Saving Scott

14. Normal Life Stuff

Watching Lakyn thrive was like a medicine I didn't know I needed. His smiles were addicting, and with each day that passed, the more often I saw them. He laughed at things, and made jokes, and was more often the person I knew in private out in public.

He finished drivers ed later than most people, but it didn't surprise me for some reason. Lakyn lived in some paradox where he was older than most adults, but younger than his peers at the same time. Like how he didn't have a license until he was 17, but by the time he graduated High School he'd already have a college degree.

Lakyn James was strange, but I loved him.

He started planning things in advance, concerts he wanted to see and movies he was excited for. He bought a big ass wall calendar and sacrificed one of his posters so he could hang it up and write things down that he wanted to do.

He made fun of me for being excited about it, but I didn't care. I just cared that he was excited about stuff. Normal life stuff.

I woke up early on Friday morning in an empty bed, which would have been normal at home, but I was at Lakyn's. I shot up, trying to convince myself that he'd probably just gone to the bathroom, but I couldn't help thinking something had happened.

"Hey, sleepy head," Lakyn said from across the room. He was dressed, and there were two duffle bags at his feet. "Get up."

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. "Aren't long weekends for sleeping in?"

Lakyn shrugged. "It's six."

"Fuck you," I said, and fell back into bed, pulling the covers around me like they could somehow protect me from whatever craziness he'd caught.

The bed dipped when Lakyn joined me before he pulled the blankets down to my chest. He lowered his mouth to my neck and I managed to swallow down my moan, but my traitorous back still arched into his touch.

"Get up," Lakyn whispered near my ear. "I promise it will be worth it."

"I promise staying in bed will be worth it," I murmured, and worked one of my hands under his shirt. I felt him smile against my skin and thought I'd won until suddenly he pulled away.

"Get up or I'm leaving without you."

I whined, and thought about staying, but the cold side of the bed felt too weird, so I pulled myself out of bed and into the bathroom.

By the time I was ready, Lakyn was already in his truck. The bed was full of bags I didn't recognize and Lakyn grinned at me when I got there.

"Hey hottie," he said. "I'm lookin' for some company."

"You can't afford me," I said as I swung into the passenger seat.

Lakyn looked me up and down in a way that should have been illegal and definitely made my stomach warm before he said, "I bet we can work something out."

"You're terrible," I said.

"You love it," he said.

"True," I agreed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said, and started up the truck. He didn't answer the question no matter how far we drove, and eventually I got tired of rambling, so I fell asleep with my head against his shoulder. When I woke up it was nine in the morning and we were stopping for a bathroom break.

Lakyn still wouldn't answer my questions, so I turned the radio on and played air guitar until I noticed we were well out of the city. "Are you going to murder me?"

"If I was I would have a much better alibi," Lakyn said.

I narrowed my eyes. "I really hate the fact that I know you would get away with it."