Lukas stared at the pictures on his phone, and Natalia seemed to stare back up at him. He looked through them with a flick of his finger, confused. She must have taken these for somebody else, and sent them to him on accident. Just the thought of it made him clench his jaw and grit his teeth.

Or maybe they were meant for him. Maybe Natalia wanted to see him.

Lukas blinked and typed in Natalia's number by memory. He took a deep breath through his nose, pausing over the call button. He needed to slow down. Listening to his body and not thinking had gotten him into this whole mess. Was he able to hurt Brigitte like he hurt Natalia? ... Did she matter?

Of course she did. Lukas sighed and dropped his head into his hand. He remembered the hurt in Natalia's eyes when he told her about Brigitte. She hadn't looked angry, acted yes, but the look in her face was only pain. No matter how trivial his feelings for Brigitte were, he didn't want to hurt her like that.

But, it wouldn't be too bad to talk.

Lukas pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear, waiting patiently for Natalia to pick up. As the rings continued he started to tap his foot, then bounce his knee. She still did not pick up, and the call went to voicemail.

"Shit." Lukas muttered, quickly sending a text to Natalia. Asking her to meet him in twenty minutes at the park they first met at. He slipped the phone into his pocket, and got up off the bed. He limped to the door and down the stairs, only slipping twice and making it downstairs with relative ease. Nevertheless he was tired when he made it to the kitchen, and fell into a chair at the table.

Tino didn't look away from his cooking, "What were you up to?"

Lukas stared outside, "Can you drive me somewhere?"

Tino turned and studied Lukas. The man's slumped back and tired frown worried him, "Where?"

"Just to the park..." He glanced up at Tino, mentally debating how much he should give away. He could trust that Tino would keep his secret. But he couldn't trust that Tino wouldn't try to meddle and bother him about it, "I have to meet someone."

"Who?" Tino crossed his arms, and looked at Lukas with the same look he gave Peter when he was being lied to.

Lukas rolled his eyes, "A girl."

"Brigitte? Why can't she come pick you up? I know that your precious pride was hurt because you had to go to the ho-…"

"Tino." Lukas interrupted, looking Tino in the eye until the man made a face of understanding. He nodded at his friend's shocked expression.

Tino glanced at the yellow tile beneath his feet, while Lukas continued to stare at him. He shook his head, "Fine, but I'm not sure just what you're up to." Lukas followed him outside. Tino didn't need to know what Lukas was up to. No one did, for a long time.

Lukas sat on a bench in the park, looking down at his broken foot. It was especially cold and still slightly damp from the snow. It didn't hurt as much though, possibly from the cold. More likely the painkillers though.

Time dragged on, and snow started to fall from the grey clouds yet again. Lukas watched it, letting the breeze and silence calm his nerves. His stress seemed to be dampened by the snow as the world around him was. It was extremely peaceful, and he closed his eyes as he waited.

The squeak of snow being stepped on brought him back to reality. He looked around for Natalia, only finding a young couple waking past and holding hands. Lukas watched them, and worry started to creep into his mind. She hadn't picked up his call. Why would she come and meet him somewhere? A quick check of the time told him it had been nearly thirty minutes already.

Lukas continued to watch the snowfall to earth. He would wait for her. There was no other option. Obviously. But he doubted her, as he had doubted her before. He had learned that anything that had to do with hope and Natalia usually ended in disappointment.

The snow continued to fall, and the sky got darker. Lukas hummed to himself, and allowed himself another peek at the pictures she had sent him. The cold started to creep into his jacket, and he fidgeted around. He played games on his phone, checked the news.

Still, she did not come.

Lukas sat in the dark now, dusted with snow and sniffling from the cold. He got up with a groan, cracking his stiff bones, and started to walk out of the park. He made his way to the street slowly due to his injury, although he wished desperately to run to his destination. Since it was only across the street.

In front of the apartment building, he pulled out his keys and picked out the one to fit the front door. Natalia had never asked for it back. Lukas opted to use the elevator instead of the stairs like he used to, on the ride up he thought of what he should say. And came up blank.

Lukas knocked on the door softly, something inside him maybe hoping that she wouldn't open the door. He shoved it aside whatever it was, and took a deep breath. He knocked louder this time.

Natalia opened the door and gasped, her arm twitching as if to shut it again. Lukas jerked out and held it open. They stared at each other, still and silent. Natalia opened her mouth to speak, but ended up closing it and looking away. She opened the door wider and let Lukas step inside.

He closed the door behind him, never looking away from her with his unchanging eyes. Natalia refused to look at him, instead opting to stare at his foot, "What happened?"

"There was an accident. It's not too bad." He cleared his throat, "Natalia…"

"Well obviously it was bad. What happened?" She pressed, concern leaking into her tone.

Lukas tore his eyes away from her and looked at his foot, growing frustrated, "It doesn't matter, Nat. Now listen-…"

"No! Tell me why you're hurt!" She shouted, pointing sternly at his chest, "You always do this! It matters! Okay? It matters to me! I need to know what hurt you! I need to know you!"

"I always do this?!" Lukas couldn't help but raise his voice with her, "How is it me?! You didn't tell me anything about yourself either!"

"Then why are you so hung up on me?" Natalia snapped.

Lukas didn't have a response to that, only a feeble, "'M not…" Wasn't she the one to send him naked pictures? What was happening?

Natalia rolled her eyes, "And your stupid 'Everybody has a past, all that matters is the present' is fucking ridiculous. Just like you. Ridiculous." She scoffed, "You know what. Just go. I don't want to see your face anymore." Natalia turned away. Lukas watched her pale hair dance.

He huffed and pulled her to face him again, kissing her gently on the lips, "Bye, Snowflake." He turned on his heels and hurried out as fast as he could, not waiting to see her reaction.

Outside of the building he stopped and pulled out his phone to call Tino. Licking his lips and tasting strawberries on them. It made his stomach growl from hunger and something else inside him want more. He closed his eyes and listened to the rings on his phone.

'Guess old habits die hard…'

AN/ It's super quiet in my house and I have to wait for the heater to turn on to actually type. I guess that's what I get. Anyways, this one was kinda fast, but I had the idea all worked out. See any problems just tell me it's late and I probably missed a few. Enjoy stubborn/humbled Lukas and not-putting-up-with-your-shit-Natalia.