Chapter Text
The first time that it really happened, it was a rare night when all five (official and unofficial) members were sitting in the library, each with their respective forms of entertainment. Their case for the night had been canceled, and with Kipps and Holly already there, the two decided that they would stay for a little bit.
Company bonding or whatever one wanted to call it.
Kipps and Holly both had books, George had one of his comics, Lucy with her sketchbook, and Lockwood with one of his society magazines.
Everyone was enjoying each other's company in silence, being alone together, and whatnot. Once in a while, someone would let out a noise or a few strings of words, but for the most part, it was just the soft crackling of the fire filling the void.
That was until Lockwood started laughing loudly and stood up from his armchair.
“Would you like to share with the class?” George asked, peering up from his comic book, annoyed.
Lockwood snapped and pointed at George before walking right towards Lucy and plopping down on the couch, taking the small empty spot between her and Holly.
He held the magazine so that both Lucy and he could read it, invading any personal space that she had. She rolled her eyes and set her sketchbook on the end table to entertain whatever he wanted to show her.
It was a spread about the charity event they had attended the night before. Instead of focusing on all the money that was raised for ghost lock research, the tabloid decided to spend its time compiling different pictures of the guest with accompanying stories.
She spotted the one of just her first, a rare moment when her hair was tucked behind her ear. She presumed it was when she was fixing her earring or something as she had been pretty insistent that her hair stayed down all night; the picture clearly shows why.
“Lucy Carlyle was spotted with a new accessory last night, and no, we aren’t just talking about the necklace that can be seen in the picture below,” Lockwood read out loud. “Lucy’s high-necked blue dress (will we ever see a new color from her?) and her hair did a good job covering the bruise on her neck the majority of the night. But our photographers were able to capture it in one of the brief moments it was on display. Who gave her this supposed hickey? Well, there are a few options, but we suspect it's the same person who gave her the necklace. But who gave her the necklace? Well, we don’t see Anthony Lockwood adjusting his “associates” necklace if it was given to her by another guy.”
Her face was on fire. Her whole body was on fire. Why the hell did they care about her enough to stalk her at this event? Why did they decide to write this whole thing about this bruise on her neck and ignore the fact that she was an active agent? An agent who was just in the papers the night before for taking down a Poltergeist. A Poltergeist that had thrown a chair at her side, including slamming into the left side of her neck.
George and Kipps were in stitches, barely able to stay seated in their respective chairs. Holly had a polite smile on her face, trying to gauge her reaction.
Lockwood was just looking at her with that stupid little smile. That stupid little smile that was holding in a stupid little laugh.
Because he thought it was funny.
Of course, he did, he loved his name in the press. No matter what the story was.
“Give that here,” Kipps reached for the magazine, which Lockwood gladly handed to him. George moved out of his chair to join the older boy in examining the article.
“Damn you guys, getting busy right under our noses,” George snickered, causing everyone but Lucy, even Holly, to laugh.
Lockwood reached up to push her hair behind her ear, and any other time she would have been swooning. But not right now because he gently touched the bruise and had the audacity to say, “I’m offended. I’d do much better work than that.”
Kipps whistled and George made kissy faces. The two were completely intolerable.
And Lockwood was laughing along with them.
Only Holly shot her a sympathetic look.
She finally had enough of this. “You guys are fucking pricks.” She stood, causing Lockwood to fall towards Holly slightly. She didn’t give a second thought about it though as she marched out of the room and towards the kitchen.
She needed to get away from all of them.
She needed to breathe.
She was able to get the kettle on before she heard footsteps behind her. “I don’t want to talk, Holly,” she called over her shoulder.
The person behind her coughed and she knew immediately that it wasn’t Holly. She had heard that cough quite a bit.
“Luce.” His voice was soft.
“I don’t want to talk to you either, Lockwood.” But she did grace him by turning to look at him.
“Please, can I just apologize?” He took a few more steps towards her. He looked genuine, but she knew how good of an actor he could be. He was a performer.
It’s why he was perfectly okay with what the magazine had printed. He loved the spotlight.
She glanced back at the kettle. “You have until it whistles,” and frankly, that was probably too much time.
“We didn’t realize that it upset you,” he told her.
“Why would you ever think that it wouldn’t?” She was pissed. It’s like he never listened to her. “You know how I want my name kept out of all that. I told you that during our first case. We fought about it.”
“Yeah but that was about your talent. This is just some blatantly false claims,” Lockwood tried to reason.
“And that makes it better?” She raised her voice. His apology was going terribly.
“I just- sorry. It was just so out there. I didn’t think about how you would feel. That was stupid of me.” He gave her one of his best charming smiles. She was about to smack it right off his face.
“They weren’t all out there.” Her voice lowered.
“Oh, the necklace? You’ve worn it before, it’s no big deal.”
Okay, she didn’t think that she would cry tonight. She was upset about the article but she wasn’t going to cry.
But now? He said the necklace was no big deal.
Last night, she had worn it, as she wore it almost every day, even right now. He had found her at the party and insisted on fixing it when he saw that it was slightly tangled. Right there, in the middle of the reception hall, he had her hold her hair up as he stood so close to her that she felt his breath on her neck.
She instinctively grabbed the necklace between two fingers.
“Wait no-” Lockwood finally realized his mistake. “That’s not what I- this has just gone horribly wrong. I’m sorry for laughing about all of this. I’m sorry that they took a picture of you and made that completely fabricated story. I can call them in the morning and insist that they issue a retraction. Whatever you want, I’ll do it okay? Let me fix it.”
Lucy shook her head. “Don’t call them, it will just make it worse.”
“What can I do then?” He took a few more steps towards her, now only at an arm's length away.
“Nothing, okay. I just- I’m just annoyed, alright? It’s not flattering. People will see you as the guy that got some action or whatever. When they see me, they’ll think I’m just some slapper who is getting it on with her boss and flaunting it around at some charity event.”
“They won’t-” Lockwood started to say but then stopped. He read those types of magazines religiously, he knew what the stigma was. His face dropped. She knew that he realized she was right.
She fidgeted with the necklace again. “It’s dumb, okay? Let's just forget about it.”
Lockwood seemed to disagree with this though, finally closing the gap and engulfing her in a hug.
This was new.
Sure, they had hugged before. She crashed into his arms a handful of times during cases. Hell, she did it twice in their first case alone. They hugged when they were injured. They hugged when the other needed support walking. They hugged when there was no space and they had to keep their bodies close together.
But he had never hugged her in the middle of the kitchen. Neither of them were hurt or running from ghosts. They were both capable of holding themselves up and there was plenty of space. She was just upset over a few paragraphs and he was comforting her.
Lucy’s stomach twisted, the last couple of minutes finally catching up to her. She felt embarrassed. She was always trying to fit in with the rest of the team, and she felt like she did a good job at it. They were always teasing each other. Hell, there were some not-nice messages to one another on the thinking cloth right next to her.
Why did she blow up at them? Why couldn’t she have just gone along with all of it? Was it really that big of a deal?
One of Lockwood’s hands traveled up toward her head and she thought that he was going to tangle it in her hair.
That’s what she wanted him to do at least.
But instead, he hesitated for a moment and then patted her on the top of her head, like a child.
She felt like she was going to throw up.
Now Lockwood was pity-hugging her? Because that's what it felt like.
Her brain was a mess as she tried to pull away from Lockwood. He let her go a little but held her close to look at her neck. “This was two days ago and it still looks pretty nasty. I think we should put some ice on it.”
“I’m fine, it doesn’t even hurt- ow!” She hissed as Lockwood applied a little more pressure on the bruise.
“Sorry, yeah I’m getting you some ice.” The kettle chose that exact moment to start whistling. “Why don’t you pour us some tea? I’ll go get the pack.”
Lucy wanted to argue. She didn’t want any more of his charity tonight, but she was too tired to fight anymore. So, she started preparing their teas while he searched the freezer and pulled out one of their many ice packs. She had already used a bunch the night she got hit but hadn’t treated the bruises since.
She even let him hold it up to her neck at the kitchen table. She would cringe about it later, but right now she was just enjoying him sitting so close to her.