Laced • Luke Dunphy

III

Jamie's pov

Luke and I are walking through Target. He looks older, and the ground seems farther away than usual. I'm... taller? After a while, I realize I'm wearing one of his hoodies and I feel something warm in my hand. I look down to see his hand holding mine, which startles me. I don't let go, though. I kind of like it.

He seems to notice something is off and he asks me if I'm okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, apparently unconvincingly, because he flashes me an I-know-you're-lying sort of look.

"Okay fine. It's just.. I'm wearing your hoodie. And we're holding hands. Since when do we do that?" He looks bemused and chuckles.

"What are you on about? It's been a few years now," he answers, grabbing a box of cereal off the top shelf for me because I couldn't reach.

"What has?"

"Jamie, are you feeling alright?" He presses two fingers to my neck and I push him away.

"I'm fine," I insist as he peers down at me, unconvinced.

"What's been going on for a few years?" I say persistently after a moment of silent walking.

"Us," he says, trying to find something.

"Us- what d'you mean us?"

"You know.. us. You and me. Together."

I stop in my tracks and he keeps walking, stopping after he realizes I'm not moving alongside him. I decide to try something.

Walking over to stand in front of him, I look up into his big brown eyes. He seems confused but I don't say anything. I just get up on my tippy toes and plant a kiss on his lips. He doesn't push me away, as I would have expected. He kisses me back and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.

My body jolts awake and I let out a small squeak of terror and confusion. Luke jumps slightly from the sound and turns in his chair to give me a perplexed glance.

"I'm fine. Nothing. Gotta go to the bathroom," I say, jumbling my words, and hastily get up. He stares at me as I walk stiffly out of his room and lock myself up in the bathroom.

What was that? Do I- no. He's my best friend. He's like a brother to me. And.. Why after all this time? It doesn't make any sense.

A small knock sounds at the bathroom door and I lift my head out of my hands.

"What?" I groan, turning the lock to let him in.

"You alright?" Luke asks as he enters,  closing the door behind him.

"Why wouldn't I be," I say, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You're a terrible liar," he smiles, sitting on the floor next to me, "What's up?"

I just grunt in response and he knows I don't want to talk about it yet.

"Hey, what was bothering you yesterday at Disneyland?"

"Oh uh, I overheard your parents talking and I think they wanna kick me out... Or worse, give me back to my dad." I scratch the back of my neck and look away, embarrassed.

"What- why would they want to do that? Everyone loves you." He says, putting his arm around me.

"I dunno.. they said something about how you guys all love me but that my dad may not agree... or something," I say, still not looking at him.

"Oh, that," he mumbles under his breath, apparently understanding all of this. My head snaps and he smiles apologetically before explaining.

"They just asked if we thought Mitch and Cam adopting you would be a good idea. They said we could think about it, but they're just asking for our permission, I guess."

"Oh thank God. I mean, aren't I already like part of the family? Do I really need all that paper work?"

I didn't want to say anything about my dream or my slight feelings toward Luke. He seemed to be keeping something else from me too, but i didn't want to push it.

We talk for a while before getting up and going downstairs to play video games. Claire and Phil smile warmly as we pass them in the kitchen and I try my best not to look like I know what they would be asking me in a few days or weeks, maybe even hours.

I suddenly feel very out of place in the house and fidget with my fingers. They had been like my second family since I'd met them, but right now it felt as though I'd never been here before. My fingers fumble tensely as we play, making my character do stupid things. Soon, I give up, making Luke laugh, and invite him over to see Basilisk, my albino snake.

"Where you off to?" Phil asks as we pass by the kitchen again.

"We're gonna go see Basilisk," I say, looking at my feet, "wanna come?"

"I'll take any chance to see a snake," He says, gaining giggles from Luke and I. We put jackets on and walk to my house.

I still live in my house, even though I'm technically an orphan. Although, I spend a lot of time at the Dunphy's. Claire buys me groceries and Phil helps me pay bills. I've had small jobs at stores or cafes since my mother died.

Basilisk hisses happily as he sees us enter my room. I gently extract him from his terrarium and he slithers around my hand.

"Here," I take Luke's hand and let Basilisk glide gracefully in between his fingers. The three of us watch as he makes his way up Luke's arm before I pick him off and put him in Phil's hand.

"Let's feed him mice," Luke says excitedly, making Phil's eyes go wide.

"I'll... leave that to you guys," he says, somewhat disgruntled and hands me Basilisk. Luke and I laugh silently as his father leaves and I go get the mice.