𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚎 | ∙𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐳∙

17. Eggs, Bacon and Skepticism

Years ago, back in the Bronx, Luke's sister Maya had been stopped on the way home from school by an older man. He had asked her to date him and when she politely declined, he grabbed her arm to scare her. She was a 8th grader. She had pulled away and ran home crying. When she told Luke, he was angry. So the next day he accompanied her and they ran into the same guy. After he made a sexist joke, Luke clocked him right in the nose.

They left him on the sidewalk, holding his nose as blood poured. They made it back home, and never told the rest of the family. The event made the two a lot closer and it never really went away as they got older.

He loved all his sisters equally, but him and Maya got along the best because they were the closest in age. Valerie was the youngest and there was a large age gap between her and her brother. He was out of the house at 20 before her 12th birthday. Danielle had been 14 and Maya 19 when he'd gone off to start his career.

A year later Maya had moved out and gotten married to a good man named James Grant, they had three boys. Steven, now 10, Zayden, 6 and Liam, 3. They were the nephews Luke saw the most of.

Then a few years later, Danielle went to school to become a doctor. She was now a successful and independent surgeon. She never got married much to their mothers dismay.

And then Valerie got eloped at 17 and disappeared off the face of the earth for a while making his poor mother almost have a heart attack. Now suddenly she came back with a baby Luke only knew about through Maya. It was definitely a lot to take in.

That Wednesday morning, Luke walks into the kitchen to see Valerie making a breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes.

"What's all this?" He asks, staring at the plate she sets on the table for him.

She smiles proudly." Breakfast. Eat up." She gives him a fork.

He takes a tentative sit down. Matteo is happily chewing his pancake, not caring that the syrup is running down his hands. Luke chuckles."What's the occasion?"

"It's a thank you, for letting me stay here for a few days. But now Sam called me and he wants me to come back home."

Luke's appetite disappears at her words." And you're going to do it?"

She takes a seat across from him." I don't have any other choice, I can't stay here forever, Luke." She ruffles Matteo's hair.

"Valerie, if he treated you wrong once, he will do it again."

"You don't know that." Her jaw is set as she stares down at her own plate.

"Valerie, how about you go back to New York, talk to Sam first, and then come back before you make your decision."

She pushes her scrambled eggs around in her plate. Luke keeps talking before she can argue. "I can watch Matteo while you're gone. I can also pay for your bus ticket for the trip."

He holds his breath waiting for her to say no but after a few quiet moments she nods.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, I'll do it."

And so Luke books a ticket for her to leave at 6:00 that night. So he'll be back in time to watch Matteo.

He says his goodbyes and heads to work. Walking into the bullpen, he sees Felicity is the only one there so far. He gives her a wide smile." Good morning, Flick."

Color fills her cheeks." Good morning, Lu."

She'd been awkward around him since Monday morning and he couldn't find a reason why. "You ready for tonight?"

"I uh, I'm not sure I can make it."

He raises an eyebrows." Why not?"

"Penelope invited me over to help her... prepare for a date." She says quickly.

"Oh, I see." The disappointment is evident on his face. " Well that's a shame."

"Yeah yeah definitely now if you excuse me." She does an awkward motion with her hand before she leaves the bullpen.

Luke stares after her, more confused than ever. And when Penelope enters the pen, he flags her down." Hey, Pen. So date night huh?"

She looks confused." Huh?"

"Felicity told me about how she's got plans tonight to help you prepare for a date." He answers slowly. He's unsure of why everyone is so confused today.

Her eyes shift slightly before coming back to him." Yeah yeah, I am going on a date tonight."

Before he can even say another word, she clacks off on her high heels.

Luke is stumped on why the girls were acting so weird but he shook it off and works on his report, not wanting to deal with any girl drama.