A/N: Sorry this chapter is so badly written, but I really wanted to get something out :D I hope you like it anyways! I'm no good at romance, but I hope it was alright.


Chapter 11: "Guess who doesn't give a damn?"

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?"

I peered at Luke from over my glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, I want to play this game!" I exclaimed in mock-cheerfulness. "Guess who doesn't give a damn?"

He looked affronted, sending me a withering glare.

I simply cocked my head to the side and smiled stiffly. Ever since our...awkward moment a couple hours ago, I'd been feeling supremely uncomfortable around him.

I wasn't trying to, but I was pushing him further away than normal. But could you blame me? I'd broken up with my boyfriend barely a week before, and then this guy who's never been romantically inclined ever suddenly makes a move on me when he said he was going to teach me how to get over the broken heart that I swear I didn’t have.

Not to mention that said guy was someone who I never used to feel such weird things for. It just was making me sick. At least, that's what I hoped it was when my tummy crumpled in on itself upon seeing the devil.

I'd finished the pasta and was working on salad when Luke wandered into the kitchen with his bandaged finger hanging disregarded at his side. I had exiled him from coming near here until further notice because I didn't want his eyebrows to be burnt off. Knowing the lad, it would most likely happen. He made me look like a well-seasoned, classically-French-trained chef.

"Jordy!" Luke whined. "You're not supposed to be so mean like that!"

I pushed my glasses up so that they were on top of my head, and placed the salad bowl down. "Fine, you prat, what is it?"

"My mum called a while ago, and she says that they're going to be late,” he told me cheekily, that deep dimple in his cheeks making its appearance.

I narrowed my gaze at his careless expression. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

He paused. "I forgot."

I rolled my eyes. "Typical," I muttered, before reaching over and punching his arm with all my strength. He didn't even bat an eyelash. "How late?"

"Really late," he reiterated.

I rolled my eyes at his lack of clarification. "How late, Lulu?"

He scowled at his nickname. "Maybe ten. Ten thirty. Who knows, I didn't ask."

"Why didn't you ask, moron?"

“Because I didn’t really care…” he trailed off, twiddling his thumbs like the idiot he was. Remind me why I thought it was cute? God, was I an idiot? No, don’t even answer that.

I face-palmed. “What the fuck, Luke. We have to have dinner with Molly and Mark, and our mums aren’t going to be here?”

“My mum told me to call them and tell them to come over some other day, so I did,” he said nonchalantly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “And I made all this food for nothing? You almost cut off your goddamned finger for nothing and you’re telling me it doesn’t matter? Goddammit, Luke!” I exclaimed angrily. Why were they so pushy with Luke and I?

He chuckled at me and walked closer until we were chest to chest. “It doesn’t matter, Jordy,” he teased, leaning down so that his face was closer to mine. I forced my face to remain impassive like it always was. “You don’t have to constantly be so worried about me.”

I glared fiercely. “Move away!” I snapped, feeling myself getting angrier and angrier that Rita and Mum had to go through such lengths to get us together. My god, if I wanted to fall in love with Luke, I could do it on my own damn time, goddammit!

I tried to sidestep away from him, but his arms came around me against the counter I was leaning against. I frowned, unsure of how I was supposed to get out of his grasp. I glanced up, and regretted it instantly when I realised how close he was to me. “You didn’t deny it,” he whispered, his minty breath fanning over my face.

I clenched my fists and frowned again. “Shut up,” I replied lamely, getting even angrier that he was playing along with our parents. What if his dad caught us in this position? He would definitely tell Rita, who would tell my mum, who would tell the rest of the world, and I’d never live it down!

Luke grinned brightly, causing little butterflies to take flight inside my stomach. Why did he have to be so happy all the time? Didn’t anything ever affect him? Was I the only one who felt like such a wobbly eejit when we were so close together? “I can’t believe this!” he crowed. “The Jordan Scarlett Wolfe, who has never bothered with the lowly little moi, can actually shows that she cares!”

I tipped my head back in frustration and groaned loudly. “Piss off, Lulu,” I grumbled, trying to shove him away. No way was I going to admit that, nor was I going to let him know how much the close distance was affecting.

He let out a sparkling laugh at my pathetic attempt to push him away from me. “So cute, Jordy,” he cooed in a voice that made me want to smack myself across the face. His hazel eyes twinkled cheerfully and he pressed his chest closer to mine to annoy me further.

And annoy me further it did, because I absolutely hated it when I wasn’t in control of my own emotions. I was so proud of keeping a cool attitude around everybody, and now, out of nowhere, my heart was doing things that I wasn’t okay with, and it made me so fucking pissed. “Shut. Up,” I hissed.

“You know what I noticed?” he asked, completely ignoring me.

I raised my foot to stomp on his, but his leg shot forward and pinned me awkwardly against the cabinet so that I was stuck, almost every part of my body up against his. Fuck you, Luke. Fuck you and your perfect face and perfect body. “What did you notice?” I replied through clenched teeth when I noticed he wouldn’t move unless I responded.

“That you only get angry at me when you’re worried or uncomfortable!”

I forced myself to look confused, even though he’d hit the nail on the head. “No. I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Screw you.”

“I know you want to.”

I gaped, and finally, my heart shoved my brain aside and made a slight pink tinge my cheeks. “Sh-shut up!” I stammered, cursing internally at how contradicting I was being.

Luke smirked, the corners of his mouth tilting up crookedly with a wicked look in his eye. “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” he sang. “Sitting on a telephone wire-”

“My lord, why the hell are you so sodding annoying?” I cried, twisting around in his Neanderthal-like grip. If he didn’t let go of me soon, I might have to go through extreme measures which may or may not include my knee and his groin. “For the love of god, stop!”

He leant in so close that I went cross-eyed just staring at him. His hands brushed my back, lifting my school shirt up a little more than it was before. “Make me,” he dared.

I narrowed my eyes. “What?” I said dangerously, hoping my tone would cow him enough to move away.

It didn’t. If anything, it seemed to get him more excited, if I was going by the way his eyes lit up happily at my words. “Make. Me,” he repeated challengingly, raising an eyebrow as though he knew I would just give in to him.

Without thinking about it, I put my hands on his shoulders and stood on his tiptoes, hiding my grin when he went stock-still. I leant in, keeping my eyes locked on the swirling hazel colour of his own. My mouth brushed his cheek lightly, and I felt extreme satisfaction that he shivered as I moved my lips to his ear.

“Luke,” I breathed into his ear.

“Hm…” he groaned lightly, his arms trembling around me. We were so close that I could feel his heart fluttering like a hummingbird.

“Move, you arse!” I twisted in his grip and jumped away, darting out of the kitchen and running through the house, my heart beating just as much as Luke’s.

“GODDAMMIT, JORDY!” I heard, followed by the thumping of heavy steps.

I bit my lip and laughed to myself at how easily he fell for that. It wasn’t even that seductive, and he still acted as though I was giving him a strip tease. What did that mean? That he was equally affected by my presence as I was of his?

“Jordy!” His scream came from closer to me and I almost let out a girly squeal as I launched myself up the stairs.

“Help me!” I cried to anybody who could be upstairs. Noah started giggling when I dodged into his room, cowering behind his tiny body.

“Jordan, what are you doing?” Brandon, Luke’s dad, asked in amusement as he approached me from outside the room.

I laughed nervously. “Uh...hide and seek?” I twitched slightly from behind Noah and curled myself tighter into a ball. I was never scared of Luke, but there were times when his high body mass gave him a distinct advantage that I preferred to hide from.

“Okay, but Jordan, Rita called me, so I have to go find her - she needs some help. Is it okay for you to watch the kids for a couple of hours?”

My head snapped up and I stared at Mr Tarrone for a few seconds, shocked out of my mind. Why was everyone all for Luke and I being together? Were we the only ones not actively participating in this loony scheme? But I obviously couldn’t decline, no matter what the intentions were. All I knew was that my mum was trying to play some sort of sick, delusional Matchmaker game.

“Sure,” I found myself agreeing, nodding politely. “I’ll take care of them, no problem.”

He smiled at me bent down to kiss Noah’s forehead. “Thank you so much, Jordan. I’ll be back soon, I hope, but get the kids to bed by nine, okay? Jude and Syd can stay up longer, since it’s the weekend tomorrow, and you can give them dinner as soon as I leave.”

I nodded. “Okay. Bye, Brandon.”

“Bye, Brandon,” Noah echoed, before giggling uncontrollably to himself. I smiled softly at the little boy as he corrected his mistake. “I meaned to say Daddy! Bye-bye, Daddy!”

“Bye, Noah.”

I let out a deep breath once he left, sitting on my arse when I realised that if Luke hadn’t come yet, he wasn’t likely to come at all. But where was he? “Noah, tell me if Lulu comes in here, okay?” I asked, laying down on my back and closing my eyes.

“Too late, Jordy!”

I shrieked incredulously when I was suddenly thrown over a broad shoulder that was shaking with chuckles. “What the...where did you come from, cheesehead?”

Luke laughed an evil laugh. “That’s for me to know, and you-”

“To find out,” I finished in irritation. “For Chrissakes, don’t you ever have anything original to say?”

“Would you just let me finish my sentences, woman?”

“Let me go,” I ordered as he jumped down the stairs, my body slamming against his shoulder with each exaggerated jump he took. I grunted when he hit my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

“You okay up there?” he asked as I wheezed like a drugged-up dog.

I rolled a little to jump away, but he only adjusted me so that I was wrapped tighter in his arms. “I was before you picked me up like a sodding rag doll,” I murmured, giving up on struggling out of his hold. Even when I did succeed, it was always at the expense of me hurting myself.

“You deserve it,” he stated simply.

“For what exactly?”

“For teasing me.”

I scoffed. “I didn’t tease you, you prude. You’re a slag, shouldn’t you know what teasing actually is?”

“Do you really think I’m a slag?” he asked in a voice that could’ve been mistaken for hurt.

I was surprised. “Aren’t you?” What with all the girls constantly surrounding him and him constantly leading them on, especially all the confessions he rejected every single day, I always assumed...that he was a shagger like the rest of his friends.

He paused. “No,” he finally said in a soft voice. “Have you ever seen me...with a girl? Not just near a girl, but with a girl.”

I thought about it, feeling guiltier by the second, especially when he set me down and looked at me with the equivalent of a wounded puppy gaze. “I-uh, no,” I admitted, crossing my arms over my chest and looking down. “Sorry, Luke.”

Almost immediately, his frown faded into a smile and he beamed at me in happiness. I shifted on my feet, feeling uncomfortable at how intensely he was looking at me. “It’s okay, Jordy!” he cheered, bounding forward and closing me in a bear hug.

As if on instinct, my arms wound themselves around his neck to keep from dangling from his arms like a little kid, even though I kind of was, considering our height difference. He seemed surprised that I was hugging him back, but took full advantage of that, wrapping his arms completely around me and squeezing me tightly, but not so tight that I couldn’t breathe.

It was warm and nice, and for some odd reason, I felt safe in his embrace. It was weird really, because before, I’d never particularly cared for his constant need to hug me or touch me, but I was slowly accepting his affectionate nature to the point that I actually...enjoyed it.

Holy fuck, what was happening to me?

I was going crazy, that was the only explanation. Constantly hanging around with the demon spawn was turning me into a gushy, mushy, crazy pile of loony tunes.

“Can you...uh-not?” I stuttered quietly, even though I actually didn’t want him to stop hugging me.

“Why, Jordy-kins?” he replied cheekily, his breath tickling my ear. “Don’t you like it?”

Yes. “No,” I said firmly, praising myself on how steady my voice sounded.

One second, I was wrapped up in his arms, and the next, I was dropped down on the floor. I glared up at him as he stared back down at me with an expression that was half-cheeky and half-annoyed.

“What the fuck?”

“You said you didn’t like the hug,” Luke replied matter-of-factly.

“And when has that ever stopped you?” I asked testily, rubbing my sore bottom.

“That’s true…” he pondered, then grinned cheekily, but it didn’t seem real to me. “But I don’t care.”

“Ass,” I muttered as I stood up and walked back to the kitchen. “Go call your siblings for dinner, asshole.”

“You liked the hug, didn’t you, sweetheart?” he called with a smile in his voice.

“Go call them before my middle finger gets an erection from looking at your ugly face,” I snapped without looking back at his probably smug expression.

“Don’t worry, I liked it, too.”

Thank the lord I wasn’t looking at him, because if I was, he would’ve seen the dark blush that permeated my cheeks.

I swear to god, my heart and brain were in an abusive relationship over this guy.

***

Soon after dinner, Harry yawned widely and almost tripped over his own feet.

“Want to go to sleep?” I asked gently. “It’s already past your bedtime.”

He looked at me with big, puppy dog eyes. “Noooo!”

Luke just grinned at my efforts to coax his three younger siblings to bed. Syd and Jude had already gone upstairs to do who knows what, so they were no help either.

Sandy was perched on my hip and Noah was on Luke’s back. Sandy was already sleeping, her cute little head lolling on my shoulder.

“Well, I’m tired,” Luke announced, placing Noah on his feet and plopping down on the floor in front of the sofa. He leant his back against the cushions and closed his eyes.

“You lazy bum,” I tossed at him. He merely wiggled his eyebrows with his eyes still closed and grinned evilly. “I’ll tell your mum,” I tried to threaten.

“I don’t care.” But he did grab Noah and bring him to his lap.

I glared at his stupidly handsome face while his breathing became deeper and more even. “Harry, you want to go upstairs?”

“Can I sleep with Lulu?” he pleaded.

I sighed. “Fine.”

Harry nodded sleepily and curled up at Luke’s side, whose eyes were still closed.

“Come on, Hunter, lovely,” I pressed to the little girl.

“But I don’t wanna,” Hunter whined softly when I sat down next to Luke and pulled her to me.

“You can sleep out here with me and Lulu if you want,” I suggested. “See, Harry’s staying here with us and Noah’s already asleep.” She nodded eagerly and plopped down on top of me.

I pulled Noah across Luke and my laps and wrapped my arm around Hunter so that she could lean comfortably against me.

"Shut up, Jordy," I heard a mumble just as I was getting comfortable.

I raised my eyebrows as I turned to Luke, who was leaning back against the sofa next to me. "I didn't even say anything, you cheesehead," I replied, bewildered.

"Shhhut...ahhp," he repeated in a muffled voice.

I had to stifle my laughter when I realised that he was telling me to shut up in his sleep. Was I really so annoying in his dreams?

I adjusted the sleeping Noah under the crook of my arm and leaned back against the soft seat cushion of the sofa, my heavy eyelids fluttering shut.

Maybe Mum and Rita would be home soon, and I could leave before I was pinned under all these children. Yes, that included Luke.

But before I could think anymore, I was out like a light.

***

"We have some news," was what I heard as someone shook me awake.

I blinked, feeling somewhat disoriented as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I felt something warm on me, and turned to see Luke's snoring figure leaning against me, his arm wrapped possessively around my waist.

My heart beating furiously, I gently eased him away from me and stepped away from the mass of children on my lap to see Rita and Mum looking at us seriously, but with soft looks in their eyes.

"Why are you so late?" I yawned, stretching. Seeing that Luke was still asleep, I nudged him with my foot.

"Eurgh," he grunted in his sleep, shifting around noisily.

"Get up, you cow," I mumbled, kicking him again.

"Stop prodding me," he moaned in his husky voice, his bright eyes fluttering open. He gently pushed Hunter off of his knee, settling her more comfortably on the sofa cushions.

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't prodding you, you tool. Now get up, our mums are home."

With a sleepy snort, he stretched out a hand to me, his head lolling to the side as he stretched. I grasped his hand and tried to pull him off of his fat arse, but wasn't strong enough.

"Ugh, you weigh a tonne," I groaned.

"Kids," Rita interrupted, and while there was a smile on her face, she looked absolutely knackered. Which should've been the first warning sign, since Rita is always preppy, even in the middle of the night.

Finally noticing our mums, Luke lumbered to his feet and yawned, looking like a baby kitty as he did so. I hid a smile at how naive he looked when he was sleepy. If only he was like that all the time. "What is it?" he slurred in his sleep-filled voice that sounded so much more deep and husky than normal. For whatever reason, it made little shocks go down to my toes.

"We have news," Rita repeated.

Luke let out an exasperated groan, suddenly wide awake and alert. "You better not be pregnant," he warned.

"Luke!" I hissed.

He frowned at me. "Are you kidding me? Whenever they say 'We have news,' Mum's magically pregnant! They breed like a couple of bloody rabbits!"

"I'm not pregnant, Lucas, I do know when to stop," Rita sniffed.

"That's what you said after you had Hunter," Luke deadpanned, crossing his arms.

I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle my laughter. It was true. She had said enough was enough after Hunter. Then came Noah. And then Sandy. I was surprised she was still fertile after so many problem children. I probably would've stopped after Luke, but then again, he wasn't as big of a devil back then. Poor Rita wouldn't have known how he'd grow up to be.

"Well, it's not really my news," Rita amended, gesturing to my mum.

Mum looked really upset for some reason, shifting around tensely, a glitter of discomfort in her eyes. I could see faint tear tracks on her cheeks, which instantly made me suspicious. Hell if they'd actually gone to get fucking flowers if they came back looking so glum.

"What is it, Mum?" I asked gently. "How come you've been gone for so long?" I knew it wasn't the time to bitch at her for forcing babysitting duty on Luke and I.

Rita and my mum exchanged nervous glances, causing me to raise an eyebrow and turn to Luke, who looked just as confused as me. "Do you want Luke and I to leave?" Rita asked softly, placing a hand on my mum's slumped shoulder.

Mum shook her head wearily. "No, Rita. Luke should hear this too."

I bit my lip worriedly at the defeated tone in her voice. Why...why was she sounding like this? What was going on? My mum was a fragile woman despite her fiery temper and scary disposition - having me almost killed her. "Mum?" I prompted.

She stretched a trembling hand out to me, causing me to notice just how prominent the veins were on her slender arms. Why was I so selfish that I hadn't noticed her sickness? I took her hand in mine and she wrapped her arms around me in a tight, motherly hug. I swallowed down the huge lump in my throat at the way Rita was watching us so solemnly.

"Mum..." I trailed off quietly. "You're scaring me. What's going on?"

There was a deafening silence before I heard the words that would rip apart my entire world.

"I'm pregnant."


_________________


Hallo guys <3 I'm sorry this chapter was really bad...I wasn't really feeling it. Hopefully the next chapter will be better!


P.S. If anyone knows how to make a trailer...hit me up! I have no clue how to make one, and maybe I can return the favour with whatever you want within reason. :D