So close I can smell it . . . no, no wait that's me . . .
.-. Enjoy . . .
TT
Luke stirred, and slowly opened his eyes. He was quickly reminded this wasn't his bed or his room. Not his, but Tori's. As to how they got from the couch to the bedroom, he hadn't had a clue. He did know that it was the greatest night of his life. He quickly realized his lack of attire. The smirk on his face only grew.
They always fall for the Luke charm.
He had to tackle the day's problems sooner or later. He swiftly glanced over, proving his theory of it being around seven in the morning. Tori was still sleeping next to him. Seeing her beauty would make him do yesterday all over again.
That reminded him. They were leaving today. He was aware that he didn't have a choice, he had to go. His wild family would hunt him down and drag him by the ear.
He ran threw his options. He could say he broke down somewhere, but they would ask where and come get him. He could fake his own death . . .
Too much work.
Pretend to be sick? What was he? Seven?
He contemplated all his options, but none would work. He didn't notice that Tori was awake also.
"How'd we get here . . .?"
"I have no idea."
"You should probably get ready" she suggested. He agreed and came from beneath the covers. He looked around, and spotted his clothes on the floor.
He felt himself being sharply pinched in his derriere. He heard the distinct sound of Tori's laughter. He turned around.
"I'm so getting you back."
She gathered her clothes, and quickly left the room, eyes glued to him.
TT
On this sunny morning, they both stood out on the driveway. In the proper clothing, of course. Luke had his clothes, and Tori had sweat pants, and a shirt that ended at her midsection.
"Hmm. Any ideas?" Luke asked.
"Maybe."
She went to the back of the house. He checked his communicator, and saw he had multiple missed calls. Mostly from his father.
He decided to call him back, after a long inner debate.
"You excessively called?" He asked when Jay answered.
"Where are you and the car?"
"Relax. I have it and I'll be there soon."
"You have one hour to be here."
"You see that? That is the opposite of relaxing!" He said loudly as his father hung up.
Tori came back with a red gas can.
"Turns out there is gas in here" she chuckled.
"You just keep gas lying around?"
"Sometimes." She shrugged. She proceeded to empty the contents into the tank.
He got in and checked if it was enough. Fortunately it was.
"It's enough" he assured her "thanks."
"You're welcome." They shared a warm hug.
"Ow!" Tori rubbed her sore behind. He smirked, and got into the driver's seat. He was about to drive off, when a realization hit him.
"You had the gas the whole time didn't you?"
"Bye Luke" she smirked. They kissed sweetly, and he drove off.
TT
Melissa walked into the training area, and saw her father. It seemed like it was harder to approach him, after recent events. She wanted to back out, but she had to get it off her chest.
Here goes nothing.
"Can I help you?" He asked, after successfully kicked the punching bag off its hook.
"Can I talk to you about something?"
He looked at her suspiciously, but nodded.
She decided that Luke was right. She had abused his trust by going behind his back. She finally chose to make it right.
"About going behind your back, I-uh wanted to . . . apologize."
"That is very mature of you" he admitted "I forgive you."
"So . . . Can I finally find out about this mission?" She tested her luck. He finally decided to explain everything. Her eyes were wide in disbelief.
"Are you sure we can stop them?" She asked uncertainly.
"We'll have to try."
Luke barged in on them.
"Where were you?" Jay asked sternly.
"I ran out of energy, I got a hotel, and came back this morning" he lied.
"Relax. It's recharging now" Luke assured, noticing his father's skeptical expression.
"Let me know next time."
"Seriously, you need a massage or something" Luke chuckled. With an unimpressed expression, Jay left the room.
"Did you ever even come back?" Melissa scoffed.
"Yeah, you must've missed me."
"But if you came back, how could you have broken down?" she questioned. He cleared his throat awkwardly. He felt increasingly warm.
"Go question someone else" he retorted quickly.
"You're a horrible liar" she walked out. He stuck out his tongue behind her.
TT
"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Jay double checked the loaded car. The sky seemed to darken, and all in all, it was fairly ominous.
"How long is this going to take anyways?" Luke asked.
"Weren't you excited about this before?" Melissa asked.
"A little, but I got things to do here."
Like hangout with a pretty girl, let's move it people!
"We have everything?" Jay continued. They both nodded.
Jay set off on their journey.
"I spy with my little eye . . . someone with black hair" Luke mumbled. The energy of the trip was already drained. It was nothing but miles of a woodland forest around them.
"You" Melissa rolled her eyes.
"Red hair."
"Me."
"Speaking of . . . is that dyed?"
"What? No."
"I think you're secretly a blonde" he laughed.
"Yes, because that makes sense" she said sarcastically.
"Yep." He turned his attention to Jay "what about you? Is yours dyed?"
Jay stared blankly at him.
"Yes, I had every color to choose from, but I chose white" he said wryly.
"Maybe it's a fashion statement?" He shrugged. There was a beeping noise, and Luke saw a message. He giggled excitedly. Tori texted him! His smile quickly vanished.
Tori and Rose were going to be there too. He groaned loudly.
"Should've went before we left" Melissa laughed.
"Sometimes you're a real . . ." his father looked at him. He chose his words carefully ". . . sweet girl."
"I thought you'd say that." Melissa smirked.
He rolled his eyes at her. He was conflicted as whether to tell the information he'd received, but how would he explain it?
Rose posted online that she'd be there.
He decided to keep this to himself for now. A minute later he was alerted again. Tori was going to.
That made things a lot harder.
Does he maintain his loyalty to his father, and put her in danger?
TT
Jay opened the door to a wooden house. It had two stories, but it was still relatively small. The furniture didn't look too old, but nothing fancy.
"Does the place come with a butler?" Luke asked sarcastically. Jay ignored the comment, and brought their things in.
After a while, they settled in pretty well.
"Did this use to be an URSA base?" Luke asked, rubbing dust off his fingers.
"Nope."
"Any government base?"
"No."
"This is just a shabby old house?"
"Yes."
"Fun."
Melissa walked into the living room.
"Is that an outhouse?" She asked, appalled at the thought.
"We can't live like this" Luke groaned.
"Don't tell me you've both gone soft" Jay smirked.
"What? No!" Luke said defensively.
"I, on the other hand, was never hard" Melissa pointed out.
"I think I'll go catch dinner" Luke stood up. He went out that backdoor, rifle in hand.
"While he tries to prove his manliness, I'll see what there is to eat when he doesn't catch anything" Melissa walked off.
She noticed an abundance of canned goods. This would have to do. Maybe luck was on Luke's side and he actually caught something.
She trekked outside, until she spotted him.
"Hey, mountain man, did you really have to take your shirt off?"
"Quiet down. Besides, it makes me look cool." He shrugged. The temperature was dropping, but he didn't seem to care.
"Well, when you get bitten by every bug out here, I'm not rubbing ointment on you" she laughed. He was about to retort, when something caught his eye. A young buck. He pointed to it, and she followed his gaze.
He pointed his gun at it, but it randomly started to run. Melissa couldn't help but snicker.
"Oh no you don't."
Luke shot the automatic assault rifle, until the deer finally hit the ground. It writhed there for a few moments, then finally stopped moving.
He had a smug grin on his face.
"So what? It was automatic! All you had to do was shoot in its general area" Melissa reminded him.
"Jealousy is not a pretty color on you" he simpered. He walked off to collect his prize. She scoffed, and headed back towards the house.
"He shot at the entire forest until he hit something" she told her father. Luke walked in a few moments later, with a satisfied grin.
"I'll teach you how to do that one day" he assured Melissa. If Tori could see him now. That made his face smirk only grow.
"Who's soft now?"
"Who's the one who caught dinner, when I was going to do it?" Jay replied.
". . . I was being played, wasn't I . . .?"
TT
Hope you enjoyed!