Love Your Neighbour

Chapter 14

Song: Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Golding

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"You look so dashing, Mike, doesn't he, Lauren?" My mum said. I groaned. This was so unfair.
"You look absolutely... terrible." I said weakly.
"Lauren! Behave!" My mum gasped at my answer.
"Why do I have to go with him? Do I really need a date?" I whined.
"Louis cannot go, and you most definitely need a date! Would you rather dance with a middle-aged man, or will you go with Mike?" My mum said, walking out of the door and pulling my with her. Mike followed silently.
Louis couldn't go, and Mike had to take his place. I remembered when Louis had said.

"Do you think I can go to this dance with a broken ankle?" He looked at me in disbelief.
"You just fell over wooden bricks!" I shouted at him. He was overreacting so much.
"Well it wasn't my fault some children were playing with them and just happened to leave them in the middle of the corridor!" He shouted back.
"You have to, otherwise I'll have to take Mike. You know I can't take him!" I pleaded Louis to reconsider.
"Well, then you'll have a great night. Bye!" He tried to push me out of his room.
"It's just a sprain!" I pointed at his ankle.
"Whatever. It means I cannot dance. Repeat, I CANNOT dance!" He finalised.
I groaned, running downstairs to say to my mum that I would have to take Mike instead of Louis. Mike smirked at me as I walked past him. I stuck out my tongue. I hated him.
I wasn't sure whether I hated Louis or Mike more at that moment.

I sat in the car, glaring at Mike.
"You look pretty." He said softly. I almost melted under his innocent gaze.
"Hmph." I looked out of the window. We were nearly there. I really was not looking forward to dancing with the jerk.

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"So how are you, dear?" The woman sat next to me asked me.
"I'm fine, thank you." I fake-smiled at her.

"Are you with that young man?" She asked me.
"Yes, I mean, no, I mean, I am here with him, but we're not..." I stumbled over my words.
"Don't worry, dear. I understand." She smiled.
Mike was walking our way.
"Hey, baby." He smirked.
"What the actual..." I stared at him.
"Aw, such a beautiful couple." The man across from me said.
"We're not..." I didn't get far, before Mike interrupted me.
"Lauren!" He said, smiling.
I glared at him.
"Why don't you two go and dance?" The woman, I think her name was Sonja, said.
"Um, actually..." I started.
"What a great idea." Mike said.
"What's your name, young man?" The man, Albert, asked.
"It's asshole." I mumbled sarcastically.
"Sorry?" Mike asked me, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Don't worry,"
"It's Mike."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too, Albert, and you as well, Sonja." He said, smiling. He was such a charmer... Not for me, obviously...
"Come on, Lauren." He pulled me up.
"What?" I was surprised. He led me to the dance floor.
"I can't dance!" I hissed at him,
"Just follow me, then."

It turned out that Mike could not dance at all.

"I thought you said you could dance." I raised an eyebrow.
"I can!" He said as we swayed awkwardly.
"Yeah right."
"What did you call me earlier?" He said quietly.
I looked away, smiling.
"I finally got you to smile."
"Yay for you." I said, frowning again.
He pouted, twirling me around, suddenly.
"Who said I couldn't dance?" He said laughing. I giggled as I spun back to him.
"Um... I'm not supposed to answer that, right? It's a rhetorical question." I stated.
"Who said I couldn't dance?" He said, leaning closer. I felt breathless and light-headed but I couldn't bring myself to look away. His eyes roamed over my face and I blushed as his eyes looked at my lips. I couldn't think straight. My mind was going crazy, and clogging up. My head was spinning.

I felt a sense of déjà vu, like when he kissed me in the kitchen.

"I know the affect I have on you Lauren, you can't deny it." He said, before connecting his lips to my lips. I gasped as our lips touched. My heart was racing. I was in paradise once again as our lips moved silently against each other.

He was the only one I ever wanted to kiss, to touch, to love. He lit up my world like no one else could. He was the one who could set my heart on fire.

He broke away.
"So what are we waiting for?" He whispered. I stared at him in shock.

I had allowed him to kiss me once again. What was wrong with me?

"What, d, do you mean?" I stuttered. I could tell my face was bright red.
"What are you waiting for, we should be together..." He trailed off.
I suddenly realised where we were, and looked around. I couldn't see anyone looked at us, thankfully.
"No, we can't." I whispered, trying to push him away.
"Yes, we can! I didn't do anything wrong. If you think I kissed Christina on purpose, you're wrong. You can't deny what we have, Lauren. You can't push me away, again..."
"You're suffocating me, Mike, I don't want to be with you." I said harshly. I didn't know what I was saying.
He released his hold on me slightly.
"Please, Lauren, you don't really mean that." He looked at me with a pleading look in his eyes. He looked like he might burst into tears any second.
I stared at him.
Did I really mean what I had just said?