Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 39 - Unfair

Slowly, Lucas took the phone. He had no idea why Mallory Montgomery was calling him for the first time ever on this Sunday night, but judging by the dread in his stomach and Mark's furrowed brow, it wasn't anything good.

"Hello?" He said, more of a question than a greeting.

"Finally." Came a sharp, frustrated voice on the other end, one Lucas was learning to recognise with dread. "It's about Damien."

Immediately, Lucas felt himself start to panic. Mallory couldn't be calling him for any good reason. She hated him, or something very close to hate, and Lucas was already starting to try and guess what scheme this was. Maybe she'd gotten back together with Damien, and was here to gloat. Maybe she knew some terrible secret he didn't.

"What's happened? Is he okay?"

"Of course he's not okay, Christ, do you think I'm calling because I want to talk to you?" Mallory took a deep breath, already exasperated with the conversation. "Alright. Shut up, and listen. Because I'm such a nice person, I'm going to give you a chance to fix whatever the fuck you've just done. I'm with Damien now, at Radfield Park. By the cliff, I know you know where it is. I'm going to give you a choice. You can come here, talk to him, make out with him, I don't care, just fix it. Or you can leave him alone, permanently. Because if I'm being really, really charitable, I'm guessing you might want to fix things. But if you don't, and you really were just playing with him, I don't want to hear him say your name ever again. Okay?"

That was quite the ultimatum. Lucas glanced to his desk, thinking of all the plans he could've made, all the preparation he could've had for this moment. But maybe it hadn't been preparation at all, he wondered. Maybe he'd just been stalling, too scared to try and talk to Damien. Barricading himself in with strategies and backup plans because the prospect that he could get this wrong, and lose Damien forever, was terrifying. He'd have to take a leap of faith. He didn't trust Mallory, but she sounded serious,

"Okay." Lucas stood up, already searching for a pair of shoes.

"So?"

"I'm coming."

"Really?" Lucas tried not to be offended by the disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, really. I'll be there in twenty minutes." Lucas checked his watch. It was just past ten. The buses would still be running, at least.

"Okay. You'd better not screw this up, Lucas, or I'll make sure the rest of your time at school is as miserable as possible. Do you know what it's like, to have a rumour spread about you that's not true? Something really awful, something that makes people stare at you when you walk by and stop talking when you get close enough, and you know they were talking about you? It's a lie, but nobody will believe you when you tell them. Do you know what that's like?"

"No...?" Lucas answered. In his case, the rumour had been true.

"Do you want to find out?"

"No pressure, then." Lucas muttered, wedging the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he put on his shoes. Usually, he wouldn't have taken a threat like that very seriously, but Mallory sounded like she meant it.

"I'm not kidding. Hurry up and get here. He's...not doing too well, and I'm worried."

That did make Lucas go faster, tying his laces as quickly as he possibly could and ducking past Mark to run down the stairs, footsteps quick on the carpeted hallway. Damien was in trouble. He wasn't well. Lucas had to be there. "Why are you helping me?"

Because it wasn't as if Mallory liked him, she'd made that abundantly clear. In fact, by the tone of her voice, Lucas thought she would've honestly preferred to slap him into next week. But still, she was helping. She was giving him a chance.