forum Private RP with @Fraust

Started December 01, 2021 by @Rainy_is_back

tune

"First, no one really deserves to suffer. Even if they're cruel, I don't necessarily believe it's right to wish suffering on anyone. But it doesn't mean you need to try and put yourself in harms way to protect those people. I see it more as if they deserve the help to get out of suffering I guess. Did they earn the right for help? And in your father's case, he hasn't earned that right." Melissa responded, hesitating to reach for his hand and catch his eye's gaze.

"It's not your fault for what he does to himself. He chose to put himself in this situation. And hey- if you're worried about feeling stupid for caring, you're not. No matter how awfully he treated you, it's hard not to care sometimes. I don't blame you for caring about your father, but if you care about who he is as a person, then I have some concerns." Melissa tried to joke to lighten his spirits, giving a weak smile.

Lucas looked up at Melissa weakly, holding tightly to her hand when it was offered. "Y-Yeah… it's just… it's hard. Claus always told me I was too nice. I never stood up for myself, not even when we were kids." He laughed dryly, looking back down at the table. "I don't support anything my dad's doing, of course, it just… it gets harder every day to keep helping him. It's hard to even want to think of him as my dad, honestly. Is that mean? Like, he obviously fathered me or whatever, but he's not… he's not really acting like a dad right now." His eyes stung with tears and he rubbed them away.

"I want to help him, but I'm so tired of trying. I can't do it anymore. If he hasn't accepted my help by now, I don't know if I can do anything else for him. I don't know if I'm able to sacrifice what little relationship we have already by calling the police, you know? But… being in prison might help him get clean and stuff. I don't know… it's hard."

(What if- and hear me out on this one- Lucas's father broke into the school, and that's what gets him arrested?)

"I hate to say this, but have you considered the fact that… well maybe he doesn't want to be helped?" Melissa asked softly, chewing on the inside of her cheek for a moment. "I mean think about it, he's refused any help you've tried giving, and won't help himself. Maybe he's… scared to come back to reality?"
She wasn't defending him- but she did have to admit it was a possibility. A somewhat logical one, at that. It made nothing he did right, but it did help explain part of the issue. Maybe if they worked out a situation that was safe for Lucas, they could slowly ease him back into reality, and things would start to get better? It was a long shot, but it was her only idea right now. Surely it would help with something.

(Ooh, works for me lol. Would probably do it in a bit (like during a class vs during lunch, or between classes maybe) )

"I don't know… I'm not sure how aware he is anyways, you know? He's drunk every time I see him, so I'm sure his decision making skills aren't at their… most refined. I'll try staying with you for a bit, anyway… maybe me not being around could mellow him out some. Or it could make everything worse since he's not venting his aggression." Lucas groaned and hit his head against the table a few times, enough to display he was frustrated, but not enough to hurt himself.

He looked up when he heard Laura returning and quickly tried to get himself composed again. He liked Laura fine, sure, but he wasn't really close enough with her that she needed to know about his home life at this point.

(We can also wait off until after Lucas officially leaves his house. That way it gives him more reason to come? But either way is fine by me.)

Melissa wanted to continue the conversation- try to make him feel better about the situation, but it was clear he wasn't going to continue the conversation while Laura was there. But she gave him a look, trying to say that she was willing to do anything he needed to help by squeezing his fingers a bit. Pulling back, she turned to smile at Laura who was distractedly talking to someone else as she made her way over to the table. When the other student waved and walked off, Laura redirected her attention back to the two at the table.

"Sorry it took so long! Trey was talking to me about yearbook stuff, and I totally got distracted." She laughed, setting a cup of coffee on the table for Lucas. Pulling sugar packets from her pockets, as well as little things of creamer, she dropped them in a pile in front of him. "I didn't know what you'd want, so I kinda just grabbed one of everything. Probably not my best idea- but oh well." She shrugged, sitting back down across from him.

(Yeah idk, he would probably get pretty angry to find Lucas gone at all and he has a tendency to jump to conclusions lol)

"N-No problem… thanks for the coffee." Lucas smiled weakly and looked down at the assortment of things that Laura had brought him, hesitating before adding some sugar to the coffee. He knew he wasn't going to like it regardless of what he put in it, but he could make it a little more tolerable at least. He sipped at it, grimaced at the taste, and then continued to drink it anyways.

"I'll try and get some more sleep tonight… school starting back up is stressful, I guess." He lied, knowing that Melissa knew the real reason, but figuring that Laura would believe the vague excuse. "But anyway, we'll have to get back to class soon."

(True true, so are we choosing to wait then?)

"Of course!" She smiled in return, sitting Indian style on the small table bench. When Melissa had finished her food, she almost instinctively copied her friend before Laura leaned over to rest her head on Melissa's shoulder.
"Yeah, probably. We've still got a few minutes though." Melissa hummed, spinning one of her rings like a penny on the table. She didn't let it go far, out of fear of losing it somewhere in the cafeteria.
Melissa had noticed his distaste for the drink, putting that on a mental list to try and find something that he may actually like for the future- she also noticed how he didn't seem to have the heart to tell Laura he really didn't care for it. It wasn't a surprise, but she wished he would have said something before Laura had gone and got it. She was also trying to ignore the lie, pretending she believed it to try and avoid detective Laura's probing questions the second he was gone.

(I'll probably do it soon, in a couple of posts or something)

Lucas nodded and finished the coffee, having drank it quickly so he wouldn't have to deal with it long. He shuddered a bit, but otherwise seemed fine. He ate a bit more of what Melissa had offered him, and although he wasn't able to finish it, he did feel a little bit better having something in his system. Maybe living with Melissa and going back to school would be good? It meant he didn't have to spend as much time at home, anyways, and surely that would help.

Soon, lunch was over and Lucas gathered his things to go to class. He was able to focus a little better with the coffee and food in his system, but he was still a little distracted.

(Okay sounds good :)

The second Lucas had gotten up and begun to walk away, Laura sat up and grabbed Melissa's wrist before she could get up. Melissa jerked her head towards Laura, trying to shove all of the truth so deep down that she wouldn't accidentally say something.

"What's really going on?" She asked softly, brows pinned in. Melissa sighed softly, shaking her wrist out of her grip as she got up. "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Even if I did, it's not my information to share. It's not like it's impacting me."
"Uh-huh, sure." Laura snorted, clearing up her own dishes to follow Melissa. "So you're gonna tell me going all spacey wasn't because of him?"
Melissa was tempted to lie- tempted to tell her it was nothing to do with him, but she knew Laura was too observant for that. She'd never let it go, and would keep pestering her about it if she tried lying. So the next option was evading.
"Like I said, not my secret to share. That's all I'll say on the matter." Melissa shrugged, dropping her tray off, Laura right on her trail. It was obvious she didn't want to drop the conversation, but she reluctantly did. At least for the time being.

"Alright, if you're gonna be like that. I will get you to tell me eventually, though." She insisted, giving Melissa a determined smirk before parting ways.

When they parted, Melissa made her way over to her class with Lucas, catching him right as he went in. "Hey- sorry about that, Laura wanted to ask me something."

Lucas had gotten far enough away to not hear the conversation before he noticed that Melissa wasn't with him. So, he stopped and stood near the wall to be out of the way while he waited for her to catch up. "No problem." He smiled softly. He might have suspected it was about him, but if he did, he didn't ask. He headed into class with Melissa and sat down to start doing his work.

About halfway through class, Lucas left to go to the bathroom. He heard a distant door opening and closing more abruptly and roughly than they usually were by students, but he didn't think anything of it. On his way back, the intercom suddenly came on.

"There is an intruder in the building! Stay in your classrooms and lock the doors. This is not a drill!

Lucas' heart started to race and he looked around to try and find somewhere to go. When he turned around, he froze dead in his tracks and went white, terrified. His father had broken into the building, and he looked furious.

"LUCAS." He growled, pausing only a moment before he lunged and started running towards his son. Lucas turned and bolted, starting to hyperventilate and panic.

"No, no, n-no… this can't be happening… no, please…" He whispered to himself, feeling tears sting his eyes. He rounded the corner at breakneck speed, incredibly thankful for his baseball skills at this moment, and found his classroom. He banged on the door insistently, only panicking more as he heard his dad's footsteps approaching. "Let me in! O-Oh god…" Thankfully, although she technically wasn't supposed to, the teacher quickly opened the door and dragged Lucas inside, locking the door behind him so that his father couldn't get in. Lucas huddled on the ground, shaking violently and clearly panicking. He was barely coherent, but he seemed to be whispering something anyway. His dad caught up and started banging on the door and yelling Lucas' name again.

The second Melissa heard the voice over the intercom, her heart dropped to the floor, and she was up out of her seat within seconds. She rushed for the door, but their teacher blocked her from reaching it.
"What are you doing Ms. Brennahan?" She asked, confusion painted over her face, and laced into her hushed tone.
"Lucas isn't in here! He's out there somewhere- and there's an intruder in the building." Melissa's panicked tone was barely what could be called a whisper, catching the attention of the rest of her classmates' attention.
"Something could happen to him- we can't just leave him out there! Someone needs to go get him!" She was trying to compose herself, but she was more focused on the fact that he may be out there, and someone could hurt him again- and the anxiety of the situation was already overwhelming enough as is. The added stress that someone she loved was potentially in danger was enough to have her fighting off tears. She didn't care everyone was watching her- she only cared if she could get Lucas back here safely.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do-"
"You can let me go find him!" Her voice was raised, and she felt her heart pounding louder. She thought at least- but when the pounding got louder it was more evident they were footsteps. And they were coming to their classroom.

When Lucas began banging on the door, Melissa gave her teacher a desperate look. "Please- it's Lucas- let him in." She begged, her teacher caving and practically dragging him inside before shutting the door quickly and bolting it.

When Lucas huddled on the ground, Melissa dropped down next to him, tears running down her face as she reached for one of his shaky hands. She really wanted to pull him into a hug- but figured that would be best left until later. Especially because she recognized the voice shouting Lucas's name.

"It's my dad— i-it's… he's… h-he's here…" Lucas managed to whisper. When his dad started banging on the door more, he screwed his eyes shut and covered his mouth with his hands so his hyperventilating wouldn't be audible. It seemed like he was trying to hide from his father, although he knew where he was at this point.

"LUCAS! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" His father bellowed. Lucas whimpered shakily and curled in on himself more tightly. He was sitting on the ground, his knees drawn up close to his chest as he shook violently. Other students were looking at him now, of course, with varying expressions. They didn't know what he'd done to make his father this angry, of course, and so some of them looked at him with pity and others seemed almost accusatory, like it was Lucas' fault that there was an intruder in the building.

Lucas could hear the hinges jingling as his father beat harder and harder on the door. He had broken doors in his anger before, and Lucas knew that he could and would do it again. "No, no, no…! P-Please, god… no…" His grip on Melissa's hand tightened, and he was ghostly white with terror. Eventually, he could hear sirens approaching and the police entered the building. They found Lucas' father easily and restrained him, cuffing him so they could arrest him. Although the banging had stopped, the yelling hadn't, and Lucas wasn't much consoled.

(This is gonna be much shorter- idk why but rn writing is just hard for no reason.)

When the hall seemed to go quiet, Melissa scooted closer to Lucas with a tender look. She wasn't sure what to say or do, so she just sat there, letting him hold her hand. Gently she reached out to gently rub his back.
"It's okay- he's not here anymore."
She tried not to let her own shaky voice betray her words, slowly drawing circles into his shoulder. It was more important Lucas felt safe than she felt comfortable. She did her best to ignore all the eyes staring at the two of them, trying not to think about all the questions she'd be asked- or he would be, for that matter.

(Np! Glad to see you ^^)

Lucas was shaking badly, and he didn't seem to hear Melissa or the teacher's attempts to console him. The teacher wanted to send him to the counselor, but Lucas was adamantly against any attempts to remove him from the relative safety of the classroom. It took him a long time to come down enough to be coherent, but even so, he wasn't particularly interested in talking to anyone. He rested his head on Melissa's shoulder, exhausted and still a bit shaky and on edge. His father was long gone by now, surely arrested for breaking into the school, but Lucas was sure that they'd try and find him later to get him to answer further questions concerning his home situation. Lucas didn't want to continue anything school related at this point, but didn't want to go home either.

(Glad to be seen aha)

After a minute or two Melissa slowly pulled herself away, but not too far in case he needed her. After a moment of thinking the situation through, she quietly began to try and talk to him. "Do you want to come with me? I'm not going anywhere near your dad, and I promise it's going to be safe." She asked softly, hoping it would convince him to follow her. "I think we might be even safer, because if anything happens he won't know where you are."

Lucas looked up at Melissa weakly, still pale and nervous and not really liking her being further away from him. He had to consider for a few seconds, clearly unsure and not in a great state of mind, but he eventually relented. "Mmnh… I guess so…" He whispered in reply. "Where are you taking me…?" He asked softly. He still made no motion to get to his feet despite having agreed to leave.

Melissa gave him a smile to match her tone, standing up as she started speaking. "I'm going to see the counselor, and I think it would be good if you came with me. I promise you'll be safe there." Reaching out her hand, she patiently waited for him to take it. "We can go there, and you won't have to think about any of what just happened. You'll be safe, and away from him."

"Oh… okay…" Lucas replied quietly, still pretty distant and likely not fully processing everything Melissa was saying to him. He took Melissa's hand and, after a few seconds of hesitation, unsteadily got to his feet. He was pale with a blank expression, and he was likely in some amount of shock from what had just happened. His dad was already gone, probably already behind bars, but he was still tense and stressed. He followed Melissa in silence, his grip loose on her hand.

Melissa gave the teacher a look before leading Lucas to the door. "I take it we're allowed to go." She wasn't necessarily asking, but she wasn't trying to be the one in charge here. Her main focus was getting Lucas what he needed; right now, he needed to get away from this classroom.
Their teacher nodded her approval for them to leave, so Melissa nodded in return before opening the door and making their way down the halls in silence. What was one supposed to say to someone when their abusive father found his way to school and started shouting threats at them?
Instead of saying anything, Melissa loosely wrapped her arm around his waist, wanting to be more of a support for him.

Lucas held onto Melissa as she led him along. He drew in a wavering breath and wrapped his other arm around himself, trembling. "H-He hates me…" He whispered after a bit of walking. "He hates me so much. He's willing to do something like this just because he hates me so, so much." He laughed weakly, an incredulous, distant smile on his face. "He wants to kill me, doesn't he? What did I do wrong? Survive? It's hard to apologize for… not being killed in a car crash."

"Hey, hey, take a deep breath," Melissa told him, stopping for a moment to let him catch himself. She kept her hold on him firm but gave him enough room not to feel like he was being strangled. "He doesn't want to kill you. Like you've said- he's drunk. He doesn't have a clear head and doesn't know what he's talking about. It doesn't excuse anything he has done, but it doesn't mean he necessarily did them on purpose."

Lucas sighed shakily, still not looking like he was quite all there. His gaze was distant and fixated on some vague point behind Melissa, and he was pale and clammy. This was not how he'd anticipated today going. "Am I… a bad son?" He finally asked, his voice soft and scarcely audible. "Have I done something that makes him want to hurt me? If he loved me, he wouldn't want to hurt me, even if he was drunk…" He was quiet for a moment. "Was there something more I could have done to help him? I tried so hard to get him to stop drinking, but I could never do it…"

"Hey, no, you're not," Melissa promised, brows pointing inward. "I promise you."
After a beat of silence, she slowly pulled his arm so he would follow her- figuring they really needed to get to the counselor's office for their safety and his general well-being. Something about being in the halls definitely unsettled her, and she couldn't but worry it was the same for him too. "It isn't your responsibility to take care of him, you did all you could have done." She wasn't necessarily trying to avoid his question about his father loving him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to make that call.

Lucas quietly followed Melissa, keeping his eyes on the floor. He definitely didn't really like being in the halls either, but he wasn't in much of a state of much to do anything about it, so he had to rely on Melissa to help him along. "I guess I can go get my things from my house, then." He said softly, his voice distant and breathless. "I don't want to stay there. Don't like it there. It's bad. Bad house." He blinked a couple times, his gaze still not quite focused.