Sunshine || l.h. {complete}

Eleven

okay so i'm a terrible updater/writer, we all know this, i'm so sorry though :( i'm a horrible person and to make up for it i'm going to try and work out another (short) chapter tonight before i go to bed. time change and all that has me mixed up, but you guys just try to remember that i am a college student and i work in the evenings, so i don't have a lot of time to do stuff. thank you for sticking with me though!! here goes nothing :) x

3:47 p.m.

Monday, November 20th, 2014

He holds her hand loosely in his lap the whole drive, his fingers running over hers as he smiles slightly to himself. Belle’s head is spinning as she drives. She’s trying to focus on staying between the lines as well as how his hand feels in hers and it’s all too much. As she turns down her street, she notices that Luke looks up from his lap and his eyes begin flitting all around as if he’s trying to memorize his surroundings.

“Wow,” he whispers, pupils wide, “you live in a pretty nice neighborhood.” Belle smiles and nods, loving the boyish look on his features, “Mhm.” He looks back down and bites on his lip, his hand tensing.

“We don’t have a big house, though. Its normal sized,” she adds, sensing his uncomfortableness. Belle slows as she flicks on her blinker to turn into her driveway, the house coming into view, “See.”

Luke leans forward in his seat, glancing over everything, drinking it all in. Belle parks. She only brought him over because her parents have a church meeting until late tonight and they’re getting dinner after and it’ll be no big deal worrying about bringing a boy over.

“T-There’s no one else here?” Luke asks, and Belle notices that his Adam’s apple bobs. She glances at him, half wondering if this was a mistake, “Nah, my parents will be home later tonight.” He visibly stiffens, “Should I really be here, then? I wouldn’t want to upset them…they wouldn’t like me.” Belle giggles, squeezing his palm, “Well I do want you here. So please come inside.” She unwillingly lets go of him so she can get out of the car and grab her stuff from the backseat.

As Belle shoulders her bag and starts opening the garage door, he’s still sitting inside her vehicle. He’s rubbing his own hand in a wistful way, looking down at his toes as he shakes his legs. She goes around and opens his door, leaning in to smile, “Come on, Luke. I don’t bite.”

“It isn’t you I’m worried about,” he mutters, but she still hears it.

Belle glances around, “O-Oh, the dogs? They’re outside, they won’t be a probl—“

“No,” he cuts her off, finally looking up to meet her irises with his own, “That’s not the being I was referring to.”

He was referring to himself, she infers. “I see,” Belle swallows hard, “well come on or you can sit out here alone until I finish whatever I’m going to do and I’ll take you home.” Finally he pries his lean frame from the inside of the car, leaning in a strange way that’s only explained by the sound of joints popping that follows. He limps slightly but rights himself before following her into the doorway that leads to a small kitchen.

Belle drops her backpack on top of the kitchen table and turns to him, smiling, “So this is my house…” He nods, chewing on his lip still, “I see that.” It’s an awkward thing, to have just held his hand and been semi-intimate and now to be standing feet apart and to not be touching at all except in breath. She wets her lips and tries to ignore the tingling in her tummy by the way he’s looking at her, “You thirsty? Hungry?” She goes over and opens the fridge, “I have some cereal stuff, or some leftover chicken from last night? I’m not a great chef, but I can make soup or…”