her hero

The First Feelings

Lyra slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry at first. She could feel a dull ache in her feet and a throbbing pain in her head. As her vision cleared, she saw Lucas sitting next to her, holding a cold compress to her forehead. "Hey, you're finally awake," he said with a smile. "How are you feeling?". Lyra tried to sit up, but the pain in her feet was too much. "My foot hurts," she groaned. "What happened?". "You fainted because of the amount of blood you lost while we were trying to get out of the ballroom" the boy explained. "I brought you at my house and cleaned your wounds. You have some nasty cuts on your foot, but I think you'll be okay."

Lyra looked down at her bandaged feet and winced. "Thank you for taking care of me," she said gratefully. "It's nothing," Lucas replied, smiling at her. "I just want to make sure you're okay"."Wait, but what about the artifact?". Lyra's heart started to beat faster. She couldn't let that artifact get lost again. "It's safe, don't worry. When you want it, just tell me and I'll give it back to you" said Lucas. She felt so peaceful. She made it. Now she just had to get it back to the Queen. But she couldn't walk, so how would she supposed to do that? Lucas went into the kitchen to make her a hot tea.When he got back he put the tea on the table and sat near Lyra on the couch. "How do you feel?" asked he softly. "Honestly? Stressed..". The boy frowned, "Why?". "I have to get that stupid artifact to the queen as soon as I can, but my foot hurts so badly. I don't know how I will do this". "Look, I would recommend you to stay here over night and let me take care of your wound and if, tomorrow, you'll be able to walk, I'll come with you to the Queen and retrieve the artifact" said Lucas. "That s so..kind of you. Are you sure I'm not bothering you?". Lyra's heart got warm as the boy talked to her. He was so sweet and gentle. "How could a girl as wonderful as you to bother me?" said he with a fond smile. Lyra felt so comfortable around this boy but it was such a strange feeling for her.She didn't feel like that before.

As they talked, Lyra opened up to Lucas about her whole mission and about the queen and how stressful everything was for her. Lucas listened attentively, his eyes never leaving hers, and Lyra felt like she could finally let her guard down. They also talked about the cave incident when they met the first time. They both laughed a lot and made fun of how Lyra tried so hard to find Lucas without knowing who he was, while Lucas knew every single second who Lyra was. They found out that they both know Ms. Agatha. She was so close to Lucas and helped him every single time. She even told him that he'll meet a lovely girl soon. And there they were. As the night wore on, Lucas poured them both a glass of wine and snuggled up together. The warm glow of the lamp cast a soft light on their faces as they talked and laughed, enjoying each other's company. He went to get her some clothes to change and then let her some personal space even though at the back of his head he wanted to help her change. When he turned back and saw her in her clothes, he couldn't help it but start smiling. "What?" said Lyra. "Nothing, you're cute". "Shut up loser" said her, laughing and throwing a pillow over him. He sat next to her on the couch and they started talking again.Lucas couldn't help but notice how beautiful Lyra was. He found himself getting lost in her deep, soulful eyes and the way her hair fell in soft waves around her face. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he didn't want to bother her because he didn't even know if she felt the same about him.

As the night wore on, Lyra and Lucas talked and got to know each other better. They found themselves drawn to each other, the attraction between them growing stronger with each passing moment. They laughed and joked, sharing stories and secrets. The chemistry between them was electric, and they both knew that they had found something special. But none of them wanted to recognize it. When it got late, Lucas helped Lyra to get up off the couch and go into the bedroom. "You can sleep here and I'll sleep on the couch. Is that ok for you?" said Lucas. "Sure, it's more than ok thank you a lot, Lucas.. you're such a kind soul". "My pleasure, now go to sleep. If you need me, I'll be right next door. You can wake me up and I'll come to you". "Okay, good night loser" said Lyra with a playful smile. "Good night" answered Lucas, smiling aswell.

Hours later, Lyra woke up in the worst pain she ever felt in her whole life. Her screams woke the hero up, making him rush over to her room.

“Are you okay? Can I come in?” he yelled, knocking on the door.

Lyra didn't respond, but hearing that she was crying in pain he entered the room to help.

“Sorry for coming uninvited, but you really sounded like you needed hel- oh shi..”

She was lying on the bed, with a blood puddle underneath her wound. It looked worse than before and she could barely keep her eyes open because of the pain. Her injury had opened up even more and there was muscle tissue showing. Lucas went over to her and offered her a drink of whiskey.

“What the heck do you think you re doing?” she yelled at him, thinking that he was making fun of her.

“ It will work as an anesthesia. If I don't stitch you up now, your cuts could get infected and cause even more problems. We don't want that now, do we?”

Lyra nodded through her pain and chugged the drink without thinking.

The hero got his needle and thread, sanitized them and started working on her leg. He knew how to do this perfectly, since his father thought him in case of an emergency. Even though the alcohol wasn't the best thing to make her not feel that much pain, it still helped. Minutes that felt like hours for her passed in torture until Lucas was finally done.

“There. Now you should get some rest and try to ignore the pain. You should feel better soon.” He said while making her drink a healing elixir.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you please sleep with me the rest of the night? I’m terrified of waking up like this again.”

“Of course, if it's ok with you.”

That way, Lucas placed himself on the opposite side of the bed, leaving around room for her. The heroine tried to brush off her pain and shifted closer to him, finally falling asleep.