GOLDEN, luke hemmings

IX: LATE NIGHTS IN MY CAR

"You can always talk to me, you know. Whenever you need. But you don't have to tell me anything now, just tell me when you're ready of course," Ava reassured him once they arrived to her apartment building.

It was then and there that Luke realized that he was infiltrating a barrier. He hadn't ever been to her apartment before, nor had he even shown interest in the topic, yet here he was about to spend the night. He also hadn't done anything spectacularly good hearted for Ava yet she was so kind to him and willing to arrive at the darkest hours of night because he called. He knew that there had to be some drawn lines that he stepped over recklessly, but in that moment he didn't care. Ava was becoming more and more of someone who he could talk to, someone he could count on even when they both had their secrets.

And that meant the world.

-

"Luke, you're going to have to be quiet," Ava informed the blonde boy who was currently tripping over every rug and flat surface, nervously stepping on his on black boots. She swore the boy had two left feet.

"I'm sorry!" He whisper-yelled, accidentally stepping on her foot. She smacked him on the shoulder for the second time tonight, more gentle this time since she didn't want to abuse or bruise him, and refrained from screaming about how heavy he was and how he stepped on her big toe.

Previously, the two of them had discussed how things were going to work, where Luke was going to sleep, who was going to text Ashton (Luke knew that Ashton was the one who more understanding out of his two roommates and thought it would be best to contact him instead of Calum about his whereabouts), etcetera.

The lights were all off and Becca was asleep in her room, or on her phone near falling asleep and the duo had to be quiet or else they would both be in for a lecture from an angry Becca. They guided themselves in the dark by keeping their hands on the walls until they made it to Ava's room.

Ava carefully closed the door and then maneuvered to a desk table to turn on a small lamp. The lamp did a lot despite its miniature size. It lit up the room enough that you could see clearly, but it wasn't enough that it was super bright and attention catching.

"Welcome to my happy place," she announced in a hushed tone, kicking off her shoes.

Luke studied her room. It wasn't anything like he expected. It was painted a baby blue colour with several posters littered on the wall of bands that he both liked and recognized. There was a desk, presumably for learning and work due to the amount of textbooks and pink post it notes. Attached to the desk and above it was a bunch of shelves that held many, many books. On the opposite side of the small room, was her bed which was messy and unmade. There were several other things like bedside tables and a full length mirror, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Crap," he heard Ava mutter and he turned around to see her by her closet, picking out pajama clothes. "I didn't think this through. I have to change out of my uniform."

"Okay, so?" He retorted sassily, sitting down on her bed, kicking off his shoes as well and taking off his jacket, placing it on the floor next to his boots.

"So, I have to undress and I'm not exactly comfortable doing that in front of a boy, you dumbass," she replied just as sassy, rolling her eyes. She sauntered over to one of her bedside drawer and opened it, rummaging through the items. She then plucked out a black, stretchy fabric.

Luke raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "Oh, kinky."

She scoffed and threw it at him, "It's a headband, you moron. Just put it over your eyes while I get into my sleepwear."

He huffed, but obeyed and slid the headband over his eyes obediently, sitting on her bed and waiting patiently. He knew how weird this would've appeared if someone happened to walk in on the situation: her taking her clothes off, him practically blindfolded. Not a lot of appropriate thoughts would come to mind if someone just first saw this. He heard her unzipping her skirt and unbuttoning her shirt, but then he heard something strange - a floorboard creaking. His ears perked up and he suddenly had the feeling the someone was seeing all of this and judging them.

"Done." The headband was carelessly whisked off his head and his eyes had to readjust to the light. He took a glance at what she wore and found himself smiling. She was wearing a two sizes too big Blink 182 shirt with silky pink shorts.

"Nice shorts," he observed, Ava blushing once more. He noted that she did that a lot, but then again, so did he.

"Thanks, they costed like a million dollars at Victoria's Secret so you better like them."

Ava plopped down on the bed next to Luke so that they were shoulder to shoulder with each other against the headboard and reached out and pulled a laptop from under her bed, untangling the headphones that were connected to it. She turned it on and just as quickly, clicked on the Netflix icon. "What do you wanna watch?"

The fact that she had basically closed the gap between the two of their bodies made Luke anxious. He knew that she didn't suspect a thing or feel a thing considering the fact that she was asexual, but he couldn't say the same for himself. He gulped and shifted his body, trying to focus on the screen instead of the shorts that showed off her legs.

"I, uh, I thought that I was gonna sleep on the floor," he squeaked out, but she only bumped shoulders with him once more to show him the computer.

"But wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" She questioned obliviously, staring up at him which only made matters worse.

Why did she have to be so goddamn pretty?

"Well, I mean. We're friends, wouldn't it be awkward if we slept in the same bed," Luke made an excuse, not caring if it made sense or not. He ran a hand through his hair and sucked in a deep breath.

"Well, if you're uncomfortable, you can sleep on the floor, okay? But after you watch something with me to help me fall asleep," she proposed, pouting her lip to try and be convincing. Little did she know, Luke found anything she did persuasive enough. He still hasn't replied, eyes concentrated on her lips without her realizing, so she dragged on. "Pleaaseee."

Luke snapped out of it. "Huh? Yeah, yeah sure."

She let out a cheer and danced by shuffling around on the bed, making it shake. He thought she looked adorable. "You're not gonna regret this, Emo."

She perched the laptop on her lap and started pointing out several movies, but the only thing Luke had eyes for was her.

•••

another update

i'm so happy !!!!! i loved writing this chapter so much oh my god, it was so cute and there's sexual tension (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ i have been waiting to slowly write up the chapters that lead up to the luke + ava kiss (lava? aluke? lukava?) and they're so cute i love them okay.

i hope you liked and appreciated this because it was so cute and fluffy and i love cute fluff and hopefully you like it.

on another note - luke has some secrets guys (if you couldn't tell from the chapter before)

anyways, comment, vote, and share!! i appreciate all the feedback.