Lockwood & Co. Oneshots and AUs

Careful For Her

~Originally posted to Tumblr. This was written just after TCS came out and is in response to the post above.~

Lockwood was mentally screaming at the moment. So he had let Holly have Lucy's room because he thought she'd be gone for good. But turns out that here she is; half asleep and a bit roughed up with a practically mummified arm from the boys' patch-up job. Now came the problem of where she would sleep...

"She can't sleep with me. You've seen my room." George yawned.

"If she slept with me, it would be super awkward!" Lockwood defended himself.

George rolled his eyes.

"She can have my bed and I'll sleep on the couch." Lockwood problem solved.

"No way." Lucy piped up. Both boys thought she fell asleep on the thinking cloth.

Well, it was the new thinking cloth. The old one was getting filled with notes and sketches. They still had the old one though. The boys couldn't part with it. It reminded them of Lucy.

"Did you guys really think I couldn't hear you?" She tiredly giggled. That was the thing that always made the boys smile. After long, tough cases, Lucy would be extremely tired and almost everything would be funny to her. Even now, after four months of her being gone, how Lucy tiredly giggled made it seem like she never left in the first place.

"Well, you have to sleep somewhere." George protested.

"I'll sleep on the couch." All giggles left her. "After all, I don't live here anymore..."

"No!" Both boys protested to her words. Everyone was hurt by them.

"After what happened tonight, you're not going back. 35 Portland Row is - and always will be - your home. You don't have to work with us if you don't want, but you are staying here." Lockwood sternly ordered.

"Like we were going to let you leave in the first place. We let you go once before, and now look what happened! You aren't allowed to leave." George agreed with him.

Lucy looked at both boys in shock. Where they just saying that? George specifically expressed anger toward Lucy the last time she saw him. And Lockwood made it seem like he was fine with the choices she made. So why were they so set on Lucy staying? She could protect herself! Mostly...

"You'll have my bed tonight Luce. We'll figure something else out tomorrow morning." Lockwood said. And that was that. The way he said it made it sound like that was the end of the discussion.

An hour later and Lucy lay awake in Lockwoods' bed. She couldn't stop thinking about what the boys said. How they made it sound like they wanted - no, NEEDED her back. Lucy knew she needed them. Lucy was incomplete without the two idiots that always pushed her to do better. But she didn't want to hurt them. She didn't want another Witherburn Mill incident. She wouldn't be able to comprehend that. Lucy would break.

Lucy couldn't sleep. She wasn't too hot or cold, she wasn't thirsty and it wasn't that she was sleeping in Lockwoods' bed. For a while, Lucy had no clue why she couldn't sleep. About an hour of staring at his ceiling, she figured it out.

Lucy missed the boys badly. She wanted this nightmare to be over, or at least have a bit of comfort through this part. Lucy just really wanted love at the moment.

She tip-toed her way downstairs. Maybe some tea would help her feel better. And she would've gotten it too, if it wasn't for a certain tall, slender man, making himself some tea. In a second he noticed her standing in the door frame.

"Lucy? What are you doing up? Something wrong?" He asked concerned, taking the kettle off the oven.

Lucy felt like she was going to cry. She remembered so many late-night talks with Lockwood about important things. They always made her feel better. Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him, holding back all the tears that threatened to spill.

At first, Lockwood was confused. Her weak, yet tight grip startled him and he honestly couldn't figure out if she had come down because of him or because of tea? The more she held onto him, the less he cared. Soon enough he gently wrapped his arms around her, careful of her bandaged arm. No words needed to be spoken. No words could properly capture the loving moment.

"Sleep with me tonight." Lucy demanded. She buried her face in his shirt to prevent him from seeing the blush on her face.

"Okay." He said at last. His face had also gained a tint of pink. Nether one would admit it, but they both knew that they needed this. Just one night, sharing the same bed wouldn't hurt. They missed each other.

Lucy climbed in bed and waited for Lockwood to join her. Once he was under the covers, she snuggled into his body, again startling him. She didn't care what he thought at this point, she needed love. Lockwood slowly let his guard down and wrapped his arms cautiously around Lucy, careful of her bandaged arm. Within a matter of seconds, Lucy was in a deep sleep. Lockwood sighed to himself. She always looked so cute to him when she slept. The way she'd curl up and snuggle into anything that shared the bed with her. And he felt lucky that that something was him tonight. He softly kissed the top of her head, not thinking much at the time, then quickly fell asleep.

And for the first time in four months, Lockwood and Lucy had sweet dreams.