"Well, I don't have to head back any time soon… probably just when it's like dark. I walked here, so I'd like to be able to see a bit in order to get home." He shrugged as well. "Um… like I said, it's nice out, so I guess we can go walk? There's a nice park nearby we could go to… they've got swings and a creek and stuff."
Melissa brightened up, standing up as well. "That sounds like fun! I can walk with you to your house too. I've never got to see it before." She hummed, smiling ever so sweetly. She had no clue why, all she knew was that she hadn't seen his house. Melissa never questioned it though, not wanting to invade his personal space. He hadn't done it to her, so she wasn't going to do it to him.
"Uh… y-yeah, okay." Lucas had gone rather pale at that suggestion, but he didn't want to seem suspicious, so he decided not to question it. Guess I won't be enjoying this walk, then… He knew his anxiety was going to gnaw at him the whole time, which wouldn't be particularly pleasant. "My house is a bit of a mess, though." He laughed weakly and stood up, stretching. His back cracked loudly when he did so.
Melissa saw his paleness, but didn't mention it. She herself, did like to keep the house rather cool. So she assumed that was what was wrong. Her smile was still bright, and her heart skipped a beat. "This should be fun!" She laughed, watching him stand and stretch. Hearing his back crack, she cringed just slightly. Though she was trying not to let it bother her.
"Mhmm. Let's head out." Lucas headed towards the door, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure Melissa was following him. He'd always seemed to be afraid of being abandoned, and while he'd never brought it up, it wasn't surprising considering Claus and his mother and all. He pushed opened the door and stepped outside, hoping the fresh air would relax him a bit.
She smiled, taking a second to do a double check on her stuff. 'Phone, wallet, pocket knife, and house key.' She checked her mental list, patting her pockets. Quickly she jogged up behind him, to stay close by. She never liked leaving him alone, it never sat well with her. He was always anxious, so it seemed to her. She didn't want to be apart of that fact.
Lucas looked over at her when she came up to his side and smiled weakly. He made a mental note to stop being so weird. "Um… I think the park is about a five or ten minutes walk from here. Is that okay?" He asked, glancing over at Melissa again as he spoke.
"It's fine with me, as long as you're OK with walking there." She smiled, taking his hand in her own. "You alright Lucas? You sound off to me." She whispered, trying to keep a soothing tone. Worrying something was wrong, she took his other hand, and stood in front of him to catch whatever he had to say. With his truth telling facial expressions.
Lucas blushed when Melissa took his hands and looked down at her. Shit… she's going to know if I'm lying, won't she? One of the major downsides of how large his eyes were was that they were incredibly expressive. They tended to give away his lies. "Um… I-I'm just a little nervous about you coming over. Like I said, the place is a mess, and my dad's become rather reclusive and unfriendly since… w-well, you know…" He was struggling to make eye contact as he spoke, though technically nothing he'd said was a lie.
Sighing, she shook her head with her small smile. "Come on Lucas, it's me. You don't have to be nervous about anything, when it's related to me that is." She told him, loosening her hold on one of his hands. Gently tilting his chin upwards, her green eyes looked into his blue ones. "You're house won't scare me away, I promise." Melissa whispered, holding their hands up a little bit. "Nothing you do will ever scare me off, I swear."
Lucas managed to meet her eyes, his own wide and tinged with the anxiety he was trying so hard to hide. I don't think she realizes what she's getting herself into… "If you say so, Mel…" He sighed softly, resisting the strong urge to just melt into her touch. After being around his father for so long, it was hard to believe that touch could be good. That it could feel so nice and not make him afraid or in pain. Melissa's touch was just so gentle, and he couldn't help but relax… just a little bit. His eyes fluttered for a second before shutting as he gave in, sighing softly again.
Once his eyes were closed, she let her frown settle in on her face. 'I don't know what to do for him…' Melissa worried, to herself, as she studied his face. He looked so tired, it scared her even more. Whatever was going on, she didn't like. Things were clearly bad at the house, but she couldn't say anything to him. He would tell her otherwise. Even as best friends, they had lied to each other plenty of times. Why would this be any different? Gently, she ran her thumb over his bottom lip in a tender way. "You really don't look too good…what's that?" She asked suddenly, noticing the bruise on his neck for the first time they had been together.
"What's what?" Lucas asked, opening his eyes again to look at Melissa. When he noticed where Melissa was looking, he paled and tensed up slightly. "That's nothing… I-I was just laying on my bed and tossing a baseball and didn't catch it one time, that's all…" The lie wasn't horrible, but the execution absolutely gave him away. He wouldn't be so anxious about it if something that simple were the case. Oh god. Shit. This is bad. Very bad. Hhhhhhhh!
Her bright green eyes gave him a look, he would know she didn't believe him. "That's a ton of bull shit, don't lie to me Lucas." She said firmly, her calm demeanor fading. She didn't care at this moment, whatever it was had some form of impact on him. "We aren't going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." Melissa said, still holding his hand. Her hip was jutted out on one side, with her free hand resting on it. "No lying, I want the straight truth."
Lucas started trembling slightly and glanced around anxiously, clearly unable to make eye contact anymore. "I-I… um…" He stammered weakly, trying to figure out what to say. She's going to find out anyways, just fucking say it, for god's sake. "M-My dad started drinking when mom died and more when Claus died. After Claus, h-he started… um… he gets angry a lot, and he takes his aggression out on… me…" Lucas seemed to be edging closer and closer to panicking by the second. Melissa had experienced one or two of his panic attacks before. His breathing was sharp, shallow, and quick, and tears stung the corners of his eyes.
Her no-nonsense look completely faded, her mouth falling open just slightly. Her heart twisted into a knot, her voice stuck in the back of his throat. She blinked multiple times, in attempt to rid of her own tears. "L-Lucas…" She said softly, her posture deflating rather instantly. Unable to keep them back, tears filled her eyes and she let go of his hand to hold it to her face. "Y-you… why didn't you tell me?" She asked, her voice breaking her lower lip shaking just slightly. It would look as if she was the one being abused. Of course, that wasn't entirely untrue, but as of the moment, he mattered more.
"I-I'm sorry! I… I didn't mean to make you cry, I… I'm s-so sorry… please…" Lucas's own tears threatened to spill out of his eyes and he took a couple steps back, now shaking harder. He was quickly losing the ability to string together coherent sentences and was mostly whispering apologies over and over again. "P-Please d… don't… l-lea… leave… s-sorry… so sorry, p-please…" He stammered weakly.
Her tears diminished quickly, and she stepped up closer to him. "Hey, hey, I promised I wouldn't. Remember?" She asked, taking his hand again. "Shhh, you didn't do anything wrong, don't freak out." She whispered, bringing the back of his hand up to her lips. Gently, she pressed a soft kiss to it, in attempt to soothe him. "I need you to calm down honey, please." She kept whispering, trying all she could to keep him calm. She wasn't the best, but she did what she could. "You can do that, can't you?"
Lucas drew in a few quick, shaky breaths, rubbing at his teary eyes. He wasn't in a stable enough emotional state to appreciate the affection or kind words from Melissa. He just kept stringing together apology after apology as he struggled to keep his tears from spilling out over his cheeks. He couldn't be weak in front of Melissa. Not again. She deserves so much better than you. You're pathetic. He told himself.
Lacing their fingers together, she reached up to wipe his tears away. "I believe you can relax Lucas, just breath." She continued to try and soothe. "You're a great guy, you shouldn't have to go through any of this." Melissa told him, leading him back inside. Shutting the door, she continued to lead him up the stair case, towards her bedroom. "Come on, I think you should lie down for a few minutes."
Lucas just let her drag him along, trying desperately to calm himself down. "I'm s… I'm s-sorry I ruined the walk…" He said weakly, sitting down on the bed when he was brought to it. Breathing exercises, remember? Don't be such a fucking idiot. In four, hold seven, out eight. Remember? He obeyed his rather rude inner voice and tried the breathing techniques he'd learned for situations like this.
Sitting on the bed, she pulled Lucas closer to herself. "You didn't ruin a thing honey, if anything, this is my fault." She whispered, gently rubbing his shoulder. The whole thing was hard to take in, but she did. Trying to piece together how long this had been going on, she didn't want to ask. It might set off something, she didn't want to start. This was enough for her right now. "Do you want to lie down?"
He shook his head. He might pass out if he laid down, and he didn't want Melissa to have to deal with that. He hadn't slept well in ages. After a few seconds of hesitation and breathing techniques, he allowed himself to lean into Melissa a bit. It helped relax him to some extent, but he figured he'd regret it later. He was already regretting everything, actually.
A gentle smile formed on his lips. Resting her head on his shoulder, she stroked his back. "What can I do to help you Luc?" Melissa was beyond worried for him, and she felt useless. She wasn't able to help him, there was nothing she could do. Unless he told her she could. But he wouldn't, he wouldn't ask her for anything. So she assumed. "I can do anything at all, you just have to ask." She whispered, feeling her eyes getting heavy.
"I just… I need a moment… I'm sorry…" Lucas continued his structured breathing, which seemed to be helping him some. He kept his eyes closed, afraid to meet Melissa's eyes, and he just looked utterly exhausted. He was drained, physically and mentally, and he didn't know what to do. He rarely got much sleep at his house since he lived in constant fear of his father.
Melissa fell quiet, and only continued to massage his shoulder gently. "Don't apologize," She said before quietness overtook her. It killed her, being unable to do anything, so she just sat there listening to his breathing. '1, 2, 3, 4…' She counted, attempting to keep accords of what he was suppose to be doing. If she could remember, maybe she could help in case of the next time.
After a few minutes of this, Lucas seemed to have finally relaxed. He sighed softly and began to breathe more normally, carding his fingers through his hair. "Sorry about that…" He said softly, opening his eyes to look up at Melissa. "Didn't mean to get so worked up…"
Relived he was alright, she looked to him with a calmed look. "You are totally alright." Melissa reassured him, pulling away. "But you seriously need to stop apologizing for things you can't exactly control." A laugh came from her lips, when she spoke to him. Smiling, she took his hand in hers, running her thumb along the back of his hand. "And don't apologize for apologizing."
Lucas shut his mouth, which he'd opened to apologize, of course. He blushed a bit in embarrassment and glanced away again. "It's a habit…" He replied, clearly struggling to avoid saying 'sorry' after everything. "I should have told you sooner, I just… I dunno…" He sighed. "I didn't want to upset you or burden you with my problems or anything. You already had to deal with so much after Claus and mom…"
The girl looked at him, shaking her head. "Come on Lucas, I didn't have to deal with anything." She said softly, sliding off the bed to stand in front of him. She was being honest, she never looked at it that way. Melissa always looked at it, as if it were a favor, or even just helping her friend. And that's what she was doing. Helping her friend, even know. "I wanted to help you, that's what I'm here for. You can tell me anything and everything, you'll never hurt me so bad that I won't come back." She promised him, looping her arms around him.