aisle five » hemmings a.u.

six

omg you guys are amazing 4k reads? that's unbelievable! here's my thank you, and because it's such a high number, I'll make it longer than usual and super fluffy :) thank you so much again, I really can't fathom how the frick this happened lmao & I'll be dedicating each chapter to a random reader now (not necessarily people who comment but that will definitely up your chances, especially if you make me smile)

dedication to @battlescarrs for her comment on chapter vier; "I was at Walgreens earlier today and I was in aisle 5 to get pens (because that aisle is like office stuff) and I saw my neighbor Luke..." I legitimately screamed when I read this thank you oh my god

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A yawn left Emma's lips as she failed to keep her eyes open any longer. She'd stayed up relatively late the night prior to getting trapped reading her newest book that she'd gotten from her older sister Nicole's bookshelf that was untouched. That was precisely why she couldn't stop her eyelids from drooping any longer, and Luke noticed.

"Go to sleep," he murmured, standing up and wandering off somewhere. Emma didn't like being alone, even if the lights were on and darkness wasn't surrounding her. Slowly, standing up and hugging herself nervously, she glanced over the aisles, to see the top of a head of purple hair bobbing from one aisle to another. A faint humming was heard as well, and she watched with nervous eyes. He turned around and caught her eye, raising his hands then gesturing for her to sit down. She bit her lip before doing as he said for her to.

She plopped down onto the ground before sighing, rubbing her fingers along the scratchy material of the grey, dirty rug. Suddenly, darkness loomed over her in nervous shadows, the lights above her going out. In a second, she was calling, "Luke," and standing up again. But she didn't hear nor see anything. "Luke, this isn't funny. For real, if you're trying to get back at me by scaring me, I'll kick you in the balls." Emma whimpered and crossed her arms over her chest. Soft pitter patters of rain sounded on the roof.

Warm arms wrapped around her and she jumped, gasping. But when the light from outside shone on his face, revealing just Luke holding her, as well as a bunch of other stuff. "Take a few steps back," he intructed, and she did, watching him carefully. He put all the stuff he had in his hands on the ground to the side. He picked up a large plastic box, opened it up, pulled out a large white, king-sized comforter, then laid it down on the floor. Then he picked up two airplane pillows - both animals, one a dolphin and the other a giraffe - and put them on top of the blanket. After he'd finished fluffing them dramatically, making Emma hide her smile behind her chipped finger nail painted fingers, he grabbed this tiny little kiddy lantern, the kind they'd use in a blanket fort. He turned it on the lowest setting, turning to her and offering a hand, disregarding the other item to the side. As she grabed Luke's hand, she stumbled slightly over the blanket, making him smile at her clumsiness.

"This is . . . oh my gosh," she stammered out, taking a seat cross-legged onto the makeshift bed. "I think you're the definition of perfect." Emma laid back onto the little dolphin pillow, turning onto her side and gesturing for him to do the same.

Luke made a face. "Nobody's perfect," he said matter-of-factly.

Emma giggled, "Okay, Hannah Montana," and pulled the excess blanket over her body. After all, there was enough blanket to hold four people - though the two of them was just as good. "No, but you're really sweet, and smart, and nice, and funny. And you've got a sense of humor, which is hard to find. Then you've got that smile and, like, that whole confidence thing. Not to mention you're the only person in the world who could pull off purple hair."

"I'm flattered, Em, but no one's perfect. We all have our little deal breakers, you know? The scars or whatever you'd call them. I guess I've already told you mine, being the whole disappointment thing. But I know nothing about you. What's yours?" Luke pulled the blanket over himself as well.

Emma looked away, thinking for a moment before the shirt on her body reminded her of what'd happened not even six years ago. "My brother Eric died when I was twelve. I guess that took this major toll on my family, God, I was dumb, but my mum would constantly yell at me and all that. It was like since he wasn't there, and I was, she took out it on me like it was my fault. And then, like, I got this idea that my life just sucked so bad and I couldn't bare to live on this earth anymore, I did this," she said. She raised a single arm and found one, faint, pink scar on the wrist. Luke took the limb in his hands delicately and placed a kiss on the cut. "I mean, I've never done it since because first, it was dumb. Second, it hurt like hell, and third, it wasn't worth it."

He looked at her long and hard, her wrist still in his fingertips, just staring into her big green eyes, like he was just waiting for something to happen. "I'm sorry about Eric," he whispered, not saying a word about the cut inked on her skin. "But I'm glad you never did it again. You're too beautiful to see cry."

"I'm not," she replied, "but thanks, Luke. It means a lot to hear you say that."

They stayed quiet for a while, staring at each other, taking in each other's being. Emma'd never gotten so close to anyone so fast. Her friend Marie would think she was crazy, Sara would say that she could've died, but she was glad she wasn't, and her sister Nicole would blame it on true love. Though Emma wasn't sure her sister even knew what love was. All she knew was that one time in high school, she swore she was in love with some guy, but he had a girlfriend so it didn't work out.

Finally, after zero movement or sound from either of their lips, Luke reached over and grabbed the last thing he grabbed. It turned out to be a flashlight. "Sometimes, when I would camp out in the backyard with my brothers, I'd take a torch and shine it out the stars to see if they shone brighter," he mumbled, moving to onto his back. "It sounds really fucking stupid now that I think about it. But, anyway, they never would shine brighter, and I remember thinking about how big this shit world is. And how it just keeps moving. How people come, and then they go. The world never stops for you to catch up if you fall behind, and I just . . . I don't know." She watched with curious eyes as he turned it on and started flashing it all the up to the high ceiling. "I don't want you to be one of those people. You're one of the only people who's said they actually believe in me, and I don't want to lose that. Emma, will you wait for me to catch up like no one else has?"

She smiled, turning to him and moving closer. "Of course, I will," she mumbled, looking into his deep blue eyes and leaning over, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I'm tired and just want to get out of this store. Sweet dreams, Luke." Emma closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off, subconciously moving closer to him, into his arms, nuzzling her face into the fabric of his t-shirt.