"And Mia?" I ask. "What about her?"
Luke puts his arms on mine, linking our fingers together as he wraps our arms around my waist. "Yeah I’m pretty sure the feeling is still mutual, I mean they were actually together for a while. But it was ages ago and I don’t fully know why they broke up, neither of them likes to talk about it. I think she’s reluctant to do something again, partly I guess because he’s my best mate and partly because she lives in Chicago now."
I turn my face to Luke. "Really, but you wouldn’t care, right? I mean did you, when they were together before?"
He smiles at me, pressing a kiss to my lips this time. His blue eyes look so dark in the firelight, but I can see the intensity in them when he looks at me. It makes my heart skip a beat every time. "Nah of course not, if I didn’t think he was good enough for my sister, I wouldn’t be friends with him in the first place."
I smile and kiss him again. This is part of why I like him so much. That he’s so amazing and has such amazing people in his life. I feel so happy to be part of it right now. So happy, that I don’t even worry about all of the bad stuff I know is still inside me. I can’t think about it, I don’t have room for it when Luke is around. He makes me forget about all of it.
"Maybe I should say something to her?" I suggest.
Luke laughs a little, tightening his arms around us. "Good luck," he says, before kissing me again.
The next day we all hit the beach, armed with food and drinks and spend the whole day swimming and lying on towels under umbrellas. It’s the most perfect day which we all spend together; laughing, talking, eating, drinking and having fun. I feel deliriously happy right now. I haven’t felt this good with other people in what feels like forever. I can’t believe I’ve gone without this in my life. That I honestly thought I could. For the first time in a long time, I just want to capture and hold on to this moment.
The day is so warm and I love the feel of the sun on my skin. I ask them all questions; about how they met, how long Steve and Pete have been together, when the band formed. They tell me so many stories; answer all of my questions without smothering me in theirs. Luke laughs when he tells the story of how Steve first came to be in the band.
"We’d advertised for a bass player," he starts.
"And in walks this tough guy," Jared continues nodding at Steve, who is possibly blushing a little, now he knows where this story is going. Pete is smiling because he definitely knows and clearly finds it amusing.
"And the first thing he says is; ‘just so you know, I’m gay. If any of you have a problem with that, then I may as well leave now’," Luke continues, laughing even more.
I look over at Steve who’s smiling now. "And?" I ask. "What was their reaction?"
"This one turns to me," Steve finishes gesturing towards Ben, who is shaking his head laughing, "And says, ‘yeah but can you play a fucking guitar?’" And they all crack up laughing and I can’t help but join in.
It’s amazing to watch them. They’re all such good friends, so obviously close yet they talk so openly in front of me, willingly accepting that I’m now a part of their group too, just like Mia. And they really love to tease Luke about me.
"You know we forced him to have that party, just to get you to come over. He’d been talking about you for ages, ever since he met you. We had to do something just to help the poor bastard out," Jared says laughing. "Of course that dickhead messed things up a bit, but at least you came, you really made his night by doing that."
I turn to Luke who is blushing a little now and it’s so adorable, I can’t help but smile at him.
"Yeah and the night you came and watched us play, your boy here couldn’t wipe the smile off his face for the rest of the week," Steve continues, nudging Luke with his foot.
"Oh, but what about the night we ran into her and dragged her out to watch Damien’s band," Ben says laughing. "Christ, Luke was fucking mental after that night."
I’m laughing now too, but when Jared continues with, "Yeah but then there was "that night" and "that song"," doing the quotation marks with his fingers. "You know the one I mean Ash," he says with a smile on his face. "He definitely hasn’t stopped smiling since that night. Of course; there’s been a lot more happening besides just smiling!"