before the pain | luke (JATP)

XXX

As Mila hugged her friends, who had come to celebrate her seventeenth birthday, she couldn't help but want their hugs to smell of peppermints, yet of course, she could only get that by hugging him.

"Happy birthday" Bobby cheekily said, which caused Mila to giggle. "Thank you, I was thinking we could finally watch the movies Alex, Reg and I have been talking about and then my mother made cake, so we can eat that later or now?"

The boys nodded slowly as they looked at each other. "Movie first?" Reggie asked with a gentle smile, which the other agreed to. "Can you three make popcorn and then I will show Bobby around?"

The boys nodded and headed to the kitchen where Mrs. Garcia was in the middle of doing the dishes. "Hello Mrs. Garcia" Reggie said with a bright smile, Mila's mom smiled softly back at him, she tried to remember their names as she looked at the three boys.

"Reggie right?" She asked looking at him, he nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, you're right" Alex cleared his throat. "Mrs. Garcia, uhm Mila asked us to make popcorn," He asked, his voice sounded way politer than normally, which made Luke and Reggie look at each other trying not to laugh.

"Ahh yes, it's in the third cabinet" Mrs. Garcia answered, they thanked her as they went there taking the popcorn beginning to make them.

"Luke correct?" Mrs. Garcia asked as she dried her hands finishing the dishes, Luke nodded with a smile. "Yes ma'am" Mrs. Garcia took a deep breath as she smiled looking at him and then the others.

"You can not tell Millianna that I told you this, but thank you" The boys looked at each other a bit confused and then back at Mila's mom.

"For what Ma'am?" Alex asked, Mila's mom giggled, which caused the boys to smile, her giggle sounded like Mila's.

"Well... I haven't heard my little girl play in a long time and she hasn't gotten detention lately and I can't help thinking that you four have something to do with it. She seems... more balanced, it's nice to have my Mija back" Her mother admitted.

The boys looked almost in shock, not knowing what to say.

"So this is every note you and the boys have been writing with each other?" Bobby asked Mila, as he stood at the wall of notes in her bedroom, Mila leaned against the wall as she nodded. "Yup, every note I save and hang up... I don't know they give me... strength"

Bobby raised an eyebrow as he smiled: "You are weird" Mila laughed rolling her eyes. "Ha... Ha" Mila said trying to sound annoyed yet she couldn't.

"But I'm not on it-" Mila interrupted him. "We don't have classes together, remember?" She asked as she hung up the letter Luke had given her with her present.

"Do you have a piece of paper?" Bobby asked her, causing her to lift an eyebrow. "Over at the desk?"

"All of them have some deep meaning behind them, I want that too... I wanna be on the friend wall too" He went over there and took one, taking one of the pens from her pencil case and wrote down.

becoming your friend, I realized that I was in pride. But the truth is you taught me something, you don't even know. You taught that a friend who can't be truly happy for his friend's success or happiness has never been a true friend.

Bobby took a deep breath as he took the tape from Mila's desk and hung the paper on her wall with a gentle smile on his face. Mila read the paper as she smiled.

"You truly are weird Bobby," She said as she looked at him, he chuckled and shrugged. "I learn from the best"

They went back to the living room, where the boys were sitting with popcorn. Mila placed herself between Luke and Reggie on the couch, while Alex and Bobby took the chairs.