a/n: I love this ☝🏻️ song so much omg

December 24th

*Luke's P.O.V*
Sometimes I feel like Christmas Eve is even better than actual Christmas. We are having a barbecue in the backyard. Laurel finally gets the chance of meeting Molly, our dog.

"Will she bite or bark at me?" She inquires, staring fixedly at Molly.

"If you keep on frightened like a little girl she probably will" I laugh. I start petting Molly and Laurel hesitantly follows my lead.

"Oh well, she didn't eat my arm" She jokes, caressing Molly.

Jack comes close to us to talk and we stand up.

"So Laurel! What are the impressions of Australia so far? Did Luke take you to anywhere else?" He asks her, taking a sip of his beer.

"It is an amazing place, to say the least! Luke took me to Taronga Zoo and Bondi beach. Also some other beaches I don't know the name" She replies, smiling. "Oh, and we also went to that Lindt Café where the shooting happened, I was speechless."

Laurel's phone rings and she takes it off her pocket. She looks concerned at the screen and clears her throat, beaming at us.

"Sorry, I need to pick that up." She excuses and goes inside.

"Now I need to know how it's going between you two" Jack begins.

It's been exactly 8 days since I asked Laurel to be my girlfriend and didn't tell anyone yet, perhaps because I asked her myself to keep it a secret for now.

But Jack is my brother.

"We are... dating" I smile. "I asked her to be my girlfriend last week"

"I knew it!" Jack cheers, making more noise than I wanted him to.

I tell him so be quiet and he mocks me.

"Dude, these are all family. What's wrong with them knowing about it?"

"I just don't want them to. At least not yet."

"It's not like anyone here is going to say something, Jesus."

I try to stop Jack, but fail miserably.

"Hey guys!" He shouts, getting everyone's attention. "Guess who finally got his head out of his ass and asked Laurel to be his girlfriend?! This dude, mi hermano!"

Mum laughs and applauses, so does my dad and everyone else. Laurel comes back exactly at this moment and gives me a questioning look. I simply sigh, smiling, and open my arms.

She chuckles and timidly walk towards my embrace, resting her head on my chest.

"Thank goodness you chose a nice woman this time, Lewi" Ben chuckles.

"Yeah, remember the last one you brought here? What was her name again? It was--"

"Jack, no" I cut him off, pressing Laurel tight against me. "This little one here is the only girl that matters now."

Laurel looks up and smiles tenderly at me.

I think the weirdest thing about being in love is that all of a sudden you start seeing the world differently. Many times I catch myself thinking of Laurel in the most common situations: listening to Oasis, for instance. Whenever I listen to Champagne Supernova or Whatever I smile and think of her. Whenever I see vegemite. When I look into someone's hazel eyes I immediately think of hers. Every goddamn time I walk through a Starbucks.

Being in love makes your world sum up to one single person.

I can imagine myself writing songs about her smile from now on.

Oh, and sunflowers. If she were a flower she'd definitely be one of those. That actually gave me an incredible idea.

To be honest, I'm this close to considering adopting a cat.

"Time for the family game, y'all" Dad announces leaving the grill.

We sit on a table while mum takes Monopoly, Cluedo, Game of Life and cards.

"Which one shall we play first?" Celeste asks.

"I vote for Cluedo" I reply.

"Cluedo it is, then." Mum agrees, opening the box.

"There are too many people, we have to play in pairs, okay?"

I obviously thought I would play with Laurel, but before I knew it Jack already set everything up with her.

"I'm playing with my new sister. Lukey, you play with yours" He smirks, and I roll my eyes.

"Don't worry, Luke. We're gonna kick their asses." Celeste nudges me.

The game begins. Laurel starts whispering at Jack while they discuss about who murdered Dr. Black.

My dad has always been the best player of Cluedo and even this time he has no idea so far.

As we continue playing new clues show up. Laurel's eyes wide open and she nudges Jack, whispering in his ear.

"Are you sure about that?" He frowns.

"I'm positive" She giggles. "Look at what we've got so far, you'll see everything fits."

Jack analyses everything and smiles, nodding at Laurel. She clears her throat and releases her hunch.

"It was Colonel Mustard, with a candlestick, in the library." She proudly affirms. Dad stares suspiciously at her and Jack while opening the envelope. He huffs, dropping it on the table.

"Screw you, son" He playfully curses while Laurel and Jack high five.

"I finally beat you!" Jack brags and my father rolls his eyes, amused. "My assistant is the best. Thanks Laurel!"

"We make a good team" She chuckles and then looks at me, winking. I feel the corners of my mouth curving into a smile and I don't even know why.

"Let's play something else" Ben suggests. "What about poker? Does everyone know how to play?"

"I don't" Laurel responds. I take the cards and sit by her side to explain. However, she states that's too difficult for her to learn right now so she leaves with Celeste while the rest of us begin to play.

In the middle of the game I listen to some weird stir on the street, and then Laurel's voice.

She sounds extremely pissed.

"What's going on?" Ben frowns. I leave my cards on the table and stand up.

When I get inside the living room Laurel runs towards me and tried pushing me back.

"Luke you can't show up here, not now." She tells me

"What the fuck? What's going on, Laurel?" I ask, confused.

"There are paparazzi here, Luke" Celeste replies, coming inside and closing the front door behind her. "Laurel thinks they followed you guys the last time you left. And now they are here."

"Just what happened to Ashton once" I say to myself, looking at the wall behind Laurel.

"Celeste went outside claiming that it's her house and if they don't leave she's gonna call the cops. Even so you shouldn't even dare showing up here, they could take pictures through the window or I don't know." She explains and I nod, turning back to the backyard.

"What's wrong?" Mum asks.

"Paparazzi. But I guess Celeste is taking care of it all. Laurel said it would be better if I didn't go inside for now." I respond.

"At least there's no way they take photos when you're back here" Ben shrugs. "Motherfuckers"

"Well, see it through the bright side, Lewi" Dad smiles. "If Laurel wants them away as much as we do, it means she is not trying to take advantage of you or anything like that, right?"

I stare at my father for a couple seconds before turning my case to the insides, as two shadows would walk back and forth.

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I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday but I was out the whole day! I can make it up to you, double update today? 💗

Thanks for reading! Comment telling me what you think, and don't forget to vote and share if you like it. Stay beautiful! xo