𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 - 𝐿.𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑏𝑦

9.

"Is this the balloon driver?" Roger was with us now. We were all on Lee's balloon now, ready to get out of here. The other children were safe and on their way back home with the help of the Gyptians.

"I'm an aeronaut, kid. Lee Scoresby. Now let's get out of here." Lee climbed up the middle of the sturdy balloon structure. "Balloon driver." He scoffed and rolled his eyes at me. "Hold on tight, we'll be going up fast."

"Mr. Scoresby," Roger started, "who's that?" He frighteningly stared at Iorek Byrnison. I smiled.

"That's Iorek Byrnison, our armoured bear."

"Our?" Iorek growled. "They don't own me, Lee."

"Mhm." Lee said back. He checked the balloon instruments, then sat down next to me. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and blushed. He had put his large leather jacket down on the seat next to him, so he must have been cold. I got up and put his jacket on his shoulders. He looked shocked at first. I smiled and sat down next to him.

"What was that for?" He chuckled, "I took it off for a reason."

"Oh, I thought you were cold."

"No, I am. Freezing, actually." He cuddled up in his jacket and leaned back. He shivered. I looked at his leg, the badges could be seen, but at least he wasn't limping when he walked anymore.

I placed my head on his shoulder. He flinched and I sighed. His arm slowly wrapped around my back and landed on my waist. I snuggled closer to him. Hopefully this isn't awkward. I felt a peck on the top of my head as he leaned back, taking me with him.

Why is this so comfortable? Oh jeez, what will Lyra and Roger think of this? Oue daemons cuddled each other in front of us. This is real. Our daemons like each other, so we must. Well, I know that. Lee tried to kiss me three different times. I fought with myself for a bit over whether this was okay or not. Of course it was. Lee wasn't refusing. I bet he was just cold like I was.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up at him. "Hi." What the fuck was that? I thought. I hate my inner thoughts so much.

Lee lightly giggled and rubbed my back. I sighed and felt the wind pick up. Lee jerked up his head and sat up straight.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, sitting up too.

"Yeah," he got up and went over to the other corner of the basket to check on things, "I just need to see if the change in wind speeds will affect anything." He messed around with some levels and stuff over there as I watched. I had no clue what he was doing, but if he knew, that's all that mattered.

Lyra came over and sat down next to me, as I could see that Roger had fallen asleep.

"So?" She started. That wasn't very helpful, was it?

"So, what?"

"Are you and Lee..." she glanced at the two of us, back and forth, along with her finger.

"What?! No! We're just friends. Yeah... just friends." I couldn't help but stare at him from behind. His back was very muscular, which is very weird to say, but it's true. I could see the details of his stubble from all the way over here. It looked so rough, yet so comforting. His hair. His hair was beautiful. I've always wanted to touch it. I've always wanted to run my hands through it as he laid with me. The way he walked, too, was something else.

My head ran through all my different fantasies I wished I would have with him.

"Y/N!" Lyra whispered in my ear. I jumped out of my fantasy and looked at her. "What?"

"He's looking at you." She teased me and I immediately looked at him. He was smirking at me, walking closer. He sat down next to me and leaned back, still smiling, and eyebrows raised. I was blushing so hard.

Magnus finally said something. I haven't heard from him in a while, "I think he knows you're blushing."

"Yeah," I whispered back, "I know that." I looked back at him and he sighed.

The wind picked up again, but he wasn't as worried.

"So," I started, "So, how is the balloon? Anything needed fixing?"

"Nope. I just needed to adjust some things so we could stay on track, but everything is good now." he took off his jacket and put it on my shoulders like before. "I thought that you might need this." I sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

The wind picked up and the balloon tilted drastically. Lee held me in my seat and got up. "Hold on you guys." The balloon titled even more and Lyra went flying to the other side of the basket. I quickly stood up to get her but the door to the balloon opened and Lyra almost fell out. Lee tried to grab her arm, but she was holding on for dear life. The door shook in the wind as Lee tried to climb down there.

"Y/N! Can you reach her?" I ran over and grabbed hold of the edge of the balloon, unsuccessful to reach her.

"I can't! My arm isn't long enough! Maybe grab me and I'll reach?"

"No! I could drop you and you would fall and die!" he yelled over the wind and snow. I slowly went back into the basket, butterflies swirling around in my stomach.

"Hold on!" Lee said, still trying to reach. Then I couldn't see her anymore. "LYRA!" Lee screamed down into the abyss. Lyra was gone.

Lee came back into the balloon, angrier than I've ever seen him. He sat down, rubbing his forehead. I sat next to him and tried to wrap my arm around his shoulder for comfort, but he pushed me away. I sighed.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help, Lee."

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I lost Lyra, and it was my job to keep her safe, but I failed. You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Well, I could've helped you. That was my job, was to help you, but I can't do that. I don't know how to help anyone, really." I explained.

"What do you mean, you can't help anyone? I wouldn't know what I was doing without your help, Y/N." He growled. "Let me tell you something." he stopped.

"What?"

"I love you. You know that?"

I paused, my hands started to twitch. "You... what?"

"I love you. Like, I don't know what I would do without you, honestly." He turned to face me. "It's-it's getting late. You should get to sleep. Plus it's really cold, so keep my jacket." He got up and led me to where Roger was.

"I'm Sorry about Lyra, Roger. We'll get her back, we promise, okay?" He nodded his head at us and Lee rustled his hair. "Lay here, Y/N. I'll get you a blanket." He went over to the other side of the basket again and got me a thick blanket. He must sleep in here often.

"What about you? Don't you need to sleep?" I asked.

"I need to stay up to make sure we don't go off track again." he explained to me, tucking me in. It was cozy and warm.

"Oh, okay."

"You have a good night's sleep now, okay? Get me if you need anything."

"Okay." I smiled as he kissed my forehead.

I just wanted to cuddle him right now. I turned on my left side so I could see him. These blankets were so warm, they made my eyes begin to close. No. Don't fall asleep. I told myself.

The balloon shifted down really fast, like an elevator. I got up and Lee ran over to Roger and I.

"We're going down! Roger, hold onto your daemon and stay safe." Lee grabbed me and held me close. I whimpered.

"Shhh... it's okay. We'll be safe, alright." He planted a kiss on my shoulder as he held me tighter. I wrapped my arms around his back. The balloon made a loud crack sound when I slammed against the ground.

Lee's touch comforted me as everything around me went black.