44 it's not stupid

Once we get in the house, Bryana ventures off to find my mom and to use the bathroom, and I set the dresses down on the vanity table in the foyer before grabbing Ashton's hand and pulling him upstairs into my room.

He stumbles over the landing, Bryana's bags flying down out into the hallway, and when I glance over my shoulder, the sight of him on his hands and knees, makes me burst out laughing. Despite himself, he smiles. "Oh, shut up."

T-shirt's and makeup are all over the place, and I bite my lip to stifle my laugh; raising my hands up in mock surrender, "I didn't say anything." A giggle slips past my lips, "But you should probably your glasses back on, you dork."

Ashton rolls his eyes playfully, and just as he grabs one of Bryana's heels, preparing to throw it at me, Luke's door pulls open. Blue eyes look from me, to the clothes on the floor and then over at Ashton; who's still clutching a very sparkly pink stiletto.

Leaning coolly against his door frame, Luke gestures to the suitcases, "Don't tell me you're moving in, Ashley."

He's carrying his guitar in one hand, and he's still wearing his sweatpants; a maroon colored hoodie pulled over his head. And even though he looks incredibly crazy, being so covered up in this hot weather, the thought of him staying in bed all day playing his guitar makes me smile, and I have to hurriedly crouch down to gather a bundle of Bryana's t-shirts; hiding my smile behind them.

Ashton ruffles a hand through his hair, drops the shoe and sits back on his heels, "Oh, I am." He smirks, dimples deepening, "Gotta say man, I'm definitely looking forward to Annie tucking me in at night."

I chuck pair of jeans at him, rolling my eyes in amusement, "Leave me out of this, you creep." I look over at Luke, "He's not moving in." Blue eyes stare impassively down at me and then Luke slips back into his room without another word. Ashton rolls his eyes, "I don't know what I ever did to that kid, but he really doesn't like me."

Reaching up to brush my loose curls back towards my ponytail, I shrug, "If it makes you feel any better, he didn't like me at first either." Ashton smirks, "He's probably just jealous of our good looks." I laugh and then we both hurry to pick up Bryana's stuff before hurrying into my room.

The tall boy awkwardly pauses by the doorway, and I glance over my shoulder at him as I set the bags down by my closet, "What're you doing? Come in."

Ashton's hand digs in his pocket, and he pulls out his glasses; carefully putting them on. "I'm in your room." He announces slowly, "I've been in your house more than a few times and this is still uncharted territory." With a laugh, I flop back on my bed and watch as he drags his eyes around my room. Lips curl into a smile, "Are those the curtains you bought from Target the day we met?"

Looking over at the light pink, sheer curtains, I find myself laughing again, "Oh, yeah. Nice touch, don't you think?"

With an amused nod, Ashton heads over to my desk and gracefully drops himself down in the chair; his long legs stretching out in front of him. "So," he starts leaning forward to grab two pens from my cup holder, "Does this mean we don't have to finish the centerpieces?" Fingers absentmindedly start to drum them against the wood surface.

I shake my head, "No, this just means that we have more help. Bryana and Lu--" My door opens and I pause, turning towards it.

It's Luke again and his eyebrows are furrowed, as he quickly looks over his shoulder before pointing his thumb behind him, "Is that kid, Chelsea here? There's a girl in my bathroom."

For a minute, I'm confused. Chelsea? Why would Chelsea be her-- and then I remember. Bryana. But he wouldn't know that, because he'd never met her. I smirk, deciding to feign oblivion and I lean back against my pillows and look over at Ashton, "You sneaking fourteen year old girls into my house, now?"

Ashton presses his sneakered feet against my desk and slowly tilts the chair back, so that the front legs lift off the floor. "I didn't have a choice. She was the only one who was willing to help me creep through your underwear drawer." He raises his eyebrows and looks over at Luke, "We're planning on selling them on Ebay. You wouldn't happen to be into bidding, would you?"

Luke doesn't laugh, just shakes his head in annoyance at me and Ashton's banter before walking further into my room, "Did you hear me? There's someone in my bathroom. I thought it was you and I just walked in, but the girl had b--"

"Wait," With a slight laugh, Ashton glances over at me and confusingly shakes his head, "Why would you 'just walk in'?"

Luke lets out an irritated sigh, "Because, I thought it was Annie."

"Exactly, so why would you 'just walk in'?" Ashton repeats, as if he's talking to a small child.

For a minute, I pause; waiting to see what Luke's gonna say. I mean, Ashton's right. In his head, I'm pretty sure it's not exactly normal for someone to feel so comfortable sharing a bathroom with someone who's supposed to be their soon-to-be stepsister. Blue eyes look away from Ashton and over to me, and I quickly widen my eyes urging him to say something. Luke clears his throat (not so subtle, really) and then he gestures to the boy still rocking dangerously in the chair, "Have you thought of a name for that stupid band of yours?"

The legs of the chair slam abruptly back down on the floor and he frowns. "It's not stupid," Ashton mutters, completely side tracked.  The pens slow their drumming, and I suddenly feel bad and I scowl over at Luke, echoing him, "It's not stupid."

Luke rolls his eyes, laughing without amusement, "Well that's a weird name for a band." He strolls over to my bed where I'm at, passes me his guitar and motions for me to slide over, before sitting down next to me. Our shoulders are touching, my folded knee pressed against his hip, but I don't make a point to move. Blue eyes glance over at Ashton, "I can't imagine a band with a name like that selling out arenas. But then again, you have Goo Goo Dolls," he pauses, "Which sounds like anything but a rock band, so maybe."

Ashton's straight faced, and he looks super annoyed. He turns to me, "There's like hundreds of single men in this city, and your mom had to get engaged to someone who made that?"

Luke's nods, and even though his answer is directed to Ashton, he turns to stare straight at me when he says, "Sucks, right?"

Pinned beneath both their heated gazes, I flush, scrambling for something to say to break the silence. Fortunately, the sound of a loud slap against my bedroom door, erupts around the room and we all flinch; turning to gaze at the blonde haired girl standing by the doorway. Bryana smiles through closed lips, "Cutting the tension." She's not wearing her baseball cap anymore, her long hair pulled back into a ponytail away from her face, and she's barefoot.

Her brown eyes turn to Luke, and she tilts her head to the side, "You should learn to knock. Who are you? Another one of Annie's friends?"

Folding his arms behind his head, he scoffs, "Anastasia wishes she were my friend."

I roll my eyes, "Bry, this is Luke. He lives here, he's actually Andrew's son." I turn to the boy besides me, "That's Bryana, she's my cousin."

His questioning eyes scale her face, and he lifts his hand in a slight wave, "Nice to meet you. Sorry about the whole bathroom thing."

"Consider it forgotten." Then she reaches in her pocket, pulls out her cell phone and holds it up, "I haven't checked my Instagram in three hours, I'm dying here. Charger, anyone?"

Adjusting Luke's guitar over my lap, I lean over him and grab my iPad charger, before tossing it across the room to her. Fingers gently skim across my waist and Luke calls out, "So uh, how long are you staying?"

Bryana's not fazed. She stalks around my room, looking for an outlet, absentmindedly responding, "Just until after my aunt's wedding. Why? Tired of me already?" Her hand gently swats at Ashton's shoulder, "Hey, can you plug this in right there?"

"I was just wondering," Luke trails off.

She nods, and playfully ruffles her hand through Ashton's hair, "Well, I still owe this one here an introduction but I'm still sandwich-less, so can we please get something to eat?"

---

Earlier, I was excited for Ashton to help me and actually kind of looking forward to creating centerpieces, but the fact that he keeps breaking the freaking mason jars is upsetting me. Apparently, it's too hard to hold it and tie a string around it at the same time.

I roll my eyes, I know better. It's Bryana. We've moved everything to my room, and she's laying on her stomach on the floor besides him, eating her sandwich, courtesy of Andrew, and alternating between texting on her phone and giving him directions. Luke is sitting with us too, but I have a feeling he doesn't want to be here on account of how he's laying back on my bed, watching TV and not paying any attention to what we're doing.

Bryana pulls the crust off of her bread, plucks it into her mouth, and looks out from behind her phone screen; she smiles and shakes her head, "Kutcher, this is like the third jar you've broken."

"Like?" I repeat, dryly laughing. "It is." With a frustrated glare, I turn to the wide eyed boy sitting across from me and deadpan, "You're a drummer. Aren't drummers supposed to be good with their hands?" I blow a stray curl out of my face and lean over to grab the broom and dustpan from the doorway, before standing up and stalking over to boy kneeled on the floor, already trying to hurriedly collect the broken shards of glass.

"Stop, before you cut yourself. I don't do hospitals." I murmur. Behind me, I hear Luke comment with mock amusement, "I'm sure Calum does house calls." When I look back at him, he smirks at me and a small smile breaks through my frustration. Luke raises his eyebrows quickly and then goes back to watching TV; I turn back to Ashton.

He smiles sheepishly underneath a face full of sandy brown curls, and he whisks hair out of his face before dropping the glass and holding his hands up. "Do you see the size of these things? They're not exactly made for ribbon tying."

At the sight of his hands, I laugh and sweep the last remnants of the broken glass into the dustpan before standing up straight. "It's alright. I'm reassigning you to flower duty."

His face is flushed from the heat, dimples prominent as he bites his lower lip; his gaze set on a purple spool of satin ribbon in front of him. Ashton sighs,  "Great. Just when I thought I'd lost my manliness by tying bows." Bryana laughs, sets her phone down and crawls up so she's sitting besides him. "Here, I'll help you."

Hazel eyes nervously glance up at me and I raise my eyebrows down at Ashton, before hurrying around them to set the dustpan and broom aside. Grabbing more jars and string, I take a seat on my bed, facing Luke; who's casually flipping through TV channels. Setting everything down, I call, "Luke, help me."

Luke shifts and lazily turns his head towards me before playfully mouthing, "Nope."

Reaching over, I wiggle my pointer finger through the hole in the jeans he's changed into; prodding my fingertip against his pale knee. "C'mon please?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Why should I?" Blue eyes narrow in my direction, teeth biting gently on his lower lip.

"Stop trying to be cute," I mutter, rolling my eyes.

"Who says I have to try?"

With a small laugh, I nudge him again and hold out the ribbon spool. "C'mon help me, we'll be doing this all night."

Luke groans, and he playfully snatches it out of my grip, "What do I have to do?"

Quickly, I explain to him the centerpiece idea, "I can show you the picture. But you'll have to pass me my iPad."

He shakes his head and his eyes glance over towards the floor before he leans back, "Get it yourself."

There's a daring glint in his eyes, challenging me, and I peek over my shoulder at Ashton and Bryana; they're too engaged in separating and clipping the ends of flowers to even bother paying us any attention. When I turn back around Luke smirks, "Well?"

Tucking a loose curl behind my ear, I balance my hand on his knee and lean up; preparing to reach across him to grab my iPad from my nightstand. Luke's hand reaches out, flattening discreetly on the exposed skin of my hip and when his nose skims the side of my cheek, thoughts of my "plan" comes rushing back towards me and I awkwardly lean back.

"Now that I think about it, it's pretty simple. You probably won't even need to see the picture." Shrugging, I pick up a jar and reach for a pair of scissors; trying to act nonchalant.

Luke stares impassively back at me, and then reaches over, grabs my iPad and holds it out to me, "Here, Annie."

I bashfully show him the picture, and then we all work quickly and quietly; the TV serving as background noise. It's like this for a good hour until Ashton mutters that he's thirsty. I look up from my finished jar, "Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

Setting his small flower bouquet down, he wipes his hands on his jeans and sifts a hand through his hair. "Can you? I mean, if you don't mind."

With a nod, I laugh and start to clear my space so that I can get up, "You know what I noticed, Ashton? You're always more chill when you're not with Michael and the girls."

A smile curls at his lips, "I'm always 'chill', you just think I'm impolite by association."

Before I can get up, Bryana sets her phone down and mutters, "I'm thirsty, too."

"Great, so then why don't you and Ashton go get your own drinks?" Luke insists, his eyes trained on a piece of string that he's knotting. "That way, you can get to know each other." He glances up, and smirks.

Bryana shrugs, oblivious to his obvious attempt at matchmaking and she stands up, padding over to the door, "Sure." Ashton's still sitting on the floor, and she looks back over her shoulder, "You coming, Ashton?"

"Me?" He wonders.

"You're the only Ashton in here." She smiles, eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh!" The tall boy jumps to his feet, knocking over the ribbon spools, and he yanks down his shirt; fingers shoving up his glasses. I roll my eyes, and look back over at Luke; shaking my head in amusement. "I'm coming," he hurries over to her, and they shuffle out into the hallway. The door closes, and almost immediately after I'm being pinned to my bed, my arms locked above my head.

Luke raises his eyebrows, "God, I thought they would never leave."

"What are you doing, Luke?" I panic, hurriedly looking over at the door, "They could come back any second, get up."

Legs swing around on either side of my hips, straddling me, and Luke lowers his face down to mine, whispering, "Who cares?"

Blond eyelashes flutter slowly, and even though he looks like he's doing everything but joking, Luke's lips draw up into a smirk, "Don't think I don't know that you're trying to avoid me, Anastasia." A slight airbrush of goosebumps rise on my arms at the sight, and embarrassed I flush and try to move out from under him.

Hips press down into me, pressing me further into the mattress. I knew I had to tell him, but I didn't think I'd have to do it soon. "Is that what you think?" I swallow, trying again to shift from under him, "That I'm trying to avoid you?"

Luke's jaw sets, his smirk falling, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No." I whisper, "Now, can you please get off me, before someone c--"

"Catches us?" Luke wonders, "What's the point, now? Weren't you the one who decided that we should end this all? That you didn't want to be with me anymore?" Blue eyes stare heatedly down at me, eyebrows furrowed angrily.

"What are you talking about?" I hiss, as I work to wiggle my arm loose; Luke's fingers grip tighter. "I've never said any of that!"

"You didn't have to. I saw it all on your face last night, and this morning, and just a few minutes ago."

I stop trying to free my hands, panting up at him. So I wasn't as discreet as I had thought. My face flushes underneath his relentless gaze, and I sigh, "It wasn't that, it's jus--"

Luke rolls his eyes, "We're not dating, Annie. Do whatever you want." When he lets my hands go, I immediately move them back down to my sides, but I don't attempt to move from under him just yet.

After a long minute of just staring at each other, Luke reaches out, and gently runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, "Can I just, can I please kiss you right now?" Eyes flick up towards me, his teeth chewing at his ring, and Luke ruffles a hand through his hair before gushing out, "And after that if you still don't want to be with me, then fine."

Underneath him, my chest rises and falls quickly and I hoarsely whisper, "I never said I didn't want to be with you, stop saying that."

"Kiss me," He urges, ignoring me. Arms settle on either side of my head, and he leans down so that the edge of his nose brushes mine, "And don't regret it afterwards."

I let my hands wrap gently around his forearms, and before I can get the chance to say anything else, Luke's lips are on mine. I can't help the surprised gasp that slips past my lips, and just like that his tongue is flush against mine.

The urgency of the kiss is unbearable; my hands clutching the front of his hoodie, keeping him on top of me. I could feel him there, wanting me in a way that made me blush, and that airy feeling spread hot and heavy throughout my stomach. Overwhelmed, I forced myself to pull back.

"No," Luke pants, his lips finding mine again. His warm hand slides up my shirt, flat against my stomach and my mouth opens against his in a low moan. Luke draws back, and buries his face in the crook of my neck, teeth grazing and lightly nipping at the sensitive skin, before whispering against my skin in a breathy sigh, "Don't be done with me. Not now, Annie."

I loosen my grip on his hoodie, and drape my arm over his shoulder; ruffling my hand through his hair. "You're not an object, Luke. I could never just be done with you."

"You know what I mean." He leans up, eyes bright and cautious, "I know you're worried about the wedding, and what will we'll be after that."

"Aren't you?"

He nods, "Yes. Which is why I want to spend this time we have, together. I don't want you to ignore me."

I don't get a chance to respond, because then the sound of Ashton and Bryana's footsteps hurrying up the stairs distracts me, and I'm pulling my arm back from around his shoulder. Luke's not fazed, he leans down kisses me gingerly on my mouth and then once on my forehead, before fixing my shirt and crawling off of me.

Settling down, he grabs a mason jar and ribbon. Blue eyes look amusingly over at me and he teases, "Annie, you might want to sit up and stop looking so flustered."

I smile, "Shut up."

---

In the end, by time we finished making the centerpieces, and showing them to my mom and Liv, who wanted to make a bunch of unnecessary changes, we all agree to order a pizza and watch a movie in my room.

Which only lasted a good fifteen minutes, before everyone fell asleep; exhausted from the days work.

--

Rays of sunlight  penetrate through my bedroom window, blinding me, and with a quiet groan  I roll over in bed. With still shut eyes, I attempt to soak in the last  bits of warmth from my cotton sheets as I gather the strength to wake  up. Shedding myself of the remaining bits of sleep, I slowly and reluctantly sit up in bed, my knuckles screwing into my eyes.

Looking over, I immediately realize that Bryana's not in bed anymore, and I lean over the side of my mattress to take a  peek at the boy who's still wrapped up in my pink blankets, and  sprawled across my floor. Locks of his messy brown hair tangle  over his forehead and with his pink lips partly open, he quietly snores.  Shaking my head in amusement, I kick my feet over the side of the bed  and watch them dangle for a few before standing. I carefully step over  Ashton's sleeping body, stopping to pluck his glasses from his face and I set them aside on my dresser before hurrying to the door to make it to the bathroom.

Though, the minute I  step out my room, Bryana comes stalking up the stairs. She's carrying a bag of chips, a plate with pizza from last night and absentmindedly nibbling on an apple, and even though we  both went to sleep last night and most likely tossed and turned in our  bed, her hair looks like she just finished up a photo shoot whilst mine  looks like I just stepped out a boxing ring with a bear. Her silk  nightgown makes her creamy legs look like permanent stilts, and I feel  incredibly dumb standing in front of her wearing one of my dad's old  t-shirts.

Then, I realize that this is the same girl who literally lived in a Ninja Turtle's Halloween costume for an entire year, and couldn't possibly care less about what I wore to bed. With a small smile towards the still oblivious girl, I call out, "What are you doing up so early?"

She jumps, brown eyes meeting mine, and she smiles sheepishly before lifting her snacks, "I couldn't wait until breakfast, I was starving." Holding out the bag of chips, she shakes them, "Barbecue?"

I laugh, and shake my head. "It's too early." Bryana shrugs, and then she's smiles shyly before whispering in a tone that's half-accusation and half-wonder, "Soo, why didn't you tell me that you and that Luke kid have a thing?"

I freeze. Where we really that see through? My heart is jumping again, fingers curling into my palms and and my brown eyes look down at my bare toes, as I wiggle them anxiously, "Uh, we don't."

Bryana shifts so that she's leaned against the wall besides me, and I hear her sigh, "I thought we told each other everything, Annie?'

I sigh, it's no use in lying. "Is it that obvious?"

"Sort of. But I mean, this right here--" She reaches out and presses her fingertip against my collarbone. I flinch, at the small tinge of discomfort, "This, nice little hickey right here? A total give away. You might wanna cover that up."

My hand draws to my neck, and I gape, "Are you serious?"

Bryana nods, "Completely. Two, the little smiley thing you guys do? So, obvious." I flush, that's the same thing Chelsea said. "Three, if you wanted to get rid of me yesterday to make out with him, you could of at least gave a girl some details. Is he at least a good kisser?"

Despite my raging anxiety, I smile, "We didn't make out, Bry."

She rolls her eyes, repeating her statement, "Is he a good kisser?"

Looking away from her, I shrug, "I guess."

"You guess? Stop being coy, is he or not? I mean, you let him give you a hickey, that's got to count for something?"

I'm flushed, and I shrug before gushing, "Fine, he's a great kisser, alright? He has these really really soft lips, and he knows what he's doing, so I don't have to try hard. And sometimes he does this thing where he bites my bottom lip -- but it doesn't hurt. So, that's cool. Also, he has a lip ring ... which is a plus." I nod, trailing off awkwardly. When I look back up, Bryana is smiling extra wide down at me, her brown eyes wide and bright. I blink, "What?"

Bryana takes a bite of her apple, and smirks as she thinks of my previous statements, "He bites your lip?"

Embarrassed, I turn to look back down at my feet, "Shut up."

"And you like it?"

"Shut up!" I laugh.

The blonde haired girl smiles, and shakes her head, "I'm only kidding. You're just so grown up now, it's crazy that we're actually talking about this."

Peeking up at her, I furrow my eyebrows, "So you don't think it's weird? Or wrong? That I you know, like him? He's gonna be my stepbrother?"

Reaching out, she tucks a curl behind my ear, "Listen cuz, I'm in no position to tell you who you should or should not date. It's none of my business, and in plus, you're old enough to make these decisions yourself."

Then, her lips curl into a small smile, and she rolls her eyes playfully, "You couldn't have just settled for the beach bum?"

I smile, "Actually, I think he likes you."

"I figured." Bryana nods and gestures to her plate, "Which is why, I'm about to wake him up to eat this cold pizza, and watch reruns of Saved By The Bell, with me."

---

AN -- this chapter was choppy as hell. anyway will post
shoutouts and stuff later on today. it's 4 in the morning and I have to be up for school in like 2 hours so yeah

not that it matters but what I envisioned them "making"

thanks for reading this!! please vote and check out the new trailer for this book in the very first chapter :D love u all