a/n: Is there any Australian readers over here? If so, cutiesss, I need your help! Read the end of the chapter ;)

*Luke's P.O.V*

I don't even need to tell you how pissed off Michael was when he saw A.

Well, at least they didn't kill each other.

I leave Michael's place after all the guests are gone, even though A refused to go without me.

"We've got a lot of things to talk about, Luke Hemmings." She starts inside my car, as I drive to her place. "Why the hell are there so many pictures of you and Laurel?"

"She was visiting, as you well know, and we hung out." I shrug.

"I don't like her."

"Nobody is asking you to."

Amanda sighs and crosses her arms, abruptly turning to face him from the passenger seat.

"You never listen to me, do you Luke? If you like her that much why m did you text me that day? Why didn't you simply let me live my life and forget about you?"

"I was hoping you could understand I've got friends!" I reply. "I thought you'd changed."

"She's not just a friend, we all know it. No wonder why your friends hate me so much, she probably filled their heads with shit about me."

"You didn't exactly make the very best of impressions." I roll my eyes. "To neither of them. And they first met you, when? Like, a year ago? I didn't even know Laurel back then. Don't blame her for your behavior."

"I've never harmed any of them, and they are never nice to me! But you know what? Screw it, they could all suck my ass." She curses, getting her phone.

I feel like exploding.

"That's exactly why they hate you." I clench my jaw. "And it was also one of the reasons why I broke up with you in the first place. You'll never change, will you, Amanda?"

"I don't want to change, Lukey. You used to like me the way I am, when I was in bed with you."

Amanda quickly places her hand on my thigh and gets to my belt.

Not this freaking time.

I grab her hand and harshly throw it on her own lap.

"Keep your hands to yourself. I'm not a toy!"

"And neither am I!" She yells at me. "You shouldn't have reached me that day since Laurel is just so fucking important to you!"

"The people who you are so disrespectful to convinced me to text you! They thought I'd be happier if I had you back and honestly? I thought it could be true. Now I see Laurel is everything you'll never be!"

Amanda grunts, scratching the insides of my car with her nails. I drive fast to get quickly to her house to drop her and get the fuck out of here.

"I don't take that as a bad thing, actually!" Amanda scoffs.

"Oh, but you should." I laugh sarcastically. "For starters, my friends like her. Being nice to others is a primordial accomplishment, it disappoints me knowing you can't do so."

Now in front of her house, I pull over and impatiently wait for her to open the door.

"You're gonna regret this, Luke." Her cold gaze locked on mine. "She's gonna fail you and you will come to me. But do you know what the saddest part is? I will always take you back, because that is what love is all about."

She gets out of the car, slamming the door. I don't wait for her to get inside; I need to get home and take a warm bath to unwind.

When I get home I want to call Laurel. Jeez, I wanna talk to her so bad. But due to timezone I know it's 6 in the morning for her. I get inside the bath tub and let out a sigh. This is relaxing, all I need right now.

Bryana's words start running through my head.

Why don't you take her to Sydney?

That would be more than weird. Would Laurel want to go with me? Would she want to meet my family? How am I going to introduce her to them? My friend? Yeah, sure Luke. A friend you drag all the way across the world to spend Christmas with your family. They won't go for it.

Not even myself has been able to convince me of that anymore, actually.

But she's not my girlfriend either. So what is she? A friend with benefits? That's a great way of introducing someone to your parents.

However, why do I keep sensing she actually should go with me? I hate the idea of her spending Christmas all alone, and if I could, I would stay the entire holiday with her. We would go to the movies, have dinner, listen to music, talk, well, do everything we always do.

We can do it all in Sydney.

And I've got a feeling my mom would love her. So would my dad, my brothers... Everyone would love Laurel. Who doesn't?

Amanda.

So I start thinking about A and our fight in my car. She really did cross the lines, but she said something about love. I knew she loved me when we were dating, but does she still love me the same?

I know I still have some sort of feeling for her, but it's not even close to what it was before; I don't think I could even call it love.

Amanda could, and she admitted it shamelessly to me.

I need to understand my feelings for Laurel once and for all, and what a better opportunity to do so than an incredible trip to Australia?

I get out of the bath tub and quickly take my phone to text Laurel.

we need to talk asap. call me when u read this x

So I lay in my bed to sleep...

...which, may I add, takes shorter than I expected.

My phone rings at 5 in the morning. I would be completely mad and grumpy if I didn't know who was calling.

"Hello?" I pick up, sleepy.

"Oh, God! Luke, I'm sorry. I got your text and I thought it was something important." Laurel rushes, apologizing. "I can call later if you want."

"No, it's cool, I'll be quick." I reply, scratching my eyes. "Are you still spending Christmas alone?"

"Uh, yeah. No change of plans so far. Why?"

"Would you like to go to Sydney with me?"

Silence.

"Hello? Are you there, my angel?" I yawn. God, I'm tired as fuck.

"Yeah, I am, sorry, I'm just... Australia." She giggles. "I guess you're drunk from Michael's party?"

"I'm not, I'm perfectly sober. Sleepwalking, that's true, but sober." I gather all my energy to joke. Worth it, because I hear Laurel laughing.

"I'm so sorry, Luke... I should've called you later."

"Won't you answer my question?"

Silence again for a couple seconds.

"It's just... Are you sure of what you're asking me? Do you really want me to go with you?"

"Of course, I always want to be around you. You're gonna meet the Hemmings and I can take you to the nicest places in Sydney. I promise you it will be only fun." I smile proudly to myself.

"So I'm gonna spend Christmas with your family?"

"That was the plan..." My smile fades away. "Unless you don't want to, I mean, it's okay. I thought so because you said you were going to be alone and... Yeah, that's why."

"Are you taking A as well?"

"Hell no, we had an argument last night." I roll my eyes.

Laurel remains silent for a moment, considering my proposition, and I know I'm nervous to death, until she finally answers.

"As long as you don't have to pay anything for me, I would love to go." I can hear the smile on her face, and the corners of my mouth curve into a huge smile.

"Great!" I'm thrilled. I clear my throat so she doesn't know I'm way too excited. "I mean, that's very good, I'm glad you'd like to join me. We can talk later to discuss the whole thing?"

"Sure." She laughs. "Thank you so much for thinking of me. Now go back to bed, Luke, you sound tired. Call me when you're completely rested."

We hang up and I lay my head on the pillow; the annoying smile refuses to leave me, but guess what has? Sleep. There's no way I can close my eyes again now, reality is much better.

Laurel is going to Sydney with me.

---------------
So, beautiful aussies, as you know Laurel and Luke are going to Australia and, unfortunately, I've never been to Sydney *sobbing*. So, I'd like you guys to help me out! Where could they possibly go and do? You can either message me or simply comment, you choose. Thank you!

Oh, and I found out there's a Laurel on How To Get Away With Murder. I'M LOVING IT.

Thanks for reading my book! Don't forget to vote if you like it, and comment what you think, I love getting to know what you've got to say!

Stay beautiful lovelies, updating tomorrow again 💗 xo