"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." — Khalil Gibran
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Chapter 62
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Maggie

Luke tightened his arms around my waist with an extended sigh. "Are you sure you wanna go?"

I gave an amused smile. "Yes, and you're going, too. Now." His frown only deepened until I kissed it away. I chuckled against his lips  "I think you'll be fine without me for a couple of hours."

His eyes fell to the gravel with a sigh, but when they raised, again, I noticed that they weren't necessarily on me. Instead, they were focused on something right behind me.

I passed a look of confusion over him, before turning to catch sight of whatever caught his attention. When I did, my body grew rigid.

Kimberly and Raven were standing with Kade and Levi by their cars in front of the lake-house. Levi was grinning, Kade was just as nonchalant as ever, and Kimberly and Raven were attempting to act as if they weren't paying attention. With their hanging jaws, though, it was painfully obvious.

Luke and I were standing on the drivers side of the car, but with his height, I was hidden by his frame. I had to stretch my neck a bit in order to get a good view.

As soon as both girls caught my eye, they jerked back around to the men to keep up the act, despite the shock they'd just displayed so publicly.

"Norris," Luke whispered against my temple, loosening his arms from my waist. "If you aren't comfortable with telling them yet..."

I shook my head, pulling in a sigh for encouragement. It did nothing, though, because I didn't really need it. Not anymore.

I wasn't going to hide this from them, anymore. It was a start of telling the truth for me too, which I would so desperately need over the next couple of weeks.

I didn't want to hide it, or sugarcoat Luke and I from anyone. Luke didn't deserve it, and I didn't, either.

My hand curled around his jaw to bring him closer. His hands dropped, then tightened around my waist, the hesitation and understanding in his eyes both gleaming back at me.

Luke took my sign, craning his neck down to mine until we were connected. The clearest, most electrical puzzle in history seemed to come together the longer our lips continued on. When we pulled back, I knew we both sported the same daze of affection.

Luke's lips hung into a lazy grin, and I offered a soft one in return.

"You're mine and I'm yours, Luke," I smiled at him. "I'm not afraid to show that."

His grin stretched from ear-to-ear at me. The relief relaxed his expression as he nodded, pecking my lips, again. "I won't miss you, brat."

I smiled, grasping his hands from my waist to hold them. "I won't miss you more, prick."

His scowl came full circle at me. "Oh, fuck that. I—"

"Nope, I have to go, so I win by default."

"No fucking way, Norris."

I laughed at his sour expression. "You—"

"So, are we all gonna pretend that they didn't just try to suck each other's faces off?" Levi yelled from the other side of the lawn.

"Leave them alone, Levi," Kade hissed in return before I heard him add, "About damn time, though."

Luke chuckled at them, meeting my eyes with a sigh. "I can't believe you're leaving me alone with them all day."

"It won't be all day," I rolled my eyes. "Just a couple of hours."

His scowl only deepened until I kissed it away with another laugh. "I'll miss you."

His gaze softened at me. "I'll miss you, angel."

I released his hands, passing him another smile before stepping back. His hand squeezed at my waist one last time before releasing, and leaving my body and soul cold without his near it.

Here we go.

As soon as I turned around, I caught the six sets of eyes on me. 

I made it past Kimberly and Raven, and heard Raven stifle a gasp, then a flabbergasted, "Did she just walk past us?"

"She did," answered Kimberly with less of a dramatic edge, but still curiousness. "And, she's still going, too."

Hell.

I kept my gaze on the gravel, and tried to maintain my walk. I never hated the distance between here, and the door like I did, right now.

"I'm gonna tackle her ass into next year," Raven hissed. "You take the legs, I take the arms—"

"Before you do, come here first," I heard Levi suggest, laughing at Raven before he cut her her plan off with his farewell. Thank fuck for Levi.

I held my composure up strong, only breaking it when I made it to the inside of the lake-house. I shoved out a sigh of relief, embracing the quiet while I could.

"I made it," I breathed out, attempting to let the message reach my racing heart, too.

Immediately, I went for the large, silver fridge for a refreshment. I needed something to calm my nerves.

Inside, Raven had made drinks for all of us. One had my initials on a piece of taped paper right under it. Kimberly didn't like to drink too often, so I knew which one was hers.

With a grin, I pulled it from the fridge. It was a cocktail served in a pineapple fruit, and she'd even put my favorite addition to it on a toothpick: the cherries, lime, and pineapple fruit slices themselves.

I loved that girl.

After squeezing the lime in, I tossed it to the bottom of the pineapple shell, then took a sip. The rum hit, and despite its taste, the fruit juices mixed in so well, it wasn't too hard to down.

I leaned against the cool refrigerator with a relieved sigh. This would relax me for a bit until the girls—

"Where in the hell are you hiding, Maggie Norris?!"

Groaning at Raven's yell, I took a longer sip. "I'm not hiding!" My head fell as I mumbled out a, "At least not anymore."

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Raven came from one side, with Kimberly from the other. I knew the tactic, since I was the one who always did it to them; they were taking my chances from running off.

I sighed, letting my expression remain natural as I took another sip. Here we go.

"What in the hell just happened—" Raven began before she was cut off.

"Wait!" Kimberly jumped in, holding her phone up between us. Her eyes landed on me, then Raven, again. "Before all hell breaks loose, I need you both to answer this: how does Sandwich Central sound for lunch?"

Right now, my stomach was all twisted with nerves, but sandwiches did sound good later on for lunch, so I nodded. Raven did the same, pointing to Kimberly. "Amazing. Please don't forget the cookies either, you know the ones. I'll send money to you for an extra dozen, so that we can all share."

Kimberly chuckled, pointing back at her. "I never do." She dropped her hand back to her phone. "And, don't worry, it's my treat. I still have the both of your orders saved."

Raven thanked her, jerking her eyes over to me, and immediately narrowing them with accusation. "Now you. You go and nearly give me a heart attack from shock, because I find out from the blogs that you and Luke...Luke fucking Vaudest are—"

Kimberly's smile softened as she glanced up from our food order on her phone. "What Raven means to say is that we're happy for you, Maggie. Really, really happy." I moved so that she could get her drink out of the refrigerator.

"She hasn't even told us what all happened, yet," Raven grumbled, taking her drink from Kimberly with a nod of appreciation. "Because, something definitely did happen."

"Tell me what you think happened, and I'll help." This might be a little easier than attempting to explain it.

Kimberly perched herself on the kitchen island, crossing her legs on top. She was dressed in a cozy rust-colored sweater that perfectly complemented her light-washed blue jeans, which kissed her figure, perfectly. Her choice of stylish booties completed the ensemble.

Meanwhile, Raven sported a chic look in a peach-hued tank top paired with denim shorts that gracefully reached mid-thigh. We were heading into summer, so it made sense.

Kimberly placed her drink in between her legs after her sip.  "You kissed?"

Raven snorted, leaning against the same counter until she was in between Kimberly's legs. "Oh, he definitely fucked her brains out."

Kimberly gawked at our friend in shock, but not too much since this was Raven we were talking to. "Raven!"

She swept a glare at her. "Well, it's true." She pointed toward me, smacking Kimberly's thigh. "You see that glow? That's not some regular 'oh, he's cute and I have a little crush' type of glow. No, that's the 'getting routinely fantastic dick and falling in love with my soulmate' type of glow. Major difference—"

"Luke and I are dating!" I blurted out in the midst.

Both girls' mouths clamped shut at my statement. Then, I waited.

I expected an outburst, a curse, maybe even a backhanded hit for hiding it...but none came.

As nonchalant as ever, Kimberly tipped her head to Raven. "Did you want pickles on your sandwich, too?" Raven swept around, nodding. "Please, and don't forget the mustard."

While they continued on with their conversations about sandwiches, my confusion only worsened.

I looked between the both of them, cautiously. "Did you...did you guys hear me?"

Raven raked her eyes over me with confusion. "Of course we did."

"You aren't mad or shocked or...anything?"

"No," Raven snorted. "You guys may not have been official for a long while, but you've basically been a couple this whole time. We were all just waiting on you both to realize it, too."

"Yeah," Kimberly chuckled. "It wasn't too hard to figure out that you two liked each other."

Oh.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Raven chuckled. "You both were literally feeding each other at dinner. You both never stop looking at each other. You both flirt all of the time, but just pass it off as shit-talking each other, which is actually really fucking hot to me, so keep it up, girl." She sent a sly wink to me, grinning around her drink.

Kimberly picked the list back up with, "He asked us to come back into town a week early for you. At the party, he wouldn't stop staring at you, then he got pissed the moment that guy danced with you. A guy doesn't get that mad unless he's jealous." She paused to take a sip from her drink before looking to me, again. "Oh, and he literally called you baby in front of us. You both weren't very subtle."

"And, I've been gushing ever since," Raven awed, palming her chest with a heartsick daze. "No, but seriously. We weren't sure if you two were dating yet, but we knew this entire time that you two were  into each other. It's kind of just been a waiting game for everyone to find out which one of you would stop living in denial first."

My jaw was hanging, I realized, after an ache began to set in place the longer I reflected. Well.

"I mean: you both are basically the same person, when you think about it," Kimberly chuckled, placing her drink to the side. "Funny, violent, sarcastic, assholes with huge hearts and lots of love to give. Of course you got along well."

Raven bumped into Kimberly's thigh, grinning up at her. "Guess you and Ryder's plan worked out after all, huh?"

Kimberly's' eyes widened. She hit Raven back, shushing her.

"What?" I jerked a look between the two. "What plan?"

"Uh..." Kimberly's face reddened, averting her gaze elsewhere. "Kade and I may have planned some things out to make you and Luke get closer."

My eyes narrowed at her in complicity. "What kind of things?"

"Well, the..." Her eyes skipped to the top of Raven's head until she sighed, mumbling out a, "I'm gonna need a drink for this."

Raven obliged, handing her drink over to Kimberly, who immediately took a long sip from it. Her face scrunched in disgust at the taste of rum, since Raven probably added an extra dash of it in hers.

As soon as she had it down, she raised her eyes to me. She locked her fingers around the pineapple, offering a sheepish smile.

"When you broke into Luke's place, Kade and I may have, sort of, kind of made the plan that you work for him so much so that you'd two get close. It was Kade who suggested it at first, since I was asleep at the time, but when he told me..." she admitted the last part in a mumble before adding, "It started off as just keeping you out of jail, but then, you know..." She gave way to an uneasy chuckle, shrugging.

I nearly dropped my pineapple before I placed it down, instead. "What?"

"That's not it," she admitted. "When you called me to ask for Luke's number that morning, Kade and I hired someone to flatten your tire so that Luke would pick you up and you two would spend some time together."

"Kimberly," I gasped.

"We were going to pay you back for the tire, I swear!" she rushed out, her eyes widening under her honesty.

"I don't care about a tire, you both..." My head fell with a huff of disbelief.

Kimberly sighed, rolling her shoulders back from the nerves. "Then, we hired someone else to flatten Luke's tire at his dad's event, so that you two would be stuck together, and have to talk. And, at the dinner, he and I made up the Payton guy just to get Luke's reaction. Raven played along with that part, too."

Oh. My—

I threw my arms, as well as a groan into the air. "Well, aren't you two just the perfect scissor-hand, scheming masterminds?"

Kimberly gave an apologetic smile, while Raven grinned in return.

I whipped my head at her. "And, you were in on it, too?"

"Yell at me all you want; I don't have any shame in my doings."

Jesus.

Behind my shock, was gratefulness for sure. As crazy and as bad as their ideas were, they did work. It all ended up blending up together for where Luke and I were, now.

"You're all maniacs," I breathed out, jerking my eyes over the both of them. "Every single one of you..."

"Hey," Kimberly attempted, raising her hands in surrender. Hope ran in circles behind the gestation. "It did work, though, didn't it?"

"Of course it worked," I huffed, leaning against the counter. I tugged my arms over my chest with a sigh. "We ended up fucking each other right after the group dinner."

Raven jerked forward at that. "Rate it. Scale is 1 to 10. No breaks. Go!"

I chuckled; her and I used to do this after our hookups in the past. "Infinity, and easily the best I've ever had without a doubt. The man didn't stop until I forgot my own damn name, and had me thinking his was mine," I murmured, crossing my arms. "Honestly, though, I think having an emotional connection with him was what made it even more blissful, too. I knew I had fallen for him before that, but afterwards, it was impossible to pretend otherwise, on both sides. We were just holding off on the inevitable the entire time, really."

"I knew it," Raven grinned. "And, how sweet and soft he was with you the other night." She sunk back into Kimberly with a satisfied sigh. "I love it so much."

Kimberly chuckled, stretching her arm out for me. With an eye roll, I took her hand, letting her draw me toward her.

"I can understand if you're mad," she said, softly. "I promise you, though. Kade and I were just wanting the best for you two, and we were planning to stop after a while. You both are just stubborn as hell, and on their own, your tempers would have never mixed long enough to fall for the people behind them."

I shook my head, tugging her off of the island for a hug. Her sweet, fruity perfume and strawberry shampoo pleasantly tugged at my senses with its familiarity.

"I'm not mad," I sighed into her hair. "If anything, I'm just...shocked, I guess and kind of grateful. It did work out."

"It sure as hell did," Raven winked at me from over Kimberly's shoulder. "Now, you've got the man hooked on you. Congrats, girl."

Laughing, I stepped back from Kimberly, seeing that he face had softened over with relief.

As soon as I was sat, I voiced my own relief, "I've missed you guys so much." I knew they thought I meant over the past year, but that wasn't it, entirely.

Raven smiled, glancing between the both of us. "I honestly don't know how I've made it so long without you both."

Kimberly nodded in agreement. "We have so much to catch up on."

My head bobbed until I motioned to her. "When are you and Kade moving into your apartment?"

"Some time next week," she answered, stirring her straw around with a hint of a smile. "We're going to have to have some things shipped from Pennsylvania, but until then, we're staying in the lake-house. Not that I'm complaining." Her grin widened as she looked around the beauteous space. "You both need to come and take a swim with us, soon. The lake is so beautiful."

Raven raised a brow at her, teasing, "What? Just to get ditched by you two?"

She kicked Raven with a laugh. "Shut up, you're one to talk."

Raven chuckled, moving her eyes to me. Excitement followed in her expression, immediately. "Can you guys believe it? We finally get to have group dinners. Group game nights. Group events. Everything."

I scoffed. "I don't trust any of you when it comes to dinners, anymore."

"Oh, come on," Raven teased, shrugging. "You ended up getting fucked all the way to next year because of it. You're welcome."

Kimberly chuckled, shaking her head at our crude friend. "Raven."

"Mhm?"

I finished by saying, "You're insane."

***

"Look how cute this one is," Kimberly awed, gently cradling the kitten in her arms. "I can't take much more of this."

I chuckled, petting the golden lab in front of me. "I'm only a couple of minutes away from just saying fuck it and adopting all of them."

Raven turned from our next donor, looking to Kimberly. "Just ask Kade for it."

She kissed the head of the black kitten. "He doesn't like cats."

Raven snorted. "He will when you say you do. You have the man around the tip of your finger. Everyone knows it."

Her eyes dipped to the kitten in admiration. "I might ask."

The door to the playing room opened. We were so entrapped in the animals, we hadn't noticed the owner, Alice, appear in the open-spaced window until she poked her head through the threshold.

She passed a big smile our way. "Hey, girls." We all smiled back, returning her greeting. "I just wanted to thank you again for all of your help, today. These sweet babies really needed it." She petted the golden retriever.

Alice was a middle-aged woman, with the personality of sweet candy. I adored her, despite only knowing her for less than four hours.

The girls and I talked to her for a minute, before she returned to her office to finish her paperwork.

I lifted myself from my spot to get closer to the donation station. I picked up the latest receipt, glancing over the donation. They hadn't been amazing amounts, but they were still pretty good.

The girls and I had been at the adoption center for the last couple of hours. After we had lunch at Sandwich Central, we ended up going to a cozy spot for smoothies, and taking a small walk in the park while we ate. Then, we left and ended up here.

We had fed, and bathed a number of the animals, then played with the others while collecting donations, and greeting donors, too. It proved to be a lot of fun. 

During that time, we were able to talk, too. It was full of fun and laughter, as well as the cuteness from the animals. Alice had even ordered sweet treats and coffee for all of us as a thanks.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket, and smiled at the message from Luke. As promised, he texted me every hour to ask if I were okay, and I'd done the same to him just to fuck with him.

Raven came back from the donation table, so it was all of us again. We started to converse over the simplest of things that ended in laughter. We had gotten to the topic of Kimberly convincing Kade to adopt the kitten when she added another conversion point.

"Tell us about you and Luke, though. I've been wanting to ask for a long while." At my attention, she asked, "Did you guys get together before or after you moved in, or..." she left the ending hanging for me to fill in myself.

My eyes lowered to the puppy who was taking the cutest nap in my lap. It was either that, or the mention of Luke who had me smiling. My bets were on the second one.

"Well..." I chuckled as I tried to conjure it all. "It was after I moved in, kind of. We were friends, basically best friends before that, right after the event. I had a bit of a crush on him, then, but I was so confused about it all. We spent basically every day together, and started to hang out even more after the whole Xander and Quinn thing. He was there for me, and I was there for him during a lot, and we were just really comfortable and open with each other. We started getting close, real close..." I raised my eyes, scratching at the inside of my wrist. The skin was heating to the most quickest pace. "I don't know, we just got home from the dinner after picking you guys up from the airport, and we got into this fight, then we started kissing and you know..."

"He fucked the shit out of you?" Raven finished, smugly. The smirk on her lips left my cheeks red. "Those hickeys on you on the night of the party looked real fresh, Maggie. Levi noticed them on Luke, immediately."

Hell. I hadn't even thought to cover them up that night. They were more than obvious on the spots along my neck and jaw from Luke. I had left a number on his, as well, so even if they hadn't seen mine, then they definitely saw his.

"Yeah, but...now, we're together." I shrugged. "We just went on a date last night, actually."

Kimberly's smile softened at me. "How was it?"

"It was so fucking perfect, guys," I breathed out, feeling my heart thump so hard, my chest nearly cracked. I glanced between the girls, not even bothering to hide my smile of awe. "He's the sweetest, honestly. I know you guys may not see it, but I promise you, it's true. Under the asshole facade of him is just a big, silly, loving sweetheart. I fell for all of that, and all of him before I even knew it."

Both girls awed, their happiness for me mirroring through their faces for view.

"We're so happy for you, Maggie," Kimberly complimented. Raven nodded in agreement, grinning, "I love it, already."

I smiled, warmly. "Thank you."

Kimberly nodded, biting into her lip. Her eyes darted over the kitten in thought. "Did you know he let me punch him the other day?"

My gaze snapped over to her in shock. "Really? When?"

"It was a couple of days before you got to the lake-house," she shrugged. "He came by looking for you, then he asked to talk to me. I was confused as shit, but he basically apologized a million times over for being an ass, then told me I get a free hit."

"You took it?" Raven chuckled.

"Either that, or Kade was going to. Kade would have probably tried to break his jaw, though, so I gave him mine to make it a little easier." Chuckling, she raised her eyes to us. "My own left a bruise, though. I didn't really care about it anymore, but it was still nice, anyway."

I laughed, recalling how Luke said he'd allow it a couple of months back. I knew that Kimberly had practically saved him a broken bone by taking the shot rather than letting Kade do it.

Though, my chest did feel a little lighter, now. At least I had finally gotten one of the lies off my back.

Telling them all of this was easier than I expected, for sure. Considering they had already formed their assumptions, all I had to do was confirm it. They didn't seem to be interested in tying it all back to anything else other than what I told them, thankfully.

Kimberly placed the kitten down to stretch her legs out. "How have you been, though, Mags? From what happened?"

Raven sent a gentle smile my way. "Yeah, are you okay? We've been trying to get to you. I made sure to give Luke some of those cookie bars you like and things like that, too. I hope they helped a bit."

I should have expected this part just as much. I knew they wanted to ask more, but didn't solely out of respect.

I couldn't touch this part with them, yet. I had done well with the Luke part, but for right now, the rest would have to remain where it was.

I forced a smile along my face. "I'm fine, I promise. It was just a little bump in the road." That was definitely an understatement, but they didn't have to know that. I glanced between the two with a reassuring smile. "Now, I'm back to me. Kicking names, and taking ass since 04'."

They both laughed, and hopefully, it washed away their curiosity, too. I knew the questions still remained, but thank fuck they didn't ask them. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to provide the real answers, but beginning to edge toward it was better than nothing.

It was a breath of fresh air around them, though. I had missed it, and the me who was allowed to take that air in, so much.