"Hey, Dyl?" Luke's voice wakes me from a sleep I hadn't even realized I'd fallen into.

Turning over and pushing hair from my eyes, I meet his gaze with a soft smile of my own. For a second, his eyes flicker down to my lips.

Resisting the urge to kiss him, I reply groggily, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry to do this, but you gotta move so I can change these sheets." His expression is sheepish, a boyish hint of pink against the tan of his cheeks.

"The sheets?" My brows pull together. His blush deepens and I follow his gaze until I see the sticky, dried, white spot on the bed. "Oh, shit!" I smack my forehead, a million thoughts racing through my brain. "We didn't use a condom."

Luke's head cocks to the side, a smirk over his lips. "You caught me off guard, I'll admit." He swallows, staring back at the stain. "But I had it covered, you were just too distracted to notice."

How did I not notice? I guess I was a little preoccupied. A blissful moment of obliviousness.

Heat rises in my cheeks at the mere thought of my orgasm.

It's been awhile since I've been with Luke. When we were younger, he was confident in the way only a teenage boy can be. It was enjoyable, much better than how Brynn described losing her virginity.

But it was nothing like this. My eyes trail Luke's body, his hard abdomen, chiseled chest... sculpted shoulders. All man.

"Dylan?"

Luke's voice interrupts my thoughts and I realize I'm practically biting my bottom lip off.

"Um, yeah." I murmur, awkwardly sliding out of the bed and feeling very bare without the cover of the sheets. Covering up with my hands seems equally as silly, given the situation.

"Here," He rescues me, tossing me a t-shirt from his dresser, and I quickly pull it over my head as he strips the mattress of any evidence.

I sniff at the shirt discreetly, inhaling the Luke smell, my mind suddenly buzzing.

He makes me reckless - I mean, fucking without a condom isn't normally my move. And I never would've thought I'd be here with Luke again, of all people.

My belly does a hard flip-flop and I'm worried I might be sick.

"You're sure..." My voice trails off, embarrassment choking off the rest.

"Dylan, trust me." Luke shakes his head, voice calm as he meets my eyes, "I love Finn more than anything but I am not ready to be dealing with a kid 24/7. I was careful, I promise."

"Okay." I whisper, feeling strange watching him. Being here. Having done what we did. Having napped in his bed. I pivot away from him, needing just a moment to breathe.

My phone vibrates on the nightstand but when I see MOM flash across the screen, I quickly press ignore and set my sights elsewhere.

My eyes land on the far wall of the studio, the one completely plastered in photos. Approaching slowly, I focus on the newer ones, ones of Finn and Luke, Luke and Laura, a few of the family golden retriever they got that summer.

As I get closer, I hold my breath, knowing the other pictures by heart already.

They're of the summers we spent together. The same ones we all had copies of. Some of the best times that I can remember are documented here, in these photos.

Casey's face stares back in nearly every one.

It's like a punch in the gut; the brilliance of his smile is too full of life for me to believe he is really gone. He was never supposed to be gone.

"Finn likes looking at the pictures, too." Luke says, his voice closer behind me now. I turn to see the bed fully made, no trace of our hookup in sight.

"Hm." I murmur, unsure if I would say I like looking at them. I raise my hand, fingers gently tracing the edge of an old favorite: Luke and Casey, in wetsuits, leaning against their surfboards, squinting into the sun. It's not a great shot - their mouths are open, caught in a laugh - but that only makes it that much better.

That much harder to see now.

Picking up on my silence, Luke clears his throat. "Finn used to ask about the pictures - he wanted to know the story of every one." A pause. "I always thought it was funny... I can't always remember the exact story behind them, you know? We had so many good memories, it's like these are just tiny glimpses into it all. One big blur of goodness, you know?

My eyebrows knit together as I consider his words. I'm not sure I do know.

Instead, I find another one: Luke and me, tangled in the hammock that used to hang in his backyard. Our heads are upside down off the side, our feet in the air. We look so happy. I look so happy.

I don't even recognize myself. Not that version anyways.

"He asks who everyone is." Luke continues, perhaps realizing my good mood fading. "He knows Brynn and the Coopers, seen them around the store. But he'd always ask me who the pretty girl with the long hair is." Luke peers down at me, grinning. I tilt my head to raise a brow at him and he shrugs casually. "I told him someone really special."

"Hm." I say again, only half paying attention to our conversation. I should be happy, being here with him - I was, just moments ago.

So why do I feel nauseous now?

"He liked this one the best, though." Luke's finger lands on a shot of him and Casey, sitting on top, not inside, of our old treehouse. "He says we're really cool to be on top of the treehouse like that... And of course, he always wanted to know who Casey is."

My throat tightens hearing Luke say his name.

"What do you tell him?" I have to stare at the photo so I don't glare at Luke, confusing anger coursing through me again.

"I tell him... His name was Casey and he is my best friend."

His name was Casey.

I feel a familiar tightness around my throat, a throbbing in my chest. I steal a glance at Luke, almost praying that he looks like he's hurting the way that I am.

"Then he asks where he is." His expression is flat, giving nothing away, as he just stares at the picture. "That ones harder to explain."

But it isn't, it really isn't, my thoughts remind me. It's all quite simple and yet here I am, floundering, in the bed of the person who took Casey away.

"What do you tell him?" I ask again, desperate for his reply.

"I tell him that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and they have to go away for awhile."

I snap my head forward again, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears.

Is that what all of this is? Something bad happening to someone good?

Grams asked me to go to church with her after Casey died. She thought it would help. We'd gone all my life but suddenly, I wasn't so sure about what comes next, when we're done here.

If there is something after this... If I do get to see Casey again, all I know is that the rest of my life is a really long time to wait.

And each day to get there hurts. They never seem to hurt any less.

"Dylan?" Luke whispers at the same time as my phone begins furiously vibrating against his night stand.

"I've got to get that," I mumble, unable to look him in the eye. "It's my Mom."

I feel his eyes watching me as I walk around his bed and retrieve my cell. I turn away to answer, but still feel the pressure of his watch.

"I'm on my way home." I say as soon as I pick up, before Mom has time to yell.

"Where have you been?" She shouts anyways. "We've been waiting to leave for over three hours. You were supposed to be back from Brynn's-"

"Leave then. Don't let saying goodbye to me stop you." I grunt, using one hand to pull on my underwear and shorts.

"Dylan Grace, I have had it with your attitude-"

"I already said I'm on my way home." I sigh, "It'll be like fifteen minutes."

I hang up before she can rant. With a deep sigh, I face Luke again, finding him still staring at me. He looks like he wants to speak but won't. I'm glad, unsure whether I can handle the conversation or not.

"I've got to go." I say simply, watching his expression resolve into one of confusion and then easy acceptance.

"Okay."

With one last look, at him and the pictures behind him, I head out the door and down the stairs into the garage. Ignoring another call from my mother, I almost run into someone rushing almost as much as I am.

"Oh!" I mutter, noticing an older but still recognizable Laura, Luke's older sister. And Finn, on her hip.

"Miss Dylan!" He squeals, reaching his hands out towards me.

I reach for them automatically, but Laura shifts his body away from me, her lips protruding in a heavy frown.

"You're the Dylan at the center?" She scowls, making a show of looking me up and down.

Are there many other Miss Dylan's around?

"Yes," I answer instead, slowly looking between Finn and his mom. He wriggles against her grasp, whining about saying hi.

"Hm." Laura rolls her green eyes dismissively before ascending the stairs I just ran down. "Luke!" She shouts, acting as if she hadn't seen me at all.

I open my mouth to ask what her problem is, but am interrupted by yet another phone call from Mom.

One witch at a time.

Hi everyone!
First, I owe you guys an apology for being gone for awhile without giving you guys any sort of announcement. I'm sorry for doing that and I really missed you guys while I was away!
I had a lot of things piling up on my plate and just had to take a little mental break for a bit.
But I promise I will finish this story, I know exactly where it's going and I've got lots of love for Dyl and Luke so don't worry about me giving up on them!
Thank you all for sticking with me ❤️

Now...
What do you think: is Dylan right to be mad at herself for hooking up with Luke? Should she forgive him for that summer?
What's Laura's problem?