"Stuck In The Friend-Zone Again and Again"

"Harmless Fun"

A/N: been busy making edits 😎

Swimming and building things in the sand and reading and eating a picnic lunch sat under the umbrellas was what the day consisted of.

It was so much fun just letting loose and being wild with the boys, acting like a normal 16 year old for once in my life.

I took loads of pictures, some of the boys, some of the beach.

Luke took my camera a few times, and snapped a few photos of me when I wasn't looking.

The boys took my camera many times throughout the day, taking pictures of Luke and I being silly.

That day on the beach, I felt utterly free, like all of the weight had temporarily dropped off of my shoulders, like all of the problems could wait until I had left the beach.

I wasn't thinking about Jake.
I wasn't thinking about the negatives of the tour.
I was just free.

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We sat on the sand of the beach, watching the sun slip along the horizon.
(It's winter in Aussie remember so the sun sets at like 6)

I put my head on Luke's shoulder, sighing in contentment.
"This has been a perfect day," I smiled.
No one contradicted me, they just accepted that I was right, that that day had been a perfect day.

I don't know if you have read The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Something-or-Other, but I had, and I finally understood what he meant.

"And in that moment, we were infinite"

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When Ashton dropped Luke and I back at the Hemmings residence, my brain still buzzed with happiness.

I felt happy like I hadn't felt in a long time.
And I knew it wouldn't last, but in that moment, with salt water hair and sand between my toes, I felt as if it could.

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I woke up the next day at 9, the wire of the day before gone, leaving me in my semi-okay state of mind.

I slowly climbed out of bed, and slipped on some pants, since I had been in only Luke's Nirvana shirt, and padded softly down to Luke's room.

I peeked my head in, because he had scolded me for knocking, to find him on his phone with his earbuds in.

I walked silently over to him and sat down beside him on the bed, causing him to just a little.
"Sorry," I apologized. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"S'okay," he said, handing the earbud closest to my head to me, insinuating that I should put it in.

He was watching Troye's videos, which I had admittedly seen the whole of at least twice before.

The next video that came up was The Boyfriend Tag with Tyler Oakley.

I squealed, having seen this one at least 20 times.

I was a hardcore Troyler shipper, sue me.

I mouthed the words along to what Troye and Tyler said, and Luke turned his attention away from the video to me multiple times with bright, amused eyes and a playful grin.

When the video was over, he turned off his phone and took back his earbuds, wrapping them around his phone.

"Why did you keep looking at me?" I asked.
"Because I thought it was cute how you knew all the words," he said honestly.
I blushed, looking at my hands.
"Awwww you're all red," Luke fawned, putting his head over his shoulder.

I smiled a small smile and willed myself not to think about how Jake loved it when I blushed.

Well, said he loved it.

But of course, when you try not to think about something, it becomes all you can think about, so I stayed silent and yelled internally at myself not to cry or show any sort of sadness externally at all.

"I can see the gears turning, but I don't know what direction they're headed in," Luke said abruptly, having been studying my face.
"Not the right one," I said simply, standing up.
Luke frowned, but I just shrugged.
"Let's go get breakfast," I said, holding out my hand to help him up.
He accepted the help up, and before letting go of my hand, he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

He wanted me to be okay, and that was a nice thought.

A/N: guys I've got some serious nostalgia because I'm back to the place where it began (#P!ATD). I'm currently at my Aunt's, and that's where I made the decision that changed my life.

This is where I joined WattPad.

This is where I started SITFZAAA.

It was in this very bed that I sat until 2AM reading After.

I've written multiple chapters from where I'm sitting now: in bed in my room, with the little lamp on and lights off late at night.

It's crazy to think that 3 months and not even 2 days ago I began this story, sitting just up the stairs from where I am now.

And here I am with my all of my amazing readers.

I remember feeling ecstatic when I had 27 views after one day. Look how far we've come. 1.3K reads?!?!?! That's insane!

Love you all, you're like my life.

Sorry for getting all mushy, I'm just feeling sentimental.

-Mia <3