Chapter 33 Last Night Never Happened

Here was the thing, Stacy thought he was kind of attractive. It wasn't just Lukas looking at Stacy and admiring her body, it was also the other way around. Not that it changed anything at all though when Stacy heard the news.

She folded her hands together and took a deep breath.

"You… you couldn't get your mind off of this Chaerin girl while you were with Lily–and that's why you slept with her when you carried her back to her apartment?" Stacy stared at him with a straight face.

"...yes." Lukas hung his head down.

"That's insane and–" Stacy sighed softly. "Well, do you care about them both?"

"I do!"

"How? You cheated on this Lily–"

"I… I did." Lukas gripped his hands on the table. "But I didn't want to hurt her, she's the sweetest and kindest girl that I've ever met. I just want to make her happy but…"

"You cared more about your own happiness than hers?" Stacy asked.

"I got caught up in the moment."

"Uh huh."

"It's just… I was so scared and worried about what happened with Chaerin. She's a nice girl too. And there's just–something between us, the tension and…"

"Have you uh ever looked into poly things?"

"Poly what?"

"Polyamorous is the practice of being in an intimate relationship with more than one person–but everyone's aware of the arrangement. Not this one night stand thing."

"That sounds great and all–but I don't think Lily's ever going to forgive me." Lukas smiled bitterly. "I saw the expression on her face… it was so heartbroken–I'm a complete idiot."

"I can't deny that you are."

"Gee, thanks."

"But are you really just going to give up?" Stacy asked and folded her hands together. "Do you have no guts? No honor and bravery to come to terms with your actions?"

"I–"

"Yes, I know it seems bleak, but I expected you to not give up."

"Expect?"

"I mean, if you really care about a person–you wouldn't give up on them right?" Stacy said.

"That's true but…"

"I guess you're kinda hopeless."

"I…"

"Have more confidence in yourself and don't just say you'll let things end this way. You don't want things to end this way, right? Make it up to her–apologize, and do the right thing. That's how you're going to make things better instead of drinking blood with some clerk at VitaBlood."

"You're not bad."

Stacy smirked. "I never said that I was. You just kind of read into things negatively."

"Damn," Lukas said. "And here I thought that I was making a change. That I'd start doing things differently because I… I feel like everything's new, but I'm still the same loser as I was before."

"Woah woah, you're not a loser–"

"How would you know? We've barely interacted besides me buying blood from here."

"Well, uh–you encountered my brother and you didn't lose your head at all while interacting with him. You know what you want and pursue it–which is both admirable and also a little nerve wracking, I guess. But do you get what I mean?"

"I just feel like a loser then." Lukas grinned weakly.

"Sure, let your emotions dictate how you act. Real mature." Stacy rolled her eyes. "I think this is how you landed in your problems in the first place–letting your emotions get to you."

"So you want me to be a robot–beep boop?"

"No?" Stacy frowned a little and tilted her head. "And robots are a human thing."

"Oh… they are?" Lukas sweated a little.

"Mhmm, I should have expected this since you're so strange and all." Stacy sighed but then shrugged. "But yeah, here's some free advice from a total stranger, what do you think?"

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Lukas smiled. "If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed you were into me or something."

Stacy looked at him and then burst into laughter. "This is the exact reason why you get into trouble. Do you hit on every girl that you see?"

"No, but ah–sorry, you're just cute and nice."

Stacy blinked and touched her cheek. "Me? Cute?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nobody's ever called me cute before, that's all." Stacy sheepishly turned away. "My brother… well, my brother's an idiot."

"He's scary. Thanks for saving me the first time." Lukas chuckled. It wasn't as if things were suddenly better, but a conversation was helping him.

Right now, he wanted to get some rest, and then get ready for a conversation. With Chaerin and even Lily if he was given a chance to.

Before Stacy could get an answer though, the door suddenly swung open behind them. A certain red-head Vampire young woman appeared and immediately threw herself into Lukas' arms, throwing a glare in Stacy's direction.

"Lukas!" Chaerin said. "What are you doing? Why haven't you come home? It's quite late."

Stacy scrunched up her nose a little at the public display of affection–not because she was miffed of someone disturbing their conversation. She cleared her throat, but then chose not to interfere.

She had an idea or two on who the girl was.

"Ah, I'm sorry–I… I had dinner with Lily's family."

"Oh." Chaerin's expression shifted slightly and she slowly got off of his lap. "How was it?"

"Not good?"

"How come?" Chaerin's brows furrowed together. "They should love you."

"Ah, that's what Lily said at first." Lukas chuckled, but it didn't quite match his eyes. "Ah, but Chaerin, meet Stacy."

"Nice to meet you." Chaerin smiled thinly.

"Yeah, sure." Stacy said.

"Eh?" Lukas was a bit surprised by the interaction, but then he didn't kind of know or understand why there was a bit of hostility at all. Stacy was so nice earlier. Helpful, even.

"I guess it's time for me to check the storage at the back." Stacy decided and stood up. She took the glasses from the table and nodded her head at Lukas. "I'll see you around."

Lukas realized that it was a signal for him to talk alone with Chaerin–let her know.

Except he really didn't know.

"Let's pretend last night never happened?"