the bucket list | lrh

44 - home coming

When Valentine Leonard woke up after sleeping for an ungodly amount of time, she felt a little disoriented. She expected to have to wriggle out of bed without waking Luke, it was almost like instinct by then. When she realized that the blonde wasn't there, a little sinking feeling attacked her heart. The sting didn't last for long though, because the whole reason she had opened her eyes initially was the obnoxiously loud ringtone invading her ears.

"Luke?" She mumbled, rubbing her temples a little to ease the headache that had somehow grown in the time that she'd been awake.

"Yeah, hi! Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up... I just wanted to see what you were up to tonight..." the blonde trailed off, allowing himself to be transparent with the girl. He missed her, and it showed. Valentine didn't ignore it either, because her heart skipped several beats at the idea that he wanted to see her again already.

"I don't know yet... I have to talk to my dad and Mary, and I'm not really sure where to start," Valentine sighed, hating that she couldn't give Luke a clearer answer.

"Okay, that's fine. Just let me know if you have some free time," the blonde assured her, not really all that bothered by it anyways. He knew it was a long shot, they hadn't even been away from each other for twenty four hours.

"I will, I promise," the brunette lifted her pinky up before realizing that she was on a phone call. She giggled a little at her mistake, and Luke decided just not to question her.

"Hey, Mary's calling me—I'll talk to you later, okay?" Valentine rushed as her other favorite blonde waited impatiently on the other end. Luke quickly said his goodbyes and hung up, going back to whatever it was that Luke Hemmings did on an average day, or so Valentine had assumed.

"Val!" Mary's glass shattering shriek shook Valentine to her core. She had just answered and her friends greeting wasn't exactly expected. After flinching away from her phone for a second to avoid hearing damage, Valentine spoke cautiously.

"Yes?" She questioned Mary.

"Do you understand how deafening your silence has been? and now you want to get back and then not tell me?" Mary gasped, as if absolutely offended that Valentine slept before announcing her home coming. She hadn't thought it was that big of a deal, is all.

"Did you expect me to go to your house before my own?" Valentine joked, getting up from her bed and traveling over to her closet which was strangely barren considering she hadn't unpacked yet.

"Well, no... but you remember what I told you right? Why aren't you freaking out like I am?" Mary questioned Valentine, knowing very well that the news should have impacted the brunette more than it did. The girl had already lost so much, Mary couldn't figure out why she wasn't reacting to Scout and Kellianne at all.

"Honestly, Mary? I don't really care. They can get together all they want," Valentine spoke truthfully, not feeling the need to cause a scene like her friend did. It's not that she didn't support whatever Mary was feeling at any given time, it's just that she wasn't nearly as devastated by the information as her friend was.

"Don't care? Fine, whatever. But you're required to wallow with me today."

"Mmkay, I'll let you know when I'm free. I still haven't talked to my dad, and I kinda just woke up," Valentine repeated the same words she had just spoken to Luke a minute prior.

"Okay, me before Luke! He spent the last week with you!" Mary exclaimed, demanding to be prioritized. Valentine thought it was quite funny considering Luke had called first, but she didn't want to hit a nerve because her friend was already wound up. "Okay, Mary. I'll text you whenever I'm done with my dad," Valentine assured her, wasting no time afterwards before hanging up and getting dressed to finally leave her room.