let me go || l.h.

n i n e

his eyes immediately lit up when he saw me. our eyes met, and i felt myself get lost within their blue depths yet again. "hi," he said, his voice deep. "hi," i replied softly. "luke, my man!" i heard calum call out from behind me. "this is elena," calum said, gesturing to her. "and this is katrina," i chimed in. luke smiled at both of them, and introduced the guy standing behind him- who i surprisingly hadn't noticed yet. with dyed red hair, he was kind of hard to miss! "this is michael," luke said as he began to make his way towards us. he sat down next to me, his arms wrapped around his long legs, and michael sat opposite. i couldn't help but notice that katrina's cheeks had gone a bit red. i got my phone out and quickly typed a message to luke.

don't let on, but i just showed katrina your american idiot cover, and she said he sounded extremely hot.

i saw him bite back a laugh when he read the message.

luke ♥: you watched our covers? :) thanks! x on the way here, when stalking your instagram (michael's decision, not mine!) he said the exact same thing about her!

i laughed out loud, only to gain weird looks from my friends. "are you really texting each other?!" calum asked, shaking his head. i felt my cheeks turn red, but luckily luke was there. "well, would you prefer it if we made fun of you out loud?!" everyone laughed, except for calum. "bring it on, hemmings!" he replied, shoving luke's shoulder. after he was pushed, luke took at as an excuse to scoot a little bit closer to me. his knee brushed mine, and i could smell his cologne. i smiled and moved a bit closer. as i leant back on my hands, i saw luke do the same. his left hand rested on top of my right, and somehow he laced his long fingers into mine.

***

we all sat and talked for a few hours. it was a really fun afternoon. i was happy to see that elena was begging to come out of her shell a bit, and that katrina wasn't acting too weird! i could see that katrina really liked michael, and it wasn't hard to see why. besides the fact that katrina has a thing for band members, michael was sweet and funny, and the perfect mix of crazy and quiet- just like her! i was happy that her and michael seemed to be hitting it off, but even happier to watch elena and calum. calum has always been a bit of a player, but i could see that he genuinely liked elena. i was so happy for them.

and then there was luke and i. for the majority of the afternoon, our fingers were entwined. they fit perfectly. i could feel his pulse beat against mine. sometimes, absentmindedly, luke would trace little circles on my hand with his thumb. it was perfect.

***

at around 2 o'clock, we all headed down to the fish and chips shop to grab a bite to eat. we all chipped in to buy the largest portion of chips they had. we carried it back to the skate park, tossing the chip packet around because it was so hot. when we got back to the park, we opened up the packet and all started eating. i noticed that katrina didn't really eat any- one or two at most- and i saw that michael noticed as well. he raised his eyebrows at me, and i gave my head a small shake, willing for him not to say anything about it. i knew that katrina wasn't really comfortable about eating in front of anyone besides me and a few of our other friends.

after we ate, we all played around for a bit. somehow, calum found a basketball, so he and elena were shooting hoops on the court. michael and katrina were sitting on top of the monkey bars, talking and holding hands. luke and i claimed the swings.

"so, how do you like michael?" luke asked me. i smiled, "he seems really nice. i think kat likes him. i hope they work out." luke nodded, "yeah, he seems good for her. how about elena and calum?" he laughed, and i joined in. "i think that elena is the first girl i have ever seen calum fall head over heels for!" i responded.

luke laughed again, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. luke had begun playing with his lip ring, which i knew meant he was nervous. i squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he looked up at me with the hint of a smile.

"what is it?" i asked, suddenly worried. the butterflies began filling my stomach with dread once again. luke squeezed my hand back, and took a deep breath. he looked at me again and smiled, "will you by my girlfriend?"