Give the Devil his Due

Chapter 17

My eyes quickly became accustomed to the room around me as I awoke. I was still laying on the couch in the living room but instead of being near the edge as I had been when I fell asleep, I was now squished between the back of the couch and the body of a man.

And a warm, fuzzy feeling zapped from my toes to my chest at knowing I was still laying right beside Lucas. Well, actually, more like under him.

He was turned towards me, his face quite literally only a breath away from mine. His eyes were closed softly, his lashes tickling at the tops of his cheeks as he slept. His legs were tangled with mine and his arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, enclosing me in a cage made of his body. His chest rose and fell in rhythmic patterns, never too short or too deep. It was evident that he was still fast asleep but I could lay there for hours just watching him.

Lucas looked so peaceful when he was asleep and I couldn't help but wish that he could stay like this forever. He was only a year older than I was, he didn't deserve to be worrying about drug infections or the drug cartel or whether he'd live until tomorrow. He didn't deserve to carry the burden forced upon him, yet he did. With no complaints. That's what made him a good man, that's what made my heart cry for him.

It was strange to think that there could be a day when Lucas was no longer at my side. This infection, whatever it was, could possibly take Lucas away from me. How could I live with that? How could I lay here beside him and know there was something slowly eating away at him? There had to be something I could do, anything to help him. Maybe I could talk to my dad about it...

Footsteps drew my gaze away from Lucas' sleeping figure and towards the bottom of the stairs where Rico was wobbling his way towards the kitchen. When his eyes found Lucas and I, huddled together on the couch, a groggy smile spread over his lips. He shot me two thumbs up, then grasped at his heart as if the sight of me sleeping with his best friend caused Rico great joy.

I shooed him away, afraid that he might wake Lucas. At the same time, however, I knew I couldn't just lay here until Lucas woke up. Who knew when that would be? I had figure out what time it was and get to class, if I hadn't already missed them for today.

And what would my father say? He knew we came back here and he undoubtedly knew I never left. Years of working in the service has graced my father with hypersensitive intuition and observational skills. He definitely knew I was still back here.

After debating what to do for several minutes, I decided that it would be best to just slip away and let him sleep. Rico could drive me to the university and I would text Lucas later to let him know everything was okay. But I didn't realize how hard this feat would be, considering Lucas was practically laying on top of me.

I lifted my head, looking around, but Rico was already in the kitchen making coffee. I was in this alone. Gently, I lifted Lucas' arm away from my waist and tried to shimmy my way down towards the end of the couch but just as I began to move, my leg bumped rather roughly against his. My snapped upwards, hoping that I hadn't waken him, and I let out a shaky breath when I saw him still asleep.

But then I heard him whisper without opening his eyes, "Trying to get away huh?"

A small smile tugged at my lips, "Trying to get to class."

"Without waking me up?" He asked playfully, his eyes still softly closed. If he weren't speaking, I'd think he was still sleeping. It was strange how one moment he could be so alert, so dangerous. And the next, he could be as scary as a newborn babe.

"I didn't want to wake you." I replied, thinking of how only moments ago, I wanted him to sleep forever so he'd never have to worry about anything ever again.