Cierra was at home after school, alone in her house.

She found comfort in these moments when the house was completely empty except for her. Her parents at work. All the kids at school.

Except these days, it wasn't as comforting, because she remembered how it would be her and Luke spending time together when the house was quiet.

It was Monday, and Cierra still hadn't heard anything from him. She felt like it was a lost cause now. She didn't want to call again if he wasn't going to answer.

She was doing French homework at her kitchen table when the doorbell rang. She flinched, slightly. Cierra hated opening the door when she was home alone. But for a second she felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe it could be Luke.

She ran into the front room so she could glance out the window to see who it was.

Her heart immediately dropped.

It was a man who had the same exact face as her. She hadn't seen him in years, but she knew exactly who he was.

This was the last thing she needed right now.

Cierra didn't want to open the door. She was terrified. But she just had to find out what he was going to say.

She opened the door, slowly. And she stood there, waiting for whatever the hell he could possibly say to her.

"Cierra," He said, looking her up and down with wide eyes. "Oh, you're so grown up. I can't believe it." His accent had faded like he wasn't living in Australia anymore. Maybe he wasn't. Cierra had no idea.

And she was speechless about what he was saying to her. It sounded like something a distant relative would say to her after not seeing her for a few years.

Not something your own father says to you after leaving you stranded for over 12 years.

Cierra didn't know what to say to him. So she just stared. And she tried really hard to not burst out into angry tears.

"Why are you here," She finally managed to get out. It came out more like a statement than a question.

"To see you, and J. Is he here?"

"No," Cierra said. "He's not. And he doesn't want to see you. Neither do I."

Her father's face fell as if this wasn't a completely reasonable reaction. "You're not even going to give me a chance?" He said, and Cierra huffed. Could he even hear himself?

"You had chances. You had plenty of chances," Cierra said. "It's too late now. We don't need you."

"I know I made mistakes, honey. I'm really sorry. I've been a terrible dad to you. But I'm trying to be better, and I knew the first step was to fix my relationship with you and Johnny."

Cierra let out a mean laugh. She couldn't believe this was happening. "You're not even our dad anymore."

And then he looked even more heartbroken than before. How did he not see this coming? She couldn't remember much about her dad, but she definitely didn't remember him being this stupid.

"You're not allowed to be upset about this," Cierra threw up her hands. "You're the one that left. You wouldn't respond to any letters or phone calls or anything. So we stopped trying a long time ago. You can't just come back into our lives because you want to, now. You're too fucking late."

Cierra's dad was taken aback by this, and so was Cierra. She wasn't used to standing up for herself this much. But when it came to her father, she had so many things to say that she never got to. All the words came flooding out of her, and as much as it felt good to do, it hurt even more.

She kept going. "And you have no business showing up to our home, where my mother lives, and the rest of my siblings. You're not welcome here."

She was doing a good job of holding it together, until she said, "You have caused me so much pain. Nothing you do now or ever will fix that." She sniffled. "I stopped missing you a long time ago. Maybe if you had come five years ago I would have said yes to this. But not anymore."

Tears were now streaming down her face as she said, "You never got to know me, so you don't get to know me now."

Her father was standing there, on her porch, mouth agape. She had taken all the words right from his mouth. Good, she thought. It felt good to leave him speechless. To humble him, right there, in front of her house. This was her castle.

"You need to leave," Cierra said, walked into her house, and shut the door. She stood there, with her back against the door for a few minutes. The only noise she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

She opened the door again after five minutes. He was gone, and there was no trace of him left.

Cierra immediately knew she had to talk to someone. If she let this sit, her own brain would attack her body. Her first thought was to call Johnny, but she knew he would be furious. And she didn't want to be angry, right at this moment. She wanted to be sad. So instead, she walked over to Vicky's house.

She knocked on the door a few times, desperate, but no one was home. So she walked back over to her front stoop, in a daze, and sat there. It was pretty cold out, at least for Australian weather. But she didn't care. So Cierra just sat there and let herself cry.

She just wanted to talk to Luke. But he wouldn't even answer her phone calls, so there was no way to talk to Luke.

Cierra called anyway. Her hands were shaking, and she could barely see her screen because of the tears in her eyes. He didn't answer. So she texted him because she was refusing to give up this time.

To: luke

Luke i promise i wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important

To: luke

I really need you right now

To: luke

Please

And it worked because within seconds, Luke was calling her. Cierra put the phone up to her ear. "Hi," She said with a shaky voice.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked. He sounded extremely concerned. She could hear his keys jingling in the back like he was walking to his car. "Are you okay?"

"No..." Cierra hiccupped, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "I just need to talk to you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Luke said. "I'm on my way, okay? Just stay on the phone with me. I'll be there soon."

x x x x x

Luke never drove so fast in his whole life. He definitely ran a few red lights.

He felt like his heart was in his stomach the whole ride over. He was really worried about Cierra. It was like all the negative feelings he had about her right now went away once he heard her voice. The way she was sobbing. It was breaking his heart.

When he got the texts from her, he knew he had to call.

Because despite his anger and stupid decisions, he was definitely in love with Cierra.

He had come to terms with that over the weekend, actually. He decided that he wouldn't be acting out like this if Cierra didn't mean the world to him.

When Luke woke up on the couch the morning after the party, he noticed three things.

First: his throbbing headache, which made sense, considering the amount he had drank. Second: his anger was gone, but another feeling he couldn't place was creeping up instead.

Last: he was missing Cierra like crazy. All he wanted to do was come stumbling into her house, and sleep in her bed while she slept next to him. He just knew she would give him Advil and water and stroke his hair. And she would call him dummy and he would call her honey and it would all be alright.

Maybe it was time to figure things out with her, he decided.

But first Luke had to figure out why he was feeling so weird, and what he did last night, because everything was a blur.

When he turned on his phone, he saw he had a missed call from Calum. Luke made a mental note to call him back later and apologize for how he had acted the other day. Luke also saw a text from a number he didn't have saved. He opened it, curious. It said: "thanks for a fun night, get drinks together soon?"

Luke racked his brain (which made it hurt even more than it already did) to figure out who it was. Then it all came flooding back.

He stood up quickly at the realization, and almost fell over doing so. Fucking hell, he thought. Did he really fuck some random girl last night?

Luke walked to the bathroom. He thought he might throw up. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, which made him feel dirty about himself.

Sometimes he really hated himself, and the way he didn't know how to deal with his feelings. He could have just talked it out with someone like a normal person. Or screamed into a pillow. Why did he have to turn to sex when he was angry?

He knew he didn't cheat on Cierra. But after what she had told him about Matt, and what he had done to her, it made Luke feel like he did. Because he still cared about Cierra more than anything and now there was some other girl who wanted to get drinks.

Thinking about how he had kissed someone other than Cierra made him sick. And he had done way more than just kiss her. He was glad he couldn't really remember. He didn't want to.

Luke didn't throw up, but he did lay on the bathroom floor for a while. The cold tile felt good against his cheek.

When he went home, he tried to take a nap. It didn't work. That's when he decided he was probably in love with Cierra.

Luke had never felt so many feelings at once before, and it felt like the only explanation. He was so angry at her for pushing him away because he wanted to be with her (because he was in love with Cierra.) He was so mad at himself for sleeping with another girl because it made him feel icky (because he was in love with Cierra.)

And he was so sad because now he was willing to talk to her, and make things work, but he would have to tell her he slept with someone else. And if she was indecisive about Luke before, what would she be after knowing that information?

He didn't even want to think about if Cierra still wanted to be with him (because he was in love with Cierra and if the answer was anything other than yes, he'd crumble.)

When Cierra called him on Monday, he almost picked up. But he felt so guilty. He wouldn't know what to say to her.

Then, her texts came in, and now, here he was, speeding to her house.

When Luke got to her house, he immediately pulled into the driveway and ran to the front door. To his surprise, Cierra was on her front porch, despite it being chilly. Her knees were tucked to her chest, and her head was in her hands.

"Cierra?" Luke said quietly, not sure what to do. She looked up, and her face was streaked with tears. Her mascara was on top of her eyelids. Her nose was bright red. Luke noticed she didn't even have any tiny braids in her hair. He had never seen her without braids. Jesus, Luke thought. She must not be doing well, either.

Luke crouched down to her level. As soon as he did, Cierra pulled him over, wrapped her arms around him, and cried more into his chest. Luke stroked the back of her head and tried to warm up her cold hands with his own.

"C," Luke said, pulling himself away so he could look at her. He used his thumbs to wipe some of her tears away. "Let's get you inside, okay? It's cold."

Cierra just nodded, and she used Luke's hands to pull herself up off the ground. The pair went up to Cierra's room, where she sat on her bed, closed her eyes, and tried to compose herself.

Luke let her take all the time she needed. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew it was something bad. He sat next to her the entire time, and her hand didn't leave his. Cierra's thumb kept stroking his palm, like she wanted to remind herself his hand was there.

It was a while before Cierra said anything, but Luke wasn't sure how long. She opened her eyes and brushed a hair out of her face. "My dad came here," was what she said when she finally spoke.

Luke's eyes widened. He felt his whole body tense up, like he was getting ready for a fight as if her dad was still here. "Oh my God," Luke said. "Cierra... I-" He couldn't find words.

Cierra looked down at her bed and nodded. "Yeah... just out of nowhere. Said he wanted to fix our relationship. And be a better person. Some bullshit like that."

"What did you say?" Luke asked.

"No," Cierra said shortly.

"No?" Luke confirmed.

"Well, more than no. A lot more than no. But in short, no."

"I'm so sorry, Cierra," Luke said, because that's all he could say. He really did feel so sorry.

"I'm just... not okay." Luke heard her voice crack as she said it and she was in tears again.

Luke pulled her close again. They ended up lying down, and Cierra buried her head into his chest so she could cry. They stayed like that for a while. Luke knew this is what she needed.

At some point, Cierra said, "I'm sorry. I know you don't want to see me right now. But after my dad came all I wanted to do was be with you."

"It's okay," Luke said. "I want to be here for you. I'm glad you called... even if I didn't answer."

That got a small laugh out of Cierra, and Luke was glad he could do that for her.

Cierra eventually calmed down enough to tell Luke what exactly she had said to her dad, and Luke couldn't have been prouder of her for standing up for herself like that. When she was mumbling the words into his chest, everything felt back to normal again.

When Cierra's mum got home, Cierra knew she had to tell her what had happened. And then call her brother. And Luke wanted to be there to support her through all those things, because this wasn't easy.

So when Cierra went down to the kitchen, Luke followed. When her mum saw Luke, she looked both confused and excited. "Oh, Luke, honey, it's so nice to see you!" Then she glanced towards Cierra, and noticed her puffy eyes, and realized something was wrong.

So Cierra sat down at the kitchen table, with Luke right beside her, and told her mum what had happened. And her mum was furious, which was as to be expected. But after the conversation, she thanked Luke for being there for Cierra when she wasn't around.

When Johnny came over later to talk to Cierra, he said the same thing to Luke. That he appreciated how much Luke cared for Cierra. It was the first time Luke ever thought Johnny actually liked him.

And although that felt good, Luke still felt really guilty about what had happened Saturday night.

After the much-needed family conversations, Luke and Cierra were back in Cierra's bed. They were lying down, looking at each other. Cierra's face was puffy and red, but Luke still missed looking at her so much. She still looked gorgeous, and her eyes looked brighter than ever.

"Luke," Cierra said, breaking the silence. "I... need to apologize to you."

Luke felt his heart leap up to his throat. He knew this would be coming at some point. Or some conversation like it. He just didn't think it would be today, after all the shit Cierra already went through.

"We don't need to talk about it now," Luke said. "You've had a long day."

"No, I want to," Cierra said, "I finally have you here, and you deserve an apology."

"Okay," Luke said softly, giving in.

"I'm sorry that I pushed you away. I never wanted to do that. But I have... issues when it comes to relationship stuff. Obviously. And my guard has been up for a long time, and I guess I didn't realize how much it was up until we kissed. I didn't want to get hurt again, so I thought I had to protect myself from you. Or I guess not me... but my anxiety. And I feel awful about it. I've been trying to work it out. I talked to my therapist about it."

Luke tried to take in everything she was saying, but it was a lot at once. She went to therapy? Luke was being snippy and drinking too much and fucking random girls and Cierra was going to therapy? It was times like this that Luke remembered just how different they were.

"Basically, the bottom line is... I do want to be with you. Or I want to try the whole... us thing," Cierra said. She bit her lip, nervously. "I understand if you don't want to. But this past week, not being able to talk to you, or see you... has kinda been the worst."

Luke chuckled at that. "You're right, it has been the worst."

There were two things Luke could do from here. He could do the right thing, which is to tell her what he did over the weekend and get it off his chest.

Or he could do the wrong thing, and kiss her, and pretend like everything was fine. They could try the Luke and Cierra thing, like she wanted, and start over.

"I want to be with you, Cierra," Luke said. "More than anything. I was mad before, but that was just because... I wanted to be with you so badly and I didn't understand why you thought we were making a mistake. But I see now. And I see you're working on it so... I want to try."

Cierra smiled, the first time Luke had seen her with a genuine smile the whole day. At that moment, Luke just wanted to tell her how much he loved her and that everything would be fine.

But he couldn't. Because he knew he was doing the wrong thing, and he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that he knew wouldn't go away. Maybe if Luke tried to forget, it would be okay.

So Luke tried to forget. And he asked to kiss Cierra, and they spent the rest of the night in her bed, giving each other gentle kisses and forgetting about every other problem they faced.

Luke knew it would all catch up to him soon and he'd regret his decision.

But right now, he had Cierra, and he wasn't going to say or do anything to ruin that.

x x x x x

This is the chapter i've had planned for probably the longest time and it came out exactly like i wanted it to and UGH

I love them so much even if more shit is about to go down