Luke, once again, sped over to Cierra's house.

One of these days this girl was going to get him a speeding ticket.

And he didn't really care. In his eyes, she was worth all the speeding tickets in the world.

While he was driving he kept thinking about how Cierra had admitted to him she knew Luke loved her. He didn't know if he should bring it up or not. He decided right before getting to her house that it could wait. She was drunk, anyway. And he thought it might be better if he confessed his love for her after they officially started dating.

When he got to her house he let himself in. He could tell it was a full house as soon as he walked in because of the noise. Eva was running through the foyer at the exact moment he walked in, carrying one of her dolls.

"Luke!" She screeched and halted in her tracks when she saw him walk through the door. "I missed you!"

She ran over and Luke picked her up. "Hi, Eva Grace. Missed you too."

"Why haven't you been here to play with me?" She asked, giving him a pouty face.

"I've been busy," Luke said. "But I'm gonna be here more now. We'll get to play a whole lot more."

It was hard to break away from Eva (she decided she wanted to play at that very moment) but she got distracted and ran away at a certain point, so Luke went on to find Cierra.

She was in the kitchen. Her hair was in a braid. She looked exhausted. She was chugging a glass of water when he walked in.

"Oh, good," Luke said, striding over to her. "You need that."

Cierra laughed. "No amount of water can save me from this headache, I'm afraid."

Luke was standing close to her now. She was looking up at him. He brushed a few of the stray baby hairs out of her face, and left his hand there, towards her ear, his thumb stroking her cheek. "Do you feel any better than this morning?"

"Yeah," Cierra said. "I feel better now that you're here."

Luke felt his cheeks warm. This felt like the flirty banter they had participated in so many times before. It felt like good old Luke and Cierra.

"Sweetheart," He said, the word slipping out naturally. He rolled his eyes as if her cheesy comment was making him embarrassed.

"You're calling me sweetheart now?" Cierra laughed, but Luke could see the blush in her cheeks.

"Maybe," Luke said, continuing to stroke her cheek. "If you'll let me."

"I don't think you've gotten enough use out of honey yet," Cierra countered.

Luke smiled. "Then I'll call you honey, honey."

Cierra's face flushed again. Her eyes darted from his eyes. Luke saw her glance at his lips, quickly, and then back to his eyes.

He wanted to kiss her. But was that too much? He knew what Cierra had said on the phone. But considering she was still angry at him last night, he didn't know where the line was drawn. The only thing to do was ask.

"I don't want to overstep," Luke said quietly. "Can I kiss you?"

Cierra, without hesitation, put her lips on his. It was quick, giving Luke barely any time to react. When Cierra pulled her head back, she stayed close.

"You don't have to ask," She said.

Luke broke into a wide smile. "C'mere," He said, pulling her back to him and kissing her again. It wasn't anything like the first time they kissed. That was urgent. This kiss was slow and sweet, like their first kiss should have been.

It made Luke feel even more alive than their first kiss had.

Maybe they should have considered they shouldn't be kissing in her kitchen where so many people lived. Luke didn't think either of them cared at that particular moment.

Luke heard the back door that led to the kitchen open, and he stopped kissing Cierra. He left his hand on her face. Johnny had walked through the door, and Luke could tell he was about to laugh.

"You better not deny that you're dating now, C," He said.

"We're not," She smirked back at him.

"Not yet," Luke said, afraid he might get another talking to from Johnny. "I have to take her on a nice date first before I ask her out."

Johnny walked by the pair and patted Luke on the back as he did so. "Good man," He said. "You gonna watch the game tomorrow, mate?"

"Sure thing," Luke said. "I'll text you." Johnny nodded, saluted the two of them, and left the kitchen.

"Did you just say you're going to text my brother?" Cierra looked at Luke, her mouth hanging wide open. "Since when do you text? When did you even get his number?"

"When your dad came, he thanked me for being there for you and stuff. And then we got to talking, and sports came up, and now we text when there's a game on."

Cierra still looked shocked. "I can't believe it. You and my brother, friends. Why didn't you tell me?"

"We haven't really been talking, C, in case you forgot," Luke joked.

"Yeah, and who's fault is that," Cierra joked back, playfully poking him in the side. "You should have told me this."

"When?" Luke was having a fit of giggles. "Did you want me to call you up, like, 'Hey, I know you're super mad at me right now. But I have your brother's phone number.'"

"That is vital info to know!" Cierra said. "So yes."

"You are..." Luke said, putting his face really close to hers, so their lips were about to touch. "A pain in the ass."

"Your pain in the ass," Cierra said.

Luke couldn't help but smile as he kissed her once again.

They ended up going for a walk because between Eva pestering Luke to play with her, Johnny making fun of the two of them for kissing, and all the other random noises in her house, there was no chance Cierra's headache would ever go away without getting some fresh, quiet air.

They walked to a nearby park and sat on a bench. Cierra sat facing him, with her legs spread out across his knees. There weren't many people around them, and in the shade, it was a perfect day out.

Luke talked about his scheduled playdate with Eva and Cierra still couldn't get over her brother and Luke texting. After a while, Luke knew they couldn't continue like this until he asked about the elephant in the room.

"So..." Luke started. "What changed, between now and last night? I mean, you were still pretty upset at me..."

Cierra shrugged. "Like I said on the phone, I'm tired of being mad. It's so exhausting to be mad. It's easier to be happy. And I'm happy when I'm with you."

Luke tried to hide his smile but couldn't manage. It was impossible not to smile when Cierra, the girl he was very much in love with, was saying these sweet things to him.

"Both of us made mistakes," Cierra kept going. "But neither is unforgivable. I couldn't not forgive you. I need you in my life. It's me and you... everyone knows it's me and you, always. I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."

"Oh, you wanted to try and get rid of me?" Luke teased.

"Not what I meant," Cierra rolled her eyes. "Anyway... I feel this pull towards you. That's why we kept coming back to each other, even when we were mad. I think... it's like... we're meant to be together."

"Soulmates," Luke replied, thinking back to when he called them that only weeks into knowing each other. He said it jokingly back then, but now he wholeheartedly believed Cierra was meant for him. He was put on this earth to find her. One day, he would tell her that.

Cierra smiled at him. "We're gonna make this work. We're going to be fine. We just need to talk to each other. Tell each other everything, even if it's scary."

"I promise, no more secrets or hiding," Luke responded. "Every thought that pops into my mind will now be yours, too. You're going to get tired of hearing me talk."

"Never," She said. "Having full access to your brain is my dream. I'm a lucky lady."

Luke leaned over to kiss her cheek, then her forehead, then the other cheek. "I'm the lucky one since you're my lady," He said. "Ugh, I can't wait to make you mine." He kissed her all over her face again, ending on her lips.

She put one hand on Luke's face, and the other scratched the back of his head. "I'm already all yours, baby."

Luke gulped, not being able to control his reaction to hearing her call him baby. "What did you say?" He asked, knowing full well what she said, but just wanting to hear it again.

"I said..." Cierra leaned in close, kissing right next to his ear. She whispered, sending chills down Luke's spine, "I'm all yours, baby."

Luke had to take a deep breath and repeat in his head 'we are in a park' in order to control himself. Cierra knew the control she had over him and was finally using it to her advantage. In a public park. She was playing a dangerous game.

"You better stop," Luke warned her, his lips lingering near her ear now, too, "Unless you want me to drag you back to your house right now."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Cierra had one eyebrow raised, and she was smirking.

"Don't play a game you can't win, Cierra," Luke whispered.

"Oh, I think I'm already winning this game, baby."

Luke stood up, picked Cierra up, threw her over his shoulder, and she laughed the whole way home as she dangled behind his back.

x x x x x

short, but their dynamic>>>>

i hate thinking about how they don't really exist. they are real to me.

next chapter will be longer i promise xoxoxo