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A/N: I wrote this for the TLC Mini Shipweeks! The theme for day one was "Fall."

The first thing that came to mind was the season, so I decided to write something similar to that! Also, there were no specified ships that were required to write for the shipweeks so please don't hate!

Enjoy all Lunartics!

(This is an AU)

~)0(~

Carswell Thorne climbed the extra-large cedar tree, hoping to reach the top and complete the dare his friends had forced him into. Luckily, he wasn't scared of heights, he was scared of falling, which made him hesitantly climb the tree, surely and steadily.

Soon, the strong branches started to bend under his weight. His heart slightly sped up yet he still ascended. Today, he would not back down.

He looked out and saw the ground from an aerial view. The rest of the park's trees were not as tall as the cedar, so he could clearly see the gorgeous gold and brown decaying leaves.

"Hey guys!" He called down, "you should see this!"

He listened carefully but heard no reply. He looked down and saw that there was no one there, even everybody else who he didn't know had left. Then again, the sun was just going down and the sky gradually got darker by the moment. They abandoned him and he didn't realize it!

Aw, crud, he thought, and moved his foot down.

As soon as it hit the flimsy branch, he heard a snap and froze in his tracks. The branch below him snapped and fell to the ground. His foot jerked back up to the branch he was on. The next branch was thinner from the last, and at least 10 feet down. There was no way he could leave the branch he was propped up on.

Guess I'm not going anywhere.

Instinctively, he reached for his phone and remembered he left it with one of his friends in case it would've fallen and broken from the drop.

Silently cursing, Thorne made himself comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you could get with a rapidly dropping temperature and hanging in an unstable tree, that is.

It was and agonizingly long hour. He simply waited and shivered from the plunging temperatures, giving up hope that his friends would ever come back.

When he thought no one could come until the next day, footsteps rang loud and clear through the silent park

"Hey!" He shouted to the figure.

The footsteps hesitated. "Hello?" Came a rough feminine voice.

"I'm in the cedar!"

A bright light from a phone's greeted him harshly. He squinted his eyes and waved, his ego bruised.

"Who are you? Why are you up there?" She questioned. Thorne couldn't help but blush a little bit.

"My name's Thorne. My friends dared me to climb to the top, except they left me behind. Now I'm stuck." His blush deepened when he realized how silly his situation was.

"Hold on, I might have something to get you down. I'll be back." With that, she scurried off.

She did come back later with her flashlight, except this time she had something draped herself across her shoulder.

"I found a rope. I'll come up a little bit and throw it up. Get ready to catch it."

"Gotcha," he said, thankful she was in the park this late at night.

He was tying a tight knot on the branch he was perched on ten minutes later, and slowly slid down, reaching the ground much easier than climbing down would've been.

"I can't thank you enough. What's your name?" He asked her.

"Selene, but everyone calls me Cinder."

"Carswell Thorne, but everybody calls me Thorne. That's a really cool name, Cinder," Thorne said genuinely, winking. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah. I needed some fresh air after working all day," she said. "I work with cars. It's a family business."

"I've never met a girl mechanic. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and shook hers.

"I get that a lot. Do you need a ride home? My truck's in the parking lot. That's where I found the rope. I use it to tie heavy cargo down."

"Cinder, if you drove me home I promise I will owe you forever." His tone was extremely light, but his stare was serious.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Where do you live?"

He told her the location. It wasn't too long of a drive, luckily.

The pick-up truck was extremely old and the muffler was wearing out, but it was faster than walking, so he was thankful for that.

"You seem pretty cool. I'd like to be your friend, Cinder," Thorne said blunt as could be.

"Um," she paused, "I don't have too many friends. Sure, I mean my stepsister is always nagging me to get new friends." She grinned a small smile.

He smiled back. "It's a deal."