chapter 5

After when Benjamin left the dinning table Luke and Emily looked at Nate who got up and left

"Nate...honey wait..."

"It's okay Mom....I'm not really hungry."

Nate left the dinning room and went to his room.

"I hope he's okay, your dad really didn't have to say all those things to him." Emily said as he looked at Nate who left

Luke sighed sadly as he watched his brother leave the room. He felt incredibly bad for Nate having to deal with his dad's ignorance and bigotry.

Emily sat quietly, her head in her hands, worried about Nate. After all he's gone through, she couldn't believe how cruel and insensitive her husband was being to him.

"I'll go check on him."Emily nodded

"make sure that he is okay."

Luke then left the dining room as well, and he went to find his brother.

He knocked on the door of Nate's room, and after waiting for a moment, he could hear the faint sound of his brother sobbing.

Luke opened the door and entered the room. He could see that Nate was sitting on the bed, his head in his hands, and he was crying softly. Luke could tell that his younger brother was genuinely hurt by his dad's cruel words, and he felt incredibly sad to see him like this. He sat down next to him on the bed, and he put his arm around him, trying to provide comfort and support.

"hey...come on don't cry, you know how dad his always thinking about himself and being well absent minded...just don't let what he says get to you okay."

Nate sniffled and wiped away his tears as Luke spoke. Luke was right, of course. Nate couldn't let his dad's ignorant remarks get to him, and he needed to find a way to move past it. Nate nodded, slowly regaining his composure as he listened to his brother.

"Easy for you to say. Your his favourite child so of course you wouldn't understand what I'm going through."

Luke was taken aback by Nate's words. He hadn't realized how resentful and hurt Nate was towards him.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I haven't really considered how tough it is for you with our dad always favouring me over you."

Luke paused for a moment, thinking about how he had hurt his younger brother's feelings without realizing it. Nate was clearly feeling neglected and inferior to Luke, and he felt terrible that his actions could have contributed to that. He wanted to make it up to his brother, and he wanted to ensure him that he cared about him.

"Listen I never wanted to be dad's favourite

But I'm willing to help you and Jaxon okay

No matter what dad says I'll always help you."

Nate sighed and nodded, feeling slightly better after Luke's words.

"Thank you...and I'm sorry that I blamed you for our dad's actions. I'm just so frustrated with him and I'm taking it out on you, which isn't fair."Luke smiled kindly at his younger brother.

"It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry for being so insensitive, and for always taking dad's side without ever thinking of how it affects you. I'll try to do better in the future."

"you sound like and old wise man just saying that." Luke laughed softly and ruffled his brother's hair.

"Haha, I'm just trying to be the best brother possible. Now, let's go back out there and try to make up for all the tension at the table. Think we can manage that?"Nate looked away and sighed

"I don't want to go"Luke looked at Nate with concern.

"Are you sure? I think it would be good for us to put on a brave face, at least for a little while. After all, Jaxon is still coming over to the house tonight, isn't he?"

"it's not tonight

It's on Saturday night you know family dinner, and everything is fine it's just that...I don't want to go downstairs for now."

"Okay I understand," Luke said, reassuringly rubbing his younger brother's shoulder. "We'll stay up here for now, but we'll have our family dinner on Saturday night as always, okay? And remember, I'm always here for you, okay? You can count on me for anything."

"Thanks bro." Luke smiled gently at his brother.

"It's no problem, I'm always here for you. Now, let's just relax up here and talk for awhile. How about that?"

Nate nodded and sighed.

"Sounds good to me," he replied. The two brothers leaned back on the bed and chatted for awhile, talking about various topics to try and distract themselves from the tension downstairs.

Nate and Luke continued to talk and relax on the bed, discussing everything from work to the latest movies. It's hard to say how long they were talking, but eventually the sun began to set and the room was slowly getting darker. Nate was feeling much better and was beginning to forget all about the unpleasant situation downstairs.

"hey Luke"

"Yeah?" Luke replied, looking over at his brother.

"How is Camille."

Camille is one of Luke's good friends they share a very beautiful relationship even though people say that they are dating but they are just keeping their relationship on the friendship level

"Camille's doing good," Luke answered with a smile. "She's been really busy with work, but I think she's doing better than ever. She's been working really hard on her thesis and is making good progress."

"That's nice to hear."

"Yeah, she's really smart and very dedicated to her work. I'm very proud of her, and I know she's going to do great things in the future."

"so are you guys like dating?"

"Oh, no," Luke was quick to reply, his tone turning a little bit embarrassed. "We're good friends, but we're not dating. We just get along well and we enjoy hanging out. But we're not romantically involved or anything like that."

"really..."

Nate said not believing what Luke said

Luke laughed at his brother's skepticism.

"Yes, really. We're just friends. It's nice to have a good female friend that you can talk to without any romantic involvement."

"But I thought you liked her, you know like have a crush on her"

Luke's face turned red as he realized how much his younger brother had noticed.

"Um, well, yeah, I guess I do have a small crush on her. But I'm not sure if she likes me in the same way, so I'm just trying to stay friends for now."

Nate laughed at the way his brother became so flustered at the slightest implication that he liked Camille. It was obvious that Luke had a thing for Camille, and Nate was enjoying seeing his older brother get all red and nervous."Oh, come on, you're blushing!" Nate laughed. "I can see right through you, Luke. I know you have a big crush on Camille. Just admit it already."

"Okay, okay, you got me," Luke admitted, still feeling a little self-conscious about his crush. "I do like Camille, and I think she's an amazing woman. But, like I said, I'm not sure if she likes me that way too. So I'm just trying to take it slow and see how things go."

"then why don't you invite her for family dinner on Saturday

You know since I'm inviting Jaxon why not invite her?"

Luke considered his younger brother's suggestion. He wasn't sure if he should invite Camille over for the family dinner on Saturday. On one hand, it might be a great way for Camille to get to know his family. On the other hand, it might be a little too much, too soon.

"so what do you think?"

"I'm not sure...it might be a little soon. The family dinner on Saturday is going to be a big deal, with the whole family coming over. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed by it all."

"But...I'll think about it," he added. "Maybe you're right and I should invite her. You're right, it makes sense since you're inviting your boyfriend over. It would only be fair for me to invite my girlfriend over too, right?

"soon to be girlfriend."

Nate corrected

"Soon to be girlfriend, yeah," Luke agreed with his younger brother. He felt nervous at the thought of inviting Camille over to the family dinner, but he knew his younger brother made a good point. If he wanted to make things official with Camille, this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce her to his family.

"But if you feel that you don't want her to be uncomfortable

You can take her on a date like

Just the two of you."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe I should take her out on a date before the family dinner. I could take her to a nice restaurant or something. It would make it easier after we've spent some time together already, instead of just diving right into the family dinner."

"see aren't I smart, but how about just bringing her as a plus one

Instead of your girlfriend

You know let things be official first before inviting her home."

"Hmm, that's a good idea too. Taking her as a plus one might be a little less...intimidating for her. I could take her as a plus one for the family dinner, then take her on a formal date after that. Then, I could ask her to be my girlfriend, and then I could officially introduce her to the rest of the family."

"Taking a big step are we."

Nate said as he laughed at his brother for being so lovey dovey

Luke laughed nervously at his younger brother's comment.

"Yeah I guess I am taking a big step right now. I'm already thinking about her as my future girlfriend, and it feels like I'm just rushing into this without thinking it through. It's just been awhile since I've dated anyone, so I'm a little rusty and I don't want to mess things up with Camille."

Nate looked ta his brother and smiled at him.

It has been long since he has seen him like this

"Don't worry you won't mess things up"

Luke smiled back at his younger brother, feeling a little relieved by his encouragement.

"I hope you're right. I really like Camille and I don't want this whole thing to blow up in my face. She's an amazing woman and I don't want to screw things up."

Luke thought for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed by how open he was about this whole situation. He hadn't meant to confide so much in his younger brother, but he did feel like he could trust Nate and that he had good advice.

The two brothers ended up chatting for awhile longer, and soon they looked over and realized that the sun was beginning to set. The light was getting softer and the sky was turning red and pink, casting a warm glow over the whole room. Luke was feeling more relaxed now, and he could feel a bit of the tension from earlier fading away.