For the rest of the day, John, the band and I were just coming up with ideas for songs and noting them down. Luke and I seemed to be on good terms, as did Luke and Michael, so I assumed Luke still knew nothing about Michael walking in on me. We finished working at around 5:30 just as it was beginning to get dark. John had gone into the small town to meet with a couple of friends or something, while the rest of us sat on the beach, chatting as the sun was setting. The wind had completely died down and although it wasn't particularly warm, all of us were happy to stay outside.

While the boys were talking non-stop, I sat quietly, watching the beautiful oranges and reds seep across the sky, reflected in the ocean stretching out before us. Gradually, the sun began to dip below the horizon until it had completely vanished leaving only a trail of colors behind. I sighed to myself, closing my eyes and letting the sounds and smells wash over me, feeling completely content.

"Hey Noelle?" came Luke's voice suddenly, right by my ear, and I jumped, my eyes snapping open.

"What?" I said, turning my head only to find his face inches from mine. I cleared my throat, my eyes flickering to Calum, Ashton and Michael sat on the other side of him. All of a sudden, Michael looked up at us, his gaze meeting mine, and some emotion flashed across his face before he looked away with a blank expression. If I didn't know any better I would have said it looked like he was jealous. But that was stupid. I turned my attention back to Luke, and said before he could continue, "You know, you might want to cut down on the flirty stuff in front of the rest of the band."

Luke raised an eyebrow innocently, moving back a little to look at me. "What flirty stuff?"

I gave him a look. "Oh, maybe just everything you say? That flirty stuff."

He moved back further, not saying anything but just watching me slightly curiously. Finally he looked away towards the sea and said, "Uh, okay."

I blinked. Now I felt as if I had offended him in some way. I didn't say anything else, and neither did he. He watched the ocean while I watched him. After a while, Luke said quietly, "Noelle, you're doing the weird staring thing again."

A laugh slipped past my lips and I pushed him, happy we were still okay. He exaggerated the fall and fell onto Ashton, who fell onto Michael, who began to fall onto Calum, who groaned and moved out the way so Michael fell onto sand.

"Now I've got fucking sand in my hair," Michael complained, and we all laughed. "Oh, you're all laughing, but how would you like it if I put sand in your hair?" He scooped up a handful of sand and we all got up very quickly.

"Don't even think about it," Calum warned, and Ashton and Luke both picked up some sand as well, ready to retaliate. Michael's eyes landed on me.

"No, Michael, don't, I swear to–" I began to back away but Michael was faster. Sand was suddenly in my hair and Michael was laughing. I gasped and glared at him.

"Michael!" I shook my hair, trying to get some of the sand out. "You're such a–"

"Amazing person? I know," he finished.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure, because that was what I was about to say."

"I would hope so."

I shook my head slightly, my gaze turning to Luke, whose eyes were flickering between Michael and me. I smiled slightly at him, and then laughed as Ashton picked up Calum in a fireman's lift, running around with him.

The rest of the evening passed in a similar way with the boys playing jokes not just on each other but on me too. We stayed out on the beach until it was extremely dark and John arrived back telling us to get our butts inside if we didn't want to freeze. We all traipsed back into the house, saying goodnight and going into our separate rooms. I changed into my oversized t-shirt and put some joggers on underneath before quickly going into the bathroom to clean my teeth and take off any makeup I'd been wearing, which wasn't much. I made my way back to my room and shut the door behind me, sliding under the covers and pulling them right up to my chin. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but even though it was almost one in the morning, I wasn't tired. I tossed and turned, trying to get comfy, but it was no use. I couldn't get to sleep. I groaned quietly and sat up, running my hands through my hair and glancing at the time. It was now quarter to two. I sighed and glanced at the door, considering something in my head. Finally I made up my mind and got out of bed, tiptoeing towards the door. I placed my hand on the handle, breathed out slowly, and then exited my room.

The hall was empty, and all the doors were shut. John was sleeping in a downstairs bedroom since he thought we'd all be making loads of noise, which didn't seem to be the case tonight. My eyes went to Luke's door, and I felt my heart speed up slightly. I didn't even know why I was nervous. This was Luke. I shouldn't be nervous.

Slowly, I went to his door and opened it slightly, peering my head through. Luke was awake, lying on his back and tapping on his phone. He looked up and a small smile crept onto his face.

"Hey," he whispered, putting his phone down on the nightstand and moving over so as to make room for me. I quietly shut the door behind me and slowly walked over, getting under the covers and keeping my eyes on Luke all the time. Once I was comfy, we both just lay there, looking at each other, not saying anything. Our breathing was shallow, and the only sound in the room. Finally Luke spoke.

"Couldn't sleep?" His gaze danced over my face as he shifted forwards slightly, our faces now closer together. I shook my head, still not taking my eyes off his. "Me neither."

It was quiet again, which wasn't good because I would probably start talking shit and ruin the moment, especially at this time of night – I tended to get way too open.

"Hey Luke?" I breathed without even thinking. Here we go.

"Yeah."

"You're..." I slowly exhaled. "You're an amazing person."

An almost shy grin appeared on his face. "I'm not that great."

"You are," I stated, moving even closer. Our foreheads were now touching. "I'm so glad I met you."

Luke tilted his head so his lips brushed over mine. "Noelle," he sighed, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come into my life like a fucking wrecking ball."

I started laughing quietly, and soon Luke was laughing too. After a while the laughter faded and the quiet took over again. I swallowed as Luke and I continued to look at each other, before turning over onto my back and facing the ceiling.

"Noelle," Luke said. "Are you... okay with all this?"

I frowned slightly but continued to look above me rather than at Luke. "What do you mean by 'all this'?"

Slowly I felt Luke's fingers brush mine underneath the covers before they took hold of my hand. "I don't just mean the whole fame thing. I mean, the stuff with Norman and shit. What he did was a dick move and... I don't know, I'm worried that you'll find it harder to trust easily after him."

I bit my lip and didn't answer for a while. "I don't know. Maybe with anyone else, yeah, I would find it difficult. But..." I turned over to see Luke still staring at me. "But that's not how I feel right now, with you. And to be honest, I'm not really sure why." He didn't say anything but his grip on my hand tightened. "Just..." I breathed out slowly. "Just don't leave me, please."

Luke nodded and leaned forward, brushing his lips against my forehead. "I won't," he whispered, his breath stirring my hair, before moving back slightly and resting his forehead against mine.

There was a sort of nervous apprehension in the air, both of us slightly afraid to do anything that would cause any problems, or maybe both of us were just scared to open up to each other. But this was Luke, my best friend, the person I was falling for way too fast, and I could be with him the way I wanted to. I shouldn't be scared. I had said to Luke that I didn't feel as though I couldn't trust him, but still what Nathan did lurked in the back of my mind, reminding me of what could happen. But Nathan had nothing to do with this, and Luke said he wouldn't leave me. This was my choice.

I moved closer and pressed my lips to his, feeling every bit as affected by this kiss as I did with our first. Luke placed his hands on my hips and rolled onto his back, pulling me with him. With my legs either side of his waist, I leaned down and we were kissing again. What had started out slow and gentle had turned heated and fierce.

Luke's hands slid up my waist, causing my top to ride up. I felt his touch keep moving up, under my shirt and up to my ribs. I pulled away and took hold of the bottom of his t-shirt, beginning to pull it up. Luke sat up with me still straddling him and suddenly his shirt was on the floor.

His lips went to my neck, kissing it and leaving hickeys there no doubt, but right now I didn't really care. To my embarrassment a small moan escaped my lips, and Luke chuckled slightly, his hot breath hitting my skin.

"Ssh, Noelle," he murmured into my neck, "Don't want to be waking up the others."

"Fuck you, Luke Hemmings," I breathed, pulling his face back to mine.

Luke's hands took hold of my shirt and inched it up my torso, and I didn't hesitate to break off the kiss and pull my top over my head, leaving me completely bare on my top half. His eyes roamed my body only for a second before focusing back on mine.

"You're beautiful," Luke whispered, and we were kissing again. We were a storm of hands and lips and tongues and we couldn't get enough of each other, and although we were being far from gentle with each other, we weren't rushing. Luke suddenly rolled us over and placed his hands on either side of my head, just looking at me. Keeping his eyes on mine, he pressed a hot kiss to my chest, and I shivered. Moving further down, the next kiss went on my stomach, just below my breasts. I involuntarily arched my back slightly. He pressed his lips on my skin just above my bellybutton, and then to just above my hips. I breathed out shakily. Luke lifted his head slightly, watching me, then murmuring, "You okay?"

I nodded, and with that bit of encouragement, Luke swiftly pulled off my joggers. Each next item of clothing came off agonizingly slowly, and it was a while before we were both at our most vulnerable, and it was a while before we'd both fallen apart in each other's arms. Sleep came quickly for both of us, it seemed, and I drifted off in Luke's arms, a smile on my face.

***

I woke up with a start. It was still dark outside, and when I checked the clock, it said four-fifty in the morning. I closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but after a whole lot of tossing and turning I realized it just wasn't going to happen. After a while I slowly got out of bed, making sure not to wake Luke. I slipped back on my joggers and t-shirt before tiptoeing out of the room, grabbing my phone on the way.

I slowly made my way downstairs, slipping outside into the cold night air. I turned my phone on and held it up above my head, hoping for just one bar. I had been enjoying this whole no service thing, but I also wanted to talk to my friends.

I wandered a bit, waving my phone around until finally, one bar of signal appeared. As soon as it appeared, texts began to come through. Most were from George, Jess, my dad... I paused at one text. It was from Nathan. It read, 'Noelle, I'm sorry for what happened that night. You didn't deserve that, and I shouldn't have punched Luke. I wanted to let you know I've ended things with Isobel, because I still love you. I'll never be able to apologize enough for everything I did, but I would be so grateful if we could talk. Lots of love, Nathan xx'.

The audacity.

I rolled my eyes and deleted the text. We were not going to be talking.

"Noelle?"

I spun around to see Michael ambling towards me, the arms of his sweater pulled over his hands. "Hey. What are you doing out here?"

"Could ask you the same thing," he said pointedly. "You find service or something?"

I nodded. "Sure did. Almost wish I hadn't." I hadn't really meant to say that bit out loud, but it just came out. Michael frowned.

"How come?"

I shrugged. "Kind of a long story. Just saw a text from my ex-boyfriend that I didn't feel the need to see."

"The one Luke punched?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"That's the one." I grinned a little sheepishly. Michael smiled slightly but didn't say anything else as he looked out at the sea. I thought for a moment before speaking again. "Hey, Michael? Are you, uh... okay?"

He gave me a look. "Yeah, I'm okay. Are you okay?" He nudged me. I elbowed him back.

"Course I'm okay." I bit my lip. "Are we okay?"

Michael exhaled slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, we're okay."

I smiled and gave his arm a squeeze. We both just stood there, quietly, watching the very beginnings of the sunrise. It was a peaceful moment.