It was one week after their rap battle. Cierra practically ran out of school when the final bell rang.

Even though she practically did every day, today was unusually fast. And of course, there was a reason, and of course, the reason was Luke.

Friday always seemed to be 'their' day, as it was when they spent the most time with each other. Sometimes Luke would pop in on weekdays, and her mom would talk to him longer than Cierra got to ("Oh, please, stay for dinner! I'd love to have you stay") and most of the time Eva would steal Luke away from her so they could play with dolls. But Cierra didn't mind, because she liked that her family liked Luke as much as she did.

She made it home in record time, and Luke was pulling into her driveway as soon as she was. He practically got out of the car before it stopped moving, and she could practically already feel his embrace before she was even 4 feet away from him.

He smelled like he normally did, like mint and musk and cologne. Mostly cologne. Like he drenched all of his clothes in it and took showers with it instead of water. But somehow, it wasn't too much. It was just right.

He giggled as her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands traveling to her waist. "Missed you," he mumbled into her shoulder, and she got goosebumps.

They stood out on the driveway for a while, because it was the perfect temperature and neither of them felt like moving. Luke told Cierra all about his day, and she listened because she probably could listen to Luke talk for hours. His stories were always interesting and his smile never left his face.

"So..." Cierra said when he finished telling his stories.

"So what?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't 'so what' me, Hemmings," Cierra retorted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I just don't ever remember making this deal," Luke rolled his eyes. "Winner gets bragging rights, remember?"

"Well, I beat you so bad that it needs to be something more than bragging rights, dude."

Luke went red. He rolled his eyes once again. "It wasn't that bad. It really wasn't. I just didn't realize the challenge I was signing up for. You never told me you were a professional rapper."

Cierra giggled. This was really all she needed, this prize was enough for her. Just to get Luke all flustered and cute.

"Well, think about it and get back to me," Luke said, rolling his eyes one last time. "Let's go inside, yeah?"

x x x x x x

Luke was actually in Cierra's room, for once.

It was the first time, actually. Cierra was so tired of hanging out with him on the floor of her living room, where her family was constantly walking in and out of the place. It took some major convincing, but she finally managed to get Luke into her room, so they could hang out with each other undisturbed. And Amelia had finally moved out into Johnny's old room, so the timing was perfect.

They were still sitting on her floor (so, not that much different from what they do in her living room,) doing some homework and casually chatting. This was the norm for them. Just enjoying each other's presence. Cierra was starting to get worried she was becoming codependent on Luke. Doing homework without him started to become awful (more awful than it already was.) But, Luke was over so often that she rarely had to do it alone, anyway.

They hadn't talked for several minutes, both focused on their respective work. Cierra looked up, glancing at Luke quickly. He was lying on his stomach, his elbow propped up so he could rest his chin in his hand. His eyebrows were furrowed as he concentrated, tapping his pencil against his chin. He looked adorable. Cierra thought she might be blushing, so she put her head back down to hide it in case he caught her looking.

Cierra was so confused about how she felt about Luke. Obviously, she liked him, she had figured that much out. And she figured Luke liked her too. But she didn't know where to go from here. She was too afraid to do anything about it, that was for sure. And their friendship was so new. So fresh. She had already ruined a friendship by jumping into a relationship too fast, and her worst fear was to do it again.

So her plan was to do nothing about her crush. For now.

Cierra felt her stomach quietly grumble. She reached for the bag of M&Ms they had brought upstairs for a snack. Luke's head snapped up at the sound of the bag rustling. He smiled immediately at her.

"You want some?" Cierra asked, grabbing a handful and popping them into her mouth.

"Of course," Luke responded, sitting up in a criss-cross position and moving so he was closer to her.

"Catch?" Cierra raised her eyebrows, holding one M&M and signaling she was going to throw it.

"Oh God, Cierra, I don't know. What if I choke?"

"Well then don't choke," Cierra joked, throwing it over to him. It just barely missed his mouth, which made them both laugh.

"Damn it," Luke said, eating the candy off the ground anyway.

"Gross," Cierra commented.

"5 second rule," Luke laughed.

Cierra continued to shove the M&Ms into her mouth. She could eat these until she felt sick, it was so hard to stop. She handed the bag over to Luke in an attempt to stop eating them. She itched her collarbone area, not thinking about how her hands were covered in the melted colors from the candy. Damn my warm hands, she thought.

Luke laughed when he looked at her. It was actually more of a giggle. "You have a rainbow stain now, C," He said.

Her heart lurched. He had never called her C before. She loved that nickname (other than when Matt called her it, of course), and she loved it even more now that Luke had called her it.

Luke didn't notice her reaction, thankfully. He just scooted even closer to her. "Let me get it," He said.

So Cierra waited, expecting him to wipe it off with his hands. Or even a tissue. Not that there were even tissues lying around, but still.

The last thing Cierra expected was Luke licking it off of her.

"Luke!" Cierra yelped, the second she felt it. Luke immediately burst into loud laughter, knowing he would get that reaction out of her.

"What? You thought I wanted to get it on my hands, too?" Luke raised his eyebrows. "This makes the most sense. I was just using my brain!"

Cierra huffed and crossed her arms, pretending to be mad. She wasn't really mad, of course, just taken aback. And her heart was racing. Because Luke's lips -- and tongue -- had never been on her body like that. She felt like her fight or flight was kicking in, that's how nervous she was.

"You didn't even let me get all of it," Luke sighed, shaking his head. "You look like a colorful mess. Just let me get it."

Cierra paused. She tapped her fingers against her arm. She uncrossed her arms, and said "Fineeee."

Luke smiled and came close to her again. But he didn't lick her this time. He just left a soft kiss on her collarbone, so soft Cierra could barely feel it. Like he was just grazing his lips across her skin. She got goosebumps and felt embarrassed because obviously, Luke could tell.

He kissed her collarbone again, a bit more this time, so Cierra could really feel it. She had no idea what was going on. Was this really happening? Her mind was racing. Another kiss, closer to her neck. Oh my God, she thought. She was going to lose her mind.

X x x x x

Luke didn't know what he was doing. Why he was kissing her like this. It was like an intrusive thought. Once he left one kiss, it was like he couldn't control his actions and had to keep giving more. Like he was being controlled by someone else. Am I a Sim? He randomly thought, but it immediately exited his brain when he left another kiss on her neck. He could feel Cierra's breath hitch.

He knew it was stupid, what he was doing, but it felt so good. All of it. Her skin... how she was reacting to him... to be so close to her.

Cierra put her hand around his bicep and squeezed, like she wanted to be touching him, too. That sent Luke into a craze, and he really forgot what he was doing. So much so he started sucking on her neck, a bit too hard, and Cierra let out a small gasp.

And then Luke snapped out of his daze and finally thought about what was going on. And looked. And there was a small purple mark on her neck. Jesus, Luke thought to himself. I am stupid.

Luke moved his head away from Cierra's neck, trying to figure out what he was even going to say to her. He looked at her sheepishly. She was so red. Luke had never seen her so red before. Flushed. He was probably the same shade.

They both stared at each other, trying to get a grasp on what just happened. Luke noticed Cierra was breathing very heavily.

"I didn't really have any more chocolate on me, did I?" Cierra was the first to speak.

"Uh... no," Luke said quickly, looking at her carpet instead of her eyes.

"Wooooow. So you're a liar," Cierra teased. At least she was teasing him. That was good, Luke thought. She wasn't mad. Maybe a bit weirded out, but not mad.

"I think I gave you a hickey," Luke mumbled, so quietly he wasn't even sure if Cierra could hear.

"Luke!" Cierra yelled, her mouth agape. But she was smiling. "You fucker!"

She jumped up and went over to her vanity, where her mirror sat. "Oh my God, you definitely did."

"I am so sorry." Luke was embarrassed. So embarrassed. "We can pretend like this never happened."

"Not sure how we're supposed to do that when you left proof on my neck," Cierra said, now erupting into a fit of laughter. "I cannot believe you, Luke Hemmings."

Luke was quiet. He knew Cierra didn't really care, but now he was more confused than ever. Why did he do that? He knew he liked Cierra, but he couldn't even wait to take her on a proper date to start sucking on her neck? Or even kiss her normally first? Stupid stupid stupid, kept repeating in his mind.

"Luke," Cierra said, noticing how quiet he was. She walked back over to where he was sitting, scooching herself so she was sitting on his thigh and putting her head on his shoulder. "Laugh with me. I'm not mad."

Luke knew he couldn't possibly keep acting so mopey when Cierra was sitting in his lap. So he thought quickly about how it wasn't a big deal. And it really wasn't. If it wasn't a big deal to Cierra, it wasn't a big deal to him.

"It is pretty funny, isn't it," Luke chuckled, taking a peek at the love bite on her neck for himself. "Damn, I did pretty good," He said, running his fingers over it.

Cierra swatted his hand away. "Shut up," She rolled her eyes.

5 minutes later they were back to talking about something else, actually forgetting about it. But it kept creeping back to Luke's mind. Now that he did that, he wanted so badly to kiss her. To touch her skin again. To be hers. But more than anything, he was scared. Scared of how Cierra made him feel. How much she made him feel. Scared he would fuck something up and she'd leave. He couldn't lose her. He'd only known her for a few weeks and he couldn't.

So he pushed everything he was feeling to the back of his mind. Friends, he thought. They were good friends. Best friends, probably. He almost ruined that today. He didn't want to ruin it any more.

x x x x x x

there was that scene in misfits where luke was like i gave her a hickey so ya here it is