So I’m currently in Scotland having a blast at the summer program :D And I hope everyone else is having a fantastic summer as well :)  Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Quote:

“Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side.”

~Unknown

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Chapter 7: Thank You For Saving Me

Silena 

Silena tiptoed into the Michaels’ house after letting herself in using a key Derek had given her.  She didn’t want to alert anyone she was there, particularly if Bryn was asleep; if the temperamental blonde didn’t know it was Silena, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill, especially since last night when Luke had gone running to her.  Bryn had become protective of him; only Silena knew why.  Contrary to what most people thought, she knew a lot about the inner workings of Luke and Bryn’s relationship and their deeper personalities.  Luke, while he acted happy and outgoing and strong most of the time, could be a real softie, specifically to people who meant something to him.  Bryn saw that side of him more than even Silena did.

Silena padded quietly into the living room to find her brother and Bryn on the couch together.  Bryn was on her side, asleep on the pillow; Luke had his arms wrapped around her waist with his head lying on her neck.  Silena had to hold back going “Awww!” because she knew her brother needed rest and peace.  She slowly backed out of the living room and began to head to the front door.

“Silena!” Bryn’s voice whispered.  She turned around to find the British blonde standing behind her.  How she’d gotten up without waking Luke and without Silena hearing was beyond Silena, but she decided not to question it; Bryn was ninja like that. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.  I came to check on Luke.  How is he doing?”

“Depressed, but I got him to laugh last night if that means anything,” she said, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands.

“That’s really incredible Bryn, you have no idea.  We couldn’t even get him to talk. Speaking of, has he spoken at all?”

“Yeah, talked a lot last night actually at some points but then he’d fall silent.  We fell asleep about three I think after a bunch of Nutella sandwiches and hot chocolate.  Come on in the kitchen, I’ll start making breakfast.” Bryn motioned for Silena to follow her.  The two girls entered the kitchen where the daughter of Zeus began pulling out pans.  She pulled out bacon, sausage, and eggs from the fridge, and bread, Nutella, and cereal from the pantry.  Silena quietly wondered if Bryn knew she was making Luke’s favorite breakfast combo.  Unlike her, Luke could eat a ton at breakfast.  He could eat a ton of food anytime of the day come to think of it.

“That’s really incredible you got him to speak, Bryn.  We couldn’t even get him to look at us,” Silena explained, making a cup of hot tea for them.

“I’m just glad I was there when he needed me,” she replied.

“Um, this is going to sound really out of the blue, but my brother really loves you.”

Bryn remained silent for a few seconds before whispering, “I know…”

“… Do you love him back?”

A mixture of emotions flickered across Bryn’s eyes although Silena couldn't determine what those emotions were.  Finally, Bryn answered, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know or you can’t say?”

“More of the latter one.  Silena, if I said anything about my feelings for your brother, the gods, particularly my father or Poseidon, would kill either me or him.  We… we just can’t be together right now.”

“But in the future?”

“Depending if I live that long, then yes, possibly in the future it could happen.”

Something struck Silena odd about her friend’s words. “Depending on if you live that long?  You’re the best fighter at camp.  Of course you’re going to survive.  Whatever gave you the idea that you wouldn’t?”

“A nightmare I had a few nights ago.  Don’t worry about it.  Just a slip of words.  It’s the morning and you know how I don’t function correctly in the morning.”

Sadly, Silena did know because she was the same way, so she let the subject drop.

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Luke 

Luke woke up to the smell of bacon; his mouth watered at the mere thought of it.  He groggily sat up to find himself in the Michaels’ living room.  At first, he didn’t know why he was there, but the memories quickly flooded back.  He allowed for a few quiet sobs to escape at the thought he’d never be able to see Tucker ever again, but quickly regained his composure.  Bryn had been right last night.  Tucker wouldn’t want Luke to be sad.  He would want Luke to remember him the way he was, not the way Luke had seen him hooked up to all the machines in the hospital or how his voice had barely been a whisper when he told Luke to “Never let her go.”  Luke had told no one what Tucker had said, at least not that he remembered.  He barely recalled last night.  Worry suddenly took over Luke’s body.  How much had he told Bryn?  How much had he admitted to her?  When she had kissed him on the forehead, it had taken all his willpower not to kiss her back.  He wanted her to trust him, and kissing her without her permission would only prevent her from trusting him.  He couldn’t risk that.  She was the only friend he really trusted now.  He couldn’t risk losing her.

Then he realized she was nowhere in sight.  Figuring she was the one cooking breakfast, Luke shuffled silently to the kitchen.  He found Bryn and Silena smiling and talking.  His sister turned around to see him.  She got up and gave him a big hug, not saying anything, just a hug.  Luke appreciated it.  He then went over to stand next to Bryn.

“Hey you,” she greeted kindly. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.  Why don’t you sit down?”

“Okay,” he mumbled, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her waist again.  Instead, he sat on the counter and watched her cook.  Within five minutes, the three had a grand feast in front of them at the dining room table.  Surprisingly, even though he hadn’t felt hungry that much, he devoured everything on his plate.  Bryn only ate a few pieces of bacon and sausage.  Silena ate a bunch of egg and some toast with Nutella on it.

“Bryn, I’m going to head home.  Mom and dad are probably getting annoyed that I’m not home by now,” Silena said, standing up and carrying her plate to the sink.

“I’ll head home too.  I’ve intruded enough,” Luke said quietly, getting up as well.

“You don’t have to you know,” Bryn told him, pulling up one of her legs onto the chair and resting her head on her knee.  She stared at him with her intelligent hazel eyes, making him wonder if she could see every thought running through his head, every dream he’d had of them ending up together.  He really hoped she couldn’t. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like… or as long as you need.”

“Why don’t you stay, Luke?  I’ll let mom and dad know you stayed here.  Bye big bro,” Silena said, giving him another massive hug and leaving before he could give his answer.

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Bryn

“Get some warm clothes on.  We’re going out okay?” Bryn said.

“You mean we’re driving somewhere?” Luke asked instantly, worry evident in his eyes.  Bryn had completely forgotten the reason Tucker had died was due to a drunk driver.  Luke was petrified of anything related to driving right now. 

“No, just outside.  Not driving anywhere.  Snowball fight,” she said, giving him a mischievous wink.  Bryn dashed out of the kitchen with Luke chasing after her, trying to catch her.

“Oh no you don’t!” He hollered, grabbing her around the waist just before she reached the stairs.  He threw her over his shoulders and ran outside.

“Luke!  It’s freezing!” Bryn screeched, fighting to get out of his grip.  He set her down in a snow drift at least four feet high, then packed a snowball in his hands, grinning at her.  She glared at him, challenging him silently to throw that at her.  He did, hitting her smack dab in the chest.  Bryn gasped from the coldness as the snow went down her sleep shirt.

“I’m going to get you for that,” She said before throwing a snowball at Luke.  It hit him in the face.  Bryn stood up with the snow up to her waist.  It wasn’t easy to move around, but there was no way she was letting Luke get away.  While he brushed the snow off his face, she tackled him to the ground.  He let out a yelp from surprise but quickly regained his wit, forcing Bryn onto the cold ground.  They rolled around, each trying to get the upper hand.  It wasn’t easy to do so since the snow was so tall and heavy.  However, due to his strength, Luke pinned Bryn onto the cold ground; she shivered violently.

“I win,” he laughed.

“I hate you so much right now,” she told him drolly through her chattering teeth. “I can’t feel my arms, back, bum, or toes.”

“Bum?  Did you just say bum?” Luke bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“Would you rather have me say arse instead?  Or buttocks?  Or-”

“I think the cold is getting to your head.  Let’s get inside.”  He lifted Bryn up into his arms which turned out to be rather scary because he was a lot taller than she sometimes realized.  With her personality, no matter how much taller the person was than her, she always saw them at her height because she felt that at least no mortal was any better or any worse than she was.  Everyone has a good and dark side; some people just choose to show one side more than the other.

Luke carried her all the way to his room; Bryn had nearly choked him to death because she’d gotten so scared when he nearly fell backwards on each step.  He plopped her down on the bed, went to her DVD player, put a movie in, turned on her TV, and then crawled into bed next to her, pulling the covers up over them.  He stuck his arm out briefly for the remote to play the movie.

“What movie are we watching?” Bryn inquired, resting her head on his chest.  She shivered and he wrapped his arms around her which only made her want to shiver more.  Being this close to him made her nervous, especially because she wanted to be so much more than friends but with their future, if they became anything more, it would cause too much pain for the both of them.

“A movie dedicated to your namesake,” he replied.  The scene opened to Halle Berry and Bryn smacked Luke on the chest with the remark, “I hate you and love you at the same time.”

“Hopefully you love me more than hate me; I think I’d die if you ever said you hated me.”

“I honestly don’t think I could ever hate you after everything we’ve been through.”

“Thank the gods for that.  Now hush Cat Woman,” he told her with a wink.

“Shut up Sharkboy.”  With that said, they settled down, but Luke had one more thing to say.  Looking down at her, he told her softly, “Thank you for saving me.”

“How did I save you?” Bryn propped herself on her elbows, looking down at him.

“Tucker’s death really screwed me up last night.  I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight.  I don’t even remember coming to your house.  The first thing I remember after the hospital is seeing you staring at me in your doorway.  You brought me back to reality.  So you saved me in that way.”

“Then I’m glad I was able to, even if I didn’t know I was,” she responded gently.  With that, she rested her head on his chest, watching the movie.

Bryn woke up to Luke about to exit her room. “What are you doing?” She asked sleepily.

“I should probably head home.  My parents are probably worried.”

“Are you sure?  It’s so late out.”

“Worried about me are you now?” Luke teased.

“I always worry about you.”

“I kind of like the sound of that.  I’ll be fine though.  I’ll text you when I get home, okay?”

Bryn bit her lip, really hesitating. “No, Luke, please don’t.  Leave in the morning.  It’s too dark and we have no idea what’s out there.”

“… I guess one more night wouldn’t hurt.  Scoot your British butt over,” Luke ordered, lying down next to her.  He turned on his side to face her. “Happy now?”

“Yes.  I won’t be worrying about you now.  I’ll drive you home tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good Bryn.”

She closed her eyes, ignoring the sensation of knowing Luke was still staring at her.  He let out a big but quiet sigh, telling her he had closed his eyes.  She sensed his hand moving around.  Curious, Bryn opened one eye.  His hand was searching for something.  His hand bumped into hers.  He grasped it, never opening his eyes in the process.  Smiling, Bryn closed her eyes again, and the fell asleep hand in hand.

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I know it wasn’t really climatic or anything but there are some things in here that you need to remember.  I’ll tell you it’s something in the beginning half of the chapter.  Hope you enjoyed and please review!