𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑⁰¹ʰᵉᵐᵐⁱⁿᵍˢ✓

⁵³delegation & cookies

clementine

I don't know what evoked such spontaneity within Luke, but now I'm scared.

He sent me the location and time we needed to arrive at eight AM when I'd just started helping Maddie pick out some winter clothes to take to the resort.

Our family was never the type to do something out of the blue. Everything's usually planned and everyone knows what'll happen, so as not to accidentally get into a situation we don't want to be in.

At most, we do planned spontaneity.

Luke apparently does not abide by that, but I think it'll something fresh for my family and I.

Since we're meant to arrive around two, by the time it was twelve thirty, dad had loaded our luggage into the back of the car, and I'm pretty sure mom had baked brownies and cookies for snacks on the road.

Ollie had called dibs on choosing the music, Everett complained, and Maddie is not happy about the fact that she won't be going with her favourite warm stockings since she had misplaced it some time ago and couldn't retrieve it in time for our travels.

This is going smoothly, I try to convince myself as Everett attempts to grab Ollie's phone to change the music.

Maddie, who's curled up with a book in hand, is also trying her best to ignore our brothers' disagreements.

Since they both sit between Maddie and I, their elbows keep bumping into us as we try and get the least amount of peace for the next five minutes of this ride.

I've been face-to-face with the window for multiple times of the ride all while I'm trying to sketch the back of dad's seat on my phone.

Mom's also been withholding the brownies and cookies, much to everyone's dismay, as she said that they actually weren't for us but for "Luke and his friends" as a thank you gesture for inviting us.

Now that we're just a few minutes away, I feel calmer than I expected to be. No heart-racing anticipation or any worries that it'll all go wrong. I'm just looking forward to seeing Luke again.

I close my phone and stare out the window as we drive away from the main road and into a much smaller one even more caked with snow.

Right ahead, I see a large cabin - mansion? - of wood, looking about three floors high with snow glistening on the roof.

"Holy... that's big," Maddie gasps, pushing Everett out of the way to get a clearer view of the cabin. "We're staying there?"

I shrug as the car gets nearer the parking area in front of the cabin, seeing a few dozen cars parked neatly. "I think so,"

Dad pulls over and parks near the entrance, looking out and admiring the wooden cabin. "Clem, this is some friend you got here," He murmurs, and I nod in agreement.

I open my side of the door and slip out, my boots reaching the ground and crunching against a thin layer of snow. "Can you open the trunk?"

Ollie, Everett, and Maddie slip out right after me as I look up at the cabin and wrap my arms around myself.

It's not what I was expecting, but I don't even know what I was expecting. Definitely not this.

I make my way to the trunk and help Ollie load out our luggage just as Everett nudges my back and whispers "Someone's coming,"

I whip my head to look at a man in formal slacks and a dark red waistcoat, neatly put on over a black button up that makes his flushed face look even paler than it already is.