"Come on, come on, come on!" Beth was shouting. It was a few days after Emily and Luke had talked about their pasts with each other, and they were at a game. School was coming to an end in another week. Mei and Nathan were going to work more shifts at the diner, which Tito was pleased about. Gary still hadn't come around, so Emily was 99.9 percent sure he was finished with the relationship. She did not feel upset about it, though, which proved to her she hadn't been into it.
"Woooohoooooo!" Beth shrieked, jumping as Luke got yet another home run. He did his best to sidestep her congratulatory hug, but she still got an arm around his neck and got a squeeze in. Emily knew Beth was doing it to piss her off because Beth believed Emily was after Luke, which right now seemed a tiny bit true.
Emily straightened her back as Luke came to sit next to her, taking a swig from his water bottle.
"Nice landing," Emily commented.
"You liked that, eh?" he said, grinning. She reached to twist his arm so she could see the scrape he'd put on his elbow when he'd hit the plate.
"That's gonna leave a bit of a scar," she noted.
"It was worth it," he shrugged. She let go of his arm once she caught Beth glaring at her. She held the other woman's gaze momentarily, daring her to say something. Beth eventually looked away, crossing her arms a bit angrily.
Team Annie won again, and again, there was a celebration at the bar.
"You should really come," Beth urged Luke. "You never come, and it's your team."
"I'm good," Luke said. "I'd rather go home and sleep."
"Come ooon," Beth whined. "Just one drink?"
Emily decided to have a little fun, just a little. She wasn't even really sure what her endgame was other than she wanted to prove to Beth that she and Luke had a better friendship.
"I think I'll go," Emily mused, making both Luke and Beth look at her, surprised.
"Really," Luke said.
"Yea," Emily said. "Why not? I've never gone either."
Beth said nothing, but Emily just smiled at her and Luke before going to join Tito and the others, who were waiting for Beth to join them.
"You're coming?" Tito asked, surprised.
"Yea. Is that a bad thing?" she countered.
"No! It's great!" Tito grinned. His wife, Maria, smiled at her, and Emily smiled back. Goose and Brent were talking to Lucy about her poor catch in the third inning, and she was doing her best to explain what had happened (a fly had attacked her eye apparently). It only earned her more teasing and ribbing, though. Gil had gone home. Nathan and Mei had gone home as well. Emily texted Nathan to let him know she was going out. They both had burner phones. She didn't trust that Roger wouldn't find them that way, even with them being burners, but she needed a phone.
Beth finally joined them, but Luke was not with her. Emily felt a bit of disappointment. She had been so sure he'd come if she went. Now she was stuck with Beth. Great.
"Beer, beer, beer, buh buh buh beer..." Tito was singing now as he hopped into his vehicle. Emily got in with them, and they went to the bar. She wondered just what exactly she was doing.
...
Mei found Luke sitting at the table doing book work. She frowned.
"Why didn't you go with the team for drinks?" she asked. Nathan had said Emily had gone, and Mei was pretty sure Luke liked Emily, so why hadn't he gone too? Something was up here.
"Just not my thing," he shrugged.
"I didn't think it was Emily's thing either, but she went," Mei said pointedly. Luke looked up at her now.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"I think that she went thinking you'd go too. You left her alone with people she barely knows aside from Lucy and Tito. You left her alone with Beth," Mei emphasized. She really didn't like Beth. The woman was too clingy and annoying, definitely not Luke's type, and Mei knew that Beth was after Luke. It was so obvious.
"Beth," Luke echoed.
"Get off your ass and go save her!" Mei urged.
"Hey," Luke said. "Don't talk to me like that."
"Get off your behind and go save her," Mei rephrased.
"You should be studying for your exams," he pointed out.
"I will once you go to the bar."
"Mei..."
"Oh, live a little, Luke. Come on," Mei said. "Don't be such a drag."
She left him there, heading down the hall to her room, and Luke was left sitting at the table and feeling as though she had made a good point but didn't want her to know she was right.
...
Emily was really regretting coming to this bar now. It was Friday night, so it was busier, and she kept wincing at the loud music. Lucy hadn't come after all, which had been really lousy for Emily, who was sitting alone and watching everyone else have a good time. She was getting ready to leave when Luke was suddenly standing next to her.
"Hey," he said.
"I...hey," she said back, startled. "I thought you weren't coming?"
"I decided to see what all the fuss was about," he shrugged. Emily felt a twinge in her chest. Had he come because she was there? She opened her mouth to say something else when she was rudely cut off.
"LUKE!" Beth practically screamed. She latched onto him easily, and Luke raised his brows in alarm. "You CAME!"
"Just for a bit," he said, trying to unlatch her hands from him.
"Oh, dance with me," Beth begged, trying to pull him away.
"But...I..." he tried, but she was strong and firm. Emily hid her laugh as he shot her a "help me" look before disappearing into the crowd. She finished her iced tea and hopped off the bar stool, walking towards the dance floor. She laughed out loud upon seeing Beth doing some weird kind of dance that involved pressing herself against Luke as much as possible and rubbing against him. She could see Luke desperately looking for a way out, and she contemplated on letting him suffer a bit before deciding to rescue him. She knew he'd do it for her because after all, he had shown up tonight knowing she was alone here.
Luke had never been happier to see Emily when she appeared out of nowhere and came towards him and Beth. He knew coming here had been a stupid idea. Never again.
"Something's up at the diner!" Emily said loudly over the music. "Mei called me!"
"What?!" Luke shouted back. Beth stopped her mating dance at this point and was giving Emily the stink eye.
"MEI SAID SOMETHING IS GOING ON AT THE DINER AND TO COME HOME!" she bellowed now, and Luke finally heard her. The song had chosen to end about halfway through her shouting, though, so everyone heard Emily at this point and was looking at her. She blushed, hating all the stares.
"Sorry," he said to Beth. "I gotta go."
"But..." Beth tried.
Luke didn't even wait for the rest. He hurried away with Emily behind him. She figured he could give her a ride home since he was there. They got to his truck and climbed in, and he turned to her.
"What happened?" he asked. Emily snorted. He actually thought something was wrong at home!
"I just saved your ass is what happened," she answered. "You owe me." She settled back into her seat with a smug expression, and he stared at her. Then he guffawed, finally realizing what she'd done.
"Actually, it makes us even," he reminded her. She gave him a surprised look.
"How so?"
"Your little incident of hiding from that woman?" he prompted. "Where I had to step in and blatantly lie about you not being there even though she saw you?"
"Right," she nodded. "Okay, then. We're even." He gave a curt nod with a smile and started the truck.
When they got home, Emily jumped down from her seat and shut the door behind her, moving to head to her apartment around back.
"You don't have to call it a night yet, if you don't want to," Luke said. She stopped and turned to look at him, and she was pretty sure his face was a bit red. What was this?
"What did you have in mind?" she asked.
"Coffee?" he suggested. She hesitated briefly, but it seemed innocent enough.
"All right," she agreed.
He led the way and held open the door for her as she walked in. She got settled at the counter on a stool while Luke went to make coffee. Five minutes later, a mug was slid across to her, and he came around to join her.
"I happen to know you can dance," Emily said after a moment, recalling how Luke had just stood like a stick on the dance floor tonight and reflecting on when he'd shown Nathan how to dance while using her as his prop. "So why the cement shoes tonight, huh?"
"You are correct. I do dance," he replied. "Just not to whatever the hell that was back there."
"I see," she smiled. "Not into Bieber then."
"Not really. I prefer older stuff."
"Such as?"
In response, Luke got off his stool and went over to the jukebox that Emily had never noticed before. She felt a bit stupid. How had she missed it sitting there?
He picked a song, and when it came on, she instantly recognized it.
"Really," she said. "Spin me round and round? That's one of your favorites?"
Luke did a spin as his reply, and she laughed.
"Come on," he said, reaching for her hand.
"No!" she cried, laughing still. But he won, and soon he had her dancing and spinning around like an idiot, but it was fun and something Emily hadn't done in a very, very long time: have fun.
Luke hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. He liked this side of himself and of Emily. He had a feeling she was pretty relaxed too.
"I'm going to pass out," she gasped after four fast songs.
"You're in luck," he pointed out as something slower came on. "You can catch your breath."
"Oh, I don't..." she started, but he already pulled her in close to do a slow dance with her. She found herself fitting into him so easily like before, and she allowed herself to just go with it.
It just felt so right to him. Luke had his arm around her waist and his left hand holding hers, and when she rested her cheek against his, he just felt as though this moment was meant to be. Then he thought about Annie, and the guilt was powerful. He closed his eyes briefly. It had been four years since Annie's death. If roles were reversed, he wouldn't have wanted her to be alone forever. Why, then, was it so hard for him?
Emily realized she had pressed her face against his and pulled back. It had been an unconscious thing, really. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her, and she was there, right there. He suddenly stopped moving, and she felt her heart rate pick up when he looked at her so seriously. She'd never had anyone look at her the way he was looking at her now.
He let go of her hand and reached to trace her jaw gently, and she felt shivers go all the way to her toes. Was this really happening? His hand moved to hold her face, his thumb grazing her cheek, and she felt his other hand move from her waist to the middle of her back to pull her in closer. She closed her eyes just as his lips touched hers gently, and she felt as though she might explode. It was a cautious type of kiss, one that was light and questioning at the same time. He pulled back slightly, waiting for her move, and Emily knew right then in that moment that she wanted this. His eyes were searching hers, and she had an answer to give him.
"It's okay," she whispered.
So he kissed her again, this time without holding back. It was nothing like she'd experienced before. No force, no pressure, no...anger. It was more exploratory than anything. Soft, gentle, and definitely not one sided. Emily had no idea how long they'd stood there kissing until there was suddenly no music, and this seemed to bring them back to the room.
Luke released her, and she moved her hand to sweep her hair out of her face. They both felt a bit awkward now.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I really don't know what...what happened there."
"It's fine," she said quickly.
Luke felt he should do something, anything, but he didn't know what. It seemed that the moment was gone, and he didn't know how to get it back.
"I should...I should go," she said.
"I didn't mean to upset you," he said quickly.
"You haven't," she replied fast. "I just...I need to sleep because my boss gets annoyed with me if I'm cranky at work because I didn't sleep properly."
"Right," he nodded. "He sounds like an old codger."
"He doesn't realize how great he is," Emily said quietly, and Luke had no response to this. He never gave himself credit for anything.
"Did I make things weird?" he asked, referring to what had just happened there.
"No," she shook her head. "You did not."
He nodded, not knowing what else to do, and she picked up her things and headed out the door, waving just before she was swallowed by the darkness. Luke stood in the middle of the floor for a while afterwards wondering what the hell he'd just done and if he had ruined things between them because of it.
...
"Spill," Lucy said the next day after Emily and Luke did their fourth polite exchange with each other.
"Spill what?" Emily asked.
"What happened between you two?" Lucy demanded.
"Nothing."
"Please. You're acting so polite with each other, and that's either cos he yelled at you when you didn't deserve it or you two did something together and you regret it."
"Those are the only two options?" Emily snorted. "Maybe we're just polite people."
"You're gonna make me drag it out of you, aren't you?"
"There's nothing to drag out of me," Emily replied with a smile as she went off to greet the new people who had just sat down. She felt Lucy's eyes on her back, but she didn't turn around.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked Lucy, seeing her idle when he came out from the kitchen. She turned to face him, eyes narrowed.
"What did you do to her?" she demanded. She caught him off guard. He felt the flush on his neck before he could stop it, and her jaw dropped.
"Lucy..." he started, but she was already gripping his elbow like a vice and hauling him back towards the walk-in fridge. Tito gave them a startled and confused look as they went past him, Luke being pushed backwards.
"Spill," she ordered once they were inside the fridge. Luke rubbed his arm where she had gripped it, wincing a little.
"I have nothing to say," he tried.
"Look, I don't know her that well, but I know enough to see when someone has had their heart broken, and if you hurt her..." Lucy threatened, wagging her finger at him.
"I'm not..."
"I will personally chop your boys off and serve them to dogs," Lucy finished menacingly. Luke raised his brow at her.
"That's a very nice visual, Lucy," he said calmly. "I am not doing anything to Emily, so you can stand down."
"It's cute how you both think I'm stupid," Lucy sighed dramatically. "She's got a skip in her step, and you turned the color of a tomato when I asked what you did to her. It's so obvious, so quit lying to me."
"Luce, it is none of your business," Luke said firmly, going past her. He almost clipped Tito with the door as he opened it.
"These secret meetings in the fridge are making me feel left out," Tito complained.
"It's not a meeting," Luke said, annoyed.
"What secret meetings?" Lucy demanded. Luke left without answering. He paused in the doorway, watching Emily as she worked. Lucy was right. She did seem to have a skip in her step, and she was smiling more.
"Secretly watching her when she isn't looking," Lucy said, poking him in the back sharply as she passed him. "Another give away."
Luke said nothing as he went to pour himself some coffee. Lucy was not going to break him.
...
Emily looked up when he came out carrying the usual two plates. She had long stopped declining it.
"So, what is this today?" she asked, digging around with her fork.
"Just random stuff thrown together with other random stuff," Luke answered. "Like always."
"You really should keep track of what you put in your food and make recipes," Emily said, her mouth full. He smiled.
"Mei says the same thing."
"So do it already!" she urged, giving him a soft kick under the table.
He just chuckled and continued to eat. They didn't say much else until near the end of their break.
"I, uh, I heard Gary making a date with someone else not too long ago," Luke said. "I'm sorry that didn't work out."
"He wanted things from me that I was not ready to give," Emily answered simply. It surprised her that he was telling her this. He didn't have to report to her about anything. It made her wonder if that was what encouraged him to kiss her last night.
"We're good, right?" he asked suddenly. She blinked, looking at him.
"Yea?" she countered. "Why? Weren't we?"
"No, we were. I just...after last night...I thought..." he trailed off.
"You thought you ruined our friendship," she finished for him. She felt her heart sink a little bit. Of course he'd want to just be friends. How foolish to think anything different. How crazy of her to even consider it. She had vowed to never be vulnerable again, hadn't she? To avoid this? This was for the best.
"Well, yea," he nodded. He noticed something in her eyes, but he couldn't figure out what it meant.
"Yes, Luke," she said, standing up then. "We're good."
Somehow, he knew she wasn't being completely honest, and if he was honest with himself, this was not what he had meant to say to her. He couldn't find the words to stop her from walking away, so he just watched her go.
Then he kicked himself.