Bring Me Back (L.R.H)

~2~

/ALY/
The car ride was silent except for the radio. Luke had put in a Good Charlotte cd. He hummed along to 'Little Things'. I feel like he most likely sings in his free time.
"Well if you do end up being a serial killer," I spoke out of nowhere. "At least you have a sublime music taste."
A smile appeared in his face. He glanced from the road to me. "You like Good Charlotte?"
"The Anthem is a masterpiece in my opinion." I responded.
"Finally someone who gets it!" He readjusts his position in his seat.
"So do you want to tell me what sort of adventure we're going on?" I asked.
"That would ruin the magic of the surprise. Trust me you'll love it."
"How do you know I'll love it, you don't even know my last name?"
"I can just tell," He shrugged his shoulders, eyes focused on the road. "What's your last name?"
"Cohen. Yours?"
"Hemmings."
"Alyse Cohen." He said, as if he was testing it to see how it sounded. We drove in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't awkward, it was peaceful.

"Okay Alyse Cohen, we've arrived at our destination.
"Please, call me Aly." I said.
He nodded in response.
I looked out the window. All I saw were trees and a grassy hill. "Wow," I sarcastically huffed. "Quite the dream."
"C'mon. You've seen nothing yet." He unbuckled himself and came around to my side of the car, opening the door like a gentleman.
I noticed the hill had a path. We walked to the edge of the hill and looked down. I saw what looked to be an old drive in movie theatre. At the bottom of the screen was a stage, and a band was playing. There was huge crowd of people, some in the pit, others scattered around the property.
"What do ya say?" Luke held out his hand. "Wanna travel down into that outlandish abyss?"
I took his hand, and a deep breath.

Luke led me through the crowds of people. There was a lot of alcohol and a lot of PDA. He gripped my hand tight  pushing past the mosh pit. We arrived behind the screen and to a bonfire. There were about five people around the fire.
"Lucas, it's about time you got your ass here!" A boy, about Luke's age with dyed red and black hair grinned.
"You know that's not my name." Luke took the bottle out of his hand.
"Who's this?" An Asian looking boy asked. They all looked about the same age.
"This," Luke turned to me. "Is Aly Cohen."
I gave a small smile and wave.
"Hello Aly Cohen it's an absolute pleasure to meet you." The red haired boy hoped out of his seat, and shook my hand. I had no clue if he was just nice or being super sarcastic. I guess he could read my mind though. "I'm not being sarcastic, it really is a pleasure to meet someone new. I'm Michael, Michael Clifford."
I nodded. "It's good to meet you too, Michael."
"This one here, despite what you may think, is not Asian...he is kiwi, his name is Calum Hood." I shook Calum's hand and we swapped hellos.
Michael motioned towards the other guy, "This is Ashton Irwin." He pointed to the two girls, "The blonde is Ashton's girlfriend Bryana, and that is her friend Crystal."
I greeted everyone and sat down next to Luke in two camping chairs. The conversation was on something like how Calum prefers a certain beer to another. I studied everyone.
Michael had a black eyebrow ring, some tattoos on his arms and fingers, his hair was clearly dyed that way. Calum had dark hair that sort of curled, he was tan like me, and multiple tattoos lined his arm. Ashton had light brown wavy hair, and he seemed the most responsible out of the group, just by the way he kept chill. Bryana seemed very sweet, she had long blonde hair and was terrifyingly gorgeous. Crystal pulled of dark red hair amazingly, she was beautiful, but she didn't seem to like me.
"So Aly how did Lukey boy here win you over?" Calum tipped a bottle towards me.
I wasn't exactly in the mood to drink but I didn't want to seem like a pansy. I took a swig, the vodka burning my throat as it went down.
"I can't say he's won me over exactly." I smirked, looking over to the subject of our conversation.
"Awh that's too bad, he's a sweet cuddly fellow," Calum teased. "Who likes long walks on the beach, passionate makeout sessions, ponies, and-"
"Fuck off Cal!" Luke sent him death glares, but there was no anger in his eyes. We had some hilarious conversations. Some that were very unique.
Bryana's stomach grumbled causing everyone to laugh. "Hey Aly do you want to come with me to get some food?" She asked.
I looked at Luke for approval, he winked. "Yeah, sure."
We pushed our way through all the people. Once we reached a trailer that read "Grub Hub" we were safe from the sweaty bodies and wild dancing.
"So what do you think of this place?" Bryana beamed.
"I think it's..uh interesting," I watched as a guy dressed in a banana suit smashed a car windshield. "Definitely interesting. What's it called?"
"Oh this is 'The Dice' it's called that because there is a new band every weekend and it's always somebody different than before, they like to help put up and coming bands on the scene." We moved up in line. "I think Luke likes you." She grinned.
"What..how..I mean we just met an hour ago." I suddenly got nervous.
"Because he looks truly happy," She seemed serious. "and he hasn't been happy in awhile."
I pondered what could have hurt Luke. Ever since I saw him crouched down in aisle 6 he seemed like the light of the universe. He was definitely someone that I liked having in my life, he's already made me happy and I haven't been for ages.
We started back towards our little campsite, passing an empty clearing  along the way. I heard voices coming from it.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Crys you need to stop."
"No, why would you bring another girl here?"
"There is nothing between you and I, at least not anymore."
"That's not true and you know it Luke. That little bitch doesn't even fit in here."
"Shut up, you don't know her."
"And you do? For how long forty five minutes?"
I tried to block out what I'd heard as we settled into our seats. Every time I'm happy, for even just a split second, everything comes crashing down. You don't belong here. Runaway, they don't like you, they just feel bad for you.
"Thanks for having me you guys but I uh..think I'd better go." I stood but when I turned to leave I was face to chest.
"Please don't go. " Luke pleaded. His eyes were filled with desperation.
Crystal sat down and ripped the bottle of tequila from Ashton's hand.
I lowered my voice to almost a whisper, although everyone was in their own conversations. I could feel Crystal's eyes burning holes through my skull. She was trying to listen I knew it. "I don't belong here Luke...this was a mistake. Thanks for bringing me, I'll just walk home."
"No way, absolutely not," He reached for my hand. "I'll drive you, I couldn't let something happen to you."
No one besides Thea has ever been so worried about my well being. "Thank you but you really don't have too, I don't want to burden your night. I mean you don't even really know me right?"
Harsh Aly, way to go.
"Okay so I don't really know you all that well, but I'd love too get the chance to." He whispered.
The sincerity on his face was enough to convince me that someone could actually care about my worthless self. "Okay." I whispered.