"Oh hell fucking no," Luke growled and immediately got up, making his way towards the door. This was not going to end well.

The receptionist looked slightly confused. "Do you want me to tell him–"

"I'll deal with it," Luke said, already out of the room and walking towards the elevators. I quickly followed him, thanking the receptionist.

"Luke, wait–" The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Luke stepped in without a backwards glance, and I quickly slipped in after him. "Luke, what are you–"

"Why is he coming to see you?" he asked, his jaw and fists clenched.

"I don't know," I said in frustration. "But you can't just go down there and–"

"I can, and I will." Luke kept on staring ahead, his expression hard.

"You can't punch him again, Luke," I stated, stepping in front of him so he had to look at me. "What are you even planning to say?"

He shrugged. "I was just going to go on the spur of the moment. See how I feel. Might feel a little angry when I see his stupid face, though."

We reached the bottom level and the doors opened. Luke strode out and through reception with me almost jogging to keep up. I could see Nathan. He was holding flowers.

For fuck's sake.

He didn't look surprised to see Luke, who had stopped less than a meter away, his fists curled into tight balls by his side. Then his eyes drifted to me, and they softened.

Now I really wanted to punch him.

"Hey, Noelle." His voice was gentle. "Look, I'm sorry for coming in like this, but I had to talk to you. You weren't replying to my texts."

I merely rolled my eyes. "Do you really have to question why?"

Luke turned towards me, saying slowly, "He's been texting you?"

I ignored him. "What do you want, Nathan?"

"I just... wanted to be able to talk to you. Face to face. Alone," he emphasized, throwing a look at Luke, who just smirked.

"I'm not going anywhere, Norman."

Nathan didn't react but returned his gaze to me. "What, is he your fucking guard dog now, or something?"

I narrowed my eyes, while Luke said dangerously, "You're on thin ice, Nigel."

"Look, man, I really don't care what you say. I just want to talk to Noelle without you speaking for her the whole time."

"Uh, yeah, 'her' is right here," I said, irritated. "Jesus Christ, Nathan, you just don't give up. Fine, let's just go–"

"You're not going anywhere with him," Luke interrupted, stepping in front of me with his arms folded.

I raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I had to do whatever you told me?"

Luke closed his eyes for a second before saying quietly, "Come on, snowflake, you can't seriously want to talk to this prick?"

His use of my nickname had me wavering, but I stood my ground. "I don't want to, particularly, but I'm willing to hear him out."

I wasn't that willing. But Luke had pissed me off by telling me what to do, so now I had the urge to do whatever he didn't want me to do. Childish, I know.

Luke just stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face, and when he didn't say anything else, I stepped past him and said to Nathan, "Let's just... go outside."

Nathan nodded and began to make his way to the exit. I turned back to Luke, but all I could see now was the back of him as he walked away. I pressed my lips together but followed Nathan.

It was even hotter outside than in the studio. There was hope in Nathan's expression – he clearly thought that just because I'd agreed to talk to him, I was ready to forgive him. I wasn't.

"Okay, so, talk," I ordered.

Nathan cleared his throat and held out the flowers. "Uh, first, I got these for you. Um, you don't have to take them or anything, I just thought the, uh, gesture would be nice."

I reluctantly took the flowers and realized in annoyance that they were orchids, my favorite flowers.

"Orchids are your favorite, right?" he said, putting his hands in his pockets in an uncomfortable sort of way.

I merely shrugged.

"Well, I don't know if you've been reading the texts I've been sending you..." Nathan started, obviously waiting for me to say that I had, in fact, been reading his texts.

"I read the first one and that was it," I said dryly.

"So you know I ended things with Isobel?"

"Yeah. So what? You think just because you're not seeing her anymore I'm gonna come running back to you?" I rolled my eyes. "Give me a break, Nathan."

"No, I don't think that at all," he stated, clenching his jaw. "I just wanted to tell you. I wanted to be able to apologize for everything, in person. So... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for cheating on you with her, and I'm sorry it went on for so long, and I'm sorry I didn't put a stop to it. You didn't deserve that, at all. And I'm sorry for accusing you of cheating. I know you would never do that."

I observed Nathan for a moment. "Nice speech."

He took a step forward, a bit of annoyance on his face. "I mean every word, Noelle. Please believe that." When I didn't reply, Nathan nodded back at the building. "Are you with him now?"

I nodded. I mean, I supposed I was 'with' Luke, even if things weren't official.

"Are you happy?" Nathan asked softly, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Of course I'm happy." He was really starting to piss me off. "Unless you've got anything else to add, I need to go back inside."

"Will you come to my room tonight?" he quickly questioned.

I frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Not – not like that. I just... there's something I want to give you. Please?" He looked at me hopefully, and I sighed.

"Fine. I'll be there at eight. But if you're not there, I'll be leaving and I won't be coming back."

"That's fair. But I promise you, I'll be there." Nathan gave me one last look before walking away. I watched him for a while, wondering what it was he wanted to give me. I began to make my way back to the studio, dreading what Luke was going to say and how mad he was going to be at me.

When I got back, Luke was nowhere to be seen. John and Kate were here again, so everyone was back to work. Fran was on the phone, probably negotiating an interview for the band, Ashton and Calum were in the recording studio, while Michael was writing down ideas for songs. I put the flowers down and went over to Michael, saying quietly, "Where's Luke?"

Michael looked up. "Uh, I think he went outside. As in, on the balcony bit. Did you guys... argue?"

"A bit. He's pissed off with me." I groaned. "Do you know what just happened?"

He put the pen down. "That Nathan guy is your ex, right?"

"Right."

"Luke's jealous," Michael stated simply.

"I don't even like Nathan anymore," I said in frustration, but Michael just gave me a look.

"Come on, Noelle. We both know how jealous he gets." His eyes met mine, and something flickered in his expression. He quickly looked away again and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "But yeah. Luke's outside."

I nodded and slipped out of the studio, hoping John and Kate wouldn't mind. I'd only been out on the balcony a couple of times, but it had the most beautiful view of Los Angeles. I could see Luke out there, leaning against the edge of the balcony. I stepped outside and joined Luke. We both stood there in silence for a while before I broke it.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, knowing the answer I was hoping for.

Luke sighed in what seemed like frustration. "Yes, Noelle, I am mad at you."

Oh. "What, just because I talked to Nathan?"

"Not because you just talked to him, but because you looked about ready to forgive him." Luke's voice was slightly angry, and he was avoiding my gaze.

"Come on, Luke, I'm not going to forgive Nathan. He wouldn't stop texting me so I agreed to talk to him to shut him up."

"Sounds like harassment to me," Luke muttered. "It's just... you knew I didn't want you to go outside with him but you did it anyway."

"Because you're not my father," I countered. "You don't make the rules. I don't have to do what you tell me to do."

He groaned. "Fine. Just promise me you're not going to see him again."

I stared. Was he serious? "Actually, he's asked me to meet him tonight because he's got something to give me. And I'm going."

At that, Luke's gaze finally snapped to mine. "You're joking, right?"

I crossed my arms. "I'm not."

"You're not going."

"Luke!" I brought my hands up in frustration. "I literally just said you can't tell me what to do."

"He's not a good person, Noelle," Luke almost growled, clearly trying to keep his temper. Wasn't really working.

"For fuck's sake, it's not like he tried to kill me, he's not a dangerous person, he's just a dick!" I retorted.

"Exactly, so why would you go and see him?"

I made a noise of frustration. "We're going in circles here! If I want to go and see what he's got to give me, then I'll go."

"He's manipulative, Noelle. He's probably trying to fucking break us up or something," Luke said sharply.

What came out of my mouth next was not planned. "Well, to be honest, Luke, I didn't even know that we were really together."

Silence. Luke stared at me, lips parted, jaw tensed. I wanted to take it back, but I couldn't. I didn't know if I should apologize, but at the same time, what I said was true. Luke had never brought that up, but then again, neither had I. Before now, we'd just been living in our happy bubble where we didn't need to define what we were. But we needed to now.

"You didn't know we were together," he repeated. "Are – are you kidding? Jesus Christ, Noelle, do you want us to not be together or something?"

I gaped at him. "That's not what I said at all–"

"Yeah, well, kinda feels like you're implying it," Luke said bitingly, and I felt my eyes begin to moisten.

"Luke, no, I'm not," I stated forcefully. "I just meant – I don't know what we are. We aren't anything official but it's okay, I don't mind, I understand we can't be anything, just because of everything..."

Luke folded his arms. "And what do you mean by 'everything'?"

I frowned. "You know exactly what I mean. But I told you, it doesn't matter, and neither does Nathan! You don't need to worry about him; I know he's a jerk, I know how to handle him, okay? But you – you can't just order me around like that!"

"I wasn't–" Luke groaned. "Noelle, you say he doesn't matter, but look at us. He's already got in between us."

I stared, biting hard on my lip to keep back the tears. One escaped and rolled slowly down my cheek.

"I'm going back inside," he stated shortly, either not noticing the tear or not caring. "Please, just don't– don't go tonight." Then he left me.

I stood there for a while, staring at the place where Luke was standing. Another tear fell, but I quickly wiped it away. I couldn't believe such an argument had stemmed from something, or someone, so petty. Maybe Luke was right. All Nathan had done was show up, and that had caused us to have our biggest argument yet. Maybe he was trying to drive a wedge between Luke and I.

I dabbed my eyes, hoping they weren't too red, before heading back inside. I couldn't stay here. I needed to go back to the dorm and eat some unhealthy comfort food. John and Kate had disappeared again – they were particularly busy today, it seemed – so I went over to Fran.

"Hey," I muttered. "When John or Kate comes back could you tell them I've gone home because I felt really sick?"

Fran examined my face. "Yeah, of course. Wait, have you been crying?"

I gave a forced laugh. "No, no. I actually am feeling really ill, and it's making my eyes water. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

She still looked suspicious. "Sure. You know you could tell me if you and Luke had an argument or something, right? If he was a dick, I'll take him down."

This time my laugh was more genuine. "Of course." I'd told Fran all about my week with Luke, and she was very excited about all that had happened. I had a feeling she would get on well with George.

"Oh, and Noelle, just to let you know, I'm afraid Sasha's going to be here tomorrow." Fran grimaced but I kept a neutral expression on my face. "Oh come on, I know you don't like her. Trust me, despite us being related and all, I don't either. I'll keep her away from Luke." She winked at me and I smiled back before saying goodbye and leaving. Sasha would no doubt be happy that Luke and I were in a fight. She would be able to have him all to herself, and I wouldn't really be able to stop her.

On the car journey back, it hit me that Luke was really, properly mad at me. The last time it seemed that he was mad at me was when he was jealous about Michael, and we'd just resolved that by kissing. I didn't think that would be the case this time. The other time we'd been in a fight was about the paparazzi, and I had been mad at him. I always knew I would forgive him in the first, like, five minutes. But now it was the other way round, and I didn't know when Luke would forgive me. And that really upset me, because right now, I just really wanted him with me, and to not be angry with me. If I'd been in a fight with one of my friends, Luke was the person I would call, and he would know how to comfort me. But I couldn't call him.

And that caused me to be at a complete loss.