Melissa's face was still rather lit up, leaning in to kiss him in return. "Mm, you're definitely allowed. I've always hated the fact that you've had to sleep on the couch…" She whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist loosely.
"Don't feel bad, darling. Your couch is pretty comfortable, especially compared to that old mattress I used to sleep on at my house."
"But I knew I could offer you better…" Melissa whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. "I hated knowing I could do better, but didn't…"
"Really, don't worry about it. I was perfectly alright on the couch." Lucas gently kissed Melissa again.
Melissa sighed softly, burying her face in his shoulder. "Alright, alright…" She mumbled, holding on tightly.
"Either way, thank you, Mel." Lucas continued to smile. "I love you~"
"I love you, too…" Melissa whispered in response, slowly pulling back. She stood on her toes to peck his lips, smiling once again.
"Is there anything you want to do today?" Lucas asked, twirling a lock of Melissa's hair around one finger.
Melissa shook her head, giving him a light smile. "Not really. I'm happy to hang around the house, or do stuff outside."
"Sounds good to me. I'm fine to do anything that you wanna do, darling." Lucas hummed softly.
"Well, I'd rather have a down-day. Especially if we're gonna do stuff tomorrow." Melissa chirped, taking both his hands again.
"Sounds good to me, Mel. Any idea what you'd like to do tomorrow?" He asked curiously.
“Not really… I know I should, but I don’t have any ideas. As long as we’re together it’ll be a good birthday.” Melissa shrugged with a slight smile.
Lucas smiled gently and kissed Melissa again. "Alright. I'll try to think of something, then."
“Mm, don’t pressure yourself too much.” Melissa hummed, leading him on back down the stairs. “We should go for a walk, later. Let Cody get some exercise…”
"Maybe we could go to the clearing? I'd say the beach, but it's way too cold to go swimming." Lucas laughed softly.
Melissa nodded a little, leading him over to the couch when they were officially down-stairs. "We definitely need to go. You haven't been in forever."
"Mhmm… I really miss that place." Lucas sighed as he flopped down on the couch. "I hated being cooped up in the hospital all the time."
"Well, we'll have to go then. I don't want to keep you cooped up." Melissa hummed, sitting down with him on the couch.
Lucas nodded a bit and huddled up with Melissa. "Yeah… I love you…" He murmured.
"I love you, too." Melissa hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know I've said it a hundred times, but I've really missed you."
"I missed you too, Mel…" Lucas smiled gently as he held Melissa close. "So much…"
"Mm, you mean a lot to me… I'm not really sure what I would have done if you hadn't made it…" Melissa whispered softly, burying her face in his shoulder.
Lucas sighed and huddled closer to Melissa, guilt gnawing away at his stomach. He decided to keep quiet for now.
Melissa noted his quietness, and felt herself cringe. She shouldn't have said that, and she knew it. "I- um… sorry…"
"It's… it's not your fault, Mel…" Lucas whispered, burying his face in her shoulder. "I… I-I shouldn't have done it in the first place…"
"But you physically couldn't stop yourself. And I shouldn't have even brought it up. I just… I didn't mean to…" Melissa whispered, resting her chin on the top of his head.
Lucas held tighter to Melissa, trying to clear his mind so he could calm himself down. He really didn't want to be thinking about this right now.
Melissa kept quiet, assuming she was probably making things worse the more she spoke. So she didn't say anything else to let him try and relax.
Lucas's breath caught in his throat and he bit down hard on his lip, his hands trembling lightly. Pull it together… she doesn't need to see you like this. You're getting better. You can't be doing this anymore.