Chapter Fifteen

Lukas went with Emma when she entered her apartment to get ready for class. She appeared to be confident going in, but Lukas could tell she was a bit nervous. Once inside, she acted as if nothing had happened. She changed into her own clothes, as she had been wearing something given to her at Sophia's after taking a shower there, and then got her books together.

"Did you want me to drive you downtown?" Lukas asked after she announced she was ready to go. He had waited in her living room, not wanting to get in the way or make her feel like he was being to overprotective.

"You can just take me to the light rail station," Emma said. As soon as she said the words, she wished she had said she could drive herself. Her truck was just outside in the parking lot, and there was no need for Lukas to take her anywhere. "Or I can drive myself."

"If you want to, but I don't mind driving you. I was going downtown anyway."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Emma shrugged. She guessed he was lying about that, but if she didn't have to take public transportation, she knew better than to argue too much.

"I forgot to mention it earlier," Lukas said as he started the car, "but Beth called me yesterday. She told me you didn't show up at work and she was worried about you. I promised to call her once I found anything out about you, so I gave her the whole accident thing. I didn't give many details, but I said I called hospitals looking for you and that's how I found you. In case she asks."

"She will." Emma was not looking forward to lying to her best friend, and she wasn't even completely convinced that she should be going along with the story Lukas gave her. She remembered the reasons made sense earlier, but now, she couldn't remember why it had made sense. "What kind of accident was it again?"

"You were walking and hit by a car."

"Makes me sound like an idiot."

"Oh, it was totally the driver's fault," Lukas assured her. "The only other reasonable excuse would be a car accident, but then we'd have to smash your truck up a bit, and I don't think you'd like that."

"I'd kill you." She sighed, not liking the story very much but accepting it. "Okay, I was hit while walking. Got it. But I don't remember much because I hit my head. So I just woke up in the hospital and saw your worried face?"

"If that's how you want to play it. Or maybe you regained consciousness before I got there. As long as it's convincing, because when I told Beth you were in the hospital, she wanted to come see you. So I kinda had to hang up before she tried getting information out of me and I'm not sure if she really believes me."

"Knowing Beth, she probably called the cops," Emma said.

"If she did, there is a record of you having been in the hospital, so they should back up the story."

"Anyway," Emma said, wanting to change the subject. "How long are you going to be downtown for? Should I take the train home?"

"A few hours maybe," he said, not really sure. "What time do you get out of class? I can wait for you."

"Two fifteen. You don't have to wait for me. There's a light rail station within walking distance of my place."

"That might just work out." Lukas knew it wasn't likely Emma would believe him, so he sighed and said, "Okay, I was planning on waiting for you. I really don't mind. I'm good at keeping myself busy and it's not like I need to be anywhere today."

She didn't argue, only because she didn't want to go to her apartment alone. "Well, if you're just hanging around waiting, we should go get lunch. I have a two hour break starting at eleven."

"Sure. Where should I meet you?"

Emma described the building she wanted to meet him at, which was the most distinct building on campus called the Tivoli. By the time she described it, Lukas had taken the exit from the freeway and Emma told him where to park, but he didn't listen. She wanted to go to one of the cheaper lots, but Lukas insisted on parking in a lot that cost $4.50, two dollars more than where Emma wanted to park.

"You know," Emma said once he parked the car, "if you can't listen to me tell you where to park, I don't think this relationship is going to work out."

Lukas opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't make up his mind as to whether or not to apologize or try to defend himself. All that came out of his mouth was incomprehensible noise. Once Emma started laughing, he shut his mouth and fell silent.

"Don't take everything so seriously," she said, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder. "Might be nice not having to walk so far for once. Just as long as it doesn't spoil me."

Lukas smiled, surprised to find himself more amused by her joke than annoyed. Had anyone else done that to him, he'd have been extremely irritated. They got out of the car and Lukas walked with Emma to her class. He wanted to carry her backpack for her, but Emma refused, telling him she wasn't helpless.

After leaving Emma, Lukas left the campus and headed to the hotel that Emma worked at. He managed learn where she worked from her with relative ease, making him think she really did have a head injury. While he'd been cleaning up the mess at the apartment, she'd been checked out by the pack's doctor and she'd been cleared of any serious injury. Still, Lukas had to wonder.

He found the hotel easily and went inside. He asked the man at the front desk to speak to the manager, and Lukas' request was quickly fulfilled. The manager smiled and put on a friendly face, and Lukas tried to do the same.

"Hi," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two folded pieces of paper. "My name is Lukas and I'm here on behalf of Emma Sterling. She was in an accident on Sunday evening and was in the hospital."

"Is she okay?" the manager, whose nametag read Michael, asked. He sounded genuinely worried. "I was worried something might have happened to her when she didn't show up yesterday. That's not like her at all. She calls if she thinks she's going to be a few minutes late."

"She'll be fine," Lukas said. He unfolded the papers and handed them to Michael. "She had a minor concussion, but the rest is mostly scrapes and bruises."

Michael took the papers from him and looked them over quickly. "I see. Does she need tomorrow off? I'll call someone to cover her shift."

"Uh, I don't think she'd like that," Lukas said before he could leave to make a phone call. "She was feeling pretty good this morning and went to school. She'll probably want to come to work tomorrow."

"You're right," Michael said with a nod. "But if she wants to stay home and rest, it's no problem. Just as long as she gets better."

"I'll let her know."

"Who are you, anyway? I've heard her and Beth talk about their friends, but I don't think your name has ever come up. You seem to know her too well to be from the hospital."

"I'm, uh, I guess her boyfriend?" Lukas had no idea how to describe the relationship. He just hoped that Emma wouldn't be too upset with him referring to himself as her boyfriend. He felt like their relationship was at least progressing in that direction.

"Huh. That's interesting. Well, I should get back to work. Tell Emma to get well soon for me."

Lukas left the hotel and headed back towards the campus, walking at a pace that would get him there around the time he was supposed to meet Emma. He ended up arriving half an hour early, but he didn't mind the wait. He just found a nice, shady spot and sat down.

"Hiding in the shadows now, Creeper?" Emma said, coming up behind him, making him turn around quickly. "Next thing you know, I'm going to see you in the bushes."

"Give it a year or so," Lukas said with a smile. "I'm new to this whole creeper thing. Might take me a while to get to that level. So where did you want to get lunch?"

"I want a burrito. We can go to Qdoba, Chipotle, or Illegal Pete's. I'll even be nice and let you pick." Emma started walking away as she spoke, counting on Lukas to simply follow her, which he did.

"Do you have a preference?" Lukas really wasn't sure which one he wanted to go to. He'd been to Qdoba and Chipotle before, but never Illegal Pete's, so he wasn't quite sure about that one.

"Nope. They're all pretty much the same to me. Feel free to take your time making your mind up. They're all pretty much next to each other anyway."

"Uh, well, how about Illegal Pete's?" Lukas suggested, feeling a bit adventurous.

"Fine with me."

Once they arrived at the restaurant, Lukas started to think he made the wrong choice. It looked dirty and run down inside, and he almost suggested that they go to Chipotle instead, but Emma was already placing her order. She didn't seem to mind the atmosphere, so he took a look at the menu and ordered a burrito – the exact same thing he could have gotten at Chipotle or Qdoba.

During lunch, Lukas asked Emma about school, and although he knew he had made progress with her, he was still surprised when she told him about it. She obviously wasn't going into depth about the classes she was taking, but she obviously cared quite a bit about the subject matter. Lukas remembered how he had been so passionate about certain things in the past, and he couldn't help but wonder where that had gone.

"I stopped by your hotel," Lukas said as they were walking back towards campus. "Spoke to Michael. He wanted me to tell you that you can have tomorrow off."

"No," Emma said immediately. "I need the hours and we both know my head's just fine."

"I told him you'd want to work. He seemed to agree with me."

"Pretending you know about me than you really do?" Emma smiled and took her phone from her pocket and quickly dialed a number. After a quick conversation with Michael at the hotel, she hung up. "So, you told him you were my boyfriend?"

"Sorry, but he asked who I was, and I really didn't know what to say. I didn't think friends really describes our relationship, and he seemed to know who your friends were so I thought it would be odd if a new friend was the one going in there. I'm really sorry about saying that. I hope you're not too upset." Lukas spoke quickly, trying to get everything out before she got mad and yelled. To his surprise, she didn't.

"Wow, Creeper. You certainly get talkative, don't you?"

"You're not mad?"

"No. I really don't know what this relationship is between us, but we're definitely something." Emma smiled and put her hand out. "Look, I'll even hold your hand so we can look like a couple."

Lukas hesitated, wondering if it was some kind of trick, but he knew he had to trust his mate. And he wanted to hold her hand anyway. They walked all the way back to campus hand in hand and smiling.