"Who Is He?"

"Who is he?" Part 5

If I wasn't fully aware of the poor way of living and the conditions I maintained before yesterday, I certainly was now. Spending a few hours in the company of people who were successful and obviously doing well for themselves, further highlighted how crap my life was. This bothered me partly because Scott now knew where I lived and would easily see I wasn't someone that fitted into his lifestyle. I needed for him to want to see me - I also knew that using someone to get information was probably not morally correct, but I needed to know more about my brother, and he knew something I didn't. It was obvious he wasn't willing to tell me anytime soon, so I needed to find some way of making him tell me. And I had a fairly good idea of how to do this - however wrong it may be.

I didn't hear from anyone for the whole of Sunday, I just lounged about and did some much needed decorating in my apartment. I decided to carry out the plan I had mentally mapped out the night before and rang Lucas.

"Hello?" he answered the phone sounding pretty rough from the night before and I imagined he looked messed up too.

"Hi, Lucas." I wasn't sure how he was going to react to me as I had pretty much taken sides last night, and it was Scott's side I had committed myself to.

"Oh hi. How are you?"

"I'm okay. How are you?" I replied.

"Feeling a bit rough but it's my own fault I suppose. How are you really feeling, Becky? I know what day it is, do you want me to come round or bring you anything?"

"I've been trying not the think about it, so no, I don't want any fuss." I appreciated that he cared and I knew today would be hard for him too, but I didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh, sorry. Did you get home okay last night?" The sympathy he felt for me because of John probably removed any anger he could have had towards me.

"Yeah, fine thank you. I told you there was no need to worry." We chatted for a few minutes before I asked him the question I had called him for.

"What do you want his number for?" His instant reaction to my question was pretty much what I had expected.

"Just please ask Kelly for it; it's important to me." I was hoping Lucas wouldn't deny me of anything today of all days. I heard him sigh down the phone and there were a few seconds silence before he responded.

"I'll see what I can do. Just be careful, neither I nor you know what these people are like."

"I don't know what your problem is, Lucas. You're forever moaning at me for having no social life, and then when I want to get to know someone you seem determined to put me off it." My little outburst was true, but I did know these people were dodgy, I'd discovered that last night - but Lucas didn't need to know.

"Okay, it's just that I care. I'll speak to Kelly and give you a text later. Take care, love you." He hung up before I had chance to thank him or say goodbye.

Sure enough, I received a text from Lucas a few minutes later with the number I wanted. I was suddenly nervous, but I didn't want to put it off, so before I knew it, my phone was at my ear, awaiting an answer. The questioning tone that the man answered with was understandable and I was fairly sure he wouldn't be expecting it to be me on the other end of the phone.

"It's Rebecca," I said simply, saving him from asking who it was.

"Oh, err, hello. I didn't expect to hear from you this soon. What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you. Can I come to your place?" I didn't want him to come to my apartment; I was too ashamed of it.

"No, I'll come to you, I know where you live. See you soon." Before I had chance to question him or protest, the line went dead, and I knew there would be no convincing him. I tried not to think what Lucas would think about this meeting, because I needed to do this for me and as horrible as it may sound, I didn't want his involvement or input. About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at my door; I straightened my clothes and ran a hand through my hair as I headed towards the door. I opened it and he walked in, without any kind of greeting.

"Nice place you got here," he said sarcastically, grinning bitterly back at me as I closed the door.

"How do you even know where I live? And more specifically which apartment I'm in?" It did unnerve me that someone I had only come to know of twenty four hours ago, knew where I lived.

"Don't you worry about it, Becky." I cringed when he used that name, there were only two people who'd I'd felt comfortable with using that name. "I must admit, I didn't expect you to want to see me after last night's events - especially after Scott's rather dramatic input. I'm quite flattered."

"Don't read too much into it. I don't want to see you; I want to know what you and Scott know about my brother. Trust me; you're the last person I want to spend my time socialising with." I was looking straight at Dave who was reflecting my hostile stare.

"That's no way to treat your guests, Rebecca. I'd work on that if I were you, because I'm not just going to give you information for free. Change your attitude, or you'll get nowhere." As he was saying this in his low and slightly intimidating voice, he had walked closer to me and was now towering over me in the same way he had last night. I looked down at the floor to avoid his gaze, but he lifted my chin up and grinned a grin that fully displayed his authority and supremacy over me. "Scott's not told you anything then?" he continued, releasing my chin. He then walked over to my sofa and sat casually on it, beckoning me over. I joined him reluctantly, feeling weak in my own home. I sat crossed legged as far away from him as possible.

"No he hasn't," I replied.

Dave nodded, which made a change, he normally had a cocky remark to make after everything anyone said. "What makes you think I'm going to open up to you?"

"Because you don't care about my feelings, I can tell. And I can also tell that Scott is trying to protect me, so he doesn't want to say anything that might upset me."

"You seem to have us both figured out." He was still looking at me, and although I despised the man, it was no denying how handsome he was. His brown hair seemed to be untouched by any hair products and the whole look he carried made him look very natural, as if looking the way he did was effortless. This assumption was totally dissimilar to how he dressed; he looked as though he gave his clothing appearance a lot of thought and care. I got the feeling he was used to getting what he wanted, I could see him finding it easy to manipulate people and I was worried I was rapidly becoming one of those people.

"I like to think I'm a good judge of character."

"First impressions can be deceiving," he fired back.

"You mean to say you're not as selfish, hurtful or patronising as you may have first seemed?" I said this with complete seriousness but he chuckled and shook his head slightly.

"We'll see." He stood up and strode towards the door. "Remember, play nice." With that he left. I felt I hadn't achieved much, but I'd made a start. I grabbed my coat and bag and left my building.

It was at the stage of the evening where the light was dimming as the sun was beginning to set, and the numerous street lights were flickering, preparing themselves for the night ahead. I walked along the pavement before reaching my regular florists. I chose the flowers I wanted and the woman behind the counter gave me a knowing, sympathetic smile. I forced one back before leaving and signalling a taxi, knowing the journey to the cemetery was not going to be one of my best; and as much as I wanted to ignore this day, John deserved more than that.

When I arrived, I saw Lucas in the distance standing in front of where my brother was buried. I headed over to him, pulling my coat tighter around me as I began to feel the late evening breeze blowing over me.

"Oh, hey." Lucas greeted me as he heard me approaching him. He quickly looked away again, but I had seen the tears in his eyes that hadn't yet escaped. I lay my flowers down next to the fresh bunch that I guessed Lucas had just laid. I clutched Lucas' hand and he squeezed it tightly before pulling me into a hug. My head was resting heavily on his chest and I felt a tear drip from his face to mine. I took a small step backwards so I could hold his head in my hands, looking at him made my own eyes well up with tears.

"I'm sorry, Becks. I should be staying strong for you," he apologised but I said nothing. I didn't know what to say, so I just leaned back into his body as he wrapped his arms around me once again. Him holding me like this was more than staying strong for me - he didn't even need to try.

Thank you again for the people who are continuing to read this, and if you want to say anything about it, please leave a comment. Thanks, Emma.