February Night

Chapter 1

Hello and welcome to my new Criminal Minds fanfiction! It's been a while (over a year) since I've started to write this one and now I finally want to start posting it here. 

Have fun! :)

......

With mixed feelings, Lucy Alvez stepped out of the train station in D.C. She had been sitting in a train for almost four hours from New York City and all the way to D.C. she had thought about if she had made the right decision. Maybe she should have called Luke and tell him that she was on her way to him? Maybe he didn't even want to see her? Don't be silly, she told herself as she adjusted the guitar bag on her back and then grabbed her rolling suitcase. Luke would be happy to see her. They hadn't seen each other for almost four months now and she was sure he'd missed her as much as she missed him. But what if he wasn't even at home? Where should she go then? Well, she would have to find out, she thought and finally started to move.

Close to the train station there were standing some cabs and Lucy decided to take one of them to drive her to Luke's apartment. She had enough of public transport. The train had been so full; she barely had found some space to put her suitcase and her guitar, let alone a place to sit down.

"Where to, Miss?", the cab driver asked her and she told him Luke's address while he put her stuff into the luggage trunk of his car. During the ride, Lucy stared out of the window and let her thoughts run through her head once more. Her decision to come to D.C. and visit her brother had been a panic reaction to everything that had happened some months ago, back in February. Not even her parents knew why she wanted to visit her brother so desperately. She had just told them that she felt the need to see Luke again. When they asked how long she'd stay, Lucy had shrugged and said that she didn't know yet. They had accepted her answer and let her go, not knowing the truth about Lucy's escape from the city she thought she'd never leave. But here she was now. In D.C., about to meet her older brother again.

"Here we are", the cab driver said and pulled Lucy out of her thoughts. She rummaged for her purse to pay the man before she got her belongings. With her heart pounding nervously in her chest, Lucy slowly walked towards the building in which Luke lived. "Please, be home", she murmured as she pushed open the huge door.

With her luggage, she walked the stairs up into the third floor. At Luke's front door, Lucy stopped and stared at the wood. She hesitated to knock and didn't even know why. This was her brother behind that door! She hadn't seen him in so long and she couldn't wait to be pulled into his hugs again. She sighed and then finally knocked. While she waited for him to open – she still wasn't sure if he was home – she hoped that he wouldn't see that something was bothering her since months. She squared her shoulders, stood up straight and put a smile on her face.

For some seconds, nothing was heard except for a dog barking. That must have been Roxy, Luke's German shepherd. Lucy's smile grew wider. She loved that dog and realized that she had missed her as much as she had missed Luke. Then, footsteps. And just seconds later, the door finally opened and Lucy could see her brother's face.

"Hi, Luke", she smiled. Luke's eyes widened in surprise. It was obvious that he had never expected her to appear at his front door.

"L-Lucy?", he stammered. She lifted her arms a bit.

„No, I'm just some random girl knocking at some random door", she joked and couldn't hide a smirk. Luke's lips broke out into a bright smile right now and before Lucy knew it, Luke had pulled her into a tight embrace and swirled her around. She screamed and clenched at his neck. "Stop it, Luke! Be careful, my guitar's still on my back!", she exclaimed, while she laughed and he finally put her on the ground again.

"I can't believe you're here! What are you doing here?", Luke said and the excitement could be heard in his voice. Lucy pulled a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"I...just missed you and thought it was a good time to come and visit you", she said. "Is...is it a good time?", she then asked, suddenly not sure if her brother would even have time for her. But Luke nodded, still beaming at his sister.

"Of course, it is! And you're lucky; currently we don't have a case. But now, come in." He stepped aside to let Lucy into his apartment. As soon as Lucy had entered the apartment, Roxy came running towards the new visitor.

"Heyyyy, Roxy!", Lucy laughed and leaned down to stroke the dog for a moment. Yes, she had missed not only her brother but also this beautiful German shepherd. While Lucy was busy stroking Roxy, Luke took his sister's suitcase and placed it somewhere in the corridor. Then, they went into the living room and Lucy let herself sink on the couch. She took a deep breath while she looked around the room.

"So, you just came here to visit me?", Luke asked after he had brought two glasses of coke. She thankfully took one of them from him.

"I...yes", she said but immediately knew that she sounded not as convincing as she had wished. But Luke just nodded and drank from his coke and for a while there was silence between the siblings. When Roxy came over and placed her head on top of Luke's leg, he smiled and stroked her head for a moment.

Clearing her throat, Lucy turned towards her brother. "Luke, I...I thought about staying here for a while", she finally confessed. She tried to ignore her heart, which was beating incredibly fast in her chest now. "Would that be okay for you?"

Luke frowned at her. "Why would you think this isn't okay for me? Of course, it is!", he said smiling and Lucy hugged him once more, feeling relieved.

"Thank you, Luke. You're the best", she murmured and he shortly rubbed her back.

"And you're really alright? Nothing's wrong?", he asked when they parted again. Lucy could feel his brown eyes examining her face and her body language in general. Damn, sometimes she hated that he was a profiler and worked for the FBI. But she nodded.

"Sure, I'm alright. Just a bit tired from the journey."

„You can have my guestroom for as long as you want", he offered.

Lucy was glad that she could stay at Luke's apartment. If he wouldn't have wanted her here, she wouldn't have had a clue where to stay. Hotels weren't that cheap here and it wasn't easy to find an apartment within only a few days. Being extremely thankful, she kissed his cheek and then got up to bring her suitcase into her new room.