Reaper's Touch

Lucas: Summer's End

"How beautifully leaves grow old! How full of light and color are their last days!"
- John Burroughs

"Hey, Lucas?" Gus asked.

They were hanging out in Lucas's room, waiting for Nora's and Hex's shifts to end. Lucas was writing music, and Gus was sketching, like always. It had been three weeks since the conversation with Jeff, but Gus hadn't mentioned anything about it yet. Jeff had gone back to the ranch, but he still called Gus and the shop at least once a day to check up on things.

"Yeah?" Lucas said, hoping for some resolution or at least acknowledgment of what Jeff had told him. But typical of Gus, he went in a completely unexpected direction.

"How did you know Nora is, like, the one for you?"

Lucas paused and thought about it.

"Well... it's always been us. We've always been together. Since we were babies. I loved her before I knew what love was. We fought, sure, but we always came back to each other. I know soulmates are a stupid concept, but I don't know how else to explain it. I just knew, always, that she was the only girl for me."

"Well I think Hex is the only girl for me. I think I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"You haven't been dating that long," Lucas said.

"So?"

"So... I don't want you to get bulldozed if she isn't the right girl."

Gus sighed. "You don't know her like I do."

He went back to sketching, this time a little harder. Lucas could hear the pencil grating against the thick paper. The lead snapped.

"Motherfuc- Dammit!" he said, wiggling the dangling lead on the end of the pencil like it was a loose tooth. Then he threw it at the trashcan. It missed, making a snapping sound as it hit the wall.

"You okay?" Lucas asked.

"Fine," Gus sighed, digging in his backpack for another.

"I mean have you been okay lately?"

"Yeah."

"Any... um... new nightmares recently?"

Gus abandoned his pencil search and looked at him with a sharp eye. "How do you know about this?"

"What?"

"You know what. Cut the bullshit."

Lucas took a deep breath. "Hex was worried. We went to Jeff."

"Yeah you coulda fuckin' told me!" Gus snapped.

"We just wanted to help you."

"Nobody but Jeff can help me. 'Till he gets back I'll just handle this shit on my own," Gus said.

"Well you have to find a healthy way. Jeff won't be back for six months..."

"Hex is my way. She's amazing! She's the love of my life! She's my reason to stay clean. I love her, and that's why I'm marrying her," Gus said stubbornly.

"Look, it's your life. Do whatever you want. All I'm saying is you still have those nightmares with her in the room, so she's not gonna fix what's wrong in your head."

Gus went silent for a long time, staring at his sketchbook. Lucas went back to his music, trying out a few new riffs to see how they sounded outside of his head.

"I wish I never found out," he said after awhile, softly.

Lucas looked up. "I'm sorry, man."

Gus sighed and put his head back against the wall. "It's just that... I was thinkin' bout findin' my mom now that I'm clean and stuff. I wanted to know her."