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It all started the night Luke had moved into the studio after a huge fight with his mom. He had knocked on Bobby’s door and Bobby, as always, had answered it. It didn’t matter that it was almost midnight and they had school the next morning, Bobby always answered the door as his house was the only one that his friends felt truly safe in. Besides, most of the time, his parents were out of town on some kind of business trip.
“Luke?” Bobby asked when he opened the door.
“Hey,” Luke responded. “Mind if I stay here for the night? I, um, I got into a big fight with my mom.”
Bobby nodded. “Of course, come in.”
Luke came in, and Bobby shut the door behind him.
“Are you okay?” Bobby asked once Luke was inside. “What happened?”
“I’m fine,” Luke said. “Just the usual. My mom thought I was focusing too much on the band and needed to focus more on school.”
Bobby nodded. “You need anything?”
Luke shook his head. “Nah, I just want to sleep. Can I crash on the couch?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, of course, man.”
“Thanks, man,” Luke said. “I owe you one.”
Bobby shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay,” Luke said, and made his way over to the couch.
“Just call me if you need anything,” Bobby told Luke. “I’ll be right upstairs.”
“Umhum,” Luke said, already half asleep.
Bobby smiled and made his way up to his room. He didn’t sleep much that night. He kept thinking about the fact that Luke was right downstairs, and, of some reason, this caused butterflies to swarm in his stomach and his heart to pound. He just contributed it to him being concerned for Luke, and nervous that he was actually, in fact, not okay.
Bobby woke up in the morning to loud noises and the smell of burnt food downstairs.
“What the hell?” Bobby asked the empty room, practically launching himself out of bed and running down to the kitchen. There, he saw Luke, and, wait, was he cooking?
“You’re cooking?” Bobby asked him.
Luke nodded. “Yeah. I figured making you breakfast was the least I could do for you for letting me stay here.”
“I get that,” Bobby said. “But you can’t cook.”
“Who says that?” Luke asked, and, almost as a response, the smoke alarm started to go off.
“The smoke alarm,” Bobby responded, rushing to turn it off, and, when it finally stopped, Bobby made his way back over to Luke.
“Maybe you should take over,” Luke suggested.
“Maybe I should,” Bobby said, going to look at the mess Luke had created. “How did you burn everything?”
Luke just made a face and shrugged.
Bobby rolled his eyes, removed the pans from the stove, and scraped the burnt food into the garbage. He then grabbed two cereal bowls from the cupboard and a box of cereal from the shelf and set it in front of him and Luke.
“Eat up,” he said.
Luke smiled. “Gourmet meal, huh?”
Bobby smiled. Wow, Luke’s eyes were insanely green, were they that green before? Now the butterflies were back in his stomach, and his heart was beating faster. Why did that keep happening?
“I, uh, Cheerios okay?” Bobby asked, a bit flustered. Why was he flustered? There was nothing to be flustered about.
“Yeah, they’re perfect,” Luke said. “Thanks, man.”
Bobby nodded, and passed the cereal box to Luke. He watched as he poured the cereal. He thought that it was a shame Luke wasn’t wearing a shirt that showed off his arms more, then quickly pushed that thought aside. What was wrong with him?
“Hey, earth to Bobby,” Luke said.
“Huh?” Bobby asked, looking at Luke.
“Can you get some milk?” Luke asked.
“Right,” Bobby said, going to the fridge and pulling out the milk. He wondered what had gotten into him.
“Shit,” Luke said from behind Bobby.
“What?” Bobby asked, then saw what Luke was looking at. The clock. It was 9:30. School started at 8.
“Shit,” Bobby repeated. “Well there goes that.”
“Whatever,” Luke said. “I was planning on dropping out anyways.”
Bobby laughed. “Well that would be a good enough reason.”
Luke smiled. “I guess so.”
God, Luke’s smile was the most beautiful thing Bobby had ever seen. Oh no.
“Um, so when do you think you’re gonna go back home?” Bobby asked.
Luke shrugged. “I’m not sure, why?”
“Just wondering,” Bobby answered. “You know you can stay here as long as you want.”
Luke nodded. “I know.”
“Okay,” Bobby said.
The rest of the day consisted of Luke and Bobby working on songs or watching TV. Alex and Reggie came after school ended, asking where they had been. They just said they woke up late and left it at that. Alex and Reggie didn’t ask anymore questions.
After Reggie and Alex left, Bobby and Luke stayed in the studio for a bit. They talked about dumb things like school and music.
“My parents are coming home for Christmas,” Bobby told Luke.
“Oh,” Luke said.
“I’m sure they won’t mind if you stay here,” Bobby added.
Luke nodded.
“Unless you wanna go back home?” Bobby asked.
Luke shook his head. “Christmas is next week, and I, I don’t think I can.”
Bobby nodded. He understood how Luke’s mom was.
“Then you can spend Christmas with us,” Bobby said.
Luke nodded. “Thanks.”
Bobby nodded in response, and made the mistake of making eye contact with Luke. Once again, he was overwhelmed with the color of Luke’s eyes. They were beautiful. They weren’t exactly green, like Bobby had previously thought, but more of a cross between blue, green, and brown. He assumed hazel would be the right word for them, but they were more than that. They were more than hazel. They were intense, bright, and Bobby found himself getting lost in them.
“What about you and Katherine?” Luke asked, snapping Bobby back to reality with the name of his ex-girlfriend.
“We, um, we broke up,” Bobby replied.
“Oh,” Luke said. “I’m sorry.”
Bobby shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. She liked someone else, I didn’t protest. I’d rather be broken up with than cheated on.”
Luke nodded. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t think you guy would care,” Bobby admitted.
“Of course we care,” Luke told him. “You can tell us anything.”
Bobby smiled. “Thanks.”
Luke nodded. “It’s getting late, maybe we should-”
“Go to sleep?” Bobby suggested.
Luke nodded.
“Yeah, probably,” Bobby said.
“I’ll stay in the studio,” Luke said.
“Okay,” Bobby said. “Do you need anything?”
Luke shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” Bobby said. “Just come get me if you need anything.”
Luke nodded, and Bobby headed out of the studio, and back to his house. There, he made his way to his room, and flopped on his bed. He thought about what Luke had said.
“You can tell us anything.”
He wasn’t sure why that phrase kept coming to his mind. It wasn’t like he was hiding anything from the band, much less Luke. Why would he? He knew the band wouldn’t judge him. They never judged each other, and, when Alex had come out only a few months before, they had been nothing but supportive. They had even threatened to beat up anyone that gave Alex a hard time. So why was that phrase coming back to him.
He tried to push the thought out of his mind, but it was too hard. The phrase kept coming back to him over and over again as the night went on. Even when he fell asleep, it wouldn’t be long before he woke up and that phrase was the first thing on his mind, and, still, he wasn’t sure why.
“Can I just go to sleep, please?” He asked his brain. However, it didn’t seem to hear him as his mind kept wandering. Finally, it wandered back to Luke. His eyes, his muscles, his smile.
“Shit,” Bobby said out loud as the dawning realization hit him. He had a crush on Luke.