Only the better half of it

6 - Fuck off

Luke's POV

"By the way, Lily, you're far from weird and anyone saying otherwise is missing out on a very nice and cute girl."

Why the hell did this had to slip out of my mouth?! She probably thinks I'm some kind of weirdo or something, like, I've only known her for 3 fucking hours. God. I didn't miss her blushing though. Does that mean she was embarassed or I had this effect on her in a good way? Why am I even thinking about that? I can't date, not now, not after what happened the last time. But at the same time, I promised to Michael to follow my heart if she was nice. What did I get myself into?

I followed the guys to the table and sat at a random seat. We were at Porch and Parlour. And of course, the guys let the only available seat in front of me. Lily joined us and awkwardly sat in front of me, not daring to look at me. I slighlty sighed and got up, saying I needed to use the restroom. I got into the restroom and soon heard the door crack open, meeting a concerned Michael.

"Hey buddy, what's wrong?" I lowered my head at his question and played with my fingers, waiting for Mike to understand that I didn't really want to talk about it. He knew it was about Lily, so clearly I could just shut up and let him assume whatever the hell he wanted to believe. I was praying for the ground beneth my feet to open wide. The way I've been holding on so tight to my past is making me weak and vulnerable, I don't like it at all. Why can't I just be normal for once and stop worrying about stupid stuff like this?

Mikey was talking but I wasn't listening. I could just feel his ribs on my back, there were surprisingly comforting. I closed my eyes and deeply sighed a few times before nodding, indicating to Michael that I was ready to go back. He went before me, letting me breath a bit alone before I returned to the table. As soon as I sat down, I couldn't miss the worry look on Lily's face. I didn't want her to feel bad for me so I just smiled at her until she sighed and returned to her conversation with Ashton.

The waiter came to us for our order, and Michael being Michael, he instantly pick a pepperoni pizza, mentioning to the waiter that he wanted the largest possible, and of course, when the waiter said there were all the same size, Michael puffed and poured towards the window. I grinned at that while Ashton ordered for Calum and himself. It may be hard to believe, but Calum has huge social anxiety when it comes to ordering something or phoning a stranger for help. As usual, Ash took the salmon pasta and Calum took the veggie burger. I looked at Lily, silently asking if she had chosen yet, and I took her slight shook as my cue to order.

"I'll have the fish n chips, with a potato sauce please." I politely asked the waiter. He nodded before turning to look at lily for her to choose. "I'll take the same as him, please." She said, nodding in my direction.

We were served 20 minutes later and I was quiet during the whole diner, only making small talks here and there when someone asked me a question. I've learned a lot on lily though. First of all, she was born at Saint George hospital, in Kogarah, at probably half an hour from here. She stayed 4 years here with her mum and they moved to London as soon as she hit her 4th birthday. She told us that she only had 2 besties and no other friends: Josh, her childhood best friend, and Lia, that was her internet bestie. She's never met her but they both love each other to death and talk everyday. She told us all about how the life in London was super super different from here. Little does she knows that we've spent a lot of time in London when we started the band.

"So tell us, why did you decided to come back here?" Her jaw dropped and she became as white as a ghost at Michael's question. She stayed silent for a while, before getting up and saying that she needed to go have some fresh air for a few minutes.

"Good job, Mickey! You scared her away..." I quietly finished my sentence, I then prepared myself to get up but Calum stopped me before I could get up.