Winter's Heart (Luke X Reader - Trial!)

Chapter 10 - Simpler Times

Luke told you how they got out the first time. There was a weak point in the fence, some corrugated iron panelling hadn't been nailed to the fence like the others, and they had been able to move the loose panel aside and sneak out through out. Luke also told you about a guy name Reggie who was supposed to have escaped with them, but on the night they had nearly gotten caught and Reggie was the one who had gone back as a distraction. Luke seemed sad. He told you he couldn't be sure what would have happened to Reggie after his 'treachery'. You looked at Luke and he was staring ahead, you put your had on his shoulder and he looked at you. You squeezed his shoulder gently trying to reassure him. He forced a small smiled for you. You then proceeded to follow Luke across the parking lot, keeping a close watch on the guards and ducking behind cars when they moved to face the direction you were. Eventually you reached the fence, Luke jiggled the panel and it came free, he slid it aside and climbed through, you followed him and re-placed the panel behind you. You looked at where you were. It was messy back ally, on both sides were the backsides of shops most of the doors into them had been boarded up and nailed closed. You followed Luke through the ally, stepping over rubbish bags and soggy cardboard. He stopped outside a shop and then ducked in through the door. Inside you looked around and smiled. It was a comic shop, though it was pretty damaged by water that had gotten in via a hole in the roof. You wandered around. "Hey... just uh...stay away from the windows. I know they are covered but not completely and some the guards are really eagle eyed..." Luke said. He sat against the wall hidden from the window by a display rack that still had comics neatly propped in it. You grabbed a couple and then sat beside Luke. You offered him an issue of 'Spiderman', he smiled and took it. "I haven't read comics since I was in college... back then I read more comics than I did research material" He chuckled. "Let's say that maybe if I had studied harder I wouldn't have gone into a crappy failing business with Nick" He shook his head; you looked up from your issue of 'X-Men'. "It was fun though, crap but fun. Simpler times" He sighed. You nodded understanding.

"Yeah I feel you. Well the bad student part... I hated all that reading for sources and urgh!" You groaned in frustration. "Although give me a good fiction book and I'd get lost in the story" You smiled. He smiled back and you both went back to reading your comics. Eventually you felt your eyes getting heavy and drifted off to sleep.

When you woke, you realised you were leaning against Luke, who had also fallen asleep, you sat up and wiped the sleep the sleep from your eyes. You checked your watch and your eyes widened. It was 8am. You had slept the rest of the day and all through the night. You smiled and stretched then wiped the sleep from your eyes. You felt good. You hadn't slept like that in years. You hadn't ever really felt safe enough to sleep like that; even back at the lodge your sleep had been restless. You stood up and looked back at Luke, he was still breathing heavily, his eyes closed and a comic still resting on his lap. You went over to the window and peered out one of uncovered parts. You could see a guard on a watchtower. They were facing over the fence and watching the tree lines you and Luke and come from the day before. There wasn't much else to see. Outside the front the shop was a walkway about three metres wide and right against the fence and that was it. You could hear voice, hammering and banging from what was possibly two shops down. You slowly backed away from the window and into someone, you jumped and spun around to see Luke, he grinned at you. "Did I scare ya?" He questioned. You rolled your eyes.

"You wish"