Shane drank less that week.
There was only one night when he promised himself that he'd only have one beer and ended up having seven. Which was still an improvement from twelve, as he was reminded by Lucie. Lucie, who'd turned up at closing time and walked him home, and who looked a little surprised to see him. Which was odd, because she knew he always stayed until closing on Fridays - he always joked he was keeping Gus in business.
All in all. Not bad. He could have done better, he knew that, but when he tried to apologise Lucie gave him that look of hers - the one that was equal parts adorable and stern - and he clamped his mouth shut. So, that was. Strange.
It was nice. But also, his self-deprecation and self-hatred had defined him for so long now, he didn't know who he was without it. And Lucie wouldn't let him apologise, or call himself a burden. She even had got Marnie in on the no-apologising route. And as much as he wanted to apologise⦠it was actually helpful. He felt less of a burden most of the time. Lucie kept pointing out that she chose to come see him - "I came here, dumbass, you can't be a burden if I chose to spend the time with you" was now one of her favourite phrases, usually said with a big dorky smile.
Shane was counting down the days until Sunday. He didn't know if it was excitement or nervousness that filled him, but it was something. It simultaneously made him want to drink, to numb the feeling and make it all go away, and want to definitely not drink ever again because what if he embarrassed himself and Lucie decided she didn't want to go? What if he threw up in the bushes somewhere and Haley saw, and Haley told her and then Lucie started to hate him?
Maybe he should just cancel it, and avoid the possibility of rejection out of hand?
Except Marnie had put the tickets on the fridge and if he got rid of them, she would definitely notice, but if he didn't hand them to Lucie, she'd go give them to Lucie.
He couldn't just bin them and pretend like he'd given it to Lucie, because by Yoba those two talked. And talked.
About everything. Every time that Lucie came to get hay, they'd chat for a good 15 minutes before Lucie would leave, or go say hi to him.
Shane seemed to blink and Sunday was there.
Lucie woke with the sunrise, as per usual, and couldn't work out when, where, what until she got half way to the kitchen.
She had a specific thing to do today, but what it was lurked just out of mind. She clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth as she thought, shifting through files of memories like a world-weary headmaster hunting for the naughty kid's file.
It was probably just something stupid like 'Find Mayor Lewis' underwear. Again' - Yoba, that was hilarious. Maybe she should tell Marnie that she knows about the two of them⦠or maybe not.
Did Clint want some ore?
Or Haley something weird, as per usual - Lucie did not understand what Haley wanted with the apricot and the 'For Girls Only' only made her less interested in knowing. A cucumber, Lucie would have understood and hated to understand, but an apricot? What she'd want in the autumn, Lucie did not want to know.
She'd look at the calendar, but it was too early for her to even remember what day it was. Maybe coffee would help. Tea was lovely, but there was not enough caffeine in tea. Not nearly enough caffeine.
Whilst the kettle came to the boil, Lucie looked at the calendar, only half hopeful. The only thing listed on a day that could be today was 'GBG w/ S' and honestly, that could be anything. 'w/ S' was with someone, and S had to be either Sebastian or Shane, and she couldn't see why she'd be doing anything with Sebastian. Not that she had anything against the kid, but she'd grown out of her emo phase and he didn't like strangers, so their conversations were thoroughly awkward. So, Shane it was.
They didn't often have plans. Shane didn't make plans. Lucie just showed up and made him do things with her, claiming getting out of the house was good for him. What plans did they have which could possibly fit 'GBG'?
G
B
G
GBG. Gubugu? Grubugu?
Okay, now she was just saying strange noises out loud, to herself, in her kitchen, at 5:30 on a Sunday morning -
"Holy fuck, Grid Ball Game!"
It was 5pm and Lucie was running late.
It was 5pm and everyone was on the bus, except Shane, who stood insisting that the bus waited because Lucie was coming.
She was.
He swore she would be. And dreaded that she wouldn't be.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorry - hi," Lucie panted as she skidded to a halt in front of the bus. She placed her hands on her thighs and bent over slightly. Her breathing came quickly, and deeply, and ineffectively as she pushed herself back upright. She vaguely gestured and said something about "lost track of time" and "fucking Diogenes, man" and "chickens with grudges". But Shane wasn't listening, merely breathing an internal sigh of relief and trying to hide the pounding of his heartbeat.
Alex was even less impressed.
"LUCIE! BUS, ON, NOW." Came the urgent cry from within. Lucie waved in acknowledgement of the shout, but didn't move. She turned to speak to Shane, who still stared at her like she was a figment of his imagination, but was cut off by the sound of rapid footsteps, and an arm whipping out of the open bus doors. "You can flirt on the bus, now get in, we need to gooooo." Alex pulled her on to the bus with ease and then returned back to his seat. Lucie meekly moved further into the bus, glancing backwards at Shane, who shook himself and followed her on to the bus.
When Lucie was level with Alex's seat, he blocked her path and thrust a hat into her hands. She raised an eyebrow and then looked at the hat on his head.
"You brought a spare?" She asked, taking the hat out of fear that if she didn't, Alex would forcibly put the hat on her head. Alex grinned.
"You can't go to a grid ball game without a cap. It's the rules," he grinned even wider. "And I buy a new one every time they change the design, so I have plenty to go around." He checked in his bag. "Well. Now I have four more to go around."
"If you try to make me wear a hat -"
"- Cap -"
"- Whatever. If you try to make me wear a cap, or a hat, or anything on my head, when I'm having this good of a hair day, you've got another thing coming," Haley said, true disgust in her eyes as she looked at the cap that Alex now offered her.
He put it back in his bag, only slightly crestfallen.
Lucie beamed and slide into the free seats behind Alex and Haley.
Shane faltered for a second, then sat down beside her.
"Yoba, these seats are small when you're sharing them," he muttered. It was true, the seats were tiny. It was impossible not to be touching shoulders, arms, hips, knees, everything, when you sat next to someone. Lucie turned her head, her hair brushing against Shane's arm as she moved.
"You calling me fat?" She teased.
Shane looked at the woman next to him, glancing from her face to her waist. He could practically fit a hand around her waist if he tried to.
"Lucie. An elf would look like a giant in comparison to you." He raised an eyebrow at her as she giggled. That was all the encouragement he needed. "No, seriously, you are so small I was concerned there was something wrong with you when we first met. Like, did your parents not feed you as a child? Did you live in a house with 4-foot-ceilings and so your growth was stumped?"
Lucie's laughter only grew, and Shane could feel the movement of her ribs against his arm as she laughed. He grinned at her as she gained control of her laughter a little - just enough to say.
"Nah, I think it was all the weight-lifting I did as a 5 year old."
Shane lifted her arm and placed his hand around her upper arm, thumb and forefinger almost touching.
The touch sent shivers down Lucie's arm. The hairs on her arm raised and her breathing decided to stop working sub-consciously. Everything stopped working sub-consciously. She had to focus on keeping her heart beating, her lungs breathing and her eyes blinking as Shane snarked.
"Yes. Of course, you're fucking massive, you."
