"So when am I going t' yer house?"
Lucas posited this at lunch on Monday, watching Persephone sputter on her white grape juice.
She crinkled her nose at him, squinting. "The hell are you talking about?"
"Ya know, fer our project." His foot nudged her under the table.
"Uh, you're not. Besides, all the hardware is at your place—"
"—All right, all right, ya got me, I wanna meet yer mom n' dad."
She went quiet and just… Stared, brow slowly knitting. Whatever he said must've pissed her the hell off. She shot up to leave.
"See ya."
He grabbed her wrist. "Hey, c'mon, don' be like that. If we're going to be something, then I should at least meet 'em."
With a sigh, she plopped back down into her seat, having possibly the dirtiest look on her face he's seen yet. She glared at him and said, "All right, y'all wanna see what you're in for? Then why the fuck not. Come over after school today, meet my drunk-ass mom and my I'd-rather-be-at-work-than-deal-with-this-shit dad."
Well then. He wanted to comment on her outburst, but there was only one thing that really stuck out to him. "Did you just say 'y'all'?"
"Shut up."
He followed Persephone up the walkway to her front door after school that afternoon, hands in his pockets while he waited for her to unlock it. She hadn't spoken a word the entire time, despite his best efforts to get her to talk (is this how she'd felt when they'd first started hanging out?). With a heavy sigh, she shoved the door open and then took him inside. Her mother slept, sprawled out on the couch in the living room in wrinkled jeans and a tank top. A six-pack sat in front of her, three of the bottles lying empty across the coffee table.
"Got a guest, Mom," Pers called apathetically.
He watched her mom stir and wipe drool from her chin.
"Oh," she said. "Hey, baby, who's your friend?"
"This is Lucas, from school. Lucas, this is Terry."
"Hi." Terry waved giddily. "Oh, Persy, can ya do me a favor?"
Pers closed her eyes, breathing in deep through her nose. "Yes, Mom."
"Can ya help me ge' ta bed?"
She released her sigh. "Yes, Mom."
She wound up having to half-carry Terry upstairs. It gave Lucas time to pull a Persephone and snoop. Only… There wasn't much to snoop through. There were a few boxes piled up in the corner by the couch, but the barren walls surrounded him and most of the furniture looked kind of hodgepodge. Their television wasn't plugged in, no pictures of the family in sight; a far cry from his own environment where he couldn't walk three feet without seeing his face plastered everywhere. He peeked around the corner and into the kitchen. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink. He thought about the other night when she'd helped his family clean up after dinner. It would suck to do her dishes and help her out, but if he did, would that be weird?
A loud thud crashed upstairs, then a rattling like marbles scattered across the floor, followed by Persephone's cursing. A few moments later, Persephone trudged down the stairs to find him standing around awkwardly.
He asked, "What was that noise?"
"Boxes of crap in my parent's room, kicked one, jumped into the nightstand, and Mom's open pill bottle went flying." She sighed hard. "C'mon, let's just go up to my room."
He followed her up the stairs and down the hallway. Her room was the last one on the right; small, plain, and boring. Not at all what he'd expected, but considering the rest of the house, he wasn't surprised. Only a few things had been set up, like her bed, nightstand, and a dresser. A box sat in the corner and she dragged it over in front of Lucas, then pulled her nightstand around to use as a desk for herself. She dropped onto the floor with her arms crossed. Pers was different, unhappy here. He expected her to make a joke about the crap-fest that was her house, but she said nothing. She only sat there, sneering.
Persephone felt awkward, sitting there in her 'room' with Lucas. It didn't feel like a home to her at all. Jack and Marguerite's house felt more like a home and she found herself wishing to be there instead. Marguerite was such a kind lady, welcoming and warm unlike her own mother. The meeting with Terry didn't go well — she would never remember Lucas's name — and Persephone knew meeting her father would go even worse. He was nothing like Jack, either.
Lucas stood in her room looking around at the mostly barren landscape of it all, and something about it had her fingers tapping hard on her nightstand.
"Well?" She snapped. "Go on, get comfy."
He sat on the carpeted floor. "So… That was yer mother."
"Sure was, Sherlock. Good meeting, right? Satisfied?"
"So yer mom's not just a drunk, eh?"
"Hell no. My mom does a million kinds of drugs and not just prescription. I swear, without my dad, she would fall apart."
"Looks like she already has."
"Yep. Doctors keep stuffing her with meds to fix her, but I don't think anything will." She sighed irritably. "Let's just get to work, all right?"
He didn't argue, thankfully. She still refused to speak much, just letting Lucas take control, but he was persistently trying to get her to talk. Damn, is that what she'd put him through when they'd first met? It remained a tried and true method, at least, after he pointed out a Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween poster on the wall; Leatherface and Michael Meyers prominent as the few decorations in her room. It cheered her up a bit to chat about her favorite horror movies.
Final preparations for their project were coming along well. The last roadblock was moving the 55-gallon drum onto their contraption.
"We should be able to fill it after we put it in place," she said. "Just gotta set the machine up with a hose or something and have the machine insert it into the bunghole."
Lucas snickered.
"Shut up," she said, but she was also laughing. "This is very scientific and you need to take it seriously."
So they tossed ideas around for a self-filling drum and some simple joints to take the hose out. They had at least a dozen papers filled with their ideas and lists of places to get their parts. It had been a couple of hours, and they decided to take a break from writing and staring into their books.
"So when we pull the barrel back, how are we going to keep it in place so it can get flung full speed?" She mused.
"We should make a magnet — the barrels my dad has are magnetic. We can turn it on to pull the barrel back, then turn it off to send it flyin'."
Persephone looked at him, impressed with his creativity and ambition. "I think that would work out nicely. You're damn smart. And creative. And really cute — hell, you just got it all."
"Cute? I think yer blind."
She giggled. "Oh, stop, you are."
"Shit, Pers," he said defeatedly. "I love listenin' t' ya laugh."
After that, their study break mostly consisted of him laying her across the bed, trailing kisses down her face and to her mouth, and getting handsy with her chest and ass. She returned the passion, running her hands up his chest and raking her nails across his back as they found a pleasurable rhythm for their tongues. His stubble rubbed against her lips, making her moan into his mouth. He moved to her throat and sucked on the sensitive skin. She grasped the back of his hoodie and bit her lip as the tingling ran along her back and shoulders.
Persephone kept having to move his mouth toward the sides and back of her neck to avoid him leaving noticeable hickeys. The closer he got the nape of her neck, the more his lips and tongue thrilled her, getting her to squirm and moan and succumb to the pure bliss. She desperately kissed his ear and the side of his head and anywhere else her lips could reach given her position beneath him.
But when he moved his face to between her boobs, something clicked in her brain and she realized how far they were going. She had to call the break off. Lucas, breathing heavy and clearly disappointed that his excitement had been cut short, had to step out into the hallway for a few minutes. Thank god for the brief respite. She found it difficult to not let things go too far. Lucas turned her the hell on, made her take things too far, too fast.
She found it rather funny how much she enjoyed Lucas's scrawny body. Her last sex toy was far more muscular, but even then, the boys in Chicago hadn't done anything for her. This hick from Louisiana had her completely captivated. Lucas's smarts, reservations, and deep passion made him so different from other people she'd met. He had baggage, was somewhat broken, but didn't often show his inner insecurities to anyone, aside from her. He showed her how special he found her simply by opening up. And if the thickness of the bulge that had dug into her groin was anything to go by, he had more up his sleeve for her.
But Lucas could never be just sex — someone who made her feel, someone who made her smile and laugh, could never be meant for something so trivial or superficial. She'd found the connection her therapists said she would never have. All of that made her want to do things she shouldn't. Someone so precious, she wanted to take it slow; savor every moment.
She returned her brain to project mode when Lucas returned a minute later and they were back to working on their project straight after. Their design was coming together well and they extensively labeled even the tiniest of joints. By the end of their study session, they felt ready to make the hardware that weekend and fit the truck with machinery.
The front door opened and shut, spurring Persephone to look at her alarm clock. She bit her tongue to hold onto her groan. Time for Ronald to be home, Lucas's ride would be around soon. Ugh. She'd have to say goodbye and then return to her old life once again. She reluctantly helped pack everything and headed for the living room.
At the top of the stairs, Persephone leaned into Lucas, hands on his chest. She gave him a small kiss.
"Now the real challenge: my dad. Good luck."
Her father stood in the kitchen, fridge open as he scooped Persephone's chili into a bowl, his back to them.
"Hey, Dad."
Looking over his shoulder, her father's eyes keyed in on Lucas instantly.
Persephone intervened, "This is Lucas, from school. We're working on a project for our Physics class."
Her father put his bowl down, shut the refrigerator door, and approached Lucas, his shoulders back and his face stoic. He held out his hand when he drew close enough. "Ronald Black."
"Lucas Baker." Lucas firmly shook Ronald's hand, looking down at him.
The fact that Ronald stood shorter than Lucas almost made her laugh, had it not been for Ronald's nasty glare. She watched Ronald probe deep into Lucas's unwavering eyes first, scanning, searching through his very psyche. Lucas didn't seem fazed at all.
Then Ronald released him and turned to her, speaking firmly. "I hope this boy isn't going to distract you from your grades, young lady."
"Of course not, Dad."
"This isn't going to be the first year you come home with less than an A on your report card."
"Dad, please." Persephone crossed her arms. "You know I'm gonna get an A."
Ronald huffed out of his nose. "You'd better."
Lucas moved his backpack to his arm and dug through it, pulling out the papers they'd worked on that night, for Ronald's viewing pleasure. "As ya can see, she n' I have been hard at work."
Ronald pulled the papers from Lucas's hands and read through them.
"We'll be workin' on the hardware, n' we'll have this baby up n' runnin' by next weekend."
Ronald scanned all of the papers, then looked up from them to Lucas. "See to it that you do."
Ronald was already unimpressed — Persephone knew it simply by the obstinate and cold look on his face. Lucas's thick accent didn't help. She knew Ronald would think of Lucas as a dumb redneck. Probably forever. A car honked from outside, letting these depressing thoughts disperse.
"That's my ride," Lucas said, taking the papers back. "Nice meetin' ya."
Ronald only harrumphed. Persephone rolled her eyes and took Lucas to the front porch. The old beat-up truck waited across the street with Jack waving from the window.
"Sorry about my dad," said Persephone, waving to Jack. "I know he's a hard-ass."
Lucas shrugged. "'Least he knows I exist now. N' if I help you get an A, maybe he won' be so bad."
"Yeah, good luck with that."
Lucas hugged her. All they could afford in front of Jack was a small kiss, though Lucas deviously slipped his tongue into her mouth before they pulled away.
"Not in front of your dad," Persephone laughed, gently shoving his shoulder.
He chuckled and tugged her into one last embrace before leaving for the car. Jack regarded him with a strangely proud smile as he crossed to the passenger side. She watched them head home, longing to go with them.
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