Melissa's face softened a little, before she scooted closer. She wrapped her arms around his waist before leaning back into the couch, and curling up close to him. "And you think you'll have to, if your therapist finds out everything?"
"I… I don't know for sure, but… probably…" Lucas sighed shakily, holding tightly to Melissa. "I don't wanna be stuck in a place like that, Mel…"
"Would you not have a choice? Would it be a mandatory thing?" Melissa asked softly, starting to run her fingers through his hair.
"W-Well, um… normally I think a parent or guardian would have to sign their permission, but I… don't exactly have either of those at the moment…"
Melissa listened in silence, her father coming to mind when he spoke. Of course, it didn't really count- with all things considered. "Right… I'm sorry if I'm asking questions you don't have answers to, I just don't know these things."
"Yeah, um… I don't know for sure, but I did a bit of research when I was still living with my dad… since… you know, that place would be better than staying there."
"That… that's true… So if you have to have a parent or guardian sign their permission, it isn't possible for you to get sent there?" Melissa asked softly, trying to find something to go off of.
"I'm… I'm not sure what qualifies as a parental guardian… depending on that definition, your dad could sign off… but obviously neither of my parents can."
Melissa sighed softly, nodding a bit before curling up closer. "I… I mean, yeah, you're probably right." Melissa mumbled, growing quiet as she sunk into her thoughts.
Lucas buried his face in Melissa's shoulder, exhaling shakily. "I just… I don't know what to do, Mel…"
"You don't worry about it. You wait, and we figure it out when it's actually time to. Let's not worry about something that's only possible." Melissa whispered, kissing the top of his head.
Lucas nodded a bit, huddling closer to Melissa. "Alright… what if your dad thinks I should go, though?"
"Lucas…" Melissa whispered, sighing softly. "What did I just say? Come on, just take a deep breath. We'll worry about this later."
"Sorry, sorry… m'trying…" He murmured, drawing in a few deep, wavering breaths. "Should… should we tell him?"
"What's there to tell him? We don't even have the money to get you therapy. Until we get that, I honestly think we should wait to mention it." Melissa whispered, glancing up to him.
"Um… n-not necessarily about the therapy… I mean about… um… this." He held up his forearms, flushing lightly.
Melissa glanced to his arms, sighing softly. "Doesn't he know? He told me he helped you when you had a concussion."
"I know that he knows in general, I just… should we tell him that I just did?" He asked weakly.
"Do you want to?" Melissa asked, her voice still soft. "Because if you don't, we don't have to."
"I… um… I'm not sure, to be honest…" Lucas sighed. "I think maybe he deserves to know, right? B-But I just… I dunno…"
"Lucas, if you don't want to, we don't have to. I know you're gonna hate this, but be selfish for a moment, and tell me what you want." Melissa insisted, resting a hand under her chin.
"I honestly don't know, Mel… I don't know what I want. I hate talking about it and it terrifies me to think about, but I still think he should know…"
"Then I'll tell him later. Clearly you're not up to it right now, and I don't want to force you into something you don't want. If you'd rather have even me not tell him, because the idea makes you uncomfortable, then that's fine too. I'm just trying to give options." Melissa whispered, dropping her hand to rest on his chest.
"Um… y-you can tell him, Mel… preferably when I'm not there, though." Lucas huddled a bit closer to Melissa. "I think it would stress me out a lot…"
"Then I can wait until you go to bed. If you're really alright with me telling him, that is." Melissa whispered, pulling her legs up next to her. "For now, we can just sit here."
Lucas nodded, keeping his face buried in Melissa's shoulder. "Yeah… you… you can do it, if you're okay with it Mel…"
"Of course I am, Lucas." Melissa whispered, kissing him softly. "Do you just want to sit here? Or do you possibly want to go to sleep?"
"Um… I might just try to sleep, to be honest… I'm tired." Lucas gently returned the kiss with a soft sigh. "I love you…"
"That's fine, love. It doesn't surprise me after the day you had." Melissa sighed, slowly pushing up off the couch. "I love you too, Lucas."
"Goodnight…" Lucas curled up on the couch with Cody, drawing in a shaky breath. "See you in the morning…"