When Anthony apologized for calling him 'odd guy', Lucas managed a smirk. "Well, you didn't exactly call me that, you thought it, and holding thoughts against you would be a real dick move."
Anthony threw some thoughts at him, and before he could pinch the bridge of his nose and tell Anthony and Aimee both to stop having secret conversations with him like they were passing notes in front of the teacher, Aimee started snickering; it had dawned on her what Lucas had meant by "nothing like that" and contrary to Anthony's fear, she considered the thought hilarious.
Then Anthony started getting excited about Lucas and Aimee's powers, and Aimee was feeling better and thanking Lucas for what he'd done, and his hackles lowered, his muscles began to relax. He could feel the trust--trust toward him, flowing through both their minds, and he was sure it was undeserved but it felt damn good nonetheless. To be trusted. To be accepted. Hell, to simply not be labeled a freak-- and he suddenly realized they never would've done so; they were used to being called 'freaks' themselves. "No problem," he mumbled absentmindedly. Though Anthony probably is really confused as to what you're saying...
Aimee seemed to realize the same thing, and the lighthearted tone in the room faded after such a frustratingly short time. Shame and nervousness swirled in Aimee as she confessed her secret-- or at least, one of them, Lucas thought wonderingly-- and confusion and worry swirled in Anthony as he processed it. Then, something occurred to him that had never even crossed Lucas' mind, and the thought made his stomach drop.
"Aimee, did she take advantage of you? Cause I’ll go talk to her right now. If she did anything at all to hurt you I…" Anthony trailed off, realizing the force of what he was going to say, what he was threatening to do.
In that moment, briefly, Lucas saw stormclouds. He saw snakes and fire and a 50 foot drop to nothingness, grinning fangs in the darkness and the shadow of death. He heard the echoes of screams, cries of madness and fright. The color that had been burning his cheeks drained from his face. He looked at the guy sitting on the bed next to Aimee, shaking his head, running his hand anxiously through his tangle of hair, stuttering and stumbling over words. Lucas had gotten a brief glimpse of his powers before, when the guy'd considered whether Lucas knew about them or not, but this...this was not what he'd imagined they'd be.
Aimee reassured Anthony that there was no harm involved, to both the guys' relief, then the dull ringing in her and Anthony's minds happened again. Bell already? Anthony got up to head to gym, resigned to having to miss out on the peanut butter stash in his room, and Lucas couldn't help but look at him in wonder as he left. A power like that and he still puts up with gym class? This school is luckier than it realizes...
Now it was only Aimee and Lucas, like last night. He was humbled that Anthony trusted him enough already to leave her in his hands, though he kept trying to tell himself it was only for the sake of attendance. Aimee was getting a pretty bad headache and it was starting to hurt him too, but he wasn't going to tell her that. She directed some thoughts towards him because she was too fatigued to speak.
"Deal with you?" he said incredulously. Then, flatly, "What the hell are you talking about."
He shook his head. "This isn't...this isn't dealing with you. Makes it sound like you're some sort of burden. You're hurt and sick; how could I--we not make sure you were alright? I should...I should be thanking you for dealing with me." Looking down, he continued, "Last night...you didn't have to put up with my bullshit for two whole hours, but you did. And now you think you're annoying me?"
"I don't really wanna go to gym," he said solemnly, memories of shouting coaches and collapsing with fatigue in his head, "and I don't really want to leave you alone when you're like this. So, if you're ok with this--with me being around..." He looked at her and simply shrugged.