SINCE DAY ONE ― luke hemmings ✓

28

The car ride was a blast and we sang along a few more songs before I feel like my throat was giving up on me. "I really don't know how you could sing for hours and not feel like your throat's gonna run away from you." Luke pulled over a corner and chuckled,

"I guess I'm just that perfect?" You are.

"Oh, don't get so cocky about it!" He smiled, tongue over his teeth like he always do which makes me miss the seventeen-year-old Luke Hemmings. He always does it. I never knew the reason how it came to be. One day, he just did it and everyone loved it.

"Come on. It's a few walks along." I already knew where we are when he opened the door for me. It was still as if we never left at all. "I made reservations at the same cafe we've been to the last time." He says while we walk side by side along the small little cafes with bright colors littered on the sidewalk. Believe it or not, we've actually tried a cookie from every store there is until we found the perfect one up to the cafe he was talking about.

"You actually got a reservation? At this time of the year?" It was hard enough to fall in line for thirty minutes the last time but it was worth all the wait.

"You bet. And you'll be glad to know they made some updates to the menu!" He pulled me aside to avoid the little puddle and I didn't want his hands to go anywhere.

"That's pretty exciting!" I held on to it, taking advantage of the little gesture for as much as I can and he didn't let go. He held on my arm while my other hand holds on firmly into his grasp. Afraid he'll go away if I ever let go. And that didn't seem to distract him at all. Meanwhile, my head was currently floating in the clouds.

"I-It is." He cleared his throat, "Because tonight, I'm gonna make you feel like a posh French poser sipping wine and eating charcuteries until your tummy aches." A smile grew on my lips.

"My, my, aren't I just the luckiest girl in the world?" His hands suddenly moved from the crook of my arm, untangling us together that a lump almost sank through my stomach when his hands—his fingers slowly intertwined with mine like all gaps fit so perfectly.

"Surely that makes me the luckiest man in the world, too?"

"Yeah, why so, Hemmings?" I challenged, masking all the fireworks my stomach was raising left and right.

"Because Theodora Auclair went out with me again. In Paris."

*・。*゜・。・o゜・。*゜・。・o*゜・。・o*

I never left the comfort of his fingers while we walked through the quiet sidewalk, with nobody noticing him and our hands squeezing each other's once in a while. I was making sure it was real. I just don't wanna risk waking up if its all just a dream.

As we went around the corner, the cafe was at the top of a few stairs that soon as we bounded from the small crowd of people waiting in line, Luke only gathered the attention of the waiter and it was all it took for him to guide us upwards to more stairs until... the view melted my heart the second time around.

The cafe was pretty close to the Eiffel Tower and the exact location of the rooftop displayed it so beautifully I almost forgot Luke's hands were still safely intertwined with mine.

"Bonsoir, mademoiselle, monsieur." Another man appeared wearing a very formal attire for a cafe that he guided us on the corner nearest to the view and held a chair for me. I was reluctant to let go of his hands but Luke squeezed it for a final time, the worms in my stomach squiggling about before I finally unlaced our hands and sat down. Thanking the waiter quietly as he handed us menus that smelled like coffee itself.