Devil's Gambit

Chapter 8

"I-I'm sorry if that crossed a line. It's probably not comforting hearing a stranger say they think of you as family," she quickly backtracked, Harley's distressed expression making her panic.

"No, no, it's fine," he shook his head quickly, straightening in his seat. "I was just... processing, I guess."

Jackie sat back, sighing deeply and gazing out towards the backyard through the living room windows. "I just want you to know, Harley," she began, playing with the bracelets on her wrist. "That I understand being with Axel comes with conditions. It means accepting everyone in this house, and that I will always share his heart with you and Lucas. I never want to come between that. I lost my family, and I would never wish that upon anyone. I just want my intentions to be clear."

Harley blinked dumbly at Jackie, lips slightly parted in shock. Out of all the possible conversations they could have had, he was never anticipating this was even a possibility. "I really appreciate you saying that, Jackie. It means a lot."

With a beaming smile, Jackie stood, gathering her plates into her arms with ease. Harley wondered if she was a waitress at one point. "Will you be around tonight?"

"I'll try to make it," he replied coyly, hiding his smirk behind his mug.

"I'm glad to hear it," Jackie nodded, bustling over to the sink before quickly rinsing the dishes and rushing out the door, leaving Harley alone at the table. The rest of the house had yet to rouse.

With a heavy sigh, Harley got up to wash his dishes, staring out the window into the tall weeds in the strip of yard beside the house as he scrubbed at his plate. Behind a chain link fence there was a dirty white rambler, which Harley had yet to see a light on, the smell of someone cooking, people coming in and out, or any other signs of life. With the condition of the side paneling, he wouldn't be surprised if it was completely abandoned. With some care it would have probably made a great home for an older person who couldn't get around as well, or even any of the people residing on the streets in dire need of housing.

Maybe one day he'll wake up and a coffee shop will have been erected next door, demolished and built all under the shadows of the night.

Harley trudged up the stairs slowly, his joints still feeling stiff as drowsiness cloaked his mind like a thick fog, his morning shower proving to be ineffective at waking him up. The early morning wake up time was intentional, for Harley wanted to ensure he could have the bathroom to himself between Axel the early bird and the rest of the house. He rubbed at his eye with the back of his hand while he shuffled down the hall towards his room, before a hand suddenly shot out from the side, wrapping around his forearm. A manly shriek erupted from Harley's throat as he was yanked into the bathroom, which he could have sworn on his own grave was empty when he walked by, before the door slammed shut behind him and the lights flicked on.

"What the hell?" He demanded, breathing heavily as he held his hand over his pounding heart, almost feeling a little sick at how fast it was beating. When his brain finally caught up to the sudden change in environment, Harley blinked up at Lucas' unphased expression peering down at him. He was clad in a dark grey tank top and black basketball shorts, with a pair of mismatched socks on his feet- one white and one a rosy pink.

"Lucas?" Harley prodded, as the man merely stared down at him with a neutral expression.

"Don't look at my socks," Lucas eventually muttered, his own eyes wandering down to his feet. "Red shirt ended up in the washer with our white clothes."

Harley's nose scrunched up in confusion, eyes flicking down momentarily before settling back on the man's face, which was still averted and looking pointedly at the very thing he seemed to not want attention being drawn to. It was safe to say this was the weirdest Lucas encounter yet, and Harley yearned for Daniel's social skills to gain even a single clue as to what was going on.

"Uh- alright. . . did you need something? I have to get ready." Another attempt at redirecting the conversation.

"I need you to look at my finger," Lucas finally huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Y- your finger?"

"Yes," Lucas said quickly, jabbing his pointer finger into Harley's face.

With a deep inhale, Harley furrowed his eyebrows as he gently prodded at the other man's slender, slightly calloused finger, feeling the bone and examining the skin. It appeared perfectly fine.

"What did you do to it?"

"Burned it trying to light my joint," Lucas mumbled distractedly, too busy watching Harley attend to him. The way his eyebrows were knitted together, his lips pursed as he gently maneuvered Lucas' finger, feather light touch brushing across the skin.

"It looks okay," he finally concluded, stepping back slightly to catch Lucas' unnerving stare. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes," Lucas replied with not a moment's hesitation, calculated eyes intensely watching Harley's next move. Without another word, Harley moved them over to sink, twisting the faucet on with a rusty squeak as he placed Lucas' finger under the cool water.

"Keep it under there," he ordered softly, meeting Lucas' eyes to make sure he understood, before sifting through one of the bathroom drawers. Lucas watched his back the entire time, the cold water eventually turning his finger numb as his mind buzzed.

When Harley straightened with a small container of petroleum jelly and bandages, he reached over Lucas' arm to shove off the tap. He took immense care drying the skin off to ensure he never hurt Lucas, holding the large hand in the palm of his own.

"Where does it hurt?" He asked suddenly, breaking the docile haze around Lucas' mind as he scrambled to come up with an answer.

"Uh- there." He pointed at the side of his finger just above the first knuckle, shoulders deflating again as Harley began to smooth petroleum jelly over the area to soothe the skin. All the tension the older man carried in his shoulders and upper back suddenly rushed out like hot steam, nothing but contentedness filling his soul as he watched Harley wrap a bandage around the tip of his finger.

"Feel okay? Too tight?" Harley questioned as Lucas stared at him dumbly.

"No. It's fine," he grunted, arm falling limply to his side as Harley released his hold on his hand.

"Good," Harley replied simply, throwing away the bandage wrapper and stowing away the first aid supplies back into the drawer.

Of course it was all a lie, and Lucas had a feeling Harley knew that as well.

He could have actually burned himself, holding his cheap gas station lighter to his pointer finger for a quick second as his skin grew red, but that would undermine the entire point. Lucas wouldn't have realized what he did now.

"You believed me," Lucas suddenly blurted as Harley was halfway out the door, to which he paused and turned slightly to look at the man standing in the middle of the bathroom.

"Of course. I believe people when they say they're in pain," he smiled slightly with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, as though it was such a simple answer. Met with silence, Harley nodded curtly before exiting the bathroom and rushing to his bedroom, knowing very well that he was about to be late meeting up with Jonas. He gathered his clothes for the day into his arms, jeans and a white Doors band shirt that used to be Axel's, gifted to him when he turned fifteen, and incredibly worn with all the years of wear. It was still one of Harley's favorites, as it reminded him of those days they would sit on the hood of Axel's car listening to all of their albums.

Harley glanced into the bathroom as he rushed towards the stairs, but Lucas was nowhere in sight, the bathroom now dark again and truly vacant. He would have to put in some real effort piecing together what all of that meant, so he merely shoved the incident to the back of his mind to deliberate later.

Jonas' black Honda was already idled outside on the curb, Harley slamming the front door closed as he hurried down the porch steps.

"You're out late, what happened?" Jonas asked immediately as Harley ripped open the passenger side door, throwing himself into the seat.

"I wish I knew that myself," He huffed, buckling himself in as Jonas pulled away.

~

Harley seems to have passed Lucas' test. . . wonder what will come of that.

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