Selfies with Luke Brooks

My dream home

It was everything I had ever dreamed of. I stepped in, in a daze. I tripped over a loose floorboard in my shock and braced myself for impact. Suddenly I felt warm hands clasp arould my waist and I realised I was suspended a centimetre above the ground. He had caught me.

"Hey, you alright there?" Luke said, as he lifted me up to face him.

"Y-yeah." I said, blushing. My heart was beating fast. "Thank you." I added. I noticed his arms were still wrapped around my waist, but to be honest I didn't want him to let go. We stared at eachother for what seemed like years, but couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds. Our breaths mingled. I could feel his heart beating faster against my chest. No, that couldn't be right. Luke Brooks- nervous? Of me? No. That definately couldn't be right.

"Anyway.." I said, finally breaking the silence. "Yeah." Luke added. He let go of me and I walked further into the spacious apartment. I looked back briefly to see what Luke was doing. He was blushing and running his hands through his blonde-brown hair, nervously. I turned back, it was too weird a sight.

The apartment itself was large, with lilac walls and a white chandelier decorated ceiling. There were huge windows either side of the the main room, lace curtains were draped over them. They had a perfect view of Melbourne, I would be taking a lot of photos in this apatment, I could tell. Empty picture frames hung on the back wall, the man must've taken them out before he left.

I decided I would fill them with photographs and memories of my family and friends back home, who had informed before I left, through their tears, that they would be visiting me as soon as possible. However, I could also imagine filling them with images of Australia, my new home. My dream home.

I skipped happily towards one of the two doors that stood side by side the other end of the room. I opened the first one I saw. It was just an empty room with a window in the corner, a dresser lay infront of it with a mirror placed casually on top, this room, I decided would be the bedroom, once my bed and the rest of my belongings arrived from the UK that is.

I guessed that the second door would lead into the kitchen and I was correct. An oven and a dishwasher were lined up against the side of the room as was a long granite counter. I walked over to the small sink, turned on the cold tap and splashed my face. This couldn't be real. It had to be a dream. I mean, I know most people would like something grander, but this place was mine and I loved it.

Suddenly a terrifying thought dawned on me.

"Luke! Come in here for a second!" I called, all memories of the awkward moment had temporarily vanished. Luke was outside, looking through the window. When he heard my voice he came running in.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" he asked me. He looked concerned.

"um nothing. Just that, um, where's the bathroom? There's only three rooms and the bathroom isn't one of them.." I trailed off, I felt really stupid. But you know, bathrooms are important and as far as I knew, there weren't any.

"Oh my god. Lace, I was worried for a second! I thought you were dying or something. It's out there." he said as he gestured vaguely toward the other end of the apartment. I tilted my head left, and sure enough, there was a small white door on the corner.

"Oh yeah. My bad.." I blushed the most I had ever blushed in my entire life. It wasn't just because of my mistake. Luke had said he was worried about me. Worried. About me. Me. I rubbed my eyes. Wow, who knew a couple of days in Australia could get so confusing. I opened my eyes to see Luke staring at me. He quickly turned around. Maybe he likes me, I thought to myself. No don't be stupid. You probably have some dirt on your face or something. Luke is waaay out of your league. Yeah, that made more sense. And anyway, I was too broken up over my last relationship to like someone, or have someone like me. I won't be hurt again, I promised myself. From now on, I would only think of Luke as my friend, and only my friend.

"Hey, my stuff isn't here yet so I might as well stay at Flora's until it arrives." I said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, or.." Luke said, turning around to face me. "..we buy some paint, y'know, make everything more noticable. Especially the bathroom." He added, smirking at me. I do love that smirk.. No Lacey! Snap out of it. No you don't, the voice in my head informed me.

"Great idea. When do you want to go?" I asked, expecting him to say tomorrow.

"How about now?"

He phrased it like a question but he was already walking towards the exit and checking his pockets for his phone,money and keys. I laughed.

"I guess I don't have a choice then." I grinned and followed him outside, locking the front door.

"Not really." Luke said, smirking again. He pushed a button on the lift and the doors slowly slid open. He stepped inside and I did the same.

"First floor, yeah?" I asked, double checking we were actually going now.

"Yep." he replied. I put my hand forward to press the button labelled '1'. But apparently Luke had the same idea because our hands brushed as he reached for it. I felt a thousand volts of electricity go through me and pulled back my hand.

"Sorry." I mumbled. I expected him to push the button but he had pulled back his hand too. Had he felt the sparks too? No Lacey, you idiot. It was probably an electric shock. Why else would you both have felt it? There goes that pesky voice again. While all these thoughts were bumping around my brain, Luke had pressed the button and we were descending down the lift shaft. Let's just say it was awkward.

It wasn't good quiet anymore it was just bad. One of us had to say something soon because I didn't know how much longer I could stand the silence. I was just about to comment on the weather when Luke asked;

"What colour do you want your room?" Thank god, he spoke.

"Ummm.. I don't know. What do you think?" well done Lacey, way to make or more awkward. Ask Luke Brooks what the colour of you bedroom walls should be.

"You really want my opinion on the decoration of your bedroom? Lace, is that really a good idea?" oh god why was I so awkward?

"You are the only one out of the two of us who knew where the bathroom was in my own home." I said, attempting to make a joke so he would forget what an idiot I was. He laughed. Phew.

"Good point." *DING* The lift doors opened and we stepped out.

"Well.. If you really want my advice, paint the walls orange." Luke said continuing on.

"Oh my god no." I replied. I hated orange.

"Why? Orange is delightful." Luke said with a smirk.

"Luke. I sincerely hope you're joking."

"Why would I be joking? It's my favourite colour."

"I can't even look at you oh my gosh.." I teased. Luke pouted. I pretended to hit him.

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" Luke put his hands up in defence. And just like that, we went back to being friends, as we walked into town no one mentioned the me-falling-over incident. Or the him-looking-at-me incident. Or the lift-touching incident. There's a surprising number of incidents for two people who don't like eachother, I thought. Shut up Lacey, the voice said.

(A/N: Thank you everyone who is reading this and especially if you voted or left us any feedback<3 We love you all :) ~Molly)