caught☽ luke | ✓

Twenty Three | Really

"So, what do you think about yesterday?" Rain asked, sitting down next to Audrey on the couch.

They were discussing yesterday's events in a desperate attempt to try to figure out what was going on between Audrey and Luke, and even between them, Vera, and Ashton. Everything just seemed so odd.

Audrey shrugged. "I don't know. One minute, he's quiet and can't even look me in the eye, the next he's standing up for me and holding my hand. I know he still loves me, but the problem is, what if it's not in the same way? What if he just loves me . . . as a friend?"

"Audrey, Luke has been in love with you since the day he met you. Samantha was clearly just an unexpected rebound who somehow managed to snake her way into his life while he was in a bad place, which wasn't fair to him. Now that you're back, he's probably just really confused about his feelings, considering he thought he really liked Samantha but she turned out to be a crazy stalker," Rain said.

"Hey, we don't know for sure that she's a stalker, but she's definitely crazy."

"Aren't we all?" she laughed. "And, what's the deal with Vera and Ashton?"

"I don't know, man. I fucking hate them, though. I didn't even do anything to them, yet they think it's okay to screw with me?"

"I know, Audrey. Vera is just jealous of you, and Ashton is jealous that he can't have you."

"Well that's Ashton's fault. If he had just stayed true to himself and hadn't changed to be cool, then it wouldn't be like this. I'm not going to have feelings for someone like that," she sighed. "And Vera is just a psycho. She's been trying to steal Luke from me ever since I brought him to Ashton's party."

"She only wants him because she knows he's yours," Rain pointed out.

"Rain, he's not mine. But I get it. She's always been that way,"

Taking a bite of a quesadilla, Audrey stood up and walked over to where her phone was plugged in, immediately seeing that she had two missed calls.

One call was from her sister, and the other was from Michael.

Although she hadn't heard from her sister in a long time, she couldn't get herself to call her back. She couldn't be sure that her parents weren't listening in on the other line. There was no way she was going to risk them finding her again.

Instead, she picked up her phone and called Michael back.

"Hey," he said, answering after two rings.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"I wanted to know if you talked to Vera and Ashton today."

"Yeah, why?"

"Because they keep posting statuses saying shit like 'some people think everything always has to be about them' and that they weren't afraid to call the police or something. They haven't said any names but it was still bothering me," he told her.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know, Mikey."

"No problem," he said, then hung up.

As soon as she put her phone down, Calum walked through the door carrying two brown bags filled with alcohol. 

"You ladies ready to party tonight?" he asked.

Audrey looked at Rain, thinking that she would be upset, but instead, she smiled.

"I'll text everyone and let them know," she said, excitedly.

"That's my girl," Calum winked.

Audrey groaned. "I didn't know there was gonna be a party."

"Don't worry, none of us did. But they were having a sale at the liquor store so I figured that it was a sign," Calum smiled.

"Of course you did," Audrey chuckled, then went into her room to get changed into party appropriate clothing.

She didn't really want to impress anyone, but at the same time, she wanted to feel good about herself. She decided on wearing a pair of high waisted shorts and a crop top, leaving out the leather jacket. It was going to be too hot out to wear it, and she didn't want a random drunk stranger to spill anything on it.

After doing her hair and makeup, she decided to walk outside to the porch, where she had a clear view of the ocean and the sunset. She sat down on a porch swing that was hung securely from the roof.

Knowing that the party would be starting soon, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence while she still could. It seemed to Audrey that everyone took silence for granted.

After a while, she began to hear the sound of car engines turning off in the driveway. Calum's stereo system was turned up to maximum volume, and people were greeting each other with loud, high pitched voices.

Rolling her eyes, she kept her vision on the view of the ocean and imagined what it would feel like to be a part of it, what mysteries it must hold.

Before she knew it, she was zoned out, thinking about all of the possibilities of life that the ocean held when the sound of the porch door opened and closed.

"Hey, Audrey."

Audrey turned to see Luke dressed in a red flannel and black skinny jeans. She was happy that Luke hadn't changed his love of flannels. However, there was something different. He held onto a can of beer, which he had already opened and drank out of.

She smiled, then scooted over on the swing so that Luke could sit down next to her.

He sat down with his legs extended, and gently pushed his feet off the ground, causing the swing to sway back and forth.

Luke cleared his throat and finally looked into Audrey's eyes after setting his can of alcohol down.

"I've been thinking a lot about you, Audrey."

"You have?" she asked, staring into his blue eyes.

"Yes, and I can't even begin to comprehend how much I've missed you," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

Audrey smiled. "I've missed you too, Luke."

"No," he began. "I've really missed you.  I've missed your voice, your eyes, your smile, your mind, and especially, well . . . your lips."

Audrey looked at Luke in awe, not believing at first what he was telling her. But once it finally sunk in, she realized- Luke wanted to kiss her.

Luke raised his hand to her cheek with his thumb lightly brushing over her chin and bottom lip. He simply took in the details of her face while biting his lip, which made Audrey notice that his piercing was now gone.

Luke noticed her looking and instead of explaining, he leaned in and lightly kissed her lips, as if asking for permission, which he received when Audrey placed her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

Luke kissed her with a passion that showed her that he forgave her. She didn't know if she deserved to be forgiven, but she was glad that he did.

His hands slowly roamed down to Audrey's hips, where he was able to pick her up and move her onto his lap.

Audrey's lips trailed down to Luke's neck, causing him to moan and pull Audrey closer to him. She smiled, then connected her lips back to his before pulling away.

"I've really missed you too, Luke."

🌷

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