You're Still the One

by GemNika

CoLu Week 2018/2019. Ten years have passed since they last saw each other, but what else are high school reunions for, if not to catch up with your high school sweetheart? (Rated M for a reason).

2. 2019, Day 1: Thread

A/N: So, the original plan for this had been that I would wait a couple weeks after last year's CoLu Week to post the next chapter… We see how that turned out. Sorry for making y'all wait so long for the next part of this. I hope you enjoy what's to come, and I sincerely hope it was worth the wait.

I've decided to do something different this CoLu Week. Instead of creating a new story here on FFN and posting one-shots inside of it, I'm updating CoLu stories with another chapter! Some of them will get multiple chapters updated. Also, at this point, I only have Days 1 and 2 finished. Things are still hectic in the real world right now, so the rest of my CoLu entries will probably be a little on the late side. I have no intention of skipping this pairing week. I've never skipped it before, and I don't plan to start now.

At the end of each new CoLu Week entry, I'll put a note on which story the next prompt will appear under whenever it gets posted, so you guys will know where to keep an eye out.

So, without further ado, Welcome to CoLu Week 2019!

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Day 1
Thread

---

Layla hums quietly to the music that streams through their home's automated system. She loves that Lucy convinced her to invest in that silly little Alexa thing. It gives her the ability to listen to music from anywhere in the house - such a lovely way to keep her mood up while she's cleaning, without blaring music from the sound system in the living room, like she used to. The smell of bacon in the oven is coiling up into her sinuses, and she turns on the oven light to see if they're crisped enough yet.

Still not ready. Well, fiddlesticks. That's fine though, because Jude is only just coming downstairs, and Lucy's still asleep.

She turns when she hears Jude's familiar footsteps, a gentle smile curling her lips as she watches him fiddling with his tie. He's ready for work, for the most part, but she's happy that he always makes time to eat breakfast with her before he leaves. He never used to, but now that he's getting older and his doctor has gotten on his case, he's taking better care of himself.

"Lucy's still not up?" he asks when he sees the table is empty.

"Not yet," she says. "I'll head up in a minute to get her."

Jude inhales as she walks closer, his eyes closing as the bacon hits his nose. "Real bacon?"

"Yes," Layla laughs. She smooths down imaginary wrinkles in his shirt and takes his suit jacket from his arm to drape over the nearby stool at the breakfast bar. "I don't like that turkey bacon much either. And I've packed a salad for your lunch today to counteract this unhealthy breakfast."

"You spoil me," he chuckles. Jude leans closer and presses a tender kiss to her cheek, and when Layla turns, she smiles into the next kiss he presses to her lips. She's always loved the way his moustache tickles her nose.

"Did you hear her come in last night?" she asks as they pull away. Jude walks to the dining table and picks up his tablet on the way, removing it from the charger on the kitchen counter and opening his news application to read the morning paper.

Jude shakes his head, frowning at the screen in his hand.

"Glasses, dear," Layla giggles. "They're right next to your hand."

Jude blinks, tilts the tablet to the side, and finds his reading glasses right in front of his glass of cranberry juice. A small, grateful lift to his lips is her only indication that he appreciates the gesture while he puts then on and begins reading again.

Layla returns to her breakfast preparation, checks the bacon in the oven one more time, as well as the casserole she's making. Dinner will be made in the crockpot, but she doesn't need to start mixing ingredients for another hour or so. With a final nod, she unties her apron and rounds the center island in the kitchen to head up the stairs. "Well, time to go wake up our little princess," she sings.

Jude laughs as she ascends the stairs. While they're both happy that Lucy had been able to come back home after her marriage fell apart, there is no shortage of jokes concerning her presence. It's all in good fun, though. The last thing Layla or Jude want is for her to struggle while trying to get her life back together now that Loke is out of the picture.

Her steps slow as she nears Lucy's bedroom door with the bright pink wooden L monogram still hanging up at eye level. So little had changed in the past few years. Layla hadn't had the heart to do anything to Lucy's room after she'd moved out, but it was clearly a wise decision.

Still, they were going to need to figure something out for Lucy to do with herself. She'd graduated college and had started her own life out in California, but she'd left it all behind. At the very least, she needed to get herself a job so she could start saving money. Layla already knows they won't charge her rent, as long as she's clearly making the effort to get things together.

Layla considers knocking for a moment, but then thinks better of it. Lucy won't hear it if she's still asleep - and considering the bacon-smell is fully permeating the upstairs, it would be a surprise if that was the case - but if she's awake…

Well, it's not like she'll be completely naked. And even if she is, it's nothing Layla hasn't already seen before.

She opens the door just enough to peek her head around the edge, a smile on her lips as she looks toward her daughter's bed. "Lucy, breakfast is-"

Her words die on the tip of her tongue when she sees the rich caramel skin of a man kneeling between her daughter's spread legs. The blanket is pushed down enough for her to see the curve of his ass from the side, and how Lucy's leg hitches higher on his hip, pulling him closer. Layla's widened honey eyes slide toward the head of the bed, passing quickly over her daughter's breast that's barely visible where his chest is pressed to hers, and they widen even further when she sees how long his maroon hair has gotten, how it hangs over one shoulder.

Is that really Cobra? In her daughter's bed? Does this mean they met up with each other at the reunion the night before, or had they already been talking? No, that couldn't be the case. Lucy would have told her if she'd found out what happened to him all those years ago. But if they'd just reunited the night before, then was her daughter really naked in the bed with him so soon?

Cobra breaks away from the tender kiss he and Lucy had been sharing, and they both turn to stare at the doorway in horror.

"Oh god," Cobra breathes. He's aged just a little in the time he's been gone, but it's the scar bisecting his right eye that catches Layla's attention. "It's just like when I lost my virginity…"

That nearly has Layla laughing, but she reins it in and simply shakes her head. "I'll set out another plate then. And Lucy," she says. She meets her daughter's horrified expression with a gentle smile. "I hope you didn't use a condom. If I'm ever getting grandbabies, they'd better be his."

She closes the door just in time as Lucy's pillow goes sailing through the air, and all she can hear is her daughter screeching, "Mom, shut up!"

As Layla turns and walks back down the hall, her smile widens. Tears spring to her eyes unchecked. She doesn't know what's in store for Lucy and Cobra, but she does know love when she sees it. And if the way he was just kissing Lucy was any indication, then he definitely still loves her. By the time she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she's in a daze. Luckily, the timer goes off for the oven, so Layla busies herself with checking the food and grabbing an extra place setting for the table without Jude realizing anything is amiss.

---

Erik collapses on top of Lucy and laughs, even though she turns a vicious glare up to him. "I don't see what's so funny," she mutters.

"Layla seriously has the worst luck," he chuckles. "She got an eyeful of my ass just now."

Lucy simply smirks and grabs the ass in question. She hadn't realized that the blanket had been pushed down that far, but she really doesn't care. "But you've got a juicy booty," she purrs. She squeezes, feeling the muscles beneath flex as his hips roll into hers. Her quiet gasp as he fills her sex in one fluid motion is met with a soft groan from him. She doesn't want this to end, but her stomach is protesting the lack of bacon.

Now that her door has been opened (and closed again, thank fucking god), she can smell it.

"Think we can beat the record?" Lucy asks. "I want breakfast."

Erik snorts. "Two minutes is not a record I'm proud of, beautiful." He reaches down and makes sure the condom is still on - damn Layla for mentioning having kids, but he also wants to be sure it hasn't slipped off - then kisses her again. "But we can try."

"Same as last time?" Lucy grins when he does, giving her a quick nod. They scramble off the bed, throw the comforter on the floor, and Lucy straddles him. It was the only way they were able to have sex before with her on top, because her bed wouldn't squeak if they were on the floor.

He gasps as Lucy grabs his cock and positions him easily. She slides down and starts riding him, rolling her hips and gripping his thighs to push her chest further into the air. It's nearly too much for him to bear, but the sight of her letting loose like this is so alluring that all he can do is grasp at her hips and help her move faster over him.

He's still not entirely sure how Layla walking in on them didn't completely kill his boner. Then again, he's with Lucy, and this is something he's only been able to experience in his dreams for far too long.

Fuck, he's missed this so much.

When one hand slides up to her breast, their eyes lock.

She feels so much better than his memories of when they'd had sex in high school. She's more comfortable in her own skin now. She moves differently than he remembers. She has more experience and so does he. But he still remembers her body. It's how he knows that if he pinches her nipples just like this, from the outer edges with more pressure as his fingers reach the tips, she'll go wild. And she doesn't disappoint as she gasps and grinds shamelessly on him with Cobra as nothing more than a high-pitched whimper.

---

Cobra carried his lunch tray outside to the picnic table he shared with his new friends Midnight and Angel. Well, Angel wasn't really new to him. He'd met her back in sixth grade when he was in another foster home two towns over, and she'd been living with her aunt. Cobra had been moved halfway through the year and lost touch with her. He'd just assumed that he wouldn't ever see her again. But now they were freshmen in high school - he was in a new foster home again, and she was living with her grandmother - and she'd latched onto him and brought Midnight right along with her.

He still wasn't sure how he felt about the kid with two-toned white and black hair wearing makeup, but at least he knew what he was doing. Midnight gave quite a few of the goth girls a run for his money with that heavy black eyeliner.

He was definitely glad that the weather was good enough for them to eat outside. The kids who ate inside acted like a bunch of fucking animals, and he really didn't want to sit anywhere near the guys who decided not to shower after Phys Ed.

"I don't know how you eat that garbage," Angel said, glaring at his chicken sandwich with (most likely) stale wheat bread, and tater tots.

Cobra just shrugged. "Free lunch," he said. "At least I'm not eating that nasty fucking pizza like your boyfriend over here."

"Like hell would I date her," Midnight snorted. "I'm not sexually aroused by being emasculated on an hourly basis."

"Oh, screw both of you," Angel huffed. She unpacked her Spongebob lunch box and set her salad, grapes, and Fiji water on the table.

"That's what you're eating?" Cobra asked. She gave him a pointed look and opened her salad, drizzled it with ranch dressing, and mixed up the greens. "You do realize we, as humans, supposed to eat meat, right?"

"You do realized my grandma's a vegetarian, so she doesn't even buy meat, right?" Angel snarled. God, she was bitchy. Probably because she wasn't getting enough fucking meat.

"Dude, eat half my sandwich," Cobra said. "And give me like, two bites of your salad."

Angel didn't say a thing, instead choosing to fill her fork with greens and cram them all into her mouth. If she wasn't careful, she'd end up breaking her teeth on that damn fork. The last thing the world needed was Angel having sharp teeth to match her vindictive personality.

Cobra was positive that she'd actually fucking bite people if she could draw blood with minimal effort involved.

"You look like you just got bukakke'd into next weekend," Midnight said, staring at the ranch dressing on her lips. He gave her a napkin that was spotted in the grease from his pizza.

Cobra sighed and took a bite of his sandwich, turning his attention back to their surroundings. He wasn't really sure how he felt about spending his time with Angel and Midnight, but it was better than being alone in this new school. He didn't know anyone else here. Or in this town, really. The only problem was that, if he did let himself get attached to their continued presence in his life, then he'd end up getting moved to another foster home. In another town.

He hated it when his whole life got uprooted. He hated that he couldn't just live with his mom. He hated even more that she was in prison, and he wasn't even allowed to have contact with her. Some bullshit about her potentially being a bad influence on him. It wasn't like she could get any drugs in prison… that he knew of. More than likely, she was already clean, and had been for the past five years.

God, the last time he'd seen her, he'd been in fourth grade. And she'd been in the process of trading their tv for a bump of cocaine. He hadn't understood at the time, why the police - who were supposed to be the good guys who put bad guys in jail - were taking his mom to jail. His sixth grade science class had opened his eyes though. Well, more specifically, the D.A.R.E. people that came to do a presentation about drug abuse and how to resist the temptation of peer pressure, had made it click for him. His mom was addicted to cocaine, and he could only assume that she'd done something pretty fucked up for her to have gotten a 10-year sentence.

He hated this stupid sandwich that he had to eat, too, because his foster family wouldn't let him pack a lunch to take to school. Especially not when they could just as easily apply for free lunches for him from the school.

Two girls left the lunchroom and walked past his table, then out to the grassy hill that the weird kids always sat on. The ones who quoted Invader Zim like it was the coolest show in the world, who gave punk kids a reputation of being fucking retarded. He dug their style in clothes, but that was about it. The last thing he was going to do was try and spend time with the anime losers.

Just because he liked watching the occasional anime didn't mean he had to sit with those kids. Because they took it to another level entirely, pretending they all spoke Japanese on a daily basis, trying to draw in that art style all the time, making those stupid little cat whisker emotes with their fingers.

But his eyes never left the two girls who'd walked past. He'd seen the shorter one with blue hair before, in his math class. She was always raising her hand and answering questions. Bevy? Was that her name? It didn't sound quite right, but… Well, he was friends with Sorano and Macbeth. They ran the gamut on weird names.

And then there was her friend. Lucy. He'd know her anywhere. Blonde hair, wide brown eyes, and the sweetest smile he'd ever seen. She sat on the other side of the room in his Biology class. She was definitely out of place with the kids out there in her baby pink t-shirt and tight jeans standing in stark contrast to the dark reds and blacks of their Tripp pants covered in straps. Lucy and her friend sat down a little ways away from the other kids and started eating.

He could just barely hear their conversation if he strained.

"-be a writer, Levy," Lucy said.

"Oh, that'd be awesome," Levy said, biting into her cafeteria-grade chicken sandwich.

"Of course the preppy rich girl wants to be a writer," Angel huffed. Cobra glanced over just in time to see Angel rolling her eyes. "Whatever."

Midnight hummed and took a bite of his school pizza that tasted like cardboard. How he could stomach it, Cobra wasn't entirely sure. "She gets straight A's in English," Midnight said while chewing. "Pretty sure I saw her grabbing a flyer for the school newspaper."

"Lucy, I don't think freshmen get to write for the paper," Levy said, drawing Cobra's attention back to their conversation. The two girls were looking at a piece of highlighter yellow paper that he could only assume was the flyer Midnight had been talking about. "But there's still the morning show."

"No way. I don't wanna be on the school tv."

"Oh, how about the yearbook?" Levy smiled wide and reached into her backpack for her phone. "My friend Gajeel signed up for it when we were still in eighth grade. I'll see if they're still accepting people."

"That's awesome!"

Cobra hid his secret smile behind another bite of his chicken sandwich that had already gone cold.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do about that dissection my Bio teacher was talking about," Lucy said, drawing his attention again. That's right, he'd forgotten that they were going to have to dissect a frog soon. And they were supposed to find a partner for it.

Cobra really preferred just working on his own, simply because then he knew that the grade he got wouldn't be based on anyone else fucking things up. And no one else would get a better grade after he'd done all the work. Still…

"It won't be that bad," Levy said.

"It's so gross," Lucy whined. He glanced at her again, and found her staring down at her food as though she was about to play a funeral dirge for it. "I know the frog's dead and all, but I just feel like I'd be hurting it."

"Just talk to your teacher," Levy said. "Maybe he'll let you write a report or something instead."

Lucy shook her head, and his eyes caught on the way her high ponytail swished across her shoulders. "No way. I'm gonna do it." He wanted to laugh at how determined she sounded. It was just a little frog. "Even if it's a slimy, nasty… precious little froggy… I can't do it!"

He really did chuckle when her head dropped to her hands. Angel scowled at him, clearly wondering what he found so funny, but he just shook his head and shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.

Lucy was really cute when she got flustered. Maybe he could… help her out a little. Science was his best subject anyway.

"Midnight, want my tots?"

"Give me some of your tots," Midnight rasped.

Cobra laughed at the well-performed Napoleon Dynamite reference. "Fucking dork." He handed over the small cardboard tray and stood from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Angel asked with a glower.

"Throwing out my trash," he said over his shoulder. He hefted his messenger back up a little higher and made his way to the trash, tossed what was left of his lunch, then turned toward the hill. She was still there with Levy, still lamenting over the already-dead frog that she would have to cut open, whose organs they'd have to remove and analyze with the little wax-filled blue veins and red arteries.

Cobra shored up all the courage he could muster as he took the first step toward her, instead of heading back to his table with Midnight and Angel. He got to her a whole lot faster than he'd intended, and ended up looming over her and Levy with a scowl on his face.

"H-Hi, Cobra," Levy squeaked.

Lucy's head turned toward her friend, then tilted back to look up at him. Her eyes widened just a little bit in surprise. God, he hoped it was surprise. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. There really wasn't anything to be afraid of where she was concerned.

"You've got second period with Mr. Tucker?" he asked, never looking away from her bright honey eyes. He already knew they had Biology together, but he couldn't let her know that he knew.

Lucy nodded.

"We're supposed to have partners for the dissection, right?" he asked. He couldn't let her know that he was screaming inside over the fact that words were actually coming out of his mouth, that he was talking to her. Fuck, what was he thinking, coming over here like this was no big deal? He was a glutton for punishment. Because even if this half-cocked plan worked, it's not like he'd get close to her. Cobra couldn't take that chance. He couldn't ask her out on a date and get attached. Every time he got attached to someone being in his life, the system fucked him over and forced him to move away.

Lucy cringed at the mention of the assignment. "Yeah."

"I don't like working with people," he said. "They fuck things up."

She seemed confused. Shit. He had to be more specific.

"But you don't wanna do this anyway," he continued.

"God, no," she sighed. "Levy says I could ask to just write-"

"Be my partner for it," he cut in, surprising her and Levy. Then he shrugged. "You won't have to touch the frog, and I won't have to argue with a teacher over letting me work alone."

"Y-You'd do that?" she asked. "But I'd be taking credit for your work…"

He kind of liked how uncomfortable she looked over that. "So you write down whatever I tell you on the worksheet he's gonna give us," he said. "I'll get us both an A."

"Really?"

Cobra nodded. He ignored her bright smile - well, he outwardly ignored it, because his stomach decided that was the perfect moment to tie itself up in knots that had him ready to puke everywhere - and turned to head toward the main courtyard. The bell was about to ring, and he didn't want to be late to his English class.

The one that he also happened to share with Lucy.

Fuck.

Oh well, he was just going to sleep through it anyway. English was boring as hell, and if he even so much as looked at her during the period, he was going to embarrass himself.

---

Cobra looked down at the creased paper in his hand and the bright red glittery writing scrawled across it. Her address. They had a project coming up in their English class, some debate on civil disobedience, and they really needed to iron out the details of what they were going to discuss.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his new Slipknot hoodie. They'd only been back from winter break for two weeks, so the weather still hadn't warmed up. But he didn't mind that he had to walk to her house from school. She lived relatively close. Closer than if he'd tried to walk there from his new foster home.

He'd already had to move over the break, but he'd lucked out this time. They found a family that lived in the same school zone, so the only thing that changed was where he was sleeping. It was too bad his emergency contact information hadn't changed though. That was still set as his social worker. If he'd gotten adopted, then his new parents would have been written on the card at the school...

Cobra looked at the street sign as he paused at an intersection, then turned left. He only had to go another block, from what Mapquest said when he'd looked it up in the media center after the final bell. He adjusted his Misfits messenger bag on his shoulder and kept walking. The size of these houses was starting to make him a little uncomfortable. All of them were two-stories, with huge oaks here and there in random front yards. Maybe they weren't oak trees, though. He wasn't entirely sure, considering there were no leaves on the trees. If it wasn't a palm or pine tree, he had no clue what type of tree it was.

He was just happy that it was too warm for snow to stick on the ground. He loved the jacket his foster mother, Marie, had gotten for him when she found out he didn't have one, but it wasn't thick enough for snow.

Still, he couldn't complain. At least he had a jacket now. And Marie hadn't even balked over his sense of style, or the music he listened to, or even his desire to keep gauging his ears into the single digits. She was actually pretty fucking cool.

His steps slowed when he reached Lucy's house, and then he stopped entirely as he stared up at the raised porch and wrought iron railing surrounding it. He wasn't sure what he'd really expected, but maybe Angel was right. Maybe Lucy really was a rich girl. The well-kept brick facing on the house and two-car garage definitely pointed in that direction. The windows had actual shutters painted in a delicate blue that matched the front door. There were two cars in the driveway, but he didn't have to walk that way. There was a direct garden stone path leading from the sidewalk, through the perfectly trimmed grass, up to the stone stairs leading to the front door.

How the hell had he convinced her to go out with him, again?

It took a minute for him to find the ability to knock on the door - only after trying to smooth his hair down a little bit, and questioning whether the holes in his jeans made him look poorer than he really was. He'd never really worried about something like that before, but just looking at her house… and knowing how she dressed at school… More than likely, she had the perfect nuclear family. If he was a betting man, Cobra would've put $100 on her mom having a perfectly white smile, long blonde hair, and a pair of fitting (but modest) khaki capris and a pastel polo shirt.

He bet her dad was a businessman who practically lived in slacks and dress shirts. He probably had over a hundred ties that he tied into powerful, domineering Windsor knots.

Finally, Cobra knocked on the door. There was nothing he could do about how he looked, or how her perfect parents would feel about his appearance. Or general presence in their home. Maybe he could get Lucy to come outside and sit on the porch, that way he wouldn't sully their pristine house with his poor people germs.

Before he could convince himself to turn tail and run like a little bitch, the door opened. Luckily, Cobra was tall enough that he didn't have to look up (too far) at her father whose glare was actually freaking him the fuck out.

"Uh, I'm Erik," he said, clearing his throat. Manners. He could use manners. "Is Lucy home?"

God, he hoped she was home already. She'd ridden the bus, and he was positive he'd seen it leaving campus before he'd gone to get directions. There was no way he could've walked there faster than the bus dropped her off.

Her father's eyes narrowed, and his moustache turned down along with his thinned lips. "And how do you know my daughter?"

Great. The protective father. And here Cobra was, looking like a fucking hobo. "We're in Biology together," he said. "And English… We're, uh… supposed to work on a debate."

He gripped the door a little more tightly and shifted backward into the house. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you that she's-"

"Oh Jude, be nice!" A bright peal of laughter flitted through the house, and the door was yanked open further. Cobra's eyes widened when he saw an older version of Lucy standing there. God, she was gorgeous! And she'd honestly married a guy like Jude?! Lucy's mom - because heaven help him if this was actually her sister - smiled wide as she met his gaze. "You must be Cobra."

Fuck. Cobra looked back toward Jude just in time to see his disapproval at the nickname tightening his lips further and driving deep wrinkles into the space between his brows. "W-Well, yeah, but it's just a nickname," he said quickly. He turned back to Lucy's mother's smiling face. "My name's Erik."

"Layla-"

She frowned at Jude and pulled his elbow enough to create a space between him and the door jamb. "You are not turning away Lucy's boyfriend, Jude."

"Boyfriend?!" Jude bellowed, forcing Cobra's spine to go rigid. Shit, did he not know that they were dating? Was this just some rebellious bad boy phase to get back at her father? Fuck! He should've known!

Layla laughed again and wrapped her arms around Jude's waist, dragging him further into the house. "She's upstairs in her room, sweetie," she said. Cobra was confused for a moment, until he realized that she was looking at him and talking to him. "Second door on the right."

He hesitated.

"Go on," she said patiently, gesturing with her head.

"What do you mean, he's her boyfriend?!"

Cobra ducked his head and rushed inside, dodging Jude's hand that made a vicious grab for him. He kicked off his boots at the pile of shoes he saw sitting just inside the door - right next to a little cubby holder for shoes that seemed to barely get any use for its intended purpose. He rushed up the stairs, then paused at the top. The front door closed, and he took a deep breath while listening to Jude yelling.

But Cobra wasn't going to wait for too long. He walked down the hall and glanced at the first open doorway on the right. A bathroom. Good to know. The second door was closed, but he knew it had to be Lucy's. The giant, gaudy pink L on the door was kind of a dead giveaway. Cobra made his way right to the door and knocked, then waited. But only for a moment. When there was no answer, he took a chance and opened it slowly.

He wasn't sure if she was changing or something, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the mental overload if she was, and he saw her any kind of naked.

Just thinking about the possibility had him breathless as the door swung open to reveal her lying on her stomach on a queen-size bed in the center of the far wall, barefoot and wearing a pair of school issue gym shorts and a pale green tank top. Her back was to him, but he took a second to watch as her feet kicked back and forth and her head danced to some rhythm only she could hear. And then he heard the faintest hum of music drifting through the air, accompanied by the soft scritch of a highlighter moving over paper.

Cobra walked into her room and set his bag down by the foot of the bed, peering over her shoulder to see what she was doing. He ignored the rest of her room - not noticing a shelf with a few small gold and silver trophies, or her tall white dresser with an old white Panasonic tv from the '90s perched on top of it. Instead, he was solely focused on his adorable girlfriend who was in the process of color coding index cards with gel pens and highlighters. It nearly made him laugh. God, she was such a weird nerd. She capped her yellow highlighter and picked up a pink one to start decorating the edges of the index card in front of her that read allele.

Absolutely adorable. He couldn't help but smile. Lucy was horrible when it came to anything science related, and he knew for a fact that she studied her ass off just to pass the class last semester. His gaze shifted slightly to find a CD player sitting next to her hip with a pale purple headphone cord leading under her stomach. Odd. He would've thought she'd have an mp3 player. Still, he reached forward and hit the pause button, smirking when she jumped and rolled over to see who'd interrupted her.

She gasped as her eyes widened with recognition, and then she smiled that bright, beautiful smile that always made his stomach twist in knots. "Cobra, when did you get here?" she asked, pulling out her earbuds.

"I-" Cobra paused when he heard feet pounding on the stairs, coming closer to her room. As far as he knew, she was an only child and the only other people in the house were her parents. They both looked at the door as it flew open, banging against Lucy's dresser and revealing Lucy's mother with her hair flying wildly around her.

"Lucy, sweetie," Layla laughed, "Your father's lost his mind over a boy being in the house. We're gonna trust you to have this door closed so you two can focus on studying."

"Over my dead body, Layla!" Jude bellowed in the not-so-distance.

Layla laughed louder, grabbing the handle. She turned to look at where Cobra assumed Jude was running toward her. "You can't stop true love, Jude!"

"I can if there's murder involved!" Cobra and Lucy watched in horror as Jude rushed over and hauled Layla over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she giggled. Cobra's jaw dropped when he heard Lucy's mother squeak. "Did you just spank me?"

What the actual fuck was happening in this house? Was this seriously normal for them?

"Oh my god, ew," Lucy whimpered. Well, that set him at ease, a little. She vaulted off the bed and slammed the door, then locked it.

"That was… interesting," Cobra chuckled. He waited until she turned to face him before taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Damn, it was comfortable. Much more comfortable than what he'd gotten used to sleeping on. And a whole lot bigger too. He'd never really had a chance to even sit on anything bigger than a twin since being taken away from his mom. Every orphanage and foster home had been the same in that respect. And the worst one was where he'd had to sleep on a funky-smelling corduroy couch with some fucked up spring that dug into his back no matter how he moved.

Lucy came to sit down beside him, pulling him back into the moment with her. He couldn't dwell on the negative if she was so close to him.

"So," he said, looking into her eyes, "Where should we start for-"

She leaned forward quickly, pressing her lips to his. Cobra's eyes widened, so he was able to see how she squeezed hers shut while she stole his first kiss. Sure, she was his girlfriend, and he really had no problem with them kissing - especially since they'd been dating for nearly two weeks already - but it took him by surprise.

When Lucy pulled back to look at him, before he had a chance to calm his suddenly raging hormones enough to kiss her back, her cheeks burned brightly. "Maybe we could wait a minute to study," she said. "I've been wanting to kiss you. And if my parents aren't gonna be watching us like hawks-"

Cobra grinned and leaned forward, bringing his lips to hers in a slow, exploring kiss. They weren't being monitored, and her door was locked. Her parents were obviously going to be busy for a little while, so he was definitely going to jump on the opportunity to figure out what the hell he was doing right then. Thankfully, it seemed Lucy was in the same boat, learning how to kiss him without drooling, giggling when they separated and their lips stuck together from being a little too dry. So far, he loved how she hesitated to lift her hands to his hair, and then how it felt to have her fingers lightly dragging along his scalp.

---

Erik thrusts harder, knocking her forward with enough force that she topples to his chest with a sharp cry of ecstasy. Lucy smiles down at him with a new, brighter fire burning in her eyes for the briefest of moments, and then her lips are on his. Her tongue spears between his lips, curling around his own just as wildly as her hips as she begins bouncing on his rigid cock. Fuck, she's going to make him cum. And he knows that's the goal so they can go downstairs and have breakfast, but he's not leaving her hanging.

"Cobra," she whispers against his lips as his hands desperately grab her ass to push her down faster. Just hearing her say his old nickname is still driving him crazy. He'd wanted nothing to do with it after losing her years ago, but now? Now she's moaning his name again. She's smiling with those five little letters dripping from her lips, and he can't keep his hands to himself when he hears it.

He loves how she kisses him. How he can taste the desperation in her every move. Her hands sift through his hair and he pants against her lips, his release bounding toward him at breakneck speeds. She seems to be obsessed with his hair now, and he's honestly never been more thankful that he's too lazy to cut it. It makes him wish he'd gone down on her, just so he could've felt her grabbing his hair and forcing his lips closer to her sex. He doesn't even care that they're breathing the same air while looking into her eyes again.

"Damn, baby," he groans quietly. "Do that again…" He fights to muffle his moan when her hips roll and he feels her sex tightening around his cock. But she's looking right into his eye, and his heart is pounding.

She's close. Shit, she's so close and he can hear the way she whimpers, just like he remembers. "Oh…" That's the sound he loves to hear. Just that one little sound. It's so sweet. So innocent. She always seems so surprised when he hits the spot that's going to send her over the edge just as long as he keeps at it. "Fuck me, Cobra."

It's unexpected. She'd never talked like that with him before, but he's ravenous when he hears it. When he hears how her voice quivers with desire. Cobra suddenly pounds into her from below, gripping her hips tightly to hold her still. He loves the way her eyes flutter, how her breasts bounce as his rough thrusts push the air from her lungs in harsh little pants.

"Oh god," he groans. Shit, her mom is going to hear them if he can't shut the fuck up. Or if he can't keep her a little quieter. When her lips lock onto his ear and her tongue pushes the double-zero plug out with practiced ease, he can't help himself. "Fuck... Lucy…" He can't stop the loud groan that escapes him. He can't keep quiet like he used to with her. She feels too fucking good like this, squeezing him so tightly.

Why is it that she still remembers how to turn him to fucking putty in her hands?

He wants her over and over again, in every position imaginable. He wants to take her in the car like they'd almost done the night before - if it hadn't been a fucking Uber, he probably would've done a whole lot more than tongue fuck her mouth and grope her breasts in the backseat during the ride. But he has her now, just like he had her last night when they crept up to her bedroom, and she's whimpering his name. There's a scream bubbling up in her throat, he can tell. But they can't be too loud. Her parents will hear them. And even though Lucy's a grown fucking woman, and Layla is fully aware of just what they're doing up here in Lucy's bedroom, he doesn't want anyone to hear this.

"Fuck yes," he hisses. Her walls tighten around him even further, and the air is filled with the slick sound of her body accepting the punishing pace he's putting her through.

"Harder," she moans loudly. He doesn't even think before rolling her onto the floor and spearing into her again. He needs more leverage, more room to fuck her the way she wants. And he's more than happy to give her whatever she wants from him. "Oh, Cobra, I'm gonna… O-Oh god!"

Pleasure streaks down his spine like lightning when she latches onto him and her nails dig deep trenches into his shoulders. There it is. Pure bliss clouds her eyes as she spasms around his cock. He's so fucking ready, it hurts. He needs this release, to feel her in his arms once more while he finally lets go.

When she looks up at him, he loses himself in her eyes. When he feels her gentle touch on his scarred cheek, his mouth moves before he can stop himself. "I love you," he moans. He sees the way she stares at him in shock for only a moment before stars burst behind his eye and he finally succumbs to the rapturous pleasure that threatens to make his arms buckle.

---

With a quiet groan, Cobra pulled himself up onto the tree branch just outside of Lucy's window. It looked like it was still closed, but she'd texted him and assured him that it was unlocked and opened just a crack so he could sneak in. It took a little work to shimmy across the branch and get the window open enough to crawl into her empty bedroom. He took his boots off as quietly as possible, looking around again to find that she really wasn't there just yet.

Damn. That meant she was still downstairs. He flipped his phone open and checked her last text while setting his boots down at the foot of her bed.

Lucy: Dun w dinner. Gimme 15 n ill b in my room. Cant wait 2cu

They'd talked about doing something like this a couple times before, but the timing had never really worked out. Mostly because he had a curfew with the Ackermans, and he really didn't want to mess things up with this foster family. He'd been with them a year already, and it was looking more and more like they might actually want to adopt him. The last thing he wanted was to piss them off and make them send his ass packing.

But that night, he'd been in luck. Marie was at her monthly book club meeting, and Cobra hadn't been as uneasy about asking his foster father if he could head over to Lucy's. Like hell was he going to try to sneak out of a detective's house. Levi's response was a small smirk as he looked up from the police file in his hands as he said, "This late? Just don't let her parents catch you. Your curfew can be 10 tonight."

Cobra had been shocked by what he'd said. It was only 7:30 when he'd asked, but while he'd walked over to Lucy's house, he realized just how Levi had come to the conclusion. Cobra would have asked earlier if he'd been planning on eating dinner over at her house, or he would have called when they were leaving school that afternoon to check in with Marie. If it had been something school related, it would have happened before dinner. Which could only mean that he was planning on going to Lucy's after dinner - when they all knew that she had the same 8:30 curfew that he did. Which meant that her parents wouldn't actually allow anyone to come over.

And still, he'd gotten permission to go and be a little bit of a deviant.

God, he hoped they really would adopt him.

With a soft sigh, Cobra sat down on Lucy's bed and closed his phone. The alarm clock on her nightstand read 8:15. She should have been upstairs by then.

"Why are you being so mean?!" Lucy screeched from downstairs. Cobra's eyes widened and his head snapped toward the barely open door. He'd never heard her yelling at her parents like that.

"I'm not being mean, Lucy," Jude said. "Your grades are slipping, and you spent all of dinner on that phone of yours."

"I was just talking to my friends!"

"You know better than to ignore your family while we're eating," he said. "What's next? Watching television during dinner? Getting on the computer and slurping up noodles, hunched over a keyboard?"

"You've done it!" she shot back.

"Having the news on is a far cry different-"

"Whatever! You're being a jerk!"

"Lucy," Layla said gently. Cobra wasn't sure how her mother could always be so understanding. His girlfriend was on a rampage.

"Young lady, you're grounded for a week."

"What?!"

"You will not disrespect me in this house, and you will follow our rules," Jude said. God, it sounded like he was ready to blow, too. Cobra could just imagine his face starting to get a little red, how his brows would pinch together.

"Whatever," Lucy huffed. "I'm going to my room."

"Give me your phone, Lucy."

"You're kidding me!"

"Your phone. You're grounded, so no phone."

"You're ruining my life! Fine, you want my phone? Take it!" Cobra cringed when he heard her phone slam down on what he assumed was the dining table. "Whatever!"

He could hear her as she stormed across the house and up the stairs. Within moments, she was there, ignoring his presence as she grabbed the doorknob and slammed her bedroom door shut with all the strength she could muster. She whirled in place and made her way to her bed, collapsed sideways across it, and screamed into her comforter.

Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure what to do about this. He was the reason she'd gotten in trouble. She'd been texting him during dinner, setting up this little scheme of theirs for him to sneak over. Maybe they should have hashed all this out earlier. Still, he waited a minute before trying to get her attention. Slowly, he leaned back on the bed and smiled down at her tousled blonde hair.

"How very after-school sitcom of you," he chuckled. When he reached out to brush her hair away from her face, she was glaring at him with tears in her eyes. His smile faded in an instant. "Hey, come on, baby… It's not that bad."

"He's a total asshole," she muttered. "So what if I was texting during dinner? It's not like he was talking to me anyway…" She sighed when his arms wrapped around her. She moved so easily to rest her head on his shoulder, sniffling quietly as he stroked her hair.

"Still, let's not make the same mistake next time," he said. Cobra hooked a finger under her chin, smirking when she followed his lead. "I missed you."

She melted as their lips met in a slow kiss. They'd been together for a year and a half already, so he knew that kissing her was the easiest way to get her to relax. She was always so relaxed when they were like this, like she trusted him completely.

And honestly, he felt the same way. He trusted her with everything. And that was huge for him, monumental. They were nearing the end of their sophomore year, and things had been going so fucking great. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a stable foster family, his grades were steady and mostly decent.

It wasn't even a conscious thought for his hand to drift down to her waist while he teased her lips apart with his tongue. Cobra always held her there when they kissed. But then his hand moved down to the small of her back. His fingers drew random patterns just above the hem of her sweatpants, slowly inching beneath the fabric. He felt his cheeks flaming as he touched the lace of her panties, but he was well and truly breathless when he took a chance and gently cupped one cheek in his hand.

A thong. Oh holy hell, she was wearing a thong. And he was… He was touching her butt. Her bare ass was in his hand and she was letting him squeeze it. She squeaked when he grabbed her a little too hard, and Cobra drew back from her tempting lips to find her smiling up at him. Fuck, she was so cute when she blushed.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Lucy just shook her head and pulled him closer, nearly on top of her as their lips connected again. His hand didn't leave her ass, save to venture just a little to the outside of her thigh. He wasn't going to push his luck too much and try to go for the gold in the front. Just touching her butt was enough.

After several minutes, she drew back from their kiss that was getting a little too intense. "We should slow down," she panted.

"Sorry," he said again, trying to gain his composure. He didn't want to push her too fast. A few of their friends had already taken the plunge and started having sex, but he didn't want to rush anything. And he knew that Lucy didn't want to do that either. "Your skin's just so soft…"

"I just don't want to rush."

It took a moment for his brain to process what she'd said, but the soft knock on her bedroom door definitely helped to snap his ass back to reality.

Fuck.

He ripped his hand out from her sweatpants, and scrambled across her bed. He rolled off of it, and onto his hands and feet on the floor, just as the door opened, hiding in the small space between her bed and the open window that could be his salvation.

"Lucy," Layla said gently, "Are you alright?"

Oh god… Did Layla know what they were doing? Did Lucy not look upset anymore? Could her mom tell that she'd just been making out with him and getting felt up? Shit! Cobra was so dead!

"I'm fine, Mom," Lucy sighed. He could hear her sitting up - maybe she was trying to block any view Layla might have of his hiding spot. "I'm sorry for texting during dinner. I won't do it again."

"Well, that's good to hear." He could hear Layla's smile as she walked closer and sat on the bed. Right where he'd been laying with Lucy. Oh god, what if she could feel how warm the comforter was, and she knew he'd been there only moments before? "You do realize why we say no phones at the table, right?"

"So we can spend time together as a family?"

"Exactly," Layla said. "You're getting to an age where you're growing more independent. Before you know it, you'll be done with high school and heading off to college. Your father and I just want to make sure we still get some time with you. Besides, he's stuck staring at a screen all day at work. It's good to just disconnect from technology for a little while, y'know?"

"I guess," she sighed. They were silent for a moment, and all Cobra could hear was quiet shuffling, then some sort of tapping sound.

His eyes rounded in horror when his phone went off with the little cricket chirp sound he'd set for texts from Lucy. There was movement on the bed while he reached into his pocket to try and silence the notification, and his head turned to find Layla grinning down at him. "Someone forgot to delete her messages before throwing the phone," she snickered. "Hi, Cobra."

"H-Hi…" Layla sat up and patted the bed, so he carefully got up and took a seat. "I'm sorry, Miss-"

She waved away the rest of his sentence, then handed Lucy her phone. "You're still grounded, Lucy," she said. "But you can have your phone back. I'll be checking it every day to see who you're texting, and you'll give it to me before we eat dinner. You won't get it back until after dinner's done, and I'll be taking it again at 8:30."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked, her eyes wide and confused.

"I want you to have it with you during school just in case there's an emergency. If I see that you're texting too much during class, I'll take it away entirely, and you won't get it back for a month."

"But-"

"And if you try deleting your messages, I can just as easily check with the phone company," Layla continued. "You won't get your phone back at all until the end of the school year."

Holy shit. Lucy would die without her phone for a whole month, let alone the rest of the school year. Cobra could manage with just talking to her when they were together, or calling her house phone so they could talk while she was at home, but still…

"I'll make sure she's not texting too much at school," he said. Was that why her grades had slipped like Jude said? Damn, was she spending more time texting him during class than actually paying attention? Was that actually his fault?

"I'd appreciate that, sweetie," Layla said, smiling over at him. "Now, you two say your goodbyes, and you sneak back out the same way you got in… No need to have Jude blow a head gasket with you traipsing out the front door."

Lucy and Cobra nodded quickly. Layla stood and glanced at the clock that read 8:32. Her smile turned slightly devious then.

"You can have your phone for the rest of the night tonight, Lucy," she said as she made her way to the door. "Your punishment starts tomorrow."

They both stared at Layla's back as she left the room and closed the door. Lucy clutched her pink Razr to her chest and finally looked at Cobra. After a moment, he couldn't help but laugh quietly right along with her. They'd dodged a serious bullet with that one. He could only assume that Jude hadn't read the texts he and Lucy had been sending, considering Cobra was still alive.

Lucy tucked her hair behind her ear as their laughter died down. "I guess you've gotta go."

"Yeah," he said. Cobra reached down and grabbed his boots, then started putting them on. "I'll see you at school tomorrow though."

They didn't chance talking - and potentially having Jude hear them if he was nearby - while he made sure he had everything and stood to leave through the open window. Lucy followed suit and leaned up to kiss him.

"I'll miss you."

Cobra smirked down at her. "I'm already missing you," he said. His arms wrapped around her waist. "Maybe we can study together tomorrow. Down in the living room, so your parents can keep an eye on us."

"That might work," she giggled. It took all the willpower he possessed to let her go and turn to the window. He crawled back through and, just before reaching out for the branch, he paused.

Cobra looked at Lucy over his shoulder. Her eyes were still puffy and red from when she'd been crying. But she was smiling at him the way she always did, and he couldn't stop himself from saying something that he hoped would brighten her mood.

"H-Hey, Lucy?"

"Hm?"

Cobra turned and put one leg inside her room, ignoring the way the window sill was digging into his ass. He reached out and took a steadying breath when she came closer and set her hand in his. With a small smile, he watched his thumb brush across her knuckles, then slowly met her curious gaze. "I love you," he said.

Her eyes widened slightly, and her lips parted in shock. He'd never said that to anyone before, but he didn't even have time to grow insecure over her reaction before she smiled so widely that his own lips turned up at the corners. "I love you, too," she breathed.

Cobra wasn't sure how he'd thought this would play out. But hearing her say that she loved him… He hadn't thought it would hurt inside. He was happy, he knew that. But it hurt, too, because he couldn't remember the last time someone had told him that they loved him. And here Lucy was, gladly saying it, smiling while she admitted her feelings for him as though she'd been waiting centuries to say those three little words to him.

Suddenly, he let her hand go and pulled his leg back out of her room. "Sweet dreams," he said. Cobra didn't wait for her response, instead choosing to forgo using the branch to climb back down altogether, and jumping from her window. His right ankle rolled a little when he landed, but the pain was worth it.

At least he'd gotten out of her room without her dad knowing he'd been there at all. As Cobra stood, he heard his phone go off with another text from Lucy. He put his weight on his left foot and checked the message.

Lucy: omg ru ok?! y wud u do dat?!

He was never more thankful that his back was facing her than that moment as he texted her back.

Cobra: ill b fine. Get comfy in bed. ill call in a bit

He heard her close the window and started walking toward the sidewalk. He wasn't going to limp while she could see him, even though his ankle was screaming. As soon as he was out of view from her bedroom, Cobra sat down on the curb and went to his contacts in his phone. He reached down and groaned when he gently prodded his ankle. Damn. He scrolled down until he reached L and then clicked on the name he needed and put the phone to his ear.

It rang twice before being answered.

"I'm going out on a limb here, and guessing that you got caught," came Levi's teasing voice.

---

He's never been more thankful than in that moment as she kisses his sweaty forehead and runs her fingers through his hair. His hips twitch with the last shot of his release into the condom, and Erik knows he's a fucking mess. He still can't stop touching her, but his hands are slower now, more tender as he kneads her ass and thighs and waist. "Sorry," he finally mutters. "I shouldn't have said-"

"Shut up," Lucy says. He can't be sure what's going through her head right then, but then she kisses him and it all disappears. All he wants is to keep kissing her in the quiet hush that's left behind, now that they're not pawing at each other and chasing that delicious high of release.

Eventually, he's able to look down at her again. Morning light is barely filtering through her drapes, but there's just enough for him to appreciate the healthy glow on her cheeks. He's just now noticing how short her hair is. Funny, he'd thought it was longer - she'd always liked her hair past her shoulders - the night before with how she'd had it pinned up. Just that one difference has him realizing that she's grown in the past 10 years.

"Did you time it?" she asks with a smirk.

"Nope," he chuckles. "I was a little preoccupied."

"I don't think we beat our record." She hums as he reaches down to grasp the base of the condom, then pulls out. He's so tempted to kiss his way down her body and keep their fun going, but breakfast really does sound fabulous right now. Instead, Erik ties off the condom and tosses it into the half empty wastebasket Lucy always keeps by her nightstand.

They slowly stand and he puts his boxers back on. It's while he reaches for his shirt from the night before, staring in confusion at the missing buttons, that he hears her laugh.

"I guess we were a little enthusiastic last night."

"A little?" he asks, smirking at her over his shoulder. Oh, he remembers just how enthusiastic he'd been when they'd crept up to her room - making sure not to wake her parents - and she'd barely had time to close her bedroom door before his lips were on hers. Lucy's hands had busied themselves with pulling off her panties before even attempting to remove her dress, and Erik had been so desperate in his need to feel her touching him that he'd ripped his dress shirt open.

Lucy's lips purse slightly, and she glances over at her closet. "Y'know, I still have your stuff that you left over here forever ago…"

His brows raise in surprise at that. She still has the shit he'd forgotten or gave to her? Why would she have held onto it for all this time?

She sifts through her dresser and pulls out a marigold lace thong, and puts it on before leading him to the closet. Fuck, he loves these thongs. So much. It's hard to pull his gaze away from the curve of her ass, especially when she opens the closet and bends over to move things around. Damn, he wants her bent over like this the next time they fuck.

Shit… He's already planning for more, and he knows there's no guarantee of that happening. Maybe this is her way of giving him back his stuff. She doesn't want it anymore. She doesn't need him taking up space in her life now.

But what about them fucking? Not just last night, but this morning, too… He'd woken up, naked, with her in his arms, and while Erik had been more than happy to simply bask in the perfection that was his existence at the time, Lucy had very different plans. She'd been so sensual as she rubbed her legs over his, kissed every inch of his chest, and crawled on top of him. Was this just her way of getting the closure she'd needed?

Erik knows he shouldn't be thinking like this. Alex is always reminding him that believing in permanence is alright, and his adoptive father has never steered him wrong. Sure, that optimism is usually something Erik struggles with, but if he makes the effort, things could turn out well.

He has to be careful though.

He can't get hurt again. It'll fucking kill him to have this small taste, this one reminder of everything that was ripped away from him, only to have her reject him. It's been years since he went home literally crying to his parents. They worry about him so fucking much…

She laughs in triumph while sliding a large box out of the back of her closet. When she moves to the side, he can see it has Layla's writing on the top. Cobra. That's all it says. So, Lucy hadn't even been the one to pack all this stuff up?

She sits down on her knees and opens it up, and he's surprised by the amount of junk inside. Movie stubs, ripped concert tickets, loose pictures of them together. A few weird gifts he'd given to her. He wonders if she ever actually threw anything away from their time together.

"Aw, remember this?" she laughs, pulling out a shit-brown metal lunchbox with a small dent on one side.

Cobra smiles and sits down beside her, pulling the box from her hands. His thumb brushes over the dent, then the white lettering that reads Chocoholic Emergency Kit.

---

"What did you just say?" Lucy muttered, frowning up at Cobra as they stood in front of the gym. She'd just finished with her gym class, and they should have already been walking to their Algebra 2 class together - sadly, it was the only class in their junior year that they had together. But she'd stopped dead in her tracks, and he still wasn't sure why.

"I said you can put extra chocolate in it, so when you're about to start your period…" He trailed off when he noticed how her jaw clenched. "What?"

"Are you trying to say I'm being bitchy, and I need to just calm down and have some chocolate?!" she screeched.

Cobra blinked slowly. That wasn't what he'd been saying at all. He just knew her period was coming soon. And she loved eating chocolate when her cramps were really bad. "... No?"

"You don't sound too sure of yourself," she huffed. "Y'know what? I don't want some underhanded gift that's just you telling me to shut up."

The last thing he'd been expecting was for his girlfriend to throw the little metal lunchbox at his head. Or for it to connect and hurt as much as it did. Cobra didn't move. He didn't say a word while she kept yelling at him about being a chauvinistic asshole - which he wasn't - and he didn't pay attention to the crowd that Lucy's little display was pulling in. He told himself that he wasn't hearing any of the whispers of the freshman gathered nearby, or the girls who were giggling over him being ripped a new one.

"Are you even listening to me?" Cobra nodded when she glared up at him. "I'm done. Don't talk to me. Don't look at me. Don't even think about me."

"Lucy-"

"No!" she snarled, poking him hard in the chest. "Just ride the bus home today, because I'm not driving you anywhere either." She turned and strode off, and he just barely caught her mumbling that he was a dick under her breath before the rest of the chatter around them filtered back in.

Cobra sighed and looked down at the box on the ground, then rolled his eyes and picked it up. It was a little dented from where she'd hit him with it, but he still put it back into his Misfits bag and started walking the same direction as she did. This day was going right to hell, just like everything else.

And here all he'd wanted was to give her a present to make her smile before he had to tell her the bad news…

---

It was two days before they spoke again. Lucy had been ignoring him entirely because she'd been so mad at him. Cobra still wasn't sure what it was about an innocuous little box that could've made her so angry, but it was clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. Honestly, it worked out. He'd been able to get a lot of cleaning done when he'd been at his foster home without her interrupting him.

But on Thursday, she showed up after school. He'd been working on his homework at the dining table while Marie did her scrapbooking, and there was a knock on the door. Mrs. Ackerman got up and answered it, and Cobra knew just who it was based on the happily raised pitch of her voice as she invited their guest inside.

"Erik," Marie called, "Lucy's here."

He looked up from his notebook, and Lucy stood in the doorway to the dining room with his hoodie in her hands. Damn. She'd had it for nearly a week already, even though the weather really wasn't cold enough to wear it. But she looked so adorable with it on, and he didn't mind it all that much that she wanted to borrow it as long as he didn't need to wear it to keep himself warm.

But her bringing it over right then after ignoring him for two days? He knew where this was headed.

She was breaking up with him.

Fuck.

No.

She couldn't be doing this. He didn't want to lose her, but...

With a soft sigh, he stood from his seat and put his hand out for the jacket once he was within arm's reach.

Lucy handed it over. "I wanted to make sure I got this back to you," she said softly. "It's about time I returned it."

Cobra knew there was no point in trying to apologize for the present he'd tried to give her. She really did love chocolate. It was the perfect gift. Maybe he shouldn't have phrased it the way he had, but that was in the past. And she looked as though she didn't really give a damn one way or another what he had to say anyway. "Thanks," he muttered. He didn't know what else he could say though. "I'll go put this away."

He couldn't be around her right then. It was hard enough to find the motivation to go to school as it was. He'd pulled away from everyone in the past couple days. It was better that way. Even Midnight and Angel had been getting the cold shoulder. Of course, Angel blamed it on Lucy being a bitch to him for no reason, but Cobra just ignored her.

"I wanted to ask," Lucy said quietly. "Do you think we could talk?"

He didn't want to have this conversation. But it needed to happen. He was sure that she needed to have that closure. She needed to be the one to officially break them up. That was fine with him. He didn't need to be the one to end things. In fact, it was probably better this way. He wouldn't have to break her heart. And he'd been spending the last couple days trying to figure out how he could do just that without hurting her.

"Sure," he muttered. "Come with me." He didn't wait for her, and instead turned and made his way to his room. Cobra kept his gaze on the floor so he wouldn't have to see how bare his bedroom looked now that he'd taken all of his stuff down. His dresser was empty. All of his clothes were already packed up in two duffel bags tucked into the corner. His posters had already been thrown out. There was no reason to keep them.

He ignored Lucy's sudden gasp when she saw his room, and went to one of his duffel bags to cram his hoodie inside it. He had to make it fit.

He couldn't bear to throw out anything else.

"Cobra, what's going on?" she whispered.

He stopped and closed his eyes. Of course she'd want to know what was happening. This wasn't like him. She shouldn't care, considering she was about to break up with him. Still, he loved her. And she did have a right to know, he supposed. It wasn't like it would be a secret for too much longer.

"She's pregnant," he said. "Levi got his wife pregnant, so I've gotta leave."

"Leave?"

"They need my room to be a nursery," he said, sneering. He didn't fault them for it. He was happy for them. Levi had told him that they'd decided to foster kids because his wife just couldn't get pregnant, and they did want kids. It just stung that he'd been so sure he had a shot of being adopted, only to get the fucking boot by a fetus. "There's no space for some foster kid with a baby of their own on the way."

He tried to blink away the tears in his eyes. He wasn't going to fucking cry right then. The last thing he needed was Marie hearing him and thinking he wasn't grateful for everything they'd done for him. How well they'd taken care of him.

"Do you know where your next-"

"No," he said. "There's no guarantee it'll be around here. I'm lucky I was able to move in with the Ackermans when I did before. Shit like that never happens…"

"So, we might not be going to the same school anymore?"

Cobra shrugged. More than likely, no. But he didn't need to say it. It was for the best for them to just break things off now. But he didn't need her to say it. In fact, he couldn't handle it if she really did break up with him. If he left, then they'd be done. He knew that. "You should go," he said. "Thanks for bringing my jacket back."

"Wait-"

"Leave," he said. He squared his shoulders and stood, then carefully guided her out of the room. Lucy tried to fight back, to keep herself in his personal space, but he was stronger than her. It didn't take much effort to get her out of his room, and he was as gentle as he could be so he didn't hurt her. He never wanted to hurt her. "I love you, Lucy," he said softly once she was outside of his room.

He couldn't bear to hear her response, so he closed the door in her face and locked it. He wasn't sure how long she stood there, but he finally heard her walking away. And with each step she took, his heart broke a little more. Cobra roughly wiped the tears from his eyes and leaned his back against the door.

He jumped when he heard Lucy's car door slam. She drove off not long after. God, he hoped she was okay. He hoped she drove home safely, regardless of how upset she was.

He looked around his room again, and felt another crack in the armor wrapped around his heart. He couldn't deal with this. This wasn't supposed to happen again. The little cricket chirp text sound went off on his phone, and he checked it out of habit. He knew it was Lucy. He didn't want to see her texts.

Lucy: Home safe. dont worry bout me.

Cobra's shoulders relaxed and he slid down to sit on the floor while turning off his phone. He cringed and threw it across the room. The odd crunching sound as it connected with his nightstand really didn't bode well for his phone, but he didn't fucking care.

None of it mattered anymore.

---

Cobra didn't go to school the next day. He couldn't bring himself to get out of bed, and he knew that Marie was definitely worried by his general lack of enthusiasm with getting up but he couldn't be bothered with caring. He was sure that she talked with Levi about his behavior. And what had happened with Lucy leaving on Thursday night only minutes after she'd arrived.

On Saturday, Levi picked the lock on his door, and talked with him about what was happening with his living arrangements. He confirmed that, most likely, Cobra would be moved to another foster home. He'd wanted to beg Levi to stay, but he bit his tongue and nodded along as the conversation continued.

It didn't fucking matter anyway.

"Can I get a ride to Lucy's?" he asked. "I-I need to give her stuff back."

Levi nodded. "Sure, kid. Everything okay with her?"

Cobra's breath was sharp when he tried to answer. It pierced his soul and nearly doubled him over. He wished everything was okay. "I'll be ready in five minutes," he said instead.

He sat up and started grabbing clothes from his duffel, not noticing Levi's frown directed at his back. It didn't take nearly as much time to pick up the paper bag he'd put her things in. Granted, he always tried to make sure she took her stuff home. But there were some earrings, a pair of her socks when she'd come over and gotten rained on, one of her shirts, and a weird bracelet. She barely wore jewelry, but she somehow always forgot it at his place. Well, in his room… No, in the room he'd had the privilege of sleeping in for the past couple years.

He left the room and saw Levi standing by the door with his shoes on. Cobra stomped into his boots and followed him out to the car. The ride to Lucy's was silent. That was one of the things he really liked about Levi. He didn't pry. He let Cobra make his own decisions, and only put in his two cents when it was warranted.

They pulled up to Lucy's house, and Levi put the car in park. "I'll wait outside for you, okay?"

Cobra nodded. "Won't be long. I've gotta get a couple things from her room, but…" He sighed and got out of the car, making his way over to the front door. Hopefully, Jude would answer. Odd. He never wanted to see her father, simply because they just didn't get along. But right then? He was sure that if he told Jude he was giving Lucy her things back, and trying to get the last of his own possessions, the man would move mountains to make it happen as quickly as possible. At least then Cobra wouldn't feel horrible while explaining to Layla why he was doing this.

Luck wasn't on his side. Layla answered the door, and her bright smile at seeing him dimmed slightly when she took in his appearance. Shit, she looked worried.

"Cobra, sweetie? Is everything alright?"

He nodded and looked down at the bag in his hand. "I brought some of Lucy's things over. She left them in my room."

"That's very sweet of you," Layla said, smiling at him. She leaned out the door just a little and grinned when she saw Levi sitting in his car, waving in that sweet, neighborly way of hers.

"Do you think you could go in her room and get some of my stuff for me?" Cobra asked, drawing her attention back to him.

"Lucy's home," she said. "You can go on up. You know that."

He shook his head and shuffled back just slightly. He didn't want to go inside. He didn't want to remember how much of a home she had, when he was losing the closest thing he'd had to that in years… and even then, it had never really been his home. "Could you just… do it for me?" he muttered, staring down at his ratty boots. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten new shoes. He hated asking his foster parents for things, so he just made what he had last as long as possible. "And give this to her. She should get her stuff back."

Layla frowned. He could feel it pressing down on his shoulders the longer she stared at him. "Come inside," she said softly.

"Levi's waiting for me."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine waiting for a couple minutes. Don't be rude, dear."

He sighed and his shoulders slumped as her arm wrapped around them, gently guiding him into the foyer. He didn't take off his shoes. Cobra had no plans on being here long enough for that. "I just need my grey Tripp pants, and those two shirts she has," he said. "She knows which ones…"

Layla patted his shoulder and walked upstairs, leaving him to stare at the small bag of Lucy's belongings he'd found. There was probably more of her shit hiding in the crevices of his bags that he hadn't noticed, but she would just have to call those full losses. Once he was gone, when he found them, he'd struggle to throw them away. He knew that. It would be a reminder of the girl he'd loved with all his heart.

Soft footsteps descended the stairs, pausing before reaching the bottom. "Cobra?" Lucy asked.

He couldn't look at her. All he could manage was shoving the paper bag in her direction. Just hearing her voice was gonna make him cry, and he didn't want to do that. He couldn't let her see how much this was tearing him apart. He couldn't let anyone see it.

"I'm giving you your stuff back," he said. "I don't need all my stuff that's here, just… just a couple things I don't wanna not have when I leave."

"... I see," she said, shuffling on the step. "It's all up in my room. I-I can help you find it."

"Sure," he muttered. Cobra kicked his boots off - only because he knew how much Layla hated when people wore shoes in the house, and he wasn't going to disrespect her rules now, even though he'd probably never see her again. Once they reached Lucy's room, he tossed the bag on her bed and went to her dresser. "Those two shirts I like," he said over his shoulder.

She nodded and went to her closet. He didn't want to go through her clothes, but he could find the pants easily enough. The material was thin, but soft, with cargo pockets out the fucking wazoo. It was the first pair of pants he'd gotten from the Ackermans.

"Here you go," she said just when he found the pants and closed the dresser drawer.

Cobra took the shirts from her. "Thanks," he said. "I'll get going-"

"Cobra, wait-"

"Levi's waiting for me," he said, turning to the door.

"When did you find out you'd have to move?" she asked. He started walking, and closed his eyes when she followed. Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone?

"Levi told me she's pregnant the day before I tried to give you that box… I just wanted to give you something nice before my social worker comes and hauls me away." He took a step. "And then you yelled at me and threw it in my face." He took another step, then a third. "That's when it hit me… everything with me and you is pointless, y'know? I knew it wouldn't last… I always lose."

He had to be strong now. He had to keep his composure while he was here. When he was back at the Ackermans' house, he could stay holed up in that bedroom, crying his eyes out. Silently, so they wouldn't check on him. So they wouldn't know how much this was tearing him apart. He wasn't going to ruin their happiness over finally having the baby they'd always wanted with his own bullshit. He was always just a backup anyway.

Besides, if they'd wanted to adopt him, they would've done it by now.

"Don't just walk away from me," she groaned. "Cobra, come on. Just talk to me!"

"There's nothing to talk about," he said. He made it to the top of the stairs when she made a grab for him. He shifted out of the way, his steps falling faster so he could get away. He had to get away from her.

"You're being a real jerk right now!" she yelled.

The tears were burning on his lashes. His breath stuttered when she reached for him again and clutched desperately at his sleeve. "Just forget about me, Lucy!" he yelled back, turning to glare up at her. "I'm not worth your time! I've gotta go, and there's nothing we can do to change it! So what's the point in fighting?!"

He turned back and ripped his arm away from her loosened grip, all but running down the stairs. He couldn't be here anymore. He couldn't listen to her yell at him over things he had no control over. He just had to get his hoots and run out the door. He wouldn't even put them on. Just grab them and go, hop into the car, and lock the door and hope with everything he had that Levi wouldn't ask any questions.

If only it had been that simple.

Layla appeared in front of him once he reached the bottom of the stairs, and her hands on his shoulders stopped him dead in his tracks. "Cobra, what's going on?"

"Nothing!" he yelled, trying to shake her off. Her grip was too strong. Or maybe he was just too much of a bitch to get her to let go. Maybe he didn't want her to let go at all… But she had to. They all had to forget about him. "You're not my mom, so stop acting like you give a damn what happens to me! No one does!"

Layla's shocked stare moved over his face, then past his shoulder to Lucy who was still standing behind him.

"He's moving to another foster home," she said softly.

Understanding dawned across her gentle features. "Oh, honey," Layla whispered, looking into his teary eyes. "It's alright…"

"It's not," Cobra whimpered. "I don't wanna leave…" There. He'd said it. And once the truth was out, there was no stopping the emotions that had been swirling in his gut for days. No, longer than that. It was something that always lurked in the background, every time he went to a new foster home. He always wondered how long it would last before he had to pack up his life and start all over. He stumbled back, dropping the clothes he'd been clutching so tightly while turning to face Lucy again. Once he saw her, his tears broke free. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, a sharp cry catching in his throat.

When she held him just as tightly, he lost the will to keep quiet anymore.

"I don't wanna lose you," he cried. "It's not fair! I-I already lost my mom, and I don't have anyone who loves me. And now I've got you, and… and they're gonna take me away somewhere. I'll be all alone again!"

Lucy didn't say a word, but she squeezed him just enough to help him feel like he wasn't completely falling apart at the seams. For him to remember that she really did care, and that she wanted to hear what he had to say. What he'd been keeping to himself all this time.

"They won't love me as much as they love their baby. A-And I wanna be a big brother. I just wanna belong somewhere! Anywhere! But I don't belong anywhere, and I don't fit in… and you gave me that! You and your parents. I can feel it. You care about me…"

Cobra wasn't sure why, but his legs wouldn't hold him. And Lucy couldn't hold his weight on her own. He collapsed in front of her, latching onto her legs in a desperate attempt to keep her with him just a little longer.

"Please, baby… don't let them send me away. I don't wanna go… J-Just make it stop…"

He tried to hold on tighter when she pried his arms from her legs. Couldn't she see how much he needed her? He didn't want to break up. He didn't want any of this! He just wanted one good thing in his life, was that so much to ask?

"Cobs, it's okay," Lucy whispered. She sat down in front of him, grunting when he hugged her again.

"I can't keep it all inside anymore. It's eating me up. Every day. I'm always scared they're gonna find some reason to send me away, and now this?" He shook his head, trembling as a heavy sob wracked his body. "I didn't do anything wrong! I don't wanna leave them. But I can't tell them that, and if I try they'll just think… I don't know. I just wanna be a good kid with a family! Why won't they just adopt me?"

"I don't know," Lucy whispered. "I wish I could make it all better."

"No one can," he whimpered. "No one wants me…"

"We do." Cobra eyes shot open at the sound of Levi's voice behind him. He'd been so absorbed in holding onto Lucy and his own bullshit that he hadn't even heard the front door open. He turned to find Levi staring down at him with a sad pinch to his thin brows. He knelt in front of Cobra and Lucy, letting out a soft sigh. "Erik, Marie and I never wanted it to come to this."

"Wh-What?" he sniffled. He couldn't lock it up, and keep Levi from seeing him cry.

"We submitted paperwork to officially adopt you last month," Levi said softly. "We're waiting for them to review our application right now. We wanted to surprise you with it when it got approved. And, if we get denied, we didn't want you getting your hopes up…"

What the hell did he mean? "You really want…" He couldn't wrap his brain around it, even when Levi smiled at him and nodded. His foster father wasn't really one for smiling. Ever, actually. But he was doing it right then.

"There might still be a hiccup or two," Levi said, placing a calloused hand on Cobra's arm. "With Marie being pregnant, we need to look into getting a bigger house. Or try to show the adoption agency that we're looking to move so you'll have a room of your own by the time the baby comes."

"I-I don't need it," Cobra said. He knew that he sounded so hopeful, but inside… he knew the truth. This was all wishful thinking. It was a good thing he'd already packed his bags. It didn't matter that they were trying to adopt him. It was going to fall through. He knew that. Because nothing ever went the way it was supposed to for him. "I've shared a room with babies before. And I…" His gaze drifted down to the floor, and he ignored how his ears burned. "I'd be glad to help out in the middle of the night so Marie can sleep."

"You'll be a great big brother," Levi chuckled.

"Cobs," Lucy said, frowning down at him, "I thought you said you had to move because she's pregnant…"

He sighed and roughly wiped his eyes, his shoulders slumping. "It's happened before," he muttered. "Foster mom gets pregnant, then I have to leave. Because they don't want a kid that's not theirs when they can have the real deal…"

"We still want you," Levi said gently. "I wish you'd talked to us about this when we told you."

"No point," Cobra said. "Why rock the boat?"

He hadn't expected Levi to lean forward and wrap him up in a tight hug. They weren't really much for hugging, all things considered. But it was happening right then. And then Levi's strong hand wrapped around the back of Cobra's head, pulling him flush against his shoulder, and he whispered something that finally had him hugging his foster father back. "We love you, Erik. You don't have to be afraid of being honest with your mom and dad."

---

Erik sighs while looking at the lunchbox. It was only another couple months after he'd talked with Levi that their adoption application had been denied. Just when he'd started to believe they really would adopt him, and had unpacked his things again, his social worker showed up and told him it was time to move. He'd been devastated.

He'd cried all over again, hugging Marie and telling her that he didn't want to leave. He'd begged her to help somehow, but there was nothing they could do. God, their kid had to be a little over 10 now.

Erik wasn't going to try and reconnect with them, though. Sure, they'd wanted to adopt him, but there was no reason to pop up in their lives and let their kid know that he'd almost been the thing's older brother.

"I remember you chucking this thing at my face," Erik chuckles, handing her the dented lunchbox again.

"In my defense, I started my period, like, two days after that," she giggles. "As soon as the cramps hit, I was sorely missing this stupid box."

"It's not stupid," he smirks.

Lucy simply rolls her eyes at him, then sets her attention back on the box in front of her. She rummages through it for another minute, and then laughs as she pulls out a pile of folded clothing.

Erik's shocked when he sees his old Slipknot hoodie. He'd loved that thing, and the iron-on appliqué is barely holding on with how many times it's been washed. This had been his favorite hoodie - and his only one for years. When he'd been taken from his foster home on prom night, he'd written off anything that he didn't get back as being taken for evidence against his foster parents. Had Lucy really had it this whole time?

"I wore this thing for months after you disappeared," she whispers, running her thumbs over the faded once-black material. She takes a shaky breath, then sets it to the side. There are a couple shirts with funny sayings on them that he barely remembers even owning, the belt he'd given her with that obnoxious Parental Advisory Keep Out buckle, and a pair of his jeans with large holes worn into the knees and tattered hems.

He places a hand on hers, brushing his thumb across her knuckles, and receives a gentle smile in return. "I'm back now, though," he says, then smirks. "But I think you can hold onto the hoodie for good."

"You're so kind," she laughs. For good measure, he picks up the jacket and unzips it, then drapes it over her shoulders. She puts her arms through the thinned sleeves easily, and he can't help but smile as he zips it up again.

"Beautiful," he says while pulling gently on her fingers and rolling up the sleeves. Her head turns away from him, and she hides just a little behind her hair. Is she really doing that again? It took months for him to break that habit of hers.

Erik still isn't sure why she'd been so shy when they'd started dating, but every time he'd complimented her, Lucy had shied away from him.

Except now, her hair's much shorter, falling just at the nape of her neck in the back and slanting downward to an inch below her chin at the front. It suits her, he realizes as his hand raises to tuck the golden strands behind her ear. When Lucy looks at him again, her cheeks are flaming a bright red. She's even more beautiful when she looks at him like this.

He's royally fucked.

Erik knows he'll never be able to turn back now.

"Breakfast won't wait forever," she says.

Erik nods and plucks the clothes from her hands. "I just hope these fit."

Lucy laughs again and reaches into the box again. This time, she pulls out a pair of her jeans that he'd completely ruined with a Sharpie. "Well, let's see if I can still fit in my clothes from high school too," she says. "That way you won't be all by yourself."

It takes a little work for him to get the jeans over his legs, and this Papa Roach shirt is tighter than he remembers, but the clothes do still fit. It takes no work to button his pants. Except… the holes in his jeans are giving him a serious draft. Did he really wear clothes like this when he was in high school? How the hell did he not worry himself to death over whether or not people could see his fucking testicles!

"Oh my god, look at you!" Lucy laughs. He turns and smirks over at her, looking her up and down. Damn it all to hell, she looks like she did in high school. That jacket still reaches down to her thighs, and the bootcut jeans with his writing and doodles all over them fit her just as tightly as they used to.

"Look at yourself," he says. Erik wraps his arms around her, dragging her flush against his chest. "I'm having flashbacks."

"Good ones, I hope," she rasps.

"Only the best." He hums when her lips press against his, and her fingers thread through his hair. A moment later, she finds a knot, and yanks a little harder than necessary.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Erik steps back and roughly brushes his fingers through his hair, tipping his head back to help the process along.

"I can see your tummy," Lucy croons. He jumps when her fingers run lightly along the line of maroon hairs leading from his navel and down into his boxers. "Cobra, I have a brush, y'know."

"True, but that takes time." He ties his hair up into a high, messy ponytail just like he always does during labs in his class. Sure, his students usually snicker over it, but it keeps his hair out of his face. "All set."

He's surprised when she takes his hand and leads him to the door. They walk down the stairs together, hand in hand, and it's more than a walk down memory lane. He can't remember how many times he's walked down these stairs with her, just like this. Even though it's been years, it feels like just yesterday that she was leading him to the door for the first time, hours after their first kiss.

They find Jude and Layla sitting at the table, drinking coffee and chatting with one another. There's no food on the table, though, and that's definitely concerning. How long had they been sitting here, waiting for Lucy to come downstairs? It wasn't that long since Layla had come upstairs and found him balls deep in her daughter, was it?

Or maybe they'd taken a bit longer than he'd anticipated, and then with them looking through that box, maybe it had really been a bit since Layla had come upstairs.

"Well, if this isn't a blast from the past!" Layla laughs as she takes in their appearances. "And good morning!" It's the same way he remembers from when he'd actually been allowed to sleep over (only when there were other friends sleeping over as well, and then he'd had to sleep downstairs with the boys while the girls slept in Lucy's room). "I've got everything dished up and keeping warm in the oven."

"Mom, you guys didn't have to wait," Lucy says as she sits down in her usual seat. Erik takes a seat between her and Layla's empty seat, briefly noticing how her father's gone grey at the temples.

Layla ignores her and pulls plates from the oven. She busies herself with setting everything on the table, and Erik waits until Lucy's poured herself a cup of coffee before fixing his own. Black, no sugar. Just like Alex drinks it. He'd learned about drinking coffee from his adoptive father, after all.

Erik looks over at Jude after taking a sip of his coffee. "I completely understand why you didn't like me," he chuckles. "I look ridiculous."

"You were the epitome of grunge fashion in high school," Lucy says.

"If my students saw me like this, I'd die of embarrassment," he mutters while Layla finally sits down. Lucy laughs and takes a bite of her food, rolling her eyes at him. But it's the truth. He'd rather be caught dead than let his students see how he used to dress when he was their age.

"So," Jude says, looking at Lucy and Erik, "Layla has informed me that she found you inside my daughter."

---

And this chapter is finished! Don't worry, we'll be returning to this story for Day 8 of CoLu Week 2019! I hope you enjoyed the little references that weaseled their way into this monster of a story. (Levi refused to be ignored).

There's another 8k of outline that was supposed to appear in this chapter, but we're already at 16k on the word count! I figured it'd be better to break it up.

Tomorrow's prompt will appear in Paging Dr. Cobra.