"That's the weirdest thing ever," I chuckled as Lucas piled an m&m on top of his Dorito chip.

"Don't knock it till you try it," Lucas laughed putting the strange concoction in his mouth as he worked the TV remote. I watched as his tongue darted out to lick his plush lips, my eyes trained on the movement. Friends I reminded myself.

"I'll trade you one stale hot dog for that," I joked holding up the package that Lucas had bought for some reason.

He laughed, taking the package from my hands and tossing it into the garbage, "No one's eating that."

I turned to the screen which was playing a boxing match between Lucas's father and an opponent. We had been watching home movies of his dad's fights for the past hour. His dad looked exactly like Lucas, including the fighter's build he had. I watched as he pulled a fist back and released it forward, knocking his opponent to the ground.

"He always did that so well," Lucas stated watching the screen, but his eyes looked far away.

"Knockout punches?"

Lucas smiled turning to look at me in surprise, "You're learning the lingo."

"Daniel's been teaching me," I replied sheepishly. I looked back at the screen and saw Lucas's dad run out of the ring and towards a young boy that stood there. He couldn't have been more than ten. "Is that you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. This was a few years before he passed away."

"How old was Daniel when he passed away?" I asked sombrely.

"He was one," Lucas responded quietly.

Lucas's dad picked him up and placed him on his shoulders before running a victory lap around the octagon fighting ring. Lucas's proud smile could have been seen from a mile away. The screen went black.

"You were so cute," I gushed, still staring at the screen.

"Was?" Lucas teased nudging my shoulder.

His solid arm touching mine made me blush furiously and I took a sudden interest in the pack of sour patch kids in my hands. Friends, Emily.

"Daniel's to be a nightmare to be around tomorrow, just so you're prepared." Lucas stated matter of factly.

"Come on, he won't be that bad!" I laughed.

"He spent the day gushing about Michael, you don't think he'll talk your ear off about the love of his life?" Lucas raised an eyebrow at me.

I grimaced, "I didn't think about that. You mind if I call in sick tomorrow?" I joked.

"What happened to never taking a sick day?" He teased, his lips tugged upwards.

"There are some exceptions."

Lucas stood up stretching his arms over his head, his t-shirt rising to display his perfect torso. "Want to head out?" He asked holding his large hand out for mine. "You need rest if you're going to survive Daniel tomorrow."

I nodded, clasping my hand into his as he tugged me upwards effortlessly, my hand tingling from the brief touch. Lucas led the way out of his gym, locking up and beginning the drive back to my apartment.

Lucas glanced over at me quickly, "Thanks for coming with me tonight." He said softly.

"It was fun," I responded, "though eating the hot dog would have really topped off the evening for me."

"Ha," he said drily, parking in front of my apartment and getting out of the car to walk me in. I pulled out my key and unlocked my door, standing with it half ajar. His icy eyes connected to mine and it looked like he wanted to say something before he shook his head slightly, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," I replied quietly, walking inside and waiting for him to descend the staircase before closing and locking my door. I rubbed my hands over my face. What was going on with me?

I squealed to myself as the events of the night replayed in my head before crashing on my bed.

I woke to the sound of my phone going off. I checked the time - 7:40. "Hey dad," I mumbled sleepily.

"Morning, Emily. Did I wake you?"

I sat up in my bed and scratched my head, letting out a long and noisy yawn. "No, I had to get up anyway."

"I got a call from your aunts today," Dad began.

I groaned, "Oh no." My aunts were extremely kind if not a little eccentric characters. Neither of them married or had children. They lived in the same house together and ran a pet adoption agency. They were the exact embodiment of cat ladies.

"Yep," dad confirmed. He loved his sisters but he was too practical to hear about how they sent a a thousand dollar deposit to a pyramid scheme for the third time. "They're asking about Christmas."

"I'll be home for it like usual, I'd imagine. I have to double check with my... boss." I trailed. Though Lucas was technically my boss it felt like an understatement to call him just that. Lucas and Daniel had really become close friends to me at this point.

I heard a knock sound at the door and I jumped up, tugging my robe on, "That's Mr. Greggs, dad. Can I talk to you later?"

"Love you," he responded.

"You too," I returned, hanging up the phone as I opened the door. Mr. Greggs stood awkwardly at the door, already dressed in a brown button down shirt and khaki slacks.

"Morning," I greeted Mr. Greggs who shuffled his feet.

"Emily," he stated. He cleared his throat, "how are you?"

"Good!" I responded a little too brightly. "How are you?"

He looked at me seriously, "let's not make this weird. You caught me on an off day, but I'd like to not talk about it anymore. Let's get back to usual normal routine."

"That's fair. I promise not to bring up your romantic relations with Ms. Smith," I teased.

He rolled his eyes groaning, "You're the worst person to know a secret," he grunted walking up the staircase.

"I'll make sure not to mention any insider information you've told me about her!" I shouted after him closing the door.

I showered and dressed quickly before running out to make it in time for yoga class. I was pulled into thin arms as soon as I entered, "Emily!" Squeaked Ashley excitedly.

I would never get used to her energy so early in the morning. "Hey," I mumbled as I was engulfed into her long, thick hair.

"How's Jim?" I asked as I stuffed my belongings into a locker.

She sighed dreamily, "He's great. He's taking me out to an eleven PM dinner tonight." She took her jacket off, placing it into her locker.

"So romantic," I mused as we entered the yoga studio and rolled our yoga mats onto the floor.

"Jimbo!" Ashley called as he walked into the door. He grinned at her, blowing her a kiss before putting his mat on the floor at the front, his back to us. Ashley sighed, "Just look at that."

"It's true love," I laughed.

~~~

Really really really struggled with writing this chapter. Hope it doesn't show!