Anchor (lxngdon and MaryGoldRound)

L U C A S
​
"No, I'm not a moron. And nor am I blind," Lucas returned his frowned. He wasn't offended perse, but he was annoyed. "I've known of his ... affections towards Claudia for over a week now."

And he had. Since the moment he spoke the words 'I could be a better boyfriend'. Oh, yes he knew since then that the Hickory no liked her
But he didn't say anything, he ignored it and maybe even refused to acknowledge it. It hadn't done any real harm ...

Besides, no one else bothered to read between the lines and see it. Not Jenna, not Eden and not even fucking Claudia herself. So, he sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up. He still did like Anderson anyway, and though he and Claudia grew close, he hadn't done anything.

"Look, Anders may be charming, but you know your sister as well as I do."
Said Lucas, trying very hard not to sound annoyed. His annoyance, his frustration, it wasn't exactly aimed at the Lightwood twin anyway. "She's not going to suddenly go all goo goo eyes for him one day just because he is for her."
 
b r o g e n
​
"She did for you." Brogen shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Look, you didn't see how fast she fell for you. Three days, I'd say. She fell in love with you in three fucking days and it took Ryan months to even get her to go out with him. And she does love you, so I'm not saying she's going to drop you for Anderson, but, I mean ..."

Brogen sighed heavily and shrugged.

"I don't know. I actually like you, despite what you might think. You love her, you take care of her. But he seems like a bit of a fuckboy, like he's doing it to spite you, if that makes sense. I don't know. Just ... you might want to do something about it."​
 
L U C A S
​
"Yeah." Lucas answered faintly.

The whole situation set him on edge and made him feel uncomfortable. But he had tried to act his coolest about. So, he knew exactly what Brogen meant. He only didn't know how to go about it.

There was no way Anders would listen to him, or care to listen to him. And he was almost certain Claudia would still hang about him. They had become quite the close friends.

She had even told him about her bulymia and stay at the ward in only two days of knowing him. But it had taken her weeks before opening up to him. And she hadn't even told him about the bulimia, he had learned when everyone else did. That ready stung somehow.

"I'll deal with it, okay?" He closed his eyes briefly and sighed deeply through his nose.
 
c l a u d i a​

"Good," said Brogen. He bit his lip and looked Lucas over once. "You've let people treat you like shit for too long. Stand up for yourself."

Claudia came out just then and took Lucas's hand as she glowered at her twin. "I hope you've been nice."

"I've been very nice."

"I don't trust you." Brogen rolled his eyes and left, and Claudia turned Lucas around so she was facing him and she laced her arms around his waist, looking up at him with worry and affection in her eyes.

"You okay? What did he want?"
 
L U C A S
​
"I'm okay," Lucas assured her and even smiled to prove it. He put his arms around Claudia and kept his lips curved, though he really was not feeling it at all. "What did he want? I guess the same thing he always wants. Your well-being. But he wasn't a jerk, so it isn't anything to worry about."

His eyes wandered to her cracked open door where he saw Anders perking out curiously. Lucas sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he returned his gaze to her. He licked his lips, slightly nervous.

"I need to talk to you." His voice was low, so the others wouldn't overhear him. "In private."
 
c l a u d i a​

'Her wellbeing.' Bullshit. Claudia would have to interrogate Brogen later because she really didn't feel like lying to Lucas this morning.

She was slightly surprised and even more concerned when he asked to speak to her in private. What was so important that he couldn't say it in front of his friends? Had something happened? Claudia was worried.

"Okay," she murmured. She took Lucas's hand and lead her into the spacious backyard that looked more like a small field than a normal house's yard. The brick walls were topped with hedges and there was a large rectangular pool, but Claudia ignored that and lead Lucas right to the back of the yard, very far away from the house.

She sat down with him under the shade of the brick wall. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking both of his hands and squeezing them. "Did something happen?"
 
L U C A S
​
Lucas wasn't at all fazed by her yard, if you could call it that. He was too focused on thinking what to say to her, about Anders. Because he had no idea what he would say. He wanted to be persuasive with his words, otherwise, it wouldn't work out.

His attention did catch the pool, his breath had hitch and in an instant he had forgotten how to breathe. He felt as if he was going to fall apart right then and there. But by some miracle he had made it.

And now he was sitting across from his girlfriend, with her holding his hands. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to try and quickly regain his composure as well as collect his thoughts. He was internally panicking.

"I think you shouldn't be getting so close to Anders."

That probably wasn't the best way to start, but he was still trying to relax and think clear.

He reopened his eyes, "He's just ... he's not the type of person you should be getting so close to. He'll only drag you into his shit."
 
c l a u d i a​

Claudia frowned.

"What do you mean?" She was well aware that Lucas's friends had issues. They had met in the psych ward, after all. But despite this, they had never been anything but kind and pleasant to her and Anders was very nice.

But ... she didn't know why any of them were in the ward in the first place -- except for Jenna, and she only knew about Jenna's bulimia because she had suffered from it herself. She knew the signs. She had no idea what Eden had been in for, and Anders was almost normal. Maybe just a little dramatic.

"What ... what shit? What's he done?" Claudia frowned again. "Are ... is he dangerous or something?"
 
L U C A S
​
"Dangerous ... " Lucas murmured, playing with the word in his head.

Was Anders dangerous? He had been a while back, when he was in the ward and before. Though, he had toned down immensely since then. He almost, almost, seemed normal. But you never knew when he could do something crazy, right? Therefore he could be seen as a danger.

"Well, he is." He nodded his head to confirm what she was asking of him. "He's actually bi-polar unbeknownst to everyone considering how under control he seems. But he really isn't."

He clenched and unclenched his hands. Where was he going with this? No, he knew where he was going with it. And he didn't like it, but he honestly couldn't think of any other way to go about this with Claudia.

"He's done a lot of bad things, vandalism, breaking and entering, stalking and assault." He shook his head. It was true though, all of these things, except for the stalking and assault. There was a story to that, but Claudia did not need to know that part. At least not the truth of it ... Right?
 
c l a u d i a​

"Assault?"

The word echoed in Claudia's mind and she was reminded of Ryan. Ryan hadn't hit her, but he had coerced her into doing things she hadn't wanted to do and she had been shaken up after them. Her shrink had told her it was part of why she had needed to be hospitalised.

It was hard to believe that nice, bright Anders was capable of such acts, but ... really, how much did Claudia know about him? About any of them? Unbeknownst to her, Eden was far more dangerous than Anders, with his violent temperament and various anger disorders.

But Claudia didn't know much about any of them.

"What did he do? What kind of assault? It wasn't ... sexual, was it?" Claudia shuddered at he term.
 
L U C A S
​
"Well ... he didn't touch the girl, but he had forced her to take her clothes off."

That was true. That part was at least, and the next part was as well.

"Some guys came in to help her out and anyway, he hospitalized them all. Including the girl." He scratched the back of his head, closing his eyes briefly. It sickened himself to think about it, yet alone speak it. But he went on and finished.

"Apparently, she was really sweet to him and he grew to like her and it turned into some kind of stalker relationship. Anders doesn't know how to express himself correctly and eventually he started forcing her into things. And it led to that ..."

Now that was the lie. And he quieted after speaking it, but he kept his face straight. He didn't know all the details of the story, not he knew Anders long enough to know he wasn't that type of person despite his illnesses.

But anyone else would believe it.
 
c l a u d i a​

Claudia looked absolutely horrified, almost as horrified as she had looked when she had seen the state of her brother and boyfriend after their fight. Somehow that was worse, but this, hearing what Anders had done ...

It wasn't fair to just assume Lucas was telling the truth, but he had never lied to her before and Claudia wasn't thinking straight. Her mind was clouded by her trust for Lucas and her past experiences with guys like Ryan.

Lucas had never lied to her before, what good would he get out of lying to her now?

"That's horrible," Claudia whispered. She slipped her hands out of Lucas's to rub her face and eyes. "That's fucking horrible."

She sighed heavily. "Why would you even talk to him if he's like that?"
 
L U C A S
​
"I don't know." Lucas swallowed.

He watched the horror on Claudia's face play out and he knew he had done it. He had persuaded her to keep a distance, a very long distance. He could tell. So, he was successful. And his spirits were higher, but not as high as he thought they should have been.

But he brushed that feeling lurking in the back of his heart off and refused to identify what it might be. He did not want ruin this after he had just finished it. Then it really would have all been for nothing.

"I didn't even know until after we were put in the same friend group. I mean it seems like he might be trying to be better, but he's sick."

They all were.

"And he has that weird thing of getting what he wants from people somehow."
 
c l a u d i a​

A week had passed and Claudia and Lucas were ditching their Monday afternoon periods to play in the forest, meaning Lucas was taking pictures and Claudia was watching him endearingly. She sat on a log and munched on some strawberries as she watched her boyfriend enjoy himself.

They had spent the last week avoiding Anders, Jenna and Eden as much as they could. It hadn't been difficult -- they had just sat with Claudia's brothers, and Brogen would glare at them if they even neared. Claudia felt a little guilty for being so horrible to Eden and Jenna, but her disgust with Anders outweighed that.

"Try and get that bird," she said to Lucas, pointing up at the animal as she heard footsteps enter the clearing.

"I told you they'd be out here," Eden said to the Hickory twins as he lead Anderson and Jenna into the clearing. He quirked an eyebrow at Claudia and Lucas.

"Care to explain why you've been avoiding us like the plague? If this is about breaking your soap dispenser, Claudia --"

"It's not," said Claudia. She got up and stood behind Lucas, staring at the floor. "Lucas told me what Anders did."

"Huh?"

"To that girl."
 
L U C A S
​
"What girl?" Anders raised an eyebrow, clearly confused as to what Claudia was talking about. He looked to Lucas, hoping to get an answer from him.

Lucas however could not find himself to look at Anders, or any of them at all. His eyes stuck to the forest floor as he begun to internally panic. This was going to end very badly, and he knew it. And he also knew there was no way for him to stop it. No way he could think of anyway.

" ... I - I ..."

"Am I going to have to guess? I literally haven't really done anything to any girl." Anders crossed his arms, staring them both down. "I mean ... Unless you count Bridget."

The name was enough to make Jenna physically woozy. She pressed her hand against a tree to steady herself. Anders patted her back lightly for a short moment, but one he saw Lucas uncomfortable shift at the name he frowned.

"You did? That's a delicate subject that you can't go around telling without permission"

"Anders, actually, the thing is ..."

"I suppose it's okay though, it is Claudia. She gets it, right?"
 
c l a u d i a
​
"Get it?"

Claudia's voice was high-pitched and incredulous as she pulled back to look at Anders with shock, disbelief and some degree of disgust in her expression. It was minute, but it was there, and Claudia couldn't believe Anderson and the other two were being so non-chalant about this.

"You -- Lucas told me you stalked her and made her take off her clothes for you! And then you put her in hospital -- what the fuck is there to get?"

Silence. Eden slowly turned to look at Lucas with a raised eyebrow.

"Claudia, dear, you have been very lied to."

"What?"

Eden turned to glance at Anders. "So he basically told her what's on the police report."

"What the hell are you --"

Eden very carefully lead Claudia over to the tree Jenna was leaning against and went back to Lucas. Then, in a sudden, violent motion, he slammed the other boy against a tree. Claudia screamed.

"Tell her the truth and I won't fucking crack your skull open," Eden snarled at Lucas.​
 
L U C A S
​
The air had been knocked out of Lucas lungs and took him a moment after a wheeze to regain his composure. He was anxious and afraid. Though these feelings did not appear because Eden might seriously crack his skull. He was sure that the English boy was very capable of injuring him in that way. But his concern was what would happen after he told the truth to his girlfriend.

What would she think of him? After, not only breaking her trust, but soiling Anders name like that. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. Nor could he anyone else.

"What I told you, what I said it wasn't true." He said barely above a whisper, it was difficult to go on. To explain the truth.

Anders, who wore a completely stoic face, snorted. "Oh no, there is some truth to it. I did force her to take her clothing off, and then pushed her down the stairs, but that part was an accident."

He didn't look at Claudia as he spoke to her, his eyes were locked on Lucas. And slowly they shaped into a sharp, cutting glare."That girl, Bridget, was my girlfriend. And she was a bitch, worse than your Crystal. She tortured my sister so much behind my back she practically killed her more than once."

He looked absolutely appalled, while Jenna gave a face of mortification.

"So, I only returned the favor after her last little prank. But you knew that already, did you not, Lucas?"


"Anders, I - Claudia I can explain."
 
c l a u d i a
​
Claudia was completely speechless.

She didn't want to believe it. She wanted to believe that Anders and Eden were lying and that Lucas was just telling them what they wanted to hear so they didn't hurt him. She wanted to believe that Lucas wasn't capable of doing something so low, so dirty, for seemingly no reason at all.

Claudia wanted to believe that Lucas couldn't lie to her.

But ... his sickened expression, Anders' anger, Eden's fury and Jenna's complete mortification told her that Lucas was in the wrong here. That he had lied, had soiled Anderson's name and completely changed the way Claudia had thought about her friend.

His friend.

"You ... you lied to me." Her voice cracked as she looked at Lucas with agony in her eyes. "Why? After I was completely honest with you? After I told you everything?"

"I'd quite like to know why myself," said Eden with a raised eyebrow. "It can't be because you think Anders is actually dangerous. You and Jenna are about fifteen times more likely to hurt Claudia than Anders is. And I'm about thirty times more likely to hurt you if you ever fucking slander my best friend like that again so I would strongly recommend telling the truth here, Lucas."​
 
L U C A S
​
Lucas clenched his jaw, running a hand through his hair trying to collect his frantic and panicky thoughts and put them in order. He had took a peek at Claudia's face and heard the anguish in her voice just as much as he saw it in her face. He moved on from hers to Jenna who had tears brimming in her eyes to Anders who was looking as if might attack him next instead of Eden.


It hurt. All of it, seeing the damage that he inflicted. But he knew he was the one at fault here and he was going to own up to it. Why wouldn't he at this point?

"Anders likes Claudia," He spoke loud and clear, looking each one of them in the eye, barely holding his girlfriend's gaze and holding Anders much longer than the rest. "He really likes Claudia and I don't know if you're all blind as fuck or just don't give a fuck. But I do."

He looked to Claudia, "And you - you only continued to grow closer to him like it didn't matter. It took you weeks to tell me your secrets. But it only took you two fucking days to tell him?"

"Oh, and I'm sure lying helped solved your problem. You don't have a lot of self-confidence, do you? That is the WORST SOLUTION I'VE HEARD!" He shouted, approaching the other boy one step at a time.

"You know what, Anders, SHUT UP! Okay, I GET IT, it wasn't the best fucking solution. I made a mistake. But guess what, I'm not a fucking saint! Neither are you or Eden or Jenna and neither is Claudia!"
 
c l a u d i a
​
Claudia blinked and looked at Anderson. She knew, in the back of her mind, that he liked her but she hadn't cared enough to do anything about it. She didn't like him. She only loved Lucas and she'd only ever love Lucas.

But she was upset.

"Fucking Jesus Christ, are you serious?" She scowled at Lucas and pushed her hair out of her face irritably. "Fuck, Lucas, even Ryan let me have friends who liked me."

Granted, Ryan had shared her with those friends but Lucas didn't need to know that right now. It wasn't important and it had only happened once.

"Did the thought ever occur to you in your spectacular moment of clarity that maybe, just maybe, telling you gave me the confidence to tell other people?" Her voice caught. "And I only told Anderson one thing. I've told you everything. And you clearly don't fucking trust me."

Claudia burst into tears and turned, making her way through the forest. Eden gripped Lucas's collar and nodded to Anders. "Fuck, go talk to her before she has an aneurysm. You want me to kill him?" he asked in a very casual voice.​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back