Close As Strangers~L.H.

Chapter 27

Mary's POV:
Liz said she has a surprise for us, and Ashton knows about it. He said to dress nice, so Mom, Ash, and I get dressed and go to the car.
"Where are we going?" I ask
"You'll find out when we get there, can I drive?"
He drives us to this fancy restaurant.
"Ash-" I start to say
"Just come on."
We go into the back and I see everyone there: Luke and his family,Calum, Michael, three unfamiliar people who look a lot like Calum, two people who resemble Michael, and a blonde haired girl.
"Ah, there they are!" Says Andrew
"Sorry we're late" Mom says "there was some traffic. I guess people are coming in for graduation."
"That's quite alright. Luke, why don't you introduce Mary? Luke?"
"Oh, sorry. Karen, Daryl, Mali, Joy, David, this is Mary. And you guys know Ashton and Anne."
"Hi." they all say, smiling
"And this is my cousin, Audrey. She's staying with us for a while."
Audrey looks just like Luke, blonde hair, blue eyes.
"What's up?" She asks
"Hi." I say shyly
There is something about her presence that reminds me of Michael. She's a bit shy acting, but she also seems really loud.
"Ok," Liz says, "lets have the grads sit over here."
Michael sits down in front of Audrey, then Calum,then me, then Luke.
I see Audrey blush a little and then Michael winks at her.
"So," Andrew says"I guess you guys know this is your graduation surprise."
"We wanted to give you guys something special, from all of us. The parents, siblings, and cousin." Liz says
"Also," Andrew says "Luke has told us that he has some news, but he won't even tell us. Would you like to tell us now?"
"Um no I think it should wait until later."
We order and chat some, different topics are passed around. 'What are your plans for the future?' 'Are you going to college?'
I'm talking to Audrey when I feel something tap my knee. I slowly look down and see Luke's hand, palm up, as if low key asking to hold my hand. I take his hand and look at him.
"You ok?" I ask
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just a little stressed right now."
"I'm sorry, make some tea when you get home, it'll calm you down."
"Tea won't help."
He looks down at our hands and smiles.
"You have such cute hands." he says
After we eat Luke stands up and starts to talk.
"Guys...we did it." he says with a slight smile
"Did what, exactly?" Michael asks
"We're..." he smiles again, this time bigger "we're going to L.A."
"What?" They all say at once
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we may have a shot at making music. We may get to make people happy through our music."
"Wait," I say "L.A.? As in Los Angeles, California?"
"Yeah," he says "there's a chance we make get a record deal."
"When do you leave?" I ask
"Two weeks from today. I told them that we needed a little time to finish school and prepare to leave."
"But," Liz says "that's thousands of miles away...you can't just go all by yourself! You're teenage boys!"
"Mom, we'll be fine."
I look down at my lap and feel my eyes start to water.
'Don't cry now, don't let them see you!'
"May I be excused?" I stand up and calmly walk out of the room
I find a sign that says Restrooms and go into a stall. Luckily there are tissues on the sink and I didn't wear mascara today.
I hear a few pairs of feet come in and stop sniffling.
"She might have came in here, but she may be out front." I hear Mom say
"Poor girl," I hear Liz say "she seemed to be on the verge of tears. She could barely ask to be excused!"
"Liz,Anne," I hear someone say, Joy I think "she really does love that boy, doesn't she?"
"That she does," I hear Mom say again "she's seemed so much better with him."
"Calum had the boys over a few nights ago," Joy says again "all Luke seemed to want to talk about was her."
I can't help but smile a little.
"I don't see why he wouldn't be crazy for her."Karen says "You see, Michael had a little crush on her too, and he told me all about her. She seems like a lovely girl."
"They're head over heels in love with each other, but it just wasn't the right ti-"
I accidentally sniffle too loud
"Mary?" I hear Mom ask "Honey, it's us. Open up?"
I hesitate, but then I unlock the door.
"Come out here."
I do and they tell me to sit on the counter.
"Mary," Mom says "I understand this is a big shock to you."
I stare at the floor, I've seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
Luke's POV:
The moms went to go look for Mary, but that was quite a while ago.
I don't know if I should go check on her or if she wants to be alone.
"So um, Audrey...you've changed a lot since I last saw you."Michael says
"Yeah," Audrey says "five years can really change a person."
"Do...I mean if you want to...do you uh -want to go do something sometime?"
I seriously can NOT believe he's hitting on my cousin.
"I...I guess, yeah."
I get up from the table and walk to the women's bathroom, then knock.
"Sorry, it's kind of crowded at the moment."
"Anne, its me."
"Do you want to talk to him?" I hear her whisper "Ok."
"You can come in." Karen says
I walk in to see her sitting on the counter, eyes puffy and nose red from crying, and it breaks my heart.
"We'll give you two some privacy."
When everyone else is out, I go over and lean my head on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," I say "I won't go, the other guys can. I'll stay right here with you."
"No," she says "no I can't let you do that. Go on, I'll be fine. I mean, you don't leave for another two weeks, right?"
"Yeah, and we'll pretend those two weeks are never going to end. Let's see, we graduate Wednesday that leaves us over a week to do anything."
She sniffles and looks at her lap.
"Mary," I kiss her forehead "please look at me."
She looks up at me
"Are you ready to go back out?"
She nods
"But they'll see I've been crying."
"No they won't...here."
I take a hair tie out of my pocket and turn her around.
"Why do you have a hair tie?" She asks
"I figured it'd come in handy. I have a whole pack in my glove compartment incase you ever need one." I say with a little laugh
I put her hair up loosely and then turn on the cold water.
"Put your face in the sink."
She does and then I splash water on her face.
"There," I say softly "now you don't look like you've been crying."
I hold her head and plant a light kiss on her nose.
We walk to the door and I stop her.
"I just want you to know...I've said I love you many times for a while now...but I need you to know. I need you to know I love you."
"I do know you love me." she says
"Actually I don't love you," I say "I'm in love with you. There's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone.
"Being in love with someone means you're fully infatuated with them. You love every detail of them; the stray hairs that show up by midday, the freckles that show up after a long day in the sun, the face they make when they try hard to not smile, and the bumps and bruises they get from being so clumsy. That's what I need you to know, right now. I'm...I'm head over heels in love with you."
Now she's smiling and any trace of sadness has been erased.
"Did you like that Mom?" I say to the door
Mary looks at me like I'm crazy.
"I know my mom,she couldn't resist listening." I say with a smile
"It's about time you said it!" Mom says
*
Mary's POV:
It's graduation day and I'm super nervous.
Luke, Calum and I get to sit near each other in the same section, so I have someone to talk to to calm my nerves.
"I'm so ready to get out of here." Calum says under his breath
Finally the ceremony starts and before I know it, my section is standing up and making its way to the stage.
"Luke Hemmings."
"Calum Hood."
Finally they get through the H's and the first part of the I's.
"Mary Irwin."
I walk up, shake the principals hand, take my diploma and try to not sprint back to my seat.
Finally we are free. I'm freaking free! No more high school! No more! No more sitting in the same building for 9 hours with people I can't stand!
  I go to see my mom and hug her.
  "I'm so proud of you!" She says
I hug Ashton and then Liz pulls me into a hug. Then I hug Calum and Michael.
  "No more school," Michael says "at least for me."
  "Not me," Luke says "I'm going to try to go to college."
  "Me too." Calum says
  Andrew nudges Luke.
  "Can I talk to you?"
  "Sure."
We walk to the edge of the football field, out of earshot.
  "They uh...they need us to be in L.A. Sooner than we want to."
  "So...you're- you're leaving?"
  "Not until Saturday." he says, wrapping me in a hug.
  "But that's not all I needed to tell you." he says, breaking from the hug
  He reaches into his pocket and gets down on his knees.
  "Mary?"

AN: Hope you guys liked this chapter and I'm back :-) -M