AN/ I'm so sorry! It's late and filler! Don't worry though, the next chapter is practically writing itself and I'll make it up to you around Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving). This should make you guys laugh a little, I thought that the last chapter had a lot of drama so here's some comic relief. Thank you for all the reviews and sorry again!
BRIGITTE'S MOUTH twitched and for a second she sported an evil smirk. Lukas's lips pulled into a tight light, his eyes widened drastically. He turned to his girlfriend to stop her, but she had already looked over her shoulder. Lukas only managed to see the light bounce off her short golden hair as it whipped about her head.
Brigitte's green eyes met with Natalia's blue ones. Both women stared for a moment, then snapped their heads to look towards the tables in front of them. Brigitte looked purely shocked, moving her mouth to speak but not uttering a word. Her eyes shone with confusion and hurt. Across the room Natalia's looked the same, as they had been ever since Lukas broke up with her.
Lukas watched her carefully, like a child eyeing a strange looking dish his parents had made. He parted his lips, but before he could speak Brigitte slammed her hands on the table. Mathias and Tino flinched, leaning away from the furious woman.
She glared at Lukas, silent. Then stood, grabbed her coat and left the restaurant. Lukas didn't call after her, instead turning to Emil. The man raised a finger, thinking about yelling at his brother. Instead he sighed angrily and hurried after Brigitte.
Natalia watched him go, unsure of what to think. The idea of following them passed briefly, but the look on Brigitte's face discouraged that. She wasn't in the mood to deal with her.
But that meant she only wanted to talk to Lukas… And she hated him even more than her.
Her gaze skirted over Emil. Should she confront him? About what? Doing something for her? Hurting Lukas? She didn't care about that. He deserved that, he really did. And she didn't feel the tiniest bit guilty.
But she did. She really did. And it pained her so much to see him betrayed by his own family. Natalia knew how much that hurt.
"Natalia, please. Tell me what's wrong." Kateryna reached forward and took her sister's hand.
Natalia blinked at her sister. Usually she'd pull her hand away, but she didn't bother. The young sister looked up at the elder, "I'm… fine, Kateryna." She smiled and looked back at Emil. He shrugged back at her and gave a tiny smirk.
Natalia checked her phone.
You're welcome.
"Brigitte!" Lukas ran after her, thankful that the sidewalk was relatively empty at this time of night. Something told him he'd want the coming conversation (argument) to be relatively private. He took a second to thank whatever was up there that his family hadn't followed. Especially not Mathias.
"Brigitte! Stop." Lukas caught up to her and reached, wrapping his hands around her arm, "Please."
She tried to jerk away. Lukas only stopped, pulling her to a stop with him, "What on Earth are you so upset about?"
Brigitte puller her arm away, "Let go of me!" She peered up at him, green eyes slightly watery.
Lukas studied them, "What's wrong, Princess?"
Brigitte sniffed, her anger returned and she tried to push Lukas away – he didn't budge, "Did you know?!"
Lukas played dumb, "Know what?"
She lowered her head, "That-That Natalia… was my friend?"
Lukas thought about his answer carefully… The Truth: He had known. Of course he had known. The only reason Lukas pursued Brigitte was to hurt Natalia… And now of course he deeply regretted it. All he wanted was to let Brigitte go without hurting her and get his sweet Snowflake back as if nothing had happened.
But there was always The Victim: I can't believe you'd think I'd hurt you like that. I love you, and I could never do that. I had no idea.
The Half-Lie: I had seen you both around, but I didn't know exactly… I mean… Lukas nearly grimaced at that. Even he couldn't pretend to be like… Mathias.
"No. I did not know that you and Natalia were friends." He said in his usual monotone voice.
Brigitte fixed him with an intense stare, "Really?"
Lukas grabbed her hand again and put on a smile, "Of course. I wouldn't do that to you or Natalia." Lukas could feel his soul darkening. He was pretty sure that his nose was growing too. Pity, he had quite liked the size of his nose, and his soul had been a beautiful shade already.
Brigitte's anger was subdued, and she took the time to put her coat on and button it, "… I'm glad. I really thought that you'd only dated me to get at her…"
Lukas cleared his throat, "Of course not, Princess…"
The blonde twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, "And then you'd feel bad and go back to her like a cheap, badly-written romance story."
Lukas shook his head, "Never…"
Brigitte giggled solemnly, "Natalia is a lot prettier than me."
Lukas leaned forward and gave Brigitte a quick kiss, "Don't lie. It's bad."
'Yes, I'm pretty sure it's black as coal now…' Lukas thought.
Brigitte hugged her man, breathing in his fresh scent. He smelt like plain soap and lemon, like books and pine needles. The whole smell was intoxicating, and nearly made her dizzy. She loved that about him though. Brigitte knew that she could close her eyes and feel him wrap his strong arms around her and he'd take care of everything. She knew that he might even close her eyes too and know himself that everything would be alright.
Lukas didn't close his eyes, and his stomach only sank with dread. Because he knew that somebody was going to end up terribly hurt. And he knew that it'd be the girl in his arms, trusting him with her very soul. Her soul that was perfect compared to his.
Brigitte let loose a happy sigh and pulled away, smiling up at Lukas, "I should go. I need to think. I-I'm not sure what I should do… You understand right?"
Lukas nodded, stare flat.
His girlfriend shrugged, "She's my friend… Oh God, the things I said in front of her…" Brigitte put her head in her hands, suddenly embarrassed.
Lukas lifted an eyebrow, "Like what?"
"We were drinking and I… Oh, nothing." She waved it off, "I'll sort it out." Brigitte got on her toes to peck Lukas on the cheek and started backing away, "Bye."
He raised his hand to wave, "Bye…" Lukas watched her walk away until she turned a corner and out of his sight. He combed his bangs out of his eyes with his fingers and turned on his heels, walking back to the restaurant.
Lukas woke up alone to his dismay. As he'd been half-expecting and half-wishing that Brigitte was lying next to him and the previous day had never happened. But if that'd been a dream the fact he ever made the mistake of leaving Natalia would be too and he'd wake up next to her. Why not go so far as to say that Emil had never moved into Berwald and Tino's. Better yet he was still a privileged child living in a huge house with two distant, yet loving parents. He didn't have to deal with the world, and he didn't have to worry about a single thing.
But no. His alarm was blaring, since he'd forgotten to shut it off. He was alone, since he'd been an idiot to cheat on a woman with her friend. And he had no one else in the house with him, since he was a bitter man with a way of smothering his last remaining family. So he lied in the bed, alone, upset, and a little more bitter, with the pillow over his head and a migraine pulverizing his brain. All at six on a Saturday morning, with just about four hours of sleep under his belt.
Lukas could feel that this would be a day from the very depths of hell.
He managed to throw enough things at the alarm clock to get it to shut up, but then he was too awake to fall back asleep. Lukas got up and stumbled downstairs for his dose of coffee. But he was an awful, cold-hearted man, incapable of love and that apparently didn't deserve coffee.
Lukas found himself at his kitchen table, his face blank, and not showing the screaming anger that was building up inside of him. He rubbed his eyes, and dialed Mathias's number. The man on the phone was surprised, "Lukas? What are you doing up?"
"Do you have any coffee?"
"Good morning to you too, Cutie."
"Answer the question."
"I dreamt about you too! Connection!"
"Mathias."
"I lied awake thinking about you until, like, twelve though."
"We were both drinking until twelve idiot, and answer the question."
"Ohh, What did we do after the drinking? Something naughty?"
"Why did I even call you?" Lukas's head was sinking towards the table. Slowly, steadily.
"Because you love me?"
It fell with a thud, he dropped the phone on his table and let out a tortured moan.
"… Lukas? Are you okay?"
The blonde grabbed the phone again and hung up. He dialed Berwald's number this time. The phone only rang once, "Berwald? Coffee? Please?"
"Ye sh'ld come 'ver her. Mathias w'nts to see ya."
Another moan.
"Peter w'nts ta see ya?"
Lukas hung up and stood, heading for the door. He left the house as is: robe, pajamas, slippers and all.
"You're evil for making me drive all the way over here." Lukas didn't bother giving Berwald a 'good morning', opting to glare up at him instead.
The giant stepped to the side to let Lukas through, and shut the door behind him. The kitchen was lively as ever, and loud. Lukas winced as he took a seat next to Peter – A brown-haired boy around the age of ten. Peter smiled up at him, "What are you doing here, Uncle Lukas?" He pulled a pin in the shape of a golden cross out of his pocket and stuck it in his hair, taking some of it out of his eyes.
"Coffee." He grumbled, scanning the table with his indigo eyes. "Tino, what on Earth is wrong with you?"
Tino didn't answer, head flat on the table and arms limp beside it. Mathias grinned and patted his head, "He's hung-over! Isn't he adorable?"
Lukas rested his own head in one of his hands, looking over at Emil. His little brother was making a point of not looking at him. Lukas wasn't going to say anything. Not without coffee.
He almost got up and hugged Berwald as he brought a steaming mug to the table. Setting it down in front of Lukas, "Thanks." He managed to get out before delightfully burning his mouth on the dark liquid.
"Can I try some?" Peter tugged at Lukas's robe.
"Just a sip." He handed him the mug.
"No." Tino lifted a finger, his voice muffled by the table.
"Sit up." Berwald returned to the table with a skillet of eggs and a stack of plates, "Food's re'dy."
Lukas winked at Peter as the boy took a sip of his coffee, grimacing and pushing the mug away. He smirked and took a large gulp himself, "Thank you for breakfast, Berwald."
Mathias nodded, still grinning, "Even though yer nowhere near as good a cook as me!"
"That's rude, Mathias." Tino finally sat up in his chair leaning back and sinking down a little. His hair messy and huge bangs rested under his brown eyes.
Emil continued sitting quietly, awkwardly. He started to eat his eggs in small bites, and sip at the tea in front of him. As they ate, Lukas started to stare at him, not bothering to hide it when Emil did dare a glance in his direction. The others noticed it. Mathias trying to start conversation. Only for it to die in the air. Peter eventually started to talk to him, making things only slightly less tense.
Emil set his fork down and looked at Lukas, "Do we really have to do this here?" He whispered frantically.
Lukas didn't say anything, just took a drink of coffee and continued to stare. Emil rolled his eyes and shoveled down his meal, grabbing his mug and leaving. Tino watched him go, irritated, "He didn't even take his plate to the sink!" Lukas listened to Emil's footsteps hurry up the stairs, mug halfway to his lips. He set it down and followed, scowling the whole way.
Berwald and Tino had a large house, three stories including the attic – which is where Emil stayed. Lukas slipped inside, not bothering to knock on the door. After the first door was a small entryway with stairs leading up to the main room. Emil had hung curtains and blankets up, just in case he needed more time to conceal whatever he was doing.
But he hadn't heard Lukas enter, and the man pushed past the fabric silently. He found that Emil wasn't at his desk like he'd expected. Lukas looked around. More fabric hung from the ceiling. Some in a corner next to a dresser, and more around the teen's bed. Lukas drew back both, Emil wasn't there.
A breeze ran across his cheeks, and he looked to the open window. Spotting a cloud of smoke blow by. He sighed and climbed out onto the roof.