Cianna' front door was wide open yet Luke and I stood right out her door. Ours hands were still tied together and at the moment I was extremely thankful for the heat that was being shared between us. We were laughing at God knows what when we heard Cianna's voice from behind us.
She was dressed in just jogging shorts and a hoodie, one that was too big might I add. Despite it being below freezing, she was running up and down the stairs carrying boxes. She'd moved in before us so it was odd to see her moving things in.
"It's nice to see that you two finally got together." She smiled at us, putting the box down by her feet. "I called it from the day I met you guys." Her smile stretched across her face, beaming her white teeth. If I had to be honest, I was a little jealous of Cianna since she did have perfect teeth and pretty blonde hair and a petite figure, but her personality kind of ruined it all for me.
I pulled my hand away from Luke's and shoved it into my jacket pocket. "We're not together." I quickly said. She nodded her head at me as I took a glance at Luke who had done the same as me and kept his now cold hands in his pockets. He was already looking over at me, but I pushed it aside.
"Sorry, my mistake." She put a hand to her chest and stiffened her smile. "So what are you guys up here for?" She asked, switching between Luke and I.
"We were wondering what the loud noises were." Luke turned to me instead of Cianna, he seemed more scared of her than amused. No matter how many times he said that he was actually nice or not annoying, his actions just couldn't convince me.
"I'm just helping my boyfriend move in." Her thin arms picked up the box from the ground and walked into her place, signaling for us to follow her.
We were a few feet back from her which was nice considering we were jammed together the last time I was here. I'd only been in here twice before, and every time it's changed somehow. Her home was always splattered with colors that didn't mesh together quite well though. Red couch, dark green chairs, light blue walls. It was a lot to take in to say the least.
"I feel bad for her boyfriend." Luke mumbled into my ear. I put a hand up to my mouth in attempt to stifle my laughter as he did shortly after. We stopped once we were in the middle of her living room as that's where most of the boxes were stacked. Luke and I faced Cianna as if he didn't just make fun of her color choices, smiling like nothing happened.
"I apologize about the ruckus. He's got a lot of stuff." She giggled. I could practically feel myself starting to gag over how mushy she got over boys, which included Luke. I'm surprised she hasn't pounced on him like I would have expected her to. Even with her new boyfriend. "Ellis!" She called around the corner.
Luke and I snapped our heads to each other at the same time, staring with wide eyes. I reached out a grasped my arm around his, squeezing tight as I looked back over to Cianna.
"It can't be the same guy." Luke whispered down to me. The words went through one ear and out the other as I was too focused on the boy who was about to pop around the corner. Just as I suspected, my ex-boyfriend who had just cheated on my walked right around the corner.
"Autumn." Luke slowly said as he felt me tense up.
"This is Ellis." Cianna called to us, hugging onto Ellis' torso. "Ellis, Luke and Autumn, Luke and Autumn, Ellis. They live in the apartment under us." She giggled once more, getting on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.
This was all very awkward. To say the least. All I could to was stare between the new couple in front of as Luke tried to keep me from completely going off on her. His arm was now out of my grip and on the small of my back and I could feel his tapping through the layers of clothing in attempts to keep my calm.
Ellis decided to speak up, awkwardly swallowing the lump in his throat that I think we all had. "I know them." He slowly spoke, blinking at us a few times then gave us a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, we know each other really well. Don't we Ellis?" Luke's voice broke the quietness of everyone's tone and I knew he was just as mad about this as I was. His arm slid off my back and fell to his side. I popped my knuckle out of the anxious feeling I was getting from all of this as I didn't know what was about to happen. "Go back down to our place, I'll meet you back there in 10 minutes." He quietly said into my ear, not taking his eyes off of Ellis.
"But-"
"Go." He interrupted. With shaky hands I grabbed the keys he handed over to me and backed out of her apartment, then jolted down the stairs and into my own home.
I slammed my door behind me and pressed my back to it, feeling insanely overwhelmed. I had no clue what just happened, how it happened, or when, but I felt like I was going to throw up from how surprised I felt.
From everyone's point of view, I knew we were all confused. I don't think Luke and I expected Ellis to be Cianna's new boyfriend and I don't think Ellis expected us to be standing there in his new girlfriend's apartment. It all began piecing together in my head as I slumped down the door and sat on the ground.
Ellis cheated on me with Cianna. Cianna was the blonde girl in his house that day, that's why she had ran so fast up the stairs. I know she knew I was dating him, he'd come around the building so many times it was impossible that she couldn't have known him. And the thought that he was now going to be living in the same apartment complex as I blew my mind. And he was moving in less than a month after all of this. We didn't even do that and it's been 2 years.
I was now crying as any girl in the scenario would. It's not that I was upset about it, I actually didn't know why I was crying. Maybe it was because I was overwhelmed. Or because Cianna is a bitch, and that's putting it the nicest way possible. Or that Luke could be getting beat down to the ground right now since Ellis has got biceps bigger than Luke's head.
Just as I was about to scramble to my feet and run back to Luke to make sure he wasn't dead, the door was trying to be forced open, but I was blocking it obviously.
"God dammit, let me in Autumn!" Luke shouted from the other side. I hurried myself and stood up and the door had swung right open.
I immediately brought my hands to either side of his face, moving his head around to try to find the aftermath of the fight I expected.
"Are you hurt?" I spoke quickly, examining every inch of his face.
"Autumn." He called out through squished cheeks, but I ignored it and continued to make sure he was okay.
"Do you need ice?"
"Autumn."
"Do you need to sit down?"
"Autumn. Stop." He pried my hands off of his face, holding my wrists in each hand. I looked between his eyes as he did the same for me. "What are you going on about?" He barely shook his head at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Did you not get punched?" I stammered.
"No. Punching people doesn't solve anything." He stated as he shook his head. I felt a sense of relief wash over me, nothing is worse than having 2 boys physically fight over you. "And why are you crying? Stop that." He picked a hand up, curling his finger under my chin to get rid of the drops.
"I don't even know." I breathed out, letting out a small laugh. I suddenly cocked my head to the side. "Did you know about this?" I wasn't accusing him of anything, but I still had a bit of curiosity since he never gave me full details on the morning he was at Ellis'.
He shook she head quickly. "I had no idea it was Cianna. I didn't see the girl, I just heard her." He answered.
I took a deep breath, letting my mid settle to the fact that not only did my boyfriend cheat on me with my neighbor that I hate, but now he's living there which happens to be the room right above me. It was probably the most ironic thing that could've happened in this situation and it was also pretty messed up. I had expected to break up and then never see him again and now I have the chance to see him when I get the mail every morning.
"This is so messed up." I muttered, widening my eyes as I stared at my chipped nail polish. "Really messed up." I added.
"Do you want to sit down and talk about it?" He asked. I picked my head up and patted his shoulder.
"There's nothing to talk about." I clarified. I turned back around only to have my wrist yanked back by him. I glanced down at wrist that he still had a grip on then back up to his face which we both shared an irritated expression.
"There's a lot to talk about." He corrected. I jerked my wrist from his grasp and held it to my chest.
"What are you trying to get out of me?" I backed up slowly, scanning him up and down. He rolled his eyes at me then took a few steps closer to follow me.
"What has been up with you?" He asked as he leaned on the arm of the sofa with his arms crossed. I narrowed my eyes at him and let the tip of my tongue peak out of the corner of my mouth.
"What do you mean what's up with me?" I harshly said as I put a finger to my chest.
"You're different." He shrugged his shoulders and brought his view to the floor. He was shuffling his foot across the floor as if he was distracting himself from
"I'm different? You think I'm different?" I let my lips stay parted as I didn't know what I was going to say next. My mind strung a few thoughts together, but I only let one come out. "The fact that you have the nerve to say that." I scoffed as I turned my back to him.
"It's not like I've done anything wrong. I wasn't the one to fuck our neighbor then move in with her." He retorted. I spun around on my heels to face him to see him already walking towards me.
"Okay, that draws the line." My voice raised more than I expected as I put my hands up to stop him from getting any closer to me. "I've been cheated on, stepped on, thrown aside, and completely forgotten and you want to make this about you?" I continued, counting the things on my fingers. He puffed his cheeks and let out the air shortly after.
"That't not what I meant." He ran his fingers furiously through his hair as he turned around and walked towards the couch, but stopped once I spoke up.
"Then what did you mean?" I asked, my voice quivering. My view was his broad back that was covered by a black jacket. I watched a he shook his head at me once again. I swallowed the lump in my throat, as I was more scared by the fact that I was fighting with Luke rather than the actual topic. He kept whatever he was thinking to himself and didn't reply to my question.
"That's what I thought." I quietly said. He stayed still as I did too, probably having the same fear of me as messing up. "You know I thought you would help me through this." He faced me once again and the heaviness of his breath was obvious as he walked closer to me. I cleared my throat and looked right into his eyes. "Because as of now, you're making me feel guilty." I stammered.
We were now face to face and his expression told me that he was ready to listen to what I had to say. Even though I didn't have much to say, I still needed to get my point across. I held back the tears in my eyes that fought to pour back out, but I was quickly able to get rid of the feeling once he blinked a few times at me.
"I'm not playing victim. I'm not trying to make myself look weak either, because I'm not." He rolled his eyes as I kept letting my thoughts continue on. He dropped his arms as I rambled on. "And nothing has changed." I assured. "And-"
He groaned and scooped his arms around my lower back to which he cut me off by taking me by surprise and pressing his lips to mine. My eyes stayed open for less than a second, but I fluttered them once I felt the weakness in my knees. I kissed back after a short state of shock, but he pulled back before I was able to actually process that I was kissing him.
He slid his arms out from my back and had them lightly placed on either side of my waist. We were still in close proximity which I changed as I hung my head down. It was dead silent and all I could hear was Luke's quick heartbeat which made me focus on mine. It mimicked his, rapidly pounding in my ears.
"Say something." He whispered. I could feel the breath from his words and his lips brush over the top of my forehead. I inhaled sharply, as I was completely lost for words. I took a step back and quickly looked up at him.
"I-I-" I stuttered. I fumbled with my fingers as I slowly walked backwards. My eyes found their way to Luke's worried ones. "I need some time." I choked out before running down the hall, into my room and away from whatever just happened.