gone ✧*｡ luke a.u.

23: august 4 2011

some music i mention in this chapter and others in gone are from later than 2011 but just ignore it ily

~:~

ELLIE

MONDAY, AUGUST 4TH, 2011

They were silent for a while as Luke drove, both hands on the steering wheel and his eyes straight ahead. Nothing of their tastes was playing on the radio, so they had to settle for the pop tones of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night. Neither of them complained.

Ellie didn't know where he was driving. She had never asked to go home, and the streets he was taking them along were not on the way to her house or his. Curiosity tempted her, but still she didn't speak. She had no idea what he was thinking.

Finally he cleared his throat, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "Are you gonna tell me why you're in my car, Ellie?"

She toyed with a rung in her stockings. "Because I asked you and you agreed."

"Come off it," he scoffed. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," she said, then stared out the window. She still felt numb, and Luke had changed the channel so that Kissing in Cars leaked from the speakers instead of Lady Gaga. "Morgan kicked me out."

He turned and stared at her so fast she almost thought he'd lose control of the car. "What?" he exclaimed, shocked. "She kicked you out?"

Ellie nodded slowly. "That's what I said." At the sight of his face she sighed, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "It's not that big of a deal, Luke."

"It is." He had turned his eyes back to the road now, but it was obviously bothering him. "Shit, Ellie. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

He sighed through his nose, then reached out and took her hand. She gave it to him, lacing her fingers through his while he drove. Slowly, he brought her hand up to his lips and gently kissed the back of it, his eyes closing for a brief second. Butterflies erupted in Ellie's stomach, under her skin, in her heart, everywhere. Who knew there could be so many nerve endings in one place?

"So she kicked you out," he said after a moment, seeming a hell of a lot calmer than Ellie felt. "Has it happened before?"

"Only once," she said, then for some reason didn't want to stop talking. She wanted to indulge in him. "I was fourteen. Things sort of blew up . . . I can't even remember what we were fighting about. I think she shouted at Dan because he broke a glass and I just lost it at her. We yelled all this stupid stuff at each other. I came back the next night and she pretended it hadn't happened."

Luke looked so sad it almost overwhelmed her. "Ellie . . ."

She shook her head. "Please don't give me your pity, Luke."

"Okay," he said quietly. They had reached a set of red traffic lights, and he turned his head to look at her, searching her eyes. She always found the way his eyes zeroed in on her unsettling; it was as though he was trying to see through her. It made her feel like no one else and nothing else existed; nothing but the two of them.

Ellie sighed and looked away, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I just --"

"It's fine." He cut her off and sent her a small smile. "I understand."

She bit her lip and stayed quiet.

After a pause, Luke sighed. "Ellie . . ." he said again, then frowned, as though he was trying to figure something out, some sort of puzzle only he knew. "Why - why don't you tell your dad? About Morgan and Jack?"