5 - What The Hell Just Happened?

By the time Lukas was tromping up the front steps of his sizable house in the suburbs, it was already past three PM. He checked the hallway clock. His little brother Emil wouldn't be returning home for another two hours or so. He kicked off his shoes, shut the door behind him, and walked into the kitchen. He needed a snack.

To his surprise, Emil sat at the kitchen island, his class notes spread out all over the countertop, eating straight out of a bag of chips and drinking straight out of a 2-Liter bottle of soda. "Emil? What are you doing home so early?"

Lukas's little brother shrugged. "Exams are next week. All after-school sessions and clubs are canceled. Came home to study." He held out the bag of chips. "You want some?"

Lukas sighed, pushing the chips away. "Emil, you shouldn't be eating so much junk food while studying. Or at all."

Emil shrugged again. "Trying to watch your figure?"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing." Emil put down the chips and took a good hard look at his notes. "Hey, can you help me with something?"

"Sure, what?"

Emil pointed to his notes. "Chemistry. The Electromagnetic Spectrum, really. We had a whole unit on this and it's gone over my head."

Let's see... Lukas pulled up a stool next to his brother and looked over his notes. "I remember this from high school, EMR stuff."

"So can you help me?"

Lukas smiled in return. He guided Emil through several practice problems and explained his notes better. When they were done, and Emil became sick of doing and re-doing chemistry equations, they decided it was time for dinner.

Because he was working so hard, Lukas let Emil sit on the couch and watch TV while he prepared food for both of them. Besides, cooking alone gave him time to think about the day.

While it's true that Mathias was an absolute asshole this morning, mused Lukas as he chopped vegetables, he... Stopped. Recalling how compliant the Dane became, and the way he apologized at the end... He really was obnoxious, but...

No. No. Lukas scraped the vegetables off the board into a pot of boiling water with a sharp sound. No buts. That man is the epitome of annoying.

"Lukas, are you all right in there?" called Emil.

"Yes, fine!" Lukas called back. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Okay."

Lukas sighed and returned to his cooking. Damn Mathias. But my career... He bit his lip, thinking of Ludwig's stern glare, is on the line. Fine. Whatever. I'll bear with it.

He finished up cooking, called Emil over, and they ate together at the kitchen island.

XxX

After dinner, Emil went back to studying and Lukas retreated to his home office, the jeopardy of his career weighing on his mind. Mathias was going to help him make it or break it, most likely break it, and he was going to need something to fall back on. Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out a page from a magazine. He sighed and turned on his computer. He really didn't want to have to do this, but desperate times called for desperate measures, as the old proverb went.

Of course, he would still be modeling at this backup job, but it wasn't the type of modeling he was used to. No, he would be wearing much less clothing, and his body would be all over these printed, shrink-wrapped, newsstand glossies.

He opened up his email. It wasn't going to be pretty, but he needed it. Using the address from the magazine page, he sent a message to the editor of Playgay magazine. It wasn't his proudest moment, but he could do this. He was going to do this. He hit "send" just as Emil walked into the room.

"Bro, what are you doing?"

Lukas whirled to face his brother. His silhouette, illuminated by the hallway light, stood in the doorway. "It's past eleven," Emil continued, "shouldn't you be getting to bed?"

Lukas shook his head. "I'm no longer in school like you, Emil. I'm okay. You go to sleep."

Rather than leaving, Emil took a step closer. He approached Lukas's desk, then stopped short upon getting a better view of Lukas's computer screen. "Bro..." he said, "is there something you need to tell me?"

Lukas glanced back at his computer screen. The magazine's site in all of its naked glory was on the screen. Oop, he thought, forgot that was up.

"I'm here for you if you need me," said Emil.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you the truth." Lukas stood up. "Please don't judge me until I'm done."

Emil smiled. "Of course, bro."

"I'm looking for work as a model."

"I thought you were already a model?"

"Different type," said Lukas. "Trying out for a women's magazine."

Emil's eyes widened. "Why would you do that?" he asked, shocked, "Bro, you're a person, not some eye candy for girls!"

Lukas shot his younger brother a stern glare. "I thought you weren't going to judge me?" he spat. Emil fell silent. "I need this," he whispered. "Do you remember my goal?"

Emil nodded.

Lukas looked back at the computer. "I need to do whatever I can to achieve it, so I will. Do you understand?"

Emil nodded again. "Yes. But can I say something?"

"Go ahead."

"You're in over your head." Emil stated.

It was Lukas's turn to be shocked. "What... What do you mean?" he stammered, sitting back into his chair.

"Now don't get me wrong," said emil, "I think your fashion modeling is a very respectable job. It bought us this house and made you one of the most recognized faces in Germany. We're living a great life in Berlin, I'm getting good grades, and it's all thanks go you. Why would you want any more? Our life is perfect."

"Because," Lukas began, "Our life isn't perfect. There are things that we don't have that we would be able to get easily if I went international."

Emil shook his head. "Luke... Do we really need riches and fame to be happy? Don't be ridiculous."

"Stop talking," snapped Lukas, "leave me alone. I'll be an international model if I want to, it's my dream."

Emil shrugged and turned away. "Okay, but please, be careful." He left the room, leaving Lukas in the dark, barely illuminated by the light emanating from his computer screen. Lukas frowned. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and no matter what Emil said, he thought these were desperate times.

XxX

Mathias went home in a delighted tizzy. Lukas smiled, he couldn't believe it! It was such a cute smile, too.

Back at home, he kicked off his shoes and looked around, suddenly dissatisfied. A beautiful man such as him should not be living in this hovel.

It was decided (although, to be honest, it wasn't such a tough decision): as soon as he received his first paycheck, he was out of here and hopefully into a better apartment closer to his work. One he could be proud of and not cringe in pain whenever any of his friends came over, and where he could possibly invite a certain coworker of his to maybe have some after-work wine.

Mathias chuckled, remembering the day. It seemed Lukas was actually beginning to warm up to him. I mean, it's only the first day of work, he thought happily, maybe he likes me more than I thought...

I should get to know him more, he proposed, see if he actually would want to come over for some after-work wine or something.

This is awesome!

AN: My chapter titles are literally pulled off the top of my head OTL how embarrassing. Seriously I have a chapter titled "King of Swag" but I'm going to change that because it's just... ugh. ._.

Well, it's a beautiful, glorious, Friday night, so have another chapter. (Actually it's Saturday morning in many places, but still.)

Thank you for all your reviews, each of them make me emit a high-pitched, almost inhuman noise and give me a fluffy, almost inhuman feeling of warmth.