Title: Locks
Rating: K
Genre: Friendship/Hurt/Comfort
Pairing: None
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A/N: Just for reference, Laine is about ten, Kevin is eighteen, Elena, Gwen, and Ben are seventeen, and Julie and Cooper are sixteen. I have no idea how old Grandpa Max is so I'm not going to go there. I'm not sure they'll all even appear in the story, but those are the ages I consider them being nonetheless.
I couldn't decide who should narrate the story, so I'm going between POVs. When it changes, the character's name will be in italics in between page breaks.
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Laine
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The alarm went off at seven o'clock that morning. I know because I was already awake, watching the clock, waiting for the numbers to change. Kevin has the alarm set to 'radio', so when the alarm goes off, 89X plays.
When the radio played "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Hedley to wake me up, I knew it was going to be a good day.
Turning off the alarm, I climbed out of bed and walked into the living room. Kevin was folding up the blanket he used when he slept on the couch and placing it on the back of the couch. He heard my footsteps on the wood floor and turned around.
"Hey, Lainey!" he grinned, scooping me up into his arms effortlessly, as if my weight were that of a feather. He spun me around twice before setting me down on the couch.
"You excited for school, squirt?"
"Sure am!" I grinned. It was the first day back after winter break, the first time I was going off to school since Kevin got me. It was the first time that I was going to public school, the first time I wasn't attending a boarding school, and in truth, I was far more nervous than excited, but I didn't want Kevin to worry. I could hear the TV when I woke up last night at four in the morning. Kevin was already worried, possibly even terrified, and I didn't want to add to that.
"Well, great, you should be. School is awesome."
"You told me you never went to school."
"Which is why I'm so jealous of you, squirt!" Kevin tickled me on the couch until I begged for mercy, at which point he kissed me on the forehead and carried me into the kitchen.
"I got some bacon," Kevin announced, holding up the package of bacon as though it were a trophy, making me laugh.
"Don't you have to cook bacon?" I queried. We don't have a stove in our apartment, which made cooking anything a real problem.
"Nope. This kind you just stick in the microwave." We did indeed have a microwave, probably because it was pretty much impossible to eat even leftovers without one.
"Then I definitely want bacon!" I exclaimed. Wow. Bacon and "Don't Talk to Strangers" all within ten minutes? This really was the best day ever! Kevin stuck the bacon in the microwave and in five minutes, it was ready to eat. Between the two of us, we ate an entire package of twenty bacon strips. Kevin tried to make me eat most of them, but I wanted him to eat too, so we agreed that we'd each eat ten, although I seriously think Kevin slipped me a few extra strips when I was watching TV.
The doorbell rang just as I was going back to our room to get dressed for school.
"Who is it?" I called, since Kevin was still in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast and I was right by the door.
"Ben," a voice answered. I squealed and jumped up to unlock the door, tugging it open. Ben picked me up with a bit more effort than Kevin had just as Kevin entered the room.
"Ben," Kevin exclaimed, sounding like he hadn't seen him in years even though we'd hung out all day yesterday along with Gwen and Elena.
"Hey, Kev. I got your call. Is everything okay?" Ben sounded worried. Was everyone worried today?
"Yeah, yeah. I just need to talk to you for a sec, nothing major. Hey, Lainey, go on and get dressed, okay?" Kevin smiled. Ben set me back down on the floor. I was about to go when a thought occurred to me.
"You're not talking about hero stuff, are you, Kev?" I asked. Now I was even worried.
"No, no, of course not. I'd tell you about that. We just have to talk about some guy stuff," Kevin grinned. "Teenaged guy stuff. Probably would gross you out."
I wrinkled up my nose in disgust, pretended to throw up, turned on my heel and ran down the hall to my room.
Something was definitely wrong. Kevin didn't even smile.
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Ben
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"I can't do this," Kevin exclaimed the second we heard the bedroom door close.
"Can't do what?"
A tortured look came over Kevin's features. "I can't send her off to school. Not after what happened to me. And look at you! You were normal and other kids would torture you. Imagine what they'll do to her! I can't even think about it without having a panic attack."
My heart broke a little at the sight of Kevin like this. "Kev, Kev, relax, okay? Here, have a seat." I guided him to the couch. "Kev, she's been to school before."
"Ben, when the Plumbers found her she was tied to the flagpole in her underwear. Teachers were walking past her without saying a word." A glimmer of pain went across Kevin's face, like it physically hurt to recall this information. I rested a hopefully comforting hand on his shoulder and he looked at me. There was genuine terror in his coal-colored eyes. It was amazing how someone who had fought D. who were nearly successful in ending humanity without blinking an eye could be brought to this state by something as simple as sending the kid he now had legal guardianship of to school.
He was like a worried mother, and it was seriously touching.
"And the worst part is, she's scared, too, but she's acting all calm about it to keep me from worrying. She's trying to protect me."
"That's so sweet," I gushed, and Kevin nodded grimly.
"Cavity-inducing," Kevin agreed, and I was happy to see that there was an edge of sarcasm in his voice. He was recovering.
"When I first went to kindergarten, I was scared out of my mind. But my mother gave me this little stone to remind me of her. She told me that if I kept it in my pocket, I'd be with her. And it really helped," I explained.
"So you think I should give her something to remind her of me?" Kevin queried.
"Yeah. Just, like, a little rock or something," I encouraged.
An idea seemed to visibly form in Kevin's head. "I know just the thing."
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Laine
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It took me quite a while to decide on an outfit for school. All of my favorite clothes were summer clothes – shorts, tank tops, and that kind of stuff – so my favorite outfit wasn't an option. Finally, I decided on a long-sleeved t-shirt in my favorite color, green, and a pair of faded blue jeans. With this outfit, I tugged on the grey boots that Gwen had bought me for my Christmas present and I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. A ponytail made the streaks of blue and purple seem almost artistic, like they're supposed to be there. When my hair is just down, they just look weird. Finally, I put my grandfather's Plumbers badge around my neck on a ribbon and smiled at myself in the mirror.
A knock came at the door. "Who is it?" I called out.
"Kevin," a voice replied. "Are you dressed?"
"Yep!" I answered, running over and tugging the door open. Kevin stood there with something faintly shiny in his hand. He was turning it over in his palms, staring down at it.
"What's that?" I queried, and Kevin smiled.
"You're ruining my dramatic effect, Lainey," he grinned, and together we sat down on the unmade bed, formerly his, currently mine. He showed me the object in his hand. It was an old-fashioned silver padlock, the kind without numbers, the kind you use a key for.
"I wore this every day when I was your age. I thought it was my lucky charm. I found it in the park and I thought it was destined to be mine. Maybe it was." He pondered this for a moment before continuing. "Whenever I got scared, I would hold onto it so tight my hand would ache, but I'd keep squeezing and squeezing, trying to squeeze the magic out to help me. And there were times, Lainey, that I would swear to you that it worked."
"That's so cool!" I squealed. "Can I hold it?"
"Not only can you hold it, I want you to have it. I stopped wearing it when I was about fourteen. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, though. It's been kept many places – the glove box of my car, my pocket, my dresser. I think it wants to be worn again, but if you want to just keep it in your pocket, that's alright, too."
"Are you kidding? Of course I'll wear it. It's magical!" I exclaimed. How cool was this? My first day back to school and Kevin gives me a magical lock. A grin split Kevin's face and he took the long cord that it sat on and slipped it over my head, letting it rest around my neck. It was heavy, and somehow that was reassuring.
"It looks great on you."
"I love it, Kevin. Thank you!" I threw my arms around him and he held me close, burying his face in my hair and inhaling deeply.
"As long as you wear that, I'll be with you, okay?" Kevin murmured, his voice slightly muffled.
"Okay," I agreed.
"Kev, she's got to go or she'll be late," Ben called from the doorway. "And for that matter, you've got to get to work, too."
"He's right," I remarked, checking the time on the clock. "C'mon, it's our first day back. We can't be late!"
"Alright," Kevin agreed, hopping off the bed and taking my hand. "C'mon, we'll take Ben's car."
"Can I sit shotgun?" I queried.
"Alright," Kevin agreed. "But I'm driving."
"No, I am," Ben corrected playfully, dangling the keys in front of Kevin's face before darting off down the hallway. Kevin scooped me up and ran after him. I squealed. Once we were in the hallway of the apartment complex, Kevin set me down and tackled Ben. They wrestled, laughing, until Kevin grabbed the keys, untangled his limbs from Ben's, and raced down the stairs.
"C'mon, Laine, we'll take the elevator!" Ben grinned, and I followed him in and pushed the 'Lobby' button. We were practically jumping up and down from excitement as we rode down to the lobby and nearly knocked two people over as we dashed outside after Kevin, who was already sitting in the driver's seat.
"Beat ya," Kevin smirked as Ben climbed into the back seat.
"I call a rematch," Ben good-naturedly replied. I put in my 'Guster' CD and turned it up until the windows shook. Kevin grinned at me.
"She is so your kid," Ben laughed, and Kevin lit up like a Christmas tree.