Save Me

Nineteen

“Falen, dear, would it be too much to ask you to go get some groceries for me? My back is killing me and Robbie’s still not home.”

I smiled at Angel, “I wouldn’t mind, Angel.”

“Are you sure? You just got back from work and don’t you have dinner plans with Camille?”

I chuckled and looked at my watch, “I still have some time to kill. And I can buy some food for us to cook.”

“She’s cooking for you?” Angel asked, stroking Meekah’s fur.

I grabbed the keys for my motorcycle, yea, I’ve finally got enough cash to purchase one, well, enough cash for them to think that I have to buy one. Angel followed me out, handing me and I got on my bike before putting on the keys to ignition, putting my helmet on and then heading to the driveway and to the supermarket.

At the grocery, I fished out Angel’s list and started on milk. When I was searching for the Cheerios that Angel had on the list, I heard a very familiar voice that made me stop.

“So this place is a really good one for relaxation?”

I furrowed my eyebrows and hid behind the shelves, peeking slightly to the other side to see Gerry talking to a tall and lean guy. He had blonde hair that was in casual disarray and he was wearing his usual Ray Ban shades to cover his dark green eyes. He was wearing his signature tux-like jacket over a plain V-necked shirt and dark skinny jeans and black leather boots. He smiled kindly at Gerry who looked in awe at the famous movie star.

“Certainly Mr. Brennan. I assure you that Wilmington is a quiet place for you to relax even for just a few days. And no paparazzi’s to bother you while you’re in vacation.”

“Good. My girlfriend really needs the silence of this town for even just a few days. Her life’s been hectic,” he said, “And just call me, Don, Mr. Rivers.”

“And it’s just Gerry,” Gerry replied with a smile, “I better be going. My daughter sent me to buy these since her Mom or her sisters aren’t home.”

Don laughed and stuffed his hands in his pocket, “Oh sure. I just better buy some chips for us to eat when we get hungry in the middle of the night.”

Gerry bid farewell and I quickly finished Angel’s groceries. I went to the cashier hurriedly and cursed to myself when there was a long line. I cursed when I didn’t bring my shades, well, I don’t even bother bringing them around this time since the sun was almost down but it would be good to cover myself up so my best friend wouldn’t recognize me. I even forgot to bring a beanie or a cap. I groaned inwardly and tried to hide my face under my hair, it was a good thing that it was long.

I saw Don walking over and I quickly thanked God when a group of girls huddled over to him. I grinned when it was my turn to pay and asked the cashier to hurry packing my groceries. When they handed me the bag and I paid, I quickly headed to my motorcycle, driving home quickly and once I arrived, I let out a sigh of relief.

I handed Angel her groceries and I placed mine at my kitchen before heading out to fetch Danielle. I put on my leather jacket over my plain black shirt and I grabbed a baseball cap this time, I knew it would clash my outfit but I needed it to cover my face in case I run into my best friend again and risk him finding out that his best friend is back from the dead.

I texted Danielle and told her I was already on my way as I grabbed another helmet for her to put on. I stashed my baseball cap inside her helmet and put my helmet on and then zoomed to her café. I parked my bike and grabbed the two safety helmets and put on my baseball cap when I headed inside the café.

When I arrived, I saw Danielle talking to a girl by the window. D looked radiant as always, wearing dark blue jeans and a plain white shirt under her green plaid, her long wavy black hair was tied in a messy bun and her dark rimmed glasses framed her features. She rarely wore her glasses, only when her eyes started to hurt though she was required to wear them all the time. See how stubborn she can be?

I strode towards her and kissed her head and she giggled as I wrapped my arms around her. The girls in front of her squealed but before I could take a good look at her, “Daddy!”

I spun around and grinned at DJ who ran over to me. I let go of Danielle and wrapped my arms around the little boy, picking him up. Danielle stood up from her seat and kissed my cheek while Daniel burrowed his head onto the crook of my neck, “Dinner?”

I nodded and turned back to the girl Danielle was talking to. D spoke, “Louise, would you like to have dinner with us.”

A silent gasp left my lips and I looked at the girl under my cap. There was no mistaken on who she was. Her straight brown hair cascaded down her shoulders and her bright blue eyes blink at me as she stared. A slow smile grazed her features as she waved slightly at me, “I’m Louise Andrews. You must be DJ’s Dad.”

I nodded absent-mindedly, she couldn’t recognize me. Well, the only feature you could recognize in me were my gray eyes and they were hidden under this cap, “Louise is Seth’s sister. But I’m sure you know that. We’ve actually met when she visited him in campus once and became fast friends. It’s funny to have her here in Wilmington. I mean, an elite like her and a movie star like Don, you really don’t get to see stars here much.”

“Speaking of Don, here he is,” Louise said as she gave Don a slight hug and introduced him to Danielle and DJ and she looked at me. It took me a while to realize that she didn’t know my name.

“Falen Rose,” I replied curtly and then turned to Danielle, “We’d wait for you by the motorcycle.”

I headed to the motorcycle and strapped Daniel with the helmet. I handed one to Danielle once she arrived and the three of us got on the bike. I zoomed back home, aware that Don was following us in his Volvo. Upon arriving home, I unlocked my house and strode in, DJ following suit. He played with Meekah while I headed to my room, searching for the contacts I bought before I got to this place.

It was a good thing I had bought one that expired after a year and since five months had just passed, it was good to go. I went in my bathroom, putting on my green contacts. I heard someone come in the bathroom and from the corner of my now green eyes, I saw Danielle leaning on the doorframe, confused.

“I didn’t know you had contacts.”

I shrugged and put the cap on the lid back on before turning to her, “I wear glasses at home. I fell asleep on it last Friday night. Broke it to two pieces.”

And that was true. Though they were only reading glasses because I ended up too focus reading some articles about the Andrews Co. on my laptop that it forced me to wear my glasses because it hurt, “Your eyes started to hurt?”

I nodded, “Yea. So I decided to wear these. The transparent one expired so yea.”

She nodded, “Louise and Don are in the living room watching re-runs of CSI. I’m going to cook us dinner, would you want to help?”

We ended up cooking baked potato, steak and Caesar salad. I made two steaks medium rare and placed them in another plate. Daniel helped me set the table while Louise helped Danielle with the drinks. I placed all the food on the table while DJ plated. Once all the food and drinks were there, I sat down on my seat and Danielle seated across from me. Don and Louise sat beside each other and DJ sat across from them.

Danielle said grace and we all started eating. Louise was going to get a medium rare steak and placed it on her plate and Don took a fully cooked one, “I think you two should exchange plates.”

They stared at me confused, “You have the medium rare and he has the fully cooked.”

They nodded and smiled at me gratefully, Louise spoke, “Thank you for that, Falen. I hate eating raw meat.”

“I know,” I muttered and they all stared at me, “What?”

“How do you know that?” Danielle asked.

I shrugged and tried to look and act nonchalant, “Well, she’s a girl and he’s a guy. I just thought that despite their star status, their food preference is still normal.”

I grabbed gravy, poured them on a saucer and then added a tinge of sugar in it before handing it Louise, “Here you go.”

She grinned, “How’d you know I liked my gravy that way?”

I scratched the back of my neck, running a hand through my tousled blonde hair, “I just thought. Well, I have a younger sister. You remind me of her and she usually adds sugar to her gravy. I just thought you’d be the same as her. I wasn’t wrong.”

“Well, thanks,” she said with a smile, “You remind me of my brother too. Seth.”

The moment she said that, she looked down at her food. Don wrapped a comforting and protective arm around her as Danielle gave me a look. I bit my lip and placed a hand on Louise’s shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

She looked up and smiled, “It’s fine. I’m sorry for ruining the mood.”

“You’re not ruining anything, Louise,” Danielle said with a cheerful voice.

“Hey,” I said and Louise looked at me, “What’s that over there?”

She furrowed her eyebrows as I pointed under her nose, “What?”

I widened my eyes and flared my nose, grinning. She burst out laughing and I chuckled, “There’s that smile.”

She then looked at me and swallowed. Before turning to look at Don and Danielle who were still laughing at what I did. She turned back at me and smiled, “Thanks for that. It cheered me up.”

“Your welcome.”

“So you two are together?” Danielle asked while slicing DJ’s food.

Don and Louise glanced at each other and they shrugged, smiling, “Yea. But it’s sort of a secret first.”

My eyes widened, “But aren’t you older than her? And how are you gonna support her? You two haven’t sealed the deal yet right?

“Falen!” Danielle scolded, staring at me, “You sound like a protective older brother. And those things are none of our business.”

I clenched my jaw, wanting to say out loud that it was my business. But then that would blow my cover and my secret and I’d be faced with bigger trouble rather than just a scold from the girl who I really liked. I smiled sheepishly, “Sorry. Couldn’t help it.”

“That’s okay dude,” Don said with a charming smile, “But can this just stay between us. I don’t want the media to bother Louise. They can get pretty annoying at times.”

The way he looked at Louise was the same expression that Robbie held when he looked at Angel, when Gerry looked at Rachel or when Patrick stares at Denise. And I’m pretty sure I wear that look when I look at Danielle too. But it was familiar to me because this wasn’t the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it before. When the three of us would hang out and they’d talked. He’s been in love with my sister all along. A small smile made its way to my lips, my sister was gonna be taken care of by the right guy.

“Thanks for dinner,” Don said as we walked them to his Volvo, “It was great.”

“It was nice having you two around,” I said with a grin, “I had fun.”

“Cam, do you want us to drop you and DJ off?”

Danielle looked at me and back inside the house to see DJ already fast asleep on my couch, his arm over Meekah who was also asleep, “I think we’d better crash in with him.”

I grinned. I really liked having a sleepover with them. It was really cool to wake up next to Danielle and I’ve always figured out that this was what I wanted, to wake up beside her every day of my life and have DJ wake the two of us up. Okay, alright, you got me. I do love her. But, I don’t want to tell her yet. She might freak out or worse, she didn’t love me back.

Louise hugged Danielle and Don and I did those manly hugs. Louise surprised me when she hugged me tightly and I breathed in my sister’s familiar scent. I heard her whimper I stroked her back but then froze when I heard her words, “I miss you Seth.”

When she pulled back, I stared at her shock and she gave me a small smile, “I guess we’ll see you guys around.”

I nodded dumbly, “I guess so.”