Emily's POV

"Luke."

"Pumpkin."

"What are you doing?"

"Writing a song."

I look at him with raised eyebrows. I had just woken up and was stretching my arms when I saw Luke sitting on his desk writing down something. He would pause occasionally and stare at the ceiling as if thinking very hard and then resume his writing. I had been staring at him for a few minutes before I started the conversation.

It definitely came off as a surprise, Luke writing a song. In addition, he was doing it with great concentration.

"What's the song about?" I ask, interested to know about his masterpiece.

"Oh, its about rainbows, unicorns and puppies." He replied as he wrote.

Okay? Is he writing this song for toddlers?

I decide not to ask him since I had to get ready for my exam today. Yes, today is our last final exam. As a result, we have been occupied with studies. I always have this mini freak out when I think about it. Luke on the contrary doesn't seem all that nervous. He just writes songs on weird topics instead of studying.

On the other hand, I can't believe that I've spent a whole semester living with Luke. First, being friends and then falling for each other. I met Alice, Justin, Alex and Cole-the most amazing friends anyone can ask for. Luke and I too, how long have we been together? Five months? God. It's overwhelming.

"Don't you have to study, Luke?" I ask him as I tie my hair into a ponytail.

"I was revising but I just couldn't stand it anymore. The words didn't make sense. So I just started writing this song." He replies. Well, that happens with me too.

"It's our last exam, can you believe it?" I ask excitedly.

Luke turns to me and stands up. He wraps his hands around my waist and pulls me close.

"Yup. Its unbelievable." He replies, smiling.

I lock my arms behind his head. He leans in a little so that our foreheads are touching.

"Its been such a ride, this semester." He says.

"Yeah." I agree. "Remember when Alice and I had pranked you and the boys at the carnival?" I ask, laughing silently at the memory.

"It feels like a lifetime ago." He says. "I'll always remember that. You might have not noticed, but it was the first time I had seen you laugh. Like really laugh. You looked so happy and carefree."

"And you were being a jerk by snapping at me." I remind him.

"Yeah, I was being a jerk but you, you looked so gorgeous laughing that I had to stop myself from smiling. You were just simply beautiful." He said, pulling me even closer than before.

I closed my eyes and leaned into him. His words warmed me up on the inside. My heart was beating in my chest so hard that I was afraid it might escape my ribcage and falling straight into Luke's hand.

It would probably look like one of the Vampire Diaries scenes where Damon Salvatore kills someone by taking out the person's heart from the body and then just smirk like it was the most normal thing in the world.

The only difference would be that my heart would happily reach Luke's hand, willingly. It won't give two shits if I die. Luke owned my heart and being the lazy heart it is, it will also be delighted by the fact that it wont have to pump blood in my body anymore.

"You are so beautiful, Ems." Luke's voice brings me back from my wild imagination. I smile at him and peck his lips.

"C'mon. Lets get this exam over with." I say, pulling away.

We both grab our stuff and proceed to our designated classes. I enter the class I'm supposed to be in and spot Justin at the back, sitting and revising. I approach him and he looks up.

"Hey, Ems. Ready for the exam?" he asks, flashing me a smile.

"Yup. I just can't believe it's our last one. What do you plan on doing after the exam?" I ask.

"Definitely not studying. I've done enough of that the past two weeks. I'll probably just chill. The boys are going clubbing though so I'll go too. Will you join us?" he asks.

"Nope. Alice is taking me shopping and it will probably take the whole day. You guys enjoy though." I say.

The invigilator enters the room a few minutes later and everyone shuffles towards their seats. I wish Justin the best of luck before I too take my seat. The papers are distributed and I take deep breaths to calm myself down.

Last exam. Then you'll be free. I remind myself.

I take one last breath and start writing. I write and write and write and with time, the paper seems to get easier. My hand hurts from writing but I don't stop. Towards the ending, I become so impatient to complete the long ass paper that I just write whatever gibberish comes to my mind. Though I make sure I don't write anything off the topic or irrelevant to the question.

That entire aside, when the paper finally gets over and the answer sheets are done being submitted, I get the most wonderful feeling in my chest. Its like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

"We did it, Emily! Can you believe it?" Justin asks and gives me a tight hug.

"Yeah. We're free. Its like the movie Independence Day, you know? We got rid of the aliens." I say, hugging him back. He laughs as we break the hug and exit the room. We both proceed towards the ice cream parlor near the campus. All of us had decided to meet there once our exam gets over.

"So are you ready for the next year? I'm pumped. I heard they would take us on a trip to Egypt and some other places, for educational purposes of course. Isn't that awesome?" He asks clapping his hands like a little girl.

"Yeah, that's really exciting, but the problem is that I'll be stuck with you." I say jokingly.

"Aww C'mon, Emily. We've taken the same course so it's obvious. Besides, did you forget that we're gonna be cousins soon? You're stuck with me for eternity." He states, laughing evilly.

"EMILY!" I hear someone shout and just as I turn around, Alice attacks me into a giant hug.

"Alice." I reply, hugging her back.

"We did it! Can you believe it, we finally did it." She screams in my face while I just laugh. Luke, Cole and Alex arrive soon too and we all congratulate each other. It feels like any other normal day, everyone is happy. Never would have I imagined having such amazing friends when the semester began. But, now here I am, at the end of the first year of college with my closest friends. Nothing could match the feeling of joy I feel in this moment.

After everyone calms down a little, we all go back to our rooms with an agreement to meet at the cafeteria after an hour. When Luke and I reach our room, we fall down on the bed like exhausted chipmunks.

"It feels so good, finally being able to breathe." Luke says, facing me.

"Yeah." I agree with him. "Especially without any tension." I add.

Luke moves a little so that he is hovering above me. He kisses sweetly, a hand on my waist and the other near my head, supporting his weight. I kiss him back; my hands crawl towards the back of his head. Just as he starts to pull away, I pull him back, not having the intention to break the kiss.

What started out as a sweet kiss turns into a make out session. Our lips move in sync with each other. Luke deepens the kiss even further by pulling closer to him. He pulls me so close that the only thing separating us is the fabric we are wearing.

My hand slipped under his shirt. He gasped while kissing me; I felt his smooth skin and the lining of his six-pack. His hands slipped under my t-shirt. He held my waist, his thumbs stroking my skin.

His hands started moving. Up. Up. Up.

Something inside of me clicked. I cant. I knew he wanted to take the next step but I wasn't ready.

"Luke..." I say against his lips while I place my hand on his stopping them from going further. He understands my tone and stops. He sighs before pulling back a little and looking at me.

"I'm sorry." I say. Seeing the look on his face, I knew he wasn't exactly happy to stop.

"No, Ems. Don't apologize. You're not ready and that's okay, I can wait." He says, giving me a reassuring smile.

I give him a small, thankful smile as he gets up.

"C'mon. We have to meet up with everyone. Are you excited to go for shopping?" he asks, immediately changing the topic of the conversation.

"Not so much but I'm hoping I have a good time." I say brushing my hair and removing any tangles.

"You'll be fine, pumpkin. Be careful, alright?" he says while I just smile at his concern.

"I will." I confirm.

When we both are ready, we leave for the ice cream parlor. The walk doesn't take long, it even feels shorter because of the excitement we both had. Anyway, we reach the parlor where everyone is waiting for us. We talk for a couple of minutes before parting our ways.

Alice and I take Cole's car to the mall. We had decided to go to bigger mall this time so the drive was an hour long. The mall was good though. As soon as we entered, we were greeted with the cool air of air conditioners and hundreds of different shops.

"What should we do first?" I ask Alice.

"We should get a snack first I think. Then we'll have more energy to go around." She suggests. I agree with her and we walk towards the food court. Alice's idea of a snack was a large pizza and it didn't surprise me. I ate half a slice while she gobbled up almost all of it.

Damn that girl eats like a pig. Yet, she doesn't gain any fat.

After Alice is done feeding herself, we finally start the actual shopping. We go for the shoes first. While I only buy one pair, I enjoy watching Alice trying on different shoes and walking like she's on the runway of some big fashion show.

"So, when are you going to visit your aunt?" Alice asks as we make our way to the next shop.

"Day after tomorrow. Luke will drop Justin and me off while he will visit his parents." I reply.

"You'll spend the entire holiday there?"

"Yup. Tessa and Mark have decided that they don't want to wait for the marriage any longer. So, Justin and I will help them plan their wedding." I say excitedly.

"Poor Luke wont get to see you much." Alice says with mock sympathy.

"Maybe, I'll drag him with me for the planning." I shrug.

"I know you will." She says with a smirk.

We enter a clothing store while still talking on random topics. I go through various racks of clothes, picking out some tops and shirts to try out. I stumbled through the accessory section and found a keychain too. It wasn't something expensive but it really stood out to me.

The keychain had a guitar attached to it along with a small heart. My guitar had become such a constant thing in our relationship. Besides, of all the joy I got from teaching Luke to play it, it also allowed me to convey my emotions in a way that words couldn't.

I used it to speak to him in a language so common yet it could only be understood by a few; music.

I decided to buy it, not for myself but for him. A token rather than a gift, to thank him for understanding and trusting me.

"Hey, Ems, you should try out this dress! It will look really good on you." Alice's voice breaks my thoughts and I turn towards her. I look at the short dark blue dress in her hand and give her a smile.

"You really think so?" I ask, not sure if I would be comfortable wearing it.

"Of course! The colour really suits you and its not too short so you wont feel uncomfortable. Plus, Luke will have a hard time keeping his hands to himself when you go out with him the next time, like on a date. Its perfect for you, Ems." Alice explains.

"Okay, I'll try it on." I accept, taking the dress from her. We walk towards the changing rooms. I try out the shirts and tops first and they all fit well but I discard a few, which I don't like.

I put on the dress at last. I notice that it had to be zipped from the back where me hand couldn't reach.

"Alice, could you help me with the zip." I call out from behind the closed door of my changing room. I don't get any reply and frown a little. "Alice?" I call out again, this time, opening the door a little and peeking out. I don't find her anywhere near and sigh. She must've gone to look for more clothes.

"Excuse me, I can help you with the zip if you want." I turn to my right to find one of the attendants that work in the store. She gives me a polite smile, which I gladly return.

"That would be nice, thank you." I say, turning around and holding up my hair.

She starts zipping up the dress but stops suddenly after a few seconds. I feel her jerk at the zipper and the fabric tightening around my waist. She tries to zip it up a few more times before she stops.

"Ma'am, I think you should try a size bigger than this. Should I get you one?" she asks kindly.

"No, no thank you. I don't really like it that much." I reply with a constricted voice.

I enter the changing room and lock it quickly. I look at the mirror and turn around a little and I can see the zipper stuck midway while from the front it looks really tight.

No. No. This shouldn't be happening. I should've controlled my diet.

Disgust floods me. I change out of the dress, looking at my reflection with disappointment. I should've exercised more. Now I am actually a size bigger than my original.

I couldn't help it. I was slipping, I knew it. My mind was panicking.

Pull yourself together!

I willed myself to calm down. I took a few deep breaths and with one last look at myself, I opened the door and exited the changing room. I found Alice just a few seconds later; she was looking through some jeans.

"Hey, you're done already? You should've shown me the dress I chose for you? Did you like it?" she asks when she sees me approaching.

"I tried it on but it was doing it for me. Can we go back?" I ask hastily, which causes her to look at me a little suspiciously.

"But you've barely bought anything. Is everything okay?" she asks in concern.

"Everything is fine. Its just one of those days, you know, when you come for shopping but actually don't find anything worth buying. Maybe I'll find a better dress next time. Besides, it's getting late. Time flies by when you are shopping." I say.

"You're right, we should head back. You sound bothered though. You sure everything is fine?" she asks again and I thank the lord for giving me such a good friend.

"I'm fine, Alice. I promise." I reply, the words tasting bitter on my tongue.

"Okay then." She says with a sigh.

We pay for the items that we wanted to buy. I stuff the keychain that I had bought for Luke in my bag since it's small and I don't want to loose it. We quickly exit the mall and start our drive back to the campus. The drive goes by quickly for some reason.

I bid Alice goodbye before making my way to my dorm. Once I reach there, I change into some comfortable clothes and unpack the new ones I bought.

With a burning need to talk to Luke, I dial his number but he doesn't pick up. I sit on my bed bringing my knees to my chin. I try calling him again and again but he doesn't pick up.

Why isn't he picking up? Where is he when I need him?

I checked the time and it was nearly midnight. He had said they would be back by eleven-thirty. Growing a little worried, I called Alex, who was their designated driver for the night. He picked up on the third ring and I heaved out a sigh of relief to finally have contact with someone near Luke.

"Emily?" his voice rang through loudly. I could hear the loud music in the background; they were still at the club.

"Alex, is Luke with you? He isn't picking his phone up." I say.

"No, he went to the washroom. He should've been back by now." He says, with a tone of curiosity.

"Will you please find him? And when will you all come back? You guys said you'll be back at half past eleven." I ask him.

"I'm working on it, Ems. It's not easy to babysit three drunk guys. Justin and Cole are in the car already; I just have to find Luke. Alice called too, you know, asking me to bring everyone back. Did you have dinner, but the way?" he asks.

No, I didn't. I cant.

"Yes, I did."

"Okay. We'll be back I an hour tops, don't worry, okay?" he says, trying to assure me before hanging up.

I blow out a sigh as I lie down on the bed. I curl into myself on one side, trying to clear my head. I let my thoughts wander to different things but all I end up is with one thing; shame. I feel bad for being so careless with my diet and my exercise.

The negative thoughts eventually turn into random ones, just to prevent me from sleeping till Luke comes back. But no matter how hard I try staying awake for him, I fail.

And eventually, I fall asleep.

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

I've been visiting my doctor for the past few days and have been put on medication and it makes me drowsy. I'm taking four pills a day which is a lot for someone my age. So, i'm sorry if i couldn't update sooner.

I hope you liked the chapter. Tell me if you did.

Love ya'll!