in the crowd • luke hemmings

32. buttercup

luke was sitting on lola's bed, listening to the sound of her humming to herself in the shower while he stared at his lap, trying to power through the sudden overwhelming feeling of nerves at the prospect of not only meeting lola's parents - but also spending christmas with them.

they'd spent the day together before packing for the trip - in separate rooms, so they could hide their gifts to each other beneath layers of clothes.

luke had packed a formal shirt just in case. he wasn't really sure what appropriate christmas attire was, and he felt stupid asking.

he'd rolled up the rest of his clothes, using them to prevent lola's presents from being crushed and broken in the trunk of her car - they were wrapped messily but luke had learned how to curl ribbons with scissors just to try and make them look a little nicer for her.

lola was practically glowing at the thought of luke meeting her parents, her smile infectious and the only thing that could ease luke's mind at that moment.

he'd been able to push it aside for the past few days, concentrating more on simply being with lola and helping calum and ashton decorate their apartment - it turned out michael was the one with the flair for festivities, and without him, the other two boys had simply taped some tinsel on the wall and called it a day.

and it wasn't that luke wasn't excited - of course he was. he knew how much lola's parents meant to her, and the fact she wanted them to meet him felt like an honour.

it was just an honour that luke himself didn't feel he was worthy of.

he had never met a girl's parents before, and he had no idea what to do to give the best impression. also the fact he was meeting them at christmas - a holiday he didn't particularly like - that was just added anxiety.

and now they were twenty minutes into the journey and all luke wanted to do was hide his face in the crook of lola's neck and fall asleep so that he could finally know peace again.

"baby?"

lola's voice pulled luke from his thoughts, and he turned to see her side-eyeing him worriedly as they drove slowly down the winding streets of their town.

the sunlight illuminated her curls, creating a halo out of her pigtails - which luke found endlessly adorable - and created small, golden flecks in her dark eyes.

"you're really zoning out. are you okay?"

luke nodded, a small twist of guilt forming in his stomach as he realised just how badly he had been spacing out.

so he swallowed and nodded, trying to force some semblance of a smile onto his face.

"i'm okay baby, i promise."

lola didn't speak in response, instead taking a hand off of the wheel and lacing her fingers through his, allowing both of their hands to rest on luke's thigh and immediately bringing him a sense of ease.

***

they'd been driving for almost an hour, and luke had offered at least once every ten minutes to take over so lola could rest - and every time she just laughed and told him she was perfectly okay to continue driving.

their small town was far behind them now, and lola was speeding down the highway that stretched out in front of them, somehow able to read the landscape that so far, had made no sense to luke.

the sun had started to follow them the further west they drove, illuminating luke until his eyelashes appeared as blonde as his hair and making it harder for lola to concentrate on the road when she was sitting next to a literal god.