When Leon got home from work that night, Luke and him worked on getting the guest room set up for Raina. Every time she tried to help, the guys just told her no and pushed her out. She decided that since they would not let her help, she was going to make dinner. Cooking was not really her strong suit. In reality, she only knew how to cook a couple of things besides box meals. Even so, she was trying her best to make a home cooked meal for the guys. After about an hour, Leon and Luke could be heard coming to the kitchen from the hallway. Raina turned toward their voices. Luke and Leon both went silent when they came into the kitchen. All of a sudden, the silence broke from Luke, starting to laugh uncontrollably. Then he pulled out his phone and waved it around.
"Should I call in a pizza??" Luke asked, grinning from ear to ear. Leon rubbed his forehead a bit. Raina stared at them both with a questioning look. "You got a little something on your face.." Luke said as he pointed to his cheek. Raina had flour all over her and the kitchen. She wiped her face but completely missed the spot. Both the guys went to help her, but Luke made it to her first as he pulled part of his shirt up to wipe her face off. Leon turned, realizing Luke was already to her and threw away the napkin he had dampened with water. Raina could not help but giggle a bit. Giggling over the years had become what she would do when she was caught off guard and did not know what to do.
"I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and baked beans..." Raina said, looking at the guys for a reaction with a big smile on her face. The guys looked at her, then at the half burned food, and then back at each other.
"It looks great..." Leon spoke softly, trying not to be caught in the lie. Then he gave Raina a reassuring smile. Raina smiled back and turned to make their plates. Leon began to sit down as Luke tapped his arm.
"Are we really gonna try to eat this???" Luke whispered to him. Leon gave a nod. "And what if we die?" Luke added. Leon shook his head.
"Brother, I have seen you eat far worse many times..." Leon whispered. They both sat waiting as Raina sat the plates down in front of them. Leon was the first of the two to try the food. It was obvious it was burnt, and now the immense overpowering taste of salt made Leon want to cough. He was somehow able to keep it in. "It's delicious." Leon choked out. Luke seemed hesitant to try it, sensing his brother was hiding the truth. Luke looked at Raina to see she was smiling ear to ear. Not wanting her smile to fade, Luke finally gulped down a bite. Raina smiled at him and then tried the food herself. She instantly began to cough.
"Oh my gosh...how in the..." Raina said as she grabbed her pop, trying to wash out the taste. It was horrible! She felt horrible. The meal was supposed to be a thank you, but it was uneatable!! "I'm so sorry, guys!!! I was just trying to be nice, and thank you guys for everything and this... this is just disgusting!! Please, please don't force yourselves to eat it!"
"Oh, thank god!!" Luke said, setting his fork down. He now to was scrambling for his drink. "I'm sorry, Raina! I love you, but damn!! That's awful!" he exclaimed as he chugged down his drink. He could see tears starting to form in her eyes.
"It's ok, Raina. The sentiment was there, and we appreciate it. You really didn't need to do anything for us..." Leon said as he stood up. He walked over to Raina and ruffled her hair. "You did good... come on, we'll order in. In the meantime, let's go look at your room." Raina got up and followed Leon to the guest room. Meanwhile, Luke pulled out his phone and ordered dinner. He then stared at the kitchen, and a sigh escaped his lips. He might as well clean it up before their food got there.
Leon and Raina walked into the guest room. It was now all cleaned up, and her stuff had already been moved in. She moved over to the window. The view out it was pretty. You could see the stables and the animals. Raina let out a sigh and wiped her eyes. The tears had begun to fall more. Before Leon had even noticed it, he was beside her. Then he lifted his hand and wiped her tears. What was it about this girl that made him want to protect her? Her deep blue eyes seemed to penetrate into his soul. Quickly, he snapped back to reality when he realized she was talking to him.
"...I can't thank you guys enough... neither of you have to do anything for me, but yet you do it all." Raina said in a bit of a whisper. Leon moved closer for a split second but then dropped his hand from her face and stepped back.
"Don't worry about it... we're family." Leon said as he headed out of the room. Raina stared after him a bit. It always feels like when she gets closer to him, she's also another million miles away. Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. It was the picture. The one she had originally found in his room. It was the camping trip. She picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then sat it down. Might as well see if dinner was close or if she had time to do the evening animal chores. When she got back out to the kitchen, she found Leon sitting at the table reading. The kitchen was completely clean. Luke must have done it... There was no way Leon could have since he had been with her.
"Where's Luke at??" Raina asked him. Leon did not even look up and just pointed towards the door. Luke must have gone to start the chores. Raina quickly put her boots on and went out to help. It was somewhat beginning to bug her that they would just go do it without her. They could at least let her do her own work. She quickly ran out the door.
When she came to the stalls, she was amazed to see most of the chores had already been done. It had only been about an hour since they tried to eat her horrible dinner, and he had not only cleaned the kitchen but had most of the chores done. She finally found him tending to Artemis.
"Luke, how in the world did you get all of this done already??" Raina called out as she came around the corner. He had somewhere along the way stripped his shirt and now stood only in his jeans and boots. She could not help but stare at him a bit. "You know you should really keep your shirt on in case..." Raina trailed off as he held it up. There was a tear down the side of it.
"Yeah, I got caught on the fence when I brought the horses in from the pasture." he said as he sat it back on the gat. Raina gave him a questioning look since where the gate was to bring the horses in was a smooth metal gate and wood on the sides. "I hopped in over the side, and it caught a nail..." he answered. Raina laughed a bit at his answer.
"There's a gate for a reason, ya know..." Raina said as she laughed. Luke nodded as he scooped water out of Artemis troph and flung it at Raina. She was surprised at how much water had actually reached her. "Oh... oh, is that how it is now?!" Raina said as she began to walk away. Luke leaned to look out of the gate. He could not see her until she emerged from around the corner with a hose. Raina began to spray at him as he scrambled through the gate to catch her. Luke and Raina moved back and forth, trying to decide which way to go. Finally, Raina decided her best bet was to lose the hose and run for it. She dropped the hose and ran for it out the stable doors. Luke, however, was faster and caught up to her and picked her up over his shoulder. Her squirming caused him to lose balance he quickly moved, so he would take most of the blow of hitting the ground. He let out a groan as they went rolling on the ground. They were both laughing as Raina pushed off him to sit up. Luke pushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear. Raina's laughing stopped, and she stared at him with them blue eyes. Realizing he was making the moment awkward, he pushed her off him and began tickling her as he tried to squirm out of reach. Then there was a booming voice coming from the house. They both were now standing and turned to see Leon waving them both in. The food must have been there. Raina was the first to start heading towards the house. Luke kicked at the ground a bit as he went back to the stables to turn everything off for the night. Then slowly made his way to the house.