Right Where I Need to Be

Luke simply nodded, standing up and heading towards the truck. He opened her door for her, more out of habit than anything else.

After a fifteen or so minute drive, they arrived in town, and Brooke was amazed to see there actually were other signs of human life. She'd almost been convinced her aunt, uncle, and Luke were the only people living in that hodunk town, so to say she was relieved was an understatement.

Smiling, she exited the car when they parked, and waited for Luke to lead the way.

Luke stepped out of the truck, and headed towards the feed store. He turned to look at her as they walked, "So are you ever going to tell Thomas or Kay that you absolutely hate this place?" He asked, opening the door to the feed store.

The feed store itself was across from the rest of the stores. It was almost a warehouse sized building, where as the other stores were all joined together on the opposite street.

"No," Brooke replied, following Luke into the store. "And neither are you. If I play my cards right, I might just be able to get outta here earlier than two months. My parents need to think I'm at least trying in order for that to happen, and the only way they'll be convinced is by my aunt and uncle. I mean, I'm sure you'll just be devastated to see me go, but yeah."

She batted her eyelashes at him innocently.

"Oh yeah, I'll miss you as much as I do a tooth ache." He said, rolling his eyes. He headed towards the feed he needed, throwing a bag up over his shoulder. "You wanna go get one of those flat carts for me?" He asked, pointing in the direction of the buggies.

"If I must," Brooke replied, moping off to retrieve one of the carts Luke requested. When she came back, she was practically riding on it as she got a running start and then jumped on. She couldn't help but think about home again, because this was the type of thing she'd do with her girlfriends, which would inevitably lead to them being thrown out and possibly banned from ever returning. It was some of the best times of her life, though, and she desperately missed every part of being in New York.

"Here you go," she said, as she returned after skidding to a halt. Her mood had suddenly dampened even more after being reminded of home once again. "I would've thought someone like you could carry two or three of those bags, no problem."

"Let's see you carry two or three 50lb bags." He said, placing it on the cart. "And I can, but since I am getting ten bags..." He said, starting to load the bags onto the cart. Just as he was placing the last bag on, his phone started ringing in his pocket. He sighed, pulling it out and glancing at the screen. Seeing who it was, he ignored it and slid it back into his pocket.

"I never said I could," Brooke replied, leaning against the handle of the cart and inspecting Luke's every move. "But then again, I don't have arms the size of—" Brooke stopped herself, realizing she was about to give him quite the ego boost if she complimented his muscles. Of course, they were quite nice. She didn't have a problem thinking that to herself, but admitting it out loud to him was a totally different story.

"And who was that you so rudely ignored?" Brooke asked, after she saw him put his phone away without answering it. Pry was her middle name, after all.

Luke shot her a look when she stopped in the middle of what he was sure would have been her putting her foot into her mouth. He smirked and stepped beside her, wrapping his hands around the handle of the cart. He flexed his arm muscles before pushing the buggy towards the next aisle.

"What does it matter who it was?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't any of her business who he was ignoring.

"I guess it doesn't," Brooke replied. "It's just nice that you actually have a phone to talk to people on, and yet you ignore them. My phone doesn't even work down here and I just...never mind."

She walked away from the conversation, and wandered aimlessly around the establishment until she was back at the doors. Deciding she'd dabbled in the unknown enough for one day, she exited, and quickly walked across the street to check out the phone store she'd spotted on the way in.

Luke sighed as he watched her go. He finished up at the feed store and paid for the feed. Before he backed his truck around to the loading dock however, he asked them to hold on to it for a few minutes while he run across the street.

After checking the traffic, he quickly crossed the street and slipped into the cellular store. Just a he had predicted, Brooke stood at the counter, talking to the sales associate.

Brooke felt like a kid in a candy shop. After talking to an associate, who informed Brooke it was probably best to just get a new phone until she returned home, she pranced around the store looking at all the devices, until finally settling on the newest iPhone. She handed it to the associate who had been assisting her, and followed him up to the counter to be rung up.

"Cash or credit?" he asked her.

"Credit," she replied, fishing through her wallet to retrieve her card. She slid it through the little terminal, made the necessary selections, and waited while the machine processed.

"I'm sorry, your card has been denied," the associate said.

Brooke's eyes widened, and she immediately went on the defensive. "What? There must be some mistake. I'm not poor, obviously. Let me try it again." He looked a bit uneasy at Brooke's tone, but allowed her to try her card again. When he informed her it was still being denied, Brooke stamped her foot and promptly went off on the man in front of her.

As soon as Luke saw the foot stamp, he moved in. He wrapped his hand around Brooke's arm, turning her in his direction.

"Brooklyn, calm down." He said, glancing at the associate who looked pale and slightly scared.

"Her card was declined," the boy said quietly, stepping back after on more look at the petite blonde who was still going on about how it wasn't possible that her card was declined.

"Excuse us," Luke said, wrapping his other arm around her waist as he nearly drug her from the store.

Once outside, her turned her to face him, but kept a firm grip on her arm. "Hey, calm down and tell me what's going on."

Brooke was still fuming as Luke led her outside, and when he turned her to face him, she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"How can I calm down when I'm stuck in this place and I have no contact with the outside world?! This guy is telling me my card is denied and obviously I'm not the type of person who doesn't have money! My father is the executive VP of very important corporation and ugh!" She stamped her foot again and blinked back angry tears. "What am I supposed to do for the next two months if I can't talk to anyone? How am I supposed to stay sane?"

Luke frowned slightly, gently rubbing the skin of her arm with his thumb. "Maybe its just some freak thing with the machines... But its not the end of the world." He said softly, pulling her to the side as someone passed them on the street.

"Why don't we go back to the farm, and we can see what is going on. And if you want, you can use my cell phone to call home."

Brooke sighed, as she rubbed at her forehead in distress. When she felt Luke's thumb lightly touching her arm, though, she could feel her nerves slowly calming. It was strange, considering how much she thought she disliked him, but ultimately, she decided to heed his advice.

"I—I guess we can do that," she said, turning to walk back across the street to the truck. She got in, and waited for Luke to finish taking care of his business.

Luke sighed, following her across the street. He then climbed into his truck and pulled around to the loading dock. After he loaded the feed, he climbed back into the driver seat.

"You wanna grab anything to eat before we head back?" He asked, starting the truck up.

"No, I really just want to get back so I can figure this out," she replied.

On their way back, Brooke stared out the window, almost in a daze. The day so far had been nothing short of strange, and no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts were just a jumbled mess. The fact that some annoying country song about "barbecue stains" and "skipping rocks by railroad tracks" was blaring out of the radio did little to help her situation, either. She looked toward the radio menacingly, really wanting to smash it but ultimately thought better of it.

The whole time they'd been driving, Luke had been keeping an eye on Brooke. He didn't know how she was going to act, and he really didn't feel like being on the receiving end of he tantrum.

When she started glaring at his radio, he chewed the inside of his lip before flicking the tuner so it rested on 92.3. The station he never listened to. That kind of music was not his cup of tea. But if it would help distract her from everything, then fine.

Brooke smiled a bit, as Luke switched the station and suddenly, Ariana Grande's voice came belting out of the speakers. He must have seen her annoyance, and the fact that he was trying to remedy the situation a bit made her feel...well, she wasn't too sure. Whatever was taking place between them was so strange, it had her head spinning. One minute, they were arguing like little kids, and the next, they were actually being nice to one another. She really didn't know what to think of it all.

"Thanks," she mumbled. She did appreciate his effort, nevertheless.