Did y’all like the last chapter?  I hope so!  Well here’s the next :)

Chapter Quote:

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

~Norman Vincent Peale 

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Chapter 5: I Almost Kill My Sister’s Boyfriend

Luke 

December 16…

Luke had been lying in his bed with Bryn watching a movie when he heard a car pull up his gravel driveway.  He didn’t think anything of it and concentrated on Halle Berry as Cat Woman.  He kept teasing Bryn that she should’ve dressed up as Cat Woman for Halloween.  He stopped when she zapped him in the stomach.

“Did you hear that?” Bryn queried, looking suspiciously at his doorway.  Luke strained his ears to listen for… something.  And then he did hear something: furious shouting.  He recognized the voice as Silena’s.

“What the hell?” he muttered, getting out of bed.  Bryn followed, just as curious as he was.  They were halfway down the stairwell when Silena came barging in the door.  Her eyes were blazing with fury, but she’d definitely been crying.  Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks flushed.  Derek came rushing in after her which apparently was a mistake on his part because Silena whirled on and slapped him with a ferocity Luke had never seen in his sister before.

“Silena, please!” Derek begged, attempting to grab her hand to get her to look at him.  She snatched her hand away.

“Stay away from me,” she hissed.

“What’s going on?” Luke demanded.  Bryn stood close beside him, tensing as if ready to stop a fight.

“Luke, listen to me, I would never-” Derek began.

Silena cut him off. “I caught him with another girl,” she explained venomously.

“If you would let me explain-”

“There’s no explaining that needs to be done!  We’re over, Derek!  We’re through!” Silena stormed upstairs, shoving past her brother.  Luke glared menacingly at Derek who was too busy pondering over the fact that Silena had just broken up with him to realize Luke was approaching.

“I thought I told you to never hurt my sister!” Luke growled, shoving Derek back.

“Luke!” Bryn exclaimed.

“I didn’t-Luke, please- I…” Derek held up his hands as an offer of peace and surrender, but Luke was unrelenting.  He finally pinned Derek against the wall.  This is where Bryn intervened, stepping in between the boys.  She pushed Luke back.

“Luke!  That’s enough!” she scolded.  Luke tried to push past her but Bryn somehow held him back. “I said that’s enough!”

“He hurt my sister!” Luke replied, barely maintaining from strangling his sister’s now ex-boyfriend.

“Leave him to me,” Bryn told him calmly.  Luke looked down into her hazel eyes.  He saw that she was practically as angry as him but she controlled it a lot better which somewhat amused him seeing as how she had such a temper.

“Don’t go easy on him,” he said.

“I’ll take care of him as I see fit.  Now go take care of Silena.”  Luke nodded, gave Bryn a quick hug, and then ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. 

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Bryn

Bryn grabbed Derek by the collar of his shirt, dragging him outside to the path leading to their house through the woods that the four demigods had created one weekend.  She didn’t speak to him as they walked through no matter what he said or did.  He finally shut his mouth, letting the daughter of Zeus lead him into his house and up to his room where she shoved him onto his bed. “You better have a damn good explanation about what just happened.”

Derek put his head in his hands, refusing to look at Bryn, but he began to explain. “My dad told me about the Christmas dance that Mr. Jackson is holding for some of the people at his company.  He told us that you and I could come along.  You remember that.  I can’t dance.  Not the type of dance that this dance would want.  So I called an old family friend to see if she could teach me.  Her name is Mrs. Freud.”

“You’ve told me about her before,” Bryn commented.

Derek finally looked up.  The outline of a handprint was still evident on his face.  Bryn felt bad for him even if she was pissed, particularly because he looked close to tears and no matter what, she never wanted to see her best friend cry. “She told me she was out of town, but that her daughter, Mandy, was giving dance lessons in her absence, so I went to her daughter.  I figured a private lesson would be better.  I’d learn quicker.  You know how I don’t learn well in big classes.  Mandy and I have known each for forever so we kissed each other on the cheek as a goodbye and we gave each other a hug.  I don’t know why Silena was right there across the street from us, but she was and she saw us and she bolted.  Oh gods what have I done?” He ran a hand across his face, very disturbed by the turn of events.

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“She wouldn’t let me!” Derek exclaimed angrily.  Bryn raised an eyebrow at him, which made his shoulders sag. “Sorry, I’m frustrated and upset and I miss my gir… ex-girlfriend I guess now.”

“Where’s Mandy now?” Bryn asked, moving towards the door.

“Still at the studio I guess.  She has dance classes until nine.  Why?”

“I’m going to speak to her.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“I do believe you Derek; I need to speak to her for another reason.  I’ll be back okay?”  She left him sulking on his bed.

Bryn grabbed the keys to the Honda Pilot and got in the truck.  She drove to downtown Havenbrook where she cruised around for about twenty minutes, attempting to find the dance studio Mandy worked at.  She finally found it on a corner block.  She parked in a parking lot across the street.  When Bryn entered the dance studio, it smelled faintly of citrus.  A girl, shorter than Bryn, came out of an office.  She wore workout pants and a camisole.  Her brown hair was pulled back by a headband.  She smiled sweetly at Bryn and asked, “Hi there!  Are you here to sign up for a dance class?”

“No, actually.  I came for something else if I’m at the right place.  Are you Mandy?”

“Yes.  Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of Derek’s-”

“You must be Bryn!  He’s told me so much about you!  You’re practically a sister to him,” Mandy explained kindly. “He told me what you look like.  That’s why I knew your name.  How is he by the way?  Is his girlfriend okay?  I feel horrible.  He was trying to surprise her by learning how to dance.  Isn’t that romantic?  I really need to find a boyfriend like him.  Not him, though.  That’d be too weird.  Besides, he really is in love with Silena.  She’s gorgeous; I can see why he likes her.”

Bryn smiled amusedly.  This girl definitely was no threat to Silena. “He’s upset.  Silena flipped out on him.  Slapped him too.  I wanted to ask you something if you think you might be up to it.”

“If it means helping Derek get his girlfriend back, by all means, I want to help,” Mandy declared sincerely.  Bryn liked this girl.

“I want you to talk to Silena, explain it girl to girl.  She won’t listen to Derek, but I can get her to listen to me and therefore you.”

“I’m in.  I can’t leave until nine though.  My classes…”

“That’s okay.  Would you mind if I waited here?  I’d rather not drive to and fro over and over again.”

“Of course!  Make yourself at home.  You can go into my office and relax in there.  There’s food and drinks in there.  I’ll come get you when I’m ready to leave okay?  I need to go though; my dance class just showed up.”

Mandy left Bryn and led her class into the dance room.  Bryn went into the office.  She closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax.  However, she stayed very aware of her surroundings, making sure nothing tried to attack or kill her.

At nine-ten, Mandy came into the office, waking Bryn.  The two girls got into their cars and drove to the Jackson’s house.  Bryn knocked on the door; Luke answered.  He greeted her tiredly but let her in.  Bryn introduced Mandy who shyly shook Luke’s hand.

“Luke who is it?” Silena queried, coming down the steps.  When she saw Mandy, she snarled, “Get out of my house.”

“Silena?  Who is it?” Luke asked.

“The bi… the witch Derek was with.”

“What the hell are you doing bringing her here, Bryn?” he demanded.

“Both of you shut up and listen to me.  Silena, let Mandy explain to you what happened.  Luke, I’ll explain to you.”

“You’re nuts, Bryn.  I’m not letting her anywhere near me,” Silena snapped.

“You will and you are.  Talk to her Silena.”

The granddaughter of Poseidon glowered at Bryn but consented after a few seconds.  She grumbled for Mandy to follow her.  The dance instructor skittered up the steps, looking frightened.  Bryn didn’t blame her.

“What are you doing?” Luke inquired.

“Come on Sharkboy.  Let me go help you study for your math final while I explain.” She took a hold of his hand, leading him up to his room where she informed him of the entire situation.  Luke seemed to feel bad for freaking on Derek after he heard the story.  About thirty minutes after Silena had gone upstairs with Mandy, she entered Luke’s room, looking calm.

“I, um, I’m going over to see Derek and apologize.  Mandy’s coming with me.  I’ll be back soon okay?” Silena said.  Luke nodded, telling her to be careful.  He went back to studying for his math final which he was swearing up and down was going to kill him faster than Zeus would if Luke kissed Bryn.  She was trying to explain some of the equations to him but it wasn’t working well because he was so exhausted.  She left him briefly to go to the bathroom and when she came back, he had fallen asleep on his desk.  Bryn smiled sympathetically at the sleeping demigod.  She grabbed a blanket off his bed to cover him up with it.  He opened his eyes sleepily when the blanket made contact with his body.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Luke, go to bed.  I’ll help you study in the morning since we both have off periods,” Bryn told him.

“No, we won’t be able to go over it all.  I need to know this or else I’ll fail and then I won’t graduate and then I’ll be a super senior and no offense to my high school, but I don’t want to be there for another year.  I want to go to college and-” he rambled until Bryn cut him short.

“You won’t do well if you’re tired.  Get some sleep.  We’ll get it all done in the morning.  I promise.  I’m going to head home, okay?”

“I’ll walk you out.” The two demigods went downstairs and outside to the Honda Pilot.  Luke gave Bryn a hug and opened her car door for her.  She drove home smiling.

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Silena

When Silena entered the Michaels’ house with Mandy behind her, it was completely silent save for the soft music coming from upstairs.  The song was slow, but she didn’t recognize the tune itself.  She padded quietly upstairs.  Mandy stayed on the first floor, saying she wanted to give them some privacy.

Silena quietly opened Derek’s door.  He was lying on his side, his back to her.  He was facing the wall, but he was definitely awake.  She could see his finger drawing something on his bed sheets.

“Hey Bryn,” he said quietly, not turning over. “Seeing that you’re back, I’m guessing you weren’t able to convince her?”

“Actually, she did…” Silena replied shyly.  She never saw Derek move so fast in her life.  He flipped over to face her, drinking in the fact that she was really there and not screaming at him or trying to slap him.

“Silena…” he whispered.  Derek didn’t move, simply stared helplessly at her.  She had never seen him look so sad.  He looked like a puppy that had lost their owner and didn’t know where to go.  Silena walked up to him.  He finally stood up, looking down at her but not at her.  It was as if he just couldn’t.  It hurt, but Silena deserved it with the way she treated him earlier. “I’m sorry.  I was just trying learn how to dance… to impress you.  I can dance but not the fancy dancing that you know and I wanted to surprise you by-”

Silena put her finger to his lips, shutting him up. “I know.  Mandy explained everything to me.”

“Mandy?!  How did-”

“Bryn had her speak to me.”

“How did she manage that?”

“Didn’t really give me a choice,” Silena said with a small chuckle.

“That sounds like Bryn.”

“I’m sorry about how I reacted earlier; I should’ve let you explain.”

“I don’t blame you, Silena.  If I saw you hugging another man and giving him a kiss on the cheek, I probably would’ve been upset too, especially if I didn’t know who he was,” Derek said. “… Do you forgive me?”

“A million times over,” she promised, smiling up at him.  She gave him a kiss.

Derek grinned into the smile. “Thank the gods.”

_________________________________________

Luke 

December 21… 

Luke waited impatiently for the Michaels to arrive.  They were coming over fifteen minutes before they all had to leave for New York City because Percy and Mr. Michaels had some business to discuss. 

Silena sat on the couch in her sea green dress with a rhinestone-embroidered hem on the top part of her dress; she was flipping through the channels, attempting to find something decent to entertain her for a bit.

“Luke, if you keep pacing, you’re going to wear down the carpet and fall down into the basement,” Silena joked.

“Sorry, my ADHD is acting up,” Luke mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.  His sister looked at him understandingly, knowing fully what he was going through.  He hated having ADHD sometimes, even though he knew it kept him alive through battles.  He wished it would disappear during school hours so he could actually focus on the subject sometimes. 

At that moment, Luna came trotting in, one of her toys in her mouth.  Luke grabbed one end of the toy and began to play a game of tug-o-war with the husky puppy who seemed to be enjoying it.  The game kept him occupied for a while but in the end, he let her win the game.

When the doorbell rang, she started barking her high-pitched bark, hurting Luke’s ears.  He ran to the door and opened it.  He shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Michaels before letting them in.  They headed straight for the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were waiting.  When they were out of ear shot, Luke turned to Derek, apologizing for how he acted towards him when he thought Derek had cheated on Silena.  The son of Apollo told him it was fine before heading to the living room to see his girlfriend.  Luke turned to Bryn; she looked incredible in a red dress with a bedazzled cinch around the waist.  There was more fabric attached to the waist so when she walked, it flowed regally out behind her.  Her hair was wavy and cascaded over her shoulders and back.

“You look g-great,” Luke stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.  She pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face as she said thank you. “Come on, I have something for you.”

He took her hand, leading her upstairs.  They went to his room where he pulled out a wrapped gift from his computer desk drawer.

“Here,” he said, handing it to her. “An early Christmas present.  Sorry about the crappy wrapping job.  I’m not like Silena when it comes to stuff like that.”

Bryn sat on his bed, looking surprised.  When she opened it, her mouth fell slightly open.  Inside lie two pieces of jewelry: a diamond infinity necklace with a matching ring.

“What’s this for?!” She exclaimed.  She held it up against the light; the diamonds sparkled brilliantly.

“It’s one of your Christmas presents.  I thought you could wear it tonight if you wanted,” Luke said somewhat bashfully.  She already wore a necklace and a ring.  He figured she wouldn’t want to wear it but like always, Bryn surprised him.  She gingerly set the ring and necklace down in her lap before taking off her own necklace.  She put on the necklace Luke had given her along with the ring, setting her own necklace in the gift box.

“It’s absolutely beautiful, Luke.  Thank you!” she said sweetly, throwing her arms around his neck.  He returned the hug willingly.  So they couldn’t be girlfriend and boyfriend.  They were pretty much as close as any friends could ever get and he could live with that… at least he thought he could.  He wasn’t sure what he could and couldn’t live without.  Well, he knew he couldn’t live without Bryn; he’d be devastated without her.  Luke didn’t think Bryn realized how much she meant to him.

“What are you wearing?  Perfume, I mean.  It smells delicious,” Luke commented.

Bryn laughed. “I’m so not telling you that.”

“Oh come on!” he protested.

“You two ready?” Mr. Jackson queried, peering into Luke’s room.  The two younger demigods jumped apart sheepishly.

“Yeah, we’re ready dad.” Luke stood up with Bryn and they headed downstairs hand-in-hand.  Bryn got in the car with Luke in the Michaels Audi A4 while Silena and Derek rode with the Jacksons in their BMW M5 Gran Turismo.  The drive to New York City was long.  Five and a half hours to be exact.  Luke and Bryn passed the time playing ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ and sleeping on the console that was the middle of the backseat with Luke’s head on top of Bryn’s.  Finally, they reached the building of which Mr. Jackson’s company was based out of.  The building was fifty stories high made of granite and glass.  Mrs. Jackson had designed it.  The building also stood across the street from the Empire State Building.  Luke didn’t even want to think how his mom pulled that off.

Mr. Michaels pulled up to the front door where a valet man quickly opened the door for the family.  The four stepped out and joined the Jacksons.  They walked in where they were greeted by a horde of paparazzi who apparently were doing an article for a magazine about the new cruise ship.  One interviewer stalked Bryn down, asking her exactly who she was.  Her story was that she was Derek’s cousin from England and that she had come to America as an exchange student.  The man loved the story and he loved her.  Luke had to get her away from the guy as a matter of fact.  The two managed to slip into the elevator with Silena and Derek while their parents stayed downstairs a little bit longer for more interviews.

“That was insane,” Derek laughed.

“Did you see Bryn’s stalker?  I swear he was going to try and ask for her number,” Luke joked.

“Oh he was just fascinated by my British accent,” Bryn said casually.

“It is rather sexy,” Luke noted.  Bryn looked up at him with a humored expression but said nothing.  When they entered the ballroom on the forty-fourth floor, the room was full of people and tables.  A dance floor was located in the center of the room while tables were placed on the outside.

“Let’s go grab a table,” Luke suggested, leading the way through the crowd.  He felt Bryn’s hand slip into his.  He wondered why she was always so nervous in crowds. 

They found an empty table for four in the corner.  They quickly took their seats at it, claiming the table as theirs.  A waiter came by and took their orders for food.  About thirty minutes later, the food came out.  The four demigods chowed down on their food, gulping down every bit of the filet wrapped in bacon.  Luke had never had something so delicious in his life.

“Kids, why don’t you come meet a few people since you’re done with dinner?” Mr. Jackson suggested after he saw they were done with their meal.  Luke and Silena went with their parents while Bryn and Derek went off with the Michaels.  Luke met multiple people.  Some were captains of the cruise ships, others helped manage the company.  Somehow, after about an hour, Luke excused himself out of the conversation by using the reason he needed the bathroom.  He actually did so it ended up being good timing since he was getting bored meeting all these people.  When he came back to the room, he sought out Bryn.  She seemed to have disappeared, making him wonder if she’d turned herself invisible to avoid being found.  But she hadn’t. Luke found her next to the massive window, looking down at the city below them.  Her arms were crossed; she looked as if she were in deep-thinking.

“Hey,” he said, standing next to her.

“Oh, hey.  Managed to escape the conversations I see,” she chuckled.

“Barely.  Have you danced at all tonight?” Luke queried, leaning against the window before hastily standing straight again, deciding Zeus would probably break the window and he’d go plummeting to his death.  The image didn’t appeal to him.

“No, why?”

“You are not leaving tonight without dancing.  Come on.” He led her to the ballroom dance floor where he put one hand on her waist and took her other hand in his; she placed one of her hands onto his shoulder.  ‘L-O-V-E’ by Nat King Cole came on.

“I didn’t know you knew how to ballroom dance,” Bryn said, seeming impressed.

“My mom taught me.  Dad taught Silena.  And there are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he retorted lightly.

“Do explain.”

“A magician never reveals his secrets.”

“But you’re not a magician.  You’re a demigod.”

“Demigod, magician, same thing.  We both do things that are crazy and out of this world,” Luke pointed out.

“Very true, Sharkboy,” she agreed.

“I think that’s one of the first times you’ve ever agreed with me Cat Woman.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Didn’t plan on it.  So tell me, why do you not like being in crowds?  You seem more comfortable around monsters trying to kill you rather than crowds of people,” Luke observed.

She looked down, trying to come up with an explanation. “I guess it’s that monsters are predictable.  You know what their intentions are.  With humans, you don’t know who’s on your side and who would love to see you rot in the Underworld.  I don’t know, I just don’t trust people.  Not many at least…”

“You trust me though, right?” Luke asked.

“I would never have told you what I did on the boat this past summer if I didn’t.  You, Derek, and Silena.  I have told you this before.  You three are the only ones I trust besides Chiron.  I don’t even trust the gods.  I should since I’ll be fighting for them come the war, but they’re so… so…”

“Flaky?  Unpredictable?  Annoying?  All of the above?” Luke offered.

“All of the above will do,” Bryn decided, smiling.

“Well, don’t worry about one thing,” he said, spinning her around. “I’ll always be there to protect you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Bryn chastised, spinning back into his arms.

“Fine.  I’ll alter it for you.  I’ll always be there to protect you…” he trailed off, thinking about what line could satisfy her.

“To the best of your ability,” she finished. “You’ll always be there to protect me to the best of your ability.”

He dipped her down so her head was just about a foot from the ground and his head hovered just a few inches above her face. “I promise Bryn.”

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So I just really wanted that last part to be in there because that plays an important for later stories and whatnot.  The next chapter is what I’ve really been looking forward to writing :) Please review!

Here’s Bryn’s dress and jewelry :)

Dress: newyorkdress.com/La_Femme/17523.html

Necklace: romantic-meaningful-gifts.com/images/Gifts/Infinity-Necklace.jpg

Ring: eskaydiamonds.com/store/image/data/Rings/a0699-1wbor.jpg

Here’s Silena’s dress!

Dress: newyorkdress.com/La_Femme/18935.html