𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 | 𝐪. 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬

chapter 40

delia had about fifteen minutes until jack was to arrive. his parents had decided to pick him, leaving luke and delia alone in the house. delia could feel her nerves heighten with each passing second. this would be the first time she has seen him since the breakup. while they only really had one true interaction since it all ended, she had no idea how he would be in person. that slightly scared her.

"everything is going to be okay. jack is probably exhausted and will go straight to his room especially since he's catching up with our parents now," luke reassured delia.

delia let out a sigh, "i sure hope so."

the pair sat together on the couch in the hughes' living room, anxiously waiting for jack's arrival. delia's leg had been bouncing up and down for the last five minutes which was driving luke insane. in attempts to ease her anxiety, he placed his hand on her knee. unfortunately, that did absolutely nothing for the girl and she continued to bounce her knee with luke's hand on it. luke sent a silent prayer up to god that tonight would be okay right as the front door opened.

"please, i'm begging you," luke whispered as he looked up towards the ceiling.

delia shot him a concerned look as she got up from the couch, "who are you talking to?"

slightly shocked that she had managed to hear him, he answered, "oh, just myself." that was the first thing he could come up with and he already regretted it. delia looked even more concerned. at least she was worried about luke and not jack.

"we're home!" ellen shouted as the three of them all made their way inside the house.

not wanting to be a bad guest and make things any more awkward than things were most likely going to be, delia followed luke to the front door. she looked at the ground on the walk over. part of her believed if she never saw him, then he wasn't going to be there. she continued to stare at the ground when luke went over to hug his older brother.

jack noticed his ex girlfriend staring at the ground when luke went to hug him. this was not how he wanted her to react. he knew things weren't going to be as they once were, but he at least thought she would be able to look at him. from there on out, he made it is his mission to make her feel more comfortable around him.

"hey, delia!" jack greeted the girl.

the brunette let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. she lifted her eyes up off the ground and immediately met jack's. his face was plastered with his famous smile. it became hard for delia to not mimic his actions. she felt her face turn into grin as she said back, "hi, jack!"

luke and his parents watched the interaction. all three were relatively surprised by the lack of tension in the room. jim and ellen were very pleased with how the young adults were conducting themselves. ellen was secretly hoping maybe this would reunite the two while jim was just hapy not dealing with any drama. luke, on the other hand, was confused by the happiness displayed on delia's face. his mind went straight to quinn and how this whole weekend could turn into quinn's worst nightmare.

while the hughes parents and luke were occupied with their own thoughts, delia was having her own. she was hoping jack didn't think this small interaction was going to make them go back to normal. it was in her best interest to be friendly to him, plus his smile is contagious. anyone would do the exact same thing. delia just knew once she got past this weekend that she wouldn't have to see him for awhile. there was no harm in pretending that everything was okay.

"oh, jack, your room is all ready and there's some food in the kitchen," ellen said as if she had just remembered. in reality, the room had gone quiet after the two exchanged hellos and something needed to break the silence.

jack snapped out of trance placed on delia, "thanks mom! i'll go drop my stuff off and then i'll go eat." he then grabbed his suitcase and headed upstairs to his room.

jim and ellen left as well, both going towards the kitchen to wait for their middle child to return. luke and delia were left alone once again. luke gave her a look, one that communicated 'we are talking about this.'

the girl sighed, "okay, let's go upstairs and have this talk."

delia followed luke back up the stairs. of course, as they were heading up, jack was coming back down. jack gave the two an odd look and asked, "where are you guys going?"

"i need to show something to delia, it's a christmas gift and i need her approval," luke said on the spot. it was a pretty damn good lie too. jack bought it and didn't question them again.

once they reached luke's room, he quietly shut the door behind delia. he whipped his head around and whisper-yelled, "what the hell was that?"

"that was me trying to avoid any unnecessary drama," delia responded in the same tone as luke.

"so you're not interested in jack again?" luke eyed the girl, trying to look out for his other brother.

if delia had water, this would be the moment she would spit it out on luke's face. fortunately for luke, this did not happen. instead, delia's eyes widened out of shock and answered, "oh my gosh, no! how could you possibly think that!"

luke shrugged, "to be fair, you seemed friendly with him."

"like i said, trying to ease the tension. plus, if i can get through this weekend, then i won't be seeing him for awhile," delia pointed out.

the tallest hughes was tracking delia. he was still concerned for her, just not in the way he was originally thinking. now, he was worried jack might get the wrong idea and make a move on her. the boy sighed, "just don't play with jack. he may start to believe he has another chance with you."

"i don't plan on it."

delia was getting ready to leave luke's room to go into hers and settle for the night. she was scared to go back downstairs and interact with jack. just because she agreed to herself she would be friendly with him did not mean she had to talk to him in her free time. right before she entered the hallway, luke stated, "oh, and don't do something that would upset quinn."

the brunette furrowed her eyebrows, "what do you mean by that?"

"you'll figure it out," luke smiled, leaving delia more confused than ever.