The Middle | Hemmings + Styles AU

5. a total square

"You're going to send yourself broke if you keep coming in here every day." I was sitting on the counter (let's keep that quiet - Grunge wouldn't approve) and Luke was standing unusually close to me, with his hands resting on either side of my legs.

Next to his right hand were two more CDs he had just purchased; an acoustic covers compilation and Blink-182's Enema of The State album (which I suspected he already owned after he spent twenty minutes detailing his thoughts of every single track.)

"This whole band thing better work out then," Luke said, flicking his lip ring with his tongue as he smiled.

He had been making a habit of coming into the store every day, and each day, I showed him a little less pretend-hatred. He was crushing my original theory that most young musicians were egotistical nightmares and I'd grown to look forward to our daily dose of playful banter. Yeah, I was shocked too.

"So," he began, leaning closer towards me. I could hear his breathing and part of me thought he was going to kiss me. Somewhere in the store Grunge's other employee, Louis was making himself scarce and I hoped he wouldn't pop out anytime soon and ruin the moment.

"So," I repeated, trying not to give away how much I would be okay with him kissing me. It had been a while since I'd gotten any lip action. Scratch that. It had been a while since I'd gotten any action.

"So," Luke said again and I laughed again. A small laugh because I felt constricted with the closeness of our mouths. Anything more exuberant and my lips would land right on his. That wouldn't be so bad though...

"So, can I put a poster on the store window?" Luke asked, taking a step back and taking his hands off the counter. By the look in his eyes, he knew he'd been teasing me with the almost-kiss and I wanted to knock the smugness out of those blue delights.

I shook my head. "Sorry. That space is reserved for my boyfriend's band." I hopped off of the counter and moved behind it, pretending to be occupied with a stack of receipts.

"Boyfriend?" Luke laughed, like he knew I was joking. There was still that slight echo of uneasiness, though. That will teach you, quiff boy.

"You've probably seen him around," I gave him a nonchalant shrug. "Green eyes, rockstar hair, skinny jeans..."

"That music guy is your boyfriend?" That time Luke sounded like maybe he believed I wasn't joking at all, and I blushed. No, not in the cute way that girls seem to do in movies. I could feel my entire face turn red because I was embarrassed that I had unintentionally described Harry as my faux-boyfriend.

"No. I was only joking," I said meekly. Goodbye playful banter, hello one hell of an awkward silence. That will teach you, Stella.

"So, I'll bring the poster tomorrow?" Luke smiled, even though some weirdness lingered between us.

I smiled. "You can bring three posters if you like, but none of them are getting put in the front window."

-

That evening, Aunty Peg came around for nachos and a Teen Mom Reunion Special. "Do not tell your parents about the nachos," she said, adding extra sour cream to the top of hers. "Tell them we had baked vegetables or something."

"You mean," I pretended to be shocked, "You want me to lie, Aunty Peg? Well I never..." Our eyes met and the two of us burst into laughter. As Doctor Drew began to interview each of the young mums, I smiled to myself looking forward to tomorrow's visit from Luke.

"Guacamole for your thoughts?" Aunty Peg slid the tub across to me and I added another spoonful to the top of my own nachos.

"It's just this boy," I began, only to be cut off.

"Liam? He did seem like such a nice boy."

"Liam?" My nose screwed up. "No, not Liam."

"Oh, thank god. I was being polite when I said he seemed nice. He actually seemed like a total square."

I should explain that Liam was a friend of mine from school. We were actually really close friends, so when the senior formal came around and neither of us had a date, well, it was only natural we would go together. We ended up having one too many beers at the after party and wound up in bed - and we hadn't really spoken since graduation.

It wasn't that I regretted losing my virginity to him - I trusted him wholeheartedly - but it was more awkward than your average first time... Let's just say there was more chemistry between a bee pollinating a flower than there was between Liam and I.

"Well, don't keep the juicy details all to yourself!" Aunty Peg abandoned her nachos and turned off the tv. She was reading way too much into this situation, as usual.

I laughed. "There's no juicy details. It's just a boy who comes into the store. He's in a band, and I kind of like hanging out with him."

"Musicians, hey?" Aunty Peg winked knowingly. "They'll break your heart if you're not careful - either your heart, or your bed... Did I ever tell you about Rodney Wes? He was the drummer in this local band. They called themselves The Pythons and I can tell you exactly where they got their name from - "

My hands flew to my ears, trying to block out the rest of Aunty Peg's story because I didn't need anything else to contribute to the disturbing visual playing in my head.

She took my hands away from my ears. "Oops... I overshared, didn't I?"

"Big time," I agreed, putting my own nachos next to hers, having suddenly lost my appetite. Between Aunty Peg and Grunge, I had to endure a lot of back in my day stories. I should introduce them one day. "Anyway, Luke won't be breaking my heart or my bed. We're just friends."

If I reminded myself of that enough, maybe I'd stop thinking about how much I had wanted him to kiss me in the store today.

don't worry HELLA girls. Harry will be gracing us again soon