Luke's POV

I wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of my phone ringing. I squint at my phone and see that Michael is following.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I ask quietly, sitting upright in bed.

"N-no," Michael stutters quietly.

I check the time and it's a little past midnight.

"What's wrong?" I ask, trying not to sound too nervous.

"I-It's just th-that..." He stops to take a deep breath. "I- I think I r-really like A-Ally."

I sigh and run my hands through my hair. Michael's going through exactly what I went through with Delilah. I know just how he is feeling.

"It's okay to like her, I promise. It's a good thing," I assure him.

"A-Are you s-sure?" he asks.

"Yes, I'm positive. It's not a bad thing to like someone."

"B-But I-I've never f-felt this way a-about someone." He tells me.

He explains to me how he feels butterflies in his stomach and how his heart starts beating quickly when she's around. I let him know that what he's feeling is completely normal and nothing to be afraid of. I feel like what I'm telling Michael is almost the exact thing Ashton told me a few months ago. It's strange how everything has shifted so quickly and how much I've grown. A few months ago I was just like Michael and panicking over having feelings for a girl.

After about an hour of trying to calm Michael down, I tell him he should relax and go to sleep. I'm going to call him when I wake up and head over to his house to talk to him in person.

When Michael is tired, he stutters. When Michael is nervous, he stutters. His speech was so jumbled, and I was having a hard time understanding him.

I just hope he doesn't shut down now and stop talking to Ally. I hope he doesn't make the same mistakes I did and push all his feelings away for a while because it will make him feel worse. That's how I felt when I didn't talk to Delilah.

I fall back asleep and wake up a few hours later. I call Michael, and he doesn't pick up, so I figure he's still asleep. I call Delilah and she picks up right away.

"Hey, Luke," she says. I can hear Lucy talking in the background.

"Hi. Wanna come over?"

"I saw you last night, but okay," she says laughing.

It's the day after Valentine's Day, so Delilah and I were together almost the whole day yesterday. Now Delilah has February Vacation for the next week, so she doesn't have to go to school. She comes over a few minutes after we hang up.

"Why'd you call so early in the morning? You only call when you're worried about something. Is everything okay?" she asks, walking upstairs to my room. I follow behind.

"I just wanted to see you."

"And?"

"And I need a ride to Michael's because he's having girl problems," I tell her. "But I really did want to see you."

She laughs. "You could've just said that in the first place, I would have said yes."

"You're the best," I tell her, hugging her from behind. She wiggles out of my hug and laughs quietly. We walk into my room and sit down on my bed.

I tell Delilah that Michael's feeling exactly how I felt when I started liking her. She helps me figure out some things I can tell Michael to help him. Delilah's always better with advice, and she's a girl so she can tell me how Ally might be feeling.

Michael calls a few minutes later.

"I-I'm awake," he says quietly.

I smile. "When do you want me to come over?"

"Wh-Whenever you w-want."

"Okay. I'll leave in a few minutes."

"O-okay. See y-you soon."

I sigh. Michael sounds sad and worried. I wonder if that's how others viewed me too. Probably.

"Are you going to change out of your pajamas?" Delilah asks, smiling.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot I haven't changed yet."

Delilah gets up to leave so I can change.

I wave my hand. "It's okay, you can stay," I tell her, changing into a clean shirt.

She sits back down and waits for me to get ready.

Once I'm ready, I put on a hat and jump on my bed beside Delilah.

"Ready!" I tell her, getting back up and grabbing her hand.

We head outside and quickly run to her car since it's raining. Delilah laughs as I pull her along and jump over the puddles.

"Where does Michael live?" Delilah asks when we sit inside her car.

"Good question. I'll text him."

I've never been to Michael's, and I totally forgot to ask for his address. He responds back quickly, and Delilah starts driving to his house. I have no idea where we're going, and I don't recognize anything we pass. After a few minutes, we pull up in front of his house.

"Want me to wait for you?" Delilah asks. "I probably shouldn't come inside. It should be just you guys."

"Yeah. Thanks," I say, quickly leaning over and kissing her. "You can leave, and I'll text you when we're done."

I nervously walk up the driveway and ring the doorbell. I've never met either of Michael's parents, I don't even know if he lives with both parents. Thankfully, Michael answers the door.

"H-Hey. Thanks. F-Follow me in-inside," Michael says when he opens the door.

I follow him through his house and into his room. His house is about the same size as mine, and it seems relatively quiet. I don't know if anyone else is home.

"So, is anything any better?" I ask Michael as I sit down in a chair in his room.

He shrugs.

"Have you talked to her at all yet today?" I ask.

Michael shakes his head. "W-We haven't t-talked since y-yesterday."

"So you did something for Valentine's Day?"

"We j-just hung out," he says, looking down at his hands.

"That's it?"

He shakes his head. "W-We kissed."

"Michael! That's great! Why are you nervous then?" If they kissed, everything should be okay. Or at least I think it should.

"Wh-what if sh-she doesn't like m-me like I like h-her? A-And what d-does this m-make us now?" he asks me. He slowly looks up and finally looks me in the eyes.

I shrug. "That's kinda something you need to talk about with her. But I think she likes you, too. Why wouldn't she?"

He shrugs. "B-Because I'm m-me."

I sigh. "Michael, I used to think that too. But there's people that will like you for who you are no matter what," I tell him. I'm not sure how to go about this. I'm usually not the one giving advice. I'm always the one being given the advice. "Even if you think no one will, there's always someone out there for you. You have me as a friend, Delilah and Ashton too. You have Ally, too, I think. There's plenty of us."

Michael picks at a rip in his jeans. "Are y-you sure? How d-do I know you guys r-really like m-me?"

I smile. "I promise, we do."

"I- I just f-feel like an outsider s-sometimes," he tells me quietly. "L-Like, what if p-people don't a-actually like me. They j-just p-pity me. Y-You know?"

I nod. "Yeah, I know. I used to feel that way too. But it's all in your head. You're the one that controls things like that. You might think people don't like you, but they actually do. I know it's hard to think like that, I've been there. We all think you're really awesome though."

"A-Ally just m-makes me s-so nervous. I'm a-afraid I'll say s-something wrong."

"I used to feel that way with Delilah. It's normal to feel like that when you really like someone. She probably gets a little nervous around you too. But she seems like a very nice girl who really likes you."

"W-Whenever I s-see her my h-heart gets all j-jumbly and m-my st-stutter gets worse. A-and my hands g-get all sweaty."

"That's what liking someone usually does. That's a good sign. It means you really do like her."

I talk with Michael for the next hour and assure him that everything is okay. What he's feeling is completely normal, and Ally might be feeling the same way he is. They just need to talk to each other and figure it out. He tells me he'll call her later today and let me know how it goes.

"L-Luke, one last th-thing," Michael says before I leave.

"Yeah?" I ask him.

He awkwardly hugs me. "Th-thanks."

"No problem, Michael. I'm always here to help."

I get up to leave and Michael follows me out. I'm just about to leave when I hear someone talking.

"Michael, who's this?" I hear a woman say. I turn around and see someone standing at the top of the stairs.

"Th-this is Luke," Michael tells her.

"Oh, hi! I'm Michael's mom! It's nice to meet you! Michael's told me about you. You two met at therapy, right?" she asks.

I nod. "Yeah. Nice meeting you, too."

"I'd ask you to stay for some lunch, but Michael has a therapy session soon. Maybe another time?"

"Yeah, definitely. I'll see you around, Michael. Bye!"

Michael waves and thanks me one last time. I run out to Delilah's car since it's still raining.

"How'd it go?" Delilah asks.

"Good, I think. His mom seems nice."

"That's good."

I nod.

I can't help but think about what Michael is feeling. He's nervous and afraid and wants to avoid his emotions. He doubts himself and thinks others won't like him just because he's different.

"Michael kinda reminds me of myself," I tell Delilah.

"You think?"

"Yeah. The old me. He just needs to find happiness."

"Just like you."

"Yeah. Just like me."

I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THIS. I FELT LIKE MICHAEL HADN'T BEEN IN FOR A WHILE.

If you didn't see the update in RTF, my big announcement is coming July 7th at 1 PM EST. I'll be doing a YouNow afterwards, too! Make sure you have RTF in your library so you can see when I announce it (it'll be announced there first!) DO NOT HAVE RTF IN YOUR ARCHIVE. YOU WON'T GET NOTIFIED!

also if you tweet #ashleysannouncement and tag me (singsongash) I'm going to be following people for the next few days!

love you! (sorry this is kinda short, I have to study for finals!)

-ashley