a/n writing this chapter had me squealing like a little bitch, it's a long one so get prepared, mwah x

Chapter 77 | Surprise, surprise

Isabella:

"Guys I can't hold it on anymore, I'm in love with Lucas!"

With a frustrated groan, the balloon pump in my hand drops to the ground abruptly and I rub my eyes exhaustedly as I fall back onto the bed with a thump.

Mia and Grace don't even falter in their steps at my sudden burst of exclamation.

Mia pauses for a fraction of a second before resuming with fixing Grace's hair and Grace barely even blinks.

"Ya, we know," she instead replies casually, both of their unbothered and calm demeanours a complete paradox to my almost hysterical one.

"I don't know what to do!" I wail dramatically, throwing my hands up into the air.

Mia stops fiddling with the bobby pins in Grace's hair and turns to glance at me. "How about telling him," she says pointedly after throwing me a dead look. "He said it himself that he has feelings for you."

"I've tried!" I splutter out in exclamation. "Four freaking times, but my mouth keeps betraying me!"

"Four times?" Mia repeats, raising her eyebrows in slight disbelief.

"Yes, four times!"

After the first time of trying to confess my feelings at the car wash, I had tried a second time on the drive home but had frozen up and instead had mumbled out something along the lines of "I really like your face" to which Lucas had replied with "same" and laughed like it had been the funniest joke on earth.

The third time had been a couple of days afterwards, we had been on the way to Target to pick up a couple of items abuela had needed for cooking and I had tried to blurt it out but had failed and then the fourth time had been yesterday, he had come over to my house after having a bad day and as we had just been hanging out I had again, tried to tell him but nothing would leave my mouth.

At this point I was considering just to simply text him the damn sentence seeing as how my body was betraying me.

"How about just writing him a note like he does to you?" Grace offers before yelping when Mia tugs harshly on a piece of her hair.

"I-" I open, then close my mouth and think over her suggestion for a second. "You know what," I begin slowly after a moment of thought, "that's not a half bad idea."

"Yeah, that's actually kind of cute," Mia adds. "Especially because notes are your little thing."

"That's true..."

Mia then presses a hand to her heart as I begin to contemplate actually doing Grace's idea.

"Ugh. You guys are so adorable it hurts," she cries, letting out a dramatic 'aw' and drawing my attention back onto her.

I make a face before sitting back up on the bed and patting down my hair. "Do you two by any chance have any paper?"

"I think there's an old receipt in my bag you can write behind," Grace offers, pointing a finger at her purse hanging on the door handle. "There might be a notebook or something inside too, I'm not sure but check."

I nod and lift myself from off the bed. "Okay, thanks."

I find an old, tattered mini notebook as well as a pen amongst the mess in Grace's bag. Making my way back to the bed, I sit cross legged on the duvet and open up the notebook to a fresh page.

Today was Aidan and Grace's joint birthday party so last minute preparations were undergo for the barbecue. Having birthdays only a day apart, the two had decided to conjoin their birthday party into one and celebrate it together and seeing as how the two had about a trillion cousins on each of their sides of their families, Zak (Aidan's cousin) had kindly offered to hold the party at his huge mansion.

The three of us girls were currently in the guest room of Zak's house getting ready after we had finished helping the guys set everything up for the party downstairs.

I had finished getting dressed a while back, as had Mia, and the two of us were now just helping Grace with her finishing touches.

It was quite warm outside as well as sunny so I had decided to put on a white sun dress with poofy arms and a ruched design at the bust. My hair was out and hung down my back in loose waves and I was wearing two silver bracelets on my arm, one of which was the bracelet Lucas had gotten me at Christmas; the one that had Mr Bellucas as a charm on it. It was the first I was wearing the bracelet and I'm not entirely sure why I hadn't worn it before, but I was now.

I adjust the skirt of my dress as I get comfortable and tap the pen against my chin in thought.

"What should I write exactly?" I say out loud as I think.

Both Mia and Grace turn to me and shoot me simultaneous blank looks.

"Um, how about I love you," Grace deadpans, pure sarcasm lacing her voice.

I scrunch up my nose. "Eh, that's too direct."

"Bella!" Mia scowls. "You have to be direct or Lucas won't get it otherwise! You know how he is!"

"Right...I forgot he's slow."

"Silly girl." Mia tuts, before turning back to Grace and beginning to mutter under her breath about how extra I am.

Grace nods her head in agreement. "You guys literally are supposed to be at the stage where you are picking out what your future baby names should be, not you figuring out ways to tell him that you've been in love with him and have been for like over 10 years."

I scrunch up my nose knowing that she's sort of right and glance back down at the scrap of paper in my lap.

Ugh, here goes nothing.

I uncap the pen to begin writing.

My handwriting is barely legible as I scribble down a scrawly 'I love you' and the moment I have finished jotting down those three words, I flip the paper over and fold it closed promptly. Re-reading the note is bound to make me cringe and not want to give Lucas it and I can't let that happen again.

"When do you think I should give this to him?" I then ask the girls as I tuck the paper into my bra for safe keeping. I have no pockets.

"Now," Grace responds promptly.

"I can't do it now," I exclaim, eyebrows shooting up to meet my hairline. "It's your birthday, I don't wanna take attention away from you or Aidan!"

Grace rolls her eyes. "Puh-lease," she snorts as Mia finally finishes up with doing her hair. "I don't care. You two finally getting together would be the best birthday gift you could give Aidan and I, so go ahead and do it. Now please."

"I don't know..." I reply warily.

"Oh my God," Mia whines just as Grace groans out in frustration.

"Babe, if you're so worried about stealing my thunder or whatever, just confess now, like right now. The party hasn't started yet so technically you won't be taking any attention away from me."

Mia moves away from Grace and begins proceeding towards me, a menacing look crossing her features as she begins to slowly click each knuckle. "Bella if you don't do it, I'll reach into you bra, yank the note out and give it to him myself on your behalf."

She outstretches her hand towards my boobs and I stumble backwards, making an x with my arms in front of my chest protectively as I back away from her.

"Okay I'm going now! I'm doing it!"

***

"I can't do it!" I whisper-wail into the phone to Mia and Grace. "I'm not prepared. I don't even know how to execute this properly. Should I just chuck the note at him and then run?"

"First of all why are you calling us? We're standing like 2 feet behind you," Grace responds and sure enough, when I turn and look over my shoulder the two are there standing a little distance away beside the door leading from the kitchen into the garden.

"And second of all, don't chuck the note at him and then run!" Mia speaks up next, incredulously. "Just approach him calmly and collectively, don't do anything embarrassing, and hand him the note, wait for him to read it and then suck his mouth off and preferably his dick next."

"I'm hanging up."

"Kay bye," Mia sings, waving at me cheerily as Grace grins beside her.

I roll my eyes. "Where is Lucas anyways? I thought he'd be downstairs but he's not here."

"I don't know..." Grace returns, glancing around at her surroundings as Mia and I do the same. "He's supposed to be down here with the guys getting the food ready."

"Yeah, the last time I saw him he was in the kitchen," Mia adds.

"He's not here anymore," I reply, eyes scanning the vast space of Zak's extremely large kitchen. It's literally the size of the entire first floor of my house.

After a moment Grace pauses and points a finger in the slight distance to the left of her. "Is that him?" She questions and squints to get a better look.

Mia shakes her head, looking more closely also. "No, that's Leo."

"Oh," I frown into the phone. "Dammit. Where could he be?"

"I bet Lucas got lost in the house, there's like a bazillion rooms in this palace," Grace snorts, shaking her head amusedly.

"I know right," I reply. "This house is like 3 of my house in one."

"More like 60 of your house in one," Grace adds and I snicker in agreement.

"You know there are like 79 bathrooms here," I tell Grace excitedly and frankly in awe.

"I know!" She gushes. "I literally wouldn't know which bathroom to use-"

"Guys," Mia's voice carries through the phone, cutting off mine and Grace's conversation.

"Yeah?" Grace asks.

"Who invited Leo?"

"Leo?" I repeat.

"Yeah, Leo."

I stay confused for a moment until it registers in my mind that Mia had just spotted Leo and had mistaken him for Lucas about 5 seconds ago.

"Wait Leo? Why is Leo here?"

"That's what I'm asking."

"I didn't invite him," I return.

"I didn't either," Mia replies.

"Neither did I," Grace adds. "Did he come with Sammy or something?"

"No," Mia shakes her head. "Sammy came with me, remember."

"Oh." My eyebrows draw together confusedly. "Mi, are you sure it's him?"

"Yes," she nods her head vigorously. "I could never mistake that fluffy brown head of hair for anyone else. Look for yourselves if you wanna double check."

Grace leans forward in the direction Mia is pointing as if that would give her better leverage in verifying that the guy Mia had assumed was Leo, was actually Leo and I hang up the phone, tuck it into my boob and rush promptly over to Mia and Grace so that I could get a better look too.

"Right, that is Leo," I gasp in confirmation as I take a look for myself. Dressed in a basic white t-shirt and jeans, he's a couple of feet away, standing awkwardly to the side on his phon,  looking a tad out of place.

"Did Aidan invite him somehow?" I ask, causing Grace to shake her head no.

"No, Aidan barely knows the guy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Then how comes he's here?..."

My question gets answered, barely 0.5 seconds after it leaves my mouth.

"Oh."

My mouth falls open in shock as I pretty much double take on what I'm currently looking at.

Oh. My. God.

"What?" Grace glances at me curiously before turning and getting an eyeful of what I'm seeing next.

"...Oh."

"What's up with you guys?" Mia questions after taking in mine and Grace's shocked states, eyes flitting back and forth between the two of us and the situation happening in front of us.

I ignore her. "Guys...didn't Dylan say he was bringing the guy he's been seeing to the party?" I ask pointedly, despite the sight of Dylan sidling up to Leo, handing him a drink and basically mauling him on the spot confirming just that.

"Oh my god." Grace brings a hand up to her mouth in shock. "Yes he did."

Yesterday night, Dylan had decided to inform us all last minute that he was going to bring the guy he was seeing to Aidan and Grace's party so that he could meet us all.

We had all therefore literally spent the entire night bombarding Dylan, trying to get him to spit the details out on who this guy was but Dylan, on seeing how desperate we all were, had decided to turn off his phone and withhold this information to purposely piss us all off.

Lucas and I had then gone on a separate call to stalk Dylan's instagram together to find out information for ourselves and after a deep search through Dylan's followers and followings, Lucas and I had narrowed it down to three guys that could possibly be who it was that Dylan was seeing.

Not a single one of those guys had been Leo.

"I'm so excited to meet him!" Mia perks up excitedly, relasiation still not dawning on her. "I wonder who it could be!"

I stay silent, just waiting for the ball to drop in her mind.

Mia glances back at the view ahead of us and blinks once.

"OH."

The three of us begin to run towards Dylan and Leo before Mia gets the chance to blink again.

"DYLAN YOU'RE SEXING LEO?" Mia screams with so much vigour and passion and so loudly that the two boys spring apart in shock like someone had just screamed bloody murder.

Leo spots the three of us running wildly towards them and takes a cautious step back, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping as recognition floods his features.

"Holy fucking moly, you guys are the same Mia, Isabella and Grace that are Dylan's friends?!" He splutters out in exclamation.

"You're the guy Dylan is seeing?!" I return enthusiastically.

"Dylan is the guy you're having a fling with?!" Mia squawks.

"You guys all know each other already!?" Dylan interjects, pointing a finger between the four of us.

"Yes."

"How?!"

"We all met before," Grace respond excitedly, a wide grin settling on her lips. "Remember that one time you were at your grandparents house or something and the rest of us all hung out at Millie's with Sammy and Sammy's friend and you were upset that you weren't there so ignored us all for 3 hours?"

"Yes..." Dylan responds cautiously before his eyes then widen in realisation. He slaps a hand over his mouth and points a finger back and forth between Leo and us. "Does that mean..."

My mouth curls up into a grin. "Yes, this is the Leo that Lucas hates."

"Oh my God."

"Did you say Lucas?" Leo repeats, his smile dropping instantly as he blinks in my direction.

"Yeah..."

"Your Lucas is Dylan's friend Lucas!?"

"Yes..."

"I thought that was just another coincidence." He shuts his eyes and groans. "Jeez. You're telling me I have to deal with Lucas? Again?"

"Um yeah..." I wince slightly on his behalf and nod my head solemnly.

"Oh man." Leo flails his hands in the air, wailing sadly. "WHY?"

Mia snickers. "Sorry dude."

"It'll be okay," Dylan snorts as well, consoling Leo by patting him comfortingly on the arm.

A grimace draws its way onto Leo's face. "I think I'm just gonna-" he points a thumb over his shoulder before slowly retreating backwards. "Leave." He turns around completely but before he can break off into a sprint, Dylan grabs his arm to halt him.

"Nuh uh, you're staying," Dylan says with a raise of my eyebrows. "I'll get him to not bother you, you'll be fine."

"The guy wants to light me on fire and then stomp on my ashes...I'm not going to be fine."

It's at that exact same moment when two large shadows darken over our little group. Leo closes his eyes again and heaves an exasperated breath as I turn around to be met with Lucas' broad chest.

"S'cuse me Izzy," Lucas grumbles, keeping his eyes narrowed and trained towards Leo as he uses his palm to grab my face and use his hold to effectively move me to the side to make space for him and Aidan to move closer to Dylan and Leo.

My poor makeup.

He clears his throat and crosses his arms defensively, but not before wacking Aidan on the back to get him to stand up straighter, look more intimidating and puff out his chest.

"Leonard-" Lucas begins but cuts off with a yelp when I stomp on his feet to get him to stop the teasing.

Lucas clears his throat and starts up again. "Leo." He says curtly.

"Hi Lucas," Leo sighs tiredly.

"Hello Leo," Aidan greets next, sizing up Leo but in a less intimidating manner in comparison to Lucas who looks like he's shooting laser beams through Leo's skull using just his eyes. "I see that you're the secret guy Dylan is dating."

"Yes."

"Hm."

Lucas' eyes narrow into little slits. "Dylan is our little brother," he states firmly, pointing a thumb to his own chest and then to Aidan's.

"Okay."

"Yeah, so you better not break his heart," Aidan threatens next.

"Guys," Dylan hisses. "What the hell are you doing? You're making him uncomfortable."

"Shut up Dylan," Grace jabs Dylan in the ribs with her elbow. "This is funny watching them act all macho and intimidating."

"I agree," Mia interjects.

Grace pauses to grin. "Yeah, especially since Aidan cried whilst watching Barbie and the diamond castle yesterday."

Grace says this and Aidan stiffens from beside her from being exposed. I watch as his rigid, intimidating demeanour wobbles a little bit and how he stops speaking immediately and allows Lucas to continue with scaring Leo on his behalf.

Dylan's head on the other hand, swivels around immediately to face Grace. "No way." He responds with absolute glee.

Grace giggles loudly. "Yeah! At the bit where Alexa and Liana stop being friends, A was in tears."

"Well to be fair, that part is quite sad," Dylan points out.

Aidan subtly nods in agreement as Grace responds.

"Yeah, but they make it up by the end of the movie so it's alright."

"True-"

"Dude shut up!" Mia cuts them off with a growl. "I'm trying to watch this!"

"Oh right, I forgot this weird showdown was happening."

Our attentions draw back onto Aidan and Lucas and Leo to catch the last part of their conversation. Aidan straightens up again and glares at Leo as Lucas continues speaking.

"You hurt Dylan," Lucas cocks his head to the side and waves a hand in the general area of Leo's face. "And I'll hurt your face!"

"Okay." Leo draws his lips into his mouth and nods his head slowly, trying to hide his amusement but fails miserably. "I won't hurt Dylan."

"Good."

"Good."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Okay."

Awkward silence blooms in the air.

Aidan clears his throat and shuffles on the spot awkwardly and Lucas plays with the buttons on his sleeve. Leo merely stands there and tries not to look like he wants to die.

The rest of us just stare at the three of them, waiting for something else to occur.

When nothing happens and no one begins to speak, after a beat of quiet, Mia clears her throat to break the weird tension.

"Alright, if you guys are all done threatening poor Leo, can I whisk Dylan away?" She asks, glancing down lazily at her nails. "We have a lot to discuss."

"Sure," Aidan responds.

"Goody," she clasps her hands together and grins widely before pointing to Dylan. "You, come with me. You need to spill all the details NOW!"

"Yes ma'am." Dylan salutes before swinging his arm around Mia' shoulder and drawing her away from our crowd.

"And you," Grace releases a girlish giggle and loops her arm through Aidan's. "Come with me, let's make out in one of Zak's gazillion rooms before our families arrive."

The two are off running towards the house before anyone can blink.

"And you," I point at Lucas, mimicking Grace and Mia after they've all left. "Shoo! I wanna talk to Leo."

Lucas frowns, eyebrows drawing together. "But I wanna talk to you."

"I'll talk to you later, just give me a second."

I blink at Lucas, waiting for him to budge. When a couple of seconds pass and he still hasn't moved, I sigh. "Jesus, I'll be 30 seconds."

"Fine," Lucas agrees after a beat and moves away about half an inch before grinning at me smugly like what he did was absolutely hilarious.

I roll my eyes. "Why are you like this?" I sigh before grabbing Lucas' arm and hauling him at least 5 meters away, placing him near the drinks table. "Stay here," I tell him firmly as if he's a child. "I'll literally be 5 minutes, I just wanna talk to Leo about Dylan without having you breathe down my neck and being a weirdo."

"I'm not being a weirdo."

I shoot Lucas a blank look in reply and he blinks at me innocently.

"Just stay here," I repeat sternly and in finality, making sure he understands and with that, I turn around and return back to Leo.

I cross the wide expanse of the garden again, suddenly taking note of how the barbecue is starting to be set up to begin the cooking and how some of Grace's cousins have begun to arrive.

Shit, I need to give Lucas the note before more of the guests arrive.

I quicken my walking. "I'm so sorry about that," I say apologetically to Leo as I approach him again. "Lucas promised he was going to stop acting unusual towards you but I don't know exactly what happened..." I trail off and Leo nods his head understandingly.

"It's okay," he says, a humorous smile playing on his lips. "For most part it is quite funny and entertaining watching how my presence alone riles him up like that. It makes me feel like I have some sort of power."

I giggle. "Yeah it's funny getting Lucas angry."

Leo snickers.

"Okay enough about Lucas, HELLO," I wave my hand excitedly and smile. "You're with freaking Dylan!"

"Yeaaah," he mirrors my grin.

"Tell me everything! How did the fling start? How did you guys meet-"

"Ah well first things first," Leo interjects my flurry of questions, his cheeks blooming pink. "It's not really...a fling. I guess I just call it that because I'm not entirely sure what our relationship dynamic is..."

"Huh?"

"We haven't had sex yet," he explains, "....we're just in this weird limbo where we make out every chance we get, hang out whenever we can and text and call all the time but we haven't really talked about what we are or confirmed if we are exclusive or anything."

"Ohhh..." I nod my head in understanding.

"Yeah," Leo smiles almost shyly. "And we met during Christmas break."

"Christmas break?" I repeat confusedly. "But I thought you were down here for break."

"Yeah, it was after I went back home," he answers in clarification. "Dylan was in Michigan for Christmas visiting his grandparents."

"Oh righttt, he was."

"Yeah," Leo nods. "Anyways I was at work in this little coffee shop that I work in near my house and Dylan came in one morning. He was picking up coffee for his uncles and a muffin for his grandma cos y'know he was spending Christmas at his grandparents house and he sort of...hit on me as he was ordering." Leo snorts. "I think he was hitting on me anyways, I didn't really understand what he was saying..."

"Yeah, Dylan has really weird pick up lines."

"Yeah he does," Leo agrees. "Anyways, the shop was pretty empty so I spent my entire shift talking with Dylan until his uncle came into the shop mid afternoon wondering where Dylan had gone with all the coffees...aaand I got his number before he left and we've just been talking since then."

Leo finishes off the story and shoves his hands dorkily into his pockets, just as I jig around excitedly. "That's so cute," I respond, pressing a hand to my chest, over my heart. "And such a bloody coincidence!"

"I know!"

My eyes light up as I'm suddenly reminded of something. "Now Dylan will stop complaining about being single every waking second!"

Leo laughs again and I nudge him with my elbow. "So do you wanna be exclusive with him?" I ask.

"Of course." He answers without a beat of hesitation. "I really like him a lot. He's super funny and nice and...weird, but funny and nice."

"Yeah that's Dylan..." I grin. "Why don't you just tell him how you feel? He so feels the same way about you too, I've never seen him smile so hard when texting on his phone."

"I was gonna after the party actually, we haven't had much chance to talk like that yet." Leo admits before raising his eyebrows and levelling me with a look. "And you're one to talk about confessing feelings missy. Have you told Lucas yet that you're in love with him yet?"

I chuckle sheepishly.

Leo's mouth falls open in incredulousness. "Oh my God, you still haven't."

"I-" I glance over my shoulder to look back at Lucas and pause when I catch him staring right back at me. Our gazes meet, my face scrunches up, he flushes red and I show him the middle finger before turning back to Leo. "Ugh, I'm gonna tell him today," I groan. "I was gonna but we saw you and Dylan and I forgot about it for a second."

"Alright, you're going to tell him now," Leo levels me with another look. "Please, I beg you, I thought you guys had a car makeout session after he intruded when we were hanging out but now you're telling me you haven't even told him you like him? Christ Bella what are you doing?"

"I don't know," I groan again. "But I promise I'm doing it now." I reach into my dress and pull out the note. "See! I have it written down here."

Leo blinks. "All of this has been racking up for how many weeks already-"

"Um, more like 10 years-"

"-and you're telling him over a note."

"Hey, it's kinda sentimental!" I return defensively. "And plus this way I won't back out of saying it."

Leo pauses. "Okay that's true..."

"Exactly," I nod smugly.

"Alright, no more stalling you're going now." He grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around so that I'm facing in the direction of Lucas, then he shoves my back gently, urging me to go forward. "Go."

"Now?" I question.

"Yes now! GO!"

"I'm going!"

"GO! GO! GO!"

"Jeez, I'm going!"  I step forward and run off before Leo can shove me again and stumble in Lucas' direction.

As he sees me approaching, Lucas pretends to be preoccupied with the drinks on the table. "Oh hey Izzy," he murmurs mindlessly, tapping his chin as he pretends to scour the different variety of drinks, pretending that he's deciding which one he wants to have.

I cross my arms across my chest and lean against the table. "Had fun listening to our conversation?" I ask as he picks up a cup of lemonade.

Lucas immediately shakes his head. "No," Lucas sighs. "I'm not a very good lip reader. The only thing I caught on you guys saying was Leo saying something about sex and you something about how hot and amazing I am."

"Of course."

"Aha," he smirks and turns to look at me. "So you were talking about how hot and amazing I am."

I snatch a cup of apple juice from the table and take a sip of it. Gazing up at him from the rim of the cup I deadpan a very firm. "No."

"Sure."

"Shut up."

Lucas laughs and I roll my eyes.

I take another small sip of the juice, definitely using the drink as a measure of stalling as I scour my eyes across the garden. After a beat has passed, I square my shoulders and turn back to Lucas.

I am just about to speak when Lucas interrupts.

"Are you wearing my bracelet?" He questions, eyes zeroing onto my wrist and dimpled smile making an appearance. He takes a hold of my arm to get a better look and as I close my mouth and nod.

"Yeah," I return with a smile and he brushes his thumb over the Mr Bellucas charm.

Lucas' eyes meet mine again and the pure joy flaring in his irises is enough to make my heart go into a frenzy. Dammit, why hadn't I worn the bracelet sooner?

My face softens and I clear my throat. "I never thanked you properly for the present before," I say apologetically. "So thank you."

Lucas' squeezes my hand once. "Thanks for wearing it."

"It's pretty." My eyes draw down onto the bracelet as Lucas lets go of my arm, the silver glinting in the sun.

"Like you," Lucas responds cheekily without missing a beat, causing me to snort.

"Cliché as always," I mock roll my eyes.

"You love it," Lucas grins.

I shake my head amusedly. "Hey, that reminds me," I say, gazing up at Lucas again. "Can you come with me inside, I wanna talk to you."

He pauses for a second before nodding, now eyeing me curiously, especially at the fact I'm shuffling around on the spot shyly. "Sure," he returns, his tone laced with inquisitiveness. "I want to give you your note as well."

I begin to walk towards the house and Lucas steps beside me as we stroll through the garden together.

The set up for the party is pretty simple but it looks really nice. Fairy lights hang around a small white marquee that will have all the barbecued food set up in a buffet style once it's cooked and all around the garden sit circular tables, decorated with light green checkered tablecloths for seating. The barbecue sits to the left of the garden, near the marquee and to the right of that, there is a long rectangular table that holds the drinks and the little snacks that Lucas and I had just been congregating near. There are vases of daisies sitting on the tops of all the tables and the chairs are cute and wooden.

The party theme is simple, cute and flowery, a complete contrast to the huge, sharp edged, modern mansion sitting just behind it.

Lucas and I head through the large double doors leading into the kitchen from the garden, just as Mia and Dylan are walking out.

The corner of Mia's mouth tips up slightly as she sees the two of us. "Good luck," she whispers in my ear as we walk past before tapping me slightly on the ass for encouragement.

I yelp slightly at the contact and playfully narrow my eyes at her from over my shoulder to which she winks back at me in return.

"What was that all about?" Lucas raises his eyebrows in question at the interaction he had just watched.

I simply shake my head dismissively. "Mia being Mia."

He nods in understanding and snorts.

We then head into the foyer of the house and again, I'm filled with awe at how fancy everything is. The floor is glossy marble, the staircase is huge, with intricate golden details decorating the banisters. The only thing that eases the classy aura of the house is the long row of picture frames lining the wall of the staircase, each one holding pictures of Zak's smiling family as well as some of his extended family.

I spot baby Aidan in some of the pictures, arms wrapped around his cousin as we walk up the stairs reaching the second floor. Lucas pauses to take pictures of the ones Aidan is in, snickering as he snaps the shot, undoubtedly going to use the pictures to piss off his friend.

As we reach the landing, I walk down the hallway with Lucas hot on my trails and head into one of the empty guest bedrooms to the left, the one Mia, Grace and I had been in prior.

Lucas follows me into the room and shuts the door closed behind him and that's when the nerves begin to kick in.

The white curtains shielding large windows flutter from the slight breeze outside as I make my way over to the bed and take a seat on the edge of it, crossing and uncrossing my legs awkwardly.

"What's up with you?" Lucas asks as he eyes me quizzically, the bed dipping beside me as he takes a seat.

I shrug and let out a breath. "Nothing, I don't know why I'm being so antsy."

That's the truth. The nerves coursing through me are for no reason. Lucas has already confessed that he likes me and my return of the confession is long overdue so I'm sure he'll be overjoyed once I tell him.

However, although I'm certain (80% certain) there is a strong chance he won't reject me, that fear and doubt that there's the chance he won't want me still niggles in the back of my mind.

"What is it?" Lucas probes. "Is everything okay?"

"Mhm," I nod my head and turn to peer at him, my corner of my lips tipping up into a small smile.

Seeing my continued uneasiness, Lucas speaks up again. "Want me to give you your note first before you tell me whatever it is you gotta tell me?"

"Yes please," I respond gratefully to which Lucas begins searching through the pockets of his jeans for the slip of paper.

I use this opportunity to rake my eyes down Lucas' frame and take in his outfit.

He's wearing all black, a contrast to my predominantly white outfit. He's paired a black unbuttoned button down with black pants and has on a black t-shirt underneath. Around his neck are two silver chains and on his hands are matching silver rings. The outfit is simple but very hot.

From how close he is sitting beside me, I can smell the scent of his cologne. It's not overwhelming but just that enough to send a flurry of butterflies back down to my stomach. I seriously don't understand how someone can smell so good.

"You smell good," Lucas tells me and I blink.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," I quirk an eyebrow as Lucas grins. I then nudge his shoulder. "You look good too, I love the outfit."

Lucas briefly glances down at himself. "Thanks Izz, it took me 30 seconds to pick out."

"I like it. You look hot."

Okay, that was bold.

Whatever. Bold = racking up confidence (as well as awkwardness on my behalf but let's just focus on the confidence aspect).

Lucas pauses on his search for the note and his gaze lifts to meet mine. A smile widens onto his lips, his dimples popping out and his eyes crinkling at the corners. "You're stealing my lines," he chuckles teasingly, nudging my shoulder like I had done to him only moments ago. "And you look hot too, I love the dress, I could fit my head into one of those sleeves."

"Thank you," I grin, before snatching my arm away as Lucas continues to stare longingly at my left sleeve. "Stop thinking about trying it Luke," I then warn him and his eyes snap back to mine.

"I was not thinking about doing that," he denies indignantly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Although I'm 99% sure I could have fit my head in there..." he then murmurs under his breath after a beat, fingers digging into his other pocket as he continues looking for the note.

I shake my head in amusement as Lucas mumbles a quick "Aha" a moment later. He then takes one of my hands into his and slips the paper into my palm before folding my fingers into a closed fist and keeping his hand over mine.

"I'm sorry this isn't as good as the others," he clears his throat and says almost apologetically. "Everything I end up writing is cheesy and cliché."

I pull my lips into my mouth. "You know you don't have to keep writing these notes anymore," I return softly. "I forgive you, remember."

Lucas stares at me like what I said was the stupidest thing he's ever heard. "Why would I stop writing them?" He tells me incredulously.

"Um...because it's a hassle for you."

"No it's not." Lucas looks at me almost horrified. "I don't want to stop writing them."

"Oh." My eyebrows raise. "You don't?"

"No..."

"I thought you felt obliged to write them, like out of guilt or something."

"No," he shakes his head. "I like writing them."

Now it's my turn to stare him incredulously.

"Why?"

"Because I like you." Lucas replies without missing a beat and I freeze momentarily. Ignoring my state, he then lifts my hand, flips it around and and presses a kiss to my wrist. Then letting go, he urges with his chin for me to read what he wrote. "Now read."

I don't even glance at the paper. "On a scale of 1-10 how much...do you like me?" I ask instead, tilting my head to the side and continuing to eye Lucas quizzically.

"25."

I nod and bring my eyes back down to the slip of paper. That doesn't last long because a moment later my gaze lifts to meet Lucas again.

"And by saying you like me, do you mean platonically or romantically?"

Lucas blinks. "I like you in a sibling sort of way." His reply is laced with sarcasm and he furrows his eyebrows and shoots me a look. "Romantically of course," he deadpans afterwards. "Jesus Izzy."

I nod again. "I see..."

"So how long exactly has it been that you've liked me for?" I ask after a beat of silence passes between us.

"Pretty much since we were 6."

"No I mean like now, since I've been back, when did you start liking me again?"

"I've always liked you Bells." He responds in an absolutely definite manner. "So...I've liked you since we were 6."

"You never stopped liking me?" I blink.

"No," Lucas shakes his head. "But as of recently the feelings have been hitting harder and in full force."

"Oh okay..."

"What's with all the questions Bells?" Lucas asks. "It feels like I'm being interviewed."

"Um, nothing...I'm just curious..."

When Lucas doesn't reply, I shift under his inquiring gaze. Narrowing his eyes, after a beat he says: "Do you not...believe me?" Slight disbelief laces his tone.

I pause hesitantly. "I do," I return, although it doesn't come out as assuredly as I hoped it would. "But I'm just...clarifying-"

"What I feel for you is true alright?" He states firmly, cutting me off.

"I know...I'm just making sure."

Lucas nods. "Well I'll clarify for you all you want." He then levels me with a look. "As long as you understand that my feelings for you are genuine."

I nod my head yet again. "Okay."

"I could show you if you like," Lucas then offers with a quirk of his eyebrow as he cocks his head to the side.

My eyes light up. "If you could that would be really appreciated." I let out a breath. The more clarification the better. I want to be 99% sure that he does have feelings for me before I tell him, especially because from what he's saying, his feelings for me are like and mine for him are love.

Lucas shrugs his shoulders. "Alright," he says. "If you say so."

He shuffles closer as I tap my chin in thought. "I'm not entirely sure how you're supposed to show me that though."

"I can show you like this," his response comes quickly.

My eyebrows knit together confusedly and I turn to look at Lucas. "Like what?"

"Like this," he repeats, hazel eyes hooded and drawing onto my lips.

Like what?

It takes a moment for my mind to register what happens next.

Ohhhhh. Like that.

Lucas leans down and presses his lips onto mine.

Oh. My. God.

OH. MY. GOD.

He's kissing me.

Lucas lifts his hand to cup my face and his lips work smoothly against mine causing me to freeze and melt both at once.

His touch, as featherlight and soft as it is, sears through me, sending my heart into a crazy beating frenzy. He tastes like lemonade and feels like pure ecstasy.

Oh my God. He's kissing me. He's kissing me. He's actually kissing me.

With his thumb, Lucas caresses my cheek with one gentle stroke, catapulting a whole storm of butterflies into my chest and my stomach. The touch also jolts my being into action and I finally begin kissing him back.

The note clutched in my hand flutters into my lap between us as I bring my hands to rest on his shoulders, gripping them as I continue to kiss him.

And God, does it feel frickin' amazing to do so.

The kiss is everything and more and by the time I've overcome that initial state of shock and have actually begun to appreciate the act that is happening, Lucas, much to my dismay, pulls away.

The loss of contact is like a hit into reality

The daze slowly dissipates as I open my eyes that I didn't even know had fluttered closed and re-meet Lucas' gaze. His eyes are now bright green; ablaze with mischief.

Putting a little distance between our faces but continuing to keep his hands cupping my face, he grins. "Is that enough clarification for you?" His voice is husky as he speaks.

I answer with a small shake of my head, unable to from words in my mouth.

"No?" He questions, his eyebrows raising.

I shake my head again.

"You need more clarification?"

I nod, slowly leaning forwards again and shortening the distance between us, hoping that he'll get the hint.

When he makes no movement, a sigh escapes my lips. "Yes. I do," I say, my voice barely audible as our faces are mere inches apart. "I need more."

Lucas swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Yeah?" he returns, in a whispered murmur, his gaze not leaving my lips, his tongue darting out to lick his.

I use the same hushed tone, my eyes not budging from his mouth. "Yeah."

My nose ever so slightly brushes against Lucas' as our breaths become one and Lucas intakes a sharp breath at the close contact. Our lips brush once, very faintly, but it's enough for warmth to immediately surge through me.

This time it's me who lifts my hands to cup Lucas' face as I inch even more closer so that our mouths can meet again.

It also is me who initiates this second kiss.

My lips glide against Lucas' in a tantalising, teasing manner. Slowly and gently and innocently.

Lucas goes along with it for a couple of seconds, his fingers softly brushing my hip as he allows me to take control this time round. My thumbs stroke his cheeks just like how he had been doing to me only seconds prior and I tilt my head for better access to his mouth.

Oh my God. Now I'm kissing him.

The kiss becomes a little less innocent a moment later, when Lucas' tongue teases the entrance of my mouth before dipping inside completely and my movements become a tad more haste and urgent.

My hands drop from his face and instead, I snake my arms around his neck, my fingers burying into the hair nape of his head. I tug on the soft strands, eliciting a low groan to escape from Lucas' lips. This causes Lucas to wrap his arms around my waist and tug me closer, so that I'm effectively sitting on his lap and our chests are pressed flush against each other.

God, this is addicting, the way he's claiming my mouth, the way he's enveloping all my senses, his warmth, his scent. Everything about him causes heat to rise up my body, spreading throughout me before settling in my chest.

Kissing Lucas literally is everything. I don't realise how much I've missed doing so until we're doing it. Like the first time, the way he's making me feel is incredible. Every hair on my body is standing up, every nerve ending kindled. It feels as if my entire body is filled with butterflies and that every part of my being is burning with pure and utter need.

He angles his head, deepening the kiss and a muffled but content sigh escapes from within me at the even closer contact. Lucas knits one hand into my hair, probably messing up the waves I had spent over an hour curling and with his other, roams his hand all across my body, leaving every inch of skin he touches tingling with heat.

We kiss and kiss and kiss. For hours or minutes or even merely seconds who knows? We don't stop. Only when we need to break apart to breathe and even then, we try to hold off the loss of contact it causes as long as possible.

So I bet how easy it is to understand how annoyed I feel when my phone begins to ding with a flurry of notifications, cutting through some of the thick tension currently enveloping Lucas and I.

I pull away and open my eyes again for a second but I barely get to inhale a breath when Lucas smashes his lips back onto mine.

I decide to ignore the irritating noise and thankfully, after a moment, the notifications do in fact stop.

Well...they stop only to be replaced by the even more annoying, shrill sound of my ringtone.

I pull away from Lucas again and sigh, completely irked.

"Ignore it," Lucas murmurs, now against my neck as he dips down to press a soft kiss there and begins nipping at the skin.

"Let me decline the call so it fucking stops," I tell him exasperatedly. "The vibrations of the phone are tickling my hip."

Lucas, with an annoyed groan also pulls away from me and I purse my lips in complete sympathy for him.

I briskly lift up the skirt of my dress to reach into the waistband of the shorts that I'm wearing underneath to get my phone and Lucas smirks when he gets an eyeful of my legs.

I simply blush instead of shying away like I typically would and continue trying to tug the IPhone out from where I've tucked it in my shorts for safekeeping. They really need to make pockets on this bloody dress. (Or maybe I should have just gotten a purse).

Dammit, that's clever.

By the time I've pulled my phone out, the ringing has stopped. I'm about to put my phone on silent or just turn off the damn thing all together so that Lucas and I can get back to making out...but then my gaze falls onto the flurry of text messages from Grace lining up my lock screen....

My breath hitches.

"Bella?" Lucas asks me cautiously when he takes notice of the stormy expression that has undoubtedly crossed my face. "What is it?"

My fingers clench around the phone so hard that I'm surprised it doesn't shatter in my grasp.

"Maria is here."

━

AUTHORS NOTE:

the ending probably needs editing but i got too excited to post :p

ALSO GUYS AHAHAKSKDK i found my old diary from when i was 10 years old and wow, look at this is a masterpiece 😍

hope you guys had fun reading, love you all - mai x