Avery reluctantly let Luke take the wheel. She knew the guys would try to distract him, and she knew he wasn't the best driver. She trusted him; just not the others. He turned the car around and started going in the opposite direction. He drove for a bit longer than his passengers liked. He told them to "shut up" and that "it'll be worth it once we get there." They listened to him for once and closed their mouths. Avery played Amnesia by The Madden Brothers.
"This song fucks me up," Calum said, staring at the floor board. Brooklyn grabbed his hand and stroked it with her thumb. He smiled at her fondly with his puppy eyes fixed on hers.
The roads began getting smaller, the lights becoming fewer, "Luke are you even sure of where you're going?" Michael asked. Luke's hand grabbed the wheel a little tighter, making his knuckles turn white. He looked at Michael in the mirror, "I'm taking you to a remote location in the forest so I can slaughter you," he said with a smile. The car was quiet. Luke doesn't normally speak like that.
Avery turned the music up a little louder, not sure what else to do. Even she didn't know what to think of Luke's words. He finally reached a small drop-off on the side of the road. He pulled off onto it.
He stopped the car and stared at his legs, waiting for someone to speak up or get out. But no one did. "We're here," he mumbled, getting out of the car. Everyone else followed. "Why'd you bring us here?" Ashton asked.
"Follow me," Luke said, "I promise I'm not going to kill you." He smiled. They followed him a few steps down a hill and realized why he stopped where he did. It was beautiful. There was a clearing once you passed some of the trees. The clearing led to a steep cliff, but beyond the cliff was the entire city. All the lights and distant sirens shown below. The red sky turned pale as the sun began to set. The seven of them stood in silence, the first silence that hadn't been awkward, just admiring the view.
Once the sun had disappeared and the stars illuminated the sky, Luke trailed back to the car alone. He pulled the car as far to the edge as he was comfortable with before shutting off the engine and sitting on the hood. He invited the rest of them to join him. Avery and Calum sat on either side of him. Ashton sat on the other side of Avery, while Brooklyn, Michael, and Stella sat on the ground. They started talking about stupid things; how Stella wanted to get married somewhere crazy like Coachella, how Michael can't sleep if a door in his room is open, how Ashton has never had whiskey.
Naturally, the topics went from stupid to serious. They began talking about doing body shots together one day, all the sex Calum and Brooklyn have been having, Ashton's lack of sex. "Hey!" Ashton whined, "Luke's not had a girl since-" he stopped. "Just don't," Luke muttered.
Avery cleared her throat, "I've not had a boyfriend in two years." They could tell she was trying to make Luke feel better; they also knew that it wasn't working. But she was determined. She opened the driver's side door of her clunker and fiddled around before Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran roared from the speakers. She smiled and waltzed over to Luke, grabbing his hand. He looked at her as she lightly shook her bum. He smiled at her, but looked back to the ground, still upset. Avery looked to Stella and Brooklyn, silently begging them for help in cheering him up.
Brooklyn got off the ground and grabbed Calum's hand, taking him a few steps from the car as they started to slow dance. Avery gave Stella another, more angry look. Stella sighed and got up off the car. Michael stood up, assuming Stella was going to want to dance with him. She chuckled, "I wouldn't dance with you if God came down from the clouds and told me to." She walked over to Ashton and motioned for him to follow.
"Come on, Lukey," Avery said in her best innocent voice, "Dance with me."
He rolled his head back as a smile crept onto his face, "Only because it's cute when you call me Lukey."
"Mike, be the DJ," Avery suggested. He climbed into the car, turned on the headlights so they didn't waltz right off the cliff, and turned on Goodnight Moon by Go Radio.
Luke smiled. He hummed along with the slow song in Avery's ear.
"I've been trying way too long to try and be the perfect song when our hearts are heavy burdens we shouldn't have to bear alone," he whispered.
