Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

“When did Dad say he was going back?” Jack asked, putting on a baseball cap and tying his shoes.

“He didn’t,” Luke replied, combing his hair back with his hand. “He said don’t wait up.”

“Well, if he’s going to be out for that long, he’s not going to be up tomorrow,” Jack coughed, pulling on his jacket. “If he is up, which I don’t think he will be, tell him I went to work early.”

“Alright,” Luke nodded.

“Hey,” Jack said sternly, pointing a firm index finger at Luke. “You stay out of trouble.”

"You don't get anybody pregnant," Luke returned sharply with a furrowed brow.

"Fine," Jack said darkly, clearly not expecting Luke to say anything back. "I'm just saying don't go far."

"Thank you, Jack. I think I got it under control," Luke growled, giving his brother an evil glare.

Luke had been moody ever since Jack had shown up. I wasn't very happy with Jack either. He wouldn't even give Luke the chance to sit next to me. Jack put me on one side of the bed, and Luke on the other. He made it even worse by stretching his body in the space between us so there was no possible way for body contact.

I actually expected Jack to react differently. He seemed to have mixed feelings about the situation. He would look at Luke like he wanted to high-five him and hug him. Then he would look at me with a grimace and give Luke the same disgusted face.

Luke just sat on the bed with his back against the wall and crossed arms the entire time Jack was there. The only time he talked was when he was arguing with Jack about the outcome of the competition they were watching on TV.

"I'll see you guys at Bang Bang's party," Jack nodded, walking out the bedroom door.

As soon as Jack left the room, Luke slid down the wall and hid his face behind his hands.

"Ugh, God damn it," he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"You alright?" I asked, scooting closer towards him.

"No," he sighed, removing his hands from his face and looking at me with sad eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what's up?" I asked, folding my legs and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Really want to know?" Luke questioned, crawling back up into a sitting position.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," I chuckled with a small smile.

Luke put his hand on my cheek and lightly kissed me. I was a little more prepared this time, but instead of it going any further he pulled away and let put a deep sigh.

"That," Luke nodded. "That bothers me."

"Kissing?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. That better be what it was because I would be extremely hurt if he said it was me he has a problem with.

"Yeah," he answered with a small shrug. "Well, can we talk in hypothetics here?"

"Sure," I slowly nodded, a little worried about where this conversation was going. Everybody knows that hypothetics don't exist. He was going to either refer to me or some other girl he knew.

"Alright, let's say I like this girl," he began, straightening up against the wall. "And I'm talking to her, we go out on a dates and all that, and I decide I really like her. How do I know when it's okay to kiss her?"

"Luke, in all honesty, you just started talking to girls a few days ago. I don't think you have to worry about that just yet," I answered with a light laugh.

"Yeah, but I need to know. I mean, I'm Luke fucking Moreno. I could get a girl in no time. It's just that when it gets to that point, I want to be able to identify said point and good at it," Luke explained.

I started laughing, causing Luke to look at me with a confused and slightly offended face. It wasn't that what he said was funny; it was that he didn't need to be worried about being skilled with his lips.

"What's so funny?" he asked, trying not to sound rude.

"How do I say this without it being awkward?" I blurted out through giggles. "You don't need to worry about trying to be good at kissing."

"Why not?" he asked with a crumbled forehead. "I don't want to suck."

"You don't suck," I replied, trying so very hard to repress the giggles that were still trying to make their escape.

"What do you mean?" he asked, obviously missing every hint I was throwing at him.

I couldn't hold the giggles back any longer. I let them loose and tried to keep my face from turning red. Luke's face went from confused to curious to offended as I kept laughing. I just didn't know how to answer him without it sounding weird.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I said, regaining my composure. I slapped my hand on his jean covered thigh and tried not to start laughing. "I am quite fond of your snogging skills."

"My what?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You are not bad at kissing," I clarified, taking my hand off of his leg and resting my elbow on my knee.

"I'm not bad?" he asked, not sounding too happy. "I don't want to be not bad. I want to be amazing!"

"Luke," I nervously chuckled shaking him by his shoulders. "Trust me when I say that you don't have to be worried about being a bad kisser. You are in the green when it comes to that."

The light seemed to have come on in his head. "So what went on over there," he began, pointing to the wall where we stood earlier. "You liked it?"

I tried to keep my giggles under control, but the color of my face went hay-wire.

"Yes," I slowly nodded, trying my best not to make it awkward.

Luke grew a smirk and nodded.

"Don't let that go to your head, Boy," I said quickly, slapping his knee.

“I’m not,” he grinned.

“You’re a fool, you know that?” I laughed, lightly pushing him.

“Yeah, I know,” he slowly nodded. “But I still need our help with something.”

“And what is that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I need to learn this whole dating game, and Mason and Scotty are no help. So, I was hoping that on Sunday you would go out with me on like a practice date?” he proposed.

“What am I supposed to do on this practice date?” I asked with a small shrug. “Tell you step by step on what to do?”

“Basically,” he nodded.

“Luke, you are worrying about this whole thing way to much,” I told him shaking my head. Seriously, I have never met a guy that was so socially retarded like him.

“But I need your help,” he said sadly, resting his head on my shoulder.

“Why don’t you ask Mikkel to help you?” I suggested. I didn’t know how to coach a boy on how to go out on a date. I had never been on a date myself! I wasn’t exactly sure on the rules and how it went.

“Mikkel will get me killed!” Luke exclaimed, stabbing my shoulder with his chin. “I don’t have the cool accent to make it work.”

“I don’t know,” I slightly shrugged, not wanting him to accidentally bite his tongue off. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to; I just wasn’t sure what to tell him. It’s the guys’ job to know what to do. The girls just sit there and be pretty. That’s it.

“Please?” Luke begged. He started to kiss my shoulder and up my neck.

“Now you’re just trying to be cute,” I giggled, not bothering to stop him.

“Is it working?” he asked between kisses.

“Not at all,” I lied.

“Not even a little?” he asked, pressing his lips harder against my neck.

“Nope,” I sighed, patting his shoulder.

Luke pulled away from me and sat against the wall.

“Damn it,” he muttered, brushing his hair back with his hand.

“But,” I began, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Since you are my friend, I will help you out.”

“It did work!” Luke exclaimed, nudging me in the ribs.

“Gee, nothing gets past you, King Squid,” I said sarcastically.

“Shut up,” Luke chuckled.

“Well, it’s eleven and I’m tired,” I informed him. “So I’m going to sleep.”

“And you say I’m lame,” he snorted, pulling off his shirt.

“I didn’t say you were lame. I just said you’re lousy at drinking beer,” I reminded him as I crawled under the blankets.

“I have to disagree with you on that,” he sighed, turning the bedroom light off. “I’m still a little young. My liver hasn’t grown to its full potential yet. Just give it some time.”

“You can only use that excuse for so long,” I chuckled, turning on my side.

“And I’m going to milk it as long as I can,” he laughed, sliding under the covers next to me.

“I’m sure,” I agreed with a small laugh. I didn’t notice how tired I was until I got settled under the blankets. His mattress was just so comfortable. “Good night.”

“Night,” he replied, wrapping his arm around my side.

I couldn’t help but smile. This night turned out completely different than what I thought.