better off | lucifer

Fear of the Petals

Feelings towards a person can never be predicted, let alone prevented. It's an evil trap, an abyss from which there is no escape. Nobody can help or control their feelings towards someone, whether it's pain or anger, love or hate, the outcome is always the same; they come out. Eventually, one way or another, the truth is being revealed or at least hinted... All people have their limits and when they step farther, they break, the walls they've been trying to build tumble down like a tower made of a deck of cards...

When it came to you, it was not your mind or heart that gave up, that betrayed you. It was your whole body.

The constant stomach pains went ignored at first, as you decided to focus on your job. Solving crime cases and helping people was your priority, you convinced yourself that things were going to be fine and only if the pain worsened would you pay the doctor a visit.

One night you vomited blood, an alarming sign of your health going downwards. Yet, you still ignored your body trying to warn you. You would still give everyone fake reassurance that you were doing great. However, your tired and dehydrated form gave out more than you thought.

And soon blood started bringing friends to the party; Tulips. You almost screamed when you vomited three petals that night, unable to believe these were coming out of you. You shook your head, you pinched your arm, you gave every stupid way possible a try in order to prove that all of this was just a messed up dream. But it happened again, and again.

You tried distancing your mind from the situation, again attempting to keep you occupied with work. But it was hard, leaving at random times to go vomit petals was anything but fun. Dan started looking at you suspiciously, insisting that you were pale and exhausted. You would brush him off, you would brush everyone off, not wanting to draw any more attention to you.

But Maze was not going to stand there, without getting some explanation.

You took the day off, waking up in the morning and feeling like you couldn't breathe. You sent Ella a text, asking if it was okay to drop from the case for a day and she was more than willing to cover for you.

Make sure you rest, okay? You've been acting weird lately. Don't worry, I got your back x

You made yourself some tea, not wanting to eat anything at all. Not that if you did, it could go down. You slowly rubbed your neck, trying to inhale as much air as you could. What was going on? Maybe some minor case of Pneumonia along with a bouquet of tulips so that it's more interesting? You weren't exactly an expert, all you knew was that you felt weaker and weaker as the days went by and you needed to stop covering it up.

Maze's way of suddenly appearing in your house stopped taking you by surprise a long time ago. Thus, when your tea was ready and you carefully lifted the cup with both hands, heading to the living room, you didn't shake an inch when you saw her sat on your couch. She seemed pissed, not unusual when it came to others, but you were one of her best friends, she never looked at you like that, like she wanted to beat the crap out of you. You knew she wouldn't leave until you told her, you were a terrible liar anyway, that is why you'd learned to avoid it.

"What's up with you?" She asked, looking for answers in your eyes.

"It's good to see you too, Maze..." You avoided her question, placing the cup down on the table, before joining her on the couch. You fiddled with your fingers, not coming up with a proper answer. Besides, you had no idea what was going on either.

"I'm waiting, you know?" Maze reminded and you nodded, finally meeting her eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know. A few days ago I started having these severe stomach aches that wouldn't go away even with pills. I thought it was some kind of food poisoning, until..." You hesitated, remembering the events of the past few days. Shivers ran down your spine at the thought of you choking on your own blood and...flowers.

"Until?" Maze pressed, moving closer to you, noticing what you were going to say disturbed and shook you.

"Until I started vomiting tulips. I mean, not the whole flower, just a few petals here and there. But I don't know what's going on, the more time goes by, the more petals come out. Something's inside me, Maze, and as crazy it seems, it blocks my lungs from doing their job..."

Maze removed her hands from yours, furrowing her brows.

"So..." She started, collecting her thoughts.

"You're basically saying that there's a garden of tulips inside your lungs?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe..."

"And you're puking petals because...?"

"I don't know, Maze, that's why I need to find out-" Your voice rose in annoyance, knowing that she probably didn't believe a word you'd said.

"Hold on, no, no, I know what's going on..." She said as she stood up. You mimicked her movements, hope flashing in your eyes.

"You do?"

"Sure..." She replied, placing a hand on your shoulder.

"I think that you should arrange an appointment with Linda. All this work has gone into your head, you've pushed yourself to your limits, even Chloe said that."

You angrily pushed her hand away. Of course, why would she believe you?

"Maze, I need to see a REAL doctor. I mean, not a therapist, an actual doctor for my body-"

"You need to stop putting others above yourself all the fucking time, y/n, look at you! You obviously haven't slept in days and your body is abandoning you because YOU never stop caring about others! About Dan, about Chloe, Ella, me, Lucifer-"

"Don't...Stop it, Maze." You warned her, placing a hand on your chest. Your heart started beating fast as you felt a weight on your chest.

"Stop? YOU need to stop y/n! You have to understand that sometimes being selfish can actually-" The demon didn't manage to finish her sentence because all of a sudden, you started coughing. Your legs gave in and you fell on your knees, hands trying to support you as you coughed and coughed, feeling all energy evaporating in an instant.

Maze fell on her knees as well, pulling a few strands of hair away from your face.

"Wh-What's going on? Y/n, oh my-"

And then she saw.

Five big, red petals came out of your mouth and softly landed on the carpet.

Your eyes met her panicked ones as you struggled to catch your breath.

"Believe me, now?"