This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: Come to the Dark Side.

"The Cautionary Tale of Lucy Collins"

7. None More Than This

He wasn't sure, but part of him felt like it knew when she was about to arrive. And then a moment later…

"Artie?" her voice was calling.

"Over here," he looked up, his blurred vision seeing her stop and turn. When she saw him, she gasped, halfway to a cry.

"Oh m… Are you okay? I mean, of course you're not, I… Here." She took hold of his hand and placed something in his palm he immediately recognized as his glasses. He was careful as he put them on, wincing as every hurt the movement encountered made sure to be felt. He looked back to her, standing before him, and her face was experiencing so many emotions it was impossible for him to get them separated properly.

"You found them?"

"I heard about what happened, but by the time I got there you were gone. Then I saw them on the ground, so I brought them over…" She cringed, looking at his face, then turned about. "Where's the nurse?" she started rummaging through the supplies, finding something to put to his cut lip, and ice for his eye. She carefully removed his glasses again, hanging them from his vest before holding the ice in place. He reacted to the cold, then calmed against it. For a moment neither of them said a word.

"Lucy, I…"

"Are you okay?" she asked her first question again.

"I'll be fine, I think," he replied. "Nothing feels broken. How are my legs?" She made him take over holding the ice before crouching to inspect his legs as best she could.

"They're okay, from what I can tell. That's good then… You'll be better in a few days," she declared, to him, but to herself as well. He was about to find out why she needed to know for herself. Because now that she knew he was okay, she had grown quiet. He took the ice down, left it in his lap so he could put his glasses back on and see her face. She looked upset, disappointed, almost angry.

"Lucy, I didn't go to him, he came to me," he started to explain. "I tried to get away from him, not to get involved, but he didn't leave me the chance."

"So he swung at you first?" she nodded.

"Well… not physically, no," he had to admit.

"And how is that not getting involved?" she asked. Was she crying? Her voice said yes, even if he couldn't see the tears.

"He was saying really awful things, about what he'd done, and what he would do. I didn't want you to get hurt," he took her hands.

"If you didn't want me to get hurt, then how is that the solution?" she asked. "Do you think it fixed anything, that suddenly he's going to forget all of it?" He didn't know what to say, didn't see any way he could give words that would amount to anything else but her being right. And she knew that. "I know that you meant well, and that Grant can be… a real piece of work. When we broke up, it took me a while to recover. And what helped me do that was a promise I made myself. I promised I wouldn't get myself get pulled into anything like that again." He knew what she was saying. He didn't want to be right about it, but he knew he was.

"I've never done anything like this, I swear. You didn't hear the things he was saying…"

"No, I hear what he says. Maybe not from him, but it doesn't mean I don't end up hearing about it. That's Grant, the guy I went out with for half a year. We're not a couple anymore, but I'll still have to be in the same school he is until one or both of us graduates, and then hopefully I never have to see him again, but until then it is what it is, and if I have to grin and bear it whenever I have to deal with him, then so be it."

"It won't happen again," Artie heard himself begging.

"I hope so. I really do," now he saw the tears.

"But until then, you can't be with me. That's what you're saying," he had to hear her say it, or something, had to know that his heart wasn't ripping for naught.

"I'm sorry, Artie, I swear I am," she shook her head. "I can't tell you how much I wish I didn't have to…" she went on.

"Then don't, please…"

"I have to," he could see how much it pained her to say it. "I have to take a step back. Maybe after a while we can be as we were again, if we still…" she breathed.

"I'd still," he promised. He wasn't sure if it was right, but he moved to hug her. When she responded and hugged him back, he closed his eyes. The pain in his limbs was not felt, overridden by a whole other kind. They held on for a minute before she pulled back. "What does it mean, do we just stop seeing each other altogether? No hanging out or… What about Stella?" his concern went straight to the little redhead, knowing how she depended on him sometimes. Now the thought of what it would mean for her little sister only added more to Lucy's grief.

"I… I'm not sure yet, we'll just… we'll have to figure it out as we go. We still have classes together, still have Glee Club… And I can stay until your parents get here, if that's alright."

"I'd like that, yes," he nodded. They were silent again… It was done. Now they had to deal with it. She picked up the ice from his lap, removed the glasses to return the coolness to his face. He could feel her touch, and it ached to know what he'd really lost that day.

The bruises were nothing. They'd be healed within days. The doubt he'd installed in Lucy's heart, that would take longer to heal. He didn't blame her for choosing to do as she'd done. It only reminded him that she'd had a life before they got together, experiences that he was still finding out about. This week, he'd seen the strength in her, the one he'd always known her to have, had been earned and not through ease. Now all he wanted was to show her that her trust in him up until that point had not been in vain.

THE END