BLACK

Chapter 23

After a few hours, Lucas knocked on Megan's door to get her to meet Daniel. He just knew that Daniel would like her. He, himself was changing his opinion of this confusing blonde who had barged in and settled into the most private part of his life.

"Hey, Lucas" she opened the door rubbing her eyes, her hair messed up and her clothes wrinkled, but she still looked pretty.

"Come on, I will introduce you to Daniel"

"Just give me a few minutes. Do you want to come inside and wait?"

"Sure" Lucas walked in and sat on the bed while Megan changed in the bathroom.

"Hey, Megan?" Lucas called out. He hated how bad he had misjudged her in the past and how helpful and kind she actually was but Juliet had ruined women for him.

"Yeah"

"Why do you call me Lucas? Everyone else calls me Luke"

"I don't know" she said walking out. She had brushed her hair, changed into jeans and a flanel shirt.

"You introduced yourself to me as Lucas and it stuck" she continued making the bed.

"Oh" Lucas had forgotten about that. She smiled at him.

"Let's go meet Daniel" she said.

They walked to his room. Lucas knocked before entering.

"Daniel?" he whispered.

"Luke?" a guy about seventeen said. He had Lucas's dark hair and his jawline and eyes. He would have been really handsome had he not looked so sickly.

"I want you to meet my friend, Megan. Megan, my brother Daniel"

"Hey, Daniel. I have heard a lot about you. Your brother talks about you a lot"

"Yeah, of course. Luke likes to brag about having an insane brother"

"Daniel!" Lucas snapped.

"No, it's okay, Lucas. And no, Daniel. He has spoken wonderful things about you" Megan calmly replied.

"Has he?" Daniel's eyes teared up. For a moment, he looked like a small child needing comfort at every moment. What had Juliet done to him?

"Of course. He loves you so much" Megan continued to calm him.

Lucas put his palm on her back as a gesture of silent thank you.

"Do you mind if I sit with you for some time while your brother can get us cookies and milk?"

"I don't want to eat"

"Please? I love cookies and milk and I don't like eating alone"

"Um... Okay. Sit beside me on that stool. Luke, can you get us all cookies and milk?"

"Of course" Lucas's voice broke. His brother was finally accepting food. Megan treated him like a baby and surprisingly, Lucas didn't mind. Daniel was obviously in a bad place. He sent Megan a grateful look and dashed out to the kitchen to get food.

"Mom? Give me two glasses of milk and some cookies. Megan convinced Daniel to eat"

Nicole choked up. Daniel always refused food after his attacks but he was eating now. She haphazardly prepared a tray and sent Lucas on his way. When Lucas entered, Daniel was sitting up against his headboard and listening intently to whatever Megan was saying.

"I come bearing treats" he smiled and went to sit on the other side of Daniel.

"Megan just told me how great NYU is and how I can join next year" Daniel told Lucas.

"Yeah, she speaks the truth. You will love it" Lucas agreed.

"Lucas, your brother is amazing. He just told me he is interested in art and Literature" Megan complimented and Lucas couldn't be more grateful to her. Maybe Daniel just required a neutral perspective to get better.

After eating the snacks, Lucas and Megan left Daniel to rest.

"Thank you so much Megan. This is such a huge step for him and I can't be more grateful" Nicole said to Megan holding her hands before Lucas could thank her.

"Nicole, it is not a big thing that I did. Daniel just needed to be treated like nothing is wrong with him"

"Megan you were treating him like a baby" Lucas scowled. Did she mean that his brother was immature and needed to be treated like a kid all the time?

"I treat Kat the same way" Megan frowned at the change in Lucas's mood.

"Kat?" Lucas asked. He realized that he didn't know anything about her.

"My sister. She is a junior in high school"

Nicole found it weird that Lucas knew nothing about Megan's family when Megan had travelled miles to support Lucas with his.

"I am sorry, I misunderstood" Lucas apologized realizing Megan was being natural. The apology came naturally to him. What was happening to him? He never used to apologize.

"No worries" Megan dismissed him.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour, come then" Nicole said.

"Can I help with something? I make a mean chicken pasta" Megan said.

"Come on then. Meanwhile Luke could you straighten up some papers that I kept in your room?"

Lucas scowled as if he didn't want to even know what those things were.

"Sure, mom" Lucas told his mother and left.

Megan and Nicole talked about college while making dinner but Megan just didn't seem like the girls that her elder son used to go out with.

"Are you and Luke dating?" Nicole asked.

Megan choked on the water she was sipping. Why did people ask about her dating status when she was drinking liquids? After coughing for a few minutes all the while shaking her head she refused.

"I am sorry, honey. I don't mean to be inhospitable. You are an angel but I just don't see a friend, a mere friend, do this for someone especially this early in the friendship"

"Yeah, it was a spontaneous decision I made. I couldn't see Lucas so heartbroken" Megan couldn't imagine what Nicole would say had she told her that Lucas and her were not even friends. She couldn't even justify herself because she didn't know what she was doing in Oakland. Although, she didn't regret it but she couldn't justify it as well.

Nicole smiled and continued doing her cooking.

"Dinner's ready!" she yelled and Lucas came downstairs in a few minutes.

"Get me a plate and I will first get it to Daniel, then we can eat"

"I am not a cripple, Luke" Daniel appeared in the stairs. Nicole's eyes glistened and it seemed like she was trying not to cry.

"I didn't mean that, buddy. I just thought that you were asleep"

"Come on Daniel" Megan said.

Daniel sat with them at the table and helped himself to the pasta.

"This is amazing but this is not mom's, is it?" he complimented

"I made it" Megan smiled.

"Delicious, Megan"

The dinner went smoothly with light conversation.

"May I speak to you after the cleaning up?" Daniel asked Megan when Lucas and Nicole weren't there.

"What about?"

"I need to talk to you about something"

"Okay, I will swing by your room before bed" Megan smiled at him and started helping Nicole clean up.

                       **********

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