Run (Punk Luke Hemmings)

Chapter 32

"Allison, this is Troy," she says and brings the man over to where I am sitting.

I stand up and shake his hand that is being held out to me.

"Lovely meeting you, miss Allison," he says as he shakes my hand tightly. He has a very deep voice and is extremely tall, maybe even taller than Luke.

"Nice to meet you too," I lied. "You can call me Allis." I hated being called Allison, but I let my mom call me it since she named me.

My mother has never brought a guy home, I never even knew of her dating and I don't think she has since my father left. However, I didn't like it. I have no respect for my father, but I also didn't like my mom bringing home other guys. I was scared of having another father figure in my life and personally, I didn't need one. Just another adult to boss me around and tell me what I do wrong, no thank you.

"I had already introduced him to Bradley when he got here. At the time you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you," my mother says with a smile. "Where's Luke?" She asks and I go blank.

"Uh, well he-"

I am cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

"Oh, I'll get it!" My mom exclaims as she pretty much runs to the door. Even though I have no idea who it could be, I'm glad that they interrupted since I had no idea what to tell her about Luke.

I hear my mom's heels coming back into the dining room. She walks in holding a bouquet of white,  yellow and pink carnations and a giant smile on her face. I do a double take and my stomach flips as I see Luke walk in a few steps behind her. 

"Sorry again for being late Ms. Montgomery,"  he says.

"Oh no dear, you're fine! The food isn't even quite ready yet," she says as she makes her way to the kitchen.

He looks at me for the first time and his small smile fades. He slowly walks up to me and looks down at me, innocently. He looks so good, wearing a red and black checkered button up and his hair in the usual quiff that I adore. 

"Hi," he says quietly.

"Hi," I mumble back.

"This is for you," he says as he pulls out a single, red carnation from behind his back. "I stole one from the bouquet, it was the only red one."

I take the flower and gently set it on the table. I loved the gesture and it made my stomach feel all warm and my heart race, but I was supposed to be mad at him. He wasn't getting off easy this time.

"After dinner we have some serious talking to do," I whisper to him before being interrupted by my mom.

"Luke, these flowers are just absolutely gorgeous," she says, carrying the flowers that are now in a vase full of water. She sets them in the middle of the table and they go great with the room. I can't believe he brought her flowers, it was very thoughtful and if I wasn't so mad at him I would kiss him a million times for it.

"I'm glad you like them, they were always my mother's favorite so I chose those instead of roses," he says with a small smile on his face.

The tattoo of the carnation that is on his back comes to my mind. It was his mother's favorite, he must have gotten it in her memory. This makes me sad for him and now I'm having an even harder time staying mad.

"Were? Does she have a new favorite now?" She asks with a confused look.

"Mom," I say through my teeth. She doesn't know any better but inside my head I was screaming at her for bringing up his mother.

"It's okay babe," he whispers to me. "My mom and dad actually died in a car crash when I was 8." I'm surprised at how easily he told her.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry," she says to him with a sad face. She walks over and gives him a hug.

Even though I was mad at him, I was so happy at how differently my mom was acting towards him.

"It's okay Ms. Montgomery," he says as she pulls herself out of the hug.

"Oh Luke, you can call me Lana," he says with a warm smile. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She exclaims as she turns to face Troy. "This is Troy, Troy this is Luke."

They shake hands and say hello and then we are all seated. As we sit, Luke gives me a confused look about Troy and I shake my head. My mom leaves the room and comes back not even a minute later with the food. It smells delicious and my stomach growls loudly. This was my favorite meal that she cooked and I couldn't wait to dig in.

As we sit and eat in silence, I occasionally see my mother and Troy smiling at each other. 

"So Troy," I speak up and clear my throat. "You have any kids of your own?"

He hesitates before speaking and dabs his mouth with his napkin. "Yes, I actually have 2 children. I have a son and a daughter, but neither of them are really in my life," he says.

I am about to ask why they aren't, but am interrupted by my mom.

"So Luke, are you living with another family member?" She asks. It's amazing how much nicer she is being to him than she was just a few nights ago. 

"Uhm no, none of my family lives around here. I live alone in a house a few streets away," he says. This is news to me, I didn't know how close he lived.

"You live alone?" She gasps. "Well, if you ever need to, you are welcome to stay here. You'll have to sleep in the guest bedroom of course," she winks.

I can tell Luke is just as shocked as me. Little did she know, he's been staying here for the past few weeks. Well besides the last two nights.

"I may have to take you up on that offer sometime," he smiles and I almost choke on my drink as I laugh at the irony.

"You okay dear?" My mom asks me.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something funny that Luke said today," I lie. The funny thing is, he hasn't talked to me in the past two days. It actually wasn't funny at all. I remind myself why I'm mad at him and I'm mad at myself for laughing at his comment.

We finish dinner with small talk and eventually Troy leaves. After everything is cleaned up, Luke says that he has to go too. He says bye to my mother, who engulfs him in another hug, and I walk him to the door.

"I'll be back soon," he says when we get on the porch. He tries to bend down and kiss me but I back away.

"Oh will you? I wasn't sure since you haven't been here, let alone talked to me for the past two days," I snap.

"Babe, I'm sorry. I will explain everything when I come back, I promise," He says with sad eyes.

"You sure as hell better," I say back in a harsh tone.

I let him kiss me on the cheek and walk back inside as he walks to his car. Sometimes I was such a bitch and I loved myself for it.

He will definitely have some explaining to do, that's for damn sure.