"You and me were raised in the same part of town

Got these scars on the same ground

Remember how we used to kick around just wasting time?

Won't you stay 'til the a.m.?

All my favorite conversations

Always made in the a.m.

You know, I'm always coming back to this place

You know and I'll say

You know, I'm always gonna look for your face"

✰

If there was anything Luke Hemmings fucking hated, it was how utterly weak he is for Arlo Abbott- present tense.

Although he never told anyone, that was something he used to admire about himself. Luke used to be sort of proud that he had come far enough to be confident in being vulnerable for her and for her only. Especially considering how he viewed his relationships or hookups before.

He treated his girl like a fucking princess. He wasn't one of those guys who caused his girl to spend sleepless nights crying over something he said or made her feel like trust was something scarce in a relationship.

As of now, it's safe to say that Luke is no longer so proud of that quality about himself

It was his achilles heel, for as he stands in the corner of the crowded area, all he can look at is her. All he can think about is her, all he can smell is the lingering scent of her perfume swirling around the air of her hotel room the night before.

She broke his heart- she fucking cheated on him and tore his ideology and hope for love to shreds in the pouring rain that night and didn't look back for three fucking years.

He wanted to hate her, he should hate her. But he couldn't. It wasn't even worth it to lie to himself any longer.

Luke watches as Arlo pulls her hair back, securing the dark strands with a hair tie. His heart aches as she begins running her hands through the front of her hair, pulling out strands to frame her face before looking nervously over her shoulder to examine her reflection in the nearest reflective surface, which just so happens to be a car window.

She was always insecure about how she looked with her hair pulled back and the sight of her and her same old habits- albeit they weren't the most positive ones- was enough to make Luke's stomach twist.

What if she hadn't changed as much as he thought?

Luke didn't know what would hurt more- knowing that she hadn't changed, or accepting the fact that she was a completely different person.

God, it hurt just to think that the girl he once called his own was out there not being his. It hurt to think that Beck saw the same side of her that he had, that he had lived with her long enough to know only the things Luke knew.

"Luke, you've got the honor of being in the last scene." One of the production managers startles Luke, his hand clapping harshly on his leather jacket-clad shoulder. "Lucky you." The middle-aged man grins, a walkie-talkie in his hand that crackles with instructions from the director.

The band had a few days in-between shows and due to their cramped schedule and the pressure to release an album after being on a hiatus for three years, the label booked a music video shoot on their off day.

They had one day to get it right, for they would be in New York before noon tomorrow. To make conditions even more frustrating, the music video could only be filmed at night, so filming had begun once the sun went down and was stretching into the early hours of the morning.

It was nearing one in the morning and Luke was beginning to think that even the makeup artist wouldn't be able to cover up the tired bags under his eyes.

He stands in the middle of a race track, doing his best not to let his gaze wander over to Arlo as she sits in a chair off to the side of the set. Beck was messing around with her, trying to place a racing helmet over her head as she pushes him away.

Luke felt like he was living in his personal hell, for the music video was a perfect illustration of how things ended with Arlo. It was like a car crash- the breakup came out of nowhere, all of her dissatisfactions unknown to him like a blind spot. The results were fatal and just like the wrecked stunt car off to the side, Luke was left ultimately totaled.

"I'm ready to get this shit done and go to bed." Luke forces a charming laugh, running his hands through his hair that'd been slightly messed up from the wind. "Then, I'd be really lucky."The production manager gives Luke a knowing look, confirming that if the scene was done right, he should be in bed within the hour.

Luke doesn't know why, but as he's escorted over to the car in the middle of the track, he feels a lump in his throat. He wishes he could avert his eyes to his shoes, but he's forced to keep his head high so the makeup artist can do a few last-minute touchups before he climbs into the car.

He settles into the middle back seat, all of the cameras and equipment angled towards him suddenly far more intimidating. Luke inhales shakily, blue eyes pointed determinedly at the director.

"Action!"

Arlo Abbott stands mere yards away from the stunt car Luke is sitting in. Her arms are wrapped tightly around herself to combat the cool night air and her hair blows harshly in the wind despite being tied back away from her face.

She doesn't know why, but there's a pit in her stomach as she watches Luke film his scene. Watching him look so... distraught as the camera rolls and their new song- Lie to Me- plays throughout the set is heartbreaking.

As Luke drags his hands through his beautiful curls, a pained look on his face, Arlo finds herself clenching her jaw so hard that it hurts. She wasn't naive- she knew the song was about her. Although she figured it must've been deserved karma to be forced to watch just how deep his heartbreak ran, it didn't make it any easier.

The night before in her hotel room with Luke's hand resting on her thigh, Arlo had been so tempted to tell him the truth.

From the moment she walked out of James's office three years ago, all Arlo had wanted was to have Luke take her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright- that nobody would ever touch their relationship and that she was enough. She wanted to hear that what James said about her wasn't true before his words had a chance to eat her alive.

Although Arlo had fallen asleep in his arms a handful of times since the moment she walked out of that office, the comfort was in vain, for she'd spent every bit of those last few days grieving over the fact that those moments were fleeting.

To put it simply, Arlo just needed to cry and know that he would be there to pick up her broken pieces and put them back together just as he had in Calum's car the day the bookstore got vandalized.

"Did you hear?" Calum appears at Arlo's side suddenly, the other two boys in his wake. They'd already wrapped their scenes and spent most of the time ogling over the race cars. "They're gonna blow shit up at the end."

"What?" Arlo furrows her brows in confusion.

Michael juts his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the scene being filmed. "You see that car that Luke's in-"

"They're gonna blow it up?!" A gasp leaves Arlo's lips, her heart sinking.

"Yeah, it's fuckin' sick." Calum giggles in excitement. "I talked to the pyro guys and they showed me all the technical shit they have rigged under the seats so the camera can't pick up the explosives."

"Explosives?" Arlo's face pales, her heartbeat thumping in her ears. "Under the seat Luke is sitting in right now?!"

At her horrified tone and the frightened look on her face, Ashton's expression softens. "Aw, you care about if Luke gets blown up or not." He coos, wrapping an arm around her shoulder before engulfing her smaller body with his own.

"Of course, she cares." Michael scoffs. "The explosives are in that replica car, by the way." He assures the brunette girl who looks to be on the verge of passing out. "And we'll be at the top of the stadium in the commentator box, Luke included- no explosives near anybody." He reassures, his green eyes sparkling as he exchanges a look with the other two boys.

She totally loved him, they all could see it in her eyes and if the three of them had anything to do with it, Luke and Arlo would be together again- or at least on speaking terms.

Before Arlo knows it, Luke's scene is wrapped and the five of them are being escorted up to the commentator's box. Ashton Irwin almost wanted to laugh at the way Luke was taking the lead and Arlo fell behind as their group walked as if being a few feet apart might dull their painfully obvious love for one another.

They were still as lovesick as the day they met, they just needed to get the fuck over themselves and whatever happened and realize it.

Behind the glass of the commentator box, Arlo can see Luke's reflection in her peripheral vision. His blue eyes are virtually unreadable as both of them seem to tune out the guy talking about all of the technicalities behind the stunt to them.

After one last check that the set was clear, Arlo watches a spark light in the race car. In mere seconds, an explosion happens, setting the car alight and sending glass and metal shrapnel flying through the surrounding area.

She found it kind of ironic, how she and Luke were on complete opposite sides of the commentator box with three entire people in-between them and a car burning in front of their eyes, yet they were both looking at each other.

It was poetic in the most catastrophic ways, the reflection of the flames on his blue eyes as he gazes unabashedly into her brown ones. Somehow, she knew they were both thinking the same thing.

Since they lost each other, life felt like living in a car with explosives underneath the seat. They were constantly waiting in anticipation for the final explosion that would take them out, not knowing if they would be happier going up in flames or drowning in trepidation.

✰

Luke Hemmings really hated hotel bathrooms.

He never knew how to work the fucking shower and the water was always way too hot or freezing cold. The towels were never plentiful enough and they felt kind of itchy against his skin. Most of all Luke hated how bright the fluorescent lights seemed to shine in a stark white hotel bathroom.

As he braces his hands against the hotel counter with an itchy towel wrapped loosely around his waist, Luke clenches his jaw, intent on avoiding his own reflection. Frustration floods his veins as the shiny white counter reflects his blue eyes back to him, making the sight of himself unavoidable.

Luke curses under his breath before storming out of the bathroom- he's already made his decision anyway.

Temptation wasn't something that Luke normally struggled with. The blonde thought his self-control was pretty admirable, ironically enough. But, on the way back from the music video shoot with Arlo's presence heightening every single one of his senses, Luke began to feel things he couldn't control.

As Luke retreated back to his lonely hotel room and drug himself into the shower, he had come to terms with the fact that ever since he left Arlo's hotel room the night before, he hadn't been able to breath properly.

He felt the same as he had only days after the breakup- like he was constantly trying to catch his breath because the thoughts of her knocked the wind out of his lungs. In the past, he'd cured the uncomfortable sensation with a few white lines and a girl or three, but he didn't want to anymore.

Even if Arlo was his greatest downfall, he knew she was also his antidote.

In a frustrated haze, Luke mumbles a "fuck it" under his breath and haphazardly slides on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. In mere seconds, he finds himself in front of Arlo's door, his hands shaking with anticipation. He knocks once, refusing to breathe until she finally puts him out of his misery and opens the door.

She does.

"Luke?"

Luke's stomach drops in the way it always does at the sight of her. She stands in the doorway with slightly damp hair and a fresh face, an oversized t-shirt being the only thing on her body. To make her look even more tempting to his eyes, the shirt on her body was one of his- the same one that she'd claimed as her own while they were dating.

His eyes dart nervously around the hotel hallway, checking for any bystanders. "Can I sleep here?" Luke asks, watching as her eyes go wide in surprise. "I don't trust myself being alone right now." He admits vulnerably.

Arlo swallows thickly, a million different conclusions going through her mind as to what he could mean- as to what this could mean for them. She steps aside, allowing him to walk in the door before shutting it behind him.

"You're wearing my shirt." Luke says suddenly, catching her attention. His blue eyes are dragging over her body torturously slow, making her head spin.

Arlo looks down at the fabric covering her chest, her fingertips toying with the material unconsciously. "Sorry." She apologizes with a wince. "I didn't realize I had it until-"

Luke shakes his head, ignoring the way his chest feels tight at the feeling of standing in her hotel room while she looks so utterly tempting. "I wouldn't have wanted it back. You always wore it better."

Her heart skips a million beats at his words, her cheeks flushing before she can help it. Although, the blond doesn't give her a moment to collect herself before he's walking past her, helping himself to snuggling into her bed.

The sight of Luke and his wild curls tucked so innocently into her bed was enough for Arlo's stomach to twist. She was well aware that if she hadn't been so weak that she'd have been going home to the sight before her every night.

Instead of dwelling on that, Arlo merely focuses on steadying her breathing as she slides into bed next to him, leaving a good foot of space in between them. Luke reaches for the small lamp on the bedside table, turning it off and leaving them only illuminated by moonlight.

They lay on their sides facing each other, the silhouette of their bodies barely visible to one another in the dim lighting of the room. His cologne fills her senses and the feeling of her body so close but so far from his own nearly drives him mad.

Arlo doesn't know how long they lay in silence, silently looking at each other as if they were both trying to find things that had changed since the last time they laid together. That is, until Luke breaks the silence.

"Did you really fuck him?" Luke's voice wavers with vulnerability. "That night in New York when I walked into that bathroom is that really what I saw?"

Arlo's breath hitches, but there's no escape from the situation as his blue eyes stare intently into her own, begging for answers.

She can't lie to him any longer.

"I didn't." Arlo admits, causing Luke to inhale sharply, his eyes momentarily pinching shut.

Luke takes his bottom lip nervously between his teeth. "Did you kiss him?"

Arlo swallows thickly, in shock that she's truly about to admit her deepest secrets "I didn't."

It feels like the walls of the room are shrinking as Luke's lips part, his breath fanning over her face as his chest heaves at the realization. "So you never fucking cheated on me?" He doesn't wait for her response, his frustration making him too impatient. "Why the fuck would you let me think that?"

Arlo winces at his sharp tone, willing herself to keep tears from stinging her eyes. "I couldn't be with you anymore, but I knew I couldn't just walk away. I wasn't enough for you, it wasn't anything you did. It was me." She admits.

Luke's mind is reeling, causing him to feel dizzy as a million different thoughts and emotions swirl through his lethargic brain. "Who made you feel like you weren't enough because I sure as hell-"

"Me." Arlo lies through her teeth, keeping the secret of James tucked far away in the back of her mind. If Luke knew what really happened he would raise hell and the last thing the band needed was to leave their label when they were just about to release an album.

Even if she'd only reconnected with the band recently after three years of near radio silence, Arlo still loved each and every one of them- especially the blonde lying next to her.

As her words sink in, Luke's bottom lip trembles, causing him to take the flesh in-between his teeth, biting down until he's sure a metallic taste is about to fill his mouth. He can't help but think that the last three years spent wallowing in his heartbreak were all for nothing. Why had they broken up in the first place? If all Arlo needed was space to feel independent, why was she allowing him to be in her bad now?

"Did you mean what you said? That you regret breaking my heart?" Luke asks, his heart that had been lying dormant in his chest suddenly raw and bleeding for her all over again. His resolve was rapidly breaking and he didn't know how much longer he could pretend like he didn't miss her more than his lungs missed air when his body was submerged underwater.

Arlo's eyes flutter shut as a wave of pain radiates through her chest, doing her best not to let it show when he was mere inches away from her and could perfectly read her futures. "It's the biggest regret of my life."

Luke's chest expands as he takes a deep breath, a million different emotions flooding his system that he hadn't felt in years. He'd spent so long shutting out his feelings and forcing himself to be numb to the world around him and suddenly he felt everything.

It fucking hurt, but he was also simultaneously being healed.

"Did you mean what you said?" Arlo asks, her vulnerability shining clear as day in her brown eyes. "When you said that I'm only good for writing hits?"

Luke's chest aches at the way her tone wavers and at the reminder of what he'd said to her, he feels sick to his stomach. If he was being honest, he didn't know what to say. The truth was that she hurt him and he found her doing what he thought was fucking the same guy she cheated on him with in his bathroom and he wanted to hurt her too.

He stays silent, instead boldly reaching out for her. Arlo's breath catches in her throat as his strong arms pull her to his chest and his leg tangles between her own, pulling her impossibly close as she rests her head on his strong chest.

Luke didn't want to hurt her anymore. He just didn't want to feel guilty for still loving her.

"No." He whispers, his lips ever so gently placing a kiss on the top of her head as she melts into his chest, still perfectly slotting against his body like she was made for him. "You're so, so much more, Lo."