Denying the Inevitable

“You don't want to be my friend? Well fine. You got your wish. You're not my friend. You're nothing to me.” She spat as she stormed out of the room leaving me speechless. What the fuck just happened here?!

“Fuck!” I muttered out of frustration as Brooklyn abruptly left my bedroom. How did I always manage to piss her off? “Brooklyn!” I called after her. I got to my feet and followed after her. I made my way downstairs just in time to hear the front door close rather loudly. I went to it and looked out the window and watched Brooklyn running down the street towards her house as she was putting her jacket on. I leaned my forehead against the cold glass. She drove me insane sometimes. What the fuck had I said to piss her off like this? Yah maybe I shouldn’t have said that I wanted to be what Nathan is to her...but she already knew that. It’s not like my feelings for her had been a secret.

“Was that Brooklyn?” My mother’s voice asked from a few feet behind me.

“Uh huh.” I muttered and then turned around.

“What happened?” She asked as she made her way to the window and looked out. By now I'm sure Brooklyn had rounded the corner and was no longer in sight.

“Nothing! Just drop it, okay?” I demanded as I started to walk past her.

“I don’t know why you two are doing this.” She remarked making me turn to face her. “You're crazy about each other. You have been for as long as I can remember. I don't know why you're doing this to yourselves! You're both miserable.”

“I'm the only miserable one, mom. She’s happy.” I corrected her as I again tried to leave the foyer.

“You're a man. Of course you wouldn't be able to read between the lines. She's just as miserable as you are, Luke!”

“I appreciate what you're trying to do,” I said as I was beginning to get frustrated. “But you have no idea what you're talking about. Brooklyn’s happy. She's getting married. Stop talking to me about this.”

“If she’s so happy why was she up in your bedroom looking at that picture of you two at your prom? If she's so happy why did she break down in tears when I told her that I was here for her if she needed to talk? If she’s so happy why did she spend over an hour up there?” I didn't know what to say to that. Brooklyn had always made sure that I knew we were friends, that there were no feelings there. It actually made me a little happy to hear that she had been in my room for that long just looking at pictures of us and reading those old notes. God, I'm such an idiot! Why the hell did I have to open my mouth and ruin everything? That's all I ever did. I always ruined everything when it came to Brooklyn and I.

“Do you want some advice from your mom?” She asked with a little twinkle in her eyes. I nodded. The truth of it was that I could use all the help I could get from her. “Go.” She told me as she opened the front door. Go? That was her advice?! “Go tell her what you’re feeling. All of it.” I stood there momentarily weighing the pros and cons but then it hit me. What the hell did I have to lose? I already pissed her off once today. She already told me that we were no longer friends. She was already with another guy. How much more could go wrong? I kissed my mom on the cheek and bolted out of the house. At some point things would have to start looking up.

Brooklyn’s POV

I slammed the back door of my house shut as I burst into kitchen. I sat down at the table with my head in my hands and I was shaking. I don't know why I had freaked out at Luke like that. The minute I left the house I wanted to turn around and go back in there and tell him I was sorry, but I couldn't. Ever since Luke had turned up in my life again he had been slowly becoming more important. I had been thinking about him more frequently, I had been spending less time with Nathan, and I had stopped getting upset when Nathan was gone on long work trips because it meant that I didn't have to come up with a story to tell him if I wanted to see Luke. Being friends with Luke was exhausting. I couldn't tell Nathan...he just wouldn't understand, so I had been seeing Luke behind his back. It’s not exactly normal for a girl who’s getting married in five months to be doing stuff like this.

I guess I freaked out at him because I don't want to do this to Nathan anymore. I've been trying to be friends with Luke, but I don't think it’s possible for us to be friends. Not when I get butterflies when he smiles at me. A guy you're friends with isn’t supposed to be able to stop your heart when his eyes lock on yours. You can’t be friends with someone makes your temperature rise when he sits next to you. Luke and I couldn't be friends. With all the history between us it just wasn’t possible. I had to go back to the way things were. When Luke wasn’t a part of my life at all.

I jumped up from the chair as the back door flew opened. I turned around only to see Luke standing there staring at me. Just as it always did, my heart skipped. “Hi.” I muttered. “What are you doing here?” Luke, rather than saying anything, closed the space between us. He grabbed my hips forcefully and pulled them against his as his lips came crashing down on mine.

Before I had a chance to think about what was happening my arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and I was up on my toes. My heart was beating so hard that it hurt and I swear I had bruises on my skin where Luke’s fingers were digging into my hips. The passion at which he was kissing me was overwhelming. There was nothing romantic about this; he was making a point. I moaned as my back slammed against the kitchen wall as Luke backed me up into it.

Point gotten. Loud and clear.