Gate Seven || L.H.

Hour Eight

I woke up completely tangled up with Luke. His face was pressed into the crook of my neck, his fingers tangled in my hair. Our legs were twisted together and his free had was holding mine gently. My other hand had been pressed against his heart.

Being this close to someone made me panic and I suddenly couldn't breathe. My hyperventilating woke Luke up and he looked up sleepily at me. "What's wrong?" He asked in a raspy voice.

"Um, I- um." I couldn't think straight. He realised how tangled up we were and immediately woke up completely, untangling himself right away and sitting up. I sat up too, hands pressed into the carpet behind me.

"Are you alright?" Luke asked in concern, his hands cupping my face gently. I nodded as I made my breathing slow. Luke ran his fingers gently through my hair to help me calm down, and it worked.

"Sorry, I-"

"It's fine," Luke reassured me. "I get it. Too much interaction. It's cool."

I reached forward and hugged him. "Thanks for understanding."

"It's no big deal," he replied, hugging me back. "I completely understand. I can go slow."

"So you wanna be with me?" I asked in a teasing tone when I pulled back.

"What- I- That's not what I- Lily, I didn't-" he stuttered. I just laughed and kissed him to shut him up.

"It's okay," I giggled. "If you want to be with me, just say it."

"I... I don't know," Luke sighed. "I mean, I've known you for what, eight hours? You spent about three of those hours hating me, but I couldn't help falling for you. I'm not sure what to do, you know? Because, if we're so much as seen together, you'll get swarmed. Paparazzi are gonna stalk you everywhere. Crazy fans are gonna hate you. Lily, I don't want that for you. You're so innocent. I don't want that to destroy you even more than you've been."

"So, you're saying, if you weren't famous, you'd want to be with me?" I asked, trying to clarify.

"No, I want to be with you now," Luke replied. "But I don't want to hurt you. Or scare you."

"Luke, I'm an introvert for a very simple reason," I said after a few minutes. "People scare me. I've been treated like an object for pleasure my whole life. I've been shown that people are bad, and that's that. You've started to show me that people can change. That, even if you've proved yourself to be bad and hurtful, you can change to be someone good. I trust you now, a lot more than I trust anyone. My parents were the only people I trusted, and yet you're the only one who knows why I am the way I am. If I can trust you, I'll do anything for you. I've honestly started falling for you too, so I'd put up with annoying paparazzi and scary obsessive fans for you." When I finished, Luke stared at me. Without warning he pulled me onto his lap and hugged me tightly. I was shocked for a moment before hugging him back.

"So?" Luke asked after I pulled back.

"Well you have to ask nicely Puke," I teased. "Don't be stupid."

"Lily," Luke whined. "You always have to ruin everything!" I laughed at this and kissed the tip of his nose. "Shut up Puke."

"Lily, if you don't stop-"

"Oh shut up," I said, kissing him again. Luke fell back against the wall as I straddled him, running my fingers through his hair. Luke pulled my bottom lip between his teeth before slipping his tongue into my mouth. I moaned lightly against his lips, my fingers gently weaving through and tugging on the hairs on the back of Luke's head. His hands went from my face to my waist, one of them slipping up my shirt to rub circles on my side. My breath hitched in my throat and I tried to ignore my rising panic by deepening the kiss between us.

Luke's hand went further up my shirt and when I felt his fingertips brushing against the side of my bra and his boner pressed against my leg, I panicked.

"Luke," I gasped, pulling away from him. He moved his mouth to my neck and I moaned louder than last time. His fingers were still brushing against my bra and I completely freaked.

"St-Stop," I choked out. "I c-can't-"

"Oh my God," Luke said quickly, immediately releasing me. "Lil, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"It's okay," I gasped, pulling my knees to my chest. "I just need a moment." Luke sat back, playing with his fingers with a guilty look in his eyes while I calmed down. Once my heart rate slowed, I took one of his hands. "I'm sorry. I just... I need to go slow."

"It's okay," Luke replied. "I should be apologising. Not you. It's my fault. I knew you wanted to go slow but I still went too far."

"Calm down," I said as I saw him getting all worked up. "Look, let's just forget about it. Let's um, let's get to know each other better, like you suggested before."

"Okay," Luke said.

So we situated ourselves to sit cross legged in front of each other, all our combined food and drink surrounding us. I had a blanket on my lap and Luke had a pillow on his.

"I'll start," Luke said. "Have you ever met someone who's changed you?"

"For the better? You," I answered. "When's the last time you saw all your siblings at the same time?"

"My birthday," Luke replied. "That's when Ben, Jack, Ash, Mikey and Calum hung out with me and annoyed me all day. What is one thing you'd want to change about your life?"

"Um... My parents constantly wanting me to go out and make friends. Who's the last person who got on your nerves?"

"You," Luke chuckled. "What's your nickname?"

"My parents call me Lily pop. What piercings and tattoos do you want, besides the lip thing?"

"Um, probably just a few tattoos that have meaning for me. And if I get married someday, I want a tattoo of my wife's initials on my wrist. Only if I feel like she's the one, you know? What about you? Any tattoos and piercings?"

"I want to get Wu-Wei tattooed on my wrist," I said, showing him the spot on my inner left wrist. "It's a Taoist saying meaning 'Action Through Non Action.' I've been studying Taoism for a few years now, and it's the religion I follow and believe in, and that's one of the main teachings. So I want that as a constant reminder of my faith I suppose. Do you want kids?"

"Oh yeah," Luke said excitedly. "I want a son who I can dress in like, Green Day and All Time Low shirts. And I want a girl too, but younger. So her brother can protect her. Not that she'll need it or anything, cause she'll take ballet but she'll wear a Pierce The Veil tee shirt with her tutu. It'll be awesome. What about you?"

"Um, I've never really thought about it, but I suppose. I don't know. I think kids are adorable, but I've never spent enough time with them to decide if I want kids or not. So, I guess if I find myself pregnant one day, I'll probably keep the kid, but I'm just unsure. Are you afraid of falling in love?"

"Terrified," Luke replied. "Love is a scary thing. Do you like the way you look?"

"I don't have a problem with my appearance," I said casually. "I mean, I was never surrounded by girls who made me feel bad about the way I look, plus I don't follow any like, thinspiration blogs on tumblr or anything. So, yeah. I'm okay with the way I look. Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Um, yeah. I guess. Why not?" Luke took a swig from one of the water bottles I'd brought. "What's your relationship status?"

"I don't know Puke. What's yours?" I took a small bite from one of the sandwiches I'd pulled out of my bag and was delighted to find it was peanut butter and jelly.

"Taken, I hope," Luke answered. His face showed his uncertainty and I smiled before saying, "Taken it is."