The Princess & The Thief

Chapter 5-I Told You So

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"Called to the Devil and the Devil said quit,"
"Can't be bothered better handle your shit,"
"Keep about your wits man, keep about your wits,"
"Know yourself and who you came in with..."
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Luke's POV

Luke rolled onto his back, staring up at the bleak ceiling of their cell. He was stretched out on a narrow bed, which was hardly softer than the stone bench Alex and Reggie were sitting on.

The dungeon was clean enough he supposed, but also wet and cold, thick moisture in the air clinging to his skin; he couldn't shake the chill. One small window was fastened in the wall outside their cell, the shaft of sunlight burning his eyes whenever he glanced in that direction.

Luke was still getting used to the contrast to the stiflingly hot outdoors. They hadn't even been through twenty four hours of their imprisonment and he was already longing for the heat and the salty sea breeze.

He let his head fall to the side, drifting out of the daze and tuning in on what the others were saying.

"No, I could cry for twenty five years and never get a hug from either of you!" Alex sniffed. "Don't touch me!" He blocked Reggie from doing so.

"This is why no one hugs you," Reggie exasperated under his breath.

Luke was about to tune back out when Alex suddenly stood up. "I mean why did I ever listen to either of you? I told you this was going to go bad, I TOLD YOU! But no one listened! I told you so, I told you so, I told you so."

"Alex—"

"Did I say I told you so?" He glared at Luke.

"Okay, yes, you were right." Luke sat up, stretching sore, stiff muscles. "I should've listened to you, I know, but it's not like we had anything to lose."

"How are you so casual about all of this?" Alex asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Don't you want to find a way out?"

"Of course I do, but Alex—let's be real for a second. What do we have when we get out of here, huh? Five cents and a guarantee that Crazy Betty will give us pizza if Reggie does her a favor? We can't even play music the right way out there, and that's what we're here for, what we live for!" Luke jumped to his feet. "I mean what else is there? It's not like we're close to our families. My folks always regretted buying me that guitar, Reggie never knew his dad and fucking lost his mom, and Alex I, your fancy, royal parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay."

"Okay, none of us had it great, but at least we had freedom." Alex argued morosely. "What do we have now? And before you say plenty of time to think or something, just remember, we're in jail, you jackass."

Luke knew he was grasping at straws at this point, but he wasn't going down that easily. He stepped close to his friends, dredging up some energy. "I'll tell you what we have. It's what we've had since the day we came together..."

They stared at him blankly.

"Boys we have us," he grinned, trying to transfer some positivity, hopping onto a bench, "we're all we're ever gonna need. And you know what else we have?"

"At the moment, I'm gonna say death breath." Reggie attempted.

Luke found himself truly smiling for the first time that day, "Our music, you dork. We have our music, you guys. Maybe this is our chance to actually get someone to listen to us and let us play! It would've been stupid at the party but now, man, I just, I wish I had my guitar."