COMPLETELY NEW CHAPTER!
*DO NOT OWN lyrics from Love Lies or the song in general
Chapter X: GUILT
"ZAY WAS ONCE GAY?!"
Immediately, Lucas drops his face into the palms of his hands.
Did I seriously just spill Zay's Secret?!
"Dude!" Josh was besides himself. "That changes e—"
"—It changes nothing!" Lucas quickly intercepts. "See, this is exactly why I didn't tell you or Riley or Maya or anyone! Oh my god, what did I just do?!" Lucas feels truly awful. Someone depended on his trust, and he let them down. This was very unlike Lucas. Josh, maybe? Lucas? Hell no. "He just..." Lucas's voice begins to crack. "He went through so much crap when that got out. I got expelled, because I beat the living sh*t out of someone for that."
Josh watches as Lucas continues to pace the floor. He begins to mutter something to himself, in which Josh can't seem to hear. Soon, he was able to hear Lucas cursing himself out. This nervousness gets the best of Lucas, which somehow leads to Josh thinking about Lucas's past. He remembers Lucas getting expelled, but Lucas was suppose to go to another school the next year. It never happened, because his dad died the following Summer. Now, he has the missing part.
The story makes so much more sense now! Josh thought to himself.
When Lucas was little, he mostly lived with his father. When together, Jerry and Lucas were an inseparable duo. Sometimes, it would be without question that Lucas was Jerry's son due to how in sync they were. The Rodeo Town fair was always a highlight of their time together. Jerry's father was the one that introduced Lucas to bull riding. Lucas can remember it today with his grandpa saying "If you can't master riding a sheep, you can't master a bull." Unfortunately, Judy the Sheep would forever haunt the dreams of little Friar.
In the Summer, Lucas would visit his mother. His father was a Zoologist, which required a lot of traveling. Thankfully, Jerry was able to downsize his availability to the Summer months: Late May, June, July, and Early August. Unfortunately, that meant that Lucas always started school a week late, but Lucas didn't care much at all. He did, however, always miss his father. It would get so bad for his mother, Judy Greek-Friar. She never knew how to say or do the right things when it came to calming her little boy. He wanted his father, and he couldn't have him. How can you fix that, if the solution is on another continent?
One Summer.
Not so much luck.
"This just in, a plane from the Saturn Airlines has reportedly gone missing. There were 120 passengers on board. We'll keep you—oh wait! I'm getting more news. The plane has just been found. At the moment, there are no survivors but that's just on eye only. Let's keep these people and their families in our prayers as we find out more on the latest piece of news."
It's one moment that always replayed in Lucas's head every single hour of his father's birthday. To him, he killed his father by begging him to come home. No matter how many times he was told that it wasn't his fault, he chose to believe that he caused it.
No one has ever been able to get through that boy like Josh has, and even then there's only so much Josh can do.
"Lucas," Josh cut the silence. "I won't say anything." He says, but Lucas rolls his eyes. Josh loves gossip, and Lucas knows that. "I swear! On our brotherhood, I won't say a thing." He promises.
Lucas looks at him dead center in the eyes. "Not Riley. Not Maya. Not Chris. Not anybody. I'm dead serious!" Lucas says through his gritted teeth. He wasn't necessarily mad at Josh but at himself. He can't believe how gullible he was to give up such sacred information.
Josh throws his hands in the air. "I promise." He promises again. "I won't do it."
Lucas sighs. "Thanks." He has no choice but to believe him. All he can do is hope that his friendship of over ten years means something.
"But…" Josh says, which makes Lucas's heart drop. "You do owe me."
Lucas's breath hitched. "Owe you, what?" He asks. "Josh, I don't owe you anyth—ARGH!" Lucas's hands cover his crotch as he moaned in pain.
Josh laughs as Lucas doubles over in pain. "Hey, I'm sorry bro, but you deserved that after the tackle I took because you didn't guard me." He explains.
Lucas slowly rises. "I'm sorry." He manages to croak out before he continues to whine and moan in pain.
Josh shrugs, "I was only joking." He claims. Josh then takes out his phone. "3:40?!" He exclaims. "What the hell were you doing out this late?" Josh doesn't care if he sounds like a mom right about now. All he wants is to make sure his 'bro' didn't do anything stupid on his unforeseen night out.
Lucas scratches the back of his neck. "Wellllll…nothing, really. I just needed to walk around and cool my head. Everything was hitting me all at once it seemed, so I really needed to take some time for myself." Lucas explains.
Josh eyes Lucas intently, trying to figure out if he's lying or not. Grudgingly, Josh shrugs. "Fine," He says and lets it go. "But you're tucking me in bed."
Lucas's mouth drops down in shock. "Wha–Why?!" He proclaims and throws his hands in the air. Josh then points to his ribs aka stomach and smiles. Lucas rolls his eyes. "Ugh…Fine!" He groans.
"You gotta tuck me in with Chester!" Josh says excitedly, speaking about his little cute purple bunny he's had since he was only 4 years old.
Lucas wraps Josh's arm around his shoulders. "That bunny…gosh! Still sleeping with that thing?" Lucas can't help but laugh.
Josh glares at Lucas. "That girly shampoo…oh damn! Still using that 'I got sensitive hair' excuse crap?" He fires back.
Lucas lets out a nervous laugh. "Ha ha…ok, good point."
{*****}
Don't be afraid to tell me if you ain't with it. I see you focused, yeah you're so indepen—TAP!
Rachel lets out a loud and tired moan.
She had been awake all last night, running late errands and doing most of the cheerleader captain's work. She was thankful to have Missy being by her side though. The cheerleading captains are both very lazy, so they throw all of their work on to the aspiring sophomore come ups they value the most.
Unfortunately, it's Rachel and Missy.
However, FORTUNATELY, it's Rachel and Missy.
See, Rachel and Missy look at this as an opportunity. They know that they're better on the captains' good side, seeing as when they leave next year they are recommended to the coach. Of course, there are plenty of next year Seniors (aka current Juniors) that will heavily pissed at the girls getting the opportunity, but it's fair game in Rachel's and Missy's eyes.
Rachel peeps one eye open before closing it and running a hand through her face. It's still dark out, in which the beautiful girl was not surprised about. She's used to awakening at this time of day.
Plus, how else are the morning errands going to get done?
She turns her face to the right and lifts her phone to see the time.
"6:16" She rolls her eyes. "Great." She says sarcastically.
She moves to sit up, but something was counterattacking her attempt to do so. Rachel looks down to see an arm. "Oh no…" She whispers to herself before she clamps both of her hands and brings them up to her face. "What have I done?" She whispers inside of them.
That arm belongs to one person, and that person was: Isaiah Babineax.
Instantly, she begins shaking Zay awake. "Zay…wake up." She whispers, not trying to be too loud because she knows Missy is in the other room. If Missy finds out, she'll never let Rachel live this down. "Zay…" Rachel whispers again as she begins putting more pressure in her arms and hands. "Baby…"
"Huh?" Zay groans.
"Come on, let me out the bed." Rachel tells him. "Move your arm."
It goes quiet.
Rachel rolls her eyes. She never knows why she always invites this boy over, when she already knows it'll be hard to get him to wake up. "Zay…" She whispers again.
No answer.
"Baby…"
Zay groans again, "No. Stop. Don't leave."
Rachel chuckles at how cute he was acting. Even though it was a tussle trying to get out of his grasp, Zay always made waking up feel childlike to her. And honestly, she couldn't help but love him more for it.
Rachel sighs, "You know I got too."
"Pleeeeeeease!" Zay whines, tightening his grip around his girl.
"Zaaaaaaaaay!" She whines back. "I'm sorry, but you know Dakota and Lindsey are gonna be on my ass if I don't get the extra junior tryout papers done. And thank god Missy has got control over the junior attires and such, because that would've been pretty bad if she never got that done last night." She rambles.
Zay finally opens his eyes, sleepily of course. "You're cute when you go on and on and on and on and on…" Zay continues on with a playful smile. "...and on and on and on and o—" He's stopped by Rachel's pillow clobbering his face.
"—and on and on and on…" Rachel playfully mimicked him.
In one quick motion, he slides on top of her making her giggle.
He laughs, "What was that?" He asks, referring to her little cute giggle.
She leans up and kisses his lips. "Mmm…" She moans. "Good Morning."
When she pulls away, he follows and connects his lips with hers bringing them into another kiss. "Good Morning to you too." He says.
She sighs. "Did we do anything…sexy, last night?" She asks. "In all seriousness…"
Zay pouts and shakes his head. "No. You were too tired." He tells her. "You do remember how I got in your bed, right?" He asks.
She shakes her head. "No," she laughs.
"Well, you texted me something crazy like 'I want some mocha'…so you know where my mind went." He explains, and Rachel groans then buries her face under her pillow. "Relax. It was fine." He reassures her. "We never did anything, because you opened the door looking like one of those walkers from Walking Dead." This earns another groan from Rachel. "You were cute tho." He quickly recovers.
Rachel throws the pillow to the side. "Okay, it's time for me to go." She announces and moves to get out of bed, but Zay was straddling her so she failed miserably. "Forreal Zay!" She whines.
He chuckles then places a kiss on her forehead. "Alright, I'm going back to sleep." He announces before snuggling back into his pillow.
Rachel shakes her head. "Not in my bed, you're not."
"Baaaaabbbbby!" Zay whines.
"Isssssaaaaiaaaaaaah!" She whines his full name. "Seriously tho, get up and get out!" She playfully screams before pushing Zay little by little until he falls off the bed.
"Ouch!" Zay moans in pain. "You could've at least let my morning wood calm down. Jesus!"
Rachel smirks once Zay stands up. "Nah. I'm glad I pushed you out." She says admiring his thumper from her bed. He quickly rushes to cover it, which makes her laugh. "Calm down. I've felt it before." She teases, and this makes Zay grab a pillow to hide it instead. "You're a hard sleeper. It looks pretty through from inside your shorts."
"OhMyGod, Rachel!" He groans. "You're finessing me in my sleep…WITHOUT ME KNOWING!"
Rachel jumps up. "Shhh!" She puts a finger over her lips and shushes him. "I can't have Missy knowing you're in here. She'll never let me live this down."
Zay shrugs. It was quite funny with him shrugging, seeing as his hands were too busy holding the pillow to cover his peen. "Chris is in her room EVERY NIGHT—"
"—ZAY!" Rachel whisper–yells. She runs over to where he stood and begins swatting at his arms.
Zay winces. "Sorry. But, Chris is in there every night." He argues. "Not trying to call her anything, but she can't say nothing about what we're doing…which is just sleeping and kisses occasionally, when we don't know what's going on in there."
Rachel smiles then pecks Zay on the lips. "Let me go shower. You can sleep in my bed—" Rachel was interrupted by Zay celebrating, "—until I get out."
Zay has a big smile on his face. "Thank you." He thanks her before pecking her lips. "Have a nice shower. I'm taking my ass to bed." He flies into the bed and wraps himself underneath the sheets.
Rachel stands there, pretty shocked at what just happened. "Um…Zay? Are you okay?" She asks in all seriousness.
Zay peeps his head from under the sheets. "Yeah, why?" He asks in response.
"Well, you're usually begging to join me in the shower." She explains with her arms folded. "But you didn't this time."
Zay scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Why? So I can get turned down again. Yeah, right." He tells her. "You're never going to let me, so I just stopped asking. Go enjoy your shower, babe."
Rachel smiles at the word 'Babe'.
"I love that we're at that stage." Rachel says as she moves to get clothes from her drawer. "The babe and baby stage of our relationship."
Zay snickers. "Yeah. Next we'll be at the 'I Love You' stage."
Rachel tenses up. "Um…yeah…not right now, buddy." She quickly responds. She grabs all of her stuff before quickly leaving the room in case Zay wanted to ask a follow up question to that.
"Oh hey, Rachel…" Rachel was stopped in her tracks after hearing Chris's voice. She's outside her room's door about to head to the bathroom.
"Heeey, Chris…" She slowly backs up to her door. "What'chu doing?"
Chris's eyebrows tilt downwards. "Um…nothing. I'm about to go for an early run." That's when Rachel realizes that Chris is indeed wearing athletic gear, and that he does run every morning. She remembers, because he got Missy to get her to run. "Um…" Chris eyes Rachel carefully. "Are you okay?" He asks.
Rachel feigns a smile. "Y-y-Yeah. I mean, why wouldn't I be? I mean, other than me being tired, I'm actually quite okay." She rambles on. "You see, Missy and I were up all night doing errands for Dakota and Lindsey so…it was a little gruesome, I guess. But I'm totally fine this morning. Like totally totally fine."
Chris chuckles, "Um…okay. I guess."
Rachel laughs, "Alright. Go have a good run."
Chris nods, "Yeah. I will." He tells her. "Good luck with the shower."
"W-what? How did you know that I was taking a shower?" She quickly asks. "Were you eavesdropping on me in my room? Oh my gosh…you were—"
"—um…no, I just see the clothes and towel in your hands." Chris laughs, and Rachel lets out a nervous one. One that Chris takes a little notice to which prompts his eyebrow to rise in confusion. "Um…" He laughs. "Wow. Are you hiding someone in your room?" It all makes sense in his head. She was guarding the door.
Rachel nervously laughs. "Huh? No, I—"
"—Zay is in there, right?" Chris laughs. "OhMyGod, you nasty little devil."
Rachel rolls her eyes. "You better not tell Missy, or I'm telling her that I know about your FwB." She threatens.
Chris scoffs, "My FwB?"
Rachel nods, "Yeah dumbass. Your Friends with Benefits sha-bang!"
Chris sighs, "You said you weren't gonna tell her that."
"And I won't, but you better keep this quiet." Rachel tells him. "Capisce!"
Chris lifts his hands in the air. "Fine. I won't tell." He promises then laughs. "I wasn't going to anyway. Plus, Missy wouldn't mind."
"W—" Rachel was about to respond, but a certain someone decided to make an appearance.
"—Wouldn't mind what?" Missy asks, also in her running gear.
Rachel laughs, "Um…nothing. It's nothing, right Chris?"
Chris nods. "Yeah, it was nothing. Ready for our run?" He asks Missy, changing the subject.
Missy looks between the two in confusion. "Um…yeah, sure…"
{*****}
Today was a very cold day.
In Colorado, the temperature was pretty sporadic in terms of being hot one week then cold the next. Unfortunately for the people currently living in the Flakesville, it was time for jackets again.
{"Today's temperatures has dropped to the upper 40's and are expected to be even lower in the coming days. At night, we're expecting as low as 20 degrees. So to all you parents and working adults out there, bundle up. This week, it's gonna be pretty cold out there."}
"I honestly hate this town so freaking much! This morning, I went on a run with Chris and I thought I wasn't gonna be able to sit down today. It's pretty chilly out there." Missy moans as she watched the monitor plastered in the middle of the campus's cafeteria. Chris connects with her eyes and makes a pouty face before wrapping his left arm around her and pulling her closer to him.
Maya sighs, "Yeah. Tell me about it."
"Tell me about {that}." Rachel says then points behind Maya.
Maya turns around to see Riley talking to some boy. "Huh?" She was genuinely confused. Not too long ago…Two Days ago to be exact, she was worried sick about Lucas and his condition. No one would ever be so worried about someone to the point where they only got two hours of sleep to not like that person.
"Wait…" Missy starts getting excited. "Is that Charlie Gardner?"
Maya's hand flew to her mouth; at the same time, Rachel's mouth dropped open. No one seen this coming.
Chris laughs, "Really guys?" He shakes his head in amusement. "Let the poor kid shoot his shot. God knows I would if I was interested in somebody." He says then looks down at Missy and winks. "Plus," His eyes go back on the group. He shrugs, "What if he's just asking a question? Or what if Riley is just asking a question? Can't a guy and a girl talk without people pushing an agenda?"
Missy rolls her eyes and points to Chris. "This guy." She laughs, which makes the other girls laugh as well.
Chris looks down at Missy with a knowing look that always made her heart warm. For Missy, she couldn't understand what about Chris was so attractive…other than his hair, face, and body. Usually, guys like Chris—sweet, loving, generous, and patient—never paid Missy any attention. Missy always thought it meant that she should stick with the loud and brooding types. Maybe a loving guy wasn't in the cards for her. Or so she thought.
Maya scrunches her eyes together as she watched the two Secret FOB's. "Something going on between you two?" It was presented as a question.
"No." Both answer quickly.
Hmmm, Maya thinks to herself. That's weird. Yeah, I'm gonna look into that later.
"Hey guys." Riley greets everyone as she takes her seat. She reaches down in her purse to grab her phone. Out of her peripheral vision, she can see the group staring at her as if she had something valuable to give. However, what she didn't know was that they didn't want her giving…they wanted her sharing. "Okay…What's up?" Riley asks as she looks back and forth between everybody.
"Well...we seen you…over there with…" Rachel tries to contain her excitement. "…Charlie Gardner! Girl, what is going on?! Are you—"
"—Woah! Woah! Woah!" Riley exclaims, holding her hand up in the process. "First of all, I am not dating Charlie Gardner. Ew." Riley makes a gagging sound which makes everyone around her roll their eyes. "Secondly, we just take College Ensembles class together, and I really need help on the bottom half of the second sheet."
"So?" Missy asks, wanting more.
Riley rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh. "We're meeting up later today—" She was interrupted by squeals and gasps. "—for practice. Um…you guys are creeping me out."
Somebody would've thought someone had gotten engaged with the way the group was celebrating.
"Well…" Maya chimes in. "He's cute." She says and puts a soft comforting hand on her best friend's shoulders. "And, you deserve it. You're a pretty woman, and pretty women…likes when the handsome men…do pretty things." Maya struggles getting that out without laughing.
Riley blushes.
The whole group laughs.
One taught me love. One taught me patience. And, One taught me pa—TAP!
"Hello," Missy answers into her phone. The others begin talking about the community service they were just told about that's happening soon.
"Oh Hi, Missy…" That voice belongs to none other than Lindsey, the co-cheer captain. "Is Rachel with you? We need the two of you at Dakota's dorm ASAP." Her voice makes the situation sound urgent.
Well, that can't be good.
Missy locks eye contact with Rachel then nods. "We're on our way." She quickly says then ends the call. "Come on, we got to go." She tells Rachel before squeezing Chris a little tighter then jumping out of her seat.
"Be safe!" Chris calls after them.
Missy turns around and winks at him before both she and Rachel are out of sight.
"…and sometimes older people don't like being anywhere next to millennials, so I wonder how we're gonna do once we're put into those rooms." Maya is currently talking about the community service trip the athletes have to do in a month or so. They have to go to a retirement home and assist the elderly. "Some our co-cheerleaders act like snobby rich kids."
Chris nods his head in agreement. "Yeah. I hope they act mature for once in their life. This is the athletic department they're representing. If we piss the university off, they won't even bat an eye our way when we're in deep crap." He states.
"OMG, there's Lucas!" Riley gasps as her eyes make contact with the brunette edging closer and closer to them. She quickly turns to both Maya and Chris. "Don't mention Charlie, Okay?"
Maya scrunches her eyebrows. "Wait. What? I thought you said the whole Charlie thing was nothing." Maya was genuinely confused.
Riley rolls her eyes. "It IS nothing, but that's where I would like to keep it." She claims.
Chris turns around just in time for Lucas to throw up his hand in a waving motion. Chris smiles and waves back. Noticing that he was approaching rather quickly, Chris turns to Riley. "If it isn't nothing like you said, then why are you—WAIT!" Chris exclaims, mouth dropping in the process. "Are you and Lucas secretly dating each other?" He implies.
Maya gasps. "What? Really?!" She exclaims and puts her hand on her chest. "I'm hurt. I thought I was your best friend. We tell each other everything...and I mean EVERYTHING!"
Riley groans. "Oh my gosh, no, I'm not secretly dating Lucas." She says.
"So, you two are secretly boning each other then?" Chris asks.
Riley's cheeks turn red as she quickly shakes her head. "NO! We're not doing anything. I just don't know how he feels, especially after he kissed me for the coach last time. And, I don't want to make it any more awkward around us."
"Awkward around who?" Lucas startles the other three.
"Damn, you got here fast." Maya says with her hand still on her chest as she check to see how fast her heart was beating.
Riley nervously laughs. "Oh nothing...just some boring old loser in my Ensembles class."
Maya nudges Riley in her side with a lot of force.
Riley softly cries out in pain before throwing her hands in the air, obviously confused by Maya's unanticipated elbow.
"Too much..." Maya whispers, as if Lucas wasn't sitting there staring directly at their faces.
"Too much of what?" Of course he asks this question. He does have eyes, which the two girls somehow forgot. Riley and Maya both share uneasy faces. Lucas could also see Riley fidgeting. What are you hiding? He thought to himself.
Chris softly slaps the shoulders of the confused Texan. "You know what? How abooooouuuuuut…" Chris stretches the word in order to think of something. "Oh! You know Jennifer and her girls asked me about you—"
"I already broke up with her. I told you that already." Lucas grits through his teeth. He glances in Riley's direction before quickly looking elsewhere. He sighs, "…And I told you to never bring that up around Riley." He whispers for only Chris to hear.
Chris flashes a half-smile. "Sorry, man."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Maya scrunches her face. "Who is laughing so loud like that?" She asks.
Riley turns her head around to see the one and only Zay, laughing with some of his friends. "Oh…that explains it." She laughs.
Lucas's eyes go wide.
If there was any time that Lucas wished he could turn invisible, it was now.
"Um…I gotta…um—" As if he naturally gained the power of speed, Lucas quickly takes off with no finish to his sentence, which left the other three looking at each other in confusion.
"Alright, I'll meet with you guys later." Zay tells the other two guys before giving both a pound hug. "Hey guys," Zay quickly turns his attention to the three sitting. "Have you seen Rachel? In our last text, she told me that she was sitting here with you two and Missy." He tells them, pointing at both Maya and Chris.
Chris shrugs. "I don't know. I think Dakota or Lindsey called them to do their dirty work again." Chris couldn't help but to roll his eyes after saying that.
"I'll give Dakota & Lindsey some dirty work, alright…" Zay was visibly bothered by the time the head cheerleaders took from Rachel & Missy. Personally, he wanted as much time with Rachel as possible. Is it selfish? Maybe, but to Zay…he never gets quality time with his girl, because they were always taking it away from him.
"What's up guys!"
"JOSH!" Maya instantly stands and move towards Josh. "You're suppose to be at home…healing!" She wasn't scolding him just because; he was suppose to be resting as the doctors instructed.
Josh rolls his eyes. "I'm fi—oooh, you touched a tender spot." He winces, which in return let's Maya know that he was indeed NOT fine.
"Dude, maybe you should go back to the dorm." Chris pipes.
Josh laughs. "I'm fine."
"JOOOOSH!" Riley gives his brother a stern look.
Josh sighs. "Okay. Ugh, I hate being stuck in that apartment-dorm all day. It's depressing." He admits.
"You need to get better." Zay tells him. "And whatever the doctor says is what goes."
Josh was about to rebut Zay's statement, but Maya wasn't having it.
"No." Maya stops Josh from speaking. She knew she had him when he let out a frustrating sigh but decided to listen anyway. "Listen to Zay…and go rest." She sternly tells him. "If I don't see you lying down when I come check on you today, someone is gonna get their ass handed to them." She threatens.
"Since when were you paying me a visit?" Of course, that's what Josh took out of that. Maya thought to herself.
Maya put her hand on Josh's tender spot, located on the side of his stomach. "Since now…" She says as he winced in pain. "And if you're not there, I'm either coming for your stubborn ass or Huckleberry."
Josh always knew that he should never take Maya's words for granted.
"Fine." Josh grits through his teeth. "Where's Lucas?" He didn't want to go home, but having Lucas there would make his time less boring.
Chris points behind him to the exit doors. "I think he ran to the bathroom." He says.
"Why?" Both Zay And Josh asks simultaneously.
Chris shrugs. "I have no clue." He says.
{*****}
Lucas closes the bathroom's stall door. "I'm so stupid." He whispers to himself as he repeatedly smacks his forehead. With one hand staying put on his forehead, he closes his eyes and begins breathing exercises. "Inhale..." He slowly inhales the air before letting it out. "Exhale." He whispers once it's all gone.
He shakes his head. "I can't do this." He says before punching stall's wall.
Loyalty was always a word Lucas never took for granted.
However, after spilling the beans, he feels as if he's the worst person in the whole world.
Zay was his best friend, but unfortunately in Zay's case Josh was closer. Josh was Lucas's brother, and it's common for brothers to talk about things, right? Lucas never thought he'd do something like that. He didn't think he was that person. Hell, his friends don't believe he's that type of person. So, what in the hell was he thinking when he did that?
Suddenly, the swinging of the door can be heard as a pair of feet comes rushing in.
"Lucas?" That voice was all too familiar. "Lucas? It's Josh. Chris said you ran in here."
Lucas didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, especially Josh. Hell, who knows whatever else he'd spill to that boy. Lucas slowly steps on top of the toilet seat and slightly crouches down so that his height wouldn't be visible.
"Lucas!" Josh calls out once more before you can hear Josh throw his bag to the floor. "Argh–Ugh…" Lucas can hear Josh grunting as he began looking under the stalls' doors.
Lucas couldn't stand there any longer. He hasn't gotten over feeling like crap for playing a part in Josh getting injured, so there's no way in hell he was gonna have Josh blow his back out. "I'm in here. Get off the floor, dumbass." Lucas announces as he steps off the toilet seat and walks out of the stall.
There, on the nasty bathroom floor, was Joshua Matthews.
Lucas makes a face.
Josh rolls his eyes. "Shut up." He tells him before reaching his hand upwards for Lucas to grab. "Help me up." He says, and Lucas does with no hesitation. "Now," He begins dusting off his pants. "What in the hell happened?" He asks.
Lucas shakes his head. "N–nothing." He stammers.
Josh folds his arms across his chest. "I wasn't born yesterday, Lucas."
"I'm glad you can state the obvious, Josh." Lucas sarcastically responds. He shakes his head. "I'm just–I'm feeling really f*cking guilty over telling you, man. I can't believe I—"
"—Lucas, I'm not going to say anything." Josh cuts him off. "I already told you this. Put your innocent face on and act normal."
Lucas felt a little aggravated by Josh's response. It was absolutely something Josh would say, but it still pissed him off. "You're f*cking pathetic." Lucas voices.
"Lucas, Chill!" Josh tells him. However, Lucas wasn't trying to hear it. He begins walking towards the door, but Josh uses all of his strength (which wasn't enough) to push Lucas back. "Please! Chill!" He says again.
Lucas's face turns red. "I don't want to chill! I don't want to f*cking chill!" His voice was getting louder with each word spewing from his mouth. "Don't tell me what to do, Josh. I kept his secret the whole entire time and then what do I do? Oh right, I go and tell you...which is so stupid and pathetic of me, because why would I tell—UGHHHH!"
Josh reaches out to put a soft hand on Lucas's shoulder, but Lucas steps back. Josh sighs, "Okay, I'm sick of your sh*t!" Josh has had enough.
"Oh really!" Lucas acts surprised. "You're sick of my crap. MY CRAP! Josh, I've been dealing with yours for god knows how long."
"You know what?" Josh shrugs and takes off his cap followed by his shirt. "If you're so sick of my crap, take a swing. Beat the living sh*t out of me, Lucas. It'll just add to the already nagging injuries YOU HELPED make." He tells him.
Lucas shakes his head. "I'm not going to hit you." Lucas says softly, almost as soft as a whisper.
Josh walks up to Lucas before shoving him backwards. "Go ahead!" He challenges as he pushes him back again. "Hit me, Lucas! You're sick of my sh*t! Go ahead!" Josh tells him.
Lucas shakes his head and stares at Josh dead in the eyes. "Listen, Josh, I'm not going to hit—"
He was cut off by Josh mugging his face.
Lucas habitually lifts Josh from the ground and holds him in one place. For a moment there, he almost spinebustered him straight onto the ground.
"Josh…" Lucas says softly. He inhales then exhales. "I could seriously hurt you. I don't want to do anymore damage than I've already done. Please…I'm sorry." It was as if he was talking to Josh's stomach, but Josh could hear him loud and clear.
Josh runs a hand through his hair and lets out a sigh. "And to think, you tried to get me to stay at the dorm like I was instructed to do." A smile appears on his lips as he finished saying that. "Alright, you can put me down now." He says ruffling Lucas's hair. After being told, Lucas slowly levels Josh. "I'm sorry for pushing your buttons." Josh quickly apologizes.
"It was my fault." Lucas says, taking responsibility. "You need to get home. You shouldn't be really moving, period."
Josh shakes his head and finally puts a hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Don't tell me what to do." He says, mimicking Lucas's own words.
Lucas laughs. "Asshole."
"Seriously tho, we need to go do some counseling. Because, I'm scared one of these days we're actually going to fight and something's gonna happen." Josh states.
Lucas chuckles and nods. "Agreed."
"And listen," Josh begins. "I know it's eating you up about Zay." He sighs. "I get that. But, you know me and you know that I will never say anything. I mean, have I told anyone about walking in on you...polishing your sword?" The struggle on Josh's lips gave Lucas all the info that Josh was on the verge of laughing in his face after being shamed of this since the beginning of time.
"W–What? Josh, Stop it!" Lucas quickly reacts.
Josh couldn't hold his laughter anymore.
He bursts out into a fit of laughter.
"Relax!" Josh was able to get that word out in his parade of laughter. "No one's in here. And no one's gonna know about your little experiment just like no one's gonna know about you telling me about Zay being gay." Josh confirms, easing all of Lucas's worries.
He could actually see the weight being lifted off Lucas's shoulders.
Lucas nods his head and flashes a little smile. "Thanks." He manages to breathe out.
"No problem." Josh pulls Lucas in for a hug. It was almost everyday that these two hugged. It sometimes surprised the two when people reacted weirdly about it; a stranger would come up to them and tell them how cute of a couple they were. Josh would laugh while Lucas blushed mighty hard. For some odd reason, people can't seem to grasp at the fact that two boys or men can be super close. "Plus," Josh says once they pull away. "I think it's awesome. I don't think he should hide that from us. I always felt kind of disconnected from Zay, and maybe that was why. Maybe hearing that was what I needed to realize that Zay is the way he is, ya know." He explains then shrugs it off.
Lucas just smiles big like an idiot.
Josh crouches down to pick up his bag, but Lucas stops him then grabs it for him.
"Here." He says, helping Josh put his bag on his back. "You know, you shouldn't be wearing a backpack—"
"—Okay Mom!" Josh says, rolling his eyes and smiling. Lucas lightly punches him in his shoulder. "And besides, it's my stomach...ribs to be exact. My back is fine."
"If you bring the sword thing up again, it won't be just the ribs." Lucas playfully threatens.
Josh smirks. "Is that a threat, Huckleberry?"
Lucas groans. "I hate that f*cking name! You know I hate that name."
"That's why I love Maya." Josh quickly responds before playfully smacking the side of Lucas's face. "Come on. Let's go and eat."
Lucas shakes his head. "No, lets get you home and sitting down. Don't need your back giving out." He laughs.
"I just told you it's not my back, it's my—"
"It's gonna be your back once I'm done kicking your ass." Lucas quickly responds.
Josh chuckles. "That's fine. I'll just give Maya a call to come annoy your ass with those oh so horrible nicknames."
A/N: OMG! I'M SUPER SORRY FOR THE 8–MONTH WAIT!
Work took majority of my time, but I'm here. Um…I'm planning on releasing a Christmas one-shot based on Lucas, Maya, Josh, and Riley from this story VERY soon. I'm aiming somewhere in between Christmas and New Years. And don't worry, I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY! How did you like Zaychel morning? Had to give them more.
More Joshaya in next chapter. Also, Charlie might not be just a "friend in Ensembles class". Hmmm...Love You Guys!
Thanks for reading,
STORMAI
Check Out BEFORE THE LINES (Christmas One Shot) NOW!