Sugar and Spice / l.h ✔️

34

~Maeve's POV~

"I'm sorry..." Jase said awkwardly to me as I went to get into the car with him after school, making me look up at him and blink.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the hood of the car, looking ashamed. I'd never seen him with a look like that on his face before, not even once. I tossed my backpack into the backseat and slammed the door shut, staring at him. Still, he refused to meet my gaze. "Then look at me, if you're sorry." I said, and his dark green eyes snapped up to meet my lighter ones. I could see the regret in his face now, and I knew he meant it.

"You chose him over me for a long time, Jase." I stated, and he nodded his head, looking at me closely. "I know. I know I did and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." He said softly, and his eyes began to moisten as he quickly looked away. "I-I'm so sorry, Maeve. I'm sorry." He croaked, his tears glittering in the sunlight as they slid down his cheeks. I watched him cry for a moment, not saying anything as he tried to gather himself. "And I know that sorry isn't going to be enough to fix what I did. I know and I understand that, trust me. If you hate me, I get that, but I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I know we were never close, but I...I shouldn't have ever sided with him over my little sister when I knew how he treated you. There's no excuse for that. I was a piece of shit for it. You deserved to be treated better, and I'm so sorry it took me seeing how Luke treats you now before I understood what you really deserved to have." He said with palpable guilt, wiping his tears from his face.

"I decided I'm going to quit the football team. I know that's not really important to you, but I don't think I want to have to be around them all. I don't want to be around those types of people anymore." He said, and I blinked in surprise. Jase loved playing football.

"I..." My voice faltered when I tried to speak. "I forgive you, but I also think that you must understand that this doesn't mean it's all fixed. I won't hold it over you, but I hope you know it really will take more than a sorry before I can trust you again. You'll have to earn that, because a sorry won't do it, not after everything." I told him, and he nodded hurriedly. "I know. I'm okay with working for it. I just wanted to say I'm sorry anyways, because I should have said it the day he dumped you. I should have stopped being his friend then. I fucked up really bad." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, you did." A small smile formed on my lips. "Let's go home." I said.

**

Luke held open the door to Starbucks for me and ushered me inside, a soft giggle leaving me as I slipped past him. The air was warmer in here than out in the cool December air, but not too hot, or I'd be sweating in my white turtleneck sweater.

My pleated purple and white plaid skirt swished as I followed Luke up to the counter, deciding to order a chocolate cookie crumble crème Frappuccino and a blueberry muffin with a bacon, sausage and egg wrap while Luke ordered a southwest veggie wrap and an oat milk honey latte. After we ordered and got our food and drinks, he and I headed over to a table together, my white converse gently padding against the floor. We sat across from one another and I made sure to keep my long hair back, not wanting it to get in my face while I ate.

"How's things at home with Jase?" Luke asked before taking a giant bite of his wrap, whereas I was eating my muffin. "They're fine. Certainly better than before, of course. He apologizes a lot, so I'm pretty sure he actually does feel guilty." I answered, and he hummed. "Good. He should." He muttered, stirring his straw around in his drink absentmindedly. I nodded my head in agreement and sipped on my drink, my mind wandering a little bit. "Jase said he's quitting the football team." I mentioned, and his eyes flitted up to me, surprised. "Really?" His jaw slacked a little.

I nodded my head. "Mhm. He said he doesn't want to be around Nicolai and the rest of the team anymore." I recalled, chewing on my cheek. I wasn't really sure how to feel about his decision, honestly. I didn't want him to stop doing something he loved if it was just because of me that he was stopping. "Should I tell him maybe he should rethink it?" I asked, cocking my head to the side in uncertainty.

Somehow, Luke knew where my head was at and gave me a look. "No. If he wants to quit, then he's gonna quit. I don't think it has anything to do with you. He probably just can't stand to be around those types of people. Shit, I can barely stand it. That's why I don't talk to them." He said, and my lips twitched slightly as I nodded my head reluctantly. "But what if he blames me for having to quit?" I wondered softly.

Luke's pretty eyes softened. "He won't, blondie. I have a feeling he's quitting because everyone on the team is either a mindless lemming that follows Nicolai like he used to, or because they've actively participated in treating you like shit. They just enable him because he's captain of the team and his father's the coach. I don't blame him for not wanting to be around them." He said, his gaze falling to my lips. "He doesn't even talk to them anymore when he's at practice." He added, taking a bite of his wrap again.

"Really? None of them?" I asked, a little surprised. "Well, he tries to talk to me and I mostly just ignore him." His lips twitched and he gave me a playful wink. "But I think he likes me, blondie." He teased.

A little laugh escaped me as I finished off my muffin, secretly a little bit glad that Jase liked Luke. I wasn't surprised that Luke just ignored him, though. He didn't seem to care about making more friends. A thought suddenly popped in my mind. "Won't you talk to him?" I asked softly, leaning my chin into the palm of my hand as I peered at him. "I mean, he basically just lost all of his friends at once. He's probably just trying to start over, and at least he knows you're a good guy." I said, and Luke frowned at me. I gave him a hopeful, innocent smile and he groaned, throwing his head back as if annoyed. "Fuck, I hate it when you're all sweet and you give me that look. You know I can't deny you when you do that." He grumbled.

I smiled and playfully nudged my foot against his, making him look at me with a pout. "I love you." I said, and the look on his face softened. "I love you too, Mae." He muttered, a blush in his cheeks. My heart fluttered and I quickly took a bite of my own wrap, the two of us eating in a peaceful silence. I glanced back up at him after I finished eating and saw he was glaring at something behind me, making me frown and turn around curiously. He was glaring at a girl who was giving him rather flirty eyes, making her awkwardly look away. An amused giggle left me at his antics and I turned back to him, a smile playing on my lips as I sipped my drink.

His eyes landed on me and softened, a confused furrow in his brow. "What?" He huffed. I just smiled and shook my head, wondering how deep in love I could fall with him, and if I would ever stop. "Nothing." I said. "It's just cute. To everyone else, you act all..." I tried to think of a way to put it and then grinned. "You're like a spicy dessert. You try to put everyone off by acting kind of mean and spicy, but you're sugar sweet to me." I teased, and he furrowed his brows.

"I'm not sugary or spicy." He grumbled, making me giggle at the way he was pouting. "You're both, and I love them both." I said. He frowned at me and sipped his drink. "You don't hate it when I can be off putting? Even when we first met?" He muttered, curious.

I smiled and shook my head. "No, because you're much sweeter than you are spicy and that's plenty good enough for me."