We Are Broken

It was one of those days. Gloomy skies, pouring rain, and icy air that made your ears hurt. Luce thought this morning could not get any worse. Until she saw him running towards her. Before she could react, he grabbed her umbrella.

"Thanks! I'll give it back later!" He yelled as he ran towards the university library without looking back.

"Hey! I need that!" Luce said, running after him.

"Don't forget. You owe me," He said, turning back to glare at her once before he ran faster. Too fast for her to catch up.

Luce gave up on chasing him and seeked shelter under a nearby building's awning. Shivering and wringing water out of her wet hoodie, she thought about what he said. "You owe me." His words made her remember the day when they first met, only around two weeks ago.

The weather was also terrible that day. Dark and menacing clouds swirled and raced across the sky. It was very windy and cold by the time Luce got out of her last class that evening. She was walking towards her dorm, lost in thought, worrying about the test she just took. The wind was howling as if wailing ghosts were flying overhead, but she barely noticed. She let it push her forward as she tried to remember certain questions on the test that she might have answered wrong. Luce vaguely heard a male voice yelling at her. She ignored him. But then a loud, strange cracking sound in the sky finally got her attention. Luce looked up.

She knew it was already too late as she helplessly watched the huge tree branch falling towards her. Suddenly somebody grabbed her, both of them falling and then rolling away from the tree. It happened so fast. A second later, the branch smashed to the ground, missing them by inches. Luce stared at the broken mess of leaves and splintered wood in horror. Breathing hard and shaking, she held on tighter to the guy that was still holding her in his strong arms.

"Thank you! Oh my God... Thank you!" Luce said, hugging him.

He held her tighter for a moment, but then quickly let her go and stood up. Luce studied him silently as he brushed off the dirt and leaves from his grey t-shirt and dark jeans. Her hero was tall, had sexy long (to his chin), dark brown (almost black) hair, deep green eyes, an angular face, and sharp features. He was gorgeous. And now he was looking at her. Luce quickly looked down, avoiding eye contact. Her face was hot. She was about to ask him what his name was when she noticed a large cut on his right arm.

"You're bleeding! Are you okay?" Luce said. She looked back at the dirt path they were on and noticed some sharp rocks. She was okay because she had a thick coat on, but his arms were bare.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," He flatly said, as if he was not in pain at all. And he did not seem cold either.

"You got hurt because of me. I'm sorry! Let me take you to the health center," She said.

"I don't need your help, Luce!" He said, holding onto his wounded arm with his other hand. "Just be careful out here. You can't die so easily, you know."

"How...do you know my name? Do I know you?" Luce asked.

He laughed bitterly and turned to walk away, shaking his head. She thought she heard him swore and then mutter "I can't do this again."

"Wait, what's your name?" Luce shouted.

He kept walking. Luce stood there, completely confused and still in shock. What the hell just happened? Finally, he turned around and gave her a wicked smile.

"I'm Cam. And I just saved your life. You owe me."

...

...

Luce stared at the couple sitting a few rows in front of her. The girl was leaning on the guy's shoulder as the room darkened and the documentary started. She sighed, wishing Daniel was here. It would not exactly be romantic, since this was a lecture hall and not a movie theater. And her anthropology class was watching a documentary about paganism, not a topic that made her want to cuddle. But she liked having Daniel beside her, even if she was not doing anything special. Just thinking about him made her smile. Her phone vibrated and she immediately checked it, hoping he just texted her. It was a text, but not from her boyfriend. It was from her other "bf", her best friend, Aubrey.

Aubrey: My life sucks. I hate everything.

Luce: Lol. That's what you say everyday.

Aubrey: Because it's true.

Luce: At least you don't have to worry about a bully making your life miserable. AND he lives in the same dorm as I do! It's been one month of this...calling me names, "borrowing" my stuff or money, pranking me, making me get coffee or lunch for him.

Aubrey: Oh...right. Cam. He's hot.

Luce: I don't care if he is, he's a jerk!

Aubrey: Why do you let him push you around? I mean, even if he did save your life...

Luce: Well...I'm not sure. He is a total creep and seems to enjoy being mean to me. But...I do owe him. I dunno. I've had plenty of experience dealing with bullies and he's not that bad, actually. He will get bored with me and move on. And I have a hard time saying no to him... NOT because he's good-looking. I don't know...It's hard to explain...

Aubrey: Hmm. I get it... Honestly, I wouldn't mind being bullied by him. Lol. It almost seems like he's teasing you because he likes you. Some guys do that, you know. It's stupid, but they do it to get your attention.

Luce: No way. We hate each other. That's all. Anyway, I'm already taken.

Aubrey: Yes, everyone knows Daniel is THE ONE for you. You guys make me sick. One of those PERFECT couples everyone hates. But seriously, why don't you tell Daniel about Cam already? Maybe he can get him to stop bothering you.

Luce: Umm...no, I'm sure they'll get in a fight. That would be bad. You know how Daniel gets jealous easily and is very protective of me. I can deal with Cam on my own. Don't worry...

Someone suddenly grabbed the phone from Luce and she looked up to see that it was Cam. Of course it was. He often showed up randomly to ruin her day. And he was already reading her and Aubrey's text conversation. Luce desperately tried to retrieve her phone, but he kept pushing her away and she did not want to make a scene right in the middle of the lecture hall.

"Cam. Give me back my phone!" She whispered.

"You think I'm hot," He glanced at her and smiled in that arrogant way that he knew she hated.

"I never said that! That was Aubrey."

"But you did say I was good-looking."

"Fine, you're a hottie, whatever. But I still hate you."

"That's ok, because I feel the exact same way about you."

Luce stared at him for a moment. Wait, did he mean he hated her too, or that he hated her AND he thought she was hot? Cam's expression was blank as he said it. He casually dropped her phone into her lap and got up to leave. He was in this class, but he almost never showed up. Today, it seemed like he came just to spy on her and be mean to her. Just like always. Well, she was sick of it.

"Hey!" Luce said a little too loudly, but he kept walking towards the door.

She ignored her professor and her classmates' disapproving looks and grabbed her backpack and ran after him. Cam was already on the tree-lined path that lead away from the building when Luce ran down the stairs. She yelled again to get his attention and he finally stopped and turned around. He seemed surprised and amused that she followed him outside.

"I've had enough. So what if you saved me? That doesn't give you the right to invade my privacy, to order me around, to steal my things! What is wrong with you? Seriously! I've put up with a lot of your crap because I was...I must have been scared of you. But enough is enough. I didn't do anything wrong. I don't deserve this! So...just leave me alone, or else I'll tell my boyfriend everything and...and I'll ask the faculty for help if necessary," She said.

Luce was proud of herself for standing up to him. He looked stunned and was speechless as he slowly walked towards her. Her heart was beating so fast. Now he just stared at her intently. She wondered if this was a good idea. It wasn't like her to be so spontaneous and outspoken, but she just couldn't take it anymore.

Cam's hand reached towards her shoulder but stopped abruptly when she flinched away. He withdrew his hand and looked upset. But he quickly regained his composure and offered her a friendly smile.

"Whoa. Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. I would never... I'm sorry. I was just messing with you. But I realize I've gone too far today. I have been taking advantage of you. Please don't freak out and tell your boyfriend or anyone. I don't want to get in trouble. And like you said, you don't want your boyfriend to beat me up and get in trouble too, right?"

"Okay...I won't tell anyone if you promise to leave me alone from now on."

"I promise. You don't owe me anything. We can go back to being strangers, Luce. Would that make you happy?"

"Very much," She tried to say with certainty, though she was not sure that was what she wanted.

"Great. I would love that, too." Cam said coldly. "Goodbye, Lucinda." He turned around and walked away. Only his balled up fists betrayed his cool exterior, but even that for just a moment. He quickly shoved his hands inside his jeans and started humming to himself.

"Goodbye..." Luce said quietly, too late, after he was too far away to hear.

Luce sighed. Why did she feel bad? She was the victim. Yet she somehow sensed that he was not really a bad guy. She should be relieved, but the sad look in his eyes when she moved away from him made her almost feel guilty. And Luce had secretly hoped they could eventually be friends. That was the main reason she put up with all the things he did. Deep down, she felt like they should be friends...that they had been friends before, maybe in another life.


I'm so happy to get back to writing after so long! Reading about 50 Shades of Grey in the news (got me thinking about fanfiction), Camp Nanowrimo that's coming up in April (participating for the 1st time ever!), and finding out that Lauren Kate is writing a new book for Cam that will be released later this year (Unforgiven will be on sale in November!)...all these things made me want to write a new fanfic for Cam and Luce. Also, I said I would write one when I get inspired and have good ideas, and I've got a ton recently!

Also, I'm excited because this will be my first long Fallen fanfiction. I'm not sure how many chapters it will have yet. But I'm sure it'll be longer than all my previous Fallen fics. Also, it's mainly Cam/Luce, but there will be Daniel/Luce moments, too. Which is tough for me, because i usually only write for just 2 people in most of my fics. but i want to make it more balanced and be a real love triangle, so...

But I have read very little of the book Writing Fiction for Dummies that I mentioned last year. =( I am reading a little everyday now, though. Hopefully by the time Camp Nanowrimo starts, I can improve my writing skills somewhat.

I have all these bits and pieces of ideas for scenes, but I don't want to spend too much time writing this fic. Lol. I also don't want you all to have to wait forever for me to figure out the story and then write and edit and rewrite. I hope you don't mind if I just write a lot of kind of drabbles. It will be in fragments, but they will connect and make sense. You just don't get all the details of why things happened, sometimes.

I will try to write around 1 hour each day. And I will try to only go over it once real quick to check for spelling errors or maybe rewrite some of it. I will try to post up a new chapter each week, with maybe 1-3 scenes each. I'm not sure yet. But I want each chapter to feel like a chapter. Not too short, not too long.

By the way, in my mind, Cam looks and acts like Caleb Rivers (Pretty Little Liars TV character). Tyler Blackburn. I loveee him. and Luce looks like Kaya Scodelario. She's always been a fan favorite for Luce. Daniel will be like Jeremy Irvine. xD

I HOPE YOU LIKE MY STORY! =) If you do, please FAVORITE / REVIEW / FOLLOW! It might help me write faster and more!

(Oh, the title of the story, I got from a Paramore song. There are many songs [not necessarily by Paramore] that remind me of Cam/Luce's or Daniel/Luce's relationship. I made a Spotify playlist from these songs and often listen to them when I'm writing. If you have Spotify, just search for "fallen" and it should show up! i'm kateeeee24twilight there.)