"You look real nice

When you wear my shirt, baby

Let's stay in tonight

When the time is right, we'll go to sleep

Swimming and swallowed up in your linen sheets"

✰

Luke quickly rushes Arlo inside of the bookstore, immediately turning off the air inside the shop in hopes that she wouldn't end up getting sick. "I'll be right back." He promises, placing a chaste kiss on the girl's forehead before darting into the backroom.

As Luke grabs a towel from the back, he can't help the guilt that sneaks up on him. He didn't know how in the hell he didn't realize that it had begun to storm. He must've been too consumed in her words to realize that his girl was standing out in the rain the entire time.

Luke curses under his breath as he returns to the front of the shop, finding Arlo with her arms wrapped around her body as she trembles, her wet hair dripping onto the hardwood floor and her cheeks flushed,

Quickly, Luke wraps the towel around her shoulders and begins running his hands up and down the length of her arms, hoping to warm her up. "Are you okay? Fuck, you're gonna get sick, Lo."

The girl does her best to ignore the slight chatter in her teeth as the cool air conditioning of the shop works against her soaking wet clothes. "What about you?" Arlo asks innocently, her own eyes on the rainwater still rolling down his skin.

"What about me?" Luke asks incredulously, locking the front door before beginning to usher her into the back of the shop. "C'mon you've gotta get those wet clothes off." He doesn't have time to think about how his words sounded, let alone the fact that for the first time, someone besides Calum would see where he's been living for the past year.

"You're gonna get sick too." Arlo points out with a frown, her eyes curiously wandering over the part of the shop she'd never seen before. There are two doors in the back and Luke opens the one on the right, revealing a small bathroom.

"'M not worried about me." Luke murmurs under his breath as he leads her into the bathroom. He guides her to lean against the sink, giving her small body a once-over before he redirects his eyes back to her face. "I'll grab you a change of clothes and then you can shower. Is that okay?"

Arlo nods eagerly, her head still spinning from the kiss they'd shared. Luke's was too, perhaps even more than hers, but he was far too focused on making sure the girl didn't wake up with a stuffy nose and a nasty cough.

After tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear, Luke rushes into the room next door and frantically looks through the small drawer where he kept his pajamas. He didn't really know what she would want- he'd never given a girl his clothes before- so he grabs one of everything.

Luke returns to the bathroom with a pair of his boxers, grey sweatpants, his favorite white and black striped t-shirt, and a dark green hoodie. He sets the clothes on the counter beside her and glances at the girl, suddenly feeling nervous.

He clears his throat, his usual cocky demeanor nowhere to be found. "These are for you. Do you need anything else?" He gestures to the clothes he'd brought.

Arlo shakes her head quickly, a part of her amused at this shyer side of Luke. "This is more than enough." She smiles comfortingly. "Thank you, Luke."

At a loss for words, Luke merely nods and sends the girl a closed-lip smile before exiting the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door is closed and he finds himself alone, Luke runs a stressed hand through his hair, leaving his fingers tangled in the wavy strands as he looks around in disbelief. Had that actually just happened? Did he actually just fucking kiss Arlo Abbott? And she was his? Was he dreaming? He wasn't sure.

The sound of the shower turning on can be heard echoing down the hall as Luke forces himself away from the door and into his bedroom. The room is tiny, so small that he could barely fit a twin-sized mattress and a cubby of drawers in the corner.

As Luke strips off his wet clothes and changes into a pair of sweatpants, leaving his chest bare, he can't help but reanalyze his living space. Considering the air conditioning unit was right next to where he slept, it was usually freezing in the room, but if he turned it off it was too far hot. His mattress was on the floor for fucks sake.

This was no place for Arlo to be. She deserved better. But, there was no way in hell Luke was allowing her to go home in weather like this. It was far too dangerous to drive.

And maybe he'd been imagining what it would feel like to fall asleep with her in his arms for some time now.

Luke busies himself with remaking his bed nervously and dragging a few extra blankets out of the closet, not wanting her to get cold in the night.

"Luke?"

He pauses, turning on his heel to find Arlo standing in his t-shirt and boxers, her legs bare, her damp hair framing her face, and her skin free of any makeup. She holds the sweatpants and hoodie in her hands, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"These wouldn't stay on." She mumbles shyly, gesturing to the sweatpants.

Luke swallows, using every last bit of his resolve to keep his eyes from trailing down to her smooth, tan legs. Ironically enough, Arlo was having the same problem. She couldn't quite keep her eyes away from his bare chest.

"That's okay." He says quietly. Boldly, Luke reaches for her hand and tugs her closer to him. She was his girl now, there was no need for hesitation any longer. "Is everything else okay?"

"Mhm. Perfect" Arlo hums. "Are you okay?" The girl frowns as she lays her palms on the bare skin of his chest. "You're kind of cold."

Now that she's close, Luke barely knows how to function. She was in his clothes, smelling exactly like him from the body wash she'd used and it was enough to make his head spin. Luke was never like that before, so... possessive of the other girls he'd known. He had no fucking idea what seeing her in his clothes would do to him before he saw it for himself.

More than anything, he can't quite get over the fact that her small hand is laying on the bare skin of his chest. Arlo looks up at him with so much genuine care, her brown eyes shining with concern as she takes note of the way goosebumps rise on his skin.

She frowns, thinking the raised bumps are due to the cold. They were due to her touch, Luke knew it for a fact. He also knew that with the way her hand was positioned, she could most likely feel the way his heart had sped up inside his chest.

He was right.

Arlo pulls her hand away quickly, wincing. Her cheeks flush as she realizes what she'd done, so boldly putting her hand on his bare skin. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't say that to me." Luke cuts her off swiftly, snapping himself out of his daze long enough for his hands to find her waist. He balls the material of his shirt that rests on her frame in-between his fists, pulling her closer. "Not for something like that."

Arlo's breath stutters as the natural heat from Luke's body seeps through the thin material of the shirt she wears. Her skin feels like it's practically humming as Luke's hand travels up her side, tracing the silhouette of her jaw before tucking a strand of damp hair behind her ears.

"You're not warm enough for me." Luke frowns, the flush of her cheeks concerning him to no end. He snakes a hand around to the bottom of her spine, using the gentle contact to lead her out of the back room and into the main part of the shop.

"I am warm." Arlo argues stubbornly, already missing how close Luke was when he urges her to sit down at the table in the front of the shop. The same table where they'd written Money together only days before.

"I don't think so, sweetheart." Luke mumbles from where he stands in front of her. Due to how she's sitting, her head only reaches Luke's belt line, causing Arlo to have to crane her neck to look up at him properly.

"How do you know?" Arlo teases, her teeth capturing her bottom lip.

Luke nearly releases a groan, his blue eyes darkening at this new side of her. He was trying really, really hard to be good, but it wasn't his fault that she was in a very compromising position and her words happened to go straight to his dick.

Luke swallows thickly, ridding himself of the hundreds of scenarios running through his mind. She had just only taken him as hers, allowing him to have her in return and there was no way in hell he was going to risk fucking it up.

"Because." Luke begins simply, his voice low and almost challenging- daring the girl in front of him to argue. "These are giving you away, Lo." He bends over slightly, running his pointer finger lightly down the length of her bare thighs. He starts at her knee, allowing his finger to go until it hits the bottom hem of his boxers.

Just like he knew they would, goosebumps appear in the wake of his touch.

"Oh." Arlo blows out a breath, her small body practically trembling at the barely-there touch. It was barely enough to make contact at all, but somehow he managed to make her mouth run dry. "I guess so."

Luke smirks, not even trying to hide the cocky look on his face. "Mhm. That's what I thought."

He leaves her reeling as he disappears behind the register, going into a small room. Arlo recognizes it as the same place he'd gone to get them coffee the other day and figures it must be his kitchen- or at least the best kind of kitchen he could have without a stove and fridge and all of those other things.

While Luke is gone, Arlo allows a dumb smile to stretch across her lips. She was obsessed with how Luke made her feel and she didn't even have to hide it anymore. Not that Luke made her feel like she had to- she just hadn't learned how to show how she was really feeling before the kiss they shared in the rain.

Wow, he really kissed her in the rain? Arlo couldn't believe the romcom cliche her life had turned into.

She's so lost in her own mind, replaying every single moment and every single touch they shared, that the poor girl doesn't even notice Luke arrive back until he sets two steaming mugs of hot chocolate in front of them.

A surprised gasp leaves Arlo's lips as Luke gently tugs her out of the chair before taking the seat himself and bringing her to sit back down- on his lap.

Luke notices the way her eyes go wide and can't help but to let out a low chuckle. "What were you smiling about, Lo?" He asks, reaching his arms around her to slide her mug towards her.

The girl shakes her head quickly, doing her best to remember how exactly she's supposed to breathe. She was sitting on Luke's lap wearing nothing but his t-shirt and boxers while the boy himself was shirtless, a pair of grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips. Every time he moved Arlo could feel the muscles of his chest felt against her back.

"Just happy." She inhales shakily.

"Good." Luke says quietly. "Now drink up. I need to get you warm before you get sick." He says, gesturing to the drink in front of her.

"It's summer, I'm not going to get sick." Arlo points out, yet she picks up the mug anyway, taking a small sip.

Luke takes a sip from his own mug before narrowing his eyes at her. "Bullshit. You were shivering earlier."

Arlo rolls her eyes playfully. "Well, I'm not now."

The last of Luke's resolve breaks at the teasing tone of her words. Just as she sets her mug back down on the table Luke's hand travels up, finding her jaw and using a gentle grip to turn her head to face him.

He quickly connects his lips with hers, swallowing her small gasps and tightening his grip around her waist. Arlo turns eagerly toward him as far as she can in the position she's in, her chest heaving as Luke's free hand finds the bare skin of her thigh.

As Luke kisses her, it's different from the first they shared. The kiss in the rain was slightly rushed, lust-filled, and maybe even a little clumsy with the water running down their skin and wandering hands. This kiss is gentle. It's soft and passionate and it makes both of their heads spin so fast that they know for a fact they're too far gone to stop.

Luke is obsessed with the way she tastes and the way she makes him feel. The gruff boy had kissed hundreds of girls before, yet not a single one was capable of lighting the spark in his veins that the mere sight of Arlo could do to him.

"I think you're warm now." Luke says under his breath as he pulls away. The last thing he wanted to do was get too carried away. Arlo was inexperienced and he knew that he had to ease her into things like that.

After they finished their drinks, Luke leads Arlo back to his room.

Despite the fact that he knew deep down that Arlo would never judge him, the sight of his sad excuse for a bedroom causes an uncomfortable feeling to settle in his stomach. He'd laid in her bed back at her house. His mattress was no match for the level of comfort he knows she's used to.

But, as she always seemed to do, Arlo extinguishes every single one of his fears as she wastes no time in crawling onto the mattress and slotting herself against the wall. The small girl stares up at him with sleep eyes, pulling the blanket back in a gesture for her to join him.

Luke is speechless as he obeys, laying down beside her. Due to the small size of the mattress, their bodies have no choice but to mold completely one another. He can tell this type of contact is new to her as her body stiffens slightly, her hands hovering over his chest like Arlo doesn't know what to do with them.

"You're okay." He assures her quietly. It's pitch black in the room, but they're close enough that Luke can make out her silhouette as he finds her wrist, encouraging her to lay her hand on his chest.

"Am I too close?" Arlo worries.

"Never." Luke responds instantly. In fact, he doesn't think she's close enough. The blond gently trails his hand down her side, gently taking her thigh in his grasp and draping her leg over his hip. This allows him to pull her even closer.

Arlo hums in content despite the way her heart has begun to beat out of her chest. She rests her head on Luke's bare chest, her eyes fluttering shut as she takes in the feeling. She's never been so close to someone before, both emotionally and physically.

Luke slips a hand underneath her shirt, resting his hand on her lower back. There's something about the feel of her skin that's intoxicating to him. Combined with her soft legs draped over his waist and the way he can feel her eyelashes flutter closed against his chest, he doesn't know how life could get any better.

"Thank you, Lo." Luke says quietly, his voice low in case she had already fallen asleep.

She hadn't. "For what?" Arlo asks tiredly.

"Not giving up on me." Luke swallows, his fingertips drawing gentle circles against her back. "Even though I probably deserved it."