LUCY

I thought long and hard about what my Mom said. It has continually stuck with me, and I couldn't seem to shake it.

You deserve to be happy.

Did I though? After what I did? I hurt people, and didn't feel sorry for what I did until the consequences became too unmanageable. Until I hurt people to the point I thought I would break from guilt.

Elias deserves someone better than me. He really does. He's a great guy. He is going to make some girl out there very lucky.

But not me.

I know my mom wants nothing more than for me to be happy. I know she wants a great many things, but I think this might be the most impossible.

Other than the fact that she wants Dad, myself, and her to be a family together again.

That is way out of this world impossible.

The phone rings, bringing me out to reality. I picked it up, speaking with the other person on the phone who wanted to speak with Elaine. I send them off to her line.

Work, ever since I went over to Elias' house last week, has seemed to move slower than ever. Elaine says this is our slowest season, and I was soon starting to realize why everyone was always frowning around here.

Especially Elias. I had noticed he wasn't ever pumpy or happy. He has his moods, I will admit, but this past week, he's been in a slump. He's hardly smiled and doesn't eat his lunch when he goes on his lunch break.

I had a hunch about it.

The thunder seems to shake the whole building. I glance out the window, seeing how gloomy it is outside. It seems to be exactly how Elias was acting.

I peek my head into Elias' office to see him leaning over his desk, looking a little frustrated. He has his elbow placed on the table, his hand leaning on his head. His fingers are in his hair, and when he pulls them away, it leaves his hair all rustled.

It sure is attractive.

He looks like he could use a break.

I glance at the clock. It is close to his lunch time.

Glancing at him again, I get an idea. I know his brother is still in the hospital, and from what I heard, he is supposed to go back to jail tomorrow. Why they thought moving him would be a good idea I have no clue, but I was promised a visit with him.

Today would be the perfect day.

I almost stop myself. I can't keep letting myself get involved with this man.

But I push those thoughts away. He was my friend, and right now he seemed to need one more than ever. A trip to see his brother would do him good, since that's what I think has been bothering him.

I walk to his door and knock. He doesn't look up, but waves me in.

I open the door, walking inside. I make it up to his desk without him looking at me, and then I finally clear my throat.

He looks up almost immediately, a little startled.

I expect a smile to appear, but he just frowns. He looks like he hasn't gotten any sleep for the past week. I hadn't realized he had gotten this bad.

"Sir," I start, pausing for a second, "I would like to spend my lunch break going to the hospital, to see your brother."

He licks his lips, blinking a few times as if my words didn't register. He continues his frown and leans back, and I try my very best not to look at his arms as he places them behind his head.

Stay focused.

"Okay?" He asks.

"Right now," I say, and his mouth forms an o shape.

"Oh." He nods. "Alright. Go ahead."

I watch as he tries to go back to his work, but I stop him. "With you."

His eyes meet mine.

I try for a smile.

He begins to reject the idea. "I don't know, Lu, I-"

I shake my head. "I was promised a visit. By you. And I know it's his last day, and you look like you need some cheering up, and who better to do that than him." I smile again.

Elias sighs. "I don't think that will cheer me up," he says, deflated. His expression of grief weighs down on him and I feel that weight. It is so heavy.

I wish I knew what happened.

"But..." I trail off, catching his eye again. "You can eat lunch with me." My voice sounds hopeful.

That's when I see a hint of a smile.

"As a friend." I catch myself, wondering what that smile meant. It almost drops off his face immediately, and is replaced by his signature frown.

"Thank you Lu. But I don't think so," he says, thus ending the conversation.

He goes back to his work, not even waiting for me to leave. I begin to walk away, but I stop myself half way. No way am I going to give up that easily. He is gonna have to fight me if he thought he could brush this off.

Stubborn as ever, I do a u-turn, and walk back to his desk.

"Elias Castle, you have to come with me to see your brother, and eat your lunch. You look as if you haven't slept or eaten in days. And this is the last day you get to see him without him being behind bars. And he wouldn't want you acting like this. So please, come with me, and if you won't do it for him, do it for me."

The latter part of that sentence hit close to home and I see a tear hidden in the folds of his lashes. His jaw clenches and unclenches. He stands, and leans over his desk. For a second I am afraid he's going to tell me to scoot, but he just smiles.

"You're driving."

I can't help my smile.

"I will take it," I say with glee as I turn around and rush out of his office. I hear footsteps behind me and I know he is moving just as fast. I grab my coat and purse and head toward the elevator.

I look behind me to see Elias chatting with Elaine, and her eyes flicker out to me. She nods, still looking at me. Her expression is unreadable.

He must be telling her he's going out to eat.

Elias walks toward me, and I watch as he sides up next to me, his coat already on. I start to get mine on, but the elevator doors are open. I climb inside, trying to get my arms into the coat.

I couldn't seem to reach them without stretching my arms. I guess that's what I get for trying to put both of my arms in at once.

Just as I am about to take the coat off and try again, the coat slides up my arms, and I look over my shoulder to see Elias helping me. I smile and he straightens the coat up top, touching my shoulders as he smooths it out.

"Thank you," I say, and he nods.

I feel bubbly. I feel happy.

I catch myself.

Not happy.

I glance at Elias.

Maybe just a little happy.

"You seem perky," he comments.

I shrug. "Maybe."

He has a sly smile on his face when I look at him. I'm not sure if I want to know what that smile meant or not.

We walk to the car after we get out of the elevator, and I unlock the doors. Elias gets in first, and I get in on my side. Once inside I remember the last time we did this was also to go see his brother.

I turn on the engine and we are soon out of the parking lot and onto the road.

I take a left, doing my best to remember how to get there. I know there is a burger joint next to the hospital, so maybe we could stop there to get some food. I'm not sure if Elias wants a burger or not.

Are we getting Rich food?

"Why are you doing this?" Elias asks into the quiet. I barely get a chance to look at him and see his expression before I have to brake. We rest at a red light and I now get the chance to answer him.

"Because you're my friend."

He raises his eyebrows, posing his question.

"And I also really want a burger," I quip, and I see him smile.

"Me too," he agrees. "I haven't had a burger since I last saw Rich," he says, and he works his mouth, as if the thought disagrees with him.

How long ago was that?

I don't ask that question; it feels too personal.

"Does he like burgers?" I ask, pressing the gas as the light turns green. I keep my eyes focused on the road as I wait for him to respond.

It takes him a while. "Yeah. They're his favorite."

His voice is low and quiet. I want to look at him again, but refrain. I always like to look in people's eyes when they talk because it says a lot about how they're actually feeling. I always liked that about myself, was that I could see past the mask and into his eyes.

Elias wore his emotions in his eyes.

I suck in a breath. Maybe I tried to stay away from Elias, but things I have learned about him and things I currently learn every day stay with me.

So even if we are never together, everything about him is with me.

It's almost worse.

"Lu, can I ask you something?"

I nod, turning into the hospital parking lot. I park, and angle my body toward him, biting my lip. Not knowing what to expect, I inwardly embrace myself.

Please don't be about anything seeming like asking me out on a date.

"Where's your dad?"

Oh, this was much worse.

I swallow, my throat suddenly dry. I try to answer because he looks so conflicted by the question, but he must have no idea of the war inside of me right now.

"He's uhh-" I stop. I don't know how he will react, but I know that right now, I don't want him to know about my Dad. I don't think I could stand his reaction.

Elias waits patiently, not getting the hint that I didn't, couldn't, talk about this.

"Can you ask this question later?" I ask, feeling small. "I don't want to talk about this right now. Maybe not ever."

He nods in understanding and I am glad he doesn't push me. I might have folded if he pushed me. Or I might have cried then felt worse.

"Thank you," I mutter and open my door. I jump out of my car, shutting it behind me. I hear Elias' door shut as well. I face the hospital for a second before I turn to the burger place. I start to walk toward it, not bothering to invite Elias.

He would get the hint.

He ends up catching up to me with his long stride and we walk in together. He holds the door open for me to walk through, and we get into line. Luckily, there is barely anyone in front of us, so we are able to order without much delay.

Elias offers to pay and I don't object.

"Name for your order?" The man asks.

Elias looks down at me, gives me a wink, then turns back to the cashier. "Sir."

He receives a funny look, and I have to hold back my laugh.

We wait for a few minutes until they call his name, but I couldn't do it. I laugh out loud as we walk out of the restaurant and Elias joins me in my humor. This moment lightens the mood and I am glad he made me laugh. I needed that.

"His face!" I exclaim. "He looked so confused." I have to hold my stomach because I am laughing so hard.

His grin could light up someone's day. "You have no idea how many times I have wanted to do that." He opens the door for me.

"Well I'm glad you did it now while I was present."

"Me too," he confesses. Elias holds the bag as we walk past my car and into the hospital. I am about to go up to the nurse to ask for Rich's room, but Elias just grabs my wrist and pulls me into the hallways.

I don't fight him. "What are you doing?"

He shrugs. "I already know where to go, and all of the nurses know who I am. It's a little creepy. So I just don't announce my presence to them."

I smile, picturing this.

We reach Rich's room, and he is watching some TV.

His head perks up when he sees me, and I see the sly smile he has on his face. We walk up to his bed, and he glances down to our hands.

I realize Elias is still grasping my wrist and I subtly pull it out of his grip. He doesn't seem to notice, his attention is on his brother.

"Hey," he greets, grabbing Rich's arm and giving it a squeeze.

Rich grins.

"We brought you a burger," I say, pointing to the bag in Elias' hand. Rich follows my gaze and his grin, believe it or not, gets wider.

He seems so sweet. How could this sweet man murder someone?

It's weird to think he was in jail.

Or will still be going back to jail soon.

"I love burgers," Rich says, still watching me.

"I heard," I reply, grabbing the bag from Elias.

I start to take the burgers out of the bag, and hand them to each of the men. They both take them, and that's when I realize they are both watching me.

I feel scrutinized under their stares, but I pretend I don't notice.

"You're Lucy, right?" Rich asks.

I nod, realizing we were never properly introduced. "Yeah, sorry." I reach out my hand for him to shake. "Lucy. And you're Richard."

He nods, smiling. He turns to his brother. "You told her about me," he states.

Elias just shrugs.

Rich smiles and shakes my hand. That's when I realize that his other hand is chained to his bed. Then I realize that there is a guard posted outside the door. Now that I think about it, I saw many police officers around the hospital as we walked up here.

I feel for Rich. I don't know why he is in here, or what he did, but from what I can see, he doesn't deserve to be in jail.

If anyone did, it's me.

"I'm glad to finally meet you," I say after I take a bite of my burger. He nods.

"Same here. I've heard a little about you from my big bro over here. He told you about that, right?"

I nod. "Yeah. When I saw you last, he told me."

Rich raises his eyebrows at his brother in a silent question that I don't know.

It must be an inside joke.

"Sit down, sit down." Rich points to the two chairs in the corner of the room, and I watch as Elias pulls them over to either side of the bed. I take the one on the left side of the bed, acros from Elias.

We eat our burgers in a comfortable silence.

I watch the two of them. They continually grin at each other, and I can see Rich mouthing words to Elias, but I don't know what he is saying.

I had always wanted a sibling. I liked growing up alone because I didn't know anything else, but I constantly wondered what it would have been like to have a brother or sister.

Except Jeanie. She was the closest thing I got to a sister.

We did almost everything together.

"So, Lucy, how do you like work? Is my brother mean?"

I shake my head. "No, not at all."

Rich sits up as far as he could with his wrist chained to the bed, which I notice is all swollen where the handcuff sits. "Come on, you can be honest with me. He won't mind. He loves getting complaints so he can fix them." He winks at me, making me smile.

I look at Elias first, and he just looks amused.

Then he nods.

"Well, he's a little moody," I say, still looking at Elias. "You don't really know what kind of mood he will be in until he shows up for work."

Rich looks so curious, I almost laugh. "Oh yeah? What kind of moods?"

"He can be grumpy." I look at Rich now. "Or happy, or angry. Those are three most common."

"Has he given you flowers yet?"

Elias hits his brother in the arm, making Rich cry out.

"Hey, I'm just asking," he cries in defense.

I just laugh. "It's alright. No, he hasn't."

"What's your favorite flower?" Rich asks, looking deep into my eyes. I try to read them, get a glimpse of this man, but everything about him seems to shine on the outside.

I think about my answer. "Daffodils," I finally respond.

Rich has a happy smile on his face. "Pretty. Just like you." He smirks, and I swear I can feel Elias' glare, which makes it all the better.

No, wait, it doesn't.

"You're a smooth talker, aren't you?" I ask.

Rich shrugs. "I learned it all from him." He pats Elias on the back, who doesn't have an amused expression on anymore. It's more of annoyance now.

I am enjoying this.

Elias chuckles. "He wishes. Unfortunately, he got that from my Dad."

Rich rolls his eyes. "Yeah right. Dad couldn't smooth talk for the life of him. It was mom who was better at it."

Just the words uttered about their parents piqued my interest in their life even further. I want to know what happened to both of them, but I have a feeling none of them were up for that.

It's fine though, because I don't need to dig anymore into Elias' life. I need to stay out of it.

Although, right now, laughing with the two of them, I feel like I've known them for years.