Chapter 24Song for this chapter:Shine - Birdy “If your heart tells you to then who are you to

Chapter 24Song for this chapter:Shine - Birdy “If your heart tells you to then who are you to question it?” ★☆★ Vivian’s POVI’ve been trying to act like I don’t know anything, but it’s so hard to do. Knowing that Luke likes me, is driving me crazy. Mainly because it’s so strange for me to think about. After everything we’ve been through together, Luke likes me? It’s ridiculous, Andrew has to be playing some kind of trick on me. I would know if he liked me, would I? “Viv, are you alright? You’ve been pulling on your hair, and signing for like ten minutes now…” Alex asks, looking worried. I blink and move my hands through my hair to the ends until they fall out of it. “Yeah, I’m just overthinking." "I know how you feel; I do that way too much,” she nods, and pushes an empty box to the side. We’ve been unpacking and setting up my room in the playroom of her house. Luke left to band practice an hour ago and still hasn’t texted me. I don’t know why I’m so anxious about his texts. It’s not like he’ll confess that what his father told me was true from a text. I should just confront him about it, but I don’t want it to all blow up and have me lose him as a friend. After all that I’ve told him and all that he’s done for me I’d be a wreck if he took his friendship away from me. “Viv, you’re doing it again.” Alex laughs, throwing a shoe at me playfully. “Hey!” I pick it up and throw it back at her, causing us both to laugh. Alex is the closest thing I have to a sister. Every time i’d go over to her house for parties, or just to catch up, it would be the best time. Ever since my mother started drinking so much, we’ve barely seen each other. She didn’t even come to my birthday party because I was so caught up in all of my problems that I forgot to invite her. Now that I think of it, I’m glad that she wasn’t there to witness what everyone else did. “I’ll be back in a little while, I need to call someone,” I announce, then walk out the basement door to their backyard. I sit down on their old picnic table and pull my phone out of my pocket. I unlock my phone and find the contact of the person I’ve wanted to call ever since Andrew told me Luke’s secret. I hover over the call button for a moment, contemplating if I should call them or not. Eventually I press call, and hold the phone up to my ear. “Viv?” The voice says, and I can hear noise in the background.“Hey Ashton. I forgot that you guys are practicing, I’ll just call you later,” I shake my head, and mentally scold myself for calling him in the first place. “No, no, you’re good, we’re on a break anyway. Let me just go somewhere quieter so I can hear you better,” he replies, and eventually the noise in the background is gone. “That’s better, what did you need?" I sigh, "Well, last weekend when me and Luke were visiting his dad, Andrew told me something, and I don’t know if it’s true or not." "What did he tell you?” Ashton asks.I swallow, “He um, told me that Luke likes me, as more than a friend. Is that true?" "Shit, Vivian.” Ashton curses, and my stomach turns upside down.“So he does?” I whisper, my heart thudding fast in my chest. Ashton sighs, “I’m not going to lie, Luke does like you, a lot. The boys and I almost got him to tell you, but he was too scared that it’s ruin your guy’s friendship." "Oh,” is all I can say. Ashton’s quiet for a moment, “Do you like him back?" "I-I don’t know, I mean I don’t think I do, I.. This is all just so confusing,” I stutter, not knowing what to say. “Hey, hey, just calm down. Luke’s still the same guy, he just has more feelings for you than you thought he did. Nothing’s changed, just be normal and let things play out the way they’re supposed to.” He advises. I take a deep breath in, “Okay, all I have to do is be normal." "It’ll be fine, I promise,” he sounds so sure. “Okay, just don’t tell him that I know, okay?” I ask, still feeling panicky. “Of course." I let out a breath, "Thank you, Ash." "You’re welcome, call if you need any help,” I hear some noise in the background so I assume that the boys found him. “I will.” I promise.“Alright, bye,” He says, and the sound gets louder. “Bye,” I whisper then hang up. I put my face in my hands and breathe deeply. So it’s true, Luke really does like me, as more than a friend. He hasn’t told me though, because he’s afraid that it would ruin our friendship. I’d never stop being friends with him unless he did something horrible, but I don’t think he’s capable of anything like that. “You look stressed,” My uncle Brian shocks me, sitting down across from me. I nod, “I am.”“Boy problems?” He guesses, and my eyes widen. “N-no!” I lie, blushing from my embarrassment. A wide grin spreads on his face, “Was it that boy who came over the other day to help you move things?” “Maybe…” I look away from his stare. “It is him, what’s his name, Lew…” he drags on the first few syllables, torturing me. “Luke! His name is Luke,” I sigh at the end, looking at him guiltily. “Ah, yes, Luke,” His smile gets softer. “Do you like him?” I shrug, “That’s the thing, I don’t know.” Brian looks at me confused, “What do you mean?” “Well last week we went to visit Luke’s dad, and he told me that Luke likes me, as more than a friend. Then I called one of his bandmates, and asked him if it was true, and it is. I just don’t know how I feel.” I set out a sigh, and run my hands through my hair. “Wait, he’s in a band?” I nod, “Yeah he plays guitar and sings.” “Wow, he’s something,” Brian sighs, looking impressed. “He really is,” I nod, laying my head down on the table. “Well to me it sounds like you have some thinking to do, but don’t think too much, or you’ll surely go crazy. It’ll all work out, I promise,” he rubs my arm soothingly, then gets up and heads back inside. I think for a few more minutes, then let myself push it to the back of my head, and go back into the basement. Alex is sitting on her phone,looking bored. When she notices me, she locks it and looks up. “How was your call?” she asks. I shrug, “It just made me more confused.” “Who was it?” she asks, looking curious. “Ashton, one of Luke’s close friends.” “What’s he like?” she asks, dreamily. “Alex….” I ask, looking at her skeptically. Her eyebrows furrow together, “What?”“Do you have a crush, on Luke?” I question, slowly. She turns red, “W-what? Pfft no! No…. no…” she shakes her head a lot, looking completely embarrassed. “You do!” I exclaim, sitting up more. “No I don’t!” she shoves me lightly. “You do!” I repleat. Alex deflates, “Fine, I do! God, this is so embarrassing.” “Aw, no, don’t be embarrassed, it’s okay!” I wrap my arms around her shoulders. “It’s pointless though, I see the way he looks at you,” she slumps against me. I look at her confused, “What do you mean?” “He stares at you all the time, not in the creepy way, but like he can’t look at you enough, it’s really cute.” she gives me a small smile. “Really?” I whisper, my heart doing somersaults in my chest. Alex nods, “Really. You didn’t know that he likes you?” I shake my head, “Not until recently.” “Is that what you were on the phone about?” Alex sits up staring at me with wild eyes. I nod, looking at her confused. “You have to do something! You two are perfect for each other!” Alex claps her hands together excitedly. “What? No!” I shake my head vigorously. “Come on, don’t you like him too?” she looks at me expectantly. I sigh, “I don’t know.” “Seriously?!” she squeals. I scoot away from her, to hide my face. “Yeah, I have no clue if I like him back, this is all so confusing!” I groan, and lean my head back on the wall. “Then you gotta something to figure that out! You can’t just let him sit there and be in love you for the rest of his life while you still don’t know.” She throws her hands in the air as she talks. “What do you mean?” I question. “I mean, to like go on dates and hang out and stuff to see if you two are a good match, and to see if you have the same feelings for him as he does for you.” She explains. “I don’t know,” I shrug, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth like I always do when I’m nervous. “You’ll never know if you don’t try,” she shrugs. I think about it for a minute and am about to reply, but my phone starts to ring. I look at the caller ID, and my heart starts to race. “It’s Luke.”“Well answer it!” Alex pushes my hand up to my ear. I click the answer button, “Hello?” “Hey, Viv, how’s unpacking?” He asks nonchalantly. “It’s good,” I say quickly, Alex scooting closer to hear better. “How’s practice.” “Same as usual, but we’re almost done. I was um..” he trails off, and I hear noise in the background, but I can’t tell what it is. “I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie later?” “A movie? I repeat out loud. Alex squeals quietly, so I shove her away from me. She mouths “yes” at me, with wide eyes.  “Um, sure!” I reply, squeezing my eyes shut. “Wow, okay, great! I’ll pick you up at six, we can go eat before, if that’s alright with you, of course.” He rambles. “Sounds good,” I say, with a small smile forming on my lips. “Okay, perfect, see you then.” I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, “See you.” I hang up, and Alex starts to scream loudly and dance around. I yell at her to stop, but she doesn’t. Her mother comes racing downstairs, followed by Brian and the triplets, looking extremely worried. “What is going on?” Melody demands, holding her chest. “Viv has a date!!!” Alex screams, running over to her mother. “Really?” her and Brian ask at the same time. I nod, turning red, while Alex squeals in reply. “With Luke?” Brian asks, smirking when I nod again. “I told you that everything would all work out.” I stick my tongue out at him, but still blush. Melody runs over and hugs me tightly, then pulls away and looks me in the eye. “When is he picking you up?” “Six o’clock.” Her eyes go wide, “That’s only forty-five minutes from now, you need to get ready!” I try to tell her that I would be fine in what I wore to school, but she insists that she helps me get ready for my first date. Eventually I give in and let her and Alex drag me up to my aunt’s bedroom to doll me up for Luke. ★☆★ Luke showed up ten minutes early, looking extremely handsome. He was adorned in his usual band tee, and skinny jeans, but he still looked nicer than usual. I could tell that he spent most of his time getting ready on his hair, because it was a perfect quiff. Even his lip ring looked shinier than usual. Melody insisted that I wore something other than what I’ve been wearing lately, a casual top and jeans. Alex picked out a nice, fancier shirt for me to wear, as well as some cute skinny jeans that go with it perfectly. Alex had a fit about me not wanting to curl my hair, but eventually got over it. I just don’t want to go all out with Luke. I feel like if I went out with him in pajamas and no makeup, he’d still feel the same about me. It’s confusing, though, that I think that. I know that luke wouldn’t only like me because of my looks. He’s not like that. Somehow he saw past all of my problems and lies, and found something that he likes. I have no clue what that is thought. He took me to Panda Express, which was predictable. I didn’t mind one bit, I’d rather go there, than to some fancy, expensive restaurant. We ate and talking like we usually, do, but I was nervous this time. Every time his hand would brush against mine, sparks would run up my arm and down my spine. Everything about him drove me crazy, chewing on his lip, playing with his lip ring, how he would mess with his hair, and just him in general. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t want it to stop, just being with him made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy, and I liked it. We decided to see the latest Insidious movie, because Luke wanted to so badly. I’d never seen any, but he said that he could catch me up on what happened in the previous movies. When he did, he showed so many emotions about the characters and what happened to them. I could help but just watch his face, instead of actually listening to him. As we sat next to each other in the theater, I couldn’t help but scoot over in my seat every time something scary happened. I kept shoving popcorn into my mouth to keep myself from screaming. It even got to the point that Luke grabbed my hand to calm me down. We held hands throughout the rest of the movie after that. Even now, as we leave the theatre, and head back to his moms car–which he insisted on driving–we hold hands. Luke opens my door for me, like he has been doing all night, and I thank him again. He drives me back to my aunt and uncles house, because I need to finish unpacking a few things before I go back to his house to sleep. He walks me to the front door, then turns to face me. “I had a lot of fun tonight.” “So did I,” I smile at him shyly. He looks like he wants to do something, but steps backwards, “I’ll see you in a few.” “See you then,” I put my hand on the handle of the front door, but can’t turn it. There’s something I know that I need to say, but I just can’t. “Wait, Luke,” I call to him, walking back towards his car. He turns around with his eyebrows raised, “What?” I swallow, and then I say it, “I know that you like me.” ★☆★ Authors note: Double update ayyyyyyy!!! Okay so the reason I’m double updating is that I’m going to visit my aunt and family in New Jersey for a week, then I’ll be camping when I get back home, so I won’t have a lot of time to work on the next chapter. I know it’s a cliffhanger, but I just had to, I’m sorry (not really lol)So, as usual, if you enjoyed this chapter please give it some notes, I’d really appreciate it! I hope you all are great!Hugs & Kisses-Hannahxx -- source link

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