In Your Honor (18 page)

When the song was finished, she turned to
give him a heart-stopping grin. Her happiness was always one of his
favorite things. Especially when he had been able to contribute to
it.

He stood beside her and they bowed before
quickly leaving the stage.

Luke and Lenny were waiting for them off to
the side to congratulate them and Blake felt his chest fill with
pride. He had wanted to share this part of her with his friends for
so long... and it was finally happening. Maybe mistakes could be
righted after all.

***

“
But you guys only started
writing together this week,” Sway pouted from his corner on the
blue bus. Lucy had not been able to figure out why he was upset by
the whole thing. His mood seemed to swing from happy to jealous
rather sporadically.

“
It's like I told you,
she's got a gift.” Blake winked up at her from his place on the
floor at her feet and she smiled.

“
Couldn't have done it
without you.” She nudged him with her foot and he leaned his head
back, resting his back against her leg and his head on her knee. It
was a small gesture but one that felt good. Right.

They were on the blue bus with Sway,
Harrison and Mike discussing her tiny little solo performance. They
had been there to see it, along with Luke and Lenny. But Taylor,
Chad and Stuart had been at a different show. That was fine with
Lucy, she hadn't planned on telling anyone anyway, so it was a
surprise to have a group of people waiting for her at the end. She
had intended it to be an adventure that she only shared with Blake.
But this was nice too.

She definitely hadn't expected the
outpouring of praise for the stupid little song she'd sung. But
they seemed to really dig it. Silly rock stars. Didn't they know
who they were?

“
It's just, Blake and I
have been writing stuff for
months,
” Sway bemoaned, “and he
hasn't wanted to perform any of it live. He keeps saying it's not
ready.”

“
Wait a minute,” Mike
leaned forward from the couch, “you guys have been writing stuff?
How come we didn't know anything about it?”

“
Um,” Sway swallowed
nervously and looked all around the cabin.

“
It was for something
else, not DBS,” Blake finally sighed.

“
You guys have an
independent thing going?” Harrison asked, brown eyes wide. Lucy
liked Harrison's honest disposition and she usually found herself
wanting to spend more time with him but not being able to find a
reason to. Tonight, however, he kept averting his eyes and keeping
his remarks short and precise. It was weird.

“
Kind of, just some ideas
really. We don't even have a whole song yet.” Blake glared at Sway,
who rolled his eyes in response.

“
Speak for yourself, I
have a love song that will make any girl weep,” the blond said
smugly, and crossed his arms over his chest.

“
Love song? How in the
world are
you
writing a love song?” Mike asked skeptically. “What sort of
inspiration are you drawing from?”

“
I have love in my life,”
Sway objected. When the room gaped at him he clarified, “I have
potential love... I might be in love... some day... I think she is
a lovely person...” His voice trailed off and Lucy bit her lip to
keep from smiling.

“
I thought she dumped you
for a stunt man,” Harrison said, echoing the thoughts of the rest
of the guys.

“
Apparently that was a
misunderstanding,” Blake explained, despite his friend's warning
glare. “She was trying to make him jealous and it
backfired.”

“
Dude!” Sway's eyes were
round as he stared hard at Blake. “I told you that in
confidence.”

“
Ugh, I hate it when girls
do that,” Harrison said disgustedly. He glanced at Lucy nervously.
“Sorry, Lucy, no offense.”

“
None taken. My gender is
capable of some pretty stupid things.” She had seen some doozies in
her life. She hadn't attempted many of the classic manipulation
tactics; they pretty much always failed because she was so terrible
at lying. Eventually, she stopped trying to keep up with the
psychological warfare that the girls she grew up with seemed to
make into a profession.

“
Oh really? Anything you
wanna get off your chest?” Harrison asked curiously, his face
searching hers. What was he looking for?

“
Oh geez, I have the worst
memory.” She patted Blake's shoulder. “Can you think of one?” She
knew the potential was there for him to humiliate her in front of
all these people, but they had had such a good day together that
she hoped that wouldn't happen.

He sighed and tapped his
chin as he thought for a few minutes, and then he started laughing.
“Oh yeah, there was that one time when you told me to call in sick
to work because you wanted to hang out. And Mazy Mulroney told you
that if I chose work over you then
obviously
I didn't love you and I
never would.”

“
Yeah,” Lucy chuckled,
“and then Mazy called you that night assuming we had broken
up—”

“
Because she had driven
through the parking lot like twenty-five times!”

“
And she asked you out.”
Lucy shook her head. “Ah, seventeen sucked.”

Blake nodded and patted her foot next to him
with one hand.

“
Nothing more recent?”
Harrison asked, chewing on his upper lip. “No, say, juggling two
guys at once or playing one while falling for another?”

“
No,” Lucy snickered. “I
haven't been in a relationship in a long time so... nothing to
tell.”

“
Why, Harry?” Blake asked,
amused at the man's odd behavior. “You writing a user's
guide?”

“
Yeah, you're the one who
grew up with sisters. Shouldn't you already have some kind of
insight into this already?” Mike interjected.

Harrison shrugged, “Miranda was too Type-A
to really be like most girls. And Greta... well, Greta is about as
cocky as Lenny. She's too rebellious to be a game-player.”

Blake snickered, “That she is. You were so
pissed when she transferred to San Diego.”

“
She should have stayed in
Boston, she was safer there,” Harrison said harshly, and Lucy was
surprised at his reaction. It wasn't typical of his normal
sweetheart persona.

“
You're too hard on your
baby sister. She's got a good head on her shoulders,” Blake replied
in defense, and Lucy felt a strangeness in her stomach. Blake had a
life away from Oklahoma. He didn't stop existing when he left. He
had built friendships and probably had a home and all sorts of
things. Maybe he even had a girlfriend. What if he he'd been
engaged or married? She hadn't even asked.

“
I know. Sorry. I think
I'm just in a weird mood.” Harrison frowned and looked away. He
scratched the back of his head briefly. “I haven't been myself
since seeing Mordrid up close...”

The bus shook with laughter from the
occupants, snapping Lucy out of her reverie.

“
I almost forgot to tell
you!” Sway sat up straighter, excitement lighting his face. “The
lead singer stopped by, she saw you in the audience and wanted to
say hey.”

“
Shut up.” Harrison glared
at the bassist.

“
No, really!” Sway dug in
his pocket and fished out a scrap of paper. “She left her number.
She said her name is Slappy or Happy or something.” He handed the
paper to Harrison, who stared at it in disbelief.

“
You gonna call her?” Mike
asked tentatively after no one had spoken for a minute.

“
Whatever.” Harrison
crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash can. “Very funny.
You guys are dicks.”

“
It's not a prank!” Sway
protested.

“
I'm going to bed. Wake me
up when we reach a new state.” Harrison stomped towards the bunks,
his bandmates sniggering behind him.

“
It's not a prank,” Sway
said again as he dug the paper out of the garbage and stuck it to
the fridge with a magnet.

“
I should be going to bed
too.” Lucy patted Blake's shoulder as she stood.

“
I'll walk you,” he
volunteered. She was going to tell him that wouldn't be necessary,
but he was already at the door, waiting for her.

She followed him down the steps and into the
warm summer night. A lot had changed between them in a very short
span of time, and Lucy was still feeling a little like the room was
spinning. She had spent so many years praying to forget him and now
he was with her everyday.

“
Did you have fun today?”
he asked as they crunched along the gravel next to the buses. She
noticed they weren't moving very quickly and she couldn't tell if
she was setting the pace or matching it.

“
Yeah,” she answered
honestly. “You make me feel like I might be fun.” She smiled
sheepishly.

“
You
are
fun,” he laughed
softly.

They reached the bus door and she turned to
him, taking in his green eyes that seemed to darken whenever they
were alone together. She wanted to say so much. To tell him she was
sorry about Frank. That she was sorry for all the things she
couldn't change. She wanted to ask if there was someone waiting for
him in Boston. If he'd promised forever to anyone after her. But
that would start conversations they weren't prepared to have.

“
Thank you,” she said
simply. “For always believing in me.”

Those emerald eyes darkened a bit more and
he tilted his head slightly, his brows drawing together. “It's by
far the easiest thing I've ever done.”

Lucy placed her palm on the center of his
chest and felt his heart beat through his thin t-shirt. “Goodnight,
Blake.”

She tried to walk up the stairs of the bus
at a regular pace, not wanting him to notice her sudden urge to
bolt. It was all she could do to pull herself away, to not get lost
in his eyes. She didn't want to start looking for more than was
there. Or find a spark of a remnant for her to cling to. She was
his friend. They could be friends.

Just.

Friends.

The bus was empty, so she changed her
clothes quickly and slipped under the covers in her small bunk. She
stared into the darkness, letting her thoughts and hopes get the
better of her.

Today had been the kind of day that she
would have been afraid to even dream about. Blake had been all the
things she remembered, without all the regret attached.

Her phone chirped and she
reached behind her head to grab it off the shelf. She expected it
to be Blake. No, she
wanted
it to be Blake. She wanted him to answer all of
the questions she was too scared to ask. She wanted him to ask her
one more time to give them yet another chance. Because she wanted
nothing else in the whole world at the moment. She would say yes,
no hesitation.

Instead, it was a number she didn't
recognize.

Unknown Number:
Lenny tells me that you need a new bracelet,
Newton.

***

Luke faced away from Lenny and ran one hand
through his hair, closing his eyes. They'd gotten back to the bus
and he had retreated to their bedroom in the back. She followed him
but hadn't said anything yet. He rested both hands on his hips and
took a deep breath. He didn't want to be mad at her. He hated being
mad at her. It hurt like nothing else in the world.

“
Are you angry?” she asked
from behind him, her tone a little more confrontational than he
would have preferred.

Luke finally faced her and he knew his
agitation was obvious by the look on her face. She set her jaw and
crossed her arms over her chest.

“
Why did you have to
introduce Lucy to Shane?” he asked, trying to keep his voice
even.

“
They're both friends of
mine. I didn't realize that I was supposed to be keeping them in
separate boxes,” she responded dryly.

“
But then you gave him her
number,” he pointed out.

“
And you wouldn't have?
Shane's your friend too, remember?”

“
No. I wouldn't have.”
Luke shook his head adamantly. “Lucy is...” He rubbed his hand over
his forehead in aggravation.

“
Lucy is what, Luke?”
Lenny pressed.

“
She's Blake's,” Luke said
plainly.

That had apparently been the wrong thing to
say because dark clouds rolled into Lenny's eyes and she narrowed
her gaze at him.

“
Lucy is a person. She
doesn't
belong
to
anyone.”

“
That's not what I meant.”
He held up his hands defensively, attempting to
backtrack.

“
As far as what anyone
will tell me around here, Blake and Lucy ended long ago. They're
just friends now.” She let her hands drop to her hips and she
raised her eyebrows at him. “Unless there's more information you're
keeping to yourself.”

Luke stayed silent. Did she know about
Blake's drunken tattoo? She must. She only looked at him like that
when she had the upper hand. Shit.

“
I was going to tell you
about the tattoo—”

“
Oh, come on!” she
interrupted loudly. “No you weren't! I've been told repeatedly that
I'm part of this family. That I'm the frickin' sixth member of the
band, but that's not even close to the truth. You're still
protecting your boys and shutting me out! Maybe if I had known the
extent of Blake's thing for Lucy, whether it be love or psychotic
obsession, I'd have been able to navigate the Shane thing better.
You can't be mad at me for operating on the information I've been
given. Hell, I'm pretty sure Kendra knows more than I do, and I'm
your
wife
.”