*sips coffee* have some family feels and hurt/comfort.

Wales was away for the weekend, which, all things considering, was probably for the best. Who knew how he would react if he saw what Alice had the misfortune (?) of seeing.

She hadn't meant to see. Truly. She'd simply been passing through the hallway, on her way to the attic to dig up some old design books, and she'd been passing by her youngest son's bedroom when she'd happened to glance in.

She almost wished she hadn't.

Luke was in the middle of changing clothes, having got a late start to the day. he probably thought it was safe to let his guard down a bit, since Alice always announced her presence and Wales was gone. Whatever the circumstances, Alice got a clear view of the scars crisscrossing her youngest's back and shoulders, the white and pink lines going down both arms just a bit, and even dipping under the waistband of his sweatpants.

Alice couldn't stop the gasp of horror if she tried. The noise had Lucas' head shooting up, and he whirled around in shock. Terrified ice blue met horrified cerulean blue eyes, and Lucas quickly pulled his hoodie on over his head, before he jumped forward and slammed the door shut. Alice reeled back in shock and found herself staring at the door in horrified disbelief. She took one step forward, heels clicking on the wooden floor, before she stopped.

We've learned that he opens up on his own. Let him come to you, don't try to force him into talking, the therapist had told them- them being, anyone who would have close contact with Lucas. Alice, Wales, Excalibur...

Alice pressed her lips together, recalling the therapist's words. Despite every instinct telling Alice she should knock on Luke's door and ask if he wanted to talk about it, she also knew just how prone he was to shutting people out. With a deep breath, she turned away from the door and continued with her earlier task.

She'd let Lucas come to her.

Lucas stayed in his room for the day, leaving Alice to have a lonely lunch as she contemplated what she should do. She briefly considered calling Wales, as he seemed to have more experience with Lucas, but then decided against it. What if he didn't know about the scars? He certainly hadn't said anything to her about them, and he'd been the one to tell her that Lucas was prone to nightmares and panic attacks.

Begrudgingly, Alice admitted to herself that she was on her own. Not that she had any problem with it, but she wished she had a little support in what her current goal was. Said goal was to hopefully get her youngest to open up and talk to her before her eldest returned home.

After going through several possibilities on how to get Lucas to talk to her, Alice finished off a design for a client, and got to work on dinner. According to Wales, one of Lucas' favorites was fettucine alfredo with grilled chicken and broccoli chunks, a dish he had taken a liking too when he had first turned up in Italy.

Well, Alice had picked up how to make a few Italian dishes since Wales had become a member of Excalibur. She was sure she could manage some simple pasta and garlic bread to draw Lucas out.

In the end, it worked. By the time Alice had finished pasta and pulled the garlic bread out of the oven, Lucas had ventured downstairs and was hovering in the doorway of the kitchen. The look on his face looked like that of a scared child's—wary and demure, eyeing the room as if something or someone was laying wait.

"Hungry dear?" Alice asked, conversationally, "I made your favorite!"

"… I guess so. I skipped lunch," Lucas mumbled, skirting along the wall and closer to the table. Alice could see the way he was hungrily eyeing the food, but at the same time, he looked scared, as though he were afraid that it was going to be taken away or he was going to be told he couldn't have any of it.

"Nor did you have breakfast," Alice agreed. She gestured to one of the seats where the table was fixed up, "Sit down! Did you have any schoolwork today?"

"…Yes," Lucas answered, sitting down slowly at his normal seat. "AP Chem."

"Such a smart boy," Alice smiled, and ruffled his hair as she brought the pot of pasta over and served up a healthy portion. "What'd you like to drink? Water? Juice? Cola?"

"Cola's fine," Lucas said, quietly.

Alice hummed as she danced around the kitchen, pouring up a glass of wine for herself and a cola for her son. She set the two glasses down on the table and then the garlic bread between the two plates, right as the oven beeped, "Oh! Chicken's done!"

She was quiet as she plated the chicken and set it on the table, "Well, I guess it's dinner time! Eat up, dear!"

Lucas picked at the food, at first, quietly and eating slowly. Every so often, he would glance up at Alice, before his gaze flickered away. Alice pretended not to notice, and dinner went by quietly, if not a bit tense.

"Would you like more?" Alice asked, as Lucas finished off his helping of dinner, "I made plenty."

"… No, thanks," Lucas replied, quietly. "I'm full."

"Suit yourself!" Alice smiled, and stood up, gathering the plates, "Let's see… What would you like for dessert? Ice cream? Or, would you like some freshly made molten chocolate cakes?"

"Chocolate?" Lucas seemed to perk up a little, and Alice's smile grew.

Hook, line, and sinker, she thought with a victorious straightening of her spine. Thank you Wales for letting me know how to get to your brother.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Alice said, as she reached back into the oven, pulling out a tray of small ramekins. "Let's see… we'll need some chocolate syrup and some milk…"

Alice gently picked two of the ramekins off the tray, and set them on the table, "Careful now, they're hot!"

She poured up two glasses of milk and brought the syrup out of the fridge. She set both on the table, amused to find that Lucas had already eaten half of his cake. He looked a bit sheepish when she sat down, "Is it good?"

Lucas nodded, and swallowed his bite of chocolatey goodness, before picking up the glass of milk and took a few gulps. He clicked open the bottle of syrup and drizzled some over the second half of his cake, before cautiously handing it to Alice. Alice took it with a smile and drizzled some over her own cake, before digging in.

She'd made six of the cakes. Between the two of them, Lucas and Alice polished them all off.

"Guess I'll have to make some more for Wales when he gets home. Not that these cakes are any better refrigerated and microwaved than they are fresh out of the oven…" Alice mused, as she began to gather the dishes and put away the leftovers. By the time she'd finished, Lucas had already vanished from the dining table.

Alice sighed and topped off her glass of wine. She wasn't much of a drinker, but her patience was being tested. With a spike of determination, Alice resolved to dig her heels and keep at it. Eventually, she'd managed to get through to Lucas, and she knew once she did, it'd all be for the best.

Thursday had been the day Alice had seen Lucas' scars. Then, she was so busy with work on Friday that she didn't have time try and pick at Lucas' walls, and Saturday ended up being a bust, as, with the winter season and snow that had finally stopped falling, Lucas ended up going to the park for most of the day and hitting the slopes. By the time Sunday came, Alice was at her wit's end and praying for a miracle of some sort, without having to call upon Wales and drag him into something that he probably needn't yet know about.

It was mid-morning when that miracle presented itself. Alice was curled up on the couch, trying to read through one of her favored thriller novels, when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas drift in. She raised her head to turn to her youngest, "Luke? Is everything alright?"

Lucas was worrying the ring on his finger, the one that was identical to the one that Wales had taken to wearing after Lucas had first shown up at Konzern estates. Alice knew, on some level, that for her sons, it was a way of communication without speaking, for them. That there was a code in the way they fiddled with their rings.

"You saw them."

Alice paused at the statement. Then, she shut her book, setting it on the end table, and then patted the cushion beside her. After a moment of hesitation, Lucas moved forward and sat gingerly on the far end of the couch.

"You haven't said anything," Lucas continued, quietly. Warily. "You're not… ashamed?"

"Are you?" Alice asked in return.

"They're proof of my weakness."

"They're proof of your strength."

Lucas blinked, clearly thrown by Alice's statement, "What? No. I… They…"

"Whatever your father told you was a lie," Alice said, gently. "Whatever way he used them to manipulate you, that's just what it was. Manipulation. That you had the misfortune of having to endure, but eventually you saw through. And because of that, you came out stronger and wiser."

Lucas mulled that explanation over for a few moments. The crackling of the fireplace was the only thing heard in the silence, and, distantly, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway.

"He beat me with a belt if I didn't win," Lucas' voice was quiet, his hair shadowing his eyes. "He said it was the only way for the lesson to stick. Sometimes, winning… sometimes that wasn't enough. He'd have something… something to criticize over whatever performance I gave…"

White hot fury flooded Alice's veins. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn't fallen for Caspian McKandless's charming ways all those years ago… hadn't been so naïve to believe his performance of a kind and gentle soul, especially now that she saw that even his own flesh and blood hadn't been safe from Caspian's rage and sociopathic tendencies.

"You," Alice reached forward to lay her hand on Lucas' arm, ignoring the way he jumped to look him dead in the eye. "Will never have to worry about such a thing while you're here, son—"

"Don't."

Alice faltered.

"Don't… call me that, please. He—" Lucas choked, swallowing thickly. He shook his head, "Just. Don't."

"… Sweetheart," Alice amended, and some of the tension dissipated under her palm. "You will never have to worry about not coming in first while you're here. I don't care about that." She gave him a warm smile, "I just care about you being happy and doing what makes you feel good."

Lucas stared at her, emotions swimming through his eyes. To Alice's surprise, she suddenly found Lucas wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug and burying his face into her shoulder, his own shaking in silent sobs. Alice quickly reacted though, wrapping her arms around her son and threaded gentle, comforting hands through his hair and murmuring reassurances in his ear.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Alice murmured. "I promise, you're safe here, and I'll be here every time you feel like talking."

It was a promise Alice didn't have any intention of breaking.

So this was the first time that Lucas talked to his mother about his past without the buffer of his brother being there. Vice versa, this was the first time that Alice talked to her youngest son without the buffer of her oldest there. I plan to do more Alice and Luke moments, don't worry. Gotta work on their relationship somehow.

Anyways, hope ya'll enjoyed and will leave a review!

Until next time, ciao!