Something had filled up the loneliness that once took up Cierra's chest, and that something, that somebody, was Luke.

There was something about him... it gave her this feeling. This feeling that slowly began creeping through her body, and now it was completely enveloping her. She didn't know how to describe it. She couldn't pinpoint it... she had never felt anything like it before. But she wanted to feel like it forever.

She didn't realize she was in a trance until Luke snapped her out of it. "Do you want a beer?" He asked.

Cierra scrunched her nose in disgust without really meaning to. "No, thanks. I hate beer. And I already have one that's going to waste." She pointed to the beer that sat on the counter across from her. "I should probably drink it..."

She began to reach for it when Luke grabbed it instead. "Don't," He said. "It's open. And you weren't holding it..."

Oh. Cierra thought. Right. "Thank you," She said, feeling stupid all of the sudden. "I didn't think of that."

"Hey, it's fine. Parties like this can just be a little scary... I don't want you to get hurt or anything," Luke said, giving her a small smile. "But, let's get on another topic. Like, how you don't like beer? How?"

Cierra scoffed in a joking manner. "What do you mean, how? It's actually disgusting."

Luke just shook his head. "Cierra, I'm afraid we can no longer be friends."

"Luke, we've been friends for a good four minutes at the most. And, can we even be considered friends?" She arched an eyebrow at the tall boy.

"You're easily the nicest person I've held a conversation with in a long time, so I'm hoping you'll consider me your friend," Luke smiled sheepishly, looking at the ground.

"Except you don't wanna be friends. 'Cause I don't like beer." She put a hand on her hip.

"Okay, okay, I admit... I went a little too far there. But, c'mon, how?"

"It's gross and bitter and it's personally not for me, alright?" Cierra put her hands up in mock surrender, as Luke continued to drink his beer next to her. Like he was trying to prove to her how great it was.

"Alright, alright... I can look past it," Luke grinned. "Maybe."

Cierra just rolled her eyes and groaned, reaching her hand out to Luke. "Fine, lemme have some."

Luke gave her a questioning look, and then handed her his beer. (Usually it would have bothered her a little that she was sharing a drink with someone she just met, but it didn't particularly bother Cierra in this current situation.)

She took a bigger swig than she had intentionally planned, and the bitter taste hit her tastebuds right away. She shook her head and giggled, quickly handing the bottle back to Luke. "It's still just as gross as I remember it to be."

Luke shrugged. "It's an acquired taste."

"Are you even old enough to acquire a taste for it?"

"I mean...no, but I'm sorta almost 18 so it's okay." Cierra was surprised to hear that Luke was the same age as her. She expected him to be older. He gave off the vibe that he was 21 and in college.

"When's your birthday?" Cierra asked, just trying to find a way to keep the conversation going.

"July," He replied.

"Ha. I turn 18 in May," Cierra gave him a smug smile. Cierra never, ever was interested in guys younger than her. Even if they were in the same grade, the guy was always older than her, even if it was by two days. For some reason, she always found herself attracted to older guys. And it sucked, because usually the didn't want the younger girl.

"Shit, you're older than me!" Luke complained, and Cierra cocked her head to the side a little, in confusion.

"And why does that matter, exactly?"

"It doesn't really, I guess, but I don't think I've ever been younger than a girl I was, like, y'know, interested in." He sipped on his beer and then practically spit it out. "Fuck, did I just say that out loud? You weren't supposed to know that, fuck."

x x x x

It seemed that Luke just kept finding ways to embarrass himself in front of Cierra.

Was he drunk? He usually had a higher tolerance for alcohol than this... He had hardly drank 2 beers.

"I kinda already knew it, though."

Luke almost spit out his beer again.

"What do you mean?" Luke said, trying frantically to hide the fact that his cheeks were inflamed. He did take notice that Cierra's were a little more pink than usual, though, too.

"I mean, c'mon, Luke," Cierra rolled her eyes, like she was telling him the most obvious thing in the world. "You literally fell for me."

"Ha-ha," Luke said sarcastically. He could still feel his face burning, and the room felt a lot hotter than it did 5 minutes before.

"Hey, I was just messing around. Sorry if I embarrassed you," She said, and it was sincere.

"Nah, it's okay. It wasn't just you, I embarrassed myself," Luke grinned. He was smiling a lot tonight. He smiled a lot in general, but tonight... it was a lot more than usual.

There was a short period of silence after that. It was comfortable, though, and they just enjoyed each other's companies. Luke didn't want to go back to the friends he was standing with before. Cierra.... Cierra was special. And he couldn't leave her after what she told him next.

"Hey..." Cierra said, taking a slight pause after she said that. Like she was unsure if she should keep going. "Thanks for being my friend, I guess. I've been lacking of them lately."

And Luke thought she sounded so silly, but so cute at the same time. And so small and frail.

"You? Lacking friends?""But you're so-" Luke paused. "Irresistible."

(She really was.)

"Now you're embarrassing me!" Cierra whined, covering her face that had obviously gone red.

"Payback," Luke smirked, nudging her shoulder. They were both sitting atop the kitchen counter, now. They were closer than Luke thought... if he just moved over an inch, their ankles would touch.

So that's what he did.

We wasn't sure if Cierra noticed, but she definitley noticed when she felt Luke's ankle against hers. Luke hoped she wouldn't mind.

And she didn't. Because she stayed put, and looked down at their feet, and she smiled. It was a quick smile, one that was barely noticeable - but Luke caught it.

They were just sitting there in silence again when a bunch of rowdy people came charging through the kitchen. The atmosphere changed from peaceful to annoying rather quickly, and Luke looked to Cierra and sighed.

He wanted to talk to her more. He wanted to hear about her childhood and what her favorite color was and what she wanted to be when she grew up. Because she was really interesting so far... but mysterious as well. And Luke wanted to solve her, like she was a puzzle.

And maybe Luke was crazy. He'd never been this interesting in a girl so quickly before... but she was intriguing. And he wouldn't be able to live with himself if this was just a one night thing. He didn't want to leave this party tonight and never see her again.

He looked around, at all the drunk people who were all cramming into the kitchen for no reason. Usually he was one of them... but he didn't want to be one tonight.

"Hey," Luke said loudly. He felt like he should've whispered it but it was much too rowdy in the room, and Cierra probably wouldn't have heard him.

"Mhm?" Cierra replied, turning to face him. Her face was so close to Luke's he got goosebumps. Her eyes were insanely cool. They truly were ice.

"Wanna go somewhere quieter to talk?"

x x x x

Yall are probably like. Girl tf? you can write this but not misfits? LUKE AND CIERRA ARE DIFFERENT OK THEY MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME

i couldn't just stop writing this like seriously i think i've planned out every single chapter in my head in great detail