That day had been exhausting for Luke.

He thought he'd have a nice, relaxing day. No one goes to the grocery store when it's pouring rain outside, right? WRONG. The storm started later than expected, giving everyone more time to rush to the store to buy eggs, bread, and milk. You know, the essentials. Luke's entire morning consisted of deliveries, back to back, all of them two boxes or more. The poor people that just wanted to buy a pack of gum and some M&M's had to wait forever to get out of the store. The lines prevented people from walking freely through the aisles. Thankfully, the managers saw how busy it was and helped out as much as they could, boxing things and labeling deliveries, or simply helping to bag normal orders. Since the threat of bad weather meant the apocalypse was near for New Yorkers, many of Luke's customers were snippy and downright rude if they thought he wasn't finishing their order fast enough. On the bright side, there was a delightful old woman that told him cool stories while he bagged her groceries. Plus, she gave him a ten dollar tip, which was always amazing. Luke's break came an hour later than usual, and he could swear he was in heaven when he went downstairs and heard blissful silence. Well, almost blissful silence.

As Luke walked through the hallway leading to the break room, he heard loud snoring. He explored to locate the source, and soon discovered his co-worker, sound asleep in the online-shopping area. Luke approached him and gently nudged him awake, whispering,

"Hey, man, didn't your break end fifteen minutes ago?"

The sleeping figure swatted him away like an insect, prompting him to nudge harder.

"Paul, dude, seriously, you're gonna get written up."

The sleeping figure known as Paul then sat up, stretching. "Wait, what time is it?"

"11:27."

"SHIT." Paul shot up like a bullet, grabbing his ID and sprinting upstairs. Luke watched him run, completely understanding. The day had been exhausting, so far, and he didn't doubt that online orders were pouring in like crazy. He continued on his way to the break room, feet and back aching from heavy boxes. The basement was a fair amount cooler than the rest of the store, by at least ten degrees, so Luke threw on his sweater to keep warm. Despite the temperature being in the 80's outside, the store always felt like the most frigid parts of Antarctica, so everyone always made sure to bring an extra layer. Luke finally made it to the break room, nearly throwing himself into one of the chairs, laying his head on the table and relishing in the cool marble blessing his forehead. He groaned as he sat up, propping his head on his hands and staring at the microwave right across from him. This reminded him that he hadn't eaten since six in the morning, if his rumbling stomach was any indication. He put his bag on the table, shuffling through its contents until he found his lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Feeling ever-so adult, Luke munched on his grown-up meal and checked his phone, and saw a message from Michael.

I'm bored.

Luke put down the sandwich and glared sternly at the microwave, imagining it was his brother. He texted back,

You're supposed to be in class.

As to be expected. Michael responded, 'I've had Mr. Toreen before, he's an idiot who doesn't know how to teach.'

Luke sighed, and once again rested his head on the table, in disbelief of the stupidity. Luke knew that Michael had a hard time thinking before he spoke, but he didn't think that Michael would use his phone knowing full well he could get in trouble. Luke finished the conversation with;

Get off your phone, idiot. You really want Dad or Papa coming to pick up your phone on your first day?

And with that, Michael stopped. Luke finished the rest of his sandwich in silence, with the occasional blaring of the intercom interrupting his peace. Dreading having to go back to deliveries and bitchy soccer moms, Luke slowly got up and headed back upstairs to clock back in. To his delight, however, the store had cleared out a considerable amount. Luke peered outside and saw why; it was pouring rain outside. Mentally fist-pumping, he returned to his station, checking out a few stragglers with a handful of items. This change of pace did have drawbacks, though, as now, Luke was bored out of his mind. At noon, he still had three hours left, and there was no one left in the store. He was given the option to leave early, but hey, free money, he wasn't going to give that up. Still, going home sounded like a capital idea after fifteen minutes of nothing. Luke crafted a makeshift seat at his station, propping his legs up on the shelf underneath his register. He looked behind him and saw another cashier at the express lane. Lola. She had been working at Okay!Food far longer than Luke, seeing as how she trained him when he first started. She was tall, taller than him. Then again, lots of people were taller than him, so he didn't mind it too much. Her hair was magnificent, voluminous and curly. Lola saw Luke staring and waved, leaning on her register, seemingly just as bored as he was. As the hours passed, the same stupid pop songs played over the intercom, and Luke swore that he could sing every one of them by heart. Just as he was about to leave, he had a customer come into his lane, carrying a basket full of items. Luke smiled. The man didn't. In fact, the customer seemed rather irritated. He glared at Luke while Luke scanned his items, and Luke felt extremely uneasy. The man was strangely familiar to him, too. The reason for this became clear once the man handed Luke his store card, and Luke read the name on the screen.

Fuck.

"Hey, Otto! Long time, no see!" Luke smiled awkwardly, which was quickly dropped as Otto responded,

"You really have some balls to say that to me, asshole."

"Look, man, I was an ass back in high school. I shouldn't have picked on you, and I'm so-"

"Picked on me?! First off, I wasn't the only one you and your friends harassed. Second, you didn't 'pick' on me, you made my life hell!" Otto hissed, throwing his money on the counter, leaving Luke to scramble for it.

As he was picking up the change, Luke said, "I know, dude! I was an awful person, but I've changed! College really did a number on me, and I'm trying to turn myself around."

Otto sneered. "What, by working at a grocery store?"

"I gotta pay bills, man."

"So you dropped out of college?"

"Sort of. I had to transfer to a community college when my grades weren't too hot. But I'm doing better!" Luke handed Otto his receipt, he put his retail smile back on. "So, what are you doing right now?"

Otto's grimace turned into a smug grin. "I'm attending Colombia, and I was inducted into the honors society end of freshman year."

"Congrats, Otto! That's really cool!"

But, as Otto was leaving, Luke heard him mutter, "Not that you would know what that feels like." Lola, indignant on his behalf, slinked out of the express lane and went over to Luke, leaning on the side of his station.

"What a dick."

Luke sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I've said worse to him. Back in high school, my 'friends' and I loved to single him out and bully him." He began to close down, taking out his tray and counting all his coupons and bottle deposits. He continued, "God, I wish I could take back all the shitty things I did."

Lola laughed. "Don't we all?"

"I suppose this is karma doing what it does best. Otto was the bullied kid, and he ended up going to one of the best schools in the country. Me, well-liked and good grades, stuck working here, going to community college." Luke finished organizing his papers, feeling a headache coming on, which was now a common occurrence. He remembered all too well what happened when he went too far with the bullying and caught the attention of the vice principal. The administration called his parents, and he was suspended for a week, with probation the rest of his senior year. No prom. No senior trip. No extracurriculars. But, no matter how badly he was punished by his teachers, that was nothing compared to how angry Kurt and Blaine were.

Luke remembered feeling like he was waiting for execution when they told him to stay in his room while they spoke about what to do with him. Bile rose in his throat, tears of shame and regret just wouldn't go away. When they called him into the living room, every step felt like Luke was walking on hot coals, his legs shaking. He expected lots of screaming and all of his freedoms and possessions taken away. But, when he entered the living room, it was silent.

Luke stood in the doorway, heart pounding and hands trembling. He stared across the room at his parents, both sitting on the couch, expressionless. Once they had seen how scared he was, their stern faces softened slightly, and Blaine sighed.

"Sit." He said, gesturing to the armchair closest to the couch. Luke hastily sped to his seat and sat down, hands clasped so tight that it decreased blood flow to his fingers. Luke was mentally kicking himself for being so reckless and stupid, but even more so, for being so inconsiderate of his family's morals and history. Remembering all the times that his parents told him to be kind to other people, to always be the bigger person, came back to haunt him as he looked up at them from his seat. Kurt and Blaine glanced at eachother for a good five seconds before Kurt spoke.

"Care to explain yourself?"

Luke's words caught in his throat, and he felt as though his brain short-circuited.

"I-I…" His lower lip trembled as he struggled to speak, and his emotions spilled over. Luke felt warmth running down his face, and he quickly looked towards his lap, hiding his tears. He was now visibly shaking, and he kept trying to dry his cheeks, but to no avail.

'I'm such a fucking coward.' This thought had been the most prevalent since Luke had gotten home, the sentence repeating over.

And over.

And over again.

Finally, Luke chose what he wanted to say, casting all shame aside. "I'm so sorry!" With this, he completely broke down into sobs, hiding his face in his hands. His chest was heaving so hard it hurt, and he couldn't breathe. In between gasps, Luke heard his parents get up from the couch, and he expected the onslaught of yelling to start. Instead, he felt hands on his back, rubbing circles into his shoulder blades. He poured his soul out for almost five minutes, crying into his hands, feeling wet heat drip through his fingers and onto the floor. Kurt and Blaine stayed silent, but continued to comfort him, and when Luke finally managed to calm down enough to breathe properly, he heard;

"Hey. Look at me."

Luke hesitantly lifted his face, sniffling. His green eyes were red and swollen, and his cheeks were damp. Both of his parents were kneeling on each side of where he was sitting, and Kurt moved to be in front of the chair, eye level with Luke. He took Luke's hand and helped him stand up. Luke stumbled, and Blaine reached from behind him to grab his arms and steady him. Luke took a deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to compose himself.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be losing it like this…"

"Stop. Sit with us." Luke heard Blaine say behind him, and he felt himself being pushed forward. He sat in the middle of the couch, while his parents sat on either side of him. Kurt spoke.

"What's going on with you? Why have you been acting like this?"

Blaine added, "You're better than this, why did you think it was okay to act like that?"

These questions were followed up with more questions that Luke couldn't answer with more than an, 'I don't know.'

Because he didn't know why. He couldn't think of anything else to say to defend himself, because he knew that he didn't have any excuses for how he acted. The rest of the conversation was a blur, but one moment remained crystal clear.

"We're very disappointed with you."

Luke felt like he was just stabbed with a rusty knife. A fresh batch of tears rose up, and soon, Luke was sobbing even harder than before. He practically collapsed on Kurt's shoulder, and once again, he choked,

"I'm sorry, please…"

Luke couldn't see anything outside of fabric, but he heard his father's voice above him, murmuring as he felt Kurt pull him into a hug.

"Shh, everything's going to be alright. But you need to understand, what you did to those children, the things you let your friends do to them, was unforgivable. You understand?"

Luke nodded, sitting up and wiping his face with his sleeves. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see Blaine holding a box of tissues. Luke smiled weakly and whispered a 'thank you' before leaning back on the couch. Kurt brushed Luke's hair back, out of his face. Luke laughed, which was a disturbing sensation after just crying like a baby.

Kurt said, "We're expecting you to apologize to all of your classmates that you bullied."

Blaine continued, "And no more laptop or phone for anything but school."

Luke leaned forward, nodding once again. The sick, heavy feeling in his gut had gone away, but it was now replaced with crushing guilt and humiliation.

"I'm such a fucking idiot."

Blaine was quick to say, "No, you're not. You engaged in poor decision-making, yes. But your father and I don't like it when you talk about yourself like that."

"Don't think we haven't noticed it recently." Kurt said.

"I could have gotten myself expelled! I could have lost my scholarship, I'm a fuck-up!" Luke exclaimed.

Kurt snapped, "Lucas!"

"Why are you lying to me? Why aren't you talking about how much of a failure I am?"

"We're not lying to you! You're not a failure, stop saying things like that!" Kurt raised his voice for the first time since the conversation began. Blaine said, in a softer voice,

"Bud, do you need to talk to someone about all this?"

Luke paused for a moment, then muttered, "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Luke was startled out of his thoughts by a bolt of lightning illuminating the store parking lot, followed by a clap of thunder. Lola had returned to the express lane, and the sky had went from gray to green. He suddenly remembered that he had to clock out, so he counted his tray and turned it in to go home. He headed downstairs to go and get his things from his locker, hearing his footsteps echoing throughout the hallway and staircase, and seeing his shadow move across the wall. He threw on his raincoat, not caring in the slightest about the pouring rain, and headed home.

After ten minutes of bearing rain and listening to roaring thunder, Luke finally made it to his building, then his apartment. He immediately shed his raincoat, and hung it up on the coat rack near the door, calling out,

"Hello? I'm home! Anyone here?"

"Me!" Luke heard Michael exclaim from their room. As Luke headed to their room to kick his shoes off and change, Michael appeared in the doorway and blocked the way.

"I'm working on homework that requires complete concentration."

"And I'm cold, hungry, and tired. Move."

"Fine."

Michael left the doorway and went back to his desk, while Luke went behind his divider and changed. Once Luke emerged in dry clothes, he looked over and saw his brother impossibly hunched over his work, his eyes never leaving the paper.

"Hey, how come you have homework? It was your first day back…"

"This isn't homework, this is the list of experiments suggested for the science fair. I'm trying to guess which one Hazel is going to do, so I can beat her and finally win first place."

Luke walked up next to him, looking over the list. "This is child's play, you can blow all of these out of the water!" He ruffled Michael's hair while Michael tried to push him away unsuccessfully.

"I know that, I'm just trying to beat Hazel at her own game. I'm obviously not going to do any of these projects, that's what she expects me to do."

"No project Superman can't handle."

"I like to think of myself as Tony Stark, but thank you for the compliment."