DERANGED

Thirty Four: Hometown

Lexi's POV

Luke and I were walking through the grocery store when my phone started to ring from my purse. I saw that it was my mom and answered it. 

"Hey, when do you think you guys will be here?" My mom asked. 

"Um, probably like half an hour. We're at the store still. Do you need us to pick up anything else?" I asked her. My parents wanted Luke and I to come visit for the weekend, so we drove up to San Jose, a four-hour drive, this afternoon. We had to make a stop at the grocery store first. This will also be my parents' first time meeting Luke, and needless to say, he was quite nervous. 

"Yes, can you guys get some salad ingredients? Your dad was wanting to make some to go with the steak and potatoes." She asked. 

"Yep, then we'll be on our way." I told her. 

"Thank you, see you soon!" She exclaimed, hanging up.

"Are you sure your mom is gonna like these?" Luke asked me, referring to the bouquet of flowers he picked out that were now sitting in our cart. 

"Yes, she would love any flowers, babe." I reassured him. We got the rest of what we needed and left the store. We got to the car and I realized I probably brought too much stuff with me considering we're only staying for the weekend, but I wanted to bring a few outfit options in case we go out for a meal. There's this little restaurant in town that my family always goes to, and I'm sure my mom will want to take us tomorrow night while Luke is here.

I started the car and just as we were pulling out of the parking lot, my phone rang again. Luke pulled it out of my purse.

"Who is it?" I asked, as he looked at the screen.

"Sammy." He said, pressing the green button and putting her on speaker. 

"Hey." Luke and I said at almost the exact same time.

"Hey guys." She responded.

"What's up?" I asked, turning the car onto the main street.

"Michael is back on campus... Grayson, Noah and I just ran into him when we were at the coffee stand." She explained.

"Really? Why?!" I was shocked.

"I don't know. But he's acting like a completely different person now. He's a jerk." She told us. I honestly didn't know what to say. He was only in jail for a few weeks... 

"I don't really know what to say, I'm sorry. We'll all just have to keep our distance from him." I sighed. We talked to Sam for a few more minutes until we pulled into the driveway of my parents home. I opened my door and got out of the car, the familiar salty air hitting me, as the house is right on the coast. There's stairs in the backyard that lead down to the beach, which was always one of my favorite parts about growing up here. Luke and I grabbed all our belongings and the groceries, and headed to the front door. I knocked and gave Luke's hand a quick squeeze. 

"Oh my gosh hi." My mom said opening the door. She gave me a tight hug immediately. I hadn't seen her and dad in awhile. She turned to Luke then.

"You can call me Elizabeth, it's so nice to finally meet you Luke." She smiled. 

"It's lovely to meet you too, and these are for you." My boyfriend said, handing my mom the bouquet of tulips. 

"You didn't have to, but thank you!" She said, giving Luke a quick hug, before the three of us went into the house. 

"Hi Sunny!" I exclaimed, when my parents Labrador ran up to me. I guess she's still mine too, but since I've gone away to college I haven't been home often.

"Hey dad." I greeted, walking into the kitchen where he was cooking dinner. 

"Hey kiddo," He smiled, before looking to my boyfriend. "You must be Luke, it's nice to meet you." He walked over, shaking Luke's hand.

"It's good to meet you too, sir." I've never heard Luke say 'sir' before, and it definitely didn't sound like him. 

"So how long have you two been together?" My dad asked, catching me off guard. I was hoping to have a drink before the interrogating from my parents begins. Guess not.

"A few months now... three." I answered, which was mostly true. Luke hadn't ever officially asked me to be his girlfriend, I just started referring to him as my boyfriend one day, him calling me his girlfriend. But it has been a few months now that we've been together, we just don't have a specific date that we started dating. 

"What are you majoring in, Luke?" My mom asked, entering the conversation.

"Business, but right now I'm still working on getting my prerequisites done." He told my parents. I walked over to the fridge to look for something to drink. 

"Do you want a glass of wine? What about Luke?" My mom noticed and asked me, as Luke and my dad talked. 

"Sure. For both of us." I nodded, getting the glasses from the cabinet as my mom left the kitchen. I followed her down to the basement, where the wine cellar is. 

"Did you guys make it bigger since last time?!" I asked in shock, as I stared at a room of wine bottles tucked neatly into shelves. 

"We only added shelves for 50 more bottles. That should last us awhile before we have to make it bigger. You know how much your father loves collecting." She laughed, walking over and picking out a few bottles, reading the labels on them. After a few minutes in silence my mom spoke.

"Does Luke treat you well?" She asked me quietly.

"Yes, oh my god. He treats me so well. Why do you ask that?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I remember your past relationships... I just don't want to see you go through that again." She told me. 

"Ah... I won't though." I reassured her, I hesitated before continuing. 

"Luke's the one, mom." I smiled.