/sette/

Father Cesar, along with the two men who had help apprehend Rubens were at the police station within a couple of minutes, giving their statement to the police about what had happened. He had attacked a priest, in a very public place with dozens of witnesses, and they were expecting that Luke would file a complaint to the police that would get the other young man locked away for at least a few days. Luke was at the infirmary of the police station with a black eye forming on his sore skin. He was told to hold an ice pack to it, but he didn't feel like it was helping him. He was still in pain, and he still had a black eye.

When he was sent to one of the offices at the station so that he could file his complaint against Rubens, he walked in to see him sitting, handcuffed in front of one of the desks. Across from Rubens was a the police chief of Valle Daza. The other people in the room left, except Father Cesar and the police chief. 

"We're ready to take your statement, Father Luke." The police officer told him.

But Luke gave a shake of his head, after taking in a breath to calm himself. "That won't be necessary. I'm not pressing any charges against Rubens."

"What?" Father Cesar asked with astonishment, as though the young priest had already forgotten that he had been attacked. "He just gave you a black eye! He attacked you for no reason."

"I know he did." Luke agreed, still holding the ice pack to his face. Luke had been the one least involved in the whole situation, yet he was the only one who ended up with a black eye. Still, he explained to father Cesar, "But I think God would be happier if I turned the other cheek, like a good Catholic. We cannot repay violence with more violence, but with compassion and understanding. How can I expect the people of the community to follow the laws of God if I don't follow them myself? Don't you agree, father Cesar?" He raised an eyebrow at the older priest. Meanwhile, Rubens sat there as equally surprised as everyone else in the room.

Rubens knew, he could see it in Father Hemmings' eyes when he struck him in the face. The priest wanted nothing more than to hit him back. But now he was so serene and calm as though nothing had happened. Rubens did not understand why that was, or why he would refuse to press charges against him. Perhaps, he thought, it was the high esteem in which he seemed to regard Fiorella. Perhaps he was doing it for her because he didn't know that they were broken up.

The police officer gave a sigh and got the keys to uncuff Rubens out of his shirt pocket. There wasn't much action that went on in Valle Daza's small and rural community. He was always waiting for the chance to arrest someone. And now that it was happening, the victim did not want to press charges. It was absurd to him.

As the young man was being uncuffed, Luke said to him in a very sincere tone, "I forgive you, Rubens. And I know that God will forgive you for this too."

Luke's words seemed to strike a nerve in Rubens and he shot up from his chair, ready to continue their one sided fight. Father Cesar stood in between them this time and held Rubens back as he struggled to reach Luke. Soon, the police chief called in two more officers to take Rubens away until he could calm down. Still, Luke was unfazed by it all. 

If he wanted to continue under the good grace of God, he would have to behave himself. But it was more and more difficult each time.

-

That afternoon, Luke was alone in the chapel once again. Father Cesar told him he had some errands to run and that Luke would need to handle the hour of confessions on his own. He was already dressed in his priest robe a good half hour before and went out to pray when he saw her sitting in the back, shoulders slumped and shaking as though she were crying. She was kneeling and also looked as though she were deep in prayer.

Luke hesitantly walked to her side and sat beside her, ready to console her in case she were to need it. Now he could hear her low whimpering cries as she held her head in her hands. Fiorella did not notice his presence until he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Father Luke," She greeted, looking up at him through her tears. Wiping them away with the backs of her hands, she finished as she sat on the wooden pew, "You startled me."

"I'm sorry." He apologized sheepishly, pulling his hand back from her.

When she bit down on her lip but said nothing, he asked her a question. "Why are you crying?" He wondered, his blue eyes glued to her innocent face. But he answered his own question with an assumption of his own. "It's because you and Rubens broke up, isn't it?"

After leaving the police station that day, he and Father Cesar had gone to Antonella's restaurant for some food. There, the topic of conversation revolved around three people. They were all murmuring about Fiorella and Rubens breaking up, and also about the fact the Rubens had been taken to the police station for assaulting the new priest.

She quickly shook her head. "I'm crying because of what he did to you. Just look at your eye, father...He's such a fucking animal."

He was about to scold her on her choice of words, especially since they were in the house of God. But he figured that was not the time to do so. Instead, he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "He was very upset that he was fired, which is understandable. Besides, I'll live. Its just a little bruise."

"I still can't help but feel bad about it. That's why I broke up with him and told him to go to hell. I honestly never want to see him again." She told the priest sitting next to her, turning in her seat to look at him. That was when her hand reached carefully to touch the bruised skin around his eye as she bit down on her bottom lip nervously. 

Luke shut his eyes and only felt the feather light touch of the pads of her fingers on his raw skin around his eye. He was amazed at how gentle she was with him, and how great her fingers felt on his skin. She pulled away for an instant, and Luke immediately longed for her warmth once again. His blue eyes fluttered open and he did something he knew he would later regret, but in that moment it was all that he wanted. 

Before he could even process his own thoughts, his instincts took over and he found himself inching closer to her, his eyes trained on her plump lips. He noticed the surprise on her face, her widened and startled brown eyes at what he was about to do, yet she didn't move away from him. And he took it as his sign to continue inching forward. 

He cupped her face in his hands and quickly closed the remaining centimeters between them with his lips on hers. Fiorella had been unresponsive at first, in her shock of it all, but it was something that she had been wanting as well and she sighed into the kiss, her brown eyes closing. He felt her lips mold perfectly to his own as they glided smoothly against each other. Though he knew he was sinning against the Lord, it all felt so right to Luke. 

It was his first step into the dark.

-

i swear it took me like a week to write this because i wanted it to be okay. so i hope you all like it. this is the start of all the sinning in this book, so im a bit nevous as well as excited to continue writing this story.

thank you all so much for reading and supporting me!

-clary xx