(wow ashley is writing again it's a hecking miracle)
When the group finally decided to go back home, it was already well past midnight, and all of them tumbled into their beds once they'd gotten into the apartment, high off of the feeling that radiated from each other back at the park.
Laying silently beside each other in her bed, Aria turned to Luke in the darkness, and nudged him with her elbow, "Hey," she murmured; she couldn't see his face in the dark, but she knew that his eyes were open. "I don't mean to ruin the 'fun' and the 'freedom' of... whatever this is," she continued once she'd gotten a grunt from him that confirmed that he was listening, "But I want to know what exactly I am to you. What this is to you. Because I don't want to assume—"
"This is whatever you want it to be," he breathed, his voice heavy with drowsiness, "I mean, I care a lot about you, don't get me wrong. But... you define this. Whatever you're comfortable with, that's what this will be."
She smiled to herself; he couldn't possibly see her in this complete darkness that surrounded them. "So, like, I could be your girlfriend?" she asked, and she heard him chuckle.
"Yeah. Just... I dunno. Ask."
She let a small giggle escape before covering her mouth with her hand. "Okay," she sighed, preparing herself, "Hey, Luke?"
"What's up, Rose?"
"Do you want to be my boyfriend?"
"Oh heck yeah," he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, "I'd be honored." Something in his voice made a feeling rise within her chest that she couldn't quite understand.
Underlying tension still tugged at her as she lay within his arms, her face buried within his chest that smelled of cologne and, due to their most recent venture into the park, rainwater. For the last time, she decided, she pushed her doubts aside; she had a good feeling about Luke, and she wasn't going to let her past experiences ruin that for her. Not this time.
Aria soon fell into a dreamless sleep, enclosed within the castle that was his arms surrounding her.
The next two weeks were hectic, and that was saying something; Aria and Kimmy never had days that were quite as busy, until Luke and Michael came around. The time was passed graciously, though, and Aria enjoyed the time that she spent with Luke, which was a nice change of pace.
Their days started and ended in the same bed, and for that, she was endlessly grateful. When she wasn't alone at night, she felt more like the sheets were swathing her, instead of drowning her. He kept her head above water, at least.
Although she wasn't returning to her job back at the record store, she'd actually been writing music instead of drinking wine and watching Full House. Which was sort of a miracle, since quitting her job at the store was one of the hardest things that she'd ever had to do. While she'd only been working there for a year or so, the people there were familiar. The dusty smell of the store in the morning before she swept was strangely comforting.
Luke kept her on track, though. Once he'd spoken some encouraging words to her— admittedly, more than a few times— she was ready to start fresh.
Things were looking up.
Aria was awakened on a Friday afternoon— at least, she thought that it was Friday— by the sound of Luke's voice telling her to wake up. Rather than fight him, she immediately opened her eyes, and, upon seeing the look on Luke's face, she raised an eyebrow.
