It's a Long Way Home (Luke Hemmings)

A Proposition

I woke up at 7 AM to the loud vibration of my phone on the hardwood floor. Without thinking, I picked it up and responded with a groggy hello.
"Dani! How are you?" The voice on the other line asked. At first I was confused as to who it was until I woke up a little more and recognized the cheerful voice of my best friend.
"Alex, oh my gosh it's 7 in the morning," I groaned.
He laughed on the other end of the line, "I may have miscalculated the time a bit. Do you want me to let you get back to sleep?"
I sat up in my bed and leaned against the blank wall behind me and used it to push myself up. My legs were tangled in my blanket so I stumbled a little bit when I tried standing.
"Nah, I'm up. I'm doing alright, though. It's been a tad dramatic over here."
I couldn't see Alex but I knew from the shuffling sound on the other line that he was preparing himself for the juicy details. "Do tell."
"Turns out Luke thought I'd be a boy and his girlfriend got real pissed. To be honest I don't want to be a home wrecker so I'm going to move out ASAP. Not that they're really a healthy couple or anything. She's psychotic."
Alex chuckled menacingly, "why not get in the middle of it, then?"
   I rolled my eyes, "you know I'm not like that."
Alex sighed, "I know, I know. So how's Luke? Is he cute? Did you meet anyone else?"
"Oh yeah I did. Luke is okay," I lied, "but his friends are all super sweet."
Alex ooo'd at me, making me blush a little bit before he told me that he loved me lots and if I didn't call him at least three times a week he'd fly over to Australia and bring me right back home himself. I said one last goodbye before I hung up and dropped my phone onto my bed.
Now it was time for the ever so dreadful apology.
I am a very keep-to-myself kind of person. I like to stay out of trouble; avoid it by all means. Therefore, I didn't have much practice apologizing. I felt anxious and a little bit queasy about how Luke would react. Apologizing meant accepting blame, in other words, giving him a reason to be angry. Luke was a stranger, for all I knew he could be just as crazy as his girlfriend. Yet, I somehow felt like he wasn't.
So I waited. I sat down on the living room couch and waited for him to wake up so that I could talk to him. To pass the time I went over what I'd say in my head, trying my best not to imagine the worst that could happen.
An hour or so later Luke walked out of his bedroom in nothing but a pair of black sweatpants. I watched him run his hand down his hair to straighten up his bed head before his eyes met mine and we shared an awkward moment of realization. We both looked pretty ridiculous with our messy hair and baggy sweatpants.
Before I could say anything Luke turned around and mumbled something along the lines of "I'm going to put a shirt on."
When he walked back out he was wearing a white Blink 182 t-shirt. He smiled at me with the corner of his mouth.
"Good morning," I said quietly. 
His smiled widened, "I thought you hated me."
I laughed nervously, "actually, um, I wanted to talk to you about that."
Luke sighed and walked over to the couch. He sat down on the opposite end of me and looked over tentatively.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."
Luke glanced at me with a confused expression.
"What do you mean you're sorry?"
"Well, I was really cold to you last night and I could tell that you were already upset and I didn't help. I was just really upset too, but I don't want you to think that I'm that kind of person. It wasn't your fault, I understand. I've just never felt so hated before and it's really all so stressful. I mean... I can't go home. I had so much trouble finding somewhere to live and now I have to go somewhere else, and quick."
I looked away from him to hide my frown.
"I'm just really sorry to be such a burden," I finished.
Luke scooted himself a little closer to me and cautiously held his hand in the air before placing it on my shoulder.
"It's okay, Dani. I really don't care that you're a girl, in fact, I think it's kinda cool. I've never met a girl who loves FIFA and Green Day as much as I do. I understand how pressured you feel and I'm in the exact same situation."
Now it was my turn to be confused because it sure as hell didn't seem like he was in the same situation.
"The reason I needed a roommate was because I'm not going to be able to keep the apartment if I don't get any help paying rent. I've gone through several people already who have moved out because we just didn't work out as roommates. I'm getting desperate. I don't have anywhere else to go..."
"I'm really sorry, Luke."
"Nevermind it. I accept your apology, Dani. Thank you for telling me how you feel about it," Luke grinned and gave me a quick side hug. I could smell his minty breath with a mixture of a familiar smell that made me feel safe, but I couldn't quite place what it was.
I felt my face heat up a bit but the sound of my stomach grumbling distracted Luke from my blushing. I looked up at him guiltily, knowing that he was probably just as starved as I am.
"I need to buy food for myself before I starve to death," I mused.
Luke chuckled, "I have a proposition for you."
I crossed my arms over my chest playfully, "and what would that be?"
"I will allow you to indulge in my delicious food if you help me make some crepes. I could really go for some crepes."
I giggled, "alright, I think I can handle that."

After spending over an hour laughing and trying our very hardest to make the perfect crepes, we had finally turned out with a few that would pass as edible.
"What do you put in your crepes?" I asked.
"Peanut butter," he responded distractedly as he opened a cabinet and grabbed a jar of peanut butter.
"That's a bit strange," I snickered.
"Oh then what do you put in your crepes, Miss California," Luke teased.
"Strawberries, bananas, and Nutella," I said excitedly.
Luke stuck his tongue out, "sounds gross."
I laughed and spread Nutella over my slightly misshapen crepe, "at least I'm not boring like you."
"Oh no you didn't," he sassed jokingly, placing one hand on his hip and using the other to gently shove me.
I winked at him before I took a bit of Nutella from the jar and dabbed it on the tip of his nose before he could catch me. He grabbed a scoop of peanut butter in his hand and chased me out of the kitchen until he cornered me at the end of the hallway and streaked the peanut butter along my cheek.
I squealed at the gross sticky feeling and struggled to get out of the corner with a dorky smile on my face that mirrored his expression.
I stopped struggling for a second and looked up at him. That's when we realized how close we were pressed up to one another and he took a step back to let me out. I stared at him silently for a few seconds before I smiled awkwardly and touched the peanut butter on my face.
"I'm gonna go wash my face," I said quietly.
"Yeah, okay," he responded with a quick nod and left me to clean myself up.