an inch or two
from mine.

What do I do?!

I mean, we've kissed once before but it was only like a small goodbye kiss.

I feel like this one will be more than a small peck.

Is my breath okay?

I can't belie-

My own thoughts are cut off when Luke's lips suddenly land on mine.

Oh my gosh.

I stand there frozen until I feel his hand travel up to my lower back. I shake
out of my frozen state and do my best to kiss back. By that, I just mean
leaning further into the kiss.

I have no idea what the fudge I'm doing.

He grabs the back of my legs and lifts me up so that he doesn't have to bend
down anymore. That, of course, shocks me and I gasp. He takes that
opportunity to turn his head and deepen the kiss.

Now, I know I'm not very experienced but I can say that he's an amazing
kisser. I try my best and follow his movements and he hasn't stopped me so
far so I guess I'm doing okay.

I break away from the kiss suddenly short of air. I pant, trying to get my
breath back and I finally get the courage to look at Luke.

He has a dazed look on his face as his eyes travel all over my face. He has a
surprised look in his eyes along with something else that I can't read. I just
hope it isn't bad. I blush redder than I ever have before and he laughs
quietly.

"Damn you're good. How many times have you done that?" He asks with
his eyebrows furrowed.

It was good? What?

"N-None," I answer looking down, finding his shirt very interesting.

"Well sweetheart, you could've fooled me," He grabs my chin and pulls it
back up close to his face.

He pecks my lip slowly and softly and I respond with my never-ending

blush. He lowers me down to the ground, turns, and sits on my bed like
nothing happened.

"I-I have to shower," I stutter.

"Okay," he smirks.

I grab the things I need and close the bathroom door behind me.

I feel like I'm dreaming. And why is he acting like nothing happened? Am I
supposed to act like that too?
_____________________

After showering, my nerves have calmed down.

I can't wait to tell the girls about this.

I walk back out into my bedroom and I find Luke sitting up and scrolling
through tv channels. I put my hair in a ponytail and sit on my side of the
bed, glancing down at my phone.

I can act like nothing happened, I've got this.

I scroll through Instagram and like a few pictures that some friends from
North Carolina posted.

"Pay attention to me," I hear Luke groan before his huge arm close lines my
stomach, pushing me back on the bed.

"Luke." I deadpan and he sticks his head up from beside me giving me a

sweet smile. I shake my head and pick my phone back up, continuing my
scroll through Instagram.

Luke sticks his head up beside mine and looks up at my phone.

"Who's that?" He asks looking at a picture of a guy from my old school

holding a fish up.

"Max Shafer."

"Looks like a douche," Luke grumbles.

"That's mean," I hit his arm lightly.

"Who's that?" He asks again.

"Damon Jefferson and McKinley Richardson." I answer.

"Are they dating?"

"No, they're just kissing cause' they're friends," I say sarcastically and look
towards Luke.

"Sassy," he leans forward and pecks my cheek.

"Who's that?"

"Luke," I groan.

"Okay, okay, lemme see your pictures," he grabs my phone.

He holds the phone up above his face and I scoot closer to see the phone to
make sure there aren't any ugly pictures I forgot to delete.

I don't have a lot of posts, only 12, because I don't post much, I'm only on
Instagram for the memes and celebrity drama.

He clicks on the first post and it's a picture of Izzy, Olivia, and I about a
week ago. He scrolls down further and gets to the posts of when I was still
in North Carolina.

"You're so pretty," he says sweetly looking at a selfie I took almost five

months ago.

Usually, I'm not a selfie taker but Kelsey had convinced me to post at least
one. So I did, I got a lot of nice comments from friends, and I'm never doing
it again. I don't even think I have any selfies on my camera roll. I'd rather
take group pictures than single pictures.

"Thank you. That's enough," I take my phone back. Luke sits up slightly
and takes his shirt off. I catch a glimpse of his abs and I'm still just amazed
as the first time I saw them.

I turn the tv off and snuggle into my pillow. A seconds later, I feel Luke's
hand grab my elbow and turn me towards him.

"Cuddle me," he snaps.

I hold back my laugh as I scoot closer to him, now facing him.

"Goodnight," he kisses my lips and tightens his arms around me.

After a few minutes of praying, I'm almost asleep when I feel his sneaky
hands creep down to my butt.

"Luke."

"Shh, go to sleep," he answers quietly and I roll my eyes, eventually drifting

off.

_______________________

I open my eyes when I feel something roughly shaking me. I turn my gaze
over to Luke who looks so cute with his tired eyes.

"What?"

"We have school," he lies his head down on my stomach.

"Well, how do you expect me to get up when you're laying on me?" I ask
tiredly rubbing my eyes.

"I don't know, you're smart," I feel him shrug.

"Why did you shake me so hard? I think you popped my shoulder out of
place," I whine, rolling my shoulder.

"Well if you didn't sleep like a rock, I would gladly just poke you, but no

," he explains.

"Okay," I sigh, rolling out from under him. I stand up and stretch my arms,
legs, and back, bending in different directions.

I'm about to turn and go to the bathroom when I see Luke looking at me
lustfully.

"Stop," I tell him before turning and walking to the bathroom quickly so he
can't see my red cheeks.
He really is a horn-dog.

I start brushing my teeth and a minute later, Luke enters to do the same,
grabbing his toothbrush from last time.

______________________

"I don't think you can do it," Luke teases, softly kissing my forehead.

"I can!" I say and I follow after him back into my room.

"Baby, you can't be unpleasant, it's impossible. You're too sweet," he taps
my butt before changing into the shirt he's wearing for today.

"First of all, hands to yourself," he smirks at that, "Second....you're

probably right but I'll just not talk to her."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get changed now," I grab my clothes
and push past him on my way back to the bathroom.

I understand where Luke is coming from. I don't exactly have a mean

reputation or personality. The exact opposite really. He and I both know that
if I open my mouth, something nice will come out of it.

After changing, we eat breakfast and head to school. The whole car ride, I
was having a pep talk with myself and I think I'm prepared.

Luke and I walk into school, with him of course with his arm around my
shoulders. It makes me wonder if we're 'together' or not. He never said
anything about it and I don't think I'll ever get the courage to ask.

really

need to stop overthinking.

"I'll see you," Luke kisses my cheek before going off with some football
guys.
"Aubrey! Booboo! Gimme a hug," Eli wraps his long arms around me and I
giggle.

"Aubrey!" Olivia calls from across the hall and I bid goodbye to a now
pouting Eli.

"Yes?"

"She's here," she rolls her eyes.

"Okay, so what do I do again?" I rack my brain for what I'm meant to do

even though I went over it a million times in the car.

"Be quiet!" They both hiss.

"Right," I say sheepishly.

"Well, it's kind of trashy," a snarky voice comments from behind me. I turn
and look at the source of the voice. A tall platinum blonde girl stands behind
me. Her dark brown eyebrows, which give away that her hair isn't natural,
are pulled together in a judgmental way as she looks around the hall.

"Hey Jessie," Olivia sneers.

"Yeah, hey," Jessie rolls her eyes.

"This is Izzy," Olivia points to Izzy, then to me, "this is Aubrey."

"Oh, uh, hey," Izzy makes a slightly disgusted face to be mean on purpose.

At first I thought she was just being rude but I have to remember we're
trying to get Jessie to go to school somewhere else.

"Why doesn't she talk?" I hear Jessie ask and I have to keep my head down
to make sure I don't respond.

"I don't know," Olivia shrugs, "She's kinda weird, to be honest, don't trust
her."
First of all, I would hope Jessie would be suspicious as to why Olivia is
talking bad about me while I'm standing right here and second, they could
have at least told me they were going to say those things about me! All they
said was 'be quiet' not 'sit there and listen to us talk fake bad stuff about
you.'

I give Izzy a side-eyed look and she winces back at me and gives a sheepish
smile.

"Oh shit! Who's that?" Jessie nods her head in the direction behind me.

I feel a strong arm wrap around my waist from behind and my eyes widen.
He's going to blow my cover!

"Hi," Jessie purrs.

"I'm new here, I'm Jessie. You can call me Jess if you'd like though," she
giggles. I guess she's ignoring the fact that he's got his arm around me.

"Mhm, hi Jessica," Luke mumbles, not paying barely any attention to her.

I hear Izzy snort, not even trying to hold back her laugh.

"It's Jessie," her voice darkens.

"Shit, my bad Janice," he says and I can't hold back my laugh this time. I
walk away from them hearing Izzy's crazy laughter.

This is going to be a long day.

After morning classes, and Luke reluctantly letting me go to music class, I

finally make it there and soon enough, Lee and I are starting our duet.

____________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I walk into my dumbass art class and plop down beside Eli and Ryan.
"What's up fucker," Eli greets.

"Nothin'

jackass

," I respond with a smirk.

"Luke, I told you not to call me that," he whines.

"And I tell you not to do a lot of things but you still do them," I shrug.

"Ya'll wanna hear some shit?" I lean forward in my chair.

"Hells yeah," Ryan leans forward as well.

"Oooh, dirt bitch!" Eli does the same.

"That 'Lee Andrews' figure asked Aubrey out yesterday," I nod while rolling
my eyes at the thought of him.

"Oh god, and she said yes didn't she? She's secretly in love with him and
they are going to kiss during their duet today, then after that, they're going
to graduate high school, get married, and have children!" Eli puts his hands
on his cheeks and gasps like the Home Alone kid.

Just the

thought

of

Aubrey being with anyone other than me makes me sick to my stomach. I

didn't realize that till' now.

"I won't hesitate to whoop the piss outta you, I really won't," I glare at his
stupid ass.
"Anyways," I continue, "she told him no."

"You know I was just being sarcastic you big baby," Eli says and I kick his
shin from under the table.

"I'm gonna tell Aubrey on you," he mumbles.

"Do it, I don't care."

The bell rings and he shoots out of his seat.

Shit

"Bitch, sit back down!" I chase after him.

I find Aubrey in the hallway before he does and I quickly grab her, pulling
her into a bear hug, and blocking her from the crowd of people.

She squeals in fright and I almost laugh.

"I'm hiding you from Eli," I explain tightening my arms around her small
torso.

"Why?" She asks cutely looking up at me and tilting her head to the side
and I can't help but to lean down and kiss those perfect lips of hers. When I
pull away, she's blushing as red as a tomato.

"He's trying to tell you about something mean I did but no matter what he
says, just know, I kicked him for a perfectly good reason," I inform her.

"Luke! Why'd you do that?"

"I can't tell you that," I smile sheepishly, "that's why I'm telling you I swear
I did it for a good reason because I know he's going to come up with
something else," I tell her.
"Don't come crying to me when he gets you back," she escapes my hold and
I'm left with a surprised look on my face.

"I don't do that!" I follow her like a lost puppy.

"Three days ago, 'Eli kicked me in the...no-no zone, tell him to stop!'" She
laughs, and I can't help but smile at her word change from 'balls' to 'no-no
zone.' She's so adorable.

"Well, that's in the past."

"And it wasn't the first time you've done that either," she laughs as we walk
into the lunch room.

She slows her walk and grasps the bottom of the back of my shirt.

"I have to be quiet now," she reminds herself quietly and I lean down
slightly to hear what else she's gonna say.

"I don't like being quiet, especially when they talk bad about me." She says
and I stop her in the middle of the cafeteria. A guy behind me groans and I
glare down at him.

"Move around us bitch."

"Sorry Aubrey."

"What do you mean 'when they talk bad about you'?" I ask concerned.

"They just told me to stay quiet and not that Olivia was going to tell Jessie I
was a weirdo. But it's okay, I understand that Olivia just really doesn't want
Jessie to come to this school. She could've maybe just warned me about
what she was gonna say. I don't think Izzy knew what she was going to say
either. It just caught me off guard. Nobody has ever called me a weirdo
before, and I know she was lying to Jessie but it just felt a little weird to be
calle-"

"Aubrey," I cut off her cute ranting.

"Sorry, I was ranting?" She asks and I smile, nodding my head.

"If you don't wanna eat with them come to my table," I say.

"I can't," she says before leaning closer to whisper, "It'll blow my cover."

I think I'm falling in love with this girl.

____________________

|Sorry I was way late at updating, I hope this chapter makes up for it. I
feel like a certain event in the chapter should've happened a while ago
but here it is.

Word count: 5105

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Part 25 "You're gonna regret that"
*LUKE'S POV*

I freeze at my sudden realization.

I'm falling for her.

"You okay?" She tugs on my shirt to get my attention.

"Huh? Oh yeah." I snap out of it.

"How will that blow your cover?" I question.

"Because-" Eli cuts her off running up to us.

"Aubrey! I've been looking all over for you!" He pants.

"Go away," I tell him.

"Hush now," he raises his hand up to my face and I smack it away.

"This guy right here," he points to me, "broke my tibia."

"Broke your tibia?" Aubrey questions confusedly.

"Yes, he kicked it so hard, I couldn't breathe for like a minute and a half,"
he explains.

"Well that's no good," Aubrey plays along.

"I know...tell him to not do it again."

"I've gotta go, they're walking in!" She spots the girls walk into the cafeteria
and she goes to meet them.

"Ha," I deadpan.
"How rude," Eli pouts.

________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"Oh great, she's back," Jessie rolls her eyes when she sees me walk up next
to Izzy. I feel a small pang in my chest, but I shove it aside.

That one hurt just a little.

We take a seat at our regular lunch table and begin eating.

"I'll go get you your food, Jessie!" Olivia jumps up and begins walking to
the wrong side of the cafeteria. I look towards Izzy and I see she's trying to
hide the smirk on her face. I tap her arm and furrow my eyebrows in
question.

"She's going to give her something nasty and say it's cafeteria food," she
whispers in my ear.

"I think she said she was going to give her fish," she explains further and
my eyes widen. I'm heavily allergic to seafood. Doesn't matter what kind it
is, if it lives in the sea, it can't be anywhere near me.

Hey, that rhymed.

I look over at Jessie to make sure she isn't looking before leaning in to
whisper in Izzy's ear.

"I'm allergic to fish."

"Go sit with Luke, I'm sure he won't mind," She whispers back with a
smirk. I roll my eyes at her and bite down on my lip to keep from smiling.

"Hurry, she's almost back!" She nudges me and I grab my lunch bag and
start the journey to Luke's table.
"Where's she going?" I hear Jessie ask and I can only leave it up to Izzy's
wild imagination to make up the reason why I'm going to sit at Luke
Taylor's table.

I tap on Luke's broad shoulder softly when I get to his table and he turns
around. A small smile breaks out onto his face and he pulls me by the hand
until I'm sat beside him.

"I thought you sitting here would blow your cover?" Luke smirks.

"Well I'd rather have my cover blown than have an allergic reaction," I take
out my food and set it neatly on the table.

"What?" Luke, Ryan, and Eli all say in unison.

"I'm allergic to seafood," I sigh.

I've always wondered what seafood tastes like. Is it good? Is it bad? I've
heard that some people love it and some people don't.

When I was only four, my dad gave me some popcorn shrimp when we
went out to eat one time and my throat closed up and everything. That's
how we found out I was allergic and I don't even remember if the shrimp
was good.

"Can you swim in the ocean then?" Eli asks and the whole table goes silent.
I can't tell if he's serious or not. When the same serious look is on his face
after a few seconds, I can't help but start laughing. The rest of the table soon
joins in.

"It's a serious question!"

"I can swim in the ocean," I recover from my laughing fit, "it's the proteins
in seafood that I'm allergic to."

"I'm allergic to cinnamon," Jackson chimes in.

"Same," his twin brother nods.

"I'm allergic to gluten," Ryan says.

"Latex," Eli raises his hand.

"Seafood, pineapples, lavender, wool, avocados, mangos, sesame seeds,

mold, and bees," I count on my fingers, "Oh! And basil!"

"Nothing," Luke shrugs when we all turn to him to see what he's allergic to.

"Well that's not fair," Ryan grumbles, "I can't even eat cookies without
looking at the damn labels."

"Well aren't ya'll some poor things?" Luke says sarcastically, "Poor
Aubrey's allergic to everything under the sun."

"Not everything," I point out.

"Almost," he reasons and I just go with it. It does kinda suck going to Bath
and Body Works and having to look at every label before even smelling
something to see if there's lavender in it. I also have to bring my epi-pen
with me everywhere

I go. Not to mention, epi-pens are really expensive. It's not my fault I'm
allergic to things.

We suddenly hear a commotion coming from where I was. Jessie is

standing up out of her seat, waving her arms all over the place, as she spits
out nasty looking food. Most of the cafeteria starts laughing at her and I
kind of feel bad. That is until she opens her mouth.

"You motherfuckers! I'll tell my father on all of you!" She yells before
storming out of the cafeteria.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about her anymore sweetheart," Luke
gives a swift kiss to my cheek.

_____________________
"Slow down! I can't walk that fast!" I pinch Luke's hand which is
intertwined with mine. He slows to almost a stop.

"Walk faster, grandma," I murmur walking ahead of him.

"Oh funny," he says as we walk into last period. We take our seats and a
second later Lee walks into the room. He stops at my desk and looks like
he's about to say something. His eyes flicker over beside me before he just
walks to his desk.

I look beside me and see Luke is glaring at Lee's back. I nudge his arm and
look at him in question. His glare forms into a smile when he looks at me
and he just shrugs.

A minute later, the classroom door opens and Mr. Adams, the rude
substitute teacher from yesterday walks in.

"Well Lord have mercy on us," Luke sighs.

"Hello children, your teacher, Ms. Lonio, still isn't here," he sits his
briefcase on his desk before leaning on the front of it and looking directly at
Eli, Luke, and I's desk.

"Are you three going to behave today?" He raises an eyebrow and I hear Eli
snort.

"Nope," Luke and Eli both stand from their desk and gather their things. I
just sit there dumbfounded. Am I supposed to go with them or..?

I feel Luke bend down and grab my hand.

I guess that answers that.

I pick up my bag and we walk out.

"Hey! Wait!" I hear a familiar voice shout from behind us.

____________________
*LUKE'S POV*

This little

motherfucker

Aubrey stops and turns around at the sound of Lee's voice.

What the hell is he doing?

"Hey, I'm going to join you. I don't really want to be in there with that guy,"
he smiles and I feel a nudge from beside me.

Eli looks at me and is holding back a laugh. He knows how much this is
bothering me.

"Okay," her soft voice replies to him and he looks back at her starstruck.
When we begin walking again, I switch places with Aubrey so now I'm
beside Lee.

I don't want him anywhere near her.

"So," Lee says nervously, "Are you ready for the game tomorrow?"

so

badly want to tell him not to talk to me. I know if I do that though,
Aubrey'll get mad at me.

"Yes," comes my clipped answer followed by a slight tug from Aubrey.

"Yes," I say more '

happily'
. He just nods awkwardly.

We make it to the detention room and walk straight up to where Evans

sitting, pulling three chairs up beside his desk.

Lee can find his own damn chair.

We sit down and I put my arm on the back of Aubrey's chair like I always
do.

"What did you do this time?" Evans laughs.

"We were angels," Eli plops down in his chair.

"Mr. Adams is still there so we left," I shrug.

"And who's that," Evan tilts his head in the direction of which Lee is
coming, carrying a chair. I turn my unhappy look from Lee to Evan and by
the way he smirks, I know he knows I don't like Lee.

Aubrey laughs cutely from beside me and my mood deteriorates even more.
I glance over at Lee and he's looking at her lovingly.

I don't think I've ever hated someone so much.

_________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

Welp, Luke's back to his moody ways.

I look up at him beside me and he's using his famous 'Luke Taylor' glare as
he looks at a picture frame hung on the wall. His eyebrows are moved
downwards, creating a small crease in between them and his nose is slightly
flared.

What did that poor frame ever do to him?

I take a breath and gather my courage before reaching over to the hand on
his lap and intertwining my fingers with his. I turn my head away so he
can't see the blush quickly forming.

After finishing my chemistry homework, and helping Luke with his, the
bell rings. We all stand, gathering our things.

"I'll see you tomorrow Aubrey," Lee waves as he follows Evan and Eli out
the classroom door. I turn back to my bag and focus on trying to shove my
chemistry book in it.

All of a sudden, I feel a strong pair of arms wrap themselves around my

waist from behind. I jump in fright and turn to meet the smirking face of
Luke.

"What are you doing?" I ask softly as he picks me up and places me on a

desk.

"I'm about to kiss you, duh," he leans in and I move at the last second.

"But what if a teacher comes in here," my anxiety kicks in. Luke grabs my
face and starts pulling it up to his.

"It'll be okay," he whispers.

"Aren't you going to be late for practice?" I whisper back right as his lips
are about to touch mine.

"Aubrey," he whines, his eyes still set on my lips.

Someone's needy.

"Maybe we should just hug," I swing my feet back and forth while sitting
on the desk. He groans and puts his forehead near my collarbone.

"You're killin' me smalls," he gives a soft kiss to the side of my neck and to
my embarrassment, I shudder.
"Just a little one?" He pulls away from my neck and I gaze into his
gorgeous gray eyes.

"Okay," I smile shyly and he leans in and gives a lingering kiss on my lips.

________________________

"Too much cleavage."

"Too much skin."

"Too short."

"Pink isn't my color."

Izzy, Olivia, and I sigh heavily and plop down on a bench in the middle of
the mall.

"Maybe I should just tell him I can't make it," I fidget with the end of my
shirt.

"No, you are going. We'll find a dress," Izzy declares.

"And, it's not like it needs to be that fancy. It's only homecoming, not
prom," Olivia reasons.

"Alright, let's try one more store," I stand on my sore feet. We've been
shopping for five hours. I'm tired, my feet, and my eyes hurt.

We walk into a nice small dress shop that is located right beside the mall's
cafeteria. A pile of dresses is handed to me and I'm shoved into a dressing
room.

I change into a dress for the millionth time today and I see the same thing.
The dress shows too

much. I walk out the dressing room and the girls gasp.

"I love it!!"

"You look so amazing!" They compliment the same way every time I try on
a dress.

I point to my cleavage and shake my head.

"Oh my god, Aubrey! Stop being such a saint! It doesn't look bad at all!"
Olivia groans.

"It's not

me

," I grumble and unzip the dress after storming back into the dressing room.
This goes on for another thirty minutes before Izzy puts a gorgeous navy
blue dress over the top of the door. I quickly put it on and turn to look at
myself in the mirror.

It's a simple but classy silky navy blue off the shoulder dress that has a little
slit on my stomach. It doesn't show a lot of stomach and sometimes even
none if I'm slouching. It isn't short, reaching down to my knees but flaring
out so it doesn't look like a grandma dress. There's a little cleavage but the
rest of the dress makes up for it.

I open the dressing room and the girls are automatically in awe.

"I really love this one!" I say excitedly.

"That color looks so good on you!" Izzy compliments.

I hurry back to my dressing room and take off the dress. We head up to the
cash register, pay, and finally leave.

"That was an....adventure," Izzy sighs as we get into my car.

"I don't think I'll ever shop with you again," Olivia mumbles, getting into
the backseat.

___________________________
I walk in my room and send my shoes flying throughout my room. My feet
hurt so bad. I jump on my bed and let out a long groan.

I get up and lazily walk into my bathroom to take a shower. After showering
and doing my boring nightly routine, I lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling.

Even though I'm inhumanely tired, I can't seem to fall asleep. I toss and turn
for about an hour before my phone rings loudly.

I pick it up without hesitation and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Luke's deep voice says on the other line and I almost choke. Why is
he calling me?

"W-Why are you calling me at," I pause and look at the clock, "1:13 in the
morning?"

"I wanted to see if you couldn't sleep either," he answers without hesitation.

"I can't," I admit.

"That's cause I'm not there," he says cockily and I can just imagine the
smirk on his face.

"I bet," I laugh tiredly.

"Leo misses you..." he sighs, "I do too."

A blush spreads across my face. "You saw me earlier," I laugh shyly.

"Keyword,

earlier.

"
We talked about anything for the next hour. Eventually, I could barely keep
my eyes open. I soon drifted off to the deep hum of his voice.

___________________

I stroll into school, a happy smile on my face. The long conversation with
Luke last night, for some reason, is making me smile. I stop at my locker,
putting in the code. After it doesn't unlock, I internally roll my eyes. I push
my damp curls away from my face before retrying the code.

I don't know why but it always takes me at least two tries to open the stupid
thing. It finally opens and I reach in to grab my book. My right-hand
brushes against a little paper and I look into my locker for the first time.

The back of my eyes burn with unshed tears as I read through all the yellow
notes. Who would do this? And for what reason? How did they even get in
my locker?

"Hey, boo-boo!" Eli's voice sings from across the hall. I don't turn and look
at him. I continuously read through the words in my locker. I hear his
footsteps coming behind me as my vision becomes blurry from tears.

I won't let them fall.

"Aubre-" He stops himself as his eyes finally make their way to the notes in
my locker. He reads over them for a minute before looking down at me.

A hand creeps its way around my waist from the other direction. Luke's
wonderful scent envelops my nose and I lean further into him.

"Hey sweetheart," He greets happily. He leans down, grabbing my chin. He

tilts my face up and he sees my watery eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asks worriedly, his eyes darting to Eli's angrily. I turn
back to my locker as I hear Eli open the locker further for Luke to see.

I know Luke has seen the notes when his arm tightens around my waist and
he goes stiff. His arm lets go of my waist and Eli takes a hold my upper
arm.
A

loud

, resounding noise comes from beside me as Luke slams the locker shut
strenuously.

"Who did it?" His already deep voice turns dark. The hallway turns silent as
they all look at Luke. Some in fear and some in confusion.

He tears back open the locker right as Olivia and Izzy run up to Eli and me.

"What the hell happened?" Olivia asks frantically. Eli points to the now
open locker and they both turn furious.

Luke grabs a huge handful of the bright yellow notes and he throws them
on the hallway floor.

"I know, at least one of you knows who the fuck did this," He says eerily
calm. A look of realization passes on some peoples faces as they now
understand what he's talking about.

"I-I saw Liam here early, h-he was wondering around this hall with a weird
looking tool. It kind of looked like a crowbar," A lanky guy with dark round
glasses says nervously from a few lockers beside us.

_________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I storm out of the hallway and I hear Eli run after me.

"You need to calm down," he says coming up beside me as I go on a search

for Liam.

"I'm not going to calm down Eli!" I say angrily.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble! You have scholarships to think

about!" He warns.
"I don't care! I'm not just gonna sit here and let that fucker talk about my
girl like that," I say continuing my search for him.

"She's already been through enough shit," I mumble.

"What do you mean?" He asks confusedly. I leave his question unanswered

as I don't want to spread her personal business.

By the time the bell rings, I still haven't found him.

Pansy ass.

If he puts in the effort to hurt Aubrey, then he should know the

consequences and just grow a pair. I'm sure he already knows what's going
to happen as soon as I see him.

I walk into first period and my eyes immediately go to Aubrey's slouched

figure.

"You okay?" I bend down and wipe a curl out her face. Her beautiful blues
gaze into mine as she smiles softly.

"I'm okay," Her sweet voice says softly and I take my seat behind her.

___________________

I hold Aubrey as close to me as possible, providing silent support. Aubrey

remains quiet, nibbling on her chips as she listens to our conversations.

I lean down and place a soft kiss on her cheek. I want to tell her that I'm
going to handle the sticky note situation but if I do, I know she'll ask how.
And when I tell her, she'll talk me out of whooping Liam's ass.

"I haven't seen him today," Olivia says.

"Yeah well if Liam doesn't show for the game tonight, he's off the team.
He's second string anyway," Ryan shrugs.

"He's going to be kicked off it anyway," Eli chimes in.

The guys and I decided we're going to sit with the girls from now on.
Actually, I told them we were, they just agreed.

"Who are we playing tonight?" Jackson asks shoving fries into his mouth.

"Bridgewood," I mumble rubbing my hand up and down the side of

Aubrey's waist.

The lunch bell rings and I wait for Aubrey to pack her stuff.

"What's wrong," I pull her to me as she stands up from her seat. Everyone
else has already left saying they'll meet us at the oak tree.

"I-I don't want anyone hate me. I don't know why he hates me," she says
softly.

"Because he's an idiot who only wants to make you feel bad about yourself
because you rejected him. Don't listen to those stupid notes, you're perfect,"
I say gently kissing the corner of her mouth.

"There's no such thing as a perfect person," she argues.

"Well I have yet to find a single flaw in you and I don't think I ever will," I
say sincerely and a dark blush covers her gorgeous face.

She grabs my pointer and middle finger, wrapping her dainty fingers around
them before leading us the tree.

This girl is

so

it for me.

_______________________

The rest of the school day flies by and still no Liam. At the end, I give an
old jersey of mine to Aubrey and she takes it gratefully with a blush.
Eli and I walk into the locker rooms and immediately spot the twins. I give
them a look asking if Liam's here and they shake their heads.

We take our time putting our game uniforms on and going through normal
rituals before coach lets us walk around and visit people.

"You know the rules, be back before 4:20," he says before telling us to go.

The first person I look for is Aubrey. I walk to the stadium and look at the
first row, just above the field bench.

She's cutely rolling up the bottom of my jersey to make it fit her better. I
walk up behind her and pinch her sides.

She squeals before turning around and smacking my chest softly. The poor
girl is hopeless at fighting back, but that only makes her cuter.

"Hi baby," I stand behind her before sitting down, pulling her down to my
lap, and repeatedly kissing her blazing cheeks.

"Luke!" She giggles and I smile adoringly at her.

I honestly can't remember how I functioned without her before.

"That's so cute I'm going to throw up," Eli says walking in front of us.

After talking for a few minutes, we hear the metal-tipped cleats of quite a
few guys strolling behind us.

Eli halts his conversation as we both gaze over at our opponents, sizing
them up. They both gaze back at us the same way and some of their eyes
even flicker down to the oblivious beauty still in my lap.

"We should get going," I kiss Aubrey's head before saying our goodbyes
and heading back down to the field.

"They were totally checking Aubre-"

"Shut it." I deadpan sticking my foot out in front him to purposefully trip
him.

"Rude!" He laughs regaining his balance.

___________________

"Let's head out to practice," Coach ushers us out the locker room and onto
the field to get some throwing and catching in before the game starts.

As soon as I leave the locker rooms, I spot Liam. My fists automatically

clench at my sides and my vision goes slightly red.

I pick up my speed, now taking long, dangerous strides to Liam who still
doesn't know I'm coming directly for him.

"Oh shit," I hear Eli say from a little ways behind me.

"You motherfucker!" I grab Liam by his shoulder pads and slam him on the
ground.

I feel hands on my back and arms trying to hold me back but I shrug them
off. I turn my attention back to Liam right as his pitiful right hook grazes
my lip.

I lick my lip and taste the copper taste of blood in my mouth. I spit the little
bit of blood in my mouth out before looking back up at a surprised Liam.

Did this dumb ass really think that punch could've sent me to the ground?
He's more stupid than I thought.

"You're gonna regret that," I nod at him with a wicked smirk. The last thing
I see before giving his nose a quick jab is his widened eyes.

A loud crack is heard as he falls to the floor, knocked unconscious for a few
seconds before grabbing his gushing nose.

I guess that'll do for a while.

I look up and across the field and see the red and black uniforms all
watching me with nervous eyes before turning back to my own gaping
team.

I've never punched a teammate before, well in front of other teammates. It

isn't that

much of a shock though.

"At least you didn't do it during the game," Eli shrugs referring to scouts
who always watch the game and the sidelines carefully during game time.

"It doesn't matter now," I roll my eyes, "I'm committed to 'Bama anyway."

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was going to the University of Alabama. It's
home. Legally though, I've been committed to Roll Tide ever since the first
day of my junior year whey they were allowed to talk to me and offer the
full ride scholarship.

I won't tell Eli this but, I'm glad he got committed to the same school. We
do make a good team, that's why they wanted him too.

I wonder where Aubrey's going?

I shake those thoughts from my head as coach approaches me, a not too
happy look on his face.

"Luke Taylor, I'm gonna try my best not to get mad at you but why in

tarnation

would you punch Liam?" Coach asks as calmly as he can.

"As a captain, you aren't necessarily supposed to do things like that!" He

adds.

"You see her up there?" I point up at Aubrey who is laughing animatedly at

my dad who sits right beside her.
"Yes?"

"That's the girl who's slowly been driving me crazy and she just so happens
to be the same girl Liam put... notes in her locker. It hurt her, so I hurt him,"
I explain simply.

"What kind of notes?" His brows furrow. I sigh remembering all the things
written on those god forbidden sticky notes.

"He called her a slut, a whore, bitch, ugly, and a cunt, he called my girl a
cunt coach," I grow angry. His eyes widen before they narrow in anger.

"He's off, he's done," Coach nods before walking off to where Liam sits
nursing his nose. Coach grabs Liam's arm harshly and he drags him into the
locker rooms.

I look up at Aubrey and I see she's looking right back at me with a stern
look. I smile sheepishly and she ushers me over with her pointer finger.

I slowly make my way over to her and I jump up and sit on the ledge right
in front of her. She tugs my hand, pulling me closer to her. I watch her as
she adorably mumbles to herself about how 'I'm not allowed to fight' while
taking a napkin out.

"Luke?" Dad asks not so happily.

"Yes?" I say innocently.

"What was that all about?" He questions crossing his arms over his chest. I
give him a look saying 'I'll tell you later'. He reluctantly agrees with a slight
shake of his head.

I look back at Aubrey and her soft little hands cup my jaw as she wipes
some blood from the little cut on my lip. I smile at her softly and she kicks
my shin.

"Don't smile, it'll stretch it and make it bleed more," she says strictly.
"Yes, ma'am." I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling at her. She
finishes cleaning my lip but she doesn't let go of my face. My heart skips a
beat when she looks down at my lips.

"Play good, be careful," she gives me a cute smile before letting go of my

face and leaving me blushing like an idiot. Dad chuckles from beside her
and I hurry and get down from the ledge so he'll stop laughing at my tinged
cheeks.

"Why so flushed?" Eli teases.

"Shut your bitch ass up," I grumble, the heat returning twice as much.

What on earth is wrong with my cheeks?

__________________

The refs call practice time over and we all go back into our locker rooms. I
didn't practice much.

As soon as we walk into the room, I spot Liam taking off his jersey and
pads. He shoves his things into his duffel bag while still attempting to keep
a towel on his broken nose.

"You nailed him," Ryan laughs giving me a fist bump. After only a couple
of minutes inside the locker rooms, the announcer calls us out.

Eli, Ryan, and I, as always, make our way to the middle of the field for the
coin toss.

"Captain?" The ref asks me.

"Tails," I call. He flicks the coin into the air and leans down when it drops
on the grass.

"Greenwood gets the ball, guys, shake hands," The ref announces.

We step forward and shake hands.

"Mean right hook you got there," the Bridgewood quarterback laughs.

"He deserved it," I chuckle, moving along to the guy beside him.

"Pretty girl you've got Taylor," The second guy says in a respectful way
nodding up to where Aubrey's sitting.

"Thanks," I smirk proudly giving his hand a firm shake.

"Good luck to you guys," The third guy shakes my hand before we all start
walking back to the sidelines.

"Those guys were nicer than any team we've ever met," I shake my head.

"I know right! The quarterback told me he liked my freaking cleats! Who
does that?" Eli shakes his head incredulously.

_____________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

The boys won the homecoming game 58-6. Luke played exceptionally well,
even earning two touchdowns for himself. Although I'm not happy Luke
punched someone again, I know why he punched Liam. I'm not as mad as I
probably should be.

I'm actually really happy Luke's dad found us and sat with us. He explained
some of the things about football I didn't understand. For example, I didn't
completely understand what 'downs' meant but now I do. Sort of, I forgot
most of it already though.

He was also quite funny, he had me almost spitting out my water with some
of the stories he would tell about a little Luke.

He reminded me of my dad a little and that realization almost brought me to

tears. I bet him and dad would be automatic best friends if they would've
met.

"I'm going to throw up I'm so hungry," Izzy groans patting her stomach.
"I'm gonna head home now, bye ya'll!" James gives me a hug and he waves
before walking out of the stadium.

I sit and listen to both the girls groan for a whole entire ten minutes before
familiar arms wrap themselves around me. A soft kiss is placed under my
ear and I look down shyly.

"Let's go my lovelies, it is time to eat!" Eli says impatiently dragging me

away from Luke and to the parking lot.

"I bet he'll ask you to be his girlfriend tomorrow," Olivia announces once
we get in my car.

"You're making me blush," I cover my cheeks with the one hand I'm not
using as we drive to St. Paul's diner, a mile or two down the road from the
school.

"It's true," she laughs, "I swear he's so wrapped around your

little finger and you don't even realize it!"

"That's not true," I say stubbornly.

"Just you wait until the second you get out your car," she says, a
mischievous glint in her eyes.

_____________________

I park my car beside Izzy's and turn it off. I get out the car and not even a
second later, Luke's arm is pulling me to his chest.

I bet Olivia is laughing right now.

I wrap my hand around his two fingers and he guides me inside, opening
the door for me and all.

The eight of us find a big table and we add a few chairs to the end, ensuring
we'll all fit. We order our food and finally take a seat, our table filled
with food. I'm just beginning to eat my burger when the door to the diner
opens and a group of three Bridgewood guys walk in.

I watch them nervously not knowing if they're mean or not. The last couple
of games the guys had played, the guys on the other teams had been
exceptionally rude.

"Are they mean too?" I whisper quietly to Luke. He looks down at me

before shaking his head.

"They're nice."

"Taylor!" A loud voice says from the ordering line. The group of guys walks
to our table excitedly.

They bro shake and a conversation begins.

"Jennings, you've got a pair of wheels on you," A tall beach blonde one
recalls, "I couldn't catch your ass to save my life."

A low whistle is heard from across the table. A black haired, blue eyed guy
stands with his hands leaning on the twins' chairs.

"Your girl is even prettier up close Taylor," he shakes his head with a smile.
A blush covers my cheeks.

"Ya'll are gonna make my poor girls cheeks blow up," Luke chuckles from
beside me, pulling me further into his side with a proud smile on his face.

"I'm sorry ladies," A guy with light brown hair chimes in, "we totally forgot
to introduce ourselves."

"I'm Iverson Wills," The black haired boy announces proudly.

"I'm Jacob Ellis," The brown haired boy chimes in.

"I am Derek Watts," The beach blonde bows, snatching a fry from Eli's
plate.
"Is your lip okay?" I ask Luke quietly, remembering when I cleaned the
blood off him.

"It would feel better if you kiss it," he licks his bottom lip, where the small
cut lies.

I blush and lay my head on his broad shoulder.

"You're pitiful," I giggle. My eyes find their way to Olivia who is looking
straight at me. She grabs her straws wrapper and she wraps it around her
finger, pointing to Luke, then to me.

I grab my own straw wrapper, point to Ryan, then wrap it around my finger,
then I point back to her. Her eyes widen and a dark blush covers her pale
cheeks. I bite my cheek to keep in my laugh.

"We've got our food to go so we'll see you guys later," the three guys say
goodbye and gather their food from the counter before leaving out the door.

______________________

"I'll massage it for you," Luke offers with a smirk while I rub my hand over
my sore butt. As we were walking outside the diner, I tripped over the curb
since it's dark and I left my glasses in my car.

Luke was quick to help me up, but laughing while he did it. Along with the
rest of everybody.

"Of course you will," I mumble sticking the front of my body in my car to
grab my glasses. I shut my car door and clean my glasses off on my shirt. I
plop them on my face and push them up my nose, now able to see clearly.

I look up at Luke to see he's smiling down at me with a cute tilt to his head.

"Alright, Alright, Alright," Eli randomly imitates Matthew McConaughey

not talking to anyone in particular.

"Stay at my house tonight?" Luke asks. I nod shyly.

"I have to get a few things first."

"I'll come with you," he smiles.

We say goodbye to the guys, Izzy and Olivia had already left, before getting
in our vehicles and driving to my house.

We walk inside my house and go straight upstairs. Luke plops on my bed as

he watches me run around my room grabbing things I need. After getting
my clothes, I change into a pair of black leggings and a big dark green
sweatshirt with a dark grey sports bra underneath.

We walk out my bedroom and I toss my car keys back on my bed.

I don't feel like driving.

Luke lifts me up into his truck and tucks a curl behind my ear before going
to the driver's side.

His hand rests on my thigh the whole way to his house and once we're
finally there, I compose my blush before he opens my door.

We walk to his front door, me, extra jumpily. I walk in his house first and
Leo is right by the door. I squeal as he knocks me down, wagging his tail
excitedly.

_____________________

I lay my head on where Luke's shoulder meets his arm as we watch one of
my favorite movies ever.

Coco.

Luke didn't want to watch it, at all, but thankfully it only took a quick
minute and a promise to make him breakfast in the morning for him to
agree to watch it.

I feel Luke lean up and trail kisses my from cheekbone down to my jaw.
His kisses move from my jaw to under my ear and I sniffle. He stops what
he's doing looks back up at my face worriedly.

"What's wrong baby?" He wipes the lone tear that rolls down my face.

"The grandma died, aren't you paying attention?" I question.

"No, not really," he sighs. I turn the movie off and look towards him. He
grabs my lower back and pulls me under him so now he's hovering over me.
He lowers himself onto me, keeping half his body off me so I'm not feeling
any of his weight.

He lowers his head onto my chest and I rub my hand up and down his back
feeling the way each muscle moves as he breathes.

"Are you tired?" I question.

"A little," he mumbles. If I were him, I'd've already been asleep. If I get
tired from just walking to the fridge, I can't imagine how he feels after
playing a football game and

going to school.

The door to Luke's rooms opens as his dad walks in.

I jump in fright at the sudden loud noise.

"Hey Aubrey," he smiles kindly down at us.

"Luke, have you seen my pants," James asks causing me to let out a laugh.

"What pants?" Luke chuckles turning is head to see his father.

"What pants do you think!" James says throwing his hands up in the air.

"You have a lot of pants!" Luke says defensively. I laugh harder listening to
their hilarious arguing.

"The ones with the hole in the pocket," James announces like it's obvious.
"I don't know where they are," Luke lays his head back down on my chest.

"Did you take them?" James accuses, narrowing his eyes with a slight smile
on his face.

"You're pants are too small for me!" Luke exclaims.

"Fatass," James mumbles and I bring my hand up to my mouth covering my

loud laughter.

"

I'll call social services,"

Luke mocks James.

"Well if you find em, give em back," James chuckles as he leaves Luke's
room, shutting his door.

—————————————————

"Good Lord have mercy!" I gasp sitting up in bed with a struggle. Luke's
arm around my waist pulls me back, oblivious to the fact that the air
conditioning in his room is currently not working.

I pull my hair up into a messy bun, trying to cool my neck down.

Luke sits up at my movements and rubs his eyes awake.

"What's wrong?" He asks with a husky, sleepy voice.

"It's hot, are you hot, I'm hot," I fan myself.

"You are hot," he agrees with a sly smirk.

I get out of bed and pad around his room grabbing the bottom of my
sweatshirt and lifting it over my head.

Automatically, a gust of cool air hits my body and I sigh in relief.

I'm never wearing a fleece sweatshirt to bed ever again.

I turn back around to go back to bed, and I meet the intense gaze of Luke.

Did I really just strip in front of him!?"

My cheeks turn so red, I think I'm about to faint. He hasn't taken his eyes
off my body, whether it's my face or the rest of me.

I walk back to the bed an am about to sit back down when I notice the most
bizarre thing in the world.

Luke Taylor's

entire

face is as red as a tomato.

I look at him like he's got two heads and he picks up a pillow from behind
him, shoving it to his face.

"Awww," I can't help but say. He's so freaking cute!!!

I remove the pillow from his face and I see the blush has cooled down a
little but not all the way.

"Stop," he whines, a smile now growing on his handsome face.

"Okay, Okay," I gather my composure and lay down beside him.

He leans over and gives me a lingering kiss before pulling me to him and
snuggling me like a teddy bear.

I think my new favorite thing is making Luke blush.

—————————————————

|||||Super sorry for making y'all wait so long. I was rereading some of
my old chapters and editing a lil bit. Next chapter, I will tell you, is
gonna be crazy and dramatic. It should be up hopefully within a few
days.

Thanks for reading! *remember I don't edit*

Word count: 6876

-Ashlyn M.
Part 26 "Can we get a new waiter?
This one sucks"
I wake up with Luke's

heavy

arm over my waist. After prying his arm from around me, I put on my
sweatshirt, walk to his bathroom, and brush my teeth. I walk out the
bathroom and towards Luke's door, to go and start breakfast.

A huge hand swipes me from the floor and pulls me back onto the bed.

"Luke," I groan as he snuggles his face into my neck, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Mhm."

"Let me go fix breakfast then," I try getting up. I escape his hold and he
rolls out of bed. He stands in front of me, towering over my height. I get on
his bed and stand up. Even though I'm still shorter than him, I'm closer than
I was before.

We gaze at each other, sizing one another up. Then to my victory, Luke
blinks.

"Ha! You blinked, I won," I jump down and leave his room.

I get downstairs excitedly, with Leo trailing right behind me. I walk into the
beautiful kitchen and I immediately get to work.

As I'm looking through the cabinets, gathering my ingredients, I can't help

but be surprised at how much food they had.

____________________________
I take the biscuits out the oven, and place them the large plate, beside the
plate of fried eggs, sausage, and the bowl of chocolate gravy.

I love chocolate gravy. That was pretty much the only thing dad knew how
to make and he taught me his grandma's recipe.

I know Luke has entered the room when Leo gets up from beside me and
starts lowly growling. I bend down, with the plate of biscuits in my hand,
and pat his head.

"Is that chocolate gravy?" Luke gasps, walking up to the bowl of chocolaty
goodness.

"Mhm," I mumble, bringing the dishes over to the table. James strolls into
the kitchen, his nose in the air, sniffing. His eyes take in the food and he
looks surprised.

"You can cook too?!" He whisper-shouts.

"Dad, look," Luke holds up the bowl of chocolate gravy and smiles. James
rushes up to his son and they both stick their finger into the bowl.

After they're done praising my 'amazingly good' gravy, we all sit down to
eat.

"Wow this is good," James shakes his head, eating probably his fourth
chocolate covered biscuit.

"Thank you!" I smile.

I really love cooking for people other than myself. I love seeing their good
reactions. Back in North Carolina, the only person I would cook for was
myself. Nobody else really got the chance to eat my food.

James looks up at the huge clock on the wall and his eyes enlarge slightly.

"I'm about to be late for work! Thank you for the breakfast Aubrey, it was
great," James rushes, speeding out the house.
I look up at the clock too and see it's 11:33 am. Izzy and Olivia said they
want to start getting ready by 1, which is a little early.

I get up, taking the empty dishes and start washing them.

"No, no, no," Luke grabs the washrag out my hand.

"You cooked, you're not gonna clean too," he says as he starts to wash them
himself. I take the drying rag off the handle of the oven and I start drying
the dishes and putting them away.

"You're such a persistent little thing," he shakes his head, a smile on his lips.

After he finishes with the dishes, he leans on the counter and watches me as
I dry them.

"What?" I ask shyly. Is there something on my face?

"Nothing," he shakes his head and a sly smile forms on his lips, "Just
admiring the view."

I brush darkly, putting the last plate away in its appropriate cabinet. I turn
and come face to chest with Luke. I look up at him as he lifts me onto the
counter like I weigh nothing.

He presses himself up against me and I look down, hiding my embarrassing

red cheeks. Like always, he grabs my chin, pulling it up so I'm looking at
his face.

The light freckles on his nose make him look absolutely adorable and his
silvery eyes are something I've never seen before, they're so unique. The
crush I had on Luke has progressed into something unexplainable. A feeling
I've never felt towards someone.

"My lip is killing me," he juts out his bottom lip where the almost healed
cut is, "The offer of kissing it better still stands."

I tilt my head up at him and give him a 'really' look. To his surprise, and
even mine, I lean forward and peck the cut on the corner of his bottom lip.
"That's better," he smirks. My phone rings on the counter beside me and I
pick it up.

"Hello?"

"We're at your house," Izzy says and my eyes widen. I look up at the time
and see it's only 12:15.

"You're a little early aren't you?" I question furrowing my eyebrows.

"The earlier the better! When are you coming home? Hold on, let me
rephrase that. When is Luke driving you home?" I can hear the laughter in
her voice.

"I'll be home soon," I smile up at Luke.

"Okay, hurry!" She hangs up. I put my phone down and look back up at
Luke.

"Can you take me home?" I ask softly.

"Fine," he sarcastically groans, picking his keys up off the counter. I say a
goodbye to Leo and we start heading to his truck.

He opens the door and I squat down, prepared to jump. I jump as high as I
can in an attempt to get myself in the passenger seat.

My top half makes it up to the seat but my legs are left dangling. I can't help
but laugh at my situation as I try to push myself up onto the seat the rest of
the way. Maybe I should just stick with the usual way Luke helps me in.

Luke chuckles from behind me as he pushes my butt up, probably with a

big ole smirk on his face. I sit up in my seat, put on my seat-belt, and by the
time Luke opens the driver's side door, I'm acting like that never happened.

________________________

"Are you kidding me?!" I burst into a fit of laughter as Luke pulls into
Burger King. We had breakfast not even 45 minutes ago.
"I'm just a little hungry," he turns and chuckles at me. He orders two
cheeseburgers and some fries.

'A little hungry', my butt.

"Get me some fries too," I whisper.

"Oh so you make fun of me but you want some too," he looks me up and
down with sass, "I see how it is."

"Get me another order of fries

please

," He says to the speaker while he side-eyes me and I'm back into a
laughing fit.

After getting his food and my fries, we pull away from Burger King and
start driving to my house. We pull into my driveway and shuts his truck off
and gets out, carrying our bag of food.

He comes over to my side, lifting me with his free arm, and placing me
softly on the ground.

"Woahhhh! He's got the big mus-cles," Izzy comes outside to meet us,
pronouncing the word 'muscle' completely wrong.

"Come on Aubrey, we need to start getting ready," she ushers me inside

with a slow-paced Luke following behind us.

"Why?" All I need to do is my makeup, hair, and put my dress on.

"Yeah, why?" Luke questions also, following us upstairs with a fry hanging
out his mouth.

"Because," Olivia says simply as we enter my room. Luke automatically

takes a seat on my bed, taking the rest of his food out.

Olivia looks down at Luke then back up at me.

"Why is he here?" She points down to him.

"Why are

you

here?" He narrows his eyes at her jokingly.

"I'm going to help Aubrey get ready. Why are you here?" She questions
again.

"I'm here for Aubrey's moral support as she has to deal with you. And I can't
eat when I'm driving," he bites his burger. I kick his shin and he gazes up at
me. I narrow my eyes and he rolls his.

"Sorry," he mumbles inaudibly.

"Mm?" I take my fries from his hand.

"I said sorry!" He says louder, "Sorry you have to deal with her Aubrey," He
smirks.

Izzy laughs loudly from the bathroom where she's picking out perfumes. I
chuckle a little too. I have to admit that was kinda funny.

Izzy comes back in and she grabs my hand starting to pull me to the
bathroom. Right as I'm in reach of Luke. His hand flies up to pat my butt. I
ignore his constant need to touch my butt but still turn around.

"If you spill anything on my bed, you're never allowed in here again," I
point to his burger.

"And we definitely wouldn't want that, now would we?" He smirks

mischievously. My cheeks turn bright red and Izzy laughs.

"Don't think you'll be needing any blush," she says pulling me the rest of
the way to the bathroom.
"Oh my gosh, you two are the cutest things in the world," Olivia whispers,
gushing heavily.

"I mean, we've never seen him act like how he acts around you! He's so
playful!"

"At school, he's all, 'Hey I'm Luke Taylor, I'm rude and I'll kick your ass'. "
Olivia mocks in a deep voice.

"Heard that." Luke remarks from his position on my bed.

After Luke finishes his brunch, he struts into the bathroom and plops down
on the toilet.

Sitting

, not pooping.

"Does that hurt?" He winces watching Olivia as she pushes my nail cuticles
back. I shake my head.

"Can you go get my fries? I left them on my dresser," I ask, rolling my head
around to look at Luke. He grabs my fries from my room and brings them
to the bathroom. I go to grab one but Olivia smacks my hand.

"Ouch!" I look at her incredulously.

"Your nails are wet!" I look at my freshly painted, navy blue nails.

___________________________

Luke feeds me my last fry as my nails are finally almost dry.

"Heels." Izzy looks at me.

"Heels?" My eyes widen.

"Heels." Izzy nods sternly. I'm going to break both my ankles. And probably
my legs. Maybe my arms too.
"No, I'm not wearing a tie." I hear Luke deadpan, glaring at Olivia.

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't want to," I shrug, hopefully ending their bickering. I'm
sure he would look just as good without a tie. Has she seen him lately? He's

Luke

Taylor

. He's

really

good looking.

"Let's be honest Olivia, no guy is going to wear a tie! It is cocktail casual!

Girls wear dresses that are not too crazy, and guys

don't

wear full-on suits!" Izzy explains.

"Oh, I thought it said formal," Olivia looks as if she's thinking.

"I'm gonna head out," Luke nods for me to come with him and I do as so.

"Sorry, they're kinda crazy," I giggle, "I don't know how I'm supposed to
spend five and a half more hours with them."

"That's why I'm leaving," he snorts as we stop at his truck. He grabs my

waist pulling me to him. I gasp in surprise and he smiles down at me.

"They're watching you know," he brings me closer and his eyes flicker up to
my bedroom window before returning back to mine.
"Just like that time when the guys were watching too," I laugh at the
memory of everyone not-so-secretly looking at us through a window.

"Let's give 'em something to look at," he murmurs before landing his lips on
mine. His hand comes up to cup my face and the other one rests on the little
of my back. He bends down more and using his hand to tilt my head up,
deepening the kiss.

I pull away, out of breath and he gives me a sweet peck on the lips before
kissing my forehead.

"I'll see you at six," he smirks at my firetruck red cheeks, getting into his
truck. I turn around and walk back into the house, still a little dazed. I make
it up to my room and I'm attacked by my screaming best friends.

"Oh my god!!"

"No effing way!"

"I

know

you two have done that before, haven't you?" I nod shyly and they scream
all over again.

________________________

Four hours later, and they have just now calmed down from what happened
between Luke and I. We all put on our dresses before our makeup and hair
was finished, ensuring that the process of putting the dresses on, wouldn't
mess up our hard work.

The trick to it is to put on a button up shirt over your dress, ensuring no

makeup fallout will get on your dress and bam! You're ready.

Olivia did a great job on all of our makeup. She kept mine simple but added
more than I usually did. Thankfully, I didn't have any blemishes on my face
this week.
Thank you, Jesus.

She added some eyeshadow creating a really pretty mild smokey halo eye
before adding skilled wings on each side. I never could do wings. After
doing the wings, she applied mascara and a light burgundy matte lipstick.

The girls wanted to leave my natural hair be, but I wanted to change things
up a bit. We straightened my hair and Izzy took half of my hair and put it in
a little bun on the lower part of the crown of my head.

Olivia curled her natural blonde hair and Izzy did an amazingly pretty
braided up-do. Their makeup looks amazing and their dresses are gorgeous.

Olivia chose a flaring out powder puff pink, low cut dress. The dress looks
amazing on her and her skin tone.

Izzy chose a really cute black dress with a lace top part and a layered silky
bottom.

We hear the door downstairs open and a minute later my mom pops her
head in. I told her tonight was homecoming and she insisted on coming
home early to take pictures for us. Izzy's date, and soon to be boyfriend, is
meeting her here, as well as Luke. Poor Olivia doesn't have a date but Izzy
and I promised we wouldn't leave her out.

"You girls look absolutely beautiful!!" My mom smiles brightly coming in

to admire our dresses.

"Thank you, momma," I smile as she gushes over my straightened hair.

"Pictures! Hurry we need pictures before the dates get here!" Mom rushes
to grab her camera. She ushers us downstairs and places us in front of the
fireplace.

"Aubrey! Where are your shoes! You look two inches tall compared to these
two!" My mom takes the camera away from her eye once she notices my
bare feet.
I let out a squeak before running as fast as I can up to my room and
grabbing my shoes. I rush back down only to come face to face with the
stern face of both Izzy and Olivia.

"Heels Aubrey! You need heels!" Izzy says.

"I can't wear those, at least not with this time limit right now!" I groan.

"Fine, fine, let's just take the pictures on the stairs!" My mom ushers us to
the stairs. I go two steps above Olivia and one step above Izzy before mom
starts taking the pictures. She takes about two hundred pictures before a
knock on the door is heard.

I rush to open it only to be disappointed to find a lean, dark-haired boy, with

light green eyes staring right back at me. This is

not

my man.

Did I actually just think that?

I smile up at him and call for Izzy. Like her usual lazy self, she's sitting on
the couch, not paying attention. I smile sheepishly up at him.

"Hi, sorry, I'm Aubrey and I'll be right back," I run over to Izzy, still
barefoot, and poke her harshly.

"What?" She jumps.

"Anthony Mackle is here, woman!!" I whisper-shout.

"Oh shite!" She jumps up running to the front door. She lets him in and they
begin taking pictures.

A few minutes later, we hear a loud truck outside. My eyes widen as I

become very nervous. I look over at Olivia for some help.
"Calm down!" She laughs, "He's literally already in love with you, you have
nothing to worry about!"

A dark blush covers my cheeks and we hear a knock on the door. I almost
laugh at his knock. He never knocks, he always just barges in.

"Go get my 'needed' shoes please!" I tell Olivia and she rushes upstairs. I
get up and walk as calmly as I can to the door. I open it and my breath gets
a little stuck in my throat.

Luke wears the heck out of his black dress shirt. His black dress shirt is
tucked into his

nicely

fitted grey dress pants. The shirt fits tightly around his huge arms and I find
it very attractive.

I almost blush at how long I must've been checking him out. I look up at his
face only to find him still in a daze of his own, his eyes darting all over my
body. His eyes make their way to mine and a breathtaking smile makes its
way onto his face.

"You look so beautiful," He smiles taking a hold of my waist and looking

down at my attire one more time.

"So pretty," he mumbles kissing my temple.

"You look handsome," I look up at him and blush. He looks down at me and
the tops of his ears start turning pink.

"Stop you're making me blush again," he whispers as a light blush adorns

his cheeks. I open the door for him and he walks in.

His arm wraps around my waist and he leans down.

"You never told me her date was Anthony," Luke groans.

"You don't like him?" I ask curiously. Anthony seemed like a nice guy.
"Bingo."

"Maybe if you were a little more social, you would like more people," I
chime in an idea.

"Why would I do that?" He thinks about the idea in distaste causing me to

let out a loud laugh.

"By the way, I

love

your shoes," he looks down at my feet, "Where'd you get them? The same
place you got that invisible money from when we went roller skating?"

I look down at my bare feet and my laughter continues.

"You're too cute." He shakes his head with a small smile.

"Oh, Luke! You're here!" My mom rushes over to us, her huge camera in
hand.

"Aubrey!" She groans, "Your shoes child, your shoes!"

I look around for Olivia and she quickly hands me the heels I'm supposed to
wear. I plop down on the couch and bend over in an attempt to put them on.
Two problems, my feet can't touch the ground, but they've never been able
to, and I can't even see my feet over the way I'm sitting and the poofiness of
the dress.

Luke bends down and takes the shoe from my hand, placing it on my foot. I
blush brightly as I hold out the other one.

"Never would I have thought Luke Taylor would do something like that!"
Anthony laughs from across the room. Luke places the second shoe on my
foot and looks up at me.

"
That

is why I don't like him," he grabs my hand and pulls me up. I stand up
shakily and attempt to take a few steps.

"Olivia, tell me how to walk in these before my cankles give out," I hold
onto Luke's arm, trying to keep steady and the room erupts into laughter.

"Honey," My mom says as she tries to control her laughter, "You don't have
cankles."

_______________________

After Olivia's completely useless lesson on how to properly walk in heels,

my mom begins taking pictures. She's telling Luke and I what to do like
she's an actual photographer. Her loud camera is taking non-stop pictures
even when we aren't ready or even posing. It even caught two of my
'almost' falls.

"Okay mom, I think that's enough," I tell her as her camera continues to
click.

"Alright," She drops her camera and smiles.

"A few things. I want more pictures of all your friends at the dance, where
are you eating before you go, and when does it start and end?" She
questions.

"We're going to meet up with everyone and eat at Daniel's Steak House.
Homecoming starts at seven thirty and it ends at midnight," I answer.

"Okay, have fun, be careful, I love you," she gives me a hug and ushers us
all out the door. Mom has been doing a lot of 'ushering' this past hour. She
grabs my hand right as Luke and I are about to leave.

"I'm sure your father is looking down on you right now, I know he's so
proud," my eyes turn glossy.

"Thank you mom," I choke giving her one more hug.

We walk to Luke's truck Olivia following right behind us.

"You aren't gonna ride with Izzy?" I tease.

"Yeah, no thanks," she gags. Luke opens the door for me and lifts me
inside. I look in the back seat to see Olivia struggling to get herself up into
it, considering there's no running board to step up on.

"Good god!" She groans, "It's like this thing is only made for people over
the height of six feet."

Luke gets in the driver's side and we start driving to the restaurant.

"Luke!" Olivia all of a sudden shouts from the back.

"What?" He grumbles.

"Are we there yet?" Luke looks over at me and gives me an 'I

know

she isn't going to do this the whole way' look.

"No," he grits out.

After finally making it to the restaurant, Luke jumps out his side like the
seat is on fire. He comes to my side and helps me out, grumbling about my
laughing saying stuff like 'it's not funny.'

Soon, cars pull into the parking lot and the first one to shoot out of his Jeep
is none other than Eli himself.

"You look so good!" He gives me a bear hug while wiping imaginary tears.

"Thank you," I laugh. We greet the rest of the guys and soon walk into the
restaurant. Luke holds my hand on the way to our table and even once we
sit down. I appreciate him trying to keep me from falling on my face.
I notice Ryan giving Olivia a lot of glances. I wonder why he didn't ask
Olivia to go with him? I know she would jump at the idea and it's quite
obvious he likes her too.

Anthony sits between Luke and Eli a little awkwardly. I feel slightly bad for
him. Firstly, he doesn't really know us that well so there isn't much to be
said, and second, he's kinda sitting with his shoulders scrunched together
since Luke's shoulders are so wide and Eli doesn't know how to sit in a
chair properly.

Luke's left-hand rests on my left thigh, his arms slightly covering the open
part of my dress. After a few minutes of looking through the menu, a young
waiter walks up to our table and his eyes automatically dart directly to my
breasts. It's quite obvious too. I shift uncomfortably and Luke glares up at
the waiter.

The waiter's eyes travel up and down my body and face, making me blush
with embarrassment.

"Oh shit," Eli looks between the waiter and Luke.

"Eyes up here asshole," Luke grumbles from beside me, removing his and
from my thigh and putting it around the back of my chair.

"Excuse me?" The waiter asks, now paying attention.

"You heard me," Luke waves down another waiter, "Can we get a new
waiter? This one sucks."

Laughs are heard around the table and the second waiter nods. After waiting
a minute for the new waiter to come, he finally arrives. Thankfully, this one
is much older and respectful.

______________________

"I can't believe you got barbeque sauce on your dress Izzy." She sits down
on the counter as I get the brown colored sauce off her dress the best I can.
"No homecoming dress is going to stop me from getting ribs!" She laughs,
"At least my dress is dark."

I get most of it off and now you can barely tell it was there. Hopefully, it'll
also just be dark in the place where homecoming is.

We leave the bathroom and go outside where everyone is waiting for us. We
finished eating about ten minutes ago.

Olivia, Luke, and I all get in his truck and he starts driving to the legion hall
where homecoming is taking place.

After Olivia's constant nagging and Luke's newfound disliking towards her,
we make it to Wyersburg Legion Hall.

Luke helps me out the truck and places his enormous hand on the small of
my back, leading me into the large one-story building.

A DJ wearing large headphones stood at the front of the large, open room.
There wasn't much of a theme, just random casual colors. Most people were
dancing but there were some at the punch table or sitting at the round tables,
spread throughout the room.

Luke tugs my hand, leading us further into the large room.

"Welp, the punch is already spiked," Eli spits the bright red punch back into
his cup before placing it on a random table.

"Where's your date, Eli?" Izzy asks as we all take a seat at one of the round
tables.

"Oh, she's right here," he puts his arm around the empty chair beside him,
"Say hi Loryn."

For some reason, we all look expectantly at Eli's imaginary date Loryn,
waiting for her imaginary self to respond.

"She's a little shy," Eli explains and I giggle at his craziness. After a few
minutes, Izzy and Anthony leave to dance, followed by Ryan and a blushing
Olivia.

"What was that?" Eli leans into 'Loryn'.

"Sorry, guys," he shrugs, "My girl wants to dance, I will see you later," he
stands up, putting his arm up in the air around Loryn's imaginary shoulders.
I laugh as he walks off.

"Can we dance?" I ask shyly.

"I don't dance." I fiddle with my cross necklace nervously as he answers.

Why doesn't he dance? Does he know how?

"Do you not know how?" I ask softly, looking up at his eyes. He sighs and
looks down at me, his eyes softening.

"I do." He stands up, grabbing my hand. I stand up and right on time, a slow
song starts playing. A peaceful aura is set by the slow tune and people grab
their dates and begin dancing.

Luke leads me to the middle of the dance floor and most people stop what
they're doing to turn and look at the two of us. Most in disbelief and a few
have content smiles on their faces.

But one had a look of jealousy, and that was something I wish I would've
seen. It probably would've saved me some pain later on.

A blush lights up my face when I turn back to Luke and see that his eyes are
already trained on me. He pulls me to his chest softly and kisses the top of
my head. We swing to the beat and I realize how wrong I was.

Luke

can

dance, he's actually pretty darn good. I look around and still see people
looking at us.

"Why are they staring?" I ask looking up into his stormy eyes.
"Because," he pauses and twirls me gently, "I told you I never dance. Ever."
He brings me back into his arms. He places his fingers underneath my chin
before lifting my head, bringing my eyes to his.

"But somehow, you managed to get me out here," I blush as he leans down
and kisses the corner of my mouth. We continue to sway, me still wrapped
in his muscular arms.

"Song is over," Eli sings walking past us, his arm still around 'Loryn.' As we
start walking back, Luke's phone rings. His dad's name pops up on the
screen and he sighs.

"I'll be right back," he kisses my temple before walking out the back
entrance of the legion hall.

________________________

20 minutes have passed since I last saw Luke. I'm sitting at our roundtable,
my chin resting on my hand. I don't want to rush his talk with his dad or
anything but, how much can be said in 20 minutes? What all did he need to
tell Luke?

I smile softly as I watch couples dancing and having fun on the dance floor.

Maybe I should check on him.

I stand up and make my way to the back entrance. I open the door and step
outside. I look to my right and see no one. I look to my left and let out a soft
gasp.

Katrina is leaned up against the railing of the legion hall deck and Luke
stands in front of her, their lips locked. At the sound of my gasp, Luke pulls
away and his head whips to mine. His eyes widen and he steps away from a
smirking Katrina.

I bite my wobbly bottom lip as I back away from the two. Luke looks at me
with regret and remorse as he steps towards me.
I turn and try to pull open the door I came from. It doesn't budge as I try my
hardest to keep my eyes from leaking.

"Aubrey, I swear-" I don't hear the rest as the stupid door finally opens. I
rush inside and walk back to our table to get my phone, a single tear rolling
down my cheek. I look around for anybody and I see Eli by the snack table.
I rush up to him and pull on his shirt. He looks down at me and his eyes
automatically widen as he drops his plate of finger food back onto the table.

"What happened?" Concern fills his eyes.

"Can you drive me home," I wipe the tear off my cheek.

"Where's Luke?" His brows furrow and I feel my eyes water even more.

"Please just can you?" I ask desperately.

"Yeah, yes," I keep my tears at bay as we dodge the sight of Luke as he

looks around in search of probably me.

Confusion and sadness run through my head as Eli drives me home, the
scene replaying in my head. I really don't know what to think. I would've
thought differently if Katrina was the one in front of Luke but she wasn't.
He was the one in front.

I really thought he liked me. What did I do wrong?

"Aubrey,

please

, tell me what happened?" Eli asks softly. Another stupid, stray tear makes
its way down my face.

"I thought he liked me Eli," I shake my head. I'm such an idiot for thinking
someone like Luke would like someone like me.

"What are you talking about? Luke?" He questions confusedly.

"I saw him and Katrina kissing, I-I just thought he liked me," I close my
eyes, keeping in the water droplets.

Eli remains silent and I see his hands tighten around his steering wheel.

"I wish I never met him, God, why couldn't you just give me a break?" I
question more to myself. I know Eli heard it though when I saw him look at
me, sadness written on his face.

Everything was going so well. I was coping with dad's death, I was doing
great in school, I had a guy that liked me, a great one at that, but I was
wrong.

Man, was I wrong.

"Thank you, Eli," I shut the door to his Jeep as I walk inside.

"You're home early!" I hear mom shout from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it wasn't as fun as we'd thought it would be," I say in the strongest
voice I can muster. I finally make it to my room and I cry into my pillow.

I know we aren't dating and all but what the girls said yesterday really made
me think he was going to at least ask me out or something.

I wish dad was here.

________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I can't believe that happened.

I sigh again, running my fingers through my hair.

I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend tonight. But no, Katrina ruined it
all.
I hold my head up by my hand on the arm of my living room couch.
Replaying what happened over and over.

How could I've let this happen? I hear a car door slam and stomping
footsteps walking to my front door. My eyebrows furrow at who it could be
since dad was in Wisconsin, for business.

The front door slams open and Leo starts barking his head off. A girly
scream is heard followed by more pounding footsteps.

"I don't have time for your shit Leo!" Eli's angry voice rings throughout the
front of the house. He comes stomping into the living room before turning
the light on. I look up at him and he glares down at me.

"You better have an amazing

fucking

explanation for the shit you pulled tonight. I swear to God if you don't, you
will never fucking hear from me again." Eli's states angrily.

I've never seen him this angry before.

"She was fucking changing you. You may not have realized it but everyone
else has. Ever since your mom died, you became a completely different
person. Aubrey was changing you back into the fun guy we used to know.
So tell me why the fuck you would do something like this to her?" He adds
and my eyes widen.

"How do you know about my mom?" I whisper, confusion written all over
my face.

"I am your best friend dammit!! I know this shit! I don't know why you
didn't tell me but I knew a soon as it happened. The change in your
behavior was drastic. Now don't change the damn subject," he crosses his
arms over his chest and I begin to explain everything.

_____________________
"Hello?" I answer my phone with a sigh. I don't want to keep Aubrey
waiting.

"Hey son, listen-" he begins to explain his trip to Wisconsin. How long he's
going to be gone, rules, no parties, blah.

This isn't my first rodeo.

"Oh and call your grandmother, she wants to talk to you," he hangs up
abruptly and I groan. Lord knows how long this call will take.

I call grandma twenty times before she finally answers. I know she'd kill me
if I didn't call her straight away. She probably lost her phone again.

"Hello?" An extreme distant greeting is heard from the other line.

"The phone is upside down grandma," I chuckle.

"Goodness me," she turns the phone around, "Hey baby!"

She talks my ear off for an entire 12 minutes before handing the phone off to
dads brother. I become antsy as I know I've been out here for almost twenty
minutes.

"Brian, I really need to go," I tell him desperately and thankfully he ends it
there. I turn around to go back inside when I feel a hand go around my
forearm.

I look beside me to see Katrina. I roll my eyes at her presence.

"What do you want?" I narrow my eyes at her. She backs up against the
railing pulling on my arm.

"I wanted to show you something," she smiles.

"I don't have time for your shit," I glare. I hear someone nearing the door
and I'm about to turn around when she suddenly jumps up and yanks me to
her, shoving her lips onto mine, surprising the shit out of me.
I hear a soft gasp from behind me and I break away.

Please, no.

I look into the watery eyes of Aubrey. My heart hurts as I look into her eyes,
seeing what I caused.

She turns and tries to open the door but it's stuck.

"Aubrey, I swear," I begin to explain but I'm cut off by her running out of
sight.

Katrina's arm returns to mine as she pulls me back.

"Aw, what a shame. At least you don't have to worry about letting her go
now. I've already done it for you," she giggles the ugliest giggle on earth.

Nothing compared to my sweet Aubrey's laughter.

"You bitch," So sorry momma.

"You fucking ruined everything," I yank my arm from her grip and pull open
the door to the legion hall.

I search around for Aubrey but I see her little self nowhere.

_____________________

"I

promise.

That's exactly what happened," I look into Eli's eyes as I say that hoping he
sees the sincerity.

"You

know
she's the only girl I've ever had real feelings for. I wouldn't just let her go
like that," I explain further.

"I believe you," I sigh in relief, "But that doesn't mean she will."

I put my head in my hands and let out a frustrated sigh.

I want my mom.

I feel tears prickle my eyes as I think about her. How much I miss her and
how much I need her.

"Luke, you have to understand that Aubrey isn't like other girls. She's
delicate. And for some...reason, she chose you out of all the guys at school.
Let's just get this out there, she's beautiful. Every guy swooned over her,
shit even I did. BUT! I don't anymore so un-clench those fists. She's like a
little sister to me now." He holds his hands up once he sees my angry face.

"All I'm saying is that you better fix this before someone else snatches her
up. And for the sake of me, the twins, and I guess even Ryan, get her back.
You're an asshole without her."

_______________________

|||||Sorry it's been more than a few days, I'll update again soon!

Thanks for reading peeps!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 6363

-Ashlyn M.
Part 27 "I don't want to talk to
you"
*AUBREY'S POV*

Izzy and Olivia look at me in disbelief.

"He-He wouldn't do that though?" Izzy kinda questions.

"That's what I thought too," I sigh becoming sad. We look over to Olivia
who hasn't uttered a word since I told them what happened with Luke the
day before.

A look overtakes Olivia's face. Rage. Her face turns red and her eyebrows
furrow together. She picks up my pillow from my bed and starts punching
and kicking it. Izzy and I just look at her with widened eyes. She's actually
quite scary.

"That motherfucker!" She yells out before finally calming down a bit.

"Y-You okay now?" Izzy asks hesitantly.

"I don't understand why the hell he would do something like that. For him
to have her

back against the railing, it can only mean that he was kissing her,

" Olivia says aloud the exact thought in my head.

"I just really thought he liked me," I whisper sadly, feeling my bottom lip
become wobbly. The girls wrap their arms around me providing support.

"He was my first kiss too," I shake my head. Why would I let him do that to
me?
"Were there any signs I was missing? Anything?" I question more to
myself.

"No. Do not start blaming this on yourself." Izzy points her finger in my
face, "I will not allow it."

"We need to take your mind off this. We should go roller skating!" Olivia
suggests, her face lighting up.

"Luke took me roller skating one time," I recall the memory.

"Forget I said that."

I sigh softly, placing my glasses on my nose.

Headaches are the worst.

"Let's go to a strip club," Izzy smirks. I gasp hitting her thigh lightly. "Or
we could just watch Magic Mike."

"What's Magic Mike?" I question confusedly. The girls look at me like I'm
crazy before dragging me off my bed and forcing me downstairs, to the
movie room.

______________________

I squeal loudly as a man, an almost naked man, dances around the stage. I
cover my eyes with a deep blush forming on my cheeks.

"Could you imagine a man like that dancing on you?" I can just tell Olivia
is wiggling her eyebrows as she nudges Izzy.

"I can't wait until I'm 21," Izzy sighs.

"Is it over?" I mumble with my hands still covering my eyes.

"Yes it is over," Olivia laughs. I uncover my eyes and thankfully there's

nothing but Channing Tatum's gorgeous face.
I yawn and look down at the time on my phone.

1:24 am.

"Holy snickerdoodles, we have school tomorrow!" I jump up from my seat

and pick up my blanket, "Come on, we need to go to bed!"

We lazily make our ways upstairs and we all plop on my bed.

"What am I going to do tomorrow?" I ask the girls. Luke is in quite a few of

my classes.

"I wish I had some type of advice to give you right now but I don't." Izzy
winces.

"Me either," Olivia plays with a lock of my hair. I say my quick prayer
before closing my eyes.

___________________

"I'll fart on you if you don't wake up."

Isn't that just lovely to hear as soon as you wake up on a beautiful Monday
morning?

I put on some black jeans with small holes in the knees and a white shirt
with thin black lines. I walk to my bathroom and decide I'll braid my hair. I
do two french braids, but stop them at the base of my neck and tie them into
a low bun.

I apply my usual makeup; Mascara.

Since the girls and I were running a bit late since I wouldn't wake up, we
had to eat cereal. After our lovely cereal breakfast, I drove to school with
Olivia in my passenger seat.

"I don't think I can do this," I whine as we pull into my regular parking
spot.
"I think I'm overreacting. We weren't even dating. It's not like he was my
boyfriend or anything. He can kiss whoever he wants," I decide.

"That's the spirit! Now let's go!" Olivia smiles as we get out the car. Izzy
joins us and as soon as we step onto the sidewalk, I want to turn back again.

"But he took my first kiss," I mumble turning around, "And he knew he did,
too."

"No Aubrey," Izzy grabs my arm, turning me back around. I take a deep
breath before we enter the school.

"Go to your locker we'll keep a lookout," Olivia ushers. I rush up to my

locker and hurriedly put my code in, of course twice. I close my eyes as I
stick my hand in, still a little paranoid about the whole sticky-note situation.

The one Luke stopped.

I groan softly closing my locker. Why can't I just stop thinking about his
stupid beautiful face for five minutes?!

"Oh shit, run!" Olivia pushes my shoulder and my eyes widen.

"He's coming," Izzy runs with Olivia and I even though her first class is all
the way on the other side of the school.

We make it out of the locker hallway and I stop running. I clutch my side as
it burns with a cramp.

Good guacamole, I'm so unfit.

"Oh my gosh," I fall to the ground still clutching my side dramatically,

"Call Jesus, only he can help this."

"Why were you running?" A confused Eli turns the corner with his eyebrow
raised.

"I think you should know who we're running from. You are best friends
with him," Olivia aggressively pokes Eli's chest and I slowly get up from
my position.

Eli's gaze turns sympathetic as he looks towards me. He pulls me into his
famous bear hug.

"Maybe you should talk to him," he suggests and I pull away from his
shaking my head.

"No, I don't want to," I look down at my shoes sadly.

"We should probably get to class," Olivia leans her arm on my shoulder.

Due to my height.

I look up at her and sigh, closing my eyes. "I guess so." She smiles softly at
me before hooking our arms together.

"I'll see ya'll later," I smile back at Izzy and Eli as we turn another corner.
Olivia and I make it to first period and fortunately, Luke hasn't got here yet.
I let out a breath of relief at that.

Olivia gives me an encouraging smile as we take our seats. Right as class is

about to begin, the classroom door opens and I can already sense who it is. I
look up and my eyes connect with beautiful grey ones. When I feel my
sadness return, I look back down at my desk.

He begins walking to his seat but he stops at mine. I feel his gaze on me as
he stands at my desk.

"Aubrey-" He whispers sadly but he's cut off by Mr. Matcherson.

"Please take a seat Mr. Taylor." Luke lets out a harsh breath. He would say
to me 'I'll sit when I want to sit' and then I would smack his arm well, if we
were talking.

I shake those thoughts from my head as Mr. Matcherson continues on,

starting class.
After listening in for a few minutes. I stop writing and my eyes widen.
Olivia looks at me weirdly.

I just realized, Luke is the only person I know in math, next class.

____________________

The bell rings and I jump up out of my seat like it's on fire.

"Aubrey! Wait," I hear Luke run after me but I keep on speed walking like I
can't hear him.

"Sweetheart," his voice softens as he gently grasps my wrist, turning me

around. My eyes almost water at that stupid nickname. Almost.

"I don't want to talk to you," I try to sound firm but it only comes out as a
soft whisper. I curse my natural soft-spoken voice before turning around
and walking the rest of the way to math.

I plop down in my seat and after a few seconds, Luke does the same. I try
my hardest to keep my eyes off him, especially when I know he's looking at
me.

If we were talking right now, I would look over at him, probably blush and
tell him to pay attention. But we aren't.

"Please talk to me?" He pleads and I wanted to give in. Really badly
actually but I knew if I did, I would be sucked right back into his trap. I
continue to ignore him throughout math which was extremely hard
considering he wouldn't stop asking me to talk to him.

After the bell rings he grabs onto my arm right as I'm about to leave the
classroom. He pulls me back to him and I struggle to keep my eyes away
from him.

"Look at me."

"Please, I said I don't want to talk," my eyes water at his touch. I shake my
arm from his grasp and make my way to geography.
"Izzy it's so hard," I almost would've broken down right there if it weren't
for her pulling me into a hug.

___________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"It's driving me insane Eli," I tie my cleats as we finish changing for

practice.

"She won't talk to me, she won't even look at me," I sigh, "I just want her."

"She'll let you explain eventually." He encourages.

"Let's go, boys! Practice time!" Coach claps as everyone runs out the locker
room. I walk out slowly, not having much energy.

I guess that comes with staying up most of the night. We start our warm-ups
and I sluggishly go through them. I keep glancing up at the walkway where
Aubrey usually goes through with Izzy and Olivia but she never shows up. I
move my disappointed gaze from the walkway back to the field.

Will she ever let me talk to her? I would dance in front of everyone at
homecoming a thousand more times if it meant she would talk to me.

"You okay?" I look to my left as Tristan comes up beside me.

"I'll be fine."

___________________

I take a swig of my beer as the guys and I watch a football game in Ryan's
basement. I'm not really paying attention to what's going on though. I can't
get her breathtaking face out of my head.

"You hungry Luke?" Ryan asks as he comes down with a bag full of food.

"No," I shake my head. The room goes silent, even Ryan's little brother
Ross, stopped playing with his toys.
"W-What?" He looks at me like I've gone crazy.

"I'm not hungry." If possible the room goes even quieter. The guys all look
around at each other and I roll my eyes.

I feel Eli's gaze but I ignore him. I don't feel like talking to anyone. Unless
it's Aubrey. I just miss her.

__________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I've successfully made it through two days without having to talk to Luke. It
gets harder every single day considering he's still trying to get me to talk to
him.

"Hey Aubrey," I turn around at the sound of Lee's voice. Most people have
already left school but I told the girls I had to put some things in my locker.

"Hey, Lee! It's been a while," I smile. He fidgets nervously with a button on
his shirt.

"I-I just wanted to say that I saw you crying at homecoming. Sorry it took
me so long to talk to you but, I just wanted to make sure you are okay," His
eyes fill with concern as he talks.

That is so sweet. Lee is such a kind person.

"Can I give you a hug?" I ask, he's quite shy, even more than me, so I just
want to make sure it's okay with him. His cheeks turn a little red and he
nods.

I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a hug. He really is such a
caring person and I needed a hug. His arms hesitantly wrap around my
torso.

"I'm okay Lee. Thank you for asking though. It was just a rough night, that's
all." I pull away from the hug after about a minute or so.
"I really needed a hug, thank you for that too," I laugh and he looks at me
sheepishly.

"You are welcome," he smiles, showing his cute deep little dimples.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I smile, shutting my locker as I turn to go out the
exit. Right as I turn though, I see Luke's back as he's turning a corner.

Wonder what he was doing?

I sigh at my own thoughts. I truly think it's impossible to stop thinking

about Luke.

____________________

"Wake up honey," my mom wakes me the next morning.

"Oh and before I leave, don't forget to pack for your field trip. It's all
weekend right?"

"Yeah," I yawn as I crawl out of bed. She bids goodbye and I start getting
ready for school.

After making it to school, Izzy, Olivia, and I meet up.

"How are you today?" Izzy asks referring to the whole 'Luke' situation.

"Not any better than yesterday," The bell rings and Olivia and I hurry to
class. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for Luke trying to get me to
talk to him.

We walk in class and Luke's already there. He doesn't look up at me or

anything. He doesn't say anything or even acknowledges my presence.

Good. That's what I wanted.

Right?

Even Olivia is confused as to why Luke hasn't even looked at me.

________________

Luke hasn't looked at me since Wednesday. It's Friday now and my

confusion has died down. Maybe he just finally realized what he did was
wrong and that it hurt me.

"What's the weather supposed to be like?" I ask Olivia as we sit in my

room. Even though mom told me to pack two days ago, I procrastinated a
lot, leaving me only a few hours to do it before we leave for the trip tonight.

"It's fall, it is sometimes cold, sometimes not," she shrugs looking through
my drawers and shoving things into a bag.

"There is a lake, so I'll get a bathing suit," she opens my top drawer,
mumbling to herself.

"I think we're done," Izzy shoves the last of my clothes into my bag before
zipping it shut.

"Right on time," I glance down at my phone which says 5:30.

"Let's go," we pick up our bags, Olivia's, who was already packed, and
mine.

"Place your bags here and board the bus in an orderly manner," Mr. Wiles
announces and a ton of kids throw their bags on the ground before running
to the bus. Mr. Wiles watches them shaking his head.

After placing my bag down gently and orderly getting on the bus, I take a
seat beside Izzy and Olivia sits behind us beside some random girl.

"Alright. Rules!" Mr. Wiles announces, "If you do anything bad, whatever
that may be, you will be suspended. If you wander off, you will be forced to
go home immediately. When we get there, you will be assigned a partner.
You and your partner will have to go on the hike to each of your rooms.
Tomorrow, we will be going to the lake and I expect no childish behavior!
If you wish not to go to the lake, a separate activity is being set up. Finally,
on Sunday, the nature tour will take place." He explains and we all listen
quietly.

During the bus ride, Izzy and I listen to music and I even sleep some. Izzy
shakes me harshly when we get there.

Mr. Wiles ushers us off the bus and starts assigning partners.

"Isabelle and Avery"

"Eli and Ivan"

"Olivia and Micah"

"Ryan and Chris" which is followed by a loud curse from Ryan, "Language
Ryan."

"Aubrey and Luke."

My heart stutters as I hear who I'm paired with. I look over at the girls
frantically and they make 'yikes' faces at me.

"The bags will stay in the bus and the bus will be driven to where you will
be staying. Now, begin your hike."

Everyone starts walking to the opening in the trees and I look around for the
tallest person. When I finally see him, I walk up to him awkwardly and we
start walking, not uttering a single sound.

Finally, I gather up my courage and I say the thing I've been wanting to say
for days.

"Why did you start ignoring me?" He looks down at my sudden question.

"I left you alone because that's what you wanted," Luke says quietly, "But
you never let me explain. I tried to."

"You have to understand that after that, I wanted to be left alone," I explain
softly, looking down at my feet.
"Yeah well you and Lee seemed to be nice and close," He mumbles angrily
and I feel myself getting angry. He's angry at me for talking to Lee when he
kissed Katrina? I stop walking and turn myself towards him, looking right
up at him for the first time in days.

"You have no right, to be mad at me for talking to Lee." I try my best to

sound angry even though inside I feel like crying.

"Then you should give me the right to explain myself," He throws his arms
into the air.

"I didn't want to!" My voice raises as my eyes become watery.

"Why not Aubrey?!" His voice raises as well.

"Because it hurt! It hurt seeing you with her when I thought you liked me."
My voice softens towards the end as I realize I just told him that. I feel a
tear drip out of my eye as I look anywhere but at him.

"Stop crying," he mumbles.

"Why?" I aggressively wipe the tear from my face.

"It hurts to see you cry," He whispers, "Especially if I'm the cause of it."

"Then don't look at me," I mumble angrily.

"That's kinda hard considering you're so fucking beautiful!" he shouts back

just as angry.

"Why did you kiss her?" I ask defeated. That question has been on my mind
since the second it happened.

"I didn't. I swear Aubrey, I didn't. She kissed me." He explains pleadingly,
"I was talking to my dad, then dad told me to call grandma, then I talked to
my uncle, and then Katrina came out and she grabbed my arm, she pulled
me to her and she just leaned up. I swear I didn't kiss her. I do

like you Aubrey, I

really

do."

I look up at his eyes for any signs that he's lying. I don't find any.

"Do you promise?" I ask quietly.

"I

promise

," he takes a step closer to me and he pulls me to him. He lifts me into the
air, wrapping his strong arms around my waist. I wrap my arms around his
neck and lay my head on his shoulder.

"I would never hurt you," He says sincerely, "And that night, I was even
going to ask you to be my girlfriend."

My head shoots away from his shoulder. I look at his face and see nothing
but sincerity.

"Why don't you just ask now," I blush lightly at what just came out of my
mouth.

"Really?" He asks surprised, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I nod immediately and his face lights up as he brings me back into a hug.

"It was hell not talking to you."

"I'm sorry," I say dejectedly and he shakes his head.

"

I'm

sorry." He places a lingering kiss on my cheek and they heat up, "I missed
that blush."
He sits me on the ground and grabs my hand. By now, we're behind
everyone, they all have already gotten to the place we're staying.

After a ten minute walk, we make it to civilization. Just kidding, we just

make it to the hotel.

Olivia marches right up to us as we walk to the main lobby of the hotel. She
looks Luke in the eyes before kicking him in the shin.

"If you were shorter I would've kicked you somewhere else," she sneers at
Luke, "If you ever

, hurt Aubrey again, I will throat punch you so hard."

"Now with that being said," she straightens out her pin-straight hair, "I'm so
glad you two have made up!"

I blush and Eli comes running up to us.

"Oh-em-gee! Luke won't be grumpy!" Eli hugs me tightly and Luke glares
at his head.

"Alright, pick your roommate! They have to be of the same sex too! Don't
even try to be sneaky," Mr. Wiles announces sternly. Olivia, Izzy, and I all
look at each other in sadness.

"We'll see about that," Olivia mutter before strutting right up to Mr. Wiles.
We all follow, eager to see what her plan is. She places her hands on her
hips sassily before tilting her head. She takes a deep breath before starting.

"Excuse me Mr. Sir, you see, I have two wonderful best friends who each
don't have any other friends so I would really appreciate it if you would
drop the 'one roommate' thing just for us. It would cause zero problems,
especially if this goody-goody," she points to me, "would be staying with
us."

She looks at Mr. Wiles like she's daring him to object. He looks right back
at her with his eyes slightly widened. He looks between her, me, and Izzy.
"I guess that won't be a problem," he quickly adds all three of our names to
a room before walking off.

"You didn't have to do that, I could've stayed with someone else," I say.

"Yeah, no." She throws that out the window.

_________________________

"Finally," Izzy plops on our bed. After finally unpacking all our clothes and
getting our room situated to our likings, we're tired.

"Ryan just texted me. He says there are a few people starting a campfire. He
said we should come. He also says that Luke's says if Aubrey doesn't come,
he's dragging her out," Olivia explains and I let out a loud laugh.

"I'm so happy you two are talking again," Olivia claps her hands together
excitedly.

"We're dating now," I blush and the girls go crazy. They scream and start
jumping up and down on the two beds. Olivia quickly grabs her phone and
call someone.

"Who are you calling?" I giggle.

"Keira!! Add a 'cutest couple' category in the yearbook bitch!" She yells
through the phone and Izzy yells out a loud yes. Olivia hangs up the phone
and they both tackle me.

They jump with me, shaking me all over the place.

"I'm gonna get whiplash!" I laugh.

"I'm sorry, we're just so excited!" Izzy squeals. We leave our room and start
heading down to the lobby where the guys are. We get into the elevator and
click the '1' button. Thankfully Mr. Wiles is letting us do this without his
supervision. It would be weird if he were to be there too.
We make it down to the lobby and automatically, Luke wraps his arm
around my waist. He places a swift kiss on the top of my head and I see the
girls fawn silently beside me.

We walk outside the hotel and to the edge of the woods. About ten more
people are sitting around a campfire. We all sit together in a group, me,
tucked right against Luke's side.

He hasn't taken his eyes or hands off me since we made up.

For some reason, that makes me pretty darn giddy inside.

_______________________

|||||Thank you for reading! *Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 3987

- Ashlyn M.
Part 28 "How could he do such a
thing?"
"Luke?" Eli asks again, poking the fire with a long stick. Luke continues to
twirl one of my curls, not paying attention to Eli. I softly nudge his side
with my elbow and he rolls his eyes before turning his gaze to Eli.

While Luke talks to Eli, I scoot closer to the girls.

"Look who decided to join us," Izzy giggles with a big smirk on her face.

"Yes, and we need to take advantage of the time we get to spend with you
knowing Luke won't let you go for ten minutes," Olivia adds and my face
turns crimson. What they're saying is kind of true. Ever since we made up,
he hasn't stopped holding onto me. It's like he thinks I'm going to fly away
or something.

"Stop," I groan, fanning my still flaming cheeks. They giggle like hyena's
and point at my reddened face.

"Okay, we're done," Izzy smiles.

"You guys are perfect for each other," Olivia smirks, nudging my shoulder
teasingly. I look over my shoulder at Luke who is barely listening to Eli.
Luke must've felt my gaze on his because he looks over at me. His bottom
lip rolls into his mouth and gives me a one of a kind smirk before turning
back to Eli.

I suddenly feel very hot, is that normal?

"You should jump him," Izzy claps as quietly as she can and my eyes widen
at what just came out of her mouth.

"Jump him?" I whisper-shout and she laughs.

"Jump his bones. Ride him, cowgirl," she nudges my shoulder with her arm
and my heart almost gives out, unable to take what she had just uttered.

"To not make Aubrey's cheeks blow completely up," Olivia smiles and I'm
thankful she has my back, "I'll tell you that stuff happened between Ryan
and me."

We look at her and motion for to continue.

"During homecoming, I was just sitting there by myself when he came up to

me and asked if I wanted to dance. I almost crapped my pants when he
asked but I got up anyway. We danced and we kissed!"

I bounce in my seat excitedly

. I knew they had something special.

"Are you two dating now?" I ball my fists and shake them excitedly, a
weird habit I've always had when excited.

"No. I think we're just taking it slow. He better ask me out soon though, I'm
getting impatient." She crosses her arms, "I've waited years to even talk to
him."

"And what about you," I turn my attention towards Izzy.

"Oh well, Anthony asked me to be his girlfriend when he drove me home

after homecoming," Izzy gushes. I smile happily hug the both of them.

I'm so happy that they're happy.

I rub my eyes with the back of my hands tiredly. A second later, strong
hands grasp my waist and lift me onto a lap.

"You're tired?" He questions, turning me around so I'm facing him. I open

up a small space in between my thumb and my pointer finger.

"Only a teeny bit," I look up at him.

"Me too girl-friend," Eli pops up beside us. Luke gives Eli his famous glare
and I giggle.

"It's almost twelve, I'm going to sleep," Izzy stands up. Mostly everyone
else stands up and Luke sits me down carefully on the ground.

I look around, squinting my eyes. Yep, still can't see anything in the dark. I
reach over and grab Luke's hand.

"Wrong person," Eli laughs and I blush darkly.

"Sorry," I laugh sheepishly.

"Did you just cheat on me?" Luke chides from the other side of me which
elicits a laugh from Eli and I.

__________________________

I walk extra slowly and hold onto Luke's hand tight as we walk back to the
hotel.

"You're walking like a grandma," Luke says.

I huff and Eli lets out a bark of laughter.

"I'm sorry, I just can't see anything."

"Oh shoot. I knew we were forgetting something," Olivia says. Luke stops
us and I barely see his head tilt down at me. I squint harder, trying to see his
attractive face.

"Get on my back," he suggests like I actually have the ability to just jump
on his back.

"Yeah, okay, let me just hop up there real quick," I say sarcastically.

"I've got this," Eli nods and picks me up effortlessly. He places me on

Luke's back and I cling to him like a monkey.
"There we go, all solved. You. Are. Welcome." Eli applauds himself.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly as we walk. Well, as Luke walks.

"Why?" He questions.

"I'm in a bad mood," I explain and he chuckles.

"If that's how bad your bad moods are, then there's no need to apologize,"
He assures me.

After only a couple more minutes of walking, we make it inside the hotel.
Luke lets me down gently but of course still keeps a hold on me.

"Goodnight," I pull away from his hold, only to be brought back in. My
face presses into his chest as he holds me to him.

"Night." He pulls my face up to his and gives me a lingering kiss. When we

pull away, of course, I'm a blushing mess and he's just smirking at me.

"Bye," I say softly before quickly joining the girls in the elevator. As soon
as the elevator door closes, the girls bust my eardrums with their screaming.

_______________________

"Thank you all for meeting me down here on time. Unlike two

people

" Mr. Wiles frowns disappointingly.

I look around and can't seem to spot Eli or Luke.

"If someone can just please go up there to room 119. The door got slammed
in my face," Mr. Wiles announces looking quite angry causing mostly
everyone to laugh.
Mr. Wiles looks around the room for volunteers to wake up the world's
moodiest guy and his 'best friend.'

Of course no one volunteers,

not

even

the twins

or

Ryan. A few people look over to me and I hide slightly behind Izzy and
Olivia.

"We'll go," Olivia grabs my arm and pulls Izzy and I back to the elevator.

The ride to room 119 goes by slowly as I avoid the weirdly smiling faces of
the two girls. After it finally dings, I bolt out of the elevator like it's on fire.

Why do they love to torture me?

We make it to room 119 and the girls push me up to the door. I take a deep
breath and knock firmly.

After about 20 seconds or so, a

very

tired, shirtless Eli answers. He looks down at me through his barely opened
eyes and he smiles. He opens the door wider for us and I walk in,
immediately spotting a soundly sleeping Luke.

He's sleeping on his stomach with his head turned away from me and his
arms under his pillow. From behind me, I hear Eli jump back onto his bed
and I sigh.
This is probably going to take a while.

I walk to his bed and sit on the edge of it while running my hand up and
down his muscular, shirtless back. He stirs slightly before turning his head
over to me. I wipe his wild bed head hair off his forehead with an amused
smile.

He gives me an adorable cute smile before throwing his arm around my

waist and tugging me beside him. I groan as he gets comfortable again, now
cuddling me to his side.

"Luke."

"Aubrey." He replies sweetly. I gather up my actual physical strength and

try and sit up. I get just about nowhere and huff as he chuckles at me.

"Come on, you need to get up," I pull on his arm after he finally releases me
from his death grip.

"It's too early," he finally sits up giving me an amazing full view of his
muscular abdomen and I tell myself not to blush.

"It's 11 am." I shake my head at him.

"Exactly!" Eli groans, shoving his face into his pillow. I watch in
amusement as Izzy picks up a pillow from the floor and starts hitting Eli
with it. He tries to shield himself with his own pillow but Izzy yanks it
away from him and starts hitting him with both.

"Alright woman!" He yells finally standing up and putting on a shirt.

I look back over at Luke and I see him laying back down. I let out a groan.

I jump up on the bed and start bouncing up and down on it.

"Get up! Lucas Taylor, get up!" He turns back over and just looks up at me
intensely. I look down at him the same way and crossing my arms. A
mischievous smile makes its way onto his lips and he sits up.
Before I know it, his hand reaches the inside of my lower thigh, the one
spot on my body that is so ticklish I can hardly handle it.

How could he do such a thing?

I laugh and thrash until I can hardly breathe anymore and I'm sure my face
is bright red and maybe even a vein sticking out of my neck.

He pulls away and brings me into his chest, kissing the crown of my head.

"That was unnecessary." I catch my breath and he just chuckles.

"Your reaction is always worth it, darlin'."

"You're mean to me," he rubs my back.

"I'll get up now okay? You're happy?" He stands up and I get another full
sight of his nicely defined frontal muscles. A light blush makes its way onto
my face but I ignore it.

"You'll be down in 10 minutes?"

"Yes I will," He nods.

"And have you eaten anything yet?" I don't want his mood to be grumpy.
Hangry Luke is quite ridiculous sometimes.

"No ma'am," he smiles softly.

"I'll get you something," he walks towards me and leans down. I place a
swift kiss on his cheek and the girls and I walk out.

"We've gotta run!" I take off in a run. The nearest food place is about a
block away from here and I'm sure that if he doesn't get some type of food
soon, Eli may have a broken bone or two.

"Why are we running?!" The girls keep up easily even though I'm already
struggling. We make it to the elevator and I catch my breath.
"We don't want a hangry Luke." That was all I had to say for them to put the
same determined look on their face that I have on mine.

The elevator dings and we sprint down the lobby.

"Where are the guys?" Mr. Wiles asks and Olivia gives him a quick answer
of 'No time!"

______________________

I order mostly all of what Luke likes. Of course, what I remember of it. It's
not that hard considering he mostly eats everything.

Of course, we had to get ourselves a little something too.

"Please?" I add with a sheepish smile. The cashier turns his attention back
to me and gives me a slight nod.

Thank the Lord, we didn't have to run a full block to get to a food place. We
found this little breakfast shop only two doors down from the hotel. It was a
cute little shop too. It had a nice view of the pretty woods at the back of the
shop and it smells great.

After only a couple of minutes, he hands us the bags.

He says our total and I hand over the money with a smile.

"Thank you!" We walk out the door and make it back to the hotel lobby
with two minutes to spare. Plenty of time to calm my heart and my rapid
breaths.

By now, everyone that went on the trip and everyone in the lobby is staring
at us and our five bags of good smelling food.

"If they want some, they can go next door and get it themselves. This is
only for us." Izzy eyes them evilly.

Ryan and the twins make their way over to us and of course, Olivia hands
Ryan something with a flirty smile.
I think they're so cute together.

I'm really glad Ryan finally asked her out. They're absolutely adorable
together and she seems so happy.

Izzy too. She and Anthony seem to be good for each other. Even though I
don't know Anthony that well, and he doesn't hang out with our friend
group, he really does seem like a good guy.

Of course Luke doesn't care for him but he doesn't care for many people
anyway.

A stomach presses up against my back and I lift the bag for Luke up so he
can reach it. I lean my head all the way up and I give him a bright smile.

He smirks down at me before leaning down and kissing the corner of my

mouth. I tilt my head back down and blush pretty darkly.

"Alright! Now that everyone is here, here is how today is going to work.
You will have free time this morning to do whatever, but you have to stay
within two blocks of the hotel. At 3 pm, you will have to choose to go to the
lake, a few miles down the road, or you can stay here. Go have fun." Mr.
Wiles announces before walking away, leaving us all just standing there.

"Let's go cuddle," Luke whispers in my ear and I let out a giggle. Of course,
he wants to do something involving sleeping.

______________________

"What happened Eli?" I walk up to Eli who's lying on the grass, face down,
in the field behind the hotel. Most of the guys on the football team came out
here about an hour ago and Luke reluctantly went with them.

A few minutes ago, Ryan comes into the sitting area in the lobby where a
lot of people are just sitting and talking, saying that Eli was dead and that
he wanted me. Ironic considering he's supposed to be dead but I just went
with it.

Izzy and Olivia followed, the nosy girls they are.

Knowing Eli is quite dramatic, we take our time and don't sweat it too
much. He should be at least somewhat used to this. He's a football player,
he gets hit daily.

He rolls over sloppily and looks up at me, somewhat dazed.

"Are you an angel? You look heavenly," he smiles up at me.

He's clearly out of it but not dead.

"What happened Eli?" I ask him with concern.

"My head hurts," he brings his hand up to massage his head.

"What happened to him?" I ask the few guys that still remain outside. They
all turn and look at Luke who is attempting to walk away not so subtly.

"Luke body slammed him." Ryan blurts.

"He tackled his ass."

"Eli flew."

Now, what was the purpose of that?

"Can you stand up Eli?" I ask him.

"Yes, let's do it. I'm ready," he sticks out his hands like I'm actually gonna
help him up. I would if I could lift him.

"Ryan? Help?"

Ryan pulls Eli up and he stumbles slightly.

"That's not too bad." Eli smiles.

I'm sure he'll be alright.

"Ryan, can you take him inside please?" Ryan nods and starts walking
inside with Eli draping off his shoulder.

I mosied my way up to where Luke is

still

trying to escape. I pull on the back of his shirt and he turns around giving
me what would've been an adorable smile if I wasn't mad.

"Why?" I shake my head with a sigh.

"We were playing football," he answers.

"Why would a quarterback tackle a receiver?" I tilt my head in question.

Now, I may not know all that much about football, but I do know that most
times, a quarterback wouldn't do that.

"He was taunting me." He deadpans.

"Why was he taunting you?"

"Because I told him I would rather be inside with you than playing football
when I don't need to be playing it." He draws me to him by pulling me by
my arm.

"That's not a good reason," I mumble into his chest.

"It sounded good enough to me," he shrugs.

"You got him good," I refer to his wooziness, "maybe be a little easier next
time?"

"Okay sweetheart." He kisses the top of my head. I pull away from his chest
and grab onto his hand, wrapping my fingers around his pointer finger.

"Let's go."
"Where are we going?" He asks suspiciously.

"To apologize to poor Eli," he sticks his feet into the ground, stopping us
from moving any further.

"It's the least you can do Luke," I give him a disappointed look and he
reluctantly continues walking.

Luke puts his arm on the small of my back as we walk back into the hotel.
We spot Eli sitting with Izzy and Olivia and we make our way over to them.
Luke's hand slips lower and lower before I grab it and pull it back up to its
original spot on the small of my back.

"How're you feeling Eli? Better?" I ask.

"I'm better than I was. It felt like I was hit by a bus at first," he narrows his
eyes at Luke when Luke chuckles.

I elbow Luke's side and he sighs.

"My bad Eli," he mumbles and Eli gasps.

"I could cry right now. I think that's the first time he's ever apologized to
me," he fans his dry eyes.

"Now he's never gonna let me live this down," Luke puts his chin on top of
my head.

____________________________

|||||Thank you for reading!!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 2989

-Ashlyn M.
Part 29 "I'll never get it back"
"Let's go," Izzy grabs my arm.

"No."

"Aubrey, we'll drag you out," Olivia says from in front of our room door.
Her sunglasses are low on her nose and she has her hands on her hips.

"But-"

"No buts, you look fine, he's already seen you in a bathing suit!"

"Being self-conscious isn't the only reason I don't want to go out," I huff,
crossing my arms over my chest, "It's fall, it's going to be cold in the water."

"Now you're just making up excuses. Girl, you know Luke will keep you
warm," She sticks her tongue out and wiggles her shoulders.

I try to keep in a laugh but it ends up slipping out. I readjust my bathing suit
cover-up and we walk out the door.

I'm going to freeze in the lake. I'm already cold-natured, I'm not going to
last ten minutes in that lake.

We make it down to the lobby where only about ten more people are. I
guess most people have enough sense not to go swimming in a lake, filled
with water that has run directly off the mountain, in the Fall.

We get to the bus where everyone is waiting out front and thankfully, It
feels pretty nice outside.

We get inside the bus, and we quickly spot the guys. Well, we spot Eli
mostly. He's currently leaning into Luke's seat, which is behind his, with his
butt in the air.
It seems like he's healed quickly.

We stop at the back of the bus and Luke quickly pulls me into the seat right
beside him. He pulls my head to his chest and he sighs dramatically.

"I can't believe you left me for that long to be with these idiots," he places
his lips on the top of my head.

"You know you like them," I pull away from him and I look into his eyes.
He narrows his eyes slightly at my words. I smooth out the wrinkle right
above the bridge of his nose and his eyes relax.

"Maybe sometimes they're

okay

," he admits and I softly giggle.

"Now that everyone has boarded," Mr. Wiles announces, standing at the
front of the bus, " We will be on our way."

Eli pops his head up in front of us and gives a bright smile. I see Luke roll
his eyes from the corner of my eye and I hold in a laugh. Luke is pitiful
sometimes.

"Hi Eli," I smile at him, " I like your hat." I acknowledge his tan bucket hat.
It actually looks good on him.

"Don't encourage him baby," Luke lazily rolls his head over to me.

"Thank you boo-boo!" Eli ignores Luke. I feel a sharp punch to the shoulder
and I yelp and look over at Izzy who's sitting in the seat across the aisle
from mine.

"What was that for?" I rub my shoulder. She shoves her phone at me and I
take it with a pout.

"Look how freaking hot Shawn Mendes looks in this!" I look at the photo
displayed on her phone and holy cheeseballs, he's looking pretty fine in it.
Before I can even react, Luke grabs Izzy's phone and throws it near the
front of the bus, not to mention almost hitting someone.

Izzy gasps loudly before standing and glaring at Luke. She leans down next
to my ear.

"Control your man." She whispers quietly into my ear before walking up to
the front of the bus in search of her poor phone.

I look over at Luke and see he's pouting like a child with his arms crossed
and everything, staring out the bus window.

Someone's jealous.

He's Shawn Mendes for goodness sake! There's no reason to be jealous. It's
not like I've actually got a chance with him. He's a celebrity.

I rub his crossed forearms, relieving some of his tension.

"Luke?" I ask softly, wanting him to look at me. He refuses to look at me

and I let out an inaudible sigh.

"Luke, look at me," I say a little more sternly and he finally decides to drag
his gaze away from the window. He looks down at me and his eyes
automatically soften from their previous 'unhappy' look.

"Why are you upset?" He looks at me like he already knows I know why
he's upset.

"I'm jealous." He deadpans, not hesitating to admit it, "I'm sorry."

He leans down and rests his head on my collarbone.

"I don't like him." He mumbles, referring to Shawn Mendes.

"I know." I giggle.

Of course he doesn't like him.

_______________________

"We're here! Exit in an orderly fashion please!" Mr. Wiles announces and
Eli jumps out the bus window.

Mr. Wiles sighs and rubs his temples as he watches Eli run to the lake. Eli
dodges a few children who are in his path and even one pregnant lady.

This must be a public lake.

The rest of us normal people begin exiting the bus.

"Hate this fucking bus, I'm going to the bathroom," Luke mumbles as we
walk off the bus. I ignore his ugly attitude and I just walk forward until I'm
in step with Izzy and Olivia.

"Have you controlled him?" Izzy asks grumpily.

"Yeah but he's still in a cruddy mood," I take my hair out of its ponytail and
my curls run down my back.

"He'll get over his crappy mood when he notices you won't talk to him until
he will. That will straighten him up pretty quick," Olivia smirks.

I sigh and bend over and take my flip-flops off, putting my feet in the lake's
sand. I hear a wolf whistle from behind me and I snap back up with my
cheeks aflame.

At first, I think it's Luke but I know he would never do something like that
in public. I turn around and three guys look right back at me. A black haired
boy smirks back at me and his blonde and brown haired friends smile from
beside him. My eyes widen and an embarrassed blush makes its way onto
my face.

Thankfully Izzy and Olivia are quick to come up to my side.

"I know to hell and back you did

not
just do that!" Olivia snaps her fingers right in the face of the black haired
boy.

"If I were you, I would leave," Izzy warns them and she's 100 percent right.
They should leave before Luke comes back. He will be very mad.

"What's wrong?" The black haired boy grabs my arms and pulls me to his
side. Unfortunately, due to my size, even though I tried to resist meeting his
side, I do, "Do you have a boyfriend sexy?"

"Y-Yes and he's in the bathroom so you should leave," I try to get out of his
hold.

"Get the fuck off her," Eli's serious voice suddenly comes from in front of
us. I look up at him pleadingly.

"You think I'm scared of you?" The guy and his cronies start laughing.

"It's not me who you need to worry about bud," Eli smirks, his eyes darting
behind him. A few seconds later, a seething Luke comes in front of us.

He doesn't even know half of the situation and he's already mad. I think he
has some sort of sixth sense.

I feel the guys grip on me loosen and I slip out.

Luke walks straight up to the guys, his face tinged in anger.

__________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

Who the

fuck

do these guys think they are?

She obviously didn't want to be touched by his nasty ass hands so why did
he force himself on her?

I grab the bitch who was holding my girl by the front of his shirt with my
fists. The asshole only reaches up to my nose so I lift him off the ground to
my eye level.

I needed to make this message more clear.

His shit brown eyes widen as he gets sight of the anger painted on my face.

"You better be fucking glad my girl told me not to hit people anymore," I
growl lowly.

"I suggest you leave before I beat the piss outta you. And when you're doing
your walk of shame outta here, take some time to learn how to fuckin'
respect a woman," I throw his dumb ass on the ground and he jumps up and
they all run towards the exit.

I turn around and walk straight up to my poor shaking sweetheart. I pick her
small frame up in my arms and hug her to me, burying my face in her
amazing smelling hair.

"Sweetheart," I mumble, "You okay?" She wraps her arms around me and
she puts her face into my neck. To my embarrassment, I shiver slightly
feeling her breath on my neck.

I rub my hand up and down her back, comforting her. I really wish she
wouldn't have told me not to hit people anymore. My fist was itching to
punch that fuckers face.

She pulls away from my neck and looks at my face. She leans forward and
she places a sweet, soft, and lingering kiss on my cheek. She blushes
adorably at her own actions and I find myself falling even harder than I
already was.

"You okay?" I repeat the question. She smiles a beautiful little smile before
nodding. I lean forward and give her delicious lips a peck before sitting her
on the ground.

She walks away to the edge of the lake with Izzy and Olivia and she walks
around, feeling the water, in the shallow.

I can't seem to take my eyes off her as she walks in ankle deep water,
occasionally bending down and running her fingers through it.

"You're

so

in love with her," Eli pats my back and Ryan nods at me from beside me.

In love? Am I?

The girls return up to where we are and Aubrey smiles up at me.

"The water's not too bad," she takes off her white, flowy, bathing suit cover-
up shyly and I get a view of her gorgeous body in a bathing suit for the
second time.

I can't take my eyes off her as she puts her cover-up beside where everyone
else's shirts are lying.

Eli nudges my arm, and I turned my dazed gaze towards him.

"Are you going to get in the lake or are you going to stare at her all day?"
Eli asks quietly. I roll my eyes at him and take my shirt off.

___________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I watch as Luke takes his shirt off, seeing his rippling muscles come into
view.

I look down at the sand before he notices me gawking.

How deep does this lake get?

I look around for any signs. I spot a sign at the far end of the lake saying the
deepest point is 6 feet.

Well, that's way over my head.

Other than the lake being too deep for me, it's actually quite nice.

There are two docks on each side of the lake and some people are jumping
off them.

The lake is pretty big too. Thankfully, there aren't many people other than
us here.

A huge hands grabs onto mine and we all start walking to the lake.

My feet touch the cool water and I smile, loving the refreshing feeling.
Thank goodness it's not too cold.

I take that back.

The deeper we get, the colder it gets. By the time I'm up to my waist, there
are goosebumps all over my body and my teeth have already started
chattering.

Luke being his lucky, tall, self, is still only up to his thighs.

"I'm just going to get this over with," Eli announces, handing his hat over to
Olivia, he dives down, getting his whole body wet. He comes to the surface
almost unfazed.

"It's not that bad once you do that," he places his bucket hat back on his
head.

Soon enough, everyone dives down in the water and comes up not that
affected.
Luke still holds onto my hand, not once letting go. He hasn't even gone
under yet. I haven't either.

Right as the water gets up to his....parts, he tells me he has to go under. It

took me a few seconds to figure out why but once I did, I had to control a
blush.

Once Luke comes up out the water, I realize I'm the only one who hasn't
gone under yet. I would like to keep it that way but of course Luke has
other plans.

After coming out of the water, Luke slowly and teasingly starts walking up
to me. I try my best to back away from him but I can't walk too fast in
water.

He grabs onto my waist and lifts me bridal style, into his arms. I gasp
quietly as I'm lifted out of the water.

"Don't you do it," I whisper warningly and he smirks down at me. He softly
kisses my nose and right when I think he's about to let me down, he literally

tosses

me 15 more feet further into the lake.

Freezing cold water almost sends me into shock once my body reaches the
water.

know

he did not, just do that.

I reach the surface of the water and I hear Eli's hyena-like laughter along
with everyone else's. I wipe my soaking wet hair away from my face as I
look at my so-called 'friends'. I feel my teeth chatter as I walk back to them.

I thought they said I would feel warmer once I go under? Poopheads.

"I'm sorry," Luke tries walking towards me but I dodge his outstretched
arms. I stand beside Izzy and try to warm myself up. Izzy smirks down at
me and laughs at my 'ignoring Luke' face.

I haven't even looked his way since he threw me.

"You're going to break his heart if you ignore him," Izzy giggly whispers. I
look up at Luke who is already looking at me. I sigh internally before I start
making my way back to him. Only because I'm cold and he's warm. That's
the

only

reason.

He smiles softly down at me as I come to a stop in front of him. He leans

down to kiss me but I turn my head causing him to kiss my cheek.

"I'm mad at you." I state, "But you're warm and I'm cold."

He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against him. I sigh in
content but only because he's just extra warm.

He places a warm kiss on my shoulder and I almost shiver. And not because
of the cold.

I don't know what it is about Luke but I can never seem to stop thinking
about him. He makes me go crazy but he also makes me blush like an idiot
and shy away.

____________________

I get on Luke's back as I get to where I can't stand up anymore. Everyone

else is still walking and standing up and I feel a little jealous but I quickly
let that go.

I wrap my legs around Luke and place my arms around his shoulders. He
reaches back and of course his sneaky hands find my butt. I bring my hand
up and pull on his hair. He lets out a moan and I gasp, my eyes widening.
I'm guessing he kind of likes that.

I lean up and look around at his face. The guys look over at Luke with
either widened eyes or dropped jaws. Ryan has both.

Luke's face is a dark red once I finally get sight of it. I giggle quietly as he
awkwardly avoids eye contact with everyone, looking down at the water.

"I can't believe my eyes!" Ryan laughs, referring to Luke's red face.

"I can't believe what I heard!" Eli chimes in, laughing as well. I look over at
the girls and they are speechless.

I kiss Luke's cheeks and aww at how adorable he looks.

"You're not helping," he grumbles.

"It's okay, they'll forget about it by Monday," I pat his strong bicep in a
comforting manner.

I reach up to grab my cross necklace to spin it around. Just sitting here, I

didn't feel the small weight of it on my chest so it must've gotten spun
around.

My hand searches my neck for any type of chain but I can't feel anything. I
start to panic as I feel around my neck frantically. Luke feels me move quite
a bit and he spins me around so I'm at his front. I would've blushed if I
wasn't so scared.

Tears spring to my eyes as horrible thoughts pop into my head.

It's at the bottom of the lake.

I'll never get it back.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Luke's face fills with concern and worry once
he sees my teary eyes.
"My necklace," my voice cracks and Olivia and Izzy gasp from behind us.
They rush over to me, getting the attention of the guys.

"The cross?" Olivia asks, her eyes wide with horror. I only nod, trying my
hardest not to cry in front of everyone.

That cross was the last gift my dad gave me before his last tour. When he
gave that cross to me, it was the last time I ever saw him.

Tears finally make their way down my face as the guys stop in front of us.

"What happened?" Eli asks worriedly.

"She lost her necklace," Olivia answers him.

"Well let's find it," Eli says. I almost smile because I'm so thankful that he
didn't want to know why the necklace was so important. Even though the
guys give Eli a hard time most of the time, Eli is actually pretty smart. He
knew that if I was crying, the necklace meant a lot.

Soon enough, everyone starts walking around where we have been, moving
their feet along the sand at the bottom, feeling for my necklace. They even
dive down every now and then even though the water isn't clear at all.

I wipe my tears from my face as Luke stands me up where I can reach the
bottom of the lake. He tilts my face up to his.

"It'll be okay darlin'," He kisses me on the lips before grabbing my hand as

we walk together, in search of my beloved necklace.

_________________________

|||||| School is about to start and I want to cry. My sleep schedule is so

effed up, I probably won't sleep at all the first day of school. Hopefully
this was a good chapter, I went camping this weekend so most of this
was written on my phone. Lemme just hope and pray this chapter
doesn't suck cow hooves.

Thanks for reading!

*Remember I don't edit. And, since this chapter was written on my
phone (mostly) it is probably going to have some errors. Don't be afraid
to correct them in the comments either! I love some good constructive
criticism too!*

Word count: 3179

- Ashlyn M.
Part 30 "Did you just call me a
bratty little kid?"
We searched everywhere. Even the places we hadn't swum at. My necklace
was nowhere to be found and I'm absolutely devastated.

How could I've let this happen?

By the time we got back to the hotel, I felt like curling into a ball and
sobbing. Dad would be so disappointed in me for losing it.

Luke holds me tightly to him as I weep quietly into his shoulder. He softly
rocks back and forth on my hotel bed, whispering sweet nothings into my
ear.

The girls and guys stayed downstairs in the lobby. They understood I
needed some alone time. Luke didn't but I'm kind of glad he came with me.

I climb off Luke's lap and he watches me as I walk to the bathroom. I

haven't peed since we left and I feel like my bladder will explode. I also
need to change out of my bathing suit.

I do my business and take off my bathing suit. I grab my pile of clothes and
put my pants and underwear on. Since I took a shower this morning, my
clothes are clean. I hook my bra and feel a weird coldness on my shoulder. I
look down at my right shoulder and there lies my necklace.

I let out a gasp and happy tears cloud my eyes. I carefully unravel my
necklace from my bra strap and hold it against my chest.

"Thank you God," I look up and whisper as a tear makes it way down my
cheek. I slam open the bathroom door and run out.

Luke jumps from the loud sound of the door and he stands up. I
automatically jump on him right as he turns around. He looks up at me in
worry at first but then surprise once he sees my bright smile.

I lift my necklace up and show him. His face lights up.

"It was hooked on my bra!" I point to my bra strap and then freeze.

I'm in my bra. I jumped on him, in my bra.

His gaze drops down and his eyes turn dark with lust. The darkest blush of
my life appears on my face as his eyes dart back up to my face. I feel like
I'm in a trance as I watch his eyes scan over my face.

He grabs my necklace from my hands and he bends over and gently places
it on the bedside table. As soon as it hits the table, his hands shoot out and
grip my face as he brings his lips to mine in a kiss that has more urgency
then all our others.

I gasp as he suddenly grasps my butt, causing him to slip his tongue into my
mouth.

I've never french kissed before! What if I'm bad? Oh gosh, this is a repeat of
our first kiss.

I move my tongue with his hoping that's what I'm supposed to do and that
it's okay. My hand finds its way around his neck and I give a slight tug on
his hair.

He lets out a dark moan into the kiss and I almost smile at his reaction.

I break our kiss due to my lack of breath and he doesn't stop. He trails
passionate kisses from my chin, down to my neck. I bite my lip, holding
back a moan as he sucks on the spot right under my jaw. He gives a chaste
kiss to the spot he was sucking before trailing his lips to the spot right under
my ear.

I shiver as he runs his tongue along the sensitive spot. I let out a soft moan
as he gives amorous kisses to the same spot. He stops what he's doing when
he hears the moan. A blush starts to make its way onto my face at what
came out of my mouth. He just licks his lips once more and brings them
back onto mine.

A sharp knock is heard on my door causing me to jump and bite down on

Luke's lip. He groans lowly and I jump down off of him, onto the bed, then
onto the ground.

I walk to the door and just as I'm about to open it, Luke's monstrous arms
grab me and push me away.

"Your shirt," He reminds me, still looking at me with those

eyes.

I flush and run to the bathroom, putting my shirt on.

Once I step out the bathroom, I'm enveloped in a hug.

"I'm so glad it isn't lost!" Izzy shouts as both girls hug me.

"It got hung on my bra strap when I took it off to put my bathing suit on,"
They release me and I walk to where the necklace is laying on the bedside
table. My eyes find Luke's who is leaning on the wall talking to the guys.
He smirks before returning to his conversation. A little blush adorns my
cheeks as I walk back to Izzy and Olivia, the necklace now in my hand.

"The end of it broke, that's why it came off," I hold up the end of my
necklace, showing it to them.

____________________

Luke and I lay on my bed and watch the tv on the wall. His hand rubs up
and down my outer thigh and my butt.

At the end of my hotel bed lies Eli on one side and Izzy on the other.
Everyone else is on the other bed.

The feeling of Luke's hand lulls me to sleep and with one kiss on the temple
from him, I see the back of my eyelids.
I'm jolted awake by a loud snore, and a sharp kick to the shin. I sit up
quickly and rub my shin, looking at the sound asleep culprit.

Luke sits up from beside me, looking at Eli as well. Luke huffs frustratingly
as he gets up from his comfortable spot beside me.

Luke grabs Eli,

picks him up

, and starts carrying him to the door. This catches the attention of everyone
else in the room and they all laugh, waking Eli up.

Luke opens the door and throws Eli out before slamming it back shut. He
comes back to the bed and pulls me to him by my waist.

"Go back to sleep," he shushes me.

"That was hilarious!" Ryan laughs and we hear a knock on the door. The
knocks continue, nonstop for about a minute before Izzy opens the door and
Eli struts in. He comes beside where Luke and I are laying and he points an
accusing finger at Luke.

"Listen here hulk," Eli says and I can't hold in a laugh. I think Hulk really
represents him well.

"I don't appreciate what you just did," Eli places his hands on his hip and
raises both of his eyebrows like he's scolding a child.

"You kicked her," Luke nods to the bruise on my shin.

Sure, there's a bruise, but that doesn't mean he did it on purpose.

"I did that?" Eli gasps as a sad look overtakes his face, "I would hug you if
he wasn't here. He probably wouldn't let me."

I roll my eyes internally as I stand up on the bed. I walk over Luke and
stand in front of Eli. I open my arms and he gratefully hugs me back.
"I give you permission to kick me in the nuts," Eli says.

"Never mind, you would never do it," Eli reads my mind. I've never kicked
anybody in the....region and I'm not planning on doing it to one of my best
friends.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Luke smirks.

"No Luke. I actually want to have little Eli's running around one day. You
would just break my ding-a-ling."

"I hope your children are nothing like you. I don't think I'd be able to deal
with more people like you," Ryan sighs.

"How dare you insult future Elias Micah Jennings Jr?" Eli raises a hand to
his heart.

"What if your wife doesn't want an Eli Jr?" Ryan raises an eyebrow.

"Loryn already told me she did," He raises his arm around 'Loryn.'

I guess she just suddenly appears whenever he wants her to.

Getting tired with the conversation, Luke rolls over to me and snuggles
himself into me.

I run my hand through his hair as I continue listening to Ryan and Eli's
hilarious bickering.

Soon after Eli and Ryan finish their hour-long argument, the guys begin to
leave.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow." Luke kisses my lips and I tiredly
mumble a goodnight.

As soon as they walk out the door. I say my quick prayer and the girls and I
are out like lights.

————————————————————-
The next morning, 8 am, I'm up, dressed, and ready to go.

I thought Luke said bright and early?

I even woke the girls up. Sure they weren't happy but I was quite bored.

Now, we're all sitting on our beds, waiting for the guys who said they were
gonna come.

We've been waiting for thirty minutes.

"No way," Olivia looks over towards me and she elbows Izzy in the gut to
get her attention.

"Ouch, you bitc- oh my god!!" Izzy jumps from her seat and they rush over
to me.

What on earth is going on?

Izzy takes ahold of my head, she turns it to the side and she lifts it up.

What are they looking at?

"It's a hickey!! Oh my gosh!" Olivia and Izzy break into a wild dance. My
face turns into one of horror as I run to the bathroom.

Sure enough, there's a pink and purple colored hickey right under my jaw.

I don't even wear foundation or concealer. How am I supposed to cover this

up?

Luke Taylor is a dead man.

Olivia comes in with a large piece of ice and my eyes widen.

"What's that for?" I question in confusion.

"Apparently you've never had a hickey before," she snorts. She puts the ice
on my neck and I gasp at the coldness. She continues rubbing the ice around
where the hickey is and it begins to fade.

Only a little.

"Well usually that works a little better," she mumbles, "how hard was
he...you know," she makes a slurping sound and Izzy and I die of laughter.

"It didn't feel that hard," I explain, rubbing the bruise under my jaw.

"Here, this isn't your color but, it's the best I can do," Izzy gives me a
beauty blender with a tan substance on the end of it. I apply it to the spot
and it fades.

It's not my color though. It looks like I placed a bottle cap on my neck while
tanning.

I rub it in the best I can, trying to get the color to blend in a little more and
thankfully it gets better.

We hear a knock on our door and Olivia goes to let the guys in.

What a great time for them to come too. While I'm covering a freaking
hickey.

Luke walks into the bathroom behind me and I glare at him through the
mirror. He smirks, grabbing my waist, pulling me back to his front. He
leans down and kisses my face.

"Why did you do this?" I pull away and turn around, tilting my head and
putting my hands on my hips. His eyes travel down my stance and when
they return to mine, they're seductive.

"No." I shake my pointer finger at him and I try to move by him to get out
of the bathroom. Unfortunately, I'm unsuccessful and he ends up grabbing
me and pulling me back to him.

His mouth drops down to mine and he gives me a slow, passionate kiss.
"Can you not? We have to be in the lobby in 5 minutes," Ryan pokes his
head in the bathroom. With Luke's lips still attached to mine, he punches
Ryan in the male reproductive part. Ryan drops to the ground with a groan.

I pull away from Luke and I can see his eyes still trained on me as I make
sure Ryan is okay.

Ryan stands up, his face still scrunched in pain.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," he takes a deep breath and he leaves the room.

"Why did you do that?" I turn my attention back to a frowning Luke.

"He interrupted us," He shrugs. I sigh and shake my head. He's always so
physical.

"You didn't have to hit him, how would you feel if your friend hit you?" I
question as he pulls me into his arms.

"That would never happen," he scoffs.

"

If

, Luke," I roll my eyes.

"I'd be mad."

"How do you think Ryan feels?" I question.

"I'm sure his balls hurt," I let out a quiet gasp and I smack his stomach. He's
hopeless.

"I'm sure he's hurt and probably mad at you." I try and get my point across.

"He'll get over it, I didn't hit him that hard," I feel him shrug. I groan into
his chest and he runs his hand up and down my back.
"Let's go people! Move it! Aubrey and Luke, you guys too!" Izzy shouts. I
pull away from Luke and grab his hand, making sure he's right behind me
so he won't escape and go back into our room and sleep.

_______________________

"Please, once we got off the bus, stay in your groups of 5!" Mr. Wiles yells
before releasing everyone from the bus.

I get up from my seat beside Olivia and the two of us get off the bus. The
smell of nature and animal poop hits my nose.

This place looks like a zoo, literally. There's a big entrance and through the
entrance, I can see an elephant exhibit.

"False, advertisement. This is no nature tour, this is a zoo! What a

disappointment," Eli removes his bucket hat as he and Luke come up beside
me.

"Thank God Ryan isn't in our group," Eli wipes the invisible sweat off his
forehead, "I don't think I can handle him anymore."

From the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a group of people coming our
way. They're wearing tan shirts and knee-length, dark green pants. I'm
guessing they're the zookeepers.

The zookeepers spread out and each goes over to different groups.

A very young zookeeper stops in front of our group and she looks at each of
us.

The guys a little longer.

She's actually very pretty and you can tell shes probably

just

graduated high school. I feel a little self-conscious looking at her long, tan
legs.
"I'm Tracy," she smirks subtly at the guys, "I'll be your tour guide for
today."

The guys haven't noticed her looks but when I look over to Izzy and Olivia,
I see that they see the way Tracy is looking at them.

Our groups begin to walk and I stand in between Olivia and Izzy. I feel a
little awkward standing beside Tracy.

"Just go up to him and grab his ass, then she'll know he's yours," Izzy
makes a 'squeezing' motion with her hands. I blush darkly and watch my
feet as we walk.

"She's obviously into them! Guys are just oblivious and they don't see stuff
like that," Olivia rolls her eyes.

"Maybe she's just being friendly," I shrug.

"We all know she wants what's in Luke's pants," I gasp loudly at Izzy's
words catching the attention of Tracy, Luke, and Eli, who are walking a
couple steps in front of us.

My face turns cherry red at the attention and the mention of 'what's in
Luke's pants.'

Luke smiles at my blush, something his cocky tail always does when he
sees me do it.

I look over at Tracy and I see she's looking at Luke's smile with confusion.

She watches Luke carefully as he makes his way to me. He grasps my head
in his hands and he leans down, giving me sweet kisses on both of my
cheeks.

"What's with the blush sweetheart?"

"She was thinking about what's in your pants," Izzy blurts before smacking
her mouth with her hand.
My eyes widen and I immediately deny the fact.

Luke let's out a beautiful laugh as my cheeks go redder.

"T-That's not true," I manage to mumble.

"We should get back to the tour," Tracy comes up beside us, eyeing me as if
she's sizing me up, "Wouldn't want to waste time now would we?"

Olivia snorts and makes funny faces at Tracy's back as she walks in front of
us.

Maybe she is worse than I thought.

_________________________

"Can we go somewhere else?" I question, stopping in front of a building

called the 'Snake House.' I've always been petrified of snakes and I will do
everything in my power to stay as far away from them as I can.

"Why?" Tracy asks with a deep, frustrated sigh.

"I'm scared of snakes," I mumble, finding the pebble on the ground in front
of me very interesting.

"What are you, 12?" Tracy scoffs.

"If she doesn't want to go in there, we're not goin' in there," I hear the angry
tone in Luke's voice.

Thankfully that convinced Tracy to bring us somewhere else. Soon enough,

the tour was over and we all got back on the bus.

A strong arm grabs my waist and pulls me into a seat as I tried to make my
way to where Izzy was sitting.

Luke puts his arm around my back and he acts like nothing just happened.
"I want you to sit with me," he smirks when I look at him, waiting for an
explanation.

"How's your grandma?" I question. I miss Ella. She was so kind, not to
mention hilarious.

"She's good," he looks over at me, "she asks about you every time I talk to
her. I think she likes you more than she likes me."

"What are you guys talking about? Are you talking about me?" Eli pokes
his head up from the seat behind us.

"Yes Eli, we're talking about how you are my favorite person in the world
and how I couldn't possibly live without you," Luke says sarcastically but in
a serious tone.

Eli gasps and he starts fanning his eyes. I think I see a few tears in them.

"You're going to make me cry."

________________________

"That's not right, baby," Luke smirks at me.

I slam my head down on Luke's granite counter top of his beautiful kitchen.
Leo rubs his head on my leg and I let out a groan.

"How is that wrong? I did exactly what you told me to. I set the numbers up
right, I even put the sign thingy there and I multiplied it by the 18! T-The
letters and numbers are the...right ones?" I rant all while Luke looks at me,
a small smile adorning his face.

"You added 6 and 8 wrong. It's 14, not 13." He chuckles, " Otherwise you're
right."

"That's a one time mistake. You could've just said I was right. It's not like I
can't add." I cross my arms childishly. Luke looks at me with a raised
eyebrow and my mouth drops open.
"I

can

add Luke! And at least I know what chemical nomenclature is!" I use his
chemistry weakness against him.

"I know what that is!" He says back defensively.

"What is it?" I tilt my head waiting for an answer.

"A type of chemical, that is used all over the worl- I don't know what the
hell that it," he finally admits and I go into a fit of laughter.

I asked Luke to help me with calculus. You know, since he somehow has a
perfect grade in that class.

I'm trying my best to maintain an 'A' but it's been a little rough lately. And
Luke's not the best teacher ever.

"You aren't a very good teacher." I sigh, removing my glasses, and rubbing
my face.

"Well, I don't exactly plan to teach bratty little kids as a career."

"Did you just call me a bratty little kid?" His eyes widen.

"What? No! That's not what I meant," he explains quickly and I giggle.

"I'm talking about horrible children. For instance, Ana."

"I can't believe you dated her," I mumble without realizing it, "Shoot, sorry.
I didn't mean i-it like-"

"No, I know," He shakes his head, "It was stupid and I regret it."

He sighs and rubs his hand down his face.

"This is going to sound really bad but, I only wanted her for one thing. A
distraction and I thought the only way to be distracted was to..you know."
He says with his disappointed gaze fixed on the counter.

A pang of hurt rings through my chest as he said that. I kinda figured he

wasn't a virgin but it also makes me a little scared.

What if he's using me the same way?

But if he was using me the same way, why would he tell me this?

Great now I'm just confusing myself.

"I want to be completely honest with you Aubrey," His eyes meet mine. I
nod hesitantly.

"The last thing I want to do is make you upset but it's better if you find out
now, rather than later and from someone else," He tilts my chin up so I can
see the sincerity in his eyes.

"O-Okay." I brace myself for what he's going to say.

"I know you know I'm not a virgin. I've had a lot of...flings, in the past.
They meant nothing and they were just 'in the moment' things. They were
all stupid things I regret."

I let out a soft shaky breath as he continues.

"Ever since I met you, I haven't done anything with anyone. I promise you
that. I almost did one time but that was way before we were dating. I was
confused with my feelings for you but I couldn't stop thinking about how I
wished the girl I was with was you. So I cut it off right then and there and
went home. I haven't even thought

about looking at any girl besides you since." He explains.

A little of the anxiety I have goes away hearing he cut it off. I don't think I
would be able to stay here for any longer if he were to tell me he actually
did 'it' with that girl even though he knew he had feelings for me.
"Not one?" I question shyly.

"Not a single one." He confirms.

"A-And you aren't using me as a distraction like the others?" I ask softly.

"Sweetheart, I knew you were different as soon as I looked at you. I've told
you things I've never told anyone. I'm in love with you. Whether you like it
or not, you're mine, I'm yours, and I plan on keeping you around for a
lifetime."

_____________________

||||| I have some pretty darn good plans for upcoming chapters so
definitely stay tuned. I would also love to point out the I have over
2,400 reads! Holy snickerdoodles, that's crazy.

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 3891

-Ashlyn M.
Part 31 "Is he on crack?"
"No. Hecking. Way." Izzy gasps, a huge smile on her face. Olivia just sits to
my right, her mouth agape.

All of a sudden, tears spring to Olivia's eyes and she pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you. You deserve to have someone love you as much as
he does. As much as you've gone through," She pulls away and wipes her
tears with a smile adorning her face.

Tears flood my eyes as what she says. I wish dad could meet Luke. Of
course at first he would go all papa bear on him but after a while, I know he
would warm up to him. They would've gotten along perfectly.

Dad played high school football but as soon as high school was over, he
was at training camps. Without a doubt, they would've talked about football
for hours. It was like my dads second love.

If only.

"Well, what did you say back?" Olivia asks excitedly.

+++ FLASHBACK+++

He loves me?

Luke Taylor actually loves me.

"Y-You love me?" I question. I must've heard him wrong. I'm nothing
special, how could he love me.

"Obviously." He tucks a curl behind my ear.

"Are you sure?" I question this time with confusion. Luke scrunches his
eyebrows before he lets out a loud laugh.
"Of course I'm sure darlin', why wouldn't I be?" He brings me onto his lap
and gives my cheek a soft kiss.

"I don't know," I play with his fingers shyly, "I just never thought you would
ever even like someone like me."

"Don't put yourself down like that Aubrey. I'm the lucky one." He rubs his
hand up and down my side.

+++END OF FLASHBACK+++

I gasp softly in realization.

"I didn't say anything back!" My eyes widen. He probably thinks I don't
love him now.

"Well do you love him?" Izzy asks.

After everything he's done for me. He's helped me with my dad, he's made
me laugh, and he's made me feel better, I love him.

"Yes, I love him." I confirm and the girls break into a squealing fit.

After a few hours the girls leave and I'm left all alone in the house. I catch
up on homework and study for an upcoming quiz in chemistry.

By ten thirty I've done everything I needed to do. I say my prayers and
finally let my eyes close.

___________________________

I wake up early the next morning. Way early. 5 am early.

My nose is stuffed and runny, I have a sore throat, and I'm freezing cold.

How could this happen overnight?

I wrap a big fluffy blanket around me and make my way downstairs.

All the lights off and I have a hard time not tripping over things. Mom and
Rick must not be awake yet.

I make it to the kitchen and I turn the lights on. I open the medicine cabinet
and take allergy pills and Ibuprofen.

I make myself some warm tea and I sip it while carefully walking up the
stairs.

I quickly change into a pair of dark skinny jeans, and a dark red thick
sweater. I pull my hair into a messy bun, just getting it out of the way for
now.

My bedroom door opens and my mom walks in, her eyes widen in surprise
when she sees me awake.

"You're awake! What are you doing up so early?" She questions, narrowing
her eyes in suspicion.

"I just woke up," I hear my voice for the first time this morning and you can
tell my nose is stopped up. My usual soft voice is a tad deeper.

Mom automatically comes over to me and she puts her hand on my

forehead.

"You're warm," she decides, "don't come near me, I don't want whatever
you have. We're leaving now."

I sigh as she walks out my room. She didn't have to be so mean about it. I
wouldn't want to get her sick anyway.

Plus, I have to go to school.

During our free period, I have to help Olivia study for her trigonometry
class.

And I can't forget I have to make sure Luke doesn't skip his so called
'useless' geography class anymore.
I finish getting ready and I make my way back downstairs. I eat half an
apple and drink the rest of my tea, not having much of an appetite. I make
myself a large cup of tea for school and I grab my keys and head to school.

I clumsily almost fall out my car, trying to keep my sweater on my shoulder

and the large cup of tea steady in my other hand.

After carefully making my way into school without falling, I'm about to
turn the last corner to get to my locker when I bump right into someones
chest. The guy isn't Luke and he doesn't smell like Eli either.

"I'm really sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," I automatically

apologize on instinct. I wipe the dripping tea off the side of the cup with a
napkin I thankfully brought before looking up into the eyes of the person I
bumped in to.

Dark brown eyes stare right back at me and I smile up at the guy. He must
be new here. I'm sure he'll fit right in. He looks kind and the girl will
probably love him. He's quite cute with his light freckles all over his face
and his dark brown, floppy hair.

The guy doesn't say anything he kinda just looks at me for a few seconds.
The guy who I recognize as, Ethan, one of Luke's teammates, nudges the
guy in front of me almost warningly.

"Are you okay?" I ask unfortunately after a little sniffle.

Why am I one to always get sick?

"Yeah! Sorry," he laughs sheepishly, "I'm, I'm fine."

"Hi Ethan!" I smile at the large guy right beside the one in front of me. He
smiles down at me and nods his head. Ethan can look pretty scary
sometimes because he's a big defensive tackle. I know him as a big teddy
bear though. He's like a big brother to me, and he sometimes even calls me
'sis.' Ethan and I became good friends a few weeks ago when the girls
forced me to go to one of Luke and Eli's practices.
Ethan was out for only a few days because of a rolled ankle. The coach
didn't want him to hurt his ankle more so he let him have a break. Ethan still
attended practices and we met that day the girls and I saw the practice.

Ethan sat with us and made us laugh the whole practice.

"I'm Aubrey! You must be new," I smile, taking a sip of my tea. The new
guy nods and looks over at me again.

"Yeah. I'm Jace. I moved here from California." He says. I knew he had to
have been from somewhere warm. His skin is fairly tanned for the Fall
season.

"Well it's nice to meet you! I moved here fro-" Ethan cuts me off by
stepping in between Jace and I.

"Aubrey has to go. Maybe she will catch up with you later. Wouldn't count
on it but we'll see," Ethan turns around and ushers me to follow him. I give
an apologetic look to Jace before turning and following Ethan.

"Ethan, what was that all about?" I ask after a short coughing fit.

"Aubrey, Luke won't be happy to see you talking with Jace especially since
Jace looked at you lik- never mind. All I know is that I don't want Luke
getting mad at me and I know you don't want him to get all grumpy right?"
He stops at my locker, taking my cup and holding it for me as I open my
locker.

"You're right Ethan. You're very smart, thank you." I agree with his way of
thinking, as I take my English notebook out.

"Speak of the devil," Ethan says nodding behind me. I shut my locker and
turn around. Luke's chest is right in my face and I have to crank my neck to
look at his face.

He automatically knows something is wrong. I guess it's because of my red

nose. He places his gargantuan hand on my forehead.
"You don't feel good." He decides, moving his hand to cup my face. He tilts
my head up so now I'm looking right into his eyes.

"I feel okay," I curse my croaky voice for sounding so 'not okay.'

"You don't sound okay."

"I'm good! I promise. If I feel bad I'll tell you." I watch his face for any
emotion as I tell him I'm okay. When he doesn't show any, I grab my tea
from Ethan and move it between Luke and I.

"I have tea." I smile up at him. A tiny smile makes its way onto his lips.

"You're so pretty." He leans down to kiss me but I turn my head.

Is he crazy? I don't want him getting sick!

"You'll get sick Luke!"

"I don't care," he scoffs grabbing my chin and putting his lips on mine. I
pull away shortly, still shy, not wanting to show too much PDA.

"You have practice today right?" I change the subject.

"Mhm," He hums. I need to remember I still need to help him at chemistry.

I guess it'll have to be tomorrow instead of today.

"Thank you Ethan," I grab my book from him and he bids us a goodbye
before heading to his class.

"Where's Eli?" I question. Usually I would've already gotten my hug.

"He's sick, his dumb ass must've gave it to you." Luke's famous 'mean' look
appears on his face.

"Don't be so negative Luke. There must be a sickness going around." Luke

and I walk into English and take our seats.
Olivia walks in and she immediately notices my red nose. Thankfully she
doesn't ask too much about it.

_________________________

"Let's go grandma," Luke teases, referring to my slow pace.

"That just makes you grandpa 'darling'," I tease right back and he squeezes
my butt which just earns him a smack on the arm.

"You didn't have to walk with me. I know you just want to get out of your
geography class," I raise my eyebrow at him.

"You may or may not be right," he smirks.

Luke drops me off at my geography class and gives me a soft kiss to the
forehead before leaving to his own class. I made him promise me he would
go.

"Hey Aubrey! Olivia told me you were sick. I can tell. Not that you look
bad, your nose is just red," Izzy greets all in one breath. I giggle and take
my seat beside her.

The door to the classroom opens and Izzy nudges me. I look up to see Jace
looking at me from te front of the class.

I smile at him politely before going back to getting my homework out.

"That's a pretty good looking new kid," Izzy mumbles.

"Anthony Mackle," I remind her of her boyfriend. She nods in

remembrance.

"His name is Jace. We met this morning. I accidentally bumped into him," I
laugh. She looks back at where Jace is before turning back to me.

"Yeah, he keeps looking at you like he definitely

knows
you." She says suspiciously. I ignore her weird behavior and the constant
buzzing of my phone due to texts from none other than Luke Taylor.

He's really pitiful.

After geography ends, Izzy and I walk out together. From the other end of
the hall, I see Luke exiting his class, his regular mean look on his face.

Right at I feel a tap on my shoulder from behind me, Luke grabs me and
places his hands on my cheeks. He gives me a kiss on the top of my head
and he leans down.

"I'm dropping out of that class." He grumbles. I giggle and shake my head
at him.

"You know you can't," I smile and he puts his arm around my shoulders. I
finally get a look at behind me and the only person is the back of Jace
walking around the corner.

Luke walks me to music, complaining the whole way about not wanting to
go to his art class.

_______________________

Luke places his jacket on the back of my chair before I sit down at our
table. His excuse, "If you get cold, it'll be right there."

Like always, he places his arm on the back of my chair, providing me

enough warmth already.

"-He's kinda cute," the end of Izzy and Olivia's conversation his heard as
they sit at the table. Ryan drops his sandwich and stares a Olivia.

"Who's cute?" He narrows his eyes and Luke snorts.

"The new guy Aubrey talked to this morning," Izzy explains and I feel
Luke's gaze turn to me.
"Who?" Luke asks, now playing attention to the conversation. Izzy points
across the cafeteria to Jace who is just now entering. Our whole table turns
to where Jace is, apparently everyone was listening. Even the twins and of
course Ethan.

We watch as Jace walks to the food line and begins getting his food. After
Jace gets his food, he turns around and his eyes connect with mine. I give
him a small greeting smile and his eyes fall on the brooding Luke beside
me.

Jace looks away and finds a seat.

We turn back around and by the look on Luke's face, I can tell he doesn't
necessarily like Jace.

"Supposedly, he's coming to our practice today," Ethan informs the guys
and Luke rolls his eyes muttering a low 'great.'

Lunch goes by slowly and Luke and Ryan follow us out to the big oak tree.
We sit down and Olivia takes her math stuff out.

We go over the stuff she's having trouble with and Luke even chimes in a
few times with help.

After free period unfortunately goes by quickly, we pack our stuff up and
Izzy, Luke, and I head to chemistry.

As Luke and I walk in, hand in hand, Katrina glares at me just like when I
walk in everyday. I sigh at her stare and put my head down while Luke
leads me to our seats.

Izzy jumps at Katrina and Katrina flinches. I let out a quiet giggle when
Izzy smirks evilly.

Chemistry drags on since the only thing we're doing is worksheet after
worksheet. It also isn't helping that my sickness is slowly but surely getting
worse.
Izzy hands me some Advil under her desk like it's a drug deal. I take it
thankfully and swallow it with my bottle of water.

After taking the Advil, chemistry finally begins to drag on less.

—————————————————————

Luke and I walk out our final class, government. As we start our separate
ways, he grabs me by the back of my backpack and spins me back around
to him.

I blush at the look on his face and he leans in, giving a slow, sweet kiss.

Someone clears their throat from a feet few in front of us and I pull away
looking at who did it.

Some teacher that I don't have stands in front of her classroom, a mean look
on her face.

"That is not allowed or tolerated," she refers to our kiss. I blush and look
down somewhat ashamed.

Luke scoffs quietly and I look up to see him rolling his eyes. He turns us
around so his back is facing the teacher and he's blocking her view to me.

He leans down and gives me another kiss. After a second or two, I pull
away with pink cheeks.

I turn to walk away but Luke grabs my hand and pulls me back to him. He
brings my hand up to his lips.

"Love you," he kisses my hand, drops it, and walks away before I can say
anything, leaving me dumbfounded.

I don't think I'll ever get used to Luke saying he loves me.

_____________________

*LUKE'S POV*
As I'm changing into the practice uniform, coach walks up to me, the new
kid Jace right beside him.

"Jace, this is Luke Taylor. He's QB and captain," Coach nods at me. I turn
my gaze from coach to Jace. He's kinda stringy but not a skinny as some
kids on the team. I give him a small nod and return to changing.

"That's Ryan Ankerman, he's one of the assistant captains. Eli Jennings is
the other but unfortunately, he isn't here today," Coach explains and Ryan
greets Jace.

They walk away and Ryan turns to me.

"Where do you think he'll play," he smirks.

"He's just Liam's replacement," I mumble back.

After changing into our practice jerseys, we make our way to the field. We
do our long ass warmups and running and once we're done is when jace
decides to join the team.

This practice, is pretty much a tryout for Jace. I'm sure the team won't be
doing much.

Most of us sit on the sidelines and when it comes time, coach calls me to
the field. Apparently even though at Jace's last school he played middle
linebacker, coach wants to try him as a slot receiver.

Jace looks a little hesitant with his steps as he runs until coach tells him to
stop, signalling for me to through. I throw an easy, quick pass to where he
is.

The football hits his hands and slips right through them. I drop my head and
curse. I just can't understand how someone could drop a pass that easily.

"What happened Jace?" Coach asks, tucking his grading clipboard under his
arm.
"It just slipped. I wasn't expecting a pass to be that hard," Jace's cheeks puff
out and almost everyone's eyebrows furrow. Even the guys on the sidelines.

They all know that that pass wasn't hard. At all.

"Well," coach clears his throat, "let's just try again." He sends Jace running
down the field again.

"Little easier this time Luke." Coach sighs.

"That last one was easy coach," I grumble, "I think he should stick to being
a lineman."

I give him another easy pass and this time his hands don't even reach out to
catch it. It hits him square in the chest and he bends over trying to catch his
breath.

The sidelines erupt into laughter as Jace tries to catch the breath that got
knocked out of him.

"Did you not see it son? What happened?" Coach tries to control his smile
and laughter.

"I...I just don't think I'm made to be a receiver." Jace nods. Coach agrees
with him and I make my way back to the sideline.

"What was wrong with Aubrey today?" Ryan asks as we go over plays in
our playbook, still standing on the sideline.

I know Aubrey didn't feel good today. Knowing her, she only came to help
Olivia. By the end of the day I could tell she felt worse than at the
beginning. She was more tired, and she was clearing her throat and
coughing more.

"She doesn't feel good," I go over our special play, turning the page of the
book, Aubrey still running through my mind.

When is she not running through my mind? Her beautiful little dimple and
her gorgeous blue eyes. Don't forget her crazy curls.
God I'm so in love with that girl.

"She's sick," I explain to Ryan further.

"She is sick. The poor thing," Ethan shakes his head as he peeks over at my
book, forgetting the plays he's supposed to know.

"Who's sick?" Tristan plops down in front of us.

"Aubrey," Ryan, Ethan, and I all mutter at the same time.

"Aubrey....?" Tristan questions for a last name. I bring my eyes away from
the book and glare at Tristan.

"What other Aubrey would I be talking about?" I narrow my eyes. "I'm

talking about my Aubrey you dumbass."

"Yeah Tristan. Duh, who else does he ever talk about?" Ryan adds.

Well he's not wrong.

"Yeah, you're right." Tristan winces. "So, what do you think about Jace? Do
you think he'll be any good?"

He's better than Liam was. In all honesty is isn't hard to be better than Liam
so he's not one of a kind. He's better than Liam and that's all that matters.

"We'll see."

___________________________

I pull my shirt over my head and almost sock the person in front of me
when I see him.

Can't I have some damn privacy and space when I'm changing? Especially
when the guys face is at the same level as my chest.

I raise my eyebrow down at Jace.

"My um, my locker is right beside yours," he turns towards his locker and I
furrow my eyebrows. He should've gotten Liams old locker. Why'd he get
the one beside mine.

No one gets the one beside mine.

No one.

The only person who's locker is beside mine is Eli's and even Eli knows to
still give me my space.

The locker room goes quiet as I begin to grow angry watching Jace try to
unlock his locker. Ryan even halts from the corner of my eye, two lockers
away.

What is coach thinking? Is he on crack?

I push past Jace harshly, not even bothering to put my shirt on as I march to
coach's office.

When I walk in his office, he's on his computer typing. He looks up from
his screen when he hears the door burst open.

"Wh-"

"Coach, I'm just really wonderin' why you decided to put Jace in the locker
next to mine. He's supposed to get Liam's old locker and I need space. I
can't have enough space with his skinny ass elbows pokin' me in my side
when I'm trying to put my God forbidden clothes on. I can't do it coach. I'd
rather have two Eli's on either side of me then have Jace on one side of me
and you know that's sayin' somethin," I speak out in a loud tone and coach's
eyebrows shoot up. A smile makes its way onto his face and he holds back a
laugh.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to come in here. I honestly
thought you would've came in here quicker than 28 seconds," he laughs.

"That was a shit joke."

"I know locker 403 is reserved for nobody under any circumstances. I just
wanted to play with you a little bit," he says, handing me the combination
and new lock to Liams old locker.

I walk out of Coach's office and the hallway is full of JV volleyball players.

"Great," I mumble under my breath, feeling their gazes on me as I walk past

them back to the locker room.

They're sighting will eventually get out to Aubrey and Lord knows what her
Holy self with think of that.

I walk back into the locker room and all eyes are on me as I come up right
beside Jace.

I shove the lock and combination into his chest.

"Locker 310 is yours," I tell him sharply. He grabs his bag on the floor and
walks away quickly.

___________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

My front door opens and Luke spots me lying on the couch. His frustrated
look leaves his face when he see the tissue box right next to me.

He drops his keys on the console table by the door and he walks over to
where I'm sitting. He takes his shoes off and he climbs on top of me. He
lays his head on my chest and lets out a sigh.

"You feel better?" He asks, raising his head to look at me.

"Mhm," I nod and he narrows his eyes. He raises his arm and he feels my
forehead. Even with my fever lowering medicine, I still feel warm.

"Why are you lying?"

"I'm not lying," I sigh. I hate being sick, it makes me feel so useless and just
bleh.

"Your nose is twitching baby, I know when you're lying," He sits up and
pulls me with him. He picks me up and pulls me onto his lap.

"Fuck you're so pretty," he shakes his head. My eyebrows shoot up at his

language and not long after my cheeks turn pink.

"I'm hungry, are you hungry?" He stands up and I let out a gasp as he does,
still holding onto me.

"Not really," I tell him honestly. I haven't really had much of an appetite
today.

"Well you're going to eat. You barely ate anything at lunch today." He kisses
me on the cheek and he sits me down on my feet.

I chose not to argue with his stubborn ways and I grab my light blue, Kate
Spade wallet. I slip on my dark brown Birkenstock's and Luke picks up his
keys.

As we're walking out the door, Luke snatches my wallet and he throws it
inside. It lands perfectly on the couch and my mouth drops open as he shuts
the door.

"Close your mouth darling'. You don't wanna catch flies," he locks my front
door and my mouth drops down even further.

_________________________

"What did I tell you about keeping the front door locked?" Luke suddenly
brings up. "I just walked right in. I could've been anybody."

For some reason I always seem to forget to lock to dumb door after getting
home from school.

"Thankfully it was you," I smile sheepishly.

"What would've happened if it wasn't me though?" He sighs, his thumb
rubbing circles on my thigh as he drives.

"Well, I...they would have gotten a face full of tissue box. I also would have
ran, Eli tells me I'm quite fast so no worry there." I smile, thinking of
outrunning an intruder.

"You're killing me."

Luke orders Taco Bell for the both of us and we make our way back to my
house. Once inside, we walk up to my room and I turn on my tv. I put on
The Office and we eat our tacos.

When we're done eating our tacos, I'm stuffed and I roll over on my side. I
grab a tissue from my nightstand and I wipe my runny nose.

Luke lays down beside me and pulls me to him.

"My whole family knows about you," I feel his smirk on the back of my
neck. I turn in his arms with slightly enlarged eyes.

"All of them?" I question. All 8oo bajillion members of his family.

"Yep," he nods.

"That's scary," I whisper more to myself, "How did they find out about
me?"

"Well firstly, Ella Taylor isn't exactly a quiet person. And the rest came
from dad. He's a blabber mouth too. Not to mention we're on Eli's
Instagram. I took him to Alabama with me for a week this past summer and
everyone knows him know," Luke rolls his eyes at the end.

"And they all wanna meet you."

________________________

|
|

| Thank you so much for reading!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 4615

-Ashlyn M.
Part 32 "Wait, that sounded bad"
*****NOTE*****

Hey guys!! I just want to apologize for the long wait. Hurricane
Florence really did quite a number on my little town. I want you all to
know that my family and I stayed safe. I also want to thank you all for
the prayers too!! This chapter will most likely have a lot of mistakes
since I had to do pretty much all of it on my phone. Hurricane Florence
took my internet away so I can't use my computer *eye roll*. Anyway,
we're fixing the internet so expect more chapters soon!

————————————————-

"What do you mean they want to meet me? We've only been together for a
little while." My brows scrunch in confusion.

"They've known about you, grandma told them we were together even
before we were," Luke rubs his hand through my hair. Just by the feeling, I
could fall asleep.

Feeling myself start to fall asleep, I roll my head up and look right up at
Luke. He stops moving his hand that's on my head and he smirks down at
my tired eyes.

"I love you," I whisper up to him and the smirk drops from his face.

"You love me?" He asks and I hear a little disbelief in his tone.

"Well

you

love

me
!" I giggle.

"But I didn't know you loved me," he whispers vulnerably, his now light
grey eyes shining down at me. I sit up from my position and lean over to
him.

I grab his face by his cheeks and make sure he's looking right at me.

"Well I love you okay?" I gather up my courage and I dip my head down
and put my lips on his.

I pull away only after a few seconds, too nervous to do anything else.

"Say it again." Luke says.

"I love you," I giggle and he smiles and kisses the tip of my nose. I let out a
yawn and unfortunately that yawn turns into a cough.

Luke looks at me pitifully and I sigh.

"Can we go to sleep?"

"Lay down sweetheart," he gets out of bed and begins taking his shirt off.
He drops his shirt on the end of my bed and he puts his pants there as well.

I feel my face heat up slightly as he climbs back into bed. He pulls me to

him by my waist. I look at his chest as I get closer and my cheeks heat up
more.

He notices me looking at his chest and from the corner of my eye, I see a
little smirk appear on his face.

He sits up and leans against my headboard. He pulls me up with him and

once I'm sitting up, he lifts me onto his lap.

I gasp feeling

something
on my upper thigh, almost at my butt. Right in front of my face is the most
well defined and one of the only 6 packs I've ever seen. I feel myself
slipping off Luke and I put out my hand to place them on his chest.

At the last second, my hands stop themselves from touching his chest. Luke
grabs my hands and places them on his chest. A blush lights up my face as
he holds my hands to his chest.

"You don't have to be so shy about touching me," he smirks softly, moving
my hands down to where I can feel the ripples of his abs, "it's all yours."

He pulls me forward and wraps his arms around me. I lay my head on his
chest and the rest of our bodies tangle together. Even though I'm on top of
him, he doesn't seem to be struggling under my weight.

"I wish my dad could meet you," I whisper and Luke kisses the top of my
head.

"I wish mom could meet you," he responds back the same way. I send a
quick prayer up and I'm soon falling asleep to the softness of Luke's hand
rubbing up and down my back.

__________________________

I raise up from my previous, laying and sleeping position. Luke's hand still
draped around me weighs me down but I'm able to pry it off. I look out my
window and I see it's still dark outside.

I breath out of my mouth, finally catching my breath. My nose is so stopped

up, I couldn't breath out of it and I woke up.

I scoot off the bed and from the light coming from my tv, I see Luke's hand
reach around the bed, a frown on his sleeping face.

He grabs my pillow I was laying on and he brings it into his arms.

I giggle seeing him cuddling a pillow and I walk into my bathroom to get
some medicine. The clock beside my sink says 1:11 am. At least it isn't that
early.

I take my nasal decongestant medicine and two Benadryls. I walk back into
my room and see Luke still cuddling his face into my pillow. I carefully
climb into bed and I pull my covers back over me. With my back facing
Luke, I adjust my other pillow.

Within a few seconds of settling, a pair of warm hands wrap themselves

around me and a front is pressed against my back.

"Why was I holding a pillow and not you?" Luke grumbles tiredly in my
ear. I let out a tired, breathy giggle.

"I had to get up for a minute," I caress his forearm which is laying across
my stomach "Mmm," he hums in response.

"I love you," I whisper, not knowing if he's still awake or not. He moves my
hair to the side and he places a soft kiss on the back of my neck.

"I'm so crazy about you sweetheart," I barely hear him mutter as my eyes
close.

_____________________________

Later the next day, I excitedly fidget as Luke and I make our way to gym
class, hand in hand. Today, we receive our scores on our parenthood
preparedness project.

Thankfully, since we aren't going to be doing any kind of physical activities

in gym, we don't have to change into our gym clothes.

Luke and I make our way into the gymnasium and we sit near the guys and
Izzy. Eli says he's feeling quite a bit better today and I even got a morning
hug from him this morning.

"I'm going to get a 12% for my grade." Eli decides.

"Throughout the whole time we had the baby, I saw that child three times,"
he adds.
"All right class, listen up! I'll call your groups one by one and I will tell you
your grades. I only want one person from each group coming up so decide
who is going to do that now," Mrs. Siding announces.

"I'll go!" I tell Luke, smiling excitedly. Mrs. Siding finally calls our names
and I rush up to where she's standing. She glances at her computer before
turning to me and smiling.

"You and Luke did very well! You two got a 95%!" She says and a smile
breaks out on my face. Even though we had our ups and downs with our
Weston Dipthong Taylor, we still got a good grade.

It's a little surprising to get that high of a grade though. We did accidentally
leave him alone for a whole night one day.

"You two have one of the highest grades, good job."

"Thank you," I give her a smile and I return to my seat next to Luke and
Izzy.

"What'd we get?" He asks once I sit down.

"95," I smile happily before letting out a sneeze.

"Lucky's. I got a 51," Eli pouts and I let out a laugh.

"It was all Ana's fault too! She wouldn't let me have the baby and when she
had it, she didn't take care of it," he explains with a roll of his eyes.

"We got an 88," Izzy smirks.

"We would've gotten higher if you wouldn't have dropped the baby from the
top of the school stairs," Izzy's partner Max, chimes in.

"Don't start with me today Maxwell."

______________________
The rest of gym class, we sat and talked until Mrs. Siding released us. I
excuse myself from our little group that's walking to the cafeteria and I start
walking to the bathroom to blow my nose.

Turning the corner right before getting to the bathroom, I almost bump right
into someone. I look up and find Jace looking down at me.

"Sorry we keep meeting like this," I laugh at myself, something I do quite a

lot I've noticed.

"I don't mind it," he smirks and I find myself feeling just a tad but uncomfy.
I try not to show it, not wanting Jace to feel embarrassed.

"So I heard you tried out for the football team," I smile, trying to change the
subject.

"I

made

it actually," he puffs out his chest, I guess showing off.

"Congratulations! I'm happy for you! I'm sure the guys on the team will
welcome you nicely," I try and convince myself that the guys won't be rude.
*Ahem* Luke.

"Thank you. Your brother sure is making it tough but I'm sure it'll get
better."

My eyebrows furrow at what he says.

Brother? I don't have a brother.

"I don't have a broth-"

"I have to get going Aubrey. Maybe I'll see you around," he shrugs a single
shoulder before walking off.

What just happened?

As far as I know, I don't look like any of the guys on the team. Ethan and I
have the same colored hair but that's all. Nobody on that team looks like me
at all.

I open the bathroom door and blow my nose, my eyebrows still scrunched
in confusion.

I walk into the cafeteria, the conversation with Jace still floating around in
my mind.

"Do I resemble anyone on the football team here?" I ask Izzy and Olivia
quietly as I sit at our lunch table.

"Absolutely not." Izzy shakes her head immediately.

"Not that I know of, why?" Olivia questions.

"I just got told I did." I explain and both of their eyebrows furrow.

________________________

*LUKE'S

POV*

Eli and I lean into the girls' conversation, listening to what Aubrey is
saying. Eli looks at me with confusion written all over his face and I look
back at him the same way.

"Who told you that and what did they say?" Izzy asks Aubrey, a weirded out
look on her face.

"When I was walking to the bathroom, I ran into Jace." My eyes

automatically narrow and Eli's snorts from beside me. I kick his shin from
under the table and he lets out a pained grunt.
"I told him I heard about him trying out for the football team and he was
very rude by the way but that's besides the point-"

"I don't think that should be besides the point," I interrupt her. She gives me
an adorable stern look and I have to hold back a smile as I back away from
their conversation, still listening though.

"Anyway," she sighs, "I told him I'm sure everyone on the team will
welcome him nicely, even though I told a little fib."

I smirk at how cute she is.

"He was like, 'You brother sure is making it tough.' and I was really
confused and before I could ask he left," she threw her hands into the air.

Eli and I look at each other knowing exactly what that 'Jace' figure was
thinking.

After Aubrey finishes her conversation with Izzy and Olivia, I usher her
over to the spot beside me.

I put my arm around her back, keeping her close to me.

"I have a game in Rutherford today," I mention and she looks up at me and
nods, flashing me her beautiful blues.

"I want you to come." I smile softly down at her as a smile grows on her
face.

"Okay! Where's that at?"

"We can drive there so you'll just ride with me," I kiss her head and she
nods.

"Can I ride with yo-" Eli starts.

"No." I deadpan.

_____________________________
Aubrey's hands shoots to mine, stopping my hand in its track. A smirk
grows on my face at her flushed cheeks.

"Stop," she whispers, removing my hand from her thigh. I cling on to her
hand with mine and bring it up to my lips. I give it a lingering kiss and put
her hand down, knowing she's blushing.

I turn into Rutherford High School and park my truck beside Eli's Jeep. I
look to my left and see Eli leaning on the hood of his truck, talking with
some Rutherford girls.

I let out a snort, climbing out of my truck. Eli and his 'friends' snap their
heads over to me. I tilt my head and raise my eyebrow at Eli, making my
way to the other side of my truck.

I lift Aubrey out with a peck to her sweet lips. I walk back to my side and I
get my duffel bag out of the back seat.

"Luke! C'mere!" Eli waves me over. I let out a sigh and grab Aubrey's hand,
leading her there with me.

Like hell I'll leave Aubrey standing here by herself at

Rutherford.

"This is Luke Taylor," Eli claps me on the shoulder and I have to fight back
the urge to throat punch him.

"Yeah we know who he is," A girl in the back of the group bites her lip. I
roll my eyes and hold onto Aubrey tighter. To get the message of 'I'm taken'
further, I drop my head down and kiss the top of her head.

I hear voices coming from behind us and I turn to find the jackasses from
the Rutherford football team.

Aka, our rivals.

The guys turns their attention to Eli and I. The four of them make their way
over to where we're standing.
"Keri, what are you doing talking to these guys?" Kade pulls on his sisters
arm, who was in the middle of talking to Eli, an angry look plastered on his
face.

"Aw let her go Kade," Eli smirks, probably making the situation worse, "let
her talk. I was enjoying it."

"You shut the fuck up," Kade points an accusing finger at Eli. I pull Aubrey
further behind me, making sure they can't see her.

I have a feeling this encounter won't end very well.

Aubrey clings to the back of my shirt tightly as she listens to the words
being exchanged.

"Why don't you make me, huh?" Eli drops down from his seated position on
the hood of his Jeep.

"Kade stop, we were just talking, we were making friends!"

"You know the rules Keri! You can't talk to these guys!" Kade explains
harshly.

"You need to chillax man," Eli says coolly. He's really shit at making bad
situations better.

Kade turns towards Eli and starts charging at him. I jump in front of Eli and
catch Kade in the air before dropping him back to the ground.

"You both need to chill the fuck out." I shove Eli backwards to his Jeep. I
look over at Aubrey to make sure she's okay and she's backed up against my
truck, a slightly scared look on her face.

Dammit.

"You two aren't gonna fight over some stupid shit right now got it?" I say
authoritatively and clearly.
The two guys just glare at each other and I roll my eyes at their behavior.
They're so dramatic it's ridiculous.

I walk back over to Aubrey and pull her into my arms.

"It's okay," I bring her lips up to mine.

"We'll settle this later," Kade and the three other guys glare at us as they
start walking away.

Well the other three guys glare at us, Kades eyes are running up and down
Aubrey's body.

————————————————————

"You should have let me hammer down on him Luke!" Eli forms his hands
into fists and he starts punching an imaginary Kade.

"Aubrey wouldn't like that," I finish tying my cleats and I adjust my

shoulder pads.

"Then she'll hate this game. Games against Rutherford are always messy,"
Eli winces.

It's true. I forgot about that.

Eli and I walk out the where Aubrey and the girls are sitting. Thankfully,
Olivia and Izzy got here before we had to go change out.

I plop down beside Aubrey and put my arm behind her head.

"Newsflash, these are our rivals." Eli blurts out.

"Way to be subtle idiot," I give him a pointed look.

"There will
be

tons

of tension," Izzy nods.

"But don't worry okay? You'll be fine. Plus dad's coming and he'll make
sure of it," I kiss her cheek reassuringly.

After about twenty minutes, it's time for us to go down and practice.

"We have to go," Ryan announces.

"Good luck son," dad pats me on the back.

Aubrey stands up and she wraps her arms around my torso. She tilts her
head up and she smiles up at me.

"Be careful."

"I will," I smile down at her and lean down to kiss her.

"I love you," she whispers up to me and my heart feels like it fluttered.

"Love you too," I give her one last kiss before walking back to the field
with Eli and Ryan.

"You said you love her!" Eli shouts out excitedly and a small smile makes
its way onto my lips.

____________________________

"We want a clean game fellas. Since Rutherford is at home, they'll call the
toss." The ref announces.

The three of us glare right back at the Rutherford players. No one really
knows why we're rivals. Neither of us has ever done anything to each other.
I guess its just because none of us like each other.
"Tails." Kade calls out.

The quarter drops and it lands on tails. Kade smirks at me like he's won
something. It's a coin toss, just because you said the right side with a 50/50
chance, doesn't mean you're the shit.

He's not even on offense. He's a linebacker.

Ryan stays on the field as Eli and I jog off.

"God I hate those guys," Eli shakes his head.

"I don't understand why they think they are better than us. We were in
nationals last year," Ethan adds as he comes up beside us. He waves up to
the crowd and I follow where he's looking. Aubrey looks right back at, a
smile adorning her face as she waves.

She's so damn cute.

"Offense! You're up! Let's go!" Coach ushers us out and we run out to the
field, buckling our helmets.

We go into a huddle and I explain to Eli and everyone where exactly they
need to be. We break from huddle and I get behind the center. I look around
before bending down, making sure everyone is in their right place.

I spot Kade looking right back at me, from the other side. I narrow my eyes
at him and a smirk makes its way onto my face.

"Let's make a touchdown," I mutter and Daylon, the center, lets out a
chuckle.

"Let's get it capt."

____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"Look at that throw!" I watch Luke's perfect throw in amazement.

Eli catches the pass and he runs a whole 60 yards for the touchdown.

Their very first play, they score a touchdown.

I can tell that the tension just got a little bit higher on the field. A few
Rutherford players were stomping of the field, and kicking the turf.

By the beginning of the third quarter, there had been two crowd fights and
almost one on the field. It's quite crazy.

We're also winning 37-6.

I'm even scared to go and get some French fries from the concession stand.
What if I get the last fries and someone tries to fight me?

I would run away that's what would happen. Of course I would be out of
breath by the time of got ten feet away but that's besides the point.

A sudden roar from the crowd shocks me from my thinking. I look towards
the field and I spot Luke roughly shoving a Rutherford player.

Oh dear Jesus.

"Oh no what's he doing," I gasp, holding onto the arm of Izzy.

"What are you doing Luke?" James mutters from beside me. We watch as
the Rutherford boy takes his helmet of and I realize that it's Kade.

Luke glares

scarily

at Kade. Kade comes at Luke just like he came at Eli before the game and I
turn my head away, not wanting to see what Luke does in return.

After a few seconds of not looking, I take a peek. I see Kade on the ground
and Luke waking away, a dark glare on his face and nobody daring to mess
with him.
"What'd he do to Kade?" My curiousness gets the best of me.

"He uppercutted his ass!" Olivia laughs.

Oh lordy.

It's really a wonder how Luke doesn't ever get in trouble with all these
things he does.

"What made him do that?" I question no one in particular.

"I'm going to find out," James gets up from his seat and he heads down to
the sideline entrance.

The rest of the game goes by quickly and the guys beat Rutherford by a
crazy amount.

"Do you think he'll still be in a grumpy mood?"

"I don't know, he's your boyfriend. You know him better than I do," Izzy
shrugs.

James left soon after going down to talk to Luke. He came up and told us
goodbye.

I probably just shouldn't even bring up the argument between Kade and him
anyway. Even though I'm really nosy and curious, I'm sure he wouldn't want
to talk about it and I don't want to poke around in his business.

I spot Luke coming out of the locker room, his glare still present on his
face.

I turn my attention elsewhere, not wanting it to seem like I was watching

Luke like a hawk.

I hear footsteps behind me and soon enough, his big hand is grabbing my
waist.

"Let's go," he mumbles, not acknowledging anyone around me.

I give the girls apologetic looks as he drags me away silently.

I keep quiet while walking beside him. I don't what to say that'll make him
feel better.

"You played really good," I attempt.

He lifts me into his truck and lets out a humorless chuckle.

"Yeah thanks," he grumbles before closing my door and going to his side.

Last time I checked, I did nothing to him.

Once he got into the truck, I decided that I will just keep quiet.

It's just his mood. He doesn't like anyone right now and I have to
understand that.

I stay to myself the ride and the car stays completely silent. Usually our
rides are filled with music and talking but today is not like usual.

It's not an awkward silence, which is good. The aura around us is very tense
though. I kinda wish he would just tell me what happened. Maybe he thinks
I'll get mad or that I am

mad.

Even though I've asked him before to refrain from punching peoples faces, I
can't control what he does, and if he decides that punching someone's face
is the better option for them, then so be it.

_______________________

Luke pulls into my driveway and I'm ready to bolt out of the car.

If he doesn't have anything to say to me, then I don't have anything to say to
him. I open my door and carefully jump out, barely landing on my feet
which is just great.
I grab my back pack from where my feet were, and without saying a word
to Luke, I close the door.

I unlock my front door swiftly, and I walk inside without hesitation. I place
my bag on my couch and I let out a sigh.

My front door opens and Luke walks in. I look down at my feet as he walks
towards me. One of his arms suddenly wraps around my upper back and the
other one wraps around my waist as he pulls me towards him. He embraces
me in a hug, resting his head in the crook of my neck.

That wasn't what I thought he was going to do.

"I'm sorry. Sorry for being a jerk and for not talking to you and for kicking
Kade's ass and everything else I did." My eyes widen at his apology and I
pull away from the embrace.

"What happened between you two? I mean he must've done something." I

state the obvious.

"I don't want to tell you why." He says honestly and my eyebrows scrunch
together in confusion.

"Why don't you want to tell me?"

"Because it was about you. But that doesn't matter, it's fine, let's change the
subject." If my eyebrows could scrunch any further, they would. How does
Kade even know about me?

"Okay." I say even though I am still very curious as to what Kade said. It'll
probably be best if I forget about it anyways though.

"So what are we gonna do now?"

"

I'm
going to do my homework," I smile at him when his nose scrunches in
distaste.

"Ew."

"Well you should probably do yours too," I walk to my backpack and I get
out my chemistry homework, math homework, and English homework.

This is going to be a long night.

_________________________

"Are you almost done? Damn," Luke sighs and I move my eyes from my
English paper to him.

"Hm? What'd you say? Sorry, I don't understand your mumbling," I narrow
my eyes at his head.

He rolls his head around to me and smirks at my glare.

"You've been doing your homework for hours now. They only check if you
do it or not. They don't check if it's right."

"Well I want to do it right." I finish reading the last sentence on the page of
my English homework.

My paper is ripped away and I groan. Luke shoves my paper in my folder

and he puts it in my bag.

"That shit's due next week, do it later," he pulls me onto him and my face
turns red.

"No need for that," he kisses both of my flaming cheeks, "we both already
know I love you."

My heart feels like it skips a beat.

My body lies flat on top of him as we both watch London Has Fallen on my
tv.
That movie really is such a sad movie. So many people get killed.

Luke's hand runs up and down my back almost lulling me to sleep before I
remember I need to get in the shower.

I take the quickest possible shower, wanting to get back to Luke soon
before I loose my tiredness.

I also want him to keep rubbing my back. It felt so good.

I lay down on the previous spot I was in before showering and Luke
continues rubbing my back.

From the slow breathing of Luke, I can tell he's either asleep or almost
asleep even though his hand is still moving.

I decide to turn my tv off and just go to sleep as well.

I send a prayer up and my eyes droop before they eventually close.

______________________________

I wake up the next morning and Luke's arm is still around me.

Usually Luke leaves early in the morning.

I cuddle closer to him, feeling the coldness of the air on me. Luke hogged
all the covers and now they're all on him or on the floor beside him.

He wraps his arms tighter around me and then my bedroom door opens.

A gasp comes from my doorway and I look over only to see my mom. She
stands in my doorway, her mouth agape, and an annoyed look on her face.

I sit up, waking Luke in the process.

"Wh-" He starts before noticing my mom. His mouth shuts and he kinda
just looks like 'well crap.'
"Wha-, what?" My mom stutters looking confused.

"Hey mom," I say hesitantly. I get up out of my bed, and purposely show
her that all of my clothes are on my body. Luke gets up as well and thank
goodness he never took his clothes off to sleep.

"What are you two doing? What is he doing here? How long have you two
been doing this?" She shoots me question after question.

"A few weeks, and we only sleep together." I look down at my feet.

"Wait that sounded bad." I realize after a second. We don't

sleep

together, we only sleep..together.

"I think I'm gonna go," Luke says from beside me. He bends down and
grabs his shoes before turning back around.

"I'll see you." He says before mouthing 'I love you.'

He walks out my bedroom door and I'm left with my mother. She doesn't
look too happy but it could be worse.

"I want to to be honest with me Aubrey-"

"Honest? Fine, I'll be honest. Luke sleeps here with me every night because
without him, I either wake up crying because my father is dead and I never
got to say goodbye or I can't sleep at all. There's the truth," I let out a shaky
sigh and begin to feel bad for snapping at her.

My mother's eyes don't change, she just lets out a sharp breath.

"As long as I don't hear you two during the night, which I haven't so far, I'll
let him stay. But! If I hear anything, he's gone."

"Okay," I whisper and she just shakes her head, leaving my room. After
sitting on my bed for ten more minutes, I finally start getting ready.
______________________________

"I think I'm going to join a fraternity when I get into college," Eli gives me
a hug as soon as he sees me by my locker.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Do you think you'll have time to be a
dedicated fraternity brother?" I question, amusement running through my
voice.

It's true though. I know he's going to some college for football and joining a
fraternity apparently takes a lot of time and dedication.

"It will be one of those simple ones where I only live in the house and they
throw parties. Nothing crazy.

"Maybe you should talk it over with Luke, I'm sure he'll give you some
wise advice."

"You are exactly right I mean, he is older than me too." Eli nods
enthusiastically.

"Hey." Luke's deep voice says from behind me. I turn around and look up at
him with a small smile. We start walking and he takes a hold of my hand.

"Hi."

"How'd it go with your mom? I guess we forgot to lock the door," he smirks
at the end and a blush touches my cheeks.

"It went good," I nod.

"And I can still stay the night?" He asks with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

"I talked her into it," I smile proudly and he wraps his tree trunk like arms
around my waist, leaning me up against some random locker.

"Good," he whispers before connecting my lips with his. He sneakily

squeezes my butt and I pull away from our kiss with a gasp. I lightly smack
his chest and he chuckles into my neck.
"H-Hey," a familiar voice stutters from behind Luke. Luke sighs and
removes his face from my neck and he turns around.

Lee stands in front of us, his eyes focused down towards the ground.

"What?" Luke grumbles, annoyed. It's crazy how quickly his mood can
change.

"I n-need to get to my locker," Lee takes a quick glance up at me and I give
him a smile.

"I'm sorry Lee, we'll get out of your way," I grab Luke's hand and drag him
with me.

_________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"I'll see you in English," I kiss the top of Aubrey's head before walking off
to find Ryan. I find him at his locker, attempting to open it.

Dumbass

"Did you talk to coach?" I question. I never got the chance to see him since
I had to go home and everything.

"Yeah, he's not happy at all. He told me that he can't cover up for your
fighting anymore. The school board found out about this one and they said
you are on a one game suspension." Ryan winces.

It was worth it.

+++++FLASHBACK+++++

The ball is snapped to me and everything goes quiet in my head. I back

away from the line, looking for any receiver open.
A hand flies in the air in the corner of my eyes and without a second
thought, I let the ball roll off my fingers.

Eli catches the pass easily and runs.

50..40..30..20..10..TD.

A slight shove comes from behind me and I turn around with a glare already
plastered on my face.

Kade's ugly ass looks right back at me.

I guess he's not so confident now.

He still has that fucking smirk on his face as he comes closer to me. He
turns his body so he's facing the Greenwood side just like me.

"You know Taylor," he chuckles, "I can't help but to respect you."

My eyes narrow off into the crowd.

What the hell is he up to?

"I mean damn, your girlfriend is just so fucking hot," he says.

My face turns into a glare and I turn towards him and shove him away from
me.

I would have punched him right then and there but I did tell Aubrey I was
trying to refrain myself.

"Come on Luke," he laughs, rolling the shoulder which I pushed, "she's got
a nice rack, I bet she would look much nicer attached to me."

My fists clench and anger floods through me.

I stalk angrily towards Kade and he attempts to do the same.

Before he can even react, I uppercut his jaw and he flops to the ground.
+++++FLASHBACK+++++

It was

definitely

worth it.

__________________________

||||| I hope you enjoyed this one!! I made it a little longer because of the
break. I've got some stuff planned for the next few chaps so please stay
tuned!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 5749

-Ashlyn M.
Part 33 "I'm not a violent person"
****NOTE****

Ya'll, I just want to say sorry! I said I was going to update much earlier
than this but it has been almost a whole month.

Hurricane Matthew hit us and we went through another cleaning up

and repairing faze.

****END NOTE***

"When are you going to stop taking up for people who don't fucking
deserve it?" Luke sighs angrily.

I just sigh softly and listen to him rant. I know I have a problem with that.
I've gotten hurt because of it before but, I can't help it.

"Katrina is a piece of shit, there is no reason for you to take up for her.
Especially after everything she's done to you," his voice gets quieter but I
can tell he's progressively getting angrier.

When Katrina tripped me in the cafeteria, with my hands full of food, I

thought it was accidental. Apparently, Luke doesn't.

I look down at my comforter and follow the square pattern sewed into it.

"Can you go?" I whisper. I don't think I can take him yelling at me like this
anymore without crying in front of him.

That'll just make me look more weak than I already am.

"Of course you want me to leave. Because all you do is run away from your
problems," he picks up his keys from my bedside table and he gives my
forehead a quick peck.
"Love you," He mumbles, walking out of my room and slightly slamming
the door. A few seconds later I hear the front door shut.

A let out a soft whimper and I push my face into my bed comforter.

don't

always run away from my problems.

Confrontations just make me shaky and I don't like them. I never have.

I don't like arguing with people and I don't like

seeing

people argue. I definitely don't like fighting and I don't like other people
fighting either, it scares me.

I thought Luke would've understood that by now.

At least today is Friday.

This week has been the longest week of my life, and I'm glad it's finally
over.

I'm also glad that in two weeks we get Thanksgiving break.

I need a break before I have a heart attack caused by stress.

I sit up and wipe my tears, cursing my stupid crying for making my head
pound.

I walk downstairs, take some medicine, and begin doing something that
makes me happy.

I bake some cookies.

Cookies to eat while watching Netflix and probably even crying some more
later on, but that's okay.

While pulling the cookies out of the oven, Kelsey comes to mind all of a
sudden. I haven't talked to her in almost two weeks. She's probably mad.

Maybe that's why she hasn't called

me.

I'll call later.

I don't really feel like talking to anyone right now.

I let the cookies cool before bringing a plate of them up to my room with
me.

____________________________

Four hours, multiple tears, a plate of cookies, and two movies later, I roll
out of bed and walk downstairs to wash the dishes from the cookies.

I was the mound of dishes piled up in the sink and begin putting them away
once I'm done.

I hear the front door open and I look at the clock on the stove and see it's
only 9:15.

I know

exactly

who it is.

I let out a quiet sigh and I continue putting the dishes away.

I hear him come into the kitchen and I decide that it's best for me to ignore
his presence for right now.
Although I'm almost certain it's him, there's still a chance it could be a bad
guy. The thought causes my heart to pond slightly.

I reach up as high as I can, putting a coffee cup in its right cabinet.

Meanwhile Luke, hopefully Luke, just stays somewhere behind me, but I
can feel his eyes on me.

I put away the last dish and right before I'm about to turn around, large but
gentle arms wrap themselves around me from behind.

Luke's scent envelops my nose and he sticks his head in my neck.

Here I was trying to be mad at him and he comes and does this. He made
me cry, even thought what he said was true, he could've said it more nicely.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, tightening his arms on me like I'm going to

suddenly disappear.

I still don't say anything, feeling too weak to utter a single word. He turns
me around in his arms and he hugs my waist. I wrap my arms around his
neck with a little bit of a struggle because of our height difference. He lifts
me off my feet easily so that I can wrap my arms around his neck better.

"Are you a little drunk?" I ask softly. I can smell some alcohol on him.

"Only tipsy."

"Sober you wouldn't say the word 'tipsy' Luke," I pull away from him and
look at his face. His lips twitch as he holds back a smile.

"You didn't drive here did you?" I ask hopefully. If he did, he could've
wrecked.

"No, I walked. Ryan's house is only like fifteen minutes away," he assures
me and I let out a breath of relief.

"I'm sorry," he says again.

"You already said that," I move a piece of his hair off of his forehead.
"But you didn't say anything back," he sticks his bottom lip out in a pout
and I know he's definitely not sober.

"What you said was right. I run away from all of my problems because I'm
scared of a bad confrontation with someone," I feel tears brewing but I keep
them held back.

"I wasn't right sweetheart," he shakes his head, "You don't run away from
your problems. You just don't want to have any problems at all and that's so
different from me that I just have to get used to it."

"You

are

a problematic person sometimes," a smile reaches mine and Luke's lips.

"I just look for trouble don't I?" He smiles down at me and I let out a laugh.

"Put me down, I'm too heavy," I start to wiggle. His arms probably hurt
now.

"Too heavy my ass," he mumbles, "Aubrey you weigh 110 pounds."

"No I don't! 115 actually," I announce matter of factually.

"Wow, such a difference. A whole five pounds," he sits me back down on

the floor gently.

He squeezes my butt and I ram my hand into his chest.

"Did you make cookies?" he sniffs the air.

"Yes," I point to the stove where I was about to put the cookies away. Luke
turns his head back to me and he smiles boyishly at me.

"God I love you so much," he attaches his lips to mine swiftly before going
to grab the remaining cookies and eating three of them at once.
"Let's go babe," he grabs my hand and my eyebrows furrow.

"Where are we going?" I question stopping in the living room. He picks up

his truck keys and he hands them to me.

"We're going to my house."

"Well, I need clothes!" I run upstairs and put clothes for tomorrow and
pajamas in a bag. Not forgetting my toothbrush and other small essentials.

I make it back downstairs and Luke and I walk to where his truck is parked
a little ways, actually more like ten minutes, down the road.

He lifts me into the drivers seat and he hands me his keys. I get a little
nervous as I put the keys in the ignition. The truck roars to life and Luke
climbs into the passenger seat.

I adjust my seat so that I can see and I cant reach the gas and brake. Then I
adjust the mirrors and I take a deep breath.

"Are we gonna sit here all night or..?" Luke teases and I send him a little
glare.

I don't want to wreck his beloved truck. I've never even driven anything this
big before!

I make it onto the road and it turns out to not be so bad. Even though I still
prefer driving my car over his.

__________________________

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Luke looks up from his lying down
position on his bedroom floor. A pop-tart hanging out of his mouth.

"I don't know," I shrug, "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

I pick up his pop-tart wrapper and I throw it away in the trash.

"Can I use your shower?" I bend down and wipe some hair off of his
forehead. He smiles up at me and nods.

"Why don't we save water and take one together?" He smirks.

"Very funny."

"There's towels and rags under the sink." He calls out as I walk into the
bathroom and shut the door.

I get in his big shower and spend 20 minutes relaxing my muscles and
washing my hair and body. I'm probably going to smell like a man since I'm
using his soaps.

After getting out the shower, I put on my pajamas, a blue tank top with a
twisted back, and just some black leggings.

I finish brushing my teeth right as bathroom door opens. I see Luke's eyes
on me through the mirror as he walks up to me.

"What if I didn't have any clothes on when you came in here?" I question,
raising my eyebrow.

He stops right behind me and he places a soft kiss on my shoulder blade. He

wraps his arms around me and holds me flush to him.

"Then I'd be one lucky son of a bitch," he attaches his lips to my neck and I
gasp. He kisses my neck slowly, trailing down to my shoulder.

He grabs my chin and turns my head, putting his lips on mine.

I pull away after a while to catch my breath and he leans his forehead on
mine.

"You smell like me," he smirks and gives me another lingering kiss.

Luke says he's getting in the shower and I go back into his room. I lay down
on his bed, on my back and start playing Wind Rider on my phone.
After trying 20 or so times, I finally get first place right as Luke comes out
the bathroom. He's wearing only a pair of sweatpants and his extremely
toned chest is on full display.

Luke lays down in my arms and he lets out a sigh. My eyebrows furrow and
I run my hands through his wet hair.

"What's wrong?" I ask softly. His gorgeous grey eyes find mine and he
searches my eyes.

"I miss her," he whispers and I know he's talking about his mom. Sadness
washes over me when I realize how hard it is for him.

His mom has been gone for two years and he's told no one but me about it.
He had to keep all of his feelings to himself and that's way too hard.

"I'm sorry," he snuggles closer into me and I kiss his face.

He's usually the one I'm cuddling into but tonight it's different. Tonight he's
the one who needs comforting and I'm going to be here all the way.

Luke's hand lands on my butt and I snort. Even in times like these, of course
his hands still have minds of their own.

"I love you," he kisses my collar bone, where his head is tucked.

"I love you too," I kiss his cheek, pray, and then finally drift off into sleep.

______________________________

The next morning I of course, wake up before Luke does and I have to pry
myself out his arms.

I brush my teeth and put my clothes on. Before doing my makeup and hair,
I decide to lay back down because I'm tired from getting up and getting my
clothes on. When you have minimal energy in the first place, getting
dressed just takes what you had, I found.
I lie down across from Luke, not wanting to wake him. Even though as I
was as quiet as I could be, Luke is not a heavy sleeper at all.

I feel him stir from beside me and soon I feel him pressed up against my
back and his faced placed into my neck.

"When'd you wake up?" he asked in an undeniably attractive croaky, deep,

and tired voice.

"Only about 20 minutes ago," he runs his fingers down my arm almost
making me shudder.

"Eli texted me late last night," he mumbles and I can tell he probably rolled
his eyes when saying that.

"What'd he say?"

"Other than stupid shit," I shake my head at his language, "he wants us to
meet up with him."

"Oh okay. We should probably get ready then," we sit up together and I
move my curls out of my face.

Luke pulls himself out of bed with a groan and he stands up. With his front
turned away from me, he extends his arms and flexes them back to his head,
stretching his muscles.

I watch in awe at the way his back muscles flex and I have to close my
mouth to keep from getting flies in there.

Before he turns back around, I hop out of bed and start to finish getting
ready.

I gather my curls up into a bun and I put mascara on. Luke watches me
from the bed, already dressed and ready to go.

I finally finish and stand up.

Luke and I walk downstairs and out to his truck, but of course not saying
goodbye to Leo.

"Did Eli tell you why he wanted to meet?" I question as we turn onto the
road to Eli's house.

"Nope, he just said it was urgent and that could mean anything," he shrugs.

A few minutes later, we pull into Eli's driveway and as soon as Luke lifts
me out the truck, Eli's front door is open and he's running out alongside
Rosco.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!" Eli runs his hands through his hair as
Rosco jumps on my leg. I bend over and rub his belly when he rolls over on
the driveway.

"What happened this time Eli?" Luke sighs and we start walking into Eli's
house.

"It's bad. It is real bad," Eli cringes with a serious look on his face.

________________________

"I'm freaking out guys," Eli paces his living room while Luke and I sit on
his couch and wait for him to explain.

"So I was a-" Eli is cut off by his mom coming into the room and clearing
her throat.

"Elias I want those dishes done," she points to the sink that is only a quarter
of the way filled with dishes.

"Mom!" Eli wines, "I'm in a midlife crisis right now and I don't have time to
do the dishes!"

She raises her eyebrow in challenge and Eli bangs his head on the wall.

"Just give me a few minutes."

"Thank you honey, and don't bang your hard head on my walls unless you
want to repaint them," she walks out of the room and Eli makes mocking
faces at her behind her back.

"Okay Eli, what is it?" Luke ushers Eli.

"I was at a party last night. You know the one that the soccer team throws
before they start practicing," Eli begins pacing around again.

"I really only went to find myself some honeys but that is besides the
point," Eli dismisses the matter with a wave of his hand and I snicker.

"Did you find any 'honeys' Eli?" Luke smirks with an amused look on his
face.

"That has nothing to do with anything Lucas, but yes, yes I did." Eli fidgets
and Luke laughs.

"You're such a shit liar. Almost as bad as Aubrey," he smiles over at me and
I narrow my eyes at him.

"You know what? Suck my big toe." Eli sneers.

"What happened to Loryn?" I question Eli.

"We had a falling out but guys! You are getting me sidetracked. This is a
very serious matter and I need to tell you pronto," Eli stresses and I
apologize before telling him to continue on with the dilemma.

"Anyway, I had a nice honey on my arm and we were walking upstairs to a

room to..you know," Eli's eyes dart to mine and he smiles sheepishly, "so
we got to one of the last doors of the hallway and th-"

"If you are about to tell us anything about what you two did, I don't want to
hear it and I know Aubrey doesn't want to either." Luke says.

"No, no! I'm not giving any details and I didn't get her pregnant. We didn't
even have sexy time
. I left." Eli explains and Luke tell him to 'continue then dip-' fart.

"So I opened that door and.." Eli glances towards me warily and I glance
back, now confused as to why he's hesitating.

"And what?" Luke asks clearly getting impatient.

"And Anthony Mackle was very clearly having sex with a girl that was very
clearly not Isabelle."

My stomach drops and I'm suddenly feeling so immensely bad for Izzy. I
can't believe Anthony Mackle would do something like that to her. From the
times I had seen them together, he seemed to like her a lot.

"Did you tell her?" I whisper and I can feel Luke's eyes on the side of my
face. He senses the sadness and he pulls my side into him and he gives my
temple a soft kiss.

"No, that's why I needed to tell you guys. I feel like you two are the most
responsible and caring. Well Aubrey you're responsible and caring, Luke
you don't really care but that's besides the point too." Eli explains.

"What do we do?" Eli asks hesitantly.

Well isn't that the million dollar question.

"We have to tell her. If someone cheated on me, I would want to know right
away," I nod sadly and Luke's arm tightens around me, bringing me closer
to him.

"I always knew Anthony was a piece of shit," Luke mutters, shaking his
head.

"I've gotta tell her. Can we go to her house?" I look at Luke behind me and
he nods before giving my lips a peck.

"Oh, I'm coming too!" Eli announces.

"You have to wash dishes," Luke smirks and Eli rolls his eyes.
"I'll just rinse them, she won't know!" Eli runs to the sink and he turns the
water on.

Luke leads us back outside and he lifts me up and he wraps my legs around
his waist. A blush rises on my cheeks at the sudden action and Luke begins
to leave kisses all over my face.

I giggle as he plants the kisses everywhere from my eyes to my chin.

After he stops, I catch my breath from laughing and I look at him, a small
smile still on my face.

"What was that for?" I questions softly, gazing into his beautiful grey eyes.

"I love you," he places a slow, soft kiss on my lips, "and I would never ever,

cheat

on

you, okay?"

I nod and hug his neck. Could this guy get any more perfect?

"I love you too," I say.

"Hm?" he questions.

"I love you too," I say louder, pulling away from my hug so he could hear
me better.

"I didn't catch that either," he raises and eyebrow and a smirk grows on his
face.

"I love you too!" I laugh, catching on to what he's doing.

"That's what I thought you said," he kisses my forehead and places me in
my seat right as Eli comes running out of the house, half of his jacket
hanging off of him and only one shoe on. The other shoe was in his hand.

"I thought you guys left!" he says once he gets close to us. Eli climbs in the
back seat and I start fixing my passenger seat from when Luke sat in it last
night.

I was too occupied earlier to do it I guess.

"What fatass monster was sitting in your seat Aubrey?" Eli questions
noticing how far back my seat is from the dash board.

"Luke. Not that he's fat! Or anything he was just sitting here!" I catch
myself and Eli snorts a laugh.

"Why was he sitting there?" Eli questions, sticking his head up between our
two seats.

"Aubrey was driving," Luke states simply.

"What!?!" Eli shouts, "You don't let me drive it! Or anyone! You don't even
let us touch the keys!"

"I don't trust your bitch ass," Luke states simply and smirks at me when I
give him a look.

"That's cow pie."

___________________________

We pull into Izzy's driveway right as Olivia and Ryan get there as well. I
texted her a few minutes ago and said it was urgent.

It just so happened that Ryan was with her.

I had an excitement attack when she texted me that they were together. My
hands clenched and shook excitedly as my feet swung back and forth
quickly, Luke and Eli both thought I was seizing for a minute.
I assured them I wasn't.

Luke helps me out of the car and we all walk up to Izzy's front door. I
knock on the door and Izzy's brother, Tristan, opens the door.

"Woah," his eyes widen when he sees all of us gathered up on his porch.

"Hey little man! What's up bro?" Eli does a handshake thingy with Tristan.
Tristan opens up the door and we all walk in.

"Is Izzy upstairs?" Olivia asks Tristan.

"Yeah."

Olivia and I start walking up the stairs.

"So what's this about?" she asks and I take a deep breath.

"Don't freak out right now but Anthony Mackle cheated on Izzy."

Olivia's face goes stoic and then it turns mad. Her ears go red and her
cheeks puff out slightly.

"My first fist fight is going to be with Anthony Mackle," she cracks her
knuckles.

"Oh lord."

"I honestly had a bad feeling about him since the beginning," she shakes her
head, "I wish Luke would punch him in the throat."

"Oh no, don't bring Luke into this. God knows he'll do it if he hears us
suggesting it." I wiggle my finger at her.

We make it to Izzy's door and I knock on it, not wanting to just bust up in
there.

"Tristan, I swear! Leave me alone you idio- oh hey guys!" Izzy's mood
changes completely when she see's it's us at the door and not her brother.
"Hey," Olivia says almost hesitantly. Izzy gives her a funny look before
telling us to come in.

How am I supposed to tell her, her boyfriend cheated on her? I don't want to
be blunt about it but I also don't want to beat around the bush all that much.

Maybe I shou-

"Anthony Mackle cheated on you," Olivia announces before I can even

finish thinking about how I'm gonna tell her.

I give Olivia and 'are you kidding me' look and smiles sheepishly.

"What?" Izzy laughs.

I look up at her and give her a sympathetic look before returning my eyes to
my feet.

"You guys are joking right?" Her smile fades off her face and I can tell she's
turning angry.

"I'm so sorry Izzy," I whisper as she runs her hands through her hair. She
takes a few quick glances around the room angrily and my eyebrows draw
in confusion.

What is she about to do?

"Uh oh," Olivia whispers and all heck breaks loose.

__________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

My phone blasts out from beside me and I look at the caller ID.

Grandma

Knowing this conversation is going to be a great one. I stand up from

Tristan's couch and walk out the front door.
"Hey grandma," I answer.

"Daxton I don't care that you are 17 years old, I can still whoop your tail!
Don't make me get Grandaddy's belt! I won't hesitate to whoop you here in
front of God and everybody!" Grandma shouts and I hold back a laugh.

Daxton always was a troublemaker. Even when we were kids he would be

up to no good shit.

"Oh boy, you just wait till I get off the phone with this baby! I'm going to
burn your ass up!" Grandma shouts and my eyes widen at her language. She
only cusses when she's really mad.

"I'm sorry baby, I swear Daxton could make a preacher cuss," she sighs.

He must've done something terrible.

"What'd he do this time?" I ask and she sighs once again.

"His Momma told me that he cheated on his girlfriend, which is just a

disgusting thing to do. I know for a fact Brian and Marianne did not teach
him to do things like that. Then, on top of that, he comes to my house and
disrespects me when I'm telling him how stupid he is for doing it. I'm sure
that poor girl is just as sad as can be," she rambles and I think about
similarity to Anthony cheating and Daxton cheating.

"What an idiot," I agree with her.

"I agree with you baby. I wish you were here to talk some sense into him. I
swear he's getting too big for his britches." I can imagine her shaking her
head angrily at my cousin.

"How're y'all down there?" I question.

"Oh we're good, baby," she answers.

Damn I miss home.

"How's your darlin'?" Grandma asks happily and a smile grows on my face.
"She's good, she asks about y'all a lot. She misses you," I tell her which is
true.

"Aw well tell her sweet little self that grandma misses her too." She says
sweetly.

"Alright well I'll let you go baby. I just wanted to tell my problems to
someone since Grandpa went on that huntin' trip with Brian." She chuckles
at herself.

"Alright bye."

"Love you baby, bye," she ends the call and I let out a breath.

That lady can talk your ear off.

I walk back into the house and sit back down on the couch.

"Who was that?" Eli asks probably wondering what took me so long.

"Grandma."

"Oh, that's why it took so long," he chuckles.

We hear stomping down the stairs and Olivia comes into view.

"Tristan, where do you keep your duct tape?" She asks followed by a loud
crash upstairs.

"Uh it's in the drawer beside the microwave in the kitchen," he mutters
confusedly.

She goes and gets the tape before running back upstairs.

______________________________

Only about 20 minutes later, two of the three of the girls come downstairs.
Aubrey walks straight to me and she sits in the small space between me and
Eli.

I put my arm around her small frame and kiss her temple.

Izzy walks down a little after, and her eyes are red and slightly puffy.

I can't help but to feel bad for her. Anthony Mackle has always been 'that
type of guy.'

I guess we all who had known him were just hoping that he'd changed but it
turns out we were wrong.

"What happened?" Tristan asks his sister, his eyebrows scrunched together
in confusion.

"You know Anthony? That guy you liked so much? The one that met mom
and Dad? He cheated on me," it looks like a fresh round of tears makes its
way to her eyes as she grows frustrated.

I feel Aubrey tense up beside me and when I look down at her, I see her
glossy eyes.

"It's okay," I kiss her cheek and she leans into me.

"We're going to go out somewhere. Do you wanna come. It will make you
feel better," Olivia tries to convince Izzy but she shakes her head.

"No. Thanks but to be honest I'm just going go cry and watch Netflix until I
feel better," she smirks sadly.

After everyone saying their goodbyes, we all walk out the front door.

"I swear to you Ryan Ankerman, if you ever cheat on me I will chop your
balls off and force feed them to you," Olivia points at Ryan with a sneer on
her face and his eyes widen.

"I-I wouldn't do that to you, I promise," he raises his hands in surrender.

"Good."

________________________________

AUBREY'S POV*

"Oh how I wish I was six foot six right now with big strong muscles." I
mumble angrily and Luke pulls his eyes away from the road to look at me.

"Why is that?" He questions, smirking in my direction.

"Because as soon as I would see Anthony Mackle, bam! I'm not a violent
person but he would get a face full of my fist. Maybe even the other one
too." I cross my arms across my chest and Luke lets out a loud laugh.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you sweetheart," he places his hand on my thigh.
A light blush appears on my cheeks.

"Well...well he deserves it for what he did."

Everyone drives to the roller skating rink, Eli apparently ordered we do so

since his birthday is coming up and he wanted to go.

We get our skates, Luke his size 16 and all and I stand up wearily.

A strong hand clamps down on my back and it pulls me down to the floor.

I land halfway on top of Eli who was the one who pulled on me.

"Shit," he laughs, "sorry Aubrey!"

I laugh at his sprawled out position and Luke helps me up easily.

Eli raises his hands for Luke to help him as well but Luke just turns the
other way.

"That's honestly so rude Luke, I can't even," Eli rolls over on his stomach.
He he gets in a push up position and brings his knees foreword so he's on
his knees. He raises one of his legs so he's now kneeling and he pushing on
it in an attempt to stand up.

His legs rolls foreword and he screeches as his legs go out into an almost
split.

"Aw, help him Luke! The poor thing," I giggle and Luke rolls his eyes,
going over to help Eli.

We all finally make it out onto the floor and I hold onto Luke's arm.

"How are you so good at this?" I question Luke, almost falling right on him.

"Hockey. It's kinda similar with the roller blades," he shrugs and my mouth
falls open.

"You play hockey too?" I question. He looks down at me and smiles.

"I used to," he smirks.

He nods and Eli rolls up beside us. Well, walk slash rolls.

"Yeah he also played basketball," Eli nudges my arm, "I played hockey
too."

My eyebrows furrow. If Eli plays hockey then why can't he roller skate on
in lines?

"He was a goalie. He was pretty good at balancing but he still can't skate for
shit. I guess that's why coach put him there."

"That's true, I'm not good at skating at all," Eli shakes his head in agreement
before rolling off to go 'annoy Ryan.'

"Why didn't you tell me you played all these sports?" I raise my eyebrow at
him, waiting for his answer.
"I don't like any of the others as much as I like football. I don't know," he
shrugs again, "football is just in my blood and I think that it's what I'm best
at."

"So why do you play the other sports then?"

"To keep me from being bored mostly. But I did like getting offers for other
things. I just think they forgot that I'm committed," he rolls his eyes and my
brain tries to process what he says.

How can one be so good at so many things? It's impossible right? And he's
already committed? Committed to what?

All of a sudden, the next thing I know is my knees digging into the ground
and me almost landing on my face.

From across the floor, I can hear Olivia's laughter and I know she's pointing
right at me.

"You okay sweetheart?" Luke chuckles, helping me up.

"Other than my broken knees, I'm just fine," I mumble, my cheeks aflame. I
take a deep breath and we continue.

_______________________________

|||||Thank you so much for reading!! We're almost at 5k!! Wowow.

Word count: 5440

- Ashlyn Montgomery
Part 34 "I'm much better at
punching people than talking"
"Would you want kids when you're older?" Luke asks as soon as he sees me
on Monday morning. The question catches me a little off guard and my eyes
widen slightly.

I shut my locker and turn around, meeting his eyes. His dark, grey eyes
stare back into mine and I smile. His face softens and the corners of his lips
turn up.

"Yes, I would."

I have always wanted kids. Even when I was younger, I loved to think about
how my future would turn out and how many kids I would have. A satisfied
smile makes its way onto his lips.

"How many?" He grabs my hands and we walk to our first class.

"I think two or three is a good number," I shrug. I guess more wouldn't hurt.
Then again, it would all depend on my husband and I's income.

Wouldn't it be nice to marry Luk- no. We're only in high school. I can't be
hoping for marriage out of high school. I'd be hoping for too much.

But, it would be

so

wonderful to marry someone like him. Or, of course, him. I really have to
think about after school though. No one knows what is to come.

"I want a whole football team," he smiles at me from the corner of my eye
and we walk into English. His wife is going to be a busy and lucky lady one
day. Even though the thought saddens me, being jealous of some random
woman down the road won't do anything for me.

I didn't know he wanted that many kids. I knew he liked kids, considering
every time we saw one he would nudge me and say 'look at the cute lil'
thing.'

I sit in my seat and Luke sits in his behind me. I hear his chair scoot up so
that he's right behind me.

"What do

you

think about having eleven kids?" He leans beside me and I turn my head to
meet his eyes.

"I think eleven kids would be quite an experience," I smile back at him as
our teacher walks in.

Our morning classes dragged on. Up until it was time for lunch, it felt like
the day had lasted twelve hours.

Dazed with my thoughts, I don't notice someone stopping in front of me.

I run into the guy and he catches me as I'm falling. I look up into the face of
Jace right as my body is jerked away from him.

An amazing smell and sense of warmth surrounds me as Luke brings me

into his arms. By the feeling of his tense body, apparently, he's mad.

I don't know why though.

I step out of his arms and he's glaring at Jace. I grab His gargantuan hand in
mine and he looks down at me. I ignore his gaze for now and turn to Jace.

"Sorry for running into you, thank you for catching me." I apologize before
dragging Luke away.
"What was that?" I put my other hand on his hand as he stops near the end
of the hallway.

"I wasn't goin' to sit there and watch him grab onto you like that!"

"Luke, all he did was catch me from falling," I try and explain.

"No baby, that's not at all what he did. He was feeling up on you," Luke
exclaims.

"Well, you did the same thing! Even when we weren't together!" I point out
and he opens his mouth to say something, but soon closes it.

"That..that's different. Firstly it's different because you didn't have a

boyfriend. Secondly, it's different because," he hesitates, "I wasn't...I wasn't
trying to

just

get in your pants." He winces at what he says.

My eyes narrow and confusion fills my head.

"You were only trying to have s-e-x with me?"

"No! Well..yes, I don't know, that doesn't matter anymore," he dismisses his
words.

I'm still hung on them.

I let out a quiet scoff and start walking away.

Maybe I shouldn't be mad, but I still kinda am. It just hurts a little to know
that he only wanted to do the dirty with me when I thought he had actual
feelings for me in the beginning.

"Sweetheart, wait!" He comes after me. I keep my face turned away as I

walk.
His arm wraps around my stomach and he pulls me back into his chest. He
places a soft kiss on my cheek, but that won't work this time.

I move out of his hold and continue my journey to the cafeteria, with Luke
following me like a lost puppy.

"Aubrey I'm sorry okay? I know I shouldn't have said that-"

"It's not just about you actually saying it Luke. It's about you thinking it
when I thought you actually liked me back then." I interrupt, while still
walking.

"I did like you baby! I was just thinking with my di- body part," he says.
Deciding to still be upset for a little longer, I walk into the cafeteria and to
our seats, Luke still trailing behind me.

I sit in between Izzy and Olivia, making Luke sit on the other side of the
table with beside Ryan and Eli.

"Are you two okay?" Izzy whispers.

"I'm mad at him but we'll both get over it later," I look at him from across
the table.

"Luke what did you do?" Eli shoves him. Luke slams his head onto the
table with a small groan.

——————————————————————

After lunch, walking out to the big tree, Luke and I begin arguing again.

"I feel like you were leading me on or you were playing me," I mumble and
Luke pulls at the ends of his hair.

"Aubrey, what do you not understand about 'that was the past'?" He says.

"Well, you wouldn't understand how I feel Luke! I'm sure you've never had
anybody tell you they only hung out with you because they wanted to have
sex with you!" I feel emotions creeping up my throat, but I stay strong.
The girls and Eli and Ryan decided it's best for them to excuse themselves
while we get our arguing out. I feel bad for them to have to listen to us right
now but I guess it is apart of life.

"No, nothing like that happened to me and I'm sorry! I never knew what
loving someone felt like. How was I supposed to know that I would fall in
love with you within three weeks of meeting you? At first yeah, I thought
you were absolutely fucking gorgeous, and I wanted to have sex with you!
But getting to know you made me realize that you are worth so much more
than just sex. Baby, I love you okay? You're everything to me and I'll
always be there for you. I'm not going anywhere whether you like it or not,"
he grabs the sides of my face, looking deeply into my eyes.

I look down at my feet, feeling ashamed for being mad at him.

"You loved me after three weeks of knowing me?" I whisper and he tilts my
head up. He kisses my lips softly.

"Damn right I did."

—————————————————————

"I knew that wouldn't last long," Eli says putting his arm over my shoulders,
"Lucas couldn't possibly last a day without you."

"That's enough," Luke shoves Eli's arm off my shoulders and we walk out
of government. The guys surprisingly have no practice today, so we were all
planning to go somewhere.

Outside the class, the girls and Ryan meet up with us. Right as we're about
to make our way out of the school, Ana and Katrina stop in front of me.

The air around all of us becomes tense as Katrina steps up to me.

"Tell me, dear Aubrey Annalise Wilson, how have your past three months
here in Virginia been?" Katrina asks quizzically. At the mention of moving
here, my heart skips in thought of Dad.

"It has been well," I whisper and Luke's hand grabs mine.
"So, what's the real reason you moved here? I heard your poor father died,"
she makes a pouty face and tears spring to my eyes, "did he kill himself for
being around you or did he succumb to something like cancer; an illness for
pushovers."

Luke tenses up behind me at the mention of cancer and tears pour down my
face at the mention of my father killing himself.

"Katrina!" Ana gasps in horror. Ana's widened eyes look over at me

sympathetically.

"You sick fucking bitch," Izzy sneers. I turn around into Luke's chest and
cry into him.

"What type of non-human person are you? You have no fucking clue, the

hell

Aubrey has been through. To joke about suicide and to try to blame
someone's suicide on her is bullshit!" Olivia shouts at her as well.

"Whatever," I hear Katrina say and the next thing I hear is a pair of shoes
squeaking on the floor and smacking.

I gasp and turn around to see what on earth is going on.

Izzy is on top of Katrina continuously slapping her and banging her head
into the floor.

The guys never move. No one stops Izzy for giving Katrina what she
deserves. Izzy only stops when the principal pulls her off of Katrina.

"What in the world ladies!?" He shouts angrily. He looks around and takes
in everyone's faces. He sees mine and confusion adorns his face. He looks
up at Luke's and his confusion settles some.

"You all need to come with me."

The nurse comes up behind Principal Johnson. She spots Katrina still on the
floor and she rushes to her with towels to cover her bloodied face.

"I

was

going to save that for when I see Anthony but I felt like she deserved it
more," Izzy smiles at me.

"She always told us she was going to fight her," Olivia smiles at me too.

We start walking behind the principal and Luke holds me close to him.

"Are you okay?" I look up and ask him. His eyebrows furrow and a chuckle
escapes his lips.

"Am

okay? I'm fine, you shouldn't be worrying about me," he tightens his arm
around me.

Of course I'm going to worry about him. What she said affects him too.

We make it to the principal's office and he tells Katrina to wait outside

while he talks to us. We walk into his office and everyone except for Luke
and I start talking at the same time.

"Guys, guys, guys! Please, one at a time!" He interrupts and points to Olivia
for her to go on.

"Katrina has been after Aubrey ever since she got here pretty much. She's
jealous of her because Aubrey got something she wanted," Olivia throws
her hands into the air, in deep explanation.

"And what does Aubrey have that Katrina wanted?" Principal Johnson asks
confusedly. Everyone turns and points to Luke and a small blush appears on
my cheeks.

"This whole ordeal is because of a guy?" He asks disbelievingly.

"Yeah, crazy, I know right?" Eli adds.

"Oh, she is not the only one! Of course there were many others but Ana and
Katrina were the two that were really out for Aubrey. They tripped her,
made her nose bleed, they would make fun of her and call her fake, it was
ridiculous," Olivia explains and I just sit there with my head down.

"This is true Aubrey?" He asks me. I look up and he catches sight of my

tear stained cheeks. I give a slight nod and tilt my head back down.

"Why didn't she or any of you come to me before?" He asks and the room
goes silent. Eli clears his throat.

"Sir, we are not pussies, we-"

"No! Good God Eli," Ryan huffs, "Everyone thought this would settle out.
Before today, nothing had happened for a couple weeks. We thought it was
over."

"Okay. I can understand that. Now, what happened today?" He asks and I
look up to see Izzy about to speak.

"We were all planning to go out somewhere after leaving here so we were
all heading out the door when Katrina and Ana stopped in front of Aubrey.
Katrina started talking about Aubrey moving here and Katrina said that she
knew Aubrey's dad died. She said that her dad probably killed himself for
being around Aubrey or he died of cancer; and illness for, I think she said
like weaklings or something." Izzy explains and Luke lets out a sharp
breath at the end.

A long silence is heard after Izzy finishes and after a minute Principal
Johnson finally opens his mouth.

"I can assure you, that Katrina's behavior will not be tolerated. I can't get
her expelled by I am going to reach out to the Superintendent to make sure
she gets more than just five days of suspension. I will deal with Ana's
behavior properly as well," he nods.

"As for you Isabelle, what you did was not completely justifiable. Although
I understand and respect the reasoning behind it, it will not go down well at
a board meeting. So, unfortunately, I will have to give you a punishment.
By law, I have to suspend you for being the initiating cause of a fight-"

"What!" Izzy yells out.

"Let me finish! I will give you the minimum punishment of one day of
suspension, unless! You have any more to say, do you?" he questions.

She shakes her head no and he dismisses us.

A small feeling washes over me and I kind of feel bad for them. As soon as
I recall what Katrina said a while ago, the feeling slightly goes away.

I send a small smile to Principal Johnson when Luke begins to pull me

towards the door.

Katrina sits in a cushioned chair outside the office, holding a rag to her
bleeding nose.

"Little bitch. You may have run away from home, but you can't run away
from the fact that you killed your dad," Katrina sneers and I keep my face
turned towards the door, trying not to let her see the reaction she has
caused.

"Give it up, Katrina. You're done, enough already. You're just making a
fuckin' fool of yourself. You don't know a single thing about her, so stop
letting your jealousy take over and grow the fuck up," by the end, I'm
pulling Luke out of the door. It's obvious he's had enough of her but I just
want to get out of here.

We walk out of the school with me in the front, pulling Luke behind me. It's
silent, no one says a word.
"Baby.." Luke whispers and my emotions unleash. Tears well up in my eyes
quicker than ever before and my chest feels like it's going to explode.

I turn around and push myself into Luke's chest. I sob into his chest and he
wraps his arms around me tightly in return, whispering sweet things into my
ear.

______________________

"Can I please get one scoop of cake batter, another of vanilla, and one more
of cookies and cream?" I ask the ice cream scooper guy nicely. His eyes
widen slightly and Luke's narrow at the movement. The scooper guy
quickly makes my cone under the intense glare of Luke.

After handing me my cone, Luke places his hand on the small of my back
and leads me to our table.

I sit down in my chair beside Luke and everyone looks at me as if I'm going
to break any second.

"You guys don't have to act any different around me," I send them all a soft
smile. A feeling of relief comes over the table as more conversation starts.

I know at some point I'm going to have to explain what in the world
happened but for now, I would just like to forget about it.

"You really whooped her Izzy," Eli giggles, giving Izzy a high five over the
table.

"She really deserved it," she shrugs.

"Why didn't you get any ice cream?" I ask Luke, noticing his no ice cream
having-self.

"I don't want any sweetheart," he kisses my forehead softly. I put my ice
cream up to his mouth and he gives me a "fine" look before having some of
it.
After about thirty more minutes, everyone decides it is time to leave. They
all give me extra long and special goodbyes before leaving.

"Which house tonight babe?" Luke asks as he walks me to my car, with his
long, strong arm slung over my shoulders.

"We can stay at yours," I lean my head into his chest. Once we make it to
my car, he opens my door for me.

I get situated and buckled up before he leans down and gives me a sweet
kiss.

"Be careful, I love you. I'll meet you at my house."

A blush covers my cheeks as I drive away and I find myself rolling my eyes
at

myself.

I make it to my house and I gather my clothes for tomorrow quickly. To be

honest, I'm exhausted from today.

I would love to just lay down and cry.

I make it to Luke's house and I mosy on up to his front door. Copying what
Luke does at my house, I just barge right in.

Leo immediately runs at me and I fall to the floor. His tail wags vigorously
as he licks my salty cheeks.

"Leo," Luke chuckles as he comes to the door. Leo hops off me and Luke
helps me stand up. We walk up to his room, passing James on the way.

"Hi, James," I wave at his figure.

"Hey hun, good to see you!"

"Good to see you too," I smile as we finally start walking up the stairs.
Luke shuts the door behind us and I sit on his bed.
"Are you okay?" He questions softly.

"I'm fine," I smile up at him. I'm

not

fine. I'm better than I was, but far from fine. He sits beside me and pulls me
onto his lap so that I'm straddling his legs.

He hugs me and leaves a kiss on my forehead. He moves his hands up to

my face and he pulls my face up towards his. He kisses my lips slow and
passionately before pulling away.

When he pulls aways disappointment weirdly washes over. To Luke and I's
surprise, I grip his jaw and pull his lips back to mine.

His hands automatically grip my waist and he leans further into the kiss. He
squeezes my love handles and I let out a soft gasp. He deepens the kiss and
we're french kissing again.

Thank gosh I'm a little more confident this time.

He brings one hand up and he runs it through my hair. I let out a quiet moan
into the kiss and I feel him smirk.

Feeling short of breath, I pull away but Luke continues his kisses onto my
neck. I pull at the hair on the back of his head, making him moan and look
at me.

"Don't give me another hickey," I tell him breathlessly. A smirk makes its
way onto his face and he licks his lips.

"I'm not promising you," he situates a needy kiss on my lips before trailing
back down to my neck.

For some reason, my hands find themselves tugging at his shirt. I don't
know why, but I just want him to take off his shirt.
He pauses his attack on my neck and he pulls his shirt over his head. He
brings his lips back to mine and I swear I see stars. He can do wonders
when kissing.

He stands up with me still straddling his lap, and he lays me down on my

back before positioning himself on top of me and connecting his lips back
to mine.

He begins to tug at the bottom of my shirt. He stops kissing me and he

looks into my eyes, asking permission.

I nod and he lifts my shirt up and off of my body. He keeps his eyes fixed
on my middle half, something he even does when I have my bathing suit
on.

Eventually, he pulls his gaze back up to my lips. He reconnects our lips in

another unbelievably passionate kiss.

He runs his hand down my side and I shiver at his touch. With another
moan from me, I'm pulled back to m senses.

"Luke," I mumble breathlessly into the kiss. He pulls away after a second to
the sound of his name.

"Yes, baby?" he questions looking at my lips longingly.

"We should probably stop," I whisper and his eyes find mine.

"You're right," a soft smile appears on his lips. He plants one last kiss on my
lips before standing and pulling me with him.

I hand him his shirt and he takes one last look at me before handing me
mine.

"I'm going to get in the shower," I smile up at him. I get my clothes from
my bag and right before I pass him, I stop and give him a kiss right on the
upper part of his chest, near his collarbone.

___________________________
I wipe away the condensation from the mirror and I gasp. I tilt my head up
and turn it left and right.

Luke Taylor is, once again, a dead man.

I quickly get my clothes on and I open the door to the bathroom.

"Lucas!" I shout at him. He looks over at the doorway from his lying
position on his bed. He sets his phone down and he sits up, still looking at
me.

"Yes, my love?" He answers too sweetly.

He knows what he did.

"Come here please."

He gets up and he slowly walks towards me. I keep my eyes narrowed at

him as he smiles softly down at me.

I point to the two hickeys on my neck and his eyes zero in on them.

"Uh-oh. Did you burn yourself or something?" he tries to make up and

excuse.

"Very funny," I say turning back around and looking at them in the mirror.
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry."

"You just better be glad I brought a foundation," I poke his chest.

After telling him off for a little while longer, he gets in the shower.

I lay down on his bed and get underneath the warm covers. Today has been
quite the day. You know, it really sucks knowing that my dad risked his life
so that we could be a free country and so that we could be a peace with
other countries.
Trying to keep the peace between the two places is what got him killed.
Katrina may not have known that but it just sucks to think he died for
people who didn't even realize what he had done. His death was mocked. It
wouldn't even have mattered if my dad did or didn't do fifteen tours around
to threatened countries, no one's death should be made a mockery.

Caught up in my thoughts, I didn't even notice Luke lie down behind me.
He pulls me to him and plants a kiss on my now tenderized neck.

"I love you," he mumbles tiredly.

"I love you too," I whisper back.

I send up an extra long prayer today. One apologizing for the sins of Katrina
and other apologizing to dad.

____________________

"I cannot believe you, Luke," I scold him as I rub the two ice cubes on my
neck where the two hickeys are placed.

Not only did he give me

two

hickeys when I specifically told him

none,

but the stupid hickeys are also too dark to be covered by my foundation.

"Darlin', I think you'll be just fine," he shrugs nonchalantly at the fact that it
looks like something has been sucking on my neck all night.

"You're never touching me again."

"Woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves, alright love?" his attention quickly
turns to me.
After a while, we're both finally ready to leave for school.

"My Aubrey," Eli rushes to me, his arms open for a hug. We hug for a
second before Luke pulls on the back of Eli's shirt.

We meet up with Ryan and Olivia at my locker. Since Izzy was suspended,
but for only one day, she isn't here.

After talking at my locker for a little while, we make our way to each of our
classes.

Hopefully, today won't feel as long as yesterday did.

__________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Now what's the point in that, huh?"

I walk up to Ryan and Eli, who currently have Anthony Mackle pinned
against a wall. Good thing Aubrey isn't here, she would have a fit at seeing
this.

She would also have a fit if she knew we were all skipping art.

I give Anthony a crude smirk and he shrinks into the wall.

"I would also love to know what the point of doing that was."

"Guys," Anthony attempts to chuckle, "the girl was hot. I know if you guys
would have seen her, you all would have done the same."

My eyes narrow at his dumb ass face.

Obviously, if he found someone more attractive than the girl who he was
with, he never really liked her.

I know for a damn fact that Aubrey is the most beautiful thing in the world.
There was no chance of me cheating on her because I could never find
someone as beautiful as her. Aubrey has fully claimed me since the
beginning.

"No, actually you're fuckin' wrong," my upper lip curls into a sneer.

"W-Well fine, but, I just didn't want to be dragged down," he explains

further.

"Then tell her that stupid bitch," Ryan shoves Anthony into the wall harder.

This is the most non-violent fight I have ever been in. We're sitting here,
holding the guy up, giving him relationship advice.

Ryan drops him and he almost loses his balance.

"Don't you go near Izzy unless she says to, understand?" Eli asks, pointing
his finger right in Anthony's face.

"I-I understand," he nods.

We turn and walk away, somewhat awkwardly.

I'm much better at punching people than talking.

We walk outside and go to the oak tree.

"What's it about Aubrey's dad?" Ryan asks out of the blue.

"Ryan, just shut up," Eli shakes his head at him and for the first time, I'm
thankful Eli isn't a complete idiot.

__________________

"Fuck off, bitch," I slap Eli's hand away from my iced, oatmeal cookie that
Aubrey made only a couple days ago.

"Oh my goodness, Luke," Aubrey whisper from beside me, shaking her
head at my language.
"Here, Eli," she hands him a cookie from another bag. Eli takes it, he thanks
her, then he looks at me with an evil smirk.

He holds the cookie with his middle finger and his thumb as he takes a bite
out of it. His middle finger purposefully showing right at me.

I narrow my eyes at him look at Aubrey to see if she caught him. She didn't.

"By the way Luke, good luck on the game tonight! Oh wait, you're not
playing," Eli rests his chin on his hand, smiling at me evilly.

"Why aren't you playing?" Aubrey's sweet voice asks from beside me. I pull
my eyes away from her and look back at Eli.

You've got to be kidding me.

His mouth is in the shape of an 'o' as he winces. Apparently, he ignored me

when I told him I hadn't told Aubrey I was suspended for a game.

Dumbass.

__________________

"Well, I mean, you could've told me," Aubrey mumbles as she lays the side
of her head on my chest.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Are we still going to the game though?" she questions, lifting her head
back up. I reach down and plant a kiss on her cute little nose.

"I want to go to make sure the game doesn't turn out to shit," I admit,
leaning my head back up against the big oak tree.

Out backup quarterback hasn't played a game all year. God knows what will
happen when his hands get ahold of the ball.

"Well I'll come too to keep you company," she smiles and her cheeks turn
pink as she looks away from me.
The sun hits the side of her face and I swear an angel is sitting beside me.

Thank God I get to love someone like her.

________________________

|Guys, super heckin sorry. I said I was going to update weeks ago and I
didn't. These past few weeks have been hectic here and I had to
continue to write on my phone. I've been editing some past chapters as
well so at least I've got some stuff done. Anyways, I honestly don't
know when the next chapter will be up.

Thanks for reading!

*Remember I don't edit*

Word count: 4921

-Ashlyn M.
Part 35 "Suck it up buttercup"
"What the fuck are you doing you, stupid bitch?" Luke says angrily as we
sit in the stands of the football game going on right now.

Currently, he's cussing out the second-string quarterback...Who is on the

field meaning that he can't hear him.

"He's trying his best," I try and explain.

"The fuckin' waterboy could throw better than him," is what he replies with.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten suspended," I keep my eyes

focused on the game, knowing what I had just said would definitely get a
reaction out of him.

He pinches my waist where is arm is wrapped and I squeal.

We both start paying attention again when the center snaps the ball in the
hands of the second-string quarterback.

He takes a couple of steps back, looking for anyone who is open. He throws
the ball to an open Eli but the throw comes up at least ten yards short.

The frustration is clearly shown by the body language of all of the regular
first-string players and especially by Eli.

"How is he even second-string?" Luke mutters more to himself. I lie my

head on his shoulder with a sigh, he kisses the top of my head and pulls me
closer to him.

He's very antsy. Constantly moving around, whether he's tapping his foot,
fiddling with his hands, or bouncing his leg, he's moving.

I play my hand on his thigh, trying to stop his leg from shaking. In case he
hasn't figured it out yet, I'm trying to take a nap on his shoulder.
"That's a great way to distract me," he puts his hand on top of mine, and he
brings his lips to mine.

Even though we're winning, 17-6 at halftime, it is not nearly as much as it

usually is. Luke has pointed that out multiple times.

"Babe, I think you're overreacting with this just a little. Ya'll are still
winning," I comfort. He looks over at me and he kisses the corner of my
mouth.

"I know. I just want to be out there so bad," he looks at the field longingly.
A sympathetic feeling comes over me and I understand more now. He just
wants to play.

Five minutes into halftime, Eli comes running up to our seats.

"This is the worst game I have almost ever played in my entire life. Luke I
swear, if you ever get suspended again, I will kill you," he points at Luke.

"We're winning by ten points! We haven't had a score that close since
Nationals last year!" Eli exclaims.

"What's coach thinking?" Luke questions.

"Coach is about to have a seizure. I kid you not, he's freaking out. Our team
is fucking confused, the other team is confused as to why they're only
losing by ten, it is honestly a shit-show," Eli explains.

"Well, why isn't he putting third-string in?" Luke asks Eli.

"Because there is no motherfucking third-string!" Eli throws his hands into

the air, "You play every game! I didn't even know we had a second-string
until two days ago!"

"Alright, let's go," Luke grabs my hand as he stands up.

Wait, where are we going?"

"Where are you going?" Eli questions.

"I'm going to find the people that I need to talk to so that we don't lose this
damn game," Luke begins walking and Eli follows us.

We walk down to the field house and into the doors. I don't quite understand
why Luke needs to take me with him but, that's okay.

We take a left and Luke slams open a dark green door. A room full of
middle-aged men look back at us, all wearing blue, Greenwood High,
football shirts.

A guy I've seen a few times comes from behind a few of the guys. I'm pretty
sure he's the main coach. Apparently, there are many coaches on a football
team.

"Coach, what the hell?" Luke asks and my eyebrows raise up.

"I know! I know! I don't know what the fuck is happening, and that guy
doesn't either," he points to another coach who is currently flipping through
a book with the title of 'QB PlayBook'

"Who even is that guy?" Luke questions, about the second-string

quarterback.

"Does anybody know who he is? I sure as hell don't know his name, he
doesn't either!" the coach points to the same guy.

"I swear Jesus, his mother, and the sheep shitting next to him as he was
born, I am going to give the school board hell for this," the coach grumbles.

I just stand there almost dumbfounded at what is happening around me. Is

this even real?

"Alright look, run him. Obviously, he can't throw for shit, let's see if he's
got wheels. If not, run every play you have on either short passing or
handing off. We can't take any chances of someone intercepting an
underthrown pass, got it? Get yourselves together and think about things
before freaking the hell out," Luke speaks out and lays down how things are
going to run and by the looks of it, they all listen and get to work on
planning new plays.

He's got as much authority as the coaches on the team and to me, that's
crazy. I mean come on, he's only 18 and he's telling men, triple his age, how
to do their jobs.

"Let's go," he leads me back out of the room and out of the field house. I
remain silent as we take our seats.

__________________________

By the end of halftime, Luke is more relaxed. I guess going down there
made him feel better.

They moved Eli to slot receiver a position that Luke said is much closer
than wide receiver. The quarterback also made a few handoffs, which turned
out to be even better than throwing since the other team's defense was not
the greatest.

By the end of the game, the guys had won 36-8.

"Well thank shit for you, Luke," the coach says as he finds us when we're
walking towards the parking lot.

"Who's this?" He asks and Luke pulls me more into view from where I was,
mostly behind his large frame.

"This is Aubrey," he smiles down at me and I slightly blush.

"Aubre-" the coach gasps, "

The

Aubrey?"

"

The
, Aubrey," Luke nods.

"Oh my, I'm your biggest fan Aubrey," he smiles as he shakes my hand. I
smile in return.

"Well, I got to get going. You make sure to keep him in check alright? We
don't need any more suspensions," he tells me and I let out a giggle.

"I'll be sure to," I answer and he gives a satisfied nod.

___________________

We decide it's best for me to stay at Luke's house again. Since my house is
close to school, we drop by and get me more clothes, then we drive back to
his house.

We walk in his front door and Leo rubs himself onto me.

"How'd it go?" James asks as we walk into the kitchen. Luke throws his
keys onto the island and he lets out a loud groan.

"I'm guessing it went to shit, language, sorry," James reminds himself.

"Well, I mean, they won," I shrug.

"It was shit. No one knew what they were doing. Not even the coaches,"
Luke elaborates.

"This is why we don't punch people," James murmurs into his coffee cup
and I laugh.

"I hope Leo takes a dump in your bed," Luke says, his face serious. James
let's out a loud laugh, as do I.

"Goodnight James," I smile as Luke and I walk past him on our way
upstairs.

"Goodnight you two."

Luke taps my butt as I walk ahead of him walking up the steps. I turn
around and slap his chest.

We make it to his room and he pulls me to him. He connects our lips in a

passion-filled kiss.

He pulls away and I catch my breath.

"Why do you always touch my butt?" I ask the question that has been on
my mind for a while now. He lets out a chuckle before pulling my front
flush against his. His slowly moves his hands down my back until they're
both resting on my butt.

"Because your ass, is perfect," he squeezes my butt and I let gasp at the
feeling. He kisses the tip of my nose before releasing me.

"Plus, it makes you all flustered and it's too cute," he smiles down at me
before pecking my cheek.

He sits down on his bed and pats the spot beside him.

"I gotta talk to you about something," he says as I sit down and I find my
nerves starts to kick in.

"What is it?" I question.

"Well, since Thanksgiving is next week, I'm going back to Alabama," he

says.

Oh.

"Only for the three days we have off of school though, so it's not that long,"
he continues.

"Okay," I nod. I fully understand why he's going back. He doesn't really
have any family here and you always want to be around family during the
holidays.

"And I want you to come with us," he says, watching my reaction carefully.
"Oh," is all I can think of to say.

He wants me to go to Alabama with him? For the holidays? To see all of his
family? Wow.

"And, you know they all want to meet you anyway so," he shrugs, "why
not."

I'm almost one hundred percent sure my mom could care less if I went, to
be honest.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now or anything but if you do
want to come, just ask your mom and then tell me. If you want to come, you
don't have to."

Oh, I definitely want to.

____________________

+One Week Later+

"You have all of your things packed right?" Mom raises an eyebrow in my
direction from where she's standing at my door.

"Yep!" I smile.

"So you're leaving now?," she questions, a small glitter of hope in her eyes.
A sharp pang hits my chest but I shove it aside.

"Stay close to them," reminds me and I promise her I will.

I don't think I could separate myself from Luke, even if I wanted to.

"Text me sometime to update," she sighs.

"I promise I will. I really have to go now, mom," I remind her as she
follows me to my car and watches me put my bags in the back.

Right before getting into the driver's seat, I turn around and hug her again.
"I love you," she looks like she forces out, which sends another pang.

"I love you too, mom," I respond before getting in my car and driving to
Luke's house.

____________________

"I've never actually been on a plane."

"You've never been on a plane?" Luke asks.

"No. I've actually only been to North Carolina and Virginia," I explain and
he looks at me in disbelief.

"Well, in Jacksonville, we lived near the harbor but no one really swims
there. We would sometimes drive to Emerald Isle since it was only forty-
five minutes away, but usually, dad was working," I recall the memories of
our long, crazy car rides.

"I went to Emerald Isle once, it's gorgeous there," James remarks from the
other side of me.

"Well, I'll tell you, the worst part about flying is when your dad forces you
to come to the airport early so that you have to wait in uncomfortable ass
chairs," Luke says, side-eyeing his dad and I let out a giggle.

"Suck it up buttercup. I don't hear Aubrey whining about it," they argue.

"That's because Aubrey is too nice to call you out on your bullshit," Luke
chuckles when his dad throws a crumpled up newspaper at him.

"Flight 216 now boarding, flight 216 is now boarding."

"That's us," James stands up to his full 6'4 height, towering over me. Luke
pulls me up with him, towering over me even further at his 6'6 height.

I guess I'm going to be dealing with this for the next three days.
I pick up my carry-on items and we walk to an attendant in front of a
hallway. She takes our boarding passes, checks them, then she sends us
down the hall.

We walk onto the plane and apparently, the captains greet us. I didn't know
that and when I saw the guys decked out in full on pilot-captain gear, I
almost started laughing.

We walk to our seats which are in a 'business class' section. I didn't know
what that meant, so I looked it up. It's right below first class.

When I found that fact out, I punched Luke in the arm.

"What was that for?" he chuckles.

"These seats are expensive you jerk."

"So?" he shrugs.

"They're too expensive," I point out.

"I talked dad out of getting first class, and I still get yelled at," he shakes his
head and my eyes widen even further.

______________________

"What's happening?" I ask sleepily, just waking up from my nap.

"Well good afternoon sweetheart. Nice of you to awaken. The plane is

landing," he kisses my temple.

I grab my few carry-on items and after a few minutes, we make our way off
of the plane.

"I think you'll like it here," Luke says as he grabs my small suitcase off of
the conveyer belt thingy with all the suitcases on it.

I can tell Luke is excited to be back home. He's all giddy and extra smiley.
It's kinda cute.
We walk outside the airport and I look around outside. Since we're only
outside the airport there's not much to see.

"I'm hungry," is the first thing that comes out of Luke's mouth once we're in
James's rental truck.

"Me too. Aubrey, are you hungry?" James asks.

"Yes, actually."

James drives out of the airport and onto the highway. We stop at a Popeyes,
my favorite fast-food place ever, and get food.

Luke gets three chicken sandwiches, only for himself. I truly don't know
where all that food goes, I really don't.

I, of course, offered to pay for my own food but, of course, Luke had
something to say about it. He even went as far as throwing my card over his
shoulder. I managed to not talk to him for a whole five minutes after that.

On the way to his Ella's house after eating, Luke comes and sits in the back
seat with me.

"Today, we're just hanging out with grandma. Tomorrow, be prepared baby,
it's gonna be hectic. You're going to meet lots of people. A lot. But don't
worry sweetheart, everyone's gonna love you. You're very lovable," he
kisses my cheek lovingly.

"I love you," I whisper softly. He turns his head back towards me and he
leans down, kissing my lips.

"I love you so much."

____________________

"One more thing," Luke says, "no one knows you're here."

He lifts me out of the truck and we begin walking up the walkway to his
grandparent's gargantuan house.
"We'll get the bags later," Luke says as we walk up the steps to the front
door.

James knocks on the door and not a second passes before Ella herself
throws the door open. She spots me immediately and she lets out a squeal.

She engulfs me in a warm hug, squeezing me tight.

"Good to see you too, momma," James says from behind her.

"Oh you hush, big baby. I needed to see this pretty 'thang first." She runs
her hand through my curls. After a second, she goes and hugs James and
Luke.

"Come in, come in baby!" She grabs my hand softly.

"Boys, go get the bags," she orders them and they comply.

"Oh honey, I'm so happy you're here!" She hugs me again, "Everyone is
going to be so excited to meet you! I swear you're a celebrity in our
family!"

"It smells amazing in here," I compliment. Her kitchen smells so amazing.

"Well thank you, baby! I've been cookin' for two days already," she
chuckles.

"Do you need any help finishing?" I question.

"I would love it if you would help me. I can't seem to get that pecan pie
recipe right," she smiles.

"I can definitely help with that," I giggle as the guys come into the house
with our bags.

I kinda feel bad that they're carrying my bag too but Ella assured me not to
worry about it.
"Let's get started," Ella claps her hands excitedly and I finish washing my
hands and roll up my sleeves.

————————————————————

I finish up the last pecan pie and I smack away Luke's hand.

"Just a little piece," he whispers.

"You can have a little piece tomorrow," I tell him.

"But that's so far away," his arm wraps around my stomach.

I take a pinch of flour from the table and I throw it up into his face.

"She told you, boy," Ella chuckles as he wipes the flour off his forehead.

"I'll remember that."

"I'm sure you will," I giggle.

I help Ella clean up everything and store the things we made before walking
into the big living room.

This home is so pretty and unlike most huge houses, this one feels like a
well-lived-in home.

By ten o'clock, Ella and Charlie are ready to go to bed.

"Come on, babies," she ushers us up the stairs. We walk past multiple
rooms before she stops in front of two doors.

"Luke, you'll stay here and Aubrey, you'll stay right next door," she
explains, a sneaky smile on her face, "Luke, you remember, Grandpa and I's
room is all

the way down the hall. Just saying, for any reason."

Luke's eyes find mine and a smirk touches his lips.

"Luke go to your room for a second, sweet pea," she pats his chest.

"What, why?" he questions but with one look from Ella, he's in his room.

"I just wanted to say, thank you for comin' doll," she hugs me, "Now, make
sure to get plenty of sleep and don't stay up too

late."

She looks at me with a sly smile and I blush.

"The bathroom is right here," she points to a door right across from mine,
"and feel free to get a snack any time you want. Here in the Taylor
household, no one is ever hungry!"

_______________________

I sit on my very comfortable bed, drying my hair with my towel. I also

scroll through the channels, trying to find a good movie.

Alabama channels are very different than Virginia and North Carolina ones.

My door opens and in a matter of seconds, I'm tackled.

Luke's hand slaps my butt and he attacks my face with kisses. I giggle and
push his face away. He rests his head in the crook of my neck and I sigh.

"Where are the movie channels?" I question and he chuckles. He grabs the
remote and pushes some random buttons. Step Brothers, the movie comes
on. Even though that move is very dirty, it is still one of my favorite
movies.

I take out my brush and begin to brush my hair. My long shirt rides past my
shorts, making it look like I have no pants on. I take a handful of the front
of my shirt and I tie it.

I finish brushing my hair and I look down at my thighs. I've always had a
bit of thunder thighs. I've also kind of felt a little bit self-conscious about
them.
Noticing me looking at my thighs, Luke rubs his hands up my outer thighs.

He connects our lips roughly, grabbing me by my waist and pulling me onto

his lap. He kisses me with more urgency than ever before.

Running out of breath, we both pull away.

"What were you looking at?" he asks, well more like demands. I look back
down at my thighs shyly.

"N-Nothing," I murmur. He grabs my face and tilts it back up.

"Tell me the truth. Your nose is twitching."

"I don't know. I'm just self-conscious about my thunder thighs," I mutter.

"Baby, you're perfect. Your body is perfect. Your thighs are fucking sexy,"
he then chuckles, "trust me when I say they're hot."

A blush rises to my cheeks.

"You're just saying that."

"The hell I am," he says, taking about ten Airheads out of his pocket.

"Where did you get those," I giggle at the fact that he brought candy out of
nowhere.

"Grandma has everything in her house.

Everything,

" he says handing me a pile of them.

_____________________

I look over at the digital clock on the stand beside the bed.

12:48 am
"We should probably go to sleep now," I run my hand through Luke's hair.
He nods and nuzzles his head deeper into my chest.

"In our own beds," I continue since he obviously didn't get the message.

"What? Why?" His looks up at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"We have separate rooms for a reason. I don't want to upset Ella."

"I can assure you that she won't care," he smirks, "Why do you think she
put us all the way end of the hall, in rooms next to each other?"

I say nothing. Hopefully, he's right.

I pray, thanking God for arriving here safely.

"I love you," Luke whispers right as I was about to fall asleep. I pull him
closer to me and I

kiss the side of his head.

"I love you too."

"Thank you for coming with me too," humor fills his voice.

"You're welcome. Now go to sleep, it's late." I scold.

"Yes, ma'am."

_______________________

Right as I'm waking up the next morning, the door to my room opens. I
would look to see who it is but Luke is currently holding me very tightly to
him.

"Aw, look at those two," Ella mutters to herself giddily.

I wiggle my upper half out of Luke's hold and I sit up in the bed.
"Good morning baby! Aw, you look so adorable! Look at those curls!" Ella
holds a hand over her heart.

At the powerful voice of Ella, Luke wakes up.

"Well good mornin' sleepin' beauty," she greets him.

"Yeah," he mumbles, still half asleep. He lays back down, his bare chest on
full display. To keep myself from blushing, I pull the covers back over his
chest.

He rolls over on his side and grabs onto me.

"Luke, no," I giggle, shaking him to wake him back up.

He sits up groggily and squints due to the lights.

"I need you two to head down to the store. I've gotten a few more pecan pie
requests but I ran out of goodies. Aubrey, you know what to get and Luke,
you know how to get her there. Here are the keys to Daxton's truck," Ella
tosses the keys to Luke.

"Daxton's?" Luke chuckles.

"It sure is Dax's. Since his momma and daddy didn't take it away, I did," she
explains.

"Well, ya'll get ready and leave soon! Time's a-wasting!" she exits the room,
shutting the door behind her.

"Let's get ready!" I try and get up. Since the blankets are all wrapped
around my legs, I struggle quite a bit.

Eventually, with no help at all from Luke, I get out off bed.

I untie the knot in my shirt and let it fall just above my mid thighs.

I drop my shorts to the ground and pick out a pair of darker washed, skinny
blue jeans. I shimmy them up my legs and button them in the front. I roll up
the bottom of my jeans because they're too long.

It really sucks to have to do that with almost every pair of jeans I have.

I take off my pajama shirt and pick up a very cute tan sweater I got from
American Eagle early this year in North Carolina.

I pull it over my head and put lotion and a little bit of perfume on.

I place diamond earrings in each of the three holes on my ears. I part my

hair and comb through it a little bit before standing up to go brush my teeth.

I turn around and there Luke is, sitting on my bed, with his mouth slightly
agape, and his eyes hungry.

"Are you going to get dressed," I tilt my head in question.

"Y-Yeah," he watches me as I walk out of the room.

I don't know why he's acting so silly, it's not like he hasn't seen it before.

I finish brushing my teeth right as Luke comes in to brush his. I walk back
to my room to put shoes and socks on.

I put on my white converse and tie them loosely.

When I was 15, I broke my ankle when I slipped on a piece of paper that
was on the stairs at my old school. Ever since then, I never tied my shoes
tight. Tying them too tight get really uncomfortable after even a few
seconds. My ankle starts to hurt and it just isn't good.

Luke and I walk down the beautiful mahogany staircase and we meet Ella
and James in the kitchen.

"Oh, baby! I love your sweater!" Ella announces once she sees me.

"Thank you," I reply with a smile.

"Ya'll be careful," Ella walks over to us. She kisses my forehead and Luke
leans down for her to do the same to him.

___________________

"What do we need?" Luke asks as we walk into a Walmart, hand in hand.

"We only need pecans, but we need to make sure they are still in their
shells. Those make for the freshest pie. We also need some more vanilla and
eggs," I answer.

"Okay."

"We had a huge pecan tree in our backyard at home. It was such a pretty
tree," I smile, remembering my dad's beloved pecan tree.

"We used to grow oranges at our house here. Mom loved those oranges," he
smiles.

We get the eggs and the vanilla. Now, we're looking for an aisle that has
nuts.

"Why did Ella take your cousins truck?" I ask curiously.

"Because he's a prick," Luke answers shortly, "and he cheated on his

girlfriend."

I gasp.

What is up with guys cheating on their girlfriends? First Izzy and Anthony,
now Luke's cousin and his ex-girlfriend.

"Oh look!" I say excitedly, "I found it!"

We walk down the nut aisle looking for the right pecans. All of a sudden,
Luke lets out a quiet curse.

"What's wrong?" I ask worriedly, placing my hand on his back and rubbing
my hand up and down it.
"Act like you don't know me for a second, okay?" He says and I retract my
hand.

"Okay," I nod. I move down the aisle further away from him and pretend to
be looking for something really hard.

From the corner of my eye, I see a couple of guys walk up to Luke. They
greet Luke like they haven't seen him in a long time. I'm sure they haven't
actually.

While they start a small conversation, my phone starts ringing.

Wow, way to draw attention to yourself, Aubrey.

I rush to turn it off, or at least to decline the call and I drop the eggs.

I drop the carton of eggs on the floor.

Luke, and the two guys talking to him all turn and look at me.

Luke is trying not to smile at me and the others, well I don't know what
they're thinking honestly.

I click the red button on my phone and hey! At least the ringing has
stopped.

Luke starts walking towards me and I freak out. Not visibly but internally.

"Good try, trying to act normal sweetheart," he kisses my forehead. He

grabs my hand and he pulls me towards the two guys.

"Who's this?" the black haired one asks with a smirk on his face.

"My girlfriend, Aubrey," Luke answers simply.

"Nice one, Taylor," the other one eyes me with a creepy creeper look.

"Well, we're gonna get goin', nice seeing you, Luke," they finally walk off.
"I'm so, so, sorry," I wince and cover my cheeks. Luke just chuckles and
pulls me into him.

"You're fine darlin'," he kisses my nose.

"I think we need a cleanup on aisle 4," I wince again point to the eggs on
the floor.

________________________

"It was actually kinda funny. She dropped the eggs, broke them, and
everything," Luke tells Ella, James, and Charlie what happened once we get
back to the house.

"Poor thing," Ella laughs.

"Alright, ya'll help get these pecans out of the shells," Ella orders them as
she dumps the bag out.

I get to work making the rest of the pie.

After about twenty minutes, all the pecans were out of their shells. James
and Charlie went off somewhere and Ella just left saying she had to go pick
up cheese from the store.

Luke sneaks himself around to the back of me while I'm putting the pie into
the oven. He turns me around so I'm facing him and he lifts me onto the
counter.

"What you did to me this morning was such a tease," he murmurs with his
eyes looking at my lips longingly.

"Aw, I'm sorry," wrap my arms around his neck in a hug.

We stay in each other's arms for quite a while. Only holding each other,
nothing else. It felt good, I felt loved.

_________________
|

|Hope you liked this chapter!

Thanks for reading!

Word count: 5077

-Ashlyn M.
Part 36 "Family Feud"
*LUKE'S POV*

"Oh God, he's here," I bang my head on the granite counter top as Sam's
truck pulls into grandma's long driveway.

"Who's here?" Aubrey asks curiously.

"My cousin."

"What's wrong with that?" she asks with a cute head tilt.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin. He just can be...a little rough," I
explain as the front door comes crashing open.

"Lucas!?!" The loud voice of one of my craziest family members, screams

out. I keep quiet. I know he'll find me eventually but for now, I just want to
bask in my last few moments of silence before everyone gets here.

"Oh my God! There you are, you dingbat!" he comes running at me. He
throws himself at me and we both almost fall to the ground.

"You're as tall as me now, bro!" He laughs.

Samuel Taylor. He's twenty yet he still acts fifteen. He plays college
football at Auburn at yes, now I'm as tall as him.

The last time he saw me, I was a sophomore in high school and I was just
shy of 6'4.

A lot

has changed since then.

"Well, Jesus Christ in the mornin'! Who's this?" he slides right up next to
where Aubrey is standing, giving her looks

"She's 17," I smirk and he shoots back.

"I never looked at her! I never saw her!" he covers his eyes and Aubrey
giggles.

"I'm Aubrey," she smiles at him once he uncovers his eyes.

"I'm Sam, Luke's best, most great, most...successful, cousin," he smiles.

"She's my girlfriend," I tell him and his mouth drops before a sly smile
appears on his lips "Oh wow! Everyone's been talking about you! Welcome
to the family!" He hugs her small frame and I wince. I forgot to tell her my
family is a bunch huggers.

"Where's grandma?" He pulls away, putting one arm around her shoulders
and one arm around mine.

________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I wasn't expecting Sam. Mostly, I expected Luke's family to be kind of like

him. Overall quiet and calm, but I was wrong.

Sam is

very

lively, he's also very loud, and he's kind. Almost opposite of Luke actually.
Other than personality, you can tell Sam and Luke are related. They are
both very handsome and Sam and Luke look to be the same height: really,
really tall.
"She'll be back any minute," Luke shrugs and Sam starts walking around
the kitchen.

"It smells so good in here," he smells the air.

"Aubrey's making her pecan pie," Luke's arm wraps itself around my
shoulders.

"Aubrey, you will be so welcomed into the family, it makes me wonder if

you have already met everyone," he says quite frankly and I laugh.

"Daxton's coming, did you hear?" Sam winces.

What's all the fuss about Daxton. Both Ella and Sam have talked about him.

"Yeah, I heard," Luke sighs.

"Apparently, he's bringing a new girl! This Thanksgiving is going to be

quite a scene," Sam winces.

"Better start praying now."

"Damn right," Sam agrees.

We hear a car pull up and Sam looks outside.

"It's grandma!" he says excitedly. He runs out of the kitchen, going to see
her.

"Well, that's one down," Luke kisses my forehead.

"That wasn't so bad," I say, "Who's Daxton?"

Luke brings me into his arms and he leans against me. He leans down and
connects our lips for a few seconds.

"Daxton is one of my cousins. He's the one that cheated on his girlfriend
and he's just...he's fucked up," he shrugs.
I wonder what made Daxton like that. No one just starts out like that.
Something must have happened to him.

"Have you met Aubrey, Sammy?" Ella asks Sam as they both walk into the
kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am, she's very nice and her pie smells great," Sam nods.

____________________________

"Hi! I'm Aubrey!"

"Well aren't you a cute little thing!"

"Aw, such a sweet girl!"

"Luke, you've got yourself a great one!"

"Miss Aubrey, make sure to keep my nephew in line!"

"Welcome to the family hun!"

I've never felt so welcomed before in my life.

"Tell us honey, where're you from?" Luke's aunt Nyla questions me with a
smile. Most of Luke's aunts and Ella are with me just sitting and talking in
the kitchen.

"North Carolina. A base camp called Lejeune, my dad worked there when
not away," I explain and Ella begins to rub my back knowing that talking
about it is a tough subject.

"Oh that's neat!" Luke's great aunt Dorothy exclaims.

"What brought you up to Virginia then, hun?" Luke's

other

aunt Marianne asks.

"Well my dad was in the marines and unfortunately, he died in action a few
months ago. After that, I had to move in with my mom who lives in
Virginia," I explain and looks of sympathy spread across their faces.

"Aw, poor thing!"

"We're sorry for your loss."

"Such a strong girl."

I just smile and say thanks. I'm very thankful to be around such good people
and I'm glad that it has gotten this much easier to talk about my dad.

"Let's go get some air y'all, it's a beautiful day outside! We can get some
front porch talkin' in," Ella ushers us all outside. We walk outside and onto
the front porch.

The older women take their seats on the chair and the swing while us
younger ones lean against the railings or stand.

"How's Luke behaving up there?" Dorothy asks from her seat beside Ella, a
small smirk settled on her face.

"For the most part he's behaving," I smile and they all let out chuckles.

"He's has a few little...bumps along the road but other than that, he's been
fine," I explain further and they nod understandingly.

"That's understandable. Charlotte's passing was hard on all of us," Ella sighs
sadly and the others voice their agreements.

"Poor thing, he was such a mommas boy," Nyla shakes her head.

"Thank God this girl came along!" Ella says happily, "I hadn't seen Luke
smile in years until I visited about a month ago! She's really helped him, I
can tell."

A little blush appears on my cheeks and they let out awes and laughs.
"Oh lawd y'all!" Ella whisper shouts, "look at this lady coming up here."

We all turn and look at a middle-aged lady running down the sidewalk all
the way at the end of Ella's driveway.

"I despise that old cow," Ella shakes her head in distaste, "she is the most
uppity and rotten woman I have ever met."

"I'll tell you El, I ain't never seen no middle-aged woman running nowhere
'round here," Luke's other great aunt, Carla nudges Ella.

"I know! Her and her husband are from somewhere up north. I think she
said they were from New York or something. Her husbands here for the
year working on a business project," Ella rolls her eyes.

"Where's Dax?" Carla asks.

Mumbles of disapproval circle throughout the group.

"Lord knows when he'll come," Marianne, the aunt who Ella introduced as
Daxton's mom, shakes her head in disappointment.

Two cars turn onto Ella's long driveway and soon they stop and park.

"Oh my two girls!" Ella jumps up as the two very pretty girls walk up the
porch steps.

"Hi grandma!" They smile and hug her.

They must be Luke's

two

girl cousins.

"I want you two to meet this sweetie right here," Ella guides them my way.
Their tall frames guide peacefully towards me.

They stop in front of me and look slightly down towards me.

"Hi, I'm Aubrey," I smile. They both return my smile, somewhat excitedly.

"I'm Whitney, we've heard a lot about you," the one with light blonde hair
says.

"I'm Marina but you can call me May," the one with light brown hair
introduces herself.

"Why don't you girls take her out back and y'all can talk a little bit," Ella
winks and Whitney gladly grabs my hand and drags me into the house.

"I'm

so

glad there's another girl our age now!" May says excitedly.

"I'm sure having all these boy cousins has been quite the experience," I
giggle as we walk through Ella's gorgeous house.

"Don't get me wrong, I love all the big idiots but they are

so

tiring," May rubs her head like she's got a headache.

"I'm tellin' you, I know so much about football, I could be an NFL coach by
now," Whitney sighs and I laugh.

We walk out onto the back porch and I've never seen a backyard so big.

Currently, there are two football games going on. One with younger guys,
mostly ages ranging from toddler to mid-teens, and the other one ranging
from late teens to middle-aged. Even Charlie is playing.

James is a referee. He can't play because of his knee. Luke told me that
James was going to go pro but he suffered a career ending knee injury his
junior year of college.
The girls and I take seats at one of the tables and we look out onto the yard.

"So you're a senior like Luke?" Whitney asks as she takes a chip from a
random bag sitting at the table.

"Yes," I nod.

"Poor thing," Whitney shakes her head, "I graduated last year."

"Alright Whitney! No need to shove it in our faces," May makes a face at

her cousin before turning to me.

"I'm a junior," she sighs.

A low whistle is heard from in front of us and we all look up.

A tall boy is standing in front of us smirking down at me. He can't be much

younger than me but I can tell he is.

"Dylan! Go away!"

"Shoo Dylan!" The girls both yell at him right as a football comes flying at
his head.

The perfect spiral connects right at the side of his head and the poor boy is
sent to the ground.

Only one person could have thrown that.

The older guys playing the football game start to laugh.

Luke walks over to his younger cousin and he drags him up to his feet.

"I told you not too," Luke says before looking up.

He sees his cousins and he smiles.

They run up to him and hug him. I have to refrain from awing when they
have a mini group hug.
After their small reunion, Luke's eyes connect with mine. He extends his
arm and pulls me to him.

"Is everything going good?" He questions.

"Oh yes, everything is going great," I smile and wipe a small piece of hair
off his forehead, "now hurry and get back to your game!"

He kisses my cheeks before jogging back to where the rest of the guys are.

The girls and I sit back in our seats and they let out multiple awes.

"Did you see the way he looked at her Whitney?" May awes.

"Damn right I did May!" Whitney screeches.

_____________________________

After about fifteen minutes outside, we decided to walk back in.

Ella and the ladies have moved into the living room and they're still
conversing.

The girls and I take a seat on the open double seater cousin, squeezing
together.

"Y'all gettin' along good?" Ella asks seemingly already knowing the answer.

"I wish she could live down here all the time," May laughs.

Right as Ella is about to answer, the front door opens.

A tall, young guy walks through and Ella sighs.

This must be Daxton. The resemblance between Daxton and May is crazy.

"Is that your brother?" I ask her in a whisper. She lets out a quiet sigh and
she nods.
"He's actually my twin."

Oh wow.

Daxton holds open the door for someone else and in walks in.

The back door opens and the sound of guys talking fills the house.

"Hey Ella, honey-"

Charlie's voice cuts itself off as he gets sight of the girl.

"Guys, this is the girl I brought," Daxton says. What I find weird is that he
doesn't say friend or girlfriend. He just says 'girl', "her name is...Katherine."

"Kirsten, actually," her nasally voice responds.

Ella rises out of her seat and all eyes turn to her. She turns her back on
Daxton and 'Kirsten' as she walks to where Charlie is standing.

Charlie watches his wife carefully as she makes her way towards him.

Ella leans up and whispers something in Charlie's ear.

Luke and Sam come up and lean down behind our couch.

"I ain't never seen a such," Sam whispers with a shudder.

"I don't know how grandma is keeping her shit together right now," Luke
adds.

"I'm sure she's kind," Charlie suggests and Ella looks at him like he's crazy,
"or not, whatever you think darlin'."

"Well she's not walking a

step
further into my house wearing that. For heavens sakes! This is a house full
of boys and she barely has anything on!"

"Well why don't you let her borrow something that we were supposed to
give to Goodwill a few days ago?" Charlie asks.

"You're right love," she nods, patting his chest.

Ella walks over to us and she leans down.

"Can you three go up to my and get that child some clothes to put on? Make
sure y'all get it out of the tub labeled 'Goodwill'," Ella says and the three of
us nod and get up.

Once we're upstairs the girls bust out laughing.

"I can't

believe

he's got the audacity to bring that girl here. He probably only did it knowing
he'll get a crazy reaction out of grandma. He knows she's religious and
traditional," May shakes her head at her brother.

We walk into Ella's master bedroom and I almost faint. Her bedroom is
almost as big as my whole upstairs floor at home.

We spot a navy blue tub next to the closet door. We all sit down on the floor
and start going through the tub.

"Oh, I might want this for myself," Whitney chuckles as she picks up a
really pretty black and blue blouse.

I would love to know what is going on in that girls mind. I feel bad for her.
I'm sure she wasn't expecting to be reacted to like this.

The three of us finally decide on a pair of Under Armour sweat pants and
short sleeve black shirt.
We walk back downstairs, with me carrying the clothes. I stop where Ella is
standing and she begins to talk.

"Young lady," she says sternly, getting Kirsten's attention, "if you'd please,
put these clothes on."

Taking that as my cue, I walk forward until I'm in front of her. I outstretch
my arms towards her and she slightly yanks the clothes from my hands.
Without looking up at her face, I turn back around and walk back.

I think Luke noticed her yank the clothes though since once I got back, he
pulls my back towards his front and he wraps his arms around my waist
securely.

"The bathroom is the first door on your left!" Whitney calls out to her.

"Daxton, I cannot believe you," Ella says angrily. Daxton just stands there
not looking to be fazed by what she's saying.

"Stop being disrespectful," a stressed looking Marianne says before one of

Luke's older cousins turns her away and hugs his mom.

"Who's that?" He questions, pointing at me.

If I'm being honest, I would love it if I wasn't brought into their

conversation.

"Do not change the subject," Ella takes a step in front of me as Luke's arms
tighten.

Right as Ella is about to continue, Kirsten comes back out of the bathroom.
With clothes on thankfully.

____________________________

"Let's eat y'all!" Ella's voice rings out throughout the house and everyone
gets up. Even some of the older guys, including Charlie, who were asleep in
the recliners woke up.
Luke grabs my hand and we're one of the first ones in the kitchen. Right
behind us is Sam, Whitney, and Marina.

Soon enough, the room is crowded with guys well over 6 feet and their
wives.

"Y'all know the drill! Get a plate then go down the line!" Ella announces.

We grab our plates and we start going down the line.

More food than I've ever seen lays on the counters as we make our way
down the line grabbing anything we want.

"Is that basil?" I ask Luke once we come to where the delicious looking
turkey is.

"Grandma!" He calls out getting her attention.

"Yes, baby?" she questions as she comes up to where we're standing.

"Did you cook this with basil?" Luke asks her.

"Yes, I cooked it with garlic, rosemary, basil, and some salt, why?"

"Aubrey's allergic to basil," he tells her and she gaps.

"Oh poor baby! I'm sorry!" She apologizes.

"That's okay," I smile.

"If you want me to make you anything else, ask me baby, okay?" she gives
me a side hug careful of the plate in my hand.

"I don't think I'll need anything else, but thank you," I thank her.

"You're always welcome sweet pea," she smiles.

"Y'all are holding up the line!" Sam says from two spots behind us.
"Oh you hush baby," Ella says as she smacks his arm.

Once Luke and I finish getting our food, we sit at one of the tables. A few
seconds later, Whitney, Sam, and May sit with us, along with a few other of
Luke's cousins closest to our age.

"Oh, you don't eat meat? Well, I'm sure we can find something around here
for you-"

"I don't eat meat or any products made from an animal. I'm a vegan,"
Kirsten cuts off Ella with agitation in her voice.

Charlie chokes on his turkey at hearing her disrespectful tone.

"She shouldn't have said it like that," Sam snickers as he shoves some
cranberries in his mouth.

Ella turns towards the girl, an unhappy look on her face.

Ella grabs the girls plate and she puts a big slab of cranberries on her plate.
She shoves it back in her hands and gives her a fed-up look.

"Daxton, take yourself and

little miss thang

into the living room. Since you two think you are both so big and mighty,
y'all can have a whole room to yourselves," Ella says with an angry look on
her face.

The both of them exit the room and everyone is silent.

"Anyone want anymore green beans? We still got plenty left!" Ella shouts
out and a few hands raise into the air.

_____________________________

Halfway through dinner, a phone rings.

"James Edward!" Ella calls out and Luke snickers from beside me.

"I know, I'm sorry Momma," he says while looking at who's calling.

"Luke, it's Clemson. It's for you," he stands up and he hands the phone to
Luke.

I'm pretty sure Clemson has a good football program.

Speaking of football, I got a text from Eli early today saying that the last
game we had played turned out to be our district championship. The team
we were supposed to play once Luke and I get back, was disqualified for
using students who did not attend their school.

When Luke found out about that, he was not very happy. Even though they
won that game, it went on to the records as 'not a very well played game'
and to top it all off, Luke didn't even get to play.

Luke grabs the phone from his dad and he puts it up to his ear.

"Yes sir"

"No sir"

"I've already got one, but thank you"

"Yes sir"

"I'll think about it and get back to you"

"Of course sir"

Luke hangs up the phone and everyone looks at him.

"They still want me. He's still offering full ride but he's changed it to a no
renewing scholarship," Luke explains as he hands the phone back to his
dad.

I don't know what that means but apparently, it isn't important to Luke.
"Did you tell him you're already committed?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. I've told him every time he's called. Clemson's got a stubborn
coach," Luke shakes his head and he begins eating again.

After about twenty more minutes, Ella announces it is dessert time.

We once again line up and go down the line of desserts.

Luke and I make it to the pecan pie and he grabs the pie cutter excitedly.

Knowing he'll cut half the pie and put it on his plate, I take it from him.

The people behind us in line laugh and I cut a good sized piece for him and
put it on his plate.

We make it to the end of the line and Ella stands there.

"Do you want some pineapple upside down cake baby?" she questions me.

"Thank you, it looks delicious but I'm allergic to pineapples," I thank her.

"Well lord honey! You're just allergic to everything under the sun aren't
you?" She says.

"That's what I said!" Luke exclaims.

We sit down back in our chairs and everyone quiets down while they eat.

I get many good compliments about my pecan pie. It really made me happy
to hear how much they liked it. Back at home, I was almost always the only
one to eat my pies and complimenting yourself isn't the same as others
complimenting you.

After finishing his food, Luke leans back in his chair and rubs his 'pot belly'
as he calls it.

Whitney had to unbutton her jeans she ate so much which I thought was
funny.
After eating so much, I'm actually tired. I lay my head on Luke's arm which
is draped over the top of my chair.

_____________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

Quite frankly, I've ate so much all I want to do is go upstairs, hold Aubrey
close, and take a long ass nap.

"How'd you two meet?" May asks as she props her chin up on her hand.

"Ooh yes! Tell us," Whitney adds.

"Do tell," Sam wiggles his eyebrows and I roll my eyes at him.

I look at Aubrey to see if she wants to tell them or if she wants me to.

"Well, he ran right into me is what happened," she nods at the girls and my
mouth drops open.

"That's false, you left your bag in the walkway and I almost tripped over it,"
I tell the truth.

"If it wasn't for your big feet we wouldn't have that problem. And yes, you
did almost trip over my bag but you did

run in to me," she points out and my mouth drops open again.

Whitney, Sam, May, and the other people at our table listening let out loud
laughs.

"Thats sweet," Whitney smiles, "what happened after you two met?"

"Well he was quite rude," she whispers.

"Was not," I say.

"He didn't seem to like me very much so we didn't talk a lot for a while,"
she says and I shake my head.

Oh I liked her alright.

"After that little while, we became partners in a project and," I silently pray
she'll leave out the part where I got mad at her for leaving me with the baby,
"and he started being such a big flirt."

The table laughs once again and Sam nudges me.

"That's so cute," Whitney sighs.

"How's Eli?" May asks somewhat shyly and my eyes narrow.

"He's still stupid," I say followed by a light smack to the arm.

I know about May and Eli's attraction towards each other. They tried their
best to hide from me that one time I brought Eli with me down here.

I'm not mad at Eli for it. I just wish he chose someone other than one

of my

two

girl cousins.

Aubrey lets out a quiet awe beside me and she wraps her arms around my
upper arm.

"Eli is doing well," Aubrey answers after I don't.

After everyone is finished eating, we all help clean up.

"We're going outside," Aubrey says to me and I nod, kissing her head. The
rest of us guys, walk into the living room to watch the Turkey Bowl.
Daxton walks beside me and I can feel his gaze on me. I turn my head and
raise my eyebrow at him.

He just smirks and turns his head away.

"What's your deal?" I question him, getting his attention back and stopping
in my tracks.

"Nothing," he laughs mockingly, "who's the girl you brought? Is she the girl
everyone has been talking so much about?"

"Why are you so hell-bent on knowing this?" I question suspiciously. He

really shouldn't care this much.

"No reason," he raises his hands in surrender, "I only wanted confirmation.
She must have some real good pussy."

I shove his chest harshly, sending him backward.

"Don't fucking talk about her like that," I shove him again when he tries to
come back and jump at me.

_____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

The back door slides open quickly and all of our conversation halts. One of
Luke's younger cousins looks a little bit frantic as his eyes search for Ella.

"Grandma! There's a family feud!" He yells out and Ella shoots out of her
seat. Wanting to be nosy, everyone else gets up out of their seat and we all
follow her inside.

The sound of raised voices is heard once we walk in and Ella grabs the
closest thing to her which happens to be me.

For some reason, Ella drags her with me until we come to the opening of
the circle made around whoever is fighting. I can't see over the tall people.
I finally catch sight of who is fighting. First, I see Daxton. If I'm being
completely honest, I expected that. What I didn't expect to see, is Luke
continuously shoving Daxton.

Daxton leans back and he takes a swing at his older cousin. Thankfully,
Luke dodges it but he tackles him to the ground.

"Charlie! Why aren't you doing something?!" Ella yells out to her husband.

"I'm not gettin' in the middle of that. Luke is as big as me," Charlie explains
calmly.

Luke takes a swing at Daxton and I cover my eyes not wanting to see the
impact of his fist on his own family's face.

"Lucas!" I shout as I grab the back of his shirt as hard as I can. The sound
and the movement o the back of his shirt finally makes him stop long
enough so that someone pulls Daxton away.

The room goes silent as Luke and I look at each other. I can just imagine
how red my face is from being mad.

Luke stands back up to his full height and closes most of the distance
between us. I roughly grab his forearm and lead him out the front door.

Once we're far enough away from the door so that no one hears me, I let my
anger flow out.

"I can't believe you! First, you tell me you'll stop fighting. Then, you go and
you fight

your

cousin!

Is there no limit to where you'll stop?!"

"Baby-"
"No! You're going to let me finish! You know violence is something I hate
to see. I just don't understand why you think fighting is always the answer!"
I end and take a few seconds to catch my breath.

I'm

still

out of shape.

"Plus!" I remember I'm still not finished, "not only do you hurt the other
person, but you also hurt yourself. Give me your hand."

I take his huge hand in my and I inspect his slightly bruised knuckles and
even one of them is cut. I take one glance up at him before smacking his
knuckles.

"Ouch," he winces.

"Well imagine how he feels. You deserved it and I'm only slightly sorry for
hitting you."

After glaring at him for about a minute, I decided we should go back inside
now. I don't grab his hand or his arm or anything. I walk in front of him
with my arms crossed and a stern look on my face as what he did replays on
my mind.

Fighting is not good. I don't know how he's been so lucky to not have gotten
in serious trouble for doing it but it's only a matter of time before he does.

We walk into the house right as they're sending Daxton and Kirsten out to
leave.

I walk up to where all the ladies are standing and they all turn and look at
me.

"Well I don't think we need to scold him, you've done my job for me, baby,
" Ella smiles.
"I've told him before no fighting and he told me he'll stop but there he
went," I shake my head.

"You know, at least you got him to stop. Not anything anyone else did made
him stop," Whitney points out and everyone nods in agreement.

"How long are you gonna stay mad at him?" Ella nudges my shoulder and
she nods over to where Luke is, "he looks like a child who's just been
scolded."

"I'm going to let him stay like that for a while," I sigh looking at his pitiful
self, already feeling slightly bad.

_______________________

"It was so nice meeting you!" Marianne calls out as she leaves out Ella's
front door.

"You better come back to see us, you hear?"

"Goodbye, darlin'!"

I say goodbye to the many people leaving. Once almost everyone has left,
the two last people come up to me and hug me.

"We're gonna miss you!" May says.

They both give me their phone numbers, their Snapchats, and their
Instagrams before saying our final goodbyes.

After them, Sam follows them out but not without giving me his 'deets' as
well so we can 'gossip about Luke'.

By 9 pm, everywhere is cleaned and the dishes are done. I felt very satisfied
with myself after helping Ella so much. Also tired.

"I think I'm going to get to bed," I yawn as Ella and I finish wiping the
kitchen table.
"You go right ahead, baby. You've worked hard and been through a lot
today," she gives me a big, warm hug.

I walk out of the kitchen and start up the stairs. I hear steps behind me and I
know exactly who it is.

I walk into my room and I begin taking out my earrings. After removing all
of my earrings, I take my shoes and socks off, revealing my pale pink
toenail polish. I walk over to my bag, ignoring Luke's presence right beside
it, and I grab my clothes for after my shower.

I turn away from my bag and I begin to walk towards the door. Luke's
strong hand grabs onto the waistband of my jeans and he turns me around,
pulling me back closer to him.

"I'm sorry, Aubrey. I really am this time. I know I told you I would stop and
I'm sorry I didn't," Luke says sincerely but I still keep the same look on my
face.

"Stop acting mad."

"I'm not

acting

mad, I

am

mad," I huff.

"Well you look hot when you're mad and I don't want you to get even
madder at me for looking at those lips of yours," his eyes travel down to my
lips.

This guy is infuriating. I'm supposed to be angry but here I am, blushing my
entire face off.
"You're lucky I love you," I whisper up at him before beginning to walk to
the bathroom again.

"The luckiest."

____________________

6 am the next morning, we're all up and packing our things. Of course, Luke
is still asleep on my bed right now though even though I'm already dressed
and ready.

With all my things packed,

and

Luke's, I figure it is time to wake him up.

I crawl up onto the bed and I run my fingers through his hair. After a few
seconds, his head rolls over to me and his gorgeous grey eyes open up.

"Get up, we're leaving here in like forty-five minutes," I say before getting
up and going downstairs.

I walk into the kitchen and Ella stands in there, making a delicious smelling
breakfast.

"Goodmorning," I greet once I walk fully into the kitchen.

"Ah, good morning baby!" Ella says lively, "I made you breakfast before
you all go."

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that," I thank her as I sit down at one of
the island chairs.

After about ten minutes, Luke, James, and Charlie all mosy downstairs.

When we're all finished with our amazing breakfast, we start our goodbyes.
Ella comes up to me, as my last goodbye.
"I'm gonna miss you, baby!" She hugs me to her tightly.

"I'll miss you too Ella," I smile into the hug.

"Don't worry though, I'll see you soon, and a lot more after that," she winks
and she sends us all outside to the rental truck.

I think I'm really going to miss this place.

____________________________

|Big plans ahead peoples *wink wink*

Oh and, Happy Thanksgiving!! (ignore the fact that it's early)

Thanks for reading!!

*I don't edit these bois*

Word Count: 5726

-Ashlyn M.
Part 37 "All you care about is
yourself!"
By Monday, after sleeping for almost three days, I feel rejuvenated. I don't
know why I was so tired but at least I got to sleep for a long time.

Luke came over a couple of times and we just sat there either talking or
watching different movies.

I stumble into the schoolhouse and walk to my locker. Once I'm done
getting my things, I shut my locker and turn to walk to Olivia's locker.

I let out a gasp when I look up. Lee stands right in front of me, a nervous
look adorning his face.

"Hey Lee, you scared me," I chuckle, clutching my heart.

"I'm sorry," his shoulders slump and he looks down at the floor.

"It's okay!" I try and cheer him up. He did nothing wrong, I don't know why
he's upset.

"What was it that you needed?" I question him, making sure I use the nicest
tone in existence.

"Well...I just wanted to ask if you and Luke were still a thing. If not, then
m-maybe you and I could have dinner or something."

My eyebrows shoot up at what he says. Why would he think Luke and I

weren't together anymore?

"Maybe we would like, get dinner, or see a movie," he adds, still gazing
down at the ground.
A strong, thick arm wraps itself around my shoulders and Luke's scent
envelops me. I didn't even hear him coming.

"I think the fuck not," he says in a no-bullpoop tone. Lee's head shoots up
and his eyes widen at the sight of Luke.

"Um, we're still together so," I smile awkwardly at Lee and he nods before
rushing off. Luke pulls me closer to him and he leans down giving me a
chaste kiss.

"Mornin'," he greets and I smile up at him.

"I'm gonna go talk to Olivia," I tell him before walking off to Olivia's locker
where she and Izzy are standing.

_____________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Boobs or butt, Eli?" Ryan asks as I get to where the two are standing. Eli
thinks for a minute.

"I'm a boob kind of guy. What about you Luke?" Eli nudges me. Thinking
about the question, my eyes find Aubrey's form from across the hall.

I let my eyes travel down her tantalizing figure.

All mine.

"Both."

"Pick one. What's the first thing you looked at when you first met Aubrey?"
Ryan asks.

I know the answer to the question without a doubt. I just sound like a
douche answering it. I'm not the same guy I was.

"Her ass," I admit fighting the urge to hang my head.

"I looked at her boobs," Eli says from beside me. Did he really just say
that?

"Kidding!" He shouts once he sees my gaze.

"You fuckin' better be."

_______________________

I wait outside the girl's locker room for Aubrey to come out. A group of
girls come out and one's eyes connect with mine.

She looks new.

She bites her bottom lip and her eyes travel down my form. My eyes narrow
at her head as she does.

When her eyes find mine again, she closes one eye and she winks at me.

I look back at the locker room door, waiting for a certain gorgeous
individual to make her way out.

From the corner of my eye, I see a figure walk up to me and stop beside. I
turn my head and look down to see who it is.

Surprise, it's that girl. I let out a sigh and I raise my eyebrow at her.

What does she want from me?

"I'm Emily," the girl says from beside me.

I ignore her as I become impatient waiting for Aubrey. Right as the girl
raises her hand, for God knows what, Aubrey comes tripping out the door.

She's so cute.

I rush over to her, eager to get away from whatever the hell that girl was
trying to accomplish.
By the time I get to Aubrey, she's stood back up with her face a light red
shade. I swear I fall more in love with her every time I see her.

She holds out her hand for me and I wrap mine around hers.

We walk to the gym and I hold the door open for her. As Aubrey travels
underneath my arm, so does the Emily girl.

Aubrey turns around to say something to me and Emily is right in her face.

She lets out a gasp as she grabs her heart. I roll my eyes at the girl before
leading Aubrey to where everyone else is.

"Alright, everyone!" Mrs. Siding calls out, "We will have a little bit of an
activity day today. We are going to play dodgeball, with a twist."

Target: Eli's head.

"I'm going to put all of you in two groups and then I will explain the twist,"
she says then she begins to divide us.

________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"Aubrey, you're a 1, Luke you're a 2, Eli, you're a 1," she goes down the
lines of people.

I feel like I should sit out. I don't really want to do this. The dodgeball
activity doesn't seem like a good one for our 'activity day'.

We all make our way to our designated section of the gym and thank Jesus,
Izzy is in my group. Eli is in my group too but he told me he's going to be
'the heart and the soul' of our team. I decided he was going to be too busy.

"Alright, the rules are the same as regular dodgeball. The twist is with the
balls," a few immature guys from behind us let out snickers.
She brings out the bags of ball and she pours some out. The balls are much
bigger than what is usually used to play dodgeball. They're like yoga balls
but smaller.

I don't know why she thinks that will make the game safer though. With the
people in our class, I wouldn't play dodgeball at all.

Has she seen the size of Luke's hands? Apparently not because even though
those balls are bigger, it won't be harder for him.

"The dodgeballs are bigger so you won't be able to get a good grip on them.
Hopefully, this won't go downhill. Now, get ready, set, go!"

It appears that Eli's mission is to get Luke out. The same goes for Luke.

Meanwhile, I'm standing near the back of the gym with Izzy, trying to steer
away from the flying balls that whiz past you at crazy speeds.

"There should be an option to sit out for this," I say to Izzy right before a
ball hits the wall right beside my head.

My eyes go wide and I look at the other side of the gym to see who threw
that. It may not have been that

fast but if it would've hit my face, it could really hurt.

My eyes find Luke's, just an instinct, and he's looking behind him at some
girl, somewhat angrily.

That girl I almost ran into when coming into the door is who he is looking
at. She looks right back at him, a small smile settles onto her face.

Then, she looks at me. She mouths a sorry before going back to whatever
she was doing.

"What a motherfucking bitch," Izzy sneers from beside me.

"Do you know who that is? Because I don't."

"She's some new girl. Today is her first day. I think her name is Emily.
Olivia told me she's in her math class," Izzy explains.

A ball rolls at my feet and I pick it up.

"Eli!" I call out and he turns and looks at me. I toss him the ball and he
smiles.

I look to the other side of the gym and Luke is standing there with his eyes
narrowed at me.

"I see how it is," he mouths and I giggle. Lord knows what he's gonna do in
return to get me back for that.

For the rest of class, Izzy and I stand and talk in the back of the gym.
Occasionally, we'll have to dodge a ball but other than that, it wasn't that
bad.

After class, we go back into the locker rooms to change back into our
regular clothes.

"What's that guy's name?" I hear some girl ask from behind my row of
lockers. I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, it's just that I can hear them
very clearly.

"That's Luke," another girl giggles flirtatiously.

"He's so fucking hot. I just want those big sexy arms to wrap around me,"
she almost moans and I find my eyes widening knowing that she's talking
about the guy that I'm in love with.

"I'll go over there and tell them to shut the hell up," Izzy places a hand on
my shoulder, "Do you want me to?"

"N-No. It's okay," I clear my throat and give her an unconvincing smile.

"If you think his arms are hot, let me tell you this," the other girl continues,
"Luke plays football but not only that, he's ranked the number one
quarterback by ESPN. Now that
is sexy."

Not wanting to hear anymore, I quickly pull my shirt over my head and
storm towards the locker room door with Izzy not too far behind.

I don't even know what I'm feeling right now. Sadness, anger, jealousy? All
of them?

I open the door and hurry out of the room. Like always, Luke is standing
there waiting for me talking to Eli.

I really want to know how they get dressed so fast.

I try and make my face as 'not as bad as I feel' as Luke looks towards me.
That doesn't work though because as soon as he sees me, his eyebrows
scrunch together. He knows me too well.

He grabs the sides of my face and he tilts it up to him.

"What's wrong?" He asks worriedly.

Yeah, like I'm going to tell him that there are girls that want his big arms
wrapped around them.

"Nothing," I try and say convincingly.

"Your nose is twitching like a motherfucker right now," he tucks a piece of

hair behind my ear softly.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I look away from his face even though my head is tilted
up.

"Did I do something? I'm sorry," he apologizes and my brows furrow. Why

would he think he did something?

"No, no, It's something stupid. I'll get over it," I say.

"Well tell me what it is so I can help you get over it quicker," he kisses my
cheeks.
He just doesn't give up.

"It's fine," I groan as I lay my forehead on his chest.

"I'll tell him," Izzy comes up to us.

"You better not," I warn her with my forehead still laying there. If she tells
him or if he finds out, I'll sound like such a baby. Or even a weirdo, maybe
a child.

"Ugh, fine."

_______________________

"And then the bitch goes, "I want those big sexy arms wrapped around me,"
I swear I almost went over there. Hoes these days," Izzy shakes her head.

I only slightly pay attention to their conversation. Mostly, I'm watching

Luke as he sits at the fountain talking to football player guys.

Not wanting to be a stalker, I look away and pay attention to their

conversation.

"Look, Aubrey, let me explain something to you," Olivia says, "Now I want
you to understand that first of all, I'm not trying to steal your man."

My eyebrows furrow.

"But, I do have to say that Luke is very, heavily, attractive. There are going
to be girls like that for, well however long you plan on staying with him,"
she says.

I understand what she's doing, I really do. It's just that, we have been
together for that large of an amount of time so I think it will take some
getting used to.

"You're right," I nod at her before looking back at where Luke is.
"Well, would you look at that," Izzy murmurs as we both watch the new
girl, I think her name was Emily, walk up to the crowd of guys.

She walks through the crowd of them until she is stopped in front of Luke.
Luke's attention turns to her. She talks to him with a flirtatious look on her
face which does nothing to help me in my predicament.

I groan and cover my face with my hands.

"Oh my God, she just put her hand on his thigh!" Olivia gasps and my head
shoots away from my hands.

Should I? I shouldn't.

I'm doing it anyway. I'm not just going to sit here and let her flirt with him
like that. That is one thing I will not tolerate. The girl knows that he has a
girlfriend.

I stand up and the girls follow. I dart down the hill and walk to the fountain.

When I get to the edge of the crowd, I tap the back of Ethan, my brother. He
turns around and looks down.

"Oooh, hey sis," he pats my head.

"Can you help me get through here," I point towards the group and he nods.

"Move it, watch out, an important little person coming through."

He places me in front of Luke and Emily with Olivia and Izzy behind me.
Luke's eyes find my figure and he shoves her hand off of his shoulder.

Maybe I should have stayed up there because standing here right now, I
have no idea what to say.

She watches Luke with a jealous look as he stands up and pulls me to him.
He kisses me gently and she lets out a huff before stomping off.

Hopefully that ends that because unfortunately for her,

I'm

the one who he wraps his 'big sexy arms' around, not her.

______________________

Luke pulls me into an empty classroom after we leave our last class.

"What are you doing?" I giggle as he walks us to a part of the room where
we can't be seen by the windows or door.

He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. He places both of his
hands under my butt, keeping me up.

"I haven't

really

kissed you in a while," his eyes find my lips.

"Well don't you have a game to get ready for?" I question and he places a
hand on my butt.

"That can wait," he murmurs before putting his lips on mine and sitting me
on a desk.

A thing I've noticed recently is that all of our kisses, they have gotten more
urgent and more needy.

Now, I don't know what that means exactly since I'm not an expert but what
I'm

feeling, is something I thought I would never.

I've recently been thinking dirty thoughts about Luke, to my slight

embarrassment, and I've kept them to myself. I don't know if I should tell
someone or not but as Luke's hand travels up my thigh, more thoughts
circle my brain.
I place my hand on his chest and it feels like it has a mind of its own as it
drags itself down to his lower stomach.

Right as I touch the top of his jeans, I freak. I keep it cool though and I just
drag my hand back up, but under his shirt.

"Fuck, I want you so bad," he pants as he holds onto my hand that's on his
bare stomach with his forehead on mine.

Want me? I'm right here.

"Sometimes I think things about you," I say breathlessly silently cursing my

blabber mouth.

Luke removes his forehead from mine.

"What do you think about me?" His Adam's apple bobs as his eyes search
my face hungrily.

"Sometimes dirty things," I whisper shyly.

I can't believe I'm telling him this.

His eyes shut and he curses under his breath. He rests his forehead on my
collarbone as he takes a deep breath silently.

"You have

no idea

what you're doing to me right now, love," his eyes connect back to mine.

I tilt my head in confusion. What am I doing to him?

"I think we need to get going Luke," I remind him, "we still have to drive
since it's an away game."

______________________________
Luke's eyes have hardly left mine. Except for when he was driving and
when he was getting his uniform on of course.

The time spent before the guys go out and practice was spent with Luke all
over me.

He seems to be in a

very

good mood too. He hasn't glared or insulted Eli and quite frankly, he hasn't
looked at Eli long enough to find something to yell at him for.

"What?" I giggle at Luke when I look over to see him staring at me with a
cute smile on his face.

"Nothing," he smirks before leaving a lingering kiss on my right cheek.

"It's time for practice, Luke,"Eli says.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," he kisses my lips three times before
standing up and walking off with Eli.

My cheeks stay a light pink for most of the game after the affection very
clearly shown by Luke.

This game, also known as the regional championship, is going

extremely

well.

Not only is Luke thriving, but so is the rest of the team.

By the last few seconds of the fourth quarter, our team is winning by an
astounding 72-3. Their highest scoring game and its for a championship.

A loud phone rings from the seat behind mine. I turn around slightly and
take a glance at who's behind me.
I see nothing other than an orange paw print on a jacket.

Isn't that the Clemson logo?

The guy answers his phone and I listen in. I know I shouldn't but I can't
help it, I'm curious.

"Yeah, the game's about over now," I listen.

"

How did he do?"

He repeats the question asked, "I think that question answers itself. He's
outstanding Coach Swinney."

"Is he talking about Luke?" Izzy whispers.

"I think so," I nod.

The clock on the big board thingy runs out and guys from our team rush the
field.

A large trophy is brought out and from here I can see Eli raising it up above
everyone as guys with big cameras take pictures.

If it's like this when they win regionals, I can't imagine what it will be like
if they win the state championship.

_____________________________

"On to states, baby," Luke smiles one of his gorgeous rare smiles as he
leans down and connects our lips.

His wet hair from his shower drips down on my forehead and I squeal,
pulling away from the kiss.

He wipes away the water and hugs me to him.

"Luke Taylor." A guys says as he stops in front of us. I pull away from the
hug and look at the guy.

It's the Clemson guy.

"You did very well today, Luke," the Clemson guy nods with a smile on his
face.

"Thank you," Luke nods back.

"I'm Dan Welch, one of Clemson's new recruiters," he holds out his hand
and Luke shakes it.

"Nice to meet you," Luke says respectfully but I can tell he's slightly
annoyed.

"So, I just wanted to speak with you personally about our offer-" the guy is
cut off when a man wearing and Alabama logo comes up.

"Luke! Don't let em' say nothin'!" The man says and he's got a very strong
southern accent.

"Hey Jon," Luke smiles at the man with the big round belly.

"Why don't ya run along somewhere Mr. Welsh," the Alabama guy points to
the trash can and I let out a giggle.

"It's Welch," Dan

Welch

says as he clears his throat.

"Jon!" Eli shouts and another huge smiles takes its place on the guy's lips.

"Man, I can't wait til y'all two get to training camp this summer. I have a
feelin' it's gonna be one helluva time," Jon shakes his head with the smile
still on his face.
"I'm gonna go over to Izzy and Olivia," I say softly to Luke. He kisses my
head and nods.

Training camp this summer? Committed?

'Bama?

Luke's going to Roll Tide! That's what all this means.

He's got a scholarship to play football at the University of Alabama.

But what does that mean for us?

I haven't sent anything there. I never applied to Alabama.

Does he even want me to?

"Are you okay, Aubrey?" Izzy places a hand on my shoulder as I walk up to

them.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smile unconvincingly.

____________________________

Luke drives us to my house and we get out of the car.

I mostly stayed silent, thinking about our, or my, situation.

We walk inside and up to my room. Luke shuts my door and as I'm about to
walk into my bathroom, he grabs onto my arm.

"What's wrong? Why are you being so quiet?" He questions with his
eyebrows furrowed.

This situation is so terrible I don't even know how to bring it up.

I take a seat on my bed and he follows, sitting right beside me.

"Um," I clear my throat, "W-Where do you see us going?"

His eyebrows raise and I almost throw up because I'm so nervous.

"Are you breaking up with me?"

My eyes widen. I knew I shouldn't have started it like that. It

totally

sounds like I'm breaking up with him.

Great start, Aubrey.

"No! Of course not!" I stress and a look of relief floods his face.

"Good God, I was so scared," he places his hand over his heart.

"It's just a question, I'm not breaking up with you," I explain.

He picks of my left hand and he runs his finger along the finger beside my
pinky, whatever that one is called.

"I know I'm gonna marry you."

How does he know that? What if something happens?

At least I don't feel weird about wanting to get married to a high school
boyfriend. He feels the same way.

"Are you sure?" I question him and he lets out a chuckle.

"Why do you always say that? I'm really sure about this. I love you and shit.
I'm ready when you are."

"What about college?" I question, "You're going to Alabama, right?"

He nods.

"I didn't apply to Alabama."

I applied to Virginia Tech, UNC, Duke, Texas A&M, Liberty University,
and NC State. None of which are close to the University of Alabama.

"You've still got time," he assures me, "if you want to go there. You don't
have to."

I look at his dejected face as his eyes follow the pattern of my comforter.

"Duh, I want to," I kiss his cheek, hopefully making him feel better.

Sure, when I was younger and lived in North Carolina, I wanted to go to

Duke or UNC. Ever since I left and dad died, the place isn't home anymore.
Luke is home and I'd be happy to go wherever with him. Even if we don't
end up together, at least Alabama is still a very nice school.

If I get accepted that is.

__________________________

I shimmy into my jeans after waking up slightly late the next morning.
Luke and I only woke up a few minutes late but it's still off of our usual
schedule.

"You look

damn

good in those jeans," Luke says from the doorway of the bathroom as I
watch his eyes travel down my backside from the mirror in front of me.

A blush creeps up my face and I smile up at him through the mirror.

"When do you play states?" I question, changing the subject.

"Friday. It's like two hours away though," he says as I release my hair from
its ponytail. I'll just leave it down for today.

"I'm excited for you guys," I turn around giving him a smile.
"I see how you changed the subject," he leans down and he places a kiss on
my lips, "So cute."

_____________________________

"It happened when you and Luke went to Alabama," Olivia blushes and
Izzy punches her in the arm as we stand in the hallway right before our last
class.

"Why didn't you tell us before now?" Izzy questions.

"Well, I couldn't believe it myself," Olivia whispers to us as a few guys

walk past us, "I mean it's crazy that the guy I've had a crush on since fourth
grade was the one who...'deflowered' me."

I heard it hurts. Does it hurt?

I'm just about to open my mouth when I feel a set of arms wrap around me.
Luke leans down and he presses a kiss to my cheek.

"Bell's about too ring," he mumbles before giving my cheek a pair of kisses.

Eli comes up beside us and the bell rings.

"Bye," I say to both of the girls before Luke leads me into government, his
hand slipping down to my hind-end.

"Don't you start. Stop it," I whisper in his ear as we sit down at our desk. He
turns his head towards me and we're centimeters away.

His gorgeous grey eyes stare into mine and a smile touches his lips.

"Make me, baby," he whispers right back, his eyes taking a glance at my
lips.

"Detention! I can't believe the two of you!" Mr. Adams, the same substitute
from a few weeks ago yells out.
The three of us stand out of our chairs and we walk out of the door. With Eli
multiple steps in front of us, Luke takes this as an opportunity to push me
up against some random lockers.

"Are you gonna make me, or not?" he continues our conversation, tucking a
curl behind my ear.

A small smirk touches my lips as I figure out exactly what I'm going to do
to him.

I extend my arms out like I'm going to give him a hug. Apparently, he
thinks that's exactly what I'm doing because he begins to lean into me.

Right at the last second, I poke both of the sides of his stomach, right below
his ribs. Luke's only

ticklish spot, something I learned on the plane ride back from Alabama.

Luke shoots out of my embrace and he rubs his sides with a small pout on
his lips.

"That's not fair," he says and I giggle as I begin walking again.

___________________________

"I don't get it."

"I just explained it to you three times, what did you not get?" I question
Luke. He's not understanding the new things we're learning in chemistry. At
all.

"I don't even know what I don't know," he says and I put my head down as a
laugh bubbles in my chest.

"Okay, I'll explain it again," I sigh, "So the chemical equati-"

"Did anybody ever find out how many licks it took to get to the center of
the tootsie pop?" Luke questions, his eyes moving around in calculation.
Is he joking? You know what, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't.

"Luke, are you paying attention?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, definitely," he nods turning his attention back on me.

I roll my eyes at him and a smile appears on his face. He lunges forward
and hugs my waist, sending me back against my bed.

He plants kisses all over my face and I can't help but giggle when he moves
them down to my neck.

My phone rings from beside me and I grab it, pushing Luke's face away
from me.

He pouts from the corner of my eye as I answer the phone.

"Hello?" I answer, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hey, Aubrey! What are you doing right now?" Olivia's voice asks through
the phone.

"Oh I'm jus-" a gasp from my own lips cut me off as Luke now lays
passionate kisses along the center of my neck.

"Are you okay, Aubrey?" Oliva asks with concern in her voice.

"Y-Yeah, I'm um, fine. I'm not busy, did you need something," I say quickly
not trying to stutter anymore as a satisfied smirk appears on Luke's lips.

I once again push against his forehead with my hand. He grabs my hand,
pulls it around the back of his neck and buries his face in my neck.

"Oh well, why don't you make your way down to Joe's Creamery. We have
a surprise for you," Olivia says trying to hide her excitement.

"Okay," I smile, "I'll be there in a few."

We end the call and Luke takes his face away from my neck and he looks at
me.

"Do you know about this surprise?" I question him.

"I don't," he says honestly with a peck to my lips.

_________________________

We pull up to Joe's Creamery and since we're in my car, Luke doesn't have
to lift me out, he insisted on driving.

I grab onto Luke's hand as I walk over a curb, making sure I don't fall over
it.

He opens the door for me and as soon as I walk in, I'm hit with the amazing,
sweet smell of ice cream.

I look around the room for Olivia and I'm met with the faces of Olivia, Izzy,
Ryan, and Eli. And Kelsey.

A gasp escapes my lips as I release Luke's hand and rush to Kelsey. I

haven't seen her since dad's funeral and I haven't talked to her much.

She meets me in the middle and we hug each other tightly.

"I missed you, you bitch," she says.

"I missed you too," I reply pulling away from the hug and smiling at her.
Her eyes dart behind me and a look overtakes her face but I ignore it.

Luke walks past us and he sits with everyone at their table. Kelsey takes my
arm and she leads me there too. She sits down and pulls me down beside
her, handing me an ice cream.

"I got you cookies and cream, your favorite," she smiles.

"Thank you," I take it and smile gratefully.

"We wanted her to come up here. You have been going through a lot
recently so we thought, why not?" Izzy says from across the table.

"Thank you, guys."

Everyone goes off into their own conversations and Kelsey turns to me.

"So miss 'of course I'll stay in touch with my best friend', what's been going
on," she rests her chin on her hand and I look at her sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," I apologize sincerely, feeling bad.

"It's whatever."

Oh, okay..?

"Well, there's this girl at school," I proceed to tell her all about Ana and
Katrina.

"Well, I mean, all they wanted was to get with Luke," she shrugs as she
takes a sip of her pink juice. My eyebrows furrow and from the corner of
my eye I see both Luke and Izzy look over at Kelsey.

Why is she acting like this?

More like,

who

is she hanging out to make her act like this?

I feel uncomfortable talking about Luke and I's relationship around her,
scared of what she'll say.

I glance over at Luke quickly and he doesn't look the happiest at hearing
what she said. Izzy doesn't either.

"Um, anyway," I try and change the subject, "We went on this field trip
wher-"
"Are you gonna ask me about me?" She asks impatiently, tapping her

long

nails on the wooden table.

She's never liked long nails. She also hated the fact that it would be hard to
wipe your butt with them. What is happening?

"I-I'm sorry," I look down at the table, "What about you. What's been going
on down there?"

"Well," she goes on to tell me about dresses she bought a few weeks ago.
Dresses. She's never even worn a dress before, that I've seen when I lived
down there.

"That sounds really nice," I nod.

"Wow, way to be happy for me, Aubrey."

I choke on my ice cream at her rude tone and Eli noticeably turns and glares
at her.

"No, I am happy for you!" I follow her as she gets out of the booth, "I don't
know what I did to make you think I'm not!"

I follow right behind her as she walks outside, stopping in the parking lot.

Everyone follows behind us, I guess weary about what's going to happen.

"No Aubrey! Because all you care about is yourself! It's all about you, all
the time!" She yells at me, throwing her hands in the air.

Confusion fills my entire head as I try to process what she's talking about. I
thought she came here to hear about what was happening?

"What are you talking about?" I question her with a small voice.
"Everything is always about you! In our old school, boys were all over you!
Do you know how shitty it feels to have the guys you like, walk up to you
and ask about your best friend?" Her face grows red in anger.

"It was never about me! Who is putting that thought in your head?" I
question, growing upset.

"Not only was it just the boys," she ignores my comment, "when you
moved, everyone would non-stop ask me how you are and they would want
me to tell you that they were sorry! All because your stupid dad died!"

Her hands fly to her mouth and I feel my eyes blur with tears. I can't believe
this girl was my best friend.

"You, you are s-such a..a bitch!" I yell at her and I hear a couple of gasps
behind me. Kelsey's eyes turn watery in front of me as she looks at me with
regret.

She wouldn't have said it if she wasn't thinking it.

"No! I didn't mean it," she almost sobs as her eyes widen.

"You've really shown your true colors," a tear rolls down my face, "Please
stay away from me."

"No! Aubrey please!" she grabs onto my arm as I'm about to turn around, "I
didn't mean it, please! You're my best friend! I didn't mean to say it!" she
says as black, mascara-filled tears roll down her face.

"Don't touch me," I whisper in a tone so sad that it surprises me. I jerk my
arm away from her and I turn around.

My

real

actual
friends look at me with a mixture of shock, anger at Kelsey, and sadness.
From behind me, I hear a car door slam and the sound of Kelsey's car
speeding away.

I sigh and look down at my feet. What just happened feels so unreal.

The number of emotional obstacles Kelsey and I had gotten over together
just made it all worse. I thought we would be best friends forever.

Two pairs of long, warm arms wrap around me. After a few seconds they
pull away and I look up at Izzy and Olivia.

"You don't need her," Olivia smiles, "not when you've got us."

"I love you guys," I smile up at them.

"We know."

__________________________

Friday, I sit tucked beside Luke, feeling very warm. I swear he could still
feel warm in the middle of Antarctica. Which is basically what it feels like
right now. Especially sitting in this high elevated stadium right before the
guys play for the state championship.

"How did it feel using your very first curse word Tuesday?" Eli passes his
'microphone' over to me.

"Um, it felt a little wrong so I'll probably never do it again. On the other
hand, I feel like I used it on the right person," I reason, "I would like to
thank my father for teaching me that cursing is not good and I would also
like to thank Luke Taylor for being a terrible influence and teaching me
curse words."

The sound of claps is heard by Izzy and Olivia as Eli puts his fist back up to
his mouth.

"There you have it! And....we're off the air."

"It's time to go, Eli," Luke shakes his head at him as he lifts me from where
I'm sitting. He leans down and gives me one last passion filled kiss.

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too," I smile and give his lips one more kiss.

"Be careful, please," I add as he starts walking away. He turns around, gives
me a gorgeous smile and a very good looking wink.

"Give me some of that blanket too. You guys know I get cold easily," I
laugh and they throw a part of the soft, thick, warm blanket over top of me.

_________________________

| I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Expect the next chapter to be...one
of a kind *wink wink*

Thanks for reading!!! We're almost at 20k which is mind-blowing!

*Remember I don't edit except for a lil bit cuz ur girl got Grammarly
on her computer!! I didn't get the premium version of it because I'm a
poor bitch but it still works on some things*

Word count: 6209

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Part 38 "The good feeling"
"Kill them!!" Olivia screams out as she watches the guys play the game.

She's only slightly scaring Izzy and me.

"Olivia, they're winning," Izzy reminds her.

"I like to yell," Olivia shrugs.

As of right now, it's the end of the fourth quarter of the state championship.

The score is 58-25 and we're winning. With about five minutes left in this
quarter, there's not that big of a chance the other team could come back and
win it.

Speaking of that, we just got another touchdown.

I watch Luke as he's walking off the field from the touchdown he had just
thrown.

His head turns towards me and it looks like he's looking at me but with his
helmet on, it's hard to tell.

He takes his helmet off and our eyes connect. He sends me a smile and
another gorgeous wink.

A blush appears on my cheeks and realizing it won't go away anytime soon,

I decide to get up and go to the concession stand.

"Do you guys want anything?" I ask the girls as I stand up from my seat,
they both shake their heads no, paying intense attention to the game.

I pay for my Airheads and Luke's sour Skittles before returning to my seat. I
couldn't just see that packet of Skittles without getting them for him.
Before I know it, the clock shows no time left. The side of our stadium
erupts in cheers as they bring out the huge trophy.

They run it onto the field and the guys, especially Eli, jump up and down in
a big circle chanting something I can't understand.

Wanting to capture the moment, I take a few pictures them all.

After their celebrations, they don't go into the locker room. Every single
one of them walks off the field and up to the stands.

________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I make my way straight to Aubrey.

From behind her, I reach my arm around her waist and scoop her up to me. I
kiss those delicious lips of hers, then set her back down.

"You won," she crumples her fists and shakes them excitedly in front of her
chest, which is something I find so fucking adorable.

She wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me. Before I can even react,
she pulls away like I'm on fire.

"You're all sweaty," she crinkles her nose and I swear heaven shone down at
her at that moment.

"Let's take pictures!" she grabs onto my hand and she pulls me in front of
Izzy and Olivia.

I'm really liking her 'in charge' mood.

I place one of my arms on her waist, holding her close to me and I smile.
Well, I smile when she hits me and tells me to smile.

Even a few times during the pictures though, I can't keep myself from
looking at her glowing self. And that damn dimple on her cheek.
"Now, " she turns to me, "you need a shower before anything."

A smirk appears on my face and I nod at her demand.

"Also," she grabs the back of my jersey when I turn around to head back
down to the locker room to shower, "I got you these."

In her dainty little hands, there is the best candy ever made. Sour Skittles.

I swear, this girl just keeps getting better.

"Okay now hurry up, I'm sure you're hungry," she ushers me along. I give
her one last kiss before walking off to the locker rooms.

Eli follows up behind me and he catches sight of my Skittles right as I'm

opening them.

"I want som-"

"Don't you even say it," I cut him off. Not in a million years would I ever
give him any of my Skittles.

____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"Just turkey, American cheese, and a little bit of mayonnaise, " I smile up at
the guy making my Subway sandwich. I feel Luke's gaze on me so I turn to
look at him.

He's smirking down at me so I raise my eyebrow in question.

"You barely eat anything," he says before pointing at his sandwich which is
so full it can barely close.

"Well, at least I don't put everything in the store on my sandwich," I nudge

his arm.

"The more the merrier."

We go up to the register and me being the sneaky person I am, I take out my
card.

At least I thought I was sneaky. Just as I'm about to extend my hand

forward to give it to the guy, Luke grabs it and throws it behind his back
before giving the worker his card.

I let out a loud sigh and I brush past Luke as I walk behind him to pick up
my card.

We walk to our seats after I find my card that is. It was under the chip rack.

We eat our food at an empty table near the door. Luke finishes his sub
within ten minutes and when I get back from going to the bathroom, half of
my sandwich is gone too.

I ball up my napkin and I throw it at Luke's head, as he continues to chew

the bite in his mouth.

I finish the other half of my sandwich and we walk out. Luke squeezes my
behind as he lifts me into his truck and once I'm in my seat, he softly grabs
the back of my neck and he kisses me with urgency.

His hands drop to the top of my thighs and he scoots me to the edge of my
seat, closer to him. I place my hand right above his jaw and he gives me one
last peck before pulling away slightly.

He moves his head to the left and his eyes look softly into mine as he kisses
my palm.

"Later," he whispers and a small smirk appears on his lips.

___________________________

Two and a half hours later, we have stopped at Taco Bell

and
a Burger King, caused havoc in the toy aisle of a random Walmart, and now
we're almost back at Luke's house.

Tonight has been one the best nights of my life.

Once we get back to his house, he lifts me out of the car and he opens the
door. Luke sits his keys down and picks up a piece of paper as Leo comes
running at me.

He flops down on his back and I scratch his belly as Luke reads the paper.

"Dad had an emergency at the office in Tennessee," he sits the paper back
down, "he'll be gone for a few days."

"Oh, okay," I stand from my kneeling position. He looks at me for a second

before a sneaky smile reaches his lips.

He takes a step forward and he's right in front of me. I look up at him and
he looks down at me. He runs his hand up the side of my upper thigh all the
way to my hips.

He bends down and leaves a kiss on my jawline.

"It's later," he whispers before turning my head and attaching our lips. His
grabs the back of my thighs and lifts me up.

He starts walking and we go up the stairs.

He puts me down on his bed, breaking the kiss. Barely a second goes by
before he puts his mouth back on mine.

He holds the bottom of my shirt and looks at me asking for my permission.

I nod and he swiftly lifts it over my head before taking off his own.

His eyes travel down my torso and he places a sweet, soft kiss right above
my belly button. I let out a soft giggle and he returns his lips to mine.

After a few minutes, he pulls away.

"We should stop," he looks away from me.

"We don't have to," I say quietly and his head whips back to mine.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm ready when you are," I quote him and his eyes widen slightly before a
smile breaks out on his face.

He leans back down and we continue. His hand slips down to the buttons of
my jeans and even though I told him I'm ready, he still asks for permission.
I nod and he slides my jeans off of my legs.

He runs his hands back up my, thank goodness I shaved my legs, smooth
legs. Before going on, he gets up and walks into his bathroom.

Confusedly, I sit up and wait for him to come back. He does after only a
few seconds with a square package in his hand.

"I want babies, but not at 18," he smirks as he sits the packet on his bedside
table. He unbuttons his pants and throws them on the floor, near mine.

"We don't have to do this babe, I can wait as long as you need me to," he
wipes a curl from my face as his other hand brushes the back of my bra.

"I want to," I nod and he unhooks it. He holds his gaze onto mine for a few
seconds before they travel down.

I self-consciously bite my lip in nervousness.

"Damn, are you gorgeous or what?" he buries his face in my neck.

______________________

The whole time, Luke is very careful. Especially at first because it hurts,
badly. A searing, tearing sensation actually.

He knew it hurt too which is why he tried to take my mind off of it.
Although, when he saw that one tear roll down my cheek, he wanted to
stop. I told him it was okay, and it is.

He whispers he's sorry in my ear as the pain of it becomes slightly worse.

After a while though, the pain subsided and it was bearable and it didn't feel
bad anymore.

That's when the 'I'm sorry's' turned into 'I love you's' plus some curse words
that will not be mentioned.

He leaves passionate kisses all over my neck and then he moves to my lips.
Unlike our kiss of urgency before everything, he slowed this kiss down.

He continues the kiss for a while and I start to feel

very

good

Luke pulls away once he realizes just

how

good

I'm feeling.

A smile grows on his face and he leaves his lips on the top of my head as
the

good
feeling

continues on.

_______________________

My eyes open naturally the next morning. I don't feel any arm or anyone
beside me so I turn my head and see no Luke.

He's usually not the first one to wake up.

I pull up Luke's shirt which fell off of my shoulder, being so big on me.

I put my hair up in a messy bun, just to get it out of my face and I look at
the clock.

11:34 am

I stand up and right as I move my legs, I feel an ache and soreness in the
girl region. I take a deep breath and move slowly as I walk to the bathroom.
I brush my teeth and wash my face.

Especially as I walk down the stairs, I take it slow.

Once I get to the bottom I let out a relieving sigh as. Leo walks up to me
with his tail wagging at 100 mph.

I rub his head and back for a minute before going and finding Luke.

Knowing Luke, the first place I think of is the kitchen. So, that's where I
look first. I walk in there and sure enough, there he is.

His back is facing me and he's taking his cup off of his Keurig. He turns and
he sees me entering.

Maybe I should have put some pants on. I only have his large black shirt on
which almost drowns me.
He sits his cup down on the island counter and stops in front of me. He
leans down and places the softest kiss right under my jaw.

"Are you feeling okay?" he questions softly.

"I'm sore," I blush, remembering all that happened last night. I'm not a
virgin anymore.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh hush," I say. There's no need to be sorry, of course it was going to hurt,
I knew that.

"I'm going to go get in the shower," I step away but he pulls me back to
him, resting his hands on my hips.

"I still think we could save water," he says suggestively.

"Maybe one day," I kiss his chest and walk back upstairs.

I grab my clothes out of my drawer filled with my clothes. There's no need

to bring a bag every time so I brought a pile of my clothes to leave here.
Also a brush and my own shampoo and anything else I needed.

I get in the steamy shower and take my time in washing my hair, then I
wash the rest of my self.

_____________________

Once Luke, hesitantly, drops me off back at home, I plop down on my bed.
I check my phone and take Kelsey's contact off of 'do not disturb'.

My phone dings for about ten minutes, non-stop. Hundreds of messages

flood my phone, all from Kelsey.

Even a few from her mom actually.

I screenshot some of the messages and send them to the girl's and I's group
chat. They each respond almost automatically and they aren't too happy.
The next thing I know, they're bursting into my room.

"Give me your phone," Olivia says.

"Tell her to suck my penis," Izzy remarks and Olivia laughs, then high fives
her.

"I'm just going to ignore her, I don't need to start anything," I put her back
on do not disturb.

"Yeah, I guess that's good too," Olivia shrugs.

"We need to go to find me a pair of winter boots, guys. My ones from last
year aren't me anymore," Izzy grabs my arm and begins to pull me off my
bed. I groan and right as I'm about to fall off I stand up carefully, which
hopefully went unnoticed.

"You two have fun," I sit back down.

"You're coming with us, who do you think you are?" Izzy pulls me back up
and I don't think I'll get out of going.

____________________

"You are walking slow, Aubrey," Olivia sighs and I groan.

Of course I'm walking slow, especially after what happened.

"Sorry," I say as we walk into the shoe store. We look through the aisles
until we find where all of the boots are lined up.

My phone dings and I open up my messages.

Luke: I miss you

He's so clingy and adorable. We were just together an hour ago.

"Oh, these are cute," I pick up a pair of dark brown boots with lace up the
back, forgetting about Luke's text.
"I would love them if we could find them in a lighter color," Izzy says and
the three of us begin our search.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia comes running at us with a box of the lighter
shade of those shoes.

"I finally found a lighter pair in her size," she says slightly out of breath.
Not feeling the weight of my phone in my back pocket, I check all of my
other pockets.

"Uh-oh," I look around.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asks getting Izzy's attention too.

"I don't know where my phone went."

We begin a

second

search and we retrace all of my steps. After

another

twenty minutes or so, we finally find it. It was beside a stack of shoes I was
looking through. I must have just sat it down and forgot about it.

Right as Izzy is handing me the phone, it rings and a picture of Luke's face
with his nose scrunched up shows on my screen.

I love that picture.

"Yes?" I answer sweetly.

"Are you ignoring me?"

"Now why would I ignore you?" I question him back.

"Eli thought you were ignoring me and now he owes me twenty bucks, so I
love you." Eli curses in the background, "Really though, where are you? We
just ordered food and I got those wings from Dominoes you love."

"Aw," Olivia whispers from beside me.

"We're at the mall but we'll be there in a few. And thank you for the wings,"
I smile.

"You're welcome, babe. Be careful on your way, love you," he says.

"Love you too."

"You two make me depressed about my love life," Izzy says as we all walk
up to the checkout guy.

"I'm sorry Izzy," I say sympathetically.

Anthony Mackle is such a butthole.

"Well, I saw it coming to be honest," she hands her boots to the guy, "he
would always hide his phone from me. Not only that though, but he would
also constantly lie to me and

he even went as far as to say that I cheated on him."

The cashier guy's eyes widen as he can't help but listen into the
conversation.

"I never trusted that pig," Olivia sneers.

Izzy pays the cashier and thanks him as she takes the bag containing her
shoes.

"I'm not dating anyone else until I'm in college. All the guys in high school
are just immature boys and I've had it with them. No offense to Luke or
Ryan," Izzy sighs.

"Maybe that's a good idea," Olivia nods in favor of her thought.

"Wow, he's hot though," Izzy's gaze falls on a group of three guys as they
walk on the other side of the large hall.

They were all definitely high school guys.

"I think they are in high school. They were at one of the football games, I'm
pretty sure," I say.

"Shit, I've had my new morals for two minutes and I'm about to break
them," she groans before walking towards them.

"What is she doing?" I ask Olivia.

"She's definitely going to get his number."

We both watch as Izzy walks directly up to the guy in the middle

confidently. They talk for about thirty seconds before Izzy turns around and
looks towards us with a forced smile on her face.

Suddenly, she points towards the exit vigorously before breaking out in a
run.

"Well, that didn't go well," Olivia hangs her head as we walk to where Izzy
ran out of the door.

"What on earth happened?" I question Izzy once we get to her.

"He was gay, and his boyfriend was right beside him," she rubs her temples
and Olivia and I can't help but laugh.

_______________________

I walk in Luke's house first, since the girls are still a little scared of Leo.

I manage to not get tackled by Leo and right as I'm turning the corner to go
to Luke's living room, I run right into his hard chest. I basically ricochet off
his chest and I brace for my fall.
His strong arms pull me back to him and I open my eyes. He's smiling
softly down at me.

"Goodness sweetheart," he kisses my forehead, taking my hand in his,

"You've gotta stop watching your feet when you walk."

He sits us down on the couch, making sure to hold me close to him. He

leans close to me and kisses my cheek.

"How're you feeling?" He whispers as he lays his hand on my upper thigh.

"I'm better; not as sore as this morning," I whisper back and he nods
planting a kiss on my lips.

Ryan walks into the room from the kitchen, a large bag of Doritos in his
hands. I feel Luke tense from beside me and I look at him to see him glaring
daggers at Ryan.

Ryan takes a seat beside Olivia on the other couch right as Leo enter the
room. Automatically, Eli stops moving and he sits frozen.

Leo walks past Eli and lets out a low growl before making his way over to
me. His tail wags and he, not really jumps since he's so tall so, walks up
onto the couch.

He lays his head on my lap and stretches out along the rest of the couch.

"When I show up dead somewhere," Eli points at Leo, "It's because that dog
killed me."

_____________________

Not long after getting there, the Dominoes gets here. It takes us a total of
only about fifteen minutes to eat all that was ordered.

I really ate those wings that fast, they're that good.

Now, an hour later, we're watching The Grinch with Jim Carrey, my favorite
Christmas movie ever.
Luke rubs his hand up and down my side and every couple of minutes, he
leans over and kisses my head, my cheek, or even my lips.

My phone dings with a text and Luke hands me it from in front of him.

Mom: Hey honey, can you please come home. There's someone here to
see you!

I read the text in confusion. Why is my mom home? And who wants to see
me?

I stand up from my seat and get my shoes from the other side of the couch.

"What are you doing?" Izzy asks from the couch beside me.

"I have to go home," I say and Luke sits up.

"Why?" He questions and I hear a trace of disappointment in his voice.

"My mom is home and she says there is someone who wants to see me," I
shrug.

I finish putting my shoes on and stand up.

"Okay we'll, Ryan will drive us home," Olivia says and Ryan nods.

I smile and nod.

"I'll walk you out," he places his hand on the small of my back, leading me
outside.

Once we get to my car he opens the door for me and I turn to him. I smile
up at him and he leans down giving me a lingering kiss.

His hand comes around the small of my back and he pulls me closer into
him.

I pull away out of breath and he plants one last peck on my cheek.
"I'll be over tonight. I love you."

"I love you too," I get into the driver's seat, "and I'll text you since I know
you're nosy."

A smile spreads on his face.

"You know me too well sweetheart."

——————————————————————

I walk into my house and only see my mother and Rick sitting on the couch.
No other cars in the driveway except for theirs.

Well, this is confusing.

"Oh, honey! Come have a seat," mom pats the spot beside her. I set my keys
down on the table and have a seat beside her, fiddling with my necklace
nervously.

"He should be here any minute," mom smiles.

"Who?" I say and the doorbell rings.

"Why don't you go open the door?" My mom lightly pushes me off the seat
and I walk towards the door with no idea who is on the other side.

Being too short to see through the peephole, I just open it.

My Granddaddy stands on the other side.

"Ree," Granddaddy opens his arms as his face turns emotional. I've never
seen him cry but he is close to is right now.

I walk into his warm arms and try my best to wrap my arms around his
larger belly.

He always said it kept him warm in the winter.

I cry into his shoulder and he runs my back in a comforting manner.

My grandfather has been my second father figure for as long as I can

remember. When I was younger, too young to fully care for myself and after
grandma died, he would stay with me when Dad was away. That being in
Afghanistan or helping at the base.

He was

always

there and just one call away.

When Dad died, I didn't see him. The one time I needed him the absolute
most, he wasn't there.

I was almost angry at him but then I realized that he had just lost his one
and only child. I could never be mad at him.

He pulls away and holds me at arm's length. I compose myself, only having
slow tears on my cheeks as I look up at him.

We all heal in different ways. Some cry and some need a break. He just
needed a break.

His eyes turn watery as he looks at my face.

"I'm so sorry, Ree," he whispers and I shake my head.

"It's okay. Don't apologize," I smile sadly up at him.

"Hi, Oliver," mom says from behind us. His eyes dart to her for a split
second as I lead him inside.

Granddaddy never liked mom. I'd known that for many, many years. He
doesn't hate her by any means, it's just that he doesn't believe she was
faithful to dad and that's why she wanted a divorce and to move up here.

"Hey, Claire," he gives her an almost forced smile.

"This is Rick, my husband," she introduces Rick and Rick holds his hand
out for granddaddy to shake. He just looks at his hand for a second before
shaking it.

I could tell he didn't want to though.

"Oliver Wilson," he introduced himself, "You can call me Mr. Wilson or

Lieutenant Wilson, whichever one floats your boat."

I clear my throat in an attempt to hold back my laughter as Rick looks at my

mom in an almost frightened manner.

Rule number one about meeting Oliver Wilson: Do not look away from him
until he's done talking.

Rule number two: Do not look even slightly frightened; he can smell fear.

Not really, but he totally acts like he can.

Lastly, rule number three: Do

not

put your hand out for him to shake. Wait and let him do it.

It's one of his pet peeves and I guess he just picked it up after so many years
in the military.

After twenty seconds of meeting Rick, Rick has already broken every single
rule.

Noticing the awkwardness, mom clears her throat.

"Well, we're going out so, yeah," she smiles and they both rush out of the
front door.

"Just like old times. It's just you and me Ree," He hugs me to him and I sigh
in his warm, fatherly arms.
The closest I'll get to hugging dad.

_________________________

"You have a boyfriend?" He narrows his eyes protectively.

Every single time

he used to come to my house back home, he would ask that question. And
every single time, I would have the same answer and he would be happy
with that answer. The answer no.

But now, I have a different answer and I can't just lie to him. I've never lied
to him in my life and I'm not planning on starting now.

"Yes," I whisper, not knowing what his reaction will be.

"Then I'd like to meet him," he raises his left eyebrow ever so slightly and I
know he's very

serious.

"Granddaddy, you don't need to meet him. He-"

"How quickly can you get him here?" he deadpans, crossing his arms and I
bang my head on the table.

It's not that I don't want them to meet it's just, my grandfather isn't exactly
easy to get along with.

My dad used to say he'd argue with Jesus if he was in front of him and I
don't doubt it one bit, he's very confrontational. The thing is, Luke is too.

"Are you going to do it, or do I need to go through your phone and call him
myself?" he questions and I take it seriously because he would

do it and not even think about it.

"I don't want to," I admit and he looks at me with his head tilted.
"And why not? You 'fraid I won't like him? If you think that, then he's not
worth your time. I hold very high standards for you, Ree. I won't allow you
to date some punk," he explains.

"No, that's not it. You two are just...similar, in the way you deal with other
people," I say and he looks a little confused.

"You both like to be confrontational, granddaddy, that's what I mean."

"Oh. Well, good thing you said that I'm startin' to like the fella. Now, bring
him over here," he points to my phone before putting it in my hand.

I sigh and text Luke. Within a few seconds, he responds.

"That was quick," Granddaddy snoops and I giggle at him.

______________________

We hear Luke pull up and Granddaddy curses.

"Damn, I should've gotten my rifle from out the truck," he slaps his knee.

"What? No!" I say nervously and he smirks at me.

"I'm kiddin'. Kinda," he mutters the last part as a knock is heard on the front
door.

Granddaddy shoots out of his seat at the same time I do.

"What are you doing?!" I whisper shout.

"I'm going to answer the door!" he says the same way.

"No! Go sit down!" I plead.

"Why!"

"Because!" I say.
"That's not a reason," he moves closer towards the door.

"Granddaddy," I warn as his hand reaches for the doorknob. He looks at me,
a sneaky smile on his face as he slowly moves his hand closer and closer to
the door.

"Don't do it," I smack my forehead.

"Uh-oh, too late, Ree, my hand is already on it," he says before turning the
doorknob and opening the door.

I move into the doorway too, just to see what is going to happen.

Luke looks at me, smiles a little, then looks at the old fart beside me.

Granddaddy isn't a short man. He's right a six feet. He usually doesn't have
to look up at anybody but now, he's slightly looking up at Luke.

After only about three seconds of the two of them looking at each other, I
feel like I have to break the silence.

"Why don't we go sit down. Inside," I say and the two of them nod.
Granddaddy watches Luke carefully as he lets him walk in front of us.

"You forgot to mention the fact that he is eight-foot-nine, Ree," he whispers

and I bite my lip as we sit down at the dining room table.

"So," he says, looking right at Luke. Thankfully, Luke is looking 100% not
nervous at all, "what's your name."

"Luke Taylor."

The room goes silent for a few seconds.

"I know you," Granddaddy points at Luke and my head whips to Luke.

He knows him?

"You're on ESPN. From Alabama, right?" He questions.

"Yes sir," Luke nods.

"Well then, I'd like to shake your hand," Granddaddy extends his arm over
the table. They shake hands and I let out a breath of relief.

"You came from a long line, didn't you? James Taylor played in college.
Charlie, and Robert Taylor? Are you related to all them?

"My dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather," Luke nods, a small smile on

his face.

"I'll be damned. I played a little back in high school before joining the
forces. I grew up watching Robert Taylor run the Steelers."

I think I just brought together two potential best friends.

They talk for a full hour. After that hour, granddaddy yawns. I look at the
clock and see that it is already almost eight.

No matter the circumstance, he always goes to bed at nine. Always.

"It's about time for me to hit the bed," he stands up, "Luke, why don't you
walk me out?"

"Yes sir," Luke nods and he follows him out the front door, closing it behind
him.

Oh dear Lord.

________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I follow him to his truck. Once he gets to his door, he turns around and
looks at me.

"You're a good kid, I can tell you are," he nods.

"Thank you, sir."

"Now listen, I don't

beg.

I've never begged for anything a day in my life. Military men don't beg. We
get what we want and if we don't, we threaten 'til we do. But right now, I'm
beggin' you, I can't get down on my knees because I still have shrapnel in
my right one but anyways, I'm beggin' you, take good, sweet, precious care
of Aubrey. Not only is she the only damn thing I've got left in this world,
but she's my baby and she deserves the best. Can you give her your best?"
he questions.

I could answer that question in my sleep.

"Without a doubt, sir," I say confidently and sincerely.

"Good. I want you to know, Nicholas would have approved of you," he

smiles sadly and I can tell it is hard for him to talk about his son.

"He once told me, if and only if the boy Aubrey brings home, looks at her
like she's an angel, then he's allowed stay with her," He opens his truck
door.

"You don't look at her like that," he shakes his head.

"You look at her like she's your world; not just some angel," he explains, a
large smile now on his face.

"It was nice meetin' you Luke," he says, a smile still on his face.

"It was nice meeting you too, sir," I say back.

"Eh, just call me Oliver."

________________________

|
|

|This chapter took a while, I know. But, this chapter had some juicy
stuff *wink wink* It may be a little while before I get the next chapter
out. These last couple of chapters will most likely take a while since I
have a lot of things to write in them.

Thanks for reading!

*I don't really edit*

Word Count: 5584

-Ashlyn M.
Part 39 "Something bad
happened"
*AUBREY'S POV*

The rest of the weekend is spent almost entirely with granddaddy. Just us
catching up and even talking about our greatest memories with dad.

I even told him about Owen and he wanted to meet him. I texted Owen and
he said he could make it before he has to go back in two days time.

Once Owen arrived midday Sunday, Granddaddy took a special liking to

him. Especially after Owen told him tons about dad.

Owen even brought a few pictures of all the guys at their base near
Kandahar, Afganistan. A few tears were shed when he showed me pictures
of dad.

I had never really seen him in his combat utility uniform.

The picture shows five men. Three of which I don't know and the other two
are dad and Owen. They're all standing in front of a large, sand-colored
Humvee, with serious looks on their faces, which I find amusing.

I'm sure it took dad a while to get the smile off of his face. He always had a
smile on his face.

"This one," Owen puts a picture down on the table, "this picture was taken
about three hours before he passed."

The picture shows dad, Owen, and the other guy that Owen introduced as
Evan Smart, all looking at the camera, smiling, and giving a thumbs up with
their guns laid down beside them, propped up on some big rocks.
"I'll be back in a minute," Granddaddy says as he gets up from the table and
walks towards the bathroom.

I look back towards the pictures laid out on the table, then towards Owen.
Owen is looking at the pictures sadly.

"Are you okay, Owen?" I question and he stays silent for a few seconds.

"I just...I feel like it should've been me and not him."

"Don't say that, Owen," I feel tears forming in my eyes.

"I feel it though. I don't have a family," he looks at me with tears of his own
in his eyes, "he had a family. He had people that needed him, he still does. I
don't have that."

"Owen. God chose you to live because he saw something in you. He saw a
reason and just because you don't know that reason, doesn't mean there isn't
one. He has a plan for you, and you're worth something amazing. You're
helping me keep the memory of Nicholas Wilson alive and whether you
realize it or not, but by doing that, you are also helping me be able to cope.
If you wouldn't have visited me that last time, I don't know what I would
have done. I definitely wouldn't be able to talk about dad without crying," I
explain.

"You're way too wise for your age," he smiles sadly.

_______________________

Both Owen and Granddaddy walk outside, with me trailing behind them.

"You'll be hearing from me from over there," Owen promises and I smile.

"Please do. I would love to hear from you," I nod and Owen smiles as he
opens the door to his truck.

"Oh, and one more thing Aubrey," he runs back over to me and he hands me
the bundle of pictures he brought, "I think these should go to you. You need
them more than I do."
"Thank you," I whisper, holding the pictures to my chest.

"And when that day comes when you become famous, don't forget about
me. Also, don't hesitate to send me like a million dollars. Sound good?
Great!" He gives me a hug as I laugh before he turns serious, "I'll see you
later," he says sincerely like he's promising me he'll come back.

"Bye Owen," I wave at him as he gets in his truck and drives away.

God, if you can, please make sure comes home. Home alive and well, not in
the back of an empty plane in a casket.

"I guess it's time for me to head back on home," Granddaddy smiles softly
down at me and a sad feeling washed over me.

"I'm going to miss you," I sniffle as I wrap my arms around him.

"Oh, Ree," he hugs me back, "I'll be back up to visit in no time."

"And you'll be fine down there all by yourself?"

"Honey," he pulls away looks me in the eyes, "If I survived Vietnam with
five gunshot wounds, then I can survive to stay by myself for a while. Don't
you worry your little head about me."

He gives me a kiss on the forehead and he walks to his truck and opens the
door.

"Make sure to keep an eye on that mother of yours," he says and I giggle.

"I will. I love you, Granddaddy."

"And I love you too, sweet girl," he smiles before closing his door, starting
his truck, and driving away.

______________________

Monday morning, Luke stalks me as I walk into the school tiredly. Well, he
doesn't stalk me really, he just walks right behind me.
He watches my butt as I walk. I can tell that's exactly what he's doing
because when I stop abruptly, he runs into me and places his hands on my
backside, still looking down.

We make it to my locker and I open it, after two tries of course. I take the
picture out of my backpack and look at it. I smile at my dad's smiling face,
slightly sunburned face. He's sitting with his legs propped up on one of the
chairs in the lounge they had at his base, in his sandy colored shirt and
utility pants.

He used to always says how uncomfortable those chairs were.

"I thought you told me you didn't have one of him alone?" Luke questions,
nodding to the picture as I put a magnet on the top of the picture so that it
will stay on my locker.

"I didn't but Owen gave me some," I smile at the picture.

"Now you get to look at him every day," Luke wraps his arms around me
from behind and I nod.

"I've got more," I say as the bell rings, "I'll just show you at lunch."

________________________

"This is Owen," I hand the picture to Luke.

"Oh, what are we looking at?" Izzy asks as she and Olivia sit down at the
table.

"Pictures of my dad," I hand them the pile of pictures that I took of him at
home. Unfortunately though, I'm in some of those.

"Aw, Aubrey you look so cute in this one," Olivia says, getting the attention
of Luke.

"I wanna see," he takes the picture she holds out for him. I look at the
picture he has in his hands and I almost slam my head into the lunch table.
In the picture, dad is doing 'jazz hands' down his face and I'm standing on
the couch, wearing my fluffy Spongebob pajama pants and a tank top, using
my brush as a microphone and smiling at the camera, showing off my blue
banded braces.

I was fifteen in the picture and I remember exactly how it came along. It
was Granddaddy's birthday and they had burst in my room playing Pour
Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard, as loudly as they could.

At the time, I hated the song but it was one of those songs that even though
you hated it, you had to sing it. Dad and I had a concert in the middle of our
living room and Granddaddy took out his phone and got some pictures.

"You're so fuckin' cute," Luke grabs my chin and puts his lips on mine.

"I just love your dad's jazz hands in that one," Izzy laughs and I giggle.

"It was his go-to dance move. He would do that with every song that came
on," I laugh at the memory of him even doing it to sad songs, but slower.

"What are these?" Eli and Ryan sit down.

"Pictures," Izzy deadpans and Eli gasps.

"Really! Wow, I thought they were cakes," he returns sarcastically.

"They're pictures of my dad," I hand him some pictures as the twins and
Ethan sit down too.

Ethan looks over my shoulder and sees a picture of my dad and a few other
guys from his base.

"Oh, your dad is in the military?" He asks. The table goes a little quiet and
everyone except for the twins looks at him.

"Yeah, he is," I smile, "he just passed away."

Realization crosses over his face.

"I'm sorry," he says and I shake my head.

"No, no, it's fine," I assure him.

"So," Ryan says from across the table, "he died.." he trails off like he
changed his mind about what he was going to say.

"In Afganistan?" I finish for him.

Why not just tell my life story, I'm already started.

Ryan nods.

"Yes. He was shot, which hasn't killed him before but this time, it hit him in
the chest," I explain and I'm surprised how confidently it came out.

Dad has actually been shot one other time but in the forearm. He got a few
weeks off before returning when the doctors told him he could.

"So that's why you moved here?" Eli asks, "To live with your mom?"

"That's why," I nod and they all come to a moment of realization.

"Katrina is a fucking bitch," Eli scoffs.

_______________________

After lunch and finishing looking through the pictures, I stand up from
sitting under the oak tree.

"I'm going to put these back," I say when Luke looks at me with confusion
since his arm was resting on me.

I make my way to my locker and take two minutes opening the stupid thing.

Whoever has this one before me must have done quite a number on it
because no one else I know has to use all their strength to open it.
I place the photos in the folder I take home every day, ensuring I won't
forget them.

"Aubrey?" A voice asks from behind me. I turn around and see the face of
Ana.

Oh Jesus help me.

"Y-Yes?" I answer as I look down at my feet.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she says and my head whips up.

"I didn't know she was going to say something like that and hearing her do
that made me realize that you didn't deserve what we were doing to you,"
she explains further.

"I want you to know that Katrina and I don't talk any-" she cuts herself off
as she looks into my locker. I follow her gaze and see she's looking at the
picture of dad.

"Is...Is that your dad?" she asks and tears well up in her eyes.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Is that how he died? I mean, was he killed?" she questions sadly and the
only thing I can do is nod. A tear rolls down her cheek and she wipes it.

"I truly can't tell you how

sorry

I am. You don't have to forgive me or anything, I just felt like I needed to
apologize."

"It's okay," I murmur and she looks shocked.

"I forgive you. For you to actually come to me and apologize, it means a
lot, so I do forgive you," I smile at her.
"Can I hug you?"

"Of course," I laugh and we hug for a few seconds. When she pulls away,
she begins to walk away before turning back around and coming back.

"I also wanted to say that you and Luke are a match made in heaven. I can
tell you two really do love each other and I truly wish you two the best,"
she smiles sincerely before walking away.

Feeling satisfied with how that conversation went, knowing it could have
gone horribly, I walk back to the tree with a little spring in my step and a
smile on my face.

Well, until I see Anthony Mackle approaching the oak tree.

I walk faster, trying to get there before him so I can warn Izzy but he is still
ahead of me. I wish I could just trip him.

We get there within only a couple seconds of each other and he hasn't said
anything to her yet.

Luke takes my hand in his as he pulls me down onto his lap.

Well shoot, I've got the best seat in the house. Now all I need is popcorn to
watch what is about to happen.

"I almost tripped him, you should've seen me," I lean into Luke and say. He
chuckles and kisses my cheek.

"You were ten feet away from him, baby," he says.

"Well I was thinking about doing it, but what's the difference?" I reply
pathetically.

"Oh you have a lot of nerve showing up here Anthony Mackle!" Izzy stands
up once she sees him.

Why do we call him 'Anthony Mackle' all the time? I still haven't figured
out why we don't just call him Anthony.
"Izzy, I'm sorry okay! I made a mistake!" He throws his arms in the air like
he shouldn't be the one at fault here.

"Well that 'mistake' was a conscious decision made by you!" Izzy says
angrily.

"Word," Ryan says, making her point better which probably wasn't the best
decision made by him considering Anthony turns and glares at him.

"Shut the fuck up Ryan," Anthony sneers and Ryan stands up. I make a
'yoikes' face and turn towards Luke.

He's rolling his eyes at the two of them.

"Immature," he says to me, talking about the two guys.

"You're a hypocrite," I giggle and he smirks.

"I'll fucking beat your ass bro," Anthony says and Ryan stands to his full
height, which is a couple inches taller than Anthony.

Luke snorts and holds back a laugh. I smack his chest and he catches hand,
pulling my upper half closer to him. He kisses me under my ear and I giggle
when he runs his nose along my jaw, tickling me.

Anthony slightly shoves Ryan and Eli jumps in between them.

"Guys, let's not be ridiculous here. Anthony, it's obvious you did something
wrong-" Anthony cuts Eli off.

"Why don't you go back and sit down, jackass," Anthony says and Eli does
not take it too lightly. I can tell Eli didn't like that.

Luke doesn't like that either.

Aw, I knew he likes Eli.

His stands up with me in his arms and he sets me down on my feet before
walking to the three of them.
"That's enough," Luke looks down on Anthony, "she doesn't want to talk to
you, so walk the fuck away and stop trying to start shit."

Anthony looks between everyone with a mad look on his face before
turning and walking away. Thank goodness he didn't try anything, God
knows Luke wouldn't hesitate to punch his nose. That's probably why
Anthony thought the better option would be to just leave.

"I hate him with my life," Izzy groans as she sits back down beside Olivia.

Luke walks back over to me, proceeds to pick me up, then he sits back
down with me on his lap.

I swear he can be like a caveman sometimes.

"When do you have nationals?" I question.

"We have a game in Washington D.C tomorrow for the east coast
championship and if we win that then on Friday we have fly to Oklahoma
and have tournament style games. We first play against the team that won
the mid-country championship and if we win that, then we play last years
national champs. If we beat them, then we ride the bus to Kansas, where
we'll meet the other team who won all their games for the national
championship," he explains and I have a hard time retaining all of the
information that just came out of his mouth.

I think that is the most he has ever talked in his life.

"Oh...?" I kinda question and he chuckles, kissing the corner of my mouth.

"I love you," he fixes his eyes me. A little blush adorns my cheeks and I run
my finger along the bottom of his jawline.

I'm almost cut by it. Kidding...sorta.

He takes hold of my hand and kisses it, only making the blush return.

"You don't love me?" he questions after I don't answer right away.
"You know I do," I plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Mm, I don't know it unless you tell me, at least twenty times, daily," he
smirks and I roll my eyes at him with a smile on my face.

"Well, I love you," I tell him and he smiles in satisfaction.

I lay my head down on his shoulder and right as I'm getting really
comfortable, the stupid bell just has to ring.

______________________

"Mr. Taylor, what was the answer to the problem I just asked?" Mr. Ryker
asks and Luke looks away from me and towards the teacher.

I told him he needed to pay attention but no, don't listen to me.

"Hm, what?" he asks and I silently laugh at him.

"Do you need me to repeat the question?" he asks Luke.

Luke makes a 'duh' face.

"What does synthesis gas consist of?" Mr. Ryker asks and I know Luke is
screwed because even I can't remember the answer to the question.

Luke stays silent as the teacher just looks at him, waiting for an answer.

"If you haven't noticed," Eli speaks up, "he isn't going to give an answer."

Mr. Ryker sighs and goes back to the lesson.

"Going mute will get you out of anything," Luke winks at me and nods. I
shake my head at his advice knowing that if you go mute in an actual
important situation, people will just ask if you need 911 to be called.

The rest of the day flies by, and I'm convinced I have the world's most
homework in my folder.
Luke places his hand on my backside as him and I walk out of the
classroom.

He leans down and waits for me to kiss him. I kiss his lips sweetly and he
pulls me back when I pull away, kissing me for longer.

After a few seconds, we pull away.

"Bye, I love you," I look up at him and he smiles down at me.

"I love you too. I'll be over at like six-thirty," he says and I nod before
walking off with the girls.

______________________

Luke and I sway in sync in the middle of my bedroom floor. He's resting his
arms around my waist and I'm trying my hardest to reach around his neck.

I stand on my very tippy toes, and then he bends down a little, giving me
better access.

I hum the tune of a random slow song and he buries his face in my neck
lovingly. After a few seconds, he pulls away, twists me around in his arms,
making my back be against the front of him.

He brushes my hair away from my neck and places his lips along my neck.

We continue to sway to non-existent music until Luke turns me around and

connects our lips hungrily.

He grabs the back of my thighs and without effort, he lifts me up and I wrap
my legs around his waist.

He lies me down on the bed without breaking the kiss. He takes his shirt off
and without hesitating, I lift my arms and he takes mine off as well.

"Do you have a...?" he gets what I'm trying to say and he take a condom out
of his wallet.
"I have one everywhere I go now," he smirks and kisses my neck as his
hands find the button of my jeans.

"But first," he smiles and gives my lips a sweet peck, "I'm going to make
you feel good, sweetheart."

A little bit of confusion fills my brain as he slides my pants off. The

confusion stays in my head until he moves his...upper half down to my
lower half.

Oh, wow.

_____________________

"Kick off your shoes and you throw 'em on the floor. Dance in the kitchen
'till the morning light, Lousiana Saturday night,"

I sing quietly as I walk into the school a little slower than usual.

I'm not as sore as the first time but I heard it was completely normal to be
sore even after the first few times of doing...it.

"You seem to be extra happy today," Izzy observes as she and Olivia stop at
my locker.

"Which is odd considering Luke isn't even here. Isn't he in Washington?"

Olivia asks and I nod.

"He left right around the time I left for school this morning," I say and Izzy
narrows her eyes.

"She looks to be

glowy

today, doesn't she, Olivia?" Izzy smirks and Olivia drags her eyes over my
figure before getting the same look on her face.
"So," Olivia appear to change the subject, "what did you and Luke do last
night?"

Nevermind.

"Oh you know," I try and act natural, "we just danced together, then
watched a movie."

I only lie about the second part which makes me feel a little bit better about
lying to them.

"You danced?" Izzy asks, a dirty smile on her face, "You guys danced in the
sheets didn't you?"

I gasp and Olivia laughs loudly. A dark blush appears on my cheeks and I
know they know.

"You did!" Olivia squeals and her and Izzy high-five each other.

"How did it go? No, that's not what I meant. I meant, how did it feel? Did it
hurt you? I mean, I'm sure it did, especially if he wears a size sixteen shoe, I
can't imagine how big-"

"Stop talking!" I cover my ears, not wanting to hear Izzy, one of my best
friends, talking about Luke's man parts.

"So tell us!" Olivia ushers, "only if you want too. We don't want to force
you if you don't feel comfortable," she reminds me and I smile at her.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell them how I am feeling.

"Well, the first time-"

"The first time!?" Izzy shouts and everyone in the hallway turns and looks
at us. The three of us wait a moment for everyone to go back to what they
were doing before talking again.

"Last night wasn't the first time!?" she whisper-shouts and I shake my head
sheepishly.
"No," I whisper with a shy smile on my face.

"When was the first time?"

"Last Friday night," I say and they gasp.

"No wonder you were walking slowly in the mall!" Olivia realizes.

The day drags along. The classes I usually have with Luke take the longest
and the ones that I don't usually have with him thankfully go by just a little
quicker.

Most of the time during our free period, I text Luke and he tells me what's
going on.

Their game starts at five-thirty and it is going to be streamed live on

channel 18.

By the time school ends, I'm excited to watch the game. The girls ride in
Olivia's car to my house after it ends and we go to Walmart.

We buy almost the whole candy aisle of Walmart.

"I'm going to gain twenty pounds by the end of tonight," I mutter as I watch
the cashier ring up everything.

"Oh shut up," Olivia laughs, "You have a fast metabolism. Of all the things
I have seen you eat, you haven't gained a single pound."

That may be true.

"I'll

feel

like I gained twenty pounds," I reword my sentence.

We get back to my around four-thirty and we lay out all of the candy.
Sour Patch Kids, M&M's, Tootsie Pops, Reese's, Airheads, Jolly Ranchers,
Skittles (original and sour), Cow Tales, Swedish Fish, and one other candy
that Olivia got that I've never tried before.

We set up everything in the theater room so that we can see the screen extra
well.

We get thick blankets since we have no idea how to turn the heat on in the
basement. By the time five-thirty rolls around, we've never been so
prepared in our lives.

I watch Luke specifically as they go up for the coin toss.

We win the coin toss and they decide to start on defense.

______________________

By halftime, 3/4 of the candy is gone and we are winning, 38-19.

"How sour are these

really

?" Izzy asks, picking up the packet of sour skittles. I tried some of Luke's
once and I almost had a heart attack, meanwhile, he eats five of them at a
time and doesn't even make a sour face.

"Try them," I usher her to see her reaction. She takes a green one and pops
it in her mouth, it takes a second for the sour to settle in but when it does,
her face scrunches up and she spits it out.

"How does he like those?" she tries to get the taste out of her mouth.

"That's what I said," I say as the players run back onto the field.

"Where are the other guys from?" Izzy asks, not recognizing their school
colors or name.
"I think Luke said they're from New Jersey," I take out my phone and look
through our text messages, "yeah, they're from New Jersey."

"Well girls, it looks like I'm moving to New Jersey to be with number 18,"
she shows us her phone with number 18's Instagram pulled up.

"Oh wow, he is kind of cute," Olivia agrees. The guy has light brown
colored skin and dark green eyes. He is pretty cute.

"He is cute," I nod too.

Twenty-nine minutes later, it is the last play of the game. The guys are
ahead by more than two touchdowns so there's no chance the other team
could come back. They are already celebrating on the sidelines and when
the clock hits zero, the guys, once again, rush the field.

"We are the champions, my friends!" Izzy sings as she drapes her arms
around our shoulders, swinging the three of us to the beat of Queen's 'We
Are The Champions'.

We decide from there, we would just watch a movie since we're already
down here.

It takes us thirty minutes to even agree on one and by that time, I get a text
from Luke saying they're on their way back home now.

We begin the Titanic and we start eating the remainder of our candy.

________________________

The ending credits roll on the screen and we all wipe our tears and continue
to be angry at Rose for being selfish and not letting Jack on the door too.

I see the bag of candy that Olivia got and it looks kind of good.

"Can I try some of the candy that you got, I've never tried it," I ask her and
she hands me one of the little pieces, wrapped tightly in a foil-like wrapper.

"What flavor is it?" I ask her.

"Cherry and something else," she shrugs.

I unwrap it and see it's red coating. Being too hard to just bite into, I put it
in my mouth and a cherry flavor envelops my taste buds.

After about a minute of just sucking on it, it begins to turn soft. I begin
chewing it and when I do, a new flavor hits my taste buds. Once I can't
recall ever tasting before.

All of a sudden, my tongue becomes itchy.

"Olivia," I say calmly, still trying to figure out if I'm having an allergic
reaction or not.

"Yeah?" she turns to me.

"W-What exactly is in the candy I just ate?" I ask and I feel my throat start
to become itchy within seconds.

"Um," she picks up the package and looks at the back, "Cherries
and...pineapples."

My eyes widen and I shoot up out of my seat.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asks.

"I'm allergic to pineapples," I say frantically. The two girls' eyes widen to
the size of tennis balls and they stand up next to me.

I need my EpiPen.

"I need my EpiPen," I tell them as it gets harder and harder to swallow, "It's
in my backpack, please hurry."

Olivia runs as quickly as she can up the stairs.

"Your face is turning red," Izzy mutters from beside me and I begin to take
deeper breaths to help calm myself.
Olivia returns with my EpiPen and I quickly uncap it as I feel my throat get
smaller and smaller. I put the orange tip on my outer thigh, I press the auto-
injector and I feel a sharp prick in my thigh. I hold it there for three
seconds, before removing it.

"We need to go," I rasp.

"To the hospital?" Izzy asks and I nod quickly. They help me up the stairs
and into the car where Olivia sits with me in the back, making sure I'm not
dying, while Izzy drives as quickly as she can.

We get there within twelve minutes and they help me inside.

"Hello!" Izzy shouts as she bangs on the counter. A nurse comes around the
corner with her eyebrows furrowed.

"She just had an allergic reaction," Izzy points to me and the nurse turns
serious. The nurse grabs a nearby wheelchair and she sits me down in it.

"When did this happen?" the nurse asks as she wheels me down a long
hallway, Izzy, and Olivia jogging alongside her.

"Only like fifteen minutes ago. She had her EpiPen and she did whatever
she had to do with it," Olivia tries to explain and I almost laugh at her. Bless
her heart, she's scared to death.

Still finding it hard to breathe, I realize I either need a second shot or

something else.

"I need one of you to call her family, are you okay to do that?" the nurse
asks an almost weeping Olivia and she nods, walking off to a secluded part
of the hallway.

My vision turns slightly hazy as the lady wheels me quickly through some
doors.

Another nurse comes up behind Izzy and he holds her back as I see the door
close.
I go in and out of consciousness as I'm lifted onto a hospital bed.

"Severe anaphylactic shock-" is the last thing I hear before darkness fills my
vision.

_____________________

*LUKE'S

POV*

Eli sings at the top of his

damn

lungs just as we drive past the ' You're Now Entering Greenwood County'
sign.

barely

hear the ringing of my phone over Eli's music. I turn down whatever he's
listening to and pick up my phone.

"Hey, what the shit Luk-"

"Shut up, it's Aubrey," I tell him and I answer the phone.

"Hey, baby."

"Um, Luke," a voice says and it is

not
Aubrey.

"Olivia? What are you doing with Aubrey's phone?" I ask confusedly.

Why would she be calling me on Aubrey's phone?

"Something bad happened," Olivia cries on the other end of the phone and I
swear to God I almost faint.

"What do you mean, Olivia?" I ask completely welcoming the fear into my
voice.

"Aubrey's in the hospital. She's had an allergic reaction, and it's bad," she
cries and my heart drops to my stomach.

"Wh-Wha-"

"I've got to go, but please hurry," she ends the call.

"Luke, what the hell is happening?" Eli questions worriedly when he sees
my face.

"Aubrey's in the hospital."

____________________

Eli and I rush around the hospital until we find Izzy and Olivia.

"Where is she?" I question urgently. Both the girls look at me with teary
eyes and I know it can't be good.

"We don't know anything," Izzy cries, "nobody has come out since they
took her in."

"What happened?"

"She ate a piece of candy and it had pineapple in it and," Olivia sobs into
Izzy's shoulder.
"Fuck," I curse, sitting down in the uncomfortable ass chairs.

I hate hospitals.

I put my head in my hands and I feel Eli come and sit beside me.

"She'll be alright, Luke," he tries to assure me.

"You don't fuckin' know that," I shake my head at him.

"Where's her mom?" I ask.

Shouldn't she be here?

"I called her but she didn't pick up. Rick didn't either," Olivia fiddles with
her hands anxiously.

Two hours later and we still haven't heard

shit.

I called dad, just to get an older adult here and he came within minutes
because unlike some people, he answers his phone when people actually
call him and he's a responsible parent.

Olivia and everyone else has tried to call Aubrey's mom over the past two
hours and no one answered.

It got to the point where her mom wouldn't even let the phone ring
anymore, she would just hang up.

I look around the waiting room and all the scared and sad faces of Ryan
comforting Olivia, Izzy, Eli, Ethan, and dad.

The doors closest to where we're sitting open for the first time in two hours
and everyone waiting, including me, stand up.

The doctor looks down at his clipboard and then up at us.

"Is anyone here the family of Aubrey Wilson?" he asks.

______________________

||

|We're nearing 30,000 readers and I can hardly breathe because of it.
Thank you all for reading and voting!! Sorry if this chapter seems not
the greatest. Reading over it, I wasn't entirely happy with how many
jumps there are.

*Remember, I barely edit*

Word count: 5544

-Ashlyn M.
Part 40 "She was beautiful"
*LUKE'S POV*

"We're her family," dad speaks up and the doctor narrows his eyes like 'are
you sure?'

"These are all my children, including that girl in there so I would love it if
you'd quit standin' there like a dipshit and tell us what is goin' on," dad cuts
the bullshit.

"She had an allergic reaction," is all he says and I have a feeling Eli and I
may have to hold dad back from punching this dumbass in the face.

"No way," he says sarcastically, "I thought she had a broken arm! Tell us
something we don't know!"

"Well-"

"Doctor Edyns, I'll take it from here," an older doctor releases the previous
one.

"Aubrey has just had a very sever-"

"Can I go see her?" I ask impatientally, getting his attention.

"Uh well, sure. Go through those doors and she's room 103," he directs me
and I waste no time in going to find her.

I find room 103 and I open the door, walking right in.

I see her before she sees me and she's laying back in the hospital bed, on her
side, turned away from me.

"Aubrey?" I walk further into the room. She turns her head and her
beautiful blues make eye contact with mine. A small smile appears on her
face and an immense feeling of relief washes over me, seeing that she's
okay.

I rush over to her bed and pull her into my arms. I hold her close to me for
God knows how long, just relishing in the feeling of her heartbeat against
my chest.

"Baby, you can't do this to me, okay?" I whisper sadly, "My heart can't take
it."

"I'm sorry," tears appear in her eyes.

"No, no, don't cry," I kiss her face, "It won't happen again. As soon as you're
out of here, I'm buying you two-hundred EpiPen's and you're taking all

of them

everywhere

you go."

A soft giggle escapes her lips and I wish I could hear the sound on a non-
stop replay.

"You can't do that," she says softly, "they're expensive."

"Do you think I care," I take hold of her chin so I know she's listening to
me, "this was too close. I'm not losing you, understand?"

The door to her room opens but we pay no attention to it.

"It wasn't all that serious, Luke," she says and right as I'm about to open my
mouth, someone else does.

"Miss Wilson, what happened was very serious. You had one of the most
serious cases of anaphylaxis my team and I have ever seen," he contradicts
her which leaves my stomach churning in fear.

"Did you know about your allergy?" he asks and she nods.
"Yes. I've known about it since I was little," she explains.

"Well its a very good thing you knew about it. At the rate of which your
allergic reaction spread, you could've been dead within minutes if it weren't
for your EpiPen injection."

I put my head in my hands and take deep breaths.

I can't bear the thought of what could've happened to her if she didn't have
that EpiPen.

"I'll leave you two," he smiles, "I just wanted to check up on you, Aubrey."

"Thank you," She returns a smile and the doctor exits the room.

I keep my gaze on her as she diverts her gaze from me.

It's not that serious, my ass.

"Darlin', how could you've been so reckless?" I push the matter.

"I wasn't thinking," she whispers.

"Well, you not thinking could have gotten you killed," I watch her flawless
face.

"What would I've done then, baby?" I question her as my vision blurs.

——————————————————————

*AUBREY'S POV*

I turn my head towards him and I see a sad, pained expression on his face
and tears gathering in his eyes.

I feel a tear slip down my face at how sad he looks.

I pull him close to me and he hesitates not one bit to grab my body and hug
it to him like his life depends on it.
"I don't know what I would do if you were to leave me," he lays his
forehead on mine as he brings his hand up to stroke the side of my face with
his thumb.

"Don't think about things like that," I try and get those thoughts out of his
head.

He pulls away and looks directly in my eyes.

"And if you

think

for even

one second

that you are ever eating alone again, you've got another thing coming," he
says seriously.

I sit up in my bed and with the look Luke sends me from his chair, I lower
myself back down into a laying position.

The door opens to the room and I hear people rush in.

Olivia is the first to reach me and when she does, she sends herself onto the
bed and hugging me.

"Easy there, honey," the doctor enters, "she's very weak right now and we
wouldn't want any broken bones from hugs," he chuckles.

"I'm so sorry," Olivia cries and I look at her confusedly.

"Why?" I ask softly, still getting used to my weakened voice due to my still
slightly swollen throat.

"You asked me what was in it and I didn't tell you all of it," she wipes a tear
off her cheek, "the doctor said you could've died."
"You didn't know," I assure her before smiling, "and I'm okay now."

I say hi to everyone and then look around trying to find my mom.

When I don't find her, Luke notices.

"What's wrong?" He runs his hand down my arm in a comforting manner.

"Where's my mom?" I ask and Luke glances at his dad who looks back at
him.

"We tried to get ahold of her but she won't answer her phone," James
explains and I feel a pang of hurt hit my chest.

Twenty minutes of watching Luke and Eli talk about things they need to
take out of my kitchen so I won't 'have another heart attack' as Eli put it, my
mother comes rushing into the room.

She sees me sitting up in my bed and she lets out a breath of relief.

"Whew, it doesn't look too serious," she dabs invisible sweat off her
forehead with a napkin and Luke scoffs.

I can tell Luke is holding himself back from yelling at her just by the way
he's got his jaw clenched and the bouncing of his leg.

"Ma'am?" The Doctor follows her in and she turns and looks at him.

"Yes?"

"Are you the mother of Aubrey?" He questions and she nods.

"Okay," he says before he begins to explain everything that happened.

"Allergic reaction?" My mother asks, "I didn't know she had any allergies."

"Ma'am it wasn't a simple allergic reaction, it was anaphylaxis which is

much stronger and much more dangerous." The doctor explains with a
frustrated look on his face.
How could she not remember I was allergic to things. I mean, I get it that
she may not remember all the things I'm allergic to but she could've at least
remembered I had allergies.

Luke rubs his hand over mine when he sees my upset reaction.

"Now Mrs. Wilson-" she cuts him off.

"It's Mrs. St. Andrews," she makes it a very strong point that she is not

Mrs. Wilson.

My face turns red in slight embarrassment as everyone in the room looks

towards my mother in slight disbelief.

"I'm sorry. Mrs. St. Andrews, I would like to discuss the billing of this
hospital trip which I do have to warn you, it's not a small bill," the doctor
talks in a quieter tone.

My mother lets out a loud sigh as she turns her gaze towards me. She gives
me a 'really' look and I look down at my bedsheet.

I didn't mean to do this.

Luke scoffs and he lifts my chin back up.

"Her reaction required a lot of medicine and it's not cheap," he explains and
she lets out a quiet groan.

"We can take care of it," James says and my mom turns to him, a happy
smile on her face.

That's too much for him to do.

"Great!"

"Oh no...you don't have to," mom and I begin at the same time but I finish
after she and James turn to me.
"Don't you worry about it," James smiles at me as Luke soothingly caresses
my hand.

Knowing I wouldn't win this argument, especially since Luke would take
his dad's side on this, I just stay quiet.

Everyone stays for another hour or two before they say their goodbyes.
Except for my mom. The doctor told her I needed to stay here for at least
two days so that they can monitor me closely. She just stayed for a few
more minutes.

She asked if I was fine and when I answered, she said 'good', then left.

Thankfully my friends have better goodbyes than her.

_____________________

"You don't have to stay here with me," I say as I watch Luke settle himself
right beside me.

"Of course I'm staying with you. You think I'd just leave you here by
yourself? Especially after what just happened?" he asks as he pulls me into
him.

He leans his head down and lays it on my chest.

"What are you doing?" I whisper in question.

"I just need to hear it for a minute," he taps the bed beside him the same
rhythm as my heartbeat.

I run my finger through his soft, thick hair as he listens. After a couple of
minutes, he moves his head from my chest and lays it beside mine.

"If you

ever,

and I mean
ever

scare me like this again, you'll never get wings from Domino's from me," he
kisses my forehead after his threat.

I once again just sit there quietly. I know I should have been more careful. I
hadn't had an allergic reaction in so long, I kind of just forgot about it.

"I'm sorry for ruining your night after you won the game," I smile sadly,
"you should be celebrating instead of in a hospital."

"Being with you is enough of a celebration for me," he smiles as puts his
lips on mine.

"You taste like hot chocolate," he murmurs against my lips before pulling
away and licking his own.

I turn over and grab my hot chocolate from the table beside my
uncomfortable hospital bed. I hand it over to him and he takes a sip before
downing the rest of it.

Butthole.

"You have school tomorrow," I remind him and he shrugs.

"I'm staying with you."

"But you'll start failing classes," I say. At least if it were me, I would be
failing classes. Which will probably happen since I'm going to be missing at
least two days.

"Stop worrying about me," he throws his arm over my waist and buries his
face in my neck.

"I don't know why my mom was acting like that," I sigh and he lifts his
head to look at me.

"I don't know why either but I almost kicked her out of the damn room," he
rolls his eyes.
_____________________

"Have you applied to Alabama yet?" Luke asks all of a sudden as we watch
a Christmas movie on the tv that is mounted on the wall.

"I haven't found the time to do it, but I'll send it in by the end of this week,"
I answer and he nods.

"You need to sleep," he moves my head into his neck so that I won't be
'distracted' by the tv anymore.

He runs his hands through my hair right at the top of my neck, lulling me to
sleep.

I send a prayer up thanking God for being with me in the time that I needed
him earlier. After praying, I let out a small

cough to clear my throat.

"Are you okay?" Luke asks worriedly, "Do I need to get the doctor? I'll go
get him."

I grab his hand as he begins to get off the bed.

"No, Luke, I'm fine," I smile assuringly, "It was only a little cough."

He eases back on to the bed and I can't help but giggle at his cuteness. He
lies back down and pulls me on top of him.

I lay my head on his chest as the rest of our bodies tangle together. He runs
his hand up and down my back softly and I turn my head up and admire his
eyes.

"What?" he smirks.

"Your eyes are light blue right now," I murmur and his smirk turns into a
small smile.

"My mom's eyes were light blue," he says thoughtfully.

"What did she look like?" I ask. I swear I could listen to him talk all day,
which is what he already does for me. Sometimes I talk a lot.

"She was tall. I think 5'10," he remembers. No wonder he's even taller than
his dad.

"And she had very straight brown hair. I don't think her hair could've curled
even if she wanted it to," he twirls a small piece of my hair.

"She was beautiful," he closes his eyes most likely remembering a mental
image of her.

"Even after she lost all her hair from chemo, she was still as pretty as can
be. And she kept her spirits high, she never once talked about dying or and
right before she died, she started gettin' better," I watch him talk and I
notice he becomes upset.

"We thought she was gonna be okay," he pauses for a moment to lay a kiss
on my head.

"After her feeling and looking healthy for about two weeks, everything
went to shit. She got so sick that I couldn't even bring myself to go in the
room with her and I regret it every day," he shakes his head.

"She died three days after her downfall and it fucked me up."

I process all the information he's just told me and I sit up. He watches me as
I move up on the bed.

He scoots his body down and I sit behind him. He lowers his head down
onto my lap and I run my fingers through his hair, something I know he
loves.

I lean down and place a soft kiss on his forehead and don't say a word.
Sometimes the best form of communication is silence.

"I don't think you're...effed up," I say quietly and from looking down at
him, I see a smile appear on his face.
"That's because you always can see the good in people," he says, leaving
me thinking as he sits up and lays down on the pillow beside me. He pulls
me close to him and right as he's closing his eyes to sleep, I finally say
something.

"Well, you make up for it, don't you?"

_____________________________

*2 Days Later*

"Here, darlin'," he hands me the clothes I asked him to get me so that I

could change.

It is

finally

the day I get to go home.

Since Luke basically held me hostage in my room, I can't wait to get outside
and to sleep in my own bed again.

"These aren't the clothes I asked for," I giggle.

"Oh, I know," a sly smile appears on his face as he looks at the Nike joggers
he brought me, "those just make your butt look very nice."

I rush to the bathroom, making sure to hide my blush. I put the pants on and
look in the mirror. Since the pants are tighter on my behind, they do make it
look pretty good.

I walk out of the bathroom and see the doctor waiting for me with Luke. I
ignore Luke's perverted gaze as I focus my attention on the doctor.

"Alright, Miss Wilson," the doctor gives me a kind smile, "as the process of
being discharged, I just need to make sure you understand what happened
those couples days ago. Do you understand what happened and that not
only did we have to give you more epinephrine, but also cortisone
injections to help decrease the inflammation of your breathing tubes?"

"Yes, I do," I nod even though I don't remember getting the shots.

"Okay good. Now, at home, I

need

you to make sure you are very careful. Another reaction could mean worse
for you considering you mentioned none of your other reactions has been as
bad as this one. I would recommend getting allergy shots but since you're
allergic to many different things and your reactions are so fierce, I don't
want to take any chances," he explains.

"Now that that's out of the way," he smiles once again, "have a safe trip
home and enjoy the upcoming holidays. You know what to do if something
occurs, just call us!"

"Thank you," I smile kindly at him and he nods before leaving the room.

"Let's go," Luke grabs my hand and we walk out of my room.

___________________

Luke places the small whiteboard back on the front of my fridge.

-Pineapples

-Seafood

-Mangos

-Avocados

-Sesame Seeds

"I know what I'm allergic to," I smile.

"Well, apparently, you need reminders," he looks over his bold, neat
handwriting before adding one more that he forgot.

-Basil

He caps the marker and he opens the spice drawer beside our microwave.
He looks through the spices until he finds the one labeled basil.

"This isn't basil, but it looks like it," he picks up the parsley and tosses them
both in the trashcan.

"What if I needed that parsley?"

"Who needs parsley? I've never seen anyone ever use parsley," he explains.
Come to think of it, I don't know anyone who has used it either.

After cleansing my kitchen of anything dangerous. Or anything he thinks

could be a potential danger, he moves upstairs.

I just follow behind him and he walks into my bathroom. He takes out all of
my hair and body products, including shampoos, body washes, leave-in
conditioners, lotions, perfumes, and even the hand soap at my sink.

"Do you think you're overreacting just a teeny bit?" I question as he reads
the labels, looking for anyone that may contain lavender or 'anything
similar'.

"I was thinking about throwing everything away and buying you all new
things but I held back. So no, I don't think I'm overreacting, babe," he
places my shampoos and body washes back in my shower.

He straightens out to his full height and he pulls me to him by my waist. He

leans down and plants a few kisses along my jaw.

"I'm just tryin' to be sure nothing like this will happen again," he tilts my
chin up, "even the doctor said that if you have another reaction, it could be
worse than the one you just had. You're not leaving me, got it?"

He leans down and kisses my lips.

"You don't have anything wool, do you?" He questions once he pulls away
and I giggle, leaning my forehead against his chest.

I guess I've got to learn to just deal with it now.

________________________

"Careful," Luke slows as I walk in front of the tall curb in front of the
school, "actually, here."

He picks me up and moves me up on the curb, which even though it is tall,

it's not more than a foot tall.

Sure, having the allergic reaction took a lot out of me...two days ago, but I
just let him do what he wants. I've told him many times that I'm fine and I
feel fine but that flies right over his head.

He takes a hold of my hand once more and we walk into school.

"Luke, I need my other hand to open my locker," I look over at our

conjoined and he hesitantly releases my hand from his large one.

Not a second goes by after I close my locker before my hand is back in his.

"How are you feeling?" The girls walk up to me.

"I feel much better," I look right at

Luke as I say that. Just to be sure he hears me.

As class begins, Luke doesn't hesitate to move his desk right up beside
mine, even after Mr. Matcherson's argument about how it is a fire hazard
since he's sitting in the middle of the row of desks.

He holds his hand in mine all throughout class and sometimes even brings it
up to his lips, kissing my knuckles.

I scratch the top of his tense back around his shoulder blades and he relaxes
more. He seems really stressed today and I think it is because of me.
By the end of lunch, he hasn't gotten any better.

I stand from my seat the lunch table and as I begin walking away, Luke
takes a hold of the back belt loop of my jeans and pulls my back flush
against his front.

I look back at him and he leans in to give me a kiss before, I guess, thinking
he shouldn't. Ouch.

"What was that?" I refer to him pulling away.

"I could've eaten something during lunch-" I cut him off with a loud groan.
Deciding to let him think about all the nonsense he keeps saying, I just walk
away.

I only make it about two feet before he's right up beside me but I keep on
walking.

"Why are you mad at me, baby?" he questions.

"I'm not mad at you Luke," I sigh frustratingly as we make it outside.

"Well, you kinda are," he mumbles before taking my hand and stopping me
beside a wall outside where thankfully, no one else is really around.

"I'm just frustrated that's all," I explain.

The truth is, I am really frustrated at myself. I know I shouldn't have eaten
that stupid candy without reading the ingredients and Luke is only worried
about me.

Maybe he is overreacting but he has the right to overreact. I could have

some other undiscovered allergy that I didn't know about and he doesn't
want me to go through what I went through again.

"I know I might be overreacting a bit but I just don't want anything to
happen to you," he says softly as his hand rubs my lower back gently.

I pull him into a hug and now

I

rub

his

back.

"I know that you're just worried," I pull away and look up at me, still
running my hand up and down his back soothingly, "but I'm not going to
have another reaction. I'm being much more careful now."

"I'll try to ease it up," he leans down and this time, he actually gives me a
kiss.

I was

almost

tempted to tell him that my lips just went numb but I decided that I
shouldn't do that. I wouldn't want him to have a heart attack and it's
probably too early for jokes like that.

I was

very

close to doing it thought.

"Is that why you seem so stressed?" I question him and get my mind off the
not-so-great thought.

He nods.

"And because I have to fly to Oklahoma tomorrow," he says and I turn

confused before I realize what he means.

He's got to fly to Oklahoma for nationals.

"Oh don't worry about it. You'll be fine," I smile up at his attractive face.

"Babe, it's not me I'm worried about, it's you," he chuckles.

"Oh. Well, don't worry about me either! Focus on beating those other
teams," I encourage and he smirks down at me.

"You're too damn cute."

_________________________

"I haven't slept without you in so long, I might not even fall asleep," Luke
says as he sits on my bed, his bags ready to go for in 20 minutes when he's
supposed to leave to go to the airport.

"I'm sure after the first day, you'll get used to it," I assure him as I hand him
a few sugar cookies I made a while ago. Of course, he takes them gratefully.

"I'm going to have to cuddle a pillow," he comes to the realization and I

laugh loudly.

"Too bad for you," I smile, "I have Leo to cuddle with me."

I pet Leo's head which is laying on my feet. Since Luke is going to be gone
for a few days and his dad is now gone to his other office in Georgia, there
was nobody to take care of Leo.

I accepted right away if Luke asked me if I could watch 'Diablo' as Eli calls
him. I didn't really ask mom if I could but I guess I'll mostly just keep him
in my room.

"Come here," Luke opens his arms and I walk into them. He pulls me onto
his lap, his hand rests on my upper, outer thigh as he begins leaving kisses
all over my face.

From the floor beside us, Leo lets out a little growl.

"Oh hush," Luke narrows his eyes at him. Leo lets out one more small
growl before settling on the floor.
For the next fifteen minutes, we just sit there and talk. Or he kisses me.

By the time it is time for Luke to leave, he gets up slowly, with me still in
his arms. He gives me one more long, sweet kiss and a firm squeeze on the
butt before sitting me on the floor.

He bends down and leaves his forehead on mine.

"Make sure you're careful," I remind him and a small smile appears on his
face.

"I'm always careful," he says and I shake my head unbelievingly.

"I love you."

"I love you too," I reply with a smile, "Now hurry and get to the airport
before you're late!"

"Yes ma'am," he gives me one final kiss before walking out the door.

"Wish him good luck, Leo," I say to his cute puppy face.

_______________________

|||||| 1-2 more chapters! THERE WILL BE BONUS CHAPTERS!! So

don't forget, after I announce the last chapter(Epilogue), keep reading
(if you want to of course) until I say there won't be any more bonuses.
Anyway, thank you all for reading very very much! We have over 33.6k
and I'm very happy to see that a lot of ya'll are voting and even
commenting! Don't hesitate to comment, I love to see what you all
think!

*I don't edit right away*

Word count: 4658

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Part 41 "Losing"
"Are you 100 percent sure he won't bite me?" Olivia winces as she sticks
her head in my room.

"Yes, I'm sure," I nod and she makes her way in slowly. Izzy follows behind
her.

They both plop down on my bed and Leo watches them carefully.

I grab Leo's thick leash from the handle of my closet door and I hook it to
his collar. His tail wags excitedly because he knows he's going outside.

"How are you supposed to control that dog? He's bigger than you!" Izzy
stresses and I laugh.

"Leo and I practiced yesterday and he listens to me pretty well," I explain,

"Ya'll should come too."

They look at each other for a second before deciding they'll follow Leo and
me. After all, we do have a few hours before nationals come on.

The guys won their first game against a team from Texas 52-38. Halftime,
the score between them was much closer and It had Olivia a little worried
for a bit.

I wasn't that worried. I have a good feeling about their chances this year.

Yesterday, which was Saturday, they won their game against some school
from California, last years national champions. In the end, the score was 34-
26, which was their closest game so far.

That one worried me just a little bit. Especially since they were losing in the
first two quarters but thankfully, after halftime, they came back strong.
Luke was very excited though. Last year, they didn't make it this far and he
and Eli were both bouncing off the walls last night when they facetimed me.
It was quite cute, actually.

"Let's go, Leo," I open my room door and I lead him downstairs. He stays
right by my side, even after we're outside, something I'm very thankful for.

If he were to just run, I wouldn't stand a chance against him.

"So they're on the bus now?" Izzy asks.

"Yep! Luke texted me ten minutes before you guys got here. He said they
were on the bus, on the way to Kansas. Apparently, the bus they are on
smells really bad," I giggle.

_______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Alright guys," Coach Felmer stands, "We're here. I want you to exit the
bus, go to the side, grab your bag, and make your way into the field house,
which is to your right. A staff member is waiting at the door for you all."

I stand up along with everyone else and nearly get a concussion on the roof
of the damn bus, which smells like ass because Coach J. decided to take a
massive shit in the toilet, and not to tell anyone until we all started smelling
it.

I've needed fresh air for two hours.

Eli walks in front of me as we all unload off the bus. I hear him before I feel
him. The sound of a slipping foot, then the weight of him on my legs.

"What the shit," I mumble at him as his back and head rests against my
legs.

"Oh, sorry guys. I spilled some of my water," Coach J. laughs.

"Oh hey! Thanks for telling us!" I say sarcastically, sending him a look. Eli
finally gets back on his feet and I'm finally off the bus.

I have freedom for about one second before

more

weight is pushing against my back. I catch myself against the railing of the
bus and look behind me.

Ethan is sprawled out on the floor behind me, his shoe still in the standing
water on the last step of the bus.

What a way to start the night.

I release the bar I'm holding onto and finally look up to my surroundings.
Our opponents' bus, which is right beside ours, is unloading at the same
time we are.

Fifteen or so guys are just standing, holding their duffel bags, watching us
in confusion. They must be thinking, "Wow, are we really playing these
uncoordinated fuckers?"

Speaking of uncoordinated, right behind me, more sounds of slipping is

heard. I look behind me to see both of the twins on the ground.

"Can someone clean that before one of us breaks a leg?" I almost laugh at
the twins as they attempt to get up, almost falling over each other.

I finally grab my bag and I feel a nudge from Eli. He nods to the other bus
and I fix my gaze on the other team.

I just now notice how fancy they are. Every player is wearing a suit and tie.
Not only that, but they are walking in a tight, single file line into their
locker rooms.

"Jesus," Ethan laughs from beside us, "the only thing their missing is a 1st-
grade teacher holding each of their hands."
Eli chokes on his M&M's in a fit of laughter.

"They look like they have sticks up their asses," Eli adds before a loud snort
comes out of his mouth, catching the attention of every player from the
other team in sight.

The player at the front of the line, stops, which stops everyone else behind
him.

"Uh-oh, you made him angry," Jayden counters as him and Jackson stop
beside us, their bags on their shoulders.

The guy straightens out his suit jacket, still sending a look at us.

"Oh really, fella?" Eli raises his brows at the guy as he straightens out his
damn plaid pajama pants earning laughs from the majority of our team.

With a snap of the other coach's fingers, the guys on the other team are
looking straight in front of them and almost marching into their locker
room.

"And that," Ethan chides, "Is what private school will do to you." I shake
my head as a smile creeps onto my face.

_________________________

In the locker rooms, we get ready for the game. I take my shirt off and a
long, curly string of hair sticks to the back of it.

A smile reaches my lips as I pull the hair off my shirt.

Damn, I wish she was here.

After getting our pads and the rest of our jerseys situated, Coach calls us to
a huddle. Usually, we don't have a huddle in the locker room. We just go out
and chill with the people in the stands before our games.

"Everyone take a knee," he instructs and Eli, Ryan, and I take a knee down
beside him, in front of everyone else.
Coach groans as his old ass takes a knee beside us, almost falling over on
me in the process.

What am I to these people? An 'oh shit' handle?

"I just want to thank every single one of you. You all have worked so hard
and of all my twenty years of coaching for this school, no team has had a
better four years than this one right here. My first team to even win a states
championship," he chuckles, "and don't think I got you here. You all got
yourselves here. The talent in our senior players has shaped the team."

Coach rests a hand on Eli and I's shoulders.

"Two players with full rides to the school with America's number one
football program, these two right here," he slaps our shoulders.

"Two full rides and five partial scholarships are coming solely from our
upperclassmen. Let's make this last game one for the books. Let's give this
one our all, Trojans. Now grab a brother, and let's pray."

All of us huddle in close. I place my arm over Ryan and Eli as they do the
same to me. I look around me and see everyone's head bowed before I start.

"Our Father," my voice sounds throughout the silent locker room, "which
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us
our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever, amen."

Amen's sound out and we stand.

"Let's go kick some private school ass."

________________________

*3RD PERSON POV* (Oh yeaah)

The Trojans stop at the edge of the tunnel, leading out to the field. Unlike
every other game they've ever played, they don't run out.

They lock their arms together and walk out. They prove to the waiting,
classy team that they can be coordinated. Well, somewhat at least.

Of course, Eli has to stumble a little but with the tightened grip of Luke, it's
barely noticeable.

Once out the tunnel, the guys' eyes travel around the thousands of people in
the stands cheering. They'd never seen anything like it. Especially those
underclassmen that were good enough to be brought along on the trip.

Luke had seen crowds like it before. Not necessarily for him but for his
uncles, which he had seen play for the NFL.

Luke had always dreamt of a moment like this. Not for the people. He could
care less about the fame or the fortune that came with being a football star.

All he cared about was playing the game he loved dearly and making his
family, especially, his momma proud, which he knew were all watching.

Including the love of his life.

They may be young but it was no secret that their love was stronger and
wiser beyond their years. Anyone who had ever seen them interact with
each other knew that there was nothing that could ever separate them. And
Luke thanked God nearly every night that he got to spend his days with a
sweetheart like her. For without her, he feels he wouldn't amount to much.
He knows she has changed him for the better.

As Luke's eyes travel over the crowd, his heart beating almost as fast as
when Aubrey kisses him, he feels good. Better than ever, actually.

The Trojans halt their steps halfway onto the field, stopping with their
captain. They unlink their arms before charging the rest of the way onto the
field, making the crowd erupt with cheers.
Maybe it's better if the other team thinks they're crazy. Being unpredictable
can always be a good thing.

As the Trojans run, select players from Washington's private Middlerun

Preparatory School watch in jealousy.

The freedom of the Greenwood Trojans began to get to them. They could
tell that those players were good, great actually. Even though watching
some of the Greenwood guys falls out of their bus was the most hilarious
thing some of the guys had seen in all their four years at Middlerun Prep.,
they couldn't laugh.

Their coach would have their heads even if something as small as a smile
touched their lips. As players for the Mustangs, they had to go through
grueling and excruciating training and practices.

They didn't have fun. They never smiled, laughed, or had any sort of free
time. The things that occurred during the practice and training hours, the
players knew had to be bordering being illegal.

God knows what would happen if they lost this game.

The Trojans walked around their sidelines carefree, preparing and tossing a
football for the game that is about to begin.

"Just look at them," Eli shakes his head. The guys' gazes dart to the players
on the opposite sideline.

The Mustangs stand in a straight line, their faces set with a look of
blankness.

"They're like robots," Ryan adds.

The signal from the referees brings the three captains from each team onto
the middle of the field.

The differences between the two teams could be seen by a blind man. The
in-sync walk of the Mustangs versus the clumsy and uncoordinated walk of
the Trojans. More specifically, Eli.
If he were to ever be pulled over by a police officer and tested for a DUI, he
would surely fail. He couldn't walk straight to save his life but he sure as
hell knew how to run.

The two teams stop in the middle, facing each other.

Rule 123 of being a Mustang: Always, no matter what, keep direct eye
contact with the opponent.

That's exactly what they did. The eyes of the Mustangs never left the three
Trojans. It managed to slightly weird Eli out but he just kept it to himself.

"By a random selection and since neither teams are at home, Greenwood,
you're heads, Middlerun, you're tails," the referee explains.

Eli wipes his sweaty hands on the rag, hanging from the back of his pants,
effectively making it fall to the ground.

"Shit!" he accidentally swears aloud. Luke's gaze turns from the coin in the
referee's hand, to the idiot beside him.

"Sorry," Eli chuckles before bending down to pick up his rag. Instead of
picking up the rag, he takes a step too far and steps on the rag at the same
time he pulls. He brings his other leg forward so that his butt is straight in
the air to keep himself from falling.

Laughs resound throughout the stadium and even Luke can't help but let out
a good laugh. Ryan stands beside him, his hand covering his mouth as loud
laughs escape his lips.

Of course now would be the time Eli would have a moment like this.

The three Mustangs have a very hard time maintaining a straight face.
Eventually, one of them lets a chuckle escape.

The two other Mustangs look at him in disbelief but upon seeing Eli stand
back up, his face tinged pink, they laugh as well, forgetting that their coach
will probably not let them play anymore.
"Now, are we ready?" The referee's smile falters as he turns serious once
more.

___________________________

Aubrey paces her living room, biting her cheek nervously. At the fourth
quarter with exactly 12 seconds left, the guys are losing 19-14.

If it were the other teams' ball, they could easily take a knee and end the
game. Very fortunately, it isn't. But, the guys are already on their third
down, all the way at the 25-yard line, opposite their end zone.

It's truly now or never.

Luke stands behind the center, and before anyone knows it. The ball is
handed to him. The three girls squeeze each others' hands as they watch
Luke take a few steps back until he's just behind the 23-yard line.

Even Leo seems to be on edge.

Luke looks for anyone who is open. As the clock hits eight seconds, a hand
goes in the air. A hand nearly eighty yards away.

Anyone who's ever seen Luke play knows he has an outrageous arm, but
even he has never thrown an eighty before.

He winds his arm back and within a second the ball is flying through the air.
The stadium and houses all around, watching the game go

completely

silent as they watch the spiraling pass. Even the tv announcers, announcing
the games are silent.

The Mustang players holt their steps and turn, watching the pass as it flies
high, over all of their heads.

As the clock strikes 4 seconds, the ball touches Eli's hands.

The three girls scream and jump in excitement.

"Oh my God!!" Izzy screams.

"They won!!" Olivia adds.

"Holy shit!!!" Aubrey can't help but say but at that moment, she didn't think
about it. She was too excited.

Meanwhile, as the ball reaches the hand of Eli in Georgia, James jumps out
of his chair in the middle of his important business meeting, which he was
watching the game on his phone during.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!!" He shouts as he fist bumps the air with
both hands. His fellow employees in the chairs surrounding him watch him
in shock.

They knew him to be a mostly quiet and professional man, they'd never
seen him like this.

"Give me five, motherfuckers!" He runs along the long table as he extends

his hand, giving his confused employees high-fives.

In another part of the country, also known as Alabama, as the beautiful 78-
yard pass touches the hands of Eli, Charlie, Ella, Marina, Whitney, Brian,
and many more Taylor's jump out of their seats and scream in excitement.

"That was 78!!" Brian shouts as he and Charlie give each other a big hug.

"Oh, my baby did it!!" Ella shouts excitedly as her and the two other girls
engage in the huge group hug going on.

Close by, only an hour away at the on-campus apartment of Sam Taylor,
shouts erupt in the room.

Twenty or so Auburn University football players all exclaim their

excitement as 'Sammy's' cousin makes the outstanding 78-yard throw, a
throw farther than they've seen as college players.
"Fuckin' shit yeah!!" Sam shouts loudly as he completes the pose known as
'most muscular'.

"Ya'll fuckers get ready," Sam laughs and points to his teammates, "He's
playing for Roll Tide next year!"

Only another three hours away at the campus of the University of Alabama,
coaches and even some players of the football team watch proudly at their
next year players.

"Coach Saban, as a high school senior, Luke was only a yard away from the
record," Jon, Alabama's recruiter smiles over at the head coach.

"Oh, I know Jon," Coach Nick Saban smiles back.

Back in Kansas, Eli runs the last yard and a half into the end zone. He
spikes the ball on the ground and jumps nearly five feet in the air.

A breathtaking smile appears on Luke's face. A smile that lasts only a few
seconds before Ethan and Ryan tackle him to the ground in pure excitement.

Coach Felmer is still on the sideline, his eyes widened to the size of saucers
and his mouth opened. He can't believe that just happened and that they just
won.

Coach Felmer just went from a regular high school football coach to the
coach of the national champions.

"We won it, Roger!!" Coach J. yells loudly, shaking Coach Felmer out of
his shock. He throws his clipboard into the air and tears nearly gather in his
eyes at how proud he is.

Eli runs back the 80-yards to his best friend who just got up from the tackle.
He passes shocked Mustangs and referees before making it to Luke.

Eli jumps onto Luke and this time, Luke is ready. He catches Eli in the air.
(I've Had) The Time Of My Life almost needs to play on the loudspeakers.
The two bestfriends hug it out, much to Aubrey's satisfaction as she
continues to watch it all go down on the tv.

She knew Luke actually liked him.

Eli stands back on the ground as the rest of the team rushes them. A trophy
is brought out to them. The guys don't hesitate to hand the trophy directly to
Luke.

He raises it high in the air as they all jump and chant many different
phrases. Like all big games won, the Gatorade cooler is poured on Coach.

Now, the only thing Luke feels he needs right now is his love, Aubrey.

Mustangs still litter the field. Whether it's because they are scared to hear
what the punishment of them losing will be, the shock that the Trojans
quarterback was able to throw a pass like that, or just simple joy to see the
other team so happy and celebrating like they wish they were allowed to.

'It didn't matter anymore,' the thought crosses a senior Mustang. After all,
he would be gone before the next season starts anyway. There's nothing that
his coach could do to him, or make him do now.

So that single Mustang walks over to the wildly celebrating group of

Greenwood high football players. He doesn't say anything until he meddles
into the middle of the group, his helmet no longer on his head, but still in
the place he threw it, somewhere on the field.

Not in anger, but in the relief of knowing he won't have to go through the
hell of being a Mustang anymore.

The celebrating pauses as the Trojans realize a Mustang is among them. The
gorgeous, golden trophy is lowered from the air and passed to Coach.

Realizing it would be best to just let Luke talk to this guy, the other Trojans
remain quiet. A smile reaches the lips of the Mustang. For the first time in
four years, he actually feels happy to be on a football field.

The Mustang sticks his hand out and after a second, Luke takes it.
"You guys played exceptionally," the Mustang says properly, igniting a
smile on Luke's face. The Mustang can't remember he'd seen someone smile
genuinely.

"Ya'll did too," Luke's southern accent truly coming out in his moment of
excitement quite honestly shocks the Washington native.

"Look at this guy!" Eli laughs, before putting the Mustang in a headlock
and messing up his neat hair. He didn't let that affect him by any means. It
actually made him feel oddly welcomed. He wished he would have grown
up where these group of guys did.

He'd give anything to go back and instead of joining Middlerun, he'd join
Greenwood.

"The pass you threw was astonishing," he smiles once again and a chuckle
escapes Luke's lips as the proper form the guy is talking in.

"Little lesson here bud," no one had ever called him 'bud' before, "just say,
'great pass, bro'." Eli coaches him.

"Great pass...bro," the Mustang announces and the guys punch and shake
him excitedly. He thought he was being attacked at first until he sees the
smile on all the guys' faces.

"I'm Damon Alexander the third," the Mustang introduces himself and his
name is just as proper as he is.

"We'll call you Alex!" Eli slaps his shoulder. They include Alex into their
chants and celebration, creating the best moment of Alex's entire high
school years.

'These guys truly did deserve this', he thought.

"Where are you from?" Alex asks the team. The Mustangs' coach never told
them any information about their opponent, that's why most of the guys on
the team's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You're from Washington, right?" Ryan asks Alex and his eyes widen.
"How do you know that?" he questions and the guys look around in
confusion.

"Virginia. He's from Alabama though," Eli explains before pointing to Luke
and Alex nods in astonishment.

A loud bell is heard from somewhere behind the group and 'Alex' knows
exactly what that means.

"I have got to go. It was very pleasant to meet you all," he nods before
running to the sound of the bell.

He didn't want to go back though, not at all.

__________________________

The national champions stay hours after everyone has already left. They
take thousands of pictures and even do some interviews. By the end of the
night, Luke is

really

missing Aubrey.

At the end of his games, she would always be there. He really needed her
cuddling right now.

He hadn't talked to her since before the game and he yearned to hear her
angelic voice. He also felt he needed assurance that she was okay.

He was still worried about her having another allergic reaction, even though
he knew it got on her nerves.

The guys get changed, not bothering to shower knowing that they'll be at
their hotel within ten minutes, and they can shower there.

On the bus, Luke eagerly picks up his phone. He tries to turn it on but it's
dead.
"Shit," he mutters.

He'll just have to wait. He barely listens to Coach Felmer as he praises his
players for their performance. All Luke could think about was his beautiful
Aubrey.

By the time they get to the hotel, Luke is the first to shoot out of his seat.
He's the first one to get his room key and he doesn't wait up for anyone as
he rushes to his room.

Once in his room, he immediately plugs his phone up to its charger. A black
screen with the white outlining of a large battery with a small red strand
shows up on his phone and he groans knowing that it'll be a while before
his phone turns on.

During the time he waits, he takes a nice, warm shower. By the time he's
out and got his, well Aubrey's, favorite pair of his pajama pants on, his
phone is on.

Realizing that just calling her wouldn't suffice, he facetimes her.

After it rings for a little while, the face of the girl he dearly loves shows up
on his screen, already making his heart beat at a quicker pace.

"Hey, baby," he smiles at her tired face, "were you almost asleep?"

She rubs her eyes and his heart melts.

"Almost," she smiles and his heart feels as if it'll burst out of his chest.

"I'm so happy you guys won! You had me scared for a minute. When do
you come home?" She asks.

"I'll be home by 12 pm. You can meet us at the airport if you want," he
secretly wishes she'll say yes.

The first thing he would love to see as soon as he gets off the plane would
be her beautiful, smiling face.
"Okay, I'll do that," she agrees and he makes a 'ka-ching' movement behind
his phone.

"Look," she moves the phone around, showing Leo, "It's Leo! He's
sleeping. He snores too! More than you!" She giggles and Luke can't help
but smile at the phone, wishing she was here beside him instead of beside
his dog.

She lies her head back down on her pillow, her eyes tired.

"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" he says.

"Okay," she nods, "You need to sleep, I'm sure you're tired."

Luke shakes his head at her constant concern for him. She doesn't need to
worry about him. Especially about him sleeping right now.

He knows that the quicker he falls asleep, the quicker he gets to see her.

"I love you," he tells her.

"I love you too, Luke," she answers and they say their goodbyes before
ending the call.

Not ten minutes after the call ends, Luke is fast asleep to the thought of
seeing her tomorrow.

________________________

The flight is long and agonizing for Luke. For the other guys on the team,
it's a fun plane ride. After all, they

are

national champions, everything is a celebration and will be for the next few
months.

Their five-hour flight ends finally and to Luke, it seems like it lasted all
day.
Once they are cleared to exit the plane, Luke pushes past Eli who gives
Luke's butt a kick. Luke pays no mind to it though, his thoughts solely on
Aubrey.

He walks off the plane and through the long hallway, building his
anticipation of seeing her. Once the hall finally ends, he sees many, many
people holding 'Congratulations!' signs. Not only are the people waiting for
the team family members of the Greenwood football players, but also just
random supporters of the team.

They spot Luke and he almost lets out a groan.

"Oh, can we please get a picture with you?!" An older woman asks and he
doesn't want to be rude but he's on a mission to find Aubrey.

"Sure, but just give me a minute, okay? I'll come back," he nods in
assurance and thankfully the woman understands.

Luke looks around in search of her but he sees her nowhere. That is, until a
random guy moves himself and his luggage out of the way, revealing her.
And Olivia and Izzy, but Luke didn't pay any attention to those two.

A large smile appears on the usual brooding face of Luke and he rushes
towards her. She hasn't seen him yet but she's about to.

Right as he's in front of her, she finally sees him. Her eyes light up at the
sight of him, a reaction that happens whenever she even thinks about him.

He doesn't hesitate to lean down and connect their lips. He finally gets a
taste of those lips he's been wanting for three days.

A series of wolf whistles are heard from behind them and Luke knows it's
the idiots he calls teammates. With his lips still connected to her
intoxicating ones, he raises his middle finger and flicks them all off,
eliciting loud laughs from them.

Aubrey pulls away in need of breath and Luke hugs her small frame to him.

Now, he really has all he needs.

_________________________

|Two chapters in two days?? Who's ever heard of such? And mostly in a
3rd person pov? Crazy chapter, I know. Anyway, I figured I would put
the championship in this one chapter and to my surprise, it turned out
pretty long! One more chapter to go guys (If I can fit everything in one
that is)! I don't know when the next one will be out since Christmas is
in four days but hopefully it will be soon! Thank you so,

very

much for reading!!

*I don't edittttt*

Word count: 4833

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Epilogue
*Five Months Later* (3rd Person Pov)

Aubrey buttons the back of her dress, sad thoughts circling in her mind.

More than four months ago, she applied to the University of Alabama. After
for waiting this long, no letter or anything has come back for her.

The thoughts that she won't be going to the same school as Luke terrifies
her.

She hasn't even told him yet. As far as he knows, they will be attending the
same school, comes Fall.

She knows that if she tried to, she would just burst into tears.

"Ten minutes until we leave, hurry and get ready. You better wear those
damn wedges too," her mother calls from downstairs. Aubrey sighs and
takes a seat on her bed.

She can't believe today is graduation. It feels like the time just flew by.

Over the past five months, Luke and Aubrey have gotten impossibly closer.
To strangers, they look to be already a married couple. Even to their friends.

The couple had stayed as strong during the past five months as they had
during the first few weeks of their relationship.

They were in a never-ending honeymoon phase.

The knew everything about each other. They were always 100 percent
truthful and they never told lies. They knew each other physically,

very well
, and they knew each other emotionally.

This is the first time Aubrey has ever kept something from him and the one
time she does, it is huge.

Feeling like she can't give up, Aubrey opens her computer. For the first time
since applying, she signs into her account and looks at her application.

She wonders what on earth went wrong. She did everything right and she
submitted.

Her eyes fall to the bottom of the page.

Are you sure you would like to submit?

The red button stares back at her and her heart falls to her stomach. She
never fully submitted. She clicks the button as quickly as she can, hoping
that clicking it faster will give her a better chance of getting a letter back.

You have just submitted your application to the University of Alabama!

You have used the rolling deadline to submit. February 1st was the
deadline for priority admissions. Your submission will be reviewed but
not prioritized. We hope to see you this Fall! Results will be sent within
4-6 weeks.

At reading the screen that pops up on her computer, her heart drops even
more.

'I've got to tell him',

she decides.

She finishes getting ready and she puts the pair of wedges on.

There is no place she applied that is close. The closest would be eight hours
away.

The car ride to the school, she fiddles with her David Yurman silver bracelet
that Luke had gotten her for her birthday only a month and a half prior.
She had been exceptionally thankful when she opened the gift. She had seen
the bracelet in a window while out shopping with him a while before her
birthday and she thought it was absolutely gorgeous.

That is until she saw the $500 dollar price tag that came with it.

After receiving the gift, she did tell Luke off for buying something so
expensive but she forgave him shortly after. Now, she wears it every day.

As her mother pulls into the school parking lot, she exits the car swiftly.
She and her mother's relationship had really never been the greatest but as
the months have gone by, they're hardly even acquaintances.

For a reason Aubrey doesn't know, her mom has turned bitter towards her.

She immediately spots Charlie Taylor and just beside him she sees her
beloved Luke. With her graduation gown in hand, she walks as smoothly
over to him as she can in her wedges.

As Luke sees her coming, a smile only reserved for her breaks out on his
face. Seeing her slightly struggling, he holds his arm out to her and she
clutches onto it igniting a tingling sensation in his arm, like always.

"Oh there's the sweet girl," Ella puts her arm around her as well. The Taylor
family had seen a lot of Aubrey. Not only did Luke take her back to
Alabama for Christmas and Spring break, but Ella and Charlie had come up
bringing Marina and Whitney with them on multiple occasions.

Luke check the time and he realizes it is time for him to meet Coach
Felmer.

"I'll be right back," Luke places a kiss on the top of Aubrey's head before
following Eli.

Eli, Jayden, Ethan, Jackson, and Luke all walk together. Eli and Luke will
be seeing a lot of each other. For the others, goodness knows when they'll
see each other next. They won't be going to the same school afterward.
Ethan Williams got a partial scholarship to play for the University of
Michigan to be a defenseman.

Jayden Fratton was also rewarded a partial scholarship. In the Fall, he will
be attending Baylor University.

His twin brother, Jackson, was offered a spot on Virginia Tech's football
team. He decided not to go through with it in hopes of becoming a physical
therapist. He will still be with his brother at Baylor, but just not on the team.

Ryan Ankerman was rewarded with a large, but partial scholarship to play
for the University of Southern California. He leaves late next month.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out between Ryan and Olivia. They had a great
run and they loved each other but between only the two of them, the cross-
country distance that would be between them would never work. They
weren't strong enough.

They are still great friends, although.

As for Eli and Luke, they were going straight to play for 'Bama.

The guys spot Coach by a table of yellow and blue stoles, the rest of the
senior football players there already.

Coach Felmer turns and faces towards the group of about eight guys. He
takes a deep breath before lifting up a stole.

He hands the stole to every player.

With three stoles left in his hands. Coach turns to his three captains, a sad
smile on his face. He hands the athlete's stole to Ryan, who thanks him.

At last, it was just Eli and Luke.

Coach Felmer would never tell any of the other players this but, the two
guys in front of him made the team. He didn't do anything all year. It was
Luke who stayed after some days to help some of the guys with struggling
plays. It was Luke who knew what to do when the coach of twenty years
didn't. It was Eli who knew every play like the back of his hand and could
explain it in a simple and easy way, which coach didn't know how to do. It
was Eli who kept everyone's spirits high.

Coach Felmer knew that the two guys in front of him were going to be big.
NFL big. Maybe even Hall of Fame big.

"I don't think words can express how thankful I am to have known you
two," coach shakes his head as he hands a stole to Eli.

He couldn't believe he wouldn't be with them anymore.

"Thank you, Coach," Eli smiles.

"No, thank you, Eli."

Eli walks away, understanding that Luke and Coach Felmer needed a
minute to themselves.

"It was an honor to have a Taylor play for me," he says sincerely, "Don't
forget to visit me once in a while."

He hands Luke his stole shakily. He takes the stole and holds his hand out.

"It was good to play with you, coach," he says and the two shake hands.

"Now go back to your family before you see me get emotional," Coach
shoos Luke away.

_________________________

Luke makes it back to Aubrey right as his grandmother is making her sit
down.

"We can't have this," Ella shakes her head.

"What's wrong?" Luke asks worriedly. He glances at Aubrey, just to make

sure she's okay.
Even though it has been many months since her reaction, Luke is still on
edge about the whole thing. It scarred him.

"The poor thing can hardly walk!" Ella exclaims, "That cruel old bat made
her wear these."

Ella points to Aubrey's shoes. Luke sets his stole down as he sits down
beside her.

"Do they hurt your feet?" he asks her softly.

"I'm sure they do! She's rolled her ankle twice now!" Ella's steely eyes look
around the crowds of people for Aubrey's so-called 'mother'.

"I'm going to the store," she holds out her hands and Charlie knows exactly
what that means. He takes the car keys out his pocket and hands them to his
determined wife.

Luke places Aubrey's legs on his lap before undoing the straps of the
wedges. He slides them off her feet and sits them on the ground beside the
table they're sitting at.

He runs his hands over her soft feet, applying pressure in the right places
for a few minutes before setting them back down on the ground.

Since the graduation is being held outside, it won't hurt for her to go
barefoot for a while.

As Olivia and Izzy arrive, Aubrey runs off to go see them.

The three girls won't be seeing much of each other either.

Olivia will be attending Florida State University come Fall, studying

environmental sciences.

Izzy will be majoring in English at the University of South Carolina.

At least both girls won't be far from each other. If Alabama doesn't get back
to Aubrey, then she won't be close to anyone she loves.
________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

My toes glide through the soft grass of the field.

I should go barefoot more often.

I drag Izzy and Olivia back to the table where Luke and I were sitting. I
take my seat beside him and he grabs onto my hand, bringing it up to his
lips. I feel my cheeks turn pink so I decide to change the subject.

"I love your dress Izzy," I smile. Her dress looked really good on her. It's a
maroon, short dress that has dark blue flowers littering the bottom of it.

I would think that after more than six months together that the blushing
would simmer down some. Apparently not.

Twenty minutes later, Ella comes back a pair of shoes in her hand. She
hands me a pair of tan Jack Rogers.

"Ella, you didn't have to get these!" I gasp knowing that Jack Roger's are
not cheap.

"Oh hush, sweet pea. It was nothing," she assures me. I hear the loud
talking of my mother as she comes near us. Luke scoots my chair closer to
his and he puts his arm around the back of it.

"Aubrey Wilson! I told you to wear those shoes!" my mother scolds me and
I look down at my lap.

"Well you may have told her to, but she is eighteen. She can wear what she
wants," Ella defends me against my own

mother

.
Luke rubs a soothing hand up and down my arm, knowing that the situation
with her is bothering me.

"All seniors please report to the gym to be lined up!" our principal calls out
and we stand up.

Hand in hand, like always, Luke and I enter the gym. Luke leaves me a kiss
on the head before we are forced to separate to get in line.

With the help of Ethan who, thank goodness, is in line right in front of me, I
put my graduation gown over my dress.

As the sound of classical music begins, our class starts walking out. Strong
emotions hit me when I walk out of the gym for the last time.

All at once thoughts hit me. Thoughts about how even though we all
complained that school was horrible and that it sucked, it was the best days
of our lives. The memories that were made and the people that I met came
with this school and I'm almost certain I'll actually miss this place.

Lifelong friends are coming out of here with me. Coming here made me
realize who Kelsey really was and coming here showed me what it was like
to be loved by someone other than dad and granddaddy.

As we sit down in our seats, I take a deep breath to calm my emotions.

It's going to be a long time before It's my turn to go up.

_______________________

*Back to 3rd person pov*

"Lucas Taylor." Loud cheers from the audience, mostly the Taylor's, and
fellow students followed his name. Deep 'hoos' came the mouths of the
national champion football players who were spread throughout the field
and even in some chairs.

Aubrey stood standing along with a shouting Ethan as she clapped for him,
a bright smile on her face.
From in front of her, she could see Eli standing on his chair shouting at the
top of his lungs, "Hoo-hoo-hoo!"

Luke couldn't help but let a smile reach his lips. At walking off the stage he
returns to his seat.

What seems like an eternity later, Aubrey's name is called. Luke, along with
everyone else, claps loudly. Except Eli. Eli once again stands on his chair
and shouts earning a look from the principal.

Luke watches as his gorgeous girlfriend walks across the stage. Now that
they're graduating, all he can think about is marrying her.

Of course, not

so

soon, but soon.

Once everyone has gotten their diplomas, the principal clears his throat.

"A video, made by the yearbook committe has been put together
commemorating all of this year's greatest memories. We will now watch
that," he says.

He exits the stage and the large screen behind him goes black. Music begins
to play as collages of pictures show up on the screen.

Pictures of the homecoming and some couples dancing. Aubrey figured that
the picture must have been taken after she had left.

That day was not a good one.

Silly pictures of girls in their dresses and guys in their suits follow.
Including one of Eli dancing with Loryn. To the families sitting in the
stands, he must look like a weirdo but to the people who knew him, they
couldn't control their laughter.
The next group of pictures was taken during the weekend field trip. By the
fire the night right after Aubrey and Luke made up, they're seen in the
background of a picture taken solely of the fire.

To anyone else looking at the picture, they would've missed it. Luke didn't
miss it though, his eyes were always open for her.

Multiple pictures were shown from that trip from when the guys all went
out behind the hotel and played football, to random girls holding monkey's
from the zoo tour.

From ugly pictures submitted from friends to after-school functions, tons of

pictures showed up on the screen.

Pictures of Ryan and Olivia together, which made a few sad. Those pictures
that Aubrey and Luke took together the night they first went all the way
with each other.

Luke smiled at those pictures.

From those pictures to the ones taken at prom. Couples dancing on the
dance floor, slow dancing and not.

Eli once again dancing with Loryn, making people laugh just as before.

A picture of Luke bending down to be crowned king and a picture of Eli

standing on the stage, the queen's crown on his head, and giving an
acceptance speech while the real queen was in the bathroom.

Then another picture, of the real king and queen together and one more of
them slow dancing and staring at each other lovingly. The final one of the
king and queen show Luke twirling the love of his life as Aubrey is seen
giggling while spinning.

Finally the last pictures. The national championship.

It shows the guys with their arms linked as they came out the tunnel and
another shows them running the rest of the way.
A picture captures the moments the Mustangs and the Trojans met in the
middle and another one when Eli managed to make a stadium filled with
thousands of people laugh.

The music stops and a video on the screen begins to play. The winning play
of the game is shown and for the first time, Luke hears the silence of the
stadium as the ball rolls off his fingers. He didn't realize it then.

The video shows the reactions and the tackles and Eli's spike and five-foot
jump. A final picture shows and it is of the Greenwood Trojans, all lined up
with a banner saying 'National Champions' held up in front of them.

Luke glances down at the championship ring that sat on his finger. Usually,
he would never wear it figuring that it would seem to be too self-centered
but, like every other teammate today, he wore it with them.

Aubrey wipes the tear that managed to escape as seeing all those memories
packed into one slideshow.

"And now," the principal reappears back onto the stage, "Congratulations to
the class of 2018!"

Most of Greenwood high's seniors remove their caps and throw them up
into the air.

The only reason they all didn't was because some spent weeks decorating
them and they didn't want their hard work to go to waste.

Luke finds Aubrey and they express their excitement of being high school
graduates with a sweet kiss.

Now they can really start their future together.

____________________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

We make it back to Luke's house after a long day. After graduation, we took
many, many pictures.
After pictures, I felt slightly bad as I ditched mom and went with Luke,
Ella, James, and Charlie out to eat.

If I'm being honest with myself though, she most likely didn't care at all.
She never even asked to get a picture with me. Or even of me.

I would at least like to know what I did to her.

I take a seat on Luke's bed as he shuts the door.

Now would be the best time to tell him.

Before I open my mouth, I'm tackled back onto the bed. Luke places his lips
on my neck and a small moan escapes my lips.

Luke's hand runs down my back as he begins to unbutton my dress. The

emotions of today finally get to me and a large tear makes it's way down my
cheek, I try and wipe it discreetly hoping Luke won't notice it as he's too
busy kissing my jaw.

Of course, he notices though.

"Did I hurt you?" he asks worriedly before checking me for any sort of
injury.

"No," I answer as more tears leak from my eyes.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he holds my face in both of his hands as he

wipes the tears from under my eyes.

"I messed up," I whisper and watch his eyes concerned eyes turn confused.

"Before you say anything else," a small smirk reaches his lips, "It only
slightly sounds like you're about to tell me you cheated on me, which I
know is absolutely not true, but for my sanity will you please rephrase
that?"

A small laugh bubbles in my throat.

"Okay," I agree, "I did something stupid."

He places a kiss on my lips.

"That wasn't much better, darlin' but continue."

"I never submitted the application to Alabama," a sob rises in my throat and
he releases my face from his hands. His entire face fills with confusion at
what I just told him before he turns back to me and looks at me skeptically.

"Why wouldn't you submit it?" his voice goes deeper as he asks me, a sign
that he's not happy.

"No!" I imagine that he's thinking that I didn't submit it on purpose. I would
never, ever do that

"I thought I did! I didn't click the second submit button and it never went
through," I put my face in my hands and I hear him sigh deeply.

"How the hell could you miss that?" he questions and I lift my head from
my hands. His face is not happy, which only makes me feel worse.

"I didn't see it," I explain pathetically and he scoffs.

"How far is the closest place you applied to?" he questions, some hope still
left in his eyes.

"Eight hours," I mumble.

"Fuck, Aubrey," he curses and stands from the bed.

"When I submitted it, it said that I still had a chance. My application isn't
priority but I still have a chance," I say in an attempt to convince both of us
that it will be okay.

"Like that'll make a difference. They just say that shit," he mumbles and
more tears gather in my eyes.

He sits back down on the bed and takes a deep breath.

"It'll be okay," he says unconvincingly, "we'll make it work."

"Long distance never works," I accidentally say aloud and Luke looks taken
aback.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows it," I stare at my lap.

"Well I think we can do it," he says actually confidently. I look up at him,

my eyes watery and puffy.

"For four years?" I ask softly and his expression falls.

"I guess you don't."

"I don't want to do long distance," I search my brain for a solution to our
problem, "eventually we would become distant."

"No, we wouldn't. I love you too much to not talk to you. I won't do this
without you," he pushes my hair away from my face.

He's a college football player now. He will have games across the country
and practices every day. He'll be too tired to call me or facetime me at night.
Not to mention his classes he'll be taking. I just don't see a way that this will
work and I want it to, more than anything.

"It won't work," I say firmly and I feel him move away from me but I don't
look. I can't bear to see the look on his face right now.

"So you're just gonna give up like that, huh?" he asks quietly. I hold my
breath as a sob racks my body, trying to keep it as quiet as possible.

This hurt so much more than I even deemed possible.

"You don't love me?" his voice goes weak and I turn to him.

"I never said I didn't love you, Luke," I say loudly, not believing that he
would actually think that.
"Well, it sure as hell feels like you don't," he says back in the same tone, as
he stands just like I am, looking directly down at me.

"I do, I swear to God I do," I make sure he understands that I

do

love him.

"But it just won't work," he nods, before looking up at the ceiling.

It hurts more to hear him say it.

I let the tears come down my face, knowing that I'm unable to stop the
constant flow.

"Might at as well break up now," my heart feels like it goes through a

shredder, "Just to get it over with."

An audible sob leaves my lips when he looks down at me and I see a tear
trail down his face.

"Don't end it this way," I struggle to say through my crying.

All I want right now is to crawl into his arms and to forget about the
conversation. I don't want this to end, I never do. Seeing that tear on his
face was just the thing needed to fully break my heart.

"What do you want me to say, baby?" his voice cracks and he begins to
reach out his arms before pulling them back by his side.

I wish I knew. God, I wish I knew.

"I-I don't know."

I've never dealt with a breakup. I've never had a boyfriend but more
specifically, I've never loved anyone like this.
"Maybe you should go," he says quietly, wiping the tear from his cheek and
clearing his throat.

Another sob threatens to leave my body but I don't let it.

"You're right," I whisper.

For the first time ever, he doesn't walk me out.

_________________________

*THERE WILL BE BONUS CHAPTERS*

|Guys...this is it. It seems sorta surreal that this is the end but it is. The
journey of Luke and Aubrey will continue, I promise. Don't let the title
'Epilogue' make you believe that this is truly it. Thank you all for
giving this story a chance.

*Not edited*

Word count: 4078

-Ashlyn M

.
Sequel Chapter 1 "Sometimes it's
better to be selfish"
(Bonus 1 of many)

*3rd Person POV*

The days following the breakup was hell for both Luke and Aubrey. Neither
did much of anything.

Aubrey stayed in the comforts of her own room, weeping her eyes out while
Luke could barely control any type of emotions.

He cried. A lot actually, he had just let the love of his life, the woman he
was surely going to marry, walk right out of his fingertips.

'But it's what she wants,'

he was only trying to make her happy. He only ever wanted her to be happy.
Even if it meant going through hell, he would do it, which is basically what
he went through.

But what he couldn't understand was, why was she not wanting to at least
try long distance?

Aubrey connected the pieces as to the reasoning behind Olivia and Ryan's
breakup. The only reason behind their splitting had to be the distance that
was going to be between them.

Of course, that wasn't the only deciding factor for her.

Her and Kelsey, although best friends, after only a couple weeks away from
each other, they started losing contact. They would no longer talk to each
other nightly, but maybe once every few days, then it became once a week,
then once every two weeks until their horrendous argument which led them
to completely lose contact with each other.

Aubrey was so scared of something like that happening that she let it take
hold of all her thoughts. Between the two deciding factors, it made Aubrey
feel hopeless.

It only took a day for all of their friends to find out something was up. Eli
knew straight away something was wrong with his best friend when he
walked into Luke's house and found him staring at the lock screen of his
phone.

A picture of Aubrey, her curls wild and her cheeks pink with a blush.

Every time he looked at the photo, the memory of that day was the only
thing going through his mind.

It was her birthday. They, along with the girls and guys, were sitting at the
food court in an amusement park. Aubrey had left her phone at home,
worried that she might lose it due to the roller coasters. She had used Luke's
camera as a mirror to make sure she had no ice cream on and around her
face and mouth.

As she had handed the phone back to Luke, he had called her beautiful and
since the camera was already up on the phone, he was able to capture the
moment following it.

That's what made Eli realize something was up. Usually, when Luke missed
Aubrey, it would vocally announce it. Often too, he missed her often, but
when Eli found him just looking at the picture, he knew something was
wrong.

The bad feeling Eli had come true when Luke opened his mouth. As soon as
the words had come out, Luke couldn't be bothered by his then burning and
glossy eyes.

He was heartbroken.
He never imagined that those words would come out of his mouth when
talking about her. That's one of the things that hurt him the most. Also
knowing that he would definitely propose to her, within the next couple of
years.

The words shocked Eli. Never in his life had he been so shocked at
something that had come out of someone's mouth before, and he'd heard
some weird things in his day. He couldn't believe it.

Eli had never seen two people love each other so much. Same goes with
Izzy and Olivia.

The two girls couldn't believe it once Aubrey managed to get the words out
of her mouth and they felt that there was nothing they could do to help
Aubrey.

She was heartbroken.

______________________________

It was a week before they saw each other for the first time since the
breakup.

The guys had shown up at Luke's house and they forced him to go out
saying that he can't spend the rest of his life in the house.

Of course, he disagreed with that.

"I can do what I fucking want."

Finally, they managed to get him out. The guys didn't really know where to
take him since the only places they'd really seen him happy was when and
where he was with Aubrey.

Luke had always been a quiet guy. He never really had much to say unless
it was rude or either to Aubrey. Now though, the guys had never seen him
so quiet.
The only thing going through Luke's mind was all the time spent with her.
All the times he had held her tightly to him. The first time he had told her
he loved her and the life-changing moment where she said she loved him
too.

The way she would look at him after he had just cussed out Eli. Even the
way she would hold onto him. Whether it be she holding onto him because
something had startled her or she's stepping over a curb, either way, he
couldn't get it out of his head.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Olivia had the same idea in mind. They knew they
needed to get her away from the sappy movies and junk food.

They also had no idea where to take her. There wasn't really anywhere in a
thirty-five-mile radius that Luke and Aubrey hadn't been together.

"Hey! We could go to the strip club!" Anger begins to flood through Luke at
the idiotic idea that just came from Ryan.

"Shut u-" Luke cuts Eli off, beginning to say the first thing he's said in
almost an hour.

"I swear to God Ryan," he realizes Aubrey wouldn't be happy to hear him
say that but at this moment, he doesn't care, "If you say stupid shit like that
one more time, I don't care if we've known each other for three years, I will
beat the living shit out of you."

At catching sight of a newer restaurant that Eli was sure they'd never been
to before, he pulls into the place and parks near the door.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia and Izzy see the same restaurant and they don't
even realize that the silver Jeep parked out front is Eli's.

Near the back of the restaurant, Luke, Ryan, and Eli sit. Luke is leaning
back in his chair, swirling his straw in his cup of sweet tea and staring down
at it solemnly.
The bell rings at the front of the restaurant signaling that someone had
entered. That didn't bother him though, he still kept his eyes trained on the
drink in front of him.

"Oh shit," Eli whispers from beside him. Luke glances at him only to see
him looking somewhere else. He follows Eli's gaze and once he catches
sight of what he's looking at, his breath catches in his throat.

He sits up in his chair quicker than the flash. His heart pounds so rapidly it
feels like it's making an imprint on his shirt.

Breathtaking caramel curls.

Beautiful Bahama blue eyes.

The addicting lips.

That damn dimple.

Gorgeous and perfect body.

Luke's eyes traveled up and down his Aubrey, his heart clenching in pain.
The gorgeous body of hers which had been praised by him nonstop was
killing him as he looked at her.

He wanted so, so badly to just go up behind her and wrap his arms around
her tiny frame, like he'd done so many times before.

But he couldn't.

"Let's fucking go," his anger gets the best of him and he stands up from his
chair abruptly.

He's not angry at her. By no means is he even slightly angry at her.

His frustration is controlling him at this point. He knows that if he stays in

this god-forbidden place any second longer, then he won't hesitate to walk
straight up to her, get down on his knees, and beg her to take him back.
He knew that's not what she would want, and he just wants her to be happy.

The guys stand up from their seats which gets the attention of the three
girls.

From the corner of her eye, Aubrey sees a tall figure which of course,
catches her attention.

Her eyes fall on her Luke and a small gasp escapes her lips. She tries to
keep the tears out her eyes but when her vision becomes blurry, she knows
she can't get rid of it.

Soon enough, the smell that she loves most in the world is right near her.
His arm comes around and he places a $20 on cashier desk in front of her.

She can't stay here. She backs away to go to the bathroom but she hits
something. The large hand grasps her waist and she knows exactly who
she's hit. She just doesn't want to turn around.

With his hand already on her, Luke now just wants to see her Bahama blues.

She gathers her courage and she looks around at him as their friends watch
in silence.

At seeing the tears in her eyes, Luke's heart breaks even more.

"Baby," he whispers pleadingly but Aubrey can't handle it. She places her
hand on his hand and for the second that she does it, they both relish in the
feeling.

Before he can say anything else, she runs. She makes it to the bathroom and
she lets out quiet weeps.

The hurt in his eyes as he watched his love run away from him couldn't be
described and his frustration of not being able to just hold her grew.

He storms out of the restaurant and the guys follow him as the two girls run
to the bathroom after Aubrey.
________________________

Luke storms into his house and he walks into the kitchen. The memories of
all the things they had done in that room hit him like a ton of bricks.

All the times he had kissed her up against the counters.

Sitting at the island where he told her he loved her.

The stove where she had prepared many different things for him knowing
that he can't cook to save his life.

The sink where they had had water fights.

The oven where she had attempted to teach him the ways of baking. It didn't
work but it was fun for him to watch her bend over and check the cupcakes
she was making.

Eli and Ryan enter the kitchen right as Luke swipes the cow-shaped salt
shakers off the island.

The ones Aubrey had convinced him that he needed to get since they were
'the cutest thing on the planet'.

He sends the fruit basket filled with all the fruits she loved to the ground
meanwhile the two guys still in the room watching, not knowing what to do,
or how to calm him.

Aubrey was the only one that was able to do such a task.

He flips the chairs at the island and his eyes become blurry with all his
frustration.

He didn't think it was possible to want someone as much as he does right

now.

He throws the clean dishes that were in the sink onto the floor, effectively
breaking them all.
He picks up her favorite hot chocolate mug that she had brought over to his
house and he almost throws it. She loved the cup so dearly that he just
couldn't do it.

Angry tears begin to run down his face and he slams the cup back onto the
counter.

Eli and Ryan watch him in shock as he stands leaned up against the counter,
tears freely flowing. They'd never seen Luke cry.

To them, Luke was the toughest guy they had ever met. There wasn't really
anything anyone could do to make him upset. Angry, of course, people
made him angry twenty times a day, daily. But upset, never.

The guys had both decided by now that Luke was way tougher than both of
them, combined. The guy was unbreakable.

Or so that thought because as they look at him right now, they see that he's
far past heartbroken.

"Luke," Eli says quietly, "You know we're here for you."

The only person who wanted Aubrey and Luke back together besides
themselves is Eli. He can't stand to see his best friend like this.

Especially when there was absolutely nothing he could do to fix it.

Luke wipes his face. He could care less for crying in front of the two,
knowing the reason, but he'd always hated crying in general.

He didn't think it made you weak, in fact, he thought it made you stronger.
He just hated the feeling of the tears. They made his cheeks tickle, a feeling
that Aubrey's hair would do when he would cuddle up close behind her.

The three of them hear the front door open. After a few seconds, James
appears in the entrance of the kitchen and he's taken aback by the scene of
broken glass on the floor and flipped over chairs.
"We're going to go," Eli realizes that the matter has more to do with Luke
and James than with all of them, "I'll talk to you later, Luke."

The guys leave and James watches them walk out.

James knows Luke is hurting and he understands the pain. His beloved wife
had died just three years ago, his heartbreak was everlasting.

He also knew that their pain was different. Luke didn't have a mother to get
him through his breakup and since he was young, that's what he needed.

James knew that his son loved Aubrey very much and vice-versa. They
looked at each other much like the way he and Charlotte looked at each
other, with unconditional love.

"I'm sorry," Luke looks around at the mess he's made. James just looks at
his son who has tear-stained cheeks and down-casted eyes.

"I know this is hard on you," James picks a chair up and he sits it back in its
original place, "but you're giving up."

Luke lets a scoff escape his lips.

"It's what she wants," Luke sighs, "and I just want her to be happy."

"That may be so," James nods understandingly. He picks up the broken

pieces of the salt shakers and Luke begins to feel terrible about breaking
them.

"But are

you

happy?" He asks Luke. The question catches him off guard.

He never really thought about his happiness. To him, Aubrey's happiness

was more important than his.
More times than not, Luke was happy no matter what, as long as he was
with her. He was always happy but as he thinks about it now, he's been
absolutely miserable for the past week.

Not happy at all.

"I'm not happy," he shakes his head.

"Sometimes it's better to be selfish," James glances over at Luke, "and to

think about what you need. Do you know what you need?"

Of course, he knew what he needed. The question had the world's most
obvious answer.

"I need her," Luke answers simply and a smile reaches James' lips.

"So why are you still standing here? You've already wasted a week out of
the month you have left here, and it was without her," James says and Luke
remembers he leaves in three months for training camp.

He's wasting time not being with her.

"I've got to go," Luke grabs his keys and he heads out the door.

"Oh yeah! It's all good, I'll just clean all of your mess!" James calls after
him picking up the other chair Luke threw.

He places it back in its spot and right as he lets go, it crumbles to the floor.

"Well, shiet."

________________________

The whole ride to Aubrey's house, Luke tries to figure out exactly what the
hell he'll say to her. Every time he tries to think of something though, his
mind just goes blank.

His thoughts fill with doubt.

What if she doesn't want me anymore?

What if she doesn't change her mind?

What if she hates me now? After all, I did tell her she should leave when we
broke up. I just didn't want her to see me down a bottle of whiskey.

After ten minutes, he pulls up to the place he had stopped at countless

times. The place where they had often spent their time and nights.

He parks at his usual, well old, parking space across the street from her
house.

Behind a blue truck?

'The neighbors must've gotten a new car',

he guesses.

His heart beats quickly as he approaches her door. For two reasons, one,
because he's nervous as fuck. Two, just because his heart always beats
quicker when he nears her, what's new?

He's tempted to just walk right in like he'd usually do but he knows he
shouldn't. It probably wouldn't turn out to be a great start for what he's
trying to accomplish.

He forms his hand into a fist and he hits his knuckles against the wooden
door. He takes a deep breath while waiting for her to open it.

Lord knows what he'll do when she opens the door. He could fall to his
knees and hug her stomach, begging for her to give them a chance.

He could freeze up and be too caught up in looking over her gorgeous

features that he had missed way too much.

Or maybe she would just slam the door in his face. Who knows?
He hears someone on the other side of the door and he decides to just take
the easy route. He stares down at his feet as the door opens in front of him.

"Aubrey, we need to tal-" he cuts himself off when he looks up and sees a
guy he's never seen before looking back at him with narrowed eyes.

His possessive side kicks in and he glares back at the guy.

"Who the fuck are you?" Luke asks the guy standing in front of him angrily.

________________________

|1st sequel chapter and it's a cliffhanger *wink wink*. IT'S

CHRISTMAS EVE YA'LL!!! I'm super excited for Christmas and I
hope ya'll have a wonderful holiday! So, the last couple of chapters
have been in 3rd person pov, if you haven't noticed. I just felt like what
I wanted to happen in the chapters couldn't really be explained by just
having the first person pov's, so that explains that

Thanks for reading!!

Word count: 3089

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 2 "I'm selfish"
*30 minutes prior*

*AUBREY'S POV*

A loud knock is heard on my door and my head fills with confusion.

I'm not expecting anyone.

I walk to the front door slowly, trying to figure out if I should bring some
sort of weapon or not. I grab the door handle and I open it.

Owen stands on the other side and as soon as I see him, I let out an excited
squeal.

Thank you, God.

I attack him with a hug and he lets out a chuckle. The five months he's been
gone, I've worried about him every day. I was terrified something bad
would happen to him.

"I've missed you!" I say, pulling away from the hug, "Come in!"

We sit on my couch and begin to talk.

"How was everything?" I question softly.

"It's so different now," he explains, "without your dad there. We got

assigned a new captain too."

"How is the new captain?" I question and he sighs.

"The guys on our base are a close-knit group. Your dad had been our
captain for years and we all knew him very well. This new guy, wouldn't do
half the stuff your dad would do. It's just not the same, for anyone."
Owen and I talk for a while about the things that went on during his
employment.

"Would you like something to drink, Owen?" I ask before getting up. I've
had to pee for twenty minutes now.

"Oh, water would be fine. Thank you," he smiles at me and I nod returning
the smile. I finish using the bathroom and as I'm getting his water, the
doorbell rings again.

"I can get it, Ree," Owen calls out from the living room. As I fill up his cup,
I hear him open the door.

"Who the fuck are you?" my eyes almost bulge out of my head. I sit down
the cup and make my way to Owen and Luke.

"Who are

you

?" Owen asks in return and I finally stop beside the two.

"Ree-" Owen starts only to be cut off by Luke.

"Ree?" Luke questions looking between the two of us. My heart hurts at
seeing him but I stay strong.

I feel stress invade my body and a headache coming along.

"C-Can you maybe come back later?" I question Owen softly. He turns his
attention to me.

"Of course," he nods. I stand at the door with my head down, gazing at my
feet. Owen goes behind me to the couch. He grabs his jacket and his keys
before coming back over to us.

"I'll see you later," Owen gives me a hug and I only train my eyes on him,
not being able to see the look on Luke's face as he watches in front of us.
Once Owen is gone out of sight, I still don't look up at Luke.

"I know you don't want to talk to me," he says emotionlessly, "but I need to
talk to you."

My hearts stutters as he talks to me. There's no way I'll be able to get

through a full conversation with him.

Not once while he's talking do I look up at him. I begin to close the door on
him but he holds it open.

"Aubrey, don't be like this. You said for yourself that you didn't want to end
it like this."

I just walk away from the door and away from him. Of course, he follows
me. I walk into the kitchen and I begin putting the dishes away, trying
everything I can to get my mind to stop thinking about him.

"Who was that guy?" he asks as he stops beside the sink and I can feel his
eyes trained on me.

"Owen. You know who Owen is," I say quietly and I decide that I will say
no more to him before weep uncontrollably and make a fool of myself.

Of course, I don't want him and I to end. Especially like this. But we've
already started and why not break up in advance to ensure that I won't hurt
in the future? That's what he wanted at least.

"Might as well break up now, just to get it over with."

The pain my heart went through at that time was too much.

I open one of the cabinets to put a cup in but he takes the cup out of my
hand and he sets it on the counter.

My eyes well up with tears and I just grab a different dish and put that one
away.
"This hurts me just as much as it hurts you," he says before grabbing onto
my arm and turning me so that I'm looking right at him.

I struggle under his hold, wiggling my body to get out of his embrace.

"Baby, stop," he says as pitiful tears roll down my cheeks at him calling me
baby. His warm hands wipe the tears of my cheeks and on instinct, I lean
into his touch before realizing what I'm doing.

I shoot out of his touch and I turn away from him.

"You shouldn't be here. I think you should leave," I tell him softly.

"I'm not going anywhere," he says and I hang my head at his response.

Why couldn't he just leave?

"I don't want you here, Luke," I turn around and look up at him, "I don't
want to see you anymore and I don't want you to touch me. We're done. You
and I were never going work out anyway. It's better this way and I'm
moving on. I don't love you anymore."

My last words rip through him and his eyes well up. His eyebrows furrow
and his nostrils flare.

Did I mean what I just said? Absolutely not. Did I just want him to leave
because seeing him hurt too much? Yes.

"You don't mean that. If you were telling the truth, your nose wouldn't
twitch. You're still a shit liar," I begin to walk away from him again but he
pulls me back.

"I don't care what you want any more," he says angrily, "I'm selfish. I don't
give a shit."

"I know this hurts you, baby," he holds me close to him, "It's killing me. But
I'm not going to let you walk away from me."

I lay my forehead on his chest as silent tears travel down my cheeks.

"There's still a chance. You can still get accepted and If you don't, I'll
transfer, I don't care," he says and my head shoots off his chest.

"I won't let you do that," I say very firmly.

"Then I promise you that I would visit you and call you every day and
every night. We have three weeks left here together and I don't want to
waste it without you. We can figure everything out later. For now, I just
want you," he holds my chin, tilting it up to his face.

"Please," he pleads, "it's all I want."

I look into his dark gray eyes. His pleading eyes look back into mine and I
don't have the heart to say no. He's got a very, very good point. I would
rather spend these three weeks with him than not.

Maybe I will end up with a broken heart anyway. No one really knows what
the future holds. For now, he's right. We have three weeks and I don't want
to spend those three weeks without him.

I return my gaze to him and I stand on my tippy-toes. I pull his face down
to mine and our lips connect.

His arms wrap around my waist and he holds me tight.

I really missed this.

I pull away and he leans his forehead on mine.

"You still love me, right?" he whispers. I run my hand over the stubble on
his jaw and give his lips a soft kiss.

A terrible feeling washes over me when I remember I told him I don't love
him anymore.

"I love you," I run my hand along the side of his face and he leans into my
hand. Our lips connect once more in an emotion-filled, slow, kiss, "I'm so
sorry."
______________________

His gentle hands run along the side of my body and I relish in the feeling. I
missed him so, so much.

He pushes me down onto the bed before he leans down over me,
reconnecting our mouths in a sweet passionate kiss.

His strong arms wrap around my back, holding me extra close to him as the
smell of him invades my nose. A smell that makes me truly happy.

"I love you," he mumbles against my lips, "so much."

He hands find the bottom of my shirt and he lifts it off my body. He runs
kisses along my collarbone and up my neck.

I let out a soft moan as he stays on my sweet spot. My hands run down his
chest and with one slight tug from me, he's taking his shirt off.

His toned, muscled chest comes into view and it sends my heart into yet
another flutter.

I feel the side of my neck throb and I know he left a hickey. I don't pay too
much attention to it before he's back onto my lips.

His hand runs up my thigh and tingles shoot through my legs. His hands
find the buttons to my pants and he undoes them.

He slides my shorts off my legs before moving his hands softly up my back.
He sits up and pulls me onto his lap, eliciting a gasp from me.

My hands find his hair and he lets out a soft moan.

He buries his face in my neck, returning to my sweet-spot right under my

jaw as his hands find the back of my bra. He unclasps my bra and he begins
to remove the straps from my shoulders.

The door to my room bursts open and Luke's hand stops in its place on my
shoulder, his hand still attached to my bra strap.
Luke pulls me to him tightly, shielding my almost bare chest as he hooks
back my bra. After he hooks it, he picks up the covers from behind me and
he drapes them over my shoulders.

"No"

"Fucking"

"Way"

A dark blush covers my cheeks as I look at the doorway. Not only is it just
Izzy and Olivia, but Eli is right beside the two, with his eyes widened.

At least Luke has his pants on I guess.

"Well, it appears you two have made up," Izzy smiles happily.

"Well um, we'll be downstairs," Olivia says, "Just come down when you're
ready!"

The leave quicker than a flash of lightning, closing the door behind them. I
sit, with my comforter wrapped around me, the blush still on my cheeks as I
look down at the sheets.

"Did you know they were coming?" Luke asks.

"No," I look up at him only to see a small smirk on his face.

He gets off the bed and pulls me up with him. He bends down to where our
shirts are and he hands me mine.

I pick up my shorts and slide them back on. Luke stops in front of me and
he tilts my head up and to the side.

"I gave you a hickey," he smirks and I almost let out a groan. He knows
how much I used to hate it when he did that to me.

Before we broke up, he hadn't given me one in months. I guess now he just
couldn't hold himself back.
I just move my hair so that it is covering it and him and I go downstairs.

"You know, I really couldn't be happier," Eli's smile falters, "I just wish I
didn't have to see my best friend fuckin-"

"Eli," Luke cuts him off and rolls his eyes, "We weren't fucking."

"Could have fooled me."

"Well, nevermind that!" Olivia says, "Eli wanted to see how you were so we
figured we would bring him here."

"And you seem to be doing just fine, Aubrey," Eli smirks and wiggles his
eyebrows at me, causing another blush to reappear on my face.

__________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

I walk with Eli back out to his car, just wanting to talk with him alone for a
second. Just to make sure of a few things.

"You didn't see anything did you?" I question him and he stops at his Jeep,
turning his attention to me.

"See anything?" Eli rubs his chin, "Like what?"

"Don't be a dipshit, Eli," I narrow my eyes at him and he's trying to control
a growing smile.

"All I saw was two kids, deeply in love with each other," he announces,
"and half a boob."

I throw my hand forward and punch his nose. Not hard or anything but
surely enough to make it bleed.

His hand flies to his nose and a smile reaches my face. Blood begins to seep
through the gaps between his fingers.
"You should've just said no," I put my arm around his shoulder as I lead him
back into the house, fully knowing that Aubrey is going to kill me for what
I've just done.

I'd rather her just be really mad at me than not be with her though.

"I was just kidding," Eli grumbles.

"Were you though?" I question him and with the way he looks away from
me, I know he wasn't kidding.

_______________________

Eli sits on the toilet, looking right up at Aubrey as she tends to his bleeding
nose.

I don't feel bad one bit.

"How did this happen?"

"Lu-, I mean,

tripped into the side of my car and hit my nose," Eli catches himself and I
smirk.

"Oh, I bet that hurt," she says sympathetically.

She finishes tending to his nose and he stands.

"I bet it will be tender for a little while," she winces cutely, "but you'll be
fine."

Eli thanks her for helping him and he tells us he's going home. I open my
arms and Aubrey walks into them.

Her body shapes perfectly into mine and I close my eyes, thanking God for
this beautiful girl in my arms.
"What was the truth?" she whispers and my eyes open, "I could tell he was
lying to me when he told me what happened."

I pull away and lean down to catch a taste of those lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about, darlin'," she scrunches her nose at
my answer and I let my eyes travel all over her face, taking in the beautiful.

"You're not a very good friend," she smiles softly up at me. Olivia and Izzy
come and stand in the doorway of the bathroom and I glance over at them.

I wish they leave. Aubrey and I just made up and pretty much the only thing
I want to do with her is cuddle and watch whatever movie she wants to
watch.

Or finish what we had started but that can be done whenever she wants.

"Well, we're glad you two are happy again," Izzy says but I don't pay much
attention to her.

I'm too focused on watching Aubrey's eyelashes as they hit her cheeks every
time she blinks.

"We're going to just, you know, go back to Izzy's house," Olivia winks at
Aubrey, "You two can go on to do whatever! I swear we won't bother you
this time!"

Aubrey lets out a soft groan and she hides her face in my chest. I rub my
hand down her back and let it slide down to the luscious ass of hers. It
doesn't stay there long before she's grabbing it and moving it back up to her
back.

The girls move out of sight and eventually, I hear the front door open, then
close.

I tilt her head back over to me and I don't hesitate to put my lips on hers.

We've got three weeks, and we're about to make the most of it.
_________________________

|MERRY CHRISTMAS

|Sorry for the wait ya'll. I got a new computer for Christmas (it's
touchscreen *skrrt skrrt*) and I had to set it up and all that jazz.
THEN, I got the mother effing flu (which I still have, but it's getting
better) and I felt like dying so I didn't feel like writing. But here ya go!
It's short, I know but sequel chaps are just gonna be like this
sometimes. We're almost at 50k reads and just woww. THANKS FOR
READING!!!!

*I don't edit, Grammarly 'somewhat'does ;)*

Word count: 2741

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 3 "The Truth"
*3 Weeks Later*
No letter.

Nothing

Luke's hand rubs up and down my tense back as he places a kiss to my

temple. He leaves tomorrow and there is no way of me or him knowing if
I'm going to go to Alabama not.

My hope is slowly running out.

Especially since I have already gotten acceptance letters from other colleges
like UNC and Texas A&M.

The past three weeks have unfortunately flown by. Not a day goes by
without Luke and I being together. It's almost like I live at his house now.

Mom and I's relationship just keeps spiraling downhill.

A week ago, we had a pretty big argument. The argument was quite
ridiculous and it was about getting a case for all of dad's belongings so that
they wouldn't have to stay in that moving box for any longer.

She didn't find the need to spend money on something so 'useless'.

I didn't think it was useless, though. I think dad's things deserve to be in a

better place. Not just in some cardboard box.

So using my own money, I bought a classy, vintage case to put his things in.

She was
not

happy.

"There was no need to make such a dumb purchase! It's just old clothes and
medals!"

Hearing her speak about the beloved medals that he had earned from many
years of hard work really hurt me.

And they weren't just clothes. They were his old fancy uniforms and they
weren't something that I was ever going to get rid of.

She spoke about him like he was nothing and she just hated anything that
belonged to him. I don't know what caused her hatred but it really isn't nice.

Rick was there throughout the whole argument. He didn't say a word. He
actually pretended like there weren't two people in front of him arguing
while he just drank some coffee.

I tried to hide the whole argument from Luke but when he asked about the
new case in my room, I told him everything.

He was

not

happy.

Since then, I've stayed at his house. I haven't talked to my mother and I
think it's better that way if I'm being honest with myself.

Granddaddy was right, I do need to keep a close eye on her.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Luke questions softly.

"My mom," I reply quietly.

He lets out a scoff. He really doesn't like her much.

He looks up at the ceiling and he sighs. He tightens his arm around me and
pulls me on top of him.

He buries his face in my neck and holds me tight in a gentle embrace.

"I'm going to miss you," I whisper before laying my head down on his
shoulder.

"Still nothing?" He asks and I shake my head. He lets out a sigh and he
plants a kiss on my head.

"We'll figure it out," he nods.

The door to Luke's room opens and we turn our gazes to the person.

Eli stands with his hands covering his eyes and I giggle.

"Eli, you don't have to cover your eyes. We aren't doing anything," I sit up
and Luke does too.

Eli slowly uncovers his eyes.

"I just don't want another bloody nose," Eli grumbles and I give Luke the
snake eyes.

"We're all going out to eat," Eli says, "I wanted all of us to get together
before we leave tomorrow."

My expression turns sad and as much as I try to hide it, Luke sees it. He
runs his hand down my back in a comforting manner.

He stands up and lifts me with him.

"Aw, Aubrey, don't be sad," Eli opens his arms wide and Luke hesitantly
lets me go.

I walk into Eli's warm hug. After only a few seconds, Luke is pulling me
back to him by one of the belt loops of my jeans.
Eli rolls his eyes and we head downstairs.

_____________________________

"The trick to crop dusting is what you do after," Eli goes on as we walk into
'Riverside Steak House'.

"Eli, why are you talking about this?" Ryan pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Let me finish dumbass," he chides before continuing, "After you float the
air biscuit, you've got to get into a good position where you can see the
person when they smell it. That's what makes it funny."

I let out a quiet laugh and I shake my head at what just came out of Eli's
mouth.

Any other time, Luke would be the one to tell him to shut up, most likely
using other profanities as well.

Right now though, all he does is stay quiet. He's right behind me, his front
pressed right up against my back and he's got his arms draped around my
waist. His chin sits softly on top of my head and he's so close, I can feel the
beat of his heart on the top of my shoulder blade.

I brush my hand over his arm that's around my waist softly and with his
other hand that's sitting at the front of my waist, he gently draws circles on
my stomach with his thumb.

"How long does it take to get a damn seat around here?" Olivia grumbles as
we stand and wait to be brought to our seats.

She's only acting like that because she's standing right next to Ryan in this
small entryway. Unfortunately, things just aren't that smooth with them.
They aren't doing well with being friends; they're just awkward around each
other.

Luke moves his chin from the top of my head and he leans down beside my
ear.
"I love you," he places a soft lingering kiss on my cheek.

"I love you too," I reply with a smile.

"Hm?" He questions and I giggle.

"I love you," I say a little louder and I know he can hear me.

"A little louder, love," He ushers.

"I'm not doing this here," I whisper and he smirks at me before pecking my
lips softly.

After another minute or so, a fancy looking man comes and takes us to our
seats.

"Your waitress will be with you momentarily," he says handing us all a

menu before walking away.

I pick up my menu and open it to the first page. A warm hand rests itself on
my thigh and slowly, it moves up my leg.

I ignore his hand for a little while but eventually, it gets too high up for our
surroundings. I place my hand over the top of his, stopping it in its track.
He turns his hand over and we interlace our fingers.

I let my eyes go over all the items on the menu. Half of them are fish, which
isn't so great for me.

"It's all fish," Luke grumbles as he lays his chin on my shoulder.

"It's okay," I smile at his concern.

"So when do you guys leave again?" Ryan asks and Luke removes his chin
from my shoulder turning toward him.

"Tomorrow afternoon we drive down there," he explains with a tense voice.

"You guys are driving all the way down there?" Izzy questions.
"It's just easier," Eli explains, "we'll have our cars down there already and I
can sing all I want."

"It's a win-win for everybody," Luke mumbles, talking about Eli's not-so-
heavenly singing.

I'm really going to miss these fools.

I go over my menu again and when an unfamiliar female voice speaks up,
my eyes dart to the source.

"I'm Sarah. What can I get you guys to drink?" she questions raising one of
her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Sprite"

"A beer. Kidding, Pepsi," Eli says and Luke rolls his eyes while I shake my
head and smile at the terrible joke.

"Water"

"Sweet tea," Luke says and she gives him a smile.

"Sweet tea too, please," I smile up at her but unfortunately, she doesn't
smile back making mine falter a little.

"Water, with lemon," Olivia's eyes slightly narrow at the woman.

"I'll be back with your drinks and to take your order," her eyes stay fixed
beside me but I try my best to pay no attention to it.

Olivia nudges me and I look over to her. She narrows her eyes and tilts her
head back to the place where the waitress was standing.

I just shrug and lean back correctly in my seat glancing over at Luke.

I can understand why she was staring at him. He's very handsome. Chiseled
features such as a strong, sharp jaw and dark hair with light eyes. The very
light freckles that litter the top of his cheeks, which can only be seen close-
up are a factor in not only making him very handsome but, at least to me,
cute too. His teeth are perfectly straight and white.

I'm quite jealous actually because to get my teeth as straight as they are
now, I had to go through two years of braces.

I truthfully can't understand what he saw in me. When I look in the mirror, I
don't really see anything special. Sure, my blue eyes are very blue but
nothing out of the ordinary. I have short legs and larger thighs than what I
think I should. Dull in-between colored hair that can't choose to just be
brown or be blonde. Small freckles litter my nose and a single deep dimple
lives on my right cheek but that doesn't mean anything to my self-
consciousness.

"You okay?" his deep voice asks me softly and I bring my eyes up to his.
Deep gray eyes stare back at me and a small smile appears on his face.

"Is there something on my face?" he teases and a light blush covers my

cheeks as I shake my head. He leans forward and places a kiss on my cheek.

"I think Luke has a new admirer," Eli blurts from the other side of the table.
Luke pulls away from me and he rolls his eyes annoyedly.

I just ignore him and pick my menu up to look for what I want to order.

After a few minutes, the waitress comes back and she sits out drinks in the
correct spots.

"I'll take your orders," she says and she starts taking down our orders. I just
continue to have my nose shoved in my menu, not wanting to see her eyes
trained on my Luke.

I can't help but to look when he orders though.

He orders a T-bone steak and what he wants to go with it. Her eyes watch
his face the whole time, and she, I guess, totally forgets about writing his
order down.
"And will that be all for you?" She questions before biting her lip. From
across me, I see Eli contain his laughter by covering his mouth with his
hand.

"Yeah," he replies in a 'no bull poop' tone but her eyes don't move from his.

"You're sure?" She lets out a quiet giggle and Eli gags silently.

"He's sure," I put on a fake smile.

"What do you want to order, babe?" He questions, leaning closer to me,

making sure she gets the memo.

_____________________________

After eating our meal and listening to Luke be mad at Eli for an hour for
getting shrimp, we all walk out the front door.

I walk forward to talk to Izzy and Olivia but I don't even make it to where
they are. As soon as I leave Luke's side, he's grabbing onto my sides and
pulling me flush against him.

He moves my hair out of the way before placing his lips on my neck.

"Stay with me," he says softly before bringing his lips to mine.

He pulls away and his hand brushing a French fry crumb off my shirt.

My face turns pink and he chuckles.

"You're so cute," he kisses my forehead.

"Even though you're a bitch," I catch what Ryan is saying to Eli, "I guess I'll
miss you."

Eli lets out a loud gasp and he nearly tackles Ryan to the ground in a hug. I
always knew they never really hated each other.
"Get in on this Lucas," Eli calls out, holding out an arm for Luke. From
beside me, Luke lets out a sound in his throat which basically means "no".

"Oh go, Luke," I pull away from him and shove him towards the two. He
reluctantly walks towards them and Eli grabs him by the shoulder, which
earns him a punch to the stomach, but in the end, they do have a mini group
hug. Sort of, but it's as close as they'll ever get.

The Taylor's may be huggers but Luke sure is not. Luke likes to have his
personal space which is ironic though considering I have to be attached to
his hip at all times.

"Isn't that so nice?" I say happily to the two girls beside me, discreetly
handing Izzy my phone so she can take pictures of them together at this
moment.

As they pull away, I see Ryan giving a look to an oblivious Luke. I know
that look, and it's not good.

Luke continues to say something to Eli but when Ryan's hand comes and
slaps him across the face, everything becomes dead silent.

"He's going to die. I'm serious," Izzy whispers with widened eyes as Luke
turns his gaze to a now frightened Ryan.

"Before you murder me!" Ryan puts his hands in the air, stepping away
from a very angry Luke, "I've just always wanted to do that!"

Luke's shoulders become less tense and he has us all fooled for a second.
That is before his hand flies back and he punches Ryan square in the nose.

A gasp escapes my lips and Olivia and Izzy laugh out loud. Thank goodness
he at least didn't hit him as hard as everyone knows he could.

"Hey!" Eli exclaims excitedly before laughing, "He did that to me too!"

So that's why Eli's nose was bleeding all that time ago.
Ryan wipes his bloodied nose on a stack of napkins Izzy had in her purse
and a laugh leaves his lips.

"I'll miss you guys," he says and Eli smiles.

"We'll miss you too, yeah yeah," Luke waves a hand in the air and rolls his
eyes. A giggle escapes my lips at his attempt to be sentimental and he turns
and narrows his eyes at me while holding back a smirk.

"I've got to get going," Ryan smiles, still holding a napkin to his nose, "Bye
guys."

We watch as Ryan drives away and then Eli turns to us. He says his
goodbyes to Izzy and Olivia and I try to control my emotions when he stops
in front of me.

He sends me a sad smile and his eyes become a little bit glossy which only
makes me want to crawl in a ball.

"You're going to make me cry, Eli," I whisper and a quiet chuckle escapes
his lips. He flicks Luke off before pulling me towards him and crushing my
body against him.

"You're the best little person I've ever met," he says and I laugh. He looks
up at Luke who is standing beside us and he raises his hand and waves him
off. Luke just rolls his eyes before walking away.

Eli pulls away and holds me at arm's length.

"Thank you," he smiles and I turn confused.

"For what?" I question.

"For being my best friend when Ryan was a douche. For bringing us all
together," my eyes well up with tears, "and everything you've done for
Luke."

"Eli," I whine at him making me cry.

"He's changed because of you, and I thank you for that. Even though he's a
mean big guy, he did deserve to have something good in his life. And that
was you, now he's half mean and half a teddy bear," Eli laughs and I do too.

"I love you, Eli," I smile up at him and he grabs his heart.

"As a neglected child," I laugh considering he's far from a neglected child,
"and a guy who has never heard those words come from any other girl
beside his mom and little sister, my heart just grew like the Grinch's did in
the movie."

"And I love you too, boo-boo," he pulls my head into his chest like he used
to do all the time for our morning hugs.

___________________________

Luke extends his arms out towards me and I giggle as I walk back over the
bed where he is laying.

"I'm right here, Luke," I move my wet hair off my shoulder and adjust my
leggings.

I hate putting leggings on when just getting out the shower. It's truly a pain
in the butt.

"But I want you right

here

," he whines, pointing at a spot on the bed that is right up against him. I
climb onto the bed and lay right in the spot he told me to, facing him.

He wraps one arm around me and pulls me impossibly closer. His other
hand grabs one of mine and he lifts it up to his lips. He kisses the palm of
my hand, my middle knuckles, and the bigger knuckles.

He places my hand on his cheek and a small smile reaches my lips as he

cuddles in close to me. Eli was right, he's a big teddy bear.
I brush my thumb over his jaw and he lets out a content sigh.

"I'm hungry," he mumbles into my shoulder and I giggle.

Of course he's hungry only an hour after eating.

______________________________

"If you continue, I'll let your chicken burn," I warn Luke as I flip the
cooking chicken. He pauses his kisses along my neck and he chuckles
against me.

"I just want you close to me," he grumbles, wrapping his strong arms
around my waist from behind me.

"And I don't want to listen to the sound of your stomach growling," I chide,
"I already have to hear your snoring."

"Well shit, just point out all my flaws why don't you," his hand hits my
hind-end. I slap the chicken down on the pan, purposefully making sure a
little bit of hot grease hits him.

A splash of grease lands on his arm and he curses.

"Jokes on you cause' now you get to kiss it better

and

listen to me whine about it."

Finishing up his stupid chicken, I put it on a plate and turn around. I peer up
at him with narrowed eyes and he smiles.

"Thank you, my love," he takes the plate and sits at the island.

After a few minutes, I feel a presence missing.

"What happened to my salt shakers?" I look around the counters and his
hand pauses halfway to his mouth.
Those were the cutest salt shakers.

"I have no idea," he lies terribly which is odd, considering he's usually a
great liar to everyone else.

"Luke."

"I broke them," he winces and my eyes widen before I slap the back of his
head.

"Ow," he mumbles.

"Why would you break them?!" I question angrily.

"I was mad and I broke them. I'm sorry, I'll get you new ones," he explains.

"How could you have the heart to break those cute cows? And new ones
wouldn't be the same as the originals. I'll have to switch to another animal,"
I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

He pushes his now empty plate in front of him and he scoots his chair back
a bit. He grabs a hold of one of my arms and he pulls me down onto his lap.

"Then I'll get you new ones of a different animal," he drapes his arms
around my waist, keeping me positioned facing towards him on his lap.

"Okay," I grumble and he kisses my

slight

pout.

Those cows, whose names were hefty and hefta, were beyond cute. They
were like my children, and them being gone makes me upset for two
reasons. One, they were broken in a terrible, cruel act of violence, and two,
it took me this long to notice they were gone.

He lays his head down on my chest and my hands find their way to his hair.
"I love you," he says softly, sitting his chin on my sternum and looking up
at me.

"I love you too," I press a light kiss to his temple.

After tomorrow, nothing will be the same anymore.

_____________________________

I wake up due to a strong, hurtful ache in my stomach.

Before period cramps

Luke's arms that are wrapped around me, holding me close to him, aren't
helping the situation at all.

A small whimper leaves my lips as the pain gets slightly worse. This is by
far the worst part of having a period.

At least for me. I've got the worst cramps known to man, and only the good
Lord knows when they're coming.

I try and pull Luke's arms off of me but he just lets out a deep grumble in
refusal, in his gosh darn sleep.

My eyes water at the stupid pain as another whimper leaves my lips. It's the
type of pain where you need something but you just don't know what that
is.

Like you want to try everything you can to make it go away like, walking,
sitting up, standing, and stuff like that.

But first, I need his legs for arms off of me.

"Luke," I whine and shove his arms, which finally wakes his tail up.
"What?" he says deeply and I would have swooned if my stomach didn't
feel like it was killing itself.

I sit up and his arms drop from around me. I wrap my arms around my own
stomach and he sits up beside me with a dramatic noise.

When sitting up doesn't make the pain go away, either.

"What's wrong?" Luke asks worriedly, sitting up when I do. I don't say
anything as I focus on trying to get the pain to go away.

"Baby?" he places a hand on the small of my back. My eyes water and

finally the pain lessons to a tolerable amount.

"Aubrey, you're scaring me," he moves a curl out of my face so he can see
me. I let out a deep breath and I lean back against the headboard.

"My stomach hurts," I answer him softly.

"Did you eat something?" he questions as he takes the hair tie from my
wrist and he gently puts my hair up.

"No, it's not that," I hesitate, not necessarily wanting to tell him I'm about to
have my period sometime soon and I'm having cramps.

He looks at me and urges me to go on and tell him what it is.

"They're cramps," his face turns to a look of realization and he nods as an

understanding look comes onto his face.

"How do I make it better?" I smile softly at his question and I walk to where
I sat my purse. I take some Ibuprofen and then return to the bed.

I lay down on my back and Luke lays on his side beside me, tucking my
head underneath his chin.

"Does it hurt here?" he questions as he places his large hand on my lower

stomach. Even from laying his hand over top of my clothes, I feel the heat
radiating off of it and it feels really good.
He lifts up my shirt to above my belly button and he moves my sweatpants
down from right under my belly button, to my hip bone before placing his
warm hand on the bare spot and gently rubbing it.

"God, I'm going to hate waking up without you beside me," he whispers in
my ear right as I'm drifting off.

Dear God, please help us find some way to make this work.

____________________________

The next morning, I woke up before Luke. I was clinging to him like the
teddy bear he is and he was peacefully sleeping with his head tucked under
my chin.

He woke up not shortly after but we still stayed in the same position.
Neither of us wanted to let go of each other.

When we did finally get up, we still barely left each others' side. To Luke's
satisfaction, we even showered together.

He helped me pack away all my things that I had at his house and then we
went out for lunch.

After eating, we went to my house and spent the rest of the time we had left
together.

Five o'clock rolls around and he begins to reluctantly unwrap his arms from
me. That only lasts for a few seconds though because as soon as he sees my
teary eyes, he's lifting me up like a caveman and hugging me to him.

"Please don't cry, Aubrey," he says painfully.

Maybe I wouldn't cry if he was allowed to come and visit on the weekends.
The only way of us seeing each other for the next, God knows how long, is
facetime.

And If I don't get accepted to Alabama, then it will be mostly face timing
for four years.
He wipes my face and sets me back down on the floor.

"I'll call and facetime you every chance I get, I promise," he leans down and
presses a lingering, emotional kiss on my lips.

He looks at the clock beside my bed and he lets out a sigh.

"I've gotta go, sweetheart," he says quietly with my face still in his hands, "I
would love for you to walk me out but if you do, I'm not sure I'd be able to
drive away from you."

A mix between a laugh and a cry leaves my lips and he leaves one last kiss
on my lips.

"I love you, Aubrey," he softly murmurs against my lips.

"I love you too," I wrap my arms around his large torso, "and please be
careful on the way."

"I will," we pull apart from each other and I keep my emotions at bay as he
leaves one final kiss on my forehead before walking out of my room.

Only a minute later, I listen to the sound of his truck drive away and my
heart turns heavy.

__________________________

Five hours later, the front door opens and mom and Rick walk in. It's only
seven and they aren't supposed to be home until eleven.

I sit up from my lying down position on the couch, mom's eyes dart towards
me and her smile drops from her face.

"Did that

boy

finally leave?" she says snootily and my eyebrows furrow at her. Why
would she say something like that?
"Y-Yes," I say quietly and she lets out a forced laugh.

"He was such a bad influence on you," she sneers and my eyes well up.

I don't understand what I did to her to make her act this way towards me.

Luke is far from bad. If anything, he helped me out of my shell and he even
taught me how to love, which he says I did the same for him but to me, he
did all the heavy lifting of our relationship, something that he would heavily
disagree with.

"Since knowing him, you've become so disrespectful. All you do is act all
quiet when you are here, which is rare, and when you do talk, it's never loud
enough. It's like you hate me," she looks me up and down and I wipe a tear
from under my eye.

I want dad.

"He'll realize his mistake with you and hopefully you two are done talking,"
she crosses her arms and I don't bother to wipe the tears anymore.

"I think that's enough, Claire," Rick finally speaks up, but he does so not so
sure.

"Oh, she's fine," she rolls her eyes, "she needs to grow up anyways."

"I can't wait until I get out of here," I begin quietly, but as I go on, my voice
becomes stronger, "you have been nothing but a cruel person to me and far
from a mother for months now. I've done nothing to you and neither has
dad. After summer is over, you can expect to never hear from me again."

"Your father never had time for me! He was always too busy worrying
about himself! I would try to call him while he was away but he'd rarely
answer!" she tries to justify her leaving but she only makes herself sound
worse.

"Maybe that's because he was too busy making sure everyone around him
stayed alive! You don't know a single thing about him," a deep feeling of
sympathy washes over me for dad.
"Do you want the truth? I'll give it to you, you hateful child! I hadn't loved
your father! You were just the result of a one night stand while he was on
break!" my heart crumbles, "I was young and I couldn't afford to raise a
child so I had to stay with him. Thank God I found Rick and as soon as I
was offered to live up here, I took it."

I swallow down a sob that was stuck in my throat and look into her eyes in
search of any kind of remorse.

I was only met with a cold look.

Memories of when Michelle first brought me here circle my mind.

She was pretending to care in front of the social worker. She only showed
affection around other people.

How could I have been so blind?

"You're a horrible person," I tell her truthfully before putting shoes on,
grabbing my keys, and rushing out the front door.

___________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"

Easier

way

", my ass.

After ten and a half hours on the road, we make it to Tuscaloosa. Another
fifteen brings us to where everyone who goes to training camp stays.
Eli falls out his Jeep and he lays on the pavement for a while until Jon
comes jogging out, his round stomach shaking and all.

"Bout' time ya'll made it here! Ya'll are the last two to arrive," his loud,
booming voice wakes us up a bit.

Eli gets up and walks in the building sluggishly and I get my phone from
the truck. I check the time and it's only twelve-thirty here.

But one-thirty where Aubrey is.

I send her a text telling her I made it without dying or getting arrested for
assault because of all the incapable drivers that were out today.

"Let's go on inside, Taylor!" Jon urges me to follow him and I do.

I walk in the building and the sound of a bunch of guys talking hits my ears
making me want to go back outside.

I just want to sleep. A back rub would be nice too, but no, I'm not allowed
to stay only a little over an hour away, at grandma's, so that Aubrey can
come with me and give me back rubs and her love and affection like I need.

Just my fuckin' luck.

______________________________

I let out a groan when Aubrey doesn't answer.

"I'm sleeping here so I would appreciate it i-" I cut Eli off, not wanting to
hear his shit right now.

"Shut up."

I can't believe they're making me share a room with him all summer. I'll
murder him, I'm not sure if I'm kidding.

"Aw, you miss her don't you?" he questions.

He knows the answer to that question.

"She won't answer," I grumble.

"Well duh, it's two a.m there," he says.

The door to our room bursts open and in walks Jon with the biggest bag of
pork rinds I've ever seen.

We don't say anything, we just look over at him waiting for him to say what
he wants.

"Damn, aren't y'all a lively bunch?" He laughs at himself.

"Oh no Jon, you can't laugh in here. It's a no laughing zone. Only
heartbroken people are allowed," Eli chides sending a sideways glare at me.

His laughing sounds like a hyena, I had to set some rules if we're going to
be staying in the same room.

"Heartbroken?" Jon asks sitting his pork rinds down on my bed. I kick the
bag off and he grabs his heart.

"You're the devil's brother," Eli laughs at Jon's insult.

"Why are you heartbroken?" He asks either of us but I don't answer and just
slam my head down against the headboard.

"Luke had to leave his woman," Eli says and I roll my eyes.

"The time will fly by, you'll see her soon," Jon assures but that's not what
I'm worried about.

She's still not gotten accepted.

"Every day," Eli begins and I just know he's going to say something stupid,
"he's got to have a least a certain amount of Aubrey time or he'll be the
biggest asshole in all of eternity. I know, believe me."
I pick up my water bottle and throw it at his head.

__________________________

The first thing I do in the morning is call her.

I wipe my face after brushing my teeth and my heart races as anticipation of

seeing her grows and when she answers and Izzy's face appears on the
screen my face falls.

"Oh hey! Great to see you too," she says sarcastically and I just ignore the
comment.

"Where's Aubrey? Is she okay?" Memories from the reaction come to mind.

"Oh she's fine," she sighs, her eyes looking at something behind the phone,
"she just had a rough day yesterday."

"Why is that?" I question.

"Well firstly, you left," guilt in leaving her fills my head, "and she had-"

Her eyes fall on something on the other side of the phone and she puts the
phone on mute as she argues with someone.

After about a minute, someone grabs the phone from her hands.

"Good morning, beautiful," I smirk at her disheveled hair. Although she

must've just woken up, she's still the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.

I already miss her.

"Good morning," her soft voice travels through the phone and it if it weren't
for Eli snoring his ass off across the room, I would've thought I was in
heaven.

She tries to tame her curls with her free hand but when it doesn't work, Izzy
sits behind her and begins to do whatever she's doing to it.
"I'm sorry I didn't answer you last night," a soft smile appears on her pretty
lips, "I was asleep."

"That's okay."

"Tell him or I wil-" she cuts Izzy off the sound by putting the mute on and I
sigh. I wanna know too.

From across the room, Eli snorts and coughs himself awake.

"What'd you say?" he questions me and my eyebrows furrow.

"I'm not talking to you, jackass," I reply and his already squinting eyes
become even smaller. He clumsily gets out of his bed, hitting the wall with
his shoulder and running a hand through his wild hair.

He turns towards me and opens his mouth to say something. A long, dried
drool mark sits on his chin and I almost get sick.

Instead of waking up next to Aubrey, what do I get? I get to sleep alone and
then see this ugly motherfucker when I get up.

"You know what? You're not kind," he walks into the bathroom.

*3RD PERSON POV* (it's back bitches)

"He should know Aubrey!" Izzy stresses and Aubrey knows that it's true.

"She should not have talked to you like that and he's your boyfriend, he
deserves to know," Olivia nods from beside the other two girls.

There are multiple reasons as to why Aubrey doesn't want to tell Luke about
the horrendous conversation that went down the previous night. One,
because she knows Luke will have a hissy fit. Two, because it's
embarrassing to have your own blood talk to you like that. And three, she
doesn't want him to worry about her.

Which is quite funny considering he does it anyway.

She looks back to the screen on her phone and she sees his head turned as
his mouth moves, talking to someone. Her fingers itch to trace his very nice
jawline but that would be impossible through a phone.

They really need to improve technology.

she unmutes the phone and the sound of Luke's foul language reaches her
ears. Although she hates the language, she loves the voice.

"Ya'll better tell me what you're hiding," he warns, "I won't hesitate to
unleash Ella Taylor on you. I'll send her up there quicker than you can
imagine."

Aubrey doesn't doubt that one bit.

"I'll start this off," Olivia leans into the view of Aubrey's phone and she
locks her hands together with an evil look.

"Claire St. No-One-Cares is the biggest bitch and the worst mother on the
entire planet. Basically, she told yours truly," she places her hand on the
side of Aubrey's head and pulls it to her shoulder, "that she was a

mistake

. She insulted Aubrey, she insulted you, and she even insulted Aubrey's
dad!"

Aubrey peers over at her phone to see Luke's face from Olivia's shoulder
and she's shocked to see his face calm.

But not a nice calm, an eerily,

too

calm type of calm. One where the deadly eyes tell how angry the person
really is but the rest of the face shows nothing. The worst type of calm and
the worst type of anger.
"I'm sorry she insulted you," Aubrey says quietly, at least attempting to
make him less angry.

"I could give two shits about what the old bat says about me," his voice
comes through the phone and Izzy snickers, "but she can go to hell for what
she said about you."

Of course Luke wasn't there for the whole conversation. He doesn't know
half of what truly was said but did he care? No.

Someone truly insulted who Eli calls Luke's' woman', and he can tell just by
looking at the way she's acting that it really hurt her.

Therefore, the 'old bat' can go to hell, it's simple really.

In Luke's eyes, she's the farthest thing from a mistake that God has ever
made.

And he goes on. Talking more than Izzy and Olivia had ever seen him do all
while throwing hilarious insults right back at Aubrey's mom. After around
two minutes of him still going, he gets up, pausing his insults.

"I'm hungry," he mumbles as he rises from his bed and he walks out his
room. Without a care in the world, he walks through the house-like building
he's staying at until he gets into the kitchen.

"She needs to jump off her shitty little high horse and find something else
better to do than ruin your life just because she hates her own," Luke chides
and a loud, unfamiliar laugh is heard behind him. He turns around and sees
a large group of guys all red-faced staring back at him all while holding
their laughter and not trying to interrupt his call. He doesn't seem to care as
he picks an apple up from a fruit basket.

Of course, when Luke had come into the room looking quite angry, they
figured it was best to leave him alone. They'd heard from Jon that he had a
temper sometimes and the last thing the guys wanted to do was set him off.
So, when he walked into the room, they tried their best to ignore him and
the person on the call.
But, that all went to shit when they listened to what came out of his mouth.

Usually, Luke wouldn't say things like he had. If he were telling someone
off, he'd use more cursing and more...rude terms. But, talking to his Aubrey,
he wanted to keep it at least PG-13 or she might get upset with him.

He never wants her upset with him.

"Maybe she just had a bad day at work-" Luke cuts off her soft, sweet voice
by placing his apple back on the table harshly.

"Don't you even start," he narrows his eyes at her and she shrinks back into
Izzy who is still doing her hair.

The one thing that gets Luke all frustrated is the fact that Aubrey is
constantly trying to make up for people's behavior. She tries to justify their
terrible actions and they don't deserve it a bit.

A long time ago, they had gotten into a fight about that and it resulted in a
crying girlfriend and that was something Luke never wanted. So, he never
really brought up the touchy subject like that again but even now, he still
tells her not to do it.

He picks his apple back off and heads back to his room for a more private
conversation.

"Move bitch," he curses Eli as he runs into him walking through the door of
their room.

"Luke," Aubrey shakes her head at his choice of language.

"Is that Aubrey?!" Eli questions excitedly and he looks at Luke's phone.

"Hi, Eli!" Aubrey giggles happily and Luke smiles softly at the sound.

The thought of not seeing her for almost two months wipes the smile right
off his face. Plus, the thought of barely seeing her for four years.
Luke doesn't say much as he listens to Aubrey, Eli, and the two girls talk for
a while. When a shout comes from the main room telling everyone to meet
there, Luke sighs.

He wishes he could just talk to her for hours- actually, better yet, he wishes
he could be with her.

"You've got to go?" Aubrey questions, an adorable tilt to her head after she
tells goodbye to Eli.

"I'm sorry, darlin'," Luke says.

"Okay," she smiles a small, dimpled smile and he swoons, "I love you!"

"I love you too, baby," they both reluctantly hang up and Luke puts his
phone in his pocket knowing that if he just leaves it alone in the room, Eli
will get ahold of it and take hundreds of pictures of his feet.

He only does it because he knows how much Luke hates his ugly feet.

He walks in, a little later than everyone but did he care? Absolutely not; he
was talking to Aubrey, they can wait.

"Taylor!" Jon calls out as he walks into the room, "come meet everyone,
you got here after we all met last night."

Introduction after introduction and Luke finds himself not liking half the
guys. He knew that would happen though, it's not a surprise.

The final guy sits glaring at another before his attention his caught by Jon.

"Blackwell! Stop hating on Kris and get over here!" Jon ushers the last guy
over and Luke continues eating his apple, turned away from everyone else.

"Luke," Jon taps the shoulder of Luke continuously which annoys him to no
end. He closes his eyes in an attempt to not snap at the man and he turns
around.

"What Jon?" He grits his teeth.

Aiden Blackwell smirks a little at the encounter between the two. He sure
as hell feels the same way.

"Aiden Blackwell," he introduces himself and Luke's attention turns to him.

"Luke Taylor," Luke introduces back.

"I think you two'll get along," Jon starts, "Ya both hate everyone.

"Fuck you," the two guys say simultaneously, slightly shocking both of
them.

Maybe, just maybe, Luke has made a new acquaintance.

_____________________________

|It's been a while, sorry! Hopefully writing the longest chapter I've ever
written will make up for it:)

7,431

words to be exact. The ending of this chapter isn't my favorite but

hopefully, it isn't too bad. Thanks for reading!

*I don't edit*

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 4 "Heartbreak is
an everyday occurrence"
*3rd Person Pov*

-5 Weeks Later-

"What if he doesn't like it?" Aubrey asks Izzy and Olivia nervously.

"Oh come on, Aubrey," Izzy laughs, "You could paint yourself blue, grow
chest hair, and gain one hundred pounds and he'd still love you to death."

Aubrey looks in her car mirror and she runs a hand through her hair. She
loves it, of course, and she just hoped he would think it looked good. He's
the one that's got to look at it mostly.

No longer did she have hair down to her waist. She didn't do anything too
drastic with it but she went to the hair cuttery and told them what she
wanted.

Now, her hair sits just below her shoulders and Luke hadn't seen it yet.

Well technically, he hadn't seen a few things. The hair, the now fourth
earring hole in both her ears and the acceptance letter to the University of
Alabama.

The hair, Aubrey wanted to change because of many reasons. She had had
very long hair her whole life, she could barely stand it laying on her neck in
the heat, and when braiding it, it took way too long. So she cut it to what
she felt was the perfect length. It wasn't short, so she could braid it easily
and put it up with no problems, but now, she could put her hair up

without

it still laying on her neck.

The earrings, Aubrey had had her third hole done since she was fourteen.
So, she decided to go up one more before calling it. She kept the earrings
simple and classy; diamond earrings in all eight of them, and not too big
ones. They went in a perfectly straight row up her ear and she loved the
finished look.

Finally, the acceptance letter.

--One Week Ago--

"What if she's home?" Aubrey asks Olivia worriedly as she drives her car to
her mother's house.

"Then I'll deal with the witch," Izzy chides from the back seat. That didn't
make her feel any better. Knowing her mother, she would still try to find a
way to be mean to her.

Aubrey pulls in her driveway and the three girls get out.

"She's not here," Aubrey sighs and she opens the front door with her set of
keys.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," Aubrey's mother sits on the couch, a
coffee cup in her hand, and the tv on America's Next Top Model.

Aubrey's heart dropped to her feet as she hears her voice. She hadn't heard
or seen her since the day she left.

"She just came to get a few things," Izzy narrows her eyes at Aubrey's so-
called mother.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work? Olivia asks her as Aubrey goes

upstairs to gather her clothes and some other belongings she had missed.

Thank God for Izzy and Olivia. The two of them had been total angels for
Aubrey over the past few weeks. Letting her stay at their houses and even
consoling her when she was missing Luke to the point of tears.
Even helping her think positive thoughts although it's been six weeks and
still no letter from Alabama.

"What workplace makes someone work from six to eleven at night?" Aubrey
hears her mother say as she's walking downstairs.

A bitter smile crosses Claire St. Andrew's lips.

"Did you really think I worked that much?" She laughs and Aubrey's
eyebrows furrow.

"That's what you told me," she whispers.

"You must be stupid. Rick and I would just go out. I didn't want to be in this
house with you," Aubrey's eyes well with tears but she doesn't let them fall.

She'd had enough of the way her mother talked to her.

"Do I have any mail?" Aubrey asks her 'mother'.

Claire stands up and she walks to the table beside the front door. She picks
up a letter and from where Aubrey is standing. She sees the Alabama logo
and her heart begins to race.

"Let me see. Nope, no mail," her mother smiles bitterly once again.

"Give the letter to her," Izzy glares at Claire. Claire just rolls her eyes and
she picks the letter up once again and she tosses it on the floor.

Aubrey rushes to the letter with shaky limbs and she picks it up.

"Don't be surprised if you don't make it," Claire walks back to the couch
and she takes a seat.

Aubrey carefully opens the letter, making sure to not rip it as Izzy and Olivia
peer down at it in hope.

Dear Aubrey,
Congratulations! Your application to the University of Alabama, Capstone
College of Nursing, beginning in Fall 2018, has been approved.

She had stopped reading after that. She was so excited and so joyful that
she couldn't read any further.

She was amazed at how that one letter, months and months ago had broken
her heart, and how this letter made it grow. Tears of joy and relief escaped
her eyes and the two girls hugged her with all their might.

Their little party was torn apart when Claire roughly grabbed the arm of
Aubrey.

"I want you out," she began to shove her daughter out the door but Olivia
smacked her harsh grip away from Aubrey. Red marks stained the ivory skin
of Aubrey's arm and she was taken aback.

"We're leaving," Izzy grabs the bags of Aubrey, along with Olivia and the
three of them walk out.

"Good luck paying the tuition!" Claire yelled out of the front door but
Aubrey ignored her, too focused on the fact that she could actually be with
her Luke.

--Present--

So now, as she sits in the parking lot of the airport, she feels nervous and
excited. Nervous, because she's never flown on a plane by herself and
excited because she gets to see Luke after they've been apart for what has
felt like forever.

She looks at her phone and she sees many missed texts and calls from Luke.
She smiles knowing he's probably very worried since she hasn't answered
him all day.

Throughout the weeks. They texted non-stop, pretty much whenever Luke
was not in training, they were talking either on facetime, a call, or texting.
She knew that if he didn't answer her straight away, he was busy and she
was perfectly fine with that.

But, she had never not answered him.

"Why the fuck isn't she answering?" Luke lets out a small groan and Aiden
chuckles from the recliner chair beside him.

"What if she's asleep?" he reasons and Luke turns his head to him. Over the
past few weeks, they had become great friends. They shared the same
hatred towards stupid people and they found that their interests were
similar: Sleeping, eating, wanting to kill Eli, and well that's about it.

"She doesn't just...sleep," Luke says. Of course, Aubrey is known to take

naps, something he absolutely adores about her considering he gets to hold
her and take one too, but she would never take one from the times she
wakes up, which ranges from seven-thirty in the morning, to nine. From
nine in the morning until about four in the afternoon, she's as lively as can
be and she would never sleep the day away. After four, it's a different story
but that's beside the point.

Her not answering him is slowly killing him.

"Let's think about worst case scenarios here," Aiden begins and Luke looks
at him like he's crazy, which he pretty much is.

"Why the hell would I want to do that?" He asks him.

"Because my worst case scenarios are things that would never happen;
they're a figment of my creative imagination, now listen," he draws a
rainbow in the sky, still laying in his recliner.

"Well you're imagination is fucked up," Luke tells him and he laughs.

"Hell, I know."

"Alright. First worst case scenario," he raises his pointer finger in the air,
"she's taken a vacation to Denmark. She's met a guy, named Fitzgerald and
he's taken a liking to her beautiful features-"
"I hate it," Luke remarks, his eyes unhappy as he thinks about the love of
his life with another guy.

"Give me a minute, Taylor, the mind isn't done. Okay, so-"

Luke sits and listens to Aiden go on about the worst case scenarios which
just so happened to be the dumbest things he'd ever heard. And the funniest.

Meanwhile, as Aubrey takes her seat on the airplane, she breathes in a deep,
nervous breath. She sneakily looks at the time on her phone.

9:30 am.

The whole surprising Luke thing had taken quite a bit of planning. First the
flight and the correct timing of the flight. Then, she needed someone to pick
her up from the airport and to drive her to Tuscaloosa.

The hardest part though was making sure that Ella wouldn't find out. She's
the blabberer of the family. That meant, Whitney, who was picking her up
from the airport, could tell no one and that it would have to be a surprise for

all

the Taylors.

But finally, the plan is in full throttle and Aubrey can't wait to see him.

Although there is tons of excitement in her brain, there's also stress. Stress
about what her mother had said.

"Good luck paying the tuition!"

Of course, she would have to get a job but even then, she can't imagine the
student debt that will be waiting for her after four years.

"Aubrey's not answering me," Eli takes a seat in the recliner beside Aiden,
"Call her for me."

"She won't answer him either," Aiden tells him and he groans.
"Is she mad at you?" Eli asks narrowing his eyes at Luke.

"....N-...No," Luke finally decides.

"Mmm, doesn't sound too convincing, brother," Aiden announces as Kris

walks through their line of sight, automatically making all three of the guys'
eyes narrow into glares.

Kris is the worst. No explanation needed, he is just the worst. Sure, he's a
good football player, you have to be to get into Alabama's program but he
was the cockiest son of a bitch Luke had ever met.

During the past few weeks, Luke had gone through his own different things
as well. No, he didn't cut his hair or get his ears pierced, thank goodness,
but he grew stronger, more agile, half an inch taller, more mature in
appearance, and needier for Aubrey.

Wanting to make sure she's not mad at him, he tries to call her once again.
She doesn't answer. She watches her phone in front of her as the same cute
picture of him with his nose scrunched up appears as his caller picture.

He groans when the call goes to voicemail and he leans his head up against
the back of his recliner chair.

"What's wrong with him?" Jon walks into the house-like building, first
catching sight of Luke in his pity-party hissy fit he's throwing for himself.

"He's heartbroken," Eli answers the same question like he does nearly every
day.

"Again?" Jon asks. He'd thought Luke would've gotten over it by now, but
seeing him like this, Jon concludes that their star quarterback is really, in
fact, in love.

"Jon," Aiden says exasperated, "You've

got

to understand that his heartbreak is an everyday occurrence."

The four hours on the plane, Aubrey mostly reads to pass the time. After
reading for a while, she gets antsy so she goes on Instagram. She comes
across Eli's page, which he is

very

active on and she sees a few select pictures from when they were still in
high school.

Her favorite picture on there is a picture of Eli, Luke and her. It was one of
the pictures they took together after one of their games. Eli was smiling
goofily at the camera and Luke had an arm wrapped around Aubrey, his
eyes trained on her as a smile touches his lips.

Aubrey hadn't noticed the picture before but as she looks at it, she can't help
but make it one of her favorites.

Back in Tuscaloosa, the three guys in the recliners lazily climb out of them,
knowing that training starts in only thirty minutes.

Of course, they can't go anywhere without fighting like brothers, though.

Aiden shoves Eli for 'accidentally' throwing a pillow at his head which only
results in Eli tripping Aiden, making him fall onto Luke. Aiden regains his
balance and Luke sends him a kick in the behind.

Aiden turns around and he points a finger at Luke.

"If I have a footprint on my ass, I'm going to kill you," Eli laughs and they
finally disperse without any further fighting.

The remaining forty-five minutes of the flight goes by pretty quickly,

thankfully, and Aubrey eagerly gets off the plane.

She holds her carry-on as she walks into the main part of the airport from
the long hallway that led her off the plane.

She stands on her tippy toes as she searches for Whitney. Aubrey sees a
flash of light blonde hair before she's nearly tackled to the ground in a hug.
"Oh my Gosh, I'm so happy for you! And me! I get to see you more! And
Luke! He gets to see you more too," she gushes excitedly, pulling away
from the hug.

"I'm so excited too!" Aubrey smile excitedly.

"Wow!" she runs her hand the bottom of her hair, "Your hair looks so, so
good!"

"Thank you," Aubrey smiles and Whitney pulls her into another hug.

"We better get your bags and get going. We've got about two hours until
we're at their training facility and they get out in," she checks her phone,
"two hours and ten minutes."

Moving as quickly as they can, they get all the bags and make it to
Whitney's car in the parking lot. Thankfully, there wasn't much traffic on
the road so they were perfectly ahead of schedule.

They even stopped a Popeyes to get themselves something to eat. Of

course, Aubrey couldn't resist getting Luke something too, knowing he'd be
hungry after training for nearly three hours.

The two girls don't hesitate to jam out to music ranging from songs like
Bohemian Rhapsody, and failing to do the multiple pitched voices, and Too
Good At Goodbyes. A weird range of music but they both enjoyed it a lot.

"Luke hasn't seen my hair yet," Aubrey says as they pull into the training
facility parking lot which is filled with cars belonging to the players.

Her eyes find his truck and her heart begins beating quicker in anticipation.

"I know he'll love it," Whitney smiles and she turns her car off. From where
they parked, only a few spaces away from Luke's truck, they can see the
door to the facility perfectly.

Now, all they have to do is wait fifteen minutes. The longest fifteen minutes
of Aubrey's life. She looks around the secluded area and she leans back in
her seat to calm herself.
"Did that one hurt?" Whitney points to her own ear where a second earring
hole should go.

"It was like someone quickly pinched your ear with their fingernails, only
for a split second though. Then after that, you just feel pressure on it and
it'll be sore for a couple hours," Aubrey explains to the best of her memory.
It had been a long time since she had gotten her second earring hole
pierced.

"I'm thinking about getting it," Whitney smiles.

"I think it would look really good on you," Aubrey smiles back, "I'll even
come with you to get it if you want."

"Please do!" Whitney laughs, "I might faint if I was by myself."

The two talk for the remaining ten minutes until the door to the facility
opens and some of the biggest and tallest guys Aubrey had ever seen begin
filing out.

"What do I do?" Aubrey freezes.

"What?! Go out there! Actually no, don't, some of those guys are scary,"
Whitney shudders.

"Come with me, please," Aubrey pleads and her and Whitney step out of
her car. Considering Luke is not out yet and they have no idea who anyone
else is, they just go and stand behind his truck, waiting in more anticipation
than before.

"What is he doing, taking a crap?" Whitney mumbles even though they've

only been waiting for a mere two minutes.

"What if they have them in like stations?" Aubrey starts, "Like they have
training for these guys and then they alternate so since these guys just got
done, then Luke is just getting started."

Whitney lets out a quiet gasp.

"What if you're right?" Whitney says, "Let's just go wait in my ca- oh my
Gosh!"

Whitney turns excited as she sees her cousin, Eli, and one other fine
specimen walk out of the doors.

"What?" Aubrey whispers in the same tone as her.

"There he is!" She whispers excitedly and Aubrey turns nervous. Too
nervous to look even though she wants to so, so badly.

"Go out there," Whitney ushers Aubrey but she doesn't move.

"I'm nervous," Aubrey admits, and Whitney looks at her like she's crazy.

"What the hell are you nervous for?" Whitney questions as quickly as she
can seeing that the three guys are getting closer and closer.

"I don't know," she slaps her forehead as they approach.

"Go," Whitney gives her a slight push.

"No," she squeaks and Whitney gives her a stronger push, which pushes her
out beside Luke's truck.

She looks behind her to scold Whitney but a voice causes her to whip her
head back around.

"Aubrey?" Luke's voice sounds unrecognizable to Aiden as he softly speaks

to the small framed girl a few yards in front of them.

For a second, Luke thought he was just seeing things. The last thing he
expected was to see her here.

She raises her head and he gets a sight of those gorgeous Bahama blues he
loves so much.

"She's even prettier in person," Aiden nudges Eli and Eli nods, a satisfied
smile on his lips.
Luke begins walking forward, his arms itching to be around her. She
follows but she trips over the tall curb in front of her. She lands on her knee,
scraping it during the fall and Aiden hisses in pain for the poor girl as Eli
winces.

"She's always been clumsy," Eli shakes his head.

The pain barely gets to her as she stands up quickly, Luke now right in front
of her.

She notices his muscles bulging more than the last time he'd seen her and
boy did he still look amazing.

"Baby," he looks down at her knee thinking about how he should've gotten
to her closer to help her over it as he'd always done.

"I'm okay," she smiles up at him and his knees almost buckle. He bends
over and scoops her into his arms and responds by wrapping hers around his
neck.

"I missed you," she wraps her dangling legs around his torso, careful of the
blood on her knee.

His eyes travel along her curly, now shorter hair and his mind can barely
comprehend how gorgeous she looks.

"Goddamn you're so fucking pretty," he grabs her chin and pulls her lips
onto his. He almost moans into the kiss considering he hadn't had one in
what felt forever. He missed the sweet taste of her lips.

"Wow," Aiden says and Eli nods as they both watch Luke's gentle
movements around her. Something Aiden hadn't ever seen before.

He sits her back on her feet, but he doesn't let go. It's going to take a while
for him to let go of her, especially since he hadn't held her in so long.

"Your hair," he smiles, "It's- you're beautiful."

"I love you," Aubrey smiles up at him and a smile breaks out on his face at
hearing her say those words in person.

"I love you too," he kisses her lips again and a small smirk appears on her
lips, which absolutely

turns

him

on

"Mm?" she hums teasingly and he leans down and chuckles into her neck.

"I love you too," he says louder and she just leaves it at that. Goodness
knows how loud he'd actually shout it.

"My turn!" Eli shouts out and the sound of his shoes on the concrete reaches
Luke's ears.

"Fuck you," Luke turns his head and tells Eli, which causes him to gasp
dramatically.

He wouldn't be so dramatic if Aubrey weren't here but any chance he got to

get Luke in trouble, he took.

Aubrey pulls away from Luke at his vile language. She swats his extremely
toned arm and gives him a look, which surprises Aiden once again.

Aiden just keeps going through a whirlwind of unsuspecting surprises.

"I'm sorry," he places a sweet kiss on her forehead. Luke finally lets go of
her and Eli rushes to hug her.

"I've missed you boo-boo," Aiden is brought into another surprise as Luke
stops beside him.
"I wasn't expecting that, her, this, everything," Aiden looks a little lost and
Luke chuckles.

Aiden had heard tons about Aubrey. Between both Luke and Eli, that was
half of what they talked about. He had only ever seen one glimpse of her
and that was when she was on facetime with Luke. He had walked by Luke
while he was on the call and he saw a very pretty girl.

Besides that though, he wasn't expecting to see a smaller framed tinier girl
with lighter, curly hair, bright blue eyes, and light colored, non-revealing
clothes.

When thinking about what type of girl Luke liked, Aiden thought of a
fitness type of girl. Maybe with dark hair, darker colored eyes, maybe even
darker clothes. Probably some sort of smart mouth or badass to most likely
go with his attitude. He pictured a tall, long-legged girl, not like the one in
front of him.

The girl standing a couple of yards in front of him was the complete
opposite.

He also didn't expect such a reserved type of girl. Most of the guys he knew
always fawned over the showier type of girl; one that was confident and
would wear more revealing things.

He could tell by looking at her that she was nothing like that.

By only seeing a small glimpse of her face from that facetime call, he knew
she was very pretty but standing near her now, she was undeniably
beautiful. Not that he was trying to steal her or anything, he had very much
respect of other guys' girlfriends, especially friends' girlfriends.

"Alright, that's enough," Luke grumbles getting the attention of the two. Eli
rolls his eyes and stands back near Aiden.

"Where'd you come from?" he brings his love back into his arms, kissing
her jaw with another small smile on his face.
"Well," she smiles and tilts her head, her hair falling away from her neck,
which only teases him.

"Whitney," Aubrey calls out softly and Whitney walks out from behind
Luke's truck.

"Where are all these girls coming from?" Aiden figures that if any more
very attractive women come out from behind the truck, he's going to have
to go get one for himself.

"Hey Luke," Whitney smiles at one of her favorite cousins before her eyes
fall back upon Aiden, "I'm going over here."

Aubrey watches Whitney as she begins walking to another guy she had
never seen before. She lets out a gasp and she pulls away from Luke. She
never even realized he was there.

'He must think I'm rude'

she thinks.

"Did you make a friend?" She asks him excitedly and he rolls his eyes,
placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head.

"C'mon," he grabs her hand and he begins to lead her over to Aiden.

Whitney can't help but swoon over Aiden. He is quite attractive. He's got
dark brown hair and chestnut eyes which go perfectly with his tanned skin
tone. He's got a strong build and a sturdy jaw. He towers to the height of
6'4, between the height of Eli and Luke.

Luke places her in front Aiden and she looks up at him happily.

"I'm Aubrey," she smiles, her deep dimple making an appearance. Luke
leans down and kisses it, something he always does when seeing it, eliciting
a blush from her but she ignores it mostly.

"Aiden," he smiles back at her.

"Jesus Aubrey," Luke catches sight of her knee which now has blood
dripping down her small shin.

"It's okay," she bends over and looks at the scrape.

"Dr. Nicami is still inside," Aiden just fuels Luke's want to get her leg taken
care of.

So, placing his strong, warm hand on the small of her back, he leads them
back inside the facility. Aubrey pauses as they walk in. An inside football
field is not what she was expecting. All the way at the end of the field,
there's a whole bunch of weightlifting things.

"Wow," she continues to look around but Luke pulls her along and into the
doctor's room.

"Luke? Aiden? Eli?...Girls?" Dr. Nicami continues to get more and more
confused as each person files into the room.

Luke walks her to the tall seat and he lifts her up onto it.

"Doc, there's been a terrible accident, " Eli begins, "Luke here is a criminal.
He made this poor girl fall onto a curb-"

Luke cuts him off by throwing a box of latex gloves at him, knowing he's
allergic to latex.

"Eat a glove, bitch," Luke glares at Eli and Aubrey's mouth drops open
slightly, to Eli's satisfaction.

"That wasn't nice," she mumbles, "Don't you think we've had enough of
allergic reactions?"

"Sorry," he leans over and gives her soft lips a sweet kiss, as a memory of
Aubrey going through one of the scariest days of his life floods his
thoughts.

"Oh wow," Dr. Nicami says once he sees the reaction between the two. He
hadn't imagined that at all.
"Did you just get a girlfriend?" Dr. Nicami asks with furrowed eyebrows.
He knew Luke hadn't lived in Alabama for a while and that they just left
training only to come back a few minutes later with a girl.

Eli lets out a loud laugh.

"No, she's visiting," Luke tells him which reminds Aubrey of one of the
main reasons why she's here. She had totally forgotten about the acceptance
letter, too caught up in seeing him.

A small gasp leaves her lips at the thought of already forgetting something
so important.

Luke's head snaps to her at hearing her gasp. His eyes fill with worry.

"Can we do something about this?" He asks the doctor.

Aubrey's adrenaline begins to fade away and the pain of when she had fell
starts getting to her.

"I'm Dr. Nicami," the middle-aged man greets her as he moves in front of
her to see her knee better.

"I'm Aubrey," she smiles before wincing when he wipes some blood off her
knee.

He begins to clean around her wound.

"Can you take her to the sink?" Dr. Nicami knows that her knee needs more
cleaning than what he had originally thought.

Luke scoops his girl into his arms with no problem and he brings her over
to the sink. He gently places her on the counter and he takes her Jack
Rogers off her feet before she places her short legs in the sink which is
already running.

"I know this will hurt but It'll help," Dr. Nicami winces, just thinking about
the poor fragile girl. He wasn't a regular doctor. He was a sports medicine
physician, who had specialized in treating injured football players for over
fifteen years now.

He never worked on anyone besides the football players and considering

those guys took hits daily, they had higher pain tolerances than most. He
didn't really have to worry about being too careful when one of the guys
had a gash. He'd just pour on the peroxide and they'd be sent back out.

He didn't want this wound to heal slowly for her though. Wounds on the
knees already take long periods of time to heal due to the bending it does
and putting peroxide on it would help with cleaning but it wouldn't help
with healing it quicker.

He turns the faucet so that it is running over her leg. He cleans it under
warm water as gently as he can and by the look of pain on Aubrey's face,
everyone around in the room tries to distract her.

"Doesn't her hair just look so good?" Whitney smiles.

"I love it," Eli smirks, ways to make Luke mad swirling through his mind.

"I'm sure every guy would love it," he adds and Luke's jaw clenches as he
sends his all time infamous glare at him. The guys in training camp, for the
most part except for a rebellious few, hadn't had any type of female
interaction since they had arrived at the camp.

They were only allowed to go out every once in a while during their stay
and there wouldn't be time to meet any girls.

That's why both Eli and Luke knows that they need to be especially careful
bringing Aubrey around. Goodness knows how needy those guys are.

Eli loved teasing Luke and making him mad. He knew by doing it half the
time would get his ass whooped but the reactions Luke would throw at him
tended to be hilarious.

Aubrey's eyes dart to Aiden and Whitney and she sees the two of them deep
in conversation. A small smile rest on her lips and excitement fills her heart
as she watches the potential couple.

Dr. Nicami finishes up cleaning her wounds and he dries her leg with a
towel as carefully as possible. He places a large band aid over the cuts, one
made for the knee, and Luke carefully lifts her off of the counter.

_______________________

They all walk out of the small office and back into the training part of the
building. Figuring it's now or never, Aubrey stops and since Luke is holding
onto her hand, he does too. Eli and Aiden do too because they're nosy and
Whitney does because she can't help but want to see her cousin's reaction to
the great news.

"What's wrong? Does your knee hurt?" Luke places his large hand on the
small of Aubrey's back and she relishes in the feeling.

"I've got a surprise for you," she smiles and her hand goes the back pocket
of her shorts.

Luke's eyebrows furrow in confusion. The only thing surprise he wanted

was what he got. To see her.

She holds the neatly folded paper out to him and he takes it from her small
hands. He unfolds the paper, still with no clue as to what it is.

Once it's finally unfolded, he reads the first sentence on the paper before
dropping it to the floor and pulling her into his arms. He lifts her off the
ground and gives her a good twirl before placing his lips on hers.

Everything would be okay.

"I got in," Aubrey squeals quietly after pulling away from their kiss.

An amount of relief that Luke didn't know was possible floods through his
entire body. He had never wanted something so bad and he got it.

Now, neither of them had to worry about their future. They didn't have to
worry about when they would see each other and when they would have
time to call each other. They were going to be together for the four years.

And hopefully, the rest of their lives.

Luke couldn't put into words how happy he was.

"I also got you Popeyes," she remembers that too and his heart swells.

He can't believe he's been given the girl in front of him.

'How'd I get so damn lucky?'

he thinks to himself.

"I love you," he plants a soft kiss on her neck, "so much."

________________________

"No one's home," Aubrey realizes as Luke drives onto his grandmother's
long driveway. So, Luke calls Ella and they talk for a few minutes. Whitney
had forgot to mention that, she also forgot to mention that she had to be at
work and therefore, she couldn't drive Aubrey to Ella's house.

But, that didn't really matter to Aubrey. She gets to spend more time with
Luke.

"She said she'll be home in about an hour, she's mad no one told her you
were coming," Luke chuckles and he lifts her out of his truck.

The two of them get her bags and with Luke's spare key to his grandma's
house, they go in.

Every Taylor has a spare. Of course, that meant making tons of keys but
Ella would never want one of her family members to not feel like they can
come at anytime.

They take her bags up to the same spare room the two of them had stayed in
during their multiple visits.
"Look," Aubrey jumps excitedly forgetting yet another thing to show him.
She tucks her hair behind her ears and she tuurns her head so he can see her
ears.

His eyes fall upon the new addition to her ears and a small smile reaches his
lips.

Just as Izzy had said, she could do just about anything and he'd still love her
and think she was gorgeous.

"I thought you said you weren't getting any more?" he tilts her chin up to
see her beautiful face better.

"I wanted to be rebellious," she says proudly and if possible he falls deeper
in love with the girl standing in front of him.

If she thinks that what she did was rebellious, she'd have a heart attack if
she knew some of the things he had done before they had met.

Not being able to resist, Luke pushes her up against the wall of the spare
room and he brings his lips down to hers.

It's been too long.

They share a long, passionate kiss filling in for all time that had been lost.
Aubrey pulls away, needing air and Luke contiunes down her neck.

She had almost forgotten the feeling of his kisses but he was definitely
reminding her now. His hands make their way down to her butt and he gave
it a firm squeeze.

He had missed that too.

He grips the bottom of her shirt before realizing he can't stay. He's not
allowed to be gone past a certain amount of time and since he's already an
hour away from the training facility, he'd never make it back in the time
limit.

"Fuck," he curses, laying his head in her neck.

"What's wrong?" she asks him softly, running her hand up his strong back
in the sweet, comforting way that he loved.

"I can't stay," he lets out a soft groan and Aubrey feels herself deflate a
little.

"Why not?" she asks in a soft tone, which drives him even crazier.

Luke doesn't say anything and he thinks for a minute.

'An hour on the way',

his hand reaches down and he gently squeezes

her irresistible backside

, 'an hour with her, and an hour back.'

Who cares if he's out past his curfew? It's not like he's got afternoon
training for today, he only has those certain days of the week.

Plus, there was absolutely

no way

he could leave here without praising the beauty in front of him.

He pulls his head out of her neck and he slams their lips together with no
hesitation. The two kiss passionately until Aubrey pulls away to his
disappointment.

"I thought you couldn't stay?" She questions breathlessly, her eyes still
hungry from the kiss they had just shared.

"I'm definitely staying," his voice turns deeper at seeing that look in her
eyes. Before she can say anything else, he grabs her by the waist and lifts
her over his shoulder.
"Luke!" she giggles and he sends her flying onto the bed. Before she knows
it, his shirt is coming off and she's met with an

even

more

defined stomach than she thought was possible for a guy who eats as much
as he does.

They resume their previous actions and a body was

definitely

praised.

____________________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Someone came in late yesterday," Aiden sings as he walks behind me to

his locker, across from mine.

A smirk appears on my face but I turn around and hide it. I'd never flaunt
having sex with Aubrey. Sure, last night was downright fucking
phenomenal, but what I do with her when no one else is around is only our
business.

Eli comes up and he opens the locker next to mine, sending me a sideways
smirk. I shake my head at him and take my shirt off to change into our
training clothes.

"No fucking way," Aiden whispers from behind me but I ignore him.

God knows he's probably talking about something stupid.

"What?" Eli's attention turns to him. I turn my head right in time see Eli's
eyes go wide and his mouth drop open. He takes a step back, nearly falling
over the locker room bench right behind him.

What the hell are they looking at?

I follow their eyes and when mine reach my back, my eyebrows raise up.

From what I can see just turning my head, long dark pink and red scratch
marks run down my back.

I clutch my shirt in my hand and I walk to the bathroom mirror. Aiden and
Eli follow and once I get there, I twist my torso and get a full view of my
back.

Goddamn, she must've felt good.

"Damn Taylor," Aiden chuckles looking at the marks. I almost want to hide
them but I just can't stop looking at them knowing that I caused her to feel

that

good.

I feel Eli's finger on my back and I flinch forward.

"Did that hurt?" he asks.

"No."

"Oh my God, did it turn you on?" he questions actually looking wonderous.

"Eli, no, what the fuck?" I roll my eyes at him and Aiden laughs a deep
belly laugh.

Not wanting them to see it for any longer, I turn away and start putting my
shirt on.
"Holy shit man," Aiden chuckles again and he points to my collar bone.
Eli's mouth drops open again and I turn back towards the mirror.

A hickey lays on my collar bone and I almost have to bite back a smile. She
had attempted to not be as loud and she covered her mouth with, apparently,
my collar bone.

I hadn't felt it then, too focused on doing something else.

"You know what," Eli shakes his head with a teasing smile, "put your shirt
back on before we find something else you dirty dawg."

"I guess we know why you were late last night," Aiden and Eli smirk
together and I roll my eyes once more.

"If ya'll tell her you saw anything, I'll kill you both," I threaten them.

God knows what would happen if she found out they knew. She'd be so
embarrassed she wouldn't know what to do with her sweet little self.

If they think seeing my marks are bad, they'd die if they saw her neck and
chest.

________________________

| Guys, holy snickerdoodles. This story has almost 100k reads. I can't
even breathe. When I first started this, I was like "oh I'm only gonna
get like 12 readers" and now I just can't believe it. Thank you, thank
you, thank you for giving my story a chance!

*Not edited*
Word count: 6731

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 5 "Amen sister"
*AUBREY'S POV*

-Fall-

"Fuck," Luke lets out a curse as he sees my car packed with my luggage.

I've truly given up on him and his language at this point.

"Look at these," I run my hand over his muscular arms, "It'll take us no time
with these guns."

I hold my own arms out in front of me and I glance at my small, non-

muscular arms. I give them a little flex but no changes can really be seen.

"I think I have you beat in the bicep department!" I tease him and a smile
reaches his lips. His arm curls around my waist and he pulls me to him.

"I think you're right babe," his hands glide over my arms gently and he
places a couple kissed in the crook of my neck eliciting a giggle from me.

He places one last kiss on my cheek before pulling away.

"We should start," he looks up at the setting sun and I sigh.

"Last one inside is a rotten avocado!" I shout rushing to the car and picking
up a couple of my bags.

"But you're allergic. Pick another food," he follows slowly.

"Apple!"

I walk as quickly as I can into the dorm, which isn't very quick. Somehow, I
make it before Luke does and I know he's a faker.
"You walked slowly on purpose," I smile up at him before realizing how
much of my stuff he's carrying.

Like, almost all of it and he doesn't even look to be struggling. He's

definitely

got me in the biceps department.

"Uh-oh, I guess that means I'm the rotten apple," he sits down the bags as I
press the '4' button on the elevator.

"Mhm," I squeak as he grabs the back of my thighs and lifts me up. He

buries his face in my neck and I close my mouth to keep in a noise.

My eyes find the elevator numbers. Floor 1, floor 2, floor 3, floor 4, floor 5,
floor 6, floor 7, floor 8. My room number is 84. My roommate is probably
in our room. My roommate.

"Oh no!" I gasp and he pulls away and looks at me with worried eyes.

"Did I hurt you?" he questions softly and I shake my head quickly, not
trying to lose my train of thought.

"What if my roommate doesn't like me?" I ask nervously and he smiles a

gorgeous small smile.

"How could she not?" He kisses my lips softly.

The elevator dings and he sits me back on my feet, my nerves still all over
the place.

We make it to my room and I freeze.

"But what if-"

"Aubrey," he sits my bags on the floor once again, he grabs my face and he
tilts it up, "If for some crazy reason, your roommate doesn't like you, you
know you're always welcome, and wanted, in my dorm."
"Isn't that not allowed?" I whisper and he smirks.

"It used to not be. It is now."

"You're going to get me in trouble one of these days," I groan into his chest.

"It's alright, I'll get you out of it if I do," he rubs my back until I get my
courage up.

I take out the key and my so-called courage goes down the drain. Luke
holds his hand out, knowing exactly what to do, like always.

He unlocks the door as I clutch to the back of his shirt and hide behind him.
The door opens and I peek around his large frame.

"Look," he pulls me in front of him, "she's not even here."

Relief floods through me and we both pick up our things and we walk
inside. It's a traditional dorm room. The room is pretty big and there are two
loft-like bed tall beds across from each other.

I look to my right and I see the inside of our bathroom. It's pretty small but
it's got a shower and, a toilet, and a sink.

I guess my roommate has already settled in.

I look around her side of the room and I see a lot of darker colors. Dark
purples, dark blues, and some black.

I look back at my big box of decorations and I see light colors. Light
purples, light blues, and some white.

"Well, just because ya'll are different, doesn't mean she won't like you,"
Luke kisses my forehead.

"You're right," I calm my thoughts and I walk over to my bed, which is

nearly as tall as I am. I jump up on it and swing my leg up, leaving my
other one dangling.
Luke watches only.

"Help a little?" I ask and I feel him come closer.

His large hands grab my butt, he gives it a squeeze, and eventually, he lifts
me the rest of the way onto it.

"You know," I can hear the smirk on his face so I turn around, "we could
put that flexibility to use."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. Then my eyes widen and a blush as red

as a fire truck appears on my cheeks.

"Later?" he pulls my face close to his and I get a sight of his pretty gray
eyes.

"....Later," I agree shyly and he puts his lips on mine.

_________________________

"Blair Hughes," I mumble, only glancing at my roommate's lanyard that is

hanging from her bedpost.

"That's her name?" Luke asks as he lays on my now fully fixed and clothed
bed.

"I think so," I nod, "I got a paper saying who my roommate was but I lost it.
I'm pretty sure that was her name though."

It would suck really bad if she didn't like me. Other than Luke, Eli, and
Aiden, I don't really know anyone that goes here. I mean, sure, the three of
them are trips but I would like to have a girl friend.

It sucked big time to leave Izzy and Olivia. Those two had been the greatest
friends I could ever have. The week before I left for good, we had all spent
the entire week together at Olivia's house. We pigged out, watched tons and
tons of movies, we went to different places, and even had great karaoke
sessions.
When the day came for me to say goodbye, none of us could hold back the
tears. Not only were we all going to different colleges far, far away from
each other, but we had no idea when the next time we would see one
another would be.

Those girls helped me with dad, they helped me with Ana and Katrina, they
gave me relationship advice and never did they once make me feel bad
about my 'saint-like habits' as Izzy would call it of course, just jokingly.

If Blair doesn't like me, It's going to be a rough year.

"What's wrong?" Luke holds out his arms for me and I climb up the little
step stool ladder Luke went and got thirty minutes ago. I lay down in his
arms and he kisses my cheeks.

"I'm still scared," I mumble pathetically and he lets out a groan into my
neck.

"If she doesn't like you, I'll tell Eli," my eyes widen and a laugh escapes my
lips.

"God knows he'll have the biggest fit of the century, so don't worry," he sits
up, looking at the time on his phone.

"Practice?"

"In thirty minutes," he nods and he gets off my twelve-foot high bed as
smooth as can be.

"I'll just be here...waiting for my roommate."

"I'll ask around about her, okay? You're gonna be fine darlin'," I watch him
as he puts his shoes back on.

"Love me?" he questions and I smile.

"I love you," I nod.

"I love you too," he walks back over and kisses me once more.
"I'll be back a little later, don't stress too much, 'kay?"

"Okay," I say even though as soon as he leaves, I'll most likely have another
episode, "be careful."

"Of course."

_______________________

"Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray-" I stop my hushed
singing as I hear the sound of keys rattling outside my room.

Oh Jesus, what do I do?

I pick up a book from the pile of them at the bottom of my bed and I begin
'reading' it, trying to act 'natural.'

I hear the door open and my fists clench around the book in nervousness.

"Oh, wow," a medium toned girl's voice says and I finally look up from my
book.

A pretty tall girl stands at the end of her bed. She's got really pretty brown
hair with bright pink tips and perfectly applied makeup that's not overboard.
Just as I had thought, she's wearing mostly dark colored clothes. A dark
blue crop top that cuts off just above the belly button and high-waisted
black ripped jeans.

I look back up towards her face and notice a silver nose ring which looks
very pretty on her.

"I'm sorry," I turn my stare away from her. I climb down my little step stool
and I stand in front of her.

"You're Aubrey?" she questions, not much expression to her face. I'm sure
she's wondering how she got a roommate who looks to be the complete
opposite of her.
"Y-Yes! I'm very sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. I know I would be a
little bit freaked if someone was just in my room when I came back," I tuck
my hair behind my ear, noticing how much I'm blabbing, "I swear I'm
usually not this talkative. I just get like this sometimes when I'm nervous. I
get nervous often but most times I can control it by thinking of Leo, or even
Rosco-sorry, I'm doing it again."

I fiddle with my hands and I peer down at my feet embarrassingly.

"Don't worry about it, kid. You're adorable," I lift my head up and see she's
actually smiling at me.

"Blair, right?" I question less nervously.

"Yep. You're a freshman, correct?" she asks.

"Yes," I nod.

"I'm a sophomore, I'm majoring in psychology, what about you?" she takes
a seat up on her bed so I take a seat on mine.

"Nursing. Well actually, my BSN."

"I don't know what that is but hey if you like it, you like it," she shrugs.

"I'm excited for it," I smile, making small talk and thinking of how many
people I'll be able to help in the future because of it.

"I need a good fuck," she groans and my hand flies to my heart.

"Oh my," I mumble and she chuckles.

"I had a steady boyfriend in high school but we broke up because he wanted
to go to UCLA and I wanted to get away from there," she explains like it's
nothing but my heart hurts for her.

"I'm sorry," I say.

I can't imagine what it would have been like for Luke and I if I wouldn't
have gotten accepted to here.

"He was a total dickhead anyway," she shrugs once more.

"Oh."

"You look like someone who doesn't want a good fuck," she says, "you look
like someone who has their shit together and knows exactly how everything
will pan out in life and I salute you for that. I don't even have shit to put
together."

"Thank you? I'm sure everything will work itself out for you," I trace the
pattern of my comforter, "I mean, nothing really ever goes to plan but you
just have to find a way to go with the flow."

"You could be a therapist. Actually better yet, you could be my therapist. I

need a wing-woman, are you free tonight?" she questions.

"I'm not sure, why?" I ask, having no clue as to where this conversation is
going.

It's like the subject keeps getting changed and I can barely keep up with it.

"A frat party. Maybe I could help you find a boyfriend and maybe you can
help me find a clean, put together fuck," she offers and my mouth forms an
'O'.

"I-I don't party. I'm more the type to throw a party for only myself if that
makes sense. Plus, I already have a boyfr-"

"Damn," she groans, "If I were to bring you to a frat party, the guys would
go crazy. They're already wild considering freshman girls are just arriving,
but you, you're just what they would love."

I'm not sure that's a very okay thing.

"I'm n-not into that type of thing," I explain and she nods.
"Right, right. I've got to remember that some people have their lives
together unlike me," she taps her head.

_______________________

For about three hours, Blair and I don't say much more. Thankfully it isn't
awkward or anything.

I wouldn't necessarily call us 'friends' but she's the closest thing I have to a
girl friend I feel like I'm going to get for a while.

A loud knock is heard on the door and Blair looks down at me as I'm
stacking my books, half of them still on the floor.

"I got it," she jumps off her bed so smoothly it almost makes me jealous and
she skips to the door.

"Oh damn. Fuck me to tears," I hear her say and I turn to look at who's at
the door.

Luke stands in the doorway, Eli, and Aiden a little ways behind him. I stand
from my sitting position and I walk up behind Blair.

"Come in!" I push open the door wider and Luke comes in right away.

Eli pushes Aiden to go first but Aiden turns around and slaps him in the
chest before pushing him through the door.

"What the fuck?" Luke whisper-shouts seeing that Blair is walking behind
Aiden, checking out his behind and not paying attention to us.

"I didn't know," I shrug sheepishly.

"Nerd alert," Eli picks up a couple of my books and Luke glares at him.

"You can call me a nerd if you'd like," Blair purrs from behind him and he
freezes. Eli looks quite scared, to be frank.
Eli drops my books down where they were and he closes his eyes. With his
eyes still closed, he makes the sign of the cross on his chest while mouthing
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

He takes a deep breath before turning around, face to face with a flirty
looking Blair. He backs away a little once seeing her face.

"I-I am a child of God. So if thou please, I'd be gleeful if thou shall recite
the verse, James 4:7." he says shakily and I join in with him, remembering
the verse quite well from church.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you."

"Amen sister," Aiden whispers.

"Amen," Luke lifts the cross from my neck and kisses it.

"I feel like I'm in an exorcism," she chides and Eli opens his eyes.

"And I feel like you need an exorcism," Eli quivers.

"You can give me one," her smirk reappears and Eli's face morphs once
again.

"Um," I clear my throat to get rid of the tension.

"Blair, that's Eli," I point to Eli and she smiles.

"That's Aiden," I point to a hesitant-looking Aiden.

"A-And this is my boyfriend, Luke," I bring back up the whole 'I don't do
things with frat boys' conversation again.

She looks around at each of the guys.

"Do you have sex with the three of these guys?" She questions glancing
back at me and I don't think I've ever gasped so hard in my life.
"Woah, Woah, Woah," Luke is the one to shut down that rumor right away
with a glare, "No. She has not and she will not ever do

anything

with those two."

"I told you, Blair. I-I'm not that type of person," I curl back into my huge
bean bag chair beside Aiden.

"Sorry," she smacks her forehead, "I keep forgetting. I've got to get going!
That party, you know."

She picks up her knee-high boots from the front of her bed and she puts
them on really slowly, right in front of Eli, who is looking away.

"I'm just teasing you, blondie," she pats his chest, "you're not my type. I like
the brown haired boys," she winks at Aiden and he hides his head behind
me.

"I would flirt with you, tall man, but I don't mess with guys who have
girlfriends," she smiles before heading out the door.

"I want my mom," Eli whines.

"I want to go back to high school," Aiden whines too.

"I want to get you a new fuckin' roommate," Luke glares after the door.

"I second that!" Eli raises his hand and Aiden still stays hidden behind me.
From what? I don't know.

"I'm not about to let that, that person

taint

Aubrey. It won't happen. If someone brings a bible verse out of me, then
that's not me saying it. That is Jesus Christ himself sending a message
through me," Eli blabs and I giggle.
"Oh Jesus, do that again," Eli sighs, "I need more heavenly sounds after
hearing the words I just did."

"Oh no, wait. I think she killed Aiden!" Eli rushes to where Aiden and I are
sitting. I scoot off the bean bag and there lies Aiden.

He's not dead or anything. He's just asleep.

"Oh my God, he's fucking dead," Eli presses his fingers right under Aiden's
neck, "no wait. Nevermind, he's asleep."

I leave the crime scene and walk over to Luke who has been quiet for a
little while now. He opens his arms and I walk into them.

"I love you," he shivers.

"Are you cold," I rub his arms to warm them if he is.

"No, I'm just glad you aren't crazy," he kisses my lips and Aiden 'ooh's' like
he always does whenever he catches us.

I guess he's awake now.

"Come back to my dorm," he pleads and I give him a look.

We had agreed that I would spend tonight in my own room to get used to it
but apparently, that's all going in the dumpster.

"Oh my God, we're having a sleepover?" Eli squeals and Luke rolls his
beautiful eyes.

He walks to the dresser in front of my bed and opens the top drawer, grabs a
handful of shirts, then he opens the bottom drawer and he gets some pants.

When he moves his hands to the middle drawer, he stops. He turns and
motions for the guys to turn away before opening the drawer and grabbing
another handful of my bras and undergarments.
"Luke!" I grab an overnight bag from underneath my bed and I open it for
him to put all the clothes in.

"Now we're ready," he throws the bag over his shoulder and I giggle.

"Can we turn around now?" Aiden mumbles.

"No," Luke says although there's no reason why they can't.

"Yes, you can."

_______________________

"What are you doing?" Luke turns around and looks at Eli and Aiden as
they circle me, looking around the dorm lobby.

"We're sneaking her in, sneakily," Aiden chides as him and Eli switch their
positions.

"She's allowed in here jackass. Even if she wasn't, we know Tyler," Luke
replies and I'm guessing that Tyler is their R.A.

"Tyler Shmyler, we trust no one," Eli chides and I giggle. Luke holds out
his hand and I slip in between the two large figures and grab it.

Thankfully, since it's a little later, there isn't anyone walking around in the
lobby. Looking around the lobby, it's very nice.

It's very Alabama decorated and it's nicer than mine. I kind of guessed it
would be though. Luke, Eli, Aiden, and most student-athletes and
engineering majors stay in this dorm. Well, the ones that are male do since
it is all male.

Aiden and Eli rush to the elevator and to Eli's disappointment, Aiden pushes
the 'up' button first.

The elevator dings and after a few seconds, it opens. A tall, lean guy stands
in it, a large clipboard in his hands and square-framed glasses that have slid
down on his nose.
He looks up and jumps a little in fright, not expecting to see all of us
waiting for the elevator.

"Oh. Luke, and Eli. Aiden, and...a girl," his eyes fall on me and a light blush
reaches my cheeks. I knew I was going to get in trouble.

"Tyler," Luke greets and Tyler lets a little smirk onto his lips. He pushes up
his glasses and looks around the lobby as he steps out of the elevator.

"Try to keep it quiet," he smiles at Luke and me, "I'll see you guys at
practice tomorrow."

He walks off and goes down a hall.

"Are you two loud sexers?" Eli questions and Luke gives him an elbow in
the stomach.

______________________

I knew Luke was going to get a nice room but I didn't know that it was
literally going to be like an apartment. He got one of the top floor suite's
and since it's two rooms, he had the choice to share it with some random
rich stranger who's either an engineering major or another athlete, or Eli.

Basically, if he didn't want to get kicked out for punching a stranger, then
he'd have to deal with Eli for a year.

"This is so nice," I look around their large living room. Aiden and Eli rush
to two recliners and they turn on the PlayStation, each grabbing a controller.

They have an open floor plan and a very nice kitchen. There's an island
separating the living room from the kitchen and across the room, there's a
hall which I'm guessing leads to their bedrooms.

Luke leads me to the couch and he sits down, pulling me down on top of
him.

"Are you hungry?" he questions and I shake my head.

"What'd you eat today?" he adds and I nearly hang my head. He moves
down and he tucks me in between him and the back of the couch. I throw
my arm over his strong torso, still hesitant to answer.

"I had a really filling granola bar and an apple when I left the house this
morning," a frown appears on his face already, "then, I stopped in
Chattanooga and I had Burger King."

He's silent for a moment.

"That's it?"

"Um, maybe?" I say unsure and I tuck my head in his shoulder.

"You've been here for six hours and you haven't eaten anything?" he tilts
my chin up so I'm seeing his face.

"I'd rather not answer that question," I mumble.

"We're getting Dominos," he picks up his phone.

"Oh, we're getting Dominos?" Aiden asks excitedly, pausing his game.

Luke doesn't answer him and so I nod for him.

"Tell Luke, since he apparently can't hear me, to get us two pepperoni
pizzas," Aiden says.

"Aiden said to get them two pepperoni pizzas...please," I tell him and he
raises his hand and gives Aiden the middle finger.

"Is that a yes?" Aiden questions and Luke rolls his eyes but I give Aiden a
thumbs up.

I listen as Luke's smooth, deep voice orders the pizzas and my favorite
wings in the world. Just by hearing his voice, I could fall asleep.

He hangs up the phone after a minute and I sit up feeling like my bladder is
going to explode. I hate it when it just hits you like this.
"Can I use your bathroom?" I question and he looks at me like I've just told
him something crazy.

"You don't have to ask," he pecks my forehead, "It's the first door down the
hall."

I struggle my way over Luke and I finally stand up. I just love how he loves
to see me struggle. I make it to the bathroom and I take care of my business.
I wash my hands, dry them on the navy blue towel, and walk back into the
living room.

Luke stands from his sitting position, my phone in his hand and an unhappy
look on his face.

I wrack my brain for reasons as to why he would be unhappy when looking

at something on my phone. I'm definitely not cheating on him, I don't talk
bad about him to anyone else, I haven't even told the girls about his ticklish
spot.

There are a few pictures of him on my phone where his face is funny
looking but I doubt he'd really care about that.

He walks towards me, the look still present on his face and my eyebrows
furrow.

"What's wrong?" I question and he gently grabs my wrist. He leads me into

his room and before I can even look around he's looking at me with that
look again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he holds my phone over to me and I read the text
message.

"I didn't think it was important," I mumble pathetically.

"Obviously this isn't a small thing, Aubrey," his voice goes deeper, a sign
he's getting more upset.

"Why are you so upset?" I mutter quietly.

"Because all the shit you think isn't important, is important! And when you
tell me, If I don't find it out myself, it takes you long ass time," his voice
raises and I sigh softly.

I just didn't want him to worry about what I was going to have to do.

"You don't need to worry about it," I explain.

"Like hell I don't need to worry about it. What are you going to do? Work
every day at a low paying job trying to pay a fifty-thousand dollar tuition?"

I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. I mean, that's
kind of what I was planning.

"I would figure it out," I finally say and he scoffs, "and it's not fifty-
thousand, I got a couple of scholarships."

"That pay for how much?" he tilts his head and raises his eyebrow. That
hurt a little.

"Twelve-thousand," I say proudly for getting a couple pretty good academic

scholarships.

"Like that's much," he utters and a pang of hurt hits my chest.

That wasn't very nice.

"It's better than nothing," I snatch my phone from his hand, open his door
and dart out of there. I hear him come after me so I speed up.

I disregard my shoeless feet and I just run to the door. By now, the tv is
paused and I bet a million dollars Eli and Aiden are tuned in on our drama
now.

I pull open the front door but it's pushed shut from behind me and I feel
Luke's warm on my back.

"Aubrey-"
I duck underneath his outstretched arm that's resting on the door and I run
behind a now standing Eli and Aiden. Luke shoves Eli out of the way and I
almost stop to help him up but I don't want to risk being caught by the
world's grumpiest grump.

I run behind the island and Luke now stands in front of it. I get a sight of a
frightened-looking Aiden and I feel a little bad for him. He's never seen us
fight.

We usually never fight, so I get it if he's a little nervous.

"That came out sounding bad, I didn't mean what I said like that," he
explains but that barely does anything to my madness.

"It was rude and you knew it was," I mumble and he jumps over the island.
I run back to the front door and pull it open once more only for it to be shut
again.

"Baby," his strong arms wraps around my torso and I smack it and turn to
run to the bathroom to hide in it and control myself.

I make it to the end of the couch before I'm pulled back into his chest.

"I'm sorry, please don't leave," he holds me to him tightly for a second
before turning me around so I'm facing him. I glare up at him and his face
softens.

"Don't look at me like that," he mutters quietly and I further my glare.

"I'll kiss your face," he says, narrowing his eyes in challenge and I just turn
my head away from him not wanting to see his handsome face at the
moment.

"I just don't want you to worry about being in debt when it can be easily
taken care of," he caresses the side of my face and I turn back to him.

"I can't let you pay for my college," I shake my head at him and he
chuckles.
"Baby, I don't want you to be paying off a college debt when you've already
graduated. You don't need to be stressing over something like that."

"Luke," I groan into his chest.

"You can either let me pay for it now or let me pay for it once we're
married," he chides and a blush appears on my face.

It's obvious he won't give up any time soon.

"I'm sorry for hitting your arm," I rub his arm and he kisses my temple.

________________________

|||||| There will be moresequel chapters!! I promise this isn't it. When the
last sequel chapter comes out, I will put in a note at the beginning of
the chapter but don't expect it to be anytime soon! I want to thank ya'll
for reading my story. I published bonus 4 with 95k and only a few days
later, we have 141k. That's just crazy!

Thank you for reading!

Word count: 4974

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 6 "I'd do you too"
*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.

_______________________
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?!"

____________________

||||||| 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
Sequel Chapter 7 "Another vomit
bucket"
*AUBREY'S POV*

-Three Weeks Later-

The day classes started, I was ready for it. In getting my BSN, I knew I'd
have to take the general education and prerequisite courses before anything
else.

I wasn't ready for how awkward I felt. I wasn't late or anything the first day,
I was right on time but there were already a bunch of people there.

People older than me, some a lot older, and probably even some younger
than me, who knows?

The room was on the smaller size, at least from what I had seen from
pictures of normal lecture halls, and there weren't really any seats left where
I wouldn't be sitting by myself, with no one next to me.

So, I had looked around for a quick second. I finally found a girl who
looked nice and I walked to the seat beside her. For about two seconds, I
had wracked my brain in an attempt to figure out how to ask if I could sit
beside her.

"This seat's empty, you can sit," she smiled up at me and I sighed in relief.

"Thank you," I returned the smile and I took a seat.

"I know how you feel, last year, I was the exact same way," she explained
and I laughed quietly. I had figured she was a sophomore, she looked less
tense than most of the freshmen I had seen that morning.
"It's stressful," I took out a notebook at the same time she did, figuring she
knew more than me.

"Last year, I took another general education course and I skipped out on this
one for the year. I had no math last year and I loved it. Now, I just know I'm
going to hate it," she explained why she was in the class.

"I don't want to take it either," I agreed. We had talked for another ten
minutes while the rest of the larger class entered.

Other than telling me her name was Kayleigh, she mentioned she was
majoring in meteorology and I found that to be one I hadn't heard since
getting here.

After the lecture had ended, we exchanged numbers and she told me she'd
keep my seat reserved.

I had made a new friend. Sort of.

The second lecture I had, I found that Blair and I had the same class, which
made me excited. I was also excited that Luke's class was only a few rooms
away and we could meet right after.

Blair couldn't walk with us though. Her second class was right after the one
we shared and so she had to 'haul a-word' to her next one.

I had a different or a couple different classes each day and every one that
wasn't with Blair or Kayleigh, I went through the same embarrassing 'can I
sit here?' thing.

Thankfully, after the first week, it all began to get better.

_______________________

"I'm not doing it," Luke groans into my side as I take a seat on his bed.

The way we set our schedules up, my first class starts almost at the exact
time his morning weight training starts.
His weight training ends thirty minutes before my morning class ends and
he goes home and showers before going to his first class. His first class
ends at the same time as my second one and we walk out of the building
together.

Then, we have two hours before his second class and my third class of the
day. So, we either go to one of our dorms, we eat, or go out and do
something.

Most times, he naps.

"We've got to go soon," I giggle as I fix his crazy bed hair.

He lifts his head up to mine and he points to his lips. I lean forward and
peck his lips.

"Mm, not good enough," he grabs the back of my neck and he pulls my lips
back to his. We kiss until a sound breaks us apart.

"What's that?" I question aloud as I listen to what sounds like someone is

getting hurt.

I look over at Luke and a glare sits on his face. Apparently, he knows what
it is.

"It's ten-thirty in the fuckin' morning, I'm going to beat his ass," he speaks
deeply, a tell-tale sign that he's not happy.

"What is it?" My mind trails off until a scary thought hits my brain, "is he.."

"He's fucking some girl," he says angrily and the high-pitched moaning gets
louder.

I lay back down on the bed and I put pillows on either side of my head.
Those sounds are just something I'm not looking to hear.

Luke told me that over the past few weeks, Eli's been meeting some girls. I
didn't know he meant like
this

Although I'm happy he's meeting people, maybe he could wait until we've
left, the sounds I'm hearing aren't pleasant ones.

I completely understand that we're in college now and college is the time
where you're supposed to be able to do whatever you want but, for me, it's a
little too much to handle.

"Come on," he grabs my hand and he pulls me off the bed, "You're not
listening to this shit anymore."

I watch Luke as he gets a shirt from his closet and some shoes, all while I'm
trying not to listen to what's happening in Eli's room.

My plan was working pretty well until the moaning takes a turn. The
moaning turns louder and in shorter, squealier pants.

"Fucking hell," Luke bangs on his wall harshly, attempting to get them to
understand that there

are

other people in the house.

Worry fills me as I think about when Luke and I do things.

I don't sound like that, do I?

He grabs my hand and he pulls me out of his room. The sounds get louder
as we pass Eli's room but eventually, we're out of the dorm.

We enter the elevator and I shyly speak my thoughts.

"Do I sound like that when we do things?"

Luke's head whips to mine and he looks down at me.

"Hell no. You sound fuckin' hot, whoever that is, sounds like a dying pig,"
he shudders and he kisses the top of my head. Recently, I've been able to
control my cheeks. I mean, we've been together for quite a while now, so
I've nearly mastered the art of non-blushery.

Except for times when he says things like what he just did.

We get to our building where our lecture halls are and Luke grasps my hand
as we walk through the crowded hallways.

It would be pretty easy for me to get lost in here if I wasn't careful.

Throughout these 3 few weeks, both Luke and I have learned that it's best
for him, and I when I'm with him, to leave early for classes. Luke is quite
the famous person around campus.

Guys stop to talk to him about the last game the team had played and won
with him as a freshman starter, also about games coming up. Of course,
girls do tend to give him looks and want to talk to him as well, he doesn't
really pay too much attention to them.

Eli does. Holy moly, Eli definitely pays attention to every single girl who
gives him a look. I'd never seen him so flirty.

In high school, Eli tended to be flirty at the parties he would go to and he'd
often tell me short stories of the crazy nights he had had with 'blondes or
crazy brunettes,' but after starting classes, he's really gone deeper into his
flirtatious faze.

Now, he's just taking action more often.

After seeing the change occur through Eli, it does make me a little nervous.
I just feel like maybe Luke will think he's missing out on having 'fun' as Eli
calls it, because of me.

I would never want to hold him back from having fun. Although it kills me
to think about it.
"Hall 102, right?" Luke's deep voice brings me away from my thoughts. I
look up at him and give him a soft smile.

"Yes," he leads me across the hall with ease and he stops to the side of my
classroom where there's no traffic.

If he wasn't here with me, I would've gotten run over, without a doubt.

I sneak a peek at the clock on the wall across the hall and I push my glasses
up on my nose.

Headaches suck.

"It's ten fifty-six," I remind him of the time so he won't be late for his
eleven lecture. He just gives me a small eye roll and a smirk.

"I love you," he leans down and I kiss his cheek. He pulls away and looks at
me like he's waiting for something.

"What?" I giggle.

"On the lips, please," he leans back down. I take a quick glance around the
hall, afraid of being one of

those

couples before leaning up kissing his lips.

"You need to get to class," I point at him, "I love you too, and goodbye."

I walk into my lecture hall and I peek back at him. His eyes remove
themselves from my bottom when he realizes I've turned around. He gives
me a teasing smirk and I shake my head at him as I turn around and walk to
my seat.

__________________

-Thursday-
"You won't believe what I've just realized," Blair announces as soon as she
opens the door to our room. She sits her bag and keys down and she gets up
on my bed.

I lower the lid to my laptop and take my glasses off, giving her my full
attention.

I need a break from Biology homework anyway.

"What'd you just realize?" I question her and she gives me a sly look.

"Your boyfriend is Luke Taylor," she throws her hands in the air and I
giggle, not really knowing what she's realized.

"Yes, that's his name..?"

"He's that really known quarterback! I literally just saw him on a roster
poster as I passed the indoor facility," she explains and I get it now.

"You had no idea who he was?" I chuckle and she shakes her head rapidly.

"I mean, I kind of figured he did something you know, with a body like
that," she smirks at me and I smack my forehead, "but I didn't know he was
Luke Taylor!"

"Now you know!" I smile and she holds up a finger as I begin to reopen my
computer.

"Did you meet him over the summer or at freshman orientation? I mean,
you seem really close with him and I'm nosy so tell me," she ushers and I
lower my lid again.

"He went to my high school, well, I went to his high school, actually, we

both

went to a new high school and we met. We've been together since then," I
smile shyly as she sits there with her mouth in an 'aww' shape.
"You should honestly check out that poster I saw though," she nods, "he can
rock that 'mean face' look."

I wanted to tell her that the 'mean face' she saw was his everyday face but I
decided to leave it be.

__________________

*3rd Person Pov*

After a long three hours finishing her biology homework, which was due
tomorrow, Aubrey hops off her bed and stretches her muscles.

She looks at the small clock beside her bed and it shows the time five
twenty-eight.

Five twenty-eight, also known as dinner-time.

Meanwhile, Luke is just getting out of practice, his muscles tense after the
two and a half hour run through's and conditioning.

He eases himself into the ice-bath, which is full to the brim with ice and
water. He feels his muscles tighten beneath the water and his tense muscles
automatically cool down. It feels so good, the coldness hardly bothers him.

Unlike Eli who's struggling to stick a toe in his ice-tub.

There are two reasons why he doesn't want to get in. One, the water is as
cold as the Arctic Ocean, at least to him. Two, the bruise that still lays on
his butt, although fading, that he got from Ella's large rubber spatula, has
caused him to need slight cushioning where he sits. On the bottom of the
tub, there's no cushion.

"Wuss, just get in," Aiden sits with only his feet and legs in his ice-bath.

"Your fatass isn't even in it all the way, so you can't say shit," Eli points a
threatening finger at Aiden.

Luke ignores the two's bickering and he leans his head against the headrest.
"You good, son?" The team's head athletic trainer bends down beside the
bath, right where Luke's arm is draped over the side.

"I'm good," Luke nods and their trainer adverts his eyes to Aiden and Eli
who still haven't gotten in.

"I swear those two are eventually gonna get it from Saban," he shakes his
head at them and Luke chuckles as the set timer on the bath goes off, telling
him he's got to get out.

He raises from the tub and he takes ice that is stuck to his shorts off, and he
throws them at Eli's face.

Aiden laughs at Eli's face when the large ice cubes hit him. That is until
Luke walks past him and pushes him into the tub.

A loud gasp is heard at his now already cooled body comes in contact with
the even colder water.

"My dick just shrunk to the size of a peanut," his voice comes out strained
and higher than usual.

"Shit, then it didn't do much shrinking," Eli chides.

______________________

Deciding that getting back to his dorm and taking a shower there would be
less time, he leaves right after he dries off.

He jumps in the shower and he actually takes a pretty long one compared to
usual. A twenty-five-minute shower compared to the ten-minute showers he
usually takes after getting out the ice-bath.

He gets out the shower and as he gets dressed, he texts Aubrey and tells her
he'll be over in a little while.

To hold him over until he gets to Aubrey's, he takes some Life cereal and he
fills a big bowl. He leans against the kitchen counter as he takes bites of his
cereal, his eyes nearly closing on their own, considering he's so tired.
He's usually never this tired but for some reason, he can hardly stay awake.

It may or may not have to do with the noises Eli and his girl of the night
make nearly all night long.

He could give two shits if Eli did someone every night, all night. But, what
he did care about was keeping fucking quiet.

It's like Eli chose loud girls on purpose just to piss him off. Knowing him,
it's something he would do.

Speaking of Eli and girls, the door to the guy's suite burst open and Luke
almost gags on his cereal as he watches an already barely clothed girl suck
on Eli's neck like a leech.

Eli slams the door shut with his foot and he pushes the girl against the door.

"You've gotta me fuckin' kidding me," Luke whispers to himself as the girl
grabs the back of Eli's shirt and lifts it off of him.

Luke picks his keys up from the counter in front of him, he holds his cereal
bowl to him and he begins to walk to his room to get some shoes to leave
the hell-hole.

He actually can't believe the two hadn't noticed him. He's a big guy, he's
hard to miss.

He returns to the main room, his Nike slides now on his feet and his lanyard
keychain hanging from his joggers' front pocket.

He damn near slams his still half full bowl of cereal on the counter at seeing
the two now.

The girl's pants are off and on the floor and she's currently unbuckling Eli's
pants.

He clears his voice, not wanting to see any more of whatever is happening
in front of him but apparently, the two don't hear him.
He almost needs another vomit bucket.

Luke slams his bowl on the counter and he takes his shoe off. He lobs his
slide at Eli's back, knowing it'll hurt like hell.

Eli yanks away from the kiss and he looks behind him.

"What the hell?" Eli furrows his eyebrows at him. He gives Eli an 'are you
kidding me?' look.

"Well excuse the shit outta me, but I'm tryin' to get the hell out of here
without contractin' a disease, so If ya'll'd move off and away from the door,
I'd love it," he picks up his bowl and walks to find wherever his shoe
landed.

He spots it on the other side of the couple, semi-buried under the girl's
shorts. He begins to take a step closer to pick it up, but the smell of her
perfume overbears his senses.

"Goddammit," he curses at seeing his shoe underneath the shorts that could
hardly be called shorts.

"Honey, can you get that for me? I can smell your perfume from here and I
don't want my girl thinking things," Eli wants to glare at his best friend so
bad but he can hardly contain his growing smile.

She lets out an annoyed sound and she bends over, grabbing his shoe. Luke
casts his eyes up at the ceiling as she bends to pick it up, with no pants
covering her ass and Luke has no desire to see that.

She tosses Luke's slide near him and he slides his back on his foot.

He begins walking towards the door before a thought stops him. He turns
and looks at the both of them but Eli more specifically.

"If ya'll have sex on my motherfuckin' couch, the one I paid for, I'll make
you both clean Aiden's bathroom with your own toothbrushes, got it?" he
says deadly serious.
He just about walks out the door before he realizes he's only got half a bowl
of cereal left. He walks back inside and he grabs the box of Life cereal.

"Have a nice breakfast in the mornin', " he raises the box at Eli, "and honey
if you're plannin' on stayin' the night, you best figure out how to cook that
jackass breakfast, he can't do it for shit."

Eli narrows his eyes at his best friend's amused face.

"Alright, ya'll have a nice night now!"

He closes the door, a satisfied smile on his face until he comes across a guy
who had also just exited his room.

The two get in the elevator and the short, engineering major fidgets
awkwardly at being in the same elevator as the school's most well-known
athlete.

Luke feels the guy's gaze on him and he turns his head and looks down at
him.

"What're you lookin' at? This is my cereal, get your own."

_____________________

-Ten Minutes Prior-

With her hands full of food, Aubrey knocks on her dorm room with her
foot. After driving to the nearby Popeyes, only a few minutes away, she got
Luke's favorites and what Blair asked her to get.

Of course, along with food for herself. She didn't want Luke to have a
whole hissy fit like he usually does when she doesn't eat.

Blair opens the door for her and as soon as the smell of chicken hits her
nose, she swoons over it.

Aubrey walks to Blair's desk and she sits the three bags of food on it.
A sudden scream sounds out of Aubrey's throat and she jumps away from
the desk. Blair runs out of the bathroom with wide eyes.

She knew Aubrey to be a very soft-spoken person so when she screamed,

she knew it had to be serious.

"What's wrong?" Blair questions.

Aubrey fixes her gaze on the malicious spider that is crawling up the side of
Blair's desk and she points to it.

"There's a spider," she holds her hands on her heart to calm it.

Although she's never been through any sort of traumatic spider experiences,
she's seen what a spider bite looks like.

Plus, quite simply they're just scary, crawly creatures.

"No way," Blair's heart begins to race.

One thing the two actually share in common is their phobia towards spiders.

Aubrey turns her gaze to Blair and she nods, her face paled in fear.

"Where," Blair backs away from the desk. Aubrey turns her gaze back to
the desk but the place she had last seen the spider was now vacant.

"I don't know!" her heart pounds harder as scary thoughts enter her mind.

What if they never find it and it has babies? Then those babies have babies
and the next thing you know, the place is infested with spiders.

She shudders at her thought and she jumps onto her bed figuring that it
could even be on the floor by now.

"Blair, find it," Aubrey whispers like the spider can hear her.

"Are you crazy?!" Blair jumps up on Aubrey's bed and the two carefully
scan the room.
"What if we don't find it?" Aubrey's hands find their way to her hair
nervously.

"If we don't find the spider, I'm getting a new dorm room, you're welcome
to come with me," Blair squints her eyes as she looks around the room
carefully, still from on top of Aubrey's bed.

The two-knocks Luke does are heard from both girls and they look between
each other, neither of them wanting to go open the door for Luke.

"Go open it," Aubrey pleads.

"Hell no! I'm not dying!" Blair refuses.

"You're older," Aubrey reasons.

"He's your boyfriend!" Blair points out and Aubrey eases off the bed. She
looks around her feet before making a run towards the door.

She pulls open the door harshly and she runs past a surprised Luke who
stands at the other end.

"Don't leave me in here by myself!" Blair shouts and she flies out of the
room quicker than the blink of an eye.

"What's happening? Why are ya'll running?" he questions before taking his
final bite of Life cereal, the large box still in his grasp.

"I'm so glad you're here," Aubrey grabs ahold of his strong arm and she
pulls him further away from the entrance of their room, making sure he's
safe.

"I'm glad I'm here too," he mumbles lowly as he doesn't even try to hide the
way his eyes run down Aubrey's figure. They linger on her bare legs and he
so badly wants to feel their smoothness, but he knew better than to do such
a sexual thing in the middle of the hallway.

Aubrey looks down to see what he's looking at, totally forgetting that he
just does it all the time. Especially when she's wearing short like right now.
Not only is he glad to see her though, but he's also glad to get away from
Eli and whoever that girl is.

Aubrey takes the box of cereal from his hand and she tucks it under her
arm. She grabs his large hand and she brings it up to her heart.

"Do you feel that?" she looks up into his gray eyes. His hand lies on her
pounding heart and a small smile reaches his face as his mind wonders to
all the ridiculous reasons her heart could be pounding.

"What happened?" he chuckles.

Aubrey takes a deep breath and she removes his hand from her heart, now
holding it against her cheek.

"A spider! There's a spider!" Blair blurts and look removes his swooning
eyes from Aubrey to look at Blair.

"You've got to help us," Aubrey pleads him, "It might take your food!"

Luke's mood turns serious at the mention of food. His food more
specifically. Like hell he'll let that little shit touch his food.

"Where's the bastard at?" Aubrey lets go of his hand and he walks into their
dorm. The girls stand in the doorway and he hands his empty bowl to
Aubrey.

"My desk," Blair points to her desk and he immediately takes the food off
of it. He looks for the spider and thankfully, he doesn't see it on or in the
bags.

He looks all over the desk until he spots the oh-so malicious looking black
speck. He lets out a chuckle and from the doorway, Aubrey narrows her
eyes at his head.

"Baby, that's an ant," Aubrey's mouth drops and Blair bangs her head on the
doorframe.
"Nuh-uh," Aubrey chides, walking in closer to see it. A large ant, one she
recognizes as 'the spider' sits on the desk. Although the ant is larger than
normal, it's not a 'malicious spider.'

"You had me shitting myself, Aubrey," Blair groans as she walks back into
the room.

______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

By eleven forty-five, Blair is fast asleep, Aubrey is on the verge of sleep,

and I'm wide awake.

I run my lips along her soft neck and I caress her smooth thighs, one of the
things I've wanted to do since I got here.

Her dainty hands grab mine and she intertwines them before laying them on
her stomach. I internally smirk at her actions before moving my body in
between her legs, getting closer to her.

I can't let this go but so far knowing that Blair is right across from us, asleep
but, I'm already started.

I lean on my elbows, not wanting to crush her small form under my weight.
My lips trail from the softness of her neck, down to the bottom of her v-
neckline t-shirt.

When I get a little

too

low for our predicament, she gently takes hold of my shirt and she pulls my
head back up.

I go back to her neck until she grasps my hair and pulls me back. I nearly
groan at the feeling but I bite my lip and stare down at her hungrily.
Her beautiful blue eyes stare back up at me and I can hardly keep myself
from doing worse things than just kissing her neck.

"Luke," she warns me in a quiet whisper. I shut my eyes for a second before
opening them and looking straight at her irresistible lips.

"If she wasn't here," I begin, keeping my voice low just in case Blair is a
light sleeper, "I would've had you the second I walked in."

I want her

bad.

Getting a place with Aubrey, and Aubrey only, is all I want to do right now.

Besides marry her.

It's difficult finding perfect times and places to have sex when there's her
roommate in her room, the sound of Eli doing some chick in my dorm, or
just him bursting into my room at random times asking me stupid questions
about completely irrelevant things.

In high school, we didn't have to worry about that. Dad had a specific work
schedule that I knew by heart for Aubrey and me, and her mom and Rick
didn't come home until really late.

We could do whatever we wanted for as long as we wanted. It was just like

having our own place and I want that again. I

really

want that again.

Not only for sex, of course, but that's also just a plus.

Aubrey would oftentimes walk around the house, doing whatever, singing.
She would do homework and softly sing to herself. She would mumble
through songs while we did dishes, or when she cooked.
She even hummed softly right before we fell asleep. Most times, I fell
asleep to the sound of it.

Now, she only does it sometimes, not wanting to 'annoy' Blair at her dorm
or Eli at mine.

She's also just Aubrey and I just want her to myself in our own place.

She lets out a soft gasp at my words and I smile at her beautiful face. I
remove myself from between her legs and I pull her closer to me.

She curls into my side, throwing her arm over my torso. Her soft voice
whispers out an 'I love you' and my heart pounds the same way it does
every time she tells me.

I didn't know it was possible to love someone as much as I love her.

____________________

||||

| So, controversial or what? Eli's getting down and dirty, lol. But guess
what? It's still not over :) This chapter is mostly a filler, some tea shall
be spilled next chapter :0

There's still plenty more to come! Oh, and I put up an Introduction

chapter up explaining things to new readers since I've been getting a
few comments from people about things they don't like. It's okay
though, I don't mind the comments. They aren't mean or anything so
that's good, I just wanted to give a heads up to new readers.

Word count: 4822

Anyways, thank you for reading!

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 8 "The sour to his
Skittle"
*AUBREY'S POV*

The week following my spider/ant incident, I walked around my room very

carefully. I couldn't get the possibility that the ant took the spiders place to
save him and that there still may be a spider in my room.

Luke has attempted to dismiss my theory but I'm not too sure he really
knows what he's talking about.

My stomach lets out a loud growl and I look over at Luke's sleeping form. I
pull at his arm that's around my waist and he lets out a deep, throaty sound
of disapproval.

"Luke, aren't you hungry? I'm hungry," I turn in his arms and smooth down
his messy hair. He grunts and holds me closer to him.

He's like an anaconda; the more you struggle to get out of his grip, the
harder he grips.

I run my hand over his arm and after a second, I pull some of his arm hair.
He lets out a hiss in pain, yanking his arm away, and although I feel horrible
for committing such a mean action, I'm just really hungry.

And it's the bad hungry. Like the hungry where you're so hungry you could
throw up, but there's nothing to throw up if you actually did throw up.

I shoot out of bed while I still can and he looks up at me with his cute tired
eyes and bed-head hair.

"Is french toast okay?" I ask and slightly wince as he rubs his arm.
"I guess that'll make up for you injuring me beyond repair," a small smirk
plays on his lips as he raises his arms up behind his head.

My eyes travel to his strong biceps and the smirk on his face grows,
knowing exactly how to get reactions out of me.

"Stop," I point at his handsome face before walking into his bathroom. I put
my thick, crazy curls up into a bun and I brush my teeth before heading out
into the kitchen.

I grab the cinnamon to put in the french toast batter, something I know that
both Eli and Luke love about my french toast and I get to work.

______________________

I hum to myself quietly as I dip the bread into the batter now making it
'french toast'. I hear footsteps behind me and I turn to tell Luke how long
until it's ready, knowing he's probably now hungry.

An averaged height brown-haired girl stands at the end of the kitchen island
and I jump in surprise, nearly dropping the slice of bread.

She adjusts her shirt, actually Eli's shirt, and she gives me a tight-lipped
smile.

"Hi," I smile at her.

I'm glad I wasn't able to hear them last night at least. After all, Luke did
threaten to sever Eli's jugular if he or I heard it again so I am thankful no
sounds were heard. Although, I do remember falling asleep before Luke and
I'm quite the heavy sleeper.

"Would you like some french toast?" I offer with a friendly smile, not
wanting to make her feel uncomfortable by any means.

"You don't have to," she shakes her head.

"Oh don't worry, It's no problem," I assure her.

"I didn't realize Eli had a roommate," she voices from her seat at the island.

"Oh no, I'm not his roommate," I explain and her eyebrows furrow as a
flicker of hurt crosses her eyes.

"I'm his roommate's girlfriend. Eli's a good friend of ours," I smile and the
hurt dissipates.

I turn back around and focus on making the food, dipping a couple extra
pieces of bread into the batter, and placing them on the pan on the stove.

A warm hand touches my waist and I look beside me to see Luke's bare
chest. I turn towards him in his grip and I peek over at the girl who is trying
to avert her eyes away from us and Luke's shirtless form.

I know, I know, it's hard to look away from. I've been there.

I motion for him to lean down and he does. I stand on my tippy-toes and
whisper into his ear.

"Can you put a shirt on, please?" he pulls away and looks at my face
confusedly. Usually, I don't care if he doesn't wear a shirt, especially since
the view is wonderful, but there's another girl here and I don't know her
well, although she does seem very sweet.

I nod my head over to the girl, trying not to make it obvious and his eyes
dart over to her form. They widen slightly in surprise and he places a kiss
on my head before going back to his room.

Of course he didn't see her with his mind too focused on the thought of
food.

"Isn't that..." she trails off from behind me.

"Luke Taylor? Yes," I mutter shyly.

"And that's his roommate?" she questions and I nod as Luke comes back
into view, this time with a shirt on.
Luke mosies on up beside me and he takes a coffee cup out of one of the
top cabinets. He places it under his Keurig and I feel his side-eyed glance
om me.

I sneakily look up at him and he doesn't look the happiest in the world,
when does he ever though? He's just got that resting mean face, but I've
grown to love it.

"Would you like something to drink? Coffee, hot chocolate, water?" I ask,
turning toward her. I feel Luke's gaze once again on me, most likely not
excited about the fact that I'm offering to give this girl 'his' coffee.

"Oh, coffee would be great, thank you," she smiles kindly.

I turn back towards Luke and he doesn't move.

"A cup, please?" I ask him and he moves out of the way. I give him a little
glare before opening the cabinet myself and reaching up as high as I
possibly can.

Considering the coffee cups that are on the bottom shelf are pushed back, I
lower back down and nearly kick his shins purposely.

"Don't be mean," I tell him and he grabs a cup and hands it to me.

He leans down and kisses my cheek.

"It's

my

coffee," I feel his pout against my cheek.

"And she's

Eli's

friend and also a guest so you can share," I whisper back quietly.
"I don't share," he grumbles in a low tone.

"You're going to today," I pat his toned chest and he pulls away. I take the
now finished french toast's off the pan and put them onto a plate. Luke
stands beside me, watching me do it, being a weirdo and not knowing how
to act around someone he doesn't know.

I place her cup under the Keurig and turn to see her looking down at the
marble pattern on the island.

"I'm sorry, I've been rude. I'm Aubrey," I introduce myself with a smile and
turn to Luke to see if he'll introduce himself as well, although she already
knows who he is, it's just polite.

He doesn't acknowledge my glance and he turns around to see how full her
cup is.

"That's Luke," I pat his strong back before mouthing 'he's a little rude'.

She smiles a genuine smile and I find it contagious when other people smile
so I do too.

"I'm Courtney," she introduces herself, pulling down Eli's shirt to cover her
thighs better.

"Would you like some leggings or something?" I offer and she nods eagerly.

"Please," she smiles.

"I'll-" I start until Luke grabs my hand, a sign he's coming with me, "We'll
be back in just a second."

Luke and I walk into his room and I go over to my dresser and get out a pair
of regular black leggings.

"You're just a teeny bit awkward," I create a small space between my thumb
and pointer finger, showing him.
"I wasn't expecting to be having breakfast with a stranger who's wearing
nothing but a shirt. I don't have anything to talk about with her and you
gave her my coff- why'd you give her my coffee?" he stomps his foot.

"She seems very nice and there's no reason as to why you shouldn't be nice
back," I fold up the leggings neatly.

"Yeah, she's nice, she's also drinking my coffee," he continues with the
whole coffee fit.

"I can buy you more coffee, and she deserves to feel welcomed, and you
best make her feel welcomed or, or," I think for a second, "I'll get mad at
you."

"That's not fair."

I leave him behind as I walk to his door, but he, once again, grabs my hand
and comes with me.

"I got you these," I hand her the leggings with a smile, "the bathroom is
right there."

I point to the bathroom and she gets up and walks to it.

"Kiss me," Luke's hand curls around the small of my back and he leans
down. I lean up and peck his lips.

He lightly pinches the inside of my thigh, my ultimate most ticklish spot,

and I pull away and let out a loud laugh.

"I hate it when you do that," I narrow my eyes at him playfully.

"I know you do," he wraps his arms around my torso and lifts me up so that
I'm level to his face, "I love you."

We hear the door to the bathroom open and he gently sets me back on my
feet.

"Do they fit okay?" I ask her and she nods.

I bring the large plate of french toast over to the island, along with some
plates and syrup.

"Can you go get Eli?" I ask Luke and he leaves the room. I grab the utensils
and set them on the table.

"So, how'd you meet Eli?" I question, handing her a plate.

"At a party last night," she looks down somewhat embarrassingly.

I hope she isn't one of his one night stands. She actually does seem like a
really nice girl. Plus, she's still here, which makes me wonder if Eli told her
she could and they could get to know each other more.

The sound of their footsteps causes me to look up at the two as they enter.

Eli's eyes dart to Courtney, who sits beside me, and they widen slightly.

"Courtney, I didn't know you were still here."

I sigh internally. At least he actually knows her name.

_________________

We sit and eat breakfast in the quiet. With Luke, Eli and I, our breakfasts
are usually filled with Eli's loud talking.

Luke's eyes connect with mine from beside me and I give him a small
smile.

"You never told me you loved me back," he whispers only loud enough for
the two of us to hear. I turn my face toward him and his eyes dart down to
my lips.

"I love you too," I smile softly and lean back in my seat to finish my french
toast.

The breakfast ends very quickly and the girl leans towards me.
"Can you get me my clothes from Eli's room, I'm too scared to just waltz
into his room," she looks at me pleadingly. I send her a sad smile and I
jump down from my tall island chair.

I walk to Eli's room and before entering, I take a deep breath. I hold my
hand up, shielding my eyes from everything but Courtney's dress.

I'm a little too scared to see what else is in his room.

I grab everything in my line of sight and I quickly get out of his room.

I return to the kitchen and hand her her things. She looks back up at Eli who
is staring down at his food.

I look at Luke and he nudges Eli with his elbow. Eli looks up at Courtney.

"I, um, I'll call you," she sends him a small wave while her eyes flash with
hurt. A strong feeling of pity rushes over me for her.

She walks towards the door and I rush after her.

"I'll walk you out," I whisper and she gives me a thankful smile. The two of
us exit the guys' dorm and she looks back at me with watery eyes.

"I'm so stupid," she shakes her head and my heart hurts. I pull her into a hug
and I pat her back soothingly.

"I usually don't just have sex with guys. I'm not that type of person. I just
thought he liked me," she explains after pulling away and I find myself
feeling very, very angry at Eli.

She didn't deserve this.

"I'm sorry, Courtney. I don't know why he does this," I shake my head at the
thought of him leading her on.

"Thank you for being so kind to me though," she wipes under her eyes,
"I've got to get going."
"If you ever need anything, you can call me," we exchange our numbers
and the longer I talk to her the angrier I feel.

And I don't get

angry

often.

I don't care if Eli goes and does things with girls, but for him to just lead on
innocent, nice girls into thinking he actually likes them and then the next
morning, have nothing to say, it just makes me angry.

"I'll see you later," I smile and watch her walk into the elevator before
turning, opening the door, and marching in angrily.

I feel Luke's gaze on me as I walk past him and up to Eli who is at the
fridge, drinking from a cup.

I grab his arm and he turns towards me. Without thinking, I ram my fist into
his stomach. I grab the cup from his hand and I pour the rest of its contents
all over him.

I'm one to never turn to violence but I've just been holding it back ever
since Anthony Mackle cheated on Izzy. I think I just needed to do
something.

He looks down at me with shocked, widened eyes and I glare up at him.

"You're not very nice," I mumble to him and his mouth opens.

"Aubre-" he starts.

"Hush, Eli. Not only do you bring girls in here and make tons of noise with
them, which interrupts Luke's sleep, but you hurt Courtney! She thought
you liked her and when you barely acknowledged her, it hurt her feelings.
She's very kind. You need to quit thinking about your needs and wants and
think about how others feel when you do dumb things. You're just being an
inconsiderate mean guy towards others and that affects people in negative
ways," I finish my rant and the room is dead silent.

Eli looks at me in total shock before looking around me, most likely at
Luke.

Just at the look on his face, I ball my hands into fists and hit them against
his hard chest. Of course, it barely hurts him but it makes me feel better.

He lets me hit him, which is good because if he would try and stop me, I'd
probably turn into the Hulk.

Strong arms wrap around me from behind and lift me up. I struggle in his
arms, trying to reach back over to Eli and give him some more knuckle
sandwiches.

"Calm down, baby," Luke mutters from behind me and I nearly melt at his
soft tone. I stop my struggling and I turn my head and look into his gray
eyes.

"That's my girl."

______________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"A week. My boo-boo hasn't even looked my way in a week," Eli mopes as
we sit near the back in the meeting room, listening to Saban talk about our
upcoming game against Vanderbilt.

"Dumb ass. Hell, I'm sexy as fuck but do you see me going around and
having loud sex in my dorm, knowing there are other people in it? Nope,"
Aiden chides and I chuckle.

"Sexy as fuck, my ass," Zade turns from the chair in front of us and he
smirks at Aiden.

"Fuck off, carrot top," Aiden jumps at Zade in his seat, referring to Zade's
orange hair.
"What the hell is a boo-boo?" Zade gives Aiden the finger, who just smacks
it away from his face.

"Aubrey Wilson," Eli sighs longingly and Zade's eyebrows furrow and he
looks at me.

"I don't know who that is," he says.

"It's Luke's-"

"Are ya'll talking while I'm talking?" Coach Saban yells from the front.

"Yep, they've been talking the whole time," Aiden yells out to him and both
Zade and Eli smack him.

"I swear ya'll are so damn talkative, I'm going to give you assigned seats,"
he shouts out and I pinch the bridge of my nose with a chuckle.

The meeting ends and we're released, but with a warning glance from
Coach.

Once we're outside the athletic building and walking, I feel a nudge on my
arm. I look over a Zade and he motions for me to look beside him.

A group of two girls stare back at me and I nearly roll my eyes.

"So what?" I raise my eyebrow at him and he looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Those girls were hot," he throws his arms into the air and Eli and Aiden
laugh at him.

"Not as hot as my girlfriend."

"No way. You have a girlfriend?" He questions and I narrow my eyes at

him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him.

"You don't seem like the girlfriend type. Like, at all," Zade explains.
"Oh, he's not the girlfriend type. He's the I-really-love-Aubrey-and-I'm-
going-to-marry-her type, and that's it. You just don't know him that well,
Zade. She's literally his world," Aiden makes a sphere shape in the air.

"She's the peanut butter to his Reece's Cup, and the Batman to my Robin,"
Eli adds and I shove him off the sidewalk and into the grass.

"Oh my God, she's the sour to his Skittle," Aiden gasps, obviously proud
with himself.

I don't think he could've explained it any better honestly.

___________________

A sharp knock is heard on the front door and since I'm the closest, I sit
down my sour skittles and go to open it.

"Wait," Eli calls out from his seat and I turn to see what he wants. He
nervously looks at me which automatically makes me suspicious.

"Just, don't get mad at me, okay?" he says sheepishly and I pull open the
door. Aubrey's wet cheeks are the first thing I see.

She slams into me and wraps her short arms around my torso.

"Baby? What's wrong?" I pull away and tilt her face up to mine, searching
over her to see if she's gotten hurt.

She unwraps her arms from around my waist and she lifts up my shirt,
looking at my stomach.

"What are you doing?" I question in confusion as she feels up my stomach,

back, and chest. Although I love the feeling of her touch, I'd love to know
what the hell has her so upset.

She looks back up at me and her reddened eyes accentuate her beautiful
blue eyes. My heart hurts as I wrack my brain for anything I did to hurt her
but I can't think of anything.
Eli.

"You son of a bitch," I grumble back at him. I pull Aubrey into the room
and tuck her into my side.

"What'd you do?" Aiden shakes his head at Eli.

Eli lets out a groan and he slams his head onto the countertop. If he as
attempting to make things better with her, he's doing a real shit job.

"I thought you were dying," she whispers and my head whips back down to
her. I pull her face into my chest and send Eli a glare.

"I told her you got shot," Eli looks everywhere but at us.

He's actually the biggest idiot I've ever met.

Not only does he use her trust in other people's words against her, but he did
it in the worst way. He has no idea what it feels like to know, or in her case,
to think, that someone you love is dying.

And for her, it's even worse to think that I'm dying the same way her dad
did.

I rub her back soothingly, in an attempt to calm her racing heart which beats
against me.

Eli's brain is one of the wonders of the world.

Aubrey walks off, muttering something about taking a breather and I harden
my glare at Eli.

"I messed up even more, right?" he questions and Aiden throws him a 'duh'
look.

"I just wanted her to come over so I could apologize for being an
'inconsiderate mean guy'," he quotes her words, "and she wouldn't answer
my texts."
"There are better ways than telling her I've been shot- come on, Eli," I sigh
at him and he hangs his head.

"She probably hates you now," Aiden mumbles, scrolling through the
channels on the tv. Eli looks up at me with pitiful eyes and I roll mine.

"She doesn't hate you, jackass," I tell him exactly what he wants to hear,
although it's true. She couldn't hate anyone even if she tried.

Her mom doesn't deserve the title 'mother' but does she hate her? Hell no,
she still tries to stay in contact with her even after the many times I've told
her that she doesn't need the hag in her life.

Aubrey hates it when I say I hate something, well she 'dislikes' it.

"You think so?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"She fuckin' dislikes you," I chuckle and his mouth drops open. He lets out
long, loud, continuous whines and both Aiden and I grow frustrated at his
loud mouth.

"Oh my God, Luke, do something before I kill him," Aiden groans,

covering his ears with his hands.

"I'll talk to her," I grumble out and he stops his noise.

"What?"

"I said I'll talk to her. You've been getting on my damn nerves this past
week with your whining," a smile grows on his face and I cringe at his
Grinch-like smile.

"And she'll talk to me again?" he asks hopefully.

"I don't know," I shrug although I know she will. I can be very good with
my words at times.

"Seduce her," Aiden chides, sprawled out on our couch with his eyes
focused on the tv.
"Shut your mouth, you don't know what you're talking about," I shut down
his offer. Seducing won't lead to getting her to talk to him again. It

will

lead her and

somewhere though.

"Try giving her a massage," Eli demonstrates a massage on the countertop.

Obviously, these two haven't had actual girlfriends in a while. Both

suggestions they've given will only lead Aubrey and I somewhere that only
benefits the two of us.

"I'll take care of it."

Eli stands from his seat in the island chair and I watch him with suspicion
as he walks closer to me.

"Thank you," he sighs happily, "I love you, big boy."

Aiden laughs like a fuckin' walrus and Eli opens his arms to hug me.

"You're not touching me," I turn away from his open arms.

"Don't be like that, big boy."

"Yeah big boy, come on, give him a hug," Aiden urges and I feel like throat
punching the both of them.

"Don't fucking call me 'big boy'," I point at Eli's stupid smile and he laughs.

"Alright...big boy," I push his forehead back and he nearly falls to the
ground.
"I've gotta get her and I the hell out of here," I walk around him and toward
my room.

I open the door and catch sight of Aubrey. She sits on the ground Indian
style and she refolds clothes in her drawers she has in my dresser.

She always folds things when upset.

I close my door and she gently places her shirt that she folded on top of the
pile of them.

I take a seat on the edge of my bed, watching her small hands work quickly
and expertly as she folds clothes after clothes, even redoing a few of them
multiple times.

As she unfolds a pair of her jeans to redo them a fourth time, I move down
to the floor and gently take the pants from her.

I set them on the floor and she looks up at me.

"I'm not a happy camper," her soft voice reaches my ears and her eyebrows
furrow in a cute frown.

"What would make you a happy camper?"

"Stand up please," she orders and I comply. She stands after me and she
grips the bottom of my shirt.

"Off?" I question and she nods. I pull my shirt over my head and her eyes
fall on my torso.

"I just need to be 100% sure," she looks up at me, her eyes sad and I give
her a nod.

Eli really needs to think before he does things.

She runs her soft hands over my chest and I watch her facial expressions as
she does. Her eyes dart up to mine and she begins to feel my stomach.
Her eyes turn panicked as her hand brushes over my belly button and she
quickly looks down at it. She realizes it's nothing and relief floods her face.
She places a kiss on my chest and I melt into her soft, gentle touch.

I turn at her command and she runs her hands over my back. I allow my
eyes to close and she soon finishes.

"Are you hungry?" I hug her small frame to me and she nods against my
chest.

_____________________

Aubrey and I walk down the sidewalks along the campus, hand in hand. She
hadn't wanted to drive somewhere to eat, I guess just wanting to feel the
cool breeze outside today.

Late afternoon classes still continue, although she and I don't have them.

A frown etches itself on my face as a guy walks towards us on his side of

the sidewalk, but with his eyes set on the oblivious girl beside me.

I swear to God, if I could, I'd hide her under my shirt when we go out.

I look down at her to see her watching her feet when she walks something
she's done ever since I met her.

She doesn't even realize it but half the time we're out, it's her that everyone
is looking at, not me.

The guy keeps his eyes on her and just before he passes us, she leans into
my side as we walk.

I look down and she's looking right back up at me with her pretty blue eyes.

"I think that guy knew who you were," she smiles up at me.

"Maybe."
We walk a few more blocks until we see a small diner. Figuring that it's
close enough, especially since she's already walked too far being hungry,
we decide to eat there.

We walk in the front doors and the place seems actually pretty nice. It's
cozy and designed to appear like a diner in the '60s.

Aubrey catches sight of one of the waitresses in roller skates as the lady
brings a random table their food.

"Remember when I tried to roller skate?" she giggles. I chuckle as the

memory of her nearly doing a split enters my head.

"Table for two?" An older guy asks us, picking up to menus. He does a
slight double take when he catches sight of me.

"You're Luke Taylor!" he smiles, "I'm a huge fan."

"Thank you."

He points to a picture above his waiter stand and I follow his finger. An old
picture of dad when he was younger and playing college football here sits
on the wall.

"Your dad was a great fullback," the guy nods and I turn bitter.

The dickhead that delivered that illegal hit, which completely fucked up
dad's knee, never got punished for it. It was a late, low hit and it cost dad
his career.

"I'll be sure to tell him."

"I'll be sure to give you our best booth Mr. Taylor," he looks down at
Aubrey, sending her a respectful smile, "and Ms..?"

"Mrs. Taylor," I answer, not really thinking too much about it.

As soon we're out of our teens, Aubrey Wilson will, well if she says yes, be
Aubrey Taylor.
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor," the older waiter smiles motioning for us to
follow him.

I love that way that sounds.

We follow after him and he leads us to a booth all the way in the corner of
the diner, discreet from most other tables.

We order our drink and he hands us our menus.

"I'll be right back with your drinks," he walks into the kitchen and I look
across the table to see Aubrey already looking at me. I send her a smirk.

"Mrs. Taylor," she tests out and I nod.

"Doesn't Aubrey Taylor just sound so good?" I send her a teasing wink and
she smiles back adorably.

"I've got to talk to you," I turn serious, trying to figure out the best way to
bring up the conversation about Eli.

She giggles at my serious face and a smile reaches my lips.

"Don't laugh at me, I'm trying here," I clear my throat and make my face
emotionless once more, "we're talking business here, baby."

"In business meetings, I don't think people call others baby," she sets her
chin on her hand, a teasing smile on her face.

"Point out my flaws one more time, and I'll sue you," I warn and her eyes
crinkle as a large smile spreads across her face.

"That's better," she reaches over and she pats my hand but I yank it away
from her.

"I'm suing you for that too," I add and she giggles, lightly smacking my
arm.
"Oh look, you can catch a charge for that one, watch it, babe, next thing you
know, you'll be away for life," I raise my eyebrow at her and she shakes her
head her gorgeous laugh still exiting her mouth.

Our waiter comes back with our drinks and we order our food. Once he's
gone, I turn back to her.

"How long are you going to stay mad at Eli?" I ask her. She lets out a sigh
and I smile remembering the day she whooped his ass.

It was hot as fuck.

"I'm not too sure. Why? Are you trying to convince me to make up with
him?" she narrows her eyes at me and I don't know what to say.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," I take a sip of my sweet tea.

I just want his damn whining to stop. It's all I want.

"I lied, just talk to him.

Something

. I can't deal with his whining, I'll kill him," I plead her and her eyes soften.

So much for being good with my words.

"He was inconsiderate, don't you think?" she questions.

"Well, yeah. He took away my goddamn sleep," she narrows her eyes at me
saying the Lord's name in vain.

"And he just told me you got shot," she adds.

Eli's making it really fucking tough right now.

"All I'm saying is talk it out with him," I fiddle with my straw, scared she'll
get mad at me.
She stays silent and I begin to worry she's not a happy camper with me.

"Are you mad? I'm sorry."

"No. I wouldn't want you suffering any longer. I'll talk to him," she gives in.

___________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

Luke rests his hand on my lower back as he leads me out of the elevator and
to his door.

He takes out his keys and he opens the door. The two of us walk in and the
first thing I see is Aiden standing in the middle of the living room, an
umbrella in his hand, and an unamused look on his face.

What is he up to?

He picks up the tv remote and he clicks a button on it. Umbrella by Rihanna

begins playing and I giggle.

He lets out a sigh, then he begins rapping Jay-Z's part of the song, very well
might I add.

A permanent smile etches itself across my face as I watch him get more into
it. I glance up at Luke to see if he's catching the priceless moment and he's
shaking his head, holding back a smile.

"Rain man is back. With little miss sunshine Rihanna, where you at?" He
finishes and Eli springs out from behind the couch.

Aiden tosses Eli the umbrella and I notice Eli's shirt is tied up in a large
knot, showing nearly all of his stomach.

"You had my heart," Eli rushes over to me, "and we'll never be worlds
apart. Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star."
All my anger towards him and what he'd done floats away as he twirls the
umbrella in front of me.

He throws the umbrella at Luke and he grabs ahold of my hand. I look back
at Luke to see a 'really' look on his face.

"Baby, 'cause in the dark," Eli gives me a twirl, "you can't see shiny cars."

He looks back at Luke and holds out his hand.

"Give me the umbrella back," he mumbles to Luke over the music, still
holding onto me.

"Don't call her baby," Luke narrows his eyes at Eli.

"I'll rip your heart ou-" Eli's interrupted by the umbrella being thrown back
at him. He lets out a pained shout as it hits him in the side before bending
down and picking it up where it fell.

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together," he opens up the umbrella and
gives it a twirl, "told you I'll be here forever!"

"Said I'll always be a friend," I continue and Eli smiles happily.

"Took an oath that I'm gonna stick it out to the end," he continues.

"Now that it's raining more than ever, know that we'll still have each other,
you can stand under my umbrella!" Eli pulls me under his umbrella and I
giggle.

Aiden turns off the song and Eli sticks his hand in his pocket. He pulls out a
twenty dollar bill and he gives it to Aiden's stretched out hand.

"Thank you for your rapping talents," he closes the umbrella, throwing that
at him.

"Fucker," Aiden mumbles, holding up the bill to the lights, making sure it's
real.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry my wonderful boo-boo fixer!" throws his arms around
me.

"Apologizing doesn't need to involve physical contact," Luke grumbles,

tossing his keys on the kitchen island.

"No more sexy time in this dorm unless I've thoroughly checked, and no
more being an inconsiderate mean guy, I promise," he ignores Luke's
comment as he pats down my hair.

"I forgive you."

"Oh my god, I'm as happy right now as the day Luke told me he loved you,"
he tightens his arms around me.

"Eli, I'm having a tough time breathing," I mutter breathlessly and Luke
pulls Eli away by the back of his shirt.

I guess I just couldn't stay mad at Eli but so long.

_______________________

| Stay tuned for a drama-filled Sequel Chapter 9 ;)

Thank you for reading!

Word Count: 5894

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 9 "A good bone"
*AUBREY'S POV*

His back lays against my chest, his head on my shoulder.

I would've never imagined myself in this position a year ago.

"Sing to me, darlin'," his deep voice rumbles.

A small giggle escapes my lips and he turns his head, kissing my neck. I
look over at him and search his face.

His damp hair falls onto his forehead and I raise my arm out of the water,
moving it back. Bubbles from the bath we're in fall off my arm and onto his
face eliciting another giggle from me.

His nose crinkles and I fawn over how gorgeous he is.

How'd I get so lucky?

Last time I checked, before moving to Virginia, I hadn't even kissed a guy
before. I'd gone on a couple dates but I had always felt there was no spark.

With Luke, the spark is never-ending.

"Are you guys almost done in there?" Eli's voice travels through the
bathroom door.

"Go fuck yourself," Luke replies and I gasp at his horrible choice of
language.

"I don't know how to work the toaster, I need Aubrey's help!" he whines.

"Why don't you stick a fork in it and see if it works then?" Another gasp
leaves my lips.
"That'll work?" Eli questions genuinely.

"No Eli! Don't do that!" I rush out and Luke chuckles into my neck.

"Oh okay. I'll be waiting in the kitchen then, just hurry, my stomach is
growling really loudly, I think it's scaring Aiden," he replies and I hear his
footsteps as he walks away from the door.

I lean my head back against the towel placed against the edge of the tub and
I close my eyes for a quick second.

College is a lot of work.

Luke clears his throat.

"I'm waiting to hear your voice, please," he reminds me and I search my

brain for a song to satisfy his needs.

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yar-" Luke's hand gently pinches
the inside of my thigh and I thrash, a loud laugh escaping my lips.

I poke his side and he thrashes just as I did but this time, his large body
sends some water out of the large bathtub and onto the floor.

"Okay, okay," I calm down my laughter and really think about a song.

I softly sing next to him and his breathing calms against me. I sing all the
words I remember to "All of Me" by John Legend, the cheesiest song I can
think of to sing to him.

"Fuck," he curses softly.

"What's wrong?" I kiss his cheek gently.

"I want to marry you so bad."

A blush rises on my cheeks and he smirks tiredly.

At the young ages of eighteen and nineteen, he and I had discussed that now
is too soon. Although he didn't like that factor, he understood it.

He's very eager. He's been eager ever since I've known him about
everything he wants to happen.

When he wants something, he wants it right then.

"You're beautiful, I love you," he says, sitting up straight from his leaned
back position against my bare chest.

He turns around and pulls me onto his lap. He smirks down at me and he
stands. Water drips from the two of us back into the water and he steps out
of the bathtub.

He connects our lips passionately and all the assignments I have due soon
leave my mind and I solely focus on him.

He pulls away, gently pulling my bottom lip with his teeth and he presses
his forehead against mine.

"You're my favorite person in the world, don't forget it," his hand smacks
my butt and I gasp. He connects our lips once more before setting me on the
ground and wrapping a towel around me.

He grabs a towel of his own and he wraps it around his waist. I can never
keep my eyes off his toned stomach, even after being with him for almost a
year.

He knows it too.

After getting changed into our clean clothes and Luke putting a towel over
my head and roughly drying my hair like a maniac as he does with his own,
I open the bathroom door, somewhat dizzy from what he'd just done.

He and I walk into the living room and both Aiden and Eli look back at us,
their eyes widening.

"Wow, Aubrey," Eli chuckles, "I love the poodle look."

Luke snorts from behind me and I look in the reflection of the microwave
once I enter the kitchen.

My hair is extremely poofed out from Luke's attempt at drying my hair and
well, it looks poodle-ish.

I let out a groan directed at Luke and I take the hair tie from my wrist and
put my poofy hair into a poofy bun.

I walk to the island where the three guys sit, staring at the toaster.

"It says 'turn the knob to the setting you want'," Aiden sets down what I
assume to be the directions to the toaster and he rubs his temples in
confusion.

"I don't know what I want!"

"Goddammit, Eli!" Aiden shouts back.

"What are you trying to fix?" I question him and he lifts up a piece of bread.

"Do you want it to be barely toasted, golden, slightly brown, brown, or

burnt?" I question and he thinks for a second.

"What's the difference between golden and slightly brown?" he asks and
Luke rolls his eyes.

"Think about it like a cookie. When you bake cookies, you want to take
them out when they hit that golden color around the edges, right?" I explain
to him and he closes his eyes, imagining a perfectly cooked cookie.

"Oh yes," he nods.

"Do you want it looking like that?" I ask and he nods.

I pick up the toaster and I turn the knob so that it's right in between the two
and the one.
"Luke, you've got the best girlfriend. She knows everything," Eli places his
bread into the toaster and Aiden mutters a quiet 'Hallelujah".

_____________________

It's been a couple weeks since Luke's first home game but I still can't get
use to the size of the crowds.

Thousands of people fill the stadium and of course, I'm not used to it. Loud
people screaming from behind me and even some guys with their shirts off,
showing their support with red and white body paint.

Luke still plays as wonderful as ever, being the starting quarterback as a

freshman.

Although, sitting in the stands does make me a tad lonely. In high school, I
would always have Izzy and Olivia by my side but here, I don't.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from showing my support for him.

Even for his away games, I have mini parties in my dorm, watching his
games live on my computer and always sour skittles waiting for him when
he gets back home.

I really need a friend.

I love hanging out with Luke, Eli, and Aiden, I really do but, it's not the
same as having a girl friend.

I focus my attention back on the wild game in front of me against

Vanderbilt.

A smile spreads across my face as Luke releases the ball from his hands,
sending it down the field.

A large player decked out in all white except for the number and name of
his school on his jersey, rushes towards Luke who stands, watching his pass
as it travels down the field.
My eyes widen as the guy, larger in weight, gets closer to Luke.

The guy slams into Luke, sending both of them to the ground.

Loud

sounds of anger are heard throughout the stadium at the late hit and I stand
from my seat in an attempt to see over the tall guy in front of me.

I just don't want him hurt.

Luke isn't tackled often. The defense is very good and the times he is
tackled, it's rare. It's either when he's forced to run with the ball, not seeing
a receiver open, or there's a hole in the defense.

But this tackle, from a very big guy, was late and not fair.

Teammates of Luke's rush out and yank up the Vanderbilt player. Luke
sends him a good shove and another flag is thrown, this time at Luke's
actions.

That also should not be fair in my opinion but hey, not all rule makers are
smart.

At getting the touchdown, Luke walks off the field and onto the sidelines
anyway but from the way his body language is as he does it, I can tell he's
not a happy camper.

With only a minute left in the game, Luke doesn't go back out and I even
catch sight of a team physician bending down beside him on the bench.

At least they won.

__________________

I return to my dorm after barely being able to get out of the stadium parking
lot.
It is much, much worse traffic after a college game than a high school
game.

That's part of the reason why I can't meet Luke after his games are over.
There's always reporters and interviewers right outside the locker rooms
and there's no way in the world I would want to even be slightly a part of all
that football talk.

It doesn't bother me of course, because I know that he'll come straight here
as soon as he gets the chance to leave.

"Did they win?" Blair asks, opening the door to our room, a shopping bag in
her hand.

"Yep," I answer with a smile.

"Of course they did. I don't even know why I asked," she smirks.

Before Luke gets back, I decide it's best to take a shower. Usually, when he
gets back, he likes to cuddle and most times I fall asleep.

After taking a nice, long, warm shower, I put on a pair of yoga pants and a
tank top. I look around the room noticing an absence.

Blair must've gone out partying again.

I open up my computer and get to work on an assignment that's due on

Monday.

Just as I'm turning it in early, Luke's recognizable strong knock sounds on

my door. A smile gathers on my face in excitement as I jump down from my
bed and go to the door.

My smile widens when I pull open the door but it falters when my eyes
meet his unhappy face. He walks past me into the room, not bothering to
kiss me like usual.

I close the door softly, not wanting to wake anyone up from across the hall
just in case someone was sleeping.
I walk up to Luke who sits on my bed and I glance up at him.

"Are you okay?" I question softly noticing his face still angry.

"I'm fine," he snaps and I recoil away from his harsh tone.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure. I got worried when that guy hit you
lat-"

"Fuck, Aubrey. I said I'm fine, stop talking about it," his voice raises and I
shrink down hearing him curse at me.

I just wanted to see if he was okay.

I clear my throat, covering up my hurt and I look around the room in an

attempt to find something to distract myself with.

I see a crooked paper on my desk so I begin to move away from Luke's

side. He reaches down and grabs my arm but I pull it from him.

"Babe," he starts but when I turn away, he knows I'm ignoring him.

I fix the paper on my desk and anything else I feel needs straightening up.

His strong arms place themselves on my desk and his front presses against
my back, caging me between him and my desk.

"I'm sorry, beautiful."

I don't respond at his apology, not completely forgiving him.

"I'm just frustrated at the situation, not at you," he leaves a soft kiss on my
neck.

"You weren't very kind," I mumble and he gently turns my body around in
his arms.

"I know. He broke my finger," he holds out his hand and I recognize his
broken pointer finger, with no cast or popsicle stick holding it in place.
"Where's your cast?"

"I don't need one, I'm fine," he says again and annoyance fills me.

Why does he have to be too stubborn to put a cast on his finger?

"Still upset?" he questions and I just give him a look. His strong hands grip
my waist and he picks me up and sits me on my desk.

"I'll make it up to you," he kisses my lips.

He bends down and gets on his knees. I watch in confusion as he grips my

pants. He sends a dirty, lustful look up at me and he takes my pants and my
underwear off all at once.

My eyes widen in realization as he grips my hips, pulling me closer to the

edge of my desk.

Oh, wow.

____________________

Luke pulls away from me, his lips red and swollen.

I catch my breath from what he just put me through and my head rolls over
to glance at the clock beside my bed.

4:38 a.m

A small gasp escapes my lips.

He has to wake up from practice in an hour and a half and I have class not
too long after.

After doing sex thrice, which brings a blush to my cheeks as I think about
it, there's no way I'll be able to stay awake as the day goes on.

"I love you," Luke presses a kiss against my forehead before pulling one of
his shirts over my bare torso.
"I love you too," I kiss his cheek and he slips his boxers back on before
laying down and pulling me to him.

"Pray with me," I whisper to him.

After what just occurred, three and a half times, we need a moment of Jesus
time.

He chuckles into my neck. His large hands engulf mine and he holds them
up to his chest as we both close our eyes and recite prayers of our own.

Once we've finished, I nestle my face into his neck and fall asleep.

Maybe

three minutes pass, or at least that's what it feels like, and I'm being shaken
awake.

I groggily look over at Luke, my eyes burning with tiredness and he hardly
holds his eyes open he's so tired.

"Baby, tell me that's not the alarm," his deep, husky morning voice
questions and I look over at our blaring clock.

It's definitely the alarm.

When I don't answer him, he groans into my shoulder before rolling over
top of me, literally with all his weight, and he lands with a thud on his feet,
wobbling like a drunk.

I watch him with barely opened eyes as he opens my dresser drawer and
picks out clothes for me to wear.

"Come on," he walks back to where I'm laying and I let out a whine in
disapproval.

He removes the covers from my body and he gently lifts me into his arms.

"I want to sleep," I hold out my arms toward my bed.

"Shower, love," he mutters, walking us into my bathroom. He sits me on the
toilet and I train my eyes on his toned, muscular thighs as he walks out the
room before returning with both of our clothes to put on after showering.

"Stop looking at me like that or I swear to god I don't care if I have to tell
Coach I'm sick, or how tired I am, we're doing it again," he grabs my chin,
tilting it up to his face making sure I see how serious he is.

I'm so tired, Luke has to help me wash my hair. I could barely hold my arms
up long enough to massage my own scalp.

It doesn't help that the shower is so cozy and warm.

I lean my head up against the side of the shower, just resting my eyes for a
second while Luke grabs us both a towel.

He wraps the fluffy towel around me, leading me out of the shower and I
nearly fall onto the bathroom floor to sleep.

"We're never doing that again," I mumble, blinking my eyes rapidly in an

attempt to wake myself up more.

"Let's not go that far. Only on the weekends," he decides and I don't have to
energy to speak any longer.

The two of us lazily get dressed and he carries me to the small fridge Blair
and I have in our room.

Apparently, he manages his energy better than I do.

"You need food," he decides, bending down and taking me on what feels
like a roller coaster ride.

We return to my bed and he sets me down on it before coming and sitting

beside me. He tucks me into his side.

With my head on his shoulder, he brings the spoonful of delicious

strawberry yogurt to my mouth. Then he gets another spoonful and puts it in
his own.
I've never been so tired in my whole entire life.

After eating, he holds me up with one arm as he takes off the bedsheets for
two reasons. One, so that I won't go back to sleep after he leaves, and two, a
lot happened on those last night.

Once the sheets are off, he sets me back on my bed and looks down at me.

"I've gotta go," he combs his fingers through my wet hair, getting it out of
my face.

"Be careful, please. And do something with your finger," I mention his
swollen and heavily bruised finger that I can tell doesn't feel very good at
all considering he's barely moved it since he told me what happened.

He rolls his eyes tiredly and he places his arms down on the bed to the sides
of where I'm sitting. His head moves and rests in my neck so I wrap my
arms around his neck.

The door to my room opens and Luke gives the place right under my ear a
slow, soft kiss before pulling away.

"Love you, baby," he leans down once more, pressing his lips against my
forehead.

"Aw, you two make me want to have a relationship. But I won't," she
chuckles, jumping up on her bed.

Luke goes and picks up his keys and Blair just looks at me, a smirk on her
face.

"Luke?" she calls out and he turns his attention to her as he opens the door
to our room.

"Tell some of your teammates about me, will you?" he shakes his head with
a chuckle.

"I'll be sure to," he gives me a wink before exiting the room and closing the
door behind him.
"I know that look," Blair laughs loudly, "ya'll have been up all night, huh?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

____________________

*LUKE'S POV*

"Tell me what love is like," Eli sighs as we do our stretches. I do mine

lazily.

"What?" I chuckle tiredly.

Why would he want to know that?

"I would love to know your perspective on what love is like as well so
please, tell us what love is like," Aiden ushers and I roll my eyes.

"Why don't you start, Aiden? I know you know what love is like, right?" I
question innocently.

If I'm being honest, I'm too exhausted to express love and how I feel
towards my love. She's too perfect to be put into words that express what I
feel towards her.

"You've been in love?" Eli asks, his eyes widened.

"Oh yes," Aiden nods, "let me tell you, love is a bitch."

I actually feel bad for Aiden which is new for me, I don't feel bad for his
stupid ass or Eli's often.

He was cheated on in high school and damn if he isn't constantly pissed

about it; and at the girl that did it.

"For me, love was nothing like Luke and Aubrey. We weren't all over each
other-"
"We're not all over each other," I interrupt him by shoving his arm away
from his legs that he's stretching.

"Shit, you're right;

you're

all over

her

," he corrects and I narrow my eyes at his head but he keeps on going.

"I felt- she and I- well, I don't know," he gives up and Eli whines.

"For me, love means that I can go home into her arms and forget about all
the dumbasses that get on my nerves. She's my favorite person who I tell
everything to and I don't have to worry about her judging me. I would do
anything for her," I pick a piece of grass as they listen in on me.

I could go on and on but I don't think they'd want to hear it all because quite
frankly, it's a lot.

"But it's different for everybody," I clear my throat awkwardly, looking

everywhere but at them.

"Yeah, I definitely didn't feel like that with Sarah," Aiden nods.

"I want that, you know?" Eli mumbles, looking down at the grass.

"Well when you find it, you know won't know it until it suddenly hits you
like a ton of bricks," I assure him.

I went from 'fuck, she's sexy,' to 'shit, she's pretty.' Then, 'holy moly,'
because she'll get mad at me for cursing, 'she's gorgeous,' to 'I can't believe
how beautiful she is,' and finally, I can't describe how perfectly gorgeous
inside and out she is; there are no words to.
It's crazy how fast I went from having a child-like crush on her to loving her
with everything in me.

"Wait, Eli, keep asking him questions, he's being nice right now," Aiden
motions for Eli to go on and Eli shakes his hands in the air, trying to come
up with a question.

"Um, um, um, oh! I've got one! Is it better having sex with someone you
love than with someone you just met?" he rushes out.

"Yes, now stop talking about sex," I warn him.

After our game yesterday, practice wasn't absolutely crazy. I still struggled
through I considering how tired I was but I tried my best to hide it.

___________________

Freshly showered and still feeling like I haven't slept a single minute, I,
unfortunately, show up to class.

Nina, the girl who has sat herself beside me since the first day, stares at the
side of my face all class preventing two things.

One, I can't sleep with her so openly staring at me and two, she prevents me
from being comfortable.

Beginning to get fed up, being easily aggravated from my lack of sleep, I
roll my head over to her and openly stare back, a blank expression on my
face.

"I can feel you staring at me, just in case you didn't know," I grumble and
she turns flustered.

"You're just really handsome," she mutters and I turn my attention to the
professor.

Really? My girlfriend thinks so too, what a small world.

"There's a party that my sorority sisters and I are throwing at the old Alpha
Kappa Psi house," she whispers, leaning closer so I can hear her over the
professor's loud talking.

The only party I enjoy and would like to go to involves Aubrey, me, sour
skittles, and a movie.

I've never been a huge fan of parties. In high school, of course before
meeting Aubrey, I would go to parties but that doesn't mean I enjoyed them.

"I don't party," I give her the satisfaction of an answer.

"While everyone else is partying, maybe you could help me with some
work for this class. I've noticed you know what you're doing in here," she
keeps her arm rested against mine and I look up at the clock, wanting to
leave this class like, now.

I want Aubrey.

"I'm busy," I deadpan, moving my arm away from hers.

A whole agonizing thirty-five minutes later of Nina talking my ear off while
I ignore her and focus on what the damn professor is talking about, class
ends.

"That's all for today," he ends and I shoot up from my seat. I get my shit
together and Nina stands at my side.

"Are you not interested in me or something?" she snorts likes it's crazy for
someone to not like her and I feel like banging my head against a wall until
I knock myself out.

"Look," I sigh, "I've got a girlfriend. A girlfriend who I love and I don't
party. I'm sorry if you're struggling in class but maybe if you focused a little
more on the professor, you wouldn't be. I can't tutor you, I'm sure you can
find someone else to," I tell her as calmly as possible before walking out the
class.
Why is it that people think I don't have a girlfriend? We walk the halls
together when we can, and I hold her hand everywhere we go.

I'd want people to know about us. Why hide how much I love her?

Walking to her classroom, I catch sight of her cute, tired little self as she
stumbles over the little step at the exit of her class. Her phone drops out of
her hand and a beautiful pout reaches her lips.

A random dude bends down and picks it up for her and in my exhausted
state, which causes feelings to be amplified, I narrow my eyes at the guy's
head.

Yeah, he's just helping her, whatever.

I make it to her and although she's more tired than ever, her beautiful face
morphs into a smile when she sees me.

She extends her empty hand and I grab ahold of it, bringing it to my lips as
we walk away from her class.

_____________________

"A girl wanted me to hang out with her. She invited me to a sorority party,"
I inform her and she nods from her standing position in front of me as I sit
on my bed.

"And I told her I have you," I pull her down to me and pepper kisses all
over her pretty face.

Her heavenly giggles fill the room and she wraps her arms around my neck.

"Yesterday, a guy told me I would be a good bone. I don't know what that
meant but I said thank you-"

A deep glare settles on my face and she coils back.

"I'm sorry, I don't want you to be mad at me," she mumbles, fiddling with
her dainty fingers.
I grab ahold of her fingers and I bring them up to my lips.

Who just goes up to a woman and says to their face 'you'd be a good bone',
especially to my

woman.

"No, no gorgeous. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the fucker who told you
that," I hold her as close to me as possible.

"So it's something bad?" Her head tilts and I fawn over her.

"Yes, but I'll take care of it," I push her down on my bed and lay beside her.

"Okay," she whispers tiredly.

"Sleep, darlin'."

"Are you going to sleep?" Her soft voice reaches my ears.

"Mhm," I hum and she moves her head off my chest to look at me.

The Bahama blues I love so much sparkle up at me and a small smile

reaches my face.

"Come here," she scoots away and opens her arms.

My heart trips excitedly and I scoot down, laying my head on her chest.

Her fingers find their way into my hair and I feel like I'm in heaven.

"You're so sweet," she places her soft lips on the side of my head, still
running her hands over my scalp.

"We've got to go to grandma's tomorrow. Dad wants to talk to us," I

mumble.

"Okay," she whispers, "now sleep."

___________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

"What would you do if I told you I met someone?" Eli questions me as I fix
the grilled cheese he pleaded for me to make for him before we leave to go
to Ella's house.

"I would say 'Oh my goodness, Eli! I'm happy you have met someone,
maybe you two can be friends!' why?" I reply and he chuckles.

"I mean like, meet someone I like-like. Relationship wise maybe," he

mumbles the last part and I squeal.

I take the finished grilled cheese off the pan and I throw it onto a plate. I run
over to Eli and hug his torso.

"I'm very excited, can you tell?" I hold him away at arm's length, smiling up
at him.

"Who is it? Is she our age? Does she go here? Lucas!!" I shout.

He just needs to be apart of this.

"No! He'll call me a loser-"

"Yes, love?" Luke mumbles, walking into the kitchen shirtless and rubbing
his eyes from the third nap he's taken today.

I hold out my arms for him and he walks into my embrace.

"Okay Eli, continue," I pull away from Luke, although he's still clinging to
me, and focus my attention back on Eli.

"But Luke will make fun of me," he grumbles childishly and Luke snorts.

"Luke," I point up at him, "don't make fun of him. Eli, if he makes fun of
you, make fun of him back, now please, I want to hear it all," I wiggle my
hands excitedly.
"So, I met a girl," he bites his lip, holding back a smile and I awe, nudging
Luke continuously.

See, Luke's not making fun of him.

"Her name is Lorraine."

Silence is heard for a few seconds before Luke throws his head back and
lets out a deep, gorgeous laugh.

Now, considering Eli has been through quite the...relationship with Loryn,
hearing that the girl's name is Lorraine makes me a little curious.

"If you keep having fake girlfriends, no one will ever want to date you,"
Luke recovers and Eli's mouth drops open.

"Bless your heart, Eli."

"She

is

real! She's a real person, I swear!" Eli crosses his arms.

"I believe you, Eli! I'm happy for you! He's just mean sometimes," I elbow
Luke's side as he laughs into his hands.

"Thank you boo-boo. See Luke, some people are nice. You two are so
opposite it's ridiculous," Eli throws the roll of paper towels at Luke.

Just as Luke is about to retaliate in a probably more painful way, two small
knocks are heard on the door.

It can't be Aiden since every time he comes here he bangs on the door like a
whole maniac until someone opens it and gives him attention.

The first time he did that when I was here, I thought someone was trying to
come in and murder us all but nope, it was just Aiden on the other side of
the door, with a big smile on his face.
"I'll get it," I say since I'm closest to the door.

After tripping over Eli's strewn out shoes, I finally get ahold of the door
handle. I pull it open and am greeted by a pretty red-haired girl.

Before I can say anything, she speaks up.

"Does Luke Taylor live here? I was told he does," she speaks quickly in a
demanding tone and I find myself shrink down under her scrutinizing gaze.

I hear a snap behind me and I look to where Eli and Luke stand, out of the
view of the girl in the doorway.

The two of them make wild hand gestures and Eli throws his hands near
Luke's bare chest like a showgirl that's showing off a new car on a game
show.

I furrow my eyebrows and Luke pushes Eli into the island to get him to
stop.

'I. Don't. Live. Here," Luke mouths word for word, slowly.

He wants me to lie.

I turn back to the stranger and give her a hesitant smile as I prepare myself
to lie. I take a deep breath and fiddle with my fingers.

"He loesn't dive here," I tell her before smacking my forehead, I can tell
Luke's doing the same, "I mean, he doesn't live here."

She looks at me like she totally doesn't believe me and I internally whine.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" she looks at me not-so-happily and I find myself
not knowing what to do.

"Excuse me, hello," Eli comes up beside me and I sigh in relief.

"First of all, look at her like she's the scum of the earth one more time and
I'll unleash my deadly bulldog, Rosco, on you and his friend, Leo, who just
so happens to be the devil," he points at her with narrowed eyes.

"Who do you think you ar-"

"Second of all, I wasn't finished. Third of all, what's your name?" he

questions her.

"Nina," she glares.

"Oh, hello Nina! How's your mother and them? I'm just kidding, I don't
care," he flips his invisible long hair, "fourth of all, Luke doesn't live here,
isn't that right, Luke?"

I smack my forehead again and he covers his mouth.

"That's a different Luke who I'm talking to right now. His name is Luka
Davidson or sum'," Eli shrugs, pretty much making his situation worse.

"Okay, you know what? Ya'll two can't lie for shit," Luke comes in between
us, now with a shirt on.

"Nina, what do you want?" he sighs and a small smile erupts onto her face.

Eli grabs my arm and he drags me back to the kitchen. I watch the two as
they interact, with the front door open wider than what I had it opened it to.

"Don't worry boo-boo," he throws an arm over my shoulders, "he'll get rid
of her."

If there's one thing I dislike about having a very handsome boyfriend, it's
the girls that drool after him.

"Nina, I'm not helping you study, or coming to the party. I've already told
you this now don't come back-"

"But what if you didn't have a girlfriend?" she raises an eyebrow with a
suggestive smile and my mouth drops open a little bit.
That must be the girl that asked him yesterday if he could go to her sorority
party.

Luke doesn't say anything, he just shuts the door in her face.

He turns away from the door and walks over to me. He picks me up with
one arm from the stool and I'm thrown over his shoulder.

I wave goodbye to Eli and he gives me a big wink followed by the wiggling
of his eyebrows.

Luke sets me down on the bed and he climbs on top of me, placing his chin
on my shoulder and his forehead on my cheek. He throws his long legs over
me and his hand grabs my other cheek.

He peppers my cheek with kisses and whispers sweet words into my ear
when I turn into him and wrap my arms around him.

"I love you so much, I don't think you realize," he kisses my forehead,
"you're so damn sweet," he moves his lips to my cheek, "and you're my
beautiful girl," he squeezes my cheeks together, puckering my lips before
kissing them.

He pulls away and I just look at him with a small smile.

I don't think he realizes how much

love

him

____________________

|
|

| Okay, okay. I know, this chap didn't have the

all

'drama' I was talking about. I couldn't add it because the story would have
been over 9,000 words and that's too much in my opinion. Basically, this
one is just a filler and I updated early so hopefully, that makes up for it.
Hopefully Sequel Chapter 10 will be up early too. So, with that being said,
expect drama to be in the next chapter lol.

Thank you for reading! And I swear some of ya'lls comments crack me up.

Word count: 6002

-Ashlyn M.
Sequel Chapter 10 "My cuddle
buddy"
*AUBREY'S POV*

"Is that Daxton's truck? I swear, if that's Daxton's truck," Luke trails off as
he drives down Ella's long driveway.

Well, that's not good.

"I'm going to whoop his ass again. Nope, I'm going to do worse, you best
close your eyes now baby, it's not gonna be pretty," he warns me.

Along with Daxton's truck, James's sits beside it.

The whole car ride here, I tried to come up with reasons as to why James
would want to talk to us. I came up with nothing.

"Oh my goodness gracious, Luke. Don't do anything to him, what'd he do

so bad anyway?" I question but Luke stays quiet.

Last year when Luke brought me here for Thanksgiving, Ella and I walked
into the house with the two of them in a full-on fight. To this day Luke still
hasn't told me what caused them two to brawl.

He parks the truck beside his dad's truck but he doesn't move. He turns to
me, grabs my hand, and brings it to his lips.

"He said something about you that was very disrespectful and I wasn't
going to stand there and let him talk about you like that," he says.

He gets out of his side and I open the door to mine. He places his hands on
my hips and he lifts me out of my seat carefully.
A permanent frown etches itself onto my face as I go over the disrespectful
comments Daxton could have said about me.

"You don't have to be so careful around me," I halt my step, making us both
stop. For some reason, I just really want to know what Daxton said about
me.

"Sweetheart-"

"No, It's okay. I can take a hit," I give him a determined face and he lets out
a pained sigh.

"I don't even like thinking about it. Or saying it. I don't like the word he
used, except for when I call Eli it," he explains and my eyebrows furrow.

I go over mean words he calls Eli a lot in my head but I don't come up with
any that Daxton could have called me.

Maybe the b-word and if it was, that's not very nice.

"The b-word?" I ask and his gray eyes look into mine.

"He didn't

call

you anything- he said you hav- he said you must have some good...pussy,"
his face visibly cringes as he says the last word.

"Doesn't that word mean-oh!" A loud gasp escapes my lips as I realize

Daxton was talking about my lady part, "t-that's inappropriate beyond my
belief."

"I don't like that word, let's stop talking about it," he grabs my hand again
and leads me up onto the porch.

I would have loved if I could've met Charlotte Taylor.

Luke may not have been a saint before we met but as long as I've known
him, he has respected me and, well, people he likes and people he doesn't
like, he just doesn't talk to.

She must've been such an amazing person and mother.

Without knocking, Luke just opens the door and he pulls me in. We hear
voices in the kitchen so that's where Luke leads me.

"You're a shit ass," Charlie's recognizable voice says calmly and I get a
view of him talking directly to Daxton.

"Hi sweet pea's," Ella greets the two of us once she sees us. Luke releases
my hand and he walks up to his cousin and grandpa.

"Daxton came over a while ago and everything seemed to be going fine,"
she sighs, "then about fifteen minutes ago, everything went to hell in a
handbasket."

"I'm sorry, Ella," I return her hug when she wraps her arms around me.

"I swan, that boy's really gonna get it one day," she pulls away, shaking her
head once again at her grandson.

"You're

still

with her?" Daxton picks up his keys from the kitchen table and he stops in
front of me, looking at me from head to toe.

"Don't start nothin' you won't be able to finish, Daxton," Charlie warns and
Daxton snorts.

"Just look at her," his eyes narrow and his upper lip curls into a snarl. I look
down at my feet, hating to see someone who seems so similar to Luke look
at me in such a way.

"Fuck off," Luke shoves Daxton away, "get out."

"Whatever, see ya'll later," we hear the front door open then close and Ella
lets out a little groan.

"I know for a fact that Marianne and Brian raised him right, he's got
brothers that are perfectly fine, I just don't know what happened."

"And you, my sweet baby boy," she grabs Luke's cheeks and he bends down
to her height.

She pinches his cheeks and gives each side of his face a kiss. I watch the
two with a little smile on my face. They're just so cute.

"You're my strong man, so handsome, and so sweet, Charlotte and James

did wonders for you," she gives him a big hug and Charlie joins us where
we're standing.

"What's with all the love?" Luke chuckles. Of course, Ella is loving
anyways, but even I've noticed it a little more today. Ella just gives him a
small smile and I see a tad bit of pity behind her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing," she pulls away and wraps one arm around Charlie who
looks at Luke the same way.

What are we missing here?

"Where's dad?" Luke questions, looking around only to not see James.

"He's outside, we'll go get him. You two just take a seat and have some food
if you want, ya'll know where it is," Ella rushes out before heading out the
kitchen and dragging Charlie with her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with Dax," Luke shakes
his head as he sets me up on one of the tall chairs.

"I-It's okay. Remember, I'm tough," I give him an encouraging smile and he
leans forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

Luke situates his chair closer to mine before sitting down, grabbing my
hand and resting our connected hands on my leg.
"Do you know why they're acting so different?" I question softly and Luke
shakes his head.

"No clue," he mumbles as James comes into the kitchen, by himself.

"Hi James," I smile and he gives me a hug.

"Hey, honey," he greets after pulling away, a nervous look on his face which
confuses me.

"Luke," he wipes his hands on his jeans as he looks at Luke and by the way
Luke's eyes narrow in speculation, he can tell something is up.

"What's wrong with your face?" he asks James who just chuckles.

"Nothing, why would you think that?" James averts his eyes from Luke as
he lies.

I've never seen James look or act like this before. Usually, he's all calm and
cool, much like Luke's attitude and even Charlie's. Those three can have
very similar attitudes at times.

"You look like you have to shit," Luke mumbles and James gives him a
'really' look.

"I need to talk to ya'll. Aubrey, you're a part of this family and you deserve
to be a part of this conversation so thank you for coming with Luke because
if you didn't I don't think I'd be able to do this," James explains and I refrain
from showing confusion to what he's about to say on my face. Luke doesn't
though. His face contorts in confusion.

"Dad, what is it?" he urges and James takes a shaky breath in. I can tell that
the longer James stalls, the longer Luke gets nervous because it's obvious
that the news doesn't look good, although neither of us knows what it is.

"I've brought a friend here with me. Well, a very close friend- a girlfriend."

My eyes widen a slight bit in surprise. I look over at Luke and he's looking
at his dad with this blank expression. This heartbreaking
blank expression.

Then, a sad, confused laugh escapes his lips and my heart nearly breaks on
the spot.

"That's no-," his laughing stops as he looks at his dad only to see the truth in
his eyes.

"You're lying," his voice comes out shaky and his hand shoots out to grab
mine. I wrap my hand around his larger one and he holds it tightly.

"Son, I-I'm not," James's voice comes out quiet and I offer him a small,
smile of encouragement.

"But momma? What about momma?" his face looks youthful as his
eyebrows furrow into a sad frown.

"Lu-"

"I can't, I can't do this," Luke stands, still holding my hand so I stand with
him. I look at James behind me as he drags me out.

I don't know what to say, think, or do right now.

I was too young to remember mom moving away and remarrying. I hadn't
spent enough time with my mom to get close to her and her marrying Rick
hadn't bothered me.

Luke, on the other hand, was very close to his mom.

We make it outside to Ella's front yard and I watch him cautiously, unsure
of what's going on in his head.

Luke releases my hand and he walks around the yard in, what I think is an
attempt to keep himself cool.

I stand at the bottom of the porch stairs watching my poor Luke in pain.
He walks back near where I'm standing and he looks at me, tears nearly
form in my eyes at the look he gives me. A mixture of panic, sadness, anger,
and pure confusion.

I can see right through him and he's freaking out.

Things don't make Luke freak out. He deals with his emotions in calm
manners, even when he's mad. He may raise his voice but he never puts
how he feels into actions. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he's calm as can
be.

"I don't know what to do," his soft tone kills me, "Do I need to cry? Do I
need to hit something? Daxton's not here, I can't do that. Am I having a
heart attack? It feels like I am."

With his breathing erratic, I reach out my arms towards him.

"Baby, help me, what do I do?" he grabs ahold of my arms tightly and he
moves into my embrace, holding me tightly to him.

I take two steps up the porch so he and I can reach each other better and I
comfortingly run my hands through his hair.

"Take deep breaths with me, love," I breathe in and out with him and his
crazy-fast racing heart beats against me.

"I really love it a lot when you call me that," he whispers as calmly as he
can and I kiss his cheek lovingly.

"I'll do it more for you, okay?" I wipe some hair off his forehead and he
nods against me.

"I want my momma," he nearly whines and I blink rapidly to get rid of the
tears in my eyes. I need to be strong for him right now.

"I know, you're so strong, Lucas," I whisper. He's so much stronger than I'll
ever be. He's been through so much; too much.
"Mom used to always call me Lucas," he pulls away and looks at me, still
holding onto my waist.

"That's why I hate it when Eli calls me that," just as I'm about to apologize
for sometimes letting 'Lucas' slip out of my mouth instead of 'Luke', he
speaks again.

"I love it when you call me it. It makes me feel good and like you love me,"
he admits.

"I do love you, very much," I make sure to look him right in the pretty gray
eyes as I tell him.

"I know I can be hard to deal with sometimes. I can get frustrated easily and
sometimes I snuggle too hard but-"

I cut his rant off with a giggle. I love it when he uses the word 'snuggle.' To
me, it just sounds so cute coming from him.

"I wouldn't have you any other way," I kiss his lips.

"So, what do I do?" he asks and I look into the sky for suggestions.

"I think you should talk to your dad," I leave it as simple as that.

I know he's hurting. I also know that he wasn't expecting to be given the
news that his dad has a girlfriend.

And if he wants my opinion, then I think he needs to talk about everything

with James.

"Okay," he sighs, "oh, and I love you too."

"I'll go get him," I begin pulling away and he lets go of me reluctantly.

I think it's better for them to do what they need to do outside. Who knows
what will happen? If there's yelling, I just don't want James's girlfriend to
get nervous, wherever she is, I haven't even seen her yet.
I make my way into the kitchen and upon hearing my entrance, James looks
up at me.

"He's outside," I give him a small smile and his eyes cloud with
nervousness.

"Is he mad? Does he hate me?" he asks.

"Of course he doesn't hate you. He's upset but, that's to be expected, right?
It's new to him and he's waiting outside for you and him to talk," I inform
him and he relaxes a tad bit.

"Should I tell him she has a kid yet, or no?" he peeps his head back around
the corner to ask.

My eyes widen a slight bit.

"Um well," I think for a second, "I would just tell him everything."

I hope this works for the two of them. And for James's girlfriend and her
kid.

Less than two seconds pass before Luke walks inside. He beeline's toward
me and he drags me back outside with him.

When I said he should talk with his dad, I meant just the two of them but
hey, whatever he wants right now.

He sets me in one of the rocking chairs on the porch and I look up at him in
question.

"Just in case I can't breathe again," he tucks a curl behind my ear and joins
his dad near the porch steps.

"Why?" Luke asks his dad.

"Luke, I've been living for years in pain. I miss Charlotte more than
anything but I couldn't keep living like that. I wasn't opposed to the idea of
meeting someone new but I wasn't looking either, just know that," James
explains.

"Mom would've wanted that?"

"She would want the both of us to be happy, you know that. You're happy,
right?" James questions and Luke doesn't waste a second.

"Yes."

"I wasn't," James says and Luke still doesn't look satisfied.

"So you're replacing her?" Luke asks emotionlessly and I turn my face
away before he can see how I reacted to what he had said.

"Don't you even think that," James says lowly, emotions bubbling up in his
throat, "I let you do what you wanted. I let you heal the way you needed
when your mom passed. I let you party and I let you go out whenever not
knowing what was going to happen to you. I need to heal too; you need to
let me."

Luke stays silent as he, I assume, thinks over everything.

"I know it hurts, son. I'm sorry you have to feel like this but I just want to
be happy. Alice makes me happy," James explains further.

"Alright," Luke decides and I find myself feeling very proud of him.

"She's here?" he questions and James nods before turning and looking at
me.

He forgot to mention she has a kid.

"Why are you looking at her?" Luke notices.

"She has a kid," James mutters and Luke leans his head on the porch railing.

"How old?"
"He's ten," James says, "his name is Cason."

I guess it's good that Luke is moved out because he is far from a sibling
type. He doesn't share, he likes to be violent, he's got a foul mouth, and he'd
burn the house down if his little sibling wanted something as simple as
some eggs for breakfast.

Bless his heart.

"How long have you been with her?" Luke questions and James sighs.

"Five months. But, before you get mad for me not telling you, I just wanted
to make sure I really liked her. You and Aubrey are very important to me
and I wouldn't want you to meet someone even I

wasn't sure about," James explains and my heart swells.

"Would you two like to meet them now?" James questions somewhat
nervously and I find myself getting excited.

Luke's eyes connect with mine and I see a tad bit of panic in them. I give
him an encouraging smile and he lets out a breath.

"I guess we'll meet her," Luke peers down at his feet and I get up off my
seat. James gives me a thankful smile as I pass him and I give him a small
one in return.

I place my hand on one of Luke's arms which he has crossed over his chest.
He looks down at me before taking ahold of the hand on his arm.

I follow James inside with Luke clinging to my hand like his life depends
on it.

We go back into the kitchen and take our previous seats. Once James leaves
to go get Alice and Cason, Luke turns his head to me.

"Kiss me," he points to his lips and I lean toward him.

"Kiss
me

," I smirk back at him. Barely a second goes by before he's leaning forward
the rest of the way and connecting our lips.

He pulls away with one last peck and I smile.

"I love you, darlin'," he pulls my hand to his lips and kisses the top of it.

"You're my cuddle buddy," I wrap my arms around him in a hug, "I love
you very much."

"Do you want to cuddle when we get back to mine?" he rubs his hand down
my back and I nod against him.

"Good."

I pull away and he looks at me worriedly.

"Don't be worried, everything will be okay," I smooth out a crinkle on his

shirt.

"I didn't think dad wanted to be in a relationship," he mumbles.

"He wanted to be happy remember? And from what he said, he's happy
now," I remind him and he nods.

We hear a little commotion from the entrance of the kitchen and I look over
to see James, a woman, and a young kid.

The woman's dark eyes meet mine and she gives a hesitant smile. I give her
a full smile, not wanting her to feel nervous.

My eyes find Luke and instead of looking at the two new people, his gaze is
fixated on the marble counter in front of him.

He's hurting.
"Alice, this is my son, Luke, and well, pretty much, my daughter in law,
Aubrey," he introduces us and I give her a welcoming smile.

"It's nice to meet you both," she smiles and tucks a strand of her dark
blonde, bob-cut hair behind her ear.

Her slim, tall figure walks forward and she reaches across the counter,
holding out her hand to me.

"Hi," I shake her hand as my eyes meet with her honey brown eyes.

She moves her hand over to Luke and his eyes move from the counter to her
hand but he never looks at her.

When their hands let go, I place my hand on his lower back and run my
thumb back and forth, over his defined back muscles. He leans a tad bit
closer to me so instead of stopping, I just keep giving him a back rub that
only he and I know about.

"This is my son, Cason," she introduces pulling a small boy from behind
her, in front of her. He looks between Luke and me shyly.

He gives me a cute little shy wave and I give him a warm smile and a wave
back.

"James has told me so much about you two," she gushes and I feel Luke
tense.

James bends down next to Cason and Cason whispers something in his ear.
His eyes find Luke and James stands up with a chuckle.

"Go ahead, you can ask him," James nods at the boy and Cason shyly steps
closer.

"A-Are those real?" Cason points and Luke and I both look at what he's
pointing at, but it's only Luke's arm.

"Is what real?" Lukes deep voice questions from beside me.
Cason points to his arm then back at Luke's arm.

"Big muscles," he says cutely and I giggle, giving Luke's bicep a squeeze.

"They're real. I think I see yours coming along," I point to his small arms
and he looks back at his.

"I guess I work on them. I lift some of the girls' backpacks at school and
carry them for them sometimes," he flexes one of his arms and I giggle
again. Even Luke gets a little smirk on his face.

"I watch you on tv," Cason continues, his shyness now almost gone
completely, "You're like, okay I guess."

I laugh loudly and Alice nudges Cason, a sheepish smile on her face
directed at Luke.

From the corner of my eyes, I see Ella peer around the corner and look
straight in my direction. I turn towards her and she motions for me to come
to her.

I remove my hand from Luke's back and his head turns to me automatically.

I look up to Alice and James and offer them a smile.

"I'll be back in a minute," Luke's hand grips my thigh and he gives me a

'no.' look. One where his eyebrows furrow down and his lips part in the
slightest of bits likes he's mouthing the world's smallest no.

I place my hand on top of his and I mouth 'one minute.' He lets out a sigh
before helping me off my tall chair, like always.

I turn the corner and Ella immediately grabs my hand and pulls me deeper
into the living room.

"Is he okay? I feel so terrible for not telling the two of you. Is he okay? My
poor grandbaby, is he okay?" she rushes out repeating the question multiple
times.
"He could definitely be worse but he's upset. He was kind of blindsided,
you know? There weren't any clues that lead him to think James was in a
relationship," I explain and she nods sadly.

Ella pulls me into a hug and she kisses the top of my head.

"You're so good to him," she holds me to her for a few seconds before
pulling away and holding me at arm's length.

"He's very good to me," I say and she smiles.

"I better go back before he gets cranky," she lets me pull away and I walk
back into the kitchen. As soon as I enter, my eyes meet with Luke's.

He helps me back onto the chair and I place my hand on his back again.

"Luke and I are going to step out for a minute, you two can get to know
each other a little," James smiles and Luke gets up.

I watch his muscular back as he exits the kitchen and once he's out of sight,
I turn my attention back to Alice.

Cason goes and he takes a seat on the dining room table, playing with a
tablet.

"I'm not too sure Luke appreciates my presence all that much," she comes
to sit beside me.

"Luke appreciates the presence of only a few select people," I explain to

her.

"James mentioned he's a little bit like that," she nods and I giggle.

It makes him sound like a complete antisocial meanie, which at times is true
but other times, it's not.

He's like a gentle giant. He's sweet and kind to people he cares about,
besides Eli and Aiden.
His smile lights up his eyes and his emotionless face actually holds more
emotion than one wouldn't be able to see without knowing him for a while.

He's a cutie and he would hate that I'm thinking he's a

cutie

"He's a sweetheart, don't tell him I told you that," she laughs, "this whole
thing is just hard for him."

She smiles sadly.

"I don't want him to hate me. I know he's very important to James. I don't
want him to think I'm trying to replace Charlotte."

"You just have to give him time," I put forth the best advice I can muster.

"How'd you meet Luke?" She changes the subject.

"We met at our old high school," I smile and she taps her head.

"That's right, James told me that. I forgot."

"How'd you meet James?" I sit my chin on my hand.

"We met in Wisconsin. He was visiting his office there and while on break,
he came into the restaurant I was working at. After that, he just kept
coming," she recalls and I hold in an aw.

As long as James is happy.

Loud footsteps are heard and Luke comes back into the kitchen, his face
angry.

Oh no.

James stands in the doorway a not-so-happy look on his face either.

Ella appears in the doorway beside James and she looks upset.

"What's wrong?" I question softly as he picks me up and places me on the

ground.

"We're leaving," he mumbles, picking up his keys from beside Alice.

What did they talk about to make him so upset?

"Bye, guys," I give them all a small wave and Luke drags me out of the
house.

He was doing so well

We make it outside and he lifts me into the passenger side of his truck. He
gets in his side and before I can blink, he's driving away.

"What happened?" I question softly, not sure if he'd even want to talk about
it.

He lets out a bitter chuckle and shakes his head.

"They spring this shit on me and when I tell them I'm fine, dad expects me
to be all fuckin' jolly and have a full on conversation with her. Then, on top
of that, he calls Cason my brother.

They need to slow down, I'm not ready for that," he blurts and fiddle with
my fingers.

I can't imagine what he's going through.

"Don't you think they're going eighty when they need to be at thirty?" he
glances over at me.

"It

is
all a little fast," I nod.

"Thank god for you baby, I'm losing my mind," he places his hand on my
thigh.

__________________

~Sunday~

"You haven't seen him all day?" Blair asks as she finishes up my last
fingernail. I look down at the pastel purple and smile.

That's one of my favorite colors.

"Nope. He's probably sleeping a lot. I haven't gotten any texts," I look
around for my phone but I don't see it anywhere.

"What are you looking for?" Blair hops off my bed and she places the nail
polish back in one of her drawers.

"My phone," I carefully move around my bed comforter, trying not to mess
up my nails.

Blair and I search the room. My bed, the bathroom, under my bed, my desk,
everywhere.

"When was the last time you had it?" she asks and I place my hands on my
hips as I think back to the time I last had it.

"Last night before I went to bed. I was at Luke's," I smack my forehead.

He's probably mad and thinks I'm ignoring him. I fell asleep with my phone
in my hand last night and by now, it's probably mixed in with his comforter.

"I bet that's where it is," Blair nods and I groan.

I don't feel like walking.

"Have a nice walk dear!" Blair calls out as I close the door to our room.
Twenty minutes later, I finally get to Luke's. I give his door a good knock
and I wait a second.

The door opens and a very, very tall and muscled guy looks down at me.

He's quite scary to be honest.

"Yes Luke Taylor lives here, if you're Nina, no he doesn't live here,
goodbye," he closes the door right as I open my mouth the respond.

Wait, what just happened? Do I knock again?

Before I can do anything, the door opens once again but this time revealing
Eli's smiling face.

"Boo-boo! I'm sorry!" he grabs my arm and he pulls me in. More than two
dozen guys, big, tall, short, and muscular, stand littered throughout the
place and I must look like a little child.

"That's not Nina I'm guessing?" the same guy that opened the door the first
time asks.

"No idiot, Nina has red hair!" Eli insults over his shoulder as he pulls me
further into the large dorm.

Without looking where I'm going and with Eli pulling me, I slam into
someone's back.

"Watch where you're going, Zade, god," Eli sighs disappointedly at the red-
headed guy in front of me as I massage my nose.

"That was my fault, I'm sorry," I apologize sheepishly as Eli drags me away.

"Luke? Where'd that old asshole go?" Eli mumbles to himself.

"Where's Luke?" he taps on a guys shoulder and when he turns around, I

recognize him.

I can't pinpoint how I recognize him, but I do.

"In the hall," the guy says before his eyes fall on me, "I know you."

'You'd be a good bone.'

Uh oh.

I tug on Eli and he starts dragging me to the hallway where Luke is.

"You know Kai?" he questions and I nod.

"He was the one who said I'd be a good bone," I explain and Eli's face
morphs into one of anger before turning into one of amusement.

"Oh, this will be rich," he gently pushes me into the hall, also into the
middle of a group of guys that are listening to one of the guy's talk.

The guy talking halts his words and all their heads turn to me.

I wish I didn't come right now.

A light blush appears on my cheeks as they all look at me and then a hand
grazes my lower back.

"I'll be right back," Luke nods at the guys and he leads me to his room.
Once we're in his room, he shuts the door and turns to me.

"Did I do something? Why are you ignoring me?" he questions and I giggle
at his confused face.

"I left my phone here and I just realized it. I came back at a horrible time. I
was mistaken for Nina, a big scary guy opened the door, the guy that told
me I'd be a good bone is here, I accidentally ran into someone, and then, Eli
pushed me into a big group of those guys," I huff and Luke's eyes narrow.

"What did you say?" he questions.

He couldn't have

possibly
missed all of what I had just said.

"You want me to repeat that whole thing ove-"

"No, babygirl, what did you say about the guy who told you you'd be a
good bone?" he questions and I bite my bottom lip.

I probably wasn't supposed to tell him that.

"I don't know, can you help me find my phone?" I change the subject and I
begin to look under his covers for my phone.

"You changed the subject, sweetheart," his arms wrap around me from
behind.

"Sorry. How are you today? Do you feel better?" I question him, knowing
he's still somewhat upset about the whole thing that occurred yesterday.

"You did it again," one of his hand grasps my butt. I turn around in his arms
and wrap my own around his torso.

"Oops, I did it again. I played with your heart," I sing softly and he
chuckles, grabbing my cheeks.

"You're so fucking cute, I love you," he leans down and places a kiss on my
lips.

Just as we're pulling away, the door swings open and Aiden and Eli look at
us.

"Three things, Aubrey, Zade wants to meet you, also, how do you work the
oven? Last thing, Luke, Kai is the one who told Aubrey she'd be a good
bone," Eli announces and Luke's hands drop from me.

Luke walks out of the room, a not-so-happy glare on his face. Aiden holds
out his hand for me and I take it.

"Let's go watch what he does," Aiden says excitedly.

I just hope he won't be too mean.

__________________

| Like I promised, another early chap! Happy Valentine's Day to ya'll

(even though it's a lil late) also, I left ya'll on a little cliffhanger ;) stay
tuned.

Thank you for reading!

*Not Edited*

Word count: 5483

-Ashlyn M.

ablanchard734409
Sequel Chapter 11 "You look
panicked, sir"
*AUBREY'S POV*

Luke walks directly toward Kai who just sits on an island chair, looking
down at his phone. He doesn't even see Luke coming.

Once Luke gets to him, Luke harshly pushes Kai's forehead up, which
startles him.

"We need to have a talk, outside," Luke grabs Kai by the ear, catching the
attention of most of the guys in the room. They all just either smirk or smile
and I assume they're not fans of Kai.

Aiden drags me along behind them, even when I drag my feet to stop him.
I'm not necessarily looking to see violence at the moment.

"You're a piece of shit," Luke roughly shoves Kai who leans up against the
wall in the hallway once we get outside the suite.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kai massages his shoulder as he tries
keeping his distance from an angry Luke.

Eli just stands beside us, jumping up and down excitedly watching the two.

"Eli, you're going to pull a muscle, stop jumping," Aiden warns Eli who
stops jumping before giving Aiden the finger.

"You told my girlfriend she'd be a good fucking bone," a look of realization

crosses Kai's face and he turns to look at me.

"Such a child, you can't even keep your problems to yourself," Kai sneers
and barely finishes before Luke sends his fist into his face.
I turn into Aiden not wanting to watch the violent activity.

"You're just getting yourself into trouble," Kai mumbles and I turn back
around. Kai holds himself up by leaning onto the wall all while keeping his
hand over his already bruising cheek.

"Really? I mean, I didn't see anything happen here. Did you Aiden?" Eli
fakes confusion.

"Not a single thing. Well other than him running into the door on the way
out," Aiden shrugs and Kai's eyes narrow in frustration.

"I don't know who gave you the idea of talking to a woman like that, let
alone her," Luke glances over at me, "but I swear to God if you say
anything else to her, you're going to have more than just a bruised
cheekbone next time."

Even I'm terrified by his threat and that's saying something considering I've
been with him for this long.

Kai sends me one last look before walking to the elevator and leaving.

That could have gone worse considering in high school Luke was almost
known for knocking Liam out. Twice.

Luke turns toward me after making sure he left. He gives me a smirk and
starts to wiggle his eyebrows at me.

"I love us," Eli flips his 'hair.'

"Boom, right in the face, love that," Aiden holds out his fist for Luke who
fist bumps him back, shaking his head at him.

"Kai hangs out with Kris, those two are freaking dingleberries," Aiden
explains to me and Eli nods in agreement.

Luke's hands come to rest on my cheeks and he leans down, giving my lips
a long peck.
"Give him some sugar!" Eli tickles my side with one finger and I squirm.

"Yeah, give me some sugar," he points to his cheek and I stand on my tippy
toes, kissing his cheek.

"We should go back inside before they find the hidden alcohol cabinet," Eli
mumbles.

"You have an alcohol cabinet?" I whisper-shout and Aiden giggles.

"I need a tequila fix every now and then," Eli informs me.

But it's illegal.

"How do you get it?" I question. None of the three of them are twenty-one
and if Luke had a fake ID, I'd surely take it away from him because that's
also illegal and laws make me nervous.

Prison Mike says prison is no joke, just like identity theft.

"Charlie Taylor is the bringer of the alcohol and he's my favorite old man,"
Aiden bumps his heart with his fist.

"Oh okay," I nod in understanding.

____________________

"Oh my god," the redheaded guy, Eli tells me his name is Zade, who I ran
into when I first got here exclaims from his seat on the couch as we walk
back into the dorm.

He sticks his hand under his butt and he pulls out my recognizable phone
with its pretty light pink Lifeproof case on it.

I thought I fell asleep with it in my hand, but I guess I brought it out here
when I watched Spongebob with Eli for those few minutes this morning.

"There's a pink phone under my ass," he holds it out to a guy in front of

him.
"Isn't that yours?" Eli questions as Luke looks at the phone.

"Zade, go wash that shit, come on man," Luke shoves the guy's hand away
who just laughs.

I'm sure it doesn't need that, right?

"Eli, go wash it," Zade tosses my phone to Eli who just jumps out of the
way.

Eli sends my phone a good kick and I watch it sadly as it bumps into the
foot of the big guy who opened the door for me.

"Which one of you sissies has this phone?" he calls out and my face turns
pink as many of the guys let out loud laughs.

I so badly want to call out that it's mine but instead, the big guy just throws
it across the room.

"Wait-" I call out as I watch it fly, only to be ignored.

"I don't know where it went but I'll find it for you," Aiden promises as he
walks off.

I'm not well in tight, crowded places and with all the guys in here, I'm not
doing well.

Luke makes his way over to me and he gives me a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry, I'll find your phone," he kisses my forehead before walking off,
leaving me stranded in the middle of a bunch of guys I don't know.

My palms sweat and I take a deep breath.

I'm going to punch him softly in the broken finger for leaving me.

"Aubrey! Come here!" my head turns toward Eli's voice and he sits near
Zade, waving me over.
I take a seat on the couch and offer Zade a smile.

"That's Aubrey," Eli introduces and Zade gives me a smile.

"I'm Zade," he holds out his large hand and I take it in my smaller one.

"She's the better half of Luke," Eli continues and I give him a look.

"I'll have to bring over my girl sometime, I'm sure you two would get
along," he smiles and I nod happily.

"I would love to meet her," I still need a friend.

"Her name is Kayleigh," he says.

I know a Kayleigh. This school is big though, there's probably tons of other
Kayleigh's.

She probably doesn't even go here anyway.

"Aubrey," Eli suddenly says, "tell him about that time you made Luke
almost cry!"

Eli crosses his legs as a little satisfied chuckle leaves his lips.

Luke must have done something to him recently.

"Eli, I'm not go-"

"I'll do it," Eli leans forward, "there we were at Luke's cousin Whitney's
house. We were swimming in the pool and Aubrey, Whitney, and Aiden all
were doing that 'how long can you hold your breath underwater' which
damn, Aubrey is very good at that."

I sigh quietly as I remember how terrified Luke was.

He and Eli weren't apart of that little game and from what I gathered, I was
the last one still under.
I was beyond shocked when my arms were suddenly grabbed and I was
pulled above water. Eli was right, Luke was nearly teary-eyed and he made
me get out of the pool right after.

Then, he wouldn't let go of me all day. I had felt so bad.

"You don't understand it, man," Zade chuckles at Eli, "once you find the
one, you'll shit yourself when they do something as little as run into a door
or sum'."

As the two go into arguing mode, I look around for Luke or Aiden. Once I
find them, my eyes narrow.

They're just having a fine and dandy normal conversation.

Oh, 'I'll find your phone,' and 'I don't know where it went but I'll find it,' my
left toe.

I get up from my seat and go on my own search. The quicker I find it, the
sooner I'll be able to get out of this place.

I walk into the bathroom, as my final resort after searching everywhere else,
praying it's not in here and when I see it, I nearly cry.

In the toilet.

Mean, immature, rude, booty-hole, football players.

Luke

will

be getting a whole entire earful about everything that has happened today
and I will especially

let him know how much of a happy camper I'm

not

"Damn," Luke's deep voice says as he comes up behind me.

"Get it out," I point to it and he acts dumbfounded.

"What?"

"Get it out, Lucas," I look up at him as he looks down at me, his mouth
slightly agape.

"I'm allergic," I add and his eyebrows furrow.

"To what?" he questions, tilting his head.

"To toilet water, I've told you this," I turn my head away, feeling the wiggle
of my nose.

Maybe I'm not allergic to toilet water but, it's my weakness. It can be the
world's cleanest toilet but the toilet water will still have that certain smell
and that smell is the worst smell in the world to me.

"Baby, don't make me do this," he pleads.

"I'm going to go see Eli, tell me when you've got it," I give him a smile as
he watches me walk out of the room.
I sit in my previous spot and wait for the signal.

"Oh, Aubrey! Come teach me how to use the oven," Eli murmurs in an
attempt to keep his voice quiet from Zade, but he still hears him.

I follow Eli to the kitchen and he bends down in front of the oven.

"How do you open it?" he asks his first question and I have a feeling he'll
never really understand how to use it.

"The door is locked," I point to the lock button which has a light on
underneath it, signaling that the door is locked.

"Did you touch that button?" I press the button, turning it off.

"I wanted to know if it did that lockdown thing like it does at the Krusty
Krab when the walls come down and it's like, pretty cool," he explains and I
shake my head at him.

Commotion is heard from the hall and the next thing I know, my wet phone
is in the air and being tossed to the island where the sink is.

It lands with a loud thud in the sink and I look down the hall only to see
Luke, a smirk on his face as he stares back at me.

"Why's it wet?" Eli asks and I turn my attention toward him only to see his
face with little toilet water droplets on it.

My mouth drops open and I place my hand over my mouth to keep in my

laughter.

"What, why's everyone laughing?" he questions as he wipes his face with

his hand.

"You've got shitter water on your face, E," a random guy calls out as they
howl. Eli's face morphs into one of complete disgust and I turn the sink on
to let my phone get the toilet water off of it.
"I'm going to be sick," he walks out of the kitchen and down the hall,
probably to the bathroom.

Luke and the guy who opened the door for me appear in front of me as I
pick my phone up from the sink full of water.

Thank goodness for the new Lifeproof case that's on it because if it wasn't
on there, I'm not sure it would have survived even being kicked by Eli.

"Aubrey?" the big guy says and I turn my attention toward him. I give him a
smile and his eyes dart to Luke before coming back to me.

"I'm being forced against my will-" his quick words are cut off when Luke
suddenly slaps the back of the guy head.

"Ouch," I mumble, scrunching up my nose when I imagine how that

must've felt.

"Okay, okay," the guy nods, "I'm sorry for shutting the door in your face,
thinking you were Nina, implying your phone is for sissies, for throwing it
across the room, and I'm sorry that you have to deal with Luke Taylor all
the time."

"No one asked for your opinion on the last one, Montana," Luke rolls his
eyes and I finish up washing my phone.

I take it out of the water and begin to dry it.

"It was nice meeting you..." I forgot the name Luke had just mentioned
because I tend to tune out his rudeness at times.

"Clay," he finishes and I nod.

"Call him Montana," Luke nudges me and I nearly fall over.

"Don't call me Montana," Clay smiles at me but gives glaring eyes to Luke.

"Always call him Montana."

"You know what, call me Montana. Everyone does it anyway!" he throws
his hands into the air.

"Wanna know why they call him Montana?" Luke moves a piece of hair
from my face so he can see me better.

"Shut up, Taylor, I'll tell her. My daughter likes Hannah Montana, so what,
right? Nope, there's a cd in my car with Hannah Montana songs on it, for
my daughter

. Now they call me Montana," he explains and I smile.

"I think that's sweet," I say and Clay laughs.

"I know, I'm sweet," Clay nods.

"Luke! Come here and tell Zade that I'm not stupid," Eli shouts and Luke
snorts.

"I'll be right back," Luke pats my side as he goes over to Zade and Eli only
to take Zade's side on agreeing that they think Eli is stupid.

Eli is not stupid. He just, well, he just has his moments where he doesn't
think things through, bless his heart.

"If it makes you feel any better, Luke has a Lady Gaga cd in his truck," I
smirk a little, knowing Luke will certainly talk to me about this later.

"No way," a smile makes its way onto Clay's face and I nod.

"He knows most of the songs on it too," I giggle as a memory of Luke

mouthing the words to "Diamond Heart' plays in my mind.

I love Lady Gaga, especially her album

Joane

. Of course, I was the one who put the cd in his truck but that doesn't need
to be mentioned.
"We're going to have a field day with this."

___________________

A loud knock is heard on my door and I pull away from my math

homework. I look at the clock and see that it's just a little after six.

I pull open the door and Luke looks down at me with pursed lips, he just got
out of his afternoon practice.

He places a kiss on my forehead and he walks in. I shut the door behind him
and turn to meet his gaze.

"Let's get this straight," he raises a finger, "I love you to death, but, I'm very

upset with you right now."

I knew this was going to happen I mean, I did tell Clay that he has a Lady
Gaga cd yesterday.

"Why?" I tilt my head up at him.

"The guys have started calling me Gaga."

I don't hide the smile that makes its way onto my face.

"It all leads back to you, love," he picks me up and sits me down on my
bed.

"Well, I just had to. I think Gaga fits you perfectly. You know, Poker Face,
get it, you have a poker face a lot," I giggle at my own reference.

"I don't even like Lady Gaga," he crinkles his nose.

"You turning up 'Million Reasons' in the car says otherwise," I smirk up at

him and he groans as he lowers his lips onto mine.

"You're. Killing. Me," he places a kiss on my lips between each word.

"When do you get to wear those scrubs?" Luke places his hands on my hips
as he looks down at me, a flirty look on his face.

"I don't want no scrubs, a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me," I
wiggle side to side under his hands, singing TLC.

"Junior year," I finally answer, "but, I have to finish my prerequisite classes

with good grades to be promoted to the upper division, the actual nursing
curriculum, and I heard it's not so easy."

"Damn," he mumbles. I jump out of his grip and walk to my dresser. I open
one of the top drawers and I pull out a pair of light pink capris.

"See these pants?" I hold it up in front of me.

"Yep," he lays down on my bed, his eyes focused on me.

"I need a shirt to go with it."

"What about a white shirt?" he suggests and I crinkle my nose.

"I don't own any white shirts because I get them dirty

way

too easily," I explain and his eyebrows furrow.

"What about a black shirt ?" he asks and I give him a look.

"Not what I'm looking for," I bite my bottom lip in thought.

"There's a mall ten minutes down the road," Luke mumbles and I jump up.

"You're so smart, let's go," I shove the pants in my purse and throw my hair
into a bun, meanwhile he just sits and watches.

"I just laid down."

"And I just got up, I can drive," I pick up my keys and he sits up.
"You'll have to go over a bridge," he mentions and I sit my keys back down.

I don't like bridges. Never have, never will. I've always just been terrified of
them and any chance I have to not drive on one, I take.

Driving down here from mom's house, I had to take a couple detours to
either not go on a bridge at all, or go over the water where it's not that wide.

It just scares me.

"You'll have fun, I promise I won't leave you in the middle of Sephora ever
again," he looks at me hesitantly before letting out one of his 'okay, fine'
sighs.

I know leaving him all alone in Sephora had to have left him scarred, poor
thing.

"I thought I was going to be kidnapped," he mumbles as he gets off my bed.

"I know you poor thing," I pat his chest, "there have been so many cases
where a big guy like you has been kidnapped."

"Sarcasm, although you look gorgeous, does not fit you," he bends and
kisses the corner of my mouth.

"You, although you think it

is

possible, getting kidnapped is very, very unlikely. Within minutes, the

twelve guys it took to kidnap you would be returning you because all you
do when in a situation you don't want to be in, is tap your foot. A nonstop
loud tap that everyone can hear," I inform him and we walk out my dorm.

"Again, your favorite thing to talk about: my flaws," he presses the down
button in the elevator and I giggle.

"Then go ahead, name my flaws then," I challenge.

"You kick me in the balls when you sleep," he says and my eyes widen.

"I do not! Do I?"

"Not every night but dammit if you don't just knee the shit outta them a
couple times a week," he chuckles with a nod of his head.

"One time you did it so hard, I had to take a walk to get a drink of water
from the fountain down the hall outside your room," he adds and I feel
really bad.

"I'm sorry," I wince, "why don't you just put a pillow in between us?"

"Then I won't be able to hold you as tight as I want," he says like it's
obvious.

"But I hurt you," I say as the elevator door opens. He grasps my hand and
we walk out.

"Eh, I can take it. Ever wonder why we sometimes fall asleep and I'm the
big spoon but when we wake up, you're the big spoon? That's because my
crotch hurts and I don't want to take the risk of you doing it again during the
same night or we might not be able to have babies," he explains and we
make it to the lot outside my dorm.

"I feel horrible," I hold my heart.

"See, this is why I don't tell you these things," he unlocks his truck and lifts
me into the passenger side.

"But I'm

really

sorry."

"Hush," he closes my door and goes and gets in on his side.

From now on, I'll just have to wait until he's asleep to put a pillow in
between us.

__________________

Thirty minutes into walking around the first store in the mall, Luke's arms
are filled with all different types of shirts and even some pants although
that's not what we came here for.

Why did we not get some sort of buggy? I don't know where they are.

"Is that a cute shirt, or what?" I smile giving him a view of the pretty pale
pink shirt.

"It's nice," he nods and I drape it over my arm.

I'm sure his arms are getting quite tired.

"I can take it," he says and I shake my head at him, my curls bouncing
around as I do.

"You have enough things to carry," I point up at him.

"I think I'm ready to go to the fitting room now," I lead him to a fitting me
and he takes a seat on the very small seat in the little room, piling all the
clothes on top of his lap.

He manages to make the room a little smaller just by his large presence.

"I'm not sure if you're allowed in here," I worry.

What if there's some rule I don't know about? What if we get kicked out?

"It'll be fine, stop worrying. Now strip for me," he smirks and I feel a small
blush light my cheek.

"Stop looking at me like that," I mumble, noticing his heated gaze on me as

I remove my pants before getting out the ones from my purse.
"Like what?" he continues his gaze.

"Like the way you are right now," I hold out my hand, "can you hand me a
shirt, please?"

Once he finally hands me a shirt I've been telling him to hand me for an
entire two minutes, I turn and look at myself in the mirror.

I nearly let out a groan as it doesn't lay right on my boobs.

"This is a no."
After

every single

shirt I try on, of course, I turn to Luke to see what he thinks.

He gives me similar answers each time, and he's

really

starting to wrack my nerves.

'That looks great,' or, 'I like that one,' and my favorite phrase of all, 'haven't
you already tried that one on?'

"This is why I need friends," I finally tell him as he says he likes a pair of
pants I tried one, not even a shirt this time.

"I'm your friend," he smiles up at me.

"You're also my boyfriend," I point out.

Yes, he is my friend; my best friend. But, having him as a best friend will
never be the same as having a best friend who I can complain to about his
snoring.

"So?"

"You're also not a fashionista," I take off the pair I have on and put on
another.

Once upon a time, he

was

the guy who decided to out to a fancy dinner with a pair of black Nike
slides on and a pair of Under Armour socks, not even being able to match
the brands of the two.
"I'm the biggest fashionista you'll ever encounter," he scoffs and I snort.

I reach over and pick up a pair of ivory colored shorts from his lap.

"What color are these?"

"That's white, baby," he answers and I laugh again.

"It's ivory."

"And the difference is?" he questions.

"Sorry, only a true fashionista would know that," I shrug one shoulder
teasingly and I feel a tap on my butt from his foot.

"Fine, I'll be better at this," he puts on his game face, "tell me what you
want me to say."

"Don't just keep complimenting me. You need to be very honest and tell me
which things you actually see me wearing," I explain and he gives me a
nod.

Him only telling me how good things look on me does not help me in
deciding which of them to actually get.

"You want me to straight up tell you if things are fucking ugly or not?"

"Well, yes," I shake my head at his constant choice of language.

He's got the foulest mouth of anyone I've ever known.

"Got it," he nods. I watch him as he digs through the pile of clothes on his
lap.

He pulls out shirt after shirt and even half of the pants.

"W-What are you doing?" I stress. I actually liked some of those.

"That one looks like something your grandad would wear on one of his
golfing trips," he points to a striped shirt.

My mouth drops open although I

am

the one who told him to be honest.

"These pants look like what Jesus wore when he came out of the cave, alive
again," he chucks a pretty, flowy, white skirt at me and I throw it back at his
head.

"These pants," he holds up just a regular pair of thick spandex-like and I

pray he doesn't have anything bad to say about them because they're really
comfortable.

"These pants hug you so,

so

well so get them but only wear them around me because when I say they
hug you I mean," he reaches forward and grabs my butt.

"I mean really well," I slap his hands away and he pulls the hair tie on my
wrist and snaps it back.

What a terrible act of violence

I throw a random piece of clothing at him and grab his arm hair.

"Serves you right," I tease him as he hisses in pain.

As I'm victory dancing away, his massive hand slaps my butt. Not a tap, but
a slap and dang if it doesn't sting.

"Serves you right," he mimics and if he had a boob, I would punch it.
"I'll just get these," I hold up a white shirt, which is unfortunate, but instead
of being plain, it has the same color pink on it that are small sewn designs
on the very top and bottom of it.

"And these," he hands me the spandex-like shorts.

"Fine, those too," I grab them.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here," Luke stands.

"Out of this store, yes. Out of the mall, no," I pat his arm and he narrows his
eyes at the wall in front of him.

He'll get over it.

—————————————————

I walk out of Sephora and head to the middle of the very large mall.

To the place where there's a large group of chairs for people to sit.

It's where the older guys sit. Or where teens' dads sit when they let them off
to go wherever.

It's also where Luke is sitting because he didn't want to go in Sephora with
me.

I make it to the group and Luke spots me immediately, nearly jumping out
of his chair.

"The guy next to me was snoring," he sighs.

"We can go in one more then we can leave," I promise him and he nods
reluctantly.

We turn a corner and I pull him to the entrance of Bath & Body Works.

He resists against my pull and I turn to look at him.

"Aubrey no. You're allergic to shit," he shakes his head.

"That's why I check the labels first, it's okay," I pull him again.

"But what if someone sprays something around you? What if someone with
lavender lotion drops the bottle, then the bottle busts open, and some of it
lands on you? I don't want to take that chance," His hand rubs down my
back.

I understand his nervousness but I've been in here tons of times.

"I'll be fine, I come in here all the time," he finally lets me pull him inside.

*LUKE'S POV*

She excitedly drags me to a wall

filled

with lotions.

Lotions that she could be allergic to.

"Baby, don't touch that. It's purple," I take the light purple colored lotion out
of her hands.

She places her hands on her hips and I don't hesitate to look at her like the
breathtaking woman she is.

"Stop looking at me like that," she warns, "and just because it's purple,
doesn't mean it's lavender. That's why I look at the labels first."

"What if someone put some on their hands and then, with their lavender-
lotion-having-hands, rubbed some of it on the sides when they put it back in
the shelf?"

It's a thing, I don't why she's looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Then uh-oh," she jokes.

"Show me which one you want first and then I'll read the back."

Of course, I'll have to wash my hands after touching any bottle containing
lavender, just in case, but I'd definitely

rather do that than she have a reaction. Again.

"Fine, I'm not going to argue with you," she directs me to a lotion she wants
me to read the back of. She watches me with a cute little glare on her face
as I read the back of it.

"This one's fine," I grumble, handing it to her.

"That's what I thought," she bumps me with her hip as my phone buzzes in
my pocket.

A text from someone under the name 'Hot Boi' shows on my home screen.

I'm going to kill Eli for touching my phone.

By now, he's gone far past just taking pictures of his ugly ass feet. He does
whatever he can to get ahold of my phone and when he does many, many
changes happen.

My home screen gets changed twice a day, sometimes to things as bad as

his actual nipple as his face looks down into the camera with a full-fledged
double chin.

He's changed my ringtone countless of times. Most of the time to a

recording of his own voice which I didn't even know you could do that but
hey, he fucking figured it out.

I can also expect random reminders to pop up with loud alerts throughout
the day. Yesterday, I got a notification telling me to remember to take my
prenatal vitamin gummies, the ones pregnant women take.

I've tried changing my password. So,

so
many times. He's like a tech genius. He may be dumber than a rock at
school but damn if he couldn't hack the government's secret service system
if he wanted to.

'I'm shitting myself.'

I roll my eyes at his stupid text as Aubrey points to another lotion for me to
read.

"Eli's shitting himself," I tell her as I read the back of a light blue lotion.

"Is he really or is he being dramatic? And why?" she questions and I shrug.

"Here, text him," I hand her my phone and I spot the words 'Lavandula
angustifolia.'

Basically, it means 'there's lavender in this bitch.'

She lets out a loud gasp beside me and I begin to freak out. God knows
she's gasping for breath because she's having an allergic reaction.

"He's going on a date!" she squeals and I let out a breath.

"You scared me," I rub my hand down her back, to calm myself.

"Sorry! Here hold these," she hands me all her bags, "I'm going to go check
out,"

She walks away from me and before I can follow, she's already out of my
sight and has left me in this damn store with a lotion in one hand and
American Eagle, Victoria Secret, and Sephora bags in the other.

I feel around for my phone but soon realize that Aubrey still has it,
meanwhile, someone bumps into me.

I turn around and see a middle-aged looking right back at me.

"Sorry," I mumble, moving out of her way as she narrows her eyes at me.
Damn, these ladies are ruthless.

I place the lotion in my hands back onto the shelf, after actually finding it,
and nearly knock a whole rack of samplers over.

I need to get the hell out of here.

I look up to the checkout line and I see no sign of Aubrey. I stand taller and
look all around, even walking through the setup aisles in search for her.

Oh my God, what if I get kidnapped?

What if she gets kidnapped?

What if she has an allergic reaction because someone around her is

wearing lavender scented perfume and eating a fish sandwich?

Oh my fucking God.

"You look panicked, sir," a voice says from beside me. I look beside me and
see an older woman with a Bath & Body Works apron and a name tag that
reads 'Serena'.

"Are you lost?" she continues and I feel like an actual child.

"No?" I mumble unsure as I continue to look around for Aubrey but see her
nowhere.

I'm never, ever coming into this store or Sephora

ever

again.

"So you're looking for someone?" she asks in a calm tone which helps me
in my God forbidden panicking state.

"Yes," I nod and she offers me a smile.

"A girlfriend maybe? I see the Victoria Secret and Sephora bags," her laugh
lines make an appearance as she shakes with laughter.

"Yeah, she said she was going to check out but, she's not in the line," I sigh
and she nods in understanding.

"Okay, I can help you, what does she look like?" she questions,
straightening a sign that goes with a wrack; the one I'm pretty sure I almost
knocked over but to me, they all look the same.

"She's got shoulder length curly hair- actually, she has it up today, but it's
dark blonde," I visualize her beautiful self.

"She has a dimple, only when she smiles though so you probably can't see
it," I mumble and she leads me around the large store as we search.

"She's wearing an Alabama football t-shirt with my number on the back," I

tell her before realizing she most likely doesn't know my number or that I'm
even a player, "number eleven."

I love how she doesn't get dressed up to go to the mall. Just some Nike
shorts, a t-shirt, and a regular pair of flip flops but even then she still stands
out. Her presence is always known she just doesn't realize it.

"And a pair of shorts?" she questions and I nod.

"I think I see her right there," she points to non-other than Aubrey who is
now instead of looking at lotion, looking at hand sanitizers, which is all the
way on the other side of the store from where the lotions are.

"Is that her?" she asks and I smile sheepishly.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly fine. You two have a nice day," she smiles and
walks off to help another customer.

I walk up behind her and poke her side. She jumps and turns, looking back
at me.
"You lied to my face," I crinkle my nose as she winces.

"I got distracted, though," a smile overtakes her face as she picks up a hand
sanitizer, showing it to me, "this one smells really good."

I guess we're just getting rid of the fact that it could of lavender in it.

"Can we leave now? You abandoned me in this damn store and it smells so
strong in here," she smacks my arm, hating my choice of words.

"Yes, we can leave. I'm really going to check out now," I grab onto her hand
so she won't leave me.

Again.

_______________________

Of course, I couldn't handle living another minute of not eating after we left
the mall. We stopped at a steakhouse and got something to eat.

Even though I told her not to, Aubrey got Eli something to eat. Now, he's
not going to leave her alone for the rest of the night.

He's like a stray cat. If you leave food out for a stray cat, the cat won't
leave. Eli won't leave.

"What time is your date tomorrow?" Aubrey asks Eli who

lays down on our bed.

"It's at eight. I have to go pick her up. Am I handsome? My grandma's not

here to tell me I am," he whines into my fucking bed

"Yes, Eli. You're handsome, don't worry! Everything will be okay," Aubrey
gives Eli a pat on the arm.
"Look," Eli stands from the bed and lifts his shirt, "am I gaining weight?
I've been stress eating since yesterday."

I hate this guy.

"Holy shit, Eli! You've definitely gained at least thirty pounds," I tell him
before hiding my face in Aubrey's shoulder so he won't see the smirk.

He runs to the mirror and places his arms around his stomach like he's
pregnant.

"You're mean for that," she kisses my cheek before getting up.

"No, no, Eli," she shakes her head.

"Look," she grabs his shoulders and turns him toward the mirror.

She points to his stomach and each individual ab.

"Count with me," she ushers and the two of them sit there and count his
goddamn abs.

"See? Same as before, you haven't changed," she smiles and he gives her a
hug, lifting her off her feet.

"Aubrey, watch out. He might still have gonorrhea," I mumble and Eli lets
out a loud gasp.

"I don't even need to retaliate, you know why? I ate all your food. Every bit
of it. Even those Skittles," he smirks in satisfaction and Aubrey looks at me
worriedly.

This is the day he's going to die.

I don't even bother to jump up. I just get off my bed slowly. He watches me
with calculating eyes and I begin to walk toward him.

Knowing it can't be good, Aubrey just hops onto the bed and starts reading
her book.
I send his stomach a pretty hard hit. He bends over and groans in pain.

"Don't hit my face, bitch, I have a date," he mumbles.

I punch him in the nose but it won't bruise. Maybe, I actually don't know.

"Luke! He said not face," Aubrey warns.

"Yeah and I told him not to touch any of my food but what does he do? He
eats all

of it."

"I was kidding! I didn't eat your Skittles. I

did

eat everything else but not the Skittles," he explains and I sock him in the
nuts before figuring he's had enough.

He falls to the ground, groaning in pain.

Aubrey places her book down and I go into her arms. She runs her fingers
down my back and I sigh in satisfaction.

"I get punched in the balls and he gets a back rub?" Eli mumbles as he
stands from his previous dramatic position on the floor.

"Tell me about where you're taking your date," Aubrey ignores his
complaint.

"I don't have a clue," he takes a seat beside Aubrey which is

too close to me.

I lay and listen mostly to the soft hum of Aubrey's voice as they talk and I
find myself drifting off.

"Can we go to sleep?" I question her and she nods.

"Alright, I guess I can leave," Eli stands, "goodnight boo-boo, goodnight
big boy."

Before I can even give him any sort of reaction to him calling me

big boy

he throws his hand forward and he slaps my butt.

Aubrey lets out a loud laugh and I kick his back as he turns, beginning to
walk away.

He falls to the ground but quickly gets up, laughing like a hyena as he runs
out the room.

"He's a dipshit," I mumble as Aubrey and I adjust ourselves to sleep.

Not long after I fall asleep, I wake up to the feeling of something being
shoved between Aubrey and me.

"What are you doing?" I grumble tiredly and she halts her pillow-shoving.

"I'm not fixing to kick you tonight," she explains and I take the pillow from
her and throw it across the room.

Like hell I'll let a pillow take away the chance of her body being pressed
against mine.

"I don't like that you're a light sleeper," she grumbles, laying her head on
my chest.

I pull her arm over my torso and put my arm over hers, tucking my head
into her neck.

"I'm cold, keep me warm," I grab her thigh under her knee and pull it over
top of my side. Of course, I'm not really cold, I just want her close.

Plus, having her leg like that sets up the perfect place to rest my hand on her
butt and that's exactly what I do.
"You always do that," she copies my actions, moving her hand from my
torso to my butt.

"Do what?" I smirk.

"Just, hold your hand there," she mumbles tiredly.

"It's to make sure you won't go anywhere," I kiss her forehead.

"Then I'll do it too," she whispers cutely.

"I love you," I watch as her eyes light up although she's still as tired as can
be.

"I love you too."

___________________

||||| I know, I know, another filler. But I am on such an early-updating

roll, even if it is only a day early.

I need some song suggestions, I've searched all over for new songs but
can't find any, if ya'll have some songs you think I should check out,
don't hesitate to give me a few!

Thank you all so, so much for reading!!

Word count: 7019

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 12 "Happy
anniversary"
*AUBREY'S POV*

"I'm just going to tell her I got sick," Eli whines from his bed.

"Get up wuss," Aiden jumps on him with his elbow out. I wince as I witness
Aiden's elbow first-hand dig into Eli's side.

I swear, one of these days these guys are going to end up killing each other.

At least Luke isn't in here though. There would be much more fighting if he
was in here and I know that for a fact.

That is exactly why I fixed him something to eat, turned on ESPN, and
closed the bedroom door. Hopefully, that will keep him occupied for a
while and who knows, maybe he'll fall asleep.

"Eli, you have non-stop texted me all day, even when I was in class,
begging me to help you and you're not about to bail out on this," I place my
hands on my hips.

"I'm an actual idiot. Like I can't think around her," he pulls at the ends of his
hair and I internally aw.

"You can't think around anyone, dumbass," Aiden chides and I pinch the
bridge of my nose.

"Why is he being quiet?" Aiden asks me after Eli stays silent for a while.

"I'm cursing you and your family, shut up," Eli shushes him and I wince.

"If you don't want to do this," I stand up, "I

do

have homework I need to do so I'll just go do tha-"

"No! No! I'll stop, I'm ready, please help me for the love of God and Jesus
and Mary and Joseph and the farm animals and everyone else," he grabs
ahold of my arm, pulling me back.

"Damn, when was the last time you went on a date?" Aiden asks and Eli
looks at the ceiling in thought.

"June...July...about three years ago," he nods and my eyes widen a tad. I

wasn't expecting that.

"And it didn't end well," he groans, "she ended up getting our waiter's
number which honestly has me scarred."

What type of girl goes on a date with someone only to get someone

else's

number? That's just so mean.

"That's tough man," Aiden actually says, which is the nicest thing he's said
since strutting into the room.

"I mean I did tell her she was a stuck up, horse-toothed witch before she
asked for his number but she was rude," he explains further.

"Okay, let's stop talking about that bad date. We need to focus on this one
which starts in an hour, by the way," I tell him and his face morphs into one
of nervousness.

"Where are you taking her, have you decided?" Aiden questions, getting
comfortable on the bed like he's about to go to sleep.

"Um, dinner?" Eli mumbles, unsure.

"What are you going to wear?" I question and he breathes heavily like he's
out of breath.

"I don't know," he wheezes out, holding his heart.

"Eli, you need to calm down and take deep breaths. Everything will be fine
and I'll help you find something to wear," I pat his arm to help him calm
himself.

____________________

"Okay, good?" Eli walks out in the outfit I put him in. Nice jeans and a nice
shirt, nothing too casual but nothing too formal so that he can basically go
to any restaurant they choose.

"Very good," I clap my hands excitedly.

"Why can't this be easy? You and Luke make it look

so

easy," he groans, banging his head against his wall.

Easy? Luke is a handful.

"If this date goes well, then I'm positive everything will be easier," I give
him a certain nod.

"How do I act?" he turns his attention full toward me.

"Don't act like anything other than yourself. If you want this to work, she's
got to know the real you," I tell him the best advice I can considering I've
only ever had one boyfriend.

"Yeah, she needs to know what she's getting herself into," Aiden chuckles
and I give him a look.

"You're a bitch," he points to Aiden, "Do I kiss her?"

Considering it took Luke weeks to kiss me, I'm not too sure what to tell
him. It is

only their first date but he's known her for a little while now.

"I've done it on the first date, done

it

on the first date, and not done anything on another first date," Aiden shrugs,
"if it feels right, just do it."

"Don't just do it quickly, you've got to build it up," I advise him, "you
should make sure she knows it's about to happen. Don't just kiss her."

I had a lot of time to research while waiting for Luke to make a move.

"And what do you mean how do you act? Aren't you a communication
major? Shouldn't you know how to talk to people?" Aiden makes a good
point, although talking to random people isn't the same thing as talking to a
girl you like.

"Aren't you a history major? Go study the Constitution, bitch," Eli chucks a
shoe at Aiden, narrowly missing me.

"We're in the B.C. years right now, slut-muffin," Aiden retorts as Luke
mosies into the room, most likely wanting to be a part of the name-calling
and shoe throwing.

"I thought you would be sleeping by now," I straighten a wrinkle on his

shirt as he takes a seat beside me.

"Not without you," he kisses the top of my head.

"Luke. Help me out, what do I say to her?" Eli shoves Aiden's slapping
hands away from him.

"In general or what?"

"When we're just sitting at the restaurant, what do I say?" Eli elaborates.

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this," Luke shakes
his head and Eli's mouth drops open.

"I don't even know why I asked you that. You know why? Because you
never start a conversation anyway, thank God for Aubrey because she
knows how to communicate and you just follow her lead like she's mother
goose," Eli says and I laugh quietly.

"And that's a bad thing? I don't even have to worry about being nice. And
fuck you, I follow her around because she gets lost in crowds easily," Luke
retorts.

Eli just stares at him for a second before pulling his middle finger out of his
back pocket and raising it at Luke. Aiden laughs and fist bumps Eli.

"I'm taking my ass back to my room, fuck the both of you," Luke throws a
pillow each of their ways, before turning to me, "and I love you, come to
bed soon."

"Yeah, run away little bitch!" Eli calls out

once Luke leaves.

He doesn't stay gone for long.

Eli screams as Luke tackles him and Aiden jumps on the bed chanting
'catfight!'

I swear, I've never met any other people more violent than these three.
Other than Izzy of course. That fight between her and Katrina still runs
through my mind every once and a while.

Actually, come to think of it, I think Izzy would actually really like Aiden.
They seem like a great match for each other; much better than her and
Anthony Mackle.
Only a couple of days ago when I last checked in with Olivia, she was still
getting over Ryan, which is understandable considering he was her first
everything.

"Aubrey!" Eli's loud voice brings me away from my thoughts, "kick Luke
in the nuts for me!"

I give a struggling Eli a small smile before leaving the room for them to
deal with each other themselves. There's no chance I'll get in between their
fighting any time soon. I don't want any of their flying limbs to hit me.

"I need to leave!" I hear Eli shout before he sprints out of his room. I look at
the clock on the stove and see that it's nearing eight.

"Eli! You're shoes!" I call after him and he turns back around.

"Thank you for helping me," he gives me a hug after coming back out with
his shoes on.

"Good luck!"

"If it goes well, she's coming to meet you and Luke, so stay up!" Eli shouts
as he's walking out the front door.

I'm so excited to meet Lorraine, I don't think I can handle it.

"I have homework due tomorrow that I haven't even started," Aiden stops at
the kitchen, "I'll see ya'll tomorrow."

He grabs the bowl of mashed potatoes in front of me as I take out a

container to put it in for leftovers. He opens the utensil drawer, grabs a
spoon, shuts the door, walks to the front door, opens it, and leaves with the
bowl, spoon, and all.

"Bye Aiden," I mumble, putting the container back.

"Come here," Luke groans out loudly, plopping onto the couch and raising
his arms in the air.
I walk over to the couch and he pulls me down onto him. He lays on his
back and I lay flat against him on my stomach, my head resting against his
shoulder.

He grabs the blanket that rests over the back of the couch and he lays it over
us.

"Have you talked to your dad lately?" I mumble and he tenses beneath me.

"I'm keeping my distance from him for a while," he replies and I can tell he
doesn't really want to talk about it.

"Okay," I nod and he hands me the remote to pick a movie.

"It's our anniversary tomorrow," his tone lightens and a small smile
stretches across my lips.

We've been together for a year. A full year, tomorrow.

We decided a couple of weeks ago that we wouldn't get each other anything.
I just don't think I need to be gifted. At first, he was the one who told me
not to get him anything and not wanting to feel left out, I told him not to get
me anything either, which worked out.

"It's almost been a year."

"Of many to come," he kisses my head as I pick The Goonies.

______________________

Two and a half movies, many sour Skittles, another full dinner, and two
tickle fights later, I'm officially exhausted but I can't go to sleep because I
need to wait until Eli gets back, hopefully with Lorraine.

Luke still doesn't believe Lorraine is real but I'm positive she is.

His hand sneaks down my pants and I grab his arm.

"No, we cannot do that, Lucas," I give him a stern look but he just kisses
me.

I break away from the kiss and pull his hand out of my pants.

"It doesn't feel good?" he tilts his head, a smirk on his face because he
knows the answer to that question.

He's so inappropriate.

"Eli will be back any minute, I'm sure," I remind him and he licks his lips,
purposely to hold my attention.

"Tomorrow?" he questions and I nod since tomorrow

is

our anniversary.

Just as I'm laying my head back down onto his chest, the door opens, I
almost jump up to see if Lorraine is with him but If I do that, it might scare
her away.

Luke and I stay silent, Luke probably because he doesn't care who's here,
and me because I'm too excited and nervous to speak.

"They're somewhere around here," Eli mumbles and so I sit up, pulling
Luke's shirt so he'll sit up too. He does so, reluctantly.

Eli leads a very beautiful girl into the living room, and guess what? She's
real, suck it, Luke.

Her gorgeous dark skin contrasts amazingly with her dark blue casual dress
and I just wish I looked as good in my glasses as she does hers. I nudge
Luke excitedly as they take a seat and most likely to get me to stop, he just
throws his arm over the top of the couch behind me.

"Hi! You're Lorraine?" I nearly squeal out as I clench my fists to keep them
from shaking excitedly.
"I'm sorry," I clear my throat from the weird squeal noise that exits my lips.
Luke chuckles quietly from beside me and I elbow his side.

"Stop laughing at me."

"Lorraine," Eli speaks up, "this is Aubrey and Luke."

She tucks a very curly curl behind her ear and when we make eye contact, I
give her a bright smile.

"Hi," she says quietly.

"Hello! It's very nice to meet you," I stand and walk over to sit beside her.

Maybe I'm being too friendly.

I hold out my hand for her to shake it, deciding against a hug. She takes my
hand gently in hers and we shake.

"I wouldn't expect much from Luke," I inform her just so she knows he's
not rude, it's just who he is.

"Hello on his behalf as well," I smile, and take a glance over at him, only
too see him with his cheek rested on his hand and his elbow propped up on
the armrest of the couch.

"Lucas!" I whisper-shout kind of loudly. He jerks awake and looks at me.

How does he even fall asleep that fast?

"Don't go to sleep right now, we have a very nice guest," I tell him and he
mumbles a sorry and Eli gives him a smirk.

"Once you get to know him, that's normal," Eli advises her and she nods.

"He can also be a bitch," Eli adds and I give him a look.

"I can hear you, you fuck," Luke grumbles and I take a breath to calm
myself.
I'm

this

close to locking him in the bathroom.

"What'd I tell you?" Eli chuckles, leaning back on the couch as Luke gets
up from his seat.

"It's okay," she laughs a little and I feel a tad bit better.

Luke causes a racket in the kitchen as he drops a box of cereal and I pinch
the bridge of my nose.

He will never be even close to a normal person to houseguests.

"Shit," he curses as he realizes there's barely any cereal left in the box.

Uh-oh.

Next thing I know, there's a cereal box flying across the room and directly
at Eli's face.

"You might want to watch out," I dodge the cereal box, "things fly often. It
would be worse if Aiden was here. Aiden likes to throw more dangerous
objects."

She looks at me with slight alarm.

"Oh no! Don't let that worry you! As long as you're near me, you're fine," I
give her an encouraging smile.

"Next time you eat the rest of the cereal and don't get another box, I'll
fuckin' rip your head off," Luke threatens across the room before pulling out
the box of donuts I got him from Dunkin Donuts today.

"Give me money, what do you think I'm made of money like you?" Eli
retorts.
"Cereal costs three bucks!" Luke throws his hand in the hair.

"They do this very, very often but don't be mistaken, they are best friends,"
I give her a nod and a little eye roll.

Luke and Eli fight like siblings. Aiden too.

A very loud and rapid knock is heard on the door,

speak of the devil.

Luke opens the door and Aiden struts inside, taking a donut from Luke's
box.

"What's going on in here bitche-oh hello! You must be Lorraine!" Aiden

smiles walking over to Lorraine and I .

"Fuck you, Aiden," Luke retorts at him taking a donut.

"I got you a dozen donuts, don't be stingy," I call out and Luke narrows his
eyes at me slightly.

"You don't need it anyway, fatass," Aiden takes a large bite of his donut and
gives Eli a fist bump when Eli laughs.

"It's worse when he's here," I tell her lowly, "he's like an instigator."

"Are you talking bad about me?" Aiden points his half-eaten donut at me,
"I'll have you know I hate my roommate so I don't have a choice but to
come back here."

"I'm Aiden," Aiden introduces to Lorraine, offering her a smile, "sorry for
all the fighting but if I were you, I'd either tune it out or try and get used to
it."

"Hi," Lorraine smiles.

"You're jealous," Luke flicks him off as Aiden and Eli walk into the kitchen,
leaving Lorraine and I alone.
"A moment of silence in this dorm is rare but wonderful," I give her a smile
and she chuckles.

I can tell she's not the most open person in the world to strangers but I
completely understand that.

"Did you have a nice date?" I ask, hoping to make her a little more
comfortable.

"Oh yes, it was very nice," she nods, "Eli told me you helped him a little
bit."

"Only a little."

"Happy anniversary, baby!" Luke shouts out and Aiden bangs a spoon
against a pan in celebration. I pick up my phone and look at the time.

12:01

"Oh my god, you've dealt with his ass for a year, wow," Aiden winces and
Luke slaps the back of his head.

"I love you," he tosses me a donut as, I guess, a present.

I giggle as I barely catch the donut flying right at me.

"I love you too," I shake my head at him as he gives me a wink while
wiggling his eyebrows.

"Happy anniversary," Lorraine says and I laugh. I'm sure she wasn't
expecting so much action.

"Thank you," I smile.

_____________________

Lorraine stayed for about an hour. She and I talked and I think she started
getting a little bit used to all the fighting which is good.
She seems very grounded, which is perfect for Eli. Although still a little
quiet, she's very nice and funny, which also fits with Eli's personality.

I can tell why they like each other.

Eli, being the gentleman he's trying to be, walks her out and to her dorm.

"I told you she was real," I stick my tongue out a Luke but he only leans
forward to bite it, narrowly missing it before kissing me.

"It's tomorrow," he pulls away with a smirk and I roll my eyes.

"I'm going to sleep and so are you, we have class tomorrow and you have
practice bright and early," I grab his hand and pull him to his room.

I grab my undergarments and pajamas from my drawer in his dresser and as

I turn out to go to the bathroom, he grabs my arm.

"Save water with me?" he asks.

"Luke, go to bed," I tell him before leaving and taking a shower. By myself.

____________________

"Hey, you okay?" Blair asks as we walk out of our one and only class
together.

Other than the fact that Luke hasn't spoken a word to me all day, I'm
perfect.

"I'm fine," I force a smile, "Plus, I wouldn't want to bore you with my
problems."

"Oh no! Don't be ridiculous! I rant shit to you all the time, give it to me,"
she motions for me to bring it on and I shake my head at her.

"Doesn't your next class start in like five minutes?" I question her. Usually,
she leaves my side as soon as our class we have together is over.
"Nope, my professor is sick, she canceled," she explains and I nod.

"Where's Luke? I thought you and him usually meet after our class?" she
asks and I sigh. That's one of the problems.

I mean, usually, I wouldn't be that upset if he didn't talk to me for most of

the day but today is different. It's our anniversary.

"He hasn't spoken to me at all today except for a little bit this morning," I
explain and her eyebrows furrow.

"Why would he not talk to you?" she asks as we walk the sidewalk to our
dorm.

"I have no clue," I shrug sadly.

I don't think I did anything. After showering last night, he took a shower
and then we both just went to sleep.

This morning I was a tad bit cranky because I slammed my elbow into
doorframe of the bathroom but other than that, I can't think of anything.

I have a bruise too.

"Maybe he's just busy with class. His professor may have held the class
back for something," she comes up with reasons but they just don't seem
right.

"Maybe," I decide.

"Have you tried texting him?" she questions as we walk into our building.

"I texted him a little bit before class ended to see if we were meeting up but
look," I bring out my phone showing her his response.

A 'No' with a period.

That's one reason why I'd rather talk face to face than text. The text he sent,
I can't read the tone behind it. Is he mad? Is he just simply saying no?
"Damn," she mumbles as the door to the elevator closes.

"He's probably on his man period, something must've pissed him off," she
shrugs and the doors open.

"But usually he talks to me about those things. He never ignores me, even
when we're mad at each other," I take out my keys to our room.

"Oh! Text that beautiful Eli kid," she smiles, "aren't they friends? I'm sure
he knows if something is up."

He

is

in class right now but I guess he'll just see it later.

I send Eli a quick message and within seconds my phone dings.

I climb up on my bed and Blair follows me.

"He said nothing is wrong with Luke and that he's just busy," I read the text
and Blair makes a confused noise.

"Well, I'm sure he's just got a lot of homework now then," she nods
assuringly.

"You're probably right," I decide.

I mean, he

is

a student-athlete. He has practices and he goes to school, I'm sure that it's a
lot.

We get to work on any of our work due soon and soon enough, I have to
start going to my last class of the day.
My last class of the day just so happens to be my favorite. It's an anatomy
class, and I just find it so, so interesting but maybe that's just because I want
to be a nurse.

Luke hates it when I come to him and start telling him about the twenty-six
bone in his feet or the three muscles that make up his butt.

He just gets so confused but I find it cute.

I would stop telling him about his bones if he'd just talk to me.

___________________

Two hours later after learning about the tissue of the human body, I return
to my dorm, still non-existent to Lucas Taylor.

I keep telling myself I'm okay but it's really starting to get to me now.

I texted him a few times during class when my professor took breaks to
either have something to drink or to blow her nose.

The flu is apparently going around. Twelve people from my anatomy class
were out and from the looks of it, my professor needed to be.

"Still nothing?" Blair asks, half asleep from her bed. I must've woken her up
opening the door.

"No. Sorry for waking you, I'll be quiet," I give her a smile and she waves it
off.

Right as I'm climbing into my bed to watch a Kevin James stand up comedy
show on my computer, a loud knock is heard on the door.

I wish these doors didn't lock automatically.

"I got it," Blair mumbles, getting up. I place my computer against the wall
and turn my back, getting comfortable under my covers and putting my
earbuds in my ears.
I feel a poke on my side and I turn to find Eli looking down at me.

"What are you doing, Eli?" I question, removing my earbuds and sitting up,
facing him.

"Come on, we're going to go somewhere," Eli bends down and grabs a pair
of my flip flops, "put these on your dawgs and hop on, girlfriend."

He turns around and gestures for me to get on his back.

"Eli, where are we going?" I question, getting on his back for a piggyback
ride.

"I wish you'd carry me," Blair purrs and I feel Eli tense under me.

She loves teasing him.

"I'll see you two later!" Blair laughs as Eli rushes us out the door.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for practice?" I question Eli as he walks us

into the elevator.

"Boo-boo, hush. Do not worry your little head about me," Eli shushes me.

"I can walk, you know," I inform him as we get a few looks in the lobby of
the dorm once we get to the main floor.

"It adds more of an adventure factor when you don't have to walk," Eli
explains as he walks to his Jeep parked in the parking lot.

He sits me down at the passenger side and he helps me climb in his car.

"Where are we going, Eli?" I question and he just gives me a smile, shutting
the door.

Usually, he'd give in by now.

He gets in his side and begins driving. He turns up the music and both him
and I rock out to Queen.
Killer Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody,

which Eli sang

each

and

every

voice to, and

Under Pressure.

Then, he blasts Dolly Parton.

Somebody

has watched Dumplin' recently.

9 to 5, Two Doors Down

Jolene

, Eli's favorite that he knows every word to, and

Here You Come Again.

He turns down a gravel road and stops off to the side.

"Get out," he turns toward me and my eyebrows furrow.

"What?" I laugh. He can't be serious! I have no idea where I am!

"Boo-boo, hop out," he laughs, "there may or may not be a trail, just follow
it."

"But Eli! I'll get lost, I know I will!" I worry and he unbuckles my seatbelt.

"Don't make me drag you out," he warns and I huff, opening the door and
getting out. I close the door and stick my tongue out at him. He blows me a
kiss before driving off.

I turn toward the woods and take a deep, calming breath.

I walk forward and my toe slams into a stump. Of course that would happen
right now.

I nearly fall to the ground in pain and tears gather in my eyes.

Holy moly, that hurts.

I lean my arm against a tree and stretch my third toe back and forth. I know
it's not broken and that it's only bruised but it feels like it'll fall off.

After a few minutes, I walk. Limping at first and it doesn't help that I'm
wearing flip-flops but hey, maybe Luke is at the end of this trail actually
wanting to talk to me.

The walk is actually not that bad. It's nice and refreshing, especially with
the soft breeze blowing and the smell of nature hitting my nose.

I begin to hear running water and I look to my far left and see a cute little
creek. I make a small pit stop by it and I bend down, feeling the cool water.

Little waterbugs float across the top of the creek and I would freak out,
considering they're spider-like but I don't. The bugs are just doing what they
love; walking on water.

Noticing how I'm getting sidetracked, I wipe my hands on my old Patagonia

and continue on my journey.
Only a few short minutes later, I come to a clearing. The stream leads out to
the clearing but only towards the left-hand side.

On the ride hand side stands a gorgeous green willow tree. The vine-like
limbs fall off the trunk just gorgeously and there are fairy lights intertwined
with the vines.

Luke stands in front of the tree, the setting sun hitting his face gorgeously.
He wears nicer clothes than me, a very nice fitting button-up red flannel
with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of nice jeans that fit his muscular
thighs very well.

I'm wearing an old, thin Patagonia, a pair of cloth shorts, and those flip-
flops.

He watches me as I walk up to him, a small smile on his face.

"Did I do something? I'm sorry if I did. You haven't talked to me all day and
I just-" he cuts me off by grabbing my face and putting his lips on mine.

"Happy anniversary, baby," he pulls away with a smile before planting a

soft kiss on my forehead.

"Happy anniversary to you too! You aren't mad at me?" I question and he
shakes his head.

"Of course not, Eli and I have been out here exploring for places like this,"
he motions out towards where we are.

"That's why I couldn't talk to you. Believe me, it sucked and I missed you,"
he kisses me again and I nod in understanding.

He takes my hand and leads me through the vines until we're under the tree.
A large quilt sits under the tree and I grab my heart.

"Did you do this for me?" I notice my voice rising higher as emotions fill
me.

He's so sweet.
"Of course. I mean Eli helped me because I threatened him but you deserve
it," he smirks and he sits down with a groan like an old man.

"Is that Popeyes?!" my voice goes even higher as he brings out a Popeyes
bag.

I love Popeyes so, so much.

"Damn right it is," he nods handing me my food.

"I love you," I smile at him, "this is so, so sweet. I told you we didn't have
to do anything!"

"I couldn't just not do anything," he leans forward placing a quick kiss on
my lips.

"Now hurry so we can watch the sunset like corny motherfuckers," he

smirks when I give him a look.

Fifteen minutes later Luke grabs my hands and pulls me to the other side of
the tree. We stand a few feet from the vines just looking out into the clear,
setting, colorful sky. Luke's hand rubs up and down my back and I lean my
head on his chest.

"Look at it," I smile softly, "God paints a beautiful picture, doesn't he?"

"Yes he does," his voice rumbles. He takes a deep breath and I take my head
off his chest, turning to look up at him.

"Are you okay?" I question and he gives me a smile.

"You know how bad I am with words," he smiles sheepishly and I nod with
a giggle.

"We've been through a lot together," his hands fiddle about, "with
everything with your dad, my mom, your mom, and recently my dad."

"Yeah," I smile sadly, grasping his hands in mine and caressing my thumb
over his, "we have been through quite a bit."
"We've had our ups and downs and shit," he winces, "sorry. I won't cuss
right now."

My head tilts as a smile spreads across my face.

"I know for a fact that I would've gotten arrested by now if it weren't for
you," he tucks a curl behind my ear.

"You make me so happy. Without you, I walked around feeling nothing and
hating everyone. You came and you changed everything. You made me
want to be better for you," my eyes tear up at the sweet words he speaks to
me.

"I'm far from perfect and I know that. I also know that I want to spend the
rest of my life with you. I know we said we'd wait but I can't," he begins
backing away from me and I hold my breath to keep in a happy little cry.

He leans forward and places a kiss on my lips.

"What do you say about keeping me in check forever? Will you marry me?"
he gets down on one knee, pulling out a navy velvet box from his pocket
and my heart flies out of my chest. Tears fall down my cheeks and I can
already feel myself starting to ugly cry.

Holy snickerdoodles.

____________________

|....I'm just going to leave it at that for this one :))

Thank you all for reading and holy crap, I just couldn't keep this chapter
from ya'll any longer. I love you all <3

Word count: 5377

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 13 "I promise to
always feed you"
*AUBREY'S POV*

"I can't do this."

"What?"

I can't breathe.

"'Can't do this', my ass," Izzy pulls my hair tighter as she finishes it up.

"I'm scared. What if he's not there? What if he changed his mind?" I make
up terrible scenarios in my head.

Lorraine bends down in front of me, her dark, pale pink bridesmaid dress
flowing as she does.

"Puhlease, you have nothing to worry about! Luke loves you very much,"
she says encouragingly, her bright attitude shining.

"Exactly!" Olivia claps.

"Plus, if Luke even thinks about doing something like that, May and I won't
hesitate to get grandma quicker than you can imagine," Whitney smiles and
May nods happily.

"You're done," Izzy pulls her hands away from my hair and she turns me
toward the large mirror.

My hair sits in a low, fancy updo with curls framing my face.

"Ya'll did amazing!" I stand, picking up my long robe as I do. I open my

arms for them and we have a little group hug.
"I'm so thankful for each of you. Every one of you means so much to me,"
My eyes grow watery as they all look back at me happily.

"Forty-five minutes 'till go time!" Sam shouts outside the door and my heart
drops.

"C-Can I have just a minute alone?" I ask them and they all give me a sad
smile.

"We'll send Oliver in here in a few minutes before doing your makeup,"
Lorraine smiles and they all leave except for Izzy.

"I'm sorry he can't be here," she gives me a strong hug and I begin to cry,
"I'm so, so sorry, Aubrey."

The two and a half years ago it was that dad died, I was completely and
utterly crushed. That feeling had gone away but right now, it's making a
small appearance.

I am happy, I'm very happy. I just need a moment.

Izzy pulls away and leaves, leaving me all alone in the room. I try keeping
myself together but eventually, quiet sobs rack my body.

I take a seat on my chair, too weak to stand and I fold my hands and look up
to the ceiling.

"Daddy, I miss you," I whisper, "I wish you were here. I want you to be
here."

He always talked about the day he would get to walk me down the aisle.

He told me how hard it would be for him to let me go at the end of it. He
doesn't know how hard it was for me to let him go.

I close my eyes and just let the memories of him run through my head. His
never-ending smile, his bright green, mischevious eyes, his playful attitude,
his fatherly looks he would give me whenever I would say something I
don't like about myself, and his embrace.
There's no other embrace like my father's.

The sound of the door opening catches my attention and I wipe the tears
from my face.

"Ree," Granddaddy stops beside me in his fancy military suit, "don't cry,
sweet girl."

He pulls me up from my chair and embraces me in a hug the most similar to

dads.

"I wish he was here, granddaddy," I whimper as he holds me tightly. He

pulls away and holds me at arm's length as he looks down at me.

"He's here Ree. He wouldn't miss this for the world, I can feel him here," he
gives me a sad smile. I know how hard it is for him to talk about dad.

The tears I had wiped away return as he continues.

"You were his everything; his pride and joy. His greatest accomplishment,"
he pauses; his eyes now watery, "I know that he's watching over you
because it's the closest thing to being here and that is exactly what he would
want."

His finger comes up and he wipes a fallen tear from my cheek.

"I know I'm not him, but I'm going to try my hardest to be the next best
thing for you," the first and only tear I've ever seen from my grandaddy
falls down his cheek.

Dear God, thank you for giving me granddaddy.

"You best finish getting ready, Ree," he smiles, his sadness wiped from his
face, "you're getting married in forty minutes."

______________________

"It's time," Olivia pulls me away from the mirror as I look at my amazing
natural but beautiful makeup.
And of course, they used waterproof products knowing that I'm certainly
going to get emotional.

She leads me to my secluded room to wait in before she leaves and enters
the room in front of mine, where the rest of the bridesmaids are about to go
out. My heart beats quickly as I think about walking down the aisle.

"You look so beautiful, Ree," Granddaddy gives me a twirl, a loving smile

on his face as he glances over my dress.

Looking for dresses was difficult.

It didn't help that I am the world's pickiest person either. The girls and I
went to tons of different stores but each dress I tried just wasn't it.

The dress was either too big or too small, too low cut or completely see-
through in the torso. Of course, those types of dresses were beautiful and
would look good on anyone but, they just weren't what I was looking for.

Plus, dad would have a fit if I got a dress that showed too much cleavage.
He was a traditional man.

Just like on

Say Yes to the Dress!

I cried when I found the one, which I didn't think I would, but I did.

I chose a traditional route; a white dress. The torso and sleeves have
gorgeous lace detailing, the same detailing as the train of the dress, one of
the things I love most about it.

It's a princess style dress but it doesn't poof out as much as other princess
style dresses. The round fabricated buttons run down the whole back of the
dress, making it take me a little longer to get it on but it's worth it.

It's off the shoulder and it shows off my collarbone which is another thing I
loved about it. I didn't want it to look grandma-ish and with it being off the
shoulder, it looks suitable for my age.
My veil, which is very long and in my opinion, beautiful, has the same lace
around the bottom of it as the top of my dress.

I love it.

"Have you talked to Luke?" I question softly, "Is he okay?"

I haven't seen or talked to him for a whole day, another traditional wedding
thing.

I just want to hug him, and to marry him.

"He's doing well," Granddaddy lets a little smirk onto his face, "he's an
eager son of a bitch, 'scuse my French."

My heart settles a little at hearing that he's doing fine. Without his mom
here, I know he may be upset just as well as I was.

Dad wouldn't want me to be upset today and that's how I'm controlling my
emotions currently.

"Have you met Charlie yet?" a little smile settles onto my face and
granddaddy shrinks.

"No, I'm nervous," he mumbles like a little kid and I giggle.

Granddaddy is one of Charlie's biggest fans. With them at similar ages, he

had watched Charlie play all throughout his career. In addition to that, he
grew up watching Charlie's dad.

I tried to get him to meet Charlie before but he's always gotten out of it
somehow or another either by making up excuses or just straight up telling
me he's nervous.

I find it hilarious. Never in my life would I of ever thought that Oliver

Wilson would be nervous about meeting someone.

"There's a ton of people out there. Family, friends, my friends, Nick's

friends, and nearly all of the Taylor family which, holy shit, forgive me God
for cursing in your house, there's a ton of Taylors," he prays in the middle of
his sentence.

I hear the doors in the room in front of us open and I once again turn
nervous as I picture my bridesmaids walking down the aisle that I soon will.

I can think of so many things that can go wrong, it's crazy. Half of the
things I'm thinking would never happen, but I'm just overthinking.

"Don't be so nervous, Ree," granddaddy chuckles, "you spent a year and a

half planning this wedding, everything will be fine, okay?"

I take a deep breath and calm down. He's right.

"Nicholas would be so proud of the woman you've become," he whispers

from beside me and I look up at him.

"D-Do you think he would be upset that I'm still so young?" I ask the
question that has been floating through my mind ever since Luke proposed
a year and a half ago.

I'm young; only just having turned twenty a month ago. Luke and I had
agreed on a long engagement and it has

been a long one.

"Ree, Lia and I got married at eighteen," he informs me, "she and I couldn't
have been more happy with each other. I know that your father is not upset
with you. He can see just as much as everyone else that you two love each
other more than anything."

"I love you, granddaddy," I wrap my arms around him once again.

"I love you, Ree."

The doors to the room in front of us open and a smile spreads across his
face. He hooks his arm through mine and leads me to the door separating us
and the aisle I'm about to walk down.
We turn and face each other. I set my eyes on the medals and colorful
ribbons on his chest that goes with his fancy dress wear and he keeps his
eyes on me.

Now, my heart beats quickly with anxiousness.

I just really want to marry him.

"Are you ready?" he smiles as 'Here Comes the Bride' begins to play
outside the doors.

"I'm ready," I smile back, hooking my arm with grandaddy's and the doors
open.

____________________

~1 Hour Previous~

*LUKE'S POV*

"I'm getting married," I mumble.

"You're getting married," Eli nods, a large smile on his face.

"You're getting married," Aiden agrees.

"You're gettin' hitched, bitch," Sam slaps my shoulder.

"You're getting married, motherfucker!" Ryan ruffles Eli's hair. I hardly

missed his bitch ass.

"Does this suit make my ass look big?" Ethan stares at himself in the mirror.

Aubrey insisted he be invited. I also might have missed him only the
smallest bit, but it was mostly because she wanted her 'brother' here. I don't
know how he became one of my groomsmen, I think he made that decision
himself.

"Really big," Owen nods.

Although Owen and I had our differences, I know that he's very important
to Aubrey. Plus, the guys and I got to know him after he came to visit
Aubrey one time and he's not the worst.

I offered to make him a groomsman and I'm slowly regretting it.

That fucker really knows how to start arguments.

"Thank you," Ethan retaliates, "that's what I'm going for."

"There's a child," Aiden winces. He's not necessarily a fan of children.

"It's Eva you fuck," Eli glares at him as his little sister runs into our room.

"E! E!" Eva stops in front of Eli, smiling up at him happily.

"What is it, Eva?" Eli questions, bending down to her level. She gives him a
little smirk, one that looks exactly like his and he returns it back to her.

"Woah! Can I see your shiny things?" Eva gets sidetracked by the shiny
medals on Owen's dress wear. He chuckles and bends down to her level,
showing her each of the ones she points to.

"I'm afraid she'll be a golddigger when she's older," Eli mumbles, standing
back up and coming to stand next to me.

Eva, now nine, is more lively than ever and still obsessed with everything
sparkly.

"Unce Ryan," she greets out, now able to pronounce her words since what
she used to call Ryan and me two years ago. 'Wuke' and 'Wyan.'

"Pick me up so I can see you," she raises her arms, now standing in front of
me. I lift her into my arms and she smiles at me.

She folds her little hands and rests them on my shoulder.

"You, Uncle Luke, are making me proud," she nods, "you're getting married
to a princess."
A small smile reaches my lips. She really is a princess.

"Now please pass me to E so that I can tell him that I have found a husband
for myself."

Eli chokes on his water and Ryan laughs loudly. This'll be good.

"What did you just say Eva?" Eli walks over to us.

"Actually, keep holding me, he's looking unhappy," Eva says calmly.

"She said she has found herself a husband, come on, keep up," Owen taps
his head and Eli jumps at him threateningly.

He's been through a fuckin' war, he doesn't flinch.

"Who? Where?" Eli asks and she looks at him much like her mother does
when she used to find out Eli forgot to do the dishes. Sassily.

"I will tell you if lower your mean voice, E," she warns and Aiden laughs.

"Eva, quit playing," he warns, "who are you talking about?"

"His name," she sighs dreamily, "is Cason."

Well, shit.

"Oh

hell

no," Eli places his hands on his hips as Sam loses his shit from across the
room.

"Luke, go get your fucking brother and tell him to keep his twelve-year-old
ass away from my nine-year-old little sister," Eli points his finger in my
face.
"E, I'll go get mommy if you don't stop cursing in front of me," she retorts
just as sassily and he narrows his eyes at her.

"You're a tattle-tail," he tells her.

"You're a cotton headed ninny muggins," she retorts and he gasps.

"Didn't mom tell you not to watch The Elf anymore?" he tilts his head.

"No," she lies.

"Did you just lie in a church?"

She wiggles in my arms and I place her back on the ground. As soon as her
feet hit the ground, she's running out of the room.

___________________

"Back up, bitches," Eli holds his hand up, "I'm the best man, not either of
you."

Aiden and Ryan look at Eli with glares and I roll my eyes.

"We're trying to get our fucking ties," Ryan shoves him out of the way and
the two of them walk to where they had sat their ties on the table.

"Are you ready?" Sam nudges me, a smile on his face.

I've been ready for years.

"Def-"

I'm cut off by the door opening. Oliver walks in and comes straight for me.

"You don't say 'I do' and I'll kill you, Owen will help me," he nods toward
Owen and my eyebrows raise.

"Shit, I'll help you," Eli raises his hand.

"Same," Ethan nods and I realize how shit these guys' faith in me is.

"If we can get to him before grandma," Sam says and Aiden nods.

"That's true."

"You know, I don't really think we need to worry about that," Ryan helps
me out.

"Just making sure," he gives me one last look before exiting the room as
Eva enters it once again but this time in her flower girl dress.

"Look," she gives us a twirl and Eli claps.

"Yes, give us a pose Eva. Bam, gorgeous," he grabs her hand and twirls her
once more.

"Ella says ten minutes until it's time," she informs us, "so you guys need to
go wait in the room with the bridesmaids."

"Oh!" Eli jumps excitedly, "I'm going to see Lorraine!"

He walks out of the room with Eva's hand in his and everyone follows
except for Sam.

"You coming?"

"I'll be out there in a second, I just need a minute," I nod to him and he
gives me an understanding look.

He closes the door behind him and I take a deep breath.

Mom would want to be here and never would I have thought before she was
diagnosed that she wouldn't be here on the day of my wedding.

And damn do I regret how my last words to her weren't telling her how
great of a mother she was or how much I love her.
I would give anything to be able to hold her hand and it not be as cold as it
was when she was lying in the hospital bed.

The door to the room opens and dad walks in, closing the door behind him.

"You alright? You've got to go out in a couple minutes," he says.

"I'm thinking about mom."

"Knowing her, she's standing at the altar waiting for you to come out and
get married already," he smiles and I chuckle.

That does sound like her.

"Is Aubrey okay?" I question. I know she's having a tough time without her
dad today.

"She's fine son," he claps my shoulder, "now come on."

He leads me out into the room where all the groomsmen and bridesmaids
are waiting to go out, to go get Eli away from Lorraine.

Knowing that she's in the room right behind me only makes me more
anxious to see her and get married already.

"Let's go," Eli smiles excitedly. Dad leads us to another door, one that leads
out to the side of the altar where Eli and I have to walk out before everyone
else.

"Whenever you're ready," dad smiles before leaving to go to another

entrance to take his seat in the church pews.

I stare at the door for a second and Eli puts his arm around my shoulder.

"You ready, big boy?"

"I've been ready, little man," I ignore his gasp and I open the door, walking
into the main part of the church.
Damn, that's a lot of people.

My eyes find grandma's first and she's already crying. Then, they dart all
over the place looking at the faces of my family, Aubrey's family, and our
friends. They land on Rick and the empty seat beside him.

Aubrey insisted on inviting her mother.

The witch didn't have the balls to show up but I'm glad. She doesn't deserve
to be here.

I stand at my spot beside the decorated altar, with Eli behind me.

I can feel his excitement radiating off of him.

The doors open and the bridesmaids walk out with their arms hooked with
the groomsmen.

Aubrey couldn't pick a maid of honor.

The doors close once everyone is out and standing in their spots. Then, the
music begins to play and Eli lets out a quiet squeal behind me.

It's finally time.

_____________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I look at all the standing people who look back at me, smiles on their faces.
A rush of emotions hit me and I grip tighter onto granddaddy's arm.

Finally, my eyes find the man at the end of the aisle.

Water fills my eyes as I watch him wipe a tear off his face. His navy suit fits
him amazingly and he's even wearing a tie for me.

Granddaddy and I walk slowly, my right hand wrapped around his arm. I
glance down at the engagement ring that now lies on my right hand for the
band to be placed on my left.

I can't wait to be Mrs. Taylor.

As a young girl, I always dreamed of the day I would get married. Now that
it's finally here, it's hard to believe.

It's hard to believe how lucky I am to marry such a wonderful man.

God is good.

I walk steadily, thank goodness, down the aisle.

Up until two hours ago, I was set to wear heels. Now, on my feet are a pair
of pretty flats and there's a nice wooden platform for me to stand on in front
of Luke so that we will actually be face to face when saying our vows.

I would've already tripped if I was wearing heels by now.

We make it to the end of the aisle and my chest feels inflated with
excitement and anxiousness.

Father Wyatt offers me a smile before turning to granddaddy.

"Who gives the blessing of the marriage of Aubrey Wilson and Lucas
Taylor?" he questions.

"On behalf of Nicholas Wilson, God rest his soul, I do," granddaddy says
and I picture my dad watching down on me right now, sitting in a cloud
chair with a bag of gummy worms on his lap.

He loved gummy worms.

Granddaddy turns to me and hugs me to him before kissing my cheek and

walking to his seat in the front row.

I look back and I slip my hand into Luke's. He holds my hand as I walk up
the steps of the small platform and family members and friends let out
laughs.
Once I'm situated, I look at Luke, now eye level with him.

'You're so beautiful,' he mouthes and I smile softly.

"Dearly beloved," our priest begins, "we are gathered here today to
celebrate the coming together of Aubrey and Luke in holy matrimony. Let's
start this off with a prayer."

Luke grabs my hands and holds them as he bows his head closing his eyes.
I follow and Father Wyatt begins the prayer.

"Heavenly Father, thank you, God, for the beautiful bond of love that exists
between the couple standing here now. We are grateful for your presence
with us here today and for your divine blessing on this holy event. Guide
these two through your greatest gift, true love. In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen."

Amen's sound throughout the church and I open my eyes.

"Now let us begin," Father Wyatt smiles.

"True marriage is more than simply joining two persons together through
the bonds of matrimony. It is also the union of two hearts and the blending
of two families," Father Wyatt looks out into the sea of our family and
friends.

"It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but also
thrives on the joy of each new day. Marriage is, and should be, an
expression of love."

"May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to
laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to also share those
moments of quiet and peace, when the day is done. May you be blessed
with a lifetime of happiness and a home of warmth and understanding," he
continues, now looking between Luke and me.

"The couple has chosen to recite their own vows but without any sort of
sound enhancing device because Lucas Taylor says and I quote 'It's my
business, not theirs' followed by an unholy word I shall not repeat," the
priest teases and me, along with everyone else in the church let out laughs.

"Luke, you may begin," Father Wyatt nods and I turn my full attention to
Luke.

"I know you told me to write what I wanted to say down, but I ignored you
because I'm stubborn and I thought I would be fine coming up with things
on the spot," he begins and I bite my lip, keeping in a giggle.

"I'll try my hardest right now," he smirks.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," he starts off strong,
already sending tears into my eyes.

"I promise that I'll never stop loving you. There will never be a time when
you wake up not knowing if I still want to be with you. You're all I've
wanted since high school and that will never change."

A tear rolls down my cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb.

"You are my one and only person and damn, if that's not a miracle, I don't
know what is," the people that can hear him talk let out laughs and I do too,
through my tears.

"You taught me to love even when I didn't think I could and loving you has
been the greatest thing I've ever done," I watch as his beautiful grey eyes
water, which only sends a tear down my cheek.

"I promise to cuddle you, whether you like it or not," he mutters the last
part lowly, "and to grow old with you, sweetheart. I love you."

How am I supposed to compete with that?

"Now Aubrey, for your vows," Father Wyatt nods and I clear my throat
quietly.

"I promise to always take care of you even when you're in your worst of
moods," he lets out a soft chuckle.
"I promise to always be there for you when you have bad days. When you're
hurting, I promise to do everything I can to get your pain to stop," I watch
as a single tear falls from his eyes.

I reach forward, since I can actually reach him at the moment, and I wipe it
away.

"I promise to try to be as much of a home to you as you are to me. I promise
to always feed you, even when you want food every twenty minutes," he
smiles and Eli snickers behind him.

"You make every day a better day, even if the day is full of you grumbling
and glaring at things, I wouldn't rather have anyone else in the world but
you. I love every part of you, and I promise to never stay mad at you for
things you may do...such as curse in front of a priest," I add the last part and
Father Wyatt laughs loudly.

"I promise to be your biggest fan, whether you're on the field or not and I
vow to always hold my arms open for you and only you. I love you."

"Do you," Father Wyatt starts, "Lucas Andrew Taylor, take Aubrey Annalise
Wilson to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, to have and
to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

I watch Luke's eyes carefully as he does the same to me.

"I do," he says and excitement fills me.

"Do you," Father Wyatt turns to me, "Aubrey Annalise Wilson, take Lucas
Andrew Taylor to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish,
to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer,
for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?

"I do," I say without a doubt and Luke's hands tighten around mine,
showing me how excited he is.
Cason walks to us and he stands to our side, holding out a cushion which
our rings lie on.

We pick up each other's rings and hold them in our hand as we turn back to
Father Wyatt.

"Lucas, repeat after me," he says, "with this ring, I thee wed."

Luke holds my left hand in his gently and he slips on the perfect fitting,
diamond wedding band as he repeats the words.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"Now Aubrey, repeat after me," he nods toward me and I hold Luke's left
hand.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring," I slip the dark silver, matte wedding band onto his finger,
"I thee wed."

"Now, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Luke, you may kiss your bride," Father Wyatt smiles.

Luke grabs the sides of my face and he presses his lips against mine as loud
cheers of excitement and happiness is heard from the family and friends all
around the church.

Luke pulls away and he rests his forehead against mine.

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too," I reply and we pull the rest of the way away.

"I now present to you, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Taylor!"
Luke helps me off my platform.

We walk down the aisle and even as much as I want to stop and talk to
everyone, we need to get to the reception venue.
Once we make it out of the gorgeous cathedral-like church, Luke helps me
pile my long train and veil into the car that will take us to our reception
venue, only a few minutes down the road.

Once we're both in the car, he attacks me.

"You're my wife," he kisses my cheeks repeatedly.

"Look at you," he pulls away, looking at me and my dress piled into the car,
"so beautiful."

"You're wearing a tie," I smile happily.

"Yeah, yeah," he loosens the tie and I take hold of it, undoing it. He gives
me a look

as I do it but I ignore him.

_____________________

Within a few minutes, we make it our reception venue.

It's a warehouse type building that is not old but vintage and rustic.

Luke helps me out the car and I thank the driver guy. He holds my hand as
he leads me into the building.

The gorgeously decorated open floor has dozens of large, round tables
spread all around with wonderful centerpieces and bulbed lights all around
the place.

It's all so amazing.

Luke leads me to the back room where we meet Father Wyatt to sign our
wedding certificate.

"Congratulations," he smiles as we wait for Eli and whoever the first

bridesmaid will be to get here.
Eli, since he's the best man, will sign as a witness and I told the girls that
whoever arrives first gets to sign it as well since I don't have a maid of
honor.

I couldn't possibly pick. I love them all so much.

"I have arrived," Eli runs toward me and he gives me a huge bear hug.

"My best friends are married!" he says excitedly, "I'm so fuc-freaking

happy, sorry Father and Jesus!"

"Move you slut!" Izzy's recognizable scream comes from outside the door.
Father Wyatt gasps and I wince.

"You two are childish!" Lorraine's voice is heard as well as Olivia's and
even Whitney's.

The door bursts open and May struts in.

Thank goodness May and Eli have fully made up if not, this would be very
awkward.

The two sign the paper and then Luke and I sign it, making it truly official
now.

"Oh my goodness!" I jump, startling Luke, "we need to introduce Izzy and
Aiden."

"Okay?"

"Yes, let's go," I grab his large hand in mine.

"Izzy!" I call out and she shows up in front of me.

"Aiden!" I call out and after a minute, he finally mosies his way over to
where we are.

Izzy gives me a look like 'what are you doing?' but I just give her a smile in
return.
"Aiden, Izzy, Izzy, Aiden," I point to each of them and Luke's arm wraps
around my waist. He drags me away from the two and I pout slightly.

I was being a matchmaker.

"My babies!" Ella's voice calls out and I turn, a large smile on my face.

"Look at the two of you, oh I'm so happy!" she hugs the both of us before
moving away for Charlie to hug me too.

Soon, tons of people begin piling in.

After greeting everyone from Luke's distant cousins to Colonel Matthews,

who I hadn't seen since dad's funeral, I wonder where my mom is.

"Luke?" I question and he turns toward me.

"Yes, darlin'?" he rests his hand on the small of my back.

"Where's mom?" he just looks at me and I get the message.

She didn't come.

"I'm sorry," he pulls me closer to him but I just plaster a smile on my face.

"It's okay, I'm okay," I'm sure she was just busy.

"Come on you two!" Whitney calls out, "First dance time, hello!"

"You know how much I

love

to dance," he grumbles and I place my hand on his back.

"I know, love," he smiles down at me as we stop in the middle of the dance
floor. His strong arms wrap around me and I rest my head against his chest
as we sway to the slow hum of the music.
____________________

"Granddaddy, come on," I giggle as I try to pull him up from his chair.

"Ree, I don't want to," he groans.

"I know you want to meet him, I can see it in your eyes," I tease him and he
sighs.

"Fine, I'll go," he stands from his chair and I clap excitedly.

I lead granddaddy to Charlie's table, weaving in between people and finally,

we make it to where Luke stands with his grandparents.

A smile reaches his lips as he sees granddaddy trailing behind me. I give
him a thumbs up and he turns Charlie toward us.

My grandfather, the most serious and straight-faced man I've ever known,
shrinks down and just by the wiggling of his fingers, I come to the
conclusion that he is fangirling.

"Oliver, right?" all my grandfather's professional greeting rules fly out the
window when Charlie speaks. Granddaddy just nods and I stifle a laugh.

"I'm a huge fan of yours," Charlie holds out his hand and I think my
granddaddy nearly faints.

Today is my all-time favorite day.

_______________________

|
| Ya'll are a threatening bunch of people, let me tell you. I know I'm late at
updating, and I'm sorry. I've just been super busy. *THIS IS NOT THE
END* there will be a little bit more for ya'll :)

Aubrey's engagement ring. (Her wedding band is just a diamond band

that goes under it)

These are the bridesmaid's dresses

This is her wedding dress ;))))

And lastly, this is literally Oliver fangirling lolll

Thank you for reading!

Word count: 5715

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 14 "What the hell
are you doing here?"
*AUBREY'S POV*

Strong arms lay securely wrapped around my waist and I lean my head back
against his chest.

A smile sits on my face as I look around seeing all the friends and family I
love so much, dancing, talking, and having a good time.

"So do I get like a speech or something?" Eli questions, walking up to us, a

paper in his hands.

"Absolutely not," Luke's deep voice rumbles against me. Eli turns his
attention toward me and I give him a 'do it' smile.

Next thing I know, he's running up to the front of the dance floor and
yanking a microphone off of the DJ's table.

He begins talking but soon realizes it's not on. He flicks a button on the side
of it and then he starts again.

"I've been given permission to speak," Eli nods out to everyone who looks
at him like he's crazy.

"This is going to be a disaster," Luke leans down to grumble in my ear. I

watch Eli as he unfolds his little paper, smiling at how adorable he is.

"Look, he's prepared and everything," I aw and Luke grunts. Lorraine joins
him at the front, in front of all the guests and she aids him in unfolding his
paper since he's only got one free hand.

"When Luke asked me to be his best man," he starts off and I hold in a
giggle.
~Flashback~

"Lucas, you're making this more of a big deal than it is," I mumble, mostly
focusing on my anatomy homework.

"What? Am I just supposed to go up and tell him 'oh, you wanna be my best
man?' I think not," he replies.

"Well, that's how most normal people do it," I give him a teasing smile.

The door to his suite opens and in walks Eli.

"Look, here is the perfect opportunity to ask," I usher him away from the
couch and I. He looks back at me like a child that has been forced to do
something and I give him a thumbs up.

He stops in front of Eli and they just stand there looking at each other.

"Why are you looking at me?" Luke grumbles and Eli just gives him a funny
look.

"You're looking at me," Eli retaliates and Luke turns his head and looks at
me like 'what do I do next?'

"Aubrey, why's he acting so weird?" Eli steps away, looking toward me.

"I think he has a question for you," I tell him happily.

"Darlin'

, you ask him," Luke mumbles, turning and looking back at me once more.

"This has nothing to do with me."

He stomps his foot and with the look I send him, he sighs.

"Now I'm curious," Eli throws his stuff on the floor excitedly, "ask me."
"You can be my best man if you want...bitch," he adds an insult on the end
to make it seem more like him and Eli's eyes light up.

"I would be honored to be your best man," Eli sniffles, resting his hand on
Luke's shoulder.

Is he crying?

"Eli, are you upset?" I question softly, walking to him and placing my hand
on his arm.

"No, I'm so happy," he turns around, looking down at me giving me a full

view of his full-on watering eyes.

"Hold me," he opens his arms for me to walk in to. I hold in a giggle before
walking into his bear hug.

"Eli," I bite my lip as he starts shaking, "are you okay?"

I let my eyes drift up to Luke's and he rolls his eyes at Eli.

"I can't control my happiness, I think something's wrong with me."

"It's okay, let out your happiness," I pat his back as he lets out a groan-like
cry into my shoulder.

This is like a repeat of when we told him we're engaged.

I pull away and hold him from me at arm's length.

"Fan my face," Eli instructs me and I raise both my hands and begin
fanning his face. He closes his eyes and looks to be relishing in the feeling
of the breeze hitting his face.

"Okay," he nods, "now hug me again, I love your hugs."

"That's enough," Luke pulls the back of my shirt.

"Shut up, you get her for life, I can hug her for a few minutes," Eli steps
threateningly at Luke who just narrows his eyes in return.

"How about I can hug you both! Like a group hug," I suggest, "bring it in,
both of you."

Luke steps forward immediately, wrapping both his arms around me,
covering my whole body.

"There's no room for me bitch," Eli grumbles.

"Then you can take tur-" I get cut off by Eli.

"I'll just hug the back," Luke flies away from me as Eli begins to move
behind me.

"You will not."

~Flashback Over~

"I was like, ew, but it hasn't turned out that bad," he giggles at himself and
Luke sighs.

"Luke's my best friend," he points out to Luke and everyone turns to where
we're standing, smiles on their faces.

"When he first met Aubrey," a sneaky smile grows on his face as he

continues, "I was constantly reminded of how beautiful she looked on a
daily basis because she was pretty much all he ever talked about."

"That's true!" Ryan calls out from somewhere and everyone lets out a good
laugh.

"They are the happiest couple I've ever seen and they've been that way ever
since high school. They're meant to be," he chokes up on his words and
Ryan's hyena laugh is heard at Eli's almost-crying.

"Cheers to forever for my favorite bitch and my boo-boo," he raises his beer
before chugging it, leaving Lorraine to take his microphone and hand it
back to the DJ with a sheepish smile.

"Wasn't that sweet?" I place my hand on Luke's stomach, looking up into

those grey eyes of his.

"He called me a bitch."

"You call him that all the time," I raise an eyebrow up at him.

If Luke had a nickname for Eli, it would be the b-word. He calls him it all
the time.

"Cake time," Ella smiles as she stops in front of us.

I've been waiting for some cake.

We make our way to the table that holds the cake. The wonderful cake. The
cake itself is white but on the bottom of each of its three tiers, there is a
navy blue ribbon around it. Then, spread around the cake is pale pink
fondant flowers.

I wouldn't even want to eat it, it's so pretty, but I'm hungry.

Sam provides the knife, shoving it at Luke the wrong way with the blade
facing toward him nearly giving me a stroke.

"Whoops," Sam winces, turning the knife around.

I take ahold of the knife after Luke gives me a look saying 'how do I do
this?' and he places his hand over mine.

"Wait!" May calls out, positioning her camera before telling us to continue.

She's an art/photography/she hasn't decided, major at Auburn.

We cut down on the first tier of the cake and everyone around us lets out
happy noises. I pick up the slice of red velvet cake onto a plate and before I
can even think about digging into it, someone
shoves it in my face.

Not all of it, a little piece. But, that little piece could have been in my
stomach and not on my face.

All around us, people laugh. I'm sure I look ridiculous. I grab a big piece of
the slice and shove it into Luke's face.

Serves him right.

I feel a little bad.

"I'm sorry," I hand him a napkin, cupping my hand under his chin so none
of it will get on his suit.

"Shove more of it in his face," Eli encourages me but I ignore him.

Once all of it is cleaned off his face, he grabs another napkin and helps me
with the cake on my face.

He grabs my chin and tilts it, cleaning the cake off my face.

"I couldn't resist," he chuckles, leaning down to kiss my lips after wiping all
the cake off my face.

"I love you."

"I love you too, darlin'."

______________________

"I can't get over your dress!" Kayleigh gushes as I finally get to talk to her.

"Thank you!" I smile, "it took a while to pick one."

"I love everything about this wedding. You are Luke are such a beautiful
couple," she elbows Zade and he dramatically groans, "aren't they Zade?"

"Do what?"
"Just say yes," she tells him.

"Yes," he says and she turns back to me, a smile on her face.

"Thank you," I giggle.

It turns out, Zade's girlfriend, now fiance, Kayleigh is the same Kayleigh
that was in my math class. Small world, but love it.

"Eli's speech was...one of a kind," she laughs and I shake my head with a
smile on my face.

"He's definitely somethi-"

"Aubrey!" Cason shows up beside me.

"You okay, Cason?" I question, noticing the fear-stricken look on his face.

"There's this girl, Eva. She won't leave me alone. And Eli won't stop glaring
at me," he worries and I bite back a laugh.

"Why don't you go and stand with James, I'm sure he'll keep Eli from
glaring at you," I advise him and he nods before running off to find James.

Eva's got a crush.

"It was really nice to see you!" I hug her, "I've got to go see what Luke is up
to."

She gives me a knowing look as she sees Luke waving me over to him.

"I'll see you later," she smiles and I turn, following wherever Luke is fixing
to take me.

I turn a corner, in one of the back rooms of the warehouse and he grabs my
arm, eliciting a squeal from me.

"Alone time," he closes the distance between us, pressing me up against the
wall of the hallway. He lowers his lips onto mine and after a mere half a
second, we're interrupted.

"Alone time? I think not," Eli snorts, shoving a chicken leg in his mouth.
Bone and all only to spit it out a few seconds later but this time, it has no
meat on it.

Wow.

"You two will have plenty of alone time after you leave here," Eli picks up
another leg from his plate, "so carry your newly-wed asses back out and
spend time with me. I won't see you for a week and I'm literally going to
have no one to talk to. Besides Lorraine, love her."

He and Lorraine are utterly adorable.

"Eat shit," Luke grumbles, taking ahold of my hand and dragging me out of
the hall and back into the main reception room.

"Let's have another first dance," I grab his hand as Aerosmith's

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

comes on.

We sway to the song and I hum parts of it softly against his chest. Just like
our very first song Make You Feel My Love

, originally by Bob Dylan but sung by Adele.

I love that song. It makes me cry sometimes.

"I think grandpa and Oliver are getting along," Luke rumbles and I turn my
head to where I last left granddaddy.

The two of them sit at the table together laughing their butts off at
something one of them said.

I think they're best friends now.

"Put your ring back," he points to my engagement ring which still lays on
my right finger. I forgot to put it back with everything happening.

I wiggle it off and he takes it.

"Will you marry me?" he questions and I giggle.

"I guess so," I tease and he puts the ring on my ring finger.

Unlike this time, when he first asked me to marry him, I lost my cool.

After asking him if he was serious, I had started crying.

Then, he proceeded to scold me for asking if he was serious but I just

couldn't believe it. Without wasting any more time, I had attacked him with
a huge hug and of course, told him yes.

"Will you take me to have and to hold and shit?" he sums up our wedding
ceremony.

"Yes, will you?"

"Duh," he leans down, kissing my lips.

"Look, we're married," sticks out his hand, wiggling his ring finger,
showing me his band.

"Hey!" Eli stops in front of us. He raises his phone.

He's just everywhere today we are today.

"Pose, this will go on my Instagram. I need likes," he tells us and I shake

my head at his craziness.

"I'm not posing for you," Luke turns the both of us away from Eli's phone.

"Perfect twirl, eat shit Luke, I got a video instead," Eli smirks before
walking off, probably to post the video.
As soon as Eli is out of sight, I catch a glance at the entrance of the
warehouse, where the light comes in, signaling someone has entered.

My mother.

"Um," I gulp. I know I invited her but I figured if she was going to come,
she would've come during the ceremony. Plus, the look on her face doesn't
make me feel good.

It's almost evil.

"What is it?" Luke caresses the side of my face, his soft voice calming my
heart a tad.

"My mom is here," I whisper when he leans down closer to hear me. His
head jerks away from me and he looks around until he sees her.

When he does, he doesn't look thrilled at all.

I watch her as she holds open the door for someone else with confusion.
Until Kelsey walks through the door.

I know I shouldn't have invited her but I just wanted her here. I guess I was
sort of hoping she would be able to forget about her hatred toward me for
one day.

Luke pulls away from me and he starts heading straight for the two. I follow
behind him because Lord knows what he's going to do or say.

We pass by where granddaddy and Charlie sit, getting their attention.

"What's going on?" granddaddy grabs ahold of my arm, turning me toward

him.

"Mom's here," I whisper worriedly and a glare settles on his face. He hooks
our arms and he and I begin following Luke again.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Luke mutters lowly as he gets close
enough to her.
"Well, I was invited of course," a sly smile reaches her lips, "I hope you
don't mind that I brought a guest."

Her eyes find mine and she motions toward Kelsey. I haven't seen or talked
to her since that day at the ice cream shop. The day where I lost the one
person who I thought was going to be in my life forever.

"How could you not have invited your best friend, Aubrey?" mom fakes a
pout.

Izzy and Olivia keep everyone else here distracted after realizing what's
going on. Thank God for the two of them.

I can tell Izzy wants to give them both a piece of her mind though.

"You didn't have the decency to show up to the ceremony, you don't deserve
to be here now," granddaddy starts, "you need to leave, Claire."

"That just doesn't make sense," she shakes her head.

Granddaddy removes his arm from mine and he walks closer to her.

"You are not about to ruin their wedding," he warns.

"I suggest you leave before someone who has been dying to meet you,
does," Luke sends a scary glare toward the both of them.

Ella Taylor.

Kelsey just stands beside my mother looking down at the ground and not
uttering a word. She's changed a bit.

She has dyed her hair dark and cut it up to her chin. It truly looks amazing
on her and I bite my tongue to keep from sending her a compliment.

I see Ella before anyone else does. She walks up to behind Luke and then
she pushes in front of him.
"Is this who I think it is?" her eyes narrow at my mother who just looks
confused.

"I tried to hold her back," Charlie mutters to me once he comes to stand
beside me, "she's a strong little lady."

"Destroy her," I hear Eli coach Ella as he joins in on the drama as well.

Such the instigator.

I clear my throat, gathering my courage and I step forward.

"I know you don't care for me," I mutter quietly, looking down at the
bottom of my dress.

"But please, if you didn't come here to be happy for me, just leave," I
almost want to apologize for how rude my words sound but I know Luke
will be mad at me if I do.

I raise my eyes and look into the cold eyes of my mother's. They hadn't
softened a bit.

"I hope you know that you two will never last," she sneers and I blink my
eyes to clear their wateriness.

"You're terrible for eachoth-"

"That is enough, Claire," Rick comes up beside me, slightly pushing me

behind his slim figure.

He's always been kind to me. Even in the worst times when mom was
mean, he never was.

A year or so ago, Rick contacted me and told me he and my mother got a

divorce and that he was once again sorry for all she had done.

I knew he had always deserved better.

"You best get your sour ass out of here before I unleash a big ole can of
whoop ass," Ella sneers and my mother backs up at that.

Ella can be quite frightening when she wants to be.

"Leave," Luke glares at her when she just looks at me for help. I don't say
anything. After a short moment, she pulls open the exit and storms out.

Kelsey still stands in her spot after Rick, Charlie, Ella, and granddaddy
disperse.

I don't think they recognized that she came in with mom.

Luke and I stand in front of her and after a moment, she lifts her head,
connecting her eyes with mine.

"I-" she starts before cutting herself off.

Her voice hasn't changed a bit.

"Either find the words or fuckin' leave," Luke warns and I place a hand on
his arm to tell him that it's okay.

"I'm sorry for all I did to you. For what I said and how I acted all those
years ago," she says and I bite my slightly wobbling lip.

"I was young, immature, and stupid. I'm sorry, Aubrey," she looks at me
sadly.

"And I'm sorry for coming here with your mother. I just didn't know how
else to get here," she explains and I avert my eyes away from hers.

"I know you don't forgive me and that's okay. I just needed to let you know
how terrible I feel and how sorry I am."

She walks out the same door my mother had and I watch her as she does,
knowing that this will probably be the last time I ever see her.

I forgive her but I will never, ever forget.

"Are you okay?" Luke question, kissing my forehead softly.

This was like closure. Yes, it could've happened at a better time but now I
know that I don't need either of them in my life. At all really.

"I'm good," I smile up at him.

"I'm ready to go to Fiji now," he murmurs against my lips and I giggle.

"Only a few more hours."

_______________________

|||||| This chapter was the shortest chapter I have written in a while. As
the end of the school year gets closer, I get busier. To make things even
more difficult, I would expect only a couple more sequel chapters.

But, I am working on a new story right after this one and I've already
gotten started :)) Thank you all for reading <3

*Not Edited*

Word count: 3337

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 15 "Blink if he's
holding you against your will"
*LUKE'S POV*

I'm shaken awake by Aubrey jumping out of my arms.

I sit up quicker than a flash of lighting and catch a glimpse of her sprinting
to the bathroom.

She must gotta piss real bad.

I hear the sound of the toilet seat flying up and following that, the sound of
her body hitting the floor.

I fly out of bed and dash through the open door of the bathroom.

"Baby?" my voice comes out in a tone filled with worry.

She sits on the bathroom floor with her head in the toilet as she empties the
contents of her stomach.

Or not.

I take ahold of the hair she is trying to hold back with her free hand and my
other hand rubs soothing circles down her back. I take the hair tie off her
wrist and I put her hair up.

I sit there with her all the while she does what she needs to do. After fifteen
or so minutes, she finally pulls away from the toilet.

"Are you okay?" I question as she hangs her head. Poor thing's exhausted.

"I'm better now," she whispers weakly. She moves to get up and I grab her
waist, aiding her to stand.
"Did you eat something?" I rub my hand up and down the small of her back
as she stands at the sink getting her toothbrush ready.

"I don't know. I've been feeling a little queasy for a few days now," she
explains quietly, "We've had a few clinicals recently. I could have gotten a
bug from someone at the hospital."

She brushes her teeth and walks out.

"I'm going to take a shower," she mumbles, walking back into the
bathroom, clothes in her hands.

"Are you going to faint?"

"No, I won't faint," a small smile reaches her lips, "I'll be out in a few
minutes, okay?"

"Okay," I mumble, dragging my feet as I walk out our large bathroom and
back into our bedroom.

I fall back onto our bed and stare at the ceiling. There's no way in hell I'll
fall asleep without her.

During away games, it's a damn struggle. I talk with her on the phone until
she falls asleep and then I'm awake for another hour or so until I'm able to
finally fall asleep.

I like cuddling a little.

I guess I'm hungry. I once again stand from the bed and I mosey my way to
the kitchen. I send a glare toward Aubrey's cow salt shakers, one's nearly
identical to the ones she had years ago.

Those bring back bad memories.

I grab a box of cereal from the top of the fridge, purposefully hidden from
Eli who, although we have our own fucking house, is still constantly over.
Aubrey and I have lived in this house for nearly three years, buying it right
after our freshman year, and Eli for some reason has the idea that it is
somewhat his. Bitch.

I fix myself a big ass bowl of cereal and take a seat at Aubrey's beloved
white and black marbled island.

I look down at my left hand and a small smile appears on my face as I take
in the sight of my wedding band.

God, I love my woman.

In football, or pretty much any other sport, the players aren't supposed to
wear wedding bands due to ring avulsion. Ring avulsion, my ass.

I almost raised hell until Aubrey got me a silicone one. Those are allowed.

No one will ever catch me without some sort of band on that finger, I'm all
hers and I want everyone to know it.

___________________

Early the next morning, before even waking up for practice, Aubrey wakes
me up by doing the same thing.

Now I'm starting to get a little worried.

After she throws up, she gets in the shower once again before returning
back into my arms. She rests her head on my chest and I play with the ends
of her damp hair.

"Do you want to go to the doctor?" I question and she shakes her head. At
least she doesn't have any classes today.

"It's just a bug."

"But the doctor can take the bug away," I reason and she stays quiet for a
few seconds.
"I don't need to go, I'm fine," she insists and I leave it.

I soon drift off only to be awoken by the alarm set for practice. I lift her
head gently and place it on the pillow next to us.

I get ready for practice and before I leave, I lean down and place a kiss on
her forehead.

My beautiful wife.

Later, I open the door to the indoor facility and walk in. I tiredly sit my bag
down and start tying my cleats.

It was a long night last night.

"How's the wife, son?" Coach Saban kneels down next to me giving me a
knowing smile.

Our sophomore year, he met Aubrey at a formal charity event held for the
team and they became instant friends. It made Eli a tad jealous.

"You taking good care of her?" he looks at me as if saying 'you better be.'

She

takes care of

me

"Yes sir. She's a little sick today but she insists she doesn't need to go to the
doctor," I chuckle and he pats my shoulder.

"Tell her I hope she feels better," he says and I give him a nod. He begins
walking away and he claps his hands once, signaling for everyone to hurry
their shoe-tying the fuck up because he's ready to start practice now.
"Did I hear you correctly? Aubrey's sick? Is she okay? Oh my god, what if
she gets so weak that she falls through the hole in the toilet seat v?" he
worries and I roll my eyes at his stupid ass.

Even though Eli's made up scenario sounds stupid, I still secretly pick up
my phone and text her, telling her that she needs to stay in bed to rest and
that I'll be home right after practice.

I don't have any classes today either.

"Oh, what if she randomly faints and like falls down the stairs, that would
be so, so bad," Aiden winces and I consider punching him in the fucking
throat.

Goddammit, they're scaring me.

"Let's go! Get on the fifty! We're going to run today," Saban says,
thankfully taking my mind away from wanting to decapitate the two bitches
in front of me.

__________________

*AUBREY'S POV*

I'm pregnant.

I just know I am. I haven't taken a test yet but I've just got this feeling that I
am. Of course, I'm not telling him without getting a test first though.

Plus, I'm terrified. I want babies, I always have. Luke does too so I
shouldn't even be worried. I mean, we're married, we're financially stable,
and we both want a baby.

I'm just scared.

I don't know, maybe he's changed his mind about wanting a baby. I mean,
we're seniors in college in our last semester, the timing isn't exactly the
worst or the greatest.
We haven't really been using protection. We forget and don't really bat an
eye about it.

That's one reason I think I'm pregnant. Another is because I haven't had my
period in seven weeks. Usually, I get it every four and a half to five weeks.
It's always been between those two, never ever later than five weeks.

Plus, I'm throwing up suddenly. I said it was a bug, which it might be, but
there's just this feeling.

I get dressed in a comfy sweatshirt and a pair of Nike leggings before

heading to CVS. While buying the pregnancy tests, the older cashier
woman gives me a judgy look.

I just give her a tight-lipped smile and purposefully grab the bag containing
the tests with my left hand, showing her my ring.

People should stop being so judgy all the time, leave it up to the Lord.

I return home to our wonderful bungalow styled house and plop down on
the couch. Of course, it's a temporary house to hold us over until we
graduate but I like this house. It's simple but homely.

With everyone I know who lives nearby busy in class, Lorraine being pretty
much the only one in the state I'd want to take the test with, I decide to just
take it by myself.

I won't freak out or have a heart attack, I won't.

After finishing up the episode of

The Office

I was watching on the mounted tv from our comfy sofa, I finally get the
courage to take the test.

After doing exactly what the box said for me to do, I set it on the bathroom
counter, waiting those three minutes I've seen so many actresses in movies
do.
You know what, I can't be in here.

I walk out of the bathroom and walk to the kitchen. I'm hungry but nervous
I'll vomit it up. So I just occupy myself with tidying up.

There's not much tidying up to do since I tidy up often but I still walk
around looking for little things that need to be fixed.

I wait twenty-five minutes instead of three, nervous to go check the test. My

palms are sweaty and my heart is beating quicker than normal.

I approach the bathroom doorway and give myself a pep-talk.

I can do this.

Everything is okay.

Luke wouldn't be mad, right?

Getting fed up with my own stalling, I charge into the bathroom and pick up
the test looking straight at the little screen-like part on it.

Pregnant

Okay.

I drink a bottle of water and re-take the test.

Of course, you can never be sure until you go to the doctor but these things
tend to be pretty accurate. There are always those times when it could turn
out to be a false alarm.

I don't want it to be one of those situations so I take a total of three.

Aka, the whole box, aka I drink three water bottles over the course of
almost two hours.
Pregnant

Pregnant

Luke will be home any time now.

As I sit on our bed waiting for him to arrive I somehow forget how to act
normal. As I'm figuring out ways to seem natural, the door to our room
opens and he walks through.

He sets his bag down and ruffles his damp hair from his shower. He gives
me a sweet smile before gently hugging me, pushing me down on my back
on the bed.

I giggle as he lets out a dad-groan while climbing onto the bed.

He's going to be a dad, wow.

"Do you feel better, sweetheart?" he runs his finger along my jawline. Ever
since he's left this morning, I've felt fine.

Morning sickness, I guess. No, I don't guess. I

am

pregnant.

"I feel okay," I give him a little smile and he leans forward, kissing my lips.
Soon, he moves his mouth down to my neck, more specifically, the

spot under my ear.

I bite back a moan before remembering that I have something very

important to tell him.
"Luke," I say accidentally breathlessly and I can tell he thinks that means
'keep going.'

I finally grab some of his hair and pull his head from my neck. Of course,
he lets out of throaty moan and I giggle softly.

"You know what you do to me," he grumbles kissing my lips once more and
grabbing my hand, putting it back in his hair.

"Luke, I have to tell you something," I attempt seriously and he pulls away
slightly.

"You're just being a tease, I'll make you feel better," he says lowly, a look

in his eyes as his hand travels along the waistband of my leggings.

No, we cannot do this right now.

"Luke, I'm not teasing," I place my hands on each side of his face, getting
his full attention.

He removes his hand and sits up, pulling me up gently with him. He gives
my butt a squeeze as he pulls me onto his lap and I consider giving him a
slight Indian burn but without it hurting very much.

"What it is darlin'?" he wipes a curl away from my face as his other hand
rubs up and down my thigh.

"You love me, correct?" I start off horribly and he looks at me like I've just
asked him if he was a human or not.

"For a quick second, I forgot we were married and honestly thought you
were breaking up with me," he tells me and I groan, leaning my head
against his chest.

"But I love you, yes. If I didn't love you, you would know. I mean, we

are
married and all, y'know."

"Yes," I pull away and look up into his eyes, "I'll be right back."

I hop out his lap and off the bed, walking to the bathroom to get the tests.

"That was a great something you had to tell me, baby. I love you," he calls
out and I snicker, putting the capped tests into the pocket of my sweatshirt.

I return to our room and he still sits in the same spot, his eyes trained on me
as I walk closer to him. He grabs me and lifts me onto the bed and I take my
seat right in front of him.

"Close your eyes," I tell him as my heart begins beating quicker once again.
He does as he's told before opening his mouth.

"Seduce me,

please

," he reaches his hand out, grabbing my lower back/upper butt.

"Hush," I shush him, "I have something for you so hold out your hand."

He holds out his hand before,

once again

, opening his mouth.

"Did you get me Skittles? Damn, I love yo-"

"No, I did not," I interrupt him, only feeling slightly bad for doing so, "if
you don't hush I won't hesitate to sleep on the couch."

"You

will not
," he warns and I laugh silently.

I always threaten him saying I'll sleep on the couch, and he will

never

be okay with that. I don't get the big deal about it other than he loves his
cuddling.

"Okay," I turn serious, "are you ready?"

"Baby, if I keep my eyes closed for any longer, I'm going to fall asleep so
let's get this show on the road here," he says and I hold in my laughter.

I place one of the tests in his palm and he doesn't move.

"Can I move? Can I open my eyes?" he asks.

"Yes," I watch him somewhat nervously as he opens his eyes. His eyes fall
upon the positive test in his hand.

"Wait," he mumbles, looking at the test closely, "wait."

I fiddle with my fingers nervously as he looks at the test. He's giving no

facial expressions for me to read and I'm silently freaking out.

He raises his eyes to me.

"I'm pregnant," I whisper. I pull out the other two tests and place them in his
hand as well. He peers down at them and I'm still left sitting here without
knowing how he's feeling.

"Luke, say someth-"

I get cut off when he just randomly stands up from his seat on our bed. I
grow more and more nervous as I watch him walk out of the room.

Lord help me.

Before I can even start crying, he comes running back into the room with
the biggest smile on his face. He jumps around energetically and I'm left
shocked.

"Baby, We're having a baby!" he grabs the sides of my head and presses
kisses all over my face.

He hops on the bed and pulls me directly on top of him.

"You're happy?" I smile at his gorgeous face.

"I love babies and I love you. What a perfect combination."

__________________

The following day, a Friday, I go to the doctor's appointment I made the day
previous. Luke and I had decided not to tell anyone so that we could make
100% sure I really am pregnant.

Just as we thought, I am. An estimated five weeks to be exact.

Luke couldn't come, he had to be at practice and he was definitely bummed

out about it. I assured him everything was okay.

Now today, Saturday, we plan on telling everyone.

"Did you call Eli and Aiden?" I question and he nods rapidly.

"Yep yep yep, they'll be here any time now," he shows so much excitement
I almost want to go check our sugar cabinet to see if he's eaten all our
stocked up candy.

I can't hide that I'm excited too. His excitement is basically transferring to
me.

"Names," he suddenly says, "we need names."

"Luke...you're gosh darn right," he lifts me onto his back, in a piggyback

ride, and he carries us to our room.
We both plop down on the bed and I open up my computer.

We search through tons of websites but never see any names that really
speak out to either of us. I don't know, I just can't picture our child being
named Emma or Brian.

Of course, those names are perfectly fine and beautiful.

It's just not us.

"Charlotte," I mutter out, fully knowing that it's Luke's mom's name. I've
always loved her name.

"Momma's name," Luke nods, his thinking face on.

"I really like Charlotte," I bite my lip trying to hold back the huge smile that
wants to stretch across my face.

"Mom would love that," he kisses my forehead.

"Charlotte for a girl," I smile satisfied, "now a boy's name."

"Robert."

"Lucas, no honey," I shake my head and he snickers.

"Robert Dipthong," he laughs loudly as he remembers "Weston Dipthong"

from high school.

"Weston isn't actually that bad. I still like it," I shrug.

"Darlin', we aren't going to name our child something we have an inside

joke about, Eli would never leave him alone," he reasons and I nod.

"Let's go the opposite direction, literally," he shrugs as I did, "I like

Easton."

It's good. It's newer and unique and now I'm loving it.
"Did we just name our babies in under ten minutes?" a smile creeps onto
my lips.

"Hell yeah we did, we're a good team, beautiful," we fist bump each other.
A little too hard and I keep my face neutral as I hold my hand to my chest.

"Did that hurt?" he winces and I breathe out.

"A little, yeah," I straighten out my hand and he kisses my knuckles as we

hear our front door be knocked on harshly and quickly.

Aiden.

Luke lifts me back onto his back and he zooms to the door. He's got so
much energy right now, it's crazy.

Usually, he just sleeps a lot. Or eats. I love him.

He swings the door open and Aiden sends him a little glare.

"Invite us over and lock the door? Who do you think you are?" Aiden and
Eli pass us as they walk inside the house.

Unfortunately, Lorraine is working today but we'll tell her when she gets
here in a couple of hours. We just have to keep Eli quiet.

"Aiden, let me get on your back, we can have a chicken fight in this bitch,"
Eli suggests and Aiden pushes him down.

"You think I can hold your fatass up?"

"Thank you for telling me I have a nice ass," Eli winks at Aiden and Aiden's
eyes narrow.

"Not nicer than mine," Aiden slaps his own booty and I giggle into Luke's
shoulder, still on his back.

"I do squats all the time, plus I'm a runner," Eli lists off.
"Well guess what? You know all those potato chips I eat?" Aiden questions
and Eli nods, not really seeing where this is going.

"They go straight to my ass, therefore, I'm better than you at everything."

The whole 'I'm better than you at everything' logic doesn't necessarily make
sense but I guess it made sense to Eli.

"In your dreams trick ass bitch," Eli points his finger directly in Aiden's
face.

"Can ya'll shut your mouths for two seconds?" Luke butts in and they sigh,
with narrowed eyes still at each other, before turning to us.

"Why are you smiling?" Eli's eyes narrow at Luke and I reach my head
forward to see Luke's small smile.

"Aubrey, is he okay?" Aiden asks worriedly. Luke chuckles and they begin
freaking out further.

"Blink if he's holding you against your will," Eli whispers loudly and I can't
not blink. I blink and all heck breaks loose.

Aiden runs to the kitchen and Eli takes cautious steps toward us.

"Aubrey, jump down, I don't want him to hurt me if I get too close," Eli
advises me and I go along with it. Luke does too. He's in a very happy
mood.

Luke lowers me to the ground gently and Eli grabs me before pulling me to
'safety.'

Aiden returns to us with a knife.

"What drugs are you on, bitch?" Aiden questions like he's in the CIA or
something, "LSD? That's a hallucination drug. Or it could be cocaine, that
makes you happy. Maybe both."
"I don't think we need this," I take the knife from Aiden's hands and I set it
on the island in the kitchen.

"He's just happy," I smile, returning to Luke's side.

"I'm happy," Luke smiles again.

"Yeah, you can be happy. You just don't ever show it," Eli squints as he
examines Luke.

"Do I tell them or do you want to?" Luke asks and I motion for him to go
ahead.

"What are we telling who?" Aiden picks up on the quiet words look said to
me.

"We're having a baby," Luke smiles and Eli falls to the floor. Aiden's eyes
go wide and his mouth drops open.

"Holy shit," he laughs, "I'm happy for you two."

The three of us look down at Eli who lays with his stomach flat on the floor
and his face buried in his arms.

All of a sudden, he lifts his head and wails.

"I'm going to be a fucking uncle!" he wails, his tear-filled eyes glistening in

the lights.

_________________

After telling Eli, Aiden, and later Lorraine. I had called Olivia and Izzy. The
two of them cried as well which made me start to cry and we had a little
crying-happy party on facetime. Even Eli came up behind me and joined
our crying.

He's an emotional guy but we love him.

Lorraine was very excited. I am too. So is Luke. And of course, Eli. Aiden
doesn't really like kids but I know he's happy for us.

Luke lifts me out of the truck and we join our hands as we walk into Ella's
house. Sam's here too.

This'll be good.

"Grandma!" Luke calls out as we walk through the front door.

"In the kitchen!"

Luke leads us to the kitchen and as we enter it, Ella places the bowl of
whatever she's mixing, down on the counter before walking over to us.

She gives each of us hugs and Charlie walks into the kitchen.

Luke places his arm over my shoulders and he motions for me to say it.

"I'm pregnant," I smile. The bowl Ella is holding drops to the counter,
spilling over and Sam gasps loudly. Charlie just looks a little surprised.

Then, Ella begins jumping up and down.

"Oh my babies are gonna have a baby!" she puls the both of us into a hug.

"Ya'll, it seems just like it was yesterday when you two were in high school.
I'm so happy for you two," she fans her eyes as Sam lifts me up in a hug.

"I'm honestly excited to spoil your child," he says in the hug and I giggle.
He moves out the way and Charlie bends down giving me a warm,
granfatherly hug.

"Congratulations, honey."

"Thank you, Charlie," I smile up at him.

"I'll be back, I've got to go make a couple dozen phone calls," she holds up
the home phone in her hand before leaving the kitchen, dragging Charlie
with her.

"Do you know how far long?" Sam asks.

"Five weeks," I tell him and he smiles happily.

"This baby is going to be beautiful," he wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"Are you flirting with my wife?" Luke grumbles from beside me and Sam
snickers.

"I don't know. Aubrey, is it working?" he tilts his head down toward me.

"A little bit," I go along with it.

"Step up your game, Luke. The first thing you know could suddenly be the
last thing you know," Sam teases and Luke pulls me to his side.

"I've got to go," Sam picks up his phone and keys, "Call me Aubrey."

He sends me a wink, just to get at Luke and it works.

"Fucker," he mumbles from beside me.

"I love you," I smile up at him and he leans down, giving my lips a soft
kiss.

"I love you too."

___________________

|
|

| She's preggers. I'm updating early too, oh yeaaah. Next chapter will
have multiple time jumps all in one. This book is wrapping up :) only a
couple chaps left.

I have put up my new story 'Lilah'.

Check it out if you'd like!

I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!

*Not edited*

Word count: 4224

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Sequel Chapter 16 "Sucks to suck"
*AUBREY'S POV*

~18 Weeks Preggy~

I pick up my slightly long, pale yellow maxi dress with my free hand as
Luke leads me outside where we're about to find out if our baby is a boy or
a girl.

Everyone in attendance follows us outside and into the large yard of Ella
and Charlie Taylor.

The whole yard is decorated with blue and pink. Flowers arrangements,
balloons, and ball fairy lights as the sky turns orange due to the sun setting.

All thanks to Lorraine's party planning skills.

"Are you ready to find out?" Granddaddy asks me excitedly as he and

Charlie smile giddily at the fact of figuring out what their great-grandbaby's
gender will be.

"I'm ready," I smile happily and Luke leans down, kissing the dimple on my
cheek.

Eli walks out of the house, all decked in his white clothes. His white shirt
and white pants make him stand out amongst everyone else.

I giggle at him as he walks around like he's the greatest thing in the world.
Soon, he'll have pink or blue powder all over him.

James walks up to us and he brings me into a hug.

"I can't wait to find out what my grandbaby will be," he pulls away smiling
down at me before looking at Luke.
"You ready, son?"

"I'm ready-"

"I'm ready too, papa Taylor! Let's get this show on the road, I need to figure
out what color clothes to buy my niece or nephew!" Eli hangs his arm over
Luke.

"Alright," Lorraine nods for Eli to go get into position.

"I'll be down there," May points down the yard, "so that I can't get the
perfect picture."

"And I'll be up here, taking the video of it all happening," Whitney raises
her camera with an excited smile.

"Okay, ya'll are talking too damn much, I'm ready," Luke says after another
conversation starts.

"I'm ready too, sweet pea's," Ella pats my back. I grab Luke's hand and Ella
hands him the specially made ball.

For our reveal, Ella and May worked together to create the idea. Luke will
throw a football that will bust on impact when Eli catches it.

It's cheesy, but that's why I liked the idea. It's different.

That's why Eli is wearing all white. Inside the football, there is the colored
powder. Pink for a girl and blue for a boy.

When we first proposed the idea to Eli about him catching the ball and the
powder exploding all over him, he accepted to do it without a second
thought.

Eli takes his place before breaking out in a run, just like I've seen him do
many times on the actual football field.

I stand back, watching Luke as his eyes focus on Eli's moving figure. His
jaw clenches as he focuses and then his arm draws back.
All eyes watch him as the ball travels in the air from his fingers to Eli. Luke
watches his throw and after a couple of seconds, the ball reaches Eli's hands
and it bursts open.

Blue powder clouds the air.

Luke pulls me to him, lifting me into the air, and spinning me around. He
kisses me softly, smiling into the kiss and I start crying.

Easton Nicholas Taylor it is.

"We're having a baby boy," I whisper and a smile lights up his face as we
stay in our own little world, blocking out all the excitement and loud shouts
all around us.

We pull away and Luke places me back on the ground. Just in time as Eli
comes running at Luke.

Eli runs right into Luke, nearly sending him toppling over. It isn't until
Aiden hits him from the other side that they all fall over.

Meanwhile, May, Marina, Lorraine, Ella, and many aunts crowd me with
excitement.

I catch sight of my granddaddy through the group of ladies and he's got his
hands clasped as he looks up into the sky in prayer, a small smile on his
face.

"When is he due again?"

"Oh my, I can't wait!"

"Another Taylor boy!"

_____________________

~30 Weeks Preggers~

"Aubrey Taylor; BSN," the Capstone College of Nursing dean calls out my
name and I rise from my seat.

I walk over to her and she hands me a small, glass plaque.

"You'll do wonderful things, Mrs. Taylor," she gives me a hug before she
and I smile for a picture together.

I walk forward on the stage and come to my granddaddy, who smiles

brightly at me.

"I'm so proud of you," he begins as he sticks the nursing pin on my shirt.

"And I know Nick is too- God bless America," he keeps his words clean as
he accidentally pricks his finger.

"Are you okay?" I wince and he chuckles.

"I'm alright, Ree," he brings me into a hug and him and I walk off the stage.

"Look at you," Luke brings me into his arms.

"You're a true warrior, my love," he kisses the top of my head, "carrying

Easty and getting your SBN."

"BSN," I correct, giggling.

"You're right, I was testing you," he kisses my cheek.

I lean back in my chair and I feel Easton fluttering around in my stomach

just the littlest of bit. I listen along as the dean talks about leadership, being
a nurse, and the hard work of the students.

"I'm hungry," Luke grumbles in my ear. Of course he is.

I pick up my purse from the floor and hand him a bag of cookies from the
batch I made the day before yesterday.
He takes it greedily and opens the bag, catching the attention of surrounding
people who turn to look at him.

"Didn't know it was a crime to be hungry," he grumbles at the people and I

close my eyes, shaking my head at him.

"I'm sorry," I apologize to the people, "he'll be quieter."

They all look between the two of us one more time before turning back
right in their seats.

"Next time, tell 'em to remove the sticks from their asses, pass me a
cookie," granddaddy says from the other side of me, a little too loudly for
my liking.

Luke just chuckles and passes him a cookie. A tad reluctant to give away a
cookie though.

A short thirty minutes later, the dean ends her speech.

All of the graduates gather in a group for pictures, which takes only a few
minutes and finally, to Luke's enjoyment, we leave.

"I'm so proud of you," he hugs me to him as we enter the parking lot, "it
was just, you know I can't sit for that long without sleeping."

"I know," I pat his strong back.

At least it wasn't as long as the actual University of Alabama graduation

ceremony though.

We were sitting for so long, Luke got up from his seat and walked over to
where I was seated, telling me I needed to get up and walk so that I won't
get blood clots, which could potentially hurt the baby.

He's read

way
too many pregnancy books.

It's gotten to the point where he'll call me at random times of the day and
just tell me facts.

"Darlin', Easty is the size of a grapefruit."

"Baby, Easton can taste the food you eat. Eat a big ole' burger for him."

"Aubrey, did you know that Easty cries already? In your stomach."

"I'll see ya'll later, go home and get your rest, Ree," Granddaddy gives me a
warm hug before walking off to his truck.

"Let's go home. Sleep. Eat. Watch a movie. Snuggle," he lifts me into my

side of the truck, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

____________________

~37 Weeks Knocked Up~

Moving houses while pregnant is not a good idea. At all really. Especially
as pregnant as I am.

But, we got through it with the help of the wonderful Taylor family. Ella
made pretty much everyone help us.

Luke didn't let me even

touch

single

box.

The move, although, wasn't as far as it possibly could have been. Thirty-two
NFL teams could've picked Luke. We were fortunate enough to have the
New Orleans Saints pick him.

It was between the Saints, the Steelers, and the Seahawks, we all were sure
of it.

It wasn't until Draft day when we found out what the Saints organization
had gone through to get Luke.

And

Eli.

Those crazy guys wanted to keep the guys together and that's exactly what
they did, even though it cost them future draft picks, three great players,
and millions of dollars.

I know Luke is happy they picked Eli too.

Eli was very excited.

"I get to be close with my nephew!!"

Aiden, on the other hand, was drafted by the Tennesee Titans. He's a good
seven and a half hours away and I know the guys will miss him. I will too.

Eli made sure to be close with us though.

He's moving in with Lorraine five doors down from our house.

Luke wasn't thrilled but he got over it after Eli bought himself golf cart.
Now, the two drive that thing down the road like they own everything.

Lorraine and I think it's hilarious.

Between the Saints' training facility and Montgomery, it's about four and a
half hours in driving distance. It's not that bad, fortunately.

We didn't want to be in the city so we found a house on the very calm and
quiet outskirts of New Orleans.
I also fell in love with the fact that my favorite show, Nightwatch, is based
where we are near.

When we went house hunting, I fell in love with an open floor plan ranch
home. It has the lightest

green shudder coloring

light

green,

light

. Then, on the outside of the living room, there are stones covering the
outside.

I loved that in the living room it had a floor to ceiling stack stone fireplace,
with a mantle. Of course, we put a tv on the mantle.

Then, the kitchen was my second favorite part. I love the kitchen. It has an
island

, my favorite thing ever. A granite one to be exact. The cabinets are a dark
ivory color and they go perfectly with the dark wood floor and granite
counter tops.

We made sure to get a little bigger than what we needed but not crazy, four
bedrooms and two and a half baths. In addition, it had

to feel homely.

Luke and I both agreed that we didn't want a house that would feel like it
wasn't home.

Luke loved that it had a three car garage and I loved the way the garage
looked. It's the same light green but with sliding barn doors and white
pillars to the sides of each door. So good.
Luke also loved that we had tons of yard space and a huge covered, stone
patio area with a fireplace and tv.

The house fit us both.

I shake my head, getting out of my trance and I feel Easton give my insides
a good kick. Love that.

"Lorraine!" I shout happily, and she jumps in fright.

She loves to feel the baby kick. She and Luke often argue who gets to feel it
when it happens.

Luke wins mostly with the reason, 'I'm the dad.'

Eli's just happy to be here.

"Are you okay?" Luke jumps off the couch quicker than ever, followed by
Eli. He rushes over to me, placing his hand softly on my large belly, the
other holding my chin up to look at him.

I grab his hand on my stomach and guide it to where Easton is kicking at.

"I can't wait to meet him," Luke smiles and Eli shoves him out of the way.

"I want to feel," Eli says. Most times, he's scared to feel Easton kick. I
guess today he's got courage.

He holds his hand out and I grab it, placing it on my stomach. Easton stops
kicking before Eli can feel.

Eli just stands there, his hand on my stomach, with Luke glaring directly at
the side of his face.

"Easton already hates you, God, I love him," Luke's eyes narrow further at
Eli. At hearing Luke's voice, Easton goes crazy.

Easty does that often.

"Holy moly, I feel him," Eli gasps as Easton begins moving once again.

______________________

I feel like a whale.

I feel like I look like a whale.

I turn my body sideways and look at myself in the mirror. My navy blue
dress is flowy but it hugs my protruding belly a bit.

I wrap my arms around the top and bottom of my stomach and my heart
swells thinking about Easton.

I can't wait to hold my baby.

I tug on the bottom of my sleeves and sigh. I make sure my small amount of
makeup is okay before deciding that I'm suitable to go to dinner.

I turn off the bathroom light and walk out.

Luke lies on the bed, asleep, but the sound of me shutting the door wakes
him up.

He sits up and his eyes focus on me. A smile spreads across his lips and he
gets up, before walking over to me.

I place my hand on his chest and straighten out a wrinkle from his sleep.
His arms wrap around my back and he bends, placing a kiss on my belly.

"You're so beautiful," he stands back up, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Thank you," I whisper up at him.

"And I'm proud of you for not wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants for this
dinner," I tease him and his nose scrunches as he places his arms back
around me.

"Who all exactly is going to be there?" I question, somewhat nervously.

My hormones are messed up and as of right now, so is my confidence.

"Everyone on the team. Coaches, trainers, owners, everyone," he says and I

hold back a groan.

"Darlin', if you don't want to go, I can just say that don't feel good. Do you
feel okay, actually? If you don't, you should stay here and rest. Eli will be
with me, you don't need to come if Easty is being crazy in there today," he
rants and I smile.

"I feel fine," I mean, my back does hurt but when does it not.

"Easton will be born by the time you two are done getting ready!" Eli's
voice travels through our house, "We're going to be late, let's go!"

"I fucking-" I cut Luke off by gently slapping his chest.

"Easton can hear you, Lucas," I scold.

Our child's first word is going to be the f-word, I'm calling it.

"Sorry, language."

_____________________

"Aubrey, If you leave me, I'll be really not happy," Luke mumbles in my ear
as we walk into the fancy restaurant.

I rub my hand up and down his strong back.

"Leave you like by yourself here, or

leave

you?" I question.

"Here-actually, both."
"Don't leave me either," Lorraine comes up beside me, with Eli clinging to
her arm.

"Why don't we all just stay together because I'm ninety-nine percent sure I
have separation anxiety and I might pee my pants," Eli says calmly.

I have to pee.

"I have to pee," I wince. I literally have to pee every twenty minutes. I don't
even drink anything and I have to pee.

"Can you hold it?" Eli asks.

"Oh, of course she can, let her just tell Easton to kindly remove himself
from his position on top of her bladder," Lorraine kisses his cheek when he
looks like a scolded child.

Bless his heart.

"We're late," Luke looks at the time on his phone.

"We're

fashionably

late, big boy," Eli sticks his hip out and Lorraine slaps his butt. He gives her
a flirty smirk and I giggle.

"Hello!" A smiley man meets us at the front desk as we enter the restaurant.

"We're meeting a big group of peop-" the guy cuts Eli off with his heavy
French accent.

"Ah! Of course, right this way!" the guy waves his hand for us to follow.
We follow his quick paced walking through the large, fancy restaurant and I
can hardly keep up.

I haven't walked this fast since before I was pregnant.

"This guy's walking so fast, I'm out of breath," Eli breathes heavily as him
and I both fall behind.

Soon enough, we've separated from the other three.

"Heck." Eli curses, making sure to keep it PG for Easty.

"I still have to pee," I slightly cross my legs as Eli and I come to a stop. Eli
looks around for any sights of Luke, the French guy, Lorraine, or even a
bunch of big football players guys but we're literally in a corner.

"Don't panic, but we're lost," Eli holds his hands out like he's surveying the
area for any dangers.

"I'm going to pee on the floor," I take a deep breath.

"We need to find civilization," he decides.

We're not in a survival show, we're in a restaurant. And I need to find a

toilet.

Eli leads me out of the hallway and we come out at a large room filled with
tables, lights, and a lot of fancy looking people.

"I'll find you a shitter, don't worry," Eli pats my shoulder before walking
over to a table where a man in an expensive suit and a woman wearing
fancy jewelry sit.

"Sorry for interrupting your dinner but, question, sir," Eli looks down at the
guy and I nearly smack my forehead.

This will not end well.

"Who are you?" the man asks, confusion all over his face.

"I'm Eli Jennings!" Eli smiles, "and this is boo-I mean, Aubrey!"

"Hi," I smile sheepishly at the man when he nods at me.

"So, do you have any idea where we can find a toilet?"

The man's eyes widen and he looks at Eli like he's just told him he has a pet
hippo that he keeps in an inflatable pool.

"Why don't you ask an employee?" the fancy guy raises his eyebrow and
Eli's eyes narrow.

"Why don't you just help me out and tell me where to find a toilet?" Eli
returns and I internally sigh.

"You have interrupted our dinner," the woman speaks up in a hushed tone,
to not draw any attention.

I just start feeling fed up. And oddly angry.

"I'm terribly sorry for that," Eli apologizes, "but there aren't any

god-forbidden

workers near."

"Well I'm terribly sorry," the guy imitates a pout and my eyes narrow.

"Do you want me to call Lucas Taylor? 'Cause I sure as hell will. He's crazy,
he'll punch your little dick off and not even blink an eye about it. He's a big
guy, bigger than your scrawny ass, want to see a picture?" Eli insults in a
hushed tone and my eyes widen.

We're going to get arrested.

"Is that a threat?" the woman asks.

"Is your nose fake?" Eli retorts like it's a rhetorical question and I gasp
quietly as the woman's mouth drops open.

"Is there a problem here?" A waiter appears to the side of us.

"Yes, there is," the man says and I feel like waddling away as quickly as I
can.

"This man is harassing us," the guy adds and Eli chuckles.

"Harassing, my ass," Eli snorts.

"Look fella," Eli turns toward the waiter, handing him some money, "you
just point us to the bathroom, and we'll be on our way."

The waiter looks at the money in his hand.

"This is seven dollars."

"Yeah. And?" Eli scoffs.

"It's pathetic."

"Wow, okay, you ungrateful little shit, give me my money back," Eli jerks
the money back, tucking it safely in his pocket.

"Aubrey?" Luke's voice reaches my ears and I let out a breath of relief. His
hand finds my back and I relax.

"We have been looking all over for you two, you got separated, yes?" the
French guy from before asks and I give him a little nod.

"They have been causing havoc," the 'ungrateful' waiter says and Lorraine
turns toward him with narrowed eyes.

"They're immature idiots, is what they are," the fancy guy who still sits at
the dinner table says and Luke tenses.

"'Scuse me?" Luke turns his attention toward the guy, "what'd you just
say?"

"I said the two of them," the fancy guy points to Eli and I, "are immature
idiots."
"You're not gonna talk about my woman like that, got it?" Luke grabs the
guys thin, black tie harshly.

I give up. I really do. I can't keep my pee in and tell Luke to calm down at
the same time. I'm only one person.

"What about me, he called me an idiot too," Eli whispers from beside me.

"Maybe we shouldn't grab ties, eh?" the French waiter laughs nervously.

Luke lets go of the guy's tie and slightly pushes him back in his chair.

"My lawyer will hear about thi-" Luke cuts him off with a chuckle.

"You think I'm scared of a lawyer?" Luke asks and I grip a nearby table as I
clench my legs together.

I'm going to pee all over this nice carpet.

"The best lawyer in New Orleans, yes," the guy says with a shaky voice and
Eli lets out a laugh.

"Guess what? This right here," Eli waves his hand around Luke's body like
he's showing off a new car, "is built of family franchise. You're not the only
one with money."

"We're leaving," the man stands from his chair and motions for the woman
to do the same. He throws some money on the table before beginning to
walk away.

"That's right," Eli follows behind the guy, "Sucks to suck. Boom, watch
yourself and your little tie he could still beat your ass."

Oh my goodness gracious.

"Yeah, walk out," Lorraine adds and once the two people are out of sight,
Eli pulls Lorraine to him and he puts his lips on hers.

"Damn, I love you," he kisses her again.

"I love you too," she replies.

"Bathroom, right?" the French guy asks me and I nod my head rapidly.

______________________

"A little unnecessary, don't you think?" I question Luke as I walk out of the
bathroom. He leans off the wall where he was waiting for me and he kisses
me softly.

"No. Baby, he called you an idiot. He's lucky I didn't knock his fuc-fudging
teeth out," he kisses under my jaw.

"I think we need to take you to meditation classes," I glance up at him.

"What? I'm calm," he assures me.

"We are officially twenty-eight minutes late so we might want to go to our

table," Eli and Lorraine walk up next to us followed by the French waiter.

"Right this way," the man chuckles and we follow him, making sure to not
get lost this time.

We finally make it to a door and the waiter opens it for us. Loud talking
reaches my ears and I look around a room that is filled

with people.

People are sitting and talking, people are standing and talking, there's just
people talking everywhere.

"Ah! And only thirty minutes late!" a middle-aged man calls out once he
sees our presence.

"Coach," Eli smiles and their coach walks over to us.

"Hello, I'm Coach Payton," he smiles and shakes Lorraine's hand before
turning his attention to me.
"Let me guess, you're the one who takes care of him, right?" he nudges
Luke and I giggle.

"She does," Luke agrees.

"Alright, well you guys talk around a little bit and we'll start dinner in a
few," he nods at the four of us before returning to his conversation.

No one told me there would be supermodels at this dinner.

As I look around the room, I see at least a handful of literal supermodels.

Long, skinny legs, absolute perfect skin, tall, skinny frames, long, healthy
hair, everything.

Now, I just want to go home and eat a tub of peanut butter.

"Some of these guys are scary," I whisper and Luke chuckles.

A couple of them look like they eat burritos as big as me.

"I feel so out of place," Lorraine adjusts her glasses and I nod in agreement.

"I'm sorry," Luke rubs his hand up and down my back, "when we get home,
I'll give you a back massage and we can watch any movie you want. I'll get
you Taco Bell too. And Dominoes wings."

"Take notes, Elias," Lorraine nudges Eli.

"That's a deal," I smile and he kisses my cheek.

"Honey, these are the rookies coach told us about," a large guy walks up to
the four of us. He's around Luke's height but he's super bulky.

"It's good to have you guys on the team now, I'm Jack Wyatt in case you
two didn't know," he shakes their hands.

"This is my wife, Jessica," he introduces her and she smiles at us happily.

The three guys start in a conversation of their own and Jessica begins
speaking.
"Congratulations!" she holds her hands out toward my stomach and I
already start to feel proud of Easty.

"Thank you," I smile.

"When are you due?" she questions.

"June eleventh. I'm thirty-seven weeks today," I tell her and she smiles.

"Ahem, excuse me," a voice says to the side of me. I look to the source of
the voice and see a model-like woman.

"I'm trying to get through here," she points just past me and I smile
sheepishly, moving out of her way.

"I'm sorry," I tell her and she just walks past me.

"I don't talk to her," Jessica mumbles, "she's always been rude. Tria on the
other hand," she points to another model-like woman, "is super sweet.
They're not all like that, thank goodness."

"We'll definitely keep that in mind," Lorraine smiles and Coach Payton
claps his hands.

"Alright let's get this dinner started!"

____________________

~40 Weeks And Three Days With A Bun In The Oven~

Pain in my belly wakes me.

Which is crazy considering how heavy of a sleeper I am. I sit up in bed,

placing my arms behind me to prop myself up because I can't do a sit up to
save my life right now.

With me moving so much, Luke wakes up.

"Are you okay?" he asks, placing his hand gently on my stomach. The pain
goes away and I sigh.

I turn over onto my side and place my head into Luke's neck.

"I'm okay," I kiss the side of his neck and he scratches my back while his
other hand rubs over my belly.

"Easty, are you coming out anytime soon?" he questions and a smile
reaches my lips.

"Momma and I are ready," he adds and Easton sends my stomach a good,
strong kick right where Luke's hand is rested.

I drift off only to be awakened by the same pain a few short moments later.

Maybe it's just normal for how far along I am.

Right as I'm falling asleep again, the pain hits me once more and I know it's
not normal.

"Luke," I sit up in his embrace.

"Mm?" he questions, sitting up as well. He brushes my curls out of my eyes

and I lean my forehead against his bare chest as the pain gets a little bit
worse.

"Baby, you have to tell me what's wrong," he caresses my side gently.

"I'm just going to go pee," I mumble and he helps me out of bed. He walks
me to the bathroom and I go in.

Right as I shut the door, a rush of fluid falls to the floor.

Holy mother of Jesus, Easty's coming.

"Luke," I call out, trying to keep my cool. Lord knows that if I start
panicking, he will too.
I open the door and he looks at me, then down at the floor.

"My water broke," I grit my teeth as my stomach tightens. He doesn't say

anything.

I look up at his face.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"I'm trying to build up my energy for this long ass night we're about to
have, give me two more seconds," he says and I giggle softly.

All of a sudden, he shoots away from the door and he runs out of the room.

I grab a towel from the closet and throw it onto the floor to clean up the
fluid.

About a minute and a half later, he comes back slightly out of breath.

"Everything is in the truck. The baby bags, the other stuff, some food for
me, and I called Eli on the way down the stairs he and Lorraine are going to
meet us there," he blurts out.

"Goddamn, I'm so excited," he says giddily, "let's get dressed and go have a
baby."

He gets some other comfy clothes for me to put on and he puts on pants and
a shirt himself, all while talking me up with positive words of
encouragement.

"Okay, careful, beautiful," he guides me down the stairs just like he does
every time I have walked up and down these stairs.

I couldn't even fall down these if I wanted to. He's always right beside me.

As we reach the bottom, a horrible contraction rips through me and I stop,

doubling over. It's like an extra strong cramp and it sucks pretty bad.
My back and lower abdomen ache and on top of that and I'm just ready for
Easton to come out.

"That was thirteen minutes since the last one," he says.

He's just on top of things, wow.

"Wait, we aren't supposed to go anywhere until they're like five minutes

apart," I stop him.

"Are you for real? You really want to wait?" he asks incredulously.

"It will give you time to call Ella and James, so yeah. I'll be on the couch," I
waddle to the couch and plop down as he begins making calls.

It feels like someone is tightening my stomach with their freaking fist,

holding it like that for a while, and then finally releasing.

After waiting for nearly an hour, my contractions finally begin to happen

more rapidly at just six minutes apart.

"We're going, let's go," he picks me up from the couch and carries me to the
truck.

______________________

"And do you want Epidural, Mrs. Taylor?" my nurse, Beth, asks me.

"Yes," I say without a doubt.

I completely respect the women that have natural, no medicine births but I
just can't do that. I'm really not trying to be in so, so much pain.

"Okay," she smiles, "I'm going to call the anesthesiologist and he should be
here pretty soon. We'll get you out of pain in no time honey!"

She exits my room and I sigh.

This
hurts

"If she jumps up and down, do you think Easton will come out quicker?"
Eli asks from his chair. No one answers because no one knows the answer.

"She's not going to do that," Luke shakes his head and Eli shrugs.

"Can you start pushing now? I want to see my nephew," Eli says
impatiently.

"Get your ass up, come on," Luke drags him out of the room and probably
down to the cafeteria or something.

Another contraction hits me pretty hard and I take deep breaths through it.

"Are you excited?" Lorraine questions excitedly.

"I'm so ready to see him," I smile through the pain.

After a short ten minutes or so, Luke and Eli return. Luke walks over to me
and I feel like screaming into a pillow.

Tears brim my eyes as my contractions gradually get worse and worse.

"I want that epidural right now," I groan and Luke wipes a tear from my
cheek.

"Dang, boo-boo, you hurt?" Eli questions and Lorraine slaps his bagel out
of his hand.

Luke whispers sweet words into my ear as I clutch onto his hand until the
pain lessens. Once it finally does I lean my head back against my propped
up pillows.

Only for it to start all over again only four minutes later.
After a long, painful thirty minutes, the anesthesiologist walks in, rolling a
cart in front of him. The nurse checks how dilated I am.

"Six centimeters," Beth gives me an encouraging smile.

"Hi honey," the anesthesiologist smiles and wrinkles form near his smile
lines.

"Hi," I smile back as best as I can.

"I'm Dr. Stevens," he introduces.

Please just stick the needle in my spine already, I'm hurting, Dr. Stevens.

"Aubrey," I grit my teeth in pain and I look up at Luke.

"So, sterilize," he counts on his fingers as he explains, "numb, needle,

catheter."

"Okay," I nod. Beth and the anesthesiologist help me sit in an upright

position. She opens the back of my hospital gown and I feel a really cold
substance being spread on my back.

I feel Dr. Steven's finger press down on a spot near my lower back.

"This is the numbing medicine. It will sting for a few seconds," he warns
me and Luke steps forward. I grab onto him and he holds me tight.

I feel the needle insert my back and I try my hardest not to flinch forward. A
soft whimper exits my lips and Luke kisses the top of my head.

Then, a terrible stinging sensation envelops my back and I bite my lip to

hold in a cry. After the longest fifteen seconds of my life, it fades away.

The rest of the process, all I feel is a ton of pressure but thank goodness it
doesn't hurt that bad.

"You're so strong and so beautiful," he gives my lips a gentle kiss as the

anesthesiologist leaves.
I can't feel my legs.

Bethany and Luke lay me back down and I finally have my moment of
relief.

Now I'm just exhausted.

"What time is it?" I question and Luke turns on his phone, looking at the
time.

"One forty-five in the morning."

"I'm kicking ya'll out," Luke tells Lorraine and Eli. Eli whines like a baby.

"Oh hush, she needs her rest and she's about ready to pop Easton out, we
can wait in the waiting room," she scolds him as they walk out.

"You didn't have to do that," I whisper tiredly.

"I want my last moments of me and you time before Easty gets here," he
lays down beside me on my large hospital bed.

"Do you think I'll be an okay dad?" he questions quietly and a small smile
lights up my face.

"You're going to be the best dad, okay?" I kiss his cheek.

"But," he looks down, "I won't be home all the time. I'm gonna travel a lot.
What if I'm not there enough? For you, or for him? I mean training starts in
literally three days."

"Trust me when I say, he's going to know exactly who you are and what you
do. Everything will be perfectly fine. I promise," I allow my eyes to close
tiredly.

"I love you."

______________________
I grip Luke's hand as hard as I possible can as I push as hard as I possibly
can.

Immense amounts of pressure cover my lower half region as Bethany

counts slowly to ten beside me.

"Okay, and take a deep breath," she says and I take a deep breath.

"You're doing so good, baby," Luke kisses the side of my head.

"You won't faint, right?" Bethany asks him and he chuckles.

"I'm keeping my eyes, right on her," he nods down toward my face and I let
out a slight chuckle.

"Okay, come on, give me another big, big push," Beth coaches me.

"Deep breath in and hold it and push," she says as she begins counting to
ten again. A small groan escapes my lips and I feel the veins popping out on
my neck.

"Baby boy has light hair right now," the obstetrician says and I get more
and more anxious to see his little face and to hold him for the first time.

"Okay, honey, I need your biggest push right here," Beth coaches and I
realize we're at Easton's shoulders.

"Deep breath," I take a deep breath and hold it as I push as hard as I can,
squeezing onto Luke's hand so tight it may leave a bruise.

The pressure increases before it lessens by quite a bit.

"The hardest part is done," Beth smiles down at me, "I just need one more
push, Aubrey"

"You've got this, darlin'," Luke kisses my hand that it attached to his an I
give all that's left in me for the last push, hoping that it's enough.
The pressure lessens even more and when I open my eyes, my baby is on
my stomach getting cleaned off.

Love at first sight is real.

Beth uses a suction bulb and I hear the first cry of Easton. I of course, start
crying. Tears cloud my vision and I use the back of my hand to wipe them
away, not wanting to look away from Easty.

She carries him away for a split second to do measurements and all and I
understand that.

He's the definition of perfect.

She cleans him off swiftly and then she finally places him on my chest. I
don't hold back my tears as I hold him to me.

"A long baby boy," Beth's voice reaches my ears, "twenty-three inches long
and eight pounds, two ounces."

His cries fill my ears and I kiss the top of his now clean head.

"Thank you, God," I cry and I feel Luke bend down beside the bed. I look
over at him to see tears glistening in his eyes.

I can already tell as of right now he's got Luke's nose.

"He's perfect," Luke speaks my thoughts and he presses a kiss to my head.

His large hand reaches forward and he gently touches Easty like he's scared
he'll hurt him.

Beth clamps down on the umbilical cord and Luke cuts it quickly like he
doesn't really want to.

I wouldn't want to either. It bleeds and it looks like it would hurt but
thankfully, it doesn't.

Beth collects a blood sample from the blood of the umbilical cord for
testing.
He's finally here.

______________________

An hour and a half after delivering Easton, everything is all good.

He's completely healthy, thank God, and he's lively. He's had his first bath,
his heart tests, his hearing tests, and other pediatric tests.

I've fed him for the first time, it hurt a little bit but after getting used to it, it
wasn't so bad.

Luke can't get enough of him.

He didn't even want to leave him long enough to go get the family and
friends who're waiting in the waiting room to see him.

Me, on the other hand, I can't look away from him. Especially when he
opens those beautiful little eyes of his and just looks at me.

I adjust his adorable little onesie and the door to the room opens. People file
into the room and the first person by my side is Ella.

"Oh my," she begins to cry, "look at how darling he already looks!"

I hand Easty to Luke and the first person Easton touches other than the
nurses and doctors and Luke and I, is granddaddy.

He holds him gently just as he's supposed to and even from where I'm
sitting, I see his eyes glistening which only makes mine water.

From granddaddy, Easton ends up in his own granddaddy's arms. James'.

Then, he's passed to Ella. She gushes over him and finally, Luke reluctantly
places Easton in Eli's arms.

"Oh my God," Eli sniffles, looking down at his proclaimed nephew

and
godchild.

After a few hours, I'm once again exhausted and Easton needs to eat again.

Everyone leaves and they promise they'll come back tomorrow and now, it's
just the three of us.

A family.

Luke takes a seat on my bed, beside me, and him and I just look down at
little Easton.

"We did this," I smile tiredly.

"You did the hard part, you're amazing, my love," he places a kiss on my
lips.

"You helped me more than you know," I lean my head against his shoulder.

"...I have to pee," I whisper.

______________________

| It's been a while. The week before spring break has kicked my butt and my
teachers had piled work and tests on me so I'm sorry. It took a lot to write
this chapter too, that's why I'm up at five fifteen a.m finishing it. There were
just so many parts it needed.

I think I plan about one more chapter and it's a bonus, bonus.
Thank you all so, so much for reading about Luke and Aubrey's journey <3

Word count: 6798

-Ashlyn Montgomery
Final Epilogue "Without You"
*AUBREY'S POV*

*8 Years Later*

"

I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day

," I sing softly, twirling Easty while his laughter fills the air.

"Momma!" Brooks comes running into the kitchen, "I want to dance too!"

"Boys, grab a hand," I hold my hands out to the two of them. They each
grab a hand.

I give them both a twirl and their sweet laughter fills the air.

I love my boys.

"Momma? What 'bout me and Dusty?" Myles pouts as they both watch the
three of us dance.

"Dustin," I smile at my youngest boy. He's such a doll.

His little three-year-old chunky legs run to me and I release Easton's hand
to grab onto his.

Then, I'm nearly tackled by the rest of the three of them.

"Lorraine? Any help?" I question her as my laughter mixes in with theirs.

"Oh, no can do," she tickles her beautiful five-year-old boy, Blake, in her
arms.
"Mommy?" Charlotte walks in, rubbing her eyes with the back of her little
hands.

"Did you wake up from your nap?" I smile as the boys part way for their
little sister.

She drags her feet until she's in my arms.

"Ivy, your hair's crazy," Easton smoothes down his baby sister's hair.

Easton is my little hero, he really is. As the oldest, currently eight, he's
really stepped in as a wonderful big brother to all his little brothers and
Charlotte.

Considering they're all so young, Charlotte isn't the easiest name to

pronounce. Her middle name, Ivy, is easier for the younger boys.

She's a complete daddy's girl.

"Oh," Lorraine says suddenly, "I think I hear something outside."

Everyone goes quiet and we hear the sound of two car doors closing
outside.

I gasp and lean in close to my babies.

"Daddy's home," I smile and Charlotte squirms excitedly.

The door opens.

"Easton, Brooks, Myles, Dustin?" Luke calls out and I release the wild
bunch.

I trail after them, catching the perfect sight right as they all tackle and run
into Luke.

"Where's my birthday girl?" he questions.

Poor little Charlotte gets left behind, being the youngest.

"My one wonderful child, Blake, where are you, my boy?" Eli calls out
dramatically.

Blake comes running at him, hitting him full force in the no-no zone.

Eli plops to the ground and Blake climbs on top of him, laughing crazily.

"Charlotte, what in the world?" Luke sets Dusty down once he sees
Charlotte who has her shirt lifted, showing off her cute little belly.

"Ivy!" Brooks gasps, pulling her shirt down.

They're such good big brothers.

"Silly girl," Luke smiles, bending down and picking up Charlotte. He places
kisses all over her face and I smile at their interaction.

"Get up you big sissy," Lorraine pulls Eli's arms, who still lays on the
ground.

"Momma. Poop," Myles points to Dustin as he begins doing his famous 'I'm
about to poop in my pants' dance.

"Oh, heavens," I pick him up and run him to the nearest bathroom in our
house.

"Don't you poop on your momma, Dusty," Luke warns and Dustin giggles
as I place him on the toilet.

"Be a big boy okay? Don't fall in," I close the door behind me as I leave.

"C'mere," Luke's hand grips my waist as I return to the living room.

"How was practice? You didn't hurt yourself, did you? Eli too?" I smooth
out his shirt. He bends down and places a soft kiss on my neck.

"Eli 'broke' his ass bone-"

"Ass. Ass. Ass. Ass," Myles repeats and I scrunch my nose up at Luke who
just smiles at me.

"Ass? Assy ass ass," Blake repeats after Myles and Lorraine looks over at
us like 'really?'

"Hey, hey, hey," Eli points down at Blake, "only say that when mom isn't
around."

"Myles, don't say that word, it's bad," Luke lifts Myles, kissing his
forehead.

Charlotte pulls on my shirt and I look down to see her arms raised up at me.

I lift her and set her on my hip. She plays with my necklace and her other
hand rests on my shoulder.

Her pretty little gray eyes focus on the necklace and I press a kiss to her
cute little cheek.

Other than having Luke's eyes, she mostly looks like me.

The only thing she has different from the both of us is the dimples on both
of her cheeks instead of just one.

Easton is an exact replica of Luke, except for the single dimple on his
cheek.

Brooks has my nose and eye color, but the rest of him looks like Luke.

Myles has a single dimple on his right cheek, lighter blue eyes than me, and
the freckles Luke has on his face, are amplified and darker on Myles'.

Dustin and Brooks could basically be twins. Dusty has my colored eyes and
my nose shape, just as Brooks'.

They've all got wavy hair. Except for Ivy and Dustin, those two have my
curls.
It may just be me considering I'm their mom, but, they're all just so
gorgeous. I'm biased though, but it's true.

"Momma!" Dustin's voice comes from the bathroom. That was a quick
poop, it must've been ready.

"Lucas," I give him a smile and he sighs.

He's always been so, so helpful with each baby. Changing diapers, feeding,
everything.

Dustin is our wonder child.

He poops and when he poops, it's a wreck. He's been the hardest to potty
train and he's just been a little difficult.

Of course, that's what makes him extra special.

"You've got this daddy!" Brooks claps for him as he sets Myles back on the
ground. Myles joins in, followed by Easton.

"Yes, Luke, go wipe a butt! You've got this, c'mon Blake," Eli jumps up and
down with Blake in his arms, wobbling him all around.

"He's going to get whiplash," Lorraine grumbles.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Eli grumbles back and Lorraine shakes her
head.

Blake is known to be a wild child. He gets into a lot of stuff.

Luke drags his feet, much like Charlotte does, to the bathroom.

"Basically, I got tackled today, right?" Eli begins.

"I thought you weren't supposed to get tackled?" Easton questions, a sly
smile on his face, much like Luke's, and Luke laughs from the bathroom.

"Not everyone's perfect, Easton," Eli takes a threatening step toward him.
"Ousside?" Charlotte points out the door and I smile at her cuteness.

"Woah, I'm telling a story here," Eli holds his hand up. Charlotte gives him
a look.

"Anyway-"

"Anyway, he got tackled, hurt his hind-end, great story," Luke finishes for
him as he walks back into the room, Dusty walking beside him proudly.

I set Charlotte on the ground and she runs at Luke, clinging onto his leg
once she gets there.

"Hi, pretty girl," he lifts her up with one arm, holding her much like a
football, although she's a bit bigger than one.

"Ousside?" she repeats.

"Let's go outside," I grab Dustin's hand and we all walk out the front door.
We release the monsters to play in our big front yard.

Luke's hand reaches out and he places it on my butt. I turn around to see his
smirk and he pulls me down onto his lap.

He grasps my chin and places his lips on mine.

"Your bedroom is right inside," Eli interrupts and Luke pulls away for a
split second, slightly turning his head toward Eli.

"Why don't you go lay down on a highway?" I gasp at Luke's words.

"That was exceptionally rude," Eli sniffles.

"I agree," Luke turns his head back to me, placing his lips back on mine. I
pull away after a couple of seconds and he places one last kiss on my cheek.

"That was a little mean, don't you think?" I question softly and he shrugs. I
look over to Eli and he doesn't seem upset.
Until he sees me looking at him, then he puts on a sad face.

"Look he's sad," I play along.

"Suck it up," Luke tells him and I shake my head at the two of them.

"Oh dear Jesus," Lorraine gasps, "Elias, go get our child."

We all turn our focus to Blake who is swimming in the ditch at the very end
of our driveway, where rainwater sits. Dirty, muddy, grassy, rainwater.

"Boy!" Eli calls out, walking off the porch, "You better get your butt outta
that water by the time I get there!"

"Momma, I want to swim-"

"Brooks, that water is yucky, okay?" I brush back his light brown hair as he
walks up onto the porch.

"Okay," he nods before going off to play with his brothers and Charlotte
who is trying to keep up with them.

"You better quit running!" Eli's shouting reaches us all the way on the
porch.

Eli chases a soaking wet Blake all over the yard. Even at five, Blake is fast.
He had to have inherited Eli's speed.

Lorraine gets up from her seat, seeing that Eli's struggling a little bit.

"Eli! Just grab him," she says simply, walking off the porch.

"Lorraine!" he stops running, throwing his hands into the air, "I've got to
catch him first, honey."

"Aren't you glad ours aren't crazy?" Luke chuckles into my neck and I look
out into our yard where our beautiful children play happily.
I then look back over a Blake who now is running in circles around Eli and
Lorraine.

"Mhm," a little giggle escapes my lips. He grips my chin and turns my head
toward him.

"I love you," he mumbles against my lips.

"I love you too."

"Blake Everett Jennings, I will call Ella," Eli warns in a shout and Blake
comes to a sudden halt, bumping right into Charlotte.

Charlotte falls onto the sidewalk leading up to the porch and I hiss in pain
for her, knowing she's about to cry.

It takes about three seconds for the pain of her fall to register and she begins
to cry.

"Poor thing," Luke stands, lifting me with him like a caveman. He sets me
on the ground and we both walk to her.

Tears stream down her flushed little face and my heart clenches just as it
does any time any one of them gets hurt.

The first time Easton got hurt, it was only a small cut, but it tore me to
pieces and scared me to death.

Now, I'm a little more experienced, but it still makes me upset.

"Daddy," she holds up her arms and Luke bends, picking her up. He rubs
his hand up and down her small back as her crying calms down a bit.

"Let momma see it," he turns her in his arms so I can see her knees.

Sure enough, they're scraped and her left one is a little bloody. I lead the
two of them back over to the porch and he sets her down on the top step.
"Wipe those tears," Luke wipes the tears off her face. I sit down on the step
next to her and lift her legs onto my lap.

"Why did you do that?" Brooks' voice reaches my ears. I turn my attention
from her scraped knees to our second oldest pushing Blake.

"Brooks," Luke warns.

"You should've watched where you were going," Easton glares looking
exactly

like Luke.

"Boys-"

Luke is cut off by Dustin as he begins to cry, seeing his baby sister cry.

"Dusty, don't cry," Luke lifts him up.

Myles takes a seat next to us, hugging Charlotte.

"You okay, Ivy?" he asks her and she gives him a little nod.

"I didn't mean to," Blake pouts as Brooks and Easton continue to give him
looks. Other than right now, those three are the best of friends.

"Blake, this is why you need to listen when we tell you to stop," Lorraine
scolds motherly.

"There are babies here, littler than you and you need to be careful," Eli
adds, "the Taylor boys might jump you if you hurt their sister again."

"And there's four of them so I can't help you, they might hurt me," Eli
continues until Lorraine gives him a slight nudge.

"I'm sorry," Blake apologizes, looking ashamed.

"I okay," Charlotte calls out to everyone after I place the bandages Myles
went and got on her knees.
"Look, momma fixed you all up," Luke helps the both of us up.

The sound of a car driving up our driveway gets our attention. He's the first
of all the guests to arrive, surprisingly enough.

He parks and struts out of the car.

"Uncle Aiden, is here!" he raises his arms.

Blake tackles him and hits him in the exact place he hit Eli in.

Eli laughs at him.

Just like the old days, Aiden bends down and he removes his shoe. He
throws the shoe at Eli's head full force, just narrowly missing him.

"You're setting a bad example!" Izzy steps out of the passenger side,
punching him in the side.

"Aunt Izzy is here!" she shouts excitedly and I laugh at the two.

Luke and I's wedding, they had a few moments. After our wedding, they
lost contact up until Brooks' second birthday party.

They met up again and they really clicked. Now, four and a half years later,
they're newlyweds and such a good couple.

Much, much better than Anthony Mackle ever could be.

"Come here best friends," she opens her arms and Lorraine and I walk into
them. Of course, Olivia isn't here but she will be soon, hopefully.

"At least your not late," Luke grumbles at Aiden who narrows his eyes at
him.

"At least I know how to fix breakfast to hungry children when their mother
is at work," Aiden replies and Luke's nostrils flare.
The one time I had to fill in for someone at the hospital, Aiden and Izzy
were visiting. It was a couple of months ago.

Luke, bless his heart, still can't fix anything as simple as eggs. Aiden came
to the rescue and he doesn't let Luke live it down.

"If you want to take this argument to a place where there aren't any babies, I
would gladly whoop your ugly ass," Luke mumbles the last part lowly so no
'babies' will hear him.

"Try me," Aiden jumps at Luke. Eli steps forward, wanting to be a part of
the drama, like always.

"How's the married life?" Lorraine, Izzy, and I sit on the porch, watching
the children and the men who act like children.

"We're arguing a bit but that always happens," Izzy smiles.

"Eli and I fought over the dumbest things," she shakes her head, "even now
we argue over who gets to sit where on the couch."

"Luke and I argue," I chime in.

"Oh hush," they dismiss it.

"What? We do," I giggle, looking out into the yard, connecting eyes with
my husband. He gives me hungry eyes and he wiggles his eyebrows at me.

"In high school, you two fought two times," Izzy starts.

"We had little arguments a bit."

"Oh yeah, once in a blue moon," she chuckles.

"That's the way it is now," Lorraine nods, "you two don't fight because
Luke doesn't allow it. I've seen it first hand. An opportunity to fight appears
and he shuts it down."
"Because he's a sweetheart," I look back out at him only to see him roughly
kicking Eli's back.

He's a sweetheart when he wants to be.

Meanwhile, Easton being the good boy he is, is keeping his little siblings
distracted away from the three grown and fighting men.

"Aiden!" Izzy calls out, "Eli has a weak spot right under his boob, punch
him there!"

"His right one," Lorraine whispers to Izzy.

"It's under his right boob!" she adds and Lorraine laughs sadistically.

"That's payback for him making our child wild," she says and I giggle. Eli's
a wild child himself and Blake had to get it from someone.

"They're going to get hurt," Izzy pinches the bridge of her nose, "they're
football players, you'd think they know when to be rough, and when not to
be."

"Boys will be boys," Lorraine shrugs.

________________________

After singing happy birthday, we watch Charlotte as she destroys her own
little cake.

With icing all over her face and hands, she waves around to all of us.

Luke's arms wrap around me and he leans down, placing a soft kiss on my
cheek.

I smile, looking around at all our friends and family. Olivia with her
boyfriend, I assume fiance soon, Jax.

Ella who is carefully recording Charlotte, James, who watches his youngest
grandchild as she digs into her cake with Alice right by his side. The two of
them got married just two years after Luke and I did.

The wedding was definitely hard for Luke but he got through it, being the
best man for his dad.

Granddaddy cheers Charlotte on, and Owen smiles at her as he burps his
baby girl who his wife, Jenna, gave birth to only about a month ago.

Lastly, I look up. I can just imagine dad watching down on all of us,
especially his grandbabies, hopefully, with a proud smile on his face.

My mom hasn't been in my life. The last time I saw her was at Luke and I's
wedding.

I'm sure she knows about her grandchildren I mean, Luke isn't exactly an
unknown person around the whole country.

Quite the opposite actually. Already, they've been in three SuperBowl's,

winning two of them. Not to mention if the games continue to do as well as
they are this season, they're going for the fourth time.

With Luke being away as often as he is, especially during the first couple of
babies, it was definitely tough. Thank goodness I had Lorraine to help me.
Even Ella would take the long trip to help out at times.

But, as the oldest get older, everything has settled out. To make things even
better, they understand what Luke does.

Easton thinks it's the coolest thing in the world, Brooks follows in Easton's
steps, Myles believes Luke is a superhero, and Dusty is just happy when
everyone else is.

Charlotte, only just turning two, has no idea what is going on. She'll get
there, especially with the help of her four big brothers.

Of course, after having baby number three, we had to pack up our things
and move to a bigger house.
We still made sure it stayed homely, getting a large farmhouse styled home.
With seven bedrooms, we have just enough and an extra.

A gorgeous kitchen, that I adore. In the humongous back yard, there's a

large pond, suitable for swimming, which is a lifesaver during the hot
summer.

We're happy. We're one big happy family and I wouldn't trade any of them
for the world.

Luke's hand slaps my butt.

I slap his butt back.

"Way to turn me on, love," he gives me a wet willy and I squeal, pinching
his nipple.

"Ouch," he rubs his nipple and I snicker at him. His hand sneaks up the
back of my shirt and he snaps my bra strap against my skin.

What a turd.

I turn around to pull his arm hair only to see him walking away from me.
Not so fast Lucas

I run after him and he breaks out into a sprint, leaving out the back door.

"Run Aubrey!" Eli cheers, stepping out the back door clapping his hands
together.

Yeah, there's no way I'll be able to catch this long-legged monster, I can
hope.

I prop myself up against our willow tree and take a deep breath. Next thing
I know, I'm thrown over his shoulder.

"Lucas, you best put me down."

He just plays patty cake on with his hands on my butt.

I look down to the ground and I see the familiar wood of the deck off our
pond.

He better not.

"Hold your breath baby," he throws the both of us into the pond and the
cool water nearly sends me into shock.

I rise to the surface and Luke pulls me to him. He places his forehead
against mine, a smile on his face.

"You're evil, you know that?" I whisper softly and he chuckles.

"You love me," he kisses my lips.

Poor Charlotte, it's her second birthday and her parents are in a lake.

"Are you happy?" I question him seriously.

"I have everything I've ever wanted," his hands fall down to my waist. He
can reach the bottom, I can't.

"I can't imagine what I'd be without you. You gave me all of this," he looks
around at our house, our huge yard, and our babies who are filing out of the
backdoor.

"We didn't have eleven babies," I giggle and the smile on his face returns at
full force.

"Five is all we need. I have my boys and our baby girl," he assures me.

"I love you," I hug him tightly.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

"I know y'all better get of the way!" Eli comes running full force down the
deck. He jumps in and splashes right next to us.
"I'm getting a restraining order," Luke grumbles into my neck.

______________________

| Y'all. Y'all, I'm crying while ending this. Almost a year ago when I
started this story, I didn't think it would turn out to be this. We have a
million reads and it's just ending.

I hope y'all have enjoyed not only this chapter, but this whole story.

It's so sad to finally be done and right now, as I'm about to publish and
turn the switch from 'ongoing' to 'completed' it's really making me
emotional (it may or may not be that time of the month but that's
irrelevant because it's sad either way) I thank every single one of you
<3

-Ashlyn Montgomery

Shameless plug: My newest story Lilah, is up and at 'em. Check it out

(if you want)