ELIAS

I stare at myself in the mirror. I'm not sure if I should shave, but I decide to let it go. I also don't feel like shaving ten minutes before I have to leave.

The dinner tonight actually gave me something to look forward to all day. I had been in a weird mood all yesterday, and when Lu's mom came in, everything got instantly better.

I can see how she is her daughter. They both are like each other so much.

Although I've never met her dad, she could be like him, but her mom does the same thing Lu does. Light up a whole room.

I am going to enjoy this too much.

The dinner date is at six-thirty, so I have to leave soon. I decide not to be fancy, but I wear a nice shirt with some jeans. Hopefully, they don't dress fancy, or I will feel very underdressed.

I get in my car and head off to their house. Luckily I was given her address yesterday, so I don't panic about getting there.

Mrs. Bleu has to be the sweetest woman I've met in a long time. I see Lu in her a lot, even though I barely know her.

But the strange thing is, I want to get to know her more.

As a friend. As a friend.

I apparently have to tell myself even though I know she's just a friend.

I pull into their driveway and park the car. I look at their house. I find myself smiling as I look at it. It's a nice house.

I'm sure if I say that to them, Lu would think I am being sarcastic since my house is way different than hers and she knows it, so I decide to keep it to myself.

But her mother would probably be ecstatic. Something tells me she gets excited easily.

I almost forgot to grab the flowers I bought for Mrs. Bleu.

I walk up to the front door and knock. And almost immediately the door opens, and there is Mrs. Bleu, a very proud smile on her face. She crushes me with a hug, and I let out a laugh.

Good thing I open my arms in time for the flowers not to be crushed.

"Hello to you too," I tease, and hold out the flower for her to take. "For you. Thank you so much for having me."

She gives me a grin. "These are lovely, you didn't have to," she says, although she doesn't look like she means the latter part of her sentence. I hold back a laugh and come inside, shutting the door behind me.

I look around the room to see if I can spot Lu.

But I don't see her.

"Lucy is outside, grilling the burgers. Hope you like burgers, Mr. Castle," Mrs. Bleu says from the kitchen, almost as if she read my mind.

I smile. "I'll go check on her," I say, hanging my jacket on a dining room chair. Then I spot her outside, near the grill. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, her face covered from the smoke. I open the sliding door and step out.

I stay silent for now, just watching as she grills the burgers flawlessly. I almost wonder why I can't grill.

Lu turns around and jumps, placing her hand over her heart. "Oh, sir, I-"

"Elias," I say, cutting her off.

She smiles. "Elias. I didn't see you there,"

"I know. I'm watching how you perfectly grill the burgers."

She frowns. "You know how to grill?" She asks, closing the lid to the grill. "You like cheese on your burger?"

I nod. "Yes. But no, I do not know how to grill."

"Oh, I thought all manly men knew how to grill," she states, then I see her close her eyes almost in embarrassment. I smile.

She thinks I'm manly.

That actually pleases me a lot more than it should have.

"Nope. My brother is the griller. Or the cook. His mom taught him," I say, following her over to the outside table. I realize this is probably where we will sit because it is so nice outside.

"If you don't mind me asking." Lu takes a seat at the table and I sit next to her. "What happened to both of your mothers?"

I shrug. "I don't mind. My Mother was obviously my Dad's first wife, but she passed after having me. In childbirth. I actually don't think I was supposed to survive."

She frowns. "I'm sorry."

There she goes again, apologizing over something she had no control of.

I nod. "Thanks." I decided to acknowledge her apology this time. "Then my dad remarried two years later, to my stepmom, and she had Richard. She was both of our Moms though, so I don't even consider my real mom to be my biological mom."

She smiles as if she understands.

"So when Rich was seven, she died. She got really sick. But most people think that she was my real Mom, at least all the public does. Which doesn't make sense, because apparently they forgot about those two years in between me and my Dad's marriage, but I'm not going to correct them," I say with a smile.

"How did you hide Rich from the public?" Lu asks.

I shrug. "He was homeschooled. Then through high school when he went to school, everyone just thought we were really good friends. We never said anything, and I think he liked that nobody knew about it. It made him feel safer."

She frowns.

"He didn't have to deal with all the publicity and the media, and it made his life a lot easier. As apart from mine, my whole childhood was documented. Everyone knew about me. I think he liked living a private life," I explain.

Lu nods. "I don't blame him. I can't imagine having your life, with everyone knowing your face. As you can see, I basically grew up secluded, like your brother." She motions to the wood fence surrounding their backyard.

I smile. "Almost."

Mrs. Bleu comes out with the condiments and fries, and I help her carry everything to the table. Lu goes back to grilling the burgers, finishing up. I watch as she places the cheese on them, turns off the grill, shuts the lid. To make the cheese melt she said.

Everything is set up on the table, all the plates full of fries, and cups filled with lemonade. Everything smells delicious, and I can't remember the last time I had a home cooked meal that wasn't out of a can or I just had to heat up.

"Everything looks so good," I compliment Mrs. Bleu.

She just blushes. "Thank you. But it was mostly all Lucy. She made the fries, cooked the burgers, and even made the lemonade. I was just an extra set of hands." She looks over at her daughter, who's eyes stay on the burgers.

Lu takes them off of the grill and sets them on a plate. "Burgers are ready," she states, placing the plate on the table. She turns off the grill, and sits down next to her mother, across from me.

Mrs. Bleu serves everyone their burgers, and we all dig in.

And oh my goodness, was it all amazing.

I blew through two hamburgers, and a load of fries. Lu kept up with me, and ate two burgers, but had hardly any fries.

The conversation was lively because of Mrs. Bleu who kept us all afloat in subjects. She asked about my family, and I confided in her about my brother. She took it literally to the max and swore on her life to never tell anyone. Lu and I laughed at that and she soon joined it, but it felt nice. I knew I could trust these people.

But I also asked questions about her and her life.

The only thing they didn't talk about was the dad, and I felt as if I would've, I wouldn't be invited over for dinner again, so I kept my mouth shut.

Everything seems to be going well. And when Mrs. Bleu brings out dessert, I don't think I can eat another bite of food even though it looks amazing.

Lu smiles at me, probably knowing what my expression meant.

The back door bursts open.

"I need help! The police are here!" A young boy, with scrawny bones and old clothes, shouts to the ladies at the table. Lu and her mom move without a second thought, and I find myself blindly following after them.

We leave the house, following the kid. We go across the street to a house, where I immediately see a police car parked right in front of it, two big men standing in front of a young woman, who has a toddler on her hip.

I look to Lu. She has a concerned expression on, and I feel myself share it.

The two ladies in front of me walk up the porch steps to the house with the young woman. She immediately looks at me then to Lu as if to pose to question, "Who is this man and what is he doing here?"

Lu just smiles and the woman looks away from me.

"Ma'am, go back into your home," one of the policemen says to Mrs. Bleu when she reaches the young woman, wrapping her arms around her.

Mrs. Bleu stands her ground. "I am a concerned neighbor, and would like to know why you two are here," she speaks with a commanding voice, but her tone is not unkind. I wonder how she does that. It's either or for me.

"Ma'am, please-"

The other policeman shut the one speaking up. "It's alright, man." He turns to Lu and her mother. "We received a call because there was apparently a screaming match going on in this house. A concerned neighbor called."

The man looks at me and frowns.

"Who's this?"

"Dude! That's Jude Castle."

The two policemen look at each other and smile. One shakes my hand and the other one still looks a little confused, but he seems to go with it.

I just frown. "And you are?"

"Oh, we went to high school together. I'm Alan, this is Derek. We were in your biology class. It's great to see you." Alan shakes my hand again.

Lu looks at me, frowning. I shrug at her, and then she smiles.

"Hi, yeah, sorry, I don't remember you. I wasn't a big fan of high school," I say, smiling.

The young woman who has the toddler interrupts. "Excuse me? Can you please get off my property. I already told you what happened, and I'm sorry it won't happen again." She seems eager to get these gentlemen off her porch.

I stand next to her. "As you can see, gentlemen, everything is fine here." I look at the woman and she swallows.

The two fellows look at me, then at Lu and her mom.

Mrs. Bleu steps up. "We've been helping out. We are grateful you came to check, but I assure you, it's all taken care of." She smiles sweetly at them.

I nod. "We got it," I say, somehow feeling as if I belong here, which seems odd to me. I don't even know the lady I am protecting, but it feels right.

Lu looks at me and I see her smile.

Alan and Derek both nod. "We will be back if we hear more disturbance though. This is a warning," they say to the woman and she nods, holding her child tight.

After they talk about me more amongst the two of them, shake my hand a few more times, and laugh, they finally leave. I turn around to find I am the only one left on the porch, seeing that everyone else was inside. I open the front door and step in.

I see Lu immediately as she is on her knees, wiping away the dirt from one of the little girls. I spot the young lad who came to the house earlier, rocking back and forth on a chair, humming to himself.

The mother comes out of her room, dressed in a different outfit. I am glad to see a smile now replacing her frown.

She sees me and walks toward me. She lets out a breath. "Thank you. I don't even know you, and you helped. Thank you. Jude." She holds out her hand. "I'm Barbie."

I shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, and you're welcome."

Lu walks over to us. "Sophie is all ready," she says, handing her the girl. Barbie takes her and she walks off with her into another room.

I turn to Lu. "Well, that was fun." I stuff my hands in my pockets.

She shakes her head. "Sadly, it hasn't been the first time. She's always had a problem with her temper, but lately it's been getting worse. I fear for the kids all the time now." She glances at the two other children present.

I swallow. "I'm sorry. How often do you help out?"

"Every once in a while. It used to be not ever, maybe once every two months, but it's been happening more frequently now. Mom thinks it because of her medication. But we don't know for sure." Lu looks a little uncomfortable unloading all this information on me, but I am glad she told me.

"I bet she's glad to have you guys," I comment, glancing at Mrs. Bleu straightening up the kitchen.

"Yeah. She tells us every time we come."

I glance down at her.

She just shrugs.

Everything gets cleaned up in no time, and we say goodbye. All the kids are in bed when we leave anyway, so they thought Barbie should be fine.

We walk back to the house, which takes less than a minute. We resume eating dessert, a little quieter than usual.

It's late now. I know I should take my leave.

"Everything was amazing, Mrs. Bleu," I say as I make my way to the front door, opening it. Lu remains behind her mother.

"Mary," she says, "call me Mary."

I smile. "Call me Jude then."

Lu hides her smile when she dips her head but I saw it.

Mary chuckles. "I'll let you say goodbye to Lucy. I'll go start cleaning up." She winks at me, which produces a frown on my part. Oh wait... she doesn't think-

Lu sighs, walking out with me, shutting the front door. "Thanks for your help tonight. With Barbie, and everything. Mom loved cooking for you."

I narrow my eyes. But Lu cooked all of it...

I let that go.

"I'll have to have you two ladies come to cook in my kitchen," I say. "Your mom would love that, huh?" I ask even though I know the answer.

Lu nods. "She would love you forever. You'd practically become part of the family if you let her into that kitchen." She laughs and I do too.

"Well then, the invite will come. I don't know when, but I'll text you, I guess."

She smiles. "Okay."

I swallow, walking over to my car. I gave her a small wave as I shut my door, turning the engine on. She stays and watches as I pull out of her driveway. I toot the horn a little as I speed down the road and I look in my rear view mirror to see her smile.

The drive back home is quick.

As soon as I pull into my driveway, I see a man dressed in black, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, hair slicked back. I am surprised he is here this late in the evening, whoever he is.

I park and hop out. "Hi, can I help you?" I walk steadily toward him.

He gives a sharp nod. "Mr. Castle?"

I nod. "Yes?"

"Your brother is in fact Richard Parks?" He asks, reading off of a small piece of paper he had in his hand.

"Yes." I lean on my right foot, feeling tense. How did he know that? The only people who know about my brother are the police.

"I'm here to tell you he suffered an injury in prison. He's in the hospital now, and he just got out of surgery."

I am skeptical. Who is this man?

"Who are you?"

He steps forward, sticking out his hand. "Hannam Pikks. I'm the prison's warden. Well, half warden. I'm the messenger boy." He tries to smile, but it looks more like a grimace and fades quickly.

He doesn't look happy to be here in the slightest.

I shake his head, still confused. "Where's my brother?" I ask him.

He swallows. "In the city hospital, downtown. I was sent here to retrieve you. He has another surgery due in a half an hour. He wanted to see you, and we thought we should let you know."

I almost growled at that. Of course they should tell me. I should be the first person.

"You got a car?" I ask, peering my head over his shoulder to the black sadan sitting in my driveway. The man nods even though my question is purely rhetorical.

I walk past him to the car and pull on the passenger door handle. It was locked. I give the man a look and he just stares at me.

Then it seems to click. "Oh, right!" He exclaims as he fumbles with the paper in his hand as well as his keys that he grabs out of his pocket. He walks around the car and unlocks it. I get in immediately, slamming the door shut. I see the man slightly jump.

We are off. I don't even bother buckling myself up for the ride. We arrive at the hospital in a matter of minutes. I walk out of the car, not even bothering to wait for Hannam.

The nurse let me know where Rich is. She practically knows my whole story by the way she says my name.

I walk into the room where I see my brother wrapped in white, cords hanging all over him.

I almost trip over my own two feet. All I could see is my Dad, in his hospital gown, on the brink of death.

Rich turns his head. And I can only see Dad in his face.