I realize I didn't exactly think this through when I have to explain to Lucas where to find my underwear. I should have called Karen.

We park outside my house. Lucas convinced me I should pick up my things before heading out on our impromptu getaway, and as exciting as it would be to break into my cabin, it would be a lot easier if we had the key as well as access to the garage for his car since it's supposed to snow this weekend.

I should have known he wouldn't let me get out of the car once we got here.

"Anything else?" Lucas asks with a chuckle.

I shake my head. I've just finished explaining to him that my panties are in the top drawer on the right, and to not open the one on the left under any circumstance. That's the drawer where I keep my old letters from him, and the prospect of him finding them is even more embarrassing than him going through my panties. He swore on Bruce Lee that he wouldn't, so I had to take his word for it. I mean, no one messes with The Dragon.

"Okay—I'll be quick," he says. "Just please stay in the car."

I nod, and he gets out of the car. It's odd watching him walk into my house freely. My palms get sweaty just thinking about the possibility of either of my parents coming home from work early and finding him. I think neither of them would ever speak to me anymore. Then again, we're not on the best speaking terms anyway.

I sent them a text message last night—separately like I usually do—saying that I was staying over Karen's. I didn't want them knowing I was in the hospital. Now that I'm picking up my stuff, I'll just send them another pair of texts tonight saying I decided to head back to New York early.

I'm hoping they don't find it suspicious. There have been other times that I've packed up and left early, but I've usually had the decency to let them know in person. Oh well. At least it's better than the alternative of having them fight over me for two weeks while I recover.

Lucas emerges out of my house a lot quicker than I expected. He places my bag in the back of the car and doesn't delay in getting us out of there. I suspect he had been just as nervous about Operation Breakaway as I was, but he did a good job in hiding it. He already packed his bag before he picked me up from the hospital, so we bypass his house and continue to Main Street.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I ask Lucas, in case he might be having second thoughts.

"Definitely, Audi. I didn't go through your panties for nothing."

I burst out laughing and wrap my arms around my waist in pain. "Dammit, Lucas! Don't make me laugh!" I say, but there's a smile on my face.

Lucas glances at me worriedly like he's about to pull over. "Shit, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I say. "You didn't open the left drawer, did you?"

He rolls his eyes mockingly. "Don't you trust me? I already swore on Bruce Lee. What more do you want?"

"Answer the question."

"No, I didn't. Although I may have to kill you once we get to the cabin just so I can go back and open it."

I swat him in the arm. "Lucas!"

He smiles at me as we hit the highway, and I decide that this was a good decision.

We arrive at the cabin an hour and a half later. We would have arrived sooner, but we stopped by a supermarket to stock up on food. Of course, Lucas didn't let me get out of the car or let me pay for anything.

He almost doesn't let me walk on my own when we get out of the car, but once I remind him that the doctor recommended I walk around a little each day, he gets off my case. Still, he doesn't let me lift or carry anything, and he asks me to sit down on the living room sofa while he unloads the car and puts the groceries away. I can't protest at that since the doctor also said not to engage in any strenuous activity for two weeks.

I use the time to text my parents, still feeling guilty about lying to them. I don't like being dishonest with them, but it had to be done. Like Lucas said, I'm tired of not being able to make my own decisions.

When neither of them replies, even after twenty minutes, I shove away the last remnants of my guilt. Sometimes I don't know why I bother. I toss my phone on the coffee table and lie down, exhausted.

Lucas peers down at me from behind the sofa. "Are you hungry?"

"No, just tired," I say with a sigh.

"You sure? I don't want to nag you, but you gotta eat, babe."

The side of my mouth curls up at hearing him call me that. How is it possible that he can lighten my mood in a matter of seconds?

"I know, but I'm not hungry at all," I say. "I feel queasy just thinking about eating food."

"Okay, I get it, but I don't want you saying the same thing tomorrow. Your room is ready if you want to go to bed."

"It is?" I ask, surprised.

Lucas offers his hand. "Yeah, I fixed it up while you were lost in space."

I take it and let him walk me to my room. He's made up the bed and left water on the nightstand. I'm surprised he remembers where everything is since he only came here once before, and that was a really long time ago. He reminds me that I need to take my pain medicine before going to sleep. I seriously don't know how I survived all these years without him.

I sit on the bed. He watches me carefully while I take my pills, as if I won't take them if he's not here. My shoulder still hurts like crazy, not to mention all my other aching body parts.

"Do you need anything else?" he asks.

"No, I'm good. I'm just going to take a shower and crash."

"That's not a good idea. You'll be drowsy because of the medicine. Even more so because you haven't eaten."

I stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Lucas, I need to shower. It's been two days and I smell like a freaking hospital. Plus—Doctor Howser said it was fine to shower once I was home. It even says so in the recovery instructions. I'll be quick, I promise."

"Fine—but you do know that wasn't his name, right?"

Now I roll my eyes. "I was making a joke," although for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Maybe I'm not all there like I think I am.

I swing my legs over the bed and stand with Lucas's help. He walks with me to the bathroom, and to my surprise, follows me inside.

"I—I can take it from here," I tell him.

"I don't think so, Claudia."

"Lucas, I think I can handle showering by myself."

"It's dangerous. You're heavily medicated. Not to mention the side of the tub you'll need to step over. I can't have you falling on that sweet ass of yours and hurting yourself."

My mouth drops open as he closes the door behind him and goes to turn on the shower.

"But—"

"Do you want to shower or not? Because this is the only way I'm allowing it. Otherwise, you can shower in the morning once you've eaten and haven't taken your meds yet."

I look towards the shower in longing. I'm dying to get in there. I simply can't wait until the morning. I nod, and Lucas comes to stand behind me.

"Lift up your arms," he says gently.

Before I know it, he's tugging my T-shirt over my head. I try to remain calm as I convince myself that getting naked in front of him is not a big deal.

But it is a big deal. He's undressing me. He's unclasping my bra. He's pushing my sweatpants down and helping me step out of them.

I'm so glad I have my back to him, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do this. I can feel my cheeks burning, and when I hear him take off his clothes behind me, I nearly combust.

"Do you want to keep these on?" he asks, placing his hands on my hips over my panties.

I take a deep breath, a shiver running down my spine. "Did you take your boxers off?"

"Yes," he answers smoothly. "I can put them back on if you want."

I gulp at the knowledge that he's standing completely naked behind me. He doesn't seem the least embarrassed about it. It makes me think I'm being immature.

"It's fine," I respond, closing my eyes as I slip my panties off. I let them drop down my legs. When I finally have the courage to open my eyes again, I realize I still need to take off the bandage covering my incision. "I need to take my dressing off."

He clears his throat before answering. "Leave it for now. It'll be easier to take off when it's wet."

Next thing I know, he's helping me step inside the shower. He stays behind me the entire time, even when I stand underneath the hot spray, letting the water massage my stiff neck and shoulders.

God, it feels heavenly. So much so that I'm able to put aside the fact that there's a hot naked guy in the shower with me. That is, until he places his hand on my waist, steadying me.

"You can take the dressing off now," he says.

I nod, but I notice my hands are shaking when I go near it. I'm scared of seeing what the incision looks like. I'm such a wuss with these things.

"Can you do it?" I ask.

"Yeah, but you'll need to turn around. I don't want to remove it without seeing what I'm doing."

I take a deep breath before turning around. My line of vision is right below his mouth. I have to look up to see him. Our eyes lock, and it's hard to maintain contact when they want to wander to other places.

He struggles to do the same until he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Why don't you sit down on the ledge? It'll be easier that way."

We awkwardly dance around one another until I'm on the other side of the shower. He helps me sit down. I inevitably see a lot more of him as this happens, and I stupidly cover my eyes. I think I do it more from shock than anything else, because I definitely didn't expect to see what I just saw. How is he not a cocky son of a bitch?

I hear him chuckle as he peels my hands away from my eyes. "Audi, look at me." I open them to see that he's kneeling in front of me, looking at me intently. "Please don't be embarrassed. You're beautiful."

I blush, worsened by the fact that he's seeing all of me too. I want to cover myself, but I think there's no point in doing so anymore.

"I'm going to take it off now, okay?"

His focus shifts to my abdomen, and I try to remain still as his fingers graze the dressing. I keep my eyes on his, not wanting to see what he's doing.

"It looks good, Claudia," he says. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Thank you," I say with relief.

He smiles and reaches behind me. "Shampoo?"

I nod, expecting him to pass me the bottle, but instead he pours some into his hands and massages it into my hair. His fingertips against my scalp feels wonderful, and my eyes begin to drift into sleepiness.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Audi," he says, snapping me out of it. "At least not yet."

He helps me stand and brings me under the spray again. At this point I'm having a difficult time keeping my eyes open. I wrap my arms around his waist.

I feel his fingers in my hair, rinsing the shampoo out. I feel him rest his cheek against my head as his hands run down my back. I hear him whisper in my ear that it's time to go. He steps out, wraps a towel around me, and carries me to bed.

He helps me put on my pajamas, and I no longer care that he's seeing me this way. I'm tired. I'm so tired that I'm barely awake when he puts on a new dressing for me. He finishes, positions me on my side and props a pillow behind my back.

"Sleep well, Audi. I don't know if I should hate you or love you for being so damn stubborn."

Love me, I think, but it's an impossible dream.

"I'll be in the other room if you need me," he says, and his lips press against my temple before he leaves.

Author's Note: Things got a little steamy in this chapter—pun intended! But Claudia is so out of it on her meds that she barely registered what was happening lol.

I imagine it going something like this...

The song of the chapter is "You and Me" by Shallou. I think the lyrics describe their relationship pretty well!