vanilla // lrh

twenty seven

hi guys real quick i just wanted to apologize if the writing hasn't been as good lately i've been super busy with work!! writing a story is a new challenge for me as i am typically a songwriter and i love the challenge but feel like i have been rushing things lately! i tried to take my time on this one, it is a little short, but super important and needed for the next one! thank you!

**

My eyes fluttered open to a bright flash of sunlight, and at first I thought I was in heaven.

I wasn't.

I unraveled myself from the ball of hibernation I was in, bringing my knees away from my chest and to the floor, sitting up.

I faintly heard an AC/DC song playing from the radio, but the volume was turned down so low that the guitars were barely audible.

"Morning, sleepyhead,"

With a yawn I looked over to Luke, radiating underneath the early sun.

He was in the same tight fitted white tee and black jeans, ripped at both knees. His curls were held back by a pair of sunglasses, that nestled in his hair like birds in a nest.

"Have you been driving all night?" I asked him, stretching my arms.

His teeth revealed themselves from underneath his lips as he grinned. "Is your voice always this raspy in the morning?"

I shrugged, too tired to be embarrassed.

"It's sexy," He said, cooly.

Luke's way of flirtation always came off smoothly, like he was simply being honest.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks but I chose to ignore it.

"Yes I've been driving all night," He finally answered. "And you've been snoring the whole time."

"I don't snore!" I argued, and I saw his goofy smile shine through.

"Maybe not, but you definitely talk in your sleep," He laughed. "You were going on and on about how you wanted me inside you-"

"I did not!" I laughed, lightly punching him across the arm, and I heard a genuine chuckle from him.

I noticed a dimple indent on his cheek, and that he was beginning to grow a beard.

As if he couldn't get any better looking.

"Where are we going?"

I sat myself up completely in my seat, buckling my seatbelt.

"Where does your family live?" He asked, ignoring my question completely.

"Pennsylvania."

I hadn't thought much about my family in months, the idea of them felt foreign.

"Then that's where we're going." Luke finished with a smug look on his face.

"We can't." I protested.

There was no way we were going to visit my family.

"Well, we are. We don't have to stay long."

"Luke, I'm not going to see them," I argued. "I'll jump out of this car right now."

He was silent for a moment, but I noticed him directing the car to the side of the road.

He parked the car, and turned his whole body in my direction.

"If you jump out of this car you know damn well I'll be right behind you."

I looked up at his change in tone and analyzed the differences in his face. His eyes were not as soft looking, his jaw clenching occasionally, the indentation on his cheek miles from where it belonged.

"So?" He demanded. "Are you leaving? I stopped the car."

"I can't see them, Luke," I shook my head.

"Why? You never know when the last time you see them will be. Family is forever, no matter what shit goes down, they'll be there."

I thought about Luke's mother, and how she may be the reason the topic was sensitive for him. He loved his mom more than I've ever seen him love anything. She was the only thing I knew he loved.

"They kicked me out." I admitted, bringing light to an issue I had been desperately avoiding.

"Maybe it was for your own good." He said, with brutal honesty.

"It was my fault, but I just can't face them after that. It killed me."

I felt my eyes begin to saturate, but I did my best to hold back ever tear that was begging to be released. They had been waiting for so long to finally be set free.

"We don't have much else of a choice, El,"

I felt his hand reach in my lap and grab from mine, squeezing it slightly in the same way he did the night before.

"We need somewhere to stay, just for a night, to figure all of this out. I think it will be good for you. And if it isn't, you know I won't let anything bad happen, right?"

Luke's ability to create such violence but have a heart filled with substance and depth never failed to suprise me. Maybe I just underestimated him, or maybe he was just that complex.

"What if they don't let us in? What if they don't want to see me?" I said, with a crack in my voice.

The tears that I had been burying like bones in the graveyard of my mind had finally been dug up, completely exposed.

"Then fuck them, alright? Doesn't hurt if we try, does it?"

Luke brought my hand up to him, and slowly placed his lips on the back of my hand.

My gaze wandered up to him, and my clouded vision was filled with the sight of his beauty.

He looked at me with a confident and secure smile, and I knew that when he said he had me, he really did have me.