Rochester Avenue // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 16 - 'No, It's A Cow, Luke'

Luke was laughing, and I was on the ground, my cheeks flaming in embarrassment.

"That was... so graceful," Luke remarked as he easily climbed over the fence and landed beside me.

I scowled at him as I stood up slowly, brushing myself off. "I think I broke my ass."

"You fell like three feet. You'll be fine," Luke said in exasperation. "Now come on."

I rolled my eyes but followed him as we ventured away from the fence and into the park. It was a pretty warm night considering it was February, and I was quite enjoying the quiet that the park brought. There was no one around, just us and the night.

"Let's sit," Luke suggested and he dropped down onto the ground, stretching his legs out and tilting his head back to look at the stars. I sat down next to him but instead of looking at the stars, I studied Luke. I let my gaze travel down his profile; his adorable nose, his lips and lip ring, his Adam's apple and his broad chest.

"You know," he said softly, turning slightly to look at me. "The stars are really pretty. They'd be a better thing to stare at."

I half smiled and murmured, "I don't know. You come pretty close."

Luke's lips parted in surprise, and I couldn't blame him. Usually I wouldn't have the balls to say something like that, but tonight felt different. It felt like we were the only ones in the world, and I could say anything I wanted to. I let my gaze drift away from Luke and up to the stars. It was a really clear night. I knew that Luke was now staring at me, and the corner of my mouth curled up in a grin. I pretended not to notice and instead I lay back so my neck wouldn't hurt from looking at the sky. The ground was cold but I didn't mind. After a moment Luke lay down too, his shoulder pressing against mine.

"I'm not going to pretend I know anything about stars and tell you all about the constellations and shit," Luke whispered, his breath stirring my hair.

"Me neither," I whispered back, and suddenly we were laughing together at god knows what. But it felt good to really laugh properly, especially with Luke. Being around him made me feel better, happier, like all the shit with my mom and Nathan never happened. When our laughter died down I moved closer to him and absent-mindedly traced patterns on his chest with my finger, my head fitting in the crook of his neck. Luke's nose, then lips brushed over my hair and I sighed softly. I was so content here even if I was kind of cold.

"Noh," Luke breathed. "I've realized I don't know all that much about you."

I tilted my head a bit to look at him, my eyebrows furrowing slightly. "You know the most about me out of all my friends. You know, considering you're my best friend and all."

He grinned. "Well, I know that, but... like, your favorite color and shit."

"My favorite color?" I repeated with a chuckle. "Well, it used to be red, but now it's blue."

"Is it really?" Luke said in mock surprise. "I wonder why that is."

"Mm. What about you?"

"Mine was blue, but now I'm leaning more towards green."

I fake gasped. "Hey, my eyes are green."

"What a coincidence, huh?"

"Sure," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, what's your favorite animal?" Luke asked, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger and then dropping it across my face. I blew it off my face and thought.

"Uh, I don't really know. I haven't really thought about it. Maybe a giraffe or something." I glance at him with a grin. "I bet I know what yours is. A penguin, right? Considering your Instagram username used to be 'Luke is a penguin', which, by the way, was pretty cool. You shouldn't have changed it."