Disclaimer: I don't own the Night World

Shady

Things were a little tense between Emerald and Lucas after that. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings and he was just trying to be nice, but Emerald just wasn't a people person. It was hard for her to open up to people before but after everything that happened after she met Storm made her close up even more. And it wasn't helping that that ominous dream she had of Storm right before they broke up was always haunting her.

She hadn't actually had it since then, but it was always in the back of her mind, whispering warnings. He told her not to trust anyone except for Sky, Carter, Adrian and Echo. Now she wasn't sure if that meant she wasn't to trust Storm either because he didn't explicitly say himself, but maybe he thought that it was already obvious that she should trust him.

The point was, though, that if she couldn't trust anyone one except for those four and himself, then that meant she shouldn't trust Lucas or… Valerie, for that matter. Which just confused her even more. She shouldn't trust his new girlfriend? What was that all about? What did that mean? Did Valerie have ulterior motives? The Valerie that almost always had a smile for everyone? The Valerie that was uber nice when she didn't need to be to everyone? Emerald just couldn't see it. Just like she couldn't see her dabbling in dark magic to help Storm be human again.

None of this made any sense!

It just didn't do much to think about it any longer, so Emerald tried to just keep it at the back of her mind and not worry about it too much. Knowing the Night World and its mysteries things would eventually reveal themselves. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was still to be decided.

Anyhow, Emerald continued on autopilot, just going through the motions of school and work. Lucas avoided her at all costs during work, skirting around her, passing her quickly and silently not making eye contact. She could tell she'd hurt him, but again, the whole trust thing. Emerald just had major trust issues that she couldn't just drop for one guy. It wasn't like she didn't appreciate his attempting to help her; she just didn't want his help.

Or so she thought.

Turns out, Emerald was starting to feel guilty about blowing him off like she did. She missed his company at work because his company provided some normality to Emerald's life. When she was at work she could just pretend she was human, working a waitressing job to keep afloat. It wasn't like Carter didn't provide normality, but she was dating Sky who was a shapeshifter and part of the Drache family.

Lucas helped keep her mind off her life and the things going on in it when they talked because he talked about normal things like how he was doing in school and his opinion on something strange and random like pineapples.

So after maybe four days of this avoidance, against her better judgment and all her instincts, she approached Lucas.

"Can we talk after work?" she asked quietly. It wasn't break time and the restaurant was filling up quickly.

Lucas looked a little surprised but shrugged. "Sure, I guess." He didn't sound too enthusiastic, but he'd agreed and that's all Emerald needed.

She smiled. "Great, thanks." With that she headed off to go turn a table.

When her shift ended she waited outside for Lucas he came a few minutes after herself.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked as he got outside.

"I wanted to apologize," Emerald started. "I feel bad that I kind of told you off the other day. I realize you were just trying to be nice… it's just I—"

"Have a hard time trusting." Lucas finished for her. "I know."

"I've been going through a rough patch." Emerald said looking down at the ground. She thought about telling him about the break-up but decided last minute she wasn't ready. She looked back up at him. "The point is that I am distracted just because I'm in a lot of pain. I enjoy our…" She trailed off not sure whether to call it an acquaintanceship or a friendship.

"Friendship?" Lucas offered.

Emerald couldn't help but smile. "I enjoy our friendship and your company and I don't want that to be ruined because I won't open up a little more to you."

"I appreciate your apology." Lucas said. "And I'm sorry that you're in pain."

"Thanks," Emerald murmured. "So, we're good?"

Lucas nodded and smiled. "Yeah, we're good." He then stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

Emerald froze up like she always did whenever someone gave her an unexpected hug. But this time it wasn't just that, it was also because heat blossomed where he touched and it wasn't just because he was warmer than her. Her pulse quickened and her heart did a funny little thing again.

Lucas pulled back a moment later.

"Have a good night, Emerald." he said.

"Yeah, you too."

And with that they headed off.

The next week went a little differently. Now that they were on mutual terms, Lucas started hanging out with her a lot more during work hours as well as after work hours. It wasn't long, sure, but when Emerald came home she realized that she felt… better. He made her smile and laugh and forget about her worries and pains. He was just easy to be with.

Then he kind of popped the bubble. It's not like it was a bad thing, what he did, it was just a shock to Emerald.

So, they were sitting in a small café, naturally after work. Lucas had his cup of coffee and Emerald nothing, like usual. He'd just told a lame joke, but Emerald seemed to find it funny and she smiled, chuckling at how lame it was but also how it was actually funny.

After getting over the fact Emerald realized he'd be staring at her the whole time.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"You just… light up when you smile." he finally said after a small pause.

Emerald looked down at the floor at this compliment, embarrassed and self-conscious.

"You shouldn't look so embarrassed, it's true." Lucas continued reaching forward and tilting her chin up with one of his finger before brushing her hair back behind her ear. Emerald looked at him frozen as unexpected warmth rushed through her.

"Lucas?" she asked breathlessly.

He dropped his hand and looked at her intently. "I think…" he started slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I think… I might… be falling for you, Emerald." he finally got out.

"I—" Emerald tried, but was too shocked for words. She closed her eyes, her eyebrows furrowing, so confused. She looked back at him and shook her head. "I'm sorry." Not being able to say anything else she stood, grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair and rushed out of the café.

"Emerald, wait!" Lucas called.

She stopped just outside of the Marriott, in the middle of sidewalk. The warm, inviting, orange lights glowed from within the hotel, illuminating both Emerald and Lucas as they stood a few inches apart.

"What? What do you want from me?" she snapped.

Lucas looked at her, eyebrows furrowed in anger and confusion. "I just… I just admitted my feelings to you and you… ran off!"

"What did you want me to do? You don't just throw that at someone. Especially if that someone isn't prepared!"

Lucas struggled to get the words out. "Well, I was hoping… I was hoping you'd-you'd say, you know, your feelings were… were mutual."

Emerald didn't know what to say to this. Was it possible she'd actually been forming feelings toward sweet, sweet Lucas through this past week? The answer was immediate and not exactly what she wanted. Yes, she had been forming feelings for him. But she didn't want to put him in any danger. With her going out and hunting again and her reputation with the whole Night World as the Vigilante and probably Most Wanted in their world as well, she wasn't going to put someone like Lucas in that kind of danger. It seemed cruel and unfair to him. And it wasn't like she could tell him about the Night World because that was illegal and would surely just get him killed faster than if she were to just date him.

Not to mention that if anyone saw him with her, they'd go after her and threaten her with him, still putting him in the path of danger. Her father was still out there and she knew he was probably watching her every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. There's no doubting if she started getting intimate with Lucas he'd use him against her and then were would she be?

"No, I don't." she finally answered. "I don't have the same feelings, I'm sorry." She looked away from him and started to turn away as well, but Lucas caught her arm.

"Don't lie to me. I don't like liars." he growled. That seemed absolutely and completely unfair to her. Even if she told him the truth about her feelings, she'd still be lying to him about almost everything else in her life.

"Then you might as well give up now." Emerald muttered, pulling her arm out of his grasp, still refusing to look at him.

"So you do admit you have feelings, then?"

Her head snapped up and they locked eyes.

"I never said that." she answered too quickly.

Lucas smiled. "Then why won't you admit it? It's not that hard." His hands came up but Emerald stepped away from him quickly.

"I can't because I'm not a good person, Lucas. I've gotten involved with a lot of bad things. I'm tainted. You don't want me." She shook her head, biting her lip.

"Emerald—"

"Don't say you don't care!" she yelled. "If I told you I loved you then they'd use you against me and I'm not going to put your life in danger. If they saw you with me, they would come after you to hurt me. I care about you too much to let that happen to you."

Lucas smiled again, a small one this time. "So you do care about me." he said softly.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"This is my decision, too, Emerald. If you'll let me, I'd like to… you know, be your boyfriend."

Emerald looked everywhere but at Lucas. "I just don't know—"

Lucas had taken this minute moment of distraction to step forward, put both his hands on either side of Emerald's upper forearms, lifting her nearly off the ground, pressing his lips to hers.

For a moment, Emerald was just too shocked and surprised to respond, but suddenly she felt like she was melting and her lips molded to Lucas's nearly perfectly. It was an odd sensation, kissing him because he wasn't a vampire, he was just human so he was warmer and every time his heart beat there was this force that hit her that took her breath away. Words just couldn't exactly describe the feeling.

Lucas finally backed off and stood back, letting go of Emerald. His chest was heaving; Emerald's a little less than his. His piercing green-blue eyes were trained on Emerald's face trying to gauge her reaction to his sudden kiss. Right now, his assumption was that she was at least interested in him, that she might want to be with him, despite her concerns, that she'd respect his decision.

"Well?" he finally asked not able to stand the waiting.

Emerald took another moment to gather herself and her emotions and reply what had just happened before that heated kiss.

She slapped him then, her eyebrows knitting together, turning down into a frown, her eyes were as hard as emeralds, and her lips were a thin line.

Lucas blinked, his head still turned to the side, his cheek red and throbbing.

"Okay," he said. "I wasn't expecting that response." He looked back at her questioningly.

"Don't do that, again." Emerald told him. "Ever."

"The kiss?" Lucas asked a little incredulous.

"That was very uncalled for."

"You reciprocated."

"Yeah, well that was before I realized how I really felt about it."

"So do you not feel the same for me as I for you, then?"

Emerald really thought about this for a moment. "Well… I didn't say that." she muttered. "It's just, I wasn't prepared for that. It was… rude."

Lucas didn't say anything for a few minutes. He simply looked at Emerald with an emotion in his eyes that she couldn't decipher at the moment. Suddenly, he reached up and caressed her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb, her hair brushing against his fingers. Emerald's breath caught and her heart did a funny little thing in her chest with his hand gently holding her face like that.

"You're hair is amazingly silky, has anyone ever told you that?" He finally spoke running his fingers through her hair before brushing it back behind her ear with the same hand that had been caressing her face a moment ago.

"N-not… not outright." Emerald stuttered, he stomach full of butterflies.

Lucas took a step toward her, closing the distance between them and cradling her face in his hands, tilting her head slightly upwards.

"You have beautiful eyes."

Emerald's heart squeezed. She'd heard that before. From Storm.

"You're very mysterious." Lucas continued in a low voice, leaning in, their faces now just inches apart. Emerald blinked, her heart hammering against her ribcage. He smiled. "I like that about you." Lucas leaned in even closer, their lips nearly brushing. "It's very… intriguing." And just when it felt like he was going to kiss her he quickly turned his head to the side, and whispered in her ear, "How was that?" before pulling back, his hands dropping to his sides.

Emerald blinked and tried to clear her head as the longing for the kiss that never came slowly faded. Lucas waited patiently for her answer.

"I'm… speechless." she finally said.

Lucas smiled, pleased. Emerald rolled her eyes.

"May I walk you up to your suite?" he asked, holding out his arm, like he was escorting her to a ball. She looked at him eyes narrowed but with a smile on her face. Without a word she linked her arm with his and together they walked into the Marriott. When they got to her suite however, Emerald realized she'd been thinking about the first kiss and the second almost-kiss all the way up to her room.

She pulled her arm out of his and reluctantly and slowly took out her keycard but paused for a moment before sliding it in, biting her lip, thinking whether or not she was really going to do this.

"Something wrong?" Lucas asked.

Emerald smiled and chuckled. "No. No… nothing's wrong." She bit her lip again and then turned to face Lucas. She reached up to caress his cheek before grabbing the front of his shirt with his other hand and pulling him down for another kiss. She wrapped one of her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his thick brown hair. Lucas wrapped one of his arms around her waist, burying his other hand in her hair.

Emerald didn't know how much time had passed since they'd first started kissing, but suddenly someone cleared their throat. They broke apart, breathing hard and Emerald looked over to her left. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth fell open slightly when she saw who it was. She stepped away from Lucas almost a little too quickly and turned toward him. She didn't know what to feel, because it wasn't confusion, it didn't feel like pain, and it definitely wasn't embarrassment because to be fair, he had a girlfriend too. Why couldn't she have a boyfriend?

"Storm," she said. "I wasn't expecting you over here." How long had he been standing there, watching them kiss? Hopefully not that long.

"Yeah, I was just going to drop by real quick to deliver a message." he replied, eyeing Lucas. His eyes were a little cold, but his stance was nonchalant, hands in his pockets.

"Storm," Emerald quickly started. "This is Lucas." She wasn't sure if he held the title of boyfriend just yet. Okay, they had just shared a pretty heated kiss, but Lucas had only just admitted his feelings to her tonight. And they'd only just been getting to know each other better for seven days. And who said that she couldn't have a… test kiss. How was she to know if this was just some kind of heat-of-the-moment thing; chemicals and emotions instead of brains and logic? On the other hand, since when was love ever brains and logic?

Emerald turned toward Lucas. "Lucas, this is Storm."

"Ex." Storm added. "Nice to meet you." He acknowledged Lucas by jutting his chin out in his direction but didn't offer his hand showing Emerald just how much this had ruffled his feathers. At least she knew that he still had some sort of feelings and that maybe he hadn't wanted to break-up as much as she originally thought.

"Same." Lucas mimicked Storm's gesture. Afterward there was a pause in which the tension grew and two boys shifted awkwardly where they stood.

"Storm," Emerald started. "You-you said you had a message for me?"

"Yeah, you left some of your things at my place and it's been a while. Valerie doesn't particularly appreciate that I still have stuff of yours. Do you think you could stop by some time and pick that up?"

Emerald forced a small smile. "Of course. I can do that tomorrow if that works for you."

"Great. Anytime works. Uh… see you." With that he quickly headed off, back down the hall to the elevators.

Hope you enjoyed!

thank-you-for-everything

~ See you at the Millennium!