His / l.h ✔️

3

~Asteria's POV~

Caught completely off guard, I just stared up at him like an idiot, standing there silently. Not only had I not known he'd gotten here already because Cece hadn't told me, but he looked so much different. He looked nothing like he had when he left. He looked much more mature now. Like a man. I guess being away six years would do that to a guy.

Still not believing my eyes, I studied him closely, wondering if this was really Luke. He was tall, easily over six feet tall, and had broad shoulders. I peered up at him, feeling like a little kid when stood in front of this large man. His blue eyes were still the same pretty color, but he seemed slightly more guarded. His nose was straight and pretty and he had a sharp jawline that was littered with stubble. Perhaps most notably was his lips. They were full and pink, and they looked soft. His hair was much longer now than it had been when he'd left, and I noticed he'd gotten rid of the lip ring he used to have the last time I saw him. His dirty blonde curls reached his neck and, as he stared down at me with a blank look on his face, I suddenly felt like I was a kid again.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a bored voice, looking down at me. His voice had changed, too. It was deeper now, more smooth. "Uh..." I felt my stomach churn as I peered up at him, feeling intimidated by him. He'd always been intimidating to me, but now it was for two different reasons. As a kid, it was purely because he was mean to me and that intimidated me. Now, it was because he had been mean to me as a kid and I was nervous maybe he'd still be mean, but also...he was so attractive. I got nervous around attractive people.

"I-I'm here for Cece. We were going to hang out before y—" I started to ramble, but Luke merely cut me off and rolled his eyes. "She's not here right now." He said, peering down at me. "You can wait inside if you want."

Luke stepped to the side and I felt a slight burst of confusion go through me as I hesitated a moment before I walked past him, furrowing my brows. He was treating me like a stranger. Had he forgotten me?

I heard him shut the front door and the rest of the house was pretty silent, so I knew that that meant that Cecilia and her parents were all gone. Luke must've just decided he wanted to stay here. "Where'd Cece go, anyways?" I asked curiously, a frown on my face. As I turned around to face him, I was surprised to find him much closer than I thought, causing me to quickly turn around and head into the living room to sit down. "She went with my parents to the store." He said, standing in the living room while I sat on the couch. His very blue eyes stayed trained on me, examining me closely. "What's your name?" He asked, and that was when I knew he didn't know it was me.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the front door was suddenly being opened, causing me to seal my lips shut. "Luke!" I heard Cece yell, causing him to roll his eyes. He seemed to still have the same attitude he'd had six years ago. "What?" He called back, turning around to go see what she wanted. He disappeared and in came Cece just a few seconds later, her thin figure dressed up in a white sundress with yellow daises on it and a pair of white sandals on her feet. When her eyes landed on me, she grinned and ran towards me as I stood up off of the couch. "Sorry to make you wait with him." She apologized, pulling me into a hug.

All I could do was shrug my shoulders because, really, what was there to do about it? Besides, he hadn't been mean or anything. He'd been a little short with me, and a little bit standoff-ish, but not mean. "That's fine." I assured, following her upstairs and into her bedroom. I plopped on her bed while she put away some of the things she'd brought upstairs with her, such as shampoo and conditioner, towels, and a few other things. "You didn't tell me Luke was coming back today." I mentioned, flopping onto my back in the middle of her bed. I felt my top lift some more, showing off more of my mid-drift, but I didn't mind too much. Cece and I had been friends for so long that we'd seen each other naked by now. She was the last person I'd be self conscious in front of.

She came walking out of the bathroom and tossed her purse onto the beanbag chair she had in the corner, coming over to sit down on the other side of her bed. "It kind of slipped my mind to tell you that." She admitted, giving me a sheepish smile. I snorted and shook my head, turning onto my back to look up at the ceiling. "Besides, he didn't come back today. He's been here for two days now." She corrected, causing me to pause. I hadn't noticed him even arrive. I guess I didn't pay attention too well.

"Why was he gone so long anyways?" I asked, unable to stop myself from being curious. Six years was a long, long ass time for someone to not come and at least visit family.

"Well, he went off to college for about four years, but I guess he just didn't feel like visiting during Christmas or Thanksgiving. But after he graduated, he pretty much went straight into getting his job and stuff." She answered, a small frown on her face. I could understand why she was upset. I mean, Luke and I weren't even remotely close to being friends or even acquaintances, but I'd be sad too if my brother just left for six years. Sure, four which he'd been at college, but he had opportunities to visit and didn't. The other two years he'd been working, apparently. "What job did he end up getting, then?" I asked, frowning as well.

Unfortunately, Cecilia just shrugged her shoulders, clueless. "I don't know. He hasn't said." She said, shaking her head. I furrowed my brows, sitting up onto my hands and sending her a look. "Did you ask him?" I questioned, a little surprised when she shook her head. I'd want to know what job was so important that my brother couldn't even take a week off out of two years to come and visit. "You should." I encouraged. A small smile grew on her face. "Okay, okay, I'll ask." She laughed softly, her blue eyes twinkling.

"But in the mean time," She started. "What are we doing today?" She asked, switching the subject.

A hum of thought left my lips. I went to suggest something to her, but she suddenly perked up and blurred out a suggestion of her own. "Could we have a sleepover?!" She exclaimed hopefully, causing me to pause. On any other day, especially during the summer, I would've more than gladly spent the night as hers or have her spend the night at mine, but not today. "I don't know. Don't you want to spend some time with your brother before he leaves? It'll probably be another six years before he comes back, you know, when you get married." I said, earning a loud laugh from her. "That's so mean." She giggled, shaking her head. "He's not that bad." She tried, but I sent her a look of utter doubt.

"We're talking about the same guy who used to chase me around with spiders in his hands. You know, the guy who once held me down and literally spit in my mouth because I used his shampoo once when I was eleven." I scoffed, shaking my head.

Like the traitor that she was, Cece giggled softly and then cut it off into a harsh cough when I glared at her, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah. That was..." She trailed off and giggled again, for which I smacked her on the back of the head, scowling. "You're such a traitor!" I exclaimed, glaring at her. She blushed and sent me an apologetic look, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sorry." She apologized, pushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. I merely rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you are." I said dryly, causing her to giggle. "Well, he didn't seem to be being mean to you today, was he?" She said, trying to be optimistic.

"That's only because I'm pretty fucking sure he didn't recognize me, Cece." I muttered.

Cecilia pursed her lips. "Fair point." She sighed out. It seemed even she doubted that Luke was capable of being kind to me, even after six years of not being around. "Anyways, I'm sick of talking about him." I said, wanting to change the subject again. I didn't come here to talk about her older brother. "The point is, I'm not staying over. He's gonna be leaving in a few days, so we can have as many sleepovers as you want. After he's gone." I said firmly to be sure she understood how serious I was being about this, raising a brow at her. I wasn't going to budge on this.

She sighed deeply and reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay, fine. No sleepovers until he's left. Got it." She agreed, a small frown on her face. We'd never had to put off having sleepovers just because of another person. Because we lived next door, there was never any reason why we couldn't sleep over at one another's houses. However, it seemed now one had come along, and its name was Luke.

"But can we at least have a movie day?" She pleaded, pouting at me. I couldn't say no.