Vulnerable || l.h.

Fourteen

The dinging noise from the microwave in the kitchen sounded and the smell of popcorn filled the room as Luke came in, bowl in his hand. He sat down and placed the popcorn on the table in front of us.

"You know, popcorn isn't going to make up for the fact that you're making me watch a horror movie." I said matter-of-factly.

Luke chuckled as he put his arm around me and pulled me closer. "Don't worry babe, it's not even that scary!"

I let out a deep sigh. "Fine. If it turns out to be super scary..."

Luke interrupted me. "Then I'll turn it off, okay? Jeez, lighten up Mads."

"You always say that."

"Cause it's true babe." he kissed me on the forehead. "Just relax. I'm here to protect you."

"You're my knight in shining armor." I replied jokingly.

A smug smile crept across Luke's face. "Exactly."

I rolled my eyes as Luke pressed play.

It was April, and Luke and I had been together for 3 months. Things were going great between us and the team was on track to easily make the playoffs. There was still the issue of my parents' constant fighting, but I had begun to avoid that by staying over at Ashton and Luke's houses more often. Sometimes Luke even stayed over at my house just to keep me company and distract me. Sitting on Luke's couch with his arms around me as we watched whatever we decided to put on TV was one of my favorite places to be. It was times like those that I didn't have to think about my life or the problems I was having. I could just focus on what made me happy.

A few minutes into the movie something jumped out and scared me. I buried my face in Luke's chest. I could feel his body vibrate with laughter.

"It's okay, babe." he said, petting my head.

"I know." I said into his shirt. 

This was the routine we went through throughout the entire movie. I breathed a sigh of relief as the credits came on and Luke turned the TV off.

"It's finally over." I said.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

I laughed. "No, it wasn't too bad."

"See, I told you."

"I know you did."

Luke looked over at the clock. "It's getting late. Should I take you home or are you staying here again?"

I thought for a moment. "Can I just stay here again? If that's okay with Liz."

"Are you kidding? My mom loves you. You can stay as long as you want."

Luke and I walked upstairs to his room. I hadn't packed any clothes to sleep in this time, so I walked to his drawer and grabbed one of his larger, older shirts. I went to the bathroom and changed. When I walked back into Luke's room, he was shirtless and in sweatpants. Both of us looked up and stopped dead.

"Hey..." Luke said, "uh...you...look..."

I swallowed hard. "Yeah...you too."

I walked towards Luke's bed. He watched my every move, tugging on his lip ring with his teeth. I got under the covers and he eventually joined me. We were laying on our sides, leaning on our elbows and facing each other. We layed in silence for a few minutes, just looking at each other.

"I wanna lay here forever." I said softly, thinking out loud.

"Me too." Luke said. "Although, it is quite hard to keep my hands off of you when you're wearing my shirt like that."