Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

Luke pulled up to a small restaurant and we got out of the car. After showing me to a small table under an awning and looking through the menu, he handed me Petunia’s leash.
“Don’t let go of her,” he told me.
“I won’t,” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m serious, Val. She gets really excited when people walk past,” I didn’t say anything. I just wrapped the leash around my hand and gave him a small smile. It was kind of cute how protective he was over her. After giving Petunia a small pet and ruffling my hair, he went inside to place our order. I set my elbows on my knees and hunched over to look at Petunia.
“You’re dad is so great to you,” I whispered as I took her face in my hands and scratched her cheeks. “I hope you know that,” she stuck her tongue out and began panting as if to tell me that she was aware of how much Luke cared for her.

As I consumed myself in Petunia, I didn’t even notice the person who sat across from me at the table until Petunia looked back at him.
“Oh-uh-hi,” I stuttered. “I didn’t see you there,” he smiled at me, his dark brown hair fell across his forehead and he shook it away, sticking his hand out.
“I’m Pete,” he grinned. “Mind if I join you and your adorable dog?” I glanced inside to see Luke waiting for our food, busying himself with his phone.
“I’m actually here with someone,” I straightened my body, rejecting his offer to shake hands.
“A boyfriend?” He asked, his dark eyes narrowing. His smile put me on edge—The way his lips crooked up in a smirk made me want to slap him. “A sexy girl like you doesn’t belong here alone,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “If you were mine, I’d be fucking you in the bathroom right now,” he grinned wickedly and I scrunched my nose in disgust.
“I’m not alone,” I reiterated, ignoring the other bit as Petunia shifted herself to sit on my shoes. Perhaps she’d sensed how uncomfortable I was.
“So, who are you with?” He looked around. “I don’t see anyone,” before I could reply, another voice sounded behind me.

“She’s with me,” Luke spoke, setting the tray of food in front of me. “So if you don’t mind, leave us the fuck alone,” Petunia perked up at the sound of Luke’s voice and stood to walk the short distance to him. Pete held up his hands in defense and stood.
“Sorry man,” he muttered before turning on his heels and walking away. Luke took his seat across from me, tying Petunia’s leash to his chair.
“Was he bothering you?” Luke asked, glaring at the empty table that Pete had went to.
“A little…” My voice trailed off as I pushed my stray bangs behind my ears. Luke’s jaw tensed and he stood up, pushing his chair out and creating a loud screech. Petunia lied down and Luke moved away from the table. “It’s fine,” I told him. “Just drop it,” he stared at me for a long while, as if debating whether or not to take my advice. Finally he let out a long sigh and sat back down. He pulled the tray to him and grabbed his food before grabbing mine and setting it in front of me. I stared down at my lap.

“What?” He asked with a mouthful of fries.
“Nothing,” I sighed, picking up my sandwich to take a bite.
“It’s not nothing. What’s wrong?”
“It’s just…” I set my sandwich back down. “Not everything has to end in a fight,” he rolled his eyes and took a bite of his burger before feeding Petunia some of his fries.
“It didn’t end in a fight,” he pointed out. “I let it go,” I couldn’t help but laugh.
“It would have if I didn’t stop you,” He stuck his tongue out to wet his lips before pulling it back in and giving another fry to the begging dog.
“Then who’s going to stick up for you?” He asked. “Because you weren’t about to do it yourself,” I rolled my eyes, finally taking a bite of the sandwich.
“I’m not a child. I can take care of myself,” I told him, taking a sip of my water.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” he snapped. “You sure as hell act like a child,” he added, and I remained silent, eating my sandwich. “You know what annoys me most out of all the shit you do?” He asked. Again, I didn't reply. “When you don’t give any indication that you’re listening to me,” I finally met his eyes, cocking my eyebrow. His jaw was tense and he tossed a couple fries down for Petunia.
“I have already told you that I don’t respond to rude comments,” he took a bite of his burger, staring at me. This time, he didn’t reply. I carried on with my silent act, taking another bite of my sandwich.
“Fine,” he gave in. “I’m sorry,” I could tell from looking at him that the words were foreign coming out of his mouth. “But you’re too sensitive,” he pointed out. I didn’t say anything. I didn't even look at him. “I don’t mean that in a bad way it’s just that I can’t fucking say anything without upsetting you,” I set down my sandwich and took a drink of water.
“Maybe if you didn’t say such rude things then I wouldn’t get upset,” I stated. He shook his head.
“Well that’s just who I am,” he grumbled.

“You said you wanted to be a better person,” I frowned. I could never wrap my head around his mood swings.
“It doesn’t fucking happen overnight!” He raised his voice, causing a few people to stare at us. I leaned back into my chair, crossing my arms.
“I think you should take me home now,” as much as I wanted to stay with him, I didn’t want to sit here and be yelled at.
“That’s your fucking problem,” he said. “You don’t like confrontation and you run away from it the first chance you get,” I laughed at the fact that confrontation had nothing to do with this and he was just looking for reasons to get angry.
“At least I have control of my temper,” I stood up and grabbed my food, throwing it away and walking to Luke’s car. I let myself in and waited for him. It was a good five minutes before he finally came back with Petunia.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized as he started the car. “I didn’t mean to be rude,” he pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street. I didn’t say anything. Instead, I stared out the window with my arms crossed. He reached over and set his hand on my knee, giving it a light squeeze and glancing at me. “Hey, I have a show tonight,” he changed the subject. “Do you want to come?” I looked over at him, a small smile playing at my lips. I wondered what kind of guy Luke would be without all these mood shifts.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, gently picking up his hand and removing it from my knee, setting it on the seat next to me. He pulled it back and gripped the wheel. “I don’t really want to see your friends right now,” I explained, my eyes finding the window again. “And besides, I have class tomorrow morning,” he chuckled, shaking his head.
“I won’t let them bother you,” he half-promised. “Come on,” he whined, pulling up to my building.
“I’ll think about it,” I sighed, saying a quick goodbye before clambering out of the car and walking to my room, debating whether or not to ask Lea for advice on being friends with Luke.

Notes