Chapter 18

LUKE P.O.V

"Um... Hi?" I heard from behind me. I spun around, dropping the plate I was holding that smashed on the floor.

"Shit." I mumbled leaning down to pick it up.

"Who are you and why are you in my kitchen in just your underwear?" The girl asked.

"I'm um... I'm Luke." Her face dropped in understanding. "I know McKinley." She smirked.

"Oh no I know exactly who you are." She commented handing me a broom to clean up the glass. It was nearly 1 in the morning and she was just now getting back from wherever she was. "She's told me a lot about you." I had no idea McKinley even had a roommate. "I'm Nicole. We work together." I was now fully aware of the fact that I was only wearing boxer's.

"What was that loud crash?" McKinley asked coming down the hall in only a towel and her hair wrapped up in another.

"I dropped a plate. We're fine." I smiled at her. "Nicole scared me. I didn't know you had a roommate."

"Yup." She smiled resting her hand on my back.

"Would have been nice to be told that." I looked at her.

"She was out." McKinley commented. We had only been back together for two weeks and somehow she had forgotten to mention a roommate and I somehow had never run into her. "I'm sure your friends heard more than she did." I mentally groaned and tried to hide the blush that I felt creep up on my cheeks and my chest. Nicole laughed from her spot as I turned around.

"I knew something had happened."

"Sex happened." McKinley commented as I shut the stove off and grabbed a new plate. I don't know why I was embarrassed about it. We had both been so open about sex and never really tried to hide the fact that it was happening. Maybe it was because I knew that this time around, our relationship would end in marriage.

I set McKinley's plate of eggs down in front of her before going down the hall to grab my pants. I fixed my hair in her bathroom before heading back out to them. They were giggling and whispering when I got there.

"What are you talking about?" I asked leaning down to kiss her shoulder. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer but I did want to get to know Nicole.

"You." McKinley answered looking at me and pouting her lips. I brought mine down to touch hers before pulling away.

"What about me?" I asked rubbing my hand down her arm and grabbing her fork to take some of her eggs.

"How much in love we are." She answered making me smile. "And how many times you got to me to cum." I shook my head before going over to the fridge and grabbing a cheese stick.

"How many times?" I asked.

"Four!" She shouted smiling at me. I laughed and wrapped my arms around her warm body. "I love you." She smiled up at me.

"I love you."

"You two are gross." Nicole commented. "Good night."

"Good night." We both said before she walked down the hallway and we heard the door close.

"Are you tired?" I asked her pulling the towel from her head and letting her wet hair fall down her back.

"Not at all." She smiled pushing here plate away. I tucked my finger into her towel and moved it away from her body. She automatically covered her chest. "Luke, not in the kitchen." She whispered.

"Why not?"

"We eat in here and I don't live here alone anymore."

"C'mon baby." I groaned. "It'll be fun." I whispered kissing down her chest. I gripped both of her boobs in my hands playing with each nipple. She closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the counter. I held her throat as I leaned down and sucked on her nipple.

"Luke." She whined. "Please." She whispered looking at me.

"Please what?"

"Please eat me out." She breathed out as her chest moved up and down quickly.

"Wait." I commented standing up and looking down at her. "I have something I wanna say. And ask."

"What?" She huffed sitting up on her elbows to look at me.

"Next month I'm going to New York. At the end of the month for the birth of my nephew. I want you to come with me." I said holding her hand. "That's how I want to announce that we're back together."

"They're having a boy?" She asked smiling.

"Yeah." I smiled. "Next month." I continued. "I had already planned to go there to meet him but I want you to come with me. We'll only be gone for a week."

"I would love to go with you. I can work from home while we're there it'll be fine." She smiled sitting up fully and pulling me into her. I kissed her before pulling back. "Uncle Luke." She grinned up at me.

"Has a ring to it doesn't it?" I smiled down at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked as I stepped back. She covered her body with her hands as I leaned against the counter across from her. I didn't mean to ruin the mood. "Luke?"

"Lynn is pregnant too." I said. She looked at me confused.

"Lynn?"

"Michael's wife." She nodded her head in understanding. "I wasn't even invited to their wedding." I whispered looking at her. "I'm stupid for getting upset about it." I shook my head.

"It's not stupid. If it hurt you, it's not stupid." She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body before coming closer to me and wrapping her arms around me. I rested my chin on the top of her head as she rubbed my back. "Why weren't you invited?" She asked.

"I didn't think he should have been marrying her so quickly. He did the same thing back in New York with Julie and Macy. He rushed into a relationship with Julie, they got pregnant and had Macy within a year of their relationship. It's almost like he's trying to replace them."

"I don't think he's trying to replace them, honey. No one will ever be able to replace Macy in his mind." I knew she was right but in my sad, pissed off mind, he was trying to replace her and it annoyed me. "No matter what she will always be his baby. There is nothing wrong with him moving on from his pain. He deserves to be happy." She said looking up at me. "Don't you want your friends to be happy?" I hated when she was right.

*MCKINLEY P.O.V*

Around two in the morning we finally climbed into bed. His breathing never seemed to even no matter how much I ran my hand up and down his back. Ever so often I ran my hand through his hair. He stared at me the whole time.

I had never felt so in love with him. I knew we had our problems. We had a lot of things we needed to talk through but laying here with him, with him being so upset and vulnerable, I couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

I rolled over so I could look into his eyes. I moved to kiss his nose and he automatically wrapped his arm around me. The blanket laid over his hips and barely covered my legs but his body heat kept me warm in the cool air in the apartment. No words were exchanged but we didn't need to talk about it. Being with each other was more than enough.

I tried my best to stay awake for his sake but my eyes closed as the exhaustion overtook my body.

"Are you awake?" He whispered in the dark. I hummed and opened one eye to look at him. "We should probably talk about our problems."

"Can it wait until I wake up?" I asked moving even closer to him. "I'm sleepy." We had been having a lot of late night's either with each other or with the guys.

"Yeah." He answered pulling me to his chest.

"It was bad. When you were gone." I whispered. "You never checked in. You never called or texted."

"I checked in with my mom."

"Is that why she would still call me every week?" I asked keeping my eyes closed. "Did she tell you everything I said?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you were safe." He answered rubbing my back where the curve of my butt met my lower back. "She loves you like a daughter you know that right?" He asked. I nodded my head. Liz often checked in to make sure that I was doing okay. I knew she was probably telling Luke anything that was going on with me but when I was packing to move here she sent Ben and Jack over to help me. They were always looking out for me. "I think they'll be very happy to see you." He played with my hair. I felt his lips touched my head before I finally fully fell asleep.

When I woke up I was laying sideways on the bed and Luke was sleeping under my legs. I giggled before moving to lay beside him and checking the time. Noon. I had a few texts from Ashton asking if we wanted to go to breakfast. I texted him back that I just woke up and was sorry.

I kissed Luke on the head before getting up and getting dressed. We would eventually need to start our day. I slipped on a jean skirt and a black body suit. I combed through my hair with my fingers before spraying myself with the perfume I knew he loved. When I walked back into the room he was sitting up against the headboard talking on the phone. His eyes caught mine as I walked around the bed. He reached his hand out to me and I sat beside him.

"Who is that?" I whispered.

"Calum." He answered. I could hear Calum talking as Luke ran his hand through my hair. "Calum, I gotta go man." Calum complained on the other line before Luke said, "Listen bro my girl looks hot as fuck and we're gonna go out so I can show her off."

"You're such a turd." I said standing up going to find a pair of vans to wear. He came over once he hung up and grabbed my hand.

"Spin." I spun for him. "Damn you're sexy." He groaned.

"Stop. I really wanna go do something." I commented.

"What do you want to do?" He asked slipping on a shirt. I shrugged as I got my shoes on. "Cause you do look really cute and you should show off." He commented.

"I know." I smiled. "And thanks." I stood up and grabbed his hand. "Let's go get some food. I could really go for one of those buffalo chicken sub things from that place Ashton likes."

"We can do that." He answered as he grabbed his wallet and phone off the night stand. I was nearly out the door by the time he caught up with me. "I see the healthy eating thing didn't last long for you."

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked.

"Well you got an ass." He slapped it and squeezed it.

"Stop it." I moved away from him shoving him a little. "You haven't been eating healthy easy." I commented.

"No. I haven't." He confirmed.

"The food out here is just a lot better than New York." I commented as I walked out onto the street. He held my hand tighter as we joined the crowd on the sidewalk. "I'm very thankful to Ash for showing me this place."

"It's the first place we went when we got here." He commented. "You said last night it was bad when I was gone." I looked at him and nodded. "It was bad on my end too. Trying to live without you." He shook his head. "I always felt like something was missing. And the hard part was that I knew exactly what was missing and there was nothing I could do to change it."

We both knew that distance never would have worked for us. I understood why we needed to break up. I understood that he needed to do what needed to be done to further his career. I was never going to hold that against him. He deserved to be happy. He deserved to get everything he has ever wanted in this life.

What I didn't understand was him saying he didn't want to be with me. I didn't understand him dating someone else. I didn't understand him agreeing to marry her and planning a wedding with her.

"How come when I moved here you didn't get back together with me?" I asked leaning into him.

"I guess I was scared. We were so serious before and I knew that if something were to happen again it would be the end and I didn't want that. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Nothing is going to get in our way." I smiled and wrapped both of my arms around him. "I needed to be ready for you."

"I'll always be ready for you." I said. "I love you. So much."

"I never stopped loving you." The words made me melt. He held the door to the pizza place open for me. I went right over to the counter.

"Hi, McKinley." The girl at the counter smiled. "Hey, Luke."

"Hi." We both greeted her with smiles. I ordered what I wanted and grabbed a water for us both while Luke ordered and paid. I sat down while he chatted with the workers. Clearly we came here too often if they knew us by name. Luke came and sat across from me.

"They'll bring it over when it's ready." He commented. "And then tonight I have to go to the studio for a few hours if you would like to come."

"To do what?"

"Someone has a song they want to record." He answered. "It shouldn't take too long but you never know." He shrugged. "Would love if you wanted to come." He added. I had gone to the studio before to watch someone record a song. It was a long process and I knew how boring it could be for someone who didn't enjoy that. I would probably just answer emails the whole time but I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

"I would love to join you." I smiled. "Is Michael going to be there?" I asked.

"No. He doesn't work at the same time as we do." I was confused by the whole situation. They had been friends for years and suddenly they were avoiding each other. "He works opposite me. I work 9 to 4 and he comes in from 4:30 to 10." That was pointless.

"What's the point of that?"

"I think he's looking for a new job. Half the time he doesn't show up." Our food was brought over and we both started to eat. "Sometimes I just want to talk to him but not inviting me to his wedding was messed up." I sighed. I knew that it hurt him to not be invited to the wedding.

"But you didn't support the wedding in the first place." I defended Michael which I knew I shouldn't have done. I wasn't picking sides but it had to hurt Michael that all of his friends didn't think he should be getting married. "He wanted your support. I get that you thought that he was rushing marriage but he just wanted to be along for the process."

"Who's side are you on?" He pouted. "You're suppose to be on mine in case you were wondering." I shook my head and laughed. "It didn't matter if I thought it was a bad idea, he was still like a brother to me and to not invited me to the wedding hurt my feelings."

"But it hurt his feelings that you didn't support it." I said again. "And then you did the exact same thing so that probably pissed him off further." I bit into my sandwich while looking at him.

"Be quiet." He grumbled making me laugh while he ate. "I hate when you're right."

"Get used to it." I smiled. We made small talk while we ate before he threw everything away and we headed over to the studio so he could get things set up before the artist came in. I mostly messed around on his laptop while he was working. To our surprise Michael, Ashton and Calum came in. Michael was the only one surprised to see me.

"McKinley?"

"Hey, Michael." I smiled. "Congrats on the marriage and the baby." His wife, Lynn was right behind him.

"What are you doing here?" I looked over at Luke who was ignoring the conversation all together. "Are you back together?" He asked looking between us while Luke was messing with a microphone.

"Yeah. Two weeks now."

"What about Kristen?" Lynn asked. I had met her at a party or two before things had gone south. "Where is she?" She asked. I shrugged. I had no idea where she was nor did I really care.

"Broke it off. She's staying with her parents for the time being." Luke commented as he hooked up a few things. Lynn sat next to me on the couch. "Are you friends with her?" Luke asked Lynn.

"No but she was nice." She shrugged. "I've heard good things about McKinley though." She smiled at me making me smile back. "Michael had nothing but good things to say about you." I guess that was good. "We meet at the party when Luke got way too drunk."

"Yes. I recall that day." I shook my head at Luke.

"I did you a favor with that." He pointed the microphone at me. I chatted with Lynn while they set up the booth. Once the artist came in I offered to go get everyone coffee's and Lynn offered to go with me.

"I'm glad that Michael and Luke are being civil." She commented as we walked to Starbucks. "It's been a long few months."

"Yeah Luke told me. Did something else happen beside's just the engagement thing?" I asked her. "He told me a few things but I'm only getting his side of the story."

"I can see both sides of the story. I know about Macy and Julie." I looked over at her. "I'm not trying to replace either of them." She looked down. "They will always be a part of his life."

"I know that. Trust me I know you're not doing that. Michael is very much the type of person to fall for someone hard and fast. I think Luke was just worried about why he was moving so fast. Honestly I'm glad he found you." I said to her. "He deserves to be happy. If either of you weren't ready to get married, you wouldn't have gotten married."

"Yeah!" She agreed. "We really are happy." She said resting her hand on her stomach.

"That's all that matter's." I smiled. "How far along are you?" I asked.

"Only 9 weeks." She confirmed. "When I told him I had never seen him so excited. And I know he's an amazing father." I knew she had more to say but she looked like she was afraid to say it.

"What?" I asked as I held the door open for her.

"Did you ever meet Macy?" She asked walking ahead of me.

"No. She had passed before I came along. They don't really talk about her."

"I wish he would but I never push it." I nodded ordering everyone's drink. Luke gave me his card to pay for it. "He want's a boy." She smiled. "I hope Luke will come around. I think they both would enjoy being friends again."

"I agree. Luke is just so stubborn." I rolled my eyes. "Once he sets his mind or his thoughts you can't change it. I've tried."

"Do you want to marry Luke?"

"I'm not sure about the whole marriage thing. But yes I want to spend my life with him. We aren't sure about kids yet. It's not something that either of us want at the moment." I never pictured myself being a mom but when I thought of my life with Luke I did. I saw myself being pregnant and giving birth and raising a child with him. I wanted those things with him.

I wanted to be with him for forever. If he wanted to get married, I would. If he wanted to have a kid or two, I would. If he didn't want those things I would respect him. I knew he felt the same way about me. I'm sure we would have endless conversations about both. We've had that conversation before. But at this moment, I had never been so in love him. I had never wanted to be with someone as much as I've wanted to be with him.

I had never had a love like this before. A love that when he was gone there was a pain in my chest that didn't go away until he was in my arms again. I never realized how bad the ache was until he was mine again. I never realized how in love people can be. You see it in the movies and you read it in books but I never knew just how good it could be. I never realized just how in love I could be with someone. I never thought it would be me.

I had a rough childhood and teen years. I watched my parents marriage fall to pieces and that was something that I never wanted to happen to me. I never wanted to get married and have to be tied down to a person. I never wanted to be one of those couples who had to go through a divorce because we hated each other. Then Luke came along and changed my views on everything.

When I was young everyone had always told me that I would change my mind. That as soon as I met the right man that I would change my mind. I didn't believe them because I never needed a man. I could do everything myself, what did I need a man for?

I still didn't know what I need a man for but I knew that I didn't want to live without Luke. I knew that if he wanted marriage or kids that I would be more than willing to do that to make him happy. His happiness was all that mattered to me.

My happiness was all that mattered to him. And together you would never meet to happier people.