Melissa pulled the door open, and made the quick exchange without any hesitation. With the pizza in hand, she smiled softly at the delivery guy as he turned to go back to his car. "You want me to dish you up?" She asked over her shoulder, shutting the door.
"Hmm…?" Lucas looked up from his drawing. "No, no… I can do it." He put down his sketchbook and stood up.
"I don't mind, if you want to keep drawing." Melissa hummed, setting it on the kitchen table and reading over the receipt. "I'll at least grab plates for us both." She hummed a bit.
"No, that's okay… I'm basically done with it anyway." Lucas headed into the kitchen and ran his fingers through his hair with a soft sigh.
Melissa looked up, looking him up and down with a worried look. "Are… are you alright?" She asked him softly, noting that he was running his fingers through his hair.
"Hmm? Yeah m'alright… still a little antsy and stuff, but I'm better than before." He let his hand fall to his side.
Posture relaxing a bit, she nodded weakly. "If you're sure. I still feel really bad for earlier…" Melissa mumbled, pulling two plates from the cabinet.
"It's fine, Mel… they would've found out at some point." Lucas shrugged and grabbed himself a slice of pizza.
Bring plates over, she held one out to him. "Yeah… I know I said I wanted to tell them, but I really didn't want it to be like that."
"Yeah… what's done is done, though, and all we can do is hope your dad doesn't tell your mom." Lucas put his pizza on the plate and started eating it.
Hesitantly, she got her own food and leaned back against the table. "That's true… I guess I'll find out what happens later." Melissa sighed weakly, slowly eating her own food. "No point in worrying about it now."
Lucas nodded, continuing to eat. "You can talk to him whenever you want to, by the way. I think I'm pretty stable now."
Melissa glanced over at him, shaking her head. "You said that, five minutes before you told me you were sinking into bad thoughts. I really don't want that to happen again."
"Right…" Lucas sighed softly. "I really think I'm mostly okay now, though."
Setting her plate aside, she pulled her hair up out of her face. "Well, then I might go talk to him after we finish eating. You'll scold me if I don't." Melissa teased, letting a soft smile pull back up.
Lucas nodded a bit, taking another bite of his pizza. "And I'll keep drawing to distract myself anyways."
Picking her plate back up, she nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. If that doesn't work, you can come find me. I'd rather make sure you're okay."
He nodded again and finished his pizza. "Sounds fine to me… and I'll have my phone on me just in case." He brought his plate to the sink to wash.
Finishing off her own, she came up behind him with a soft sigh. "You're already full? You don't need any more?" Melissa asked him softly, setting her plate besides his.
"Yeah, I'm okay… might eat more later if I get hungry." Lucas smiled softly and washed her plate as well. "Good luck, Mel." He headed back into the living room to continue drawing.
Sucking in a deep breath, she stood down at the end of the stairs gnawing on her bottom lip. Glancing over to where he sat, she swallowed down the lump in her throat and made herself head up the stairs. There was nothing to worry about. She would be fine… right?
Lucas was growing increasingly worried for Melissa, but tried to keep himself distracted. She didn't want him to be there anyways. He'd have another episode. He sighed softly and continued drawing.
Coming up to her father’s office, she lightly pushed the door open to see him sitting there. Her mom wasn’t there, which relieved her a little bit. “Dad?” Melissa asked softly, peering around the corner. When addressed, he lifted his head, and smiled softly at her. “What’s up, sweetheart?”
Lucas lay down on the couch and rested his sketchbook on his knees to continue drawing. Most of it was already done, so he was just doing details at the moment.
(I'm just doing one long post for this, so it goes quicker…)
Melissa was still gnawing on her bottom lip, and let out a weak breath. "I-I wanted to… to talk to you about what you saw, downstairs." Melissa mumbled, barely walking into the room enough to close the door. Giving her an odd look, he gestured for to sit down. "What about it?" Her father asked her softly, watching as she hesitantly came and sat down. "I- I… I just-" She was finding it difficult to speak, feeling her heart rate pick up just a bit when he stood. Walking around the desk, he pulled a seat up to sit in front of her.
"Honey, just relax. You're not going to be in trouble, if that's what you're worried about." He said softly, leaning forward and placing a hand on her knee. "I know you, I'm your dad. You don't have to try and explain anything, I know what's going on. I'm not blind, Melissa." He told her softly, giving her a gentle smile.
Melissa felt her face flush, and glanced between his gentle touch and his face. "You- you do?" She asked softly, trying to relax herself. "Of course. And I think Lucas is a super sweet boy. I trust you, I trust your judgment. Even if you didn't do great while we were gone, I've seen the kind of friends you keep. You're a smart girl." He insisted, running his thumb over the fabric of her jeans.
Taken by a bit of surprise, she found herself sitting a little taller in her seat. He really trusted her? "You're serious? You would really let me and him… go out?" Melissa asked softly, feeling a light smile pull up on her lips.
"Absolutely. He's too nervous to try anything, I know that. After I saw him start having a meltdown in the living room, I'm not the slightest bit worried about him hurting you." Her father said softly, standing up from his place. "I would just warn you to be careful around your mother. I don't think she would be thrilled about you two. If she finds out, I'll talk to her."
With the reassurance of her father, and not having to worry too much about her mother, she stood up as well, and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you. Thank you, so much." She said softly, smiling up at him. Wrapping his arms around her, he smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Why don't you go tell him. I'm assuming he's waiting anxiously." He told her softly, letting go. When he did, Melissa pulled back with the biggest smile. "I love you." Melissa told him, before turning and running out of the room.
She quickly ran down the stairs, and looked over at Lucas. "Lu?" She asked him softly, as if not to frighten him. Her smile was almost impossible to ignore, as she made her way over to the couch, hands still shaky.
"Melissa! Are you okay? He didn't get mad, did he?" Lucas dropped his sketchbook and jumped to his feet to check her over. "You're shaking… are you alright?" He took her hands and examined them before his gaze turned to her face. He noticed her smiling and stopped in his tracks, confused.
When he paused, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. "He wasn't mad. He was totally okay with it- with us. That was probably the scariest thing I've done- my heart is beating so fast." She whispered, holding on to him tightly. "I can't believe he wasn't even a little bit upset."
"Oh my God…" Lucas returned the hug, releasing a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding. "That's amazing, I-I… oh my God… I gotta thank him next time I see him. I should've gone with you… I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's alright." Melissa whispered, pulling back just a bit to look at his face. "I'm fine, we're fine. You don't have to worry too badly anymore. My mom still doesn't know, but we don't need to worry about her too much." She told him softly, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.
Lucas nodded. "I'm… I'm still really worried about her." He laughed weakly. "We'll just try and not be too affectionate around her, yeah?"