Close As Strangers~L.H.

Chapter 16

Mary's POV:
It's been a while since the party, and Luke and I decided to be best friends, that way if we act weird we have an excuse. The show is tonight, and I get to sit front row.
The day can't go by any slower, I look at the clock and it says 2:15. We still have almost an hour, then I have to wait another hour for the show.
They decided to just have it in my garage, since it's pretty big. Finally the bell rings and I race to my locker. I open it up and a slip of paper falls out. I'd recognize the writing on the front of it anywhere.
I just want you to know
I have a surprise for you tonight;)
-L
I hear him come up behind me and turn around.
"Man, I wanted to scare you."
"You're not the quietest when it comes to sneaking up on people, you clumsy giraffe." I say
He takes my notebook and holds it above my head. He's a good six inches taller than me, so the notebook is almost a foot above me.
"Luke! Give it back!" I say, a little too loudly
"But what do I get in return? Perhaps, a kiss on the cheek?"
I roll my eyes at him "Fine."
He leans down a little and I peck him on the cheek.
"Thank you," he says with a small smile "but you still can't have it back!"
He sprints out the door into the front lawn of the school. I slam my locker and take off after him. I catch up to him and jump on his back.
"Hey!" he shouts
He's basically giving me a piggy back ride now. He runs a little longer before stopping and grabbing me. Somehow he manages to get me to the front of him and I'm staring into his crystal blue eyes. He starts looking over me and biting his lip.
"Best friends, remember?" I whisper
He puts me down an hands me the note book. Then, a girl comes up to us.
"Oh my God are you two dating?"
"No," I say "we're friends."
"Well, it sure doesn't look like you're friends." she says, then walks away.
Luke and I start to walk to my house since that's where the show is.
"So, are you ready for tonight?" I ask
"Totally. I've been waiting for this for the past three years."
"Well, I'll be in the front row, singing along."
"I know, right where I can see you."
"What songs are you guys singing?"
"Well," he says "probably covers. None of us can really write songs, so we made a list. I'm kind of nervous."
"It's ok," I say "if you feel like you're nervous look right at me. Okay?"
"Okay."
When we do get to my house I see Ashton's not there. I ask Luke to help me pick out what to wear.
"You seriously want my advice?"
"Yeah." I say
I take him up to my room and open up my closet.
"I thought about wearing this." I hold up some black skinny jeans and an old band tee
"Nah, that's just... no." he says
"What about this?" I say, holding up a plain white t-shirt and a flannel
"Why don't you wear this?" he asks pulling out something from his bag
It's a black muscle shirt and it says 'YOU COMPLETE MEss'. I kind of like it.
"What will you wear?" I ask
"Well, I kind of wanted your help too."
I pick out his Nirvana t shirt.
"Can you try it on?" I ask
"Um yeah." he stands there
"What? I won't judge."
He smiles nervously and starts to take off his shirt. I only get a glimpse of him before he turns around. His stomach isn't flabby, but it's not ripped. He's pretty toned,though.
Luke's POV:
Mary just saw me shirtless for the first time, and I don't know how she's reacting, my backs turned to her. When I turn around to show her how my shirt looks, she's smiling.
"How's it look?" I ask
"Perfect."
The hour goes by too fast, and before I know it, I'm standing in front of a crowd on a platform. I look out at the crowd, and my eyes go straight to Mary. She smiles and gives me a thumbs up, and I smile.
It goes pretty well, but now it's time for the surprise.
"This next song," I say "is for a very special person. She's my best friend and I love her so much. She's also helped us a lot by listening to us and making the fliers for tonight. Mary, you said this was one of your favorite songs, so here it is."
We start to play Wake Me Up When September Ends and I'm nervous to start singing. What if I mess up? I mean, I know it by heart, but I'm super nervous. What she told me before the show echoes in my head, so I look right at her while I sing.
She's singing along, and I can see her wiping her eyes. Right now I feel as if we're the only two people in the entire world. I want to just live in this moment forever, and in this moment I realize I don't love her. I'll never just love her. I am, and will always be, in love with her, and she smiles, because she knows. But there is nothing I can do about it, I will never be able to be her boyfriend because of Ashton. Sometimes, while I'm lying in my bed at night, I find myself thinking about us running away. We can't right now, since were still in school. I just don't want to lose her when we go off to college, if we go to college.
We finish the song and say thanks, and that's it. After everyone's left, we grab Mary and go get some burgers.
"How'd you like your surprise?" I ask her
"Thank you, guys. That was really sweet."
"It was actually Luke's idea." Michael says
My face reddens a little, I wanted her to think we all came up with the surprise.
"Well that was very sweet of you Luke."
I flash a small smile. My realization from earlier is making me unsettled. I knew I liked her, but now..... What will I do?
Mary's POV:
When the guys played the song for me, I didn't know how to react, so I just started crying. It was so sweet of them to thank me even though I didn't do much for them.
*
The past month or two have gone by quickly. It seems like the show was just yesterday. Everything's been the same but since the show, the guys have gotten more popular and Luke's been distant. He's seemed nervous all the time and he's not talked to me as much as usual. A bunch of girls have started to ask them out, but they agreed they wouldn't date any of them. I have a hard time trying to hang out with Luke, and it's been bothering me.
Right now I'm FaceTiming him trying to figure out what is wrong.
"Why have you been so distant lately? Are you ok?" I ask
"Yeah, I'm fine I just have a lot on my mind."
"Is that Mary?" I hear Calum and Michael ask
"Yeah." Luke says
"Hiiiiii Maryyyyyyy." they say
"Hey guys."
I can tell he's not fine, and it breaks my heart. My eyes start to tear up and I quickly wipe them.
"Are you crying?" he asks
"No."
"Mary, I know the Crying Sniffles. What's wrong?"
I tell him "I just hate seeing you like this. You've been distant and you seem sad. You won't even talk to me lately. I need to know what's wrong."
"I told you, I just have a lot on my mind."
"Ok, I'm just worried, that's all."
"Don't be," he says "I have to go now, I'll text you tomorrow."
I say bye and sit my phone down, figuring he'll hang up. But he doesn't.
"What did she want?" I hear Michael ask
"She wants to know what's wrong with me. I told her nothing, but actually something is wrong."
"And what would that be?" Calum asks
"She just doesn't understand...." I can't make out the next part, but then I hear "It gets so aggravating sometimes."
I press the end button and turn the light off. Then, the tears come. He's aggravated by me because I don't understand what's going on with him. I guess he doesn't like me anymore either, since I won't date him. I slowly fall asleep.
The next morning, I wake up and see he's texted me.
Mary, I'm sorry if I've upset you, Im just going through some things. How about I make up for it with Starbucks? Meet me there at 12:00
I text back 'ok' and then I remember what happened the previous night. I still want to go, just to clear things up. I look at the clock and see it's 11:45. I jump up and go get a quick shower, then I just throw on a hoodie and some joggers with some Vans and I don't bother to fix my hair so I keep it in the messy bun and headband I slept in.
I scribble a note since Ashton's still asleep and Mom's gone. When I get to Starbucks, I see Luke sitting at a table in the back on his phone. He looks up and smiles at me, stands up, fixes his beanie, and hugs me.
"Hi." I say
"So, I wanted to get you something I love to get from here."
He hands me a huge coffee.
"What is it?" I ask
"It's a Twix latte."
I take a sip and my mouth is filled with a wonderful caramel taste.
"Wow." I say
"Yeah. By the way, you look beautiful today. I just want to say I'm sorry about yesterday. You were just trying to be the sweet, caring person you are."
I laugh, remembering what he said last night.
"I thought I was 'aggravating.'" I say
His smile fades and he stares at me.
"What do you mean?" he asks