Decipher | Watty's 2017

LXXXVI. Commensalism

Commensalism

/kuh-men-suh-liz-uh m/

noun

peaceful existence among individuals or groups having independent or different views

Seeing as the Code was finished being deciphered, it was determined by all of the members of the group that a meeting would be necessary. I was leery at first, not knowing how my first professional run in with Luke's father after my incident and Michael's death would turn out. Obviously Luke was incredibly protective, which lead to many fights between him and the boys as he fought the meeting at all costs; however, as the date approached, he saw the need to form a plan for the soon to be fought war.

That morning, Luke was adamant about returning to bed, claiming that we wouldn't be needed today, but I ignored his pleas and rose from the bed to grab clothing for the day. His handsome frame remained lying in bed, blonde hair slightly sticking up slightly while he rubbed his eyes in order to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room.

"You know," he began, standing and making his way to me as I momentarily stopped putting my clothes on, my tee shirt remaining on my arms and ready to be pulled over my head. "We could always stay in bed and then get an update from the boys." His offer seemed tempting, especially since his fit body was leaning into mine, his lips placing chaste kisses on my shoulders as I rolled my head to the side to make it better accessible. He simply chuckled, proceeding with his kisses before stopping suddenly. "Is that a yes?" he asked, a grin taking over his face.

I rolled my eyes at him, continuing on with my everyday routine while he pouted slightly at me. A small laugh emitted from my lips, making a bright smile erupted on my face as I made my way toward our bathroom and continuing with my hygiene regimen. Luke's pleas were still able to be heard as I laughed at his reasoning for remaining in our small room as opposed to attending this meeting.

When I was finally ready and headed toward the door, Luke became silent and placed his hand onto the exit, forcing me to look at him and listen to his upcoming words. "If you don't want to go, then just tell me and we can stay," he whispered reassuringly, looking into my dark blue eyes with his bright ones, reminding me of all the reasons I loved him.

I shook my head slightly, not trusting myself to speak as I breathed heavily and nodded my head before turning and opening the door. "After you," I joked, taking in his bemused expression as he exited the room.

Internally, I let out a sigh and began listing off the things that could go wrong. Bob could try to hurt me, the entire meeting could be a waste of time because we all are on different pages, I could explode in the middle of the meeting, causing Luke to have to worry immensely about my mental health. Everything I was thinking of within my head seemed to be so likely, yet I continued at the same pace of Luke as I walked beside him toward the room.

"Last chance," Luke said, pulling me slightly closer to himself as he looked down on me to reassure that I wanted to go into the meeting. I nodded dumbly, gripping his hand tighter as we made our way into the room. Luke's hand never departed from mine as we walked to our seats and sat down quietly. Since we were the last to arrive, business began as soon as we were comfortable, Bob opening his mouth before anyone else had the audacity to speak.

"As you all know," he began, clearing his throat in order to cause a dramatic feeling to be overcast throughout the room. I rolled my eyes at his need to direct ll the attention toward himself, but kept quiet as I listened to him speak about the brutal fight to gain this intelligence.

"We have lost one of our own recently in our search for justice," he was cut off by the fake emotions covering his face. I looked over at the blonde boy beside me, noticing how he rolled his eyes at his father, even catching Ashton and Calum doing the same thing. I wondered how often he would direct the attention of a dead person toward himself, but then I realized that it was probably too often as he was the one to orchestrate both Michael's and Cynthia's deaths.