"Yeah, I do," Lucas told her earnestly. It was true he did not need her to come along, he wanted her to. However, he also didn't want to drag her along with him when they'd meet in class again anyway."But you can go to class without me if you'd like. I'll be done in no time and join you."
He desperately wanted her her to decide to stay, he was barely able to keep it from showing on his face. If he was to be completely open, he didn't want to be alone or without her.
"If you want me to go with you, then I will go with you," Claudia told Lucas with a squeeze of his hand. Class could wait. Class could wait for as long as it goddamn needed to. She was ahead, anyway, in pretty much everything.
They reached the nurse's office and Claudia unwillingly took her hand out of Lucas's. She sat on a small chair beside the wall while Lucas sat on the bed to be checked out by the nurse. Claudia gave him an assuring smile -- though she was secretly worried that he had badly hurt himself by smacking his head on that tree. She kept her face supportive, though.
Lucas waited patiently on the bed as the nurse inspected his forehead. The two were very familiar with one another, this was not the first time he had been in her office. As of late, he hadn't been in it very often.
So, for the most part, Lucas already knew what he needed, and what to do. Ibuprofen and ice. And she didn't bother asking how he hurt himself because she already knew.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" The nurse asked, frowning.
To which Lucas answered with a shake of his head. After she let him be, he stood up from his seat and sighed."Thanks for coming with me."
Claudia rose to her feet and hugged her new boyfriend, leading her head against his shoulder with a kiss to his chest. "You don't need to thank me," she told him. "I'd follow you anywhere."
She really would. Lucas made her happy and he made her feel safe, maybe a little more than he should. But now that she had him for herself, Claudia wasn't going to let him go anytime soon.
Classes skipped by with ease and suddenly Claudia was in the cafeteria at lunch. She sat beside Lucas with her tray of food -- ravioli and Coke -- and kissed Lucas briefly on the lips. She then looked around.
Crystal's eyes were boring into Claudia and she looked pissed. Tate's eyes were boring into Lucas and he looked furious. Claudia couldn't tell who she wanted to punch more.
In disbelief, she watched as Brogen argued with Crystal, stood up, grabbed his tray and went over to Claudia and Lucas's small table. He sat down beside his twin.
Lucas stared at Brogen, unsure of what he and Crystal had argued about. But it was enough to make him sit over here. Well, he was certain that he only came to this table because it was where Claudia was at. Still, if he was sitting with them there was no way he would ever be able to go back with Crystal and her entourage.
"Welcome to the table of the coolest people you will ever know." He greeted him lightly with a casual smirk and took a sip from his bottle of water.
"What happened between you and Crystal?" Claudia asked her twin, completely ignoring Brogen's question.
"She said I had to break you two up if I wanted to be friends with her still. I said she could go fuck herself."
Claudia was ... she didn't know how she felt, honestly. She knew it must have taken a lot for Brogen to do that, as her brother based his self-worth almost entirely on who his friends were. And she appreciated him doing what he did. But she had never wanted her siblings to suffer because of her decisions.
Claudia leaned her head on Brogen's shoulder. "Thank you."
Lucas hadn't a clue on what to say. He certainly wasn't expecting him to leave that table, sever his ties with them anytime soon. And he also didn't think it had to do with his current and new relationship with Claudia.
"Thank you." Lucas offered his own gratitude quietly.
"You're welcome, the both of you," said Brogen quietly. He turned to his food, obviously tired and exasperated, and Claudia took Lucas's hand under the table.
After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Quentin joined them at their table. "I heard your argument with Crystal," he said with a meaningful look to Brogen. "You wanna talk about it later?"
"If I'm not going to talk to Claudia about it what makes you think I'm going to tell you?" Brogen deadpanned.
Quentin shrugged. "Shit, I don't know. How are you, Lucas? I see you've made my dear sister fall irrevocably in love with you."
Lucas brushed his thumb across the back of her hand he was holding tenderly. "I've been just fine, never been better honestly." He replied but was certain that he didn't have to say so aloud. The mood was obviously much happier than any other days he had been when coming to school. It was impossible not to be with Claudia Lightwood as his girlfriend.
"Which is strangely great considering how my day started." Was it really only a few hours ago that he was the most upset that he had been in a while?
"Good to hear, as I'm guessing that if you are upset or angry, your emotional connection with Claudia will cause her to feel the same way, and she's already on her period. I can't deal with a more-angry Claudia."
Claudia snorted. "I'm not even on my period."
"You're always on your period."
"What makes you think that?"
"Your bitchiness."
"That's Tate," Claudia reminded Quentin. "He needs to keep his PMS to himself."
"Please stop talking about periods," Brogen requested. He looked sick.
Claudia scoffed. "Hey, Brogen, did you know that women tend to shit when they give birth?"
"That is kind of unsavory but if it's nature so be it." Lucas inputted after hearing the siblings bicker. It was entertaining, even if the topic of the conversation wasn't quite ideal. Because periods and women releasing excrements during childbirth weren't something that usually kept people entertained, for him at least.
"If this is just one of your average conversations, I'd love to see what else you people talk about."
"Oh, Lucas, you should see us when Mom and Dad aren't home," said Quentin with a low whistle. "We literally discuss human dismemberment and The Human Centipede at the dinner table."
"We all watch horror movies together so we're kind of desensitised to, well, everything," Claudia explained to Lucas with a kiss planted on his cheek.
"But not when Mom and Dad are around, because they think being desensitised to things automatically means you're going to be a sadistic serial killer when you're older," Brogen added.
Lucas snorted at that, finding it somewhat amusing ."Well, The Human Centipede isn't a movie I would want to watch with my parents anyway whether or not they're into it."
"I'm not into those type of things anyway, but I can stomach it." He had seen stranger things in his head. "If I am, to be honest, I mostly watch children movies and shows."
The end of the day came soon enough, and Claudia didn't want to leave Lucas. She had just got him, so she didn't want to let him go just yet. She realised this made her quite possessive but if she was being honest with herself, she didn't mind.
She had already been to her locker so Claudia leaned against the one beside Lucas's, waiting for him to finish. She watched his movements and was surprised to see that she was seeing him in a new light. Everything he did was graceful and beautiful to her.
Was this what it was like to be in love?
"Do you want to come over?" she asked randomly. "Tate has football practice so he won't be around."
"I..." Lucas paused, having to think about it for once. His initiative answer was an absolute yes because he would love nothing more to spend more time with her. To be near her.
And usually he didn't have anything important to do anyway, nor any friends he was entitled or promised to be with. "I can come over for a little while." He finished."I'm supposed to stay at my dad's this weekend, so I'll have to pack my bag later."
Claudia didn't want to impede on Lucas's time with his father but if he wanted to come over, she wasn't going to stop him or tell him no. So, after riding home with Quentin and Brogen, Claudia took Lucas's hand and lead him up to her bedroom.
"Where does your dad live?" she asked him. She got her laptop from her desk and then lead Lucas up the steps to her bed, before sitting down on the end of it with him.
"Boston, Massachusetts." Lucas answered,"But he's always coming here because it's where he grew up and it's where most of all his family located, including me."
His father moved out of Vermont a year or two after his parents divorced when getting a transfer to a hospital in Boston. It was either there or New York, but Boston was closer. Not to mention, compared to the bigger city, Boston was a lot more peaceful.
"Fortunately, this time around I'm not leaving town. So, when I mean my dad's, I really mean my grandparents, he's comin here instead of me going there."
"I'd like to meet the rest of your family," Claudia mused. She opened her laptop and then YouTube before looking up at him. "But I don't wanna gatecrash your family time so I'll stay at home."
She turned back to her laptop and typed in Beautiful Pain. "The LA Devotee video came out yesterday. I thought we could watch it together."
