𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

15. don't start something you can't finish

ashton and emma had been practically inseparable since emma and the boys came home a week prior. she had been staying at his apartment almost every night that week—which was starting to grow awkward considering emma had also been avoiding luke for the entirety of the week as well. he had made small attempts to talk to the girl, but she always dodged him or made an excuse to leave.

sure, maybe emma was dragging the whole ordeal on for far too long, but she felt utterly betrayed. she thought her and luke sort of had a good thing going—they had moved on from the past and were able to be friends. but now, emma had a feeling that their friendship would be facing major setbacks.

she was struggling with how to handle the situation. emma would normally confide in maya with any sort of drama the poor girl was dealing with, but considering the drama was about luke and involved things maya wasn't aware of, emma was left having to bottle everything up.

now, here she was, laying in ashton's bed as he snored quietly beside her. she would stare at the clock every twenty seconds, somehow wishing time would move faster so she could sleep. it was barely past midnight, and emma couldn't help but think the only person she knew who wouldn't be asleep either was right across the hall.

emma was fighting the urge to leave her boyfriend's room and sneak into luke's— she had been wanting to talk to him but refrained from doing so because she had no clue what to say. the stubborn side of her was very persistent— it kept her from swallowing her pride and forgiving the blonde who had been trying to apologize to her for the better half of five days.

luke heard the door to ashton's bedroom opening and clicking shut, which is what he had been waiting for all night. he knew emma would come out eventually, and luke figured she was going to the living room to watch television because she couldn't sleep. he decided this would be his last attempt to apologize. if she still refused to forgive him or at least hear him out, he wasn't going to waste any more time on it.

he was wearing a pair of plain grey sweatpants, he heavily debated on whether to put a shirt on but decided against it— he knew emma found him attractive, maybe he could distract her just enough to forgive him.

he quietly slipped out of his room, careful not to make any noise that would alert emma. he noticed the television screen was pitch black, indicating she obviously hadn't come out here to use it. luke noticed a bright light illuminating the kitchen and walked towards it—not surprised when he saw emma shuffling through the refrigerator. he cleared his throat, causing the girl to jolt backwards in surprise.

the scared look on emma's face disappeared when she noticed luke standing behind her. it took all she had to keep her eyes from wandering any lower than his face. she shut the door and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a questioning look as he continued to stare at her.

"can we talk?" his voice was barely above a whisper as he chewed on the inside of his cheek in anticipation. luke wasn't going to take no for an answer this time, he was determined to figure this out right here right now.

emma shook her head "i told ashton i was just grabbing a drink-"

this was the first time emma had talked to luke in days, and he chose to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat when she spoke to him.

"if you're going to lie, at least make it believable. you and i both know ashton is asleep by now" luke called her out, forcing emma to rack up any excuse she could find to keep her from having to talk with him. she huffed in annoyance after realizing she had no way out. she mumbled a 'fine' and luke had to force his smile away as he pulled her into his room and shut the door.

emma may not have recognized his room the first time she saw it—mainly because she had never seen it during the day— but she sure as hell remembered it now that it was pitch black. she bit her lip as she glanced at his bed, flashbacks of what they did resurfacing almost instantly.