Close As Strangers~L.H.

Chapter 43

Luke's POV:
"I guess I better get going."
"Yeah, I guess you should."
"I don't think we should tell anyone about this."
"No, I won't."
"And I think we should wait before we consider making things permanent again."
"Agreed."
She leaves and I collapse, exhausted from everything that just happened. That girl can seem like a complete basket case sometimes, but I love her.
I suddenly get and idea and grab my phone to start doing some research.
Mary's POV:
I seriously have no idea what just happened. Maybe it was some kind of mental breakdown...I don't know, but I don't feel as angry now.
I've been doing that lately. I'll be so angry then I'll be upset and then I'll be out of it.
I walk in the door and James walks out of the kitchen.
"Hey!" He says, smiling, "I was starting to worry. I made dinner, if you want some."
I haven't really been able to look at him the same since I talked to Ashton. It isn't what he told me, it's what he made me think. I really started questioning the realness of my feelings.
"I'm not really hungry. I think I'm going to go to bed." I say quietly
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine...just tired."
"Oh, okay. I'll be up after while."
"Okay."
I go through our bedroom door and enter the bathroom. I keep the lights off because I just need to be in the dark right now. I brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I go to the dresser and get some clothes to sleep in. I still have that hoodie Luke let me borrow a long time ago, I didn't want to give it back. I lay my clothes on the bed and go over to the nightstand to check my pill box. I already took today's dose. I take my bracelets off, I have no idea why I still wear those.
I take my jacket off and throw it on the bed. Then I slip my shirt and jeans off and throw them in the hamper. I'm getting ready to reach back and unclip my bra when I hear the door open. I quickly put my shirt on and turn around.
"Sorry," he says quickly and shuts the door
I take my bra off under my shirt and put it in my drawer. I slip the hoodie and some shorts on and get under the covers, pulling them up around my chin.
My mind starts to wonder and I start thinking. Then I stop thinking all together and blankly stare at the wall. What feels like minutes later, James comes in and gets dressed for bed. I'm laying with my back towards him but I can hear him walk into the bathroom and then out. He walks over to the bed and slips under the covers.
I don't say anything so he'll think I'm asleep. He lays with his body against mine and his arm around me. That's how Luke and I would sleep sometimes.
I can't go on like this. Everything he does makes me think about being with Luke.
"Goodnight." He whispers
I lay there for hours before I finally go to sleep.
Luke's POV:
We haven't talked since that day she came over. I'm kind of worried about her. I just want things to be normal. I want us to finally have a place of our own and I want us to go to bed together and wake up together. I want us to have kids and raise them together. I want her to marry me but I don't know if she would say yes. She isn't very confident with relationships. She doesn't want to get into anything super serious for some reason.
I wouldn't just need her okay if I wanted to marry her, I'd have to have Ashton's too. I'm kind of afraid of what he would say. I mean, he likes me but does he like me enough to let me marry his sister?
Maybe we won't get married. Maybe we'll just do everything but get married. I'd prefer to get married, but I'm willing not to if it means I can keep her.
She's still living with that guy and as far as I know, they haven't broken up. I'll be honest, it annoys me a little, but I can't rush her. I know she'll do it when she thinks the time is right.
Mary's POV:
I think today might be the day I end things between us. I'm really nervous because I don't want to do this in a cold hearted way but I also don't want to do this in a really nice way.
We wake up and start are day like it's just an ordinary day. It's Saturday, so he didn't have to go to work.
"Hey, can we talk?" I ask, finally working up the courage
"Yeah, sure."
I take a deep breath and start walking around.
"I'm just going to put everything out here."
"What do you mean?"
I keep pacing around.
"Lately I've been thinking about us and I didn't know if this was going to happen or not."
"What's going on?"
I stop walking and face him.
"I talked to someone and they made me reconsider this relationship."
"Okay? Who did you talk to?"
"I can't say. But they got me thinking. Do we really have any feelings to build a relationship on?"
"So you think we don't like each other?"
"Just listen to me. We've been dating for a while and you've told me you love me once...I haven't told you I love you at all. I hate to say this, but that one time you told me you love me I didn't...I didn't feel anything. I think we took feelings and molded them into something we wanted to call love."
"This is about Luke, isn't it?" He says, looking up at the ceiling
"Well...no."
"So you're going to tell me that if we were to ever break up, you wouldn't consider going back to him?"
"I mean...I'd consider it." I say, telling him the truth
He stands looks at me but I can't look at him.
"The only thing is...do you feel the same."
I finally look over at him and see he's still looking at me.
"The truth?" He asks, his eyes scanning my face
I nod.
"Yes," he sighs,"I do. I thought I loved you."
I'm not going to lie, him saying that felt like a punch to the gut.
"I agree with you. I think we just thought we loved each other."
We sit in silence but he laughs a little.
"What's so funny?"  
"It's just...it took us almost a year to realize this."
I let out a light laugh.
"I think I was just so upset about Luke moving on that I felt I needed to move on. But that wasn't the only reason I wanted to go out with you."
"So do we break up?" He asks
"I guess."
"Okay."
"I guess I'll get my things..."
"I'll help you."
Just like that it was over. No tears, no fighting. Just an agreement.
We get the last of my things in my car.
"I want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk." He says
"And I want you to know that you're a really great guy and any girl is lucky to have you. You're going to find the one, I promise. And you can call me if you ever have a crisis."
Before we know what we're doing, we start hugging.
"See you around." He says as I get in my car
I wave and he waves back. This feels strange because it went over so easy. I don't think I should go straight to Luke, so I go home to have some more "sibling bonding time."
*
When I asked Ashton what he wanted to do, he said mini golf, so that's where we go.
"Why mini golf?" I ask
"I don't know. Last time I played it, it was just regular sized golf."
"I don't see how this is 'sibling bonding.'" I say, putting air quotes around sibling bonding
He stops focusing on the ball and looks over at me, "We play. We talk. We bond."
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know," he says, focusing on the ball again, "just pick a topic."
"Okay...how's Landyn?" I ask as soon as he finally putts the ball
"Do what?" He asks, his golf ball missing where he wanted it to go by a mile
"You know, that girl, Landyn."
"Oh," he clears his throat, "she's fine I guess. I haven't talked to her."
"You should."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"For the same reason you can't talk to Luke."
"I don't see the similarities."
"I can't talk to her because I realized how much I like her. But I'm nervous things won't go well."
I think about it for a minute.
"I don't get how that applies to me." I say, attempting to hit my golf ball
"You liked Luke and then you really liked Luke. You loved Luke and now you're realizing just how much you love him. You're scared that if you try to be permanently committed, something will go wrong."
"You know, you should get paid to do this for people. You're pretty good."
"Like I said, it's only because I've known you your whole life."
"Okay, so if I'm so scared to get serious with Luke, why did I break up with James?"
"You guys broke up?"
"Mhm. Today, actually. We both just agreed that we didn't think we had any strong feeling for each other."
"And it was over, just like that?"
"Yup."
"You don't seem to upset about it."
"That's because I'm not."
He hits his ball and it bounces off of the side of the course and lands in a fake pond.
"Shit. That's game, you win. Let's get some food."
"So if I'm going to try to make things better with Luke, why can't you at least talk to Landyn?"
"I don't know. She just makes me nervous."
"I think if I can talk to someone, you can."
"So...you and Luke."
"What about us?" I say, not saying anything about him changing the subject
"Do you think you will ever marry him?"
"I don't know. Maybe if he asked. I just get nervous when I think about marriage. What if we get married and then realize we don't want to be married? I've seen relationships that have abruptly ended."
"Are you talking about Mom and Dad?"
"I don't know. I don't even remember that."
"I think you are. You can't think you're relationship is going to be like theirs. If you do you'll never be in one that makes you happy."
Neither of us talks for a while.
"But what if he were to ask me to marry him?"
"That would be great. But e would have to ask me first."
Luke's POV:
I still haven't seen her and it has been weeks. I need to see her.
I've mostly been spending my time at Michael's apartment. I wish I could have a place of my own, but it's pointless because we stay away for so long. Today we were going to try to have all four of us hang out here, but Ashton had something to do.
"You're seriously thinking about getting married?" Calum asks me
"Yeah."
"Why would you want to do that right now?" Michael adds
"I guess so something like last time doesn't happen again."
"Where would you live?"
"I guess we would get a place."
"Can I be the best man?" Calum asks
"Hey, I'm supposed to be the best man!" Michael yells
"Actually, he would probably want one of his brothers to be the best man." Calum says
"I don't know. There's you two, Ashton, Ben and Jack- Wait, she has to say yes first!"
"But when she does, can it be me?"
"I don't know, let's not get too excited about a wedding that might not happen."
"But it's kind of exciting to think about." Michael says
"Yeah. Just think, this time next year you could be married. It's weird to think about."
"Can we just not talk about this right now? It's making me nervous. I don't know what I'm going to ask her with or how I'm going to do it or when-"
"Woah, calm down. You're talking fast. We'll help you."
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"You could talk to her friend," Michael says, picking up a take out carton, "she lives across the hall."
"Really?"
He nods.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I don't know, it didn't seem to be relevant until now."
"Should I ask her now?" I say, standing up
"You said you didn't want to think about it right now."
"I know, but now I do."
I open his door and walk over to her's.
She opens it after the second knock.
"Hey Luke."
"Hey. Is Mary here?"
"No. Why?"
"I need to talk to you."
She lets me in and we stay near the front door.
"What do you need to talk about?"
"Do you think Mary would Mary me and if so can you help me figure out how to ask her?" I ask quickly
"What?" She asks
"Do you think-"
"No, I know what you said. I just...you want to marry her?"
"Yes, badly."
"Are you two back together?"
"Well, no. She still has to break up with that guy."
"Oh, she hasn't told you?"
"Told me what?"
"They broke up like two weeks ago."
"No...she didn't tell me that."
"Yeah...I guess she just didn't know if it was time to tell you. But why did you come to me about you marrying her?"
"What? Oh, uh I was thinking about asking her but I have absolutely no idea how to get her to say yes. You're her best friend so..."
"You want me to help you?"
I nod my head.
"Okay...do you have anything planned?"
"Not a single thing." 
"Okay, wow."
"I don't know what kind of ring she would like or what could get her to say yes."
"Don't ask her in front of a lot of people," she says, walking over to her laptop, "try to not make her feel pressured."
"What are you doing?"
"I was hoping you guys would get married some day, so I started looking up some rings."
"But how did you know I would come to you?"
"Eh, just a gut feeling I guess."
She shows me a bunch of rings.
"I remember one time we started talking about when we get married," she says, "and we talked about what we like. She isn't very extravagant or gaudy, but she does like this one."
She shows me a picture of a ring with a silver band and one white diamond in the middle with two smaller ones on the sides of it.
"Sarah," I say, "I'm not the richest guy in the world."
"I know, none of us are. But she's very simple, and simple isn't too expensive."
She shows me some more and then closes her laptop.
"I have an idea."
"Okay..."
"This is going to seem kind of cheesy-"
"Cheesy is my specialty."
  "Yeah, I've heard. But I think she would be able to say yes if you ask her privately. Don't take her to the biggest restaurant because there will be a lot of people. I think you should do something for her and then ask her. That simple. No flying doves, no fireworks, nothing crazy."
"Just us."
"Exactly."
"Thanks." I say, walking to the door
"No problem, I've been planning this since the day she told me about you."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Hey, don't let any of this slip to anyone. Especially her."
"My lips are sealed."
I walk back over to Michael's apartment.
"So, how did it go?"
"I didn't know asking someone to marry you could be so stressful."
Mary's POV:
I've moved back into Mom's house since we broke up. I feel bad about not telling Luke that we broke up, but I don't know...If he knows I'm single again, he'll want to jump back into a relationship.
Life has been pretty normal lately. The guys are on break right now, which is good because Christmas is coming up. Ashton being around has seemed to lift our spirits. Mom is dancing around the house and singing, even after working a twelve hour shift.
I've been in a better mood too, I'm not getting so upset. I start thinking about Luke and I decide maybe I should call him.
"Hola." He says when he picks up the phone
"Hola." I say back
"You sound like you're in a good mood."
"I am, actually. Ashton's home, Mom's happy, Christmas is just a few weeks away. Everything seems perfect right now."
"I'm glad you're happy. I hated seeing you upset."
"I hated being upset."
I don't say anything and neither does he.
"Hey," he says, "can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"That...guy. Are you still..."
"No."
"Okay, good. So now I can ask you what I wanted to ask a few weeks ago. Do you think we could...you know..."
"I don't know. Do you think we could?"
"As a matter of fact I do."
"I do too."
"Will you go out with me...again?"
I don't say anything at first.
"You still there?"
"Yeah, sorry. I had to do something for Mom." I lie
"So..."
"Yes, I will."
"Really?"
"Yes. I'll go out with you."
"Do want to go on a date with me?"
"When?"
"Now."
"Now?"
"Yeah, now."
"Sure, let me get ready."
"Okay, please hurry. It's freezing out here."
I walk over to my window and see him standing out there in the middle of the street.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting on you."
"Come inside."
I walk down and let him in.
"Are you crazy? Why didn't you just call me from your house?"
"I wanted to be here when you said yes."
"You could have at least stayed in your car."
"But then you wouldn't have been able to see me."
"You're weird." I say, slipping my boots on over my fuzzy socks
"So are you. You wear fuzzy socks with boots."
"Fuck off." I mumble as I get my coat and scarf out of the closet
He lets out a little laugh and stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets.
"You look nice and warm." I say, motioning to his bundled clothes
"You know how cold I can get. So I had to put on a t-shirt, hoodie, jacket and a beanie."
I reach up and pull the beanie off his head to reveal his flat hair.
"Hey!" He yells, flailing his arms to get the beanie
"Nice bed head." I say
"I've been feeling really tired and cuddly lately because of the cold. But I don't have anyone to cuddle with me." He says, pouting
"Aw. I see you put the lip ring back in."
He reaches up and touches it, "Just for you."
We walk out the door to his car.
"What do you want to do?" I ask
"Let's go get ice cream."
"Seriously?" I ask, grabbing his hand, "It's so cold. And your hands are freezing!"
"They always are. Plus it won't be cold inside."
I give up and let him take us to get ice cream.
"What do you want?"
"I'll just have a small cookies and cream."
I get my cookies and cream and he gets a milkshake.
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..." He starts to sing as we walk to a table
"No."
"And they're like," he clicks his tongue and gives me the stupidest look while pointing at me, "it's better than yours."
"Stop."
"Damn right, it's better than yours."
"I should have known."
"I can teach you, but I have to charge."
"Luke."
"La la la la la."
"Lucas."
"Warm it up."
"Stop."
He looks over at me and starts to giggle.
"I had to. I'm just in such a good mood now. La la la la la the boys are waiting."
"I can't believe I associate myself with you."
"It's because you love me." He says, throwing his head to the side and flashing a goofy smile
"Wow, you really are in a good mood today."
"Yup!"
"Why?"
"Can't tell you."
"Yes you can."
"No I can't."
"Fine. I'll get it out of you eventually."
"Eventually."
I eat my ice cream and he doesn't drink his milkshake.
"Why aren't you drinking your milkshake? You were so excited for it."
"Well, I took a few sips and then I remembered something I saw in a movie once."
He gets up and comes back.
"What?"
He whips out an extra straw.
"Will you sip with me?"
"This is so cheesy."
"It's romantic."
"Luke, you and I both know you're not as romantic as you'd like to think you are."
"That's not true! I'm the most romantic person in the world."
"Okay, sure."
"Just drink the damn milkshake and gaze romantically into my eyes." He jokes
We put our straws in and try to look each other in the eyes but he ends up smiling.
"What?" I ask
Luke's POV:
It's been a few weeks since I talked to Sarah and I saved up enough money to buy a simple ring. It isn't much, but it's something to ask her with. Sarah told me that we can get her an actual ring after she says yes, and this one is just temporary.
I'm just so happy right now. I'm home with my family, everything is good between us and pretty soon my life is going to change. I just don't know if I should do this now.
She pulls back from her straw and looks at me.
"What?"
"What?"
"Why are you smiling at me like that?"
I didn't even realize I was smiling at her.
"Because you're beautiful."
She smiles and looks down at the table.
"Hey, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while." She says
"Okay."
"Remember when we did the whole ring thing before you left?"
I nod.
"I was wondering...do you still have that?"
I pull my hand out from my sleeve and show her my hand.
"It hasn't left my finger since then."
"Neither has mine."
"Hey,"
"What?"
"Do you remember graduation?"
"How could I forget?" 
"Yeah...we were engaged to be engaged. Does that still count?"
"I don't know," she says, leaning across the table, "does it?"
"I, uh, I mean for me it does."
"Then it counts for me."
I go back to drinking and so does she. I look up at her and she looks up at me. Before I know what's happening, she kisses me. It's been a while, but I never forgot how kissing her made me feel. It takes away my breath and I pull back.
"Will you marry me?" I say quickly and quietly
"Do what?" She asks, pulling back
"I've been wanting to do this for years." I reach into the pocket of my jacket, which is where the ring has been since I bought it, "Will you marry me?"
She covers her mouth with her hand.
"Luke."
That's all she can say.
"I mean it this time. I wasn't really planning on asking you in a Dairy Queen, but I have to ask you...now. Before it's too late."
"I..."

AN: Cliffhanger! *que evil laugh*
Not gonna lie, if Luke Hemmings proposed to me in a Dairy Queen I'm 99.999999999999% sure I'd say yes.
On another note, I'm going to be wrapping this up soon so the chapters will probably be much longer compared to how they used to be.