15. i thought you were single?

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"Oh my god!" Chase screeches, taking a hold of my hand as soon as I step in through the front door.

My eyes widen and I drop the roses, unable to stop tripping over my own feet as he clumsily pulls me into the living room. "Dylan!" he yells up the stairs.

"What?"

"Our little bean's back from her date!" he shouts. As a result of this, I hear something crash upstairs, making me wince.

"It wasn't a d-"

"She went on a date?!" Dylan screams, rushing down the stairs and tackling us both in a bear hug. "Our baby went on a date!"

"Oh, my-" I detach myself from the hug, finding it hard to keep up with all the excitement. "It wasn't a date,"

"How was it?" Chase holds my hand, much calmer now, before leading me towards the couch. Dylan picks up the roses and an empty vase next to the front door, sliding them in with a proud grin.

"The boy got you roses," he says, wiping away a fake tear. "Keep him, baby."

"Baby, tell us everything," Chase demands. It's hard for me to keep up with all the 'baby's, orders and all the unnecessary screaming, so I just suck in a deep breath, attempting to calm my mind.

"We went out,"

"They went out!" Dylan screeches. For a split second, I'm convinced that he's just mocking me. Then I see the tears crowding at the bottom of his eyes and I know that he isn't. "Sorry, sorry, carry on!"

"And we had coffee," I say. He looks like he's about to erupt again, before stopping himself by pursing his lips together. "Then we went for a walk."

"Did you go back to his place?"

"No, thank God." I probably wouldn't have made it through Luke's front door without fainting. "We just talked. Nothing special."

"Nothing special? Haven't you had a crush on this dude for like what, four years now?" Chase asks, seemingly over his temporary fanboy phase.

I shrug. "I guess so, yeah."

"Then why the hell aren't you freaking out more about it?!"

Again, I shrug, suddenly feeling apologetic for not living up to the expectation of their hype. Chase just sighs, and Dylan lays a hand on my shoulder, smiling.

"Hey, at least you had fun."

I did have fun, and if I could, I'd definitely start the day from the very beginning just to relive each moment again and again. But I don't tell them this, because it might get their hopes up for something else in the future.

I sit on my bed upstairs, whistling some random tune to myself as I wait for the FaceTime call to connect on my laptop.

Making random faces at the camera, I jump slightly once a notification pings that the connection's stable, and a familiar friendly face pops up on screen.

"Hi," I smile, moving my hair out of my face.

"Nice faces," Luke chuckles back, raspily. I almost melt at the view of him shirtless, lying down on his bed with one arm behind his head.

Dear Lord Jesus, please forgive me.

"Thanks. I grew them myself,"

"Wow," he says, rolling his eyes, and I laugh. "What are you up to?"

"Homework," I reply, though the book on my desk has been left untouched since I got home from our unplanned 'date' earlier. "What about you?"

"Writing," he says. "Hey, what rhymes with puke?"

"Luke."

"Other than that," he rolls his eyes again, making me giggle. "Babe, I'm being serious,"

"Babe, so am I," I mimick him, and he smile. "Why are you writing about puke, anyway?"

"I'm not. I'm just sat here wondering what words rhyme with others," he replies, as if it's obvious.

"And why are you doing that?"

"Because earlier, Michael said that nothing rhymes with oranges."

"Mhm. Any particular reason?"

"For him, not really. But I'm bored, that's my reason," he says. "I have nothing to do," me. "What?"

"What?" my head snaps up from my phone, gaze landing on the smirk that's only just now appeared on his face.

"What did you say?" I said, do me.

"Nothing," I lie, quickly. "I just said me. As in, same. You know? Because I'm bored too." stutter more, why don't you.

"Mhm," Luke hums, and if it wasn't for the undying urge to procrastinate instead of writing a five thousand word essay, I probably would have hung up by now. "Hey, are those the roses?"

I look back to where he's pointing, which is the windowsill behind me. I smile, slipping off of the bed and walking over to the clear vase of flowers.

I pick them up, being careful not to tip it over as I carefully carry it back to my laptop. "Yup," I grin. "I'd put them above my bed, but I'm a messy sleeper. I'll probably knock them over in the middle of the night, or something."

Luke chuckles, nodding. "Right, right. Nice vase, though. Very elegant."

"Why thank you," I say back, taking a slight bow before turning back around to put them back in their original place. "Dylan gave it to me."

Suddenly, there's a slight pause, one that I fail to notice fully due to how I'm occupied with arranging the roses so that they look spread out.

Eventually, I hear Luke shift, clearing his throat. "Dylan?"

"Yeah," I mumble, taking a step back to look at my mini decoration. Then I turn to the laptop again, surprised once I see the frown on Luke's face. "You oka-"

"Who's Dylan?"

My eyebrows furrow together as I slowly begin to take a seat on the bed once more. "A guy."

"Your brother?"

"Kinda like my Dad," it's not a lie. I swear Dylan acts more like my father than anybody else I know.

"Oh." is all Luke says. Then he ruffles his blonde hair, looking a little perplexed as he opens his mouth to speak again. "I thought you were single?"

"I am sing-" I stop, repeating his words in my head. "Wait a minute," I say, narrowing my eyes at him. "Did you mean-" stumbling on my words, I'm absolutely speechless as Luke nods his head. "Oh, my god!"

He's frowning, that adorable little expression on his face, yet I'm nothing but horrified. "You told me you didn't have a boyf-"

"I don't have a boyfriend!" I exclaim, before lowering my voice into a hushed whisper. "I don't have a boyfriend!"

"You just said he was like your dad!"

"Dad, Luke, not Daddy!" I yelp, falling back on my bed in disbelief. I hear a silence once more. "Jesus Christ, you're a mess."

"It's not my fault I assumed! You should have been clearer," he defends himself. "I'm not a mind-reader, Soph!"

Groaning, I sit back up, facing him with flushed cheeks. Although he sounds annoyed, here's a goofy grin on his face.

"So, if Dylan's not your boyfriend," he carries on, just when I think we're done with this conversation. "Who is he?"

"He's-"

"Does he like you?"

"Loves me, actually."

"That's just great," Luke mutters.

"Loves his boyfriend way more, though."

At this, his eyebrows raise, and he looks at me. "What?"

"Did I say boyfriend? I meant fiancé," I say, and it may just be me, but I see Luke's shoulders become less tense. "His name's Chase. And they've been together for about five years now, so you can calm down,"

"Pfft. I was already calm," Luke mumbles to himself.

"Were you, though? Were you really?"

"Watch it, doll," he warns me playfully, leaning his head back. I giggle.

"Whatever."

"Soph?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm tired."

"Not my problem."

"Soph," he whines, like a little kid desperate for attention.

"Go to sleep, then."

"But I have noone to sleep with," Luke pouts.

"Call Ashton."

"But he's out,"

"Calum?"

"No, he's cuddling Michael."

"Call-"

"What are you doing tonight?"

Glancing at the clock above my bed, I raise an eyebrow. It's already 11pm. "Uh, sleeping. Like every other normal human being on this planet."

"Watch your tone, doll. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Why?" call me doll one more time, I dare you.

"Because it's too late to ask you on a movie date tonight, so I'm rescheduling for tomorrow," Luke replies, in the most casual tone possible. My heart almost does a cartwheel out of my chest.

"Well, I'm free all day tomorrow,"

"What about the evening?"

"You sound like a creepy axe-murderer planning to kill me," I tell him, only partially jokingly. Luke smirks.

"As much as you'd probably love that, Soph, I'm afraid not," he says. "What do you say? Movie night at my place tomorrow? We can watch whatever you want. I've got the whole Paranormal Activity boxset in here somewhere,"

"I am a big horror fan," I say thoughtfully, nodding in approval. "Alright, then. I'll take you up on that offer."

"Great," Luke smiles. "I can pick you up as soon as I get out of the studio if you text me your address. And wear something comfy,"

"Something comfy?"

"Yeah, like something you'll be fine spending most of the night in," he explains. "Preferably something that won't distract me from the screen, too."

"God, you're such a guy."

"Thank fuck for that," Luke smirks, making my stomach flip. "Listen, I gotta go. But I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

I nod, smiling as I hover my finger over the End Call button. "I'll see you tomorrow."

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