Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

9. Taking Care of It

Luke's POV

I can't believe Dylan. I know he gets drunk sometimes, but this was different. He was different. And I know for sure he would never try to hurt someone like that.

Ariel sits in the passenger's seat of my car, her legs tucked up to her stomach. She looks...uncomfortable? And I don't understand why. She looks gorgeous. And not just her body in that bikini, but the way her hair looks tucked behind her ears which tint pink every time I glance over at her. I just want to make sure she's OK.

She looks like she's deep in thought about something, though I'm not sure what. Maybe she doesn't believe what I said. So maybe I wasn't completely truthful when I told her that I didn't want her to stay because I didn't want me and Dylan's friendshipto be ruined. I just didn't want Ariel to get hurt. I had a strange feeling that I needed to protect her. I don't know what that was about either.

"Are you going to call Zoey?" I ask abruptly. She looks over at me, like I've shaken her out of her deep thought. "Oh, yeah." she says, and digs her phone out of her back pocket. She scrolls through her lists of contacts and when she finds Zoey's, clicks on it and holds the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Zoey. Yeah its me." she says. Silence fills the air for a few moments before she speaks again. "Um, something happened, and Luke offered to drive me home. Could you bring my bag home with you?" she asks. More silence. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." Ariel says and then brings the phone away from her ear and taps the 'end call' button.

"So everything's all taken care of?" I ask. She pauses before replying. "Yeah everything's taken care of." she says. I nod quietly and continue to drive. The car is completely silent until Ariel turns to me and asks if she can turn the radio on. "Sure." I tell her, keeping my eyes on the road. I feel that if I look at her, I might not be able to tear my eyes away from the fair skin of her body. God I sound like a creep.

I had some trouble earlier today. She nearly caught me staring. Twice. And then when I sat down next to her, on the couch with a coke, I had to get up and leave and make some stupid excuse because I couldn't stand it anymore. There was something...drawing me towards her. I never thought that I would feel that way about Ariel. Ever.

Ariel turns the dial a few clicks before she's finally satisfied. "You like country?" I ask, glancing at her with a smile. "Yeah. Is there a problem?" she asks, smiling as well. "No, not at all. I guess country's not so bad." I say. After a while, I hear a small humming noise coming from my left. I look over at Ariel and watch as she hums along to 'Cruise' by Florida Georgia Line.

"You have a nice voice." I tell her. I can see her blush a deep red out of the corner of my eye. "Thanks." she says, but I don't hear her sing for the rest of the ride home.

I pull up in front of Ariel's house and stop the car. "Thanks for driving me." she says and starts to get out of the car. "No problem. I'll see you in school tomorrow." I say. "Goodnight Luke." she says. "Goodnight Ariel." I reply. She presses her lips together in a smile and then shuts the car door.

I watch as she walks up the front steps to her house and knocks on the door. Her mom opens the door and smiles. She looks at the car and then says something to Ariel. Ariel replies, looks back at me, smiles and waves, and then walks inside. Her mom waves at me and I wave back, although I'm sure she can't see. The door closes, but I find myself still sitting in my car, parked in front of Ariel's house.

After a few minutes, I see some movement in an upstairs window. I immediately turn the car on and drive away. I don't want anyone to know that I just sat outside of Ariel's house for like ten minutes after she left. As I drive away, I roll down one of the windows in the car. I need some fresh air. Why did I care so much about Ariel getting away from Dylan? Why did I need to watch myself when I looked at her so I wouldn't stare? Yeah, its kind of obvious she's not ugly. But I've never felt like that towards her or anyone like her before.

She's different than the others. In a good way.

Maybe getting to know Ariel a little better wouldn't be so bad.

Ariel's POV

"Who is that?" my mother asks me. I glance back towards Luke's car and smile and wave. "Luke, remember? The one who stayed for dinner the other day?" I say and turn back to my mom. "Oh, he's handsome." she says, smirking. "Mom! Ew, I don't feel that way about him." I say, and start to walk upstairs. "What about Zoey? And where's your bag?" my mom asks.

I stop dead in my tracks and turn around slowly. "Um, something happened, and Luke offered to drive me home early. I didn't have time to get my bag, but Zoey said she would drop it off tomorrow." I say. "Well what happened?" she asks. "Nothing, mom. Everything's fine." I say, and continue to walk upstairs. I close my door and walk over to the window in my room.

I pull back the sheer curtains only to find Luke's car still parked in front of my house. I adjust my position to get a better look at the car, when suddenly, he just drives away. Very quickly.

I walk over to my bed and lay down on my back. Just stop thinking about him and everything else. Just take a deep breath and stop thinking. He doesn't care about me and I really wish I would stop thinking he did.

I can't be feeling like this. I can't be having feelings for him. He will never feel the same way about me. And it's all so frustrating.