Lux returns home, her mind full of questions she wish she didn't have- and also of him. She doesn't like this feeling, her heart pounding, her hands clammy- the simple thought of him causing her to feel a wave of emotions she wish she didn't have. Is it possible that she…. No, it couldn't be. There's no way she could. She refused to believe it. She couldn't like Ezreal- absolutely not. They were just friends, good ones- admittedly, but friends. She didn't want anything to happen between them, she didn't want to lose his friendship.
But she did like the way he'd hold her hand, and she way he'd look at her- she felt a certain closeness around him that she couldn't feel around others, being around him made her feel less lonely.
Lux closes her eyes, she doesn't want to admit it to herself- she doesn't like Ezreal, she CAN'T like Ezreal. He would never feel the same way, anyways. He liked to tease her, sure, but she knew that it was nothing more than that- teasing. She knew that he didn't feel anything actually romantic for her- and that was why she'd let him get away with it so easily.
She exhales, plopping herself on her bed face first, she feels like she's going to scream (she doesn't, of course). Her heart is still racing, but she tries to let her mind wander to something other than him, and she ends up falling asleep. When she wakes up she sees her mother at her door- a paper in hand, Lux has no idea what it says yet, but from the look on her face she could already tell that she was going to be in trouble.
"What is the meaning of this, Luxanna?" Her mother asks, showing Lux the headline article- it's title reads "Is the prestigious Luxanna Crownguard in a relationship with the world's famous Prodigal Explorer?" Just reading that alone makes her heart drop, she takes the paper from her mother's hands- quickly turning to the article and reading what it had to say. More or less, it just had to do with her refusal to answer questions (which was a bad idea on her part) to a picture that someone had managed to take of the two of them walking together, overall- it wasn't really a scandalous article, one she assumed would die down in a week or so, there were far more important things to talk about than Lux and her potential love affairs. "It was something taken out of context" Lux finally says, her mother is glaring daggers at her- it gives her a chilling feeling. Her mother says nothing for awhile, eyes would stay fixated on the girl as she simply walks around her. "I don't want you seeing him anymore." She finally says.
Lux's eyes widen at her comment, she feels her heart sink into the bottom of her chest- she couldn't imagine never seeing Ezreal again- and she didn't want to imagine it, either. "We're just friends… I don't think we need to go to such drastic measures." Lux replies, trying to persuade her mother otherwise, she doesn't want to give him up. Nothing her mother told her could stop her from seeing him, "I don't want you to associate with.. Filth like him." She then says, and Lux snickers, she wants to defend him- but she doesn't want to upset her mother more than she already has. Fists clench, Lux softly exhales- she contemplates the things that she can say in this situation it's either one: she disobeys her mother behind her back, two: she stops talking to Ezreal in general or three: she defends Ezreal, indefinitely being the option that will get her in the most trouble. "He's not filth." Is all she can say, and she says it with feigned confidence. Her mother raises a brow, she looks shocked, "You're an adult, you can do as you may- however I would not advise you see him any longer." Lux simply nods, she has no words to say. Her eyes stay locked on her mother's as she exits her room, paper still in hand, only turning away to make sure she doesn't trip on the stairs, the look on her face before she leave the house is one she wishes that she'd never see again.
She wasn't supposed to see Ezreal, so what's the first thing she does? Why, she goes to see him, of course. She doesn't know who else to confide in with this information- she had other friends, sure, but there was nobody she wanted to talk to right now but him. There was nobody she wanted to see but him. She stops dead in her tracks, a realization coming over her- one that she knew she could no longer deny. She had feelings for him, ROMANTIC feelings, ones that she knew he probably would not replicate. But still, she harboured these feelings for him, and they were a little overwhelming. She won't tell him, she decided this much- she'll keep it to herself, as long as she can.
When she arrives at the crevice where she was earlier she's almost surprised to still see him there- he looks confused. "You're back?" He says, but it sounds more like a question. "The way you ran out earlier, I thought you were mad at me." Lux huffs at first she says nothing- she just takes a few steps towards him, and leans her head on his shoulder, she mutters a small "sorry." Ezreal gives a concerned look as he sees Lux like this, her puts his arms around her, giving her a hug. "What's wrong." Still not saying much, she shows him the paper, he gives it a quick read before ripping it. "You're this upset over a silly tabloid article? I thought you were better than that." He tells her, the words hurt- she shakes her head, "that's not it…" she starts, taking a quick pause. "My mother saw it, and told me she didn't want me to see you again." Ezreal's eyes widen, there's a look of anger in his eyes. "You're kidding me." He says, tone more serious than she was used to, Lux shakes her head, eyes locked with his. "I'm serious. She said that I shouldn't associate with… filth like you." Just repeating her mother's words are enough to leave a bad taste in her mouth, she looks at Ezreal, who looked even more angry than he already did. "Telling you who you can and can't be with? That's absolutely ridiculous." His nails dig into her sides, she knows he doesn't mean to do it- just that he's upset about what she had just told him, but it still hurts.
"Ez- That hurts.." She tells him, that alone seems to cause him to regain some of his composure, he moves his hands away from her- giving a small "sorry," and appears to look genuinely upset. "It's.. fine, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean it." She says, giving a small giggle- trying to reassure him, he signs- giving a small smile. A few moments are spent in silence as he looks at her, "wait, wait- let me ask you something, you're told not to see me and the first thing you do is come see me?" He gives a chuckle of his own as he talks, Lux blushes faintly- feeling embarrassed. "I don't want to lose you, after all that just happened I felt that if I didn't see you I may not get to see you again." She wasn't going to sugarcoat the situation, she didn't care how he reacted at the moment- she just needed to get it off her chest.
Ezreal does not laugh, he doesn't tease her- he doesn't say anything actually. He just stares at her, he looks as if he isn't sure how to reply. He hugs her, neither of them talk for what feels like forever- they sit in silence hugging. Ezreal finally breaks the silence, "So what're you gonna do?" He asks, she shrugs- honestly, she doesn't really want to return home for the night. She doesn't think she can handle it, she'd take sleeping in this dirty cave over going back to her house for the night, maybe she'd stay at a hotel? "I'm not sure." She looks at the ground, shrugs her shoulders a bit and then gives him a smile "I'll figure something out." She says, however- it doesn't look like that was the right answer for Ezreal. "Are you going back home?" He then asks, "I don't know. Probably not, at least tonight?" She then says- she's sure it'll only stir up trouble, but she just doesn't want to deal with her mother. "Do you want to stay here?" He asks, "Do I even have a choice?" She responds.
She really isn't looking forward to sleeping on the cold ground, but anything's better than dealing with the wrath of her mother. "Do you by chance have any bandages?" It was a longshot, but it was worth a shot, so much had went on that she didn't even realize that she hadn't changed the bandage on her arm. Ezreal raises a brow, giving her a concerned look- "Yeah, I do.. Are you okay?" He asks, Lux gives him a smile, moving the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a bandage around her arm, "I'm fine, I just got a little cut- it'll heal." She give a reassuring smile, eyes are locked onto his as he hands her a bandage- a look of worry still obviously on his features. Lux, unravels her old bandage- it looks pretty bad, she grimaces at the sight of it, but then quickly wraps it up in the new bandage. No problem, if it doesn't get any better soon she'll go see a doctor, but for now- that would have to do. "That looks pretty bad." Ezreal would say, Lux would nod giving a half shrug "I've been through worse." He frowns, "That's not what I meant." But she knows that already.
"I'll be fine, OK? I don't really want to think about it anymore. I just want to go to sleep." She then says- sleeping on the ground? She can do this, her back may not thank her for it in the morning, but she could endure it for one night. A small huff escapes her lip as she lays on her side, facing away from Ezreal. "Do you want my hoodie?" She hears him ask, she turns to face him- contemplating his offer, slowly she nods her head. She sits up as he hands her the hoodie, for a moment she thinks about whether she wants to wear the jacket or use it as a pillow- after some consideration she decides to use it as a pillow. "Goodnight, Ezreal." She mutters, laying down- facing him this time. He smiles at her "Goodnight, Lux." She gives a smile, closing her eyes- she smells his jacket, the smell is a mix of dirt and Ezreal.. But mainly dirt. Lux didn't mind it, actually.
She opens her eyes, only to see that he was looking at her, she blushes faintly- hoping he can't see it. "Go to sleep, Ez." She whispers, giggling softly. "Why don't you?" He responds, giving his own soft chuckle. He moves a bit closer to her, close enough that she could hear his breathing. Lux squeezes her eyes shut- she doesn't want to look at him, she just wants to go to sleep. She's not sure when- but, she ends up eventually falling asleep. She wakes up in the morning with her back aching, but she felt strangely well rested, even more so than she did in her own bed, surprisingly. She feels something around her side, opening her eyes she finds that it's Ezreal's arm. Immediately, Lux feels her cheeks heat up- she wants to turn away but if she does she feels that he'd wake up.
Instead she does nothing, she just stares at the still sleeping Ezreal. He looks peaceful, he looks at ease… and then he's looking directly at her. "Enjoying the view?" He teases, her lips purse and a brow widens "I dunno are you enjoying having your arms around me?" She retorts, he is then the one to blush, removing his hand from her waist with haste. "I didn't mean- Uh.." He's flustered, Lux giggles. "It's fine, I didn't mind." That was a lie, she was flustered when she realized it, she's still a bit flustered about it now. "Anyways.. Uh, did you sleep well?" He asks, trying to change the subject. She sits up, stretching a bit before nodding. "Strangely yes, I did. Better than I normally do, actually." Ezreal smiles, looking genuinely happy to hear that. "It's because I was here, wasn't it?" He teases, she playfully punches him in the arm. "Sure it was," although to be honest, that may have been the reason.
Lux felt at ease around Ezreal, she wouldn't need to tell him that- it was something she felt he already knew. Just as she could tell that he felt at ease around her (or at least, she hoped he did), he seemed to feel at ease around her, if anything. Considering he had his arm around her. "I knew it!" He'd exclaim, giving a light laugh- Lux would laugh too. Ezreal's face would then turn to one that was more serious, looking at her arm. "Do you need to change your bandage again? I don't have many more.." Lux would frown, she didn't want to go back to Demacia- she didn't want to endure her mother's rage. "That's alright.." She mutters, Ezreal hands her a bandage- she removes her old one tossing it aside, and putting on the new one. Her arm injury was beginning to look a little better- not much, but a little bit.
"When are you going back home? To Piltover, I mean?" She asks, Ezreal's brows perk, he looks at her, tilting his head. "I was planning on heading out later today, why?" He asks, grabbing his hoodie and putting it on. Lux takes a few moments to gather her words, she knows what she wants to say- it's just a matter of saying it, she hesitates taking a deep breath she final speaks. "Can I come with you?" She finally asks. Ezreal gives a look that seems to be a mixture of both shock and surprise, as if he wasn't expecting her to say such a thing. "Don't you need to go home? What about you family?" He asks, Lux looks away from him, at the ground- she doesn't want to deal with them, but she knows that the longer she waits the more trouble she'd be in in the long run.
But she doesn't really care anymore. "I don't want to go back." She says, it's selfish and she knows that- but she doesn't care. There's only so much that a person can take before they're pushed over the edge, and what her mother had said to her was her tipping point. Ezreal didn't say anything, he just looks at Lux, "you know, you're gonna have to face her someday." He tells her, but Lux knows that already. She knows she has to confront her mother someday, and she will, but that day won't be today.
She was looking forward to going to Piltover, to be honest- she hadn't been there in quite some time and it would be nice to be there again. Of course, it isn't like she'll really be able to enjoy herself unless she's in a disguise, she's sure that the tabloids have already found out about her disappearance- and if she's seen with Ezreal she's sure that the word would get out, which would lead to her mother finding out and that's the last thing she wants right now. "So- Are you planning on staying at a hotel or-?" Lux bites her lip, she doesn't want to say this out loud, but she knows she has to. "Actually….. I was wondering if I could stay at your house. If I'm seen in a hotel word will spread, my mother would find out and-" Ezreal stops her short, "Say no more, you can stay with me for a while- though don't expect too much. My house is kinda shitty." He tells her, her eyes light up at his words, she's honestly glad that he's going to let her stay at his house. "Thank you, Ezreal." She really meant it, there weren't enough words she could use to describe the relief she was feeling. Ezreal would smile, "You're welcome. But I'm serious about my house- it's not anything fancy like you're used to." Lux would smile back, and give a small laugh, "I just slept on the ground, I'm sure anything is more comfortable than that." He'd nod, not being able to disprove her words, "You got me there- ANYWAYS, we need to get a head start if we want to get there before dark…." He pauses, rethinking his words, "Or- You probably want to get there when it's dark- that way people can't see you." While that would be IDEAL, she had her magic, and if worse came to worse- she could use it. "I mean, I'd prefer that- but I have ways I can get by if we get there during the day." She didn't want to be more of a burden than she already was, Ezreal would shrug his shoulders- "If you insist."
The trip to Piltover was not a very challenging one, especially because Ezreal knew all the shortcuts and safe routes to the city, she was sure that he had been back and forth on these paths a thousand times, he seemed to know them like the back of his hand. She was a little envious, actually- her experiences in the war caused her to travel, yes, but she wished she'd been able to travel to the extent that Ezreal could. Maybe she could someday- it was a hope, and something she doubted would ever happen, but she could dream, right?