(i highly suggest listening to late nights in my car by real friends since its a) part of the story playlist and b) says a lot about luke's character + this chapter)
chapter nine; late nights in my car.
When Ava first received that call, she didn't know what to think. Well, actually she did think something along the lines of "Why the hell is Luke Hemmings calling me this late?" but that didn't overcome her huge wave of worry. She was just thankful that he wasn't hurt, or at the very least, drunk and lost somewhere on the streets. Still, she wasn't comforted by the thought of him ditched in some bar called The Vortex. It wasn't exactly the best place in town and it got her wondering what he was doing there.
Nonetheless, the minute she finished her shift at the small club she worked at, she ran to her car and searched up the directions. While she drove, she thought about Luke. Not necessarily in any specific way, just the general idea of him. Luke and her haven't known each other long, clearly, but you wouldn't know that from looking at them. For some reason, they just clicked and perhaps it was moving too fast, but it still managed to stay realistic. He was an idiot, sure, but he was her friend, and she would probably drop anything and everything for him if he called her to ask for help.
She just hoped that he would do the same for her.
Her car pulled up to a building that was practically bouncing off the gravel due to the booming music and there were lines of people outside. She scrunched up her nose as she stepped out the car, securely holding her car keys to her chest as if they would shield her from the groups of drunk adults around her or perhaps prevent assault. She scanned the sea of everyone around, looking for a certain tall blonde boy who should've been easier to point out, considering he towered over half the population, but she had yet to see him. She took out her phone and dialed Luke's number, putting her phone up to her ear and letting it ring.
"Hey, it's Luke. I'm probably ignoring you or something, so you know what to do."
Ava rolled her eyes at his voicemail greeting, but left one anyway. "Yeah, hey asshat, it's your girl here to pick you up. You better not be ignoring me since you're the one who called."
She then pressed end and placed her phone back in her bartender uniform skirt pocket. That was the only real reason she liked her club uniform. It consisted of a black, short-sleeved button up shirt and a black tight skirt that ended about mid-thigh and had pockets. She absolutely loved it. She backed up a couple steps, deciding on maybe waiting in the car when she clashed against somebody else. She closed her eyes on the impact, imagining using her lighter to light the culprit on fire if they tried anything, and then opened them again slowly.
"So, you're my girl, huh?"
Ava gasped and smacked Luke harshly on the shoulder with all her might, knocking him backwards a few steps. Pain shot up his arm and he lightly shoved her as well, complaining about the stinging.
"I am not your girl, it's an expression," she cried out, stifling laughter as she held up his arm, trying to soothe it, "And I'm sorry, it's my natural instinct when I'm surprised."
"It's your natural instinct to hit someone? Remind me to never wake you up in the morning," Luke replied, regaining composure while continuing to rub where it hurt, "Well, actually I would still wake you up in the morning on one condition."
The two of them began walking to Ava's car and as she unlocked it and opened up her door, she turned her head to look at him. "And what's that?"
"You'll kiss wherever you hit me," he flirted lamely, throwing on a cheesy smirk. "Nice outfit by the way. From all your pairs of skinny jeans, I'm surprised you even own a skirt."
Ava burst out laughing and shook her head, making Luke burst out in a fit of giggles as well. "You're so annoying, get in the car."
"As you wish, anything for my girl," Luke said sarcastically before they both got into the car, Ava starting it and the engine roaring to life, headlights brighting up the dark street ahead.
As the drive began, silence overtook them and the only sound was the car radio playing a punky song that sounded vaguely familiar to both of them. Luke found it funny how silence had a habit of wedging its way between them. He leaned over and turned up the volume so that he could hear the song better and once he heard the tune properly, he instantly recognized the song. He smiled and bobbed his head to the beat.
"Ooh!" Ava chirped cheerily, "I love this song."
Luke was shocked. Real Friends wasn't a super popular band, but they had good music. He just didn't know that Ava liked any of their songs and now he found himself curious about what other bands they might both like. He watched as she began to sing the song under her breath, eyes never leaving the road. He knew that she didn't want him to hear her, but he listened intently.
"I'm not where I should be, I'm not what I could be. But I'm not who I was," Ava mumbled, humming a bit.
Luke couldn't help but stare at her and felt his insides tingle. Stupid butterflies. "You have a nice voice."
Her face turned crimson and she stuttered, "T-thanks. You know this song?"
"Yeah," he answered absentmindedly, mind traveling back to his past. "It's helped me get through tough times. I relate to it a lot."
"This song is pretty heavy, Luke. Wait. Are you drunk?" Ava asked suddenly, mildly offending Luke. Did he seem drunk to her?
"No," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. He was afraid that he'd come off more mean than he intended, but he wasn't sure what she meant when she asked him that.
She glanced over at him and saw his expression, remorse showering over her face. "Oh no, oh God, Luke. I didn't mean it like that I swear, I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't tipsy or anything before you shared anything with me. I didn't want it to seem like I was taking advantage of you."
"Oh," he replied, now understanding. "It's fine, I just. I don't know what came over me. I hardly talk about my feelings."
"You should, it's only healthy," she suggested, taking a turn that led to a stop sign that was at a fork in the road. One turn would lead to Luke's apartment, the other to Ava's. "So, golden boy, are we headed to your apartment? Because if so I need directions."
He blushed at her name calling, but explained anyway, "Um, would it be alright with you if I stayed at your place tonight? I know, I know it's late notice and everything, but I don't think Calum really wants to see me right now."
"Oh, yeah sure," she said simply, turning left, intrigued by Luke's statement. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He shrugged in response. Did he want to talk about it? He didn't really know. He wanted to get everything off his chest, but he also wanted to keep up his front and keep everything to himself. He wasn't sure if he was ready to risk spilling his secrets to someone he barely knew, or putting himself out in the open. He mentally cursed at himself; why did everything with him have to be so complicated?
"You can always talk to me, you know. Whenever you need. But you don't have to tell me anything now, just tell me when you're ready of course," Ava reassured him once they arrived to her apartment building.
It was then and there that Luke realized that he was infiltrating a barrier. He hadn't ever been to her apartment before, nor had he even shown interest in the topic, yet here he was about to spend the night. He also hadn't done anything spectacularly good hearted for Ava yet she was so kind to him and willing to arrive at the darkest hours of night because he called. He knew that there had to be some drawn lines that he stepped over recklessly, but in that moment he didn't care. Ava was becoming more and more of someone who he could talk to, someone he could count on even when they both had their secrets.
And that meant the world.
-
"Luke, you're going to have to be quiet," Ava informed the blonde boy who was currently tripping over every rug and flat surface, nervously stepping on his on black boots. She swore the boy had two left feet.
"I'm sorry!" He whisper-yelled, accidentally stepping on her foot. She smacked him on the shoulder for the second time tonight, more gentle this time since she didn't want to abuse or bruise him, and refrained from screaming about how heavy he was and how he stepped on her big toe.
Previously, the two of them had discussed how things were going to work, where Luke was going to sleep, who was going to text Ashton (Luke knew that Ashton was the one who more understanding out of his two roommates and thought it would be best to contact him instead of Calum about his whereabouts), etcetera.
The lights were all off and Becca was asleep in her room, or on her phone near falling asleep and the duo had to be quiet or else they would both be in for a lecture from an angry Becca. They guided themselves in the dark by keeping their hands on the walls until they made it to Ava's room.
Ava carefully closed the door and then maneuvered to a desk table to turn on a small lamp. The lamp did a lot despite its miniature size. It lit up the room enough that you could see clearly, but it wasn't enough that it was super bright and attention catching.
"Welcome to my happy place," she announced in a hushed tone, kicking off her shoes.
Luke studied her room. It wasn't anything like he expected. It was painted a baby blue colour with several posters littered on the wall of bands that he both liked and recognized. There was a desk, presumably for learning and work due to the amount of textbooks and pink post it notes. Attached to the desk and above it was a bunch of shelves that held many, many books. On the opposite side of the small room, was her bed which was messy and unmade. There were several other things like bedside tables and a full length mirror, but nothing out of the ordinary.
"Crap," he heard Ava mutter and he turned around to see her by her closet, picking out pajama clothes. "I didn't think this through. I have to change out of my uniform."
"Okay, so?" He retorted sassily, sitting down on her bed, kicking off his shoes as well and taking off his jacket, placing it on the floor next to his boots.
"So, I have to undress and I'm not exactly comfortable doing that in front of a boy, you dumbass," she replied just as sassy, rolling her eyes. She sauntered over to one of her bedside drawer and opened it, rummaging through the items. She then plucked out a black, stretchy fabric.
Luke raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "Oh, kinky."
She scoffed and threw it at him, "It's a headband, you moron. Just put it over your eyes while I get into my sleepwear."
He huffed, but obeyed and slid the headband over his eyes obediently, sitting on her bed and waiting patiently. He knew how weird this would've appeared if someone happened to walk in on the situation: her taking her clothes off, him practically blindfolded. Not a lot of appropriate thoughts would come to mind if someone just first saw this. He heard her unzipping her skirt and unbuttoning her shirt, but then he heard something strange - a floorboard creaking. His ears perked up and he suddenly had the feeling the someone was seeing all of this and judging them.
"Done." The headband was carelessly whisked off his head and his eyes had to readjust to the light. He took a glance at what she wore and found himself smiling. She was wearing a two sizes too big Blink 182 shirt with silky pink shorts.
"Nice shorts," he observed, Ava blushing once more. He noted that she did that a lot, but then again, so did he.
"Thanks, they costed like a million dollars at Victoria's Secret so you better like them."
Ava plopped down on the bed next to Luke so that they were shoulder to shoulder with each other against the headboard and reached out and pulled a laptop from under her bed, untangling the headphones that were connected to it. She turned it on and just as quickly, clicked on the Netflix icon. "What do you wanna watch?"
The fact that she had basically closed the gap between the two of their bodies made Luke anxious. He knew that she didn't suspect a thing or feel a thing considering the fact that she was asexual, but he couldn't say the same for himself. He gulped and shifted his body, trying to focus on the screen instead of the shorts that showed off her legs.
"I, uh, I thought that I was gonna sleep on the floor," he squeaked out, but she only bumped shoulders with him once more to show him the computer.
"But wouldn't that be uncomfortable?" She questioned obliviously, staring up at him which only made matters worse.
Why did she have to be so goddamn pretty?
"Well, I mean. We're friends, wouldn't it be awkward if we slept in the same bed," Luke made an excuse, not caring if it made sense or not. He ran a hand through his hair and sucked in a deep breath.
"Well, if you're uncomfortable, you can sleep on the floor, okay? But after you watch something with me to help me fall asleep," she proposed, pouting her lip to try and be convincing. Little did she know, Luke found anything she did persuasive enough. He still hasn't replied, eyes concentrated on her lips without her realizing, so she dragged on. "Pleaaseee."
Luke snapped out of it. "Huh? Yeah, yeah sure."
She let out a cheer and danced by shuffling around on the bed, making it shake. He thought she looked adorable. "You're not gonna regret this, Emo."
She perched the laptop on her lap and started pointing out several movies, but the only thing Luke had eyes for was her.
•••
another update
i'm so happy !!!!! i loved writing this chapter so much oh my god, it was so cute and there's sexual tension (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ i have been waiting to slowly write up the chapters that lead up to the luke + ava kiss (lava? aluke? lukava?) and they're so cute i love them okay.
i hope you liked and appreciated this because it was so cute and fluffy and i love cute fluff and hopefully you like it.
on another note - luke has some secrets guys (if you couldn't tell from the chapter before)
anyways, comment, vote, and share!! i appreciate all the feedback.