the bucket list | lrh

31 - we kissed

As Valentine stirred throughout the night, there was nothing but the soft chirp of crickets surrounding her. Luke drove for hours without her conscious company, but he was growing extremely tired as the sun began to show again. He knew that in some time the girl would wake up, and he would get back on the road then.

After driving through what felt like a dessert, Luke set his sights on a truck stop just barely in the parameters of an old run down town. He deemed it safe enough without a second thought and was soon sleeping in the car along with Valentine.

The brunette felt very grumpy upon first fluttering her eyes awake, annoyed by the sunlight that intruded on her luscious slumber. It wasn't until she remembered what exactly she was waking up to that she swallowed her anger and replaced it with worry.

She could hear him ever so slightly letting out snores, and she could easily assume her whereabouts to be remote to a rest stop. She wasn't really panicked by the unfamiliar, but rather the memory that seemed to linger over her like a gray cloud. She had kissed Luke Hemmings. She, herself, under no professional influence or manipulation, had told Luke to kiss her. The high from the almost wreck had worn off, and Valentine's head was leveling itself back out. With each passing second, she was understanding more and more of what she'd done.

"Oh my god," she whispered, widening her eyes as she took in Luke's position. He had his seat reclined, laid out on his back, and Valentine thought he looked hot. She couldn't shame herself more for the thoughts than she was in that moment. She was mortified at where her mind had gone upon seeing Luke fast asleep. His shirt had risen due to his arm being slung atop his head, and a little streak of skin was revealed to her.

She could hardly take her eyes away, until Luke's sixth sense kicked in. When he subtly peeked through his eyelids, he was greeted with a wide awake Valentine trying to play off being caught.

"Were you watching me sleep?" He grumbled, leaning his weight up and turning towards the girl who had since found something else to focus on. Well, she was trying at least. She had just panicked and decided on focusing her vision on the trees in front of them, as if a grizzly had peered its head out and engaged in a staring contest with her.

"No," she rushed out, her gaze unaltered.

"Well... uh..." Luke wasn't quite sure what to say. He didn't really understand the girl's strange behavior, and upon just waking up—he wasn't too ready to try and confront her about it.

"Shall we, then?" He asked, trying to get some sort of verbal affirmation from Valentine. She stayed silent though, only nodding her head a little so not to be impolite. Luke would soon realize that she was not a morning person, and that their kiss impacted her a lot more than he had expected.

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"There it is!" Valentine squealed, pointing out in front of her after a torturously extended period of time in which she stayed absolutely silent. She was too excited about what they were arriving upon, and she felt an overwhelming urge to jump out of her seat and yell in excitement.

At the tip of the girls finger, just a few yards ahead, stood a blue sign signaling that they had finally made it to California. Yellow flowers covered the right side of the sign, a pretty mixture of colors that Valentine had been looking forward to seeing. The car ride was becoming much too awkward, and Valentine was pleasantly surprised to learn that Luke was a really smart driver, and they ended up avoiding all of the traffic. She figured they wouldn't get there until later on in the evening, but they had arrived to the sign much sooner than expected.

"It's so pretty!" Valentine exclaimed, leaning her head against the window as they passed by the sign and it became just another speck behind them. Luke's smile was subtle, but definitely obvious enough for Valentine to catch on to.