Rochester Avenue // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 9 - 'Michael Tries To Take All His Clothes Off'

Luke was sitting down and flipping through some magazines with his nose scrunched up when I came back out. When he saw me he immediately stood up, not seeming to notice the stares from the other people in the shop. He smiled and I smiled right back.

"So? Are you going to show me?" he asked, briskly walking up to me, and I shook my head.

"Not here. In the car. I'll pay and then–"

"I'm paying," Luke interrupted, following Craig to the desk.

"What? No, you're not, Luke, seriously," I insisted.

"Yes, I am. How much?" he asked Craig, who answered with, "Fifty dollars." Luke quickly pulled out the right amount of cash and exited the shop with me following after him, still complaining.

"You really didn't have to do that," I grumbled as I got into the car, wincing a little at the movement.

"Sure I did. Now show me the tattoo," Luke commanded.

I grinned and lifted up one side of my shirt, wincing slightly, to show the small snowflake on my ribs. Luke's eyes widened a little at the exposure of skin, then he raised his eyebrows. "A snowflake?"

"Yeah. You kind of inspired me," I said with a shrug. A smile made its way onto his lips.

"You got my new nickname for you tattooed on you," he said a little smugly. "I'm so flattered, snowflake."

"Shut up," I said, letting my shirt drop back down. "It wasn't because of you, you just gave me the idea." I started the car. "Where next on our night of adventures?"

Luke thought for a moment. "The beach?"

"That's like an hour away," I reminded him. "And there will actually be people there, so... I mean, you'd probably get trampled by a load of girls or something."

"Worried about my safety, Noelle? Cute," he said, and I rolled my eyes but didn't reply. "I see your point about the beach, though. Okay, just drive for a little bit. I know where we're going."

I groaned. "Another surprise?"

"Yep. Off you go."

I drove and Luke sifted through my music collection, wrinkling his nose at some things and nodding approvingly at others.

"You going to put something on or are you just going to judge my music?" I said, glancing at him.

"Give me a sec." Luke put something in and turned it up. The sound of Green Day filled the car and Luke sang along loudly while I just laughed at him.

"Are you saying you don't know this song?" Luke exclaimed when I didn't sing along with him.

"Of course I know this song, I'm just enjoying watching you make a fool of yourself," I stated with a shrug.

"When it comes to Green Day, everyone should make a fool of themselves," he remarked as if it was obvious. I laughed again and gave in, singing along too. I didn't care about the people staring at us when we rolled the windows down and sang to the world. I also didn't care when we stopped at traffic lights and a group of girls ran up to the car, taking pictures and screaming, at which point Luke rolled up the window.

"It must get annoying," I commented when we finally left the screaming girls behind.

"What?" Luke questioned, looking over at me.

"The lack of privacy." I watched him carefully but also made sure to keep my eyes on the road.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I guess. This is probably the first time I've been out in public without security or anything in a while," Luke told me, staring out the window as we drove.