when noelle's parents came home, her and kaiden managed to keep quiet about the fact that luke had ever come over.

granted, she was forced to bribe her brother in order to do so, but as long as her parents were left unaware of luke, she'd pay any price. 

it's not that she was ashamed of luke - quite the opposite, really - it's just that she knew her parents would be.

they'd pretend to feel sorry for him and then scold their own daughter for being involved with such a person, as if he were the lowest possible being they'd ever come across.

that was the last thing noelle wanted. and she knew that he was more than what he appeared to be. behind his bitter and hateful exterior was someone warm and kind and everything you could ever want in a person.

but with that came the curiosity of why people would treat him as badly as they had. how could luke possibly be seen as a bad person? how could he have fallen into this rut of depression in the first place?

none of it made sense to noelle. good things were supposed to happen to good people. that's what she originally thought; but it turned out that bad things happen to good people for all the wrong reasons.

"noelle? are you okay honey?" her dad's voice broke her out of her reverie, reminding her that she was at the dinner table.

"oh, yeah, uh," she blinked rapidly, putting food into her mouth as if she'd been eating rather than thinking, "i'm fine. what were you saying again?"

"well, i was saying that your mother and i really think that you should be thinking about which colleges you'll be attending," he told her.

an abrupt ache squeezed at noelle's heart. the fact that her own dad couldn't sense that she was lying about the fact that she was feeling okay hurt more than she thought possible. she wondered if they noticed, but just didn't care.

"college?" she repeated quietly. "i'm just about to go into my senior year. college isn't for a really long time."

"a year is not a 'very long time', noelle," her mother intervened sternly. "you have multiple places already offering you scholarships, you have to start thinking now."

"i'm not even eighteen yet!" she dropped her fork onto her plate, the clatter making her family jump. "summer isn't even half over, for god's sake. can i please just have a few weeks to just forget about my future?"

she wasn't sure where this rebelliousness was coming from, especially regarding school. usually, noelle was extremely focused on her studies. straight a's, scholastic decathlons. she was a really studious girl.

maybe it was the knowledge that luke had dropped out of school in the middle of junior year to escape the pain of being surrounded by everyone's hate that made her feel even an ounce of resentment towards the school system. the way they hadn't done anything to help keep luke away from the rude comments, physical altercations, and just all around abuse.

"forget about your future?" her mother's eyes narrowed in anger. "we've been discussing your future for far too long for you to just forget about it!"

"exactly! we talk about it all the time!" noelle rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "nothing's changed, mom. i'm still going to the college you want me to go to and taking the courses you want me to take."

"what's that supposed to mean, young lady?" her dad pitched in quickly to defend his wife.

"that means that it's always what you guys want! have you ever even asked me what i want out of my future?" when they were silent, she stood from her chair. "well, there you go; just forget about it. excuse me."

walking out of the dining room, she heard kaiden begging her parents to leave her alone, saying she was just tired and stressed and needed time. he was partially right, actually.

noelle was definitely tired and stressed, but no amount of time could make up for the fact that her parents weren't being actual parents at all. it was upsetting that it took her that long to figure that out.

when she got into her room, she immediately climbed out her window and up the fire escape to the rooftop, refusing to take the regular stairs in order to avoid facing her parents again.

reaching the top, she wrapped her jacket securely around her torso and sat on the same ledge luke was at when they met.

"you aren't going to jump, are you?" luke's voice sounded from behind her after a few minutes of silence.

she swiveled her head to him and shook her head, smiling lightly.

"not tonight," she joked as he climbed up to sit beside her. "what are you doing up here?"

"i left my flannel in your room and i was on my way to get it back when i heard your parents....y'know," he explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "figured you'd come up here after that shit conversation."

"yeah, that was definitely a shit conversation alright," she rolled her eyes. "they're so suffocating."

"if i'm influencing you in any sort of bad way, i'm sorry," he told her and her eyes widened.

"you're not influencing me in a bad way. what's making you say that?"

"it's just...before this, i'm positive you wouldn't have ever spoken to your parents like that," he admitted. "not that it's a bad thing, it's just not like you to be so-"

"-bitchy." she finshed for him.

"i was going to say bold, but bitchy works too," he nudged her playfully and she laughed. "seriously, though, i feel bad."

"don't feel bad luke," noelle sighed, looking at the cars passing below. "you're helping me realize things i should've seen before."

"how so?"

"see, i used to think this world was all rainbows and sunshines. that everything about my life was good. but after i met you, i guess i started to see the big picture.

"the world isn't all happy and perfect - and neither is my life. without you, i think i'd still be convincing myself that bad things didn't exist on this planet. that's just such a naive way to live."

luke hummed beside her, taking in this new information. she nodded as the silence overlapped her strong words. it'd been a while since she'd felt this much about anything and the fact that luke was willing to be there to listen meant the world to her.

"i think it's funny how we're sort of changing each other's perspectives," her male companion finally said. "my pessimism is helping you see the bad in your good and your optimism is helping me see the good in my bad. we balance each other out, in a sense."

noelle couldn't help but agree with him. they did indeed balance each other out. they were on completely different sides of the spectrum, but they somehow managed to meet in the middle.

after talking for a few hours, noelle began to fall asleep on luke's shoulder so he quietly carried her down the fire escape and into her room. he tucked her into bed after removing her shoes and jacket, making sure she was warm.

noelle could feel all of this happening and couldn't find it in herself to tell him that he really didn't have to do all this for her. her eyes opened slightly once luke shut off the lights and she saw him stand over her, leaning down to brush hair out of her face and kiss her forehead.

"goodnight," he whispered before turning towards her window. making a split second decision, she grabbed his wrist and he stopped, turning to her.

"stay?" she muttered groggily, her fingers tightening over his flesh. "please?"

he chuckled and nodded before taking off his shoes. she released his wrist as she moved to the other side of her bed, letting him bury himself under her covers and wrap his arm securely around her.

luke kissed the top of her head again and buried his face in her hair as noelle felt her heart kick into overdrive at how indescribably wonderful it felt to be so close to him that it felt like they'd become a single person.

she'd never slept so well in her life.

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swear i'm not dead lol. kind of a filler (to further describe noelle's relationship with her parents) but it's fluffy because i feel bad for not updating often enough.

that's due to the fact that i'm in the philippines (filipinos holllaa) but i'll be updating as regularly as possible. thanks for everything guys! :-)