best years ✰ l.p.

Chapter 33- Mrs All American

"What the fuck happened?"

I turned around to see both Reggie and Alex in shock. I couldn't answer their question because, well, I didn't really know what the fuck happened either.

One minute Luke and I were just sitting down and being regular friends, and the next, we had clearly crossed that line.

I looked over at Luke, hoping that he would say something, but he was just as lost as I was.

"Oh my god I can't believe this!", Alex said excitedly. "Two of my best friends finally got together and I almost missed it!"

After arguing with Alex some more about the concept of privacy and a pretty much tortuous walk back home, I was alone in my room.

I didn't really want to be alone, I wanted to talk to Luke about what just happened. The only thing was, I was too afraid to ask him.

Luckily I didn't have to. Luke walked in silently and sat next to me.

"O-okay.", I said nervously. "I don't know if what happened back there was actually real, o-or if you just got caught up-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Luke leaned in and kissed me. As he pulled away, I felt my face heating up.

"It was real", he said softly. "I really like you, Dahlia."

I waited a couple of seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. "Good, because I really like you too.", I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to say that."

*****

When I woke up the next morning, I was pretty much in shock.

Oh my god, Luke Patterson is sleeping on my bed. Oh my god, that means last night was actually real. I really told him I liked him.

Even though I'd been in several relationships before, it felt like I'd just had my first kiss. I didn't know what to do or say, or how to act in general.

It really did feel like Jackson all over again. How the person I'd liked for so long actually liked me back.

It was crazy how a person could affect me so much. Just by sleeping.

I looked over at the clock and saw that it was only 6. I was still really tired, and we still had about an hour and a half before we had to leave, so I decided to go back to sleep.

Luke

I opened my eyes and saw Dahlia sleeping next to me. I smiled. So it really did happen.

But my smile quickly faded. I realized how bad it would look if Dahlia's aunt or uncle came into her room with me still in it.

I slowly stood up, but stopped in my tracks when she started to move. She looked really peaceful so I didn't want to wake her up. I continued walking really slowly until I reached the door.

I carefully pulled it shut and then sighed in relief.

"Well, well, well.", a voice behind me said.

I jumped. "Shit, Alex, you scared the fuck out of me.", I whispered.

"What do we have here?", he said with a mischievous smile.

"N-Nothing", I stuttered.

"It doesn't sound like nothing."

"You just caught me off guard, okay."

He winked. "Okay, Luke. I believe you."

I really hated Alex.

*****

Dahlia

I woke up again and immediately looked at the clock. I sighed when I saw I still had a good 30 minutes to get ready.

I noticed Luke had left. I wished he'd woken me up.

Once I had finished brushing my teeth and getting ready as quickly as someone in a disney channel original movie, I went downstairs to find the guys. Hopefully they were ready, but really there was a fifty-fifty chance.

As I walked into the studio, Alex gave me a look. I don't even know what it was supposed to be, but it was definitely something.

"What?", I asked, a little weirded out by the silence. "Nothing", Alex said, while I took a seat next to Luke.

I yawned. "I'm really tired."

"Yeah, me too", Luke replied.

Alex smiled. "Oh, did something keep you two up last night?"

I sighed. "Do you want to die again?"

He scoffed. "C'mon Reggie. Clearly we're not wanted here.", Alex said, getting up and walking out while Reggie followed.

"...What just happened?"

He shrugged. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. "We should probably grab our stuff. We have to go in a couple minutes."

We got off the couch and walked to the doorway.

"You know, if we'd actually done anything, you wouldn't be walking so easily."

I stopped in my tracks and smiled at his cockiness. "You're giving yourself a lot of credit there, Patterson.", I said with my back still turned to him.

"Want to find out for yourself?"

I turned around and leaned in close. Close enough to kiss him.

"In your dreams."

*****

That night, Luke had snuck up to my room after my aunt and uncle had gone to bed. We were sitting on the roof right outside my window. It was really peaceful actually, and I was a little annoyed that I hadn't thought of it before.

"When did you start liking me?", I asked. It was a stupid question, but I just wanted to know.

"Ever since that day on the beach.", he said. "When I said you were pretty."

I smiled, remembering how much my heart had raced.

"I think I really knew I liked you when..." I trailed off, not wanting to say anything else.

Luke sat up. "What?"

I buried my face in my hands. "No, it's too embarrassing."

"Oh come on. I'm sure it's not that bad."

I sighed. "Okay, fine. Basically, it was the day I was performing that dance in class with Ethan. For some reason, I had this, like, daydream thing where you and I were dancing together to, uh, that song you found yesterday. I wrote it down when I got home, and, well I don't know. I guess that's when I realized I liked you more than I thought."

I couldn't believe I was actually admitting this to him.

He laughed lightly and shook his head. "Wow, Dahlia, I didn't know you were such a romantic."

A/N: Awww. But seriously sorry again. I'm back on track and I know how to end the story now. Yall might lowkey hate me for it, and it might be confusing, but that's the way I'm doing it. Okay, but really why does high school suck so bad? It's been a week and I already want to leave.