Reality || L.H.

Chapter 8

The sun is setting as we pull into the drive in theater. Luke nudges me awake and I yawn as I turn to press my face into his shoulder, wishing that I could go back to sleep. Ashton twists around in his seat to face those of us in the backseat. "Our choices are Mission Impossible, Magic Mike and Jurassic World."

"Magic Mike all the way," Michael says with a smirk, winking at Calum.

Cal shakes his head, suppressing a smile. "Oh hell no." Resting his arms on the back of Ashton's seat, he leans forward. "Let's watch Mission Impossible. Tom Cruise is a hottie."

"No, I wanna watch Jurassic World," Luke whines. "Chris Pratt is much hotter than Tom Cruise."

I wrap my arms around Luke's arm, snuggling into his side. He's warm and I'm so tired, I just want to sleep in his arms for hours. I don't want to watch some dumb movie while we kill time until we can go to the club.

"Kat? What's your vote?" Ashton asks from the front.

I mumble into Luke's shoulder, "I don't care."

"Well, we need a tie breaker," Ash says, leaning his arm on the seat.

"Then I'm with Luke," I say, curling up into a ball.

"Yes!" Luke throws his hands into the air and I move closer to his side, wrapping my arms around his waist. He drapes an arm across my shoulders as Ashton unparks the car and pulls up to purchase our tickets for Jurassic World.

"No fair," Calum complains with a frown. "Of course she was going to side with Luke; she's his girlfriend."

"Or maybe she agrees with me that Chris Pratt is hotter than Tom Cruise," Luke throws back.

"Please." Cal crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Luke like he's daring him to challenge him. "That's not even possible."

Michael pouts as we pass the turn off for the screen where they're playing Magic Mike. "Good bye, Channing Tatum," he whispers, pressing his hand against the glass like he's in a sad music video.

We pull into the theater for Jurassic World and Ashton parks backwards so we can open the back of the Jeep and watch from there. Michael sits in the backseat, watching with his head peeking over the seats. Ashton, Calum, Luke and I all manage to squeeze into the empty space in the trunk, me sitting on Luke's lap to make it work. I lean back against him, closing my eyes, intending to go back to sleep. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on the top of my head, pressing a quick kiss to my hair.

The opening to the movie plays and I'm half-asleep already.

"You really love her, don't you?" I hear Ashton murmur.

Luke's the one who responds and his low, soft voice is enough to send shivers down my spine. "More than she'll ever know."

*

I sleep through the entire movie and when it's over, I wake enough to feel Luke carry me back into the Jeep, carefully propping me up against him. I slowly open my eyes after a while, smiling up at Luke who's blue eyes are already watching me.

"How was the movie?" I murmur, nuzzling my head against his arm to get more comfortable. "Was Chris Pratt just as hot as you remembered?"

"And more," he replies with a smile.

"Are we going to Calum's strip club now? Can I just take a nap in the corner?" I close my eyes again, so exhausted.

"Nooo, don't fall back asleep and leave me with these idiots!" Luke jokes, shaking me gently.

"Hey, hey, hey," Michael says quickly, whipping around to face his friend with a mock stern expression. "There's no need for name calling. You're such a bully, Hemmings, gosh, I can't believe Kat would let you act like this."

I smile as I wrap my arms around Luke's broad shoulders. "He may be a bully, but he's my bully."

"Aww, thanks, babe," he says with a crooked smile, leaning in to give me a quick kiss. He knows as well as I do that if we start down that path, we won't be able to stop. I fully trust Ashton when he says that he'll make us walk and I really don't want to walk home.

Ashton glances at us in the rearview mirror as he comes to a stop at a red light. "Not to interrupt, but where do you guys want to eat?"

"I wanna go to McDonald's!!" Michael practically screams from the passenger seat. He bounces up and down in his seat like a toddler, swinging his legs in the air.

Calum perks up immediately, turning away from the window. "Dairy Queen! I want a blizzard!"

"Wendy's," Luke chimes in. When I turn to look at him, he shrugs. "What? They got a bomb Twitter account and they're nuggets are legit."

"I think we should go to Chick-Fil-A," Ashton adds with a childish smile. "They have a playground!"

"You guys are such five year olds," I laugh. Sitting up, I say, "I say Chick-Fil-A too because they have everything and more." When I see Michael inhaling to tell me just how wrong I am, I interject before he can speak. "And they have an ice cream machine that actually works."

Mikey closes his mouth, shrinking back in his seat. "Fair point. But I still want Macca's."

"I switch to the Chick-Fil-A team," Luke announces, sliding an arm across my shoulders.

"You're only switching because your girlfriend wants that!" Calum complains, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. "That's not fair!" he whines loudly.

Luke leans around me to get up in Cal's face. "If you get a girlfriend, you can vote for whatever she wants. But do you see anyone right now? I don't either."

"Woah, woah, woah," I say, pushing the two apart before any fists can be thrown. "Let's calm down and act like the civilized people we all know we aren't. I mean, we're arguing about what fast food restaurant to go to before we go to a strip club."

Calum sticks his tongue out at Luke and the other boy makes a face right back at him. I give both of them a sharp look. Luke makes puppy eyes and pouts in a way he knows I can't stay mad at.

We pull into the parking lot of Chick-Fil-A, Michael messing with Calum while the other boy scowls, Ashton scolding Mikey for annoying Cal, and Luke walking contentedly by my side. He snakes an arm around my waist and holds me close to his side, smiling softly to himself.

"I vote Calum pays since he's the one who wants to go to the strip club," Ashton throws out as we walk up to the cash register. It's met with a loud chorus of agreements and one protest from Calum, who reluctantly gives in.

I smile as we step up to the counter to order, wrapping an arm around Luke's waist. I almost stop dead when I see the person standing behind the cash register, waiting to take our order.

"Hello, Kat," Blake says a bit sheepishly.