Addicted

Somebody That I Used to Know

Arthur sat on the bed, thinking of what to say to Lila.

"How did you sleep?" he asked pathetically.

Lila nodded her head slowly "Pretty good, as good as I could anyways. Obviously well enough that I didn't notice being moved. Why am I in here though?" she asked, still slightly puzzled by why she was in the Elder's quarters and not the medical bay.

"I figured you would benefit from recovering in private, not with a bunch of other sick people around you, keeping you awake and such." He spoke softly to her as he met her eyes. "I offered up my quarters for that purpose."

She felt her cheeks burning as his eyes met hers, turning her gaze away quickly and biting at her lip.

"Well...thanks for that." she responded, genuinely happy to be away from the other people in medical and from the nurses constant check-ins, though still not 100% comfortable being in his quarters.

Silence radiated out from them both, awkward and thick. Tension so thick between them that Lila was sure that anyone could walk in and sense it immediately.

Lila was the first to open her mouth

"Look, Elder Maxson-"

"You know you can just call me Arthur." he said slightly annoyed by her using his formal title.

She continued, as if she hadn't heard him correct her.

"I want to apologize for my...behaviour and the mess that your soldiers found me in. I have been dealing with...well...a lot of shit." she said, being as straightforward as possible. What was the point in covering up what had happened to her? All of it was pretty evident by just one look at her physical appearance compared to how she looked one short month ago.

Arthur nodded slowly, though rage began to bubble within him he let her talk.

"I was using before I went MIA. I just lost touch with myself, with my mission, with what was going on around me. I just...a lot hit me at once. I hadn't had time to cope from the moment I woke up in the Vault until then," she turned her head toward him, shrugging her shoulders, attempting to make the conversation as non-chalant as possible. This was something she wanted to get over as fast as possible and get off the Prydwen so she didn't have to keep feeling guilty every time she saw him.

"Wait," Arthur met her gaze, piecing things together in his mind. "Does that mean that you were...using," he hated to put it so simply, "that night of the party at the airport?"

Lila heart stuttered, nervousness peaking in her chest. Should she be honest with him? Likely, because if she wasn't he would find out sooner or later on his own accord and he would be twice as angry then.

"Yes," she replied simply.

************

Still fairly exposed to the cool warehouse air, Lila looked at Arthur, wondering if he was just going to ignore her. She clenched her jaw tightly as her heart pattered away irregularly. Perhaps he would just shrug it off like it was nothing? Or would he return her words? Did she care? Her mind was light and fluffy; whether it was from the sex or the hit of Jet she took as a confidence booster before waltzing in to meet Arthur still lingering in her system, she didn't know.

After he zipped up his flight suit, Arthur handed her the Brotherhood issue bra he had removed from her earlier, rubbing at his neck with his other hand.

"Lila...listen," his voice barely audible as he was scared of the reaction that would follow suit. It wasn't that he didn't feel similarly about the amazing, beautiful, unique woman sitting in front of him. Her body still glistening with beads of sweat from their pleasures, his seed still on her thigh.