5SOS Book of Imagines

LRH // Bookish (4)

Luke's folks were...nice. And really accomodating.

All along the way, you kept fidgetting around out of nervousness because for the first time, you actually wanted to impress people. Specifically, you wanted to impress Luke's family. You didn't want them to say anything bad about you hanging around Luke. You wanted to be good enough for him.

Ends up, the earlier nervousness felt silly. As soon as you and Luke walked up inside the house, there were all smile and hugs and shallow, funny conversations. You instantly felt comfortable, quickly easing up and letting the tense set of your shoulders rest. The Hemmings family exuded familiarity and fondness that you actually loved talking and introducing yourself to them. Only regret is that there was nothing so extravagant and special about you, you were just plain Loaine.

"Just Liz, darling. Call me Liz," she smiles kindly at you and faces Luke. "Are you on your way upstairs? I'll just bring food up there, okay?"

Luke nods and kisses his mom's cheeks affectionately. When he pulled away, he was smiling widely, "Thanks, Mum. We'll be up."

Then he takes your hands in his and leads you to the staircase.

Upon reaching the second floor, he opens the door to a really neat navy blue painted room. Luke's room.

He had a long bed - to fit his gigantic self - with a study table, a single closet, a large TV and a huge bookshelf full of countless books. You loved it already.

"Nice room," you say as you looked around.

"Thanks," he said as he shoved some of the clothes lying around in a laundry basket by a corner. "So, I've got the movie on my laptop and we'll just plug it in my TV. Sit down wherever and I'll just prepare stuff."

You quietly took a seat in his bed, which was softer than you expected, really bouncy.

Smiling, you watched Luke fumble through his room, trying to plug in his laptop into the fairly huge tv and a few more minutes, the movie's starting.

Luke turned off the lights and quietly took a seat inches beside you. You tried watching the start of the movie but you kept getting distracted with the way the colors from the television hit Luke's face, making him look...magical. He looked so peaceful as he watched, the colors illuminating his face in a way that makes him look make-believe. Like Ethan's dream of Lena. Lena was what Ethan thought a Beautiful Creature but right now, for you, it's Luke. He was your beautiful creature.

"Watch the movie, Loaine," Luke suddenly whispered, his eyes staring straight at the screen but you didn't miss the way they danced with glee.

"I..." you gulped, blushing uncontrollably and loooking over to the tv, not even seeing a thing about the movie. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I like it that you stare at me, I like it that sometimes you look at me the way you look at your books," Luke speaks up and your head snaps to him.

"Luke?" you said, puzzled at his behavior.

"You love book so much, don't you? Because they take you to another world, to a happier place. But Loaine, the real world can be happy, too, with the right people, with the right light," he continues, staring at you with his blue eyes serious.

"I do. They're my escape, Luke. And I know you're trying hard to show me how wonderful the world is, and thank you for it, I appreciate it so much. I'm just this quiet, introverted bookworm so I don't know why you care about me so much," you answered, feeling the need to tell him how thankful you are for his presence.

"You're much more than that, Lo. Much, much more," he slowly smiles down at you and once again, you were mesmerized by his sincere smile. "You know I'll always be here for you, right? If you don't know that yet then I will. Always. Whenever you need mea dneven when you don't. I'll be right here."

"Why?" you said in a daze, as you stared at his face as half of it is illuminated by the television and half was in the dark, yet his blue eyes sparkled like they had their own light.

"I think you've read enough books to tell the reasons why I'm doing all these," he chuckles, nervousness lacing in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess I do," you shakily laughed. The thought has crossed your head one too many times.

That maybe Luke befriended you and kept on sticking beside you because maybe he liked you.

"I do, Lo. I do, I like you."

You couldn't say anything, just drowning in his words, letting it sink in. Making yourself believe that this is true. You felt happy, but at the same time, you felt scared.

Luke stares at you, watches every expression that comes in your face. The space between you in the bed lessens as Luke moves closer to you. You gulped, not knowing what to do. Torn between letting yourself accept the fact that you like him, too but still have that fear inside you.

His hand slowly raises up and cups your right cheek, "But of course, I won't rush you into things. As much as you don't want to believe it, I've known you well in the span of a month. I'll wait for you."

You both hear a knock on the door, followed by a "Luke, honey! I've got food!"

He leans in and kisses your forehead softly then pulls away, a small but happy smile plastered on his face. He shouts to the door, "Come in, Mom."

Before he completely pulls away and adjusts in his seat, he pinches your nose, making your face scrunch up your face. He laughs lightly, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that, kitten."