count on me (l.h)

"the whole kit and caboodle"

chapter forty-one: the whole kit and caboodle

SUNDAY (cont'd). "You've never just eaten peanut butter out of the jar?" Luke asked me. I was currently looking at him strangely as he ate peanut butter from a spoon. We had wanted to try something new, so Luke was attempting to make banana peanut butter pancakes.

"Plain? Absolutely not. I feel like that's something I'd do for a sad snack if I had literally nothing else around," I told him through a snort as I jumped up on the counter beside the bowl of batter that I had mixed for him.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, ma'am," Luke said, before finishing the peanut butter that was on the spoon. He dipped the spoon back into the peanut butter and got a little bit on it before handing it to me. "You'll be impressed."

"It's peanut butter, Luke," I said through a laugh as I crossed my arms.

"Okay, and? You like peanut butter." Knowing he wouldn't stop bugging me until I tried it, I took the spoon from Luke and ate some of it.

"Jesus, it's so dry," I complained, intentionally making it seem worse than it actually was. Luke's eyes playfully rolled and he turned back to the stove—he finished the two pancakes he was currently making and placed them on a plate, before starting another two. "I guess it isn't so bad..." I said just before eating the remaining peanut butter.

"Ha-ha!" Luke stepped toward me and kissed my cheek, just before stealing the spoon from me. "You don't deserve the goodness of this after talking shit."

"Hey," I pouted.

"Sorry, bubs," Luke said with a shrug, before gently tossing the spoon into the sink. "So, after we eat, d'you wanna plan to head out to go look around for stuff? Or do you wanna knock out the homework you need to get done?"

"Maybe it would be smartest to get the homework done first. It shouldn't take long, so we could plan to leave here around ten?" It was nearly eight, so that was only a couple of hours away.

"I can't believe you have homework. How lame," Luke teased which caused my eyes to roll.

"Says Mr. Dropout," I jabbed back, sticking my tongue out at him for effect. Luke's jaw dropped at my comeback and I sent him a sweet, innocent smile. "He's dropping out of school, 'cause he don't need the grade!" As I suddenly began to sing, Luke's face twisted in confusion.

"You know that shit, but not our recents?"

"Hey! I have been doing my 5SOS homework these days. I think I know every song now. But the old stuff is the best," I told him with a shrug. "If you had gotten down on your knees and sang Try Hard to me back in the summer, I would've immediately gotten over my hesitation."

"Shut up," Luke said through a laugh, his head falling back slightly. "That song's actually about you—I was visited by future me back in 2014. I mean, it's obvious—you have a rose tattoo and you keep it covered, so it has to be about you. Those words apply to no one else." As the words left Luke's lips, my jaw dropped.