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"I hate to sound like a dickhead who's just had a one night stand... but you should probably go, Harper." Luke's voice was soft, gentle as though he feared she may be hurt by his words.
Glancing at the clock illuminated at Luke's bedside, Harper knew instantly that he was right. It was almost quarter to six, meaning that the pair had been in a deep conversation for almost six hours now. Harper suddenly became acutely aware of the way that they were currently positioned on the bed now too — her head on his chest as they lay sprawled out atop his bedsheets.
"Yeah, I suppose I should," she meekly replied, suddenly feeling a little awkward, "Thank you for, well, for listening to me. And for taking my mind off things for almost six hours when you could've been fast asleep." she glanced up, trying to suppress the butterflies swarming her stomach as she admired his features, smiling with tight lips.
Luke chuckled lightly, the vibration of his chest giving Harper chills as she sat up.
Luke sat up quickly too, "As much as I usually appreciate a good night's sleep, a pretty girl in my room sort of makes up for how awful I'm gonna feel tomorrow, I think."
The crimson blush on Harper's face would've been impossible to hide, so she didn't bother trying. It intensified only further due to the way his eyes didn't leave hers for a moment in the time it took her to collect her jacket from his bedroom floor.
She slipped her jacket gently over her shoulders, grinning at Luke's mocking tone as she did so, "Today, you mean."
Luke briefly looked again at the clock to remind himself just how late — or early — it was. He nodded, "Today, yeah."
There was silence again, Harper idly toying with the hem of her jeans again as she basked in the company of the boy in front of her. Her eyes scanned the room, particularly at the side that didn't belong to Luke. She was curious, brows furrowing at the fact the neighbouring bed was still empty so many hours into the night.
"How come your dorm mate isn't back yet?" she questioned, leaning on Luke's bedside cabinet a little as she was still stood up, "Sorry for being nosey it's just six in the morning."
Luke shrugged, scratching the back of his head, "I guess the party was too good. That, or he's gone back to Maddie's. His girlfriend lives upstairs."
Harper rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna assume the latter, then," a pang hit her heart at the reminder of her freshly ended relationship, but moreover she was just mocking his naivety if he thought his friend wouldn't have gone back to his girlfriend's flat at any given opportunity.
"Of course, I don't know why I considered anything else."
"I should probably actually go now, I guess," she muttered, to which Luke pouted jokingly in response, "I suppose if you really have to."
Harper didn't take even a second to think before leaning down and pulling Luke into a hug. Even she was surprised by her own actions, but Luke was startled enough to almost pull away. He quickly softened into the hug though, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I know this is weird, I'm sorry," Harper barely whispered, "I just — I don't know — it felt right. I'm just grateful for tonight."
They pulled away from the hug and Luke took his phone into his hands, passing it to Harper after opening his contact list for her to enter her details.
"It's not weird, Harper, you need it right now and I know that," he peeked just a little over at what Harper named herself in his phone, "Plus it helps that your hair smells like peaches."
Luke knew he was overdoing the strange compliments he'd peppered throughout their night-long conversation, but he couldn't help himself.
Harper needed the confidence boost in that moment, her initial body language telling him loud and clear how insecure she had been left by Drew's betrayal. There was that, and of course the fact that he meant them and wanted her to know.
"Stop being so sweet," Harper gently nudged him, "You know I'm fragile, you're gonna make me cry or something."
"Again?" Luke chuckled to himself as she handed him back his phone, noticing she'd aptly titled herself "that crying intruder!" and sent herself a text simply reading fuck off.
He locked his phone and returned his gaze to fixate on her, softening it slightly as he saw that she had begun to look somewhat nervous again.
"Well I'd better actually go."
Luke simply nodded in reply, instantly regretting ever suggesting that she should leave. Truth be told he was enjoying her company and didn't want to her to go.
He wasn't even tired, he just didn't want to keep her any longer in case she was tired. He knew she would be too polite to actively tell him she wanted to go to sleep — well, unless she spun it so she was apologetically offering to leave to unburden him.
She wasn't a burden though, not at all. Far from it.
Harper began to turn to walk away, opening the door and turning back to give Luke a brief, shy smile as she internally battled with herself about leaving, irrationally fearing she'd never see him again if she did.
"Harper?"
She swallowed hard as he spoke her name in a hushed tone. She took one step back towards Luke, her knuckles white from her tight maintained grip on the door.
"Yes, Luke?"
"I'm really glad you intruded. I'll see you around, princess. That's a promise."
——— i would die for harper & luke. just so u all know <3
