Locklyle - The Story after The Empty Grave

Part 6: Awkwardness

Lucy's POV:

After my shower, I felt so much better. It had taken me a while to get all the twigs and leaves out of my hair, and for me to clean my wound. It had stung the whole shower and even though I tried to keep it out of the water, anytime a droplet did manage to get on it, it felt like it was on fire again. While I got changed into my pajamas, I had looked in the mirror by my wardrobe. My face had heaps of tiny cuts all over it from the branches, and my back was covered in tiny blue and purple bruises. That bloody poltergeist. My body would be aching for days to come and everytime I sit on a chair, I just knew I was going to complain.

I had to be really careful as I put my pajama pants on. I didn't want to get any blood on the fabric so I rolled them up past my left knee. Even though the bleeding had stopped while I was in the shower, once out, it had started up again. It wasn't gushing as much as it had earlier, but it still trickled down my leg. I tried to keep it contained with a couple of tissues. Lockwood needed to hurry up with the bandages.

Two minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Finally I thought. Before I responded, I heard the door open and footsteps come up the stairs. Only, it wasn't Lockwood. George now stood at the top of the stairs holding a tray with a teapot and cup on it.
'Oh, it's you.'
'Yeah, yeah. I know I'm no Lockwood. No need to seem disappointed, Lucy.' I went to protest but he cut me off. 'I brought you some tea and biscuits. You definitely need them from what I've heard. Lockwood gave me a brief rundown on what happened. He'll be up here soon with your bandages. I would do it myself, but I would probably do a horrible job.' I laughed, remembering the time when I had come back to Portland Row for the first time in a while after being chased by some of Winkman's men. Lockwood and George had tried to bandage a cut I had sustained, but they hadn't done a great job. I hadn't complained though, as it's the thought that counts.
'Thank you, George.' I said as he placed the tray on my bedside table. He poured my tea and handed me the plate of digestive biscuits before turning to leave. Before he went down the stairs he turned back to me.
'I'm going to look into that area again at the Archives tomorrow. The one where you guys were attacked. It seems strange that a ghost would appear without anyone reporting it already, let alone two!' I nodded in agreement. 'Especially in such a built up area. I'll also be going to the area first thing in the morning to grab our equipment you left behind,' I had completely forgotten about our chains and bags we had left. We had gone in such a hurry, and then with my knee, I had forgotten. 'Anyway, I should leave you to rest. Your knee looks nasty. Goodnight, Luce.' I smiled at him, and with that, he turned and left.

I took a few sips of my tea and ate a couple of biscuits before Lockwood arrived. When he did arrive, I was sitting on the side of my bed, but I moved to put my plate and cup back on the tray. As I did, I moved my knee and I winced. Great I thought. Now every time I move, I'm going to be in pain. How fantastic!

Lockwood noticed my wince and quickly came to my side. He set the tray he was holding down and helped me shift so I was leaning back against my headboard. I folded my right leg underneath my left leg, keeping my left straight out in front of me. Lockwood sat down on the edge and lifted my left leg up so that it was resting on his lap. He was sitting reasonably close and suddenly I was very aware that he was right there and he was going to be bandaging my wound. I also noticed he was in pajamas too - blue striped ones - so he must have had a shower too. It was always so funny seeing him in pajamas. It made him look a lot more soft and vulnerable compared to when he wore a suit, which was almost all day everyday.

Anyway, Lockwood turned to the tray and picked up a small bottle of what I assumed was saline water. He then picked up a cotton pad and tipped the bottle onto it. He turned back to me and just before he put the pad on my knee he said, 'This is going to hurt, so I'm prepared for if you want to slap me.' I laughed, but as I did, he put the pad on my knee and the laugh quickly turned into a pained groan.
'Ow!' I said as Lockwood laughed. He continued to dab at the wound before putting the now bloody pad back on the tray. He then grabbed some ointment and a large bit of gauze. I watched his face as he put the ointment on the gauze.

The light from my nightstand was doing wonders for his jawline and as I looked at his eyes, I saw they had little flecks of hazel splattered throughout the dark brown. His gaze was very focused on making sure the gauze was placed perfectly on my knee, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Was he also thinking about how close we were sitting? I know we had been closer plenty of times, but this time it seemed different. Maybe it was because I was now aware of how I felt about him, but it did make me wonder.

Once the gauze was placed to his standard on my knee he started wrapping it with a bandage. I couldn't help but feel little sparks everytime his fingers brushed the skin around my knee. His skills had improved since last time, and I was surprised at how well the bandaging had been done. It wasn't too loose or too tight. It was perfect. He placed the rest of the roll of bandaging back on the tray and then turned to look at me. He smiled.
'Thank you.' I said as I smiled back.
'That's alright. Do you want anything else? Cause if there is, I'll do it for you, Luce.' I shook my head, too stunned to speak. What did that even mean?
We sat there for a while staring at each other, small smiles on our lips. My leg was still lying on his lap, his hands rested on top of my bandaged knee. Once or twice I saw his eyes flicker lower, and I swear my heart almost stopped. Shit. He needed to stop doing that.

I don't know how long this staring went on for, but suddenly the air shifted. All at once, the room felt too hot. My pajamas felt like they were suffocating me and my heart was pounding. It sounded so loud to me and I so badly hoped Lockwood couldn't hear it. It  would be unbelievably embarrassing if he could. He looked at my lips again before gazing at me with more intensity than before. I knew what that meant, and I knew I should have just let what would have happened happen. But my stupid self broke the eye contact and looked away.

As soon as I did it, I hated myself for it. The air went back to being less hot, but it felt so much more awkward. My face was heating up and I knew it was probably red as a tomato, so I kept my head down. Lockwood looked down at his hands still rested on my leg before removing them. I glanced back at him before focusing on moving my leg off his lap so he could move. Lockwood got up and quickly grabbed the tray before moving towards the stairs.
'Well goodnight, Luce. Hopefully your knee heals quickly and it's not too sore tomorrow. Goodnight!' His voice seemed strained and just before he turned around to go down the stairs, I looked up at him. He gave me a smile and then headed back downstairs.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

The rest of the night I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. And his smile. His stupid smile. It wasn't his usual smile and it seemed like he was a little hurt but he was trying to hide it. I felt so horrible. I probably just ruined whatever spark was there,and now I was never going to get another chance. He probably thought I didn't feel that way towards him. Just cause I got too scared. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!

Why did it have to be like this? Why did he have to look so perfect while bandaging my leg? And why did I have to turn away and ruin the moment? As I fell asleep I just knew tomorrow would be awkward.

A/N:
Hehehehehe hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! I certainly enjoyed writing it and I definitely wasn't kicking my feet and twirling my hair while giggling as I read it back 🤭