*2 months later*

Riley’s P.O.V.

I sat in the sun on the warm beach, taking all of Australia in. A shadow cast itself over me.
“Luke.” I smirked, not even having to open my eyes.
“Hi, Ry.” he sunk into the sand next to me. “You should probably turn over or let me apply more sunblock.”
I groaned, rolling over and throwing the sunblock at him. “You just wanted a good excuse to touch me.” I joked.
“I don’t need any excuse.” he began rubbing the sunblock on my back, then slowly down my legs, giving me a quick spank when he finished.
“Hey!” I squealed.
“What’s the matter?” he smirked. His skin glistened in the sun and his long hair was back again. His curls flowed in the small breeze as he admired the ocean.
“Want to get in?” I asked, sitting up.
“I want to surf.”
“My surfing skills are pretty rough, mind teaching me?” I smiled. Luke beamed, taking my hand and practically dragging me to the water.
“Okay, so get the wetsuit on.” He spoke excitedly.
It took me a few minutes, but I finally got into the suit and Luke promptly zipped me up. “Alright, now lay on the board and I’ll walk us out.” The waves were pretty strong, pushing me up and down on the surfboard. Luke chuckled at the faces I was making as I held on for dear life. “You’re cute.” he chuckled, I blushed. “Okay, get ready.”
I sat on the board, a leg on each side. Luke jumped onto his board and sat next to me. “You ready?”
“Uh no! I told you I needed help!” I splashed at him.
“It’s like riding a bike, Ry, you never forget.”
“I’ve lived in a landlocked state for too long.” I whined.
“One thing I truly admire is your confidence. Just trust me on this.” He smiled, positioning himself to catch a wave coming in the distance. “You’ve got this.”
His reassurance was all I needed. I readied myself and watched Luke closely. The wave came and I swiftly jumped into riding stance and suddenly everything I remembered about surfing hit me all at once. I rode the wave until it crashed over me.
“Oh my god!” I cheered. “That was amazing!”
“I told you, you could do it.” Luke smiled, riding out for another. “Again?” he asked. I nodded excitedly and jumped back on my board.
***
The sun was setting as Luke and I reluctantly got out of the water.
“Let’s get you out of that wetsuit.” Luke bit his lip where his piercing used to be.
“Luke Hemmings.”
“Pleaseeee.” he whined, “ I have a special dinner planned and that is not the proper attire.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, “Unzip me.” He slid the suit off my shoulders and softly kissed my neck to my shoulders. “Luke.” I moaned.
“I’m only teasing.” he kissed one last time then pulled my arms out.
“I did not miss the wetsuits.” I complained.
“It’s better than being completely exposed to the cold water.”
“I suppose.”
After a long few minutes we pulled ourselves completely out and ran over to the showers. We had a routine when we were younger to pass the conditioner, shampoo, and soap in a swift motion, never missing a beat; well we can still accomplish that. When the water shut off my body shivered.
“Here.” Luke cooed, handing me a towel we left in his hot car all day.
“Thanks.” I smiled, drying my hair and wrapping myself in the warmth. We jumped into Luke’s open jeep and headed back to his house.
***
Quite the drive later we pulled up to Liz’s home and walked inside.
“You two look like you had loads of fun.” Liz smiled, going through pictures on her camera.
“Tons!” I exclaimed, “Luke got me back on a surfboard for the first time since I visited last.” Luke put his arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead.
“She’s still a natural.” he smiled.
“You two are so adorable. Still going out for dinner?”
Luke nodded and held his finger to his lips, which Liz quickly mocked with a laugh.
We hurried upstairs to change.
“Leave your hair natural.” Luke called.
“But--”
“No buts. It’s gorgeous.”
I looked in the mirror playing with the wavy mess that was my hair. I gently ran a brush through the ends, then the middle, then from top to bottom. The waves fell a bit more neat and I gave up on it while applying my makeup. I slipped into my off-shoulder cut-off top and high-waisted pencil skirt.
“Wow.” Luke gasped.
“Too much? I can tone it down.”
“You look phenomenal. No one is going to believe you’re with me.”
“Luke!” I blushed. “You’re the famous one.”
“Eh. I’m on hiatus.”
“You literally just got invited to go to the Billboard Music Awards.”
“Well, yeah. Youngblood was released last year.”
I rolled my eyes and put on my heels. “Ready when you are.” I smiled, taking Luke in. Although we were in one of the hottest places, he chose to wear black skinny jeans, with a black dress shirt half-buttoned. His curls were slicked back, but he kept fiddling with them anyway. Even in my heels I was still short compared to Luke. My hand was engulfed in his as he lead me downstairs.
“Wait!” Liz exclaimed. “Let me get a photo.” she finished, grabbing her camera. Luke gripped my hip and tried to be cute, but I stood on my tip toes and slid my hand on one side of his face, crashing my lips into the other.
“So cute.” Liz smiled.
“Mom.” Luke groaned.
I wiped Luke’s cheek of the lipstick as he shuffled us out of the door. We got back in his open jeep and I thanked god I did not do my hair. As Luke drove, I blasted Green Day on the radio and we sang along at the top of our lungs.
**
Long after sundown and a whole CD later, we pulled up to the Shangri-La Hotel in the heart of Sydney.
“You got us a hotel room?” I questioned.
Luke chuckled, “No, I got us a dinner with a view.” he took my hand and led my through the lobby to the elevator. We reached the top floor and the elevator opened to a bustling restaurant.
“Reservation for Hemmings.” Luke spoke to the hostess, she blushed and lead us to the corner table. I took in the amazing view of the harbor and city lights.
“Luke.” I breathed as we sat down.
“Amazing right? I figured I could wine and dine you.” he blushed, glancing at the menu.
“What’s the occasion?” I smiled.
“It’s our friendiversary.” he chuckled, “I knew you would forget.”
“Hey! I considered our friendship starting at birth.”
“You’re four months younger, so I consider it today. 10 years ago you came up to my room and told me to upload my videos. It lead me to my great career and amazing experiences. So, this is how I’m thanking you.”
I blushed again, “We were friends before the age of thirteen.”
“No, you had cooties until that day. That day I knew I would marry you.”
“Is this going where I think--”
“I’m not about to get down on one knee. I would marry you tomorrow if I could, but I know we’re not there yet. This is really just to appreciate how amazing you are.”
“Friendship is a two way street, Hemmo. You’re pretty great yourself.”
“Ah, but you forgot about this special day.” He laughed.
“I’ll make it up to you.” I smiled, taking his hand across the table. He gave a quick squeeze before ordering. I was lost in the beauty of the view most of the night, and when I wasn’t looking out, I was staring into Luke’s ocean blue eyes reminiscing.
“Oh! Do you remember the time we first snuck out of our houses and went driving all night.” He burst into a huge smile.
“How could I forget?! It was one of the last times we shared before 5SOS became huge.”
“Hey! We had high school.”
“Nooooo. You were in the UK so often during high school it isn’t even funny.”
“Fine. Anyway! We spent the whole night stargazing.”
“We did! I almost gave into your Hemmings smolder.” I smirked.
“It took another two years. “ he retaliated.
“I am worth waiting for.” I crossed my arms.
“You have no idea.” he chuckled, “Should we get out of here?”
“Probably, we’re holding them up from closing.”
We looked around seeing that everyone was really just putzing around until we left. We let out a small laugh together, and rushed to the elevator.
“Where to?” Luke asked as we returned to the lobby.
“The stars.” I smiled, running hand in hand for his jeep.
--
Luke pulled up to a beach nearby and put the car in park.
“You know, I don’t have a tent like our first time.” he smirked.
“Luke Hemmings.”
“I’m just saying.”
“I can’t believe you even remember that night.” I blushed.
“Of course! I know it wasn’t the first time for either of us, but it was our first time.”
“It was more than one time.” I chuckled.
“It was amazing.” He smiled.
“Have you ever done it in a car?-- You know, don’t answer that.”
“Riley.”
“Luke.”
“I haven’t, but that’s about to change.” Luke hopped in the backseat and pulled me with.
“What if we get caught?” I hesitated.
“So what if we do.” he began, “You have a beautiful body, and I’m famous.” he joked. I playfully slapped him before pulling his face to mine and kissing him slowly. “Hmm.” Luke hummed, getting more passionate. I straddled his lap and rocked myself back and forth. “We’re going slow tonight.” He whispered, laying me down gently on the backseat and holding himself above me.
This is the Luke I fell in love with years ago. This is the Luke I missed whilst I had lied in bed with Hunter. This was my best friend Luke, not some mindless lead singer of today’s hottest band. This was my Luke, and I couldn’t help falling back in love with him.
“Luke.” I breathed heavily.
“Ry.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, babe.” he smiled, before kissing me again.

Notes

*insert comment about writers block* XOXO