A.N// guess what? I DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL UNTIL 2016!! wanna know what else? I GOT A 118 ON MY CHEM FINAL!! I'M SO HYPE!! :-D
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Kate's POV

Once I finished cleaning up Calum and I's mess, I grabbed my stuff and headed for my fourth block.

I considered what just happened as a failed mission. I got absolutely nothing accomplished, and I didn't get any information out of Calum. On my way to my next class, which I shared with Ashton, I saw Luke walking towards me.

Since he acted completely dismissive towards me earlier, I chose to ignore him. Instead, I took interest into a cute guy that was staring at me from across the hall. I walked over to him. As soon as I got over to him, he smiled and greeted me.

"Hey, I'm Evan. I don't believe I've seen you around before. Have I?" He held out his hand, and I took it in my own. He was tall but not as tall as any of my friends. He had curly, sandy brown hair, spring green eyes, and some sort of in between of tan and pale skin.

His hair was covering his forehead, and some of it fell in his eyes, so he used his hand to sweep it back.

"No, I don't believe so. I'm Kate, by the way. Nice to meet you, Evan," I replied smiling. My hand was still in his, and he gave it a light shake.

"It's nice to meet you as well. I just wanted to point out that you're very pretty." He smiled, and I blushed. He had a cute smile.

"Thanks. I could say the same about yourself." Right as I was about to say more to compliment him, I felt two arms wrap around my waist and a head rest on my shoulder. I turned around and found that person to be Luke. By this point, I was thoroughly confused.

I turned back around to face Evan, and I saw that he too was a bit conflicted about what to say. Luke broke the awkward silence first.

"Hey, I'm Luke," he said. He reached his hand out and Evan politely took it, giving Luke a firm hand shake.

"I'm Evan, and you are?"

"Oh, He's just-" I interjected, but apparently I was too slow.

"I'm her boyfriend." Luke stated cutting me off. The warning bell sounded, and Evan excused himself.

"If love to stay and chat with you guys, but I better not be late to class." He walked past us, and I turned around to face Luke.

"What the hell was that, Luke?" I yelled at him. He flinched, and I felt bad for some reason.

"What was what?"

"Why did you tell him that we were dating? You know that's not true, and you also know what would happen if you actually liked me," I explained. His lips turning into a frown, and when didn't give me a reasonable explanation, I walked off.
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The bell rang as soon as I stepped into my class room, and I took my spot next to Ashton.

"Hello, Katherine. What a fine afternoon we're having, aren't we," Ashton greeted. I just sighed in response. "What's wrong?"

"Luke is what's wrong," I replied.

"Why?"

"I saw a cute guy in the hallway, and he completely ruined my chances with him! Who even does that?" I shouted. Some people turned around in their chairs to look at me, and I slumped down in my seat.

"Oh, wow. I-I don't what to say. Maybe Calum knows why he's doing this." Ashton shrugged. I huffed, he looked at me with a confused expression. "What now?"

"Calum won't tell me anything, so how am I supposed to get answers?" I crossed my arms over my chest, and again, I huffed. This was beyond frustrating, and all I wanted to do was get to the bottom of everything.

"I don't know, Kate. I'm sorry," Ashton replied. He was frowning, and that made me feel even worse about this.

"You don't have to apologize, Ash. It's not your fault," I remarked. He smiled, and that caused me to smile as well.

"Aw, bring it in!" Ashton exclaimed, grinning widely. He opened his arms, and I gladly leaned into him. He wrapped me up in a tight embrace, and nothing felt better at the moment.

"Everything's going to be okay soon, Kate. Don't worry," he soothed. The teacher walked into the room moments later, and we began class.
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When school was over, I headed outside so I could make my way to my house. I didn't want a ride from Calum because he was being super weird, and I didn't want a ride from Luke because I was angry with him.

Since Ashton walked out with me, he offered me a ride home, and I appreciatively accepted it. We both got in the car and buckled our seat belts, and within two minutes, Ashton had pulled out of the parking lot.

The drive to my house was pretty silent, except for the Green Day disk playing in the background. I couldn't take the silence any longer because it allowed me way too much time to think. I was afraid that my thoughts were going to eat me alive.

"Why do you think Calum and Luke are acting this way?" I asked him. Even with his eyes focusing on the road, I could see his eyebrows scrunch together.

"I don't know, but if I had to guess, I think they're fighting about you," he explained calmly. I turned to look at him, and he took a quick glance at me.

"Why would you think that?" I questioned quizzically. He shrugged.

"In all honesty, I don't know. There's a high possibility that it's about you though. Neither of them have ever acted this way about anything before, so the only thing I can do is guess," he responded. I didn't know what to think, so I decided to just not think for the time being. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.
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When we finally arrived at my house, I thanked Ashton for the ride, and I got out of his car and headed towards my front door. I retrieved my key so I could get into my house, and when I stepped in, I felt a wave of thoughts come over me.

Why would Calum and Luke act like this? Luke knew we weren't in a relationship. Why would he ruin my chances with someone I could potentially take interest into? I had so many questions, and not one of them had a valid answer.

I walked to my room and fell on my bed. I started to think more. Did Luke actually like me? Was he trying to protect me? What would he need to protect me from? I still had no answers. I was just left in a pool of thoughts, and I didn't know what to do about it.

I got up from my laying position on the bed and left my room. I went downstairs to find a snack and watch some television. I thought it would act pretty decently in trying to take my mind off of everything. Once I found a good snack, I made my way to my ever so comfy couch, and I plopped myself down.

I grabbed the remote and flicked through some random channels before I landed on the movie Marley and Me. I ate my snack and watched intently, and before I knew it, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
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I woke up to my phone buzzing on the seat beside me. I rolled over with a groan to see who was trying to contact me. I opened my phone to find three texts from Ashton.

Ash x
I have a solution to all of your problems, Kate!

Ash x
meet me at the park in twenty minutes

Ash x
don't be late. this will be really fun! x

I sent him a quick response to let him know that I was on my way.

Kate
I'll be there! I really hope whatever you're talking about works, Ash.

He texted me back a few seconds later.

Ash x
it will! don't worry... ;-)

I got up quickly and rushed up the stairs and into my room. I took my hair down from the style I wore to school, and I brushed it back up and put it in a ponytail.

I took off Luke's shirt and replaced it with one of my own. I also put on a light sweatshirt, and I switched my pair of converse out for some running shoes.

I then headed back down stairs to get a bottle of water, and I went into the living area to retrieve my cell phone. I walked to the front door and grabbed the keys before heading out.

It took a good ten minutes to walk to the park that Ashton was talking about from my house. When I got there, I saw the curly haired boy sitting quietly on a bench. I walked over, and he noticed me right away. He stood up and welcomed me with a hug, and I smiled.

"Hey Ash," I said once I came up from the embrace.

"Hey. Are you ready?" He asked, and my eyebrows knitted together.

"Ready for what?" I responded. He never actually told me what we were going to be doing. He only told me that he had a solution to all of my problems.

"We're going to take a walk on the trail around the park, and we're going to talk everything out," he explained. I nodded in understanding, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close. "Let's get going."

We began our walk around the trail, and I started our sentimental talk by asking the first question.

"You know how you said that you think Luke and Calum's fight is about me?" I started. He nodded, encouraging me to continue. "I know you already told me why, but why would Calum have anything to do with this?" I questioned. He shrugged, not having a solid answer, but he opened his mouth to speak anyway.

"Maybe, Luke told Calum a secret, and they know something that we all don't. Calum probably wants to tell us now, but Luke doesn't want him to or won't let him. Maybe, there's something going on, and we just don't know anything about it. Calum and Luke always have an argument every time they're near each other, and they've never done that before. If what I just said isn't the case, then I don't know what's going on," Ashton explained.

"That's ridiculous," I laughed. "How is that even possible. Luke tells me everything, even if it's really stupid. What could he have to hide? I don't get it," I rambled. Ashton just chuckled, which made me more confused than before. "Why are you laughing at me?"

"Calm down. I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the idea of this whole thing. Maybe, this is something Luke can't tell you, or maybe, he wants to but he can't find the words. You of all people know how bad Luke is with words," he replied. I nodded along, and by this time, we were halfway around the trail.

We walked a few minutes in silence before Ashton spoke again.

"How do you feel about Luke?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked quizzically. I knew though. I just didn't have an answer.

"Let me rephrase. Do you have feelings for Luke?" He questioned. Ashton turned his head towards me, and he raised an eyebrow. We stopped walking. "Katherine, don't lie to me. It's okay if you do." He pulled me into another hug.

"Ash, I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I do, and other times I feel like we should just be best friends like always, nothing more," I confessed. He nodded along, and we started our walk again.

"What do you feel like most of the time?" He asked lightly. I walked with my head down. It felt good to let this all out, but I also knew the consequences that followed. Luke and I would have to stop the lessons, and we would have to stop being friends. I didn't want that. He couldn't know, but I could tell Ashton.

"I don't- I guess I just want to kiss him most of the time. I want to cuddle with him and watch movies all day. I want to hold his hand without the fear of anyone taking it the wrong way because we would be in a relationship. I want to stay up in the middle of the night an talk about absolutely nothing, but it would be fun because we would have each other's happiness and laughter to feed off of. I just don't want to ruin our friendship," I sighed.

"Why would that ruin your friendship?" He asked. "People who are in relationships are best friends anyway. They're just best friends who love each other unconditionally, and they have added benefits. They can kiss, hold hands, take showers together, have sex, and all of that jazz. They can do all of that stuff, and no one could tell them other wise because, like you said, they'd be in a relationship. If you wanted to pursue something like that with Luke, we're all here to support you guys," he stated. I continued to look down, and I twiddled my fingers out of nervousness.

"I can't Ashton. It's really complicated," I said.

"How is it complicated?"

"I-I don't know," I confessed. He sighed, and I felt ashamed. No one knew about Luke and I's agreement with the lessons. The only one who was even close to knowing was Calum, and he only knew about the first time we had sex.

"Do you love him?" Ashton asked, breaking me out of my own thoughts.

"Of course I do. He's my best friend," I said giggling. I had been trying to avoid this question that had been running through my mind since that second time Luke and I had sex. I didn't have an answer, so I just pushed it to the back of my brain.

"No, Kate. Do you love him? Do you think you might be in love with him?" He explained.

"I don't know," I responded. I truly felt pathetic. How could someone just not know if they were in love with another person.

Maybe, that little fling I had with Thomas screwed up my image of love. I was so sure that it was him, but he ruined it. I was naïve and stupid, and I can't blame that factor on anyone but myself.

The truth was: I really didn't know. How would you know? How could you tell? What would you feel like inside?

"How do you not know whether you're in love with someone or not?" Ashton asked. By this time, we were back where we started. I followed Ashton to the bench we were sitting on before we started our walk.

He was right, it did sort of help me figure some things out. It helped me get some things off of my chest, but I knew there was still a long way to go.

"Ash, again, I don't know. I don't know what it feels like, so how can I tell?"

Ashton stayed quiet for a bit, probably trying to think of a way to explain it to me. I was pretty sure Ashton had never been in love, but I was positive that he'd come fairly close to it before.

"Are you still a virgin?" He asked suddenly. I paused, wondering if I should tell the truth or not.

"No, I'm not," I said. His head shot up, and his eyes fixed on mine.

"Are you joking?"

"No, I'm serious." I averted my eyes because his stare was becoming too intense. I already didn't feel that great about myself, and I felt like Ashton was judging me, even though I knew he would never.

"When did you give it up? Who did you give it to?" He quizzed me. I slouched in my seat.

"I lost it a few weeks ago, and I-" I started before Ashton cut me off.

"You better not have given it to that Thomas kid." He said sternly, but I shook my head and opened my mouth to continue.

"I didn't give it to Thomas," I stated. "I gave it to Luke." Ashton's eyes widen, and he seemed to be speechless.

"What?"

"I lost my virginity to Lu-" Just as I was about to repeat my previous statement, I saw Luke walking across the grass of the park. His hands were jammed into his pockets, and his head was hung low. He had in some earplugs, and he was just walking, not really even paying attention to where he was going.

I was still angry at him for what he did earlier, and I wasn't ready to speak to him. "Ash, can you take me home? Now?" I said standing up quickly. I turned my head so I wouldn't be recognized as easily.

Ashton stood up as well, and he examined my face. He noticed how frantic I was, and he tried to calm me down.

"Kate, calm down. I can take you home. Let's go," he said softly. My ears were red, and the color was starting to transfer to the rest of my face. It started to feel hotter than normal, and my palms started to sweat.

I grabbed Ashton's wrist, and I pulled him as far as I could without getting noticed, but it was too late. Luke had already seen me.

"Kate, wait!" He called. I tried to walk faster just to avoid him, but that didn't work either. He jogged over to where Ashton and I were standing, and he took the plugs from his ears and put them in his pocket.

He smiled at me, but I kept a straight face. Moments later, he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Luke, let me go! I don't want to talk to you!" I protested. He just squeezed me tighter. "Luke, I'm serious!" That made him let me go. I folded my arms across my chest, and he frowned.

"Why don't you want to talk to me?" He questioned.

"You know what you did," I said glaring at him.

"I honestly don't. Care to fill me in?" He challenged. He was making me more angry by the second, and if I didn't let it go soon, I feared I was going to explode.

"You told Evan that we were dating! You ruined my chances with him, and you knew what you were doing! You hadn't properly spoken to me all afternoon, but as soon as you see me with another guy, you act like nothing happened!" I yelled. He just stood there, a blank expression covering his face.

"I was trying to protect you," he said.

"Protect me from what?" I continued to shout at him.

"E-Evan, he isn't a good guy, Kate. Trust me. I was only doing you a favor," he coughed out.

"How do you know that? Do you know him or something?"

"N-No, I'm sorry," he confessed softly. His gaze shifted past me.

"You're so-I can't believe you would do something like that to me, especially after what Thomas did!" I screamed. His head dropped, and he started shuffling his feet.

"I was only trying to protect you. I didn't want another situation like what happened with Thomas. Please believe that I was doing it for your own good." he said lowly. I rolled my eyes. He couldn't be serious.

"You didn't know what was going to happen, but you ruined it anyway," I turned away from him.

"Kate, please just hear me out. I-" he started.

"No, Luke. You really messed up big time, and I-I just need some space," I said cutting him off. "Ashton, will you please take me home?" I turned to Ashton and asked. He nodded and motioned me to follow him, before we walked away.

Luke just stood there, a frown etched into his face. All I wanted to do was make it go away, but my anger and stubbornness prevented me from jumping out of Ashton's car and running back to Luke so I could kiss his frown away.
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A.N// i feel like these are really boring and i'm failing at life...

my bae aida helped me with this so thanks bb p.s. i still hate you >:-)

this chapter is really important though, so please bear with me

comment loads bc y'all are funny af!

follow me on twit @/zapmikerowave

love you guys lots!!

-cam <3