━━ CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN/ wraith-hunting
episode four, part one.

Lucy had passed out in the basement and Demi had only noticed when she heard the boys arguing in the hallway while carrying the brunette. It had disturbed Demi's nap and the guilty look on Anthony's face when Demi opened the door was hard to miss. Her hair was ruffled, her eyes were half-closed, the exhaustion hung in her movements as she stared at them.

"What the fuck did you do," Demi mumbled as she let her hands hang by her side. The boys didn't really know how to explain and the two seemed to talk over each other. It only took Demi a minute to huff out and tell them to tell her later. She then proceeded to close the door and curl back up in Lockwood's bed.

Ten minutes later, he reappeared back in his room and climbed into the bed behind Demi, who was dozing off again now. She let out a soft grumble when she felt his arm wrap around her stomach, pulling her backwards, against him.

"What?" She mumbled softly under her breath. He nudged his head into the back of hers, enjoying the moment. And Demi was too. The warmth that radiated off him was comforting and his smell seemed to fill the air, his arms curled around her.

"Are you up for a job later?" He asked softly. Demi groaned softly and he chuckled against the back of her head, "George is researching the house. Probably wraiths," He added. Demi let out another huff before she rolled over in bed. Her eyes were still half-closed as she looked up into his eyes. His arms had moved around her waist again, tightly holding her as she looked into his eyes.

"You need me, don't you?" Demi asked. There was a teasing lilt to her tone but he could tell that she was tired. It was cute and he couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face. It was unmissable.

"George and I will be fine without you. Lucy's asleep," Lockwood responded, a hint of arrogance in his tone. Demi scoffed and she shuffled forward to rest her head against his chest. She listened to the way his heart beated softly. The sound ricocheted through his ribcage as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'll come. Just let me sleep for a few more hours," She negotiated. He nodded and pressed a kiss to her head.

"Alright." She smiled and tilted her head up, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips and his cheek before her head hit the pillow again. He looked playfully annoyed and she chuckled, a dopey smile on her lipps. Her head buried into the pillow, not willing to give in to him. So, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips, mumbling about her being rude. She ignored him and her eyes fell closed, finally relaxed in his arms.

-

The night had been a complete and utter fucking disaster. Demi didn't say that lightly considering how fucked Combe Carey Hall had been. But it was. Not only was it a cluster case of wraiths, not one or two as they had believed but she had been completely overwhelmed and unable to find the source because she was convinced that there were about twenty different sources.

And there was.

Kipps and his crew in all their stupid arrogant glory were the ones to save them, despite Lockwood's best efforts to get them out of the mess himself. But seeing Kipps had been a blessing in disguise. It was the first time that Demi had seen him since Combe Carey and he looked... worse for wear. It took her until they had escaped with their lives to realise that the cut nose and black eye was her doing. She barely remembered leaving Combe Carey Hall but the glare that he was giving her - and the audacious flirting - was enough for her to realise what she had done.

She was glad. Not that he acknowledged Combe Carey. He didn't even say a word and Demi was tired of it. All she wanted to do was be at home and in bed, hopefully see Lucy. So, as the sun came up across London, they got out of the taxi onto Portland Row.

A hot chocolate was in order and then bed. She needed bed. And she couldn't listen to Lockwood rage for a moment longer. She loved him, so much but the way he radiated annoyance and frustration now was infuriating. There was nothing that they could do and if Kipps was going to be up his own arse about Combe Carey, he would be.

So, as they headed into the house, she dropped her rapier into the box by the door - not even noticing Lucy - and headed down into the kitchen. Her back was aching again. She hadn't noticed it until the taxi home. She knew she needed to check on it but she didn't particularly want to. She knew it would be an ugly bruise.

Especially because a wraith had thrown her across the room. It was just injury after injury and Demi - once again - began to wander if this job was even for her. And the thoughts of being cursed began to circle her mind again and again until she heard Lucy come down the stairs with George. They were conversing as Demi let the kettle boil.

"Did Kipps have a black eye?" Lucy asked as she glanced from Demi to George. The question was directed at the girl but she wasn't really paying attention as she snatched up four mugs.

"Yeah," George responded for Demi. That made Lucy grin, almost smugly and Demi couldn't help but grin as well. It was satisfying seeing him injured because of her.

"I don't even remember doing it," Demi admitted as she dropped three tea bags into the mugs before tipping some hot chocolate powder into her mug.

"I do," Lucy responded as she walked over to the brunette. Demi met her gaze and she could see that Lucy was at least somewhat proud. It made Demi briefly forget all the doubts that had clawed into her mind over the past minute. Lucy wrapped her arm around Demi's shoulder, knocking heads with her, "He was being an arsehole." She added. Demi chuckled.

"He's always an arsehole," George responded. Demi nodded her head and the kettle clicked off. She then poured the water into the mugs, grabbing a spoon to mix everyone's tea. Lucy grabbed the milk from the fridge and George brought the sugar over as they prepared everyone's tea cups.

"Where's Anthony?" Demi asked as she brought the mugs over to the table. Lucy and George had taken their usual seats with mugs in hand. Which left Demi with Lockwood's mug and her new one.

"He's in the library," George explained. Demi nodded and she picked up both the mugs from the thinking cloth.

"I'll be back," Demi said as she headed upstairs, turning into the library. Lockwood was stood by the bookshelves, reading through the titles. She wasn't entirely sure what he was doing but when he heard her footsteps, his gaze snapped to her. A grin spread across his face and he reached out for the mug which Demi happily gave him.

"Is your back okay?" He asked as he lifted his mug up to his lips. He blew across the surface as Demi hummed noncommittally in response, "Dem." The seriousness invaded his tone before he blew the surface of the mug again.

"It hurts like hell," She admitted. Lockwood sighed and she gave him a half-smile. The pain made it hard to think straight sometimes but she had become so used to it recently that it didn't entirely matter anymore.

"Do you have any painkillers left?" He asked. She shook her head and he sighed again. He placed the mug down on the mantle as she blew on the hot chocolate, not really paying attention to what he was doing. She just wanted the hot chocolate and sleep. But he took her mug before she even had a chance to take a sip.

"Hey," She mumbled. He then took her hand and nudged her towards the staircase.

"I want to check on your back," He said simply. A soft huff escaped her lips but she knew that she wouldn't have a choice in this so they headed upstairs to the bathroom. Once the door was locked, she pulled her jacket off and pulled her t-shirt over her head, dropping it to the floor. Her bra was pressing against the bruises and she knew that it wasn't helping, not that she did a thing to change it.

The bruises were varying colours. Some of it had gone yellow-green which was signs of healing but the edges of the bruises had turned a harsh red-purple colour. That was new. They both knew that and it was just another effect of being thrown around by ghosts. Demi was getting really sick of it and Lockwood could feel the annoyance and embarrassment that it all had caused her. Not that he would say anything to her about it.

After a moment of quiet, she felt his fingertips push under the back of her bra and the relief was instant. He could see how the strap was digging into her skin and the way her shoulders relaxed without the pressure of the bra was almost concerning.

"Do they always dig in this much?" He asked curiously. Demi didn't really know how to answer that and so she simply shrugged. Her mouth opened to expand on her answer but the words seemed to die on her tongue, "It's clearly hurting you," He mumbled. She nodded.

"I'll put a sports bra on or something," She decided. He nodded as he glanced at her face through the mirror - he didn't really know the difference between bras but he trusted her opinion nonetheless, "You should probably go back downstairs, I'll change," She added after a moment. Lockwood nodded and he let his hand move away from the bruises. He picked up the shirt and placed it in her hand, letting her pull it over her head before she turned around to look up at him, "I'll be down in a minute." He nodded his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead before he unlocked the door and walked out. She heard the doorbell and then Lockwood's footsteps as he took the stairs two at a time.

Her eyes closed for a moment once she was sure he couldn't see her anymore. And she took in the room. It was so quiet in the house for a second and she could feel the way that everything swathed around her. Everything was so all-consuming but before it took over, she headed out of the bathroom and into her bedroom.

It was the first time she had been in her bedroom properly in a few days and she hated it. It wasn't right, so she went straight to her drawer, grabbed a new bra and changed. All before she headed downstairs where Lockwood was greeting clients in the hallway. Her eyes widened fractionally before she put on her most gracious smile. There weren't any meetings booked for today which confused Demi but she quickly accepted it.

New clients were good. Unexpected clients were better.

-

NOTE

all i can do is apologise for the lack of updates, it's been an interesting ten days but here are my babies, i was gonna write the scene with joplin and cedric's dad but i 1) wanted campwood to heal my soul and 2) wanted to get a chapter out asap before writing more of the show so here u go <333 love u all
AND THANK YOU FOR 88k READS!!!!