Chapter Seven

"So, Luke… I know you guys have an agreement, but what are your intentions for our best friend?" Moira asked, sounding like a cliché from a movie.

Becca and Clara were on the trampoline together, after they'd all already taken a solo turn. The girls had been a little hesitant at first but then had to admit that this had been a good idea of his. It was easy to feel young and free when bouncing up and down. But so far it hadn't left a lot of time to talk.

"I intend to honor our agreement," Luke answered, trying not to frown too much. He didn't want to put her off. "I get you're worried…" he started to defend himself.

"I know you think you do," she corrected him. "Becca's a great girl," she started, as if he'd ever said otherwise.

"I never said she wasn't," he said calmly.

"And she deserves better than having been cheated on by Derek and potentially being taken advantage of in the name of some 'mutual agreement'," Moira continued, using air quotations.

"Oh god, she's lecturing him, isn't she?" Becca asked horrified when she noticed.

Clara tried to turn towards their friend as she still bounced. "What makes you say that?" she asked. All she could see right now was that they were both looking serious as they talked.

"She used air quotes." The grimace she got in response was enough. "She'd better not be giving him a hard time," Becca said determined, making her friend chuckle a little – if only she knew how much she sounded like she was talking about her real boyfriend.

"He's a big boy, he can look after himself," Clara wasn't worried.

"I swear I'm not taking advantage of her, in any way," Luke said seriously, and he was a little hurt that he'd been lumped in the same lot as Derek; he would never treat her like that.

Moira simply looked at him for a few seconds before seeming to nod slightly. "Okay then," she decided, and she was amused to see he was relieved she believed him. "But I'd better not hear otherwise," she added, only half serious.

"Deal," he promised.

"Everything okay?" Becca asked nervously as she approached them.

"Yeah," Luke nodded quickly, figuring her friend wouldn't want her to know about the line of questioning she'd just put him through.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Moira asked innocently. She could tell her friend didn't quite believe her. "Who's turn is it?" she added, hoping to distract them.

"I've got one more go," he said, "but if someone else would rather…."

"Me, let's go," Becca said resolutely as she grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him along back to their trampoline. "She wasn't rude to you, was she?" she asked as she climbed onto the trampoline first. He shook his head. "Liar," she smirked, holding her hand out to help him up too.

"Don't worry, she's not scared me off, if that's what you mean," Luke told her, not taking her offered hand until he was almost up. It was a lot harder to pull up his weight than she thought, not having an even footing, and she ended up losing her balance backwards. He tried to use their held hands to pull her back, but her momentum pulled him with her and they both ended up on the deck. He landed half on and half next to her.

"Ow," she laughed, as he scrambled to get off her, made harder by them bouncing a little from the impact.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" he apologized but started to laugh as she continued giggling.

"Yeah I'm fine. We must've looked like such dorks," she giggled, not in a rush to get up or to let go of his hand that she was still holding.

Luke shook his head as he tried not laugh at her. "Come on, we're wasting our last ten minutes," he said as he got up and encouraged her to do the same.

After trampolining they decided to go for dinner at the Fire Wok, a few minutes' walk away. Dinner of course allowed a lot more opportunity to talk and ask questions than trampolining. Clara and Moira asked so many questions, that Becca was starting to feel embarrassed; they were asking him things she hadn't even yet. But he was answering them with such good grace that she found herself interested in finding out even more about him. He'd already told her about some of the camping trips he'd taken with his father, but tonight he shared a few more about the trips they'd taken as a family and the pranks he and his sister had pulled on each other growing up; replace mouthwash with soap; the classic salt in tea or coffee instead of sugar; he'd performed an operation on her Barbie, so she mangled his teddy; they'd trip each other up in the worst places, including on the stairs, resulting in several broken bones and a concussion or two over the years.

As they made their way through the starters and main, Clara and Moira had to concede that Luke was a very nice guy, who seemed to be quite taken by their friend. And as they started sharing stories about the girls' holidays over the years and of some of the dates that Becca and Luke had been on, the two friends saw more of the real relationship behind the fake one. Especially when they chose to share a dessert because they were too full of the mains to have one to themselves.

Once they finished dinner, Becca found herself torn as to what to do. Her friends lived the opposite way to hers, but she could stay the night at theirs. At the same time, Luke would pass hers to his, so could drop her off.

"You're taking too long, I'm tired and jet lagged. Luke, thank you for tonight and for offering to drop Bexx off at home," Clara made the decision for them in the end. "See you next week," she said to her friend now and gave her a quick hug.

"See you soon," Becca chuckled at the way her friend had handled it.

"It was so good to see you laugh like that tonight, after the whole Derek fiasco," Moira said softly in her ear as she gave her friend a hug as well.

"Thanks," the brunette said back in a similar tone, not being able to stop herself from glancing at Luke. "Rest up, you'll need it for work on Monday," Becca said, only teasing slightly.

"Shut up," her friends both groaned, making the other two laugh. They both gave Luke a quick hug as well before they set off.

"I'm so sorry about all the stuff they asked you," she said now as they headed back towards his car.

He gave a soft chuckle. "That's okay, I get it, I think," he assured her as they continued walking. "You know… It's not that late, would you like to come to mine to watch a movie?" Luke suggested after they'd gotten in and he saw the time.

"Yeah okay," Becca nodded with a smile.

Once back at his, as she looked through his movie collection, he set about getting them drinks and the fleece blanket for if she got cold.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Her phone buzzed against her chest, where it was nestled in her pocket. She groaned her objection as she reached for it slowly, assuming it would keep buzzing as part of her alarm. With a deep sigh Becca brought her phone closer to her face and cracked one eye open. It was almost 9am and definitely not the time that she would set her alarm for on a Sunday. The banner under the time indicated that what had woken her up was a text message. She closed her eye again, wanting to rest for a little longer. The reminder buzz from the message two minutes later only annoyed her further. She mentally prepared herself to open both eyes in three, two, one. It didn't take her long to figure out she wasn't in her own room, as the pillow she was lying on was not hers.

A lot more awake now she lifted her head up and saw Luke asleep next to her. She jumped a little before realizing that he was lying on top of the duvet, with the fleece blanket from the living room as cover. Becca relaxed back into the pillow, assured nothing untoward had happened. She must've fallen asleep during the movie. She felt so comfortable around him now that she'd thought nothing of it to cuddle up to him with the fleece blanket when she got cold. But that had probably meant she was so comfortable that she'd fallen asleep in no time. Luke must have carried her to his room instead of wanting to wake her or leave her on the sofa, where it could get a little chillier during the night. Her phone gave another buzz, reminding her what had woken her up in the first place.

'Bexx, are you okay? You never came home last night. Let me know you're okay x,' the first text read, from Derek. The second text simply read, 'Bexx?! x'; clearly, she hadn't answered fast enough for her ex-boyfriend. She gave an eye roll before she started her response.

'Derek, I'm okay. I'm at Luke's.'

'Really, already?' came back quickly. She realized that he would've remembered it had taken them a little while when they first got together before she'd stayed the night at his. This would therefore really annoy him.

'I appreciate you looking out for me, I do. But where I am and who I'm with is no longer your concern, Derek,' she wrote now.

'Glad you're okay x,' was his last response and she could practically see him sulking as he wrote it. Becca put her phone away on the bedside table as she tried to settle back in.

"Morning," Luke's voice broke. Her movement had jarred him from his sleep, rubbing his eyes as he moved onto his side towards her.

"Morning, I'm sorry," Becca said, smiling when he looked adorably confused.

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked.

"For falling asleep, I didn't mean to," she said, seeing him frown now.

"You don't need to apologize for that," he told her in no uncertain terms. It was no big deal. He gave a stretch before he went through his hair to try to wake up a bit more.

"I should probably get going," Becca said slowly, sitting up a bit and trying to get herself to move; his bed was very comfortable, and she felt warm and snug where she was.

"Oh... sure... I guess you've got stuff to do," Luke nodded, feeling and looking disappointed. "Unless..." he added hesitantly.

"Unless?"

"You want to go get a tree and trim it together?" he suggested. "I mean, I know I won't be home for Christmas itself, but... It could be fun," he added, knowing it might sound silly; after all, there was only just over a week before he'd be flying home.

"Sure... I just..." Becca nodded until she remembered she was in last night's clothes with nothing with her to freshen up.

He glanced at her too and realized what was making her hesitate. "Okay, I have another idea. If you're okay giving me fifteen minutes to shower, I can drop you off at yours and get breakfast while you get ready," Luke suggested now, seeing her slowly break into a smile.

"That sounds good to me," she nodded again.

"Great, give me fifteen," he said and almost jumped out of bed to head to the bathroom.

"I'm timing you," she called after him teasingly, hearing him chuckle. She smiled to herself as she gave herself five more minutes in bed before getting up and heading out to the living room, so she wouldn't be in the way when he wanted to get dressed. She chuckled to herself when she spotted last night's socks on the floor by the foot of the bed.

Becca went through her hair with her fingers, trying to sort out her tangled waves a little. She hadn't noticed Luke making his way from the bedroom towards the living room, stopping to take her in. Even in last night's clothes, jeans and her strappy top, with her hair a little tangled, she still looked great.

"Okay, now it's your turn. Fifteen minutes starting now," Luke warned her as he pulled up outside of her apartment and held up his watch for her to see the time.

"That's not fair. Thirty?" his fake girlfriend objected. Fifteen minutes would only be enough to shower, let alone actually get dressed.

He gave her a thoughtful look. "I might allow for that, but I'll need a way to get in, so I can get breakfast ready properly," he said.

"That's easy. I'll leave the key under the front mat," Becca said with a shrug. "See you in thirty," she grinned and got out of the car after kissing him on the cheek, jogging up to the front gate and up the stairs. Her pretend boyfriend couldn't help watching her as she ran, before he shook his head clear and pulled away to get them breakfast. He had the perfect thing in mind.

Becca unlocked her door and hid the key like she said she would. She then ran straight into her bathroom to get showered. She loved washing her hair and feeling the hot water pound down on her shoulders and back, so she really had to try not to enjoy it too much otherwise he'd be here before she knew it.

She'd just made it into her bedroom with her towel wrapped around when she heard the key in the front door. "Oh shit," she muttered to herself as she rushed to close the bedroom door. "Luke?" she called, trying not to sound panicked, just to check.

"Yeah, I'm back. You've got seven minutes left," he warned her as he went into the kitchen to get plates ready.

"I count nine," she yelled back, rushing towards her closet. She grabbed a clean pair of jeans and threw them on the bed.

"Seven, now six! Nice try though," Luke called with a laugh, grabbing two coffee mugs and some cutlery. He kept the breakfast warm in its container as he set the rest of it on the table. He poured his coffee into one mug and her earl grey tea in the other.

"Shit, shit, shit," Becca muttered to herself, trying to figure out what to wear with the jeans. "Why? Why did I not do laundry yesterday?!" she groaned to herself, left with work clothes and things she'd forgotten she had.

"Three minutes," her fake boyfriend teased. She was about to panic when she realized that this wasn't a real date. She took a settling breath, pulled her jeans on and went back to her closet. There was one nice work blouse that wasn't too fancy and still comfortable, so she pulled that one on before turning her attention to her make-up; all she needed was some quick eyeliner and mascara. She was just towel drying her hair when she heard a knock on the door. "Time's up," he called, stopping short when she opened the door. Even with her hair still wet and tangled, she looked gorgeous in the light blue blouse with small patterned flowers and butterflies on it. "Breakfast's ready," Luke told her when he'd regained himself.

"Two seconds to brush my hair?" Becca asked with a cheeky smile, seeing him roll his eyes in defeat.

"Fine, I'll see you in two seconds. Hurry up though otherwise breakfast will get cold," he warned her, making her very curious. Luke smiled to himself with an eye roll as he headed back into the living room, not totally surprised she needed a few more minutes than the time originally agreed. A knock on the front door stopped him sitting down at the dining table.

"Luke, do you mind getting that?" Becca called, having heard it as well. She was in the middle of adding a few curls to her already slightly curly hair and she didn't want him to know she was doing her hair slightly more thoroughly than she'd said when bargaining for the extra minutes.

"Sure," he called back and made his way over to the door. He was surprised and bemused to see Derek stood there. "Oh, mornin'," he nodded, trying not to grin and be too obvious that this worked out perfectly.

"Oh, Luke, hi. I wasn't expecting you," Derek said quite honestly, too surprised to think of something quick. "Sorry," he said and started turning away.

"Everything okay, or that I can help you with?" Luke asked, stepping out of the door to follow.

"No, no I'm good, thanks," her ex said. He'd seen Becca be dropped off, so he figured it would be safe to come see if she was okay. It was unlike her to just stay out all night and, while he knew she'd said it was none of his business anymore what she got up to, he couldn't help but want to talk to her and stay in touch with her. Derek missed their conversations and was selfishly hoping they could stay friends. He also knew he couldn't say that to her new boyfriend, his colleague, either.

"Okay… bye," Luke called now and, with a soft chuckle to himself, closed the door again.

"Who was that?" Becca's curious voice made him jump. In his moment of gloating, he hadn't heard her come out of the bedroom.

"Derek, he…." he started answering as he turned towards her, caught off-guard by how pretty she looked this morning and he couldn't help thinking that she'd been worth the wait.

"He…?" she prompted him when he didn't finish, lost in appreciating her.

"Oh, eh, he didn't actually say what he wanted," her pretend boyfriend said now, trying not to be obvious about shaking his head clear. "Right… glad to see you used your extra minutes wisely," Luke said as he stepped around her to head towards the dining table again. She smiled to herself, thinking correctly he was trying to tell her she looked pretty. "I hope you're hungry," he continued as he now unveiled the surprise breakfast – two stacks of Magenta pancakes.

"Oh yum, brilliant idea," Becca praised him as she followed his lead and sat down.

He merely gave a smile this time, putting two pancakes on her plate to start with. "Dig in," he encouraged her now as he took two himself as well. He was trying not to keep looking at her, not daring to be distracted by her again.

"Thanks," she said, wondering why he was being distant, and he hated that she sounded a little off because of him. He was going to have to get over himself if they were going to have a good day together today.

As soon as they left her flat and Luke had to focus on driving them to the Christmas tree farm, he was able to distract himself from her and pull himself together. He decided he wasn't going to wonder why she was making him feel like this, or at least not right that day.

The Christmas tree farm wasn't too far so it didn't take them long to get there. It never ceased to amaze her that he opened the car door for her every single time, giving him a brilliant smile in thanks, making him feel it was worth doing it every time.

"So, what kind of tree do you want?" she asked as they started wandering the lot, taking hold of his hand without thinking twice. She'd gotten so used to over the past couple of weeks.

"A big one," Luke answered, making her laugh.

"But you're leaving in just over a week," she pointed out.

"No, I don't care. Go big or go home," he stood firm. "We always had a big tree at home," he added, reminding her that he'd not had his father around for the last few years.

As annoying as her mother could be, she knew she meant well and she was a massive daddy's girl at heart; how could she deny him this tradition that reminded him of his family? "Okay fine, your choice," Becca shrugged and started looking around properly for a nice big tree. "Seen any you like yet?" she asked.

"Not yet," he shook his head, also still looking around him. She took him by surprise after a few minutes by stopping dead in her tracks. "You okay?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, I found you your tree," she said as she spread her arms in a ta-da gesture at a healthy, big bodied tree.

"You sure?" he asked, not convinced. This one may have too many needles, looking that big and almost fluffy, in a prickly kind of way.

"Oh yeah, definitely," she nodded assured.

He turned to look at her now, taking her in. Just when he thought he was starting to get to know her pretty well, she surprised him again. "How?" Luke asked when she didn't offer the information on her own.

"Oh, it's very scientific," Becca chuckled. "First, you look at it dead on," she said, straightening up as she turned her attention to the tree again. After a second and an encouraging nod from her, he did the same. "Then you tilt your head from one side to the other," she tried not to laugh now as she did so and nudged him to do the same.

"I feel ridiculous," he muttered under his breath, only making it harder for her not to laugh.

"Next, the smell test," she said, leaning in slightly and inhaled deeply through her nose. "It smells so fresh and like Christmas," she told him what she was looking for when she did that.

"Okay, okay, but how do you know it's the one?" he rushed her to get to the conclusion.

"You just know," she shrugged, and it felt to both of them that somehow his question and her answer had gone beyond tree shopping now as their eyes met.

"Okay, yeah it's a good tree," he agreed, clearing his throat as he turned back to it.

"Let's take a picture of our tree," she suggested, holding her phone up. He pulled her in closer, his arm around the front of her neck and resting lightly on her shoulder. She snapped one picture, then raised her free hand to lightly cup his face for the next one. He couldn't help raising his hand to meet hers and lean into her, having forgotten the camera phone in her hand. She took one more picture before lowering her hand a little as she glanced up at him, his ocean blue eyes meeting her forest greens. Becca could feel herself go a little woozy as he held her gaze, as his fingers gently caressed hers. Luke hadn't realized he was leaning in towards her until, "would you like me to take the picture for you?" They finally broke contact as they both turned to the voice, belonging to the tree lot's salesman.

"Sure," she nodded, her mouth feeling a little dry as she handed her phone over. His hand let go of hers as he brought it down towards her waist, pulling her in front of him a little more. Her hand dropped from his face, resting on his arm around her neck instead.

"Smile," he encouraged them, snapping the picture for them. "Such a nice couple, have you been together long?" he asked, not realizing that his words made them feel like they were playing their parts too well.

"Only a few weeks," Luke said, clearing his throat as he, slowly, let go of his 'girlfriend' to make it look natural. "We'd like to get this tree, please," he got back to the business at hand, missing the flushed look on her face as she stepped out of their way.

They were both lost in their own thoughts on their way to his apartment, not quite sure what had just happened. Becca was flicking through her recent pictures on her phone, most of them of activities she and Luke had done together. She skipped the ones from today, thinking it would be better to wait for any others she might take while doing the tree and make a collage that she could upload.

Luke couldn't figure out where his head was at, blaming what had happened earlier on being tired. It was easier to do that than have to be honest with himself, which he had no intention of doing while he was still spending time with her today.

Together they carried the tree into his apartment and, as Luke straightened it out and managed to maneuver it into the corner he wanted, Becca set out the decorations they'd bought and found some he already owned. He put the radio on, so they could listen to some Christmas songs as they decorated together, like earlier never happened. When he complained about the amount of colored tinsel she was hanging around the tree, she proceeded to hang some around his neck and waist, laughing when he gave her an incredulous look. She snuck some baubles from the pile, hanging two from the tinsel on his back before he realized what she was doing and tried tickling her. "Come on, you might as well let me finish now," Becca implored as she giggled, pleasantly surprised when he let her hang two more around the front. "Think Christmas tree," she encouraged him as she wanted to take a picture of him. He gave her a glare before he put on a smile. As soon as she indicated she'd taken it, he lifted the tinsel and baubles over his head as one.

"Right," Luke said decidedly as he made to grab her and tickle her as payback.

"No!" she giggled with a squeal as she tried to get away from him, but he caught her before she was able to run into the bathroom and lock herself in. "I won't post it, I promise," she squealed as she tried to get him to stop tickling her, making him laugh as well.

"As long as you promise," he said for good measure, seeing her cross her heart. He stopped tickling her but didn't release his hold on her yet, in case she changed her mind or said anything else. She half-heartedly tried pulling away, but he maintained his hold quite easily. "Fancy take out?" he asked, still not ready for today to come to an end.

"Sure," she nodded and tried a little harder to get away when he steered her towards the kitchen for the take-out menus.

They settled for Tex Mex as they watched TV.

After dinner, Luke drove her home. They agreed that this week should just be the one date, as they'd have the two office parties on Friday and Saturday, before leaving for Chicago together on the Sunday.

"This was a good weekend," he said when he'd parked up the car outside hers. They both peered out a little, trying to see if Derek was around or not.

"Yeah, I had fun," she smiled, turning in towards him a little. "You don't need to walk me up," she told him now, seeing him nod. "See you Wednesday," Becca said, leaning in to give him a quick hug. She was just pulling back to give him a kiss on the cheek, when he noticed movement behind her. He went through her hair and pulled her in to kiss her properly. He'd half-expected her to pull away, but she reciprocated enthusiastically.

They were both so surprised at how they lost themselves in the moment, that it took Luke several minutes before he was able to pull away and see that there was no one out there anymore.

"Sorry, I thought that was Derek," he said lamely, trying not to show he was fighting to regain his breathing as much as she was.

"Uh huh, yeah… of course," she nodded, as if what they'd just done was every-day and not a problem, going through her hair to straighten out her thoughts. "See you Wednesday," she repeated and got out of his car now. He gave her a bit of a lame wave before he pulled away, still surprised at the caliber of that kiss. He might have started it, but boy had she made it.

It wasn't until he got home that he saw she'd tagged him in a post during dinner; 'yummy TexMex to round off a perfect weekend', with two photo collages of yesterday's trampolining and the finished Christmas tree. He wondered why she hadn't included one of the other pictures from when they'd been tree shopping, as they surely would've looked like evidence of their blossoming romance.