Ezra Lucas

Ezra-13-Lucas

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

I follow Madeline up the stairs to her room and sit on her bed. She brushes her hair and sighs. "Can I talk first?" She asks and I nod once. She ponders on what and how to begin. "Why did you not want me to come to the jail?"

"I didn't want you to be around those people," I answer.

"Why?" She pushes and her stare intensifies.

"They are dangerous people and I don't want them to come after you." I narrow my eyes at her. "They could hurt you, Madeline."

"But they wouldn't hurt you?" She raises her eyebrow.

I sigh and nod my head. "They could."

"Then what's the difference? That I'm a girl?" I run my hands over my face and stay quiet. She shakes her head and turns around. She takes a deep breath and turns around. "Ezra, I am capable of protecting myself just as much as you are. You can't just tell me not to do something because I am a girl. If I can't do something, then it probably means the same goes for you. I realize that you think the guy who tried to kill you needs a friend, but maybe you need to put your safety first for once. You have your grandmother to think of." She pauses. "You have me to think of," she whispers.

I reach my hand out to her, she holds it, and sits beside me on her bed. "You are totally right. I do need to consider my safety in situations from now on." I kiss the back of her hand.

"Another thing, please don't think that you have to protect me all the time. My dad has already filled that slot and like I said before I can protect myself."

I nod reluctantly. "Anything else we need to talk about?" I question hesitantly. I hope there isn't anything else.

She softly bites her bottom lip. "I don't think so. Can you think of anything?"

"Well, there is one thing." I pause dramatically. "What's the wattpad thing you were talking about?"

Madeline grins and let's goes of my hand. She grabs her phone from her nightstand and sits back down beside me. "It is a free reading and writing app and website. I read a variety of books: from werewolves to football themes. I've read a lot of bad boy stories." She says and shows me her profile and the layout of the app.

"Sorry to break this to you, but I am not a bad boy." I state and sling my arm across her shoulders.

She smiles up at me. "You kind of are, Mr. SprayPaint."

I shake my head and smile. She pulls my head gently closer to hers. She softly grazes my lips and grins. I kiss her smiling lips and someone clears their throat. We spring apart and look towards her door.

Her father stands in the doorway with his arms crossed. "At least you had the door open." He states and walks away.

Madeline's mother replaces the place where her dad just stood. "I made snacks for you two," she smiles.

"Thanks, Momma. We will be downstairs in just a minute." Her mom nods and smiles as she leaves us alone. Madeline grabs my hand and kisses me. She stands up and I mimic her actions. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure," I respond.

The evening turns to a dark night. Our smiles turn to laughter and back to smiles. Our time together gets buried in my memory. Temporary goodbyes are spoken, but sadness does not come that night. Happiness radiates off my body and spreads to my grandmother. We sleep in peace through the night and what happiness is left is used the days to come until it runs out.