Any last words? (Lucas)

[Marnie Sullivan]

Backdated to Thursday evening, June 25th, 2015

Senior year, and therefore graduation, had meant planning - where to apply to college, where to go to college when you got accepted, what to study there, what job you wanted, what life you wanted. Years in the future, and they were supposed to have at least a hazy idea of what to do with them. Nobody had told Marnie what to do with these days, the limbo between the end of finals and the ceremony itself. She had no more classes, no schoolwork to occupy her time. She couldn't leave campus, either, being grounded since late March. Too antsy to read and not feeling particularly social, it was the sort of mood that usually found Marnie out on a path somewhere, running until her lungs burned and endorphins threatened to lift her off her feet.

But there was that pesky grounding sentence again.

She missed trail running more than any place off campus she might have visited had Marnie not screwed up and forfeited her freedom, but enough time had passed that she was getting used to the treadmills in the gym. With graduation tomorrow, and nerves she couldn't just shake off, that's exactly where she was, hoping one last run would do the trick. God knew Marnie wouldn't sleep tonight without it.

[Lucas Blacke]

Working out, one of his favourite passtimes now with graduation on the horizon and his parents on his mind and and.. oh who gave a fuck, he enjoyed working out and frequented either the gym in Pilot Ridge or the Hammel one, or just the courtyard for a workout. The thing he enjoyed about the Hammel gym though was the dresscode, he didn't need to wear a shirt like he did in those uppity places like Pilot Ridge, and though he always feared/hoped some girl would approach him for his chest alone he would never go workout without going barechested, unless at Pilot Ridge, but that place he visited only rarely anyway. It was odd as he thought about it, the girls he had met during workouts of any kind. All of them in a way, just not Marnie.

And, without a shirt he found just her where he was going to work out for the day as he opened the door. It kind of caught him by surprise that he was just thinking about her and seconds after he saw her, doing just the thing he realised he had never seen her doing. He knew she did, just as much as he knew Karalie worked out, but he never saw either of them actually work out, nor did they ever see him, or maybe they did and he blocked that out. Well, Karalie saw him train once or twice, but Marnie..?

''Ma'am.'' He nodded in her direction as he stepped beside her, no real intention to start a conversation if she didn't. God knew what happened when he tried talking with Karalie, shit was just awkward. That and he had just about gotten over the fact he was the one who pushed her away, the first one at this school.

Okay, he still loved her as he had told her before, but what use did it have when she was quite clearly done with him?

He dropped his bag and took out his phone, swiping it open and looking if he had any new messages. None. But who would message him as of late anyway? He just used the damn thing for internet. ''Didn't know ya worked out.'' He casually commented as he went through all the spam on his device. Delte this, delete that, delete the whole goddamn inbox. '''S not fer everyone, aye?''

[Marnie Sullivan]

Maybe it was the noisy whirr of the treadmill, or instead her own rhythmic footsteps; either way, when the gym door swung open, Marnie didn't catch the sound of it. She was trying to focus, get a move on. It wasn't until Lucas was right at her side that she even knew he was there. Her foot caught, and she stumbled a little, disrupting the even patta-patta-patta of her stride before she righted herself.

"Ma'am." Stiff, formal - sarcastically so? Marnie wondered as she continued to plod along, opting not to stop the machine. Luke had never addressed her like that, on good terms or poor. Was it because of how their last conversation had ended? Trying to keep his distance? Not that walking up to her only partially dressed could be considered "keeping his distance." Marnie suddenly felt very thankful that she'd chosen to run in a baggy T-shirt instead of some of the lighter options some people preferred, even if it did stick uncomfortably.

She watched him from the corner of her eye as he continued and fiddled with his phone, her face trained carefully forward. There were all kinds of ways to read his statement unpleasantly - he didn't think she looked like she worked out, he'd forgotten that she ran as a hobby, he'd never come to Karalie's meets when they were together. If he was trying to pick a fight, he'd picked a weird place to do it.

But that was if he was trying to pick a fight. Marnie didn't know that. It wouldn't surprise her, but she didn't know that for sure. It had been a long time.

"I'm not in here much," she replied. It was difficult to keep her voice measured; Marnie wasn't running too fast to speak, but each word came out breathy. "The track team doesn't practice together so close to break." It wasn't her reason for being her, but it was true enough.

[Lucas Blacke]

Blegh.. why did people mail him with stuff he didn't care about? Enlarge now! Make her enjoy you more! Like he fucking needed that, he was a god when it came to that. It was a shame Marnie had no idea of that though, they never got to that before he basically exploded and almost hit her. From hitting on her to almost hitting her, the irony was astounding. Their last talk wasn't that much of a success either, he basically told her he still loved her, which he still did, and she basically turned him down which hurt the fuck out of him, though there was a chance that him saying that was kind of a last ditch effort.

Right now was a new talk though, or maybe it'd be nothing like a talk because it was clear she was here to just run, and that was pretty much the only thing Lucas knew, and also why, almost. Her body language was obvious to him, as anyones was. She looked tense as all fuck, though most of it caused by Luke, and he finally decided to get up on the treadmill next to her as he threw his phone back into his bag. He turned on the machine and instantly turned it higher to get into the groove he needed to actually have to try. No need for futile warm-ups, his body did the work anyway. In essence he could go and write a novel and still continue running.

What she said.. he mulled it over a bit, or, went over it a bit before responding. He could have known this if he'd paid more attention. But he failed to do so as he did so many things.

That she wasn't there much though was obvious; he heard the hesitation in her words and the increased rate of breath. ''Mighty coincidence I get ta meet ya here then!'' He finally replied with a smile as he turned his head.

''So why don't ya just go out and run if th' track team doesn't practice?''

[Marnie Sullivan]

"The weather," Marnie replied tersely, as if it weren't an exceptionally pleasant day outside. Crossing from the dorms to the gymnasium, she had seen for herself the soft clouds skudding across the sky, felt the breeze that kept the June temperatures in check. Today was a beautiful day for a trail run, which made her presence here all the more frustrating.

When Lucas decided to set himself up on the next machine, Marnie debated shutting off her own and heading back. This wasn't a conversation she much felt like having with anyone, certainly not him. They hadn't spoken for months; maybe he'd hated her for turning him down, maybe he'd been too occupied with a new girl. A bit like Marnie had been. Whatever his reasons for the distance were, the idea of explaining what had landed her here appealed to her about as much as sawing off her feet.

"Graduation tomorrow," Marnie tried, shooting for the obvious. Luke was a senior, wasn't he? At least by age. Maybe he was one of those kids who'd have to stay an extra year to train more. "Are you going?"

[Lucas Blacke]

''..is great fer a run.'' He finished her statement, blaming the weather for why she was there. ''I agree, but not inside, aye?'' He felt himself a bit confused, this was one thing he couldn't solve with his abillity even if he wanted to. But adding the way she seemed to debate something with herself right after that statement, Luke ignoring the fact she did that right after he got on the mill next to her, it seemed she wasn't quite up to date with the weather condition and wanted to check it out or something. But she didn't; maybe she wanted to talk to Lucas or something, he wouldn't blame her since their last talk was quite a while ago, but on the other hand it was one in which she turned him down.

Wait, that only meant she had the upper hand on him, so that wasn't it.

''Aye.'' He sheepishly returned when she began about graduation. It sucked. He was okay with discussing it but he was sure neither of the people left in his family would show up for him, though he wasn't sure he minded yet. ''I s'pose.'' He replied with a light shrug as he turned his eyes on Marnie, perhaps looking a bit miffed. She would surely have family attending, oh how jealous he was at that moment. ''Only get ta graduate once, aye?'' He said as he turned his head back and threw his gaze to his hands. ''Not that anyone cares or some shit..''

The only person he would help with this was Karalie by showing he did listen to her, he failed to even help himself because of that very reason though. He'd still be in school with her, and perhaps Marnie.. and what did Zoelle do?

In any case, he was graduating and put on his signature fake smile. ''So why are ya really 'ere?''

[Marnie Sullivan]

No dice. Goddammit. Not that she'd really expected him to accept her flippant comment about the weather, but Marnie had hoped he'd let her move the topic to graduation. Maybe it was a sore subject for him, though - maybe she'd imagined the angry look he'd shot her, but no, "not that anyone cares," Luke definitely didn't sound happy about it. And he definitely wasn't interested in discussing it further, dragging them back to why she was stuck inside. Why did he do that? Expect her to let it drop and not extend her the same grace?

"I'd rather not talk about it," Marnie told him flatly, pulling her eyes forward, resisting the urge to search his face. How much did he know? It was too much to hope that the rumor mill had managed to stay quiet on this one. Was he trying to get the real story? Looking to catch her in a lie? It was Lucas, after all. It wouldn't be as simple as she hoped.

[Lucas Blacke]

What she said were basically his exact thoughts at that moment; he didn't want to talk about it. Yet he forced himself to because, how often did he see Marnie and how often would he see her after that day? What if they never talked again? If her fear was that he'd try and get with her or something she could rest assured, she'd made it perfectly clear she wasn't interested. However, it turned out that the transition from creep to friend wasn't going to be easy for him.

He nodded and focused on his running for a moment though he was sure she knew by now he had no need for that. It was just his way of showing her he was willing to let it go. And he hoped she wouldn't turn what he was going to say next against him.

''Aight, no need ta talk 'bout it if ya don't want ta.'' He replied as he inhaled gently to change the subject, turning his head to face her once more. He remembered his own thoughts, and maybe it was for the best if they.. started over or something.

He stuck out his hand towards her suddenly and smiled. ''Lucas Blacke, at yer service.'' He said with hopes that she'd catch his intention, that perhaps a full reset was in order. ''What's yer name?''