cardigan, a. butler

fifty

fifty, how it all began

just like sierra had said, she had arrived back to los angeles on the 16th and she was now sat across from elsie as they ordered their coffees.

"will that be all?" the waiter asked, glancing from the two singers.

"that'll be all for now." sierra smiled before the waiter left, leaving the two alone to talk.

"i'm glad we're doing this, elsie. it feels nice to see you in person." sierra admitted with a smile.

"i feel the same way." elsie smiled softly.

"now that we're sitting in front of each other, i want to apologize about what happened in person. you did not deserve all the hate you received when you had no involvement in our relationship and breakup. i wanted more than anything to clear the rumors but my management wouldn't let me. i truly am sorry about what happened, elsie." sierra apologized and elsie could tell she was being genuine.

"i forgive you, sierra. it wasn't your fault that i received hate and i know that. i just wish the media didn't immediately think i had anything to do with it just because we ran into each other at target." elsie shrugged with a small frown.

"it seems like we both got a bit of hate while luke walked out unscathed. people were claiming that i was using luke to further my career but in reality, it was luke who was using me."

"i can't believe how quickly the media turns on women when a man is involved. it's truly sickening."

"tell me about it. i was absolutely disgusted when i read the awful things they were saying about you. how can luke get away with what he did?" sierra asked.

"because he's a man. the media tends to choose the man's side in every situation but if they knew what happened behind closed doors, they would switch sides quickly." elsie shrugged, remembering how badly luke had hurt her.

"luke never told me how you two ended. just that you had different ideas for your future."

"that's one of the reasons, yeah. but there was way more to it."

"you don't have to go into detail if you don't want to. i understand that it may still be a sensitive topic for you to talk about." sierra reassured her causing elsie to smile.

"i honestly don't mind talking about it. now that i've moved on and that i had time to heal, the entire thing doesn't bother me anymore." elsie reassured her.

"i met luke when i was only 14. from the get go, i was completely infatuated with him when we first met. and according to calum, so was he. we soon started dating after that and it was like a new kind of high for me. i had never dated at that time and being with someone who was in a band made me feel euphoric in a way.

i had started modeling around the age of 12 and i wanted to pursue acting for awhile at the time and luke was the one who encouraged me to do it. i, of course, started small with cameos in disney channel before i landed my first major role in the walking dead.

from there, my career had skyrocketed and i could tell luke was jealous. him and the boys were popular but not as popular as they wanted to be. he was envious of my success and everyone around me noticed it.

hell, calum was the one who told me how insecure and envious luke was feeling, so i had to compensate for luke and not talk about my roles.

it all started going downhill when i landed the role of selina maximoff in the marvel universe and the role of aubrey henderson in stranger things.

by this time, i had become on the radar and i got really popular. despite me being excited about my newfound fame and success, i could see how miserable luke was.

he was embarrassed to have a girlfriend more successful than him. which is why he didn't ask me to go on tour with him and the boys when the time came.

obviously, i was hurt that he didn't want me to go on tour with them but zayn and harry had invited me to go on tour with them and i accepted.

what i didn't know was that it would cause a rift in luke's and i'd relationship.

eventually, we got past it but luke never made me forget it. he never made me forget how embarrassed he was of me going on tour with one direction.

as we got older, luke expressed to me how badly he wished we were married and started a family. that was what he wanted. he wanted to have a family but i wasn't ready.

my career was only just beginning and he knew that. so, when he brought up the conversation again, i told him that i didn't want to marry him or have kids with him because we were still young. we were only 22, how could i be ready to marry him when i hadn't lived my life yet?

my teenage years were devoted to being a good girlfriend to him, i missed out on a lot. i didn't get to experience everything i should have and i didn't want to miss out on more because i got married and had kids so young.

when i did tell him i wasn't ready, he was angry. angry that i wasn't ready to marry him when we had been together for nearly a decade. he was so angry that he had walked out midway through our argument and i didn't see or hear from him until a few days later.

but it was already too late. calum had told me how he had cheated on me with some girl from his past and it completely broke me and my trust.

we ended soon after and things kind of got worse after that. one of my friends had took luke's side and accused me of cheating on luke when it was the other way around.

because of that, i decided to take a break away from the spotlight to focus on myself and my mental health."

"and is that how you met austin?" sierra asked curiously.

"yeah, i met him the day i made my debut back into the spotlight. from then on, it was history. luke hadn't attempted to contact me until the rumors of austin and i being together surfaced."

"do you think he reached out because he loved you or because you were moving on?" sierra asked.

"because i was moving on. i don't think luke ever loved me like he said he did."

"we're you in love with him?"

elsie thought for a moment, unsure of how to answer the question.

"i think i was in love with the idea of being in love with him but i was never in love with him. sure, i did love him but i couldn't picture a future with him."

"yeah, me either." sierra agreed. "but do you see a future with austin?"

"i do. he's like my better half and i can't imagine not having him in my life. that's the difference between luke and austin. austin supports me in everything that i do and luke didn't. luke was jealous of my success instead of supporting me. i couldn't be with someone that didn't cheer for me like i did for them."

"i'm glad you found someone who loves you just as much as you love them. you deserve that."

"and you deserve it as well. you'll find someone who loves you just as much, maybe even more than you love them." elsie smiled causing sierra to smile.

"i'm glad we did this, elsie. you're truly the most kindest soul i've ever met."

"i am too. who knew we'd get along so well?" elsie remarked as a chuckle escaped past their lips.

despite everything that had went down, elsie was happy to say that she had not only overcame the insane amount of hate that was sent her way but she had gotten a new friend.

BELLA'S CORNER
now you know how elsie's relationship was like with luke /:

elsie opening up to sierra >>>>

my babies deserved better

also, happy late birthday to my husband austin robert butler 🫶