A deep groan left Lucas's mouth as he awoke to the sound of crickets chirping around him. He could feel his body ache from his earlier training and what he could assume were various bug bites and sunburn. While he was still dazed and a little confused, he realized that he was still outside in the dark. He looked around puzzled, wondering where everyone was or if they just left him out here to sleep.
"What the hell happened? Did mom forget to bring me inside or something?" He began to question as the back of his neck started to hurt. He sluggishly began to walk towards the house in a weak shuffle as his body was still aching from the pain. "Jeez. How long did I sleep out here." He mumbled to himself.
After a sluggish walk, Lucas found that the front door was unlocked and slightly opened. He carefully walked through the door, shielding his eyes from the light as they tried to focus, and slowly adjusted to the change. He first made his way to the kitchen and grabbed himself a large glass of water. Lucas chugged the first glass as if he had just walked through the desert, and after his second glass, he took a deep breath as he could feel the cold water rush throughout his body.
Lucas then realized he could hear the TV going off in the living room. He filled himself another glass of water and slowly made his way into the living room. When he got there, he could see old-school cartoons were being played on the TV. His attention then turned to the couch where he saw the red hair of his Demi-partner and somewhat roommate.
"I see you made it back inside," Amay said from the other side of the couch in a monotone voice. She didn't look at him but knew he was there.
"Yeah...I kinda woke up outside." He said, first noticing her voice seemed different. Instead of being either prideful, full of energy, or smug, she seemed sad and distant. It made him shift a little. Lucas then looked around for a moment, still confused but noticing someone was messing. "Hey. Have you seen my mom? I kinda want to talk to her about leaving me outside like that."
"Huh? Oh. She's upstairs asleep." Amay said as if she zoned back into their conversation. Her sad tone caused Lucas to feel her gloominess engulf the room she was in. "She drunk a little too much, so I found and helped her upstairs into her bed."
"Oh, okay," Lucas answered, not fully sure what to say. He didn't expect his mom to drink herself to sleep since she was in such a good mood earlier. He began to shift and itch as Amay's silence and the room became unbearable to be around. "Well, I guess I'm heading to bed then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Lucas. " Amay said in her sad voice again.
As Lucas was about to turn around and head upstairs, he could feel the voice in the back of his head began to speak up. He felt his chest tighten up a little, and a sad, guilty feeling started to spread in his heart. Letting out a sigh, Lucas turned back to where Amay was.
"Hey, Amay. Are you alright?"
Amay went silent for a moment before answering. "Yeah. I'm fine." Amay said, trying to lie.
Another sigh left Lucas's mouth as he immediately picked up that she wasn't. He knew that feeling of just wanting to be alone. Whenever someone asked him if he was fine, he would say the exact same thing. For a moment, he hesitated, but he began to walk to the other side of the couch and looked over at Amay.
Amay had her legs on the couch, with the bear still held tightly in her arms. Her hair was a mess as she had tear streaks down her face from when she was crying. The light that filled her bright red eyes was replaced with dull, lifeless ones that watched the TV. Lucas almost felt a tear come from his own eyes as her sadness was seemingly spreading to him. He took a deep breath before placing his glass on the table, sat on the far end of the couch, and started to watch TV with her.
"I thought you were heading to bed," Amay recalled as she continued to watch the cartoon.
"I'm not really that tired. Besides, this is one of my favorite episodes." Lucas answered carefully, not trying to make her feel uncomfortable.
"Yeah. This is a funny cartoon." Amay said, letting out a dry chuckle when the wolf exploded from his own trap.
They both sat there watching tv for a few moments before Amay spoke up once again.
"Lucas...Do you think I'm a monster?" Amay hesitantly asked him all of a sudden as her red eyes looked towards him.
"Why do you ask?" Lucas asked, trying to understand what she said before giving her a straight answer.
"Me and Lizzy had a fight, and I said some unkind stuff to her." Amay slowly started to open to him.
"Did you mean to say it?" Lucas asked.
"I.....I don't know. I didn't want to say those words, but a part of me did. But, I didn't want to." Amay said as another tear ran down her face. She remembered the shocked look on Elizabeth's face when she snapped at her. Amay could feel it in her own body as she didn't want to say those words.
"It sounds like you were just hurt. You didn't mean to say it, but your feelings got the better of you. You were hurt, right?" Lucas tried to reassure her. "I'm sure my mom won't hold it against you."
"Do you think so?" Amay said, taking her eyes fully off of the TV to look at Lucas.
Lucas could see her eyes were even redder from her crying so much. He could see her arms tighten around the bear a little more. "I'm sure of it. She probably felt guilty as well from whatever happened between you two. And y'all are the best of friends. I don't understand whatever had happened, but I'm sure this won't change her feelings towards you."
"You think so?" Amay asked as the light slowly came back into her eyes. She then remembered all of the reckless mistakes she had made and how Elizabeth would get mad, but she always made sure she was alright. "I just feel bad for saying such awful things to her. I didn't want to hurt her, even when she hurt me."
"And that's fine to feel that way. It shows that you felt bad for saying it. Why don't you try apologizing to her about it." Lucas continued.
"Maybe....what if she doesn't want to forgive me?" Amay asked, feeling her doubts kick in.
"Then start small. Nothing gets fixed with just words or a day, but you two can talk your problems out. It all takes time." Lucas said as a small smile came across his face.
"Do you think so?" Amay said as she placed the bear down and moved a little closer to Lucas.
"You won't know until you try," Lucas suggested while shrugging his arms.
"You're really wise, Lucas," Amay said as she crawled on the couch towards Lucas.
"Well, I-" Lucas was about to say something but was caught off guard when he felt a warm feeling on his lips. His eyes went wide as he realized that Amay was kissing him. He almost lost his balance on the couch as he was shocked at what she was doing.
"She smells sweet. And her lips. They are so soft and taste like cherries. " Lucas thought to himself as he felt himself wanting to give in to the kiss, but he couldn't. He hesitated but found the strength to grabbed her arms and pulled her away. A small trail of saliva left both of their lips as they began breathing heavily. He then saw Amay open her eyes with her face blushing a light red.
"Why...Why did you stop me?" She asked, visibly confused.
"I...I...can't, Amay. This feels wrong. I just can't." Lucas fumbled on his words as his own face started to turn red as well. He then took his arms off her as he didn't want to hurt her.
"But don't you want this? I remember the way you looked at me that night." Amay said, trying to move closer to him to go in for another.
"Amay. Please stop." Lucas said, putting his foot down. He held her back as he tried to find his right words. He sat up straight and looked her in the eyes. "I did, but I couldn't. You felt vulnerable, and kissing you would have been wrong. Just like now. I don't want to take advantage of you while you're in despite state, just like on that night and even now. I never want to do that to any woman, no matter what. Even you. "
His words seemly touched Amay heart as she realized he did care about her. Tears began to feel her eyes more as she stopped. She then lashed out at him.
"Why do you care?! Don't you think I'm a monster as well?!" Amay said, avoiding eye contact with him before pushing herself back. She held her own arms as she turned her body away from him.
"I care....because...I want to know you more. At first, I thought you were a monster. But spending time with you made me realize I was wrong. The fair showed me a glimpse of who you were, and that night showed me, we were almost the same. Each day I felt like I'm starting to see you more differently than when we first met. If I can understand who you are, it would make working together a lot easier. So I want to know the girl in front of me. I want to know the real you," Lucas confessed to her. He could see the tear in her eyes had stopped as she listened to every word he said. His face started to blush as he felt weird for saying what he did.
"He's different," Amay told herself as she could feel her own fears and worries fade as she listened to everything he said. She felt like she could tell him anything, and he wouldn't judge her for it. Yet, she still felt her own worries hold her back. She felt like she could share one thing with him, at least.
Lucas watched Amay just looked at him before her face turned a little redder as she reached for her shirt. He watched as she hesitantly began to pull her shirt up. Out of reflex, Lucas avoided looking at her as she took off her shirt. He didn't know what she was doing, but he was preparing to tell her no again. He then felt a warm hand on his face and heard her kind voice speak to him.
"It's okay. You can look. I...want you too." Amay said as she gently guided his head toward her direction.
Lucas nervously took a breath as he went along with her hand as his face turned a little redder. He looked at her chest that was covered with a black bra. However, his main attention with to her scar that rested between her chest. It looked like a wound that finally had healed, but the large scar was still visible there. It ran down her sternum, between her breast, and stopping right before her stomach.
"Amay...I...I'm sorry," Lucas said, absolutely shocked. He then watched as Amay slowly shook her head as a small smile came across her face.
"It's fine. I had it since I was a baby. My...parents don't know what happened to me that left it or even how I got it. It makes me feel ugly and so uncomfortable and embarrassed when people see it. That's why I try my best to hide it." Amay told him while feeling embarrassed but wanted him to see it. She felt uncomfortable that he was staring at it so much, so she started to shift in her seat.
Lucas noticed this and stopped looking at her scar. "Sorry about that. Does...Does it still hurt?" He asked innocently.
"No, not really. But when I lose control, it does sting a little and glow," She answered, still trying not to look at him directly. "Do you want to touch it...The scar, I mean?"
"No. I wouldn't feel right doing so." Lucas said, holding up one hand at her. He then put it together on why she always wore stuff that hid her chest a lot more. He realized that she was embarrassed by it, yet she was allowing him to see it. His eyes went wide as the gears started to go off that this must have been extremely embarrassing for her to show this to him. "You can put your shirt back on if you want to."
"Oh. Okay." Amay said as she used her shirt to cover up her scar and chest.
"Amay?" Lucas said, grabbing her attention before she could put on her shirt. He then took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as his heart pumped a little faster. "May I see....your true form? The one with the horn."
"Su...sure," Amay answered, a little shocked. As they silently sat there, she took a deep breath and began to reveal her true self to him.
Lucas watched in awe as Amay appearance began to change. He watched as a horn sprout from her head, parting her hair. He then saw four fangs protrude from her mouth and watched her eyes go from white and red to black and red while her pupils seemed to stay the same. Outside of her surprising him to sleep in his room and the fight she had with Martha, Lucas thought her form was terrifying. However, seeing it closer and without being scared, it was cool amazing. He didn't realize that he had moved close to her to better look at her features.
Amay didn't know what to say or make of this as he got closer. She didn't see any fear in his face but pure curiosity. She then watched as he lifted one hand as if he wanted to touch her face but was hesitating. She gave him a silent nod as she watched him proceed to touch her horn. Since the horn just appeared, his touch felt very cold and caused a small gasp to leave her mouth.
"Whoa. It's so surreal. It feels rough but very smooth. This is cool." He said in disbelief before chuckling a little.
"Please don't make this weird," Amay told him as her face actually turned red as chills went throughout her whole body from his touch.
"Oh. My bad." Lucas said, focusing back on her. His eyes fully met hers again. He noticed that some of her hair was covering the left side of her face. This made him blush even more as he gazed into her black and red eyes. While they showed him a cold and menacing look, and they still freak him out, Lucas felt like he could look at them forever.
Without thinking, Lucas nervously used his hand to move Amay's hair out of her face. As soon as he saw her beautiful face better, he felt his heart skipped a beat and began to pump even faster. His hands began to feel sweaty, so he rubbed them on his pants. Both Amay and Lucas stared at each other for a solid second as the tension built. Their hearts began to pump in unison as they both leaned in forward and meet for a kiss, but Lucas accidentally bumped into her horn.
They pulled away for a second, both sharing a small chuckle at the moment. As they felt their tension lowered, they tried once more. Their lips met, and they shared their first proper kiss. As they broke for a small moment to move closer, Lucas felt his hand slowly find its way to Amay's hips/waist while Amay's hands rested on his shoulders and nearly touching his face.
As a few minutes had passed, both of them pulled away and placed their head on each other. Their hearts beat in unison as they tried to each their own breath. Many thoughts had passed through their minds, but all of them washed away for that pure moment and experience.
"Amay?" Lucas spoke up.
"Yea?"
"Can we keep this between us? I would hate for the others to find out. Especially my mom." Lucas confessed.
"Only if we can do it again,"
"Only if you promise to talk to me if you have any more problems?" Lucas said, still worried about her.
Amay didn't say anything but went in for another kiss as a way to seal their promise together. When she placed both hands on his face, she felt him do the same and brought her in close to savor this moment better.