Emily's POV

"Ughhh" I groan, trying to open my eyes. My head is throbbing and the sunlight peering through the windows is stinging my eyes. It's even worse than a hangover. Its like the minions are having a party in my brain and its about to explode anytime now.

I grab my head in my hands and try to sit up. The bed is empty but I hear the shower running so I assume Luke is in there. I smile remembering last night but immediately wince. My face feels like plastic and when I move a muscle, it feels like someone is stretching my face.

I see two aspirins on my bedside table along with a glass of water. Did Luke keep them for me? I am gonna worship the ground he walks on because he saved me from the minions.

I immediately gulp down the tablets and lean against the bed rest, rubbing my temples.

"Good afternoon, pumpkin."

I open my eyes to see Luke. Standing in blue jeans and a simple white tee shirt. His hair is wet making him look like an Abercrombie model.

"Afternoon?" I didn't even realize its so late. I thought it was nine in the morning or something. Did I really sleep through half of the day?

"Well we went to bed at around four in the morning, so it was kinda obvious for us to sleep for so long."

I wonder what the rest of the guys are doing. We were supposed to meet for lunch today. I hope its still not that late.

"Are you okay?" Luke asks, his eyes full of concern.

"Well, except for the massive headache, the soreness of my body, the parched throat, the empty stomach and in addition my face feels like plastic, yeah, I am grand."

"Yeah, you look like a zombie." He chuckles.

"Gee, thanks." I mutter rolling my eyes.

"A beautiful zombie." He says smiling. I smile back blushing lightly.

"Do we still have time for lunch?" I ask him.

"Yeah, we have ten minutes before we meet the guys and Alice in the cafeteria." He replies. I nod and walk towards the bathroom. However, before I can enter, I am pulled towards a hard chest and immediately meet Luke's lips. It's not a long kiss or anything, just a short peck.

"I haven't brushed my teeth, Luke."

"So?"

"So you should not kiss me. It's disgusting because my mouth smells. Do you know how many germs there are in a person's mouth? About a thousand. Those germs can travel to your mouth too if you kiss me. They can ruin your teeth and then you will have yellow teeth and fillings and caps in some of them. Who will be blamed? Me. Because we exchanged saliva and I had not brushed my teeth."

"Are you done?" I blush and look down. Time to take a bath Emily. I pull away from Luke and shuffled towards the bathroom. I sighed and heard his laughter on the other side of the door.

I take a quick shower and put on my usual clothing, jeans and a t-shirt. I pull my hair back into a ponytail and exit from the bathroom. Luke was drinking some water but when he saw me, he started choking and coughing.

"Are you okay, Luke?" I ask him worriedly. He doesn't respond but only stares at me. A minute or two pass and his silence continues. I start feeling a little self conscious under his gaze. Did I do something wrong? Do I look fat? Does he not like my t-shirt? Does he think I look dumb?

"Is something wrong, Luke?" I ask nervously. He shakes his head as if he was back from a trance and gives me a million dollar smile.

"You look beautiful, Ems." I blush furiously, looking down at my out fit.

"I am only wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Its nothing special."

"You look beautiful, Ems." He says again, smiling at me.

"I am not even wearing make-up."

"You. Look. Beautiful. Ems." He says yet again, placing his Hands on my waist.

"Thanks." I mutter quietly. He continues smiling and pulls me a little closer.

"Emily, you don't need to wear anything special like a dress or something to look beautiful and you definitely do not need make-up. I know you don't like make-up and that's one of the many things I like about you. You don't cake your face with trillion shades of peach and pink. You look beautiful just the way you are."

Holy hell. How do you breathe? I just melt into a puddle of goo at his words.

Suddenly, I feel somewhat dizzy and my head starts feeling heavy again. I groan as I almost fall over to the ground. If Luke hadn't had his arms around me, I would have fallen flat face on the ground.

I always ruin the sweet romantic cheesy moment don't I?

"Oh my god! Are you okay? Emily?" he says, his tone alert and his eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Just a little dizzy." I mutter, cradling my head in my hands tightly.

"Hey, come here." He pulls me to his chest, rubbing my back slightly with one hand while his other one gently massages my scalp. He opens my ponytail and places the hair tie on my wrist like a bracelet. He continues rubbing my scalp gently. No ponytail today, I guess.

"You do know you are feeling light headed because of an empty stomach." He says and I nod mutely, a little ashamed of myself. He gives me some water and after a couple of minutes, I feel good enough.

"You okay now?" he asks.

"Yeah, better." I say, giving him a small smile.

"C'mon now, we are late for lunch." He says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room.

We both walk hand in hand, our fingers interlocked, with goofy smiles on our face. His hand almost engulfs mine completely but it spreads warmth throughout my body and gives me a tingling sensation in my arm.

We enter the cafeteria and spot our friends at one of the corner tables. We walk towards them, our hands still locked. Alex sees us coming and shouts out.

"FINALLY! I THOUGHT YOU TWO WERE DEAD."

"Sorry we are late." Luke says as we finally approach our table. All of their eyes flicker to our hands and they all smirk knowingly.

"About damn time." Justin mutters.

"C'mon Justin pay up." Cole and Alice both say at the same time.

"You guys were betting on us? How cliché." I say, glaring at them. Justin huffs and pulls out two hundred dollar bills from his pockets, handing one to each of the two lovebirds who were grinning devilishly.

"Congratulations to the both of you!" Alice squeals, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

"But he hasn't even asked me to be his girlfriend." I whisper in her ear.

"Don't worry, I think its gonna happen pretty soon." She says with a knowing grin.

"Now if you guys can excuse us, I and Emily have to talk in my room." Alice says, already pulling me away.

"NO!" Luke shouts abruptly. Alice stops and frowns at him.

"Why not?" she asks scowling at him.

"Because she has to eat first. She hasn't even had breakfast." Luke says pulling me back to him by my arm and making me sit in one of the chairs.

My heart clenched a little. He still remembered I hadn't eaten anything yesterday. I was thankful to him for putting up with my eating disorder.

We order our food and Luke makes me eat more than I am usually used to. He serves me by piling up a heap of food on my plate and when I gesture him that I am full, he just tells me to finish the whole plate. I stare at him like he is on steroids or something.

"Luke, I am full. I cant." I whisper to him.

"You have to. You know happened a couple of minutes ago in the room? That is called fainting. It happens when someone doesn't eat anything or stays dehydrated for a long time."

"But that doesn't mean I have to eat the whole plate." I glare at him.

"I don't care. You have to Ems." Oh god. I try eating some more fruit on my plate but after that it gets too much. I rub a hand on my stomach, which has started to ache a little. I spot Alex looking at me with suspicion and curiosity. I give him a small smile trying not to give out anything.

"I'm sorry." I look towards Luke to see him with a guilty expression on his face. Okay?

"What for?" I ask.

"For forcing you to eat. I shouldn't have. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you getting sick." I smile at his thoughtfulness.

"Its okay." I reply. It's not a big deal, its just food. I know he is looking after me and didn't mean to force me.

"Now that's Emily's done. We are going." Alice states. Taking my and pulling me away from the table. I laugh slightly and follow her to her dorm. While we walk, she asks me about yesterday and I tell her that I've told Luke everything. I told her about our kiss and that he is taking me on a date today.

"He is taking you on a date!" she exclaims.

"You heard me."

"Oh my god! We have to get you ready!"

"Okay?" I laugh as we enter her room.

"So, where is he taking you?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me."

"How sweet! But I have to know so that I can dress you up and get you ready." She says, pulling out her phone and calling someone.

"Hey babe, can you do me a favor?" she says to the person on the other side who I assume is Cole. After a couple of seconds, she sighs.

"No, Cole, I don't need pads and I don't need chocolate either." She says rolling her eyes.

"Can you persuade Luke to tell you where he is taking Emily in the evening today?" she asks.

After a couple of seconds, she hangs up muttering a 'Great! Bye'.

"Now we just have to wait for sometime." She grins at me. I smile back uncertainly and sit down on her bed beside her.

"So, in the mean time. You should tell me how it is going between you and Cole." She blushed just a little smiling widely.

"It's going great, Emily. I love him more than ever. We are going strong." No doubt on that. They are a match made in heaven. I haven't even seen them fighting a lot. They usually just have small disagreements.

Alice tells me that they were 'High school Sweethearts'. They both even got voted for prom king and queen. It reminded me of my own parents. They were a popular couple in their school. They rarely fought and had this strong unbreakable bond between them. Even when mum was pregnant with me, they never let any judgmental comments from other kids get to them.

I cant even imagine how difficult it ha been for them to handle me when they were in college. I was only two or three then, barely even a toddler.

Alice's ringtone brings me back from my thoughts. She picks it up.

"Yeah, did you succeed?" she asks.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I got it. Thank you. Can you do one more thing for me? I'll text you what it is, okay? Bye! Love you!" she hangs up and then immediately texts his boyfriend whatever she wants.

"So where is he taking me?" I ask.

"I can't tell you, Emily. Cole told me that Luke told him he doesn't want you to know the place. Now, lets get ready."

I hate this. My life is one big cliché novel. Why cant guys just tell where they plan on taking you out for a date? I mean, it's cute that they want to surprise us but it's a little overrated to me. Besides that, I don't do surprises. The last time I got a surprise, it resulted in the death of my family. I definitely don't want that to happen again with anyone I care about.

Alice makes me dress up casually. Grey skinny jeans, a plain black tank top with a dark blue shirt with the buttons open. It's my type of clothing that I usually wear whenever we go out. She combs my hair but leaves it in natural waves. She says that my hair is the thickest and smoothest she's ever seen. I like my hair too. It's the only part of my body that I like even though I don't take much care of it.

No matter how much I try to dodge it, she applies some mascara and a little bit of lip-gloss.

"I don't like make-up." I grumble, already eating off the lip-gloss on my lips.

"I know you don't but you can at least try to look a little special today." She sighs. Well, she has a fair point. I should at least try to look a little more presentable, after all, its Luke we are talking about.

"What about my feet though?" I ask her. She just smiles and as if on cue, the door opens. In come Cole and Alex. Alex has a bag in his hand while Cole just has his hands stuffed in his pockets. Alice walks over to them and takes out a box from the bag that Alex was holding.

She shoves the box to me and I open it. A brand new pair of high top converse lies in it with lots of paper around it. The shoes are plain, nothing special but they match the colour of my dark blue shirt perfectly.

Oh no, they didn't.

"This is too much." I say.

"Consider it a gift." They wave me off.

"I cant believe you guys are doing this." I sigh, sitting on the bed and puling the shoes on.

"Hey, you don't know how long we ALL were waiting for Lemily to happen. Now that its finally happening, we are going to make sure its perfect." I expected those words from Alice but it was Alex who said it. I did not expect the psychiatrist to say that. 

I put my hands up in surrender and stand up with my whole outfit. I stand in front of them and raise an eyebrow as if asking how I look. All three of them smile widely towards me in an approving way. My heart squeezed a little at the sight of my friends. They really showed me what true friendship actually is. I was so thankful to them for having my back in everything.

"Emily, can I talk to you for a sec?" Alex asks, pulling me to a corner. Cole and Alice go to the other side of the room and sit on the bed, having their own conversation.

"Are you okay?" Alex asks quietly.

"I am fine. Why?" I ask uncertainly.

"Well, for starters you were gone the whole day yesterday and then today at lunch you looked a little pale and weak and I also noticed the discrete conversation that you and Luke were having, it didn't look happy. I haven't noticed this since yesterday only, in fact, I have been noticing your eating habits from long before. No offence but you don't do a good job at hiding your food or throwing it away. So, is there something you want to tell me?" he finishes with hi arms crossed and a blank expression on his face.

I gape at him. For a psychology major, he is much too observant. The guarded expression on his face gives nothing away and my loss of words just adds fuel to his very accurate observation. Damn.

"I'm fine Alex, its nothing. I was just a little dehydrated yesterday that's all." I say hurriedly. God who am I kidding. After knowing that I am the worst liar in the history of liars, I am still lying, to a psychology major might I add, who is also one of my closest friends.

I just want to die a thousand times and then come back for more.

"You should think thrice before lying to me, dear." He says in an authoritative voice. I just want to slap myself for being stupid, then slap him for no reason, and then run.

Luckily, someone knocks the door at the right time and saves me. That someone is Luke. Thank god.

"You ready?" he asks. He can't completely see me because I am hiding behind Alex. I give him a small nod and then turn to Alex.

"I promise I will tell you, not now, okay?" I say. He sighs and gives me a hug.

"I'm a little worried about you, Emily. Promise you will tell me?"

"I promise." I say. I know I cant back out now. Besides there's no good in keeping it from my friends.

"Now go and enjoy your date." He says pulling away from the hug and giving me a wink. I nod and walk towards the door where Luke is waiting for me.

He smiles seeing me approaching. We walk towards his car slowly.

"You look beautiful, pumpkin." He says as he opens his car door for me.

"Thanks. You look good too." I say buckling myself in. good would be an understatement. He looked absolutely dashing. He had on blue jeans with a black t-shirt and a denim jacket over it. His hair was its usual messy kind. The whole outfit brought out his vibrant blue eyes. I had a hard time controlling myself from fanning my face because of how hot he looked.

"So, where are you taking me?" I ask staring straight ahead at the road.

"It's a surprise." He says, smirking.

"I don't like surprises." I mutter looking out my window.

"Why is that?" I can visualize a frown on his face while he asks that.

"Because the last time I had gotten a surprise, things didn't go so well." I say still staring at the passing houses and trees. Surprises and me have a toxic relationship.

"Hey." He grabs my left hand, which is lying on my thigh limply. "Its okay. You're gonna love it. Trust me."

I nod mutely and squeeze his hand. He squeezes back, spreading warmth through my body instantly.

After about fifteen minutes the car stops. We step out and I scan the area.

"I knew you didn't like the fancy restaurant kind of date, neither do I. So, I thought I should bring you here." He says. I smile confirming the statement. He has brought me to a local carnival kind of place. There are small shops and stalls selling food and jewelry and everything. The whole place is decorated with festive lights of different colours giving the place a magical touch. There is giant wheel at the far back. Its not that big compared to the ones at amusement parks but it is still huge.

"I love this. Its so beautiful." His face lights up and he takes my hand pulling me behind him.

"There's a small café here. We'll grab something to eat and then we can look around." He says. He pulls up to a small building, which is dimly lit. As soon as we enter, the smell of coffee invades my nostrils. The whole place is cozy and inviting. We sit on a table at the far back of the café.

A girl about our age comes and takes our order. We both take cold coffee with sandwiches and wait for our food.

We talk about random things while we eat. I finish up about two sandwiches without realizing. After eating, we walked along all the shops and stalls, holding hands together with wide smiles on our faces.

"I didn't know you had a big sister." I state as I rake my hand through some necklaces hanging on one of the stalls.

"Yeah. She lives in London with her husband. She doesn't visit much but we still talk regularly." He replies from beside me. I nod while scanning the stalls. I can feel his gaze on me, which makes my stomach turn in knots.

My eyes land on a charm bracelet. It's golden in colour and has musical charms on it. There is small mic, headphones, musical notes and even a guitar on it. It's really cute.

"Do you like it?" Luke asks from beside me. I nod smiling widely. Luke pays the shopkeeper and takes the bracelet.

"Here you go." He says softly, tying the bracelet on my wrist. I mutter a small thanks to him and we proceed towards the giant wheel. We both ride it, his arm around my shoulder, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the carnival below us.

We walk back to his car after the ride. Just as I am about to open the door, Luke pulls me towards him with his arms.

"Did you enjoy today?" he asks, placing his heads on mine.

"Yes, Luke. I enjoyed so much today. Thank you." I smile. He leans in and kisses me. It's a long passionate kiss, which leaves us breathing heavily when we pull back.

"I never properly asked you this." He says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Emily, will you be my girl?"

The oxygen that was barely left inside me after the kiss, now left my lungs. He asked me to be his girlfriend! He asked me to be his girl. Holly mother of all things!

I just nod my head yes unable to speak anything. His face lights up like a Christmas tree and he again attaches our lips. This time for a short sweet kiss, that lasted about five seconds.

"We should head back." He states opening the car door for me to get in. After we both buckle up, we ride of back to our dorm in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company.

..............................................................................................................................................

Phew! That has to be the longest chapter till now. Tell me what you think about it.

Love ya!

Bye!