"I want to do whatever is better for you," Melissa whispered, still sitting on the floor in front of him. "We can go downstairs if you want, but we don't have to." She continued to talk softly, holding onto one of his hands.
Lucas glanced over at Mr. Brennahan, shifting nervously. "Um… let's just head down to the living room, yeah?"
"Of course," Melissa nodded a little, getting up off the floor. She offered him a hand, giving him a little smile. "We can go down there if that's what you want."
Lucas took Melissa's hand and kept close to her as he walked out of the office. He quietly thanked Mr. Brennahan as he left, still seeming a bit jittery and nervous.
Mr. Brennahan smiled up at Lucas, nodding a bit as they headed out. When they were downstairs in the living room, Melissa gently started running her fingers through his hair. "You want me to make you some hot chocolate, still?"
"We can make some, yeah…" Lucas sighed softly and closed his eyes, embarrassed and frustrated with himself. "Sorry about… um… all of that…"
"It's fine, love… don't worry about it. I know it's stressful," Melissa hummed, kissing his forehead before walking into the kitchen. "I'm sorry I didn't do more talking- you just seemed to know what you were doing. I didn't want to interrupt."
"R-Right…" Lucas followed Melissa into the kitchen, wanting to keep close to her for now. "I just let myself think about it too much and got myself all freaked out again… I'm still like, vibrating a bit."
Melissa turned to look at him, giving him a soft look. "I'm sorry honey… is there anything I can do?" She asked softly, holding her arms out some in case he wanted a hug. "I'm happy to do anything for you."
"I'll probably be fine after the hot chocolate…" Lucas hugged Melissa tightly, his trembling making her shake a bit as well.
"Alright… as long as it doesn't bug you, you can probably hug me while I try to make it if you want," Melissa mumbled, slowly starting to pull away from him.
"I don't want to be in the way, though…" Lucas reluctantly pulled away as well, although he still stayed close.
"You wouldn't be, love," Melissa mumbled, pulling the fridge open to grab the milk. "Do you like peppermint? I can make peppermint hot chocolate if you want."
"Eh…" Lucas shrugged a bit. "Mint's okay, but better in gum than in hot chocolate." He kept following Melissa, but stayed out of her way as well as he could.
"Alright, that's fine." Melissa hummed softly, setting the milk aside as she reached up for the hot chocolate mix. As she let it sit on the stove, she came up to him with a soft smile. "You okay?"
Lucas nodded and fidgeted with his hands a little as he watched Melissa. "Yeah, I'm… I'm okay… you?"
"Just fine," Melissa hummed softly, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face. "Where do you wanna go when this is all done? Just to the living room?"
"Probably, yeah…" Lucas glanced around the room a bit, still fidgeting. "When do you think I'll be going to see my dad?" He asked weakly. "Should we go today? Tomorrow?"
"It's probably too late to go today, honey," Melissa whispered, coming up and taking his hands in hers. "I don't really know when we'll go, but you don't need to worry about it, yeah? Not right now at least."
Lucas nodded weakly, letting Melissa hold onto his hands. "Um… r-right… sorry, I just… I can't stop thinking about it…"
“Then what can I do to get you to think about something else?” Melissa asked softly, looking up at him. “Do you just want to relax for a little bit? Or play a game, or watch a movie?”
"Maybe we can watch something, I dunno… name relax on the couch as well…" Lucas shrugged a bit.
"We can do whatever makes you happy," Melissa hummed, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I love you… you know that, right?"
"I love you too, Mel…" Lucas wrapped his arms around Melissa's waist and rested his head on her shoulder, holding her close.
Melissa gently rubbed circles into his back as they stood there, listening for the timer to go off. After a minute or so, she gently kissed the top of his head, pulling back some. "I need to get the coco off the stove. We can cuddle in just a minute, okay?"
"Okay…" Lucas jumped a bit at the timer and ran his fingers through his hair when Melissa had separated herself from him.
Melissa glanced over to him, giving him a weak smile as she poured the chocolate into mugs. "You want marshmallows?" She asked softly, starting to put everything else away.
"Sure… is there anything I can do to help?" Lucas asked just as softly, fidgeting a little with his hands.
Shaking her head, Melissa turned to face him, with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. "Besides taking this, no." She hummed, giving him a little smile.
Lucas flushed lightly and accepted the mug from Melissa. "I… um… alright. Thank you, Mel…" He murmured in reply.