Bittersweet Coffee [A 5SOS, Luke Hemmings Fanfiction]

Chapter 23: Her First Date, Part 2

“I wondered what happened when you offered yourself to someone, and they opened you, only to discover you were not ​the gift they expected and they had to smile and nod and say thank you all the same.” ― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

*** *** ***

For the next thirty minutes, Annie's mind was full of question marks. Why? Well, she doesn’t know what Luke was up to. They’ve been circling London for a while now, and if you’d ask her, it seems that Luke was doing it on purpose, maybe to stall some time.

She was busy with her thoughts when suddenly, she jolted as she felt her hand getting grabbed. She looked at the source and saw Luke. The latter didn’t even look at her but he was smiling as he was looking ahead. Annie knew he was only trying to look cool and macho since the light shade of red on his ears betrayed him. She inwardly snickered at the thought and absentmindedly tightened her grip on Luke's hand. The two of them continued to walk through the busy streets of London for God knows where.

Another thirty minutes has passed and Annie was growing tired. She inwardly cursed herself for wearing heels as she was pretty sure there were already blisters on her feet. Her legs were growing numb, causing her to walk like she was limping or something. Luke seemed to notice and chuckled. He led her to the nearest bench he found and help her sit down. What he did next made Annie's eyes grow wide.

He kneeled on the cement in front of her and looked at her in the eyes. He lightly chuckled and eyed her feet. He softly grabber her left foot and removed her killer heels. He did it really carefully as if the thing he was holding was priceless. He slightly frowned when he saw blisters and cursed himself for dragging her with him for too long. After cursing himself, he began massaging Annie's foot, then after doing the same for her right one.

Annie's cheeks were in a bright shade of red from the moment he kneeled in front of her till he finished massaging her feet. She didn’t expect him doing that move, and honestly, her heart fluttered. Never did she experience a simple yet fluttering gesture as this before. She was thankful, but at the same time embarrassed. She saw a lot of people, more specifically couples, eyeing and pointing at them while chuckling at the scene at the same time. She was embarrassed indeed, but what the heck. She enjoyed the simple gesture, and she was really thankful as she felt her as energized as ever.

When Luke was finished, he glanced at Annie, still kneeling and said, “Are you tired, still?”

Annie absentmindedly shook her head, as if she was in a daze. Luke misunderstood it that she was still feeling tired, so he grabbed her heels and spun backwards, letting Annie face his back, “Hop on.”

“W-what?” Annie stuttered.

‘Does he want me to ride his back? I haven’t rode a guy’s back besides my dad’s though.”

A few seconds passed by and Luke didn’t feel any movement. He was about to face her again when he felt her arms circling his neck, and her body drooping on his back. The both of them instantly felt hot with the close proximity.

Annie felt awkward, but she thought that she might as well enjoy the experience so she sighed nonchantly and dropped her head on the crook of his neck. The latter felt his face grew red as he felt her breath on his neck, but shrugged the feeling off. He felt his phone vibrate on his pocket, so he jumped slightly, making sure Annie wouldn’t fall, and grabbed his phone on his pocket. Thankful that she was holding on his neck, he read the message and smiled.

‘It’s time.” He thought.

His happy thought were broken when she spoke. “I’m sorry.”