haunted || l.h.

18

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked after Luke and I had ordered our food.

"Well what do you want to talk about?" He asked and placed his hands down on the table in front of him.

"You're the one that brought me here." I laughed.

"Because I need excuses to hang out with you. If I don't have one then you won't hang out with me." He said and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.

"We live together now you can hang out with me whenever." I said and took a sip from my straw.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said and wrapped his hands around his glass.

"That's not me saying I want to be around you 24/7." I said which made him laugh.

"One day you'll want to be around me all the time." He said confidently.

"You say that quite a lot." I said and rested my elbows on the table.

"Because I believe it, I truly believe that you'll be mine someday." He said seriously and looked into my eyes.

"You do? Why?" I asked in surprise.

"Because you're different and I like that about you. You're probably one of the only girls I've ever met that doesn't want to be with me or isn't obsessed with me. You're nice to be around, I like being around you. I think your smile is beautiful and I love making you laugh because your nose scrunches up in the cutest way, and I love your dimples. I think you're beautiful and I also think that you're so strong for going through what you went through. I admire you for being who you really are in a generation like ours, and for many other things too."

"I'm a loser Luke, you're popular and everyone loves you. You should want to be with someone that's popular like you." I said and looked down at the table.

"You're not a loser P, and I don't want to be with someone that's 'like me.' I know you think you're not pretty or smart but you are. And I know you think you're not popular or athletic or cool or any of that but none of that matters to me. You say you're mean, but you aren't, and you say you're closed off but I can tell that you're already opening up to me. It doesn't matter to me if you have experience or not, I just wanna be with you." He said and held my hand from across the table.

"I'm not supposed to be with anyone." I said and looked down at our hands.

"Why do you think that?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Because I ruin everyone's lives when I walk into them. I'm just going to ruin your life, and your friends lives and your family's. I should just go back home." I said and tried to stand up from my chair but he pulled me back down.

"I'm not letting you go back home Paisley. You're not going to ruin anyone's lives by being in it, and you didn't ruin your dads life either. What happened was meant to happen, it wasn't your fault." He said softly and held my hand with both of his.

"You're good Paisley, and I know you think you aren't but you are." He said and looked into my eyes. I let out a sigh and looked back down at our hands before gently placing my hand over his. He slowly flipped his hand over so he could hold my other one in his large one.

  Our waitress came by with our food a few seconds later so we ended up going into normal conversation. Once we were done eating Luke took me to a movie that he's been wanting to see. We ended up sitting in the back but I honestly liked the back better so I didn't care.

  When we sat down Luke lifted the arm of the chair that was in between us and pulled me over to him. He slowly and carefully wrapped his arm around my shoulders so I wouldn't flinch and he told me that he was going to do it so I would know it's happening.

  I felt this immense sense of comfort when he held me and gently stroked the skin on my arm. I cuddled up closer to him for warmth, and because I've never felt this comfort before other than when I'm with him and I liked it a lot. I felt him hold me even tighter as I wrapped both of my arms around him and buried my head in his chest.

  I felt his stubble tickle my forehead before feeling his soft lips linger there for a few seconds. It scared me a little at first, but I think he let his lips linger on my forehead just to tell me that it was okay. I could be wrong though, I don't know.

  Maybe I do like Luke. I mean I don't see why I shouldn't like him. He's sweet, he's smart, he's gentle, and he's always showed me that he cares. He's always complimenting me, and there's no denying that he's cute.

  I just wish I knew what it was supposed to feel like when you like someone. The last thing I want to do is accidentally lead him on.