I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories and follows on from Freedom.

It was warm late evening in Trinity South Carolina, Spring had begun to set in and nature had started to awaken with tree's blooming and flowers bursting out into colour.

Lucas Buck sat beside his friend Billy Peele in the large overly decorated house of Doctor Charlton, growing tired of feigning interest in the monotonous members of his social group. The only plus side of this waste of his time was that Billy was just as underwhelmed as he was and he sensed the mans irritation growing, knowing that he would be stuck here for at least another hour.

Lucas had become to accept Billy as his best friend, unlikely as that may have once seemed. When Billy came to Trinity, he was hell bent on getting under Lucas' skin and made every effort to spoil his plans, including making Selena believe that she could actually love anyone other than him. Billy had even found his way in with Gail, much to Lucas' annoyance at the time; however, the man saw sense and came to the right side in the end, choosing Lucas above the women.

It was a good job Billy found himself on the right path as Lucas would have had to take him down eventually, it was inevitable. Like with Matt Crower, Lucas could not have anyone getting in his way and he held an even stronger dislike for anyone who was able to sway his Love. Gail was his and he would never allow another person to influence her opinion, just like she would not allow anyone to impact his judgement. Right now, he was stuck with the most dull members of his community who believed that they had more influence than they actually did and his mind started to consider what cruel action he could instigate to provide himself with a distraction from their incessant ramblings.

'Excuse me, I'm so sorry I'm late. I had such a terrible time finding this small place of yours Doctor Charlton, it's no where near a standout as your last residence' Gail interrupted the gathering sweetly, unable to help herself from gloating about Doctor Charlton's downsized home.

Lucas could not take his eyes off of his Wife when she appeared, truly shocked by her appearance. His eyes trailed down the tight burgundy dress she had chosen to wear and he licked his lips admiringly when he came to her long toned legs, remembering how good it felt with them wrapped around his waste this morning.

'Put your eyes back in your head man, all your missin' is the wolf whistle' Billy whispered, noticing the predatory way Lucas was openly regarding Gail.

'Wipe your mouth friend, you wouldn't want that young girl of yours to catch you droolin' over her Cousin' Lucas responded, not oblivious to the way Billy was watching his Wife.

Doctor Charlton looked to Lucas expectantly, waiting for him to address the unacceptable interruption; however, when the man opted to just stare at Gail in a lecherous way, Doctor Charlton decided to take matters into his own hands.

'Good luck with that' Gail incited him amused, sensing his opinion of her, then sauntered past the stuck up professional men that she despised so much knowing that there was no real challenge to her presence.

'Wait-, you can't just-...Come on, she's a girl!' Doctor Charlton exclaimed in disbelief of the other members, willing them to support him.

'She certainly is' Lucas said smoothly, then reached for her when she came close to his chair and pulled her onto his knee, not caring what the other men thought.

A quiet murmur was heard throughout the room and the other men were clearly attempting to gather their courage to address the unusual situation.

'Calm down Larry, you're the one who acknowledged my claim within this group based on my families legacy previously, or have you forgotten who I represent?...I'm sure your opinion hasn't changed just because I married your lead member and became a Buck' Gail advised sweetly, then smiled when the other older members placed their heads down to show that they would not dare challenge anything relating to Lucas Buck.

'Smart men' Lucas said knowingly and signalled for Larry to continue, shooting him a look of warning when he went to protest again.

Billy laughed at how easily the other men in the group were controlled and leaned towards his friends, having no desire to listen to Doctor Charlton drone on. 'Well you certainly know how to make an entrance' he whispered, trying to keep facing forward and feign interest in the meeting.

'Someone had to do something to perk my Husband up, unless you wanted a recreation of Murder House while he attempted to amuse himself' Gail responded sarcastically, then felt Lucas' hand grip firmly on her stomach in warning to behave.

'Don't lump me in with all these dimwits by keepin' quiet Love, why are you really here?' Lucas whispered in her ear when she leaned back obediently at his warning.

Gail could not help but glance in the direction of Mayor Adam and his guest Bob, Selena's boyfriend. 'You know I'd never infer such a thing Soulmate, but my motive is my own so drop it' she ordered quietly, not wanting to alert him to any suspicions yet until she knew more.

Lucas felt his anger rise at her audacity of ordering him around in the group he dominated and was about to openly teach her a lesson, when he felt her soft hand brush against his crotch discreetly and his manhood became hard in his pants.

'Down boy, you know my intention isn't to offend you and I'm more than happy to show you how much I want you regardless of who's watching, should you require a test of my loyalty' she whispered seductively, sensing his anger instantly.

Lucas groaned into her neck quietly as she began to rub his hard manhood over his pants, then shook his head at how effortlessly she could handle him when she wanted to. 'Alright Mrs Buck, I trust you and will give you room to play' he advised, taking the hand that was stroking him and bringing it to his mouth, needing to make her stop before she provoked an unacceptable reaction from him.

Gail smiled triumphantly to herself, not expecting him to cave so quickly and allowed him to stroke her bare thighs while they settled in for Larry's relentless ramblings.


Caleb Temple sat on the large wall overlooking the Grocery Store off Wiltshire Drive, with his arm resting casually around his Girlfriends shoulders. He had returned home earlier to eat with his family; however, his Mother had dropped him off with Rose in Goat Town after, allowing him to stay out for a few more hours as she herself had not finished for the day.

Caleb had been spending more time in Goat Town recently, coming to the realisation that the adults who often frequented this area of Trinity did not much care about what he was getting up to. He felt less eyes on him here and it was refreshing not having to be concerned about people reporting his every move to his parents, meaning that he could chill with his group of friends without any outside pressures.

Although Rose had expected more action when Caleb had tempted her to sneak out, she was content with just being with him and snuggled in closer to him when she spotted Millie giving her a look of venom. 'This is nice' she advised, resting her head softly on Caleb's shoulder.

'This is borin'' Millie pouted, not happy that Caleb was allowing the younger girl to join them more often recently.

Caleb rolled his eyes at the girls, sensing their underlying need to compete with each other and let out a long sigh. 'It's nearly 10pm, the Bowlin' Alley's closed to us, it's too late to drag y'all out fishin' and even the Grocery Store guy is lockin' up early. What do you want us to do?' Caleb asked, nodding courteously to the owner of the Store when he finished locking up and headed to his car.

Millie let out an exasperated laugh, not knowing what she wanted to do but knowing that she did not want to sit around watching Caleb and his Girlfriend all night.

'Hey, it's the Pubes!' Tommy-Ray shouted from the other side of the street with his friends and pointed at the younger group.

Caleb felt his dark half bubbling at the comment, then let out a shocked laugh when he spotted his previous bully Bobby punch Tommy-Ray in the gut and square up to the other boys in the older group.

Bobby has been re-evaluating his life over the past two months and he had grown tired of picking on people younger than him, there was no challenge in that. When he spotted Caleb's group and heard Tommy-Ray insult them without any cause, he lost his temper and reacted before he could stop himself. 'Anyone else got somethin' to say?' he asked dominantly, willing one of them to challenge him if only to give him something to do on this quiet night. When they all just stared at their feet, Bobby let out a disappointed laugh and waved them off before heading over to Caleb's group.

'You gotta be kiddin' me' Millie said in disbelief, sitting up straight when Bobby made his way to their position.

'You said you were bored' Caleb smirked, intrigued by how quickly the older boy defected from his own group.

'I like him, he's strong' Rose commented subconsciously without thinking, then felt Caleb's eyes bore into her and leaned further into him, trying not to be noticed anymore.

'Hey guys, what're we doin'?' Bobby asked, as he approached the group.

'We're goin'' Boone responded, forcing a confident tone, then jumped off the wall and reached for Millie's hand so she could follow him.

Caleb turned his attention from Rose to Boone, truly in disbelief at his people's sudden misconception of who was in charge. 'Are you goin' Millie?' he asked coolly, reaching over slightly and placing his hand on her knee, not taking his eyes off of Boone.

Millie felt a surge of electricity flow through her when Caleb touched her and gave off an excited quiver. 'I ain't goin' anywhere, I'm right here with you' she replied obediently, smiling when Rose lifted her head and stared at them disapprovingly.

'You heard the lady, she's with us' Bobby said amused, climbing up onto the wall effortlessly and placing his hand around Millie's shoulder to emphasise the point.

Boone's mouth dropped open at his friends apparent acceptance of the bully's presence, then shook his head in disdain and felt his old bitterness of Caleb growing again. 'Y'all need your heads testin', I'm goin' home before my parent's realise how late it is' he snapped moodily, then turned around and left.

Caleb watched Boone walk away and shook his head in disappointment. He had never seen his Father having to contend with this bitterness from his people; however, he suspected that his Father would never let their disloyalty get this far.

'What are you doin'? Call him back' Rose advised, hating seeing Boone in such a state with his shoulders slumped while walking away.

'He made his choice' Caleb shrugged, knowing his Father would be unwilling to put up with someone's misguided opinion that they held any real authority in his inner circle.

'That he did' Millie added, enjoying Bobby's strong arm around her a little too much and staring deeply in his eyes as he looked down at her.

Bobby felt Millie lean in closer and smiled charmingly. 'So, you ain't dropped your standards to that wet rag have you? You can do so much better' he whispered in her ear, enjoying their closeness.

Millie attempted to stifle her giggle, finding it hard to dislike Bobby now that he had started to change his behaviour and gave him a playful slap.

Caleb watched the pair curiously for a moment, then smiled when he sensed Millie's giddiness. 'Alright, enough of that. I guess we better make a move before our parent's send out a search party' he sighed, Boone's comment reminding him of his curfew.

'Oh please, no-one's gonna mess with Lucas Buck's boy so he ain't gonna be concerned' Millie advised sarcastically, witnessing how unfazed the Sheriff was when Caleb was late previously.

'And that fine Momma of yours is cool, she'd talk down everyone else's parents...she'd probably even welcome a few minutes alone with my Pop's' Bobby added, following Millie's lead sensing that she was not ready to call it a night yet.

Rose was about to protest, then realised she was outnumbered and knew there was no point with how mischievous Caleb was at the best of times without backup. 'Alright, so what do y'all suggest? Do we just sit on this wall all night and waste even more of our time?' she asked sarcastically, willing Caleb to see reason.

Bobby spotted Caleb soften to the pretty blonde girl, then had an idea and smirked. 'Well, we could just sit here all night, or we could see what ol' Mister Jenkins has left out before he locked up' he suggested mischievously.

Caleb narrowed his eyes at Bobby, then let out a small laugh. 'My Daddy has enough money to feed everyone in this town ten fold, you think I need to steal a few snacks?' he asked in disbelief, not entertaining the suggestion. 'Besides, the place is probably alarmed'

'Ok, if the almighty Lucas Buck's Son is too afraid of a little alarm, I'll do it myself' Bobby goaded and released Millie while he got off of the wall, knowing first hand how sure of himself that Caleb was.

'I ain't scared!' Caleb snapped, jumping off the wall and standing tall in front of the older boy.

'We'll see won't we' Bobby laughed, then headed to the Convenient Store with Caleb in tow and happy that he may be able to salvage his night yet.

-To be continued-