Best Intentions > cake

⋉ four ⋊

a/n: The (sorta) smut starts now... Wow damn it's early but I know y'all don't mind

Surprisingly, Luke was early. At 7:00pm, we were already in his car, heading to a restaurant of his choosing.

We weren't saying much. The radio was on, playing rather dreadful songs, but Luke was singing along, which made them more bearable. He had a nice voice.

Jaden had told me not to dress fancy, so I had taken his word, and I was glad to see Luke was also dressed pretty casual. He had his usual skinny jeans on, and this time was wearing a regular t-shirt. His hair was the same, quiffed to perfection. I could see his tattoo without obstruction, too, and it looked like a strange, cryptic symbol of some sort. I made a mental note to ask him what it was again.

"Didn't your mama ever teach you that staring is rude?" he joked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

I just rolled my eyes, turning my gaze from him to the street. "Just wondering why you're not showing off your collarbones tonight."

"It gets kinda cold at night." He shrugged as he turned into a parking lot. From what I could tell, he was bringing me to a diner.

We both got out of the car, and I followed him up the diner steps. He held the door open for me, his signature smirk still on his face, as always. I scoffed, but thanked him nevertheless.

"Hey Luke!" a guy greeted Luke as he walked over to us. He was wearing a red apron with the diner's name on the pocket, and his brown hair was tied back in a bun. The name tag, pinned on crookedly, said Ashton. "Table for two?" he asked, a teasing tilt to his voice.

"Obviously," Luke answered.

Ashton rolled his eyes, before guiding us to a booth near the end of the diner, next to the front windows. On the walls of the diner were many, many old clocks, and movie posters. A few of the neon tube lights over our head were out, and the fake, firetruck red leather was peeling on the stools in front of the counter.

Luke and I slid into the booth, Ashton handing us two menus and saying he'd be back with water.

"A friend of yours?" I asked, nodding to Ashton's retreating back.

"Yeah, we're in the same frat," Luke explained, opening up the menu and scanning it.

I did the same, absently fiddling with the plastic covering that was peeling on the sides. "And he's working a night shift at an old diner?"

"Yeah, we still gotta make some money," Luke answered, not looking up from the menu.

Once Ashton had come back with two glasses of water and taken our orders, Luke leaned back and raised an eyebrow at me as I quietly sipped at my water. "So, Calum, tell me a bit about yourself."

I shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

I didn't really know what to tell him. "Well, I'm nearly 20... I've got an older sister... Oh, that reminds me. What's up with your brother?"

At that, Luke frowned, sitting up straighter. "My brother?"

"Jake. I bumped into him on Tuesday," I explained. "He was fine for like, a second, and then I mentioned that you two were different, and he just went completely hostile on me."

"He's like that." Luke rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't worry about Jake too much. He keeps to himself, mainly."

I nodded. "I'm not worrying. Just a little thrown off by the rudeness."