Lukas opened the door and in she walked, Olivia miss-look-at-me Kimble. She squealed and all I did was roll my eyes at Mia who was doing the exact same thing before we both returned our focus to The ugly truth. That said I have to admit it took every ounce of my willpower not to look at them, to look at him. I could feel his presence behind me and while my mind wandered off, thinking about how she probably clung to his neck until I heard a noise. My willpower was gone, poof, out the door with it, when I turned around to see something

I didn't think would affect me like it did. Lukas had Olivia pinned against the wall, his body smashed against her. I swallowed, trying to wake me up from a dream that clearly wasn't one. This was happening and every letter, every word in my mind that tried to convince my body that he really didn't feel anything for me was doing a victory dance, killing every beautiful butterfly in my stomach, squashing them to pulp. I wanted to simply stand up and run away, hide from the rest of the world for letting him get to me like that but my feet were glued to the hardwood floor, I was stuck. Stuck in reality and stuck in my mind because while my mind was racing with thoughts of all kinds by body was completely speechless. I heard Mia yell something to her brother clearly pissing him off while he kept his eyes on me. His grey eyes keeping me hostage like I was his prisoner. And I was... I couldn't move, hell I couldn't even breath as his hand dragged Olivia out of the apartment slamming the door behind them. Even when I heard their footsteps disappear in the background all I could feel were those beautiful butterflies rising from their ashes, turning them into pins that gutted me from the inside. All I could feel was hurt, anger but mostly hate.

"Bella?" Mia said shaking me by my arm and pulling me out of my speechless bubble.

"What?" I said surprised, looking at her worried face, including a pair of furrowed brows.

"What's wrong, you look like you have seen a ghost." She chuckles, clearly clueless about my murderous thoughts.

"Your brother isn't a ghost, he's the freaking devil." I muttered unaware of how loud my voice actually sounded. It made Mia blast out a laugh with the magnitude of a 4.0 earthquake.

"Don't worry about them...In the morning Olivia will regret sleeping with him for the ten thousandth time and he will have an STD on his dick." She giggled and I couldn't help but to laugh at her comment even though my heartbeat for him flatlined. I didn't even realize it was beating for him until a saw him kiss the bitch next door.

"I don't care about them." I cleared my throat. "I'm m-mad because they Int-interrupted our movie." Stuttering as always when I tried to push a lie from my lips.

We continued to watch the movie while I was fumbling in my seat, twirling my phone in my hands. There was no doubt left I wasn't going to stay away from Drew, not after what I had witnessed seconds ago. Disgusting how he lifted her up wrapping her legs around his waist and how it made her moan in the presence of two other people trying to enjoy their movie. By the time the movie credits of our second movie, yes that's right we did a little marathon, rolled over the screen I still hadn't texted Drew. What am I waiting for!?

"Man, I could barely keep my eyes open during the last twenty minutes." Mia yawned while stretching her arms above her head, squeezing her tired eyes.

"Yeah, it's late. I should probably get going." I yawned too. How is it I always I have to yawn when I see someone else yawning?

"Hell no... I'm not letting you walk to your apartment by yourself... in the dark...at this hour." Mia protested. "You're staying."

"Are you sure?" I asked, lifting my brows. I never really had close friends, not like Mia, so I guess I'm not used to this kind of sleepover questions, but I totally could.

"Are we friend or are we friends?" She said throwing an extra pillow at me playfully.

"If you're insisting." I chuckled before falling back on to the soft material of the couch, grabbing onto a pillow and hugging it tight to my chest.

"Good night Bella!" Mia said while walking into her bedroom slightly leaving the door open behind her.

"Good night." I whispered, hugging the pillow even more which remined me of snuggling into someone's chest. It's now or never. Be brave, be Bella 2.0.Like a lightbulb had shot electricity through my body I sat up, grabbing my phone from the table.

: Are you still up? I know it's late... 🤓

: Never too late to answer my favourite person. ☺️

I swooned at his comment, smiling at my phone. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth trying to come up with a mind blowing answer that would make him smile just as much.

: Are you sure you just texted the right number? 🧐

: Isn't this that super cute blonde waitress I had an amazing first date with?

: Depends on how cute you think I am?

: do you like puppies?

: Uuuhm...yeah... who doesn't?

: Than you're as cute as a puppy Labrador trying to catch a butterfly 🦋🐶

: Butterflies in your stomach? 🦋🦋🦋

I regretted that one the moment I hit send. What if he denied whatever it was my typing fingers assumed.

: Maybe... Yes... do you want to find out on a second date?

: How about dinner?

: Sure. Where?

: Surprise me. 🙈🙉

: I'll pick you up at seven?

: I'll be ready

: How was your day gorgeous?

I wasn't sure what to tell him. It probably wasn't a good idea to tell him about my encounter with Lukas at the café or a couple of hours ago at his apartment. Instead I returned him the same question avoiding having to lie to him. Our texts went back and forth for some time until I fell asleep reading a message about how he once broke his arm climbing in a his neighbor's tree.

***

A sunbeam made its way through my eyelashes, waking me up after a surprisingly good night sleep on the couch. It took me some time and a couple of eye blinking motions to realize where I was. Especially when I found myself wrapped up in a fluffy blanket I didn't remember putting over me. Weird. I sat up looking at the digits on my phone indicating at what hour of the day I woke up. It was way too early to be awake on a Saturday but I couldn't risk staying any longer than necessary. The last thing a wanted was to bump into Olivia wearing Lukas's T-shirt with a head of sex hair and a satisfied grin on her face. I pushed the blanket off me completely and looked for my shoes. My groggy mind didn't seem to recall taking them off, their whereabouts unknown. I had to find them so I could leave, flee, far away from the bitch infested swamp that was Lukas's room. On the table I found my glasses. That's definitely going to help me find my stupid shoes. I looked everywhere for them, at every corner of the room, damn even in the kitchen and for some reason for some split second I even considered looking in the fridge. I'm such a weirdo.

"What are you looking for?" A husky voice said from the other side of the kitchen, my hand about to open the fridge. Busted, by mister I-fuck-everything-as-long-as-it-has-a-head, except for me apparently. I turned around to see Lukas leaning against the doorframe in nothing but a pair of light grey sweatpants, his abs fully flexed as he put his hands in his pockets. When I didn't answer him he cocked a brow at me with the most adorable smile on his face. Nope, not going to fall for that again. Picturing him on top of Olivia was enough to prevent me from decomposing into a puddle of weakness at my feet. I tried to keep my expression as blank as possible and my voice emotionless which made me feel like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, because for some reason being around him made it impossible to look anywhere else but at him. My eyes scanned his neck, unconsciously but knowingly looking for a possible hickey that bloodsucker Olivia could have left on his soft skin. My eyes didn't find a single one, only the black lines of his tattoo coloring the surface of his neck and arms in beautiful places.

"My shoes." I gritted my teeth while the needles inside my stomach reminded me it was once a paradise for happy butterflies. I wasn't going to stand in this kitchen one more second while he was eying me up and down, probably mocking my smeared mascara. I hissed at his direction without saying another word before walking past him into the living room, not even granting him another look.

"Have you tried looking underneath the couch?" Lukas grinned much to my annoyance, his footsteps following the sound of mine hitting the cold floor. If it wasn't for the coldness of the floor I would have heated to the point of exploding because at this moment his presence made my blood boil. I sat down on hands and knees peeking my head underneath the couch. At the sight of my shoes I rolled my eyes like I had never rolled them, knowing I was going to pull them from under the couch, facing the grin on his face that acknowledged the fact he was right.

Without saying a word, not even granting him a look from the corner of my eye, I sat down on the couch fumbling with my laces. Why do I always take my damn shoes off before untying the laces, I know I'm going to end up with knots. Frustrated I tugged at the laces but the knots weren't disappearing in thin air like I desperately wanted them to. While I was fighting with my shoes I felt the couch shift underneath me. I cocked my head to the side to see Lukas relaxing against the soft pillows, studying my fingers as they wrestled with the laces. I focused on my high tops instead of on him, I didn't want to be around him, not after what he pulled last night. I full on admit it hurt my feelings. Feelings, I wasn't even aware of. My anger was getting the better of me as I forcefully tugged at the laces making matters worse. Frustrated and so damn angry, I was ready to throw my shoes through the living room and walk home barefoot. I could still feel his eyes burning on my skin like the sun melting a snowman and it made me huff and sigh more, swearing I was never going to buy shoes with laces, ever. I was startled when Lukas's fingers gently slid around my wrist while taking the shoe I was holding in his hand. I pulled it back, not giving in to his supposed peace offer.

"Don't touch me." I huffed while pulling back my wrist but his fingers weren't letting go. On the contrary, they gripped on more firmly pulling me towards him, laced around my skin like the knots in my laces. Without looking at him I gave in, letting go of my shoe before I fell back against the couch crossing my arms to pout. I studied his fingers that where painted with permanent ink as he calmly fumbled with the laces untying every knot in no time.

"Here. No need to stress." He said softly and apologetic while looking at me with smoldering eyes and a smirk on his face. He handed me my shoe making sure his fingers brushed against my hand, electricity jolting through my body. Focus.

"I'M NOT FREA...king stressing!" I almost yelled, quickly lowering the volume of my voice when I realized Mia was probably still asleep. I put my bare feet into my converse loosely tying the laces, still mad at them for forcing prince not-so-charming to help me. "Shouldn't you be spooning Olivia right now?!" I barked at him while I stood up, making my way to the door.

"Isabella, I ha-" He started, the smirk completely gone from his face.

"You know, I don't even want to know." I interrupted him before giving him the opportunity to tell me the rancid details about his night. He swallowed while his grey eyes were hiding something he was probably going to tell before I cut him off. Ha! Like I care!

When I turned around I was one step away from leaving Lukas's nonsense behind me if it wasn't for his hand pulling me back into the apartment. "Isabella, I want to talk to you." He said softly, his eyes falling on my lips and his minty breath lingering in the space between us. The sensation of his hand around my wrist still did something to me, I couldn't deny that but this time my mind was in control and my body in detention.

"You've had your chance and you know what, you blew it every single time." I huffed, tugging my wrist away, taking control over my own senses and causing his hand to fall to his side before he clenched it into a fist. I turned back around, halfway stopped my his voice.

"Just fucking listen to me Bella!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the hallway behind me. A split second after his words hit my ears I stared at him, his face soft again, sorry even but most of all hurt. His grey eyes were calm and his mouth slightly parted, his beautiful lips swollen. Without breaking eye contact he put his hands in his pockets, he and I both not knowing what to do or say, able to cut the tension with a knife.

***

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