the bucket list | lrh

30 - when in cali, act like cali

After a couple more hours of driving, Luke's tank was running low. He knew he'd have to stop for gas soon, so when Valentine announced her urgent need to use the restroom as they passed a gas station, he was beyond relieved.

As he pulled into the parking lot, he noted the way the girl didn't even wait until the car made a full stop to jump out and run towards the glass doors keeping her from the bathroom. She had chugged one of her water bottles earlier on in the car, and she was about to explode.

Luke chuckled a little, climbing out of the car to approach the gas pump. Before beginning to fill his tank though, he walked to the front of his vehicle and set his eyes on the damage the delivery truck had done. It wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it'd be, and it pleasantly surprised him to see. His headlight had been knocked out of place, and there was an extremely evident dent in the middle of his bumper, but it was nothing that would prevent them from continuing on with their trip.

The boy hadn't even had a chance to breathe before Valentine was urging him to carry on and keep driving, as if nothing happened in the first place. She groaned over her neck being in pain a few times before leaning back and relaxing herself back into a healthy and calm mindset. Neither of them really hurt themselves, and it only put them a little more behind than they already were due to their late start.

Luke resumed his previous task of getting gas as Valentine began washing her hands, examining herself in the mirror at the same time.

To her, she looked rather different than usual. The bags under her eyes didn't help conceal her lack of sleep, and the way her hair had slightly tangled up gave off the appearance that she had been having a rough day. It wasn't like that much at all though, because Valentine's day was going just fine. In fact, she was having such a good day that it was all that was on her mind as she smiled at the stranger beside her, dried of her hands, and walked back out to the store.

She grabbed a bag of Cheetos before rushing to the register as if Luke would take off without her. She didn't want to hold him back, despite having the knowledge that the trip as practically for her.

"Two fourteen," an older man sounded from behind the counter, looking towards the restless girl with a plastered on smile.

"Mmhm," Valentine hummed, nonchalantly passing a five dollar bill across the counter and finding Luke through the large windows to her left. She hadn't even taken her eyes way to check that the man gave her the correct change. She didn't care enough, because Luke was in her line of vision—the old man took note of how distracted she was, as he assumed Luke to be her boyfriend.

Luke's eyes were glued to the gas pump. Not because he was struggling, but because he felt Valentine staring. He could feel the little girls gaze from a mile away if he really tried. He felt her eyes on his skin along with a little electricity that came secondhand.

He didn't really know what to do, so he just kept his eyes down until he heard the familiar voice in his ears. She had somehow managed to get within five feet of him before he even noticed her presence.

"I got us Cheetos," she announced, proud as can be.

"Nice," Luke grinned up at her once coming to his senses and removing the pump from his mothers car. It took him a little longer than usual to climb back into the car, because he felt extremely on edge. He had somehow managed to get Valentine into a crash that creepily resembled the one that killed her sister, and the girl didn't care at all. He had no idea how to approach her after possibly scarring her for life, but she seemed just fine. She wanted him to keep going, even.

"Want some?" She smirked, nudging the blonde with a now opened bag of Cheetos. He couldn't adequately battle the smile from twitching at his lips, and he ended up flashing his pearly whites to her shamelessly.