Forgiven // l.h. // Book 2 in Bully Series

20. Here We Go Again

Amanda left the table at about 3, thanking Luke and I for being so friendly. I took a picture of her and Luke, and she even asked to get a picture with me, so Luke took that one.

"If all people could be like that around us, I'd be a very happy person." Luke sighed, fiddling with the straw on his empty drink. I nodded.

"Yeah I bet the crying and such can be a bit too much sometimes." I agreed. Luke nodded, and after a brief pause, he sighed.

"I really didn't want to hang out today and talk about fame though. I talk about it enough with interviewers and radio hosts. I actually had a really important topic in mind for today." He admitted. I lifted my eyebrows. Important topic?

"Alright, no fame talk. Ever. Got it. On to important things. So, shoot." I said. Luke suddenly seemed nervous, something he hadn't been around me for a while. Of course, this put me on edge as well, and during the pause in conversation, the air between us seemed to thicken. Just when I thought I was going to suffocate with the tension, Luke spoke.

"Do you want to get dinner with me tonight?" He asked. I almost laughed. Here I was expecting some bomb drop or something. It was only dinner.

"Yeah, of course. Where at? Hogs Breath again or is there another cafe you want to try out?" Luke pressed his hand to his forehead and dragged it down his face, and I noticed the slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. Oh. There's the bomb drop. "You meant like a date, didn't you?" I asked. Luke nodded, his eyes not leaving my face for even a second.

"Yeah, I did." He breathed, his voice sounding at once relieved and hopeful. I figured he was relieved because he had been nervous about asking the question all day. Luke had a tendency to allow even the smallest of anxieties fester until they became hard to ignore. And, for obvious reasons, he was hopeful. Because he wanted me to agree to the date.

"The answer's still the same, you know." I said. His nervous expression immediately exploded into a huge grin, and he pushed his chair back before standing up.

"Awesome!" He exclaimed, a bit too loudly. A few people glanced over, irritated looks on their faces. I let out a quiet giggle as Luke continued. "I know you rode the bus here, so I'll drive you home and pick you up at 8, alright?" He asked. I nodded, standing and tucking my book under my arm so I could pick up Luke's forgotten trash and follow him out the door of the cafe. 

He didn't say anything, but Luke was like a giddy schoolboy now that we were going to go on a date. I didn't even recall him being this excited when we went on our first official date over 4 years ago. I figured it was because I was so much better at picking up on the small things he did that betrayed his true feelings. For instance, when he was uncomfortable or nervous, he'd find some way to touch his face or neck. Or how, when he was excited, his fingers would tap incessantly on whatever surface his hands happened to be on.

I watched Luke's fingers tap the steering wheel in time to the music playing from the radio, a small smile on my face. I could see him glance at me a few times, but neither of us said anything the entire ride to my apartment building. It wasn't until I was about to close the car door that a question suddenly popped into my head.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask. What should I wear?" I leaned down into the car so I could see him as he answered. Luke paused for a moment, his eyes drifting to the top of the car, and I wondered if this was something he'd even thought about. But when his gaze dropped back down to lock with mine, I got my answer. He'd put thought into this. He was just playing it off as casual, but he'd planned everything already.

"You know that purple necklace with the butterfly you have? The one you mentioned belonged to your aunt? I know you still have it." He said. I nodded, wondering how the hell he even remembered that. I'd mentioned that fact once when I dropped it into the vent on the floor in my room at his home and had to recruit him to retrieve it. Luke smiled knowingly, as if he was proud of his memory. "Wear that. And something that matches it. Oh, and make it fancy, please."