­Emilia's POV

Little kids with their parents skip along the sidewalk with a bucket full of candy in their hands, looking for the next house to loot for more sweets. The little boy and girl running past me don't look like siblings and they certainly don't act it as the dark-haired boy takes the blonde girl's hand in his and smiles lovingly at her; like she's the most precious thing to him.

They're like six-years-old or something and yet you can see how close in friendship they are. Maybe more than friendship given that the girl is standing on her tiptoes to peck the boy on his cheek. From under the street lights, the boy's eyes sparkle as he places a hand to his cheek, feeling the lingering sensation of her kiss. The parents trailing behind them just giggle and admire the young love of the two kids. Sadly enough, these children seem to know more about affection than me.

My feet drag behind me as I pass the lovey-dovey kids in costume and continue walking further down the street. I am completely exhausted and my legs feel like lead, but I can't stop my feet from moving one in front of the other. I don't know how far I had ran, but when my stomach churned and the unpleasant feeling before you have to throw up arose, I knew I had to at least slow down.

My mind had been filled with questions when I had sprinted out of the house and onto the unfamiliar streets, not even paying attention to where I was going. I didn't care where I was going. That's a lie. I did know where I wanted to go, but I couldn't force my legs to turn back in the direction of Ashton's house.

When I had stopped running, I found myself in a cul-de-sac filled with trick-or-treaters moving from house to house and ringing doorbells. It had taken what seemed like hours to slow down my heartrate and keep a steady rhythm to my breathing as I had gasped for precious oxygen. I don't bother turning around to avoid the dead-end, so I just follow the cement path. I finish my way around the cul-de-sac and turn onto another street that, with my sense of direction, may lead me to become completely lost in this residential maze.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm feeling right now. Shock? Confusion? Ashton, a person who I would consider one of my best friends, kissed me. Not only that, but he used the words: 'I,' 'love', and 'you'—not in that order, but still. I don't know what to make of it. It started off with him telling me that he's angry that Natalie invited him to her wedding, and then it turned into a slur-fest of confessions. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking and he didn't know what he was saying. That seems like a logical reason for my friend so spill out words of adoration, right?

I turn onto another street that leads to the main road and I quickly spot a bus stop. My feet are close to giving out, so I rush over and sit on the bench, taking the pressure off my aching legs that I can no longer move.

I replay the scene of Ash pressing his thin lips to mine over and over. I am dumbfounded by his actions, but for some reason, I am okay with it. I shouldn't be though. I shouldn't be okay with my friend kissing me, but when his lips touched mine, I was flooded with euphoria. I would always feel butterflies in my stomach when around him, but now, it's like there's a fucking zoo roaming around in there.

Cars zoom by on the streets, causing a swift, harsh breeze to fly in my direction. I shudder and wrap my arms around my torso, regretting that I didn't wear a heavier jacket. Although I didn't anticipate spending my evening in the chill outdoors, so I can't really blame myself.

A set of headlights making their way slowly down the street catch my eye, as if the driver is out looking for something. In a matter of seconds, the driver pulls the car over to the curb just a few feet away from me. My skin begins to crawl, not just from the cold air but from the stranger who is sitting less than ten feet away from me.

The headlights from the car are almost blinding and makes it almost impossible to see the driver. However, I do recognize the model of the car which looks exactly like the car whose owner I've become fond of. He shouldn't be behind the wheel. He was completely hammered back at the party, so why is he driving? I know he's not that stupid.

The driver turns off the headlights and shuts off the engine, leaving the street lamps to illuminate the dark car. In the dim lights, I can faintly make out the usual pushed-up hairstyle of a certain blue-eyed friend which eases my nerves.

The car door swiftly opens and Luke slams the door before jogging over to me.

"There you are," Luke says breathlessly. "I've been looking all over the goddamn neighborhood for you. I saw you take off so I went to look for you, but you were already out of sight by the time I got to the car. What happened?"

I don't really feel like explaining things just yet, so I ignore his question. "Why do you have Ashton's car?" I ask.

"I just grabbed a pair of keys and it just happened to be his," he says. "Did you think I was him?" I nod. "Last I saw, he was on his fifth or sixth beer. There's no way in hell that I would let him drive anything in that state."

"You didn't drink?" I ask, confused as to why he's sober when there is a party going on.

He shakes his head. "Nope. Someone had to be level-headed enough to kick everyone out by midnight. However, since I had to go find you, I told Michael and Calum to tell everyone to leave before I left."

"What time is it now?"

He looks to his wristwatch. "A quarter 'til midnight."

"How long have you been looking for me?"

"About thirty minutes."

"Oh." I didn't realize that I was wondering around for that long.

"Do you not have your phone on you?" he asks. "I've been trying to call to see where you were but you never answered. I must have called over a hundred times."

I check my pocket and there, sitting between an old receipt from Starbucks for an iced tea and one of the many hair bands that I carry with me at all times, is the nifty device. I pull it out and unlock the screen to see over a hundred notifications of missed calls and text messages. Luke wasn't kidding when he said he called over a hundred times because his name appears over and over again on the call log.

I open up my text messages and read a few that were from Julia telling me that she is working overtime and that there are a lot of weirdoes showing up and hitting on her. I go back to see who else sent me a message and in bold letters is Ashton's name. I can't bring myself to look at his text so I lock my phone and shove it back in my pocket.

"Sorry, it was on silent," I say, letting him know that I wasn't purposely ignoring him even though I probably wouldn't have answered the phone even if it wasn't on silent.

"It's all right," he says. "At least I found you." He gives me a small smile. "Why did you storm out of the house like that? I only saw a glimpse of you before you were out the door."

"Can we go get some food?" I ignore his question once again, not because I don't want to answer—well, partially—but because my stomach is growling like it hasn't seen food in days and I don't think I can silence the sound much longer with my arms wrapped around it.

"What?" he asks and gives me a puzzled look as if he doesn't know what the hell food is.

"Food," I say. "An edible substance. Something to make my stomach stop growling. Can we get some?"

His mouth hangs open as he processes my words and nods vigorously. "Yeah, sure. You need to get out of the cold anyway." He motions for me to get up.

"Yeeeeaaaah," I say. "I can't get up."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean my legs feel like Jell-O from running so much, and if I try to get up, I will literally face-plant onto the ground."

"You don't exercise much, do you?" Luke chuckles, turning his back to me and crouching down.

"Not in the slightest," I say, laughing with him.

"Hop on."

I climb onto his back and wrap my arms around his neck. He grunts and pretends that he's struggling to lift my weight as he stands up straight.

"A few squats wouldn't kill you," he jokes and begins making the thirty second walk to his car.

I lightly slap him on the head. "Oh, shush."

He laughs deeply again.

Luke helps me into the car before going around and taking a seat behind the wheel. I tell him to go to IHOP since it's one of the few places open at the time and Julia is working there right now. Luke doesn't ask me any questions as he drives down the highway. I think he had taken the hint that I didn't want to speak of what happened, but I know he's going to try and ask again once I have a face full of food.

Luke parks the car in the nearly empty lot, finding a spot that isn't too far from the entrance. The glass windows are painted with jack-o-lanterns and other festive art as well as lined with orange and black streamers. Luke carries me on his back again, slamming the passenger door with his foot before heading through the entrance.

We are immediately greeted by one of the employees who is dressed as one of the Disney princesses; Aurora, I think? Her eyes are red, probably from exhaustion and she doesn't look too happy to still be at work this late. Her lips stay in a straight line and there is no trace of emotion on her face.

"Just two?" she crankily asks, pulling two menus out from the storage unit next to her. Luke nods and follows behind the cranky princess who guides us to a small booth by one of the poorly decorated windows.

Luke slowly drops me to my feet and helps me slide into the booth. Once I'm situated, he takes a seat opposite to me and removes his leather jacket, leaving him in a plain white t-shirt covered with a plaid flannel shirt, similar to the one Ashton was wearing when I first met him.

"Your server will be with you shortly," bitchy Aurora says, setting the menus in front of us and walking away.

I scan the perimeter of the room and only six other people are here: Two guys sitting across from each other at a nearby table, a loud teenage couple who haven't even touched the food sitting in front of them, and an elderly man and woman half-asleep in a booth. The plate of pancakes sitting in front of the teenage girl remind me that I still need to choose something to order, so I scan the menu.

It doesn't take long before I hear the clicking of heels on the maroon carpet followed by a chipper voice.

"Sorry about the wait, guys. What can I get for you to—Em?" Julia's eyes widen by my unexpected visit to her at work. Just like the girl at the front of the restaurant, Julia is also dressed like a princess; Cinderella. The satin blue dress falls at her knees and hugs every curve. She actually pulls it off quite nicely. "What are you doing here?" she asks. "I thought you were at the party?"

"Ashton kissed me," I blurt out unintentionally.

Both Luke and Julia stare at me with such intensity and shout simultaneously, "What?"

"Please don't make me repeat myself," I say, sinking into my seat. "And I'll have a water to drink please." She looks at me like I'm crazy before turning her head to Luke.

"I'll have the same," he says.

She glances between the two of us before rushing over to the kitchen and back to our table with two glasses of water in her hands. She sets them down, creating a loud thud, and scoots me over so that she can sit next to me.

"Is that why you ran out of the house?" Luke asks and I nod. Julia still looks confused, but she pushes it aside.

"But isn't that a good thing?" Julia says. "That he kissed you?"

How is it a good thing that Ashton kissed me? He and I have a platonic relationship—at least that's what I tell myself—and that kiss may have ruined that. What does that make us now?

"Why do you say that?" I ask.

She shakes her head at me, almost disapprovingly, but her chuckle. "You're so clueless, Em," she says.

My eyebrows knit together and I narrow my eyes at Luke to see if he understands what she's saying and by his sly smirk, he does.

"Well, I'm obviously out of the loop because I don't understand," I say, crossing my arms over my chest like a child, and they laugh at my immaturity.

What do they know that I don't? Am I the only one who isn't indifferent about what happened just an hour ago? I may be on cloud nine, but I am still trying to wrap my brain around everything that has happened.

"Shouldn't you be working?" I playfully scold. "I'd rather you not get in trouble with your boss."

"Right," Julia says and slides out of the booth. "What do you want to eat?"

"Strawberry banana pancakes please." I give her a cheesy smile and she laughs, writing down the order of the notepad that she keeps in her apron.

"And you, Luke?"

"I'll just have an omelet or something," he says.

"All right," she says. "And just because I'm working right now, doesn't mean that I'm not going to ask you about things later." She walks back into the kitchen and returns to earning minimum wage.

I finish my glass of water quickly, most likely due to dehydration from having a drink at the party. It explains why I was so lightheaded from running excessively. I stir the straw around, pushing the blocks of ice that are left in the glass as I wait for a refill.

Luke clears his throat and leans back against the cushioned seat. "Were you scared?" he asks. "Is that why you ran?"

I take a deep breath, exhaling slowly and trying to put my thoughts into words. "I wasn't scared of the kiss," I say. I actually enjoyed it. It felt right. "I'm more scared of what's going to happen to us now. Ever since we decided to be partners for the project, I didn't expect for our friendship to flourish like it has. I didn't expect to gain a true friend. I didn't expect to care for him as much as I do. I find myself fighting to improve every part of myself for him and even though I don't have a lot of experience with having friends, I do know that this isn't normal."

A smirk plasters across Luke's face and all I want to do is grab the napkin holding the silverware and wipe it off. He shakes his head just like Julia did not too long ago and the smirk grows wider. "You're seriously oblivious to everything regarding affection," he says.

"I feel like I should be insulted by that comment," I say.

"You should be," he jokes. "It's obvious to everyone around you—except for Ash because he's an idiot and almost as oblivious as you—that this has always been more than a friendship between the two of you."

"I don't underst—" The sweet scent of strawberries cuts me off as Julia walks over to the table and places the freshly made breakfast in front of us. I notice on the plate that there are extra strawberries topped on the stack of pancakes and I thank Julia for the added fruit.

"I figured that you could use a little pick-me-up and more food always seems to do the trick," she teases and grabs the pitcher of water placed near the divider that separates this section of seating area from the others and refills my glass.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," I say. Julia always knows how to lift my spirits even with something as small as adding more of my favorite fruit to my order.

She smiles down at me and silently accepts my appreciations before sitting with us again. I use my fork to cut through the fluffy pancakes and take a bite, savoring the strawberry syrup along with the fresh fruit as it glides down my throat.

"The two couples left just now, so I have some time to spare with you guys," she says, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "So, what did I miss?"

"Emmie doesn't know that she likes Ashton," Luke says, cutting a piece of his omelet and shoving it into his mouth.

"I already knew that," she says matter-of-factly.

"I don't know what I feel towards Ashton," I mumble. I feel like I've said that so many times in my head, but it's true. "I know that I like him as a friend; I always have. It's just shocking that he made a move on me like that after confessing."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. He confessed?" Julia shouts a bit too loudly.

"Yes, and I should inform you that he was drunk while he said it," I say.

"What did he say?" Luke asks, his eyes full of curiosity.

"He said something about me being more beautiful than Natalie and that he cares for me. And then he said that he's tired of Natalie coming in between how he feels about me and that he doesn't want her to ruin—and I quote: 'My love for you.'"

Luke obviously found this extremely amusing as he tilts his head back in a fit of laughter. "That has to be the cheesiest thing that I've ever heard him say," he says. "Oh my God. Could he not have come up with something more, I don't know, better?"

"Be nice!" Julia scolds and Luke shuts up. "What happened after?"

"I ran," I say. "That was the only thing that I could think to do at the moment. I don't want this end up like another 'Jared' situation. And I know that Ashton would never do something like that, but I still feel like I have to guard myself. I don't know how I'm going to handle all of this, and it's going to be hard seeing that we always run into one another. I just need time to think things over and process everything. I want to go back home."

By going home, I won't have to worry about running into Ashton like I normally do. I can spend some time to sit down and just think without any interruptions. Glendale isn't even that far away so it's not like I'm going to be hours away. I just need a day. Just one day.

"I'm not going to tell you 'no' because I know that you need to understand how you're feeling about all this," Julia says. "You were confused before when I first asked if you liked Ashton, and you're confused now. Don't hurt yourself worrying about the 'what-if's and 'maybe's. Those just ruin everything. Just think about you and Ashton. I'll be waiting for you when you come home." She smiles and Luke nods at her words.

"You make it seem like I'm moving away," I say. "Thank you. I won't be gone long."

"I'll drive you there," Luke says, not even giving me room to protest. He pulls out his wallet, preparing to pay Julia for the meal but she stops him.

"It's on me," she says. "Think of it as a treat on this Halloween night." She smiles at both of us and we giggle at her lame pun.

We both thank her. I give Julia a tight hug before sliding out of the booth and standing on my wobbly legs. Luke holds me steady by placing his hand at the small of my back and helps me walk slowly out of the restaurant and to the car.

__

It's already past one by the time we make it to Glendale. I feel bad for keeping Luke out so late when he has class in the morning. He tells me to not worry about it, but I continue to silently beat myself up about it. I appreciate all that he's done tonight. I'm actually really glad that he went looking for me and even took the time to drive me back home. Luke has definitely earned a promotion to a level five friend.

Luke gently presses down on the brakes and slows the car to a stop in front of Julia's parents' two-story house. Normally, they would turn the porch light off when they go to bed, but since the light is flickering with dull rays of light, I'm assuming they're still awake.

"Do you need me to pick you up after you're done?" Luke asks, leaning his arm on the middle console.

"No, I'll just take the bus or something, but thanks for the offer," I say.

He bites his bottom lip and plays with the lip ring that accentuates his thin lips. "Are you going to be able to walk?"

I kicked my leg up a little, seeing if I had some range of motion and thankfully I do. "I think I can manage now. My legs are sore, but I can push through it." I open the car door and step out. "Thank you for the ride. I'll have to pay you back somehow."

"Don't worry about it, Emmie. Worry about yourself right now, okay?"

"Okay."

"Goodnight." Luke smiles tiredly.

"Goodnight, Luke. I'll see you soon." With that, I close the door and walk up the pathway to the front door. I turn around to see Luke watching me in the car until I reach the door. He gives one last wave before his taillights leave a red trail of light behind him as he takes off.

I look around the small porch for the small ceramic frog that hides the spare key to the house. I finally spot it and reach for the key before opening the front door. Barks of different volumes greet me at the door and a toothy smile takes over my face as I am reunited with all four of my dogs. If there's anything that can clear my head in an instant, it would have to be the presence of these furry creatures.

After greeting Julia's parents and apologizing for visiting unannounced, I make my way up the narrow staircase, my dogs following close behind me, and to the bedroom and Julia and I used to share. It still looks the same as before we left. Band posters and photos cover the lilac walls that I still hate to this day and the beds are still dressed with hideous yellow blankets.

I find an old pair of pajama shorts and a large t-shirt in our old dresser full of clothes we never took to the apartment and quickly change. I plop down onto my bed that sits in front of the window and pull the covers over my body. All four of my furry friends jump onto the bed with me and snuggle around my legs.

As I lie here, my mind keeps drifting off to the little girl and boy that I saw trick-or-treating earlier. I admire the way the boy held the girl's hand, making sure that they were always connected to one another. I admire the girl's bravery in kissing the boy on his cheek and making him blush. And I admire the way that they look into each other's eyes with such devotion.

As much as it scares me, I want to be able to do that with Ashton without hesitation.

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A/N:

Sooooooo much dialogue in this chapter. I think this chapter has the most conversations that I've written.

So many things are happening in this story and I don't know how to put it into words! Things are finally beginning to happen to Ashlia and I'm so excited for what's to come and I hope you are too! Emmie is so confusing right now and I'm like, "woman, get your shit together and love him!" I really wanted to add some humor to this chapter so that's why there isn't much Emmie feels, but that will be coming in the next chapter, I think.

Is it bad that I'm shipping Luke and Emmie hard in this chapter? No? Okay.

I want to give a big thank you to all of my readers. You guys make me so happy! I love reading all your comments and I try to respond to each one. I like hearing what you have to say and I hope more of you speak up. Don't feel pressured to though! I love my silent readers too! I want to hear what you guys think will happen in the next chapter so feel free to let me know your theories.

I can't believe that Paint You Wings has close to 3k reads and over 350 votes! Please continue to comment, vote, and share! I never expected this kind of response to something I've written. It may not be much, but it means the world to me. I'm not the best writer. I know that there are probably some punctuation errors in many of my chapters, but it makes me happy that you put up with it and enjoy the story. :)

Thank you guys again! I love you all! –Rebecca xoxoxoxoxoxo