Chapter 5:

*LUNA'S POV:

Thursday rolled around rather quickly. Drowsy as always, I immediately stumbled over Apollo and nearly hit the floor in my first few moments awake. Glaring down at the dog strategically placed at the side of my bed, he simply wagged his tail with satisfaction. Save that for Eddie, I teased, causing his ears to perk up. He followed right behind as I travelled downstairs. MeMe had just taken a piece of toast from the toaster, spreading butter graciously. We exchanged greetings as I rummaged through the fridge for jelly.

"When are your friends coming over again?" she asked, handing me the knife.

"Just before five," I answered, taking a piece of toast.

"You know your parents and I are headed back to my house, right?"

"I know, Mom told me the other night. Something about cleaning up again?"

"That's right." she nodded. "You think I can meet your boyfriend this time?"

I laughed, "MeMe, I promise you'll meet him today."

She thanked me for giving the certain opportunity before heading to the living room with her breakfast. I finished mine and took a swig of water before heading back upstairs. Since I had still no real idea what we were doing, I messaged Zoie to see if she had come up with any ideas. It's not like we needed to do anything spectacular, but the thought was always fun.

Zoe: I do have an idea for tonight. Dress pretty and tell Eddie to do the same.

-What's the idea?

Zoe: I'll come over early just dress up a bit but not too much.

-Okay?

I did as Zoie said and texted Eddie.

-Dress up a bit. But not too much :)

Eddie: What for?

-Idk, one of Zoie's ideas. She said like dressy casual or something.

Eddie: Okay?

Digging through the closet and the abundance of clothing and, I rummaged through some recent purchases and decided on jut a sundress. Running a. Brush through my hair was all I did in that aspect, with natural looking makeup to follow. Hope this was what Zoie was shooting for.

As I stepped out of my bathroom, my dad was there to greet me with the question of walking Apollo. I happily agreed, calling the dog and watching as he scrambled against the hardwood in excitement, paws tapping as he wiggled his tail. Apollo trotted outside and I decided I wouldn't bother with a leash. He's trained well enough to listen when called. I guided him to the grassy areas along the sidewalk since the heat of the concrete was a little unbearable for his feet. He sniffed around as I took in the summer breeze and the clear sunny sky.

"Need a ride?"

Distracted from my trance, I turned towards the voice and saw Zoie pulled up to the curb in a car. I have Apollo with me, I warned. That's okay, she shrugged, her dog had been in the car plenty of times. Apollo obeyed when I yelled for him, jumping into the back seat and immediately sticking his head out the window.

As I got into the passenger's seat, I asked, "So what's this idea of yours exactly?"

"Everything's in the trunk. I was thinking maybe we could do a little romantic double dinner date. I wasn't sure if you had all the ingredients so I just brought everything I thought we'd need."

I nodded as we pulled into my driveway. Apollo was let out and and ran back to the house while Zoie and I gathered the materials from her trunk. There was a large picnic basket and a bag or two of other items. You look cute by the way, Zoie smiled, walking to the door with the basket. Thanks, I said, returning the compliment. Everything was set on the counter and arranged for organization. From the looks of it we were making spaghetti.

"The boys aren't coming until a bit later, right?" she asked, filling the water.

"They're coming at five but they could come earlier."

"Oh we have plenty of time then."

"Basically," I said, turning one of the stovetop burners on.

Zoie greeted my mom once she entered the kitchen. She asked what the two of us were up to because of the nice attire and messy kitchen. Zoie explained the simple date idea and offered some food for the family as well.

Mom cooed, "Oh, how sweet of you girls. Already practicing your housewife skills."

Mom was of course making a joke, but Zoie was quick with a sarcastic response. "Who said we weren't poisoning the boys to get one step closer to destroying the patriarchy?"

That earned a laugh from all of us. Mom the left us to finish cooking. The non-poisoned spaghetti and garlic bread combo was a simple meal so it didn't take long to prepare. We called my family down to feed them and got plenty of compliments about the flavors and execution. Zoie and I sat back since we were waiting to eat with our boyfriends.

As they cleaned up their plates, Apollo barked from the front door, indicating that the boys were probably here. I stood up to answer the knocking but my dad stopped me. Allow me, he said, taking a dramatic breath before swinging open the door to reveal two boys, each with a bouquet of flowers and a stunning smile.

"Sorry, no one ordered any flowers." Dad said, slamming the door in their faces.

I whined, "Dad,"

"I'm kidding," he laughed, opening the door again. "I'm guessing you're here for my daughter and the other one?"

"I'm here for your daughter, Sir." Eddie said, acting like they've never met or something.

"I'm here for the other one."

"Thanks, guys." Zoie said sarcastically, waving her hand.

Eddie walked up to me and handed me the beautiful bundle of white daisies. Thanking him, I gave him a warm hug and a quick kiss. He looked snazzy in a black button up; I felt a strange desire to just rip it open.

"Well," Mom sighed, "We'd love to stay and chat but we're gonna head over to my mom's house for a bit."

"Wait," I grabbed Eddie's hand, "You have to meet my grandmother."

I guided him over to MeMe, who was smiling the entire time. He stuck his hand out for an introductory shake, but she pulled him in for a hug instead. He was much more comfortable with that. Such a gentleman as always, MeMe was incredibly flattered and impressed with his manners and personality. He knew how to win someone over and I think he got my gramma spot on.

"Well it was so nice to finally meet you, Eddie. I look forward to seeing you around!" she happily stated, heading towards the door.

"As to you!" he said back, waving erratically.

"Have fun, you guys," Mom said, walking out the door, "but don't do anything illegal and don't make children!"

"I'll kill you both!" I heard Dad yell. The four of us looked at each other confusingly and laughed.

Eddie asked, "Which two did he mean?"

"Does it matter?" Jalen replied.

I giggled at Jalen's comment before Eddie wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, planting small kisses along my shoulder. "Now what's this idea someone had?"

***

Eddie and Jalen loved the dinner set up for them. Zoie lit a candle here and there as I placed both of our flower arrangements into separate vases. The four of us sat at the extended counter in the kitchen with the food, eating away. Eddie and I even attempted the classic spaghetti noodle kiss like in 'The Lady and the Tramp' as Zoie and Jalen gagged at our cheesiness. Cracking jokes with one another as usual, we sat there for a good hour just messing around, talking, and laughing. Once we were finished, Zoie shoved her plate towards the boys, insinuating that they should do the clean-up portion of the dinner.

"I thought you made this for us?" Jalen questioned.

"We did. So you clean up." she cooed, kissing him on the cheek.

"That's not very house-wifey of you two." he joked.

Zoie's mouth fell open as she turned to me. "I told you we should have poisoned it! One step closer to a matriarchy!"

"I'm kidding!" Jalen boasted, throwing his hands up in defense. Eddie only chuckled and gathered the dishes to take them to the dishwasher. The boys messed around in the kitchen while us girls stayed at the table.

Zoie tugged at her romper. "I'm going to change. I need my sweatpants again."

I agreed, hopping out of my chair and heading upstairs to change into something more comfortable. Lightly swinging the door closed behind me, something stopped it abruptly. Eddie leaned against the doorframe with his fingertips pushing the door open again.

"I'm changing," I stated, reciprocating his stare.

"Oh, I know." he smirked, making his way forward and closing the door from behind.

"Now, now. I distinctly remember my mom telling us not to make children."

The silence mixed with his dreamy eyes made my heart race as he inched towards me, gently putting a hand on my waist and putting his lips up to my ear. He teased, "Just change your damn clothes."

A sharp exhale escaped through my nostrils. He knew how to make me flustered and it wasn't that hard. I stood there looking at him as he slung his bag off his shoulder and dug for his change of clothes.

"Can I do something just this once?" I asked innocently, smiling at him.

"That depends, what do you want to do?"

"This," I said, slipping my fingers through the gaps between the buttons of his shirt and ripping it open to reveal his toned torso. I hummed in satisfaction and turned towards my dresser.

"You're lucky I didn't lose any buttons!"

Giggling at his comment, I grabbed a shirt and shorts to slip in to. Sensing his presence behind me, he mumbled that he wanted to help the undressing process, too. Before I could ask what that meant, he took ahold of the zipper along the back of my dress. I could've done it myself but he must've seen it as an opportunity. Pulling the zipper down ever so slowly, the knuckle of his index finger traced against my spine, sending chills through the rest of me. He then brought his hands to my shoulders and brushed the straps off, causing the whole garment to fall to the floor.

"You're lucky there's two other people in the house." he said, walking away to change himself.

Knowing my cheeks were completely rosy, I stayed turned around to put my clothes on so he wouldn't see the frustration in my face. Going to grab my dress from the floor, my eyes caught a glance at his back muscles, causing me to doze off a bit. I admired the lovely view before the sly smirk on his face brightened when he grabbed a shirt.

"Like what you see? Because I loved my view." he laughed, scanning his eyes over me. "Absolutely beautiful in every way."

Blushing once again, I left the room to let him finish up. Zoie met me in the hallway. "It's about time. I thought you were making a niece for me!"

Zoie and I sat back and watched as Jalen and Eddie played on the floor with Apollo. That dog was adoring all of the attention, especially the belly rubs.

"Who's a good boy? Huh? Who's a good boy?" Eddie asked, rubbing the dog's ears.

"You're a good boy. Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Jalen chirped, petting his back. I swear they looked like children who just got a new dog for Christmas.

"I hate to burst your bubble, boys, but we still have this movie to finish." Zoie said, pointing the remote to the tv screen.

Jalen groaned, "It's boring."

"Glad we can all agree." she stated, clicking it off.

"I was literally watching that." I scoffed, jokingly.

"You were not. You're staring at lover boy over there." she said, pointing at Eddie, who now seemed to be spooning my own dog.

"Eddie, do I really have to compete with Apollo?" I asked, but couldn't help to giggle.

Snatching up one of the squeaky toys, I squeezed the fabric to trigger the noise and threw it across the room. He jumped up immediately and ran after it, while I took the opportunity to get down and snuggle up against Eddie. The dog came back with the toy in his mouth, staring at the two of us with perked ears, realizing the difference in arrangements. Dropping the toy to the floor, he then put his front two paws on my thigh and stood up, sliding halfway into the middle of our two bodies. Even with Eddie embracing me tightly, the dog managed to wiggle his way in between us. We both laughed as he rapidly licked our faces.

"Guys, come outside." Zoie hollered from the front door. We stood from the floor and walked to the door to see what the issue was. Only there was no issue, but beauty. There were millions of fireflies outside, their tiny abdomens giving off a greenish-yellow glow to make the whole sky seem like it was overflowing with twinkling stars.

"C'mon!" I squealed, grabbing Eddie's hand to run around. "Catch them with me!"

-

*EDDIE'S POV:

As Luna pulled me along over to her best friend, my mouth shaped into a huge grin.

"Let's go catch some." Zoie said, grabbing Luna's wrist and running off without me. I stood by Jalen as the two of us leisurely watched the girls scurry after insects.

Jalen crossed his arms and chuckled, "They're complete idiots."

"I know," I chuckled back, "but that's why I love her."

Zoie came back to drag Jalen out into the yard with her. I stayed back and watched Luna as she stared at the sky, getting distracted by various fireflies buzzing by. The mixture of sunlight and moonlight bounced off of her soft skin perfectly. The summer breeze blew her long hair slightly as if the wind wanted to wisp her away to the clouds. She outstretched her arm and pushed her hand up quickly, a small firefly landing smoothly onto her palm. A sparkling smile creeped onto her face as she admired the bug glowing and scurrying around over her fingers. It flew off, only for her to catch another one, and another one, and another one. I can't describe her beauty. She's so unique, so ravishing, so charming. Every time I would glance at her, it's as if I kept falling in love all over again.

As the last firefly fluttered out of her hand and into the dark sky, she turned to me and sprinted forward. It's fun, she said, catch them with me. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she dragged me to the middle of the yard to give me lessons on firefly hunting. I tried to listen to her words, I really did, but all I could do was stare at her glistening eyes and the way her skin seemed to be enlightened by the moon.

She asked curiously, "Why are you staring at me?"

"No reason," I grinned, quickly reaching my hand out to snatch a firefly. As the two of us played with it, more and more seemed to fly right into my hand.

"They like you." Luna giggled.

"I guess so." I shrugged. There were an odd amount accumulating on the various sections of my body. They landed on my arms, my shoulders, my hands and fingers, and even along the top of my chest.

"Oh my god." Luna gasped, backing away as her eyebrows furrowed.

"Whoa, Eddie. Are you a bug whisperer or something?" Jalen said, almost confused.

"I-I don't know." I stuttered, confused myself. "It's not like I-"

"Look," Luna gasped again, pointing.

Looking down, all the bugs consecutively radiated the greenish-yellow glow of their abdomens brightly. What the hell? This isn't normally something that happens every night. Awkwardly standing there like a statue, I watched as all of them took off and flew into a whirl of little lights, eventually disappearing as they ascended higher into the atmosphere.

Then downpour was initiated by a sharp bolt of lighting. I used this as a chance to scoop Luna up and over my shoulder, Jalen doing the same with Zoie. Both girls screamed and laughed as we became absolutely drenched in the rain.

"Having fun?" I asked, pausing for a second.

"Yes!" she squealed. I smacked her ass and let her down gently, kissing her afterwards.

A pair of headlights appeared in the driveway along with a loud honk, startling all of us. We waved as Luna's family scrambled out of the car.

"What are you kids doing?" her father asked.

"Playing in the rain." Zoie answered still over Jalen's shoulder.

"Get inside before I make you sleep out here." he joked...............................................A/N: Heeeyyyyyyy! What did you think about this chapter?

Cute little date between everyone. I was trying to make it sweet.

What's with the damn firefly thing like what? Eddie, are you some secret firefly whisperer or something because damn.

Read/Vote/Add/Share/Follow/Comment!

Thanks again!

xoxo