𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

09. buckle up sweetheart

BUCKLE UP SWEETHEART

"when we started dating, you told me there were three things you've always wanted to do, do you remember them?" luke asked as he shut the passenger door of his car.

he climbed into the driver's seat, giving emma a sideways glance and starting the ignition.

"get a meaningful tattoo-"

"which we did" luke wiggled his eyebrows and tapped emma's side where her second tattoo rested.

she smiled at the stupid decision her and luke made to get a matching tattoo, though it held other significance so it wouldn't be a total disaster if they broke up.

emma got a purple cancer ribbon, for her dad. and luke got an orange one, for his.

emma's tattoo sat on her left side, near her rib cage. while luke's was on his upper right arm.

"go on a cross-country road trip"

"which i ended up doing without you, but you can join me for the next one when i drive back to san francisco" luke teased.

emma sighed and sunk into her seat. her and luke had both been in exceptional moods at the start of the night, and she quickly saw that going downhill if he kept making little digs like that.

"sorry — i'm sorry. i'll play nice, what was the last thing?"

"do something illegal, and not like speeding or jaywalking, but super illegal"

luke smirked as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "buckle up sweetheart, you're in for a wild night"

♛

"are you kidnapping me? caleb will literally kill you" emma yelled as luke drove past the "welcome to north carolina" sign.

"no i'm not kidnapping you," luke rolled his eyes. "this just happens to be where our first stop of the night is"

"first stop? it's already eight! i told caleb and maya we'd be home by midnight at the latest" emma was starting to think of every possible thing that could go wrong over the next four hours, and she was slowly regretting her decision to tell luke he could take her anywhere — she would much rather be curled up on the couch with her cat and a good tv show.

"stop panicking em, you'll have fun. trust me"

"if i'm going to survive tonight, we need rules," emma decided, turning in her seat and allowing her gaze to rest on luke.

sporting his leather jacket, emma just knew he did that on purpose — along with his fingers that were decorated with rings.

there were few things that literally took emma's breath away. but the sight of luke hemmings in a leather jacket and ring clad fingers was one of them.

"rule one, no pet names or nicknames" she spoke.

truthfully, emma loved the nickname. but whenever luke called her 'em' it felt like there was a certain sadness lingering behind it, as if the nickname symbolized their dead relationship. she didn't need, or want, that constant reminder.

"you got it, emma" luke was being his typical sassy self, refusing to let anything get his mood down.

"i have a rule of my own" luke continued, drumming on the steering wheel.