"Debilitated feelings sprawled across the bed

She's spinning perfect blue buildings

While I'm counting crows inside my head."

✰

Arlo, despite having received her fair share of male attention, had never been alone with a boy like this before. She went to an all-girls school, after all. It only made sense that her knees were shaking as she followed Luke to the back of the store.

Luke had rearranged some of the aisles of the store to create a sort of reading nook. It was a back corner of the store surrounded by bookshelves on every side with a couple of bean bags in the middle.

Really, this was Luke's living room. But, Arlo didn't need to know that.

Arlo's eyes are zeroed in on Luke's muscular back as he leads the way, not bothering to glance back at her. She's thankful for this. He would surely be able to see the nervousness all over her face if he spared her a second look.

"You can sit down." Luke says simply, taking a seat on one of the beanbags. He uses one of his long legs to push the other in her direction.

Carefully, and very slowly, Arlo sits down, allowing herself to sink into the beanbag that practically swallows her whole. Luke has to bite back a smile at the way her feet are hanging off of the side of the beanbag due to the way in which it practically eclipses her body.

He didn't know why he agreed to let her talk, or even why he led her back here. They could have had a perfectly good conversation from across the counter in the front of the shop.

Or better yet, in Calum's front yard with the boy standing right next to him so he would feel too much guilt to possibly let the temptation of seeing her as anything more than just a girl win.

It kind of scared Luke how much he enjoyed her presence in such a short amount of time. She was kind, unlike the girls he was used to. Arlo liked books and stuttered over her words when she got nervous and always seemed to have a little fucking bow in her dark hair.

Those were just a few of the things Luke had memorized about her over the last few days. The other details were woven in-between the stanzas of messily scrawled poems in his notebook.

"What did you want to talk about?" Luke clears his throat, unwilling to look at her any longer. It felt wrong. He averts his eyes to his lap, beginning to fiddle with his fingers.

Luke had an indentation on the pointer finger of his dominant hand from writing so goddamn much and he hated it. As Arlo gathers her words, Luke begins tracing the indentation, cursing himself mentally as he realized it had begun to turn into a callous.

That indentation would become one of Arlo's favorite things about him. Luke would blush when she traced over the imperfection when they held hands. Even if they didn't know it yet.

"It's nothing serious." Arlo winces, feeling bad for having taken time out of his day for a question as trivial as the one she was about to ask. Suddenly, she feels as though she'd rather be anywhere else.

Not because she didn't enjoy Luke's presence- it was quite the opposite actually. Luke was just far too intimidating for her to handle. Even now as he sits across from her, toying with his lip ring with one hand while the other taps impatiently on the side of the beanbag, she finds her throat becoming tight with nerves.

"Doesn't matter." Luke says simply. For a boy who thrived off of being alone, she sure was breaking down his walls and he couldn't quite decide if he loved it or fucking despised it.

"I was wondering if you knew if Calum likes coffee." Arlo begins, her eyes falling downcast as she fiddles with her fingers. "Or maybe soda or I dunno his favorite snack-"

"Why the hell don't you know that?" Luke cuts her off, his voice holding nothing but confusion.

For one, he couldn't stand to hear her ramble on about Calum, as selfish as it sounded. Calum was his best friend, which is how Luke knows firsthand just how carelessly he treats the girls he's with. Calum wasn't a bad person by any means but he was a rich eighteen-year-old with better looks than most were blessed with and undeniable charm that could get him anything he wanted. Calum had yet to grow out of that phase, as had most boys in their town.

Suddenly, a wave of anger courses through Luke's veins as he realizes that only the other night, Calum had a girl over. Luke clenches his jaw, resisting the urge to storm out of the shop and track his idiotic best friend down. How the fuck could he hurt a girl like Arlo? That son of a bitch had no idea how lucky he was.

"Well, we haven't really talked-"

"What the hell do you mean?" Luke is sitting up now, no longer nonchalantly slouching into the fabric of the beanbag. His eyes are harsh as they narrow on her, his head spinning from the direction in which the conversation had turned.

Arlo was sure her face had gone pale at his words. If she wasn't mistaken, he sounded angry. For what, she had no clue but the mere thought of him holding any sort of malice towards her kind of made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Well, we've always been neighbors, but we never really talked- not since we were younger anyway." She scrambles to explain, her eyes refusing to meet Luke's any longer. "But, the other day he offered me a ride and I was too excited to buy a book to remember to give him gas money so I was thinking I could get him a snack or something."

Despite how cute she was, Luke hated the way she was looking down at her lap as though she was scared to look him in the eye. He hadn't meant for her to feel that way. His stomach drops at the realization that he'd unintentionally been too harsh with his words.

Luke usually didn't censor his words or his emotions for anyone. For some reason though, he'd begun to take extra care with his dialect and actions from the very moment he met her. It wasn't an easy change to make, for he'd radiated a certain harshness for practically his whole life. This was a product of the way his parents had failed to love him and unfortunately, he believed that's just how he was destined to be.

Luke cleared his throat, closing his eyes for a moment to remind himself exactly who was sitting so innocently in front of him. "Is Calum not your boyfriend, Arlo?"

The girl nearly chokes on her breath, her eyes going comically wide as she gapes at him. "What?!" Arlo says incredulously, her mind spinning from the insinuation. "No! Why would you think that?"

It's Luke's turn for his cheeks to flush as he settles back into the beanbag, his own eyes darting away from her quickly in a way very unlike his usual cocky manner. "Fuck, I don't know." He scrambles for a proper explanation. "I just assumed you were when he dropped you off and then you showed up at his house."

Arlo bites down harshly on the inside of her cheek, creating an indent in the flesh that Luke can see. He doesn't like it, not one bit. Despite the satisfaction he gets from making her eyes go wide and her voice shake with nerves, Luke is far from a fan of her sinking her teeth into her cheek like that. It must hurt, maybe even enough to draw blood and if he were beside her- rather than across from her, he might have allowed his hand to grip her jaw gently and occupy her mouth with something far less destructive.

Am I really about to admit this? She debates internally, working up the courage to speak. "I came to Calum's looking for you."

Luke could have fucking swore his heart stopped at her words, his stomach dropping in a way he'd never experienced. "Me?" He gapes. "Why the fuck were you looking for me?"

Arlo kind of wants to roll her eyes at all the questions he's asking. Not out of annoyance, for it was simply too entrancing to see the normally cocky boy caught off guard for once- and because of her.

"The book." She shrugs. "I wanted to try and pay you back, but I was also going to tell you how much I was enjoying it." Arlo admits hesitantly, hoping she didn't sound weird or something like that.

"So, why didn't you?" Luke asks, her admission having given him a certain confidence that he thrives off of. His tone is low as he looks unabashedly into her eyes, despite the fact that her brown ones keep darting away in nervousness- his gaze never falters. "I only remember you trying to pay me."

"I dunno." She mumbles, her eyes taking interest in the bookcase to the left of her.

Luke clenches his jaw, wishing more than anything that she would just fucking look at him. He curses himself for being so harsh before. Maybe, if he could get a fucking grip, she wouldn't be looking away from him now.

"Don't do that." His raspy voice leaves no invitation for argument. "Tell me."

Arlo inhales shakily, daring to glance up at him. Once she does though, she really, really wishes she hadn't, for the look he's giving her is simply too intense for her to handle. "You make me nervous."

A smirk tugs at Luke's lips as he leans back, pleased. Good girl. "I make you nervous, Arlo?"

She swallows thickly, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "Yeah."

Luke is enjoying this far too much to drop the subject just yet. He kind of feels bad for making the girl stumble over her words, but then again, there's something so mind-fucking about seeing his own effect on her.

"In a good way or a bad way?" He hums, teeth toying with the black lip ring looped through his bottom lip.

Arlo's eyes, those of which had been previously darting around in an anxious action, are now having trouble leaving his own. Luke has this way of involuntarily pulling her in, challenging her to look away.

"A good way, I think." She answers him quietly, wincing as she awaits his response.

"You think?" Luke echoes, his eyes scanning over her from the way her slender neck and tan skin disappear under her thin white top to the careful nature in which her shoes have carefully been double knotted. "I guess you'll have to come around more often so we can figure that out, yeah?"

Arlo's eyes go wide. She was half expecting him to make fun of her- of which he would never, though she didn't quite know that yet. His response was the exact last thing she thought would fall from his lips, but she was pleasantly surprised by the warm feeling in her stomach.

"I think I can do that." Involuntarily, a small, shy smile tugs at her lips. The sight makes Luke want to smile too- though he doesn't. He couldn't break down the last of his harsh exterior just yet. "I do read fast."

✰

Arlo hadn't quite been able to wipe the giddy smile off of her face all day. Even though she had gotten home from Luke's store hours ago, her cheeks had begun to become sore from how content she was.

She wasn't used to this feeling- the stomach-turning, juvenile, nerves that came with being in the presence of someone who you were undeniably attracted to. Luke was the first boy to really show her any attention- welcome attention at least. She didn't quite know what to do with herself.

"Earth to Arlo." The curly-haired boy waves his hand in front of her face, trying to gain her attention.

Ashton Irwin wasn't too sure how the girl managed to zone out entirely in the middle of what he considers to be a very intense game of guitar hero. One moment she was hitting the notes as best she could, and the next Arlo stood motionless in the middle of her living room, a grin pulling at her pink lips.

"Sorry." She winces, tugging at the guitar strap around her neck. They'd been playing the game so long now that a red mark had formed on her neck from the worn strap. "Can we take a break?"

"Sure." Ashton shrugs, picking up the remote to turn off the video game. He was beginning to get tired of it anyway. "What do you wanna do instead? I heard there's a new bookstore in town."

Involuntarily, Arlo's cheeks begin to heat at Ashton's words. She had become very familiar with the bookstore and the boy who worked behind the counter.

Ashton raises his brows at the look on his friend's face, his lips parting at the pure giddiness on her face. "Spill, Arlo Abbott."

Ashton Irwin had known Arlo since she was just barely a teenager, and he was halfway through his schooling. His mother worked as a school teacher, leaving Ashton to wander the halls after school ended while his mother caught up on work.

A teenage boy with access to an all-girls school could have gotten into far more trouble than Ashton did, but he was much shyer in his younger days. Which is exactly why he and Arlo had taken such a liking to one another.

Ashton's mother also just so happened to be Arlo's favorite teacher in the entire world. Arlo would stay after school just to talk to Ashton's mother about the new book she was reading, no matter how lame her "friends" told her it was.

Arlo's mother never really cared for her hobbies, so Mrs. Irwin held a special place in her adolescent heart.

Eventually, Ashton would notice the same girl sitting in his mother's classroom day after day. Just as everyone else who met her, Ashton was charmed by the girl beyond belief. She was such a contrast to the girls at the public school he went to- she was untouched by the bad in the world and seemed to ramble a little too often, but he liked that.

Soon enough, he found himself sitting in his mother's classroom and listening to Arlo's conversation. Sometimes he would join in, but a teenaged Ashton couldn't say he read books that often.

When his mother was too caught up with work to talk to Arlo he would take her place, doing his best to be who she needed. They quickly became friends and soon their after-school meetings moved to parks and small diners.

They were undeniably close- he was the brother she never had and Ashton cared for her like she was his own sister.

"There's nothing to spill." Arlo denies with a shake of her head, averting her eyes from Ashton's. He could always tell when she was lying- it was just a talent that came with knowing her for the last five or so years.

"Bullshit-" Ashton begins, only to be interrupted by the ringing of a doorbell as it echoes through the house. "We're not done talking about this." He says to her pointedly, narrowing his eyes.

Arlo takes the opportunity to scurry past Ashton, her socked feet sliding across the expensive tile floors as she books it for the door. Slightly out of breath, she throws open the large wooden door with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Arlo!" No other than Calum Hood greets her, waving with a boyish smile on his face. "You got any bandaids?"

A head of unruly red hair pops out from behind Calum, a pair of green eyes peering curiously over the tan boy's shoulder into the unfamiliar house in front of them. Arlo's eyes dart to the boy, never having seen him, before but she deems him nice enough to be let in.

"I think so." Arlo says, opening the door wide enough for them to come in. "You guys can come in."

"Sick." Calum grins, eagerly helping himself to her offer. "Oh, this is my friend, Michael, by the way." The curly-haired boy juts his thumb over his shoulder at Michael, who was trailing behind him quietly.

"Hi, Michael." She grins, smiling in a nature that made Michael feel as if he'd known her for ages. "I'm Arlo."

"Hi." Michael grins boyishly in return, a lop-sided smile tugging at his lips. "Oh shit, is that guitar hero?" The boy gasps, his eyes finding the discarded controllers and fake guitars still sprawled out on her living room floor.

Ashton appears from the kitchen, a fresh soda from her fridge in his hands. "Damn right it is." The older boy grins proudly. "We're the best duo around." he says matter of factly, waving a finger between Arlo and himself.

"No way!" Calum says excitably. "We were just practicing! That's why we need a band-aid, Michael busted open a callous because we've been playing so much." Calum explains, grabbing Michael's hand to hold up, as if they needed proof.

"From guitar hero?" Arlo's jaw drops, looking at the bloody fingertips of the boy she'd just met. "How did you manage to do that?"

Both Michael and Calum let out a genuine laugh, utterly amused with her obliviousness. "No, from real guitars." Michael explains, that same charming lopsided grin on his face.

"Oh." Arlo frowns in realization, though once she remembered the exact reason for the two boys standing in her living room, a gasp leaves her lips. "Oh! I'll go get you a bandaid."

She quickly darts down the hall, in search of the first aid kit she couldn't remember having used since she was young enough to scrape her knees on the playground. Arlo wasn't a particularly daring girl, so injuries were not common.

"So, are you guys in a band or something?" Ashton asks, the ice clinking against the glass in his hand as he sits down on Arlo's living room couch, inviting the boys to sit as well. He knew she'd feel rude for not offering them a seat before.

Calum rolls his eyes, having no problem sinking into the couch and making himself at home. "It's kind of hard with two people, but we're trying." He crosses his arms over his chest, giving Michael a knowing look- they'd been trying for ages to put a band together.

"We need a drummer and a lead singer." Michael says, causing Ashton's face to light up like he's just been told he'd won a million dollars.

"I'm a drummer!" He exclaims, already beginning to down the rest of his soda. "Come on, we're going to make this shit work." Ashton declares, springing up from the couch just as Arlo returns to the living room, first aid kit in hand.

"What's going on?" She asks, her brows furrowed as everyone seems to be gathering their things. Well, except for Michael who stands kind of helplessly, trying to avoid getting the blood from his fingers elsewhere.

"We're starting a band." Calum says simply. "Wanna come?"