the bucket list | lrh

03 - in danger

It all happened a little too fast for Valentine to properly digest. Before she knew it, she was being thrown against the padded flooring beneath the bull. She wasn't even given a single second of time to breathe before a pair of cold hands gripped her forearm and pulled her up. In the blink of an eye, she was being grabbed and led away from the crowd that grew in excitement at how well she was doing.

At first, Valentine figured that Mary might've pulled her away in fear that she'd get trampled by the sounds around her, but she was rudely awakened by the sight of Luke Hemmings pulling her out the front doors, and away from the blonde girl she came here with. In fact, Valentine doubted that Mary even got the chance to see where she had gone, because Luke just moved that fast.

"What the hell?" Valentine finally got the courage to speak once they were successfully hidden from the crowd and outside.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked, a strange mixture of concern and confusion plastered across his face. He didn't understand what exactly the girl was trying to accomplish, but he felt a strange urge to make sure nothing like that happened again.

"Well, I was riding the mechanical bull. Now I'm standing out here with a grouch." It was out of character for the little brunette girl to hold so much distaste in her tone, but she really didn't enjoy what Luke was doing.

"You do understand that you could've gotten hurt, right?" He was practically seething as he said this, unexplainable anger seeping out of each and every pore on his paled flesh.

"What's it to you?" Valentine fired back, knowing that she couldn't argue with what he had said. She just didn't understand why he'd possibly start caring right now if all times. He hadn't even called the girl since Adeline passed away, and she was growing angrier and angrier as the man tried to act like some saving grace.

"What's it to me? You're her sister Valentine. Why would I not pull you out of some trouble like that?" Val's head was spinning then, her thoughts clouded by both the adrenaline and the anger she held for the blonde boy who has successfully ruined her night by bringing Adeline up in such a way. She couldn't help but think that the boy was only using her sisters death against her, and it made her want to explode.

"You have no right to talk about her. She wanted me to do that! You don't know anything." And she was right. Because Luke had not heard of the arguments between the two girls relating to that mechanical bull. He had not a single clue that Adeline had put that specific thing on her bucket list.

"I don't think Adeline would appreciate you purposely putting yourself in danger, Val." This really made the brunette snap. How dare he speak of a situation he knows nothing about? When in reality he knew so little about what Adeline would've appreciated. Valentine was positive that she'd receive praise had the black haired girl been alive to see what she just did, and no amount of scolding from Luke could change that.

Valentine was full of pride and anger, which is why she didn't think twice before speaking again.

"That's why she put it on her bucket list, sure."

She immediately regretted letting those words slip out of her mouth. She saw the way Luke stumbled backwards in surprise, and she couldn't ignore the way his lips slightly parted in surprise. It wasn't until then that Valentine really had the opportunity to soak in Luke's presence in front of her.

A pair of black jeans covered the mans legs, while a white button down shirt sat against his torso. A little too much of the mans skin was visible, and it made Valentine want to puke. Had she not been so consumed by her accidental slip up, she would've actually thrown up on the side of the road.