Lonely Hearts Club // Book One

Chapter Seven

"Paige!" I heard a familiar voice call as Luke and I walked into my house. Alice stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a wide grin on her face.

"Alice!" I walked over to greet her but she engulfed me in a hug.

"Is that your boyfriend?" she had whispered, yet to let go of the tight hug.

"No."

"Well in that case," she let go, saying out loud. "I'm Alice," she held her hand out to Luke, who was kind of scared that other people were here than just my normal family.

"Um, Luke," he gently smiled, shaking her hand briefly.

"Come, you two. Come meet Riley!" Alice squealed and practically sprinted into the kitchen. Maybe the baby's gotten to her head.

"Who's Riley?" Luke whispered in my ear beside me.

"My nephew."

"You're an aunt?" He grinned, looking down on me and I swear his height will be the death of me.

"Yeah," I blushed. "My sister had a baby last week... Um Alice is my sister."

"Whoa," he smiled, in awe.

"Luke," I rolled my eyes. "She's obviously too old for you and married." He chuckled lowly and stiffened. "What?"

"Nothing," he smiled to himself. "But your sister is pretty."

"Make sure to tell her that in front of her husband."

In the kitchen, Greg and my mum stood admiring the hidden baby in Weston's arms. Alice couldn't stop grinning and blushing, which made me happy to know that she's excited about her baby.

"Hi, Luke, I'm Weston," he introduced, flashing a pearly white smile over to the blonde next to me. I bet Luke and I looked awfully stupid in our Norwest uniforms. The sweater I had to wear was itchy.

"Nice to meet you," Luke said, "and nice to meet you too, Alice."

Flirt.

"Oh, um, Mum... I was wondering if Luke could stay for dinner? He and I promised we'd work on homework together but since Alice and Wes are here today-"

"Of course!" My mum interrupted, turning to me and exposing a tired looking Riley. He was absolutely precious. "Luke, Paige, come meet Riley,"

Luke's face lit up at the sight of the child, and for some odd reason, I found that quite nice. And strangely, it looked good on him. Everything did.

"You're awfully tall, Luke. How much, you think?" Weston asked, straightening his spine to see if he was as tall as Luke. Not even close.

"6'3 I think," Luke shrugged. If it wasn't of the baby powder aroma of the room, I think I might have fainted. How can a 17 year old boy be that tall? Only God could possibly know.

The rest of the night was simple as this: Luke and I were forced to hang out with my family the whole night without doing one thing of homework. He had changed clothes so he was wearing joggers and an All Time Low t-shirt. That was when Weston sparked a conversation about Alex and then how he wishes he could see them on tour. I didn't know what to do, so I asked to hold Riley and made funny faces until around 7. Wes and Luke were done talking about my favourite band and he had found his way next to me on the couch.

"Hey," he smiled, tickling the bottom of Riley's feet.

"Hey Lukey," I grinned back. His eyes flicked down to the kid in my arms as Luke hid a light blush that painted his cheeks. "Would you like to hold Riley?"

Luke looked almost surprised, but he seemed happy at the thought of holding my sister's baby.

"Have you held a baby before?" I asked and he shook his head, watching as I passed him Riley. Luke's hands were so gentle and he seemed almost amazed at the sight in front of him. Such beauty in one to the other. His hair had begun losing its style, a few strands were sticking to his forehead. Even though he's good looking when he's put together, I like him best as he is now. Tired and worn out. But his eyes wore a certain light to them, and his lips were bright and pink. From the time I've known him to now, he looked the most alive. I didn't even realise it, but he was talking to me the whole time I was looking at his appearance. How embarrassing.

"Look, he's so adorable." Luke was pointing out things that I never thought the guy would say.

I smiled, brightly. He sent me a wide grin, a toothy smile that made my heart hurt. I can't do this. I can't like him. I don't know him, I don't know anything about him. It was all clicking together, two weeks I had known him and something was happening. He was absolutely breathtaking, yet I knew a pea size about him and I can already feel something was happening.

He was staring at Riley in awe, like there wasn't anything more beautiful than a new born human being. "Someday," I heard Luke whisper. "I'll be a dad."

"You'd be a great one," I answered. Maybe he thought I didn't hear him, so he wore a heavy blush and wide eyes, but he evidently smiled. The conversation dropped after that and Luke had to go home. As much as I hate to say it, it was quite boring after he left.

Wes and Alice were just staying right on the outskirts of town, so that meant they left at around 9pm. And today also meant, summer break had started.

Chapter 8 will skip over summer break.