a/n: Hello to you all! How are you? :)

*Laurel's P.O.V*
"Luke! Why are you taking so long?" I shout from downstairs, dragging myself towards the couch to wait for my very vainglorious boyfriend.

"I'm coming down, just putting a shirt on!" He yells back and I groan.

I know Luke well enough to be sure he's actually taking his tiny hairbrush and putting it inside a pocket. After that he's gonna walk to the bathroom and check himself out for the third time before he actually gets to show up.

He decided we are going to watch Inhumans. I personally have nothing against hero movies, but he seems to enjoy them way too much.

"I'm ready" I hear his voice approaching. When I turn over my jaw drops.

Luke's got a black coat on, a black beanie, his black skinny jeans and - guess - his black boots. I frown.

"Why are you going out like this? What's the coat and the beanie for? It's like 70 degrees outside"

Luke shrugs.

"Just in case I get cold. Now, shall we?"

We get to AMC and he won't stop looking around all the time, like he's afraid someone might be following us.

I go buy the tickets as he waits with his beanie low. Why is Luke acting so weird today?

"Here" I pass him his ticket. "Let's get inside. I want popcorn!"

"So do I" He chuckles.

And again, he refuses to take it with me. I pay the guy for the big popcorn tub and limp towards his figure, pissed off.

I try holding his hand but he tucks them inside his pockets, looking to the sides again. I never thought it would be so weird for him to go to the movies with me!

When we get our seats Luke seems to relax a little, finally taking the beanie off; he was already sweating.

"I really do hope this is a good one, or I'll kill you" I joke, playfully punching his arm.

He giggles.

"I know it's gonna be awesome" He whispers.

I roll my eyes, groaning.

"Okay, why are you whispering? The lights are still on, the movie hasn't started yet."

He's taken by surprise. Clearing his throat, Luke tries raising his voice a little.

"I'm just trying to be discreet."

"Don't you think you're trying more than that?"

"How come?"

"It looks like you don't want to be seen with me" I furrow my eyebrows.

Luke laughs sarcastically.

"What the hell? You don't know what you're talking about, baby"

"Yeah, right. I don't."

We remain silent even though the movie doesn't start until 10 minutes later. We just talk again when it's over.

"It was good, wasn't it?" Comments Luke, trying to break the ice while putting his beanie on again.

"It wasn't bad" I reply, holding his arm to support myself as I clumsily limp towards the exit. "I want to watch another one though"

"Maybe we could watch it at home. I've got a list of movies on Netflix"

I look up at him, trying very hard to understand why he's acting like this. Luke has never refused an invitation to go out. However, he doesn't look back at me; on the contrary, he's tense again as we approach the front doors of AMC.

In the exact second we take a single step out the hall, dozens of flashes blind me.

"Luke! Over here!" I hear a voice.

"Laurel, what happened to you?" Another one.

"Are you dating?"

"Smile for the camera!"

Luke grabs my hand and pulls it abruptly, walking faster.

"Let's go" He commands firmly.

I try following his lead but he's going too fast; I feel like someone stabbed me on my stomach and try letting go of his hand.

Too much pain.

I yank my arm back, wrapping it around my trunk.

"Laurel! Why the fuck did you stop?" Luke angrily shouts ahead of me.

"It hurts" I moan, out of breath.

"We need to go! They are right behind you!"

I'm well aware.

I hear voices behind me, yelling my name and Luke's. My vision gets blurred. I feel Luke hurrying to my side again.

"Piss off! Leave us the fuck alone, go get a life!" He curses at the paparazzi behind me, before wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me up for me to walk again.

I gather all my strength to force my legs forward until we take a cab. Luke quickly puts me inside and goes in himself, slamming the door.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" He curses.

I don't even know what the driver must be thinking right now.

"Laurel, what happened?" Luke turns to me, opening my jacket. A small stain of blood is forming on my shirt.

I gasp, writhing in pain.

"Nothing much" I say in between breaths. "We just need to clean it. It's all good."

We get home. Luke pays the driver and helps me walk inside. Luckily mom and dad went out for dinner, otherwise they'd freak out if they saw me like this.

"What do I need to take?" Luke desperately asks.

"The spray, cotton, water, and a new band." I respond, slowly heading towards my room and collapsing on my bed.

I almost rip my shirt off when I try streamlining the process of taking my clothes off. Luke comes back a couple minutes later. He helps me unwrap the bandage and by his expression I know the cut is probably worse.

"Don't worry, I can do it" I say, excusing him from a task I know he might find uncomfortable. Luke firstly stares at me seeking for certainty before nodding, sitting on the mattress.

"If we hadn't gone out this wouldn't have happened" He mutters.

"Stop it, it's not your fault." I dig the cotton inside the water to clean.

"I know, it's actually yours." He turns to me, serious. "I didn't want to go, I knew this would happen. Now those fuckers have really great shots of both of us."

I stop what I'm doing to stare at him, unbelieving.

"So you're gonna blame me for paparazzi stalking you?"

"You know whenever we go out they follow us!" Luke stands up.

"Who says I give a shit?!"

He sighs, remaining silent. I finish cleaning and he helps me with the band.

"You should." Luke continues, making me sit down. "They would love to expose you if they could."

"Whatever. You are my boyfriend, I'm not ashamed of being seen with you, nor am I troubled."

"I know you are not. It's just..."

Ouch. That hurt almost as much as the wound. I close my eyes, trying to keep calm.

"Is that supposed to mean that you are?"

Luke bites his lip.

"We're not exactly the ideal couple, you know that" He mumbles, looking down.

"I can't believe you're saying something like this" I laugh sarcastically. "What is even an ideal couple, anyway? You and Amanda?"

"No!" He shakes his head, impatient. "Me and someone like me!"

"You mean famous?!"

"We'd understand each other more if you knew everything I go through. If you could be in my shoes!"

"Maybe you don't realize it because you always think your career is much more important than mine, but I also have a lot of struggles!" I spit, angrily.

He rolls his eyes.

"You don't need to worry about maniacs seeking after you wherever you go."

"Now I do! I do because of you! And honestly, I could care less!"

Luke walks round and round.

"Don't pretend you get what this is. This is serious, can you imagine what my manager will say when he sees that I fought with paparazzi? This could fuck everything up!"

I cough when the pain strikes me again. I need to end this argument and calm down, or I'll bleed even more.

"Okay, Luke. I'm sorry that I wanted to hang out with you. I'm sorry if I fucked everything up with your record label, or your manager, or even the band. I didn't intend on being such a burden"

Luke looks down at me, regretful.

"Laurel, I didn't mean..."

"I know." I cut him off, changing into my pee jays and then tucking myself in between the covers. "But I don't want to keep wasting energy on this. I seriously need to sleep so, if you don't mind."

Luke stands still for a moment, trying to process what I just said.

"Are you kicking me off the room?" He asks, but not in an angry way, just... sorrowful, I guess.

"Yep. Please turn off the lights when you leave. Goodnight."

I lay on my back and close my eyes, waiting. I hear Luke sighing and then his steps moving out of my room. The lights are turned off.

"Goodnight, angel"

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