GOLDEN, luke hemmings

XV: DEEP CONVERSATIONS

"I don't remember, you took too long to wake up. You don't sound too tired, did you get much sleep?" He asked, changing the subject subtly, hoping she wouldn't see what he was trying to do. Good for him, she didn't.

Ava was fairly calmer and cheerier than previously with the whole Mom-Calling/Ava-Panicking problem, but it obviously still nagged at the back of her brain. She didn't know how to feel about the whole thing, but she then again that's how she was with a lot of other issues.

"Not really. I couldn't sleep that much. Too many things were on my mind," she said truthfully, staring up at the ceiling, unaware of Luke's stare that was latched onto her. "And your room is fascinating so I kept looking at everything."

Her sentence wiped out any thoughts that weren't platonic from Luke's mind. Albeit it was hard, due to how many they were and how strangely descriptive and specific each one seemed to be, but he managed to plainly focus on her problems instead of his own little ones. Again, it was a miracle he didn't get a boner yet. (Should he have been worried about that?)

"What are you thinking about?" He wondered, though he already had a feeling of what she was going to say.

"A lot of things. My parents, the phone call, how Becca is going to kick my ass tomorrow. You," she admitted, too sleep deprived to realize that she had let one word slip. She drastically didn't intend for Luke to know that he was, undoubtedly, what she thought about for long, frequent periods of time. Unfortunately, Luke heard her and it was too late to take it back.

"You think about me?" Luke was speaking more to himself than her, in a sense that he was so extraordinarily taken aback that he had resorted to repeating his thoughts aloud.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I? You're one of the best friends I have ever had and you treat me better than anyone ever has. Plus, you help me out without thought and I love you for it. And you're cute so that's a bonus," she confessed, unable to stop.

Ava honestly didn't know where she was going with her statements. Once she admitted one thing, the rest spilled out like word-vomit, and it came out in huge doses. And it just so happens that after 3 AM, she tends to get exceptionally emotional. She was so going to regret this in the morning.

Luke, on the other hand, felt a smile grow on his face, and it was the type of smile that he put on when he was either immensely happy or highly flattered (in this case, it was both) where he placed his tongue slightly between his teeth and grinned real wide. That's when you knew he appreciated someone or something.

"Really? You think I'm cute?" He was ecstatic, like a little kid who had just gotten told that he was going to get bags of free candy. He rolled over timidly, so that he could drape his arm around her and end up with his head on her shoulder.

"That's seriously all you got from what I just told you," she yawled, letting out a laugh of disbelief, wanting to hit him upside the head (however, she didn't, because she shamelessly enjoyed his head on her shoulder, and it gave her a chance to feel taller). "But, yes, I do think you're cute, Luke."

"Well I just can't help my incredible good looks," he gloated in a joking manner, winking at her.

"I hate you, you know that," she remarked, shifting to her left so that Luke's head fell lower onto her collarbone rather than where it was originally. She ran her hands through his hair, twisting curls around her finger absentmindedly, not noticing that he had to bite his lip to hold back a suppressed moan.