Lux stared absently out her bedroom window as the rain splattered cool droplets against the window pane. It was cold, and numb. Kind of how she felt at the moment, in less than 24 hours her whole world had crashed and burned right before her pretty little face.
Warm tears welled in her bright blue eyes and slowly fell down her cheeks where she laid curled up in her over-sized canopy bed in the fetal position. She was crying her eyes out while gripping the photo she had of the two most important people in her life. It was a picture of her, Bug, and Tasha sitting on a park bench around winter time smiling with ocean wide grins.
Bug was gone. Tasha was gone, and her entire existence was pointless now. The world just wasn't fair. To make matters worse Tasha's leaving could've been prevented if Cate had let her stay like she'd promised.
Lux looked down at the picture and whimpered slowly pushing it away from her face. It was depressing her, sort of like Cate was. She became angry just thinking about how her own mother was so quick to say no to Tasha staying with them. While Baze on the other hand would've said anything to please her.
Lux smiled beside her tears thinking of her father, she was definitely becoming a daddy's girl. She pulled her cell phone out the back pocket of her jeans and dialed Baze's number.
After a ring or two he finally picked up the phone. He usually ignored his phone calls until the last ring but now that he had a daughter calling he made it a point to break the habit.
"Hey kiddo", he answered brightly on the other hand waiting for a response but it went unheard.
Lux held the phone and tried to steady her shaky voice so he wouldn't be alarmed.
"Lux, what's-
"C-can you come get me?" her voice sounded shaky and hesitant as she tried to choke back tears.
"Are you okay, where are you?" Baze sounded concerned and worried as he deepened his tone of voice.
"Yes- No", Lux miserably whimpered into the phone like a baby. " I'm at Cate's and everything is falling apart. Bug's gone, and so is Tasha. I feel so alone, and I don't want to be here", she sniffed hiccupping into the phone will wiping her face with the back of her wrist.
Baze sighed heavily into the phone. He didn't want to cause any drama between him and Cate by coming to pick Lux up when it wasn't his week with her.
"Lux, sweetie I don't know if—
"Daddy please", she begged raspily against the phone as tears began to pour out even harder. She was so emotional, she hadn't even thought about how she just called Baze "daddy".
Baze felt his heart flutter, in all his life he never knew how good the word dad would make him feel.
"Alright, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Have your things packed okay?"
"K", she sniffed pressing the end button to her phone and tossing it across her bed. Lux wiped her face and looked around her room until she found her canvas messenger bag. She slung it across her bed and began packing her clothes. For the first time since her horrible day had started she felt relieved to be getting away from all the drama of her mess of a life.
Cate inhaled after setting Lux's dinner plate directly across from her. Even though Ryan and her were in the middle of a big fight it was nice to have someone around to distract her.
"Lux, dinner is ready", she called up the stairs before walking to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. After a few minutes of blatant silence she assumed her daughter was upstairs sleeping or still upset with her about the Tasha thing.
Cate climbed up the stairs leading toward the attic and immediately heard the hard thuds from the loud 'The Killers' blasting from Lux's room and vibrating all floors of the house.
"Lux", Cate called once she spotted the teenager leaning across her bed reaching for something.
"Lux", she yelled louder walking deeper into the room.
This time Lux turned around from canvas bag, looked at her mother and pressed the volume button louder before she walked across her room to dig around in one of her dressers for her favorite beanie hat.
Cate smiled gingerly pressing the mute button of the speakers of Lux's ipod speakers.
"I came up here so we can talk", she spoke warmly taking a seat at the edge of the bed as Lux walked continuing to pack.
Cate pulled the bag back and looked at Lux confused. " What are you doing? Laundry day is Sunday you know that".
Lux scoffed slipping her hat across her wavy blond tresses. " I'm packing".
"Packing, packing for what? You can't just up and leave Baze and I anytime you get mad at us. This isn't how it works", Cate snapped and rose to her feet feeling her cheeks get hot.
"Correction I'm not leaving Baze, I'm leaving you".
Lux's words froze Cate's train of thought as she blankly plopped back down on her daughter's bed to sit, she couldn't fathom what she was hearing.
"Excuse me?"
"Whatever you wouldn't get it anyway", Lux complained walking toward her closet and reached for the shoebox on her top shelf and pulled out a few crisp twenty's Ryan had given her for lunch money.
"Try me", Cate demanded following Lux inside of her closet.
Lux shrugged past Cate and continued to pack when her mother followed her again.
"Lux", she pleaded hoarsely. "Please just talk to me".
"Why should I?" Lux's voice cracked and sounded high pitched in the stillness of her bedroom as tears welled her eyes again. "You ruined everything", she accused wiping tears out the corner of her eyes.
"Sweetie, I would never purposely try to hurt you", Cate responded and cautiously stroked Lux's soft blonde hair. For a moment she accepted the embrace until thoughts of Tasha and Bug came to mind.
Lux shrugged away from Cate's gesture and narrowed her eyes accusingly at her.
"Because of you everyone's gone!", Lux accused through her tear streaked face.
Cate felt numb and felt her heart fall down to her stomach as tears burned in the back of her eyes threatening to fall. The part that hurt the most about what Lux said was because it was the truth. It seemed like every move she made was hurting someone she loved.
"Tasha's gone, Bug's gone, Ryan's gone and now because of you… I'm gone", Lux spoke shrugging her canvas bag across her small shoulder angrily flipping her hair out of her face.
As if on cue Baze honked his horn from outside after finally arriving to pick her up.
Lux sighed in relief and shrugged her way out of the door heading downstairs, she was just glad Baze got there to handle all the drama Cate would be throwing.
"Lux, you march your butt back inside this house", Cate demanded pushing the front door open welcoming the cool brisk air as Lux ignored her continuing to Baze's blue jeep.
Lux inhaled the warm air inside her dad's car and adjusted in the passenger's side.
Baze looked from Lux, to Cate was tapping on the glass window insisting Lux march back inside the house.
"Anything you want to tell me?" he asked quietly ignoring Cate's voice screaming through the glass. By this time he was so used to hearing her yell it was becoming the norm.
"Just pull off", she groaned closing her eyes and turned her ipod touch up to as loud as it could go before placing her earplugs inside her ears to drown out the noise.
Baze unbuckled and exhaled walking to meet Cate. He gently took her by the arm and guided her away from Lux's window.
"Calm down I-
"Don't tell me to calm down! This is my time with her", Cate screamed with tears dotting the corner of her eyes as her face turned a darker red.
Baze hated to see Cate or Lux upset no matter how cool and laid-back her pretended to be, seeing them like this was really bothering him. He held his arms open for Cate and she fell into his embrace wrapping her small arms around his large frame. He towered over by more than an inch standing at a respectable 6'3 against her 5'1 frame.
"Look", Baze whispered against her hair. " I'm going to take her with me for a few days and when she's ready we'll all talk".
Cate broke free from the hug and looked at Baze accusingly. " She's only siding with you because you give her anything she wants".
"That's not true", Baze argued but thought, Lux didn't really ask for much.
Baze exhaled and cleared his throat. " I hate to get in between this but I already am. I think it'd be best if you just let me take her for a night or two and see where her head is at. Her whole world get ripped from her, she needs time to cope".
Cate was speechless, Baze actually sounded like a mature human being, he actually sounded his age. She crossed her arms and nodded her head as if convincing herself.
"Alright, fine", she agreed reclosing her arms over each other.
"I'll have her call you", Baze confirmed before slowly pulling out the driveway.
Once they pulled into the bar Lux hopped out the passenger side as Baze grabbed her overnight bag walking behind her. He flicked on the lights and waited for her to say something, but still she was silent.
Lux took a seat at one of the couches upstairs and sprawled across the brown suede layout. She was exhausted she didn't bother taking off her boots or her coat. She laid on her side and stared blankly at the bong lamp Baze had made and watched it change colors.
After all that had happened she didn't want to do anything, she couldn't. It hurt too much, all she wanted to do was lay around and sulk in her misery but Baze was making it difficult.
He jogged up the steps with a tray of Cheese-Itz and fruit punch juice pouches.
"Hey ya hungry?" Baze asked perched on the edge of the couch.
Lux rolled around to face him a groaned with a yawn at the juvenile meal he had laid out for her.
" No,I'm 16 not 6".
"Hey, I didn't buy these snacks for you. I bought them because they're my favorite", he joked sneaking a chip before setting it at the coffee table Abby helped him pick out.
"Seriously", Baze cleared his throat and stretched his arm around the couch. "What's going on with you so I can get back to my game?"
"Nothing I'm fine", she answered muffled into one of the pillows on the couch.
"Fine isn't calling me at 9 pm crying", he reasoned looking down as his daughter laid motionless.
"Hello?" he insisted.
Lux sighed and looked up toward her father. " I just don't want to talk about it tonight I just want to go to sleep I'm so exhausted I can't think", she pleaded.
"Fine", Baze gave in rising from the squeaky couch. " But we'll continue this in the morning kiddo".
"Okay", she yawned rolling back to her side still fully clothed.
"Take off your coat and shoes before you get sick from the sleet outside", Baze said concernedly and curled his neck back and wandered if those words came out his mouth.
"Too sleepy", Lux murmured with her eyes fluttering up and down.
Baze sighed and walked back over to the couch to help Lux out of her Ugg boots, as she lifted her foot one by one. He helped her out of her pea coat a tossed it across the table. He couldn't help but feel so fatherly he wandered what it'd feel like to tie her shoes and help her into her cut when she was a toddler. He felt a pinch at his heart, but realized there was nothing he could do about it then.
"Dad" Lux spoke once he was almost down the steps.
Baze turned and lifted his eyebrows.
" Can you bring me some water?"
Baze returned from down the steps with a glass of cool water and walked over toward the couch to hand it to Lux.
"Here you go-", he stopped mid-sentence realizing his daughter was in a deep slumber and set the glass down on the coffee table.
Baze smiled warmly as she slept and slowly lifted her into his arms careful not to wake her. Even though she had just turned 16 she was very petite and wore no more than 90 pounds, lifting her was like lifting a ten year old.
Lux stirred in his arms and rubbed her eyes with a yawn as Baze led her into her bedroom. He gently laid her into the bed and pulled her lavender comforter over her body before shutting off the lights in her room and walking out.
He cracked the door to make sure she was okay in there and relaxed walking toward his bedroom. Despite all the doubters, he was getting pretty good at the daddy thing.
This is my first LU fic, so please go easy on me. I really love the father daughter relationship between Lux and Baze. Comment if you want me 2 continue.