aisle five » hemmings a.u.

four

"No."

Luke pulled back once more, getting slightly frustrated now. Emma looked at him, her breathing erratic and her hand clutching the fabric of her shirt insecurely. Her eyes were wide and she slid as far against the aisle as possible. He watched.

"I'm sorry," she gushed, holding her elbows. "I just . . . I'm sorry." He nodded, running his long fingers through the purple of his hair, breathing out a huff. "I don't even know you, I - I -" Luke patted her knee before standing up and offering her a hand, to which she took. He didn't let go of her hand, however, when she was all the way up, now reaching his height. "Where are we going?"

He shrugged. "To get food. Don't think I didn't hear your stomach, you hungry thing, you," Luke laughed, and her cheeks heated up, especially because he was acting completely normal while she was all hot and bothered. "I could use a Ding-Dong." Emma choked on her own saliva.

She tried to cover up her dirty mind. "Right, right," she snorted, still laughing quietly to herself. But before she knew it she was bellowing out loud chortles with Luke staring at her like she was a maniac. Then he realized what he said and started chuckling as well until they were both standing in the food aisle giggling like seven-year-olds. "Do you like Ding-Dongs, Luke?"

"Stop speaking," he laughed, breathing out his reply in a struggle as he was out of air. "You don't see me making fun of you for your little sexual innuendos, Emma." She placed a hand on his shoulder to keep herself from falling over. "God, you're mean. Bully." He raised his voice. "Help! Help! We've got a bully over here!"

Eventually they made it to the food aisle and their eyes were raking over the various snackfoods that were displayed along the rows. Luke automatically went for his beloved Ding-Dong, which brought tears to Emma's eyes once more. Then she went for a simple bag of chips. They went back to the lightest part of the store, aisle five, cross-legged and in front of each other, just staring. She thanked her lucky stars they weren't awkward or anything, because being trapped in a store with a boy who feels uncomfortable around you wouldn't be too pleasant. Luke was pretty cool about everything, anyway.

"Can I ask you a question?" she suddenly asked, making him look up at her as she swallowed a chip. "And you have to promise not to laugh, okay? Because I know you're just as bad at that as I am." He nodded slowly and she licked her lips nervously. "Um, when you . . . do it for the first time . . . does it, uh, hurt?" Her cheeks turned considerably red but Luke wasn't laughing.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you been thinking about it a lot?" He ran his fingers through his light lilac hair a few times and grimaced at the memory of the color. She nodded, her face going a deeper shade of pink. "Is it because I tried to kiss you?" Emma's heart sunk before she shook her head up and down once more. Luke sighed. "You know I'd never pressure you into something you don't want to do. I get that you're a virgin and you don't know a lot about kissing and stuff, but I'd never take advantage of that, you feel me? It takes a sick man to do that to a girl."

All the thoughts of fucking her senseless on the floor of the pharmacy flew out of his mind. She was nervous and cute and innocent and he stood in no position of doing naughty things with her. Luke knew that she was scared and inexperienced, so he wouldn't lay a hand on her. That was exactly why when she nodded slowly he took her hand in his and smiled warmly. She couldn't not reciprocate it, it was that genuine.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I knew there was a heart in there, Barney."

His smile dropped suddenly, and he ripped his hand from her, looking away. Emma looked at him in surprise, asking what was wrong. "I thought we agreed not to go on with the names, still," he frowned, but with the look of shock and guilt on her face, he broke and laughed. "I'm just playing with you, Em. Can I call you Em?" She nodded, punching him.

"You know, the purple actually doesn't look that bad," she murmured, ruffling his hair slightly, making him chuckle lowly. She was focused on his hair. "Can I, like, play with it?" Emma twirled her hair nervously, sending a chill down Luke's spine before he nodded. "Okay, come."

Luke scooted so his back was to her and she surprised him when she pulled at his shoulders gently, then pulled him down so his head was in her lap. She bit at a chip gingerly before running her grease-free fingers across his scalp and through his soft hair. It felt like a golden retriever puppy. Her breathing slowed as she became more relaxed with playing with his purple locks. He closed his eyes. Emma tugged at his roots lightly and he hummed in response, letting a smile slide onto his face, to which she smiled back at.

He giggled. "You have tiny baby hands," he mumbled before nuzzling his head into her lap. "It feels so good though." She looked down at him with her eyebrows raised, aghast she could make him practically moan with just her tiny baby hands. Luke licked his lips under her stare. "Don't stop," he begged, and she hadn't noticed she'd stopped her fingers. Then a big sigh came from his lips.

Emma looked down at him. He was so beautiful.

"I'm gonna' tell you something personal," he said, "which you can take more than one way." Luke opened his eyes for a moment before reclosing them and the pretty blue disappearing. "Ehm, I've never actually been in a real relationship. I mean, yeah, in sixth grade when having a girlfriend was cool. But I don't think I have ever felt love, you know?" His eyes opened again. She nodded, even though she didn't know. "I think that if I actually put myself out there and start dating a girl who's really cool and finally do feel love, I'll be the one to get burned."

She kept her fingers moving through his hair but her head was still wrapping around what she'd just told him. "I've only had four boyfriends, all week-long flings in high school, so," she said, but wasn't sure if that was actually relevant. "I think I have the same fear."

"It's not a fear," he stated, closing his eyes once more. "You probably think I'm crazy, but it's like a feeling. Like I know that if I date someone and finally fall in love, she'll, like, break up with me or kick me out or something. I can see it happening to me." Luke sighed again. "I cheated on one of my girlfriends in senior year - Savannah McDaniels; it was a platonic thing, mostly make-out sessions in the back of her Jeep - and she found me with a stupid girl called Nicole in my own room." Emma almost dropped her fingers from his hair. "I've regretted it ever since, you know. The look on her face was just . . . oh my god, I can't even explain it. I'd never do it again, for real, because I swear to god, I never want to see that face again."

After a moment of silence, he continued.

"I tried to make it up to her, buy her flowers and chocolates every day and put them on the hood of her car - it was kind of a joke between us. She wasn't laughing, though, and neither was I. I just kept trying and trying until I finally just gave up on Savannah. I knew she'd never speak to me again, never forgive me, never smile at me. So I gave up."

Emma swallowed. "I'd never cheat on someone I loved," she whispered, making his eyes open. "And I say loved because if you're with someone you don't love, what's the point? Especially if they don't love you back in the first place. I mean, infidelity is wrong either way, but I guess it's got a bit less of an importance if there's none of that . . . umph."

Luke cleared his throat after a long moment of just staring at each other. "I think if anyone cheated on you, Em, I'd kick their asses. Love or not."