fall. 》 hemmings a.u

0.6

"Evening." Luke says as he's walking up behind me as I make my way to the elevator.

"Technically, Lucas, it's afternoon. Not evening." I say matter-of-factly.

"You never exactly struck me as a technical kind of girl, Hannah Grace."

"You don't have to call me by my middle name, ya know. You could always just call me Hannah." I say as he hits the lobby button on the elevators pannel.

"I like Hannah Grace, it's pretty." He says with an awkward smile and a blush teaming up on his face. This is really the first time I'd actually taken the time to truly examine Luke, and take in his full appearance.

"I didn't know you have your lip pierced." I say obliviously, still examining his features and extremely tall frame.

"You're staring pretty hard, ya know." He says with a smirk playing across his lips. My head snaps back and I can feel my face heat up. "And you've never noticed because you keep running away from me."

The elevator dings and the doors slide open, revealing the lobby. He exits before turning around and raising his eyebrows at me, silently asking if I was still coming. I roll my eyes and walk straight past him. "I hate you." I mumble as I past him.

He doesn't catch up until I'm already out of the building and walking down the sidewalk. He jogs to catch up with me, and stops once he's finally caught up. "Ya know," He says before stopping to take a breath. "You tell me that a lot. It isn't exactly an endearing thing to say to somebody."

I smile while still looking straight ahead, while I keep my hands tucked away in the pockets of my black skinny jeans. "I never said it was meant as a compliment, Lucas."

"Well then that's just not nice at all, Hannah Grace." He says slyly as we walk into the cafe.

"The usual, Cal." I call over to Calum before sitting in my booth. As I'm sitting I notice Luke sliding into the seat across from me. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Day off." He says simply before pulling out his phone.

"Then why did you walk with me all the way here?" I say, confused as usual.

He sighs before lowering his phone and looking up at me. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe someone someday may actually genuinely enjoy your company?" He say with a slight annoyance to his voice.

"Well, considering my objective was to make it impossible for you to even be able to converse with me. . . Yes." I say while nodding. Calum calls my name, telling me my coffee was ready. "Later, Lucas." I say while I slide out of the booth. I walk to the counter and toss Calum the money for my coffee. I turn sharply and run straight into Luke, spilling some of my coffee onto the floor as I do. I look down at the drops on the floor and back at him. "Seriously?" He nods and I roll my eyes and slowly push him back. "Personal space, Lucas. Damn."

I walk past him and out the door, Luke following close behind me. "Wait," he says as he jumps out in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Wanna go do something?" He asks, attempting to catch his breath.

"Like, as a date?" I say timidly.

"I mean, if you want--"

"I don't." I interrupt quickly. "What did you have in mind?" I say as I begin to walk down the street.

"I dunno. You've never been to New York, I grew up here. I just figured I could show you around." He says from behind me.

"I guess we could do that."

~

I've been walking around the big city for nearly two hours with Luke. Which is an hour and fifty minutes longer than I thought I could spend in his presence. He's actually not that bad, I wouldn't say he's fun to be around. But he's tolerable.

"How do you like New York?" He asks suddenly as we're walking down the street.

"It's not Tennessee, that's for sure." I look over and he's watching me, taking in every word that I say. "But I like it. My apartment's nice."

"Why'd you move here?" He looks over and sees my face fall and instantly tenses up. "You don't have to answer that, if you don't want to."

"No." I shoot back. "Its fine." I sigh and walk into the park, sitting on the first bench I see. "I was with this guy for all of high school. He was all I had, its like I lived for him. It's sad, I know. But, two weeks after graduation he left for school. Told me everything he ever said to me was a lie. Never even told me where he was going." I look over at Luke and he has a sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry I'm bothering you with my problems." I say sadly.

He puts his right arm around me and pulls me close. "Its never a bother, Hannah Grace." He says against the side of my head. He pulls away and looks into my eyes. "You're my friend, and that's what friends do."

"Lucas." I mumble. He raises his eyebrows, silently telling me to continue. "I still hate you." I say with a smile.

He laughs and pulls me back in for another hug. "I hate you too, Hannah Grace." He pulls away and stands up quickly. "We should probably head back. Michael's expecting me to show up." He says as he grabs my hands and helps me stand up. "And I'm sure you two will wanna talk boyfriend drama."

I give him a playful shove and walk towards the direction of our apartments. "Considering neither of us have a boyfriend, that'd be a little impossible."

"Nah. Michael talks about Calum like he's a God." He says with a laugh.

"And what about me? I'm just a Future Cat-Lady of America." I say laughing just as hard as Luke.

"I can picture you now. As soon as you and Michael get alone." He stands like a girl and talks in a high pitched tone, mocking me. "Oh Luke, he's so hot. I just pretend I hate him. Hashtag love of my life."

I burst into a fit of laughter at the sight of Luke acting like a fool in the middle of Central Park. I pull on the ends of his long sleeve shirt, walking backwards while trying to pull him towards our building and out of the humiliation. "Lucas, walk."

"I dunno, I think this is more fun." He says laughing. By this point he had stopped dead in his tracks and was standing completely still. And me, having no upper body strength whatsoever, couldn't make him budge.

I finally gave up and crossed my arms over my chest in a pouting motion. "I hate you." I say before turning on my heel and walking into the apartment building.

He follows close behind as I walk into the elevator. And for the first time since our first trip up this elevator nearly two weeks ago, we had a quiet ride up.

When we reach the top, both of us exit simultaneously. Bumping into each other in the process. When we reach our seperate doors, we unlock them and turn to each other. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow Lucas."

"Same time?"

"Same time." I respond with a smile.

"Good night, Hannah Grace." He says with a sweet smile.

"Good night, Luke."

I walk into my apartment, slamming my door behind me by accident. When I walk into the living room I see Michael sitting on my couch watching Adventure Time. "That was quite a long date, Hannah." He says with a smirk. "Tell me all about it."

~~

Thank u all so much for your support I'm so happy rn.

I love Ur comments so much omg ilu all. ❤

btw Idk if this was short af but I feel like it is I'm so sorry.

xx