serenity // luke hemmings

1.06

The next day Luke and Alex met up exactly the same way they had the day before. Luke had even brought her another coffee.

“Alright so my places are going to be a lot less famous and probably more boring too but I like them so don’t make fun of me.” She told him as they began to walk.

There were significantly more people around today; most likely because it was a Sunday and their adventure today had started at a time when regular human beings were actually awake. It was actually quite a nice day, the sun was out which was always a rarity during a winter in London.

Despite how close they’d been yesterday it was almost as if the night had flipped a reset switch on the two of them. They were both hesitant to get too close to the other, afraid that their dynamic had changed too much. Luke longed to reach out and take her hand as he had so effortlessly yesterday and Alex wished that he’d just do it so they could move on from it.

When they were about to go through the gates for the tube, Alex took the opportunity to grab his wrist and pull him closer to her so they could go through together. As they came out the other side she let her hand slide down and then she intertwined her fingers with Luke’s. She looked up at him, wanting to make sure she hadn’t crossed some line, but he was just smiling contentedly down at her.

“Where to Miss. White?” He asked, mimicking her words from the day before.

“A book store.” She let out a small laugh at the surprised look on his face (he hadn’t expected her to actually tell him). “This way.”

Alex was delighted that they managed to get seats today because she knew this trip was going to take longer than Luke’s had yesterday. They were sat next to one another on the small seats; the sides of their bodies pressed all the way against the other, their hands still clasped sitting between them.

Luke let out a short snort and Alex looked over to him, wondering what the hell that had been. As a way of response he tilted his chin towards the middle aged man sitting across from them. On closer inspection Alex realised he was asleep and a little pool of drool had begun to form on his shoulder, which was obviously what Luke had been laughing about.

She couldn’t stop the loud laughter that burst through her lips, causing Luke to laugh again and try to shush her. It didn’t work and soon the two of them were bordering on hysterics which earned them a few concerned glances from people who were trying their best to ignore them.

The train jolted and the man woke suddenly and began to survey his surroundings. Alex clapped a hand to her mouth and turned her face into Luke’s shoulder to try and cover up her laughter. Luke dropped his head and bit his lip trying to do the same. They settled down eventually as their stop came around.

Alex pulled Luke up with her and when they got onto the platform they looked at one another before beginning to laugh all over again. When they managed to pull themselves together they headed up and onto the street, Alex leading the way confidently.

Luke would have missed the shop altogether had it not been for Alex pulling him back when he continued to walk.

“This place is tiny.” He mentioned as she pushed the door open, a bell chiming to announce their presence.

“Not inside it isn’t.” There was a knowing smile on her face.

She was right though, once they walked through a small hallway they were standing in a wide open room with tall ceilings. Shelves upon shelves of books filled the space and if he hadn’t known better, Luke might have mistaken the place for a library. Alex breathed in the musty smell of the books, a smile spreading across her face.