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“First, and most importantly.” Pressing my back against the wall, he kisses me so thoroughly that I feel it in my toes. I’m not quite ready when he pulls back and walks over to my little table, placing his bag on top.
“Secondly, I remembered that I still had a stack of your clothes that you left behind. I figured you probably packed in a hurry, so you might be able to use a few extra things.”
“That’s super thoughtful. Thank you.” He has always known exactly what I need. I think it’s because he’s incredibly observant, but also, he actively seeks out ways to show people that he cares for them.
My smile is grateful, not only for the extra clothes, but also to have him back in my life.
“Third, I brought some tea. Do you think she might like tea?”
The fact that he not only thought about me, but also went out of his way to try and do something nice for her, hits me right in the feels. He opened up last night about his feelings, and this is clear proof that he is trying. I’m just… proud? Appreciative?
Fuck, I love him so much. How did I ever walk away from this?
There is only one appropriate response to him in this moment. I pull him to me and capture his mouth in a scorching kiss. We haven’t taken things farther than this, it hasn’t even been twelve hours since we kissed and made up, but I purposefully put a lot of heat behind the kiss. It’s my way of saying that I’ll thank him properly later, because I have never wanted him more.
“I’m about to get her meds together and get her settled, maybe we can make her a tray?”
On our way to the staircase, we notice Bennet’s door is open and we can hear Luis’ voice in there with him. Those two seem an unlikely pair, but ever since their spat over the background checks, they seem to be becoming almost friends.
The bag that Dr. Franks put together is on a table in the foyer. Inside it are bandages, various ointments, tools, bags of IV solution in the event they’re needed, and medications. It looks like all of this will probably be best utilized upstairs, so I take a couple of the medication bottles out and then swing the bag over my shoulder.
We head into the kitchen, knocking lightly first because I’m pretty sure guests don’t usually come back here. Mrs. Coolson is sitting at the island when we walk in, a friendly smile on her face. Lukas asks her where he might find a tea kettle, and the two of them bustle around the kitchen to put together a perfect tea tray.
Soon enough, we have the tray ready with enough supplies for our whole gang in case they want any, we head back upstairs. The door is slightly open, but I knock on our way in, to alert anyone of our entry. She and Jackson are sitting on the sofa in deep conversation.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I say. Lukas brings in the tray and sets it on the coffee table, getting everything situated.
“Nah, you’re not interrupting anything.” Says Jackson with a wink towards the girl. “We were just discussing our feelings about this interesting situation we’ve found ourselves in.”
She narrows her eyes at Jackson. A curious, silent exchange passes between the two of them as I watch with amusement.
“What’s all this?” She says almost over-enthusiastically.
We’re going with avoidance, I see. I chuckle under my breath.
I hand her a tiny plastic cup with a few pills and a glass of water. “There’s two different antibiotics, a blood thinner, and a pain killer there. It’s all basically the same stuff you were getting in your IV.” She takes the pills and the water, swallowing them quickly to cover her flustered behavior.
There’s a long silence as she looks over at Lukas, who is fiddling with the contents of the tray. I clear my throat to get his attention and his head snaps up, like he forgot he was here to do something.
“I like tea,” Lukas says awkwardly.
Jackson snorts lightly, and my mouth twitches. Dipping my head, I gesture for him to keep going.
He takes a breath and starts again. “What I mean to say is that I wanted to ask if you like tea, but then I realized you might not know, I mean, remember… so I brought some for you to try.”
Her eyes well up with surprised emotion. “That’s incredibly kind of you,” she says. “I would like that very much.”
Lukas starts going over the three different types of tea he brought, and I find a cart to stash all her medical supplies in. There are more supplies in the closet, but they will probably never be used. Dr. Franks explained to me just how remarkable her progress has been, said he’d never seen anything like it. Her bandages weren’t even weeping this morning when we changed them, so she won’t even need those for much longer. I’m going to jokingly start calling her Supergirl with these freakish healing abilities.
Bennet comes in a few minutes into our tea party and asks to talk to Jackson. Jackson sets down his tea, kissing the girl on her cheek and patting Lukas on the shoulder as he leaves. The three of us look around at each other, but I shrug. Maybe something to do with the house?
I spend a few minutes organizing pointless medical supplies that we will likely never use. I’m trying to give them space to bond. Once there is no more busy work to distract myself with, I join them in the sitting area. I’m happy to see that Lukas has moved to sit next to her on the couch, engrossed in conversation. Sipping the tea that Lukas wordlessly passes me, made exactly how I like it, I sit there and silently observe them as they get to know each other.
“I’m sorry, by the way,” I hear Lukas say, surprising me.
He continues, “I haven’t been as kind as I could, and I said some things that hurt you. It doesn’t excuse how I acted, but I want you to know that I didn’t mean the things I said unkindly. I sometimes have trouble working things out in the moment.”
“It’s okay, you were right, honestly,” she says a little sadly. “It might be unhealthy that I seem to have latched on to the first people to cross my path. I don’t know what kind of trouble I might have been in, or even if I’m a good person.”
