The Longing ⇝ BOOK 2 > LOK

13

Lyra (2)

It was late at night when I found myself at Shady Shin's home. Considering I walked here and it was on the sketchier side of the city, it took me longer than I hoped.

Slowly, I knocked on the door. I took a step back while crossing my arms. The door opened a few seconds after - Shin was in his boxers and a muscle shirt.

I could tell he just woke up.

"Lyra?"

I nodded slowly. "Can I come in?"

"Uh... sure." He opened the door wider and stepped aside. I walked in and he closed the door behind me.

"Everythin' okay?" Shin asked me.

"Yeah..." I then shook my head. "No, not really. I need a place to stay, just for the night."

He furrowed his brows. "Ya boyfriend outta town?"

"Me and Mako got in this big argument and I don't think it's a good idea if I go back to his place. And Bolin, I just I don't want him to get in the middle of it. It wouldn't be fair. And nobody's home at the island and I - I don't know where else to go."

It was silent between us and even more silent in his small house. I could hear the faucet leaking into a pot in the kitchen.

"You told me to go to you if I needed anything."

Shin slowly nodded. "Yeah. I remember." He scratched the back of his head before sighing. "Sure, you can crash here. You can take my bed, I'll take the couch."

"No, no. This is your home. You should sleep in your bed."

"It gets colder out here at night. It's no big deal."

I softly smiled. "Thank you."

Shin shrugged. "Don't mentioned it." Before I could walk straight into his room, he stopped me one last time. "And I won't tell Mako you stopped by."

"Goodnight, Shin."

"Night, Lyra."

I walk into his room and he was right. It was a lot warmer in here than out there. His bed was unmade and obviously slept in. I took my shoes off and placed my hoodie on before I got into the bed.

To be quite honest, it felt wrong to be in someone else's bed even if they weren't next to me. I know me being here was probably wrong, but I'm just so exhausted that I'd rather deal with it tomorrow.

The mattress was sill warm from where Shin was laying. I pulled the blanket over my body and hugged myself to sleep.

>>>

I woke up from the sun shining in my face. I sat up slowly and looked around. The room was the same, nothing changed.

I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to freshen up. Once I was done, I walked out and into the living room, which right next to it was the kitchen.

Shin sat at the table eating what looked like cereal. He looked up at me and I could see his dark under circles clearly.

"You hungry?" He asked me. I shook my head, walking over to the table. I took a seat next to him and he watched me from the corner of my eye.

"Ya' know, if ya' boyfriend finds ya' here, I'm toast."

I sighed, "I-"

A knock was heard at the door. Shin got out of his seat and walked over to the front door. Right when he opened it, he sighed out, shaking his head.

"Speak of the devil." Shin chuckled sarcastically.

"I don't have time, Shady Shin. Have you seen Lyra? She disappeared on me last night." It was Mako. I widened my eyes and quickly got on my feet.

"Nah man, she ain't here." Shin shrugged. As Shin was going to close the door, Mako held it open with his hand. "I didn't ask if she was here."

"Well I ain't seen her either." Shin shoved Mako back. "I got things to do."

I saw Shin stumble back and the door slamming open. When Mako's eyes landed on me, he was enraged.

"You have to be kidding me!" He yelled. "Are you- are you serious, Lyra!?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"That's the first thing you tell me?" Mako then scoffs, "I'm here because I've been worried sick about you! You didn't come home last night and no body knew where you were! So, what? I was just supposed to sit around and wait?"

"Can we not argue right here?" I glanced at Shin which made Mako even more upset. He groaned and walked out of the house.

I turned to Shin, "Thank you again."

"Good luck." He responded. I sent him a nervous smile and walked out, closing the door behind me.

Mako was already standing halfway down the alley.

"Mako!" I called to him. He turned around quickly, "Please. Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid!"

I shook my head. "No. Nothing happened."

"So why did you come here!? Out of all places!"

"I had no where else to go!"

Mako rolled his eyes. "That's such crap."

"Bolin is your brother and my best friend. He shouldn't be put in the middle of our arguments. We both know why I didn't stay with Korra. And Asami is your ex-girlfriend, and even if I like her, I don't need her knowing when my boyfriend and I are having issues. It's none of her business - it's no ones business.

I showed up here and asked if I can spend the night. I knew what I was doing wasn't a good idea, but I was just so tired. He said I could and that was it. When you showed up, I had barely woken up." I explained slowly.

I went back and forth between Makos' eyes. He seemed to have relaxed but I still didn't know what he was feeling.

"Okay."

I cocked a brow. "Okay?"

Mako nodded. "I trust you. I just wish you would've told me."

"I'm sorry." I rubbed my upper arm with my hand as I slowly stepped forward to him. "Since that's out of the way now, can we talk about what Korra said?"

Mako sighed, "Korra has it all wrong. Of course I want you to be more successful than me. I want to see you thrive and I know you will. I was upset because I felt like you were planning your future without me."

I furrowed my brows. "What do you mean?"

"On our way from the North Pole, you said you wanted to join the Navy. That means things would change and I felt like you didn't consider how it would change us."

"Mako," I grabbed his hand and slightly smiled. "That was just an idea. I was excited and it felt new. If I were to consider it, it would be years from now. And of course I know things would change and the first thing I'd think about is us. We're a duo."

"I know." He nodded as he gave my hand a squeeze. "I want you to be happy and have all the success in the world... but I wanna be at your side too while you're going through it."