Melissa was still running a hand through his hair, happily flipping through the good memories. She smiled softly as a picture of her, Lucas, and Claus came up. “I remember that day… I don’t even know why we were all together, though.”
"Mm… probably a holiday or we just came over to play." Lucas smiled gently and ran his thumb along the picture. Claus was grinning cheekily in the middle, his arms pulling Melissa and Lucas close to himself, and Lucas looked a bit nervous and flustered.
Melissa has been leaning into Claus’s hold, smiling brightly as well. The younger version of herself beamed up at them, looking pretty happy. “Mm, you’re probably right. Maybe for summer break? The way we’re dressed kind gives that much away.”
"Yeah…" Lucas's smile softened a bit as he looked down at the picture. "We were so happy… so clueless."
“That we were…” Melissa sighed weakly, lacing her fingers with Lucas’s. “But we’re somewhat happy now. And we’re together.”
"Mhmm…" Lucas sighed softly, his eyes stuck in Claus in the picture. Two of us, anyway… "I miss those days."
“So do I, but there’s not really any way to go back… if there was, I would gladly go back.” Melissa sighed softly, holding on even tighter.
"Yeah…" Lucas fell silent, lost in his thoughts. He knew he wasn't supposed to allow himself to do that, especially about Claus, but he couldn't help it.
Melissa looked up at him, resting her hand on his cheek. “You alright?” She asked softly, giving him a worried look.
"Mm…" Lucas closed his eyes and leaned into Melissa's hand, staying otherwise quiet. It felt as though his heart was shifting around uncomfortably in his chest as his thoughts swirled in his mind.
“Lu?” Melissa asked again, letting go of his hand to hold onto his face completely. She was growing even more worried the longer he kept quiet.
Lucas curled in on himself a bit as he huddled closer to Melissa. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to look up at Melissa at the moment.
Melissa didn’t push any further, pulling him close to her. She was totally worried about him, but knew he wasn’t going to answer. Not for a while anyways. So she kept quiet, holding him close.
Lucas relaxed a little when Melissa stopped asking him questions, trying to clear his mind so he could calm himself down. He didn't like thinking about Claus. It always just brought him back to seeing his brother hanging from the ceiling of their shared bedroom…
Melissa reaches over and shut the scrapbook. She held on tightly, pushing it out of their way. Out of sight, out of mind was what she was thinking. “I’m here for you… you can cry, or just sit here…” Melissa whispered, rubbing circles into his back.
"I'm okay…" Lucas whispered weakly, his voice almost inaudible. "I shouldn't have let myself start thinking about it… it's my fault…"
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry this keeps happening, but you don’t have to blame yourself. You don’t even have to explain it to me.” Melissa whispered, still rubbing circles into his back.
Lucas nodded a bit and sighed shakily. "It's probably time for me to take my meds again or something… d-don't worry about it…"
“I’m extremely worried about you, Lu. I can’t just shut that off.” Melissa whispered, kissing him softly. “If it’s time for you to take your meds, then you need to do it. I don’t want you skipping those.”
"Okay…" Lucas whistled for Cody and instructed him to fetch his meds and a water bottle. After a couple of minutes when he'd done it, Lucas took his medicine and huddled up with Melissa again.
Melissa continued to rub circles into his back, reaching over to pet Cody. “He’s such a good boy… how long does it usually take for your meds to kick in?”
"It'll be a bit… anywhere between thirty minutes and an hour, usually…" Lucas sighed softly.
"Right… um, what do you need to do until then? Do… do you need me to leave you alone, or..?" Melissa asked softly, putting her attention on him.
"N-No, please don't go…" Lucas whispered, holding tighter to Melissa. "I'll be fine, I just… I don't want to be alone…"
Melissa nodded just a little, letting him pull her even closer. She tried not to let her worry surface, and show across her face, but wasn't doing to great with that. "Okay… I- um, I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Mel… I… um… I'm sorry…" He whispered softly in reply. "I love you…"
"You don't have to be sorry… I'm just getting use to it." Melissa whispered as well, kissing his forehead. "I love you too."
Lucas nodded a bit and sighed shakily, holding tightly to Melissa. He fell silent, just waiting for his meds to kick in.
Melissa quietly played with his hair, humming softly in attempt to soothe him. She wanted him to feel better, hating to see him like this.
After about half an hour, Lucas seemed like he was starting to wind down. "I'm sorry, Mel…"