Synopsis: When you arrive home, Luke makes good on what he said when he told you you’d spend all your time together, because now, you’re always together. If somebody asked you when do you see each other other than in school, the better question should be when do you not see each other? Because one of you definitely won’t be seen without the other. And as November passes and December comes around, you need to figure out what you’re going to get for his birthday, except…you have no idea what he likes.
Genre(s)/Tropes: Romance, Slow Burn, Coming-of-Age, Comedy, Angst, Friends to Lovers, Possesive x Possesive
Pairings: Luke x reader (nonMC), Caleb x Mc, Caleb x nonMC (not a main ship)
Chapter 3: What Do You Like?
You make your way up the stairs with your backpack and suitcase, opening the door to your room as you set everything down on the floor.
You flop onto your bed with a groan, relishing in the feeling of being back home and in the comfort of your own bed. You felt like you could fall asleep right now if you wanted to, which you will eventually; you were planning on taking a nap so you can be extra recharged for tomorrow. After all, you do have to go back to school.
You open your eyes when you feel your phone buzz, lifting it up to your face to see what it is.
Luke: Mom and I just got back home, wbu?
Your lips tilt upward when you see that the message is from Luke, quickly typing back a reply.
You: We just got back too, I’m about to take a nap.(_ _).｡o○
Luke: Wow! We think so alike! I was about to take nap too.
You: Lol really? Well, goodnight then, I hope you have a good nap!(=￣ ρ￣=) ..zzZZ
Luke: Lmao goodnight, or good afternoon? And I will, you too!
As you change into your pajamas and tuck yourself into bed, you can’t help but feel excited for tomorrow. You have someone you’re looking forward to seeing, after all.
Later when you wake up, you catch up a bit on studying and eat dinner. After you take a shower, watch show with your sister and brush your teeth, you begin to get ready for bed.
You turn on the lamp on your nightstand, the golden yellow light casting everything in your room in a warm and cozy glow. You’re plugging your phone in to charge when you get another text from Luke.
Luke: Wanna take the bus to school tomorrow together?
You: Sure, but wait. Do u live close by or something? How else will we be getting on the same bus?
Luke: Oh sorry, my bad. I never told you lol, I live on the same street as you. I’m just around the corner.
You: You do??? Well that’s convenient, we can meet by the bus stop that’s close to here!
Luke: Yeah! I guess I’ll see u tomorrow then? Good night!
You: Good night! Sleep well.
You put your phone back on the nightstand and tuck your blanket up to your chin, still in slight surprise from the messages.
You didn’t know that he lived on the same street as you, in fact, he was just around the corner. It was a pleasant surprise actually, it meant that you didn’t need to go far if you wanted to see him in person.
With that in mind, you smile to yourself as you switch the light off on your lamp, welcoming the warmth and comfort of your bed as you’re whisked off into the land of dreams.
The sky is covered in grey clouds with the promise of snow as you make your way to the bus stop, your scarf wrapped snugly around your neck and up to your chin to shield you from the cold.
Your footsteps falter slightly when you see Caleb and Emcee standing there, and even more so when you see the way he’s looking at her while she talks and gestures animatedly.
The only way one can describe his expression is adoring, the wind blowing his bangs over his eyes to obscure the way he was looking at her; as if she was the one that hung the stars up in the sky herself.
As you slowly make your way towards them, you can’t help but wonder, has he ever looked at you like that? Probably not. After all, you were just a friend to him; his good, loyal friend. And you knew that won’t ever change, no matter how much you liked or cared for him.
Because you made that promise to him yourself, right?
Emcee notices you first, turning around to give you bright smile. “Well well well, look who’s awake! Any longer and you might not make the bus.” She teases you as the corner of her mouth quirks up into a smirk.
You let out a humourless laugh at her teasing. You weren’t really in the mood for this, especially at this time of the morning. The both of them knew that you weren’t a morning person since you were younger, but alas, you still have priorities. “Ha ha ha, very funny. You know I never miss the bus.”
You look up and accidentally make eye contact with Caleb, the warmth in his eyes gone and replaced by something more hesitant and cautious.
Ah, that’s right. The two of you didn’t really talk since that argument you had regarding Luke in the mountains. He didn’t say anything to you, and you were too sensitive at the time to approach him to talk about your dispute. But your mind was clearer now, and even though it would be uncomfortable to talk to him about it, you wanted to clear things between the two of you so your awkwardness won’t make the people around you uncomfortable.
“Morning Caleb.” You greet him casually and lightly as you smile at him.
Seeing how you weren’t in a bitter mood anymore, he visibly relaxes a bit, offering you a small smile of his own. “Morning.”
You look down both sides of the sidewalk in hopes of seeing Luke walking down, but unfortunately, he isn’t here yet.
‘Maybe he’s still sleeping,’ you think.
Beside you, Emcee suddenly groans, throwing her head back dramatically. “I just remembered that we have a test in a few days! Darn it, I didn’t even study yet!”
Caleb tsks in disappointment next to her, a sign that he was about to give her a scolding. “You didn’t study yet? And how many times have I told you to when you were busy playing games with your friends?”
“Hey! I was busy before! I wasn’t just playing games, and after that we went away! It’s not my fault.” She retorts angrily.
You sigh, tilting your head to the side to escape the noise of her yelling. “Hey hey, calm down all right? We still have a few days before the test, you can still make it.” You reassure her.
Honestly, you knew that if she actually paid attention in class and did her homework instead of procrastinating, she wouldn’t be struggling as much as she was now. However, it wasn’t your place to say that, and you didn’t want to voice your opinion in case she got mad at you. After all, it was your role to keep the peace in the group.
Just when you feel like your head might combust from their arguing, you catch a figure skidding around the corner of the street and running down the sidewalk towards you.
Your face visibly lights up when you see Luke, a big smile that you can’t control spreading across your face when he comes to a stop in front of you.
His hands are on his knees as he pants, his breath coming out in white puffs of air as he catches his breath. “I-I made it,” he huffs a couple more times, “good morning.” He smiles sheepishly up at you as he pants. “Sorry, I accidentally overslept.”
You shake your head as you reassure him. “It’s okay, you made it right on time. The bus will be here soon.”
“Really? Oh good, that’s a relief.” He sighs in relief as he straightens up, but pauses when he catches Caleb and Emcee’s eye.
He shifts a little where he’s standing, bringing his hand to the back of his neck as if he’s about to scratch it, but catches himself and lets it flop back down by his side. “Um- good morning.” He presses his lips together in a polite smile, but it only makes him look stiff and awkward as his cheeks puff out slightly.
‘Kinda cute…’ you think as you look up at him. But realization dawns on you as you slowly turn your head to the side in shock so nobody can see your expression, your mouth agape as your eyes widen like saucers. ‘Wait- WHAT DID I JUST THINK?!’
“Morning.” Caleb answers cooly, his face devoid of any expression.
“Morning Luke!” Emcee says cheerfully.
Luke nods stiffly, but relaxes a bit as he turns to you, cocking his head to the side in curiosity as he looks at your face. “Are you okay? Your face is a little red, are you cold?”
“I-I’m okay,” You stutter slightly, sniffling to pretend the reason why your cheeks are red is because of the cold, “just a little chilly.”
“Well, hopefully the bus comes soon so we can get out of the cold. Especially because…your legs are exposed.” He mutters as he looks down at your legs. But his cheeks turn pink as he looks to the side, clearing his throat as if he just got caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing.
But you don’t think much of it as you think, ‘oh, that’s right,’ as you look down at your uniform.
While your skirt hits a little bit above your knee, Emcee’s hits higher because she has longer legs.
‘Damn all these people and their long spider legs. I wish mine were longer.’ You think bitterly as you try not to stare, instead focusing on looking down the road. Thankfully, you see the bus making its way down the street as it comes to a stop in front of you, the doors opening as you all file in one by one.
You take a seat by the window as Luke settles down beside you, and out of the corner of your eye, you see Caleb pause slightly before taking the seat behind the two of you next to Emcee.
Suddenly, Luke turns to face you, the sudden shift making you look away from the window and at him.
“By the way, did you study for the test as yet?” He asks you.
You nod. “I did, did you?”
He nods. “Yup! I wanted to make sure I was prepared for the test, so I studied a lot before we left for vacation.”
Behind you, you hear Caleb scoff to himself slightly. But it seems you were the only one who heard, because Luke doesn’t react at all; unless he couldn’t care less and decided to just keep talking.
“Oh!” He exclaims as his smile brightens. “The trip was so much fun wasn’t it? The mountains were so beautiful!”
At his mention of the trip, the…mostly wonderful memories that were created there come back to you like a warm blanket wrapped around your body. You feel yourself smile as you recall the fun times that you had there. “It was, wasn’t it? Especially the sunsets! The sunsets were so pretty!”
While you’re happily talking with Luke, Caleb is quietly judging from behind. The way you were smiling and even talking excitedly…he hasn’t seen you like that in a while. When was the last time you were like that with him and Emcee?
But he soon snaps out of his thoughts, because Emcee starts talking to him. His eyes regaining their warmth as he smiles at her, paying attention to every word that leaves her lips.
After all, nothing matters more to you than your pipsqueak…right?
Time skip to lunch break, you’re about to go and get your food when Caleb suddenly grabs you by your forearm and pulls you into an empty classroom.
You let out a yelp at the sudden shift, momentarily stunned as Caleb shuts the door and turns to you.
You stare up at him wide-eyed as your mouth hangs open in surprise. “What the heck?” You yelp, pointing a finger at him disbelievingly, “what are you doing here? Aren’t you in an entirely different grade?”
Caleb sighs tiredly, raking a hand through his hair as his amethyst eyes settle on you.
Your heart jumps at the way his piercing gaze is looking right at you, as if he’s trying to burn a hole into your head to let all the thoughts spill out onto the cold floor.
‘But wait…aren’t I alone in this room with him?’
Ooooo what if he brought us here on purpose~
Your stomach does a weird flip at the thought, but you will your racing heart to settle down as Caleb starts speaking to you.
“I know, I’m just here to talk to you quickly. It’s about…” he trails off, hesitance clear in his tone as his eyes wander around the room. He clears his throat before he continues speaking. “Our fight. In the mountains.”
You knew it. You knew this was coming, that’s why you prepared beforehand what you would say to him when either of you brought it up. But before you get to open your mouth to speak, Caleb speaks first.
“I’m sorry,” He begins, “for what I said. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” He looks up into your eyes apologetically as he comes closer to you.
“And I didn’t mean to hurt you. If I did…I’m sorry.” He quietly says the last part as he hangs his head down in shame.
You don’t say anything at first as you let the silence stretch on, doing your best to gather your thoughts together before responding. “It’s okay. I…I’m also sorry…about the way I responded to you.” You say reluctantly. As much you hated saying sorry and didn’t necessarily think there was anything you needed to be sorry for, you still said for the sake of peace. Just in case.
Caleb looks up, his eyes shining with hope as his posture relaxes, letting out a huff as he smiles. “You don’t need to be sorry. It was my fault, so I will make it up to you. Remember how I said I would get you whatever you wanted? I’ll also use that as an apology gift to you.”
Oh, that’s right. Caleb promised that he would get whatever you wanted in exchange for giving Emcee those fairy lights.
You look off to the side in thought as you think about what you want; quickly coming to a conclusion as you snap your fingers and face him with a sweet smile, interlacing your hands behind your back.
“I want strawberry milk tea. With boba. But-!” You quickly interject as he’s about to open his mouth. “You can’t use that as an excuse for saying you already got me a birthday present.”
He chuckles, his eyes filled with something close to mirth. But you don’t get to study his expression properly before he turns around and makes his way towards the door. “Of course of course. Don’t worry. And I’ll get you your tea after school so you don’t have to chug it down before lunch is over. Come one, we should go now.”
However, you don’t immediately follow him, feeling like this conversation isn’t properly over. After all, you haven’t even addressed the elephant in the room yet.
A wall was built between you and Caleb. A wall built to protect the peace and stability of your friendship, a wall built to protect the feelings you don’t want the other to see from overflowing. This wall was built years ago when you first made that promise to him, the promise that sealed your fate from the moment you said those two words.
However, this wasn’t about you, no. This was about the person who made you believe in sincerity again, the person who made you believe there were good, genuine people out there. And as his friend, you would be damned if you let people say whatever they wanted about him.
So it didn’t matter how anxious or nervous you felt about speaking up, you had to address this now before it festers into something bigger.
You swallow the lump in throat and take a deep breath as you speak in a firm, but gentle voice. “Caleb. Luke isn’t a bad person.”
His hand pauses on the door handle, and for a few seconds, he doesn’t move. The feeling was akin to watching a bomb being held above the room, and at any moment, it might drop if you weren’t careful with what you said.
And just as you began to regret opening your mouth, he lets out a huff, slowly turning around as he faces you with his head down.
“You…like him a lot, don’t you?” His voice comes out soft, but his words feel like a thousand needles being pricked into your skin.
His question caught you a little off guard, your thoughts swirling around the word, ‘like.’
“W-what? I-I mean, of course I do, he’s my friend.” You stammer, surprised by his sudden accusation.
You shuffle in your place when he suddenly looks up, his piercing gaze looking pointedly at you. “Friend? He’s your friend now?” He scoffs, looking off to the side as he clenches his jaw.
His attitude was starting to make you feel anxious, and when you’re anxious, sometimes you start to scratch at your skin. But instead of doing that, you fist your hands in your skirt to fight the urge to claw at yourself.
“Caleb…I don’t get why you’re acting this way.” You mumble anxiously, fiddling with the hem of your skirt as you avoid his intense gaze.
He rakes a hand through his hair again as he sighs in defeat, his arms flopping down by his sides. “Sorry, I-I just…I’m just trying to protect you.”
He feels like you’re replacing him
“I know, and I appreciate it, really. But you don’t need to worry, Luke is a good person.” You reassure firmly, your brows drawn down in concern by his attitude.
Caleb just nods solemnly, giving you a small smile as he turns towards the door again and he looks back at you, nodding his head as a sign for you to follow him.
You jog after him as you two make your way down the corridor side by side, on your way to finally get lunch.
And didn’t know then, but this? This was the beginning of an entirely different wall being built between you two, a wall that neither of you may be able to cross over.
By the time you make it back to the cafeteria, Luke has already finished his lunch by half, and Emcee is sitting across from him. She’s talking to him about something enthusiastically, but he only seems to be half listening, only giving the occasional polite nod and hum of acknowledgment.
But when he looks up and sees you with your food tray, his eyes and smile brighten as he calls and waves at you. “Come sit over here! Next to me.”
You walk over as he scoots down the bench, setting your tray down and taking a seat next to him.
Caleb also comes over and takes a seat next to Emcee as she looks up. “Hey, what took the two of you so long? Did you get in trouble with the teacher or something?” She asks teasingly.
Caleb chuckles as he ruffles her hair, which causes her swat at his hand in annoyance. “Hey! Caleb!”
“Don’t be silly pipsqueak, you know she never gets in trouble. We were just discussing something, that’s all.” He says casually, looking up to give you a smile.
He really needs to stop smiling at you, because he has no idea what it does to you whenever he does.
You just blink at him as your cheeks turn slightly pink, then give all your attention to the food in front of you, not paying any mind to what people would think about you stuffing your face in big bites. You’ve been starving since this morning, after all.
The only time that you do look up is tell Luke this, “The food is actually really good today, it doesn’t taste like slop,” before going back to eating.
He let’s out a laugh, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he speaks. “Yeah, it is isn’t it? Especially the stew, the stew isn’t bad today.”
You just nod in agreement as you continue eating, finishing the last bits of food on your tray.
Caleb looks on coldly as Luke continues to look at you fondly. However, what he doesn’t notice is way Emcee is also looking at the way you two interact…
After school, Luke told you he has to stay behind because he was assigned cleanup duty, and that he would complete it as soon as possible so you can go home together.
You both agreed to meet at the tea shop Caleb was going to take you to get your tea, and you would go home together from there.
Now, you’re holding your strawberry milk tea outside as you stare at Caleb nonchalantly. “You guys are meeting up with friends? Okay.” ‘Just abandon me here.’ You think.
“Ummm, do you want to come? The three of us could go together.” He offered, not noticing your inner displeasure.
As nice as the idea was, you told Luke you would meet him here, and you weren’t about to back out on your word. “It’s okay, I told Luke I would meet him here before we left school. You two can go ahead, he’ll be here soon.” You reassure as you sip your boba.
“Oh…you’re waiting for him? I know! Why don’t we wait for him and then we can all go toge-” She suggests but doesn’t get to finish as Caleb puts a hand on her back.
“Come on pipsqueak, she said it’s okay. Let’s go.” He guides her away with his hand before looking back to flash you a charming smile. “You’ll be okay waiting, right?”
“Yes yes, go along now.” You say as you use your hand in a shoo gesture like a grandmother.
You watch as they make their way down the street, sighing before going back inside the shop to escape the cold.
Allllll byyyy myyyy seeeEelf
Don’t wanna be, alllll byyyy myyyy self, anymore
You take a seat by the window and put your backpack on the chair next to you as you sip on your boba.
You look around the shop, taking in the cutesy interior and bright pastel colours of the place. The shop doesn’t only sell different kinds of tea, but different kinds of cute styled pastries and cakes as well.
You’re so absorbed in looking at the interior and food, you almost don’t notice the tall figure standing right by the window.
You jump in your seat when you see that it’s Luke looking in right at you, a mischievous glint in his eye and a bright smile on his face.
You start laughing as your pulse calms down from the scare, Luke coming into the shop also laughing.
“You should’ve seen your face! Your eyes went as wide as saucers!” He falls into another fit of laughter, so bright and contagious, it’s impossible not to laugh along with him.
The laughter dies down as Luke takes a seat across from you, but pauses as if realizing something. “Wait- are you here alone? Where did your other friends go?” He inquires as he looks around, as if trying to find them.
You pick up your cup and swirl it around, watching the ice and boba swirl around like a tornado. When you speak, your voice comes out indifferent, “They went to hang out with their friends at the arcade or something. They didn’t explicitly tell me where they were going.”
When he doesn’t say anything, you glance up, but pause you see the look on his face.
His usual warm coral eyes have turned seething and slightly dull, a deep frown set on face as he works his jaw. “And they left you here alone? Didn’t they at least offer to take you with them?” He hissed.
You blink at him, confused. Why did he seem so upset? “Well, Caleb did offer. But…I don’t know any of their friends, so it would be uncomfortable and awkward for me if I went with them.”
You observe his face as you finish speaking, taking in the way he clenches his jaw and takes slow, controlled breaths.
But suddenly, he flashes you a warm smile, as if he wasn’t even upset in the first place. “You know what? I think I’ll get a drink too, and then if you want, we can take the bus and let it drop us off a little farther from home, then we can walk the rest of the way. Only if you want to of course!” He offers brightly as his eyes shine with warmth, any trace of anger gone like clouds when the sun comes out.
Though you were still slightly confused by his sudden change in attitude, you can’t help but give him a small smile of your own, the warmth of his smile radiating into your heart. “Yeah, I like the sound of that. Let’s do it!”
After Luke gets his tea, you two take the bus and let it drop you off just a little farther from home.
Now, you’re walking side by side as you both sip on your tea, the sky above you still grey and gloomy as it was earlier in the morning.
“Hey.” Luke suddenly says thoughtfully.
“Hm?” You hum as you look up at him.
He lets out an amused chuckle, as if he just realized something funny. “Isn’t it funny how we’re drinking cold tea even though it’s freezing outside?”
You let out a small laugh of your own at the simplicity and absurdity of it. “Pfft honestly? I drink cold drinks all the time in winter.”
Luke’s mouth falls open in shock as he look at you. “No way, are you serious? How?!”
You can’t help but laugh at the shock induced look on his face, almost choking on your tea in the process as you let out a cough. “I don’t know, I just do I guess. I honestly don’t know myself.”
As you continue to walk forward, a sudden thought comes to you that makes you want to ask Luke something. “Hey Luke, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?” He inquires.
“Do you…have any other friends?” You ask hesitantly, but realize that the way you worded it probably sounded bad. “N-not that I think you don’t have other friends! That’s not what I meant…” You trail off, hoping he doesn’t take offense to your question.
“It’s okay! Don’t worry.” He reassures kindly, then continues thoughtfully, “Hmmm…all the people I know are more like acquaintances than friends to me, but I sometimes hang out with a couple of the guys from the basketball team.”
“Ah! Not you though! You’re my friend, not an acquaintance!” He reassures quickly, his eyes filled with panic as he misinterprets your ‘oh.’
You chuckle. “Don’t worry Luke, I didn’t misunderstand.”
He lets out a slight sigh of relief. “That’s good, I just wanted to make sure.”
Then he asks a question you were both expecting and not expecting at the same time, “What about you? Do…you have any other friends than those two?”
You hesitate, but reply calmly to his question, “Other than you, no. I don’t.”
Past memories resurface like thorns as you talk him. “Back when we were younger, it was just the three of us. But they got other friends as we all got older.”
It was only to be expected, after all, they were both outgoing and approachable people. You remember how back then, when you asked them if they wanted to hang out, they would tell you they had plans with their other friends. You didn’t mind, really, but as it began to happen more often, you just assumed they found their friends more fun than you.
You don’t blame them, after all, you didn’t think you were the most fun person to hang around with. But the thought always brought a pang of jealousy and loneliness in your chest. You would think, if only you were more outgoing, if only you had more to say, maybe it wouldn’t be like this.
As if sensing your self deprecating thoughts, Luke puts a gentle hand on your shoulder, effectively snapping you out of your dark thoughts.
You look up into summer sunset eyes, the warmth of them somehow always able to bring peace to your troubled heart.
Luke gives you a gentle smile, his voice as soft as pure silk. “You have me now, alright? You don’t need to feel alone anymore.”
It’s strange, really. The way he talks to you sometimes makes you feel as if he’s witnessed everything you’ve went through. But then again, that was the thing about Luke, whenever you were with him, your negative thoughts always seemed to vanish into the air. Talking and being with him was just…easy.
You nod and give him a small but grateful smile, hoping it can convey everything you were feeling at the moment in your heart.
Luke reciprocates your smile, and with a warm and gentle hand around your shoulders, he guides you home as soft snowflakes begin to fall from the cloud covered sky.
As the weeks pass by, you and Luke continue to spend more time together. You eat together all the time at lunch, help each other study, do your homework together, and go home together at the end of the day too. You text each other random memes, and say goodnight before going to sleep.
And now that the end of November is fast approaching, you’re trying to figure out what you will get him for his birthday. You vaguely remember him mentioning that his birthday is on the fifth of next month, but the thing is…you don’t know what to get him.
So today was the day you were going to ask him what he wants and likes, and figure something out from there.
You’re now studying together in the kitchen table of his house as you sit across from him with your hands clasped together in front of you, your face one of absolute seriousness.
“What do I like?” He asks as he blinks at you.
You nod firmly, “Yeah, and what do you want for your birthday?”
Luke puts his pencil down as sips the hot chocolate his mother left on the table for the both of you, his face taking on something thoughtful.
“Hmmmm….what I like? Oh!” He mutters the first part before looking up suddenly, “I like riddles! And mysteries! Oh, and photography too!”
Seeing the way his eyes light up like a young boy when he tells you what he likes makes you chuckle. “Riddles and mysteries? I like mysteries too, but I’m not that great at riddles.”
He gasps, “You like them too? That’s great! And if you want, I can teach you how to solve different riddles, and we can do them together!” He offers enthusiastically as his eyes shine with hope, the idea of having a partner to do these things with making him ecstatic.
You don’t have it in you to refuse him from the way he was looking at you. Not that you would reject him anyway, you also liked the idea of doing these things with him. “Yeah! I like the sound of that!” You agree.
“Great! We can be like Sherlock and Watson! I’m Sherlock, and you’re my Watson!” His smile is bright and unrestrained, and warm enough to melt the snow and ice off the coldest of days.
You nod in agreement, your smile just as big as his.
And so, that’s how Sherlock and his loyal Watson was born. And they didn’t know then, but they would do anything for each other, and follow each other to the ends of the earth if they had to.
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a/n: Yay! I made the deadline I set for myself! And I managed to keep my word!(*¯︶¯*)
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