THE LESS YOU'LL SEE

NOTES: I cannot stress these points enough, so I will put these at the start of every chapter:

1) This is primarily a Lover's Death story.

2) I do not own anyone (i.e., characters, etc) or anything (i.e., lines, scenes, concepts, etc) from the Now You See Me no copyright infringement intended. I really am just a hopeless fan girl refreshing my feed for more stories about Lover's Death and Hermit+Priestess (daily, twice a day, might I add).

3) Some events in this story are inspired by my own experiences, and should you see yourself in the story, then let me give you a high five, but that honestly was not my intention.

4) Should anyone be willing to beta read the magic technicalities in future chapters, then raise your hand so we can talk. And can more of you please share awesome Lover's Death and Hermit+Priestess stories? We would all love that.

June 2007: Best Friends

Lula May was a pretty smart girl, if she did say so herself. Otherwise, she wouldn't have figured out from the very start of their relationship that Jack Wilder was a man quite obviously taken with someone else. She liked to think she knew these things because – as a self-decapitator – she knew if there were missing parts, even if she didn't quite know where they were.

But then again, she realized that even a respectable amount of intelligence would probably dictate its own limits once the matters of the heart would speak out. Because Lula May be damned, she wanted to be with Jack Wilder so much, it didn't even matter what she knew.

She was hopeful it would work, of course – she could never forget the indescribable feeling of joy when Jack finally asked her out with the disarming grin that made her pulse quicken a little bit every time she saw it. He liked her, and she definitely liked him right back. How could this not work?

Talk about tempting fate.

It's not that he did anything to bring the eventual end of their relationship – hell, she didn't even think he knew what a sticky situation he was in with his emotions. When they were together (and – according to some reliable sources of hers, even when they weren't), he did not show the slightest bit of attention to anyone else but her, and neither did he act differently around anyone in school.

But Lula knew these things, and she would maintain that this was precisely the reason why she never took it further, why any mention of true closeness always drove her into the opposite direction. It's the reason why, after just three short months of dating, she called it off last March: she knew that she was hurting Jack every time she pushed him away, and it hurt her knowing that he was completely clueless as to just how unavailable he was to the whole world.

It wasn't even supposed to be a show stopper. It's just that there was something about the way Jack would lose himself in one card trick after the other, a gentle smile on his face, that told Lula he was very much in another world with someone else. Someone who definitely was not her, and she wasn't even sure if said someone even knew of Jack's predicament.

Not surprisingly, the breakup had soured their friendship for only a few short weeks, but it was the best decision Lula ever made: she and Jack were never better, and for the first time in her life, she had someone she could call her best friend. Her best friend who, unfortunately, would be going to college in just three months, leaving her behind until further notice, and dragging her with him to enrolment to boot.

"You know I have a lot more important things to do than to follow you around, don't you, Jack?" Lula complained, stomping her feet as they walked side-by-side.

"Sure you do," Jack said passively, barely looking up from his phone. "I should be so honored."

"Yes, yes, you do," Lula agreed, frowning and trying to peer at his phone. "Whose text are you waiting for, anyway?"

"Huh?" he said distractedly, hastily pocketing his phone. "I was just checking on that friend I wanted you to meet, you would really like—hey, where the hell is my—"

"Your wallet?" she said sweetly, holding it up and carefully putting it back in his pocket. "What about your… belt?" Jack was shaking his head, biting back a smile as she held it up for the world to see. "And the packets of ketchup from McDonald's, I don't know why you got those."

"You little thief," Jack chuckled, playfully pulling her closer to him by the waist.

Lula heard a soft "oh" from behind her, and she turned around to face the speaker. It was a boy with a buzz cut, now looking anywhere but at them, and she imagined what he must be seeing, with her holding Jack's belt and Jack holding… well, her. She shook her head frantically, "Oh, no, no, it's not like that, we… he and I are just…"

"Danny!" Jack said happily, letting go of Lula and giving the boy a one-armed embrace. The boy reciprocated very carefully, and was now looking at Lula with bright blue eyes that betrayed nothing, but still made Lula feel quite exposed. "Hey man, it's great to see you." He turned to Lula with a bright smile. "Lula May, this is J. Daniel Atlas. Danny, this is Lula May."

"So, you're the legendary J. Daniel Atlas!" Lula gushed excitedly, holding out her hand. "Jack told me a lot about you, it's amazing how he talks about your magic. I mean, I haven't even seen it for myself, and already I feel like I'm such a fan!"

The boy called J. Daniel Atlas gave her a tight-lipped smile, grasping her hand firmly but quickly. "From a true fan, it's so nice to meet you," he said. Lula had to wonder if he meant it or not. Daniel put his hands in his pockets, turning to Jack. "So, am I intruding?"

Jack frowned. "How? You just got here."

Daniel pursed his lips. "I mean, will you two be on your date long?" A strange feeling came over Lula with the last statement, something she could not quite put her finger on.

Jack laughed, shaking his head, and answered for the both of them. "Aww, shucks! I don't think I told you, Danny – Lula and I broke up last March," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's here because she's the responsible best friend who wants nothing more than to see her best friend off to college enrollment."

A look of bewilderment and confusion crossed Daniel's face, which dissolved back into a neutral mask quickly, but not quickly enough for Lula's eyes to miss. Daniel chuckled awkwardly. "Isn't that… well, how do you two deal with that?"

Lula shrugged, observing Jack's friend while answering. "It's not really a big deal, we just… happen to like each other so much that it's not even something we need to think about."

"Is it? Well, good for you," Daniel said in clipped tones. "That can't have been easy."

Jack bit his lip in the way that made Lula almost regret breaking up with him as he cupped her cheek seductively. "Nah, Lula made it all easy, didn't you?"

"Stop it, Jack-o, I'm going to swoon if you don't," she deadpanned as she kicked him lightly in the shin.

Jack laughed and turned to face Daniel. "Hey, Dan, should we grab a bite? I'm starving."

"So am I, sweet cakes, good to have you back here," came a familiar drawling voice. "Hello, Jack-o, Asswipe, and… lovely woman."

"Oh, behave, Merritt," Henley said in a stern voice, appearing behind Jack and hugging him around his shoulders. "Hey, Jack, Danny, and…"

"Lula May," Lula said with a huge smile as she shook Henley's gloved hand.

"Henley Reeves," the redhead smiled right back. "Lula, this is—"

"Merritt McKinney, a real pleasure to meet you, sweetheart," the older boy said politely.

"Oh, you're the Merritt McKinney! Jack told me you're something of a psychological prodigy!" Lula gushed as she shook the hand of Merritt eagerly.

"I actually said 'mental mentalist', but close enough," Jack volunteered.

Lula glared at Jack for a split second before Merritt held her gaze again. Daniel leaned forward discreetly, knowing that he was about to see Merritt McKinney in action (though he would never admit that he's even the slightest bit impressed, oh no, no, no, no, no).

Merritt prided himself on being exceedingly good at reading people, and he was: taking in their little tics and unravelling all of their life's secrets before them was just another natural part of him, something he did as easily as he breathed. But what he saw in the pretty brunette was something he thought he ought to keep mum about, at least for now.

Everything about her screamed 'in love, and with the wrong person' – it was clear how she mirrored Jack's movements, how she would nervously turn her eyes on him once in a while, as though making sure he was there, how the lovely smile hid a certain loneliness for the consolation prize she had to settle for.

Just how small was the world, Merritt wondered, for him to encounter two different individuals who had unknowingly volunteered to offer their hearts to one Jack Wilder?

Her blue eyes betrayed a little bit of fear for her secret, and he saw her shoulders tense ever so slightly as she took one small step closer to Jack, who was eagerly awaiting Merritt's read on her. The idiot kid who had absolutely no idea just how much he had broken the heart of this poor girl, reduced to feeding off the crumbs of his affections as his best friend.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Atlas, leaning forward slightly, barely containing the anticipation for a big reveal from Merritt on the girl – to use it against her, or to simply know the competition, Merritt didn't want to know (though he knew Atlas well enough to know that the kid never had harmful intentions for anyone, not really). He decided not to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing-slash-not-knowing.

Oh, boy. This never ended well for anybody.

"Sorry, honey, I don't try to read beautiful girls like you… not on the first meeting, at least," Merritt said easily, winking at Lula, who relaxed considerably. Daniel barely masked his disappointment, and Jack chuckled as he put an arm around Lula.

"What was that?" Henley asked quietly. "What do you know?"

He shrugged. "What can I say? Magnanimity is my strongest suit."

"You didn't answer the question."

He shook his head. "Never meant to, my love."

Talk turned to getting decent class schedules, and enthusiastic responses each time someone's schedule matched someone else's, but Lula was barely paying attention. She was looking at J. Daniel Atlas every time he wasn't stealing glances at her, or Jack, or both of them at the same time. He certainly was something, that guy, but it was when the corners of Daniel's lips turned up slightly in response to a joke Jack just cracked did the realization hit her.

Someone.