Penumbra

Penumbra 5

Summary: Birdie meets someone new and she and Luke get ready for their two month anniversary

Warnings: no smut this chapter, but once again a lil gang activity/torture

Word Count: 5.4k

Chapter Song : Gods and Monsters - Lana Del Rey

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Birdie wasn't a fan of Wednesdays. It was the day of the week where she had an early class the next morning, and whenever she had shifts on Wednesday evenings, she didn't get to see Luke. Wednesdays were the 'study day.' She'd tried to convince Luke that she could study while he was over and although it was true, Luke was acutely aware that she was nowhere near as productive as she would be alone.

So, on Wednesdays, Birdie didn't get to see Luke.

Wednesdays, he told her, were a particularly eventful night at the bar anyways. Birdie had never been to The Luxury during its open hours, but she was aware of student discount night on Wednesdays, so she supposed it made sense that he had to be working.

As the busiest night of the week, Luke told her that on Wednesdays he made so much money that it meant he didn't have to work so much on weekends and would be able to see her more. So, Wednesday was a necessary evil for both of them.

Luke had felt bad when he lied about Wednesday originally. But, he did want his little Birdie to follow her educational dreams and to do well in school. Besides, he had to come up with a reason he wasn't at work all the time. Not that Birdie knew much about bartenders, or even bars in general, seeing as she never went to any, but, he needed a backup in case things started to get fishy. And Wednesday made sense as a backup.

Because Luke was fairly high up in The Aces food chain, he was able to mostly choose his hours which made it easy for him to find time to see Birdie. It was very rare that he'd be called in for something important while he was busy with her. They'd been dating around a month and a half and he'd only been called into the bar four times to interrogate rival gang members about details the Aces really needed to know. And Birdie never seemed to mind, always staying up front with Puppy.

It warmed Luke's heart to see Birdie and Puppy getting along so well. The two most important women in his life. Oddly enough Calum had taken a particular liking to Birdie as well, not that Ashton and Michael didn't like her, they did. But Calum always seemed to know what to say to ease tensions or direct conversations away from things that might expose Luke. Calum enjoyed pretending to be a bartender so much, he even appointed himself as a step-in bartender on Tuesday nights when things were slow. He claimed it was to be near Puppy more, since rival gang activity was heating up, and Luke knew there was some truth to that, but it was also just an undeniable fact that Calum genuinely enjoyed making drinks.

Calum had even decided to make his own concoctions whenever Birdie came around. Laughing and joking with her as he made what he claimed to be "the most god awful, sweetest tasting, mess of a drink I've ever made" and each time, Birdie adored it. One particular drink was so sweet, Calum gagged when he tried it. Birdie had asked for another and Calum had fondly named the new creation "little bird" even though it was painfully obvious no one but Birdie would ever order it.

Birdie was thinking fondly about Calum. Thinking about how Puppy, Cal and Ashton fit so perfectly together. Her fingers found the large ring that was attached to the simple, delicate, rose gold chain around her neck.

She'd only had the ring a few weeks but already she couldn't imagine taking it off. It had a slight weight to it, the heavy metal band was definitely sturdier than any piece of jewelry Birdie had. But it reminded her of Luke in a way. He was so much larger than her, just like the ring compared to other necklaces Birdie owned.