Grounded

When Lucus finally woke up from his nap, Nate was breathing on him. Right up in his face. His breath was hot and bad. Never mind his breath, Nate's entire being smelled downright nasty. Lucus was started upright and his head collided with Nate's. He opened his mouth to yell at him.

"NATE!! What the heck are you-" Nate cut him off, talking louder than Lucus even though Lucus had already stopped talking.

"Fiiiiiinaly. Oh my god you took forever to wake up. I've been so bored. You have no idea." Nate backed up over to his own bend and flopped down onto his back so that he was staring at the ceiling. "At least we're in this together." Nate held his hand up in the air for Lucus to high five, before realizing Lucus was not at his bed, nor could he see the gesture. He lowered it back down silently.

"Sorry what? What are we in together?" Lucus cocked his head to the side in a show of confusion.

"Oh, I'm grounded too!" Nate sat up on his bed and bounced in place. "Sucks to be here but what can you do?" He shrugged like it was nothing and continued bouncing.

"What? So I'm stuck with you? What did you do?" Lucus looked quite stressed now. Somehow, the thought of being stuck with Nate was terrifying. "Oh cruel world!" He looked up at the bland ceiling and groaned. "What did I do to deserve such a fate!"

"I know. You must have had to be a great guy in order to be blessed with my presence." He threw his hands up and laughed. "And for two whole months too!"

"Two? I'm only here for a month. Really. What did you do? You've got me hooked." Lucus put on a poker face to keep himself from laughing. This was an ex-convict. He could be dangerous. Lucus didn't want him hurting the orphanage, or anyone in the family.

"Nothing, really." Nate was serious all of a sudden. He looked down with a steely expression. Nate seemed like a completely different person. "I swear."

"Come on. It can't be for no reason." Nate hesitated before answering.

"I was in jail." Lucus opened his mouth to yell at Nate, so he put his hands up and continued quickly. "Wait, hold on. I swear I didn't do it. I was framed." He talked hurriedly. He sounded scared. "But nobody believes me." He looked back down at the floor. "You probably don't either." He murmured this last sentence. It was quiet and bitter. Lucus had become rather adept at tuning out whispers, so he didn't hear this. He broke the silence.

"You really didn't do it?" Nate didn't look up. He just croaked out a small yeah. Lucus took a deep breath in, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Then I believe you." Had nobody given Nate a chance, maybe he could have committed such crimes in the future. This was the path of so many possibilities, yet they never did happen. This was the moment Nate was first given a chance. Nate smiled.

"You might be the only one." He paused thoughtfully. "But thanks." The rest of the day was a continued awkward silence that could only be interrupted by a short lived board game. Or a loud cough followed by some form of blessing. Only after night fell, did anything more eventful happen.

It was half past ten when Nate proposed the plan. It was quite well thought out. Zero prep had been made, yet it had each possibility planned out perfectly. It was daring and brave, yet even somebody like Lucus could feel drawn to it. It was also the perfect time. Ten thirty is when everyone is asleep, but the boys. They, being the eldest, usually stayed up later, with mother also going to bed early due to the chaos from each day. Nine o'clock was bedtime, so ten thirty is when the plan commenced. It was one to sneak out. Get out of the house while grounded and return by morning. For Nate, there was zero benefit. Actually, it seemed that this was entirely a favor unto Lucus.

"You wanna break out?" This is what Nate had opened with. Not the greatest sentence to start with in order to prove you didn't just commit a crime and had to be bailed out. Lucus, not liking Nate all that much in particular, simply ignored him and continued listening to music on an ipod Ben had lent him. "Oh come on. I'm stuck here for no reason and I bet you wanna see Allicia, don't you?" He grinned sneakily when Lucus sat up and faced him.

"How did you know about Allicia?" There was zero distinguishable emotion behind his words. Even so, it sent a shiver down Nate's spine. He put on a posh accent.

"Darling, please. I'm a professional thief. You gotta know things in this line of work." he did a little suave wink that Lucus couldn't see. When he just scowled and flopped back down, Nate's smile faded. "Okay fine, sorry. I just overheard. But still, don't you wanna see her?"

"It's not about me wanting to see her, I'm grounded. Those are the rules. You are too, whether you like it or not." He was stern and cold. It was a stoney kind of cold, built like a wall around something more tender.

"It isn't a matter of if I like it or not. It just isn't fair. I bet you feel that way too." He smiled, knowing he had just caught back Lucus's attention. "It's a win-win kind of thing. You get your precious Allicia back, and I am no longer unfairly imprisoned." Lucus frowned again, letting Nate choose a better choice of words. Nate took it. "Sorry, you get to comfort your… friend"

"Try again."

"Oh come on." Nate began to continue, but looked back at Lucus who continued frowning. "Oh fine. To help her. Okay? Happy?" Lucus softening his frown was taken as a confirmation. "Well, I made a plan. It's foolproof, I swear. Just say the word and we can get out of here." There was a long moment of silence before Lucus answered. One second. Two, three then four. But when he did, he spoke just three words.

"Let's do it."