Anchor (lxngdon and MaryGoldRound)

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L U C A S
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Lucas was helpless as to what to do for her. She, obviously, still had yet to recover from what happened during lunch period. And he hadn't a clue if she would start crying again at any time.

It made it difficult to ask her about, well, the story behind those scars. He didn't want to make her state worse by basically asking her the equivalent of why she was so torn up inside. And why he couldn't comfort her like she did him...

Quietly, as they laid there, he brushed his fingers through her silky curtain of blonde hair gently. From her hairline to the ends, and he repeated doing so soothingly as he stared above and at the ceiling. And he kept her close in the silence, it could have been a comfortable silence, but with her uneven breathing and the knowledge of knowing she was still hurting, it was impossible.

Lucas sucked in a breath before opening his mouth and letting ant words escape from them."Through playful lips made of yarn. That fragile Capricorn unraveled words like moths upon old scarves. I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headache, call it home."

Normally, he'd be too embarrassed to sing in front of any and everybody. And it wasn't that he was bad at it, no, in fact, he was surprisingly good at it. It was one of those things he did when no one else was around.

But for Claudia, he could sing for her. Honest to fucking god, he'd do just about anything for her if it cheered her up even the slightest.

"Hey moon, please forget to fall down. Hey moon, don't you go down ... Sugarcane in the easy mornin'. Weathervanes my one and lonely..."

He kissed the top of her head.
 
c l a u d i a
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Claudia had been about to burst into tears when Lucas started to sing Northern Downpour, one of her favourite Beautiful Pain songs. She didn't speak or even move her head, but her breathing slowly calmed itself down as he sang, and she tightened her hold on him, closing her eyes as he listened to the melodic tune of his voice.

She had had no idea that he could sing, and his voice was beautiful. She loved it. Claudia could sing, but that was kind of known as she sung all the time. Lucas ... Lucas was a surprise.

A pleasant surprise, though.

She looked up at him when he finished and offered him a weak smile. "Look at you, Secret Jace Lesecki," she murmured with little passion in her voice. She was so emotionally exhausted that all she wanted to do was sleep.​
 
L U C A S
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"I try." Lucas smiled down at her and continued with his hands in her hair."Still trying to get the strip teases down, but yeah."

It was a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. And he happily welcomed the smile on her face by wrapping his arms around her and kissing her lightly on the lips and both cheeks, showering her with his love. He would love to give her more, though she looked drained.

"Do you want to nap?" He asked slowly. "I'll cut off the light and we can plug in the star projector."
 
c l a u d i a
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What Claudia really wanted was for the bad memories to die and the scars to fade, but she knew neither of those things could be achieved without time, so she'd settle for a nap.

She nodded and sat up, plugging in the star projector and turning off the big light with the remote. She kicked off her shoes and slipped under the covers with Lucas, nuzzling into his chest and closing her bright blue eyes.

"You can ask me," she murmured softly. "I know you want to ask me."

She would tell him, as much as it would hurt her to do so. She wasn't going to keep anything from Lucas, ever.​
 
L U C A S
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Lucas kept his arms around Claudia securely and breathed in the scent of her shampoo.

He wanted to ask, and he would. So, he could wholly understand everything. But he was afraid of reopening any of her old wounds. And he knew that hurt just as much as when there first put there, if not more. It was something he couldn't avoid either, especially if she was willing to tell him.

"Then why?" He asked barely above a whisper.​
 
c l a u d i a
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Claudia shifted slightly, keeping her eyes closed but making sure that Lucas couldn't see her face from the angle at which they were laying. She curled her fingers in his shirt.

"I only cut myself when I was bulimic," she whispered, afraid to speak loudly and risk her brothers overhearing her. "And I was only bulimic because Ryan told me I wasn't skinny enough for him."

It was shameful to admit -- that she had let the opinion of a worthless boy dictate how she felt about her body. But it was done. There was no way she could go back and slap herself for it.

She grimaced. "Then he gave me shit for having cuts. Said that they were ugly. Not ugly enough to guilt trip me into having sex with him, apparently," she added bitterly. "Tate beat the shit out of him. That's actually why we broke up, because Tate beat the shit out of him. Then it turned out that he was fucking one of the cheerleaders behind my back the entire time. Tate broke his nose for that."​
 
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"And I broke Tate's nose."

Lucas had never felt more sick and disgusted and angry at one person before. Ryan. The name made his stomach churn in absolute pure revulsion. He loathed him, more than he thought it was possible to loathe a person. A person he never talked to or bothered to think much of. Until now...

Honestly, he was so disappointed and vexed with himself as well.

Tate had knocked the shit out of Ryan, that fuckface. He took care of his little sister or as best he could. He defended her. He broke Ryan's nose for her.

And Lucas...Lucas broke his nose. Lucas had got him sent off to the military. Though he was an ass toward him, Tate had only cared for his sister's safety. Knowing about Ryan made him feel less angry about Tate and instead torn and filled with dread.

So much s it took him great strength to not tremble uncontrollably and pull away from her.

His expression went stony as he closed his eyes. He was glad she was unable to see his face. And he was glad that over the years he had become skilled enough to hide his own angsty insides when he wanted to.

"I'm sorry, Claudia." ​
 
c l a u d i a
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Claudia immediately picked up on Lucas's guilt, and she looked up at him sternly. "Lucas," she said seriously, shaking him until he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Don't you dare start feeling guilty." Her voice was still weak, still somewhat shaky, but it also had a note of annoyance behind it. Annoyance at Ryan, at her brother and at this entire fucking toxic town.

"Ryan is an absolute piece of shit who deserved everything Tate gave to him." He deserved more, but Claudia wasn't going to actively seek him out with a baseball bat because she had better things to do with her time. "Tate was just trying to protect me, and he did, and I love him so much for that."

Claudia sat up and pulled Lucas up with her.

"But Tate was an asshole, too, and you did not do anything wrong. Tate had no reason to come for you and he was a complete fucking dickhead to do so. Okay? Please, don't blame yourself. It's entirely his fault he's in Alaska."

Claudia wished Tate was here. But there was nothing she could do about it and she wasn't going to let Lucas hate himself for this.​
 
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"I know, but, still..." Lucas grabbed a fistful of his hair in distress. He gritted his teeth and sighed.

"I could have handled it better. A lot better." And he could have, if he had the right mind to do so. Which, he didn't and as much as he tried not to let it bother him, it always did. Increasingly in sensitive moments.

He didn't want to freak out become violent and assault others every time that talked bad aboutbhis brother. He didn't want to truly hurt people in general. But when he had fought Tate, he did desire to damage him, greatly.

Having the strength to forget and walk away wasn't something he had.

"He's still your brother and no matter he said or did it shouldn't have - I shouldn't have gone that far." He fell back onto the bed and closed his eyes once again.

"He's your brother. Family is important." Lucas murmured.
 
c l a u d i a
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"Lucas," said Claudia insistently. She sat beside him and combed her fingers through his silky blond hair. "This is not your fault. There have been so many instances where you could have snapped and hurt someone, but you didn't. Just because you did this one time, it doesn't make you a bad person. It's also not your fault."

Claudia was a bad person. Crystal was a mad person. Lucas was a shining bright light of hope and love and Claudia felt the need to protect him as much as she could.

"And, yeah, he's my brother, but I still think he's an asshole and he's entirely in the wrong." Claudia sighed, continuing to rub through his hair with her slender fingers. "I love him. I miss him. But you have to realise that my dad was always going to send him away. We were just deluding ourselves."

Claudia bit her lip. She wanted to change the subject but she didn't know what she could say to make either of them feel better. Silently, she took her jar of scar cream from her bedside table, scooped a small dollop onto her fingers and pushed Lucas's sleeve up, rubbing the product on his ragged skin.​
 
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Lucas remained quiet while she applied the cream. The feeling of it on his open skin was cool and instant relief. It never crossed his mind to put anything on his cuts, he just washed them and made sure they never got infected. But besides that, he let the pain last until it healed. Maybe that was why they were so ugly.

He reopened his eyes and stared at the ceiling and at the little stars were shining from the projector. As he did so, he tried not to think about everything that had pained them today. He pushed it to the back of his head and exhaled slowly.

"Can I ask you something?" Lucas continued to lay there, looking up.

"Why did you start talking to me in the first place?"
 
c l a u d i a
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Claudia continued to rub in the cream until it had completely absorbed into Lucas's skin, and then she moved onto his other arm. She was careful with her touch, not wanting to hurt the tender skin, but at the same time she made sure to work in as much as possible. She wanted him to recover, to get better.

"Why'd I start talking to you?" she repeated curiously, glancing up at him with her blue, tired eyes.

"I was ... I was sick of the way you were being treated. Everyone deserves a friend."

She let go of his arm and hiked up her shirt slightly so she could apply the scar cream to her stomach, to the ugly, ragged scars that littered her otherwise perfect skin.

"I knew that you weren't the monster everyone said that you were, and I wanted to prove that to them. And I'm glad I decided to sit beside you at lunch that day and ask you about that assignment, because it turned into the best thing in my life."​
 
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"And mine..." Lucas mumbled, barely audible.

"It was still strange. I thought you were doing it for the thrill or it was some kind of prank. People hace done that before, but mostly I thought for certain that you and me, we lived in two different worlds, and now..." His eyes wandered to the scars on her stomach.

It had been so unimaginable to him that she could have suffered that much. And honestly, he could see that she still was. He had been around enough patients, including himself, in the psychiatrist office to perceive it.

"I don't know. I guess were broken if even just a little."
 
c l a u d i a
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"Everyone's broken."

Claudia dropped her shirt back down over her stomach, set the jar on her beside table and laid down again beside Lucas, resting her blonde head on his chest and sighing because she loved him so much.

"Can you do me a favour?" she asked. "Can you ... refrain from mentioning anything that I told you to Quentin and Brogen? Please?"

She shifted uncomfortably and kept her eyes closed. "Tate's the only one who knows. About Ryan, about the cutting, the bulimia, everything. I don't want to worry the other two."​
 
L U C A S
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"If that's what you want, I won't tell a soul." Lucas answered her without hesitation.

As much as the whole ordeal upsetted him, it wasn't his secret to tell. And he'd do anything she'd ask of him, even if it hurt and broke his heart. Because he loved her and that was the only reason he needed.

Only now he was coming to realize how exhausted he was. It was his first day back and things had already took a different turn. And he wasn't sure if it was for the worst or best

He put his arms back around her, where they belonged, and kissed the top of her head. "But they already know about the bulimia."
 
c l a u d i a
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"Yeah, well, maybe if I ignore the issue they'll forget about it."

Claudia nuzzled into Lucas's chest and sighed deeply. She felt tired, sick, exhausted, sad and, despite all of that, content with just laying here with Lucas until the end of time.

"Can you stay the night?" she whispered. They had never slept overnight together before, but after the events of the day ...

... Claudia needed him. She needed him like other people need air to breathe.

"Please?"​
 
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"Alright." Lucas agreed without a moment's thought.

He did stop to think about what needed to be done before he did so, however. Like, contact the residents of his house. His mother of course and her boyfriend. The man was a snoot, but he lived in the same house and was concerned about Lucas to some point.

"Needless to say, I'll need to call my mom to let her know."

Amalie Remington was known to get paranoid if her son wasn't home when she arrived. Though, he couldn't blame her in the slightest. Whenever it happened, it meant that he was in some trouble of the sort.

"But I'll stay here. With you."​
 
r y a n
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Ryan Bronson was attractive, there was no denying it. He was of Italian descent and had smooth olive skin under dark brown curls that sat in a messy state when he ran his hand through them, which was frequent. He had a lean body, not muscular per se, but lean and toned at the same time, and very tall. His most noticeable feature was his bright, wide, startling green eyes, the perfect colour of emeralds with flecks of gold in the irises.

Needless to say, he was a heartthrob and every girl wanted him.

Two days after Crystal and Claudia's confrontation in the cafeteria, Ryan exited a toilet cubicle to see Lucas Remington-Brooks, the school psychopath and Claudia's new boyfriend, standing at the sink and washing his hands. Ryan smirked. He had never spoken to the other boy before, but he knew he was about to have some fun.

He proceeded to wash his hands in the sink beside Lucas's. "So," he said in his New York accent. "Claudia Lightwood. She still got those scars?"​
 
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It took great strength for Lucas not to turn around and punch Ryan straight in his smug face. Though, he knew better than that. As much as it upset him, as much as the other teen deserved it, he couldn't.

Not only would he probably be expelled, but he'd be hurting Claudia too. And he couldn't do that. He couldn't let her down and hurt her. Not now, not ever.

Lucas clenched his jaw and slowly turned off the knob to the faucet. He breathed in just as slowly and forced a smile."That isn't your business or concern. So, if you could just shut up, you would be doing more than just us a favor, but everyone who had the unfortunate chance to meet you."

He yanked out a couple of paper towels and drying his hands. Of course, he was still angry and rigid from restraining himself.

How dare he? How dare he even use his disgusting mouth to not only say her name, but mention her scars? The very same scars that he might have as well use the blade to cut her with himself. It made Lucas sick to his stomach.
 
r y a n
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Ryan sighed, smiling to himself as he shook his head slightly and washed his hands. Everything he did was charming because with his pleasant demeanour and attractive features, how could he not be disgustingly charming?

It worked well in his favour, too. It helped hide the evil that lurked behind those green eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes," he murmured as he reached past Lucas to pull a paper towel from the dispenser. "What did you when you first saw them? I was a bit grossed out myself, to be honest. I mean, she's such a pretty girl. It's kind of a waste."

He leaned against the sink and looked Lucas up and down with an X-ray like gaze. Lucas was decent-looking, sure, but he paled in comparison to Ryan. Or even Claudia's brothers, who were all blessed with the same genetics as the only daughter. Ryan wondered why Claudia had settled for average when she could have anyone she wanted.

"But, I mean, if you go from behind she's still fuckable." Ryan smirked and picked some dirt out of his nails. "If you even get to that. It took me months of begging to get her to sleep with me. Fucking tease. Worth it, though."​
 
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