Lucas had his sights set on the lithe figure storming down the dark sidewalk, shaking his head at the man's insistence on continuing to walk around alone at night with one working streetlight for every block. Harley was going to get himself hurt- or killed.
"Harley, come here," Lucas demanded, and Harley's pace faltered slightly hearing his actual name leave his mouth, but shook off the surprise and continued.
"Just leave me alone, Lucas! I'm not going back to that house!" Harley's strained voice echoed in the empty street, heavy with emotion.
"We won't go back, we can take my car and go somewhere, but I can't leave you alone," Lucas huffed.
"Why not?"
"Because you're going to get robbed or shot. You don't even have anything to defend yourself with."
Harley finally skidded to a stop, and Lucas let out a small breath as he caught up to him. His head was still bowed towards the pavement, seemingly considering his options, before finally turning and surpassing Lucas to walk back to the house without sparing a single glance at the taller man. "Which car?" He grumbled.
"The grey Taurus."
Lucas was a few steps behind Harley as he slid into the passenger side of the car, slamming the door behind him angrily. Pausing with his hand on the door handle, Lucas closed his eyes and breathed deeply, preparing himself to deal with a grown man turned angsty teen.
"Is this car from the 90s too or somethin'?" A small voice questioned as Lucas got into the car.
"It is actually," he confirmed, buckling himself in and starting the car. "We all have old ass cars because we're broke."
Harley went silent for a moment as they backed out of the driveway and drove down the quiet block, Lucas glancing at his turned down mouth and splotchy face. The fact that he had been crying freaked Lucas out a little, as the stony faced man was never good with emotions himself, much less knowing how to comfort someone else. He racked his brain for a remedy as he adjusted the radio to play softly.
"Are you hungry? I'll pay," he offered, eyes flicking quickly between the road and Harley. The other man was curled against the door, turned away from Lucas, as though he was hiding his face.
"No, it's fine," he muttered dejectedly, and Lucas could see him playing with the strings of his hoodie.
"We're getting food. I haven't seen you eat in hours, there's no way you're not hungry," Lucas said with conviction, setting course for the local roadside drive-in. Harley straightened slightly, glancing back at Lucas' stoic expression before averting his gaze back out the window. He didn't realize someone was keeping such close tabs on his behavior that night, but he should've known Lucas would have, as he watched everything like a hawk. Harley sighed, not having the energy to protest, and he could admit he was starting to get the shakes from his hunger.
The car was silent as they drove through the busier main streets of Southside, as people were frequently out and about late at night in that part of the city. Harley's attention piqued as Lucas turned right into a bustling parking lot, the glowing lights of the diner illuminating all of the people and cars scattered about. A group was gathered under the outside seating area, laughing and flicking fries at each other, while others were huddled in their cars, some perched on top of the hood as they ate and conversed. A couple was weirdly making out in a dark corner, and Harley was wondering if they'd end up having sex over there- he'd have to remember to keep his sightline well away from that area.
Harley was startled slightly from looking around the lot as the car door was shut quickly, Lucas already gone from his seat by the time Harley glanced over, his tall figure darkened by the bright backlight of the diner's neon sign. He leaned further onto the door, pushing his face closer to the glass as he watched Lucas walk up to the order window. Every movement he made, from pulling his wallet from his pocket, to scoping out his surroundings as he waited for the food, seemed so fluid and intentional. Harley found himself wondering if the guy ever felt fear, ever felt as helpless as he did today outside of the store.
Lucas would have had the forty dollars.
Lucas would have had forty and another twenty so the man could get that night's dinner for his family.
Shit, Axel would have had a hundred dollars and a blessing for the man's infant.
The car door opened again, diverting Harley's attention as Lucas climbed back in, a paper bag clutched in his grip. He watched on hungrily as the smell of the food wafted out of the bag and filled the car as Lucas dug through it, producing a wrapped burger and holding it out to Harley in offering.
"Here. It's just a plain cheeseburger," he grumbled, dark eyebrows furrowed at his own outstretched hand. Harley took the food gratefully, lips parting as he looked back at Lucas, but his attention was already averted and occupied by digging his own food out. He pulled out a cup of fries and set it into the cup holder between them, gesturing with his hand as if to say be my guest, and Harley reached out to grab a fry, deciding to try out the taste of food in his current state with something small.
As expected, it tasted like cardboard as Harley chewed numbly, mind racing as it seemed to replay the incident with Axel over, and over again. Lucas was chewing on some of the fries as he noticed Harley still refusing to eat, sitting there with the wrapped burger in his lap.
"Hey," he nudged him gently with his elbow. "Eat your food before it gets cold."
Harley stared at Lucas, before looking back down to his lap, chewing on his lip anxiously.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked suddenly, and the question shocked Lucas, to the point that he froze completely.
"What?" He asked incredulously, dark eyebrows furrowed.
"Because I yelled at Axel, and you love Axel, and I made the person you love feel bad," he rushed out, wide eyes searching Lucas' face frantically.
Lucas blinked quickly, before his body slumped into his driver's seat, bringing his hand up to rub tiredly at his eyes. "Oh Christ," he huffed. His hand falling away, Lucas stared out the window for a moment to collect himself, before straightening up and unwrapping his food.
"No. Axel deserved it," he said simply, biting into the burger. Harley was still staring at him as though Lucas was about to throttle him, and he sighed again, setting down his food and leaning his head back. "I don't hate you, Harley. Is that what this is about? Because Axel and I fight like an old married couple?"
Harley's face crumbled, and he turned away from Lucas again, hiding his face in his arm as he choked out: "it's not fair he treats you like shit and is all lovey dovey with his girlfriend in your face when all you do is care for him. I wouldn't blame you for hating me, I would hate the guy who moved into your house and caused your best friend to shove you to the side if it came down to you or him."
Oh God, he's crying again, Lucas thought, not in disgust, but in a frantic scramble to figure out how to get him to stop, to step away from the cliff.
"Harley. Axel and I were having issues before you came. Before Jackie even became his girlfriend. It was my fault for letting it slip that I loved him during an argument we had, and that just made it worse. Axel isn't some asshole who is treating me like shit because he hates that I like dudes, he doesn't care about that, but we were friends and we both knew he was straight. I crossed the boundary of that platonic relationship and made him uncomfortable and not sure how to move on from that. That's something I need to fix. He should be able to kiss his girlfriend in front of his friends without a bitter prick like me getting jealous."
Harley lifted his head to wipe quickly at his teary eyes, peering over his shoulder at Lucas, insecure about how much of a mess he was. He was partly in shock at Lucas' explanation, as he never took the man to be reflective on his own actions like that, and that was probably the most Harley had ever heard him speak.
"Well," he spat bitterly. "That wasn't everything. I'm pissed that he didn't tell me that I would be living in a house with multiple other people, and that I would barely even see him."
Lucas nodded, eating another fry contemplatively. "And you're entitled to feel that way. That's something he needs to apologize and show for."
Straightening slowly, Harley regarded Lucas more intently, taken aback at how easily he had validated his emotions. "You're not going to make fun of me for crying and being dramatic?" He chuckled sourly, but was serious in his inquiry.
Lucas looked at Harley from the corner of his eye, before picking his burger back up. "I don't make fun of people in pain, and I don't like to make it my place to be the judge of how they react to that pain," he said simply, before taking a bite of his burger.
With a shuddering breath, Harley felt calm enough to unwrap his food, taking a small bite of his own burger as Lucas watched, slightly relieved.
The two were in peaceful silence for a while, Harley feeling himself coming back more and more as he ate, the strength to reign in his emotions returning quickly.
Lucas reached for the paper bag again, garnering Harley's attention as he leisurely ate the last of the fries, and he watched intently as the other man reached towards the bottom.
Without a word, Lucas pulled out a chocolate chip cookie, arm outstretched towards Harley in offering. Anything Harley wanted to say died in his mouth as his eyes flitted between Lucas and the cookie, but Lucas merely raised his dark eyebrows and prodded the treat towards him even more pointedly until he accepted it.
"Thank you," he whispered, smiling slightly as Lucas faced forward again in his seat.
He bought me a cookie, was the thought racing in Harley's mind as he broke it in half, reaching out towards Lucas with the other half. There was a subtle smirk on his face as he took in Harley's offer in return, taking the other half from his grasp before they bit into their pieces together. He wanted to do something nice for me because I was upset.
Harley couldn't believe this was even Lucas he was talking about, who just about socked him in the face when he first arrived at the house. Maybe the guy had a heart after all.
As they pulled out of the diner to head home at the ripe hour of one in the morning, Harley couldn't help but share his condolences about the situation Lucas was in with Axel.
"I'm sorry you have to go through this, loving someone that doesn't love you back. I can only imagine how much that hurts," he said softly, not wanting to break the serene atmosphere that had washed over them in the car. Lucas had his mouth set firmly as he drove, glancing over at Harley, who was slumped in his seat and blinking slowly with exhaustion now that he was full and calmed from the stressors of the day.
"It's fine. It doesn't matter anymore," he replied lowly, retraining his eyes onto the road. Harley was woken up a bit more at what Lucas had said, sitting up further so he could look at him properly.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter anymore?" He asked in confusion, and surprised Lucas would even say something like that, given everything he had gone through due to his romantic interest in Axel.
"It just. . . doesn't," Lucas replied mysteriously, refusing to look at Harley and effectively shutting down the conversation.
At that, Harley slid down in his seat again, propping his elbow up on the door and supporting his chin in the palm of his hand, attempting to prepare himself for when facing Axel became inevitable.
~
Well, looks like Harley finally reached his limit. What do we think about Harley and Lucas going to the diner? Is anyone surprised Lucas went after him? And what is up with that comment Lucas made at the end...
Thank you for the votes and comments!