Chapter 34 – Where the hell did that come from?

Lucy's POV

After school, I go straight with Justin to his house. It's only around four o'clock so we have two hours to wait around before the meeting officially starts, but I didn't really feel like going home so Justin just told me he could drive me straight to his if I wanted.

After our conversation earlier, we both went back to our own designated tables, but for the entire of the rest of the day I could feel more than see the weird stares people were giving me. Everyone was obviously wondering the same thing: what the hell was that freak doing talking to Justin Detroit? I didn't really care, though, I just cared about the meeting tonight and what's going to happen in the next few days, so I just ignored them.

The second I was sat down at my usual lunch table with Jess and Amy, they immediately started grilling me about what was going on, so I told them. They're both worried, I can easily tell, and they immediately agreed with what Justin said earlier about them not wanting me to sacrifice myself. I told them that I wasn't going to, that I was going to wait and see how the meeting pans out tonight. They've both agreed to come tonight too, although they've gone home and are coming back later and bringing Beck as well. Until then, I'm just going to wait at Justin's.

"Come on," Justin says, as we get out of the car. "Let's go get something to eat before the meeting tonight."

"Okay," I agree, walking next to him as we head towards his house. He opens the door for me and lets me enter first before following me in and closing the door.

"I'm home!" Justin calls out, dropping his keys on the table by the door and kicking off his shoes at the same time. I follow his lead, removing my converse and placing them under the table next to his shoes.

"Justin, can you come here for a second?" David calls out from the office, causing Justin to sigh and roll his eyes slightly as we make our way over.

"Yes, dad?" Justin asks as we enter the office, causing David to look up. As he looks up, though, he also notices me standing slightly behind Justin and a warm smile instantly spreads across his face.

"Hello, Lucy, I didn't know you were coming over so early," he says, glancing back and forth between me and Justin a few times, the knowing look in his eyes causing my cheeks to heat up slightly.

"Yeah, she's going to hang out here until the meeting if that's okay," Justin replies, saving me from having to answer.

"Yeah, that's fine. Lucy's always welcome, you both know that," David replies, the hint in his words causing my face to now completely flame up.

"Er – yeah," Justin says, his voice sounding just as awkward as I feel. "Well, was there something you wanted, or...?" he trails off.

"Oh, right, yeah," David says, a stupid smirk still plastered on his face. "It's fine, it can wait until later."

Kill me. Just kill me now.

"Okay... well we're going to go get something to eat," Justin replies, glancing at me quickly.

"Okay, your mum said something about there being leftovers in the fridge," David says, glancing back at the paperwork in front of him briefly. "She's just popped to the shop, she should be back soon."

"Okay, thanks," Justin says quickly, all but dragging me out of the room and towards the kitchen as a now extremely awkward silence envelopes us.

When we enter the kitchen I take a seat on one of the stools by the counter as Justin heads towards the fridge, going to look to see what leftovers there are.

"Is lasagne okay with you?" he asks, turning around to look at me.

"Yeah, sounds good," I say, well aware that my face has yet to return to its usual colour. To distract myself from David's obvious insinuations, I hop back off the stool and move to grab two plates from the cupboard above the oven.

Without another word, he grabs the lasagne and shoves it in the microwave for a few minutes to heat. Once I've got the plates down, I move to grab us both a knife and fork each.

When the ping of the microwave sounds, he quickly opens it and dishes out the lasagne between the two plates before leaving the now empty dish in the sink.

"Thanks," I say when he hands me my plate, picking up my knife and fork and following him back to the counter where I retake my seat.

"So..." Justin speaks up after a few minutes of eating in silence. "How are you doing?"

I know that he's referring to my earlier breakdown so I just shrug. "I'm okay. I just... I don't know, feel guilty, I guess."

"Guilty?" he asks, confusion clear on his face as he puts his fork down and turns all his attention on me, something I'm still not quite used to.

"Yeah," I reply. "I mean... it's my fault we're all in this mess. If it wasn't for me then the rogues wouldn't even be bothering the Pack, and now everyone's in danger because of it."

"Hey, this is not your fault," he says, shaking his head. "You've done nothing wrong, Luce, you can't be blamed for this."

"But-" I start but he cuts me off.

"No, seriously, Lucy. Don't think like that. It'll just add more stress for you and you've already got enough of that as it is. You were right about what you said earlier: Kailen's a monster. That is not your fault."

"Yeah, but..." I sigh. "If it's not my fault, then whose is it really?"

Frowning, Justin replies with "Kai-" but I cut him off this time.

"Is it?" I ask, my eyes beginning to tear up for the second time today, but I refuse to let myself cry this time. "Is it really?"

"Luce, I don't understand," he admits, still looking confused as he stares at me.

"Who started this whole mess, Justin?" I ask, hating myself for even thinking it. "Who really started it?"

After a few seconds more of confusion, Justin seems to understand what I'm getting at as realisation comes across his face.

"Lucy," he sighs, his food momentarily forgotten as he reaches across the table to take hold of my hand.

"I hate thinking like this, I really do, but if my dad hadn't... killed... Kailen's mate then none of this would be happening. He and mum would still be alive and Kailen wouldn't be bothering the Pack right now. I have to blame myself, Justin, because if I don't then I'd be blaming my dad, and that's something that I just can't do," I admit.

"Do you remember what you told me back at the lake?" he asks suddenly, and this time it's my turn to be confused. "People make mistakes. Your dad made a mistake, one that he couldn't change and was punished for in the harshest way possible. Your dad wasn't a bad guy, Lucy, I remember that. He just made a mistake."

"You think?" I ask, the relief I feel from his words almost taking my breath away.

"I know," he assures me, before his voice turns more light-hearted. "Besides, he let us stay up past curfew whenever I stayed round, so how bad could he really have been?"

I laugh and shake my head at that. "Thanks," I then eventually say.

"No problem. Now let's finish this so we can go watch a DVD before the meeting." he says with a smile.

"Okay, but I'm choosing the film," I warn him before we get back to eating.

Although, now that one problem on my mind has been dealt with, it's brought another to the surface and, from the look I see on Justin's face whenever I chance a glance at him, I get the feeling he's thinking the same thing.

Once we've finished with our plates, we leave them to join the dish in the sink before the awkwardness properly returns again.

"Lucy... hey, about the other day at the lake house..." Justin starts, causing a mental freak-out explosion to go off inside my head.

Why now?

Before he can say anything else, though, the kitchen door opens and Wendy enters with a few shopping bags in her hands.

"Oh, hey, Lucy," she says, surprise evident in her face as she sets the bags down on the counter. "I didn't realise you were here."

"Um, yeah," I say awkwardly with a polite smile, half happy for the interruption but half knowing that this conversation (if it's anything like David's) will definitely not get us off the topic at hand.

"How're you holding up, Sweetie? It's been an eventful couple of days," she asks with a warm smile.

"I'm... doing okay, I think," I reply, glancing over at Justin to find him looking slightly annoyed at the interruption.

Sorry Jess and Amy, but I think Wendy just became my new best friend.

"Oh, good, well you know I'm always here for a chat if you need one," she says, her voice kind.

"Thanks," I say, genuinely meaning it as I return her smile.

"Okay, well, I suppose I should go and let your dad know I'm back," she says, this time aiming it at Justin. "I'll see you both later."

"Okay, bye!" Justin calls after her as she leaves the room before turning back to me.

"So, the DVD?" I say quickly, jumping in before he has the chance to bring the topic of the kiss back up.

Call me socially awkward, but I feel as though I've already dealt with enough today.

"Right, yeah," he sighs, seeing the hint and (thankfully) taking it, before leading me through to the living room.

As soon as we enter the living room, Justin goes to take a seat on the sofa right opposite the TV and I move to the shelves, kneeling down on the floor as I look at my options. As soon as I see the title of the DVD wedged right in the end on the bottom shelf I know my mind is made up.

"No," Justin says immediately when he sees me hold up none other than 'Finding Nemo'.

"Oh, come on!" I argue, unable to stop myself from pouting slightly. I haven't seen this film in ages! "This film is amazing!"

"Yeah? Well I remember you used to think the same thing when you were little. You know, when you made me watch it practically every single day," he replies, shaking his head.

"I wasn't that bad," I lie, knowing that I was exactly that bad. "Besides, you loved this film, I know you did!"

"Yeah, maybe the first five times watching it," he agrees with a small smile tugging at his lips. "After the first fifty, though, it kind of got tedious."

"Well, tough, because it's what we're watching," I announce, standing up with the DVD in hand as I move to put it in the player. Once that's done, I move to sit next to Justin on the sofa, tucking my legs up next to me.

"Well, then, I guess it's too bad for you that I have both the remotes," he replies, holding them both up for me to see.

"Justin," I say, my voice holding a warning tone that causes him to grin. "Give me the remote."

"Oh, just the one? Okay," he says, his grin grown as he hands me the one for the TV but keeps the DVD one.

"Justin," I whine, reaching over to try and grab it, but he just holds it above his head and to the side, knowing I'm too short to reach. "Give it!"

"Or what?" he challenges, moving it even further out of my reach as I go to grab it again.

"Or... or I'll hit you," I try to threaten, but he just bursts our laughing.

"Go ahead," he grins.

"Justin..." I whine again. "Give. Me. The. Remote."

"Not until you agree to watch something else," he counteracts.

"Never!" I practically yell, lunging for the remote and snagging it from his hand. "Ah ha!" I then do yell triumphantly. Only, when I look down at him, I notice just how close our faces are. It's obvious that he's noticed too if the way he's now studying my lips is any indication.

"Drink," I say suddenly, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation and that being the first thing I can think of. "I mean, um, I need one. Do you want one? No? Okay, well, erm... I'll go get one. I'll be right back!"

Then, after that bout of obvious verbal diarrhoea, I scramble off the sofa and head into the kitchen.

Smooth, Lucy. Real smooth.   

After five minutes of trying to calm myself down in the kitchen, I grab a glass of water and head back into the living room where I find Justin still sat, this time with the menu screen of the film playing on the TV.

"You ready?" he asks as I set the glass down on a coaster on the coffee table, his voice sounding completely normal and as if nothing just happened.

"Yeah," I reply, moving to sit back down just in time for him to press play.

***

People start turning up at six o'clock, just as the film finishes, and so Justin and I decide to move into the office. Amy, Jess and Beck are three of the first people to turn up and, when they do, I quickly go over to greet them.

"Hey," I say, moving us over to the corner of the room so we don't get in the way.

"Hey," Jess replies, looking somewhat distracted as she looks around the room, and I can't help but snort when I realise just who she's looking for.

"He's in the kitchen," I tell her, motioning towards the door with my head.

"Oh," she says, her cheeks turning pink when she realises she's been rumbled. "Okay, well, I'll go say hi, I guess." She quickly leaves, exiting the office and heading to the kitchen.

"That's so cute, it makes me feel physically sick," Amy sighs, shaking her head as she watches her sister leave.

"Whoa, what killed your love buzz?" I ask in surprise. "Aren't you all for romance these days?"

"No," she says quickly, her eyes glancing over to where Justin and Dean stand before her face twists with a frown. "Definitely not."

"Why not?" I ask, looking over at Dean in confusion.

"Guys are idiots," is all she says, glancing at Beck. "No offense."

"None taken," he says with a shrug before Amy moves off to go take a seat on the sofa.

"So that just happened," I say, still watching Amy in confusion. "I wonder what the hell that was about."

"Yeah, well, you know what I'm wondering?" Beck replies, and I can immediately tell that he's not happy. "I'm wondering why the hell you didn't tell me about the phone call."

Crap.

"I just didn't want to worry you, I guess," I sigh, preparing myself for the argument that's no doubt about to follow. "I've already dragged you into enough of my problems and it's not exactly fair of me."

"That's bullshit," he replies, still looking angry. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be, Lucy."

"I'm sorry," I say, not wanting to get into this fight. I hate fighting with Beck. "I just needed time to sort things out in my own head first before telling anyone else."

"But you told him," he replies, his voice full of accusation, and I suddenly realise just what this fight's about. It's not just about the phone call. "You told him and not me." He moves to walk away.

"Beck, please," I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to face me. "I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

"We always look out for each other, Lucy, it's what we've always done," he reminds me, this time sounding more hurt than anything. "Unless you don't need me anymore."

"What?" I ask, unable to keep the surprise from my voice and expression. Where the hell did that come from? "What are you talking about? Of course I need you."

"Whatever, Lucy," he sighs, pulling his hand away from my grasp and walking away to wait for the meeting to start without me.

I watch after him in bewilderment... not knowing whether to go after him or not.

Before I can decide, however, David's calling everyone to gather around the desk, officially starting the meeting.

The meeting takes about three hours in total. It starts with David explaining to everyone about the phone call with a few questions to me about specifics. Afterwards, we all worked together to form different plans of action that we could take.

In the end, we decide to stick with our original idea of going on the offensive.

Tomorrow, a group of us will be going out to the forbidden land to take out the rogues once and for all. We're not getting the rest of the Pack involved as David still isn't sure who the spy is as he has no concrete proof that we even have one, so he's only taking those of us he trusts. This way, we hopefully won't get a surprise attack like we did last time as the information can't get leaked.

The one small part of the plan that I don't like is that I'm being used as bait, which is a discussion that took about forty-five minutes to finally settle. Obviously, Justin isn't all too happy about the outcome, and neither are Jess and Amy. As for Beck, I can't really tell what he's thinking or feeling as he's hardly even looked at me, let alone spoken to me, since earlier.

Devlin's become an official part of the team now, and everyone here is starting to accept him a bit more when they realise that he really does have some information that they can put to good use, such as how many rogues are likely to be where and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Similar to last time, it seems we've underestimated the amount of rogues actually hiding out at the forbidden land. According to Devlin, there were sixteen rogues the last time he was there, but they also come and go as they please from and to other rogue gatherings all over the country, meaning he's not really sure on an exact number.

Once the meeting's come to an end, we all decide that we'll be meeting here at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon to set out for the forbidden land. Pretty soon after that, people begin to go home.

"Hey, Luce, you coming?" Amy asks as she, Jess and Beck make their way towards the exit.

"Yeah," I call back, glancing over at Justin to give him a quick wave goodbye before following after my friends.

The walk home's silent, all of us seemingly lost in our own thoughts, and the tension between me and Beck is growing by the second. It's still there when we get home and Beck tells me that he's going to sleep on the sofa tonight.

"Okay," I say awkwardly, only half noticing the glance Jess and Amy share before they silently hop up the stairs to bed. "Erm... night, I guess."

"Yeah, night," he replies, his tone still off as he walks into the living room and closes the door behind himself without another word, leaving me to walk up the stairs to my room alone.

 (Hey guys!!! So... TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY!!! Whoop whoop!!! :D

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter but that might just be because how I left things off with Lucy and Beck :( But I kind of felt like they needed at least one argument in this book, right? Anyways, what do you all think of the chapter? Especially the Lucy/Justin and Lucy/Beck moments? If you liked the chapter then don't forget to Vote/Comment/Add/Follow!!! :)

Erm... So, yeah... I'm really tired, haha. It's closing in on half eleven now and I have work tomorrow so I'm going to try and keep this short. The next chapter will be updated hopefully tomorrow night or on Monday, depending on how much time I get to write tomorrow. Also, it'll be CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE which I am SO psyched to write!!! :D :D :D I can't wait, it'll be awesome. I've been planning this chapter FOREVER!!!

So... right, i'm going to go now because i'm tired and don't want to start rambling. Sorry, if there are any mistakes in this chapter and if the end is a little squiffy but i've just finished writing it like twenty minutes ago in my sleep-deprived state. That is how much I can't wait to start on the next chapter :D Anyways, I think i'm rambling now so byee!!!)