A/n: It's the weekend so you'd assume I'd be able to write more, but funnily enough, I haven't had the motivation to write enough so far, so I have no idea how I'm going to finish Whumptober if I'm behind by this much at this point, but we're gonna try. Don't expect it to be my best (writing a story every day is… predictably difficult, okay?) but hope you enjoy it anyway :)
"Lockwood? You awake in there?"
Lucy glanced at George, who stood beside her as they both huddled against Lockwood's door, trying to listen to any sounds outside. Their expressions of worry and concern mirrored the other's, stemming from the fact that it was past noon and Lockwood had yet to come downstairs or even make a sound from inside his bedroom. They'd finally decided that enough was enough and though they both felt a little bad for disturbing their leader if he was just exhausted - they both knew how little sleep he got on a usual night, work keeping him up or nightmares of some sort - but this was a little excessive and considering the brutal job they'd taken that night, they only had more reason to be worried. Hiding injuries was not uncommon for Lockwood, and it was nothing but unhappy fact.
Lucy moved to knock again, but George beat her to it, almost knocking down the door with the force of his fist on the wood.
"Lockwood!" He bellowed, loud enough that Lucy winced and plugged her ears. "If you don't answer in the next ten seconds then we're coming in and you can't blame us!"
Ten seconds later, Lucy was easing the door open, not trusting George to refrain from flinging the door open and stomping over to the bed in the middle of the room to… likely do something that was either incredibly rude, or she would have just not approved of in general. Besides, they didn't know what state Lockwood was in so it was probably best not to be immediately aggressive. Actually, in any situation, she supposed it was best to not be aggressive at all but especially this one.
So as soon as the door had opened enough for them to do so, they peeked their heads around to peer inside, letting their eyes adjust for a few seconds in the dark room before finally stepping in. The curtains were still drawn, though they glowed with a reddish light that broke through the cracks and edges to reveal bright daylight, a stark contrast to the pouring rain that had been a constant in the night. It was the time of year where the weather was unpredictable, and they'd mostly all been caught unawares, three dripping messes by the time they came home. Holly had unfortunately had the week off, or else she'd have probably saved them all with some ponchos stuffed in a bag somewhere. As it was, she'd been feeling a little under the weather recently and due for a holiday anyway so Lockwood had given her a whole seven days off. She should be back soon though, Lucy thought.
Back to the situation now though. They'd crept in enough to see that there was a lump under the covers still, giving no indication that Lockwood even knew they were there by the way the shape didn't move. The two stood there for a few seconds, considering what to do when George pushed Lucy forward. A whispered argument began, only to be cut short by the figure under the covers shifting slightly, a pale hand now hanging off the edge of the bed outside of the covers and a mop of dark hair popping up onto the pillow.
One look was shared between Lucy and George before Lucy tentatively took a couple more quiet steps forward.
"Lockwood?" She asked softly, but the covers didn't move again. Still moving closer, she finally saw a pale face poking out from the covers, nothing out of the ordinary except for the concerning red flush over his cheeks. She tentatively reached out a hand and brushed his messy dark hair from his forehead. She frowned and glanced behind at George who looked at her in anticipation. "Get me the thermometer won't you George?"
The frown came onto his face too. "He alright?"
"He's too hot. Not like that George, don't you give me that look! I mean he's burning up, warm to touch."
"Sure whatever," George said nonchalantly, though the cheeky grin was still on his face and it reminded her faintly of the skull. "But fine, I'll go grab the thermometer. I just better not come back to you two snogging or something."
Before Lucy could reply or murder George with her glare or otherwise, he swiftly left the room, leaving Lucy with her own anger to deal with. That and a sick leader who was now stirring on the bed next to her.
"Lockwood?" She asked again softly, annoyance at George all but forgotten. To her surprise, Lockwood murmured something too quiet for her to understand. She leaned in closer to try and listen closer as Lockwood shifted again and said something more.
"L… Lu… d'n leave."
"Lockwood? I can't…"
"Lucy! What was the one thing I said?"
George's voice coming from behind her startled her, and she straightened as she whipped around to face him. His expression was one that seemed to be stuck between teasing and disgust. Lucy considered trying to defend herself, but she knew it was hopeless and a waste of time anyway so instead she just ignored his gaze on her as she stomped over to him.
"Just give me the thermometer, George."
He passed it over, and she went back to the bed. Gently, she took Lockwood's temperature as he continued to murmur, his brows now drawn together in distress. The thermometer beeped and she checked it, George looking over her shoulder to see too, serious now that they could see just how bad off Lockwood was. Which was pretty bad.
Before either could say anything to each other, Lockwood's eyes slowly blinked open. Lucy was the first to notice and smiled softly at him as she crouched beside his bed.
"L-luce?" His voice was rough, sleep still evident in it and his groggy blinks. It took his eyes much longer than it should have to focus, and Lucy pretended not to notice the way his eyes remained glossy even as they settled on her.
"Yeah, it's me, Lockwood. Me and George. You feeling alright, you've got a bit of a fever?"
"Bit?" George scoffed beside her. "I could cook our breakfast on your forehead if I felt like it!"
"George!" Lucy hissed, only to earn an affronted, "What?"
"Luce… you're here," Lockwood's voice said softly, bringing the two back to the matter at hand as they both turned to look at where their leader was trying to get up.
Lucy gently pushed him back down onto the bed, surprised at the way his hand clumsily found and clung to hers as she did so. "Yeah, I'm here."
"G-good. Don't leave; stay, please."
Lucy stilled and she was barely aware of George as he left the room, muttering the excuse of making tea or breakfast or something similar. She kept her eyes on the feverish boy on the bed.
"Why would I leave, Lockwood?" She finally asked slowly, worried that he might have already fallen back asleep but he hadn't.
"You… you kept leaving," he murmured, turning his head to look up at her with tired eyes scrunched up in confusion. "Why did you keep leaving? Every time, I'll call out your name, but you won't call back and you just keep walking away. Walking away just like everyone else always does."
Each word only drove the dagger of ice deeper into her heart.
"No one's walking away, Lockwood. I'm here to stay, now, and so is George, and Holly, and hell even Kipps and Flo."
"But they don't care about me." Lockwood's voice was small as he spoke, on the verge of sleep and wholly unaware of just how painful this conversation was for Lucy. She wondered just what kind of things he was dreaming about, his unfounded worries that probably kept him up on a normal night. Did he really not think they cared? That after all this time, they still just hung about for nothing?
"Lockwood, that's not true. Every single one of us cares about you. And whatever's telling you otherwise can just go and shove its opinions up its arse."
Lockwood smiled a little at that, but it was a dreamy smile that told her he was more in the land of sleep than reality, but a few tears made their way onto his cheeks a few moments later, much to Lucy's horror.
She reached out to wipe them away, and Lockwood leaned into her touch.
"Don't leave again, Lucy. Please." His eyes were open now, and though they still had that gloss, they were still clearer than before as they looked into hers. "We need you. I need you. I can't… it was terrible without you. Don't leave again."
Lucy didn't know how to respond. She wanted to smile and reassure him that she wouldn't, but a part of her wanted to cry because this only proved how deeply her leaving had effected the others, especially Lockwood if he was still worrying now after all this time.
In the end, she settled with taking a seat on the bed beside him, their hands still intertwined as she used her other to brush his hair away from his forehead again.
"I'm not going anywhere, Lockwood. Not for a long, long time," she said quietly, watching as some of the tension in his face eased out until he looked more like the unflappable, calm Lockwood she knew and loved. "So don't worry, and just get some rest." His eyes had started to close for longer each time he blinked until eventually, they stayed closed and his breath started to even out and deepen.
She stayed there, still holding onto his hand even when his grip slackened in his sleep. In the darkness of the room, she whispered a promise to him, one that meant so much more than the words she said, to be held for so much longer than just that day. It'd been the last thing Lockwood had been aware of before a dreamless sleep had claimed him then, the one thing that he clung to and that kept the nightmares of before at bay. Seven simple words, said by a voice he'd know anywhere, that meant the world to him, promising a simple thing but it was so much more.
Seven simple words.
"I'll be here when you wake up."
A/n: Happy endings, how lovely. Anyway, just a little Locklyle, and the beginning of what I hope will be many more Lockwood and Co fics now that I've finished the books (and absolutely obsessed over them) but I always say that and rarely make good on it until months later, so don't hold out hope. Lockwood may yet be the whumpee of further Whumptober fics this month though, so keep an eye out for that if you like this one. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, stay safe and see ya soon!
- CrowofArcadiaOaks
