Torn Tears

Pretend

After breakfast, Jess excuses herself to put gas in Lucas's car. Lucas pulls a twenty from his wallet and she gives him a chaste kiss in return before leaving. My front door shuts with a resonant click. The silence that follows borders discomfort.

I rise from the table to clean the dishes. Lucas follows my motions and abruptly grabs my arm, jerking me close to him.

"Hey, now, Buddy." I say warily.

Lucas releases me along with a hyper-masculine groan. "Look. Tell it to me straight, Greenmark."

I open my mouth to respond.

He lifts his index finger, pointing up to the ceiling. "Not the glossed over version you told in front of Jess."

I swallow hard and look levelly into Lucas's blue-green eyes. "I'm the only one outside of the police force that knows of the warrants out for you. I'm also the only person who knows of your innocence other than government officials."

His gaze darkens. "So, you're saying that as soon as it becomes obvious that someone let the information leak to the public, there will be a gun pointed directly at your head."

He isn't asking me a question. Therefore, I do not respond with an answer. "There are worse things that could happen."

Bewilderment covers Lucas. "You don't owe Jess or me anything."

"So?" I shrug.

"I don't understand. You're essentially killing yourself for two people you didn't even know a month ago. I just don't get it." The bone-weariness and concern for everything in his life becomes obvious in Lucas's confused expression. He's desperate to understand my motives.

I shake my head. "I'm not sure I know how to explain myself."

"We've got about twenty minutes. I'm listening."

"It's--ah--I don't think it's entirely because of Jess." I begin.

He squints his eyes, suspicious. His voice is coated with a joking sarcasm. "Elliot, if this is the part where you confess your undying love for me, let me tell you--I'm blissfully taken."

I manage a laugh. "You do look breathtaking when your looking under the hood of a car at your job."

He rolls his eyes. "How do you know I'm a mechanic? Jess?"

I jokingly wiggle my eyebrows with another laugh. "You'll never know."

"Okay then, I'll be locking the attic door tonight."

"It locks from the outside, not the inside."

Seriousness returns to Lucas at last. "As beautiful as the budding bro-mance is, I still need to know why you're so willing to help when you know you could die."

"You and Jess are too innocent. No matter what you did, you don't deserve what you've been through. I admire you, Lucas. Jess, too. And what the two of you have. Look at it this way--I want the chance to experience a love like yours for myself. That's never going to happen for me if we don't settle this issue. Make it easy for yourself and pretend I'm being a selfish little bastard."

Lucas looks at me with what I think is respect, or at least belief.

"You deserve to have the second most wonderful girl in the world." His face quirks as his lips turn to a smile.

"Because the first most wonderful girl in the world is Jess and she's all yours. Right?"

"Straight up."

"When I find my girl, she'll be the best in the world to me."

Lucas smiles, a real smile. "That's the way love works."