This chapter might be a tad sad but I really want to write it because you see a much more vulnerable side of Luke.

Chapter Quote:

“Just being there for someone can sometimes bring hope when all seems hopeless.”

~Dave G. Llwellyn

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Chapter 6: Maybe We’d Be Different

December 31… 

Bryn 

The wind howled due to one of the gods deciding to send one of the worst snow storms in New York’s history.  There was already two feet on the ground and the storm didn’t show any signs of stopping anytime soon.

Bryn stared up at her ceiling, unable to fall asleep.  Her gut felt uneasy; something was wrong, she just couldn’t place it.  Perhaps it was due to the fact that Derek and his parents were out of the house and she was completely alone in the big house.  Derek had gone to visit a college he was interested in.  It was located in California, something that excited him.  He had always been a fan of the state even though the prices for everything there were ridiculously high.  Bryn opted to stay, watch Neville along with the house.  Truth was she didn’t feel like travelling.  She liked having a home to be at.  With what her future held, she wouldn’t have a place to call home since she’d be so busy.  But Derek and his parents being gone wasn’t the problem.  Besides, if something was wrong, they would’ve called her by now.

So what was the problem with her?

Deciding sleep wouldn’t be coming any time soon, Bryn forced herself out of bed.  Neville reluctantly got up and followed her.  She headed down to the kitchen where she pulled out the Nutella jar out of the pantry along with hot cocoa mix and the loaf of bread.  Bryn got a plate and coffee mug out of the cabinet when she heard knocking.  Curiously, she went to the window, peering out behind the blinds.  She didn’t know what to expect looking outside.  Nothing was out there though.  No monsters prowling around trying to break in and no burglars attempting to get in.  Of course, any person who tried to break in during this type of weather would be insane.  Bryn was being paranoid, she knew that.  She muttered to herself, “Fates are probably making me lose what sanity I have left.”

Thunder rolled across the sky and Bryn resisted the urge to go outside and flip off the night sky.  Convincing herself the knocking had just been debris hitting the walls outside, she walked back to the kitchen counter where she started to make her sandwich.  As she slathered on a hearty amount of the chocolate heaven onto a piece of bread, distinct knocking could be heard coming from the front door.  So she hadn’t imagined it!

Bryn stood still.  Who could be here at two in the morning in this horrid weather?  Quietly, Bryn set down her food and grabbed a sharp kitchen knife.  Neville was growling, but she quickly shushed him.  Her feet made no noise as they approached the front door.  The blinds blocked her from looking out the window, so she moved them hardly a fraction, just enough for her eye to see the uninvited guest.

Upon seeing the person, she threw the door open. “Luke!”

The grandson of Poseidon stood in front of her, simply staring at the daughter of Zeus.  Bryn looked him up and down, trying to figure why he was at the house in the middle of the night. “What on earth are you doing here at two in the morning in a tee shirt with no shoes on and no jacket?  You’re going to die of frostbite or hypothermia or you’ll catch pneu-” Bryn trailed off when he made no movement or sound.  He didn’t even try and tell her to shut up.  He just stood there, his blue eyes dark.  She set down the kitchen knife on a small table next to her and questioned as calmly as she could, “Luke, what’s wrong?”

He tried to say something, but the words got lost somewhere in his brain and his mouth opened a little bit before he closed it.  He tried to tell her through his eyes, but Bryn couldn’t understand it.  Instead, she grabbed his hand, pulling him into the warm house.  She shut the door, sealing off the cold air from coming in.

Luke’s hand was cold as ice; he was violently shivering.  His teeth sounded like a jack hammer drilling into concrete.  His clothes were soaked from snowflakes landing on him.  His feet were turning blue and she knew he would soon have frostbite if he didn’t already.  She led him into the kitchen where she made him sit down on the bar stool, ordering, “Stay here while I go get you some fresh clothes.”

Luke sat down obediently, not even giving up any sort of resistance like he usually would if Bryn ordered him to do something.  She didn’t like him like this.  She dashed up to the Michaels’ bedroom and opened Mr. Michaels’ drawers.  Derek’s clothes were just a little too small for Luke.  She grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, socks and a towel before going back downstairs.  Luke was in the same position she’d left him in: sitting in his chair with his head bowed and his hands clasped together.

“Luke?  Go to the bathroom, dry off with the towel, and then put on these clothes, okay?” Bryn commanded.  He nodded, taking the clothes from her and shuffling to the bathroom down the hall.  She stared after him, wondering what the hell happened to him.  If anyone had hurt him, she’d kill them without second thoughts, even if it was a god.  No one was going to hurt Luke on her watch if she could help it.

Five minutes later, Luke came back in.  His hair was dry, sticking up in random places.  If the circumstances would’ve been different, Bryn would’ve laughed.  Instead she walked up to him, cupping his face with her hands. “Luke, what’s wrong?”

His eyes flitted up to meet hers.  She was surprised to find them glistening with tears, dangerously close to spilling over.  “Tucker’s dead…” he breathed so quietly Bryn almost didn’t hear him.

Shock hit Bryn like a tidal wave. “What?”

“Drunk driver coming at him… h-he swerved to avoid a-and… and he hit black ice.  Lost control,” Luke stammered.

“Oh my gods,” Bryn whispered.  She threw her arms around Luke’s neck, one of her hands stroking his hair.  He buried his face into the crook of her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her almost to the point where it was difficult to breathe.  Luke’s shoulders starting shaking; a few seconds later, Bryn felt something wet on the shoulder of her sleep shirt, right where Luke’s eyes were.  It took her a few moments to realize he was crying.  He made no noise at first but as he proceeded to cry, Luke’s sobs became audible.  Bryn refused to let her body move, even though her muscles were aching from being in her current position for so long.  Luke needed her, and he took precedence over everything else at the moment.

She envisioned the last time she’d seen Tucker.  He’d been smiling and laughing, playfully flirting with Bryn before he headed back to his college.  He and Luke had shared a quick conversation; what they said to each other, no one knew, but Luke smiled at Bryn afterwards.

That had been in October.

Why Luke had chosen her to break down in front of was beyond her comprehension.  She didn’t understand it, but she felt touched that of all the people he could’ve gone to, he’d chosen her.

Twenty minutes later, Luke gathered himself to a point where he could get out a sentence without collapsing into sobs again. “S-sorry for breaking down o-on you like that,” he whispered, looking at her with depressed eyes.

“Don’t be sorry.  Never be sorry,” she said.  His forehead braced up against hers.  Bryn felt her heart racing.  They shouldn’t be this close, at least not their faces.  Luke looked like he could use a kiss to cheer him up, and she really wanted to take that hopeless expression off his face.  But that meant taking their relationship to a whole new level and Bryn had vowed to herself the night the gods had visited her that she and Luke would strictly be friends and never anything more.  Instead, she gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Go sit in front of the fire and I’ll make you some hot chocolate and Nutella sandwiches.  Quickly now.  You’re still shivering.”

“I don’t think it’s from the cold anymore,” he mumbled almost indecipherably, but Luke listened nonetheless, leaving Bryn rooted to the spot.  What had she been thinking?  She shouldn’t have given him any sort of kiss at all.  That had been a stupid action on her part, but some of the sadness on Luke’s face had disappeared, if only briefly.  Bryn couldn’t do moronic things like that anymore.  Luke was one of her closest friends.  She could not lose him under any circumstances.  She didn’t have many people in the world.  The three demigods who’d rescued her from that dreaded hellhole she’d been stuck in after she’d been kidnapped had left camp a year later after they’d rescued her.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Bryn forced herself to do the task of making hot chocolate and Nutella sandwiches.  She went quickly and had ten sandwiches ready once the hot chocolate was ready.  She carefully carried it all into the living room.  Luke sat in front of the flickering fire with Neville resting his head on Luke’s lap.  The fire offered the only light in the room.  Shadows danced across Luke’s grief-stricken face.  Bryn sat next to him, setting the coffee mugs on the tile in front of the fire place and placing the plate of Nutella sandwiches in between her and Luke.  He picked one up, staring at his very carefully before biting into it.  In fact, he practically inhaled the sandwich and was on his second by the time Bryn was halfway done with hers.  Apparently eating made him find his voice because he started talking. “I was three when I first met Tucker.  He was… six I think.  It was second grade when I became interested in football.  I’d been walking sitting on the monkey bars, watching Tucker play football with his older friends.  He saw me and motioned for me to come over.  Naturally, being a frightened second grader, I was scared senseless by the older fifth graders, but I listened to him.  He told me the rules of the game and placed me as running back.  His friends were angry that I was even being allowed to play, but Tucker was their leader; they listened to him.  After that recess, the boys had a lot of respect for me.  None of them had been able to catch me.  I played with them during recess every day after that.  They taught me how to get better and better and freshman year of high school, I was the first ever freshman to be on the Varsity football team and actually have play time.  I’ve lettered in it all four years.  It’s thanks to Tucker that I even have a chance of going to a university.  If he hadn’t introduced me to football, I might never have started playing it.  I got a scholarship offer to the University of Texas to play football.  I’m probably going to accept it.  It’s full ride.  I’m shouldn’t pass it up.  I just wish I could’ve told Tucker about it.  He would’ve been ecstatic… I wish he was here.” Luke fell silent again; he took a sip of his hot chocolate and stared into the fire. “Bryn?”

“Hmm?” She looked at him silently, beginning to eat her second Nutella sandwich.

“Thank you.  For listening.  I know I scared you when I just showed up like I did,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry about it.  I’m glad I was here for you.”

“Tucker liked you.  He said you were good for me.”

“What did he mean by that?” Bryn queried, bracing herself against one of her arms.

Luke shrugged. “He said it was a multitude of things.  Even my teachers saw a change in me.  They said I was doing better in my school work, specifically the classes I had with you.  I don’t know…  Can I ask you something?  It’s just something Tucker said to me a while back and I just want to know.”

“Of course.”

“If you and I weren’t in the situation we’re in, meaning monsters and gods and unknown enemies trying to kill us everywhere we turn, would we even be friends or… would we be more?”  His head was bowed down but his blue eyes were looking up at her through his eyelashes.  She found him to be very handsome at that moment.

“That’s hard to say.  I believe if we had never known each other, I’d still be bitter and whatnot and you’d still be happy and outgoing, but I don’t think we’d get along.  However, if we had different divine heritages, I do think we might’ve ended up dating at some point if we had become friends first.”

Luke nodded. “Looks like the Fates are being bitches again.” At that, Bryn laughed.  Luke gave her a small but genuine smile. “And you’re not bitter.  Far from it.  You’re really quite sweet once a person gets to know you… and you actually kind of like them.”

“I liked you from the start, I just couldn’t show it.  I knew who you were the moment I saw you.  I’m not supposed to get along with children of Poseidon, but you made it impossible not to like you.”

“I’m glad I did; it earned me my closest friend,” he told her with a disarming smile.  He finished his sandwich.  Looking down at the plate, Bryn realized all the Nutella sandwiches had disappeared with Luke eating the majority of them.  She didn’t know why, but she started to giggle.  Maybe it was from being tired, maybe the sugar from the Nutella and hot chocolate was getting to her, or maybe it was from the nerves she had from being so close to Luke with no one else in the house, but Bryn couldn’t stop laughing.  Luke looked at like she’d lost it which she probably had but soon, he joined in.  They continued their laughing fit for about ten minutes, hardly able to breathe; their abdomens hurt, they couldn’t catch their breath, they fell on their backs onto the carpeted floor, but the just couldn’t stop.

Finally, Luke asked drolly, “Why are we laughing?”

“No idea,” Bryn confessed, trying to suppress another giggle, but a small one escaped her lips.

“It felt good to laugh,” he said.

“Tucker would want you to be happy, Luke,” she said, knowing she had to be careful stepping into that territory.

“I know he would.  It’s why I came to you…” Bryn turned her head to face him, shocked by his statement. “That was one of the things Tucker said about you and me.  I always seemed to perk up when you came around or something to that degree.  I know you and I have lived completely different lives, but I feel I can relate to you, more than I can to other demigods.  Maybe I’m just going crazy…”

“You might be, but I think you’re just tired.  Let me clean up and then we’ll get some sleep, okay?”

“Don’t you think your dad will turn me into ash for doing that?  Our boundaries of what we can and can’t do aren’t defined well.”

“If he brings it up, I’ll tell him why and that he couldn’t have stopped me if he tried.  We’ll sleep on the couch.  I’ll be back.”  She got up and went to the kitchen with the plates and mugs.  She set them down in the sink and went back into the living room.  Luke was sitting up, he face scrunched up.  He was trying not to cry again.  Bryn grabbed a blanket off the other couch and went over next to him.  She covered the both of them up before stroking his hair gently.  The contact made him break; tears streamed down his face as he placed his head on her shoulder again.  Luke cried himself to sleep.  Bryn’s heart ached for him.  She didn’t want him being like this.  She vaguely wondered how he would react if she died.  Being a demigod, tomorrow could be her last day (although she thought it highly unlikely).  If Bryn meant as much to Luke as everyone seemed to believe she did, Luke’s breakdown over her would be as bad as his over Tucker’s, maybe worse.

Pushing the depressing thoughts out of her head, Bryn laid her head on top of Luke’s and closed her eyes, falling asleep with his arms wrapped around her waist.  So her dad would be mad.  So Poseidon would be upset.  She didn’t care.

Luke took priority over all of them.

Always.

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Hope you enjoyed!  I hated killing off Tucker, but I really wanted to write this chapter!  Please review :)