Decipher | Watty's 2017

LXXXVII. Ossify

Ossify

/ˈäsəˌfī/

verb

be stagnant or rigid

When we finally came to our room, the air seemed to be laced with tension. Luke appeared to be more tense than he was at the meeting, his shoulders rising and falling at a rapid rate to signal is unsteady breathing. My eyebrows furrowed at this, not understanding why he would react this way to my blank stares. Silence filled the room as we stared at each other, his frame leaned up against the door as I sat on our bed cross legged.

"Is this about what I said earlier?" he asked suddenly, breaking the silence all of a sudden with the sound of his broken voice. I shook my head instantly, watching as he furrowed his eyebrows even further at me as if he did not believe my actions.

"Why would I be upset at that?" My response caught him off guard, but he shook his head at me slightly, almost as if he were shocked that the thought of being mad at him never crossed my mind. He ran his hands through his hair, messing up the neatly tousled curls as stress came over his facial features once again.

"I don't know," he began in a bitter tone, taking me by surprise and causing me to quirk an eyebrow at his rude tone. He paid no attention to my glares as he continued to his point. "Maybe it's because you think I am a damn fool for wanting to run away from my problems," he spat, venom filling his voice as he came undone under the pressure surrounding him.

"I never said that," I told him, standing up to meet his frame in the middle of the room. My arms gripped him against myself tightly, not wanting to let the damaged boy out of my grasp. His body tensed slightly as I placed my lips against his shoulders before relaxing into my gentle touch. "I don't think you are a horrible person for wanting to leave." My words seemed to comfort the blonde haired man in my arms as I felt his relax even more in my grip.

"It's just that," he paused momentarily, collecting his thoughts as I looked up at him and assessed his thoughtful features.

My mind reeled at the perfect figure before me. The way his eyebrows would furrow ever so slightly as he bit his lip where his lip ring used to be, the hole never fully closing from the ring's removal. He was the epitome of perfect and his presence set off all of my hormones, which was not ideal at these moments. "I didn't want my wants to overshadow your need," he continued, turning in my arms and holding me closer to him as I melted in his embrace.

I smiled lightly at him, appreciating his honesty and care of my opinions. While I found this side of Luke to be odd, I knew that it was genuine due to the soft glint appearing in his crystal blue eyes; furthermore, I recalled the way he would always tell me that I changed him, the differences becoming increasingly evident during these moments of compromise. Inside, I knew that he was trying his best to not overtake my decisions and do what he thought was best, but I also knew that he would do whatever he needed to do to protect me from the potential danger I was in within the colony.

"But I can't stand the thought of you being afraid in those meetings," he finally spoke, his voice coming out in a mere whisper as his lips pressed against the top of my head. "And when you were so silent today," his voice cut off, the idea being too much for him to bear. He pulled himself away from me, looking into my eyes before continuing on with his sentence. "I would do anything to keep you safe," he promised, his grip tightening his grip on my waist with those words.

"Luke," I began, only to be cut off by his voice sounding again.

"Just say the word and we will leave," he repeated, his voice sounding strained as he attempted to hide all lingering emotions within his voice. I shook my head at him, not trusting my voice to speak up as Luke had almost convinced me to leave all of my reservations of the colony behind me. Although I would love to have this beautiful man to myself, I couldn't bring myself to overlook the fact that immense amounts of people were relying on Luke to protect them from the unknown evil lurking within his own father.