After Avery explained to Luke what he'd done the night before, he nuzzled into her chest, "I'm so glad I have you, Avs," he said, though his voice was muffled by her shirt. She smiled and leaned down to cuddle him, "I'm glad I have you, too."
He lifted his head, locking eyes with her, "Does this mean you're not leaving me again?" She repositioned, looking away from him. He huffed a sigh of disappointment, "You are leaving me again?" he said, this time in a whisper. She was silent for a minute before responding, "I don't know. I had a really good reason for leaving. It was valid, it was important. But god, I missed you and I don't want to leave you like this."
They were quiet. The silence this time was eerie, worse than any of the silences they had the night prior. He stood up, realizing he was still wearing the clothes he had worn to the bar. He scrunched his nose at the smell they put off and removed his shirt, in search of another to wear. Avery watched without causing much of a scene. She had never before noticed how beautiful his body was.
He reached into the middle drawer of his dresser and pulled out a black muscle tee, pulling it over his top half. Avery picked up her phone has he removed his dark jeans and found a pair of basketball shorts.
She unlocked her phone and found that her music app was still open, seeing that Oh Ms. Believer was next on the list. She smiled to herself before cancelling the music app and asking Luke for a shirt to wear, "Give me a long one so I don't have to wear these stupid jeans," she said, tugging at the skinnies she had somehow managed to fall asleep wearing.
He pulled out the longest shirt he could find and threw it at her from across the room. "Thanks," she said as she removed her shirt, throwing his on over her bra. Her pants soon pooled at her feet as she stepped out of them and threw them in a pile with her shirt in one corner of Luke's room.
Luke opened his bedroom door, "I'm starving," he said, his voice still deep and husky. "I could go for some food," Avery agreed, following her friend out of his room.
They found their way to the kitchen, where Calum was eating an apple. "Where's Brooke?" Avery asked, opening the fridge to look inside. Calum stopped chewing, "I'll go get her," he said, his mouth half full of the fruit. Avery rolled her eyes as she reached for a cup f yogurt stashed away in one of the doors, "I hope someone wasn't hiding this because I'm going to eat it," she stated, grabbing a spoon.
As she sat at the kitchen bar, Calum, Brooklyn, Stella, and Ashton filed in. She looked at them puzzled as they returned the stare, "Can I help you?" she asked. They looked at her, then Luke, then each other, finally back to her, "Nope, just looking around," Brooklyn said, breaking away from the group of her friends stacked in the doorway. Brooklyn grabbed a banana, setting it down next to Avery's cup of yogurt. Ashton forced back a smile, before also breaking away from the group. He grabbed an apple, putting it in front of Luke, "You may need this, buddy," he said. The group took one last look at Avery and Luke before dispersing.
The two friends looked at each other, wondering what the hell their roommates were up to. Avery shrugged as she peeled the banana. She went to take a bite as she realized what they had done. She laid the naked banana down on the counter, "Those dumbasses," she said, looking to Luke. "What?" he asked, ignoring the apple Ashton provided as he opened a pack of crisps.
"They gave us a banana and an apple because they thought we fucked," Avery said, a bit of anger settling in. Luke looked at the banana, then the apple, then Avery, "Okay, so what?" he said. "I don't know. We've slept together before and not had sex. They know that," she said, trying to form an explanation.
Avery looked to Luke, who was fit with a smile, "What?" she asked, "You got a plan?" He nodded, "Follow me." She stood up from her place at the bar and did as Luke had asked. They made their way to the den, where all but Michael were. Luke snaked his arm around Avery's waist. She looked up at him confused, but he just winked in reply as the two started walking into the room.
"Where's Mike?" Luke asked, sitting down next to Ashton. He saw Calum and Brooklyn exchange a look out of the corner of his eye, but pretended not to notice. Since there was no more room on the sofa, Avery went to sit between Luke's legs in the floor, "No, babe," he said, pulling her onto his lap. They had sat like this before, but this time the atmosphere and occasion were very different. Although Avery wasn't quite sure what Luke was doing, she went along with it; she trusted him- for the most part.
"He's still in bed I think, "Ashton said, his voice wavering at the sight of their handsy actions. "Did he go out last night or something?" Luke asked, looking at the TV as he flipped through the channels. The three remaining people in the room all shared the same thoughts and feelings; they didn't know what was going on or what kind of questions they should ask in order to find that out.
They all decided to watch some stupid sitcom that didn't make much sense, until Michael joined them. He rubbed his eyes and squinted, noticing immediately the way Luke's arm held onto the small of Avery's back. He saw that she was sitting in his lap, and that her head was on his shoulder, "Is Avery sick or did you guys fuck?" he asked before anyone even knew he was in the room.
They all turned their heads to meet his gaze as Luke's hand found its way to Avery's ass and he gave it a squeeze. Calum's and Ashton's eyes widened, "We were all kind of wondering the same thing," Stella said, her statement referring more to Avery, who had promised to tell her everything.
Avery, still not completely sure what Luke was trying to do, looked to him for answers. He smiled, leaned his head back a little, and cleared his throat, "What's it matter?" he said. Michael laughed, "What's it matter? We've been betting on this shit since she moved here," he said, speedily joining his friends in the den. Avery repositioned in Luke's lap. "So what if we fucked?" Luke said, "What's that going to do for you guys? Are you going to jack off to the thought? Leave us alone."
Brooklyn laughed, "So when you and Av fuck we have to leave you alone but when Cal and I fuck everyone has to know all the details? Screw that, tell us what happened." Calum smiled and pointing at his girlfriend, "She's got a point."
Luke gurgled, "We had sex," he said, looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with anyone. Everyone's eyes widened, including Avery's. Her face immediately buried into Luke's chest as she didn't want anyone to see how red it had undoubtedly gotten. He smirked then frowned immediately afterword, "You guys embarrassed her," he said. He placed his hand on her back, "It's okay, baby," he muttered into her hair.
The other five were speechless. They all sat in silence as Luke rubbed Avery's back. Stella looked at Brooklyn with a harsh look, "Avery," she spoke up. Avery removed her head from Luke's chest. "We need to talk." Avery huffed and kissed Luke on the cheek, making his story of the night before more authentic. She trailed behind Stella and Brooklyn who took her to Calum's room, locking the door behind them, "Talk," Stella said sternly, as her and Brooklyn stared intently at Avery.
