"God, I fucking hate my life," Brielle muttered to herself as she turned around from the peep hole, and leaned against the door.
"Who is it?" Luke asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.
There was no way she could not open the door as Sam had probably already seen her in the peep hole and heard her mutter curse words to herself. But at the same time she didn't know how Sam would react to Luke being in her apartment, and really didn't want to deal with her reaction -- especially this early and after the long morning she already had.
"Brielle? It's Sam," she called out from the other side of the door, her voice a lot softer than the last time Brielle had talked to her. It surprised her, as she expected Sam to be a lot more aggressive.
Luke recognized Sam's voice from the bowling alley, so he didn't understand why Brielle was so worried about her being there.
"Is everything okay?" Luke started to walk from behind the counter towards Brielle, but she put her hand up to indicate that she wanted him to stop.
She took a deep breath before turning around and opening the door, knowing that there was no way she was going to get out of this. It was weird -- it almost felt like Sam was Brielle's mom and she was about to catch the boyfriend she didn't approve of in her daughter's bedroom. It was ridiculous to her that she felt like she was about to get in "trouble" by her best friend.
"Hey," Brie greeted, showing her a small smile. Even though she was still pissed at Sam, giving her an attitude probably wouldn't make the situation better. To her surprise, Sam smiled back which reassured her that she was at least in a good mood.
"You weren't responding to my calls or texts, so I came here," Samantha explained her presence as she walked past Brielle and into the apartment.
You would've thought that there was some sort of spotlight on Luke from how fast Sam spotted him (though it was kind of hard to not see that giant) and she immediately stopped in her tracks once she did.
Luke grinned and half-waved at her, though Sam just smiled fakely at him before turning back towards Brielle.
She mouthed something at her, but Brielle acted as if she didn't see it and tried her best to cease the tension in the room that only Brielle and Samantha were aware of.
"Samantha, you've met Luke before." Brielle walked closer towards him so Luke and her were on one side of the counter while Sam was standing on the opposite side.
"Yep," she replied briefly.
Luke was still wearing sweatpants and his Sheriff shirt, and also was in the process of making himself bread with Vegemite -- it seemed that he was very comfortable in Brielle's apartment, which made Samantha uneasy.
"Have you been staying here or something?" she asked, motioning to his clothes.
He shook his head. "Oh, no. I just got here."
"It's just that you look pretty comfortable here," she observed.
"Yeah, no. This is usually how I am wherever I go." He laughed slightly, though stopped once Sam gave him a weird look.
"Interesting."
Luke just shrugged it off and took another bite of his bread, completely oblivious to how Samantha actually felt about him. Brielle had been glaring at Sam the whole time, though she continued to ignore it.
"My friend Michael has been pretty stressed out since you haven't called him back," Luke mentioned, and Brielle internally sighed as she would've preferred if Sam and Luke didn't talk -- she knew Sam wasn't going to be able to act like everything was alright when she disliked Luke, and she could tell she was having trouble carrying a civil conversation with him by the replies she was giving.
"Oh, yeah," she nodded. It was quiet for a while and it seemed as if Samantha was contemplating what she was about to say next.
"It kind of turned me off when he told me he hung out with an underground boxer," she added, looking down at her hands as she held her tongue in the side of her cheek.
Brielle sucked in a breath of air and ran her hand through her hair. She loved Samantha to pieces but there were times were she just wanted to strangle her to death.
"Excuse me?" Luke's eyebrows raised, not understanding what Sam was trying to get at.
"Samantha, don't start," Brielle groaned, not wanting to break up another argument. It seemed like her bad luck just wouldn't run out.
"I'm not doing anything."
"Is there a problem?" Luke asked, turning towards Brielle though the question was directed at Sam.
"No, I just don't feel comfortable with my best friend hanging out with you." Sam kept her eyes down and Brielle could tell that she was trying to be as nice as possible while also trying to make it obvious that she was not fond of Luke.
"I can guarantee you she's just fine with me." He looked over at Brielle as if he wanted her to help his point, but she just smiled apologetically at him.
"I'm just looking out for her," Sam said, not seeing what was wrong with what she was saying -- it's not like she was being rude or anything. She thought it was pretty normal to be worried if your best friend was hanging out with a guy who could've played in the movie Fight Club.
"But you don't even know me." Luke clutched his hands on the counter in an attempt to release his anger through that rather than words. All he wanted to say was how he was there for Brielle when she needed someone and that he was anything but a danger to her -- if anything, he was the only one protecting her. But he had especially caught on to the fact that Brielle was being secretive about the whole situation with Tyler and he was going to respect that -- he didn't need to blurt something out and lose Brielle's trust.
"Luke, it's fine." Brielle pulled his hand that was grasped onto the counter and loosely intertwined it with her own, hoping that it would calm him down.
And it did -- the feeling of her fingers wrapped around his made his anger disappear almost immediately. Her smile was barely visible, but it was enough to soften Luke's expression.
"We're gonna go. If you wanna talk to me, then I'll be home in a few hours," Brielle announced as she led Luke to the front door. He was still upset that this girl would accuse Luke of being a threat to Brie, so it was probably best if they left before anything escalated.
Sam watched on, mostly focusing on their intertwined hands. Usually Brielle would listen when Sam would warn her about a boy, but this time was different, and it hurt.
Brielle, of course, apologized for Sam's behavior multiple times -- Luke assured her that it was okay and that if Sam actually got to know him she probably wouldn't feel the same way. He then officially declared that everything that happened this morning was not to be discussed anymore and the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to forgetting about it.
Brielle felt weird just walking out on Sam, especially with Luke. She was not one to side with a boy over her best friend, but she believed Sam was just being annoying and overprotective.
They finally were able to get to the good part of the day -- the part where they were supposed to forget about everything that happened in the previous parts. Luke took her to the Santa Monica Pier, a place that he and every other teen in this part of California visited frequently. It was a place close to his heart, as not only did he spend a lot of late nights there with the few friends he had in school, but his parents would take him and his brothers there all the time before they got divorced. The memories were nice, though at the same time it pained him to know that his family was not the same anymore.
"At least I know you can't murder me here," Brielle commented as they pulled into the parking lot.
He let out a huff of air, though a small grin appeared on his lips. "Listen, that joke's getting old."
"Good thing it's not a joke," she retorted, which resulted in another sigh from Luke.
Luke unbuckled his seat belt, and Brielle followed, expecting him to get out of the car. Though instead he climbed into the back seat, almost kicking her multiple times in the process.
"What the hell are you doing?" Brielle asked as she tried to dodge his feet.
"Sorry, I need to change my pants real quick."
"In the car?" She was looking into the backseat at him but quickly looked towards the front once he started to untie the strings on his sweatpants.
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you get changed before we left?"
"I forgot," he replied as he threw his sweatpants onto the floor.
"Your windows aren't tinted, people can definitely see in." She laughed and shook her head as she listened to Luke struggle in the small space.
"So? I'm giving them a great view," Luke replied cockily, smirking as he put the last leg in.
She snorted. "You're so fuckin' stupid."
Luke climbed back into the front seat, Brielle shooting him a glare jokingly as he did so. They exited the car -- Luke attempting to go around and open the door for Brielle but she was already out by the time he made it over. She smiled up at him before he turned on his heel and started towards the pier.
It was already late afternoon by the time they got there, though the sun was threatening to set within the next hour. It was Friday -- the amount of people on the pier greater than any other day. Though since Luke was out of school and technically didn't have a "job," he never kept track of what day it was, so he did not expect the large number of people.
"You hungry?" Luke asked as they reached the beginning of the pier, looking on at the crowd of people roaming on it.
"Nah, I'm okay." She shrugged.
"I've been with you all day and you haven't eaten anything."
"...Okay, maybe a little," she admitted.
Luke shook his head before slightly grabbing onto her hand as he led her to the food court, making sure to not lose her in the crowd. Apparently no else in California had eaten either, as there was also a large amount of people in the food court as well. Luke tightened his grip as they entered -- using the excuse of not wanting to lose track of her though he really just wanted to hold her hand.
They both chose burgers, Luke standing right behind her with his chin resting on the top of her head as they waited in line. She complained about how it was hurting the top of her head but he claimed she just would have to deal with it. Ever since this morning, he had felt extra protective of her -- he didn't want to seem too clingy but at the same time he didn't wanna let her out of his sight.
He still held his chin on her head as they walk to their seats, Brielle stumbling over Luke's feet multiple times. It took them what felt like forever to find somewhere to sit, though they finally found a small table against the wall.
Whenever Luke would experience something new with Brielle, she would never fail to surprise him. Like the time she murdered him at that arcade driving game, or when he found a g-string in her wardrobe not too long ago. He was always being revealed to new sides of her and it was always very entertaining to him.
Like now -- she was currently sat in front of him as she chowed down on her burger, a smudge of ketchup plastered on the side of her mouth. Luke was trying his best to hold back his laugh as she took a huge gulp of her soda before she even swallowed the food in her mouth.
"This is so..." She took another bite out of her burger. "Fucking good," she finished with the food still in her mouth, at least trying to cover it so Luke wouldn't have to see the disgusting result of her chewing.
Luke let out a high pitched giggle, his hand shooting to cover his mouth after a piece of meat flew out of it. "Don't laugh at me," she said as she used a napkin to finally wipe the ketchup off of her face.
"Then stop making me laugh," he retorted, pressing his lips together to stop himself from grinning. She didn't reply, only narrowed her eyes at him as she took another loud slurp of her soda.
They finished their food quickly, them both being hungry from not eating all day. Luke went to grab her hand as they exited, though she had them grasped together and her arms hanging in front of her. He thought about reaching down and grabbing it anyways, but she started walking before he could. He took a big step to catch up, at least making sure to stand right next to her if he couldn't hold her hand.
Just as he was about to ask her what she wanted to do, the roller coaster from Pacific Park passed by along with a number of screaming riders, catching Brielle's attention as she looked over at it. As much as she hated roller coasters, it was always interesting to watch the car whip around on the track.
"You wanna get on?" Luke asked, once she stopped walking to stare at it.
She raised her eyebrows, not expecting him to ask her even though she showed an obvious interest in it. "Um," she hummed, "how about we go on like...the ferris wheel or something?"
Luke smirked at her blantant nervousness. "What, are you scared?"
"No, god, no," she replied, her voice a lot louder as she used hand gestures to show just how not scared she was. "I just really wanna go on the ferris wheel."
"So you'll get on the rollercoaster with me after we go on the ferris wheel?" He asked, already starting his way over to the line.
"Mhm," she replied, though quietly hoping that he wouldn't hear.
There was barely even a line and they were able to get on right as they walked up. Brielle insisted on sitting on the inside so if the door happened to open Luke would be more likely to fall out rather than her -- which offended Luke. They sat pretty close to each other, despite there being plenty of space on the seat.
Luke used the old trick of pretending to yawn to get his arm around her, in which Brielle just shook her head at. Brielle admired the atmosphere -- even though Brielle had been on this ferris wheel many times, the view still amazed her every time.
As the ferris wheel reached the top, Luke started to get bored of the mediocre speed, and decided to add his own spin to it. He took his arm from around Brielle, and grasped both his hands on the bar in front of him. Brielle looked at him with a confused expression as he started to rock his body, making the cart rock as well, instantly changing Brielle's expression to terrified.
She immediately let out a scream, grabbing onto his shoulder as the cart moved back and forth.
"Stop, you fucker!" she pleaded, though it only made Luke let out a high pitched giggle as he flung his head back as a result of the laughter. Brielle buried her face in his shoulder -- her way of thinking being that maybe if she couldn't see how high up they were it wouldn't be as terrifying. He stopped once she did this, pouting his lips at how cute it was that she was actually scared.
"Aw, poor baby," he laughed, rubbing the top of her head.
She sat up once the rocking stopped, glaring at him before raising her hand and smacking him on the back of the head. "Ow," he whined, as he rubbed the spot she hit. It hurt a lot more than he expected it to.
"Next time, I'll open the door and throw you out," she threatened as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Jesus Christ." He chuckled, though he had absolutely no doubt that she would actually do it. "No need to get violent."
"You should take your own advice," she shot, blatantly referring to this morning. She wasn't even sure if she still was upset at Luke for lashing out though she found it ironic that he was trying to give her this type of advice.
"Oh?" His eyebrows raised, not really sure if she was just joking or if the conversation had suddenly turned hostile.
"I'm just kidding, don't get your panties in a twist."
"Panties in a twist?"
"Yeah," she shrugged. Fortunately for Brielle, their cart finally reached the ground, and she felt like kissing it as she got out. She ran out the second the door opened, feeling relieved once her feet made contact with the pier.
"Who even says that?"
"Me," she retorted, as she started to make her way to exit the park, hoping that Luke would get too lost in the conversation to remember that she had agreed to riding the roller coaster.
"Hey, you said you would get on the roller coaster," he said as he grabbed her arm to stop her from walking -- Brielle muttering a "shit" to herself as he did so.
She shook her head as she turned around. "No I didn't."
"Yes you did. You did your little 'mhm,' I heard it," he claimed, proud of the evidence he had to back it up.
"I'm not getting on." She turned on her heel and continued to exit the park, deciding that Luke couldn't make her do anything she didn't wanna do. She internally celebrated as Luke groaned and started to follow her, what Brielle thought was out of defeat. Just as she thought she had gotten away with it, Luke stepped in front of her and swept her off her feet, pulling her up and letting her dangle over his shoulder as he held on to her calves. He tried his best to ignore her brutal kicking and punching of his back as he carried her to the line.
"Put me down!" she shrieked as she flailed her limbs in an attempt to get him to set her down.
Luke giggled -- even though she was being serious he couldn't help but find the absurd movements she was doing to get him to put her down appealing. He tried to ignore her constantly hitting him with every part of her body, though he had to admit that she was striking him with quite some force. "Don't scream like that. People are going to think I'm abducting you or something."
"Good!" she yelled, earning weird looks from the people near them.
Luke continued to ignore Brielle's protests as he carried her to the line, the amount of people on the pier and their tendency to want to stand in the middle of the walkway making it take much longer, which also meant having to deal with Brielle's abuse for longer. She definitely had persistence, that's for sure.
"Your butt is in my face," she groaned, letting her arms hang out of defeat -- she definitely was not going to be able to compare with Luke's strength and her violent actions didn't seem to affect him.
"Good!" he mocked Brielle's voice, earning a punch in the back from her.
Luke put her down as he reached the queue, placing her in front of him and holding both his hands on her shoulders to stop her from going anywhere.
"I hate you," she spat as she crossed her arms.
"You'll have fun," he said in a sing-song voice, rocking her body back and forth by using her shoulders.
Brielle looked up to watch the current riders as the they reached the top -- a number of screams coming from the cart as they dropped. Even though she wasn't on the ride, she felt her heart plummet to her stomach. For a split second she had thought about actually getting on, but if her heart dropped from just watching it, she could only imagine how she would react if she was actually on it. She had always hated roller coasters, and although she had lived in Santa Monica her whole life and visited the pier multiple times, she had always managed to avoid the coaster. Of course Luke had to be the one to change that.
"Luke, seriously, I'm terrified," she admitted, turning around and looking up at him with worried eyes.
"You'll be fine, Brie."
"I hate roller coasters," she complained, hiding her face in Luke's shirt. At this point, she was just using Luke's vulnerabilities to her advantage.
He pouted his lips as she buried her face into his body. "If you're actually scared, then we probably shouldn't get on," he recommended. He thought she was just being difficult at first though he realized that she was actually frightened.
"I really don't want to," she mumbled into his shirt.
Luke didn't reply, just put his arm around her neck and left the line with her face still buried in his shirt. Though she was glad about getting out of riding the coaster and possibly embarrassing herself by vomiting all over Luke, she couldn't help but feel like a wimp as they walked away.
"I feel like such a coward."
"Aw, don't feel bad," he consoled her as she unburied her face from his shirt. If it had been someone like Michael, Luke definitely would've harassed them for being scared to get on such a simple roller coaster -- he probably would've called them a pussy as well.
They kept walking, though without a destination. She had expected Luke to ask her what she wanted to do next though he hadn't said anything yet.
"Can we go sit on the beach?" Brielle spoke up, looking up at him. The sun was now starting to set, and even though they had barely done anything all she wanted to do was relax. She could tell he was a little exhausted too, especially by how he was dragging his feet (something Brielle absolutely hated.)
"In your dress?" he asked, referring to how uncomfortable it would be to get sand in her dress.
"It'll be fine," she shrugged.
"Whatever you wanna do we can do."
"Kay, let's go." Brielle picked up her speed, though it didn't affect Luke much as his legs were twice the length of hers. The beach was definitely on the top of the list of places she enjoyed most -- the sound of the waves crashing onto shore enough to relax her alone. And that's exactly what she needed.
She liked going further down the beach as there were less people -- it was worth all the walking. After minutes of the both of them complaining about how their feet hurt, and Luke whining about the sand in his shoes (even though Brielle told him countless times to take them off but he decided to be stubborn) they reached a point where there were only a few people around them.
Brielle sat down, making sure to avoid getting sand in her dress. She brought her knees up to her face, hoping that nobody would walk in front of her and see her exposed underwear. Luke plopped himself down next to her, grunting as he did so, which made Brielle snort.
It was quiet for a while, just the two of them enjoying the silence and atmosphere together. Luke looked over at Brielle -- the light illuminating from the sunset making her skin glow. No matter what she was doing she always looked nice, and it seemed effortless. She may have been very violent and sometimes intimidating, though he enjoyed her company quite a bit. He probably should have spent the day training for the match that could change his life, but he was definitely content with that fact that he spent it with the pretty girl sitting beside him, even if it didn't start out too good.
"Thank you," Brielle said in almost a whisper, not necessarily referring to one certain thing but everything Luke had done for her. At the current moment he was technically the only person she could confine to as her best friend was being annoying and all of her other friends were not close enough.
He only hummed in response and smiled broadly at her.
It was quiet again and Luke had to stop himself from staring at her.
"Luke?" she spoke up, looking over at him. "Can you talk about yourself?" she asked, suddenly wanting to feel closer to him. In the past few hours, she felt like she had, especially after what they had went through. But she didn't feel like she necessarily knew him like she wanted to.
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like I know nothing about you."
"I'm a boring person," he remarked, shrugging.
"I doubt that. You're an underground boxer," she pointed out, that one fact alone making him more interesting than she ever thought she would be.
"That's the only thing that's special about me," he said, and Brielle was surprised at his sudden attitude change. She was used to his cocky self, and not the Luke who would question how fascinating his life was.
"Luke," she whined, resting her head on his shoulder, knowing that would break him.
He sighed as he fiddled with his hands in his lap. "Fine, what do you wanna know?"
\\
(the only knowledge of Santa Monica i have is from gta v..., bare w me((also i 100% regret setting this story in Cali bc New York would fit it so much better um??? at least we got this cute lil date tho !)))
i tried to write this as quickly as possible bc i haven't updated in a bit also u had to deal w the mental breakdown i had when the rating for this story went to R for like a day (also had to rewrite this chap after being 3000 words in nice) so it's kinda shitty nd really only a filler but it was pretty cute eH?
next chap is gonna get RL personal prepare ur selves
it's 4 am i didn't proof read this goodnight