Luke's POV:
"Mum, I'm going out."
"With?"
"Calum."
"Where?"
"I don't know yet."
"Ok, fine."
"Alright, bye, I'll take my key incase I'm late."
"Alright. Hey Luke! Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"What?"
"How's your girlfriend?"
"Mom," I say "she is not my girlfriend!"
"Oh really? Then she should be."
"Mum she doesn't like me like that, at least not now that her brother knows."
"Well who cares? Ashton wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"Mum, that doesn't mean he wouldn't hurt me."
"Go for it." she says
"Go for what?" I ask
"Mary, she still likes you, I can see it, her mother can too. I ran into her today, and the subject was brought up. She said that Mary's not been eating and she gets so excited whenever you come over. She's even started looking in the mirror every now and then before she sees you."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"Well, her mom told me that she had stopped looking in the mirror a while back. I think she said Mary didn't like what she saw. I couldn't even imagine why she's insecure, she's so beautiful."
"Yes she is. I've gotta go mom."
I walk out to my car and call Calum.
"Hello?" He says
"Hey, I may be a few minutes late, and we may have an extra member in the group tonight."
"Whatever man, just hurry up."
I drive to Mary's house and park near her bedroom window. I see a few pebbles, so I decide to try to throw them at her window. After about three tries, she comes to the window and opens the curtains. I motion for her to come out. She opens the window and climbs out onto the roof.
"What do you want? It's like midnight!"
"I know, I need you to come with me. Please?"
She stares at me for a few seconds then goes back into her room. When she comes back out, she's dressed.
"I can't go down the steps, everyone's asleep."
"Jump." I say
"Excuse me?"
"I said 'jump', I'll catch you."
"Lucas fucking Robert fucking Hemmings, I am trusting you to not let me splat on the pavement."
"Don't worry, I've got you. And my name isn't Lucas." I let out a little laugh
She jumps and I catch her with ease. I stand there for a moment, holding her. I look into her eyes and the words slip out before I can take them back.
"You're beautiful, I don't know why you don't look in mirrors."
"Wait what?" she asks confused
"Nothing." I say.
I put her down and stand there looking at her. I don't have to look down on her that much, since she's not that short. I try to lean in, but stop myself.
"You're quite the Romeo."
"What do you mean?"
"I said you're quiet the Romeo. You threw rocks at my bedroom window."
"Oh yeah."
Mary's POV:
"So where are we going?" I ask
"Calum, Michael and I are going to a party and I wanted to bring you. I thought you'd like to go."
"That's nice of you, but I haven't gone to a party since the third grade. I think parties have changed." I say
"Don't worry," he says glancing over at me "just stay with me and you'll be fine. I don't do much at parties anyways, I usually just sit there and have a couple drinks."
"Okay." I say
We pull up to a house and I can hear the loud music. There's a bunch of people out on the lawn.
"Luke," I say "I'm going to be out of place."
"No you're not, just stay with me."
We get out and Luke grabs my hand. He guides me through the sea of people and leads me into the house.
"Hey Luke!" I hear a bunch of people say
I can feel their eyes on me, and I start to feel uncomfortable. The house is filled with smoke and the haze becomes thicker the closer we get to the back. Luke takes me to a couch and sits down.
"Do you want something to drink?" he yells
"Yeah." I yell back
He disappears into the crowd to go find a cooler. I sit and try to not make eye contact with anyone, then Luke finally gets back.
"Sorry I took so long, there were a bunch of people." he says
He hands me a drink and flops down on the couch.
"So, about the mirror thing...."he says
"It's a long story." I say
"I've got the time."
"Well, when I was younger, I didn't like the way I looked. I still don't, so I decided to stop looking in the mirror."
"Mary," he says "there's no reason for you to be insecure."
"Well, I had just been called ugly so many times. Everyone called me ugly and fat and it really effected me. Then, when I got older, I started to stretch out and loose all of the weight. But I'm still hideous, and I really don't see why I should look in the mirror."
"Well, I'm glad that you aren't skinny. I'm glad that you're you. Skinny or not, being you is the best."
"Well, you say that now." I say "But if you ever see me in a bikini or without a shirt on, for some reason, you'll think different."
"I might have a chance to see you shirtless?" he asks
"Hey," I say "don't be a fuck boy."
Luke starts to laugh and rubs his chin. "I won't."
Luke's POV:
Talking with Mary is getting easier and easier. I'm thinking about asking her out sometime, but I just don't know when. I brought up the mirror thing, and she's told me about it.
"Well I'm glad you aren't skinny. There's nothing attractive about being able to see a girls ribs or collarbone." I say
"Well if you ever see me in a bikini, or without a shirt on, you'll think different."
I perk up a little when I hear that.
"I might have a chance to see you shirtless?" I say
"Don't be a fuck boy." she says
"I won't."
I think about what that would be like to be in the situation where she'd take her shirt off, I don't know why. I think she'd probably be really good at it, considering what her birthday was like. I tell myself to calm down, Mary's not like that.
"Someday you might." she says
"Really?"
"No." she says
We sit there and I get more drinks. A few hours have passed by, and I haven't seen Michael or Calum.
"You wanna go grab a bite to eat?" I ask
"Yeah sure."
I go find Michael and Calum, then get Mary.
"Let's go to Waffle House." Michael says
"Why?" Calum asks
"It's like 3am and nowhere else is open." he answers
So we go to Waffle House, and Mary and I squeeze into one side of the booth with Michael and Calum on the other.
"So what did you guys do?" Michael asks
"Not much," I say "we just talked."
"Mhm sure." he says
We all talk for a while and then I hear Mary say my name.
"Um Luke, could you move your hand off of my leg?"
"Oh I'm sorry."
"I've got to use the bathroom, I'll be right back." she says
"Luke save it for later." Michael teases
"Seriously dude, I'm not like that. I'd never...... force myself upon her. I mean, yeah I've thought about that, but is never do that." I whisper
"So what really happened tonight?" Calum asks
"Nothing, we talked. It wasn't just like our usual small talk, it was a pretty meaningful conversation."
They look at me like I'm crazy.
"What?" I ask
"You're falling." Calum says
"What? No I'm not! I like her a lot, but I don't love her."
"Oh really? How do you feel when you're around her?" Michael asks
"I don't know. I just get this feeling and it swells up inside of me whenever she looks at me. And oh my gosh she smells so good and her hair and everything is just flawless. I just....ugh!"
"Wait," Michael says "whenever you see her, do you get the same feeling you get when the pizza guy comes?"
"Yes." I say
"Then it's official, you love her." Calum says
