Addicted

Trust in You

"I get it, he can be a bit...overbearing. But did you really need to punch him?"

Lila was staring at Arthur from her spot on the bed as he approached with a tray full of food. Her look was mostly disapproving, yet a bit of playfulness snuck its way onto her face too.

"Sometimes my anger gets the best of me, what can I say." He shrugged his shoulders as he set the tray beside her on a small table. She shook her head with a small chuckle as she reached out and took the glass of water first, downing it in seconds. She followed it up with some melon slices, leaving the grilled bits of radstag for last.

He had just finished filling her in on what had happened between him and Preston while she was still unconscious. It had been a few days since she had woken up, and as time passed Arthur felt more comfortable filling her in on more of what had been going on. She was most curious as to why Preston had been on the Prydwen when she woke up. Preston stopped by shortly after she had woken to talk to her and assure her that the Castle and the Minutemen were in good hands while she recovered. He had left right after, not wanting to risk being on the receiving end of Arthur's anger again. He had given the Elder a curt nod but spoke no words as he left that day.

Since then, Arthur had not left Lila's side, wanting to be sure she was recovering safely and with as little interference as possible. Cade was really the only other person on board that she saw, other than the odd squire or knight coming to Arthur with some intel and other concerns of the Brotherhood. He made sure she was always kept hydrated, fed, and not in pain.

The days dragged on slowly in most cases. Lila slept a lot those first couple days, finally catching on to a normal sleep schedule. When she wasn't sleeping, she was usually eating or talking to Arthur, much like their current conversation.

"Only sometimes?" she questions as she finished the last bit of radstag on her plate before shoving it away satisfied. She threw herself back on the bed with a loud sigh. "Preston does mean well. There isn't another person I would trust more with running the Minutemen then him. There really aren't many people you can fully trust anymore." Her voice had a hint of longing in it at the end of the sentence.

Arthur picked up her tray and set it outside the door before locking it up for the night, returning to sit on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Was there more trust between people back before the bombs?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders against the woolen blanket she was laying on.

"In ways, yes. In other ways, not really. I never had a full militia to look after before and entrust to someone else, so that's very different. But there were more people I trusted, yes. Usually over trivial things. Like, I knew who I could trust with looking after Shaun, or to pick up something I needed when I couldn't leave the house. I knew who I couldn't trust with certain information, people could be very petty back then. Then waking up in this, I had to fully trust most people blindly. I had to trust they wouldn't steer me wrong and would believe me when I told them who, or what, I was." The words trailed off slowly, as Arthur looked down at her.

"I think a lot of people probably thought I was just crazy, saying I was pre-War and all. I ended up finding and trusting some good people though. Preston, Piper, Nick, Hancock. They all took what I said in stride and helped any way they could." Arthur then diverted his gaze to his hands as he listened to her.

"What about me?" he said softly, unsure if he wanted to hear her answer or not.

There was a long silence between the two of them as Lila rattled her mind. Arthur was so different from the other people she had mentioned before. She wanted to add Danse to that list as well, but she knew Arthur wouldn't have wanted to hear that name.

Arthur had started simply as 'Elder Maxson' to her. He was just her higher-up for a good portion of her time with the Brotherhood. She would only report to him when asked to or if a significant piece of information was discovered in regard to the Institute. Somewhere along the lines they had started their 'liaison' and suddenly that line of higher-up and something more was blurred between them, and only to them. To this day, she was sure no one had known what transpired between them as the fight against the Institute approached.

Did she trust him? He had never wronged her, in a sense. Had he broken her heart? Yes, but should that mean she shouldn't trust him now. He was giving up a lot of time to ensure she was recovering completely.

She sat up slowly and met his gaze. There was confusion in his eyes, with a taint sadness verging on pain. A small smile pressed onto her lips.

"Arthur, we have been through more together than any of those people I mentioned. I would be lying if I said that my trust didn't waver at times, especially while I was hurting. But these last few days, I have seen a completely different side of you. If it wasn't for you that day on the flight deck...well I don't want to think about that. So, yes. I can add you to the small list of people I trust in this insane world."

As she finished speaking, she placed her hand over his on his lap. A small squeeze transferred from her grip to his. Their gazes were transfixed on each other. Arthur's eyes were the first to move away, but not far. He traced the outline of her lips with his eyes. Over her pronounced cupid's bow, along the curves where he knew a smile would appear if she allowed it, across her plump bottom lip which she was currently rubbing between her teeth.

His large hand came up to cup her right cheek, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on the pale freckled skin of her cheekbone. A small breath hitched in her throat, she held it there as she waited for him to make the move. He didn't make her wait long, as his lips pressed softly to hers. When their lips met, Lila let a soft exhale release from nostrils, not wanting to part from him. Her hands moved up to lace around his neck, against short, stubbly hair.

Arthur leaned her back into the woolen blanket softly, letting his right hand caress her hip with a sure grip. As Lila continued to kiss him, she knew, that for this moment, she had placed trust in the right man.