The Art Of Love / l.h ✔️

31

~Fae's POV~

"You know," Maria started as she and I walked to my locker together on Wednesday morning, her heeled boots thumping against the floor. I glanced over at her as I turned down the hall, raising a brow curiously. "You never told me that Luke was staying at your house with you." She said casually.

She'd said it so casually that I choked on my saliva, my head whipping over to her in a way that I just knew looked so guilty. Apparently, she thought it did, too, because she narrowed her eyes at me. "It is true!" She exclaimed, causing me to sigh deeply as I began to unlock my locker. "Who told you?" I asked quietly, feeling a bit bad. She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me while she leaned against the locker beside me. "Axel did." She said, surprising me. "Axel?" I echoed, looking over at her with a confused furrow in my brow. I hadn't even known that she and Axel had spoken to one another before, let alone had I known that they were friends. How had I not known?

Maria raised her brows at me, looking at me like I was an idiot as I swung open my locker. "Uh, duh. That's what I just said." She scoffed, shaking her head. I frowned at the tone of her voice and took my sketchbook out of my locker, a little hurt. She was speaking to me like I was a complete moron who was incapable of understanding even the simplest of things. "Is there a problem with that?" She asked defensively, still glaring at me.

I sighed softly and put my sketchbook into my backpack, shaking my head. "No, of course not." I said quietly. She rolled her eyes. "Then what's the big deal?" She asked, to which I lightly shook my head. "Nothing, nothing. I just didn't know that you were friends with Axel, that's all." I answered, biting my cheek. She seemed to loosen up a little at that and paused. "Oh." She said. Then, she went back to being all uppity again. "Well, I am. I was telling him about how I'd kissed Luke on Monday, but he didn't even kiss me back or anything. He just stood there! I mean, what the hell?" She huffed. I froze at her words, wondering if I'd just heard her correctly.

My locker slammed shut and I spun to look at her, trying to mask my feelings. "You did what?" I asked, still beyond surprised. Still hoping desperately that I had just heard her wrong or something. Anything but that.

Me cutting her off before she could continue to ramble got me sent a dirty look. "I kissed him, but he didn't kiss me back!" She repeated, scowling. I stared at her with my lips parted, wondering why Luke hadn't told me that. He hadn't even hinted at it having happened, let alone mentioned it! "Anyways, I was asking Axel why he thought he wasn't kissing me back because it didn't make any sense. It just makes no sense! So Axel said that maybe it was because you'd been telling Luke stuff about me." She said, sending me another dirty look at the end of her rambling. I still just stared at her, wondering what the fuck I do from here. After a moment of thinking it through, I barely managed to formulate a response. I'd get her off my back, and then I needed to talk to Luke.

"Is that true? Have you been telling him bad stuff about me?" She asked calmly, but I knew she was anything but calm. I shook my head and frowned at her, looping my backpack around my shoulder. "No. We don't even really talk much." I lied.

She scoffed and glared at me. "Oh, really? Because you also said you aren't really that close to him, but now I've found out he's been staying at your house." She shot back, anger slipping into her tone of voice. I just stared at her silently. "Maria, the only reason he's been staying with me is because his dad works with my dad and they're friends! His parents went away on a trip and couldn't leave him home alone, so he's staying at mine for a while. Besides, what does it even matter?!" I snapped at her, feeling my anger begin to bubble up. I saw her eyes light with surprise, not expecting me to snap at her like that. I hardly ever got angry or talked back, especially when it came to Maria. She hurt me, but she didn't usually make me angry.

This time, however, was definitely an exception. I was hurt, yes, but I was also becoming significantly more pissed off. She'd already kissed Luke and was insulting me on top of it. She was pushing her luck with me today.

"You should've told me!" She scowled, stomping her foot on the ground like a two year old. I glared at her. "I haven't been telling him anything bad about you, but I don't owe you shit." I spat, growing very sick and tired of this argument. Maria let out a hiss of anger and clenched her hands into fists at her side. "I want you to tell me the truth: are you fucking him?" She snapped, surprising me. "No!" I exclaimed, shaking my head. Technically, I wasn't at all lying. We were dating, but not having sex.

Maria must've realized that I was being honest, at least about that, because she relaxed a little bit. Then, she spun around, stomping off down the hall without me. She was still mad as ever, a crowd of people spreading like the Red Sea for the ever popular girl, who was not to be messed with when she was pissed off. As I watched her go, I rolled my eyes and shook my head, turning away.

She was so mad about Luke momentarily living with me. I wondered what she'd do if she knew that he and I were dating.

**

When I was able to get Luke alone at the end of the day, it was as he and I were sitting together on the bus, silently sitting beside one another as the bus drove down the street. I looked out the window and could feel his gaze on me, much like every other time he'd been close to me today, but he'd not asked anything during lunch or in Mr. Wells' class. However, now we were alone. Nobody was here to disturb us.

"Fae?" He asked quietly, but I just kept looking out the window. "What's the matter, Fae? You haven't even looked at me today, not even once, but you were fine when we left the house this morning." He said softly. I could hear the concerned confusion in his voice and it weakened me. I continued to look out the window, not wanting to look at him just yet, but I did decide to answer him. "Maria told me she kissed you on Monday." I mentioned, and he went silent. Hurt rippled through me as I realized it was true. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, watching the scenery pass by out the window.

"I don't know." He admitted quietly. "I just...I knew it would upset you. I know that you're trying so hard to keep Maria as your friend and I know that you're scared to tell her about us, and I knew that you'd just become upset about it. Not just the kiss, but the whole thing. I don't like when you're upset." He sighed, his gaze still on the side of my face. I paused. "You didn't kiss her back, right?" I asked quietly, already knowing the answer. I just wanted to hear it from him. I wanted to hear from his mouth that he wasn't attracted to her, even if I already knew he wasn't. "No, I didn't. Not even a little. I pushed her off right after I realized what was happening." He answered, causing a tinge of happiness to settle in my chest and spread through me.

"Can you please look at me, little dove?" He pleaded. I reluctantly turned and looked up at him, sending him a small smile. His eyes brightened and he softly brushed his thumb under my eye, wiping away a tear. "Don't cry." He said softly, furrowing his brows.

I clung to him tightly as I wrapped my arms around him, burying my head into his firm chest. "I don't like that she kissed you." I said, causing him to chuckle softly. "Trust me, I don't either." He assured, earning a small giggle from me. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and he held me close to him, softly rubbing his fingertips along my bare arm. I looked up at him and allowed him to lean down, but I placed a finger over his lips before he could kiss me. "You promise me you'll tell me if she ever does anything like that again?" I asked, staring into his deep blue eyes. I'd never seen a person with eyes such a pretty blue color. "I promise." He nodded.

With that, I allowed him to place a soft kiss on my lips.