In the small, dark, and cold room a teenager was laying on his bed. It wasn't much of a bed, in fact, it's not a bed at all. It's just metal. But the teenager is used to it. He's been stuck in it for years, he's been stuck for so long that he has no memory of what life used to be like before he got here. All he remembers is walking through the town with Claus. Something crashed into the back of his head, putting him unconscious. Whoever was keeping Lucas in that room chose to feed him. Lucas wasn't fed too much, but enough to survive.
Lucas wakes up. He had no blanket, no pillow, nothing. Lucas sits up, his bareback against the wall, and rubs his tired eyes. They never gave Lucas clothes, but at the same time, no one ever saw him. He's been in this room alone, with no one but the two hands that pop into the room to give him his plate of greens. Lucas had gotten into such a habit that he knows exactly when the hands pop in without directly knowing the time of day.
"5..." Lucas says under his breath. He stands up and scratches his wrist. "4..." Lucas starts to walk to the dark metal door. "3..." Lucas makes it to the door. The door had no opening to allow someone to look in or for Lucas to look out of. "2..." Lucas looks down. There was a small flap that could only open from the other side of the room. This flap opens. "1..." Something too big for the flap gets pushed into the room. Lucas looks at it, noticing that it's not food. It's clothes.
"Put them on, and quick," a voice from outside says. Lucas nods to himself and puts the clothes on. While putting them on, Lucas noticed the outfit was a tuxedo. They were dressing him up. Lucas kneels down to put on the dress shoes. They're not his type of shoe, but he doesn't have many other choices. He stands up.
"Ok..." A few seconds later and the door opens. Lucas saw a rough-looking man. A man with a large eye patch over his left eye and very messy brown hair. The man just looks at Lucas. He chuckles to himself and turns down the hall.
"Follow me." He walks off, knowing full well that Lucas will follow. Lucas exits the room but looks in the opposite direction in the hall. He saw more darkness and more doors that probably leads to more people. He shakes his head and follows the man. They turn a corner and see light in the far distance. Lucas hasn't seen light in a while, and so the light was blinding him. They soon make it to the stairs at the bottom of the light. Both of them stop walking. Lucas covers his eyes from the blinding light. A few minutes pass. "You fine?"
"Yea." The man nods and walks into the light. Lucas follows. They enter the circular room. Lucas sees a large door in front of him. He looks up and sees that the upper part of the room's wall was all glass. There were people looking down at him, with judging faces. A few of the faces start whispering to each other. Lucas's eyes stop at a rather young woman. She has blonde hair and a red blouse. She seems apologetic about the situation Lucas is in. The man grabs Lucas's arm and holds it up, showing a small number at the base of his wrist. 1342. Right next to the number was a price. $200.
"Here we have Lucas Hayes. He's a sixteen-year-old boy, he's been with us since he was three, so you can be sure he's raised to perfection. The starting bid is $200." Right as he finishes, a small buzz chimes through the room.
"$5,000," a small, young voice came. Lucas looks up and sees that it was the blonde woman who gave the large bid. She gives a smile, this smile sends a wave of warmth through his body. Another buzz chimes before the man could open his mouth.
"$100,000," A rough man says as he glares at the woman. The woman growls and chimes her buzz.
"$1 million." The man jumps back. A long moment of silence stays there until the man that brought Lucas speaks.
"Well, it looks like Caron Fawkes wins the bid. Please come down and collect him," he says. Carol nods and rushes down. The large doors open and Carol rushes in. She stops in front of Lucas. She kneels down and unlocks the ankle cuffs that Lucas never noticed he had. Carol stands up and smiles at Lucas. "Now hurry, we need to bring the next thing in." Carol grabs Lucas's arm and walks him through the doors. They take a right and walk up a load of stairs. They soon exit the dark building and enter a pleasant looking neighborhood. Lucas grins at the sight of grass and the blue sky. They don't stop walking, however, they soon make it to a car. The car wasn't too extravagant, especially for someone who just spent one million dollars.
Carol opens the car and issues for Lucas to get in. Lucas bows and enters. She closes the door and enters into the driver's seat. She looks back at Lucas. Lucas is still in awe at the outside world. Carol giggles and sights right in her seat. "If you love the outside, you'll love my boy, Ness."
"I will?" Lucas asks in a gentle and sweet voice. Carol knows that most boys his age start to get a deeper voice, but Lucas's voice is just so gentle and young-sounding.
"Yea..." Carol starts the car and starts driving. "He plays baseball with his friends, I'm sure he'll love playing with you."
"I-I never had any friends."
"I'm not surprised. Those bastards kept you there since you were three. I can't even imagine what they were feeding you."
"I dunno, they said all I needed was the bare necessities."
"You know, for being stuck in the place for so long, you've got a decent vocabulary."
"When you're stuck in a single room your whole life, you have nothing but your own vocab to improve..." Lucas sighs. Carol recognizes this as a sad sigh. "So, why did you buy me?"
"It's Ness, somethings wrong with him. He seems so distant. His friends have tried to get through to him, and I've tried myself, but nothing has gotten through."
"And how would a stranger do anything different." Carol looks down as she stops at a red light.
"I'm desperate, I've tried everything." Lucas looks down at his number.
"I'll try my best ma'am."
"Just call me Carol."
"Ok, Carol, I'll try my best." Carol smiles and looks back up.
"Thank you, Lucas." They soon make it to a large mansion. Carol exits the car and notices Lucas was still in it. She walks over to his side and opens the door. Lucas leaves and looks at her.
"What am I?"
"You're just a boy who'll live with us." Lucas tilts his head. Carol smiles and walks toward the front door. The door was after a large number of stairs.
"I already know I hate stairs," Lucas says as he starts to walk up them. Carol giggles.
"Just like Ness." Carol opens the door with newfound hope. She looks back at Lucas who is a little nervous. "Come on." Lucas nods and steps into the large home. He looks around the foyer of the mansion. He scratches the back of his neck. Carol closes the door and walks to Lucas. "Ness's room is up these stairs and at the end of the left hall." Lucas tilts his head. "Tell him it's time to eat." Lucas nods and walks up the stairs at the side of the foyer. He turns to the left hall and sees Ness's room at the end. It has the same door as any of the other rooms. He walks over and stops in front of the door. He knocks on the door.
"Please, go away," a teenage voice says. Lucas notices his voice was definitely somber. His voice also shows he's lonely.
"Um, your mom said it's time to eat."
"..." There is a small moment of silence from the room. Lucas was about to knock on the door once more, but as he is about to knock on it, the door opens. Lucas sees a black-haired boy. His hair is very frizzly, showing he's been in his bed all day. His clothes are also rather messy. His striped tee was slightly stuck in his jean shorts. His face is in a surprised mess. Ness tilts his head. "Who're you?"
"I'm us...Lucas."
"Ok, but who are you?" Lucas looks down, thinking. Should he tell him the truth?
"I-I don't really know." Ness also looks down.
"Yea, I know that feeling all too well." Lucas into Ness's room. It looks rather average. Nothing inside it makes it seem like he's abnormal. Lucas looks at Ness and tilts his head. He opens his mouth to say something but decides to walk back instead. Before fully getting out of the hallway he stops and looks back.
"Can you take me to the dining room, or wherever you eat." Ness gives a single chuckle and walks forward.
"Come on." Ness's fragile voice seems to break out of its own shell, very slightly. With Ness's help, they are able to walk through the house. Ness subconsciously gives Lucas a home tour, showing him every little bit of the mansion. Ness doesn't realize it until they both stop in the kitchen. Ness shakes his head as he sees Lucas's clearly tired look. "You must not walk a lot, huh?"
"Yea...I'm not used...to walking...this much," Lucas says between breaths. Ness smirks and walks to the table. He looks around and sees his mom enter the door to his left. She has two metal domes in each hand. She slides one off in front of Lucas and another on the opposite end of the table. Lucas just stands at the side of the wall, not fully knowing what to do. Carol looks up toward Lucas.
"Well, you better get here before your food is hot," Carol says.
"Me?" Lucas asks, pointing at him.
"No, clearly she's talking about the ghost in front of you...take your seat," Ness rushes Lucas. Lucas runs over to the other end of the table. He notices Ness was holding his hand to the small handle on the top of the dome. "At the same time?" Lucas grabs the handle and nods. In unison, they take off the domes to expose steaming steaks with some milky Macaroni and Cheese on the side.
"I didn't know what you liked Lucas, so I made Ness's favorite," Carol says. She walks to the door and prepares to leave. "I hope you like it." Ness cuts a small bit of the steak off and bits it. He did that while looking directly at Lucas. Lucas gulps and does what Ness had done. Ness swallows the bite.
"So, how much did my mom pay for you?"
"Wha?"
"Oh please, my mom has tried to do this a number of times. Trying to make me "feel" better or whatever." Lucas looks down at the steak and just bites into it. Ness giggles. He sits back in the chair and smirks. "You're definitely the weirdest of the people she's bought." Lucas swallows the big bite but refuses to look up at him.
"I'm sorry." Ness's face grows concerned. He can tell Lucas hasn't faced much of anything. Lucas's skin shows he hasn't been out in the sun for much. Ness shakes his head.
"She's never bought a boy before." Lucas finally looks up at Ness's guilt-ridden face. Lucas's own sorrow starts to drain when he sees Ness's smile. "Wonder what she has up her sleeve."
"...your mom is wrong." Lucas takes another large bite of the steak, still not bothering with cutting a piece off.
"How so?" Ness asks, cutting a piece off and putting it in his mouth. They stare at each other as they both chew on their pieces of steak. They both swallow in unison.
"There isn't anything wrong with you." Ness very slightly smirks. He shoves the rest of the steak into his mouth. Lucas also rushes with eating the steak but is very slow. Despite being slow, Ness purposely waits for Lucas to finish before walking to him. Ness has his plate in his hands and is smiling at Lucas. Lucas tilts his head.
"Come on, there's something I want to show you."
"You're not gonna chop me up and feed me to the demons, are you?"
"..."
"..."
"...well, I have Satan on speed dial so I'm sure I can arrange something." The two boys laugh slightly as they walk to the kitchen door. Carol, who stands outside of one of the doors to the dining room, smiles as she hears the laughter. This laughter was unlike any of the laughter she's heard from the previous attempts to help Ness. Perhaps the fact Lucas is a boy is the differing key, or perhaps his personality being able to complement Ness's. Either way, Carol was very proud that she spent the million dollars on this boy. That's when a possibility pops into his head, and this could explain why Ness has been distant.
Ness's hands are over Lucas's eyes as they walk through the mansion. They soon exit the mansion. Ness breaths in the fresh air. Lucas tilts his head, still with Ness's hands over his eyes. "Ready?" Ness asks.
"Umm, no."
"Too bad." Ness removes his hands to show Lucas where they are. They're in a simple baseball field. Lucas looks back and sees they are relatively close to the mansion. He turns back to the field.
"What is this?"
"This is where I spend most of my time." Ness runs forward and stops at home base. He picks up a bat that was lying there and smirks toward Lucas. Ness just gets a confused look from him. "Do you not know what Baseball is?" Lucas looks down, feeling disappointed. Ness sighs and drops the bat. He runs over to Lucas. "Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry I don't know what Baseball is." Ness shakes his head. Lucas only starts to feel more disappointed about Ness's silence. Ness grabs Lucas's chin and moves his head up.
"It's alright, don't worry. Want me to show you?" Lucas thinks it over for a little bit, before nodding, accidentally crashing his head into Ness's. They both bounce back and fall on the floor. Lucas feels more guilt, but it drains out of him when he hears Ness's giggles. "You're an odd one, Lucas." Lucas raises a confused eyebrow. Ness jumps up and extends his hand toward Lucas. Lucas grabs it and Ness lifts him up. Ness walks Lucas-still holding his hand-to home base. He picks up the bat and hands it to Lucas. Ness then backs up. "Swing."
"Swing?" Ness nods and Lucas adjusts his grip on the bat. He swings, but his grip still isn't strong enough to stay in his hands. The bat flies away from both boys. They both just watch as it flies through the sky and lands on the ground, nearly colliding with the house.
"Maybe Baseball isn't your thing."
"You think?" Lucas asks, slightly more comfortable than before. Ness tries to think of something. Before he can finish he sees Lucas running toward the bat. Ness sees Lucas pick the bat up and slowly run toward the base. He swings once more, and just like last time it flies out of his hands. He does this ten times, each ending the same. Ness was noting all the hard work Lucas was putting into something he's clearly never done before. Lucas was sweating, his heart was racing, and he could barely stand. He's never run as much as he was doing now, in fact, he's never run in 13 years. Lucas tries to go for another swing, but Ness grabs onto the bat before he could complete the swing.
"Why're you trying so hard?"
"You like Baseball, I want to be able to do what you like."
"How far are you willing to go?" Ness lets go of the bat and the fragility of Lucas's legs becomes known to him. Lucas tumbles forward. Ness sees Lucas struggling to even stay on his hands and knees. Even with that struggle, Lucas stands up. His knees were still shaking. He prepares the bat and tries to go for another swing, but once more Ness grabs the bat. Lucas looks at him. "You're clearly not fit for this." Lucas grows disappointed. For some reason, Ness smiles. He gently takes the bat from Lucas's hands and puts his left arm over his neck and walks him back to the mansion. They walk up the nearby stairs and through the back hallway. They soon make it to Ness's room. Ness puts Lucas down in his bed. Lucas just looks at him.
"What're you?" Ness shakes his head.
"Stay here. You need some calcium, I'll get you some milk." Ness runs out of the room and down to the kitchen. He opens the fridge to see a gallon of milk. He grabs it. When he closes the fridge he sees Tracy standing there. Ness jumps back. "When did you get there?" Tracy tilts her head.
"I heard mom bought another person." Ness shakes his head. He turns around to grab a glass cup.
"Pretty hard not to notice a million missing." Ness pours milk in the cup until it is half-filled. Ness put the milk back. Tracy was still standing there, making Ness slightly uncomfortable. "You need something?"
"I can't remember the last time we spoke like this."
"Huh...well, bye." Ness grabs the cup and quickly walks off. Tracy just watches Ness. Ness gets back to his room. He places the cup of milk on the nightstand. He also notices the dirt on the tuxedo. He unties the tie and unbuttons the vest. "Take your clothes off."
"...what."
"Ugh, I doubt it's comfortable in that damn suit, so I'm getting you other clothes."
"But I wasn't given underwear."
"Unless you got some demon in your pants I won't be surprised what you have in there."
"Hopefully someone will call it a demon," Lucas giggles to himself. Ness rolls his eyes and turns to the dressers by the door.
"Just do it." Ness looks through his drawers. He grabs a red and yellow striped shirt and a similar pair of jean shorts. "You ok with using one of my pairs of underwear? I promise they're clean."
"Definitely cleaner than this, so sure." Ness nods and grabs a random pair. He closes the drawer and sees his hat on the ground. He kneels downs and realizes he's never had his hat on. That's usually his way of feeling more comfortable. Instead of putting the hat on he just places it on the dresser. He turns and sees Lucas sitting on the bed, his clothes on the ground. He can't help but grow a small blush. Despite just meeting him he can't help but admit there's something about him he likes. But something that catches his eyes is the fact his ribs are seen through his skin. Ness walks forward and reaches to touch one of the ribs. Lucas-a little nervous-allows Ness to touch one. Ness looks up.
"I don't think this is healthy." Lucas looks down and shakes his head.
"Nothing they did was healthy." Ness looks down to think, but due to what's down there he instantly shoots back up in a blushing mess.
"H-here put these on. I-I'll be waiting for you outside." Lucas nods. Ness retreats out of the room. He lets out a deep breath.
"Never heard you stutter," Tracy says. Ness looks up at her. "Are you...blushing?" Ness covers his face with his hands.
"N-no. Shuddup." Tracy giggles.
"So, mom's theory is true?" Lucas lowers his hands.
"Her what?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Ness, I'm ready," Lucas says from inside the room. Ness looks at the door to his room.
"Go ahead, best not to keep him waiting." Ness nods and walks in. He sees Lucas standing up in the clothes Ness gave him. He extends his arms on either side of him, showing himself to Ness.
"How do I look?" Ness tilts his head to observe him better. He smirks.
"You look great, now drink your milk." Lucas chuckles and grabs the cup of milk. He drinks the milk, leaving some in the iconic milk mustache. Ness just giggles more and walks toward him. He wipes the milk off his upper lips with his thumb. Ness finally gets to actually look in Lucas's eyes. The blue that's as deep as an ocean allows Ness to get lost in them. While, at the same time, Lucas gets lost in the spacey purple eyes of Ness.
A few weeks pass. Ness has been out of school to make sure Lucas gets more physically healthy. Ness can still feel Lucas's ribs, but they are significantly less visible. Lucas's bones also seem to be stronger. He can run further and do more things in general without the worry of his own bones giving in. Lucas is also getting used to staying out in the sun since all of his training is out there. Today was raining though, so they were training indoors. There was a knock at Ness's door. He jumps from the bed he and Lucas share to open the door. He sees his mom standing there. "Hey, hun."
"Hiya." Ness and his family have also been getting closer together. Ness hasn't seen his friends since Lucas came, however. Carol reaches into her pocket. She brings up two reservation tickets. "What's this?" Ness asks as he is given the two tickets.
"You two have been working hard, so I thought to award you guys. Those tickets are for the popular restaurant, The Mario Trio. Ness chuckles to himself then pulls Carol into a large hug.
"Thanks, mom." Carol looks at the bed and sees Lucas. Lucas was still working. He was just training his grip on a small handheld machine.
"You're welcome Ness, now go have a good time." Their hug breaks and Carol leaves. Ness turns to Lucas, who has yet to stop his training. Ness walks over and gently takes the machine from his hand.
"Come on, break time." Lucas nods. The two of them dress up to walk through the rain. They decide to wear basic color tears with sweatpants. They also put on raincoats. Lucas has a black one and Ness has a white one. The two of them walk out of the mansion. Lucas looks down the dreadful steps.
"I hate stairs..." the two of them say in unison. They both grow a grin as they walk down the steps. They use their raincoats' hats rather than worrying about an umbrella. The rain wasn't that powerful anyway. Lucas is able to smell the rain, and the smell is strangely comforting. He also finds the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground or the puddles as relaxing as well.
"I love the rain," Lucas says with slightly more excitement than he meant. Ness giggles. He pats Lucas's wet back and nods.
"Yea, the rain is cool. But you're still rather weak so I don't want you to get sick. Come on," Ness grabs into Lucas's left hand and they run. Unlike before, Lucas is able to keep up to Ness. He's still slower, but it's not as painful as before, which is the important part. They soon make it to the overhang that belongs to the Mario Trio. Lucas shakes off some of the water, shooting some into Ness's face. As revenge, Ness purposely shakes himself solely to shoot water into Lucas's face.
"Touche," Lucas says. They take off their raincoats and walk into the restaurant. They instantly see Mario behind the counter. He smiles but his face stops on Ness.
"It's-a been a while," Mario says. Ness nods and hands him the two tickets. Mario's eyes stop on Lucas and he chuckles. "Carol told-a me about this. We already have a table for-a you." Mario walks from the counter and leads the two boys through the place. They make it to a very special reserve-only room where the walls remember that of space and the ocean, rather than the normal Italian flag colored walls. "Luigi will-a be here to take-a your order."
"Thanks, Mario," Ness says. Mario pats the two boys' shoulders and walks off. Ness turns to Lucas, who was admiring the scenery of the wall. He then notices that it wasn't just the walls, but the floor and the roof. The floor and a little less than half of the walls are based on the wavy ocean. The rest of the walls and roof are based on a starry night. Lucas grins at the sight. "This is the closest we'll ever get to the ocean." Lucas is still in awe when Luigi comes back with the menus. He hands one to both boys. They both order and Lucas's awe is finally over. He looks at Ness.
"This place is great."
"Right! I love it, I haven't been here in a while though."
"How come?" Ness looks at Lucas. Something about him, and the commitment they both have shown to his training, that makes it seem like Ness can say anything to him without a single worry. Ness looks down.
"Before you came I was having...personality issues, you can say."
"Personality?" Ness nods. He gulps as he rubs his wrists. Lucas thinks for a moment before reaching across the table to grab his hands. Ness looks up. He just sees Lucas's smile, the smile he knows can make anyone happy. Ness chuckles which tells Lucas to let go of Ness.
"For a long time, I didn't know if I liked girls or not. While trying to figure it out I became a shut-in, in a way. I played Baseball with my friends, but I was always distracted." Lucas nods. He sits back in his chair and closes his eyes.
"You have an answer?"
"Mhm." Lucas quickly opens his eyes, surprised to hear he does have one. "I don't...I don't like girls in that way." Lucas grins.
"I'm glad you found it."
"It's because of you," Ness winks. Before Lucas can ask what he means, Luigi comes to drop off their food. They eat, with Ness talking about his past, and quickly finish. Ness puts the money on the table, with a rather large tip, and leads Lucas out of the room. They soon make it out of the building. They start to walk home but then a voice, familiar to Ness, calls to them. Ness looks around and sees Ninten running their way. Next to him was his boyfriend, Claus. Lucas turns and Claus's eyes go wide.
"Yo, where you been?" Ninten asks, reaching his hand toward Ness. They give each other a unique handshake where they start it off normal then slap each other's cheeks.
"Umm, that's odd," Lucas says. Claus walks toward Lucas.
"Lucas?" he asks, surprised. Lucas backs up in worry.
"D-do I know you?"
"You know Lucas?" Ness asks.
"Yea..." Claus slowly says, now amazed to see Lucas here. Ninten walks to his side. Ninten doesn't recognize him,
"Is he like some ex-boyfriend or something."
"...no, he's my brother."
"Brother?!" Ness and Lucas question. Claus reaches into his pocket and grabs a small golden amulet. This amulet was in the shape of a star, with a circular picture in the middle. The picture was a family photo. Lucas sees someone who looks like him.
"Is that?" Lucas asks.
"Now that you mention it, you look awfully alike," Ness says. He stops his eyes on Ness. "I didn't know you had a brother."
"Me neither." Claus looks down. Ninten pats his back, trying his best to comfort him.
"He told me someone in his family went missing, I guess he means you." Lucas reaches for the amulet, and Claus allows him to take it. Lucas glares at who he assumes to be a younger version of him. He's never seen his family. A tear falls from his eye and right onto his younger self's face. He feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up and sees Ness.
"Remember what you told me last week?"
"Breathe?" Ness nods. He gives an exaggerated breath in and out. Lucas copies the exaggerated breaths. He looks back down at the picture and a memory finally comes to him.
It was the two of them, playing in the park. They had a little puppy playing with them. Lucas had fallen, scraping his knee. He started crying frantically, but Claus stayed calm. He was able to lessen the pain by pouring some medicated water in his wound. Their parents were the nervous type so the two of them always had bandaids and the like. After Lucas's pain was done Claus put a bandaid on it. Lucas pulled Claus into a hug and thanked him.
Lucas looks up at Claus. His head is still bowed. "Claus?" Lucas asks. Claus looks up, tears falling down his face. Each tear combines on the ground to form a small puddle. "I'm sorry I forgot." Lucas then pulls Claus into a hug, tears of joy escorting themselves down his face. They pull away and Claus haphazardly wipes his own tears away.
"Wanna see mom and dad? We've been waiting forever," Claus asks. Lucas looks at Ness.
"Can he come?"
"Of course." Ness smiles and walks beside Lucas. Claus leads the group, still not sure if he's in a dream or not. He repeatedly looks back to make sure Lucas is actually there and not just in his head, despite Ninten telling him Lucas is following.
"Hey?" Ness whispers. He doesn't get a response from Lucas. "I'm sure this is a lot for you, but I've got a question...about us." Lucas turns to Ness.
"What do you mean?"
"N-nevermind. Forget I said anything." Lucas tilts his head but soon grows a smile.
"Well, this is the best date I've ever been on...but I guess it's also my first." Ness opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Claus.
"We're here," Claus says. Lucas looks at the average looking house. Claus walks to him. He grabs Lucas's hands and tears once again overwhelm his eyes.
"You're crying again." Claus chuckles as he cries. He wipes the tears with his bicep.
"I'm sorry." He clears his throat and walks up to the door. He knocks on it.
"At least there's no stairs."
"Right," Ness laughs. Ninten put his head in between Ness and Lucas.
"So, you've been with this boy the entire time?" Ninten asks.
"Mhm."
"Well then, he must really enjoy your company," Ninten says tapping Lucas's nose. Ninten did this fully knowing it'll make Ness jealous a bit. He giggles as he hears the door to the house open. Hinawa, Claus's mom, stands in the doorway.
"Claus, I didn't expect you here so early," she says in her sweet voice.
"Mom, look who it is," Claus says. He steps aside at the time when Ninten pushes Lucas right up to the door. Lucas looks back, ready to fight back, but decides not to. He looks up at Hinawa, her face going blank for a bit. She backs up into the house and calls for Flint. Flint walks to the door and sees Lucas. His emotions get the better of him and he pulls Lucas into a bear hug. Lucas groans from the pain.
"Sir, Lucas is very weak, it's best not to do that," Ness brings up. Flint loosens the hug as Hinawa walks forward.
"Where was he?" she asks.
"I don't know, my mom never told me. But, wherever he was, they never gave him necessary food or sunlight, or pretty much anything he needed." Flint lets go of Lucas. He puts his hand on Lucas's chest and feels his ribs. He stands up and looks at Ness.
"Ness has helped you?" he asks.
"Yup, for the past few weeks." Flint smiles and walks to Ness.
"I...thank you. Thank you very much." Ness sees the tears overflowing in his eyes. Hinawa gives Lucas a big kiss on the cheek.
"I'm so glad you're safe," Hinawa says. Lucas wraps his arms around Hinawa.
"Mom..." He quietly says. When she hears that her tears go turbo. She soon lets go of him and allows everyone in the house. Flint rushes up to the attic and grabs a photobook. He sits on Lucas's left with Clucas on his right, and Hinawa next to him. Flint opens the book and shows Lucas his baby pictures. Instead of looking at it, he looks for Ness.
"What're you looking for?" Claus asks.
"Ness, I want him to see," Lucas says, slightly worried to be without him. Ness comes over and sits in front of Lucas, grabbing his hands to comfort him. Now that Ness has his hands Lucas looks at his baby pictures.
"Why do you want Ness to see?" Flint asks as he flips the page to a picture of them at Alec's house.
"Well...It's only natural for me to want my boyfriend to see these."
"Boy...boyfriend?" Ness questions. Lucas nods and Ness smiles. He closes the book so he can hug Lucas. He hugs Lucas the way he likes it. Lucas's arms over Ness's shoulders and Ness's arms under Lucas's arms. Their heads were right next to each other. "I'm...ok with that."
Next month Lucas walks over to Ness's mansion. Ness opens the door. "Hey boo," Ness greets.
"Ugh, hi," Lucas groans. He stumbles into the mansion. He plops down on the white couch and groans inside a cushion.
"Um, ok." Ness closes the door and walks to him. "What's up with you?"
"I HATE SCHOOL!" Lucas yells in the cushion.
"Everyone does," Ness says, rubbing his hand up and down his back.
"Well, unlike you, I have to go to physical therapy after, I get no rest. I HATE IT!"
"But, it's necessary." Lucas groans as he sits up. He put his legs on either side of Ness. Ness puts his arms on the couch and looks at Lucas.
"I know, but it's really annoying. Claus has been a bitch too."
"How come?"
"He says he's being the douchey older brother, 'making up for the years I was gone' he says." Ness chuckles. Ness kisses Lucas's chin and stands up.
"Well, it's in the older brother bible." Lucas crosses his arms and his legs.
"Yea? Where?"
"Chapter 8 section 2b: Thou shall be a bitch to those younger." Lucas laughs which is enough to calm him of all the work he's done today. "Anyway, wanna go upstairs and lay down. Mom finally got Crunchyroll." Lucas jumps up, pushing Ness down.
"Hell yeah!" Lucas excitedly says. He then runs off as if he owns the place. Ness chuckles to himself as he starts to walk his way.
"You've sure grown a lot," he says under his breath.
"Hurry your ass up."
"OK, OK, sheesh, I'm coming." Ness starts to run and makes it to his room. Lucas is already laying in the bed, prepared to binge-watch whatever's interesting. Ness looks at the door he'd normally close, and decides to ignore it. He lays in bed with Lucas and starts the binge.