The Bite [Luke Hemmings AU]

Chapter Four

Claire's POV

He drove into town which only took about 5 minutes. He stopped and parked at the curb in front of a very small diner. I used to go to this diner as a kid, until it was closed down a few years ago. The outside was dull; brick covered all the walls, but one. Luke got out and jogged to my side if the car. He opened it and helped me out.

"Isn't this place out of business?" I asked as he helped me out. I shut the door and looked at him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside with a smirk.

"My parents bought it out last month," he said and waved to a short blonde woman behind the front counter. The woman smiled as she noticed Luke. When she saw me her eyes lit up. This woman had to be Luke's mother. He looked so much like her. We reached the small part of the counter that lifted up, allowing employees to get through. Luke lifted the counter and walked through, pulling me along with him. "Mum, this is Claire," he introduced me and the woman smiled brightly and pulled me in a hug, taking me by surprise.

"Hello, sweetheart. You can call me Liz," she said as she pulled away from our hug, her hands landing on my triceps. I smiled back at her. She took her arms away as a man approached. "This is my husband, Andrew," she said with another warming smile.

"I'm Claire. It's nice to meet you," I said with the best smile I could. They both looked at my arms with confusion. Oh, right the bandages! I chuckled looking at my arms. "There was a small explosion in the chemistry lab this morning. It's no big deal. Luke was with me when I got the very few stitches I needed," I said gesturing to their son. I stepped back very slowly to meet Luke. He had to know I was not good with new people. I had barely gotten to know him.

"Let's get to work, shall we?" Liz asked turning towards the door to the back kitchen. I looked up at Luke and he was smiling widely at me.

"I think they like you," he said pulling me towards the doors his parents exited to.

I rolled my eyes and whispered to him, "What are we doing?"

He chuckled once again, "I'm putting you to work." I shrugged and kept following him to a deep fryer. "I make the fries," he said with chuckle. I chuckled at how much he sounded like a child when he said that. "So, how come I haven't seen you all summer? We moved when you were still in school and I just met you the other day," he said as he started some fries.

I leaned against the steel counter behind him. "I don't come into town much. My dad doesn't like eating out much and he goes for the groceries. All summer I spent my time with Cooper, Zack, and some of my other friends," I said with a shrug. He looked back at me still smiling. He grabbed a white apron that was hanging on the wall by the fryer. He put it on and looked back in my direction.

"Your dad seems like a nice guy. And your mother?" he asked and turned back around. "What's she like?"

My smug smile dropped at his question. I thought of what I knew of her. She was witty, smart, caring, and loving. "Uh, she went missing when I was 13. Her body was never found," I said in a low voice. He stopped every movement he was making and turned around slowly. His eyes were full of worry and sadness. I smiled weakly at him, "It's fine. It was four years ago." He said nothing. He just stepped closer and pulled me into his chest. My muscles tensed but were soon relaxed as I put my arms around him and nuzzled my head in his chest.

We stood like this for a while. His head rested on my head and his arms wrapped around my neck. There were other employees roaming the kitchen, but I felt as if we were the only ones in the room. Were we interrupted by the cracklings of the deep fryer behind us. I lifted my head and looked at the rusted fryer. Luke pulled back and fixed whatever the problem was. I actually felt the absence of his touch. I don't know how long we stood in each other's arms, but when he turned around he had the basket in his hands and an amused look on his face. I looked at the basket and there weren't fries in the basket just a pile black sticks. I chuckled and took a step back. I leaned against the counter once more and watched Luke as he played around in the grease. I chuckled as I continued watching.