Chapter 11

"Hey, Emil wake up." I heard Lucas say.

"What'sthebigidea?" I said as I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"She wants to talk to you." Lucas replied, pointing in the direction of an annoyed looking nurse.

I lazily got up and stumbled over to her.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Mathias is all pissed that your not back at your dinning room. He sent me to tell you to return." she said.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Four o'clock."

"Shoot. Thanks." I said as I ran back to Lucas.

"Hey we have to go." I said as I grabbed his hand and began dragging him out of the courtyard.

I didn't realize that I had grabbed Lucas's hand until we were half way to the dining room. What shocked me more was that he was holding mine as tightly as I was gripping his. I quickly let go and mumbled an apology.

"Why are you sorry?" he asked.

"No reason." I said.

I quickened my pace, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"Well don't be." Lucas replied as he caught up.

He grabbed my hand again and continued to walk alongside me. I turned my head as my face became redder and redder. When we reached the dining room he let go of my hand. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. Lucas opened the door and the loud screaming of "SURPRISE!" echoed in the hallway. He looked genuinely shocked.

"Umm, guys. Tomorrow is my birthday." Lucas said.

"You're kidding me right?" Mathias asked.

"Happy early birthday!" Tino said, throwing his arms in the air.

"Don't get me wrong, this is fantastic." Lucas said.

"Well, you can do something a little more...personal tomorrow." Mathias said as he winked at Lucas.

For the first time I saw Lucas turn bright red. Knowing how Mathias thinks, this implies that Lucas probably likes some cute nurse he's going to ask out. I felt my heart sink a little at the thought. I should have seen it coming though. He only ever saw me as a brother. Nothing more.

"Hey Emil, you okay?" Mathias asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, forcing a smile.

He looked suspicious, but just nodded. I sat down and got the biggest piece of cake I could find. I ate my cake in solitude. When Lucas opened the presents, he opened mine first. He thanked me for the coffee and I just nodded. Once we were done cleaning up, I went up to the roof instead of my room. I laid down on the gravel and stared up at the stars that were beginning to show.

I ended up staying out there for longer than I intended and when I finally got up, it was completely dark out. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked back to the room. I entered quietly and kicked of my shoes. I kept the light off just in case Lucas was asleep. When I had just reached the bunks, Lucas said "So you decided to come back."

"Why would I not come back?" I asked as I climbed into bed.

"I don't know. I guess I was just worried about you."

I didn't respond. Was he really worried about me? Maybe its just because I'm like a brother to him.

"Emil?" I heard Lucas say.

"Hmm." I responded.

"Did you hear what I said today at the courtyard?"

"Um...the sky is beautiful?"

"Yeah. That's it."

I could have sworn I heard a little bit of pain in his voice.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Nothing."

Okay, now I know I heard it. I swung my body down so I was hanging off half of the bed.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." he replied, his usual stoic appearance in tact.

"Okay." I said as I swung my body back into my bed and fell asleep.

...

I yawned as I sat up in my bed. I swung my body back down and found Lucas reading.

"Good morning." I said.

"Morning." he replied.

"Oh and happy birthday."

"Thanks."

I climbed out of bed and laid down on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"I got tired of walking so I laid down."

"You really are hopeless."

I just smiled in response. I was feeling much better today than I was yesterday.

"Hey, you want to do something today?" I asked.

"Like what?" Lucas replied.

"I have an idea! But it's a secret." I said.

Lucas gave me skeptical look as I got up and grabbed a clean change of clothes. I dashed into the bathroom and quickly cleaned up. When I came back out, Lucas was standing up and ready to go.

"We can't go now!" I exclaimed.

"When are we going then?" he asked.

"Later. I'll be back soon."

I ran out of the room and down the hall to the dinning room. I saw Mathias sitting at the table.

"Mathias!" I said.

"Oh hey! A big scary dude brought these for you. He said that this is what you used to wear." he replied, holding up folded clothed and a pair of white lace up boots.

"Did you check them for bombs?" I asked.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm sure Ivan is out to get me, no matter how nice he is to me."

"Who's Ivan?"

"The big scary dude."

I grabbed the clothes and made sure there was nothing lethal embedded in them.

"Did you need anything?" Mathias asked.

"I need help with something..." I said, looking around like Lucas would pop out of no where.

"You need dating advice."

"How did yo-yes."

"Well considering that you're probably going with Lucas, just be you. He knows you well so it would be useless to put up a facade."

"That's pretty deep."

"That's why they pay me the big bucks."

"Okay. Thanks!"

I turned and left the room and headed to my own. The door was cracked and I heard voices coming from inside. I looked in through the crack and found Lucas and Tino with their backs to me, Berwald was facing me. He raised his eyebrows when he saw me and I held a finger to my lips. Tino must have seen Berwald's reaction because he gave me a thumbs up and then he waved his hand back in forth like he was shooing me out. I didn't know what it meant, but I figured that was my cue to leave. I'm sure Tino will tell me all about what they were talking about later. I walk out of the room and wander up and down the hall. Ten minuets later Tino and Berwald walk out of the room and towards me.

"Come with me. We have to get you ready." Tino said as he walked past me.

"Ready for what?" I replied.

"Tonight of course."

Tino dragged me into a room similar to mine. Before I knew it Tino had stripped me down to my boxers.

"What are you doing?!" I exclaimed as I frantically tried to pull my clothes back on.

"Just put those clothes on." Tino said, pointing to the clothes Mathias had given me.

Happy to oblige, I scrambled into clothes as quick as possible.

"You're a hot mess. Come with me." Tino said as he dragged me into the bathroom.

"Berwald help me!" I yelled.

All he did was shake his head. About five hours later Tino had tried about fifty different styles and I ended up looking the same as I always do. I was wearing a white dress shirt, a brown jacket, brown pants, and my white lace up boots. Tino ruffled my hair before saying "There, it's perfect."

"Did it really take you five hours to do this?" I asked annoyed.

"Genius has no time limit." he replied.

I openly face palmed right there and then.

"Oh look at the time! You're going to be late!" Tino said as he pushed me out of the room.

I sighed as I walked down the hallway to get Lucas. I began to feel nervous and excited all at the same time. I didn't want to do something completely embarrassing and make a fool out of myself in front of Lucas. I took a deep breath before I opened the door to my room. I found Lucas dressed in a white polo shirt and jeans.

"Where have you been all day?" he asked.

"I was kidnapped by Tino."

"He didn't say anything, did he?"

"Only thing he talked about was different hair styles."

"Really? Your hair looks the same."

"Don't talk about it."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"Follow me"

I walked out of the room and up to the roof with Lucas trailing behind me. My insides felt like they were ready to fall out I was so nervous. When I walked onto the gravel, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight I saw. Lucas looked over my shoulder and said "Wow! You put this together."

"Apparently." I replied as I began to walk over to the candle lit picnic laid out for us.

We ate grilled cheese (Lucas's favorite) and chocolate covered strawberries. When we had finished I put everything back into the basket that was conveniently placed next to the blanket. We both laid down and gazed at the stars. After a while Lucas sat up and said "Emil, I need to talk to you."

"Okay." I replied as I sat up.

Lucas took a deep breath before he continued.

"Okay, I'm just going to come right out and say it."

I nodded. Lucas was bright red and fidgeting. That was weird.

"Emil, I lik-no, love you."