HIDING FROM THE TRUTH ✔️

CHAPTER 8: THE TELETUBBIES

8.
Luke stood in front of Gavin's apartment door, checking the address he sent for the eleventh time just to make sure he wouldn't knock on the wrong door. He took a deep breath, hyping himself up and gathering the courage to knock after ten minutes of standing there like an idiot.

The apartment building was tiny and sort of rundown. Luke wasn't a snobby person, but he wasn't used to it. He felt out of place and slightly uncomfortable as he anxiously waited for Gavin to open the door.

He jumped a little when Gavin opened it, looking as handsome as he always did. He was the effortless kind of attractive that made Luke's gut wrench in a painfully good way.

"Hey," Gavin said as he invited him in. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show."

Luke awkwardly shuffled inside, folding his hands behind his back because he didn't know what to do with them. "I wouldn't do that," he quietly mumbled.

"I know. I'm just surprised that you skipped class," Gavin laughed.

"Me too," Luke admitted. He wasn't sure whether he was proud or disappointed in himself for actually ditching school.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you too much," Gavin snorted as he motioned for Luke to come further inside.

The apartment was small and seemed a little squished together. It was a bit cluttered, belongings disorganized. It made sense considering three men lived there though.

"Where's your sister?" Luke questioned, following Gavin who was in front of him.

The older boy led the younger inside his room. "Luke, meet Isabella," he grinned as he pulled her out of her crib.

Luke's heart melted at the sight of the gurgling baby Gavin cradled in his arms. "She's so cute!" he exclaimed giddily.

"Did you hear that Bells?" Gavin gasped, holding her up by her underarms. "Luke thinks you're cute. What do you say? Can you say thank you?"

She giggled, squirming in his arms. "Tah!"

"Tah?" Gavin scoffed. "What's 'tah' supposed to mean?"

She giggled even more as she struggled to push him away. "Where do you think you're going?" Gavin said in an accusatory tone, pulling her back onto his hip.

"Aww," Luke's bottom lip jutted out as he watched Gavin play with her. That was when he decided that skipping school was worth it.

Gavin raised a brow at Luke, holding Bella out like Simba. "Wanna hold her?"

"Yes," he nodded eagerly, immediately opening his arms.

He stepped closer and helped situate Bella into Luke's embrace. She looked up at him with wide eyes as if she were debating whether he was worthy of her time or not.

"Can you say hi?" Gavin requested in his baby voice again, brushing the little bit of hair she had away from her face.

She made another unintelligible sound, reaching up to poke Luke's cheek. Luke blushed when Gavin laughed, nudging her hand away from his face.

"Don't randomly touch people's faces," he told her sternly.

She made a sour face at him before reaching up and pulling Luke's glasses off. He awkwardly let it happen since he didn't know how to react, blinking a few times to try seeing properly. His vision had gotten even worse with time. Everything was blurry.

"Bella!" Gavin scolded, trying to take Luke's glasses away from her but she refused to let go. "Let go!"

"Mmnah!" she shrieked. She started crying loudly every time he attempted to take them away from her as she hugged the glasses to her chest instead, glaring at her older brother.