Hate Love (for Nolee)

"How'd you meet her?"

"Um...well fighting in public usually gains the attention of any boss that's passing by..." Cody said, staring down at the floor.

"You were fighting?" Lucas asked.

"We did quite a bit before I left..." Cody mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Lucas nodded.,

"What for?" Cody asked. "You didn't do it, he did."

"I still want to protect you," Lucas replied.

"To impress Nolee..." Cody mumbled, repeating what Lucas had said earlier.

Lucas looked at him and shook his head, "No. At first I did. But now? Now I can see you need me."

"Why, because of that one asshole?" Cody asked.

"Because I think we need each other," Lucas softly said.

Cody nodded absent-mindedly, still thinking over the events with Teddy that had caused him to end up where he was now.

"If you wanna talk we prolly got time before your next client."

"He'll probably still try and come back you know," Cody said. "He'll probably assume you being here's a one off thing."

"Well it won't be," shrugged Lucas.

"Well that's good," Cody said, smiling at Lucas. "I mean...it does get boring between clients when I'm on my own..." He added nervously.

Lucas smiled and sat in one of the chairs, "So...um..." he had never been a people person.

Cody watched him curiously, besides Nolee the only other people he really talked to all did the same job Cody did.

Lucas smiled, "So do you read?"

"Sometimes..."Cody said. "Mostly comics though..."

"I used to read comics when I was a kid," Lucas smiled.

"Well I still do..." Cody said. "But then...I've only been legal for a few years..."

"How old are you?" he asked softly.

"Twenty-four..." Cody said quietly. "Why...?"

"How long have you been..."