Lucas had kept his eyes on his plate most of the time, eating small bits and occasionally looking up. He happened to be gazing at them, particularly at Tate, when they all exchanged words having to do with school. It was only expected for that to be dinner discussion with their family, he hoped that they wouldn't ask anything about his grades. Though his grades weren't bad, they weren't anything magnificent either. He was balancing on the line between the two. But, like Claudia said, the two she mentioned were his best subjects that he excelled in. It only made sense for both in an ironic way.
And, he didn't distract her. But they had at least skipped class once and ditched school twice, one of the times being this very day. Not that it needed to be said, the exact opposite in actuality. It was just amusing in a weird way, so he was able to smile, even if it was just a little.
Lucas disregarded the dirty looks he received from Tate, choosing not to acknowledge him. and cleared his voice before answering easily."I do a lot of reading, naturally. But I'm also into photography as well as cinematography. I like working with the camera."
Charles chewed the inside of his lip as he thought about Lucas's reply. Claudia could see Tate watching their father intently, desperately waiting for Charles to decree that Lucas was not worthy of Claudia's time and attention.
Charles gave a short nod. "I see." Charles' X-ray-like gaze moved to Tate, and it turned to a scowl. "You seem like a decent young man," he said to Lucas. "Tate would have Daphne and I believe you were a serial killer."
Tate recoiled, clearly hurt that Charles had openly embarrassed him in front of his siblings, mother, and Lucas. "Dad -- "
"Save it for someone who cares, Tate," Charles sighed. "Trying to go back on what you've told us isn't very moral. Maybe a couple of years in the military will teach you how to be an honest man."
Tate stood up. He was now glaring directly at Lucas. "I thought you taught us to protect our sister, Dad," he said to Charles in an emotionless voice."
"Against real dangers, not the stupid little rumours Quentin has disclosed to me in Lucas's favour. It seems to be only you and Brogen who really have a problem with Claudia's friend, Tate, so I suggest you leave him alone."
Claudia shot Quentin a grateful look. Tate scowled at everyone at the table except for their mother and turned on his heel, making a beeline for the stairs. Brogen just looked exceptionally awkward.
Lucas was unsure whether it was appropriate to smile or not after that scene. But one thing was for sure and that was his total happiness. He could not believe that it all happened so fast, he was fairly certain it might have taken a while. It was really all thank all thanks to Quentin and some to Tate, if hadn' overreacted so much he was sure he would of had a better chance.
"Thank you for inviting me to dinner." He uttered after a pause. He really had no idea what to say after that. And he'd be lying if he said it wasn' awkward to sit at this dinner table."The food is great." And that part was a hundred percent true.
"Thank you, Lucas," Daphne said in a kind tone with an impassive face. Claudia was half-convinced that her mother was a robot and her father had a stone for a heart. "You can come over anytime."
Claudia was immensely pleased. Her father had basically cleared Lucas and told Tate and Brogen to leave him alone. This meant that if Tate tried anything against Lucas, her father would punish him. Claudia didn't want her brother to go to the military, but she didn't want Tate to impede on her relationship with Lucas, either.
The awkwardness seeped out of the meal, leaving them in a comfortable silence as they finished the delicious meal. Daphne brought out vanilla cheesecake for dessert and a few minutes after, the table had disbanded. Claudia lead Lucas back up to her bedroom, but Brogen stopped them on their way.
"Hey." Claudia turned to face her twin. Brogen looked kind of desperate. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Claudia asked, leaning against the door.
"For being a dickhead." Brogen turned to look at Lucas. "I'm sorry. I ... I listened to Crystal too much."
"I don't think you listening to her too much was the problem. I think you just listening to her at all is what was wrong." It was Lucas's personal belief that someone should put a muzzle on her mouth. He was sure no one would disagree with that idea if they weren't all so scared and stupid.
He shrugged a shoulder."Don't worry about it too much. I accept your apology, just, can you not allow Crystal to do whatever she wants to Claudia." He honestly didn't know or think Brogen could do much. But he was Claudia's brother, her twin, and he couldn't just stand by and hang around the people that were hurting his sister. It was just wrong.
Claudia didn't feel that Brogen deserved Lucas's forgiveness.
Her twin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he said quietly, clapping Lucas on the shoulder. "You're a nice guy."
Claudia scoffed. "Fuck, Brogen, if you had have listened to me when I was telling you this a week ago, we wouldn't even be in this fucking situation."
Brogen glanced at Claudia and there was sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said in a tight voice, like he was trying to stop himself from crying. "I'm sorry, Claudia."
Claudia didn't feel that Brogen deserved her forgiveness, either, but she couldn't just stand there and watch her brother suffer.
She stepped forward and hugged him, resting her chin on his shoulder. He hugged her back, and there was love and forgiveness in the embrace.
Claudia pulled away. "Just make sure Crystal stays away from Lucas."
Once Brogen had left, Claudia lead Lucas back into her room, up the stairs and collapsed on her bed. "Unexpected turn of events."
"You could say that again." Lucas laughed dryly, somewhat drained. He plopped down in the chair to her computer desk, and sunk into it."But it all ended well, very well. On a high note, I'd say."
He looked down at the watch on his wrist."I can spend two more hours with you before having to head home." His mother got anxious whenever he wasn't home on time. And he would admit she had good reason to."What do you want to do until then?" He inquired, rocking in his seat.
Claudia slipped off her bed, onto the platform and leaned over, her hair dropping down as she dangled her head over the raised platform to look at Lucas, sitting at the computer table beneath it.
"Well, I would offer to kick your ass at Monopoly again but I have a sinking suspicion that you'd say no," she mused, with a smirk on her face. She looked considerably happier, now that her father had given Lucas his stamp of approval and that she had patched up her relationship with her twin.
Claudia descended the steps and joined Lucas under the platform. She sat on the carpet at his feet and leaned her head against his knees, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Ooh. I have an idea."
Claudia rose to her feet, dashed to the cupboard on the other side of the room and pulled out her large telescope, setting it up next to the window. "Come look at the pretty stars."
Lucas hopped up from his seat."I had no idea you were into astronomy." He couldn't say that he was a nerd or totally knowledgeable about it. But he did enjoy watching the stars tremendously and always found it extraordinary. Though he had never seen them through a telescope before.
"How many do you think we can see from here? And, that looks like an expensive telescope." He noted, almost smiling. Obviously, seeing that had told him she really was into it. He would have never really guessed until now.
Claudia giggled as she adjusted the telescope for the best possible view. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Mr Remington-Brooks," Claudia said in a mysterious voice, wiggling her fingers at him. "I am an avid astronomer. I wear contact lenses. I killed a man ten years ago. But, hush, child. These are top secrets."
Claudia leaned in and peered through the telescope. It was an expensive piece of equipment, but the Lightwoods were rich, so it didn't really make a difference. A view of beautiful stars filled her gaze and she gave a small sigh of contentment.
Claudia loved the stars because no matter what happened, no matter what changed, the stars would always be there for her.
She pulled back to allow Lucas to have a look. "Hey, this is a pretty high-tech telescope. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to find Crystal's decency."
Snickering at her ridiculous statement with a roll of his eyes, he came to join her."Don't be silly, Claudia. Everyone knows that is only a myth. And not a very realistic too." He shook his head at her. "Let's see..."
Lucas wrapped his hands around the device, for a sense of stability and security, and peered through the hole."Wow, I've never seen them this close and focused before." He mumbled more to himself than Claudia. It was clear to see that he was fascinated."Can you zoom in more?" He inquired after pulling back. Because there was no way he'd try to touch the buttons or anything else without knowing how to use it.
Claudia obliged, peering through the telescope so she could zoom in on a particularly bright, pretty, purple nebula. She sighed in appreciation. The stars were so beautiful. She could understand people's obsession with galaxy everything.
"Did you know that nebulae are just the residue of exploded stars?" she asked Lucas as she pulled back so he could take a look at the said nebula. "And that Jupiter's Big Red Spot is just a hurricane?"
Claudia could spout astronomy facts all day if Lucas could put up with it. It was one of her passions, one of her hobbies.
"Oh, and aliens totally exist, you'd be moronic to suggest otherwise."
Lucas listened to her intently, seeing her talk made him realize how passionate she must have been about it. It was enough to make him smile, another new thing he learned about. And another thing he would be sure to remember. At that though, he smiled.
At the mention of hurricanes, he turned back to the telescope as if he could witness it now. But when he peered through the scope, he came to remember he didn't know what direction Jupiter was. And could you see it from a telescope, or one this small?
"Oh my god, I knew it!" Lucas pumped a fist."I've been telling my mom that aliens had to be real, now she'll have to believe me. We're only a few years away from a Star Wars and Star Trek future!"
Happy to see Lucas so overjoyed at her support of the alien theory, Claudia smiled and poked him in the ribs. "You're such a fucking nerd," she laughed with an affectionate ruffle of his dark blond hair.
They stargazed for a while. It was peaceful. Claudia would direct the telescope onto a particular star or other mass, Lucas would look and Claudia would spit out random facts about whatever she had shown him. Sometimes during their stargazing session, Claudia crossed to the bookshelf and pulled out a large volume on Venus.
"Did you know that Venus's atmosphere is toxic? And it's the hottest planet? And it was named after the Roman version of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite? I also love Greek mythology, by the way. Did you know that Aphrodite was born out of the foaming remains of Cronus when his father cut him up with a scythe and threw him into the sea?"
"And you call me a nerd." Lucas tilted his head to the side. He was enjoying Claudia talk greatly, soaking up all of the information she was feeding him. And, it was enjoyable, so much so, that he had lost track of time.He was much too focused on her."I too am interested in greek mythology, that and Norse mythology, but I don't know too much about it. Just what I've heard in Smite."
"And I didn't know that. Cronus is like..." He paused for a moment to think."Zeus's daddy right?" He raised an eyebrow.
Claudia nodded, her tongue between her teeth as she thumbed through the pages of the book in her lap. "Yeah. He was a titan. He also swallowed all of his kids but, because they were gods and goddesses, they lived. He had to vomit them back up so they could go on to fucking each other and turning pretty people into monsters."
Claudia closed the book and face Lucas. "What time do you have to leave?" she asked. She didn't want Lucas to leave, ever, but she knew he would have to eventually.
"Right about now." Lucas answered her after looking at the time. It was a little past ten, but he had spent more time at the Lightwood's home than he had intended to. He was just enjoying himself too much, even now he wanted to stay longer and listen to her as she told the fucked-up tales of greek mythology.
Lucas rose from his spot across from Claudia and picked up his bag."I wish I could stay longer, but home calls. And tomorrow's another school day, but on the bright side the weekend is just a day away." Normally, he'd spend the weekends a lone or with his mother, bit Lord Snooty was always there. This time, he could and would use that free time with Claudia.
Claudia couldn't say that she was happy that he was leaving, but she rose to her feet to walk him out anyway. It wasn't like she was going to kidnap him or hold him hostage. That would be a tad too clingy.
At the front door, Claudia stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you had a good time tonight," she said sincerely. "You know, despite, um, Tate's presence." Her eldest brother had been slightly well-behaved, which was a pleasing fact, but Claudia still worried he would intimidate Lucas and Lucas would be too scared to hang out with her anymore.
Lucas nodded his head and parted from her after saying his last words for the night. "Yeah. Goodnight, Claudia." It may have been a bit uncomfortable in the beginning from his time there, but the rest of time he spent he was fond of. He hadn't even worried once about losing it momentarily, then again, he never really lost it when with Claudia. He had been close but never did. It would be nice if that lasted.
Unfortunately, it did not last very long. Because the next day, he woke up feeling anxious after dreaming about something he couldn't quite remember. He was completely lost in thought thinking about when he walked into school that morning. and because he spaced out completely he didn't realize the few crowded students and ended up bumping into one, a jock.
He fell back on his butt, he was sick and tired of being the one to get knocked down, but he would admit it was his fault. It knocked him out of his own little land and brought him back to earth.
"Watch where you're going?"The jock scowled at him.
Lucas rose back onto his feet and instantly apologized, not wanting any real trouble. "Sorry, I didn't-" He trailed off when his eyes caught what everyone one else was staring at it.
Someone must have been busy. A line or two of lockers were vandalized with graffiti, vulgar and a bit creepy graffiti too. Though it was sloppy work, done by probably a group f people, he could tell by the different patterns and writing styles. Not that it really mattered. He could not help but think, he had an artist's eye."What happened?"
"Someone broke in last night and did it. The teachers are looking for the culprits or just culprit." Some other teen answered for those who didn't know, and gave Lucas a pointed look."They're probably going to keep us all after school."
"It was you, wasn't it?" The jock turned on him, glaring."Who else would do it?"
Why was he not surprised?"It wasn't me."Was all he said, was all he could think to say. They wouldn't really believe him either way, so it wouldn't matter.
Tate had skipped school that day. Claudia didn't know why, neither did Brogen or Quentin. Their parents had left for work at five-thirty, like they always did, so they weren't available to get an answer out of the bedridden but obviously healthy Tate. So Claudia and her other two brothers had just left him there.
As the three Lightwoods made their way to their lockers they were stopped by the crowd of people, clustered around the crude graffiti. Quentin and Brogen exchanged a mystified look, but simply walked past. Claudia would have done the same, but she saw Lucas among the crowd, so she joined him.
"Hey," she said in a quiet voice, putting a hand on his shoulder before pushing a lock of her hair out of her face. "What happened?"
"Your boyfriend here vandalised the fuckin' lockers and we're all gonna suffer because there's no way a psychopath like him is gonna own up to it," snarled a student Claudia had never spoken to before.
Claudia glowered at him. "Maybe actually know something before accusing the first person you see?" she suggested heatedly.
