LIGHT ME UP ↝ Lucifer Morningstar

ONE.

         BENJAMIN HAD MISSED Los Angeles, and the somewhat bittersweet nostalgia that kicked in when he drove down the familiar streets and looked around the surroundings he still vividly remembered. Sure, he had been away for a long time, but some things never changed, and one of those was the fact that the City of Angels still felt like home — even if Benji was nowhere near to being one of those.

         Still, everything wasn't precisely as he had left it, for example, Dan and Chloe's happy marriage had crashed and burned. Dan insisted on using some other term, but Benjamin found it fitting. They still hadn't divorced, but the word had been mentioned a fair amount of times. However, something positive had come out of their relationship as well, as Benjamin could now proudly carry the title of an uncle, to Trixie Decker who had just turned eight years old. Frankly, the youngest Espinoza couldn't wait to spoil the little princess and be the kind of uncle who got judging glares from the parents.

         Luckily, Dan hadn't changed entirely, even if he now lived alone in an apartment. He was still the good-hearted, kind brother Benjamin had left behind, and that was why he agreed to not give him a ticket for going over the speed limit — which was why Benjamin could happily drive over to his brother's new house, where he was supposed to crash for what he insisted on being only a few nights, but Dan knew to be forever if he'd only allow it. His brother had never been the responsible type, but right now, he couldn't bring himself to scolding Benji about it — he was just truly glad he was back, even if he was most likely bringing a ton of immaturity and trouble with him. Nonetheless, they were brothers, and it had been too long since they had seen each other.

          "Isn't this just adorable?", Benjamin nodded approvingly as he pushed his keys into the pocket of his leather jacket and walked around the small apartment that Dan had let him in to. The oldest of the siblings had just ended his shift at the precinct, giving them the opportunity to catch up, and whereas Daniel was expecting a nice, cozy evening at home, Benji's mind was already stirring with wonderful, more adventurous and wild ideas, but he wasn't quite ready to share any of them yet.

         Instead, he found himself standing by the drawer in the living room, his eyes looking down at the framed photos on top of it. There was one with Dan, Chloe and Trixie, and one of their parents, but in the middle rested a photo of the two brothers, both smiling with their arms thrown over each other's shoulders. They had always been close, but Benjamin could remember the day of the photo better than most days — they had a tendency to blur together, with all the alcohol and partying and the similarity of each day, but this one was a special one.

          It was the day Benji had come out to Dan, admitted to being gay, and even though he was generally rather proud of himself, he had been scared as hell. Nowadays, Benjamin didn't bother to hide his true self, and was lucky that most people accepted him the way he was, but Dan had been the first one to find out about his sexuality. It hadn't been easy for Benjamin, but eventually, he had gotten the words out of his mouth, and all the fear within him vanished like smoke in the air when Dan had pulled him into a hug and assured that nothing could ever make him love his brother any less. He said he was proud of Benji, and ever since, he had been too. Even though he could be a bit of a jerk towards Dan, he did love him and saw him as some kind of hero — he just never admitted it to him.