eternal sunshine

𝓣𝓦𝓔𝓝𝓣𝓨-𝓕𝓘𝓥𝓔: 𝓢𝓣𝓐𝓖𝓔 𝓟𝓡𝓔𝓢𝓔𝓝𝓒𝓔

     Luke had agreed to attend the Sunset Curve gig in the city. JD went to pick him up at camp, and he was a jittery mess the whole car ride. Even more so when JD questioned how his late-night swim with Odessa went. Luke was confused and flustered by JD's insinuation of them going skinny dipping. JD told him to forget it and turned the radio louder to let "Thunderstruck" fill the air as he avoided answering whether he and Callie had done that.

      By the time they arrived at the venue, JD was needed backstage despite having left camp with enough time got to love New York traffic. Luke instinctively reached to his right side where his sword normally resided as a tall, light-skinned girl with a curly afro approached him, only to remember he couldn't bring it and had no way of defending himself. Why his mind automatically went to monster by the way she directly headed to him, he had no clue because she didn't seem threatening at all. As she got closer, Luke relaxed slightly, recognizing her as one of the girls in a Polaroid on Odessa's wall. He didn't know if it was Ellie or Skylar, he realized he never questioned which was which when Odessa spoke of them.

     "Are you Luke?" questioned the girl, pulling Luke back to the real world. He nodded, still not fully relaxed he felt something off in the venue's atmosphere but couldn't explain what. He did know that it wasn't coming from the girl standing in front of him. "Nice to meet you," she stuck her hand out to him, which he shook, "I'm Ellie. I wish I could say Dessie has spoken a lot about you, but sadly, other than she met you at the camp she and JD are attending, I know nothing."

      "Nice to meet you. I actually do know quite a bit about you."

      "All good, I hope?"

      "Of course," Luke smiled, hoping Ellie couldn't pick up on the fact that he was on edge.

      "Can you tell me more about this summer camp you all go to? Odessa and JD refused to answer any questions like it's some high-security operation." Ellie's question remained unanswered as the room went dark, which didn't ease Luke either. He knew he couldn't tell her about Camp Half-Blood, but he didn't know how to answer her question.

He calmed when he saw the brunette walk onto the stage with a purple electric guitar strapped around her, a big smile on her face. He was so focused on Odessa that he hadn't noticed Ellie getting the blonde girl's attention. She pointed to him and mouthed, "That's Luke." making the blonde look at the boy. She gave a nod and smile of approval to the curly-haired brunette. "He's cute," she mouthed back, to which Ellie nodded in agreement.

Odessa noticed the interaction that was occurring between the girls, causing a red tint to cover her cheeks.  Skylar continued to play her guitar part, making her way to the brunette, motioning with her head to take off her in ears. "Well, done, Dessie," Skylar smiled, not helping the blush on the girl's face, "Hope he's just as much of a gentleman as he is handsome." Odessa put her in-ears back. The entirety of the set consisted of Odessa constantly looking for Luke in the crowd, which was bigger than some of their other shows, and Luke's eyes never leaving Odessa. Wherever she moved, his chocolate brown eyes followed. Not once did his gaze turn to any of the others on stage. He was so lost in the aura Odessa had when on stage. This essence of natural belonging. The only time Luke became aware of his surroundings was when the show was over. He turned to the curly-haired girl who had noticed the look of lust and admiration on his face for the past hour.

     "C'mon, Luke, time to eat and meet the rest of the band." Ellie placed her hand on Luke's shoulder when she saw him tense. "You have nothing to be worried about. Skylar will try to intimidate you because she's protective of us like that, but her size makes it hard to feel that way. And with Leo,  well, I'm not intimidated by his height and build, but maybe you will be. He's  harmless, just a big teddy bear," Ellie gleamed.

     "How long have you and Leo been together?" Luke questioned as he followed Ellie.

     "A year and a half. If you ask JD, Sky, and Dessie, they would tell you five years." Luke raised his eyebrow at the girl. "They apparently knew we liked each other before we did. Sky and JD were constantly trying to get him and me together. Odessa would always step aside and say it's in the hands of the universe, if it was meant to be, it would happen. Odessa never really liked us prying into her love life because, well, sadly, she'd end up the most hurt by the end of the relationship therefore, she tends to stay out of others so they can extend the same courtesy to her. Sky and JD, however, are prying, nosy rascals," Ellie chuckled.

     "Yeah, JD is a gossip," Luke laughed. Whatever calmness he had felt in the presence of the girl disappeared when he saw the tall strawberry blonde. He knew Leo was tall because of the visible height difference between him, Odessa, and Skylar, but he felt that was different. Ellie went to hug and kiss the strawberry blonde and that's when Luke noticed just how tall she actually was. Also Leo was ripped. Luke's physique wasn't bad, he was muscular but Leo was muscular and lean. His bicep alone was probably as big as Luke's head.

     "So this is the lad." Luke was taken aback by the accent.

     "Sorry, should've told you he's British. That can throw people off especially when he does an American accent on stage," JD spoke patting Leo's back as he passed him. "Always one for the dramatics, babes," JD spoke in a British accent.

"Got to keep the folks on their toes," Leo spoke in an American accent as he draped his arm over Ellie's shoulders. "Dinner?" He questioned in his regular voice. The group nodded and followed after him toward the door.

"You guys go. Luke and I have plans," Odessa spoke making Leo and Skylar look at each other giggling.

"Oh, Luke and you have plans," Skylar spoke wiggling her eyebrows at the brunette making her and Luke blush.

"Not like that, Skylar. I'll see you guys later," Odessa spoke taking Luke's hand in hers.

"Good night," was spoken by the group.

"Remember your rubbers, mate," Leo spoke earning a light smack on the chest from Ellie. "Oww." Ellie gave him a look because she knew it hadn't hurt and he was being dramatic.

"My what?" Luke questioned.

"Nothing. He's being an idiot. Come on." Luke wanted to question what Leo meant but he had a date with Odessa Reyes and that's what mattered most.