You can do this Lincoln, with a final words of encouragement, the white haired boy brushed his knuckles against the door, waiting patiently for the people inside to greet him. He took a deep breath and exhaled from his slightly parted mouth, calming himself for what he have in schedule for the night. It was going to happen sooner or later, he might as well get it done already before making it worse for himself by avoiding this confrontation. But actually standing here clad in his formal clothes, a long sleeves orange button down shirt, a brown khakis pants, and a pair of black shoes, he couldn't help but feel like he was somehow under dressed. Maybe he should really try on that deodorant and cologne dad suggested earlier, or get some advice from Lori or Bobby first to be properly prepared. Dang it, did he even pick up that mechanical pencil under his desk!
The door eventually opened as Shay peeked her head out from the gap, their eyes met and Lincoln couldn't help but nervously rubbed the back of his neck when she blushed while avoiding his gaze. They already slept together but this just made him feel like they were still a new couple hoping to make their relationship official. Looking back on the memory, it felt weird how natural it came to him, how easily he was to accept what they were about to do. And yet he couldn't see himself doing it any other way. Not with how cute the girl was staring at him.
"You're here already." She meekly said, tucking her black hair behind her ear, her exposed eye nervously going back to look at him.
"Well, I wouldn't want to make you wait." He replied with a half shrug. "Am... Am I early?" He hesitantly asked.
"N-no, you're right on time." She replied, slowly opening the door wider for him.
He don't know what he expected but his eyes widened nonetheless to see the sight before him. Shay was wearing a gorgeous dark purple frilly dress and a pair of black loafers with small red bowtie on the top. Her cheeks slightly reddened as she rubbed her left arm under his soft gaze admiring her natural thin figure fitting snugly into the dress and revealing more of her hidden traits.
"You looks beautiful." Lincoln unconsciously blurted out much to his surprise when he realized what he just said. But the girl didn't seem to mind his compliment that much, slightly giggling as she simply smiled at him with her face bright red.
"Thanks, you look good too Lincoln." Shay honestly said.
"What? This old thing, yeah, I should probably consider getting some new outfit after this if I want to match yours." Lincoln slightly joked while rubbing his white hair.
Hearing that, Shay slowly shook her head, taking both of his hands in hers and leaned higher on the tip of her loafers to get closer against him. "You'll always look good to me Lincoln." She whispered, planting a chaste kiss against his right cheek before pulling back with a small smile, sending a sudden rush to his already skipping heartbeat. She's definitely going to be the death of him one of these days.
"Come on in, my dad is waiting for us." She said, leading him into her house while still holding his right hand and closing the door behind them.
"R-right..." He almost forget about that, Mr Florence would also be here.
Seriously, how did this even happen?
...
"You want me to come to your house tonight to have dinner with your dad?" Lincoln said, raising a brow in surprise while still walking through the hospital floors with Shay by his side. A surprise for sure to see her also being there but not one he was displeased with. If anything, it was a pleasant chance to have his girlfriend close to him. Especially since they can only meet at school until his punishment is over.
"Y-yes... Is there something wrong?" She curiously asked while slightly turning her upper body to look at him.
"It's nothing Shay, I just don't know if your dad would be fine with me joining you for dinner yet." Lincoln ran his right hand through his white hair. "We don't exactly know much about each other, what if he don't like me?" Scratch that, thinking back of how rude he was being to the older man at his own house, he definitely hated him. Why did he do this to himself!?
As if his situation wasn't bad enough he somehow managed to make it worse. And it wasn't even one of the ability from the system screwing up with him, it was just his normal and plain Lincoln Loud ability taking effect. A weird ability that unfortunately worked like a two edged sword. An unfair deal which always backfired badly for him who was forced to pay the heavy price for his mistake. And complaining about it wasn't going to make it any better either, at least not for him.
Shay giggled a little before gently leaning her head against his shoulder, confusing him a bit with her gesture. "Why would you think so Lincoln, you're dating me, not my dad." She said, catching him off guard with her attempt at teasing him.
"Wait, are you teasing me? How could you Shay, I'm your boyfriend." He said with mock pity in his voice.
"Cut it out Lincoln." Shay chuckled, threading her fingers with his as Lincoln stared longingly at her beautiful lips curving up into a genuine smile. If only they were not at the hospital, he would definitely silence her small red lips with his. Instead of laughter, she would be gasping for his name with her soft palms caressing his cheeks. And he would give her anything she wanted without a question. He will heed to her words like a blind man dreaming of heaven. A vow and a promise.
"I guess I should get my suit ready for tonight." Lincoln faked a sigh.
"Don't be silly Lincoln, just wear what you always wear, I'm sure dad wouldn't mind." Shay responded.
"What about you then Shay, don't you want to see me in a suit?" He asked with a tiny grin as his girlfriend blushed at the thought. Seeing that he wasn't going to get anything from her, he continued with his teasing.
"Or you would rather seeing me without it." He asked further, startling his girlfriend who slightly squealed at the implications of his words.
Someone cleared their throat behind them as Lincoln quickly made some distance from Shay and coughed into his palm in shock at the sudden new presence following them.
"You are still in the hospital ground kid, you might want to watch your manners here." The reception nurse with brown hair tied into a ponytail heavily advised. "We still have rules here."
"S-sorry Miss Summer." Lincoln apologized, already somewhat familiar with the serious nurse with slightly darker skin from his regular visit despite her attitude towards him. She might be rough around the edges but he was the one who asked if she could treat him in the way she was most comfortable with. And if she was comfortable talking to him like this, he can't really say that he mind it that much. Plus it kind of reminded him of Lori in some weird way.
"Ugh, I hope you are not thinking of making any unnecessary scene here Lincoln, you might already be at that age already, but you still need to know when is the right time and place to do that kind of thing." The nurse, Miss Summer seriously stated with a hard glare, which weigh heavily on his back with how sharp her gaze was directing solely at him. If only looks could kill, he would be dead by now.
"And you should also do the same miss Florence, with your father working here, you might want to keep his reputation up." The older woman said, though much nicer than when she was criticizing him earlier.
"Y-yes Miss Summer." Shay anxiously said before slowly returning to his side.
Sighing, Lincoln held out his hand as his girlfriend quickly took it in hers, squeezing it for comfort while avoiding from looking at the nurse behind them.
"How long exactly have you been there Miss Summer?" He casually asked, looking over his shoulder only to raise a brow when he saw the strange expression on the nurse's face. Letting it go for now, he looked back to the front to avoid the nurses passing by them in the hallway.
"I don't want to do this either kid, but Mr Florence asked me to keep an eye on his daughter." The nurse said. "And from what I'm seeing, he definitely don't want miss Florence to be alone with you." She added which Lincoln rolled his eyes at.
He can't really blame the older man for that, any father would be worried if their daughter was hanging out with a boy they barely know. Especially one who claimed to steal away their daughter from them. Seriously, it's not like he can just packed his stuff up and ran away with Shay in the middle of the night to get married somewhere else, especially Canada since he was pretty sure that he was still banned from there. That would just be ridiculous, plus he wasn't financially stable enough to provide for both of them.
At least not for now...
"Oh right, before I forget..." He abruptly stopped walking as Shay stood beside him. "Here, I've got something for you Miss Summer."
Raising a brow, the nurse looked at the white haired boy in confusion while he unzipped his bag and pulled out a decent sized red box before holding it out towards her.
"What is it?" Miss Summer asked, looking at the red box with her eyes narrowed in caution.
Rolling his eyes, Lincoln opened the lid to show the content of the box, which was probably a bad idea considering where he was at the moment.
"I accidentally made some extra batch of chocolate chips cookies earlier, and my sisters are kind of on a diet streak right now, so I thought I could give them to you as thanks for taking care of me while I'm here." He shrugged.
"And how exactly did you get this past the security?" She questioned as Lincoln slightly winced before closing the box.
He lightly scratched his cheek with his left hand and avoided from looking directly at the nurse currently glowering at him. "I may have also gave them some, it was a lot of cookies in my defense." He hesitantly muttered out. Lying wouldn't get him anywhere with the older woman, he might as well come clean instead of trying to make it worse for himself like usual.
The nurse lowered her eyes and sighed before pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Lincoln, you do know outside food is not allowed in the hospital ground right?" She asked.
"Yes, you kind of keep reminding me of that." He replied. "But this time it's different Miss Summer, I already got the permission from the doctor who was in charge of Alex to bring her some cookies that I made myself, I even asked if she was allergic to anything before making it since she was begging me to make her some." He explained.
"So what you're trying to say is that you made this for the patient in room 11." The nurse asked, still unsure if he was telling her the whole truth. "And how do I know you're not lying to me kid." She continued.
"You could at least try to trust me." Lincoln sighed in defeat. He slipped his free hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper before giving it to the nurse. "It's the slip of permission I asked from the doctor, you can find her signature there if you don't trust me that much."
The nurse held the paper and carefully scanned the writing on it, as much as she don't want to believe it he was right, she knew who the doctor was from her signature. It was in fact legitimate.
She don't know if she could say anything to the boy, to the person who was only trying to be kind to her. Honestly, what can she even say to him? It wasn't her fault that she was following the policy for the hospital, for god's sake, she could be fired or worse, sued if anything happened because of her being reckless even for a second. And so she just decided to keep quiet while avoiding from looking at him. That was the least she could do for the boy, to not bother him more than she already did. Much less when he was willingly going out of his way to do something like this for a certain patient there when he hasn't even been there for a full week.
It didn't really bother her that much when people looked at her as a jerk, but she still hoped that it would be otherwise for him, for the kid who always smiled at her no matter what she does to him.
Letting out a sigh, Lincoln put the red box back into his bag and continued his walk through the hallway in silence. Shay glanced at the nurse for a moment before eventually keeping up with his pace, their intertwined hands not once letting go of each other. Keeping her distance, the nurse slowly followed the pair from behind, as much as she would rather get back to the reception desk, she still need to look after Miss Florence as instructed. And she can probably also used the time to think of something to say to the boy when she get the chance to.
After walking for awhile, they eventually reached room 11 as the door was left slightly ajar with someone else also being in there.
Not wanting to be rude, Lincoln knocked the door first before announcing his presence. "Excuse me, Alex are you in there? It's me Lincoln." He waited for a bit when he heard some rustling sound coming from the other side of the door.
"You can come in Lincoln." Alex said as he slowly opened the door, his eyes slightly widened when he saw the familiar black haired man also being there. Now this was just awkward.
"Dad?" Shay said in confusion before getting out from behind her boyfriend to look at her father.
"Shay, I can see that you're here with your boyfriend." The man looked at the nurse still standing behind them. "You may return to your work station Miss Summers, and thank you for looking after my daughter, I hope she wasn't being much of a trouble." The older man gently patted Shay's head as the girl slightly pouted while looking up at him.
"It's fine Dr Florence, I should get back to my work now." The nurse nodded at him before eventually getting out from the room and closing the door for them.
"It's nice to see you Mr Florence." Lincoln awkwardly said while fixing the strap of his bagpack on his shoulders.
"It is nice to see you too Lincoln, I supposed Shay already invited you to have dinner with us tonight, am I wrong?" The older man inquired with a raised brow. He was testing him, there's no doubt about that.
"Yeah, Shay already told me about that, but I'm not sure if it would really be fine for me to be there." He deflected the question.
"What are you talking about Lincoln, we would be delighted to have you for dinner." Mr Florence put him on the spot. Is... Is that sarcasm in his voice?
"After all, I would also like to know more about the person my daughter chose to be her boyfriend." The older man seriously said while pushing his glasses slightly up his nose.
"You heard my dad Lincoln, there's nothing to worry about." Shay said with a small smile. Honestly, there was quite plenty of stuff to worry about for him.
"Please..." She pleaded while looking up at him with her hands clasped together and her blue eyes wide open. Wait, where did she learn to do that?
Sighing, Lincoln rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I would be joining you for dinner Mr Florence." He finally relented.
"It's good to hear that Lincoln." The older man nodded his head. "Well, I should get going now, see you later Shay." With that out of the way, the man eventually left the room as Lincoln placed his bag down on the desk.
"Sheesh, you got my condolences Lincoln, the man really put you on the spot there, I'm surprised you even managed to survive from that." Alex slowly shook her head in pity.
"Thanks for watching." Lincoln pulled out a a blue box from his bag and placed it on her bed as her eyes slightly widened in surprise.
"Wait, is that what I think it is?" She asked before opening the lid only to be treated with the delicious sight of chocolate chip cookies she had been craving for.
"Finally, something that isn't hospital food!" She exclaimed with a bright smile. "Thanks Lincoln, I know I can count on you, I can't wait to finish this up already." Alex said before reluctantly closing the box.
"But I've a check up later, and I can't exactly eat anything right now, sorry." She sheepishly apologized.
"You shouldn't apologized for something like that Alex." Lincoln bluntly said. "It's not a big deal."
"Of course it is," Alex pouted, "How can you say that when you went through all the trouble to make me these." She argued.
"Like I said, it's not a big deal." He shrugged her off as Alex turned to look at the short girl behind him, a grin appearing on her face.
"So you must be the mysterious girlfriend Lincoln kept talking about, it's nice to finally meet you Shay, you can just call me Alex." She introduced herself.
"Your boyfriend here has been quite a helpful servant while he was here." She teased as Lincoln glared at her.
"Knock it off Alex." He advised, taking a seat for Shay to sit on while he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Pfft, you're no fun Lincoln." Alex chuckled as the white haired boy simply sighed at her antic. "Joking aside, you are lucky to get someone like him as your boyfriend Shay," she smiled
"At least I know I would be..." She brought her knees closer to her chest, loosely hugging them in her slender arms.
Lincoln looked at her with a brow raised, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with the girl, especially with the way she was talking with Shay right now.
"You really are as quiet as Lincoln said, but I don't really mind being the one talking." She remarked.
"You know, people always thought that I'm such a fragile thing with my brain tumor affecting my health, even my own family thought I should stay here until I'm completely healed for my sake."
"But I think they are just delaying the inevitable as much as they can, but we all have been doing that one way or another... Honestly, I don't think they even know how miserable I'm here, not that I can blame them though, I didn't tell them anything either." Alex admitted before she went quiet for a bit.
"Hey Shay... Can you give Lincoln to me?" She asked, shocking the quiet girl who has been listening to her the entire time.
"Alex!" Lincoln raised his voice at what she just said. "What's gotten into you that you think you can say something like that!?" He angrily asked. Even he was shocked to hear that coming from her.
"Is it really wrong for me to also want you for myself?" Alex said. "Is it really my fault that I needed you."
"Cut it out Alex, you know I can't do that." Lincoln gritted his teeth.
"Why can't you? Is it any different than when you save the girl... Why can't you save me." Alex asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Or do you think, I don't deserve being saved." She choked out.
"I... I'm sorry Alex, but I can't do this." Lincoln held Shay's hand and carefully led her out from the room. "I really can't." He muttered out.
He didn't know what happened next, but he cut his visit short after asking for permission to get home from Aunt Ruth. After sending Shay back to her house by bus, he spend the rest of his walk home thinking of Alex and what she said. Of the meaning behind her words, it just felt so sudden that he don't even know to react. No matter how he looked at it, the situation just doesn't make sense. As long as he had known the girl, there was not once where she was showing interest in him in a romantic way, if anything she was mostly joking or teasing him about his love life. Then what changed, what could possibly make her do something rash like this. The more he think about it, the more he was frustrated by how much it was bothering him. And he still need to properly apologize to Shay for what happened with Alex earlier at the hospital.
A dinner at her house doesn't sound so bad anymore.
...
And here he was, sitting across the older man at his dining table while enjoying their food, pasta with meatballs specially made by Shay for the night. He don't think he need to describe how awkward it was. The last time he was in that house, he was kind of having a shouting match with the older man. And now he was eating with the same man sitting Infront of him. It felt like he was digging his own grave while Lucy was reading his obituary. At least it was a good obituary.
"So Lincoln, mind explaining what happened at the hospital earlier?" Mr Florence mentioned as Lincoln looked at him. "I'm talking about Miss Anderson if you're wondering." He explained.
"Oh... Sorry if I was making a scene, it was just a little misunderstanding." Lincoln answered while picking at his pasta. Shay staring at him for a moment before turning her attention back to her father when he speak.
"I guess she didn't tell you that she will be transferred to a different hospital that have a facility specifically to treat her tumor." The older man said, startling him a bit with the new information.
"I see... Good for her." Lincoln replied with a small smile. "She should be giving her all on getting better." He added as the older man simply nodded his head.
"As for Miss Ruth, she should be able to be discharged tomorrow morning since she had fully recovered after her check up earlier, I hope you don't mind informing this to your parents." He surmised.
"Sure Mr Florence, I'm sure they would be glad to hear that." Lincoln responded, already finishing his plate.
Even outside of the hospital, the older man still kept his appearance up, not once talking of anything else other than what actually happened at the facility. Instead of trying to know him better, he was mostly filling the time with empty conversation, either to find the right moment or just to test him if he was telling him the truth. It can't really be that he don't know what to talk about with him. That would just be ridiculous.
"Oh, I almost forget about dessert, just wait here for a minute alright." Shay said as the girl eventually went into the kitchen leaving Lincoln alone with her father under the heavy awkward silence lingering in the air. Luan could have been there and she would be hiding behind him with how intense the atmosphere was.
"Now would probably be right time for us to talk about our agreement." And there it was, the peak of the conversation finally coming out.
"What is there to talk about, I still have a week left." Lincoln rested his cheek in his upturned right palm on the table.
"I don't think you understand how impossible and serious your claim is." The older man commented.
"I'm always serious when Shay is involved, if you're really trying to know me better, you can probably start with that." He interjected.
The older man let out a sigh before fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "We should probably break off our agreement." He said, startling Lincoln a bit with the sudden revelation.
"Excuse me, what do you mean by that?" Lincoln asked with a brow raised.
"You should know that I'm not in the right state of mind when I made that agreement. What I'm trying to say is that I don't mind you dating my daughter Lincoln." Mr Florence replied. "I've been watching you, and I can at least say for certain that you don't have any bad intention towards Shay."
"Seriously?" The white haired boy asked in disbelief. How did this even come up?
"Shay is happy..." The older man paused, a small genuine smile plastered on his usually serious face. "And as her father, I really can't asked for more than that." He admitted.
"I hope you will keep taking good care of her." Mr Florence said in relief.
[Mr Edward Florence has grown more favorable to you]
[Due to his 'Judgement', your reputation score will be increased to 84]
[Your quest will be calculated to create new paths for further experience]
Is... Is this really how it will end? Can he really have this and went along with his life as if nothing ever happened. To have Shay as his girlfriend with her father's permission. No, he refused to accept that. It can't just be like this, it felt like he was cheated out of something. And he don't like that, not one bit.
"Sorry Mr Florence, I know this would sound weird but I still want to keep my part of the deal." Lincoln said confusing the older man. "I'm not exactly going to take away Shay from you, I just..." He sighed. "I just wanted to prove something."
"What exactly do you want to prove Lincoln, you are already a good boyfriend to my daughter, wasn't that good enough." Mr Florence asked.
"Don't take me wrong Mr Florence but what you said to me that day, you're right." Lincoln confessed. "If I really wanted to take care of Shay then I need to be prepared for anything. I need to be able to protect her when it's really count." He honestly said.
"And because of that, I need to prove that I would be able to be that person for Shay."
"But you don't exactly have to prove that to me, I already find you quite responsible and reliable for someone your age." The older man remarked.
"Well, I probably just want to prove it to myself I guess." Lincoln let out a low chuckle. "I hope you don't mind me being a little bit selfish with my request."
"Heh, you really are far too mature for a kid your age." Mr Florence slowly shook his head. "Very well then, if you think you really need to do so then I won't stop you, and I won't tell any of this to Shay either." The man assured him.
"Thanks Mr Florence." Lincoln said, turning his head slightly when Shay walked out from the kitchen before placing a plate of sliced chocolate cake for each of them. As Shay returned to her seat, Lincoln enjoyed the delicious dessert with his mind once at ease.
"With that out of the way, there is something I've been wondering for awhile now, Lincoln have you slept with my daughter?"
"DAD!?" Shay almost shrieked with her flustered face blushing bright red in embarrassment.
As for the white haired boy, he almost died from choking on the chocolate cake, a weird way to go out but not one he would regret with how delicious the dessert was.
"What, I"m asking this for your own good Shay, I would prefer both of you getting much older before giving me a grandchild." Mr Florence seriously said, only making the matter worse that Shay even need to pat her boyfriend's back to get his soul back.
"Stop it dad, look what you did to Lincoln!?" Shay pouted while glaring at her father.
"He will be fine Shay, as long as he know and remember to wear a condom, both of you would be fine." The older man continued. "I hope you already get the lesson from your father Lincoln, though I don't mind giving you some lesson of my own to be more careful."
"Dad, please stop it, you're only making it worse!" Shay embarrassedly said as she closed both of his boyfriend's ears with her palms, actually doing little to stop the sound from still getting to him.
Much to his surprise, dinner with her father went much better than he expected. Though it also went somewhere unexpected along the way. All in all, he can't exactly complain since it was a nice progress in their relationship.
...
With dinner thankfully over, Lincoln helped Shay with cleaning the dishes before finally taking his leave, it was starting to get late and he still need to get some rest after the shock Mr Lawrence suddenly threw at him during dessert.
"S-sorry about my dad Lincoln, I don't know why he suddenly get like that?" Shay bashfully said, still embarrassed from what happened at the table earlier.
"It's fine Shay, really." Lincoln gently patted her head. "And you don't exactly dislike him being like that don't you." He smiled.
"Y-yeah it was fun." She replied, taking his right hand in both of hers. "Thanks for coming tonight Lincoln, I really appreciate it."
"What are you talking about Shay, I'm your boyfriend, I will do whatever you wanted me to do." He said, bringing her hand up before kissing her knuckles. "And since we're done with your father, you're going to have dinner at my place next, I hope you would be ready to meet my family." He smirked.
"Y-yes, I will properly prepare myself for that." She nervously said at the thought as Lincoln simply shook his head in amusement.
"Anyway, about what happened earlier at the hospital, I'm really sorry for what Alex said to you, she wasn't usually like that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Please don't see her as a bad person because of this, I hope I know what her problem was but I need you to know that it wasn't your fault. I can promise you that." He assured her.
"It's fine Lincoln, if you said she was a nice person, then I have no reason to doubt you." Shay softly replied.
"Good to hear that..." He paused before carefully looking behind the girl. "Your dad is not watching us right?" He asked.
"Yeah, he's already in his room, why are you asking?" She answered.
"Because if he's here, I can't do this..." Lincoln lifted her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and titled his head slightly before pressing his lips against hers, startling the girl a bit before she leaned into the kiss, feeling the tip of his tongue touching hers hesitantly letting herself fall under his spell.
When he backed away, a sliver of their mixed saliva sticking between their sticky tongues before finally splitting in the middle. Lincoln licked his wet lips and looked at his blushing girlfriend. Both of their hearts almost beating at a similar fast pace, only with his screaming at him to take her there. It was hard but he managed to keep himself back. Well, there is always another time.
"See you tomorrow at school Shay." He said with a smile before slowly walking away from her house. When he looked back, she was still watching him from the doorway, slightly waving at him until he was completely gone from her sight.
Alone at the doorstep, Shay softly pressed her index finger against her wet lips, and with a small smile she eventually stepped inside before closing the door. Even though he just left a minute ago, she can't wait to see him again at school tomorrow.
...
With his heart fluttering lightly in his chest, Lincoln smiled while making his way home under the streetlights lining along the sidewalk. It was a good day, he can at least admit that much with how he was struggling to keep himself from leaping in joy. Not because he don't want to, but because it would be weird if someone saw him skipping in the middle of the night.
For once since that incident, he actually felt like a normal boy having a crush and falling in love. It was amazing, and the system didn't do anything to bother him all day. If it wasn't for the heart shaped circle at the bottom corner of his vision, he almost forget that it even existed in the first place. For once, he can actually say that everything was fine, that his action wasn't coming back to get him in the worst way possible. And he was glad for that, glad that he wasn't being a mess someone need to clean up.
And the food was delicious too! Even if he almost died for a moment there...
His step abruptly halted when he heard a faint sound of slightly rusty chain near him. Raising a brow, he looked around for a moment when he saw a small dark figure sitting alone in one of the swing of the playground across the street. A child alone in the middle of the night? How is this not a start to a horror movie?
But still, he can't exactly left a child alone in the middle of the night. A ghost or not, it would left a bitter taste in his mouth if he just ignored a child when they might be lost or something.
With that in mind, he sighed in defeat before crossing the street and carefully approaching the small figure. "Excuse me, do you need help or something?" He politely asked.
"That's nice of you for asking but I would prefer to be alone." A monotone female voice replied. He knew that voice from somewhere, he just can't quite figure out who the owner was.
"And here I was trying to be a good person, I hope Lucy can help me if I'm cursed because of this." He sighed.
"Wait a second, Lincoln is that you?" At the mention of his name, he squinted his eyes to get a better look of the black haired girl with a long bang covering one of her eye.
"Haiku?" He said, feeling the name foreign on his tongue with how long it has been since they last met. "What are you doing alone in the middle of the night like this?" He asked.
"I can ask the same from you Lincoln, but from what I'm seeing you're probably back from a date with a special someone." She responded while staring blankly at him.
"That still didn't answer why you're here Haiku, and stop analyzing me." Lincoln folded his arms over his chest.
"And why should I answer you?" Haiku asked.
"Because I'm older than you and Lucy would be mad at me if I just let her best friend be alone in the middle of the night." He argued.
"Lucy would join me." Haiku rolled her eyes.
"And that's why I'm worried even more." He remarked. "It's far too late for something like this, don't you also have school tomorrow."
"Then you should probably get home fast before your sisters get even more worried." She mentioned.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that since someone is being such a stubborn girl right now." Lincoln ran his right hand through his white hair in frustration. "Clearly she don't understand that there are people who are worried about her." He stated.
"And where might this people be?" She raised a brow at him.
Sighing, Lincoln sat on the empty swing beside her. "Unfortunately, that person would be me at the moment." He pushed himself back and let the swing moved him forwards with the momentum. Feeling the cold air brushing against his skin, Lincoln lifted his head and stared at the flickering stars above them.
"Huh, you can see the stars better from here?" He pointed out as the girl beside him simply sighed in defeat.
"You know, the whole point of a secret spot was with it being a secret." Haiku muttered out, also slowly moving her swing while staring at the night sky.
"Well, this isn't exactly a secret place don't you think so, it's a park after all?" Lincoln responded, glancing at the girl from the corner of his eyes.
"During the day, it might be, but it's a whole different place with the sun gone," Haiku closed her eyes, listening intently to the sound around the. "The sound of cricket chirping, the cold breeze rustling against the leaves, the buzzing sound of the streetlights, it was only here and now we can actually hear them, the symphony of the night, the silence." She said before taking a deep breath and exhaling from her small thin lips.
"But I don't think someone who has been living in the light like you would understand the simplicity of that." Haiku noted only to raise a brow when the white haired boy let out a low chuckle. Not one of amusement but a weird sense of familiarity.
"Yeah, you might be right." He brushed the loose strand of white hair from his forehead. "You probably shouldn't want to talk about that kind of stuff with me. Not when you can only see the light when you have always been in the darkness." He put up a humorless smile like a familiar mask.
"The sound of little footsteps rushing in fear, the cold yet luring pitter patter of rain hitting the glass, a strike, a bright light, a quiet scream. A door slowly creaked open, a plead for protection, the comfort of a tired brother." Lincoln smirked.
"I might live in the light, but I also shade those from the blinding sun." He added, surprising the girl who was staring at him the whole time.
"Huh, you are indeed as talented as Lucy spoke of." Haiku hurriedly looked away from him, barely keeping her emotionless expression at the reminder of his words whispering into her ears.
"Well, I'm her brother, one way or another her stuff would rubbed up on me." He shrugged. "It was kind of the same with all of them." He continued.
"And yet you didn't sound glad to have such talent." Haiku noted while wiping her lock of black hair behind her ear.
"It is a gift... But it wasn't mine." He muttered out, pausing for a bit in deep thought before suddenly slapping both of his cheeks, startling the girl with the sound.
"What am I doing, talking about this stuff with someone young like you." He groaned as Haiku frowned with an eyeroll.
"I can assure you Lincoln Loud, I'm much more mature than you may think." She seriously said while glaring sharply at him with her exposed eye.
"I don't want to hear that from someone who have a crush on a thousands years old vampire." He commented as Haiku punched his arm.
"Consider yourself lucky you're Lucy's brother." She threatened. "Or else I would put a deathly curse on you already."
"Good luck with that, Lucy already put a curse deflecting spell on me." He smirked only for the short girl to continue punching his arm from her swing.
...
Meanwhile at the hospital, Miss Summer was currently arranging her stuff before checking out from her shift and finally going back home for the night. It was a tiring day and she might as well just crashed on the couch again with how much she was dreading to get herself ready for bed. Not that it really bothered her anyway, and she still have spare clothes for tomorrow if she was really desperate.
"Hey Abigail wait up!" Her eyes almost dropped out from their socket with how hard she was rolling them at the female voice of her coworker interrupting her way home. Seriously, she might drop dead before actually getting out from there. And she don't think her insurance plus employee discount would be enough to cover up for the cost of her treatment alone.
"What is it!?" She almost growled at the blonde woman but managed to keep her voice down, lest she wanted to receive a complain from those stuck up rich patient staying there.
"Jeez Abigail, I guess you really needed that sleep huh." Her coworker pointed out.
"And if you don't mind, I would prefer to get to that already." Abigail muttered out through gritted teeth, barely holding herself back from screaming.
"Right before you go I have something for you." Her eyes slightly widened when the blonde woman pulled out a familiar red box from her handbag. "That cute white haired boy asked me to give this to you, I hope you don't mind that I also tried some, it's really delicious though."
Abigail took the box from her coworker, inspected it for a bit, and finally slipping it into her bag. "Thanks." She sighed in exhaustion.
"Hey, if you don't mind can you also ask that boy if he could make some of those cookies for me." The woman excitedly asked as Abigail simply ignored her while walking to her car at the parking lot.
"Okay see you tomorrow Abigail." Her coworker waved at her but she don't exactly have the energy left in her body to respond to her anymore. Even walking to her car was a struggle with how much her back was hurting her with each step.
When she reached her car, she unlocked the door, dropped into the driver seat and closed the door before locking it. Finally alone with no one to bother her, she tiredly unbuttoned her collar, showing a bit of her cleavage as her chest slowly rose and fell with her breathing. She might need to get a new bra after this. But she don't actually think her budget would allow her such comfort for now. At least not with the upcoming teacher and parent committee meeting coming up soon. Who knows what kind of nonsense stuff that school will ask them to buy anymore to fulfill their stupid requirement. What a headache...
Letting out a sigh, Abigail looked at her bag sitting in the passenger seat. With her work finally over, she pulled out the red box and placed it on her lap before opening the lid, looking at the chocolate chip cookies still inside them. It would have probably tasted better when he tried to give it to her earlier.
Shaking her head to avoid the thought from bothering her, she picked up a cookie between her fingers, brought it to her mouth, and took a small bite, feeling the soft crunch of the cookie and the chocolate chip melting inside her mouth, rewarding her tongue with the sweet treat. She didn't even realize the smile spreading on her face as she was enjoying the baked good as if her entire body was resting while chewing the cookie. Even her headache was slowly leaving her mind, replacing it with the surprising taste overwhelming her mouth.
It is still delicious...