Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~11~

The next day around half past three in the afternoon I left for Eva and Bas. I was just over halfway through when the clouds gathered above me and made the whole world almost dark. Oh shit, I forgot to check the weather forecast, and I was probably going to pay for that now.

Sure enough, less than a minute later it seemed as if the ocean above me was being emptied. The rain came pouring down. There was no point going back home because I was already half way through.

Then just cycle on. Luckily I had my rock music on my playlist, so that did help with cycling. In ten minutes I was at the toll booth. The guard probably knew I was coming, because he already opened the barrier when he saw me coming cycling.

I parked my bike against the stairs and quickly walked onto the porch. Fortunately, it's dry. I wrung out my hair, it made a puddle at my feet. I rang the bell and hoped someone would answer soon as it was quite cold.

The door opened and a surprised boy stood looking at me. It was Daan, I recognized him from the photo.

I had to swallow. He looked good in the photo, but he was even better in person. My, what a beautiful boy. He had the same black hair as Eva and Bas. It was longer than with Bas. His sporty quills stood up through the wax. He had large deep brown eyes with a small twinkle. Not as bad as with the twins, a little less. And he had dimples in his cheeks, even when he looked surprised he had very small dimples. He was certainly half a head taller than Bas. And he was muscular. Not like a bouncer in a disco, but just the right proportions. His black shirt was tight around his torso and his faded jeans hung loosely on his hips. Eva hadn't said this. But hey, you probably don't say that about your own brother either.

Before it got embarrassing to stare at him, I held out my hand.

"Hi, I'm Julia, a friend of Eva and Bas."

"Yes, that's what I thought, I recognized you from last week's photo. Only then were you less soaked." He laughed and shook my hand. His hand just glowed, but that was probably because my hand was cold and wet.

"I'm Daan, Eva and Bas' brother."

We looked at each other for a moment and then let go of our hands. He had a masculine voice with a rough husky edge, one that melts your heart.

He stepped back as a gesture for me to come inside.

"Eva and Bas aren't here. Some friends from last summer camp had a car accident and they heard about it this afternoon, so they're visiting with our parents."

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know, I think they were hit by a truck. But everyone is stable."

I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do. Shall I cycle back home? That was actually the last thing I wanted to do. As if he could read my mind.

"Come on, I'll get you some dry clothes." And he went up the stairs. I followed him. The stairs led to a very large landing, to which many doors opened. That just proved how big the house was.

He walked to the back door on the right. I followed him with a little uncertainty, not knowing if I was supposed to accompany him to his room. But judging by his attitude and the fact that he left the door open, I entered the room anyway.

It was a large room with three large windows. The rain fell hard against the windows. There was a large bed opposite the door we entered. The walls were blue, the rest of the light wooden coarse furniture was nicely coordinated. He opened a door and behind it was every woman's dream. A walk-in closet. He stepped inside and rummaged through his clothes a bit.

I secretly looked around his room. He had a cozy room. A real boys room. At the foot of the bed lay a large green duffel bag, which was still completely full. He probably hadn't been home long. On his bed he had a duvet cover of the American flag. There was a large comfortable cloth sofa in front of a table strewn with magazines, CDs and DVDs. The couch overlooked a large flat screen. Under the flat screen I saw a game console. In the other corner of his room was a large weight on the floor that he probably trained with when he was at home. There was a football and a basketball. That would mean that he loved outdoor sports. You almost had to do that if you went to work in the army. For the rest there were some posters and a few photos, but I didn't think it was appropriate to walk up to the photos and look at them at ease.

He came out of the wardrobe in gray sweatpants and a green

sweatshirt with the army logo. "It's too big, but better than wet

clothes." He shrugged his shoulders briefly.

"It's perfect, thank you." I took the clothes and looked at him gratefully. For a moment I looked around me questioningly. "There's the bathroom, I'll wait for

you." He gestured to the last door left in his room. I nodded, put my phone

and my bag on his bed and went to the bathroom. It was a spotless white

bathroom with shades of blue. There wasn't much in it, probably because he had

everything in the barracks. It smelled good, he must have showered already. I

looked at myself in the mirror for a moment. Luckily I had waterproof mascara

and the damage was not too bad. My hair started to fluff a little. I quickly

put it in a ponytail before it went all over the place. I took off my cold

sticky wet clothes and gratefully put on Daan's dry clothes. They smell great,

really like someone like Daan. Tough, masculine and beautiful. I grabbed my wet

clothes and went back to his bedroom. He stood with his broad back to me, he

turned and I saw that he was listening to my playlist. He had a smile on his

face. "Not bad."

"Thank you." I smiled back. I was probably wrong, but for a

moment he seemed to look at me. He walked over to me and handed me back my phone. Our hands touched again, which gave me a nice feeling. He took my wet

clothes and put them in a plastic bag. "Would you like a cup of coffee?

Something warm to warm up?" "I won't turn down a cup of tea." He

smiled and nodded. We walked to the huge kitchen. It was a very modern kitchen with all the trimmings. I would like to cook in this kitchen, I thought to myself.

He took a large mug and held it under a tap that was already boiling water. Look, that's some quick tea.

For himself he grabbed a beer from a huge fridge and sat down at the bar. I followed his lead and gratefully wrapped my hands around the warm mug.

"You haven't lived here long, have you?"

He looked at me questioningly.

"No, almost three weeks."

"Do you like it a bit?"

"It takes some getting used to, but I'm glad I got to know Eva and Bas."

He nodded and seemed to be thinking.

"I heard from Bas that you've been in the army since September. Can you get used to it a bit?"

He raised his shoulders.

"Yes, there are nice guys in my group. But it also takes getting used to. I'm used to a completely different lifestyle."

He was silent for a moment and seemed preoccupied with something. I hoped I wouldn't be the cause.

"Is it heavy? The training?", I asked him.

"Pretty much, but I can handle it."

Yes, I thought to myself. Judging by his body, he could indeed handle it. I always thought it was hard for myself emotionally. It probably helped that his mother was a psychiatrist, she could teach him how to deal in a subtle way with the things he will see or have to do.

"I think it will be a long time before Eva and Bas will be back. It was more than an hour and a half drive to the hospital alone. I don't think they will be there yet. But of course you can wait for them."

He looked at me for a moment.

I'd like to have a chat with Daan for a bit, but I didn't feel like having to cycle back in the dark and that rain. It was always a lot colder at night.

"That's sweet of you, but I think I'll cycle home before dark." I got the shivers just thinking about it. Without thinking, I looked outside, where the trees were raging with the wind and the rain splashing on the windows. Daan looked out too.

"Have you gone completely mad, I'll take you home. Your bike fits easily in my car."

He looked at me surprised.

"I'm not turning down that offer. Gladly."

"As soon as you finish your tea, we'll go, okay?"

"Okay." And I looked at him gratefully.

"Do you have anything planned for the weekend? You won't be seeing your friends that often, are you?"

"No indeed. But it helps that my friends have also all gone to college, so they are often home alone on weekends. Sometimes we meet, but not always." He seemed to be thinking about something.

I already knew he wouldn't expose himself so quickly. In that case he was different from Bas. He was very open, enthusiastic and direct. Daan really seemed to think before saying anything. But then again, that wasn't strange, he didn't know me at all, and I didn't know him. I always was a little bit in the background at first.

It helped that I already knew Eva and Bas. That gave me a familiar feeling. I had the feeling that once he knew and trusted you, he would be a friend for life. Someone who would walk through fire for you.

But of course I could be wrong.

"This is a quiet weekend. I just got home and have to go back to the barracks tomorrow evening. Before that, we all eat together first. But nothing planned for now. And you?"

I looked at him for a moment. He really had eyes that you could keep looking into. I tried to shake that thought off my mind. What was I thinking, he is the damn brother of Eva and Bas. They really wouldn't like it if I looked at him like that.

“Of course I'd stay here for dinner. I hadn't planned anything else either." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Shall we go? My tea is finished."

"Yes, that's okay." He drank the last of his beer and stood up.

"Come on, let's go ahead. I'll carry your bike to the garage."

He put on a gray coat and black leather Adidas sneakers and led the way to the porch. He set the alarm and ran into the rain. Like an accomplished military man, he grabbed my bike and ran to the garage diagonally behind the house. I quickly ran after him. It would have been a charming sight. Me in gray sweatpants with that green sweater and my brown leather boots coming out of them. I felt my heels sink into the grass. There has been a lot of rain in the last half hour. Luckily it was dry in the garage. The rain beat hard on the roof. There were two beautiful cars. A beautiful five-door silver Mercedes. One that looked like a sports car, but was still a family car. Next to it was a black Rangerover. A really tough bowl. It didn't surprise me that Daan walked to the Rangerover and put my bike in the trunk with ease.

"Nice car," I told him.

He looked at me with his dark brown eyes. Tiny droplets hung from his spines, falling one by one on his face. I tended to wipe the drops from his face. Damn, I really had to stop this.

"Thank you," he said uncomfortably.

He opened the passenger door like a real gentleman and I got in a bit clumsily. Not used to the Rangerover's high step. He got in without a problem on the driver's side.

"Okay, where to?"

'I live on Eikenlaan, in the tree-lined neighborhood.'

"I know where to find it," he said, and the car came to life with a growling engine. When we pulled out of the garage you could barely see a hand in front of your eyes. No matter how well the wipers did their job, the visibility was truly atrocious. The rain was the only thing visible through the large headlights.

“Jesus, what a weather. If it's irresponsible to drive, we'll just stay at your house," I told him.

He looked to the side and started laughing. He had a warm smile. With a rough edge, just like his voice.

"That's sweet of you, but it'll work." He smiled again for a moment. His dimples in his cheeks grew before my eyes. I smiled back at him.

"What do I know about it? I've never been behind a wheel before," I told him, waving my hand and a little embarrassed.

"When will you be seventeen?"

"January 22. So I can take lessons soon. I really don't hate cycling, but in the winter I regularly curse it. But hey, my bike takes me everywhere, I can't live without it."

Geez, I could kick myself. What a stupid chatter came out of my mouth. I didn't know myself that way at all, at least not since last spring. As soon as I thought about it, the sadness in my heart seemed to multiply.

I shook my head and looked outside.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

I looked around and saw that he was studying my face.

"Oh... I'm just rambling on." I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not really used to myself anymore." I looked at him uncertainty.

He gave me a small smile, revealing his dimples in his cheeks and giving his eyes a warm glow. "I like it." Now he was the one who shrugged.

I felt the heat come over my face, luckily it was getting dark and hopefully he didn't see my blushes. I almost wanted to say that I liked him too, but luckily I was able to keep that to myself.

"Lucky," I said with a small smile.

I looked outside again. The rain was still pouring down from the sky. It was a gloomy sight. The twilight and the dark clouds. The sun that had shone this afternoon had no chance at all to share its last rays with us. I found it annoying that the sun was shining less and less.

I could have enjoyed the sun all summer, but didn't. But now I realized I needed it anyway.

With the weather getting worse and dark earlier, it was all even more gloomy. I still remember well last year when the weather turned to going shopping with my mother for the winter. We bought new slippers and plaids for when we were cozy on the couch. Candles and other cozy things to make it homey with the bad weather. Now I would spend most of the evenings alone in that big house while my father was at work.

Suddenly I could burst out crying. I realized that I would never again have a cup of tea on a cold winter evening with mom in front of the fireplace. I know I couldn't do anything more with mom. But sometimes I suddenly got tired of it. No, I had to get this out of myself. I had to push it away from myself. Especially now that I was in the car with Daan.

What would he think? That I was some unstable girl. No, I had to keep reminding myself that I was a strong young woman.

I had to give meaning to the rest of my life myself.

And if I didn't want to be home alone on cold winter evenings, that would mean doing something about it myself. I had to meet up with friends more often and go out more often. Yes, I should. And I had to start with that tonight.

I made a strong fist so that I felt my nails in the palm of my hand. I really had to gather some courage. Yes, I could.

I turned and looked at Dean.

"Would you like to do something fun tonight?"

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