The Book Thief 》Hemmings A.U

25.00

     "THAT CAN NEVER HAPPEN again," I blurt, voice panicky as I shoot up from the ground, breathing heavily. Without me even wanting them to, my fingers rise and gently brush against my lips in astonishment.

     "But-" Luke frowns, looking hurt. "Are you sure?" He says softly, changing his choice of words after stopping himself earlier. No, I'm not sure. I haven't been sure of anything for a while and now I have to worry about whether I want you to kiss me or not. Rather, I have to stop myself from wanting you to kiss me. That's not supposed to happen. I think, but say the opposite instead.

     "Yes, Luke. I'm completely sure." I insist, turning away from him. Liar, liar, liar.

     "Really? Like one hundred percent?" Luke asks again, voice sounding somewhat disappointed. I exhale heavily and rub at my face, frustration rising. "Yeah, okay, you're sure. No kissing you then," He mutters, sighing. "I'm sorry for making things awkward,"

       "It's okay, we can pretend like it never happened." I force a smile, nervously wrapping my fingers around wrist and pressing my arms against my chest as I turn to face him.

     "What never happened?" He tries to sound cheerful and even throws in a fabricated grin, but his facade falls short. I can tell that he wants to argue with me and that he can see through my lying. Thankfully though, he doesn't say or do anything. "Staying here, listening to their arguing -- it's going to drive you insane. Trust me, I know. We can go to the beach and just stay in my car if you don't want to get wet. The ocean is sick during a storm," 

     "I'll get my jacket," I breathe, more than eager for a change in scenery. As soon as I pull my jacket over my arms, we carefully sneak out through the balcony and run through the rain until we reach Luke's car. In mere minutes, we arrive at the boardwalk and because of the raging storm, there isn't anyone else in sight. 

       "Cohen, you're the only good thing in my life right now." Luke whispers, shutting his eyes and leaning against the driver's seat. I pull my bottom lip into my mouth, burrowing deeper into the blanket around my shoulders. "And you're not even in it because you want to be," He smiles sadly, eyebrows knitting together as he shakes his head.

       "Is your dad going back to Australia soon?" I say instead of responding to his previous statement because honestly, I had no idea how to.

     "I don't know. He's never been here for this long but I can't wait for him to get the fuck out," He growls, jaw clenching. "I hate him so much. But I like you, I really like you, Cohen."

      "I like you too," I reply with slight unease, knowing that the liquid courage coursing through his veins was causing him to do and say a lot of things he wouldn't do or say otherwise.

       "No, you don't. Not like that, maybe not even at all." Luke says, keeping his gaze locked on the steering wheel. "I'm- I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I don't think you believed me when I said it wasn't true. You aren't boring in the slightest and yeah, you're not like Kate, but I like that you aren't." His voice is tired and he keeps licking his lips, struggling to stay awake. Arguing with him while he was drunk, arguing with him at all, was pointless. So I don't.

     I climb into the back of the car, where he still has blankets piled upon one another, and sprawl out comfortably, exhaling. I pull a pair of headphones from my jacket pocket and plug them into my phone, calling out to Luke.

       "Let's listen to music," I say softly, turning my head to face him. A small smile spreads along his lips as he nods and joins me in the mess of blankets. We have the same taste in music, so I don't object when he asks to pick the song. He puts The Killers on shuffle, then sets the phone down between us. We both lie on our side, silently staring at one another.