moodswings, luke hemmings

snappy.

Clover's head was spinning and her stomach felt like it was coming up and out of her body.

She'd never liked heights or turbulence, and being on a plane didn't help those two fears.

"Are you okay?" Liz asked, patting her daughter's back as they walked from the airplane gate.

"Trying to be." Clover grumbled, putting a hand on her forehead. "I hate heights. I really, really hate heights."

Liz responded in a small laugh and handed her daughter the water bottle she'd gotten from the vending machine two seconds before. "Drink this."

"You're a life-saver, mom." Clover praised, unscrewing the water bottle cap and downing the whole bottle. Liz laughed again, and began leading her daughter away from the vending machine area.

"We have to go through immigration to get everything checked," Liz said, looking at the airport map. "Which is that way," She pointed her finger, "And then baggage claim, and then Luke should be waiting by baggage claim and then we'll go through customs."

Clover simply nodded and began to walk after her mom. Don't get me wrong, Clover was super excited to be seeing her older brother again, but she also wanted to be at home where she wasn't raising red flags to Gavin.

Clover exhaled a breath as the two got their things checked.

"Alright, your papers and bags look fine." The immigration lady smiled brightly, "and your passports look right. Welcome to Los Angeles, I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Thank you." Liz thanked the lady and the two began to walk through the airport and to the baggage claim. They quickly got to the staircase where Luke Hemmings was waiting with a hoodie on and sunglasses.

Liz immediately recognized him.

She ran as fast as she could to her second youngest child and into his arms. Luke chuckled and hugged his mom tightly. Clover walked up to the two and Luke tugged his sister into the hug.

The three were together again and Liz couldn't be more happy to see her two children together again.

Luke let go of his mom and hugged Clover individually, knowing she was the sole reason either of them were here.

Luke had noticed how much weight she had lost, and how much thinner her hair had become which raised one big flag. He wasn't a doctor, but he'd been through an abusive relationship before.

He'd also noticed the amount of times she flinched over 10 seconds. The time Liz ran to him, how he'd pulled her in for a hug, and how she reacted.

Red flag.

"Alrighty, let me take your bag mom." Luke took Liz's bag from her, and exhaled. "Now let's grab your bags, go to customs, and then we can head to my house. How's that sound?"

"Sounds amazing." Liz grabbed Luke's arm and Clover's arm and they all walked to baggage.

Clover and Liz got their bags smoothly. Clover had a simple dark green suitcase with a couple sticks from places she'd been and Liz had a simple red one.

In the customs green line, where you go if you have nothing to declare, Liz and Clover stood silently until it was their turn. It went smoothly, they got everything checked out and they were done in 10 minutes.

"Let's go to my house!" Luke cheered.

Clover was beginning to regret being here when she opened her phone to a dozen texts from Gavin.

(Gavin)
Where are you??

(Gavin)
Life 360 isn't showing up.

(Gavin)
You're cheating on me, aren't you?

Clover closed her eyes and set her phone down on her lap. She was frustrated.

(Clover)
My phone is supposed to be on airplane mode when I'm on an airplane Gavin. Plus it's like, 5 am rn.

She was almost 7 thousand miles away, what could he do to her?

When they arrived at Luke's gated house, which Clover expected, they piled out of the car and grabbed their bags.

"Clover, I have a room for you and I have a room for mom. Mom knows where hers is, so can I show you yours?" Luke asked, putting a hand on Clover's shoulder.

"Sure." Clover slowly nodded.

Luke did notice how Clover was a big timid at the touch of a shoulder, so he noted not to do it often. He led Clover to the semi-decorated guest bedroom that was now labeled Clover's for the next couple days. Luke had just moved into the house so it wasn't like a hotel room, but it was do-able.

"Thanks," Clover smiled.

"Of course, Lucky." Luke hummed, kissing her head. "Can I ask you a question?"

Oh no.

"Yeah . . ." Clover hesitated, scratching the back of her neck.

"Are you doing okay? I noticed you've been quiet and that isn't like you," Luke explained slowly. Clover felt defensive, why would he say that?

"I'm fine." She stated firmly. Luke cleared his throat and fake smiled.

"Okay, if you need to talk to someone—-"

"I don't," Clover declared, "Now, please leave me be. I'm tired, Luke."