Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 46 - Helmet

Saturday found Lucas sitting on the floor of Mona's bedroom, study notes spread out in a wreath around him. Alex sat across from him, biting her thumbnail over a stack of French grammar structures, and Mona was at her desk, typing up some science research project. Lucas usually preferred studying alone, but when Alex had called and invited herself over to Mona's, he'd decided he'd come along too. In Alex's defence, neither Mona nor her parents minded, and since Alex's father had locked himself away in his study with his latest manuscript and Alex hated to be alone, here they were. Downstairs, he could hear Mona's younger sister Kiara shouting at whoever she was playing video games with. Apparently, they were playing as badly as a newborn baby (though Kiara worded it in far less polite terms).

He'd also agreed because he wanted to keep his mind off that night. Lucas had done some research into various Christian organisations' beliefs on homosexuality, and apart from an unfortunate foray into the Westboro Baptist Church's discography, he'd managed to find a lot of positive content, supported by evidence from the Bible and other texts. He knew that Damien didn't really need any of it, but being prepared help calm him down. Besides, it could always come in handy. He thought he'd remembered most of the important ones (quote quote), but maybe he should've made himself flash cards as well. Lucas frowned, thinking it over. It would certainly impress Maria if he could quote the Bible, right?

"Lucas. Lucas?"

Lucas looked up. Mona wasn't looking at him, eyes fixed on her screen, but she'd been the one who'd spoken.

"Yes?" He asked, mentally shaking himself a little, trying to put it out of his mind. If he was worried, it was probably nothing compared to what Damien was going through.

"Could you read over the abstract for my research project? I'm not sure if the words are making sense."

She handed over the laptop, and Lucas began to read. Alex took the opportunity to drape herself across his shoulders. He frowned a little, trying to understand exactly what physics concept Mona would be investigating, but resigned himself to the fact that science would never really make sense to him, and began to check for grammar errors.

"You okay, Lucas?" Alex asked, squinting at Mona's work as well, before giving up with a dramatic sigh. "You seem sort of out of it. Rough night?" She gave him an exaggerated wink, nudging him with her elbow.

Lucas groaned. "Subtle."

"Sorry, sorry. One of us has to be the funny one."

"You're the funny one?" Mona asked, tilting her head to one side, and Alex stuck her tongue out at her.

"But seriously, are you good? You've barely criticised my notes, and I know you hate the way I format them."

That certainly got his attention. Lucas looked up. "What do you mean, 'the way you format them'. You don't format them. They're one long list of dot points, without any section headers or subheadings, it's a—"

"There he is!" Alex cheered. "There's our Lucas."

"He has a point." Mona said, leaning over to peer at the notes in Alex's hand. "They'd be a lot easier to read if you just organised them a little."

"Shut up, you two. I'm not going to be bullied by nerds. We were talking about Lucas, remember? Something's up, so spill."

Alex could be awfully persistent when she wanted to be, and Lucas knew by the determined set of her jaw that she wouldn't let this go. He sighed, glancing back down to Mona's paragraphs. "Just a little worried. Damien's coming out to his parents tonight."

Alex's mouth made a little 'o' of surprise. "Ah. Right. And you don't think it'll go well?"

"I don't know." Lucas said, focusing on rewording one of Mona's sentences. Part of him didn't want to think about it because the worry would have him on edge all day. The other part of him wanted to think about it until he had a solution for every possible outcome, even though that was logically impossible. "They're really religious. His mom seems nice, though. Haven't met his dad."