"Are you sure? A hotel?" Scout was in genuine disbelief at what his daughter was suggesting that he be okay with. "Yeah, but it'll be fine. It's just Luke," Valentine argues, trying her best to convince her father that Luke's text wasn't all that crazy. If only she'd known that the fact that it was Luke was exactly what put him off of the idea.
Her heart did skip a beat when he suggested getting a hotel so that they could crash afterwards without having to make a long drive home, though.
But Scout could tell that she really wanted to go, so he threw his hands up as to surrender.
"Fine, but if I get a call from sheriff—"
"Sheriff Thompson saying I got arrested, yeah dad that won't happen," Valentine interrupted, finishing the mans usual warning before he got the chance to.
"Then fine. But be good. And I don't think I have to warn you, but please don't drink and drive. I mean that for both of you. Nobody will be driving under the influence." Scout wasn't a very restrictive father, but he definitely knew how to put his foot down when he really needed to.
Raising two moody girls on his own was hard enough, and had he not mastered the skill by now he'd probably be at a loss for words.
"Of course not! Thanks, daddy!" The girl squealed, jumping up to hug the man who hesitantly wrapped his arms around her in response. He could've sworn he was hallucinating, because she hadn't hugged him in well over a month. It wasn't since they both cried the morning after Adeline's death that the girl was this close to him, and he felt his heart speed up a little because of it.
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Sure, Valentine had been on dates before. She'd been on plenty of outings with Adeline and Mary, and she had even ventured out to a handful of parties at one point in her life. But this wasn't like any of those things, because this was Luke and their friendship was strange to her.
While she got dressed and packed her overnight bag, she felt obliged to pick her best sweatpants and an equally delicately planned outfit for the next day. She wasn't sure why she wanted to impress Luke so badly, she just wanted to make sure that she made a good impression. Though it wasn't exactly his first time meeting the girl, it was his first time really seeing how she was in a proper social setting.
"You're crazy," Mary huffed, throwing a pair of socks at the girls head. She had forgotten to pack them amidst her frantic routine of getting ready, and Mary was waiting for the perfect opportunity to chuck them at her.
"Ow," the brunette groaned dramatically, throwing the socks into her backpack before zipping it up.
"Why am I crazy?" She asked, finally registering what the blonde had said to her.
"You're freaking out over what to bring when you won't even be sleeping in the same room!" Mary giggled, poking fun at her friend. "Well, I don't know that. He didn't specify. We could be staying in the same room," Valentine expressed her stress, which only made Mary all the more amused.
"In that case, pack lingerie."
Valentine was wishing she hadn't already tossed the socks into her backpack, because she'd love to throw them right back at Mary now.
"I hate you!" She gushed, throwing her back onto her bed that Mary was covering a good two thirds of.
"Why are you here, again?" Valentine asked playfully, an exasperated sigh leaving her mouth—as if she'd just had a long day of work, rather than a long afternoon of dealing with Mary's endless comments.
"I believe I'm here because you were losing your shit over Luke Hemmings, isn't that's correct?"
"I'm going to throw a rock at you," Valentine joked back, checking her phone for the millionth time since Luke had texted her to say that he was on his way. Mary insisted on staying until she watched the girl walk out the front door, and Valentine wasn't too angry about it. She knew the blonde would keep her sane and safe from overthinking too much about the night ahead of her, she just didn't appreciate all the teasing.
"I'm gonna throw a Luke Hemmings at you, see what happens then!" Mary argued, raising her voice in a jokingly angry rage.
"Shut up, you don't even—" Valentine didn't even get close to finishing her thought before her phone buzzed, and she was practically half way out of her house in a matter of seconds. She hadn't even double checked to make sure that it was Luke saying that he had arrived, she just assumed so until she caught sight of his red truck pulling into the driveway.
"He's here!" The girl squealed out, whipping her limbs around like they were made of jello. "Okay, kid. You're gonna have to calm down or he'll see you like this," Mary joked, having just caught up with the girl who practically sprinted to her front door.
Both girls stood equally as confused as a knock sounded against the hard wood, and they looked shocked when they realized that Luke had the respect to retrieve Valentine from the house himself. "Oh, he's a gentleman!" Mary gushed in a quiet voice, teasing her friend about the situation at hand.
It only took Valentine a handful of moments to regain her sensibility and open the door for the blonde who was waiting patiently outside with his fingers interlocked behind his back.
"Hey," he greeted her, a smile creeping up onto his face—rather involuntarily, that is.
"Hi," she responded, a goofy grin of her own matching his.
"Well, you two be good!" Mary interrupted the moment, pushing Valentine a little until she was out the door. The brunette then found herself staring in surprise as Mary slammed the wooden door back, giving her no time to even process what had happened.
"Was that him?" Scout emerged from the kitchen, eyes full of curiosity when Mary turned back towards him with a smirk.
"Yeah, try not to storm out there and threaten his life. I already told Valentine to be good, you've got nothing to worry about," Mary assured the man, knowing damn well that it wouldn't do much good. She silently prayed that the two had made it away from the porch by then, because Scout looked ready to pounce any second.
"Why didn't he come in to talk to me?" Scout asked. "Because this isn't 1924, or whenever you were our age. He isn't asking for her hand in marriage, Mr. Leonard."
"Please, don't call me that. It almost makes me feel as old as you saying i was young in 1924 as if I was even in my mother's stomach back then."
Scout knew the blonde was right though, so he didn't bother putting up a fight. He nodded in agreement that he was thinking a little irrationally. He had already met Luke, and it wasn't a date to his knowledge—so there really was no reason to worry.
"Thank you," Mary grinned, knowing she had won the argument that only existed in her imagination.
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"How far is it?" Valentine finally allowed herself to ask. They had been driving in silence for a few minutes, and it began to bother her that they weren't speaking. "About two hours," Luke mumbled, keeping his attention on the road ahead.
"Is it in Houston?" She asked, tilting her head at the boy who couldn't exactly look away to face her. Though he wanted to see the little puzzled expression she held, he was too focused on driving safely. He had barely driven since Adeline's accident, and it was nerve wracking for him to be doing so with Valentine in his passenger seat.
"Yeah, it is. The hotel is really nice too," he gave his best response, trying to cater to the girls curiosity.
She didn't want to distract him too much, but she figured that conversation wasn't exactly what he wanted. So she leaned forward and turned the volume on his old run down radio up. She allowed herself to drift in and out of the soft rock music playing through the speakers, keeping her eyes glued out the window so not to stare at Luke.
It had been about an hour until the girl felt the urge to speak again.
"Who are we seeing?" She asked, a few minutes after realizing how little she really knew about the trip they were taking. She jumped on top of the idea when she thought about leaving for a little while along with Luke, but she hadn't taken the time to consider the fact that she really had no clue what the plan was.
"It's an older cover band. They're really good, I think you'll like them. The person I think we might be able to meet is Oscar Pepper. You ever heard of him?"
"Yes! How could I not!" The girl gushed, knowing exactly what cover band the boy was referring to. She had listened to Peter's Peppers her entire life, and she almost couldn't believe that Luke even knew of their existence.
"You like them?" The boy smiled, still keeping his eyes straight ahead. "Love!" the brunette gushed, clapping her hands together gently in excitement.
"Me too! Their cover of Go Your Own Way was so good, I died!"
Valentine let out a low giggle at the boys words, because she found it quite silly. She could remember thinking the exact same thing when she'd first heard the rendition of her all time favorite song, and she was surprised to know that Luke felt the same way about it. She couldn't form any words after that, and she was stuck in an endless cycle of thoughts that she shouldn't have been thinking.
She wondered if he had heard her blaring the song in her room at some point, because it was a large coincidence in her eyes. How could he had possibly have known that Go Your Own Way was her favorite? She considered the possibility that he could read her mind, but gave up on that idea after trying to send him several telepathic thoughts that he didn't seem to receive.
"I hope they play it tonight," the girl finally responded, smiling to herself as she thought of the imaginary scenario. She could only fantasize about hearing that specific song live, and Luke's excitement about the lively tune only fueled her into wishing for it more.
"Me too. Have you heard the one they did of Wires? It reminds me of the song we wrote last week, similar vibe to it..." Luke realized he was rambling, and he quickly shut himself up before he had the chance to embarrass himself. He didn't want to weird the girl out by going on too much about such a silly topic, but he could tell she was showing real interest as well.
Of course Valentine had heard their cover of Wires by Athlete. It was quite possibly her second favorite song of all time, and her mind reading theory seemed a little less far fetched as the boy spoke.
She had been so consumed by her thoughts, she didn't even notice Luke reaching down at a red light to plug his flimsy little auxiliary chord in to his phone.
As the familiar tune of Wires filled the space around her, she began to wonder if she was living within a scene in a movie. This couldn't possibly be real, she was sure of it.
And it only got better when Luke rolled down the window next to her, allowing the wind inside of the car to provide her with some strange sense of euphoria. The girl smiled into the air as it flushed against her hair, blowing it back in a scenic way.
Luke—though he wouldn't admit it—was beginning to find it extremely hard to stay focused on the road. He was much more entertained by the small glances he stole from the girl who seemed to be in her own little world. As the bridge sped up, and the music intensified, he could've sworn he felt himself explode from the joy that he wasn't so used to feeling anymore.
And nothing could even begin to explain the way Valentine felt as she embraced the moment with open arms, feeling almost as if her sister would do something like this. A miniature road trip to Houston just to see a cover band that wasn't all that popular, aside from the lead singer being the Oscar Peppers.
In the moment, Valentine really thought she could feel her sisters spirit in the backseat with her, screaming about something nonsensical with such passion that could only be explained as Adeline's.