Loved You First - Carrie/Luke x Reader

Chapter 2 - Can We Try Again?

The next morning, Y/N walked over to Julie's place a bit early before the band's rehearsal. She opened the door and her senses were automatically drawn into the sound of a quietly strumming guitar sound coming from the couch. As her eyes met his, his fingers stopped in their place and he smiled. He nodded her over to the couch, she shoved her hands into her pockets and walked toward him.

"Good morning," He said with tired eyes.

A light smile spread across her face as she took in his features. He had clearly been up all night, the bags under his eyes visible, a light red drawing in from the sides.

"Morning, did you actually sleep?"

"No, I couldn't stop my mind from racing after last night..." He blushed, moving his gaze to his guitar.

"Yeah, I couldn't really sleep either," She said, and let the room fall quiet for a moment. His hand moved from the strings slowly, inching toward hers. He met her gaze again to confirm that his actions were okay. She nodded at him and he moved swiftly to connect their hands. Y/N looked down at their tangled fingers and felt her heart pick up a bit again. As she looked up, she found his eyes already fixed on her. Her cheeks began to flush, as she tried to control her breathing.

Their sweet embrace was interrupted by the sound of Reggie and Alex's voices filling her air. Luke closed his eyes, scrunching his face in frustration, causing them both to giggle for a moment. He looked back down at their hands, lifting hers to his lips before winking and getting up. She followed his figure as he lightly jogged over to the boys. She pulled out her sketchbook from her backpack and drew her attention to the clean page.

"Luke, are you even paying attention?" Y/N was pulled back into the present as she heard the agitation in her best friend's voice. She looked up to see Julie with her hip popped, eyes raised at the boy. Her eyes wandered over to the other girl and she looked back him with a smirk. "Or are you distracted by a certain someone."

She watched as Luke's cheeks started to burn red and he met her eyes for a quick second before diverting his gaze to his shoes. She giggled a bit to herself before shoving her sketchbook back into her backpack and standing up.

"No worries Jules, I'm about to head out. I'll see you all later" She let her gaze fall across all members of the band, but her eyes fixed on Luke for a bit longer. He gave her a wide smile that she reciprocated, walking out the door.

Before she was even three steps away from garage, she was met with a familiar sound. "Hey," A tiny female voice said just above a whisper.

She took in a very casual Carrie in front of her. Her hair pulled out of her face in a ponytail, a sweatshirt draped across her torso with a pair of black leggings underneath. She had never seen the girl less than business casual in and out of school. She approached her slowly.

"Carrie, hey."

Carrie kept her hands in her sweatshirt front pocket, meeting her gaze with glossy eyes. A small smile landed on her face as they stood closer to one another. Neither girl said anything for a moment, but Carrie eventually took the lead.

"Look, Y/N, we ended on such a bad note."

The other girl scoffed at this statement. Bad note was such a discredit the screaming match that took place between the two when she found out Carrie had been seeing Nick behind her back. Carrie's gaze didn't waver, holding a sympathetic look.

"Okay, maybe that's an understatement." Carrie admitted, taking a breath. "I never meant to hurt you, I just didn't know that what we had...well that it was actually something that was going to last, or that it was even something that I wanted."

Y/N felt a punch to the gut at this statement. She and Carrie were both closeted at the time that their first kiss happened.

(flashback)

Carrie had a small bonfire at her place, and as the crowd dwindled, it ended up being just her and Y/N, looking at each other in the light of the flames. They sat and talked for another hour before the fire started to die. As Carrie went to say goodbye to her that night, instead of their normal hug, Carrie took her hand. Y/N remembered the catch in her throat at the time. She hesitated meeting Carrie's eyes, but finally let them settle on her kind smile. Carrie slowly walked closer to her and they both leaned in, letting their lips brush. The blushing girls exchanged goodbyes before Y/N walked out the door.

After that night, they were inseparable in secret. They rotated who's house they went to each night, holding hands and cuddling in the safety of their bedrooms. Y/N really fell for Carrie, so when she appeared on her doorsteps in tears one night, she knew something was really wrong. Carrie held her hands and told her quietly about her date with Nick and admitted she'd been seeing him for weeks. Her heart sank as her girlfriend tried to reason with her. She knew she couldn't make Carrie feel safe enough to come out, but she wished she'd told her before Nick came into the picture.

"I never rushed you, Carrie. I told you I'd wait." Y/N had said to her, looking at their interlocked. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie to me?"

Carrie let tears fall from her face "I'm sorry, I just couldn't. I knew it'd hurt too much."

Y/N let go of her hands, saying "I need time" before shutting the door in the other girl's face.

All these thoughts raced back to her mind as the girl stood in front of her once again. Y/N stood up straighter as she continued to listen to what she had to say.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Y/N. It was wrong and I was scared, but my feelings for you were always true. I was hoping that maybe we could start over...maybe try again?" She chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for a response.

Y/N sighed, inching a bit back from the girl as she shook her head. "Carrie, I'm sorry...I can't."

The girls didn't notice that the band had finished rehearsing and were watching them from the doorway. Luke looked at the pair with worried eyes.

"Last night, I had the best time with Luke. I like him Carrie, a lot. He is what I need and I will never endanger that."

Carrie nodded, her gaze raising to see the four bandmates, increasing her panic. She quickly tucked her hands back into her pocket and brought her eyes back to meet Y/N's.

"Got it, I knew it was a long shot. Well, I hope that goofy guitar player understands how lucky he is faster than I did." She gave her a small smile that Y/N returned "I'll see you later."

She exhaled loudly, watching the girl walk away before turning around. Her eyes widened as she saw the four sympathetic smiles of her friends behind her. Julie's eyes wandered between her's and Luke's before walking up toward her and giving her a hug.

"Let's talk later?"

She nodded as her best friend wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve. They hugged once more before she walked toward the house. Reggie and Alex both gave her quick hugs before following Julie, and leaving Luke and her alone.

She walked forward to meet Luke halfway. As they stood in closer proximity, she watched as his eyes trailed across her face in concern. His hands reached out to touch her waist lightly and pull her in. She felt a shiver up her spine at his sudden touch.

"You know, we don't have to do this right away if you aren't ready." He said, fingers tapping against her skin.

She nodded, holding his gaze "I appreciate that. I may go slow....but I know that what I want is to be with you." His smiled widened as he looked at her, pulling her in a bit closer.

She leaned forward with her hands on his chest and met his lips with hers quickly. She leaned her forehead against his, smiling into the embrace. They sat there for a moment before he broke the embrace, grabbing her hand and leading her back toward the garage.