The dinner table was lethally silent, and the sound of forks skimming metal plates surrounded the group as they all shoveled food into their mouths.
It wasn't a refractory silence, and the kids didn't mind it much at all. They were all much too busy stuffing their food into their stomachs, and were almost oblivious to the lack of conversation.
"What are you guys gonna get up to tonight?" Scout asked, feeling a little uncomfortable about the strange looming silence.
"We were just gonna hang out here," Mary answers for the other two, who are otherwise occupied staring at each other and eating like they've been starved for several days. With Scout and Mary taking opposite chairs, it left Luke and Valentine directly across from each other. To say they were stealing secret glances would be the ultimate understatement.
"Yeah," Valentine agreed, mouth full of food. Luke chuckled a little at the girl who couldn't wait until she was done chewing to make a comment.
"We could—mmm—" Luke had to cut himself off, the chicken was too good to not give a satisfactory groan. "We could go hang out with my friend," Luke suggested, eyes glued on Valentine for an answer. He certainly didn't care much what Mary thought of the idea, though he wouldn't deny her attendance. He really just wanted to spend more time with the brunette across from him.
"Yeah, we could," Valentine smiled back, a little proud that he'd invited her out to do something. It made her feel wanted that he'd suggest bringing her around his friends—after what happened last time so saw them, that is. She didn't feel she necessarily made a good impression on them, but she enjoyed the idea of hanging out so much she couldn't even stop to think of that.
"I have to be home at some point, actually," Mary mumbled, though she was lying. She definitely didn't have to be back before some imaginary curfew, considering she was twenty and Kellianne wasn't very strict.
"I can drive you home," Luke offered, not extremely disappointed that she wouldn't be joining them.
"So just you two are going?" Scout asked, waving his hand in their direction. The little girl nodded, feeling awkward as she just made those plans in front of her own father. Valentine was open with Scout, she just liked to keep her private life to herself. There wasn't much that her dad didn't know, she just wanted a little secrecy—else she wouldn't feel like much of a teenager.
"Yes," Luke answered when he realized Valentine clearly didn't plan on giving the man a verbal response. He didn't want to seem rude to the brunettes dad, though he couldn't exactly admit why that was.
"You two have gotten close lately," Scout observed aloud, no bitter tone to his words. He was coming around to the idea of the two being friends, but only because Luke had responded so kindly to his warning the other night. If he would treat her well, Scout thought he might consider accepting it.
"Haven't they?" Mary asked rhetorically, finding the whole conversation a bit humorous.
"Sure have," Valentine spoke slowly as she finished her last bite and stood up straighter than before. Without a need to lean towards her plate as if instinctively, she felt a little too informal staying in that position. Scout always raised the little girl and her older sister to be as polite as possible, though he would never comment on her lack of manners. It was only himself and the girls own friends, so he didn't find it all that strange.
"You're going on a road trip soon, right?"
With that, Valentine's eyes were wide and Luke could hardly hold back the gasp that was pushing past his lips. As if the paleness in the brunette's face was so very obvious, Scout decided against questioning her immediately.
"Uh..." Luke struggled to form a response.
"We haven't... talked about... that yet..." Valentine did her best, though it didn't really phase Mary. The blonde girl was biting back a grin at the awkward tension she had created with the simple question.
"Yeah," Luke agreed, keeping his eyes down now that Valentine had been reminded of the fourth task on Adeline's bucket list. She had been doing her best to resist thinking about it at all, but it was all that Luke had on his mind the entirety of his days. Eventually they'd have to confront it—and how awkward it'd be—but they hadn't expected it to be so soon.
"Well, you should," Mary shrugged, as if completely oblivious to the awkward stares being shot across the table to her. She definitely knew what she was doing though, and her words had not stemmed from pure curiosity.
"You told her?" Luke mouthed at Valentine, who looked increasingly folded under the pressure. She nodded slowly, unable to figure out if she'd angered the man or not. He didn't look offended or anything of the sorts, but rather held an indescribable and indifferent expression.
"Road trip?" Scout finally spoke up, horribly confused by the conversation at hand. The man still had not a clue about the bucket list Valentine had been devoting her time to, and some might say his ignorance was bliss.
"They're gonna go to Cali soon," Mary answered for the two, her tone so matter-of-fact that Valentine found herself wanting to retreat into her room for shelter. She couldn't move though, for fear if she stood she might collapse under the intense stare of both Luke and Scout. Mary was nonchalantly picking at her fingernails, but Valentine knew better than to think it was an innocent action.
"What for?" Scout asked, shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth to mask his surprise. He knew that Luke and Valentine were growing closer recently, but he didn't think they were anywhere near the point of leaving the state together.
The brunette was growing even more nervous as her father questioned her unmade plans. She hadn't had enough time to come up with an excuse as to why her and the blonde just had to go to California so suddenly. She was finding it much more troublesome to keep the bucket list a secret.
"I have some family there who want to meet Valentine. They heard about... you know..." The little girl with trembling hands and a rapidly beating heart noticed the way Luke's accent thickened upon telling the lie. She made a metaphorical note of the coincidence, thinking back to the way he so effortlessly made a cover story when Oscar Pepper questioned their presence at the concert venue. "Yeah..." she mumbled, keeping her eyes low. She knew sure as the fact that the ocean is wide—she is not a good liar.
꧙꧙꧙꧙꧙꧙
"Dad!" Calum called out to his father, who was fully emerged in a television show about criminal justice laws.
"Yeah?" David reluctantly peeked his head up, eyes naturally drifting towards the man hovering in front of his son.
"Scout? What are you doing here?" David asked, caught off guard by the unexpected visitor.
Scout didn't want to ask Valentine what was going on. He didn't want to pressure his little girl into anything if she wasn't ready to share it yet. He knew what he was doing was impulsive and borderline childish, but he couldn't bare to keep it inside of him anymore.
"I wanted to talk about Val," he explained, walking in when Calum opened the door wide enough to permit his entrance.
"What's going on?" Calum asked, feeling a little unsettled by the vague explanation the man had to offer. Admittedly, it made him quite anxious to think that something was happening to the brunette girl he so subtly showed his care for. It was getting a little more obvious with each silent second though, because Calum's worried expression gave it all away.
"Oh... nothing... Just wondering if you guys had any clue what her and Luke have been up to? I don't want to ask her... but I can tell there's something she's hiding..." To say the man was nervous would be an understatement to the extreme of the word.
David had to blink a few times to assure to himself that he was actually awake, because something about the situation came off as surreal to him.
"I'm not sure..." David breathed out hesitantly, not sure what the appropriate response would even be. Calum shifted his weight back and fourth, not wanting to make it too obvious that he knew exactly what was going on.
"Oh... okay, that's fine. I know I could've called—I just thought a visit was in order anyways," Scout shrugged, disappointed that he could not find the answer to his most burning question. He knew it was a shot in the dark to ask David and Calum of all people, but he figured it was worth a shot regardless.
"Son? You got something you want to say?" David noticed the awkward movements that his son was making, and he definitely wanted to know the reason behind them.
"Uh... no..." Calum felt absolutely cornered. He didn't want to spill any secrets of Valentine's, but he felt that Scout deserved to know about the little piece of Adeline his remaining daughter was chasing.
"Is there something she's hiding? You don't have to tell me, I just... I want to know that she's alright... You know I don't really like Luke, but it's not about that. I just—"
"Adeline made a bucket list," the boy blurted out, tired of battling himself mentally. Regret was one of the many things that coursed through Calum's veins as Valentine's father stood frozen a few feet ahead of him.
"A bucket list," Scout echoed, disbelief washing over him. He had no idea how much the simple answer would click for him, but now that the pieces were falling into place—it made perfect sense.
"Yeah, and Luke found out about it. They're finishing it together. Please don't tell her I told you though, I think she's scared of telling people about it. And before you ask... I have no idea what's going on between them. I don't know either of them well enough to be able to ask, but I think we can all tell theres something."
"Thank you, Calum," Scout expressed his gratitude, resisting the urge to engulf the young man in a suffocating hug. He would definitely need more than a night to fully digest what the boy had told him, but he was immensely thankful that he was no longer in the dark.
"Yeah, it's no problem. Sorry for not saying something sooner I just... I don't want her to hate me," Calum admitted. He felt extreme levels of remorse after sharing the details of Valentine's current mission, but he didn't want to see the older man worry any longer.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" David asked, gesturing towards the kitchen, where his wife—Joy Hood—was hard at work cooking a late meal for her family.
"I already ate, but I'd love to stick around if I'm not a bother."
While Scout continued on to receive plenty of pity smiles accompanied by small talk with the Hood family, Valentine began wondering why she'd agreed to go with Luke in the first place. The car ride was more than awkward, but that she could handle well enough. It was more so the acute tension surrounding her upon entering Michael's apartment that had her breathless and wanting to leap away in a quick manner.
"Hi, I'm Michael," the boy introduced himself, finally setting his eyes on the girl who seemed to be everyone's topic of choice as of late.
"We've met," she smiled back, referring to the several times the two had encountered each other randomly, all of which she was accompanied by her older sister.
"As have we," Ashton spoke, leaving Luke defenseless as he stood from the couch and engulfed the timid little girl in a hug.
"Nice to see you," she muttered, remembering to use the manners Scout drilled into her at a young age, despite wanting to shrink up at the sudden physical contact. Luke noticed the way her face twisted up, a little frown struggling to be held back.
"Yeah," Luke mumbled mindlessly, instinctively stepping closer to the girl as soon as Ashton moved away. He wanted to wrap his arm around her, hold her hand, or do anything that would ease the obvious nerves she had. But that's Valentine Leonard he's trying to protect, and he has to be much more cautious with his actions—especially now that the girl has shown no struggles when it came to calling him out.