Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Looking Out (Luke Hemmings)

it's better than the title i promise

Warnings: Creepy dude??? i guess. and like one swear.

~

"Hey, baby girl!" someone said rather loudly, making you look toward the door since you recognized the voice. You smiled slightly at your lab partner, Luke, as he came up to you.

You and Luke were pretty good friends, but you never really talked much outside of school unless one of you needed help with your Chemistry homework. You were more of an outsider – not so much a loner as you had a few close friends – while Luke was the school's resident bad boy. He didn't take shit from anyone and everyone would stop what they were doing as he walked by, not wanting to say the wrong thing around him. And even though he was tough, he still had a soft spot for very few people – one of those people being you – but you were still understandably a bit puzzled when you realized he'd given you the pet name he usually only reserved for girls he was dating.

"Hey, Lu," you said, letting out a confused laugh as he stood behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist.

"Please just act like this is normal," he mumbled in your ear, "I saw some guy has been following you around for the last 20 minutes and I don't know what his deal is, but I don't want him to try anything."

"Someone's been following me?" you whispered, looking up at him with obvious worry on your face.

"Don't worry," he shook his head, "I'm here; You're safe now. Did you come to the mall alone?"

"No," you swallowed, "But Annie had to leave an hour ago, so I was just gonna call my sister when I was ready to go home..."

"Well, I'm just gonna stick around until she comes to get you if that's alright with you," he said.

"But this is outside of school, Lu," you shook your head, "We never talk outside of school." Luke rolled his eyes, smiling at you.

"We're talking now, aren't we?" he countered, poking at your side to make you laugh.

"Well, can we talk in the food court?" you asked, leaning your head back on his shoulder to look at him, "That ice cream stand calls my name every time I pass it."

"Sure," he nodded, "But I'm buying."

"Luke-"

"No buts!" he said, "It's what boyfriends do!"

"You're not my boyfriend though," you reminded him softly as you still didn't know who had apparently been following you or where in the store they were.

"Just let me pretend," he pouted, making you smile slightly as you rolled your eyes at his antics.

You led Luke to the cashier so you, much to Luke's dismay, could buy the items you'd picked out. You then took him to the food court, holding his hand upon his request – you were supposedly dating, after all.

~

The two of you talked for well over an hour and a half while you ate your ice cream, actually losing track of time.

You already knew a fair amount about each other due to Luke quickly getting bored during Chemistry and wanting to get to know everything there was to know about his cute and quiet lab partner. But you always noticed that conversation with him was never boring. He never allowed even a second of awkward silence to sneak in – he always made sure you were smiling, and if you'd been having a bad day leading up to class, he refused to help you do any work until you were laughing again.

When you looked at your phone and realized what time it was, you reluctantly informed Luke that you should be getting home before you're late for dinner. You were about to text your sister to ask if she could come get you, but Luke insisted on just giving you a ride himself since he was about to head home too.

The ride was as conversation-filled as the last two hours were, both of you singing along obnoxiously to the Top 40 radio station Luke had turned on. He turned the radio down as he pulled into your driveway, leaving his engine running as he walked you to your front door.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Lu," you told him with a small smile after putting your bags down at your feet, "I had a lot of fun."

"M'always looking out for you," he grinned back, "And, you know... Maybe we can start hanging out outside of school now...?" He seemed nervous – like you were going to say no – but he was relieved that that wasn't the case.

"Yeah," you nodded, your voice soft, "I'd like that."

You both looked at each other for a moment before you surprised him by putting your hand on his cheek and leading his face to yours. Luke – although taken aback by the gesture – didn't hesitate for one second in kissing you back, his hands finding your hips almost immediately. You both felt each other smile ever-so-slightly as you pulled away.

"What was that for?" Luke chuckled breathlessly.

"You know," you shrugged, a light blush on your cheeks at your sudden burst of courage, "We're supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I haven't seen that guy since we got our ice cream."

"Doesn't mean he wasn't still watching and followed us here," you pointed out.

"Hmm," Luke hummed with a nod, "Then I think we'd better do it again – you know, just to be safe." You giggled softly but happily complied, bringing his lips back to yours.