Imagination || L.H.

Chapter 19

As we approach my house, Luke starts to hesitate, fidgeting nervously. I pause on the front porch, turning to him. 

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," I murmur, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I want to," Luke insists. "I'm just really nervous. I haven't seen your parents in forever. What if they don't like me?" He bites down on his lip ring, his brows drawn together.

"I can't imagine why they wouldn't like you, but if they didn't, you would still have me." I place my hand on his cheek, forcing him to look me in the eye. "I'm not going to break up with you over something as trivial as that. Be a little confident. Act like the boy with a lip ring who's a lead singer for a punk rock band."

His mouth twists into a wry smile. "Just because Michael says we're punk rock doesn't mean that it's true."

"Well, today, pretend like it's true." 

Exchanging one last grin with him, I throw open the door, walking inside. "Mom? Dad?" I call out tentatively.

My mom turns around in the kitchen, a look of surprise fixed on her face. 

She almost spills her coffee in her haste to set her mug down. Her arms come around me in a tight embrace that makes it kind of hard to breath, ripping my hand from Luke's unintentionally. The second she pulls away, he reaches for my hand again, hanging on tightly.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" my mom asks. "I would have made you something special for lunch. Where have you been? Why did you take off so suddenly? Oh, honey, I've been so worried."

"Mom, I told you not to worry. I was with Michael and Calum. I was completely fine."

She crosses her arms over her chest, tossing me a pointed look. "You didn't look fine when you rushed out of here so suddenly."

"You're going to have to trust me when I say that I'm fine now. And I'm sorry for scaring you, I just... had to get out of the house." 

I can't look over at Luke, terrified of the expression I might see on his face. He already shoulders too much of the blame; I hope he won't pin all of this on himself. 

"And actually, Mom, I brought someone here to see you."

She seems to see Luke for the first time, taking in the long legs, broad shoulders, the lip ring and the hand interlaced with mine. Her expression is unreadable. I can't tell if she's happy that I finally brought a boy home after years of nursing a broken heart or if she's upset because Luke looks so intimidating. Anyone who knows him can tell you that he's one of the sweetest people in existence, but to an outsider, he looks like someone you need to watch out for.

"Mom, you remember Luke Hemmings?" I say, giving Luke's hand another comforting squeeze. I can feel how tense he is, can see it in the way he holds himself. But he manages an easy smile for my mom.

"Yes," she says, extending her hand out to shake his. "It's so nice to see you again, Luke."

Luke drops my hand for a split second to grasp my mom's looking perfectly comfortable. "You too, Mrs. Fuller."

My mom gives him one last smile. "I was just about to make lunch. Do you two want anything?"

I look to Luke, giving him the option to leave if he wants. 

He steps forward. "Lunch would be great, I'm starving."

Mom nods and heads into the kitchen to prepare the food, her eyes slyly watching us with great interest. I shift uncomfortably under her judgmental stare, but everything fades away into background noise as Luke turns to me, a secret smile designed just for me on his face.

"Where's the bathroom?" he murmurs.

"Down the hall, first door on the left."

As he heads off in search of the bathroom, I join my mom in the kitchen. 

She turns on the stove, leaning back against the counter, her gaze fixed on Luke as he rounds the corner and disappears from sight. Immediately, she turns on me. "Is he your boyfriend?"

I inspect a bowl of apples resting on the counter top. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Honey, you know that I just want you to be happy." Mom stretches out a hand toward me, but I dodge it.

"Do you?" I counter.

Hurt flickers across her face and I automatically feel guilty. "I do. It's just, after what happened with Blake, I don't like you falling for someone else. What if he hurts you too? I'm your mom, Kat, it's my job to worry. And I hate to say it, but I don't like the looks of this one."

"You can't make me break up with him," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You're right; I can't." She calmly returns to getting lunch ready, signaling the end of the conversation.

I grit my teeth, freezing when I spot Luke standing in the hallway, the look on his face saying that he heard every word. I stalk out of the kitchen and grab his arm, leading him up the stairs quickly. If my mom notices, she doesn't act like it. 

I shut my bedroom door, letting go of Luke and pinching the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and thumb. "How much of that did you hear?" I ask.

"Enough," he replies, his voice sounding strangled. "Kat, I don't want to come between you and your mother."

I look up suddenly, whirling around to face him. "Well, I'm not going to let her boss me around. She's not going to make me break up with you. She's not even being fair; she hardly knows who you are."

"I'm not worth getting into a fight with your mother over," he says, a sad look on his face.

I stride across the room so only a few inches separate us, my eyes flickering all over his face. They take in the delicate point of his nose, the defined line of his jaw, his cheekbones, the ocean blue eyes that can hold a thousand emotions. 

"You're worth it to me," I whisper.

A strange look crosses his face and then the next thing I know, his lips are on mine. My hands tangle in his hair, pulling him down to me. He slides his tongue into my mouth and I groan softly. It gives him the confidence he needs to hold me closer, to kiss me harder. 

We stumble backwards into my bed and fall in a heap of intertwined limbs without ever breaking the kiss. Luke's forearms rest on either side of my head as he hovers above me, every inch of his body pressed against mine. 

I use my tongue to play with his lip ring, coaxing soft, surprised sounds out of Luke that encourage me to keep going. Grinning slyly, I yank gently on the metal with my teeth. He shifts above me, leaning down further to kiss me with more passion. 

I don't know how long we're caught up in each other, making out on my bed, when my mom calls up the stairs that lunch is ready.

With difficulty, we separate from each other, breathing hard. Luke's hair is messed up from me running my fingers through it and I'm sure that mine isn't much better. 

He smiles sweetly at me in a way that makes me long to kiss him again.

"I didn't know you could kiss like that, Fuller," he teases lightly.

I grin, dropping one eye into a mischievous wink, causing him to blush. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Hemmings. Now, why don't we go get some lunch?"