King of My Heart

16. Teach Me

"I'm wondering the same thing," Lucy said from the doorway of Tim's chambers. She wanted to talk to him after sort of getting back together with Chris...that was complicated, but she heard Angela's loud voice booming through the hallway before she could reach him. Every emotion flashed through her quickly- shock, confusion, heartache...but all that remained was the anger and sadness.

Tim just looked at her, completely surprised. Finally, he tried to piece together his thoughts, "Lucy...I..."

"No more lies, Tim!" Her footsteps were loud as she strutted into the room.

"I'm...sorry!" Tim tried to say.

"I'm just gonna go," Angela said awkwardly and crept out the door, but unbeknownst to them, she stayed in the hallway to eavesdrop.

"You're sorry? For what exactly? Are you sorry you got caught? Are you sorry you lied about not remembering what I said? Wait, does that mean..." Lucy's eyes shifted around the room and whispered "you remember that I kissed you, don't you?"

He clenched his jaw tightly and did not even think he could nod his response, but she clearly gathered his meaning based on the fact her eyes looked even MORE sad somehow.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Her frustration flared.

"Look, I was...trying to protect you!" Tim finally spat out.

Lucy walked up close to him and said in a severe tone, "I'm not like one of those queens or princesses in a fairy tale. I don't need you to protect me. And if you think LYING to me is the best way to do that, then I don't want your protection!"

Tim studied her furious expression, but those eyes were shining with pain. "I'm really sorry," he whispered.

She stepped back to get some space, because beyond the rage, she noticed that standing so close to him did not elicit the usual heat she had grown accustomed to; even Lucy's body did not want to be near him. "Unless it's not during a Parliament meeting, I don't want to talk to you. I don't even want to see you." Lucy walked towards the door but stopped to add, "And, the kitchen is all yours. I'm never going back down there again," acid was dripping in her voice.

He just stood there. Dumbfounded. Everything had gotten so much worse, and he knew he only had himself to blame; he felt queasy, and exhausted, and heartbroken, and sad, and mad, and a million other emotions. To slow the waves of feelings that threatened to overwhelm him, Tim punched the wall and groaned. He studied the hole in the drywall and then the blood pooling steadily where his knuckles were split. The pain of his wounds did not bother him; he hurt Lucy, and that was more painful than cut up knuckles, getting hit by a car, getting shot, and even surviving an explosion.

To stop the bleeding, Tim went into his bathroom and used his first aid kit to clean the wound and wrap his hand. The slight throbbing was nothing more than an annoyance, and ice could have dulled the ache, but he thought he deserved it, so Tim lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, cradling his sensitive hand, while a few tears streamed down his cheeks.

All he ever wanted to do was help her and support her, but he had been the one to hurt her so deeply. The thought kept him up all night.

Lucy reached her room and finally let herself release the sob she had been holding in. How had things gone so wrong? She went to Tim's room to cry in his arms about having to get back together with Chris, but whose arms should she cry into when the person she normally seeks comfort from is the the one she is most upset with- Tim?

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Jackson brought some lemonade out to the palace grounds. He sat in a lawn chair next to Angela and Wes while Lucy shot off arrow after arrow. "Is this your new thing?"