Safety Net {l.r.h}

57) The Second We Met

ELLIE ABNER

"How much longer until your surgery, cripple?" Michael asks, nudging the blonde beside me who sat with his head laying on the back of the couch and his eyes closed. Luke groaned, throwing his crossed arms over his eyes in frustration. He hated being reminded of his injury and upcoming surgery as well as the lack of sleep that came with the pain of a torn ACL.

"Mike, leave him alone," Ashton scolds him while walking into the room, "he's already got to deal with finals-" Another groan leaves Luke's mouth at the mention of our exams happening this week.

"Here's an idea," I say, inserting myself into the conversation. "Why don't you both leave us alone and go study for those finals, yeah?"

"That's the thing," Michael points out, "we need Luke for one of them."

My boyfriend's head snaps up at the sound of this, "Leeway's making us do a final?"

"Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't she?" Ashton asked, quirking up an eyebrow. My eyes dart to Luke to catch the reaction of him rolling his lips into his mouth to keep quiet.

That's the other thing- Luke hasn't told any of the boys what their professor had offered him. If she had told any of the others, he'd be hearing about it, so it was definitely a secret.

I understand his reasoning behind it; he has a lot on his plate right now, but he must decide before the fifth of January, which is the deadline for his football offer.

"Anyways," Michael cuts in, "we've got to finish these last few songs and perform them this weekend for the Christmas show before winter break."

Luke sighs, rolling his head to the side to face me and an apologetic look ran across his features. "You know I don't want to leave-"

"Lu, you're fine, finish those songs and we'll have a movie night tonight, yeah?" Our day was supposed to be filled with lounging around in our sweatpants watching movies and eating snacks, but clearly, the universe has made other plans for us.

"We'll be in my car waiting," Ashton says before he and Michael exit the room.

Luke takes this moment alone with me to wrap his arm around my shoulders and pull me into him, pressing his lips to my temple. "Gonna have my room set up for movies when I get back?"

"You know I will," I say softly, tilting my head to look at him. He smiles, leaning in to press his lips against mine and I sigh against him.

When he pulls away, I already miss the way he feels and want to beg him to stay back, but this is important for them. "I'll be back in a few hours." Nodding, I help him get to the front door.

"I l- I'll, uh, miss you," I call out as he walks towards Ashton's suv, stuttering with my words. Luke gives me one last wave before opening the backseat door to have more room for his injured leg.

When I watch the vehicle drive away from the fraternity, I frown, leaning against the wooden doorway with my arms crossed.

"What's with the depressing mood?" I hear from behind me and jump, whipping around to see Dayna standing at the bottom of the stairs with a raised brow.

I shrug, shutting the front door and moving passed her to walk up the stairs, "just the yearly seasonal depression... and finals," the thought dawns on me and I stop abruptly. "Why are you here?"

"Uh," she stammers, "about that.."

"You slept with Cal again, didn't you?"

Dayna giggles, following me up the stairs to Luke's room, "I can't help it. He knows his way around a woman."

"Ew," I scowl, "I do not want to picture that right now."

"Oh, shut up, remember the time I heard you guys?"

My mouth gaped open, "we didn't even know you were here!"

"Still!" A cackle left my lips at her words, and I shook my head. "Anyways, what's the plan while dumb and dumber are gone?"

"Well, I'm setting up Luke's room for movie night and-"

"Ugh," she scoffs as we enter his bedroom. "Can't we have a girls' night? Face masks, wine, spicy movies, and gossip. You in?"

As much as I'd love to, I'm not ditching Luke when he's in such a vulnerable state. He needs me right now.

"How about Friday night?" I ask.

Dayna shrugs, leaning against the doorway, watching as I fix the covers on Luke's bed and place my laptop in the center, ready for when he gets home later.

"I'm down. I remember Cal talking about how he wanted to throw a party after their performance on Saturday, so I could definitely use a relaxing day before I get piss drunk."

"I haven't partied in a while," I note aloud, plopping down on the bed. "Especially with you. Almost two months, right?"

The blonde gasps pointing her finger at me, "oh my god, it was the night you and Luke kissed, wasn't it?" I couldn't hold back my grin at her question, that memory being one of my top favorites. "Reverting back to the important question I asked weeks ago, do you think you're going to get married?"

"It's a little early to be thinking about that, isn't it?"

"Have you ever seen the show Married at First Sight?"

I rolled my eyes, "that's also not my life."

"Fine. Here's a different question; do you love him?"

I hesitated to answer the question merely for the fear of being judged. "I think?"

"I promise I won't judge. I have no room to."

Swallowing harshly, I nodded, "okay, then," I paused, looking over at her from my spot on the bed, "Yeah, I do. I genuinely think I fell in love with him the second we met."

"Fuck, that's cute," Dayna cursed, wiping under her eyes, "I might actually cry."

I rolled my eyes, "shut up."

A/N: This is such a short chapter, I'm sorry lmao. I had the worst writer's block and was really busy for a while. Expect more updates!