Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lucy pov

~~ 1 ~~

“Lucy, on your right!!”

Lucy looked behind her and jumped out of the way just in time for the Specter to swoop by, Lockwood in hot pursuit. Her foot slipped on the muddy banks of the Thames, and her knee landed atop something sharp sticking out of the muck.

Cursing loudly, she reached out to see what she had landed on.

As soon as her fingers touched the object, the wailing that had, up till this point, been assaulting her inner ear morphed into more distinct cries of pain and anger.

“I think I found it!” She cried as she dug her fingers in to grasp the protrusion. It was well and truly stuck, so she changed tactics, scraping at the wet mud on either side. Unfortunately, she was close enough to the water that the holes filled up nearly as fast as she could dig them.

“Flo, I could use your help over here!” She called over her shoulder, continuing to scrape uselessly at the earth.

The sound of wellingtons squelching through mud approached quickly, and soon the relic girl was there, digging in with her slime flange. Together, they uncovered an old metal kitchen ladle and threw it in a waiting chain bag.

“About bloody time!” Lockwood called out from a spot farther down the bank. He bent over with his hands on his knees, visibly breathing heavily despite the distance. “What took so long?”

“Oh, don’t get you’re knickers in a twist, Locky! We knew you had it handled. Didn’t we, Carlyle?” She nudged the other girl with her elbow, nearly knocking her flat on her arse.

“Careful!” Lucy admonished, flailing to keep her balance. “I’m trying to check out my knee, the tip of the handle was poking out of the sand and I fell on it when Lockwood just about ran me over.” She hissed as she pulled the ankle hole of her leggings up and over her knee for a better look. There was definitely blood.

“Well, good thing you did, otherwise we might have been out here for another couple hours! Besides, now I can charge extra, as it caused my colleagues bodily harm.” Flo winked in satisfaction, plopping down into the muck without hesitation and leaning back on her hands.

“Well, isn’t that great for you.” Lucy mumbled. She wiped her hand on a cleaner part of her jacket so she could prod gently at the wound.

“You alright there, Luce?” Lockwood crouched down next to her, doing his best to keep his coat from falling in the mud around them.

“Lockwood, you’re in my light!”

“No need to throw a wobbly, love, it’s just a scratch.” Flo’s voice turned childish, taunting. “Want me to kiss it, make it better?”

“Bite me, Flo.”

“Well, I could do that too, but I don’t think it’ll help much with the pain.”

“Right. Why did we agree to help you tonight, again?”

“Because, we owed her for her help with the Ravenscourt Rawbones cluster case, remember?” Lockwood chimed in.

“Spot on- there isn’t enough licorice in the world to even the score from that train wreck. And you may scoff, Carlyle, but I’m sure kisses could, at the very least, help distract you from your little booboo, as long as they’re done right. If you catch my drift.” Flo punctuated the last word with a wink.

“Oh yes, Flo, why don’t you just snog me? That’ll make my bruised and bleeding patella feel right as rain in no time!”

The banter came to a screeching halt- Lucy seemed to realise what she had said a moment too late, but she was stubborn. She doubled down on her challenging demeanour even as red rushed up her cheeks. Flo stared back at the other girl with amusement, and Lockwood just seemed to be in shock.

After a moment, Flo turned her attention to Lockwood, her expression turning inquisitive.

“What are you looking at me for?” He demanded, his ears turning as red as Lucy's face even in the dim light.

That response seemed to make up her mind. The relic girl shrugged, sitting up and wiping her hands on her jacket.

“Well, don’t ever tell no one that Flo Bones never runs from a challenge.”

Before anyone else realised what was happening, Flo had crossed the space between her and Lucy, grabbing the front of her jacket and pulling their faces close, a wild grin on her face. She paused for a moment with millimetres to spare to make sure they didn’t crash, and then pressed their lips together.

The momentum and slight decline of the bank behind her caused Lucy to fall flat on her arse in the muck and continue rolling backwards, inadvertently pulling Flo on top of her in a messy, muddy pile.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT??” Lucy roared after a moment of struggling, shoving Flo who was, herself, roaring with laughter. She rolled off the smaller girl, sprawling on her back beside her as she attempted to catch her breath through the peals of laughter.

“What the hell, Flo?” Lockwood was on his feet, rapier halfway out of his sheath.

“Ah, don’t get all shirty on me, Locky,” Flo managed, her hand clutching her stomach. “You’re the one who didn’t take the opportunity. And you know I never back down from a challenge.” She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, leaving a smear of black on her cheek.

Flo hoisted herself off the ground and offered a hand to Lucy. If looks could kill, she would have dropped dead on the spot.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise it would be such a big deal. Truce?”

Lucy glowered for a moment longer, then sighed. “Truce, I suppose…” She mumbled, taking the  hand and allowing Flo to help her to her feet. Once Lucy was upright again, Flo stooped to grab the bag and Source.

“Besides, it’s not like that was your first kiss, now, was it?”

She turned her head just in time to see Lucy’s brows furrow and eyes widen as they darted to Lockwood and back, giving the faintest shake of her head.

“No… was it, really?” Flo looked between them in disbelief, the grin returning to her face. “Well, sorry, Locky, it’s gonna be tough to beat that, I’m sure I’ve ruined her for everyone else.”

“Wait, really, Luce? Have you never kissed anyone before?”

Lucy groaned in frustration, rolling her eyes upwards as they began heading away from the river. She could not believe that she was having this conversation, now , with Lockwood within earshot, while completely covered head to toe in filth from the bank of the Thames. All she wanted was get home, take a long, hot shower, and spend the rest of the night screaming into her pillow.

 “No, Flo, Lockwood, it was not my first kiss. Can we just leave it at that? Please?”

“As you wish, love. Didn’t mean to pry!”

~~ 2 ~~

Lucy and Kat ran around the corner, pressing their backs against the wall as they breathed heavily.

“Did we take a wrong turn somewhere? There is definitely not supposed to be any sort of security in this part of the building right now!”

“No, we’re in the right place, we were just given bogus information, or they switched up their schedules.”

“Where are the boys, shouldn’t they have been here already?”

“They probably got caught up in the same song and dance with those security guards as us. Do you see the room?”

Lucy looked down the darkened hallway, squinting at the plaque next to the nearest door.

“This is room 211, we’re looking for 229, right?”

“Yeah, lucky for us this used to be a high school, so the layout actually makes sense for once… Let’s go.”

The two girls began a silent trek down the hallway towards the Supervisors’ office. 

“You said you heard it over here?” Before they could even get more than a couple rooms down, a male voice rang out from the direction they had just come from.

Kat’s head snapped towards the sound, hissing out a curse at the sight of torch light shining on the wall. She grabbed Lucy’s wrist, and they just barely made it through the nearest door before the voices turned the corner.

They found themselves in an old, dark classroom, probably where the incoming agents continued their regular schooling or learned about the history of the Problem.

“Did they see the door closing, do you think?” Lucy whispered, glancing back at the door handle. Unfortunately there was no way she could see to easily lock it.

“We can hope not, but I have an idea for just in case. I’m not sure if you’re going to like it, though.”

“What? They could be here any second!”

“Do you trust me?”

“Kat, I wouldn’t have agreed to split up with you if I didn’t trust you. What’s your idea?”

Without hesitating, Kat grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her backwards towards the wall. Her eyes locked onto Lucy’s, the effect mesmerising. Was it just her, or did her eyes darken just a bit?

“...Kat? What-” Before she could finish her question, one of Kat’s hands traced down Lucy’s arm, gently grabbing her hand and lifting it to pin against the wall above her head. The other snaked to the back of her head, fingers twisting in her hair, and guided their lips together.

Lucy let out a muffled grunt of surprise as heat bloomed on her face. She tried to push the older girl away.

Kat pulled her lips away to make open-mouthed kisses along her jaw. “We’re horny teenagers, and there’s no privacy in the dorms. Just go with it.” She whispered, pressing her body more firmly against Lucy’s and continuing her ministrations down her neck.

It took a moment for the plan to sink in, Lucy’s mind warring between not wanting to get caught, and her hangups regarding who she would actually rather be kissing.

It had been almost a month since Flo had practically jumped her in front of Lockwood, and the embarrassment still caused blood to rush to her cheeks when she thought about it. She still couldn’t get it out of her head- the way that Lockwood had been protective to the point where he jumped up and had nearly drawn his rapier on his friend, Flo’s comment about him not taking the opportunity, and how truly awkward things had been afterwards on the way home. 

Almost as if he, too, had been affected more than he wanted to be by Flo’s actions, and was doing his best not to show it.

There was no way that was the case, though. Lockwood hadn’t seemed to even notice her yet. True, he was her boss, and it would definitely be inappropriate, not to mention poor George would feel like the most awkward third wheel, but she could hope… Right?

Her mind snapped back to the present, and she knew what she had to do. Lucy gave a slight nod, then did her best to get into character.

She slid her free arm around Kat’s waist to her back, pulling them together as she awkwardly undulated her body, and let out an exaggerated moan.

“What are you doing ?” Kat hissed, jerking back to look at her face. “This isn’t a porno, we need to make it convincing if they come in here!”

Anger flared at the reprimand. “You’re the one who wanted to makeout for our cover, I can’t help it if I haven’t done that befor–hhmph!”

Kat’s lips slammed onto Lucy’s. “Shut it, Carlyle, and just bloody kiss me.”

Lucy glared at her for one more moment before she let out a huff. As Kat’s lips returned to hers, she tilted her head and closed her eyes.

The first thing she noticed when she forced her mind to slow down was how soft Kat’s lips were. Their warmth and firmness pressed against Lucy’s, and she wondered if Lockwood’s would feel similar…

Suddenly, she grew self-conscious about her own lips. When was the last time she’d used her chapstick? Did she even know where it was? The thing was so small she was always losing it.

Shit. She remembered chewing on her lips at the beginning of the night, trying to get an annoying piece of dry skin off. She made a mental note to try to start taking better care of her lips; Kat was probably disgusted right now with how rough they were, and there was no way she was gonna embarrass herself with chapped lips when she kissed Lockwood.

When ? God, she needed to get a grip. He was her boss , it was never gonna happen.

Kat brought her back to the moment when she released Lucy’s arm from against the wall and wedged one leg between hers. Strong hands slided down the sides of her waist, reaching around and grabbing her arse to gently guide her hips in a roll against the muscled thigh pressed against her core.

An unexpected jolt of electricity shivered up Lucy’s body at the friction and dissipated into heat throughout her whole body. She barely stifled a whimper.

Once Lucy’s head cleared again, she began to notice how Kat’s kisses seemed to last longer than hers, and her mouth was quite a bit more open. As Kat’s tongue licked along the seam of her closed lips, she experimentally opened her jaw, not realising what Kat had been asking. Her head jerked back into the wall when a tongue slipped into her mouth to lick along her teeth.

Kat pulled away a second time. “Jesus, Carlyle, relax.” She paused when she noticed the shock on Lucy’s face. “Wait, are you okay? Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

This again? Why is it such a big deal to everyone whether she may or may not have kissed anyone before?

Lucy rolled her eyes, feeling her cheeks burn even hotter. “Yes, I have, okay? But never like this, so sorry I’m so bad at it-”

“Hey.” Kat’s hands found their way back to Lucy’s cheeks, forcing her to return her gaze. Her eyes bounced between the younger agent’s. “If you’re not comfortable with this, we can figure something else out-”

Both their faces snapped to the door as a loud bang sounded down the hall, followed by harsh male whispers.

Lucy looked back at Kat with wide eyes before hastily pulling their mouths back together. She kept her jaw open, doing her best to copy what Kat had been doing earlier, and experimented with another roll of her hips. Kat melted around her at the renewed consent, taking back control and pressing Lucy’s body into the wall once more.

Again, Kat’s hands made their way to Lucy’s hips, pressing her thigh even more firmly to her centre. An even more intense shot of electricity ran through Lucy, and this time the surprised moan made it past her lips.

“That’s it, Kitten, just do what feels good. I’ve got you,” Kat mumbled into her mouth.

Lucy’s arms felt around Kat’s ribcage to her back, finding that the more she relaxed into her body, the better she felt about what was happening, and the better her body felt in general. Her movements still seemed foreign and stilted compared to Kat’s ease, but maybe she was starting to get the hang of it?

Once again, she felt Kat’s tongue press against her lips. She tentatively opened her mouth even more, pressing her own tongue forward in return, causing a pleased hum to vibrate from the other girl.

She allowed herself to lose herself in the sensation of their tongues pressing against each other, her hands roaming across strong shoulder blades and a keenly toned waist. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Lockwood felt.

It was this thought that made her whine at the loss of lips on hers as the older girl pulled away to look in her eyes once more. Coming to, she noticed Kat’s hands running along the hem of her shirt.

“May I?” Cool fingers slid up her belly under the thin fabric, skimming along the underside of her bra line.

Lucy took in a shaky breath and nodded. Her mind wandered back to Lockwood as deft fingers brushed over her bra, gently kneading the soft mound of her breast. She thought of those long, elegant hands and strong forearms as a thumb flicked over her nipple, causing her to gasp and her heartbeat to pulse in her ears.

“When did it get so hot in here?” Her voice came out much breathier than she was used to. It had been almost chilly earlier, since this part of the building wasn’t occupied at night, but she was getting to the point where she needed to take off her jacket. She lifted her chin as Kat once again turned her attention to Lucy’s neck and jaw.

Kat chuckled, a second hand making its way to her other breast, and she could feel the grin of lips against her skin. “Starting to enjoy yourself, I take it?”

Lucy nodded, brows furrowing at the unexpected pleasure building in her body.

“That heat you feel,” Kat licked her way up Lucy’s neck to the point right below her ear, “is your heart pumping faster.” She paused to gently suckle the spot. Lucy’s knees weakened with a gasp, her body leaning more heavily on the thigh between her legs. “Your blood pressure increases as your arousal builds,” Kat punctuated the word with a roll of her own hips, spiking the heat in her core with another jolt of electricity.

The sound that left Lucy’s throat was nothing she had ever heard herself make before.

“It’s much the same as a workout, but so much more fun.”

Teeth scraped along Lucy’s earlobe and the hands on Lucy’s breasts grew rougher, pinching her peaking nipples. It was so much sensation that she began to feel like she was out at sea in the middle of a storm with nothing but a single life preserver, purely at the mercy of the raging wind and waves.

Her body started acting on its own accord and she pulled Kat more firmly to her, desperate for something to cling to. She couldn’t seem to get in a full breath, instead only being able to suck in short pants of air.

And it was so hot .

Lucy leaned forward, shrugging her shoulders back and awkwardly pulled her jacket from her arms. As soon as it was free, she tossed it to the side before allowing Kat to slam her back to the wall. Another roll of Kat’s hip had her mewling. How did this feel so bloody good?

“That’s it, such a good girl” Kat’s voice was husky as their lips crashed together once more. Lucy automatically opened her mouth and let out another groan as Kat’s tongue found its way inside, exploring the backs of her teeth and soft palate.

They continued this way until a light was suddenly shining on their faces.

“Lucy?”

Kat pulled away as Lucy snapped her face towards the voice, and what she saw banished any and all heat within her body. She felt like ice water had been dumped on her body.

The door was open and George stood frozen halfway into the room, hand still on the doorknob. His face was momentarily in shadow as her eyes adjusted to the light

“Did you find them?” Lockwood’s stage whisper sounded just a few feet away, and sure enough, his head followed, peeking in around the other boy.

George’s features faded into view. He was staring straight at her, but before she could interpret the expression on his face he looked away, stepping aside so Lockwood could enter the room.

“Why are you two in he…” Lockwood trailed off, brows furrowing, as he saw the two girls up against the wall. He was holding a manilla folder in his hands- they must have finished the mission while Lucy and Kat had been hiding.

How long had they been in here?

With a start, Lucy realised that Kat was still pressed up against her, hands under her shirt and thigh between her legs. She pushed her away, blushing furiously as she did her best to straighten out her clothes with trembling hands. Kat, of course, didn’t seem the least bit ruffled.

Lockwood’s eyes flashed. “Oh, well, I guess that answers that.” he continued in a curt voice, looking away to give Lucy a semblance of privacy while she attempted to pull herself together

“We were almost spotted,” Kat explained. “We barely made it into this room and weren’t sure if they saw the door closing, so we made a quick decision in case they came to check. It wouldn’t be too out of place for a couple of the agents to sneak out of the dorms for…” She paused, glancing at Lucy, “privacy.”

“I see… and did they find you?” Lockwood raised an eyebrow as he turned his gaze to Kat.

“There weren’t any security in the area, my research into the building-”

Kat cut George off with a look. “Well, there were. And no, they didn’t find us. We got lucky.”

“Apparently,” George countered with a snort, rolling his eyes.

“Well, we have the file.” Lockwood gestured with the envelope.

“And we need to leg it.” George continued in a flat voice. “We’ve been here longer than we should have been, and the next round of security is scheduled to come by any time now. It’s a good thing, I guess, that you two started getting loud, or we would have never found you in time.”

“Just, next time be more careful, and try to stay a bit more focused while we’re on a case. This wasn’t one we could afford to botch up.” Lockwood turned on his heel and started out the door.

“I know, I know.” Kat answered easily, following Lockwood out the door with George. She turned her head back to address Lucy before continuing. “Don’t forget your jacket, Lucy. The only reason I got distracted was because someone here hadn’t actually snogged anyone before-”

“Kat!” Lucy hissed, barely scooping up her discarded jacket before running out behind them. She hadn’t thought the heat in her cheeks could burn any brighter, but apparently she was wrong.

Kat flashed her a grin. “Got surprisingly enthusiastic, though.”

~~ 3 ~~

For the next couple days, Lucy couldn’t get her… experience, for lack of a better term, with Kat out of her head. Or rather, it was her lack of experience that wouldn’t leave her alone. She kept spiralling at how out of her league she had felt, all while making a complete a fool of herself.

At least, that was a part of her distraction.

Now, on top of that, not only had Lockwood seen someone else kiss her, but George had as well, and the feelings creeping in surrounding that particular tidbit were nothing less than confusing… She had known she felt attraction to Lockwood; really, who wouldn’t, with his roguish grin, chiselled features, and confident swagger?

But George ?

Not that he’s bad looking- in fact, he’s quite pleasing to the eyes, if he wasn’t slouching more than normal. Especially the way his face lights up whenever he’s gotten started on a tangent he’s particularly passionate about, or the smile he gives her and Lockwood as he hands them their food hot off the stove…

She closed her eyes and jerked her head side to side. This was all beside the point. What really bothered her was the look on his face when they found her and Kat in such a compromising position. She had spent far too much time thinking about that flash of emotion she saw on his face the moment before he slipped his mask back on of cool indifference. A mix of surprise, disbelief, and… was it hurt? Betrayal? It was gone so quickly after her eyes focused, she couldn’t be too sure, but something in her chest panged at the thought.

And then Kat had to go and flat out tell them that she had never done that before.

Had that really been necessary?

They hadn’t even let her try to explain on the way home, claiming that they didn’t want to know the details. It was painfully obvious they hadn’t believed Kat when she told them why they had hid, and it was maddening.

Lucy huffed.

At this rate, it wouldn’t matter whether she had feelings for either of them, or if she had no clue what to do when it came to kissing. It was a complete moot point if they thought she was interested in other people!

She aggressively flopped back on her pillows, rolling over and pressing her face into them as a yell of frustration ripped through her throat. Why was this getting so bloody complicated?

Suddenly, a soft knock came from her door.

“Lucy?” Holly’s voice floated up the stairs to her attic.

“What?” Lucy’s voice came out muffled, on account of her not moving her face from the fabric.

“I’m sorry, what was that? Can I come in?”

What did Holly want? Couldn’t they all just let her wallow in her convoluted feelings in peace?

She reluctantly lifted her head from where she had halfheartedly been attempting to smother herself.

“Yeah, is everything alright?”

Holly’s head popped up from the stairwell.

“Oh, I’m just peachy…” She hesitated at the top of the steps, almost like she was trying to figure out what to say. “The boys and I couldn’t help but notice you keeping to yourself a bit more these last couple days, and something has seemed off ever since that joint mission you did with Kat Godwin…

Lucy let out another groan, flopping back into the pillows.

“They won’t tell me anything about it, of course, saying it was none of their business, but when you missed lunch they decided I should come up to check in on you. Did anything happen there that you’d like to talk about?”

Bollocks.

They decided that Holly should come check on her. That has NEVER been the case before… Even during the times when he knew she was completely narked at him, Lockwood would still bring up a cuppa or some other peace offering. George would never let her miss a meal, even threatening to come up here and feed her himself a couple times if she didn’t eat. 

She hadn’t even realised she had missed lunch, she was so stuck in her thoughts…And now they’d sent Holly to check in. She really had botched things up with them, hadn’t she?

She sighed and slowly pushed herself to a sitting position in the middle of her bed.

“Are you sure you want to open that can of worms, Holly?”

“Well, it’s obvious that something happened… is there is anything I can, maybe, help with?”

Lucy let out a hollow laugh. “Well, unless you can change the past or make a couple people forget something they’ve seen, I’m not sure what else you can do.

Holly sighed and crossed the floor, gingerly setting herself down on the edge of the bed.

“Well, I definitely can’t help if no one even tells me what happened.”

Lucy stared at her friend, confliction clear on her face. How would she even start this conversation?

“I… Well…” She blew a breath upwards, ruffling the bangs starting to grow into her eyes. She should probably get her hair cut soon.

Holly waited patiently for Lucy to speak.

Making her decision, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I snogged Kat.” She continued to stare at her bangs.

“...I’m confused, how is that-” Realisation dawned on Holly’s face. “Oh, you mean on the case .”

“Yes, on the case!” Lucy threw her hands up in exasperation. “We had split up, Lockwood with George and me with Kat, and Kat and I almost got caught by some security guards that weren’t supposed to be there. We threw ourselves into the nearest room and decided that it would be the best cover in case we had been seen.”

“That’s a smart move, actually. Did they find you?”

“Not the security guards…”

“Ah.” Things seemed to click in Holly’s mind. “So you kept it up until the boys found you.”

“We got… distracted?”

Holly laughed. “I can imagine, Kat has a bit of a reputation for knowing how to have a good time. So, if I have the whole picture correct, you all were on an active case, you and Kat got ‘distracted’ in some random room, and the boys caught you in the act.”

“I mean, that’s what happened.” Lucy’s cheeks burned in embarrassment.

“Well, let’s start with that, then. First of all, go you for getting with Kat, she is hot !” She nudged Lucy with her elbow, a grin on her lips. “I can’t say I’m not surprised, but she is definitely a catch. I may even be a little jealous!”

“That’s the thing, though, I don’t-”

“ Second , I’m pretty sure I can understand how this made things a bit uncomfortable between you three. People make mistakes and I’m sure Lockwood knows that you wouldn’t let something like that happen again, however I don’t think I was the only one under the impression that your affections were directed elsewhere. Or, at least hoped that they weren’t.”

That caught Lucy off guard.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Have you not noticed the way both George and Lockwood look at you? They even act differently when you’re around. It’s obvious that they both fancy you. Whether or not they’ve talked about it between themselves is a whole other question, but there is definitely this dance that you all seem to do around each other.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

Holly raised one eyebrow. “It’s actually kind of painful to watch sometimes, I have to admit, but I can definitely see how them finding you with someone else could throw off the dynamic of the entire house.”

Lucy stared blankly at the other girl. There was no way she was speaking the truth, was there? She shook her head.

“Holly, they don’t treat me any differently than anyone else in the agency, I mean, Lockwood is my boss , for heaven’s sake!”

“Yes, he is, but he’s also completely head over heels for you. It’s so obvious, I thought you knew?”

“Of course I didn’t know, are you kidding?” Lucy’s voice went to a harsh whisper as her eyes darted to the stairs.

There was no way they’d be listening in right now, would they? Was this some kind of sick prank to get back at her for losing focus the other day?

Holly must have guessed what was going through her mind.

“I made them promise to stay downstairs, Lucy, it is just you and me here.”

Lucy sighed in resignation. “If what you’re saying is true, then that’s almost worse. I like them both. There’s no way I’d be able to choose between the two, knowing the feelings for the two of them are reciprocated… I mean, I didn’t even know I liked George like that before seeing him in the doorway to that bloody classroom, but I’ve been trying to forget about it and I just can’t. He’s there now, in my brain, and I can’t unfeel it.”

“Well, what about both?”

Lucy looked at Holly like she had grown two heads.

“What do you mean, what about both?”

“I mean, what if you chose both? Together? They dance around each other just as much as they do with you, why couldn’t all three of you be together in that capacity?”

“They- what? But how would that even work, it’s not like I can have two boyfriends! I wouldn’t-” Lucy had lowered her voice again, despite the reassurance that no one else would be listening in.

“Why not?” Holly shrugged. “If they both know about it and are okay with it, why can’t you?”

Lucy felt her cheeks burn. She found she couldn’t meet Holly’s eyes. There was no way this was an actual option…

Was it?

She groaned, once again falling back on her pillows with one arm draped over her face.

“I just…” She took a deep breath. “I hadn’t snogged anyone before Kat, and she made a comment about my ‘inexperience’ in front of them… Hol, I wouldn’t even know what to do with one partner, let alone two !”

“Well, how was your time with Kat? Were you able to get any pointers?”

“Are you kidding?” Lucy propped herself up on one elbow, voice back to a whisper. “That was a whirlwind of feelings and emotions that I wasn’t the least bit ready for, and both of us were already full of adrenaline from the situation. I may have been in a classroom, and it may have been eye-opening, but it was the farthest thing from a technical learning experience.”

“Hmm…” Holly pinched her lips to one side in thought, before turning back to Lucy. “Well, feel free to say no, but would you like some pointers in a bit more… controlled of an environment?”

“What, are you offering me kissing lessons now?” Lucy scoffed, even as her blush burned brighter.

Holly’s head cocked to one side.

“Only if you’re comfortable, of course, but I am open to helping if you want it.”

Lucy forced down the instinct to hide from embarrassment and considered Holly’s proposition. She thought back to when Kat scolded her for “overacting,” and realised it may be a good thing to get in a little practice, after all. She sat up and squared her shoulders.

“Okay, but only if you promise not to tell the boys, yeah? I don't need them to think I'm just going around kissing everyone.”

“Mum’s the word.”

“Right. Thanks for that.”

An awkward silence filled the air as the two girls stared at each other.

“So… how do you want to do this?” Lucy bit her lip. She was already starting to regret agreeing to this impromptu arrangement. “Unless… You were thinking of a different time?”

“Right now works for me, if it works for you.”

Lucy looked around her room and the various piles of clutter. “It’s not like I have anything else I’m supposed to be doing right now.”

“Brilliant.” Holly tucked her legs underneath her and scooted closer until she was right in front of the other girl. “I think the best place to start would be to see where you are right now. Lucy, may I kiss you?”

“Isn’t that the point?”

Holly sighed. “Of course it is, but it’s only polite to ask. So,” She locked her gaze on Lucy’s, “may I kiss you?”

Lucy hesitated only a moment as her pulse picked up its pace. “Yes, please, before I bottle it.”

At that, Holly leaned forward, cupped Lucy’s cheek, and gently pressed their lips together.

Doing her best to remember her time with Kat, Lucy closed her eyes and opened her jaw a bit, allowing her lips to part into the kiss.

The first thing that Lucy noticed was Holly’s lip gloss. It was a little slimy but helped their lips glide more smoothly together, and was that cherry flavour?

Holly pulled back, a soft smile on her face, before Lucy could focus on anything else. Her lips tingled a bit.

“Not bad, Lucy. You seem to have a lot of tension, though- let’s try again, and try to really relax your jaw a bit more.”

Lucy nodded shallowly, and with the next kiss, did her best to do as was suggested.

“Much better. Relaxing helps you get more into the moment and allows you to just feel, as well. There’s a lot that your body already knows how to do. Let’s try again.”

~~ 4 ~~

“I don’t know if I’m in the mood for drinks tonight…” Lucy sulked.

She was on the sofa in the library, knees almost to her chin, her forgotten sketchpad sandwiched between her stomach and thighs. She suddenly realised that she had spent the last who-knows-how-long just staring out into space, not even noticing the boys’ approach.

“I don’t know, Luce, you seem like you need to unwind a bit. Did you even hear us come in?” Lockwood plopped down right next to Lucy’s feet, draping one long arm over her knees.

“Is Holly gonna be staying?”

The boys shared a glance before George responded.

“No.” He set the three beers he had been carrying on the table and plopped himself in one of the armchairs across the table before continuing. “Holly said she has a, uh… a date tonight.”

“And Kipps, if you were wondering, is having a get together with his old team from Fittes.” Lockwood continued. “Come on, Lucy, you obviously don’t have to drink if you don’t want to, but it’s the first time we’ve all had a night off together in a while, and we haven’t had a chance to hang out as just the three of us in far too long. Let’s relax a bit; be friends!”

Lucy had to spend altogether too much of her concentration trying to keep her heartbeat in check. Her conversation with Holly from the day before still rang in her ears.

“They even act differently when you’re around. It’s obvious that they both fancy you…”

Things hadn’t gotten back to normal enough for her to try and pay better attention; to see with her own eyes if what she had been saying was true.

“Alright, I’m off!” Holly’s voice rang out from the front entryway, causing Lucy to jump to her feet.

She forced herself not to run to the other girl.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Lucy whispered as soon as the boys were out of earshot. “Things are still so weird and now they want to ‘hang out,’ please don't leave me!”

“You’ll be fine!” Holly smiled, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder before leaning forward conspiratorially. “Besides, this may be the perfect time to set the record straight, don’t you think?”

Lucy blinked.

Well, she certainly hadn’t thought about it that way.

Lucy sighed in defeat. Maybe this could be just what they needed, and a bit of liquid courage could help.

“Okay, I guess I can try…”

“Please do, it’s been even worse watching you all try to avoid each other than it was with all the pining.” She reached for the doorknob and winked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lovely lady waiting. You’ve got this, Lucy, I'll see you in the morning!”

Holly gave her a quick peck on the cheek and walked out the door, leaving her wondering how in the hell she would make it through the night.

Things were definitely a bit awkward at first, but after a couple drinks each, the three friends were finally able to fully relax. Lucy found herself back on the sofa leaning into Lockwood, and somehow his arm had found its way around her shoulders. Her feet were propped up on the table right next to George’s.

They waffled about, the conversation meandering here and there (as they often do), until somehow they stumbled upon the topic of the night Lockwood and Lucy had helped Flo about a month and a half before.

It seemed Lockwood had completely gotten over the shock of Flo's kiss, however, as soon enough both him and George were giggling over the incident. Even Lucy was starting to see the humour in it.

“Okay, how did you not tell me any of this before?” George asked, incredulous. “So she just jumped you?”

“Yeah, it was bonkers. You should have seen Lucy, she just about thumped her on the spot!”

“And what about you, you nearly drew your rapier in my defence!”

Lucy turned to poke his ribs. She could almost see him mentally backpedalling, and she smirked as her heart beat a smidge faster. Perhaps this was her chance?

“Oh, that, I… was just fixing the velcro loop, it hadn't clasped together properly.”

“Sure, Lockwood” George taunted as Lucy raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t help but notice the look Lockwood gave him in response, almost like a warning.

Interesting.

Unfortunately, she did miss the way that Lockwood’s eyes glinted as he turned his attention back on her.

“By the way, I meant to ask but there didn't seem to be a good time before I forgot. You said it wasn't your first kiss- so, who was?”

Lucy let out an undignified squeak at the question.

“Oh, really?” George looked between Lockwood and Lucy. “Yeah, Luce, who was your first kiss? Do we know them?” He wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned forward in the chair, the corner of his mouth turning up in a lopsided smirk.

“That's not fair, if I have to tell mine, you two have to tell yours!”

“Well, that’s easy for me.” George leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head, “Both of you know that Flo and I had a thing for a while there. She’s the only one that I’ve ever kissed, so far.”

Two sets of eyes turned to Lockwood, who for a moment, looked uncharacteristically like a deer in headlights. He caught himself quickly enough, however, and grinned.

“Well, Luce, that’s one of us. I think it’s only fair that you go next, and I spill the beans last.”

“How is that fair, when you’re the one who started this conversation in the first place?” Lucy flustered. Lockwood only raised an eyebrow, so she pulled away from him to take a long pull of her beer, and sighed. She looked between the boys for another moment before giving in and closing her eyes.

“It was Norrie. We were roommates back in the dorms at Jacob’s.”

She missed the look between the boys as she moved her gaze to the bottle in her hands.

“Towards the end, we had been talking more and more about getting out and away from home. There was nothing but us keeping each other there, so why not move on to bigger and better- and happier- things? One day, we signed her Fittes manual, making a solemn and binding promise to each other that we would leave for London as soon as I earned my fourth grade…”

She paused, blinking away tears. Where did those come from?

“ We were sitting on her bed. As I signed my name, I felt a sort of electricity between us. Stronger than I’d ever felt. Then, before I knew it, we were looking at each other, and everything just sort of… fell away. She leaned over, and kissed me. It didn’t get hot and heavy or anything, just a simple kiss, but…” She looked up, but was unable to prevent a tear escaping and making its way down her cheek.

“Later that day we were sent off to the Wythburn Mill, and you both know how that turned out.”

“Lucy…” Lockwood’s arm tightened around her shoulders.

She couldn’t do this.

Lucy wiped the tear away and stood up. She hated crying, especially in front of other people. Especially in front of Lockwood and George.

“You know, I’m pretty knackered, I think I’m going to call it a night.”

She didn’t look back as she left the boys in the library, taking the stairs to her attic two at a time.

~~ 5 ~~

Later that night, Lucy woke to a dim glow in her room.

“Damn ghost light…” She mumbled, closing her eyes and turning to face away from her window. She didn’t normally get woken up by the ghost light outside, but it did happen on the occasion when she hadn’t fallen into bed the night before, exhausted enough to sleep like the dead.

A moment later, her brows furrowed. The light was brighter in this direction? She blinked her eyes open, annoyance beginning to colour her face before she froze.

Something was off.

This wasn’t the same shade of green as the ghost lights. It wasn’t even the normal white light of dawn; the room as a whole still seemed as dark as night could be. And the hairs on the back of her neck were beginning to prickle.

This was Other-Light .

Her mind raced. How did this happen? It had been YEARS since she had accidentally brought Annabel Ward’s source into her room, and she had been that much more careful since to make sure it never happened again. She could feel her heartbeat increasing as she wracked her brain for whatever could be the source.

She tuned in to her Listening, and Heard nothing. Utter silence.

Lucy took a deep breath, slowly beginning to lift her head.

“Lucy.”

She froze again. That voice…

There’s no way.

He was gone .

It had been way too long since that explosion at Fittes, and his Source was destroyed. She had spent way too much time staring and crying and hoping that he would come back, so that she could, at the very least, say goodbye. And even before that, she had spent way too long trying to pretend that it didn’t matter; that he hadn’t been another person she cared altogether too much for, added to the growing list of the lost.

She had only just begun to feel normal again after so much unexpected grief.

The glow started to burn brighter in her peripheral vision, and she squeezed her eyes shut. This has to be a dream. That’s the only logical explanation.

“Lucy, you’re not dreaming, I’m here.”

“No, you’re not.” She found herself saying out loud. “I’m dreaming, and I’d prefer it if you went away so I didn’t have to go through this again.” She turned back over and snuggled further under the sheets.

After a moment of silence, the glow behind her eyelids grew searingly bright.

“Aww, did you miss me?”

Lucy’s eyes shot open to find a familiar, bright green face hovering centimetres from hers, his mouth stretched into the same sardonic grin that had haunted so many of her dreams since the battle at Fittes.

She reared back at the close proximity, cursing loudly as she nearly launched herself off the bed altogether. Skull stood up and cackled, crossing his arms.

“Careful there, don’t want to wake up Abbott and Costello downstairs, do you?”

“Then don’t startle the living daylights out of me!” Lucy responded in a harsh whisper. She settled herself back on the bed, her face softening as she propped herself up on her elbow. It was interesting, the way he spoke without moving his lips, but not too surprising. “How do I know this isn’t a dream, though? How are you here?”

The smile on his face dimmed and his shoulders slouched even more. “It’s… been difficult. When my source got destroyed, I lost my connection to the living world.” He scoffed, turning his eyes away. “All that time and energy spent refusing to move on, to hang on to life, and suddenly it was all for nothing.”

“Skull…”

“I had a lot of time to think about why I gave it up; You had finally freed me from that damned jar, so why was I willing to risk my source and link to life like I did? When I was finally free to go and experience the world the way I had always wanted?”

“You know I would have done anything to be able to take your Skull away with us, to keep you safe-”

“Don’t be ridiculous, there wasn’t time.” Skull drew his gaze back to Lucy’s, eyes narrowed and burning. “Besides, if you had gotten yourself killed, that posh prat would have stayed and died too, and believe me, the company on the Other Side is bad enough without him peacocking about.”

“Oh, leave Lockwood out of this, you know neither of us would have survived if he hadn’t come along. Marissa would have thrown you in the furnace the first chance she got!” Lucy could feel anger stirring in her gut. This is not how she imagined this reunion would go.

Maybe that was proof that it was real.

“Now there’s the Lucy I know.” Skull’s grin returned to his face.

“Oh, so you just came back to badger me, is that it?”

The grin disappeared quickly as his face grew sombre.

“No, I came to say goodbye.”

For the third time that night, Lucy froze.

“What… what do you mean, goodbye? You just finally made it back somehow, isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t you staying?”

Lucy’s eyes were unable to leave his as the silence grew between them. A trace of unease slowly found their way into his gaze.

“Skull? What’s wrong?” Lucy sat up fully as he took a hesitant step towards her.

“I… don’t actually know for sure how I made it here. I don’t know how much time I have. I’ve spent this whole time trying to find a way back over, to get back to-'' He cut himself off, breaking eye contact as his hand covered his face in defeat. After a moment it slid up to thread back through the mess of spikey hair on his head. “Nothing seemed to work. I’d lost count of how long I’d been sitting at your window sill, trying to think of other ways to bridge the gap when I suddenly felt the connection spark again tonight. It’s not anywhere near as strong as my skull was, but it was barely enough to get me here.” He finished with a shrug.

Lucy’s face opened with an expression of wonder and excitement. “So, you managed to create a new Source for yourself? Is that even possible? This is great news-”

“It’s not stable, Lucy.” He shook his head, taking another step forward and reaching one hand towards her. “I can feel the connection wavering. I can’t stay for long.”

No.

She won’t lose him again. Not when she’s finally gotten her friend back- her constant. She would not go through this again.

Lucy threw back the covers. “No, let me get George. He can help.”

“Lucy, don’t-”

“If you have a new Source, we can find it and figure out a way to make it stable.” She was already across the room, one arm in her night robe, when she felt an icy hand grip her bicep.

“Lucy, stop!”

“I will NOT lose you again!” She ripped her arm from his, spinning to face him. Despite the tears welling up in her eyes, her face was full of defiance.

Then it hit her.

“You- you touched me.” She took a step back in shock, holding her arm in front of her and turning her attention to where she could still feel the imprint of his grip. “How-”

Lucy’s eyes turned back to Skull’s in shock as he gently took her raised hand and lowered it. His face was soft, almost sad; a stark difference to his usual sharp grins and barbed comments.

“I’m going to move on, Lucy” His eyes bounced between hers, almost as if he were looking for permission.

The cold she felt from his touch was nothing compared to the iciness that washed over her at his words.

“I can’t do this anymore. I… Lucy, I almost gave up. You know time works differently on the Other Side, I have been shacked up in this room for what felt like years , just on the off chance I might hear your voice.”

“My…” Lucy’s mouth was so dry, no other words came out. HIs eyes bored into hers; all she could do was return the stare as his other hand reached up to cup her shoulder. The grip on her hand squeezed, then let go and began to trace up her arm.

“Yes, your voice. My entire existence after I died has been focused on clinging to what I could of life. I couldn’t achieve immortality as a human, so hanging around as a ghost was the next best thing.” He lifted one eyebrow. “Of course, then Fittes and her Rottweiler stuck me in that God forsaken jar, forcing me even further into isolation… but then you came along.”

Skull paused. When had he gotten so close to her? She willed herself not to shudder as the chill of his presence seeped into her.

“You taught me that there are things out there worth dying for. I ignored it at first- was almost disgusted with myself for developing feelings for an Agent , of all people-”

“What do you mean, ‘feelings?’” Lucy stumbled out forcefully, finally finding her voice. Skull’s grip on her tightened.

“Lucy, I have had far too much time to think about what I would say to you if I ever made it back, be a good girl and just listen to me for once?”

She swallowed, licking her dry lips as she nodded. His eyes dipped down to track the movement, darkening slightly, before returning to hers.

“As I was saying, you stuck up for me. You relieved me from having to suffer that ignorant boy’s experiments, and kept me by your side despite my contemptuous attitude. You could actually hear me, and you talked to me. No one in my centuries of death had ever thought twice about the existence us from the Other Side endure, until you. When the moment of choice came between you dying, or me risking my Source? There was no question, and I didn’t hesitate.”

He paused, letting his words sink in.

“But… how can you touch me?” Lucy’s eyes darted to each of his hands on her shoulders before returning to his face.

Skull straightened, looking down at her as he smirked. Warmth seeped back into her body at the distance.

“Oh, that? As a ‘Type 3’, as you call it, I have more control over my ectoplasm than the rest. I can choose- to a point, anyway- how much energy I take from the living, and whether or not I cause damage to your body. That’s always been the case with those of us who come back lucid… Ezekiel just never bothered.” He sneered at the mention of the other ghost. “ Of course, I was stuck in that damned jar so it never really came up, but you must know by now that I would never hurt you if I could help it.”

His eyes defocused as he seemed to relive a particular memory, a wicked grin spreading across his features. “Bit of a learning curve, it was, but I can assure you, they deserved-”

Skull’s eyes grew wide with alarm as his glow dimmed rapidly, but after a moment of refocus he brightened again. Pain was etched onto his features.

“Skull, what’s wrong, what’s happening?” Lucy hesitantly reached up and touched his shoulders, ignoring the desire to marvel at this new form of connection they could have in the face of his sudden distress. The feel of his form wasn’t that of a human, even if said person was cold to the point of leaching warmth. The way he felt was completely indescribable. Solid, but not, at the same time.

“The connection; time is running out.” His eyes met hers once again, now burning with desperation… and something else.

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close in a crushing embrace.

Realisation hit her, and Lucy let out a sob, digging her face into his shoulder. “No, Skull, don’t do this to me, please don’t leave! You just said you wouldn’t hurt me. I don’t want to go through this again, I can’t lose you again!” She hadn’t thought his grip could tighten anymore, but they did at her words. She clutched at him desperately.

“I know, I know… I’m sorry, I’m being so selfish…”

Lucy didn’t know how long they stood there just holding each other, Skull rubbing her back and rocking them lightly back and forth, but there came a point where Lucy could no longer suppress her shivers from the cold. The tears running down her cheeks felt like ice.

Still, she resisted as his hands returned to her shoulders to gently push her away.

“Lucy, look at me, please?”

She reluctantly loosened her grasp, turning her gaze to study his face. In all the time she knew him in the ghost jar, he showed many different forms, but never this one. It was both familiar and completely new at the same time.

She did her best not to flinch when one hand moved to her neck, cupping her jaw. His thumb brushed the tears from her cheek.

“Believe me, if there was anything I could do to stay, I would. Even if I had to play nice with those two disasters you keep downstairs and relinquish myself to all new kinds of tortuous experiments, I would do it in a heartbeat if it meant I could stay with you.”

Lucy choked out a laugh at that. “I’m sure George would love the chance, especially when you seem to be the only ghost who can refrain from causing Ghost Touch.”

He smiled gently, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the bed to sit down. “What can I say, I like to be unique. Lucy, I…” His eyes flickered back to hers before closing, his chest rising and falling as if he were taking in a deep breath.

Within moments, they were back on her.

“I love you. I don’t know when or how it happened, but it’s true. That’s… that’s why I’m moving on, because I cannot continue like this. I cannot keep existing with no way of being near you. It’s unbearable, and it hurts.”

“Skull…” She sank down next to him. He lifted a finger to cover her lips as tears returned to her eyes at his confession.

“Please, Lucy. Let me finish.” His gaze dipped down to her mouth. His hand went back to her cheek and his thumb began tracing along her lower lip before returning his eyes to hers. “I don’t expect you’ll be making it to the Other Side properly any time soon, especially if your boys have anything to say about it. You still have so much to live for, but I… I don’t, anymore. The Other Side is such a bleak place, and you have become my light, my warmth. Without you, I have nothing. I’m just thankful I was able to see you one more time before I left, and to tell you the truth. I’m in love with you, Lucy Carlyle.”

And with that, he cupped her cheeks in both hands, pulling her face to his and slotting their lips together.

Physically, Lucy felt a dull, chilled pressure more than anything, but the intention was there in full force. She could feel every emotion he poured into the kiss, from desire and longing to despair and agony.

And desperation. So much desperation.

She didn’t realise a human could feel that deeply, let alone one who was already dead. It was too much, consuming her, and she allowed it.

She deepened the kiss, sobbing as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed as much of herself as she could against his presence.

Her body began to feel weak, but she tightened her hold, clinging to him.

She wouldn't let go. She refused to let him go…

And then he was gone.

Lockwood POV

~~ +1 ~~

The ride home from their case that night started in an exhausted silence. Lucy had been acting  increasingly strangely all day, so Lockwood had insisted that she stay home to get some extra rest. He figured that George and him would be more than enough to handle the single shade, especially since George had already had a pretty good idea of what the Source may be.

Unfortunately, there happened to be two Sources, and the one they didn’t know about was the Source to a poltergeist.

Lockwood had just barely saved George from being struck in the head by a flying industrial stapler, of all things, when they finally secured the second source. The house had only become somewhat trashed, so they considered it a pretty big win overall.

The boys seemed to get their second wind as they returned to the cab from the furnaces, and began the final leg of their journey back to Portland Row.

It was Lockwood who finally broke the silence.

“So, what do you think was up with Lucy today?”

“Really, Lockwood? Do you want the short list or the long with how much we botched things up last night?” George shot him a glare. “First, you had to go and be a complete numpty by asking about her first kiss.”

“Hey, you egged her on, too!”

A light blush rose up George’s cheeks.

“Well, you mentioned it, and I saw the opportunity to find out if she’d ever kissed a boy before…” He paused. “Fine, we were both numpties. I hadn’t considered the possibility that her first kiss was before she came to London. Honestly, I thought she was going to say Kipps or something.”

“Oh, come off it, that would be even worse-”

“Worse than a memory that brought back nightmares about the mill? Why do you think she didn’t get much sleep last night? That had to be it.” He cleared his throat. “Second, all that happened right after Holly left for her date. I didn’t tell you the whole story of what I'd heard when I went to bring Lucy her lunch the other day.”

“What, I thought they were just talking still, and you didn’t want to disrupt them?”

George shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lockwood noticed that the colour on his cheeks deepened even more in the light of the passing street lamps. He couldn’t help but think what a nice shade it was.

“Well, kind of… Holly was talking, at least, and making… other sounds…” He looked up, clearly uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?”

George hesitantly made a vague, but telling, gesture.

“...Ah. I see.” Lockwood clasped his hands together and rested them on his lap.

They fell silent, letting the sound of the cab rumbling along fill the empty space between them.

They had been discussing Lucy more often as of late. Seeing her in so many intimate situations within the last couple months had only strengthened romantic feelings that both of them had been attempting to stifle. Together, they had amicably decided that if it ever came out in the open, and if Lucy reciprocated either of their feelings, that the other would graciously accept the loss and support the happy couple.

Trouble is, all evidence was pointing to Lucy not being interested in either of them.

“We’ll just have to fix it.” Lockwood’s voice was sudden and blunt in their quiet surroundings. “It’s pretty clear at this point that she’s only romantically interested in girls, but that doesn’t change anything. She’s our friend, first and foremost, and we need to fix this.”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a fun conversation. ‘Sorry we brought up your trauma, Luce, and butted in multiple times on you exploring your sexuality.’ That conversation will go right as rain, it will.”

“We’ll figure it out, George, we always do. This isn’t the first time she’s been cheesed off at us.”

Once back at the house, Lucy appeared before they could even put their bags down in the entryway. She nearly knocked over Lockwood in her haste to throw her arms around him.

“Where have you two been, it’s way past time you should have been home by now!” She spoke into his chest.

“Whoa, it’s okay, Luce, we’re fine!” Lockwood shot George a confused glance. He freed an arm to pet her hair. “We just had a surprise poltergeist, is all. It wasn’t even that strong- nothing we couldn’t handle! What are you doing up, I thought you were staying home to rest?”

“ Again?” Lucy looked up at his face, her chin landing on a button of his shirt. “Why is it always poltergeists that they oh-so-conveniently forget to mention? You'd think the added penalty from DEPRAC for withholding information would have sorted that out already…” she mumbled.

She peeled herself from Lockwood and looked to George. “Hopefully it didn't give you two too much trouble?”

“Oh, it almost beaned me in the head with a stapler larger than most of our silverglass cases, but other than that it was pretty tame. Didn't even destroy more than the one room in the house.” George shrugged, the picture of nonchalance.

Lucy, however, stiffened at his words.

“A what ?”

“It's okay, Lockwood had my back! Didn't you, Lockwood?” He nudged the taller boy with his elbow. “I may have a giant bruise on my arse from how I fell when he tackled me, but I'm still here, aren't I?”

“See? Nothing to worry about.” Lockwood turned his attention back to Lucy, and stopped. She seemed to be frozen to the spot, staring at George with tears welling up in her eyes.

George’s smile from the attempted joke fell. “Luce? You alright?”

“I can’t do this anymore.” She took a step back shaking her head. One hand made its way to the bicep of her other arm.

Lockwood went cold as George’s expression turned to one of sudden alarm.

“What?”

“What do you mean, you can’t-” he said slowly.

“George, you almost died!” She interrupted. Her expression was full of fear, although it looked like she was trying to make a decision of some kind. Lockwood had to actively stop himself from pulling her into her arms to comfort her.

That’s not what she wanted, he reminded himself.

“Luce, one of us almost dies on a pretty regular basis, what makes tonight so different?” He approached slowly, his hands landing in a placating gesture. “Look, we know we made total arses of ourselves last night, and we’re sorry. But we promise we aren’t your old team. We don’t have some daft supervisor making inept decisions, and we will always come home to you alive, if not sometimes a little banged up.”

The girl faltered, eyes darting between the two. They stopped to rest on George.

“You can’t promise that.” Her voice was hard and her hands balled into fists at her side. She seemed to have made up her mind. “No one can promise that, and I refuse to wait until you come floating home, all green and goulish after a case gone wrong, just for you to say goodbye before moving on to the Other Side.”

“Wait for what?” George asked, shooting a look of utter confusion towards Lockwood.

“Luce, what are you talking about?” 

Lucy began advancing towards George, her eyes never wavering from his.

“Lucy, what- Ow!” George jerked his hips forward like he’d been stabbed in the arse. In attempting to keep space between them,he had found himself nearly on top of the umbrella stand full of rapiers.

Before he could fix his trajectory, however, Lucy reached out and gently grabbed his head in her hands.

“God, I hope Holly was right,” she mumbled quickly, before pulling him towards her and crashing their lips together.

It only took a moment for George to recover from his shock. His hands went to her shoulders to push her back, a frantic look on his face.

Lockwood seemed to be frozen to the spot watching the interaction.

“Lucy, what are you doing? What has gotten into you?” George asked, his tone a little higher than normal.

She stepped back, horror dawning on her features.

“Oh. Shit. She was wrong, George, I’m so, so sorry…” Her eyes were wide and she looked like she was about to bolt.

“Lucy, who was wrong?” George’s expression turned to one of concern. “What is happening, can you please just talk to us?”

There was a moment of silence as Lucy visibly forced herself to stay put.

“Skull visited me last night.”

“...Skull, as in the Type Three that has been absent for over a year and a half, now? The ghost who was a complete pain in our arse, then turned around and willingly saved us from being blown up by Marissa Fittes, that Skull?” The sudden, seemingly random mention of the Visitor had successfully shaken Lockwood from his daze.

“Yes, that Skull.”

“The Skull, whose Source is down in the basement right now, visited you in your room in the attic?” George added.

“He did. I’m not telling a porkie, George. Don’t ask me how he did it- he didn’t even know. The connection was incredibly unstable. You could tell how hard he had to concentrate to keep it. I wanted to come and get you, of course, I knew you could figure something out to help him, but…”

Her eyes filled with tears, which she promptly attempted to wipe away.

“Fuck … he came to say goodbye, and that he was moving on, and… and a lot more, but that doesn’t matter now and it made me realise that I can’t just keep waiting until it’s too late for something to happen between… Holly was so sure that you liked me back, but here I am botching everything up anyway-”

The more she talked, the more Lockwood could feel his heart shatter. Her gaze kept bouncing between them, but it had been George she kissed.

She had chosen him. She did like blokes, and she had chosen George. And now he had to be okay with that.

“Hey.” George grabbed her hands and held them to his chest. “Slow down. Breathe. Let me see if I’ve got this straight.”

He paused so she could follow his instructions.

“The Skull came to visit you last night, and that’s why you didn’t get very much sleep.”

She nodded.

“Brilliant. Well, not brilliant, but we thought it was our fault you were feeling even more off than usual today for inadvertently bringing up the Mill.”

“What? No.” Lucy frowned in confusion.

“Good. Now,” he continued, getting to the heart of the matter, “what’s this about feelings? We were under the impression that you… well…”

Lucy raised an eyebrow, waiting.

“That you only were interested in ladies. Romantically,” Lockwood finished when George faltered. His voice was hollow, and he had taken a couple steps away from the other two.

She turned to look at him, then burst into laughter.

“What in the… Where did you get this idea?” She managed to get out between fits of giggles.

“Well, you and Kat-” George started.

“Were hiding from security and were making a cover in case we had been spotted.” Lucy took her hands back and crossed her arms, attempting to calm her breathing.

“What about Norrie?”

“What about her? George, just because my first kiss was with a girl doesn’t make me a full blown lesbian!”

“And Holly?”

All amusement left Lucy’s face, her eyes growing wide.

“...You weren’t supposed to know about that. Did she tell you?”

“No, not at all!” George’s hand found the back of his head. “When she didn’t come back down for a while, I figured I’d bring up lunch for you. I…” His cheeks darkened again. “I accidentally overheard her instructing you on some… intimate matters, relating to female bodies, so I figured it would be best if I didn’t interrupt.”

Lucy just stared at him, completely bewildered.

“Female bodies…? She was teaching me how to kiss , George.”

George stared right back, brows furrowing.

“But…” You could almost see the gears turning in his brain before it clicked. “Oh. Oh . So all the talk about the lips parting and exploring with tongues, what to do with your hands and ‘maybe a little bit of teeth’ was just about… kissing?”

Lucy’s eyes went wide as her own realisation dawned. She hid her face in her hands, her cheeks turning a vivid red.

“ Lips parting, George, LIPS . On the mouth ! Not… Oh my god…” She leaned back against the closed door, struggling to regain her composure. She peeked through her fingers, her eyes first finding Lockwood, then George. “I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing in case anything ever… You know what? Never mind.” She pushed herself off the door and started for the staircase. “I’m just going to go up to my room and try to forget that this whole mess ever happened, and maybe- just maybe - I’ll be ready to come back down in a year or so.”

George grabbed her wrist before she could get by.

“Hold on, you never answered my question. What did you mean when you mentioned feelings?”

“She means that she chose you.” Lockwood interrupted. His chest felt heavy, and it had become difficult to breathe.

He had been so sure these last few months that she was leaning towards him. Yes, it had hurt to come to the conclusion that she may not be interested in boys altogether, but there was a relief, as well. There was no choosing; they just didn’t have the right body parts, and that was that. But then this?

This was almost worse.

Still, an agreement is an agreement. He did his best to muster up a smile. “She means that we were wrong about her romantic inclinations, and she has chosen you. I’m happy for you two.”

Lucy frowned at him.

“Don’t be daft, Lockwood. I can’t…”

She paused. For a split second, a glimmer of hope shone in his chest, but he stomped it down before it could get too bright.

She took a deep breath, shaking off George’s hand from her wrist and turning to face him head on. She looked defeated.

“I actually can’t choose between you two.” Her voice was barely audible.

Lockwood’s breathing stopped altogether.

“What do you mean, Lucy?” He asked, his voice low.

“I mean I have feelings for both of you. I want both of you.” She looked down to the floor and scuffed her foot. “I know that’s selfish and impractical, but it’s the truth.”

For once, Lockwood was lost for words. It was like his heart had jumped straight into his throat and made itself a new home. He looked to George, who was staring right back at him with the same kind of bewilderment and shock that he was feeling.

This was one outcome neither of them had even dreamed of considering.

They both seemed to be in agreement, however, and this time Lockwood took the lead.

“So, if I’ve got this straight, you want to date both of us…” He spoke slowly.

“You say that like it’s so weird! And I know it is, but neither of you feel the same anyway, and I get that, so I’m just going to go-” She started again for the stairs, unable to look at either of their faces.

She stopped as Lockwood put one hand on her shoulder, turning her back towards him. “And what gave you the impression,” his free hand found its way to her chin, gently guiding her face to look at him, as the other snaked around her waist, pulling her towards him, “that we didn’t feel the same?”

Her eyes were reluctant to meet his, but the pain and embarrassment in her expression turned to confusion, and soon to hope as she searched his face.

He raised one eyebrow, allowing one corner of his mouth to turn up, as he watched her process his words.

He knew the moment they fully sunk in.

“You mean..” She turned her head to George who nodded, his own relief evident, then back to Lockwood.

Then, she beamed .

Suddenly, her hand was wrapped around his tie and his own face was being pulled towards hers. He recovered quickly, however, and fully wrapped his arms around her as they kissed. She squeaked as he lifted her up to spin her around.

The moment they broke apart, George was there, pulling her to him.

Lockwood looked on towards his two best friends fondly. They’d figure out the logistics in the morning, but for now they could revel in this whole mess being sorted in the best way possible.

Suddenly a thought came to him, and he couldn’t keep the grin from his face- his first kiss ended up being with Lucy Carlyle, after all.