Chapter Text
Rex quietly made his way through the living room on his way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As it was the middle of the night, he expected to be the only one awake. And whilst that was technically true, he was still surprised to see Lucy on the couch fast asleep.
She was sat upright. Her head lolled to the side as her quiet, even breathing was the only sound in the room. The TV must have turned itself off at some point after she'd fallen asleep. That was odd for her though, she was usually quite the night owl and had no trouble staying up late. She must have been more tired than either of them had realised.
But now Rex was stuck with a decision: should he leave her there, wake her up, or take her to bed?
He thought about it and decided to spare her from a bad back in the morning, hopefully without waking her up in the process.
Quietly he stepped over to her. Slowly and carefully, he put his left arm under her legs and moved his right behind her back. Steadily he lifted her up, keeping a close watch to see if she would stir. It seemed he was in luck however, as she stayed sound asleep in his arms. He smiled at her as he righted himself, pulling her closer to his chest (only because she'd be more secure that way of course!)
He took great care with each step he made through their darkened house, being as slow as possible to both not disturb her and make sure he wouldn't trip over anything. (The fact that it meant he could keep hold of her for longer definitely didn't contribute to that decision in any way at all.) She was somewhat lighter than he remembered too. Yes, he had worked out a fair bit in the years since he'd last seen her, but he'd always been a pretty strong guy. It was kind of needed in order to haul around heavy bricks as a construction worker after all.
He eventually reached her door, which was thankfully ajar, and he pushed it open all the way with his foot.
At the side of her bed he leaned forward slightly, about to gently put her down, when she stirred in her sleep. A frown deepened on her face as she muttered some nonsense. She rolled slightly in his arms to lean towards him, grabbing a handful of his dinosaur pajama shirt as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder. Rex blushed bright red and was thankful that no one else was around to see him or this whole situation he'd somehow gotten himself into. What started out as a simple kind act had turned into way more feelings than he thought he would have to deal with at 2am in the morning. 'Begrudgingly' he straightened up and drew her closer again. Just until he figured out what to do anyway.
He slowly sat down on her bed as he waited for her to settle again and let go of him. It took a few minutes, but eventually she relaxed and he was able to gently but quickly put her down next to him. He eased his arms out from under her, before finally just sitting back and staring at her.
She looked so peaceful, so serene, so… beautiful. It warmed his heart to see her so content. It reminded him why he'd fallen in love with her in the first place, all those years ago. Just seeing her face for the first time had left him speechless, frozen literally mid sentence until she'd turned to search the construction site for the piece of resistance. Back then (and for a long time after) just seeing a tiny smile on her face would send him beaming ear to ear. His outward reaction had lessened significantly since coming back to his timeline, but no matter how much he tried to bury or cover up his emotions, he couldn't help but feel that same brilliant spark of joy at her smile.
He wouldn't admit it to anyone else (at least, not yet) but sitting there across from her, seeing her sleeping smile, he couldn't deny to himself that he still loved her.
When the world had crashed and burned around them it hadn't mattered to him, because he'd still had her. Now he was lucky enough to have her again. And maybe, just maybe, they could be as close as they once were again. Because the refound trust he had for his friends, for her , grew stronger every day, and maybe some day soon he'd have enough in his heart to rekindle what they'd once had and more.
Rex left her room with a wide smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear. Quietly he closed her door and headed back to his own room, his drink long since forgotten, and soon he found himself soundly asleep as he dreamt of the future and all the possibilities it held.
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When Lucy awoke, she was comfortably sprawled out in the middle of her big, soft bed. She stretched and yawned as the sunlight peeked through her curtains and helped her slowly adjust to the mid morning light. She sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes, before glancing at the clock on her bedside table. It was currently 11:23am. A perfectly reasonable time to get up.
Rex was probably up by now too. He'd seemed to quite easily fall back into the early routine of a morning person. Though he'd yet to get used to cooking anything decent again. Apparently most of his diet in space had consisted of futuristic powdered rations, salads, protein shakes, and whatever other instant meals he could find. She'd better get to the kitchen soon and make sure he hadn't tried anything too adventurous…
She was just about to pull the covers off from her, when she realised she'd been sleeping above them. That was weird. It wasn't particularly hot enough for her to have done that. And other than a few wrinkles, her bed looked the same as when she'd made it up yesterday.
Wait a minute…
She didn't remember going to bad last night. She remembered watching a movie in the living room… And then… Nothing. Had she fallen asleep on the couch?
That can't have been right. If that had happened, then how had she ended up in her room? But as she looked down, she realised she wasn't in her pj's either. So she hadn't gone to bed herself. But what else could have happened?
The only other way she could have ended up in her bed, was if Rex had brought her here. Would he really have done that?
Well, she supposed he must have. It was kind of a surprise. A very nice one though. She felt well rested and awake. A lot more than she would have stuck at an awkward angle on the couch.
It was really sweet that Rex had thought to do that for her.
He still seemed to have some of that old sweetness he used to have, deep down. She wondered what other aspects of himself he still had. What other feelings he may or may not have…
Back during the apocalypse they had been 'Super Special Best Friends'. They had been so close. They'd even loved each other. She remembered the first time Emmet had said 'I love you' to her. She'd had a near miss dodging an attack from a Systarian invader and ended up with a pretty nasty cut on her shoulder. He'd been so worried, but so doting on her. The sweet, scared look in his eyes as he'd said it warmed her heart. He'd cared so deeply and so genuinely for her. She'd been his whole world, the most special person in his life.
And he had been hers.
The first time she'd said 'I love you' to him was in a far less tense moment. It had taken her a while to say it, but one evening when they were sat atop an old wrecked building, there was a gorgeous golden sunset that had made his eyes sparkle and made him glow with happiness. It was a simple moment. A quiet peace that was so rare back then. But it had made her realise just how much she'd cared for him, and how simply wonderful he really was. He was talented, and amazing, and unique, and the most important person she'd ever had in her life. He was her special.
Looking back, she wished she'd said those three little words sooner. She'd had comparatively so little time with him after that…
She wondered if he would ever say 'I love you' to her again?
Sure, he'd said it plenty of times before. But that had been before. So, so much had happened to them, happened to him since then. He'd been lost, and broken and rebuilt again. He'd changed to be someone else, and then he'd started changing again. Even now he was still learning who he was, how he fit into everything and how he could deal with and move forward from all he'd been through. She hadn't been able to save him. He'd been so mad about that. That anger had fuelled and twisted him. What if he still had some of it left? Could he ever truly forgive her? Would that stop any chance they had to be as close as they once were again?
…
No.
No, if that were true, he wouldn't have wanted to live with her. He wouldn't have been so happy when she'd said yes to the idea, that he'd picked her up and laughed with joy. He wouldn't have held her hand so many times of his own volition, or brought her her favourite coffee just to make her smile. And most importantly, he wouldn't have kindly brought her to her bed so carefully and considerately, that she hadn't even woken up.
If he didn't care, if he didn't still feel at least a tiny amount of love for her, then he wouldn't have done any of that. Despite everything that had happened, despite how much he and everything had changed, she had hope.
And despite it all, she still loved him.
Maybe the two of them did still have a chance to rekindle their old love once again.
At that moment, the fire alarm started blaring loudly throughout the house, and she heard Rex yelling from the kitchen.
"HOW THE HELL DOES CEREAL CATCH FIRE?!?!"
She chuckled and quickly headed towards the kitchen. Same old Rex, always full of surprises.