Lie To Me • lrh

Fake - Luke

I woke up alone. I clearly saw Valentine go to bed next to me last night. I looked around trying to recognize where I was, the only thing in the room I would recognize is Valentine, if she were here right now. I looked over to see the window curtains were closed, keeping it dark in the room, she must've closed them. I got up and opened them to see the cityscape. It was around 7am when I went to take a shower in the luxurious bathroom. Valentine took most of the counter space up with her things, but I didn't mind. Everything was organized perfectly though, I had the urge to mess it up, so I moved one of her serums to the other side of the counter.

I smelled coffee and Cinnabons coming from outside the room as I put on my favorite pair of black jeans, a random band tee and my leather jacket. I walked outside to see Valentine in the kitchen with freshly made Cinnabons and coffee brewing, there was the notebook next to her that I had recognized as her writing notebook from last night, and she had her AirPods in humming to the tune of the song she called "Welcome To New York."

She finally noticed me and took out her AirPods. "Hey I was wondering if you wanted to put Welcome To New York on my album?" She asked me while she fixed up a plate for me.

"You don't have to ask me, it's your album." I said as I hesitantly took a bite of the Cinnabon. It was surprisingly amazing. "Shit, this is amazing." I said while stuffing my face with the Cinnabon.

"Well I think we should have an agreement to ask each other about the songs for the albums." She handed me a cup of coffee. I looked into her forest green eyes that the sun hit perfectly, making them sparkle.

"Yeah whatever...How long have you been up? Are you going to eat breakfast with me?" I asked in curiosity. I had noticed she looked a bit tired but I wasn't going to tell her that, not now anyways, maybe later today before we go out.

"I've been up since 5. I already ate breakfast. We can leave once you're done eating." She said as she started to walk around to counter towards me.

"Do you ever stop working? I mean you woke up at 5, that means you got four hours of sleep, and now you're making breakfast for me and fixing up lyrics. This is a trip, you work too much." My eyes scanned her outfit, baby pink baggy jeans a white baby tee with small pink flowers on it, even her converse were pink, that's where I drew the line.

"Sorry, I was just trying to be a good fake girlfriend I guess." She shrugged her shoulders. I looked at her hair, the perfect braid. I must've looked judgemental because she said "Don't worry, I'm taking the braid out now." She said as she took out the band keeping the braid together and shook out her hair. "Okay, are you ready to go?" She asked as she grabbed the once again baby pink bag and stood by the door. I grabbed my black boots and my wallet and we walked out of the penthouse together.

"What about the paparazzi? Won't they see us coming out of a homeless shelter?" I looked at her with worry. She laughed. She laughed at me like I was supposed to know something. "What? Can you not laugh at me, it's rude." I crossed my arms. I had noticed that since we got here, that was one of the first genuine smiles she had shone.

"I'm sorry." She said in between laughs. "You hate me so much but you know nothing about me. It's funny." She said, while still laughing. I knew her. I knew things about her. I know about her dating history, the three guys, I don't know what happened to them but I know about them.

"Hey I know things about you...I know you like pink, and...and I know that...I know you sing..." I wasn't helping my case here. I really didn't know anything about her. Wow.

"Wow, you're such a good detective." I miss it when she was shy. "Anyways, the paps know that my penthouse is up top. I talk about my penthouse in interviews all the time and the shelter, but no one knows I own the shelter. So we don't have to worry about the paparazzi." She gave me a comforting smile, or at least what she thought was a comforting smile.

"Are you ready to go out? Our first time out as a couple." Just saying that made me want to throw up as I put my hand out for her to take. I didn't even want to touch her.

"Our first time as a fake couple." She corrected me. Is it possible that she didn't want this anymore than I did. She took my hand, her skin was soft. She started walking before I could focus on something else, dragging me through the crowd of paps trying to ask us questions. "So what do you want to do first?" She asked after we got away from the crowd, she was still walking too fast. Why?

"Hey, slow the fuck down." I stopped and pulled her back and her head hit my chest, her hand still in mine. She was still close to my chest, she looked up at me with those big green shimmering eyes. My heart started beating faster and faster the longer I examined her features. I hated it. "Why are you always running? Why are you running away from me?" The feeling of regret overwhelmed me as that last question slipped out of my mouth. Why didn't I want her to run away from me? Why did I ask so many questions? Why doesn't she ever give me straight answers? Why did I want to get to know the girl I hated the most?

"I'm not...I just...I want to get this over with. I want to go back to my normal life, I want to go back to being alone..." Normal. Alone. Over. Those words hurt me. I don't know why but they did. How did I end up as the one wanting to stay? Why did she want to leave? She let go of my hand and backed away. She was still running.

"Well...you have to make this your new normal. You've been in perfect relationships before, you can do it again." I tried my best to sound comforting. I thought she wanted this. I thought she liked me. I grabbed her hand once more and we started walking, slower this time. "Lets go get you new shoes. Pink converse is just wrong in so many ways." She took me to the shoe store and we noticed a couple of paps still following us.

"I hate them, I hate having to look perfect every time I go out." Her frown was back. Was she always frowning?

"The guys and I have a song about modern fame. It's called No Shame. It's one of my personal favorites." I love promoting my band, even if it's just to Valentine. She nodded. I needed more, a smile, something. I let go of her hand and put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her in closer. She grabbed my hand and started playing with the rings on my fingers. She was anxious. I looked down at the floor. God I couldn't stand those pink shoes. Luckily we had just gotten to the shoe store.

"Black converse?"