Seraphine

twenty eight

Luca

It has been three days. Three days since Nico confronted Seraphine, since Seraphine herself brushed the four of them off, since he, since any of them, had held an actual conversation with the broken angel. 

It's absolutely destroying Luca. 

Every time he walks into his classroom to find Seraphine already sitting in one of the furthest rows from his desk, writing in her notebook or texting on her phone, a piece of his heart shatters. A bigger piece falls through the slits in his ribs when he sees the stacks of journals on his desk. Every damn time. 

He'd sent her the journals the day after everything happened, and more and more of them had been appearing on his desk, as if left by a little nymph in the night. 

Luca would glance up at Seraphine as he'd slide the neatly stacked papers into his bag, but she wouldn't even hesitate in her doodle, wouldn't acknowledge him at all. 

It's killing him, he says to his partners, and they nod along. All of them are hurting, blaming themselves, blaming each other, lashing out or not speaking at all. 

Luca knows it's only a matter of time before this woman, this goddess silently destroying him somehow makes them destroy each other. 

Damien comes through the front door of the estate, and when he slams it, it shakes Luca's laptop. The oldest King looks up from the screen to see his enraged friend stalking towards the kitchen, ripping off his tie and throwing it directly at Luca on his way. 

Luca watches Damien disappear into the kitchen before blowing out a breath and making the tie fall from his head to the couch cushion. He waits for the telltale sound of pots and pans clanging together and Damien's swearing before he shuts off his laptop and stands from the couch. 

"What's got your panties in a twist today?" Nico trudges into the kitchen, smirking half-heartedly at Damien, who doesn't even bother to throw a glare his way. The brunet's face falls, and he slouches against the pantry, his brown eyes darting to Luca as he enters the kitchen. 

"What are we making, Damien?" 

"Ratatouille." Is all he says, and Luca's eyes go wide as they find Nico's gaze, which is similarly blown. Nico uncrosses his arms and turns, nodding to Luca as he goes to find Enzo. Obviously, they need to talk. 

Luca rolls up his sleeves and bends down in front of the island, pulling out a pan that Damien forgot to grab himself. He sets it on the stove, and the soft sound makes the riled up chef whirl around, his face red with anger. Damien opens his mouth to scold Luca, but Luca raises an eyebrow, and Damien pauses. He lifts a finger, closes his mouth, and sighs through his nose. 

"Her edits on my manuscript were perfect." He explains, just as Nico comes back with the fourth man in tow. Enzo's eyebrows are already furrowed when he walks into the kitchen, but they deepen into a full-face scowl as he turns to Nico. 

"This is what you woke me up for? Are you serious? I'm going back to bed." Enzo shakes his head and turns around, but Nico grabs his collar and pulls him to the island, where Damien is throwing vegetables haphazardly onto a bamboo cutting board. Only a quarter of them make it onto the island. 

Luca bends down and starts picking up the tossed vegetables, completely silent as he waits for Damien to explain himself. He turns on the sink to watch the dirty produce, glancing over his shoulder at his partner, who slams the fridge door shut and grips the island until his knuckles are white. 

"Her edits on my manuscript were perfect." 

"You said that." Enzo, clearly still annoyed, receives a soft punch in the shoulder from Nico at that retort, an eye roll from Luca, and a deadly glare from Damien. 

"What's going on, Damien?" Nico prompts, and Damien turns his lethal gaze onto him. Nico, ever hardened from years of inflicting torture on the most dangerous criminals they've known, only grins back at him. 

"It's like she's not even affected by anything that's happening to her. She keeps turning in your journals, Luca, she's researching for Enzo, she's looking for an internship per Nico's request, and she's doing perfectly as my editor. I just...I don't know. I'm--" 

"Lost," Luca finishes for him. Damien looks up at his elder partner, his past lover, his best friend, and Luca's gaze softens as tears fill Damien's eyes. 

"I've never been lost," Damien's voice cracks and he drops his head. His shoulders shake as he takes in a shuddering breath. It takes him a second, one long second filled with him straightening his spine and looking back up at his brothers, but he composes himself enough to finish his thought. "I've never not known what to do next. With her, because of her, I can't even see well enough to know where to take my next step." 

Luca sighs and he steps up to Damien, lifting a hand to rest on his shoulder. Damien doesn't look at him, instead focusing on the single onion that made it onto the cutting board. Cutting the vegetable has never made him cry before, but now just staring at it, thinking about everything that's happened, all of this emotion he's feeling, Luca can see more tears form in Damien's eyes.

"We just have to push through. She knows we're here for her, she just...needs to open her eyes." The leader offers, trying to be resilient in the face of the harm they all know is coming for Seraphine, most likely already has been. 

That thought alone makes Luca cringe, and his grip on Damien's shoulder falters. He drops his hand after a second, and runs it through his hair. Enzo sighs, letting his head drop to his hands on the island. Nico rubs his neck, breathing harshly through his nose. Damien reaches for the onion, grasping it gently before picking up a sharp knife and beginning to slice through it. 

"I'm making us dinner. Ratatouille still, unless anyone has a problem with that?" He doesn't wait for anyone to protest--not that any of them would have--before continuing. "After we eat, I'm going to Atlantis, just to check up on things. Wirt said earlier he was having some issues with a couple dicks renting out the VIP rooms for way too long and ruining the whole place." 

He continues cutting up the different vegetables into perfect, thin slices. Luca watches him intently, waiting for that crucial last part Damien didn't speak aloud. 

"I wish to go alone."