Lonely Hearts Club // Book One

Chapter Forty-One

"Just be very quiet," I whispered to him. My mum was home, so was Greg. But I didn't want to say goodbye to Luke just yet. I still couldn't get over the fact that he loves me. He followed me up the stairs, feeling the walls beside him as there wasn't a single light on in the house. We reached my bedroom and almost immediately he started to kiss me. With his hands cupping my cheeks, he wasn't being as gentle as he usually was, but for some reason I was okay with that.

I began kissing back, but pulled us over so I could shut the door quietly. He placed his hands on my waist when mine went up to behind his neck. My fingers wrapped themselves around small tuffs of his soft hair and he tensed up, smiling into the kiss.

"Wow, you're so perfect," he hummed onto my lips as he began to lift my shirt up slowly. I slid off the plaid shirt and began to unbutton his while we still kissed. This was crazy. This was insane. I'm perfect? I'm pretty sure he is. And I was so lucky that I live in a family of deep sleepers. He broke the kiss to take off my tank, and I was on the last few buttons of his own shirt.

Luke let me slip his shirt off for him, but I kept my hands on his chest, feeling the warm skin against my palms. His large hands rested on my lower back and moved down to my thighs so he could place me down onto the bed. With him on top of me, he began to leave sloppy kisses along my neck while my hands were on his.

"I'm so in love with you," he whispered, lips against my jaw as he pressed soft yet simple kisses to it. I remained silent and stared at the ceiling with a big smile. How did I get to be so lucky? His hand tangled itself into my hair and he gave me one last kiss on the lips before laying down next to me.

I figured at some point, we might actually get to that stage in the relationship where... Sex. I figured we'd have sex at some point. But the both of us knew tonight was not the night, especially since my family was home. We weren't ready, and I didn't have a condom in my room. I don't think.

I shivered at the thought of getting far with Luke. It kind of made me excited, to be honest. As he traced shapes against the skin on my forearm, the both of us were drifting off to sleep.

I continued to stare at the ceiling. I couldn't imagine how he felt. He said he loves me and each time I don't respond, it probably hurts a little more. I couldn't make myself fall in love, but that didn't mean there weren't butterflies when I saw him or he said my name. I can hardly breathe when I'm with him.

I kept thinking, back to the beginning. I would do anything to see him smile and to make sure that he was okay. If he was upset, I would go out of my way to make him happy again. I've felt strongly about him since last summer, and I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that he actually loves me. Wow.

Eventually, the clock read 3:42 am, and the boy beside me was in a light sleep. He was on his side, facing me. I decided to turn to face him, too, but his hand was still clinging onto my arm. That caused me to smile. I wanted to think that he was afraid I'd leave, so he kept ahold of me. But that was just a thought.

I brought my left hand up to his cheek and grazed it with the tips of my fingers as I continued to smile.

"Maybe," I whispered, staring at the small smile on his own lips. "I love you, back."

--

A few days later, things felt completely normal again. Everyone was stressed out about graduation in the next month, and the freaking out about formal was now over. Frankly, I still couldn't shake the fact that he said he loves me. I've repeated that a million times, even though I know how young we are, it was just so surreal.

School had just ended, and once again, Luke was not there. He was gone yesterday for a day with Liz, but he said one day. It was Monday, October 27th, and I was happy to say that Calum and I were going to go to Nelly's at 5 for the infamous pizza we hadn't had in months.