Pure of Heart / l.h ✔️

42

~Seraphina's POV~

"I'll see you guys sometime tomorrow!" Carmen grinned at Luke and I as we sat in the living room, sitting far apart from one another on the couch. "I should be back around four or five." She smiled, to which he and I both nodded our heads at her. I wasn't sure why she had decided to leave so late on Friday night to go spend the night at Terrence's, but she had nonetheless.

After she hugged me goodbye, she left and I heard her car drive off just a minute or so later. Now it was just Luke and I. Well, and Chester, too. The second Luke was sure that she was gone and wasn't going to be coming back, he immediately slid closer to me and grasped my waist, pulling me into his side as South Park played on the TV. We cuddled up together, his other hand grabbing the blanket that I had over my lap and pulling it over himself as well.

For a while, it was silent, but Luke eventually spoke. "I've been thinking about getting an apartment just a few minutes away from here." He muttered, causing me to look up at him in alarm. He wanted to move out?

"What?" I frowned, tuning out the sound of the TV as I focused on him. "You want to move out?" I asked, peering up at him with a furrow in my brows. He paused and eyed me closely, probably aware that I was growing upset. It wasn't that I was upset at him because I wasn't. I was just upset at the idea of him moving out, being around even less. I liked having him around, knowing that I could see him whenever I wanted.

"N-Not yet, but yes." He answered, gently shrugging his shoulders. I frowned even more, absentmindedly grasping his shirt tightly in my fist. "When?" I whispered, my stomach churning anxiously. I tried to calm myself down, knowing that it wasn't as if he was going to be just leaving me out of nowhere. We could still see one another, anyways. "I was planning on waiting until after you've graduated in June." He said, making me relax. That wasn't for a couple of months.

"Oh." I breathed out, relieved that it wasn't too soon. Still, a small ball of disappointment sat in the bottom of my chest. "Why are you waiting until after I graduate?" I asked. "Not that I want you to move out at all." I quickly added when I realized it sounded like I wanted him to leave sooner, pouting up at him.

His full lips twitched up at the edges and he shrugged, his fingertips tracing over my cheek. "Because by then, I'll have no reason as to why I can't steal you away with me." He teased, making me pause. I wondered if he was asking me what I thought he was asking me, but I was too nervous to ask, not wanting him to laugh if it turned out that I was wrong. Maybe he hadn't at all meant it in the way that I had taken it and he didn't want me to move in with him, like I'd thought.

"W-What?" I stuttered, deciding to try my best to as subtly as possible ask him to elaborate more. I wanted him to say it outright, if he was going to be implying something like that. That was a massive step. However, I guess it wasn't much different from now, being that he was living in my house already. The only difference was there'd be no Carmen or my mother, that was all.

He smiled slightly and gently pushed my hair behind my ear. "You didn't think I'm just gonna leave you here, did you?" He chuckled, tracing over my jawline with his fingertips. I blushed softly and gently shrugged my shoulders, releasing the tight grip I realized I still had on the back of his shirt. "I dunno. Are you sure you'd want to live with me?" I wondered, making him roll his eyes. "Isn't that what I've been doing since I moved here?" He retorted, saying what I'd been thinking earlier.

I couldn't help but to smile. "Fair point." I murmured, looking down at the blanket as I fiddled with my fingers nervously.

"Where would we go?" I asked, curious. His eyes sparkled at my use of 'we,' and he smiled happily. "Not too far. I was thinking maybe thirty minutes away." He answered, and I hummed. I couldn't believe that this was something that I was actually finding to be an idea that I wasn't at all opposed to.

Our conversation slowly died down into nothing and we went back to watching South Park, his arms around me as we cuddled under the blanket.

**

I wasn't sure how or when we had ended up falling asleep on the couch, but I was woken up to the sound of footsteps walking into the living room. My eyes sleepily fluttered open, not yet processing the third person that had just entered the room. Not until my eyes landed on my mother, who was standing there with a more than shocked look on her face.

My brain woke up more immediately, realizing that Luke and I were certainly in a compromising position. The blanket covered our legs still and his arms still were wrapped around my waist, his chest against my back as he slept with his head nuzzled in my neck. At some point, we had moved to lay down sideways on the couch. I panicked and felt my face flush brightly as my mom's mouth opened and closed, unsure what to say. She knew about Carmen and Luke having broken up by now, but I was sure this was far more shocking to her than that had been.

I quickly sat up and Luke groaned from behind me as he stirred, grabbing my hand. "No," He whined. "Don't go, sunshine." He complained, trying to pull me back down to go to sleep. He didn't care that we were sleeping on the couch, and he certainly hadn't noticed my mother, watching us with her arms crossed over her chest. Weirdly enough, she didn't look mad at all. She looked confused, curious, but not a trace of anger was on her face.

"Luke, stop." I gasped, avoiding my mom's gaze as I carefully pulled out of his hold. My face was bright red, filled to the very brim with embarrassment while he grumbled behind me and forced himself to sit up. "But I wanna cuddle." He muttered.

He sat up all the way and it was then that he finally noticed that my mother was there, causing his eyes to widen and his body to tense. Neither of us knew what to say, or even what to do, so we just stared up at her as if that would make her disappear and this would have never happened.

Eventually, though, my mom was the one who broke the silence. "What...When....Uh." She sighed and shook her head, her brows furrowed as she tried to comprehend everything, sitting down on the opposite couch. Still, she didn't look angry. I wondered why.

After a few minutes, she spoke again, her voice much clearer this time. "What is...happening between you two?" She asked, looking back and forth between Luke and I. I looked up at him and his eyes met mine, his fingertips subtly brushing over my hand to reassure me that it'd be okay. "We're dating." I replied in a small voice, looking back over at my mom. He took my hand in his and squeezed, sending a wave of warmth through me.

She noticed his action and looked down at our hands briefly, cocking her head to the side slightly. "For how long?" She asked, confused. I paused and bit my lip, calculating it all in my head. "About three months." I answered, causing her to blink. There was a silence between us all that, strangely enough, wasn't awkward in the slightest. It was just the silence that passed through as my mom tried to come to terms with this.

Then, she looked down at Luke and I's clasped hands again and I swore I saw her lips pull up a little.

"Does Carmen know? I mean, she's fine with this?" Mom asked, and that was when the awkwardness began. Luke and I just stayed quiet, pursing my lips awkwardly as I gently shook my head. "No." I answered softly.

My mom let out a heavy sigh and stood up off of the couch, her purse swinging in her grip. "You need to tell her, Seraphina." My mom said firmly, the use of my whole name making it clear to me that she was being very serious about this. Nobody ever called me by my full name, especially not mom. I nodded and she sent me that mom look, the one where she's trying to say she's serious. "The longer you wait to tell her, the more angry she's going to be." Mom added, turning and walking up the stairs.

I watched her go, her heels clicking against the hardwood floors until the noise was no longer in earshot. When Luke and I were alone, he and I looked over at each other and our gazes met, his hand giving mine another squeeze.

A smile tugged at Luke's lips. "Let's just hope Carmen's reaction is like your moms."