"And afterwards we drop into a quiet little place

And have a drink or two

And then I go and spoil it all

By saying something stupid like "I love you"

The time is right your perfume fills my head

The stars get red and oh, the night's so blue

And then I go and spoil it all

By saying something stupid like "I love you""

✰

For the first time in a long time, Arlo Abbott was alone- in her hometown of all places.

Arlo hadn't stepped foot in her hometown more than five times in the last three years. There were too many memories hidden in the cobblestone streets where rain-soaked kisses were shared and park benches where ice cream was eaten on a summer day with his jacket around her shoulders.

But, her dad was leaving for work again and this project would take longer than normal. So, while the band finished up a few things in the city, Luke let Arlo drive his shiny red vintage car the few hours back to their hometown.

At first, Arlo had refused and insisted on getting an uber back home, but of course, once Luke had his mind made up about something, there was nothing that was going to change it. Arlo drove so carefully for the four-hour drive that you'd think she was taking a driver's test to get her license all over again.

Halfway through the drive, Arlo received a frantic call from Luke.

As she answered the phone, all she could hear was screaming and for a moment, her heart dropped straight to her stomach. The girl pulled off of the road with her heart in her throat as she frantically asked Luke what was wrong.

He told her that Youngblood had climbed to number one on the charts and it didn't look like it had any chance of slowing down either. It was becoming the biggest song of their career and the label was predicting great things for the album.

It sounded a lot like Luke was crying, even if he denied it. Regardless, Arlo told him countless times how proud she was of him and how she couldn't wait to see him again in a few hours before encouraging him to go celebrate with the rest of the band.

So, while her rockstar boyfriend parties in New York, Arlo sits with her father in the town where they struck it big.

The last time she'd seen him, he'd come to visit her in LA. He met Beckham and they spent their limited time together doing her dad's favorite activity, trying out new restaurants.

To everyone else, it probably didn't make sense, but to Arlo the simple activity meant everything.

She'd always been closer to her father growing up and she had no doubt that was due to the way her father would take her to try new food while on business trips and make her feel included whereas her mother often stuck her in a dressing room chair while she bought expensive clothes.

Until his business picked up when Arlo was starting high school, Arlo and her father had a tradition of finding somewhere new to eat every weekend. It was something fun for them to do and they both enjoyed traveling, plus the few hours they spent laughing in the booth of some restaurant was where they had their best conversations.

"Arlo?"

Arlo drops her fork onto her plate, creating a loud sound that makes her wince as she startles herself. "Sorry." She apologizes sheepishly to the man sitting across from her. "What did you say?"

Her father waves her off, for he recognized the look on her as clear as day. His daughter looked utterly lovesick, but he wasn't too sure why she looked so lovesick looking down a specific street. "What's up with that street corner? You've been lookin' at it for ten minutes now."

Arlo shrugs, her cheeks flushing as she looks at the plate of food in front of her. "Just thinking." She says vaguely, unwilling to admit that she was staring at the street corner that was next to Hemmings Bookstore. She couldn't see the building from where she was sitting, though the mere thought of doing so made her heart race.

"So, your friend Calum in that band..." Arlo's dad begins, his eyes narrowed in a way that causes the girl to have to hold back a laugh. "He isn't the same one who egged my car when you were in high school, was he?"

Arlo rolls her eyes, a giggle slipping past her lips because it definitely was Calum. She'd watched him do it with his annoying friends on the football team, but she was too scared to do anything but watch from her bedroom window.

"You know, I'm pretty sure he always kind of had a crush on you." Her father says, pointing the end of his fork accusingly in her direction.

Arlo's jaw drops and she leans back in the booth, a horrified look on her face. "Why would you say that?" She asks, her tone appalled.

Arlo's father leans back in the booth as well, the toes of his fancy work shoes meeting her tennis shoes as she sits across from him. He begins sliding on his suit jacket, already prepared for the meeting he'd be attending as soon as he stepped off of the plane. "When you were younger, he used to hang around our mailbox and ask if you wanted to play-"

"Dad, he was a kid!" Arlo laughs, fully prepared to retell this story to Calum. Though, she was sure he wouldn't get anywhere as much of a kick out of his childhood rejection as she did.

"A kid who liked you!" Her father defends, holding his hands in the air in surrender. "I'm telling you, that kid was a player."

✰

As loud music shakes the walls of the house and the distinct smell of weed fills the air, mixing with the LED lights and smoke, Arlo feels like she's having deja vu.

Attending a Calum Hood house party was something she thought was far in her past, but according to Calum, Youngblood's recent success called for another one. It just so happened that they were in their hometown for the weekend.

After having lunch with her dad and dropping him off at the airport, Arlo barely had time to go back to her childhood home and take a power nap before she was being shaken awake by Luke.

It felt weird to see him standing in her childhood bedroom just like he had years before, only he'd traded in his short waves for long curls and his lip ring was nowhere to be found, as was his skinny jeans and faded band tees.

"Arlo, baby." Luke's lips brush her ear as they stand in the back hallway of Calum's house. "What are you thinking about?" His hands find her waist as her back leans against the wall of the hallway.

Arlo inhales sharply at the way one of Luke's legs slots between her own and he leans closer to hear her speak over the loud music, consequently pressing his body against her own. She was a little bit drunk from the shots Calum demanded they do together and she probably had a little bit of a contact high, but she had no doubt Luke was the reason her head was spinning.

She was kind of overwhelmed if she was being honest with herself.

Luke was surrounding her from all sides- physically with the smell of his cologne and the way his body seemed to mold perfectly with her own. But, he was everywhere mentally too, making a home in the darkest corners of her mind and refusing to leave.

She'd been thinking about him all day. When she stopped at a gas station to grab a drink she couldn't stop thinking about how they had the same favorite snack and when she was doing her hair the memory of Luke accidentally burning himself on her curling iron years before resurfaced.

Arlo couldn't think about anything without Luke finding his way into her mind. Every damn thought seemed to connect back to him.

"You." She answers honestly, her stomach flipping at the sight of him only inches away from her, his blue eyes still bright even in the dim lighting. When he turned his head the slightest bit, the glitter on his eyes manages to catch the light and make him look utterly ethereal.

Luke smiles genuinely, in awe of the way she still managed to make his heart flip like they'd just met. "Yeah?" He asks with a slight cockiness to his tone. "What about me?"

Suddenly nervous, Arlo's hands begin to unconsciously fiddle with the silk material of his shirt. Luke notices instantly, taking her hands in his instead and pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

She swallows thickly, the music around them suddenly irrelevant. All she can hear is Luke- the steady breaths leaving his chest and the way his foot was tapping nervously against the hardwood floor.

"How different do you think our lives would be if the band never took off?" Arlo asks, catching Luke completely off guard.

"I dunno." Luke says with furrowed brows. He'd never thought about it before, not like Arlo had.

And Luke didn't know that the reason Arlo left him in the first place was management. That never would have happened if they were still two kids in a small town, but it would be selfish of her to discount their success.

"I think I'd still be working in the bookstore probably." Luke says seriously, obviously not picking up on her inner turmoil. "You'd still be my only customer." He smirks, ducking down to claim her lips.

The way in which she kisses him back nearly knocks the breath out of her lungs. Arlo was kissing him so deeply that he almost stops to ask her what had gotten into her. But, instead, he focuses on kissing her back just as passionately.

Luke braces his free hand on the wall next to her head and parts his lips, allowing her to explore his mouth however she pleased. Arlo grips onto the silk fabric of his shirt with one hand and the other tangles in the curls at the base of his neck, tugging gently.

She kisses him so fucking good that he almost tells her that he loves her.

When she pulls away, he's breathless. "What was that for?" Luke smiles, a genuine warmth filling his chest.

Arlo shrugs, the familiar walls of Calum's house surrounding her on all sides, refusing to let her forget the life she used to have with Luke. Of course, now he was hers again, but they'd never get back those three years and it made her upset to think about it.

If only she'd just gotten the courage to tell him that she loved him in that alleyway.

"Feeling nostalgic." His girl says simply.

Suddenly, an idea worms its way into Luke's mind and now, Calum's party is the last place he wanted to be. "What do you say we ditch the party and spend the night in the bookstore? We can make it a date?"

Arlo's eyes practically light up at this, for she'd been dying to see the bookstore without feeling a familiar pain in her chest and now she could. "Really?"

"Of course." Luke mumbles, already beginning to fish his car keys out of his pocket. "We'll have to sneak out so Calum doesn't try to get us to take shots again." He says, a playful glint in his eye.

And they do.

Luke and Arlo sneak out of Calum's house like a couple of teenagers, their heads low with giggles leaving their lips as they snuck out of the back door. It's pouring outside, but neither of them seems to care about the rain drenching their skin as they run to Luke's car parked across the street. Luke hadn't had more than a sip of alcohol, so he was okay to drive.

For the entire drive to the bookstore, nostalgia runs through both of their veins, causing an unknown emotion to rise to the surface. They both kind of felt like crying, but they weren't sad- they were really fucking happy in fact.

The sight of Hemmings Bookstore after so many years nearly causes Arlo's heart to beat out of her chest, but she doesn't even get a chance to appreciate the familiar sign out front of Luke tugs her inside so their clothes wouldn't get too wet.

As Luke closes the door of the bookstore behind them, Arlo looks around like she'd never stepped foot into the store before. He watches as her eyes light up as they find the ceiling. "The fairy lights are still up?"

Luke shrugs, walking behind the counter to plug them in, causing the store to be drenched in a golden light. After they're on, he makes his way over to his girl, his hands finding her waist. "I have to keep you coming back somehow."

Arlo sinks her bottom lip into her teeth as Luke begins rocking them slowly, a low hum leaving his lips as they slow dance through the store. They dance together past the old beanbag that used to sit where the couch is, the same table where so many songs were written and the very same stool Luke was sitting in when he saw her for the first time.

"How have we never danced before?" Luke asks, spinning Arlo around with a wide smile on his face before tugging her back to his chest. "We're pretty damn good at this."

"You never asked." Arlo rolls her eyes playfully. "I never knew the bookstore had enough room to double as a dance floor."

Luke smiles lazily, his lips dipping down to skim the skin of her neck, his curls brushing her cheek. "It can be anything you want it to, sweetheart, so long as you stay here with me. Always."

"Always." Arlo mumbles in return, her chest suddenly feeling tight.

And this time she meant it. She wanted to spend forever with him, no matter what it would cost her.

"You know." Luke begins, his feet stationary as he brings them to a stop. Arlo doesn't even think he realizes he's stopped dancing with how deep in thought he is. "My life would be a hell of a lot easier if I knew how to hate you."

Arlo's lips part, her chest tight as she waits for him to continue. Luke swallows and she watches his throat bob with the movement as his blue eyes look intently down at her. "I meant it when I said that I didn't spend a moment of those three years hating you. Even if it hurt like hell."

Arlo's eyes nervously scan his face, words forming on the tip of her tongue "Luke-"

"Sometimes my chest would hurt so bad that I would make up shit to try and make myself hate you." Luke continues, tears forming in his blue eyes, though he's not sure why. "I don't even know why I bothered. My biggest regret is not fighting harder for you because fuck, it feels good to have you again. I don't know why it took me dancing with you in this bookstore to admit it out loud, but Arlo I think I-"

"Luke." She interrupts, her tone pleading. Her tongue was practically burning with a few words begging to be spoken aloud before she lost her courage and they fizzled out. "When I said that breaking your heart was my biggest regret, I lied."

Luke's face falls, heartbreak coacting with his angelic features to create something beautifully tragic. Rain beats down on the window but all he can hear is his heartbeat in his ears as he convinces himself that the last two days were too good to be true.

She was going to break his heart again, he was sure of it.

The sad thing was, he didn't even care, he was just happy to have slow danced with her in his bookstore one last time.

Arlo swallows thickly, her heart steadily rising in her throat as she feels his hands on her waist tighten. "My biggest regret is not telling you that I love you three years ago."