One Step Further ((Luke))

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

Caitlin looked at herself in the mirror for another moment. She was about to turn around and pull her blouse up over her head when the mirror spoke to her in a snooty voice, “Good idea, that blouse made you look like a green cow.” Caitlin gasped and turned around, holding her hand to her chest in offense. “Gee, thanks.” She replied. The voice snorted and Caitlin glowered, pulling a cord that let a curtain drop over it so she could change in peace. She pulled the green blouse over her head and pulled on a light blue one in its place. It was a v-neck shirt that went a little lower than Caitlin would have liked, but she wore a white camisole underneath it so it was okay. It was a simple outfit, a light blue top with a pair of jeans and heeled boots. She grabbed her light brown leather jacket and pulled it on over her top, making sure her hair was still in its pony tail and still curly. She was ready. Ready for the date. The date with Luke. How odd was that? Caitlin was going on a date, Caitlin never went on dates. But here she was, ready for a date. It wasn’t her first date, but it was her first date with a guy she actually liked. Most of her other dates had started out blindly, and then she’d either A) start to like the guy or B) completely detest the guy and never speak to him again. Luke was different, though, because she knew she liked him. After all, she had kissed him, hadn’t she? Caitlin bit her bottom lip and grabbed her handbag, shoving it onto her shoulder, and left the sixth year girl dormitories. She was supposed to meet him at Hogsmeade, which wasn’t anything she couldn’t do. Caitlin was looking forward to the time to prepare herself for the awkwardness of the date that was sure to follow the first ten or so minutes of them standing there and looking shy.

She dodged people in the common room, even Colin who she thought she caught a glimpse of as she sped out of it and down the stairs to the main entrance of the castle. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone, let alone him if he had in fact been there. Caitlin stuffed her hands in her pockets as she walked outside into the warm spring air, the breeze tossed her hair to the right and the sun made her squint. She pulled out her sunglasses and put them over her eyes with a small sigh as she neared the carriages that took the students to Hogsmeade. She grabbed an empty one and within a second she was off toward her date. Her eyes looked out the window as the carriage rolled by. Her mind was elsewhere, though. Then again, her mind was always elsewhere. It only took about ten minutes to get to Hogsmeade, and then Caitlin stepped out of the carriage, the bright sunlight still too bright through her purple tinted sunglasses. She grinned and made her way into the village with a gaiety that was unlike her. She was never this happy to go to Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade weekends were usually spent alone though, or with superficial friends who couldn’t hold an intelligent conversation. This was different. This was very different. This was a good different, though. She felt something inside her she hadn’t felt in awhile. Nerves. It was nerves. Caitlin would have normally hated it, but she embraced the butterfly feeling in her stomach and made her way to the Three Broomsticks.

Pushing open the door, Caitlin stepped inside. Oh, Lord. It was one of those weekends. When all the traveling wizards stopped by and had one too many drinks and hit on all the young girls. Caitlin scowled. She couldn’t leave, though, because she told Luke she would meet him here. One look around the pub and she noticed that Luke wasn’t there yet. She groaned and made her way in, sitting at the bar and ordering a water. She was hoping no one would come up to her, oh why hope when it wouldn’t be true? “Hey, there,” Caitlin looked to her right to see a man who couldn’t have been much older than she, sitting beside her on the stool. “Hi,” she muttered as her water appeared in front of her. She took a sip, ignoring the guy’s advances. “Can I get you a drink? A salad? A hamburger?” She stared off into the distance, sipping slowly at her water. The guy began to get frustrated. “C’mon, birdie, you can’t come in here and tease a man like you are.” “I’m not doing any teasing of any sort.” The man roared with laughter, “Sure you are, what school you go to, bird?” Caitlin scowled, “Hogwarts.” “Oh, yeah? I went to Durmstrang meself.” “Goodie good good for you, look I’m meeting a friend, if you don’t mind…” She turned to get up from her spot on the barstool, figuring she’d wait for Luke outside, and dropped a sickle on the countertop.

The man grabbed her arm as she went to walk away, “ I don’t mind, but why don’t you stay and have a drink while you’re waiting for your girl friend?” Caitlin scowled again and yanked on her arm, trying to get it out of his grip. She was about to say something about how it wasn’t a girl friend who she was meeting up with, but someone else answered for her.

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke rubbed the white towel into his dripping wet hair before throwing it aside. There was loud music playing from the other side of the dorm room that almost made the walls shake. It wasn’t bad music, that made Luke just want to put large, overstuffed earmuffs over his ears that was charmed to block all sounds. Actually, one of his favorite bands songs was playing. Grinning, he mouthed the words to himself, opening the door to the closet which he shared with Bryce. No body wanted to hear Luke sing. It would be probably compared to a dying animal, or nails on a chalk board. Plus, singing in the boys dormitory when you couldn’t sing worth your life, could lead to some serious cruel jokes. Pulling out a yellow plan tee shirt along with a black button down shirt, he threw it on over his head turning around toward his dorm mate. The guy was lying down flat on his back, holding up a magazine out in front of him. “Doesn’t that look too casual for a date?” he said looking up from over top of the magazine. Luke looked down at his shirt, a confused look clearly crossing his face. “What do you mean? It’s not like I’m going to some fancy ball or party outing.” Smoothing down the front of his shirt, Luke looked back up at his friend. “At least take off the yellow shirt, and just leave on the black dress shirt.” Luke considered the idea, pilling the under shirt off, and buttoning up just the black buttons. He left the first two unbuttoned, pulling out a pair of jeans from the button of the closet. Tugging those on, he smiled at his reflection through the mirror.

Normally, Luke didn’t care what he wore. He would have just worn that yellow tee shirt, and joke to his friend about his own style of clothing. This night, however, was different. It was his first date with Caitlin, and Luke really did want to take that extra effort to look alright. He knew Caitlin didn’t care what he wore, but he still wanted to look alright. After all, she was beautiful, so Luke had to make sure he was alright when with her. Running his fingers through his dried blonde hair, he ruffled it slightly to give it that usual untidy look. Grabbing a leather brown wallet from on top of his bed, Luke slid it into the front of his pocket, along with his wand. Only thing left was that bracelet that he bought for cheap at one of the stores in Hogsmeade. It wasn’t laid out on his bed, or even inside his trunk. Feeling frantic, he got down on his hands and knees, lifting the end of the bed skirt. Right under his bed was his cat Romeo on his back, with the necklace between his paws. There were clearly seen chew marks on the plastic beads. “Give me that!” he said, grabbing the bracelet from his cat’s paws. Romeo’s green eyes pierced Luke’s clearly showing the words hey. Leaning back Luke side as he watched his cat come out, jumping up onto his bed curling into a ball. Well he wasn’t about to give something chewed up like this to Caitlin. Sighing, he placed the bracelet in front of Romeo, who gladly began to paw at it.

Shrugging that aside, Luke grabbed a pair of black sunglasses as he made his way out of the dorm room. It didn’t take him long to be walking down the streets of Hogsmeade, toward the pub he told Caitlin to meet him at. There was a huge grin on his face, as finally reached his destination, entering the pub. It was surely busy, but what place wasn’t busy on Friday nights? Noticing Caitlin at one end his grin turned into a frown as an older guy held onto her arm tightly. Quickly making his way through the crowd, Luke tried hard to control his angry side. Once he reached her, he wrapped an arm around her slim waist, pulling the guys fingers off her arm. “She’s with me,” he said simply, blocking the space that was between the man and Caitlin. Luke glared through his glasses as he heard a snort. Even though there were glasses covering his angry blue eyes, there was still anger apparent on every outline of his face which made the guy not even say a word. Leaning in closer to man, Luke smirked. “Anyway, she’s a bit out of your league.” With that, he steered Caitlin away, toward the other direction looking for an empty table. Spotting one, he made sure Caitlin was seated before taking a seat of his own. Luke’s angry mood seemed to just vanish in thin air as he grinned at Caitlin. “Seems like I have some competition tonight…….By the way, you look gorgeous tonight.”

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

The words were almost out of her mouth when she felt someone's arm slip around her waist. Caitlin was about to turn and yell at this new person when a voice spoke, telling the man that she was with him. All mean words she was tempted to throw at him vanish completely. Luke told the sleazy guy that she was out of his league and then led her away. She shook her head, "I hate weekends like these. It's like, unless you come in with someone virtually suctioned to your hip, then you're free to be hit on." Caitlin sat down in the chair that Luke had pulled out for her, smiling at him She laughed lightly when he said that he had competition and then complimented her. "Thanks, you look great, too. And I wouldn't worry about him as competition- he's not my type." Caitlin thought about that. Did she even have a type? It wasn't something that she had ever really thought about. She hadn't really liked anyone, so the thought wasn't one that she often crossed. If she did have a type, would Luke had been it? Did it matter? Caitlin shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts circling her mind. She would focus on the date. The date. Oh, no. Now the nerves she had felt earlier returned full force. She tugged on her shirt, her eyes downcast as there was silence between them for awhile. She hated silences, well at least silences that made her nervous or uncomfortable. Actually then, Caitlin didn't like being nervous or uncomfortable, not ever and not especially when she's out with a guy that she really liked. Caitlin looked up from her hands at Luke across the table. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it only to open it again. This time, though, words came out. "L... Luke, are.... I... this.... you..." Caitlin sighed, her words were coming out, they just weren't making sense. She closed her eyes and tried again, "Are you as nervous as I am?"

Now that the words were out, Caitlin started to grow mortified at how stupid they sounded. Well, it was too late now, they were out. She bit her lip and tucked her hair behind her ear, "I mean, that's dumb, right? To be nervous. Are you? I know, I just said it'd be dumb - but I just... that's... ugh... why can't I put together a proper sentence?" Caitlin groaned and picked up a menu, trying to distract herself. Maybe she should just stop talking completely. Would that make everything easier for the both of them? Probably not. That silence would return and the uncomfortability and nervousness would always be there if Caitlin didn't talk. Normally, Caitlin didn't have issues with talking at all, but today she was and that scared her. She had never been speechless in her life and the idea that Luke could do that to her made her want to hide under her bed. If she didn't have her words, what did she have? Caitlin looked over the menu, not feeling very hungry at the moment, but only using it as a means of distraction. Since when did Caitlin need a distraction? All of it was scaring her and she hated it. She risked a look at Luke and then sighed, "I don't... want it to be like this It's probably just me, but I'm completely nervous. I'm not used to being nervous, so I don't know what to say." The more she talked the more she wished she didn't, but the words kept flowing out of her mouth without desire. This was not who Caitlin was, she never babbled nervously. Her stomach churned and she almost started talking again when a waitress appeared.

"What'll you two be having?" The waitress asked, smacking her gum noisily. Caitlin looked a little disgusted at the noise of the gum popping and then closed her menu. She ordered a water with a lemon slice before turning to look at Luke again. Luke ordered and then Caitlin dove into speaking again, "I... you know that question you asked me in the Student Lounge? And I said I do if you do? You never answered me back - you just asked me here and while I'm pretty sure it's a date, that doesn't answer the question." Here Caitlin paused, taking a deep breath and picked up her glass of water that had appeared in front of her and taking a drink. When she was replenished, she looked down at her hands, "Do you want to be with me? Because if you don't... then I don't know what I'm doing here."

[Luke Dallan H7]

Luke smiled at Caitlin’s compliment as he settled himself into the chair. “Oh yes. He’s way too old for you…” he began leaning across the table so she could hear him. “I actually think I saw a wedding ring on his engaged finger. Wonder if his wife knows what he’s up too.” Leaning back, Luke looked over back at the man who was now chatting with another girl. If the man really was married, then didn’t he love his wife enough not to pick up other women? A sickened look crossed his face at the thought. Wasn’t marriage supposed to mean a symbol of love and loyalty between two people? Shaking the unwanted thoughts from his mind, Luke took of his sunglasses, placing them into the pocket of his pants. Looking over at Caitlin he watched her fiddle with the hem of her shirt, an award silence engulfing him. This was the first time he had ever been on a date with someone he really liked. Strangely, Luke wasn’t nervous, well not enough for him to be fiddling around with the silverware, or napkin. Caitlin seemed anxious though, which made Luke wonder if she really wanted to be here with him. Well she was here, which meant that it had to butterflies in her stomach. Luke didn’t know exactly what to say as he picked up the menu that laid across the white plate. When she finally spoke, her words were all jumbled which made Luke’s eyebrow rise curiously. “As odd as it might seem, I’m not nervous at all,” he answered offering an encouraging smile. “Well…I was before I got here, but when I saw you the butterflies just left.”

When she continued rambling on, Luke just listened, trying hard not to laugh at her nervous words. “Do you usually ramble like that when you’re nervous?” he asked, his blue eyes staring into hers with playfulness. Maybe that wasn’t the wisest thing to joke about, but he wanted her to smile. “Caitlin, there’s no need to be nervous around me. It isn’t like I’m the big scary boogey man who’s going to eat you for dinner.” Laughing lightly at his joke, he watched her pick up the menu avoiding his eye contact. Frowning slightly, Luke looked back at his own menu debating whether or not he could keep some food down. He hadn’t eaten all day, and his stomach surely was beginning to protest. Looking down the long columns of food choices, he couldn’t choose between the hamburger and fires, or the chicken fried steaks with garlic mashed potatoes. What if Caitlin wasn’t going to eat? He surely couldn’t eat anything in front of her while she just drank her beverage. Or what if she just orders a salad, but nothing else because she doesn’t want to eat? This was ridiculous. Why was he beating himself over whether or not she would eat? When Caitlin spoke again, Luke looked up relieved, but felt a little uneasy as he talked about their last meeting in the Lounge. He felt a bit embarrassed about the way he asked her out, but you had to say, it was original.

The waitress finally came asking for their drink orders. He didn’t take his eyes off Caitlin as she ordered water; though that gum was starting to get on his nerves. “I’ll have a butter beer please,” he said looking briefly at the waitress and back to Caitlin. “You are going to get something to eat right? Or do I have to order you something and spoon feed it to you?” Luke said trying an attempt at making her laugh, but it must have failed as she asked him a serious question. Sighing, Luke couldn’t believe she was asking him this. How could she even think he didn’t want to be with her? When his butter beer appeared, he shot the waitress a quick glance which meant they needed a couple more minutes before ordering. When she left he looked into Caitlin’s eyes shaking his head. “How could you think I didn’t want to be with you?” he asked wondering if all the times he tried to get her to talk to him meant nothing. “Of course I want to be with you Caitlin. I wouldn’t be on this date right now if I didn’t.” Reaching across the table, he took her small hand into his large on, giving it a tight squeeze. “There isn’t any other girl that I want to be with right now than you. Do you believe that?”

[Caitlin Martinez G7]

Caitlin laughed lightly and propped her chin up on her hand which was in turn propped up by her elbow on the table; “Lucky you, I’m a nervous wreck. Just as long as you don’t promise to laugh at me later on about my nerves, I’m sure I can settle down a bit.” She smiled brightly at Luke and took another sip of her water. She honestly was starting to calm down already. Caitlin wasn’t normally huge on nerves. She was rather laid back. What happened, happened and that was the way it was. She could deal with anything with that mindset, but when it came to dating Luke Dallan? Yeah, that seemed to completely disappear from her mind. “And I wouldn’t know,” she responded with a small shrug, “I normally don’t get nervous. Congratulations, Luke, you’ve found something that makes me ramble.” Caitlin looked at him with a smirk and shook her head slightly, amusement on her face. She honestly didn’t want to be nervous throughout the whole date. If she was nervous, then what fun could come from the date? Nothing fun, that’s what. She smiled at him; “I don’t know, Luke, you could pull off the bogey man look quite well, I’d think.” She was joking with him completely, which meant she was slowly becoming comfortable with her surroundings. This was just like every other time. Nothing different. Except that it meant they were on a date and possibly more dates after. No pressure, though, Cait, no pressure at all.

She laughed again when he asked if he had to spoon feed her and she shook her head, “No, I’ll eat. I...hope. I haven’t been very hungry lately, but I’ll eat. I don’t necessarily enjoy being spoon fed by my dates.” She raised her eyebrows at him and then sipped at her water again before she asked him the question that had been plaguing her mind for awhile. Luke’s joking demeanour seemed to disappear as he answered her question. Caitlin smiled softly when he took her hand and squeezed it lightly, “I guess I just want to make sure you want to go into this before I let myself go into it head first, you know?” She smiled at him a bit more before the waitress came back and smacked her gum noisily as she asked if they were ready to order now. Caitlin rolled her eyes and nodded, saying she’d take a salad for an appetizer and then some potato soup for the entrée. After Luke had ordered, she turned back to him and smirked; “See? I’m eating...you worry too much. Alright, alright, alright, so we’ve got the uncomfortable awkward stuff out of the way.” Caitlin smiled brightly and leaned back comfortably in her chair, “Let’s get to the inquisition. Do you normally go around stealing books from girls you’re interested in, Luke Dallan?” She was obviously referring to him stealing her Astronomy book that doubled as a journal. That was the thing that had led her to kissing him. That seemed years ago when in fact it was only weeks ago.

(('Tis short, I know, but I figured you wouldn't mind.))