“How long till you’re finished?” Luke asked as he placed his hand on Clive’s shoulder and peered at the screen before him.
“We’ll have to print the copies and have them handed out.” Carol chimed in.
“You know, you can leave if you want to.” Clive said, placing his hand over Luke’s.
“No.” Luke frowned at Clive for even suggesting something like that.
He was getting frustrated by how badly Clive wanted him to leave. Whatever the reason was Luke wasn’t going to leave. He dragged a chair from across the room all the way towards where Carol and Clive sat and placed it between the two of them.
Once he took a seat in his rightful place he sent both of them innocent smiles.
Clive chucked and shook his head. ‘There’s no escaping Luke.’
He didn’t mind Luke’s presence, if anything he was gonna have a good time now that Luke had showed up.
•••
A good 15 minutes had passed and they were finally done, “let’s get these copies and get the fuck out of here.” Clive said as he stretched in his seat.
“Do you lot fancy dark chocolate? Let me check if Emily left some.” Luke said out of nowhere and left before anyone could get a word in.
Carol made sure Luke was out of the room before moving to the seat he previously occupied, “Don’t get me wrong they’re super cute but I’d have never thought they’d get together.”
Clive turned in his seat to face Carol, clearly confused, “who?”
“Emily and Luke, somehow they seem compatible though,”
Clive wasn’t sure what to make of this, obviously he wanted to laugh it out and tell Carol how wrong she was but was she? Luke had spent an awful amount of time with Emily over the past week and somehow them getting together didn’t really seem that unrealistic to Clive suddenly.
Clive was confident he had built something with Luke that bent more towards the romantic than the friendly platonic but everything Carol told him was making said confidence waver.
“Like they were destined to find each other or something…their twisted fate” Carol was trying her hardest to sound philosophical with her analysis of Luke and Emily, Clive was agitated.
“I’m sure they’re only friends.” Clive said but somewhere inside he felt what he said applied more to him and Luke.
“Friends? I don’t think so. I’m surprised they haven’t told you about it, it’s quite obvious really. The blushing, Emily’s breakup, the hanging out after class-“
‘They hang out after each lesson?’
Clive laughed through the pain, “I’m sure Luke would have told me if something was going on.”
He didn’t mean for it to come out so rudely but Clive didn’t want to hear another word.
“I’ll ask him about it.” He said in hopes of getting Carol to end the conversation.
“…are you seeing anyone?” Carol asked bashfully.
“No, not really.” Clive said sadly as he thought about Luke.
“Oh?” Carol queried, “Uh…do you perhaps like someone?” She asked, placing her words carefully.
“I guess? But we only started talking recently and I don’t know, I think it’s evident, what we feel for each other that is,” Only then had Clive realised that he had never been vocal about his situation with Luke, but it was no excuse to burden Carol with the details.
Cue the fireworks.
But for Carol.
She couldn’t help the smile that had taken over her face; she giggled at Clive and tried her best to avoid eye contact.
As if on cue Luke walked in and gingerly placed the remnants of his earlier experiment into Clive’s palms.
Clive looked up from his palms to Luke, “what is this?” He chuckled.
“Food for you.”
Carol was offended, rightly so one could add. There she had been with Clive all evening working her arse of just as much as he had but didn’t even get so much as a glance from Luke let alone bitter chocolate and broken biscuits.
“I’ll get the copies printed out.” she said bitterly as she got up from her seat, well it was Luke’s seat.
“Can we go home now?” Luke whined as he plopped himself down on the chair.
“Luke, we’ve got to pin these flyers here in school and hand them out all around town. You know you can go home it’s alright”
“Okay so we’ll go to the stores first, loads of people walk in and out. Then we can go to…”
Clive didn’t pay any mind to what Luke was saying, he just stared at the boy with so much love.
‘Why isn’t there a single thing I don’t love about you.’
Clive’s face fell, he’d have to ask Luke about Emily.
•••
Luke and Clive were headed back home after spending a whole evening handing out flyers. Luckily Carol was relieved of her duties as Luke stepped in her place, she had reluctantly agreed.
“I’ll walk you home.” Luke said as the both of them walked side by side.
Since Luke lived closer to the school than Clive the latter would drop Luke off and head towards his own home.
“It’s alright” Clive said tiredly.
Luke shot him a ‘I don’t think so’ look and Clive didn’t bother arguing.
“Um, Luke?”
“Hmm”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Hmm”
“It’s personal,”
Luke just looked at Clive with a bored expression.
“Are you and Emily dating?” He asked in a soft voice, keeping his eyes ahead.
Luke just stared at him with his mouth slightly ajar, “what made you think that.”
Clive simply shrugged, “I mean you’re always togethe-“
“WE are always together!” Luke exclaimed as he frantically motioned his hand between himself and Clive.
“Okay, okay I’m sorry!” Clive raised his hands in surrender.
There was a silence, “so you don’t like her or anything?”
“No Clive. I don’t like her.”
‘I like you.’
Luke thought maybe he should just say it out loud rather than to himself, but there was this nagging feeling. What if he was reading into things too much? What if Clive was only being friendly?
He looked over at Clive only to find the boy subtly smiling to himself, his gaze fixed on his feet as he walked alongside Luke.
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