Locklyle - The Story after The Empty Grave

Part 1: The walk

All characters were created by Jonathan Stroud and all rights to him for this world the story is set in. This story is a follow up from the last book in the Lockwood & Co series- The Empty Grave. It is how I like to think it is and there will be romance in it (eventually) but please enjoy and if I make any mistakes pleaasseee correct me. Thanks :)

Lucy POV:

As I ran down the stairs, struggling to put my jacket on without tripping, I couldn't help feel giddy. Lockwood had given me his mother's necklace! How special that necklace must have been, and he gave it to me?

Finally getting to the bottom of the stairs, Lockwood was standing in the hallway, holding the front door wide open. He gave me his signature grin as he noticed me and I couldn't help but give one back. Walking through the door, my shoulder brushed
his chest and I chose to ignore the spark  of heat I felt. Behind me, Lockwood pulled the door shut and walked beside me to wear I was waiting on the sidewalk. 
As we walked, we didn't talk much. Occasionally making note of the things around us - 'oh those flowers look lovely don't they.' 'Did you notice they painted that cafe white? It used to be blue didn't it?'. Eventually we ended up at a children's playground, but noone was around so we went and sat on the swings.

'I haven't been to a playground in years,' Lockwood mentioned. 'If I'm honest, I think the last time was for a case.' I looked over at him, waiting for him to continue, but when he didn't I decided to add my own story.
'I think the last time I was at a playground was with my sister Mary. I was probably eleven or twelve.' As I had been talking I had stared out ahead of me, but I could sense Lockwood's eyes on me. I avoided looking over at him and continued. 'You know, I don't think I ever really told you about Mary did I?' In my peripheral vision, I saw Lockwood shake his head. 'She was my older sister, obviously, but she was closest to me in age. We were pretty close, but our mum kind of drove us apart a little. I mean, we never fought as much as we did with our older sisters, but we could have been closer if it weren't for our mum. When I left my hometown, I knew it would mean leaving Mary, and it hurt. It really did. But she was older and more capable of dealing with our mother,' I paused. 'Our mother also liked her' I put a bitter emphasis on the word. 'She also never had to deal with Jacob's, so she had some sanity left' I gave a little laugh, and looked over at Lockwood. His face was very serious and that's when I realised how dark I had made the conversation. 'Oh my God, Lockwood. I'm so sorry. That got a bit dark, didn't it? I'm so sorry. Please change the subject to something funnier.' My hand had gone to my mouth. I was embarrassed, but it was also a little funny. Lockwood was staring at a point past me, deep in thought so I decided to say, 'Hey, why don't we have a race to see who can get their swing to the highest point first?' That snapped him out of it, but I won, of course, since I had a few seconds head start. We couldn't stop laughing while we tried to slow ourselves down. Lockwood kept saying he was mad that he had lost, but he so clearly wasn't.

We ended up swinging gently on the swings for another hour, just talking about various things. I don't really remember what about but it was just nice to be in his company. At some point I had shivered and Lockwood had decided that it was his duty to give his coat to me. I obviously tried to refuse, but he wouldn't give up. When I put it on, Lockwood looked at me for a few seconds before laughing. I knew it was big on me and I must look stupid, but did he really have to laugh? Shaking my head, I turned away so he couldn't see me give a small smile. It was with that turn that I accidentally smelt his coat. Dammit. It smelt like him. And it smelt good. Looking back at him, I saw him checking his watch. He looked up at me then and said, 'Luce, we better get back. George will be wondering where the hell we are. Plus, I don't know about you, but I'm famished.' He gave me a smile. I nodded and with that we headed home.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Once we were back at 35 Portland Row, I ran up the stairs to my room at record speed. Shutting the door semi quietly behind me and jumped face first into my bed and screamed into my pillow. Now, it wasn't an actual scream as that would make Lockwood and George come running to see what was wrong, but it was definitely a loud-ish cry of annoyance. I hated myself so much right now. Whyyyyy did this have to happen????

You may be wondering 'Lucy, why are u annoyed. Why do you hate yourself so much right now?'
Well, if you must know.....
On the walk back to Portland Row, me and Lockwood were talking when all of a sudden he looked at me. And I looked at him. And then he turned and smiled to himself. I obviously stopped walking because 'what the hell was that?' Lockwood turned to me then and I blurted out 'What was that smile for?'
He contemplated for a bit before saying 'You look cute in that coat, Luce. It suits you.' And with that he turned around and continued walking as if HE HADN'T JUST SAID THAT. WHO THE FUCK SAYS THAT AS IF IT IS NOTHING?
I stood there for a second trying to contain the redness that was for sure spreading all over my face. Then I half walked, half ran to catch up with him. He turned to me as I caught pace with him and then said 'Your eyes look very pretty in this light, Luce. We should go for walks at this time of day more often. Don't you think?' I made a weird noise that I hope so much he didn't hear and this time I couldn't prevent the blush spreading. The rest of the way home I did not speak, and neither did Lockwood. The three times I glanced up at him on the way, he looked a little flushed himself, but I think it was just the cold.