FIC: WHEN OUR FRAMES COLLIDE 10b/16
Title: When Our Frames Collide
Chapter: 10b/16 - Where Have You Been, My Blue-Eyed Son?
Author: carolinablu85. or you can call me Ella! (or you can call me Al, if you like the song...)
Characters: Luke/Noah, Lily, the Miller family, Holden, Emma, Marcus, Ethan, Natalie, Maddie, Jade (oh my god, I did a whole chapter without Casey?! What?!)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: sequel to my fic "Sins of the Father," refers to lots of things that happened in that story, takes place a few months later!
Summary: The Snyders meet the Millers, Noah talks to Marcus, Luke talks to Maddie, CLIFFHANGER!
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: This chapter's title is brought to you by the song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" by Bob Dylan (though Jason Mraz does a surprisingly awesome cover too!)
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10a /
Luke scrambled for his phone, diving through comforters and discarded clothes to find it. “Hello?” he answered without checking the screen, out of breath and quiet.
“Oh crap. I didn’t call you in the middle of sex, did I?”
Luke groaned softly, climbing out of bed and slipping out of the room so Noah wouldn’t wake up. “Jesus, Maddie, do you think I would have answered in the middle of sex?”
She laughed. “Touché, Snyder. You busy right now?”
“It’s almost midnight, Coleman, I was asleep,” he dropped onto the couch, getting comfortable. “Why aren’t you?”
“I’m a college student! We keep all kinds of crazy hours,” she sighed dramatically. “Well, most of us, anyway. That do-gooder boyfriend of yours? That’s a horse of a different color.”
Luke frowned, rubbing his eyes. “You called me to quote The Wizard of Oz?”
She got serious. “Actually, I called to ask about that do-gooder boyfriend. And the newfound family.”
“What about them?” Luke grew a little wary.
“What are they like? Do we like them? Are they nice, evil, Cylons, what? Come on, I just had two Red Bulls. Give me the scoop.” He could picture Maddie bouncing around with her cell phone.
“Your boyfriend just met them a few days ago, why don’t you ask him?” he stalled.
There was a pause. A very, very long pause. “Actually, Hunter and I are no longer boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“What?” Luke sat up straight, remembering at the last second to keep his voice down.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “It wasn’t a bad breakup or anything, there wasn’t even a fight-”
“What happened?” he asked, worried. “When?”
“Luke, I promise, this was a good thing. We came to a mutual decision. The long distance and everything. And we’re just… we’ve known for awhile now that we’re better of as friends. Good friends, great even. But it was never going to be ‘love’ for either of us,” she shrugged, Luke could hear it over the phone.
He thought over her words, listening for any hint of a lie. But there was none. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Totally, I swear,” she responded confidently. “Now quit asking about my ex-boyfriend and let’s talk about your real one.”
Luke sighed. “I’m really not the best person to give an unbiased opinion.”
“Why? What’s wrong? What did they do?” Maddie nearly jumped through the connection.
“Nothing, Maddie, they haven’t done anything wrong,” he had to rush to mollify. “It’s just this feeling I have. I’m worried that the Millers are, I don’t know, hiding something. Or maybe they’re good people, but just so happy to have Noah back that they’re ignoring how they really feel? It’s…” he trailed off with a sigh. He really was going crazy, wasn’t he?
“Hon, just to play devil’s advocate here,” Maddie ventured. “Is it maybe slightly possible you just don’t want to share Noah with other people? You’ve had him pretty exclusively for a couple years.”
“It’s not sharing I’m worried about, Madds. It’s losing him.” He sat up again, fighting against falling asleep on the couch. “And he’s trying so hard to make this all work. I feel like crap because I’m encouraging him to put himself out there, and bond with these people, while I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Are you sure there even is another shoe?” Maddie pointed out.
“No,” he admitted. “But I’d rather be prepared just in case.” He sensed her open her mouth to tease him, all the way from Connecticut. “And don’t make any jokes about Boy Scouts.”
“Damn,” she muttered. “You ruined my closer.”
“Good night Maddie,” he got up, heading back to the bedroom.
“Night Luke. Tell that other Boy Scout in your apartment I’ll call him soon, okay?”
“Yes ma’am,” Luke hung up, dropped his phone on his bedside table, and crawled back into bed. Noah cracked one eye open, hummed sleepily, and then lifted an arm so Luke could scoot in close to him. He was already back asleep by the time Luke settled back against his chest. Luke took that arm and wrapped it around himself, kissing his hand, smiling when Noah unconsciously folded in even closer.
This was what it was about, Luke had to remind himself. Sometimes he got a little carried away looking for trouble when there was none. He’d learn his lesson one of these days, right?
************
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us they broke up!” Jade exclaimed, indignant. She held the door open for both Luke and Noah, their arms full of Al’s takeout, then headed for her car.
Luke shrugged as best he could with his arms loaded down. Friday Night Dinner had become Monday Night dinner this week, and getting enough burgers and fries for eight people was a slightly daunting task. “I think it just happened, maybe Hunter wasn’t ready.”
“Or maybe he thought we wouldn’t be friends with him anymore if he wasn’t Maddie’s boyfriend,” Noah suggested, following behind them.
“Is there anything we can do to show him that’s not true?” Luke turned to look over his shoulder at his boyfriend.
Noah grinned at him triumphantly. “Already taken care of. I sent Casey over to Hunter’s apartment an hour ago with pizza and beer.”
Luke laughed even as he glanced over at his cousin to see her reaction. Jade caught his look, held up a hand. “I do not- repeat: do not- want to talk about what is or isn’t happening between me and Casey. Got it?”
“Got it,” Luke would have held up a hand too, if his weren’t full of food. “Change of subject?”
“Please,” she nodded.
He grimaced. “Well, I still haven’t found any proof on Damian. I’ve spent the past two weeks keeping quiet and out of trouble, but unless I can find a way to talk to the Port Authority guys or get into their offices-”
“No way,” both Noah and Jade cut in. Noah continued, “You are not putting yourself in the line of fire with this. Best thing you can do is get out of it all together.”
“He’s right, Luke,” Jade chimed in. “It’s not worth it to get pulled down into Damian’s mess.”
Luke grumbled. “But if he’s doing something wrong, I want him to get caught. And if he’s not doing something wrong, I need to know that too.”
“Statistical probability says he’s doing something wrong,” Jade replied. “It’s not your job to see him brought to justice, Luke. All you’ll end up doing is get yourself into trouble. I know he’s your bio-dad and all, but he’s not worth it.” She unlocked her car, helping the guys load the food in. “Speaking of family,” she turned to Noah, “what’s the latest on yours?” A pointed look at Luke. “That was me, changing the subject again.”
“Nice,” he snarked back, running for the passenger seat. “Shotgun!”
Noah sighed wearily. “Man, I barely fit in the backseat!”
Luke grinned as he took the winner’s seat. “You should have thought of that earlier. Standard shotgun rules, I called it first.”
Noah did the only thing he could do- stuck out his tongue at Luke- and tried to make himself comfortable in the backseat as Jade started the car. “The family’s fine,” he went back to Jade’s question.
“How long are they staying in Oakdale?” she asked curiously. Luke forced himself not to spin around and look to Noah for the answer. It was a question he had been wondering too.
“They’re not sure,” Noah replied. “Eric is a teacher and he took the whole semester off, just in case. It’s pretty open-ended, I think.” He shrugged. “They know I’m in school and don’t want to mess up my schedule and all that.”
“And when the semester’s over?” Jade kept questioning.
Another shrug. “No idea yet. Last time we had dinner they mentioned maybe me coming with them to Augusta sometime in the summer, just to visit.”
“What?” Luke did look over his shoulder this time. “When did this happen?”
Noah looked back at him, confused. “Nothing’s happened. Saturday was the first time they even thought of it.”
“And when were you going to tell me?” Luke persisted.
Noah was still looking at him like he was crazy. “There’s nothing to tell. And if it had become an actual idea, you know you’d be the first person I tell. Come on Luke, what’s going on?”
He opened and closed his mouth a few times. “I… I’m worried. About them.”
“About the Millers?” Noah stumbled a little on the question.
Luke winced. “Yeah. I just… I’m sorry, I just don’t know if I trust them yet. And how they react to you being-”
“They know I’m gay, Luke. They’re okay with it. They’re okay with me,” Noah’s voice turned pleading. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t think they’re as great as they seem,” he insisted. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Noah turned to look out the window, at the town as they drove through, obviously centering himself. “I… I finally might have a family. That treats me like I deserve to be a part of it. Why are you trying to make it worse than it is?”
Luke felt himself get a little defensive at that, he couldn’t help it. You already have a family that treats you that way! But knowing that wouldn’t help, and knowing Jade wouldn’t help either (she had her eyes fixed determinedly on the road in front of her), he tried another tactic. “It’s not that I’m trying to make it worse, I’m just going by history here.”
Oh. So not the right thing to say, Snyder.
“You’re going by history?” Noah repeated. “My history, is that what you’re saying?”
“Noah…”
“No, Luke, that’s what you mean, isn’t it?” Noah’s voice had hardened, getting defensive on his own. “Anyone who’s related to me must be evil, right? That’s what history has shown. No one in their right mind would ever really want to be tied down to me. Right?”
“No,” Luke said firmly, willing himself to stay calm, look Noah in the eyes. “No, Noah, that’s not right.” He held Noah’s gaze, waiting for Noah to relax, before continuing. “I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean it that way. I shouldn’t have… You’re going to have to suffer through me being a little overly worried for awhile, okay?” Quieter. “You know I want you to be happy more than anything, that’s why I act so crazy.”
Noah calmed down finally, leaning forward a little to rest his head in his hands. “I know. I’m sorry Luke, I didn’t mean to…” he shook his head without looking up. “Sometimes, it’s just not fair that-”
It came out of nowhere.
Luke wasn’t really sure what had happened, but everything suddenly jolted like he was on a bumper car. Instinctively he turned back around to face front but couldn’t recognize anything out the window, things were moving too fast and too hectic, like the car was driving in all directions at the same time. And the world was spinning and Jade was yelling something and glass seemed to be flying everywhere, and it was all so chaotic that the darkness taking over was almost a relief.
It only took less than a minute. When it was over, there was nothing left but a small, mangled car on its back. No movement except for one scorched tire spinning aimlessly in the air.
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Sarah is put to work, Casey and Alison finally talk, one family is at odds with another, someone is forced to leave Oakdale...
Chapter: 10b/16 - Where Have You Been, My Blue-Eyed Son?
Author: carolinablu85. or you can call me Ella! (or you can call me Al, if you like the song...)
Characters: Luke/Noah, Lily, the Miller family, Holden, Emma, Marcus, Ethan, Natalie, Maddie, Jade (oh my god, I did a whole chapter without Casey?! What?!)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: sequel to my fic "Sins of the Father," refers to lots of things that happened in that story, takes place a few months later!
Summary: The Snyders meet the Millers, Noah talks to Marcus, Luke talks to Maddie, CLIFFHANGER!
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: This chapter's title is brought to you by the song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" by Bob Dylan (though Jason Mraz does a surprisingly awesome cover too!)
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10a /
Luke scrambled for his phone, diving through comforters and discarded clothes to find it. “Hello?” he answered without checking the screen, out of breath and quiet.
“Oh crap. I didn’t call you in the middle of sex, did I?”
Luke groaned softly, climbing out of bed and slipping out of the room so Noah wouldn’t wake up. “Jesus, Maddie, do you think I would have answered in the middle of sex?”
She laughed. “Touché, Snyder. You busy right now?”
“It’s almost midnight, Coleman, I was asleep,” he dropped onto the couch, getting comfortable. “Why aren’t you?”
“I’m a college student! We keep all kinds of crazy hours,” she sighed dramatically. “Well, most of us, anyway. That do-gooder boyfriend of yours? That’s a horse of a different color.”
Luke frowned, rubbing his eyes. “You called me to quote The Wizard of Oz?”
She got serious. “Actually, I called to ask about that do-gooder boyfriend. And the newfound family.”
“What about them?” Luke grew a little wary.
“What are they like? Do we like them? Are they nice, evil, Cylons, what? Come on, I just had two Red Bulls. Give me the scoop.” He could picture Maddie bouncing around with her cell phone.
“Your boyfriend just met them a few days ago, why don’t you ask him?” he stalled.
There was a pause. A very, very long pause. “Actually, Hunter and I are no longer boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“What?” Luke sat up straight, remembering at the last second to keep his voice down.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “It wasn’t a bad breakup or anything, there wasn’t even a fight-”
“What happened?” he asked, worried. “When?”
“Luke, I promise, this was a good thing. We came to a mutual decision. The long distance and everything. And we’re just… we’ve known for awhile now that we’re better of as friends. Good friends, great even. But it was never going to be ‘love’ for either of us,” she shrugged, Luke could hear it over the phone.
He thought over her words, listening for any hint of a lie. But there was none. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Totally, I swear,” she responded confidently. “Now quit asking about my ex-boyfriend and let’s talk about your real one.”
Luke sighed. “I’m really not the best person to give an unbiased opinion.”
“Why? What’s wrong? What did they do?” Maddie nearly jumped through the connection.
“Nothing, Maddie, they haven’t done anything wrong,” he had to rush to mollify. “It’s just this feeling I have. I’m worried that the Millers are, I don’t know, hiding something. Or maybe they’re good people, but just so happy to have Noah back that they’re ignoring how they really feel? It’s…” he trailed off with a sigh. He really was going crazy, wasn’t he?
“Hon, just to play devil’s advocate here,” Maddie ventured. “Is it maybe slightly possible you just don’t want to share Noah with other people? You’ve had him pretty exclusively for a couple years.”
“It’s not sharing I’m worried about, Madds. It’s losing him.” He sat up again, fighting against falling asleep on the couch. “And he’s trying so hard to make this all work. I feel like crap because I’m encouraging him to put himself out there, and bond with these people, while I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Are you sure there even is another shoe?” Maddie pointed out.
“No,” he admitted. “But I’d rather be prepared just in case.” He sensed her open her mouth to tease him, all the way from Connecticut. “And don’t make any jokes about Boy Scouts.”
“Damn,” she muttered. “You ruined my closer.”
“Good night Maddie,” he got up, heading back to the bedroom.
“Night Luke. Tell that other Boy Scout in your apartment I’ll call him soon, okay?”
“Yes ma’am,” Luke hung up, dropped his phone on his bedside table, and crawled back into bed. Noah cracked one eye open, hummed sleepily, and then lifted an arm so Luke could scoot in close to him. He was already back asleep by the time Luke settled back against his chest. Luke took that arm and wrapped it around himself, kissing his hand, smiling when Noah unconsciously folded in even closer.
This was what it was about, Luke had to remind himself. Sometimes he got a little carried away looking for trouble when there was none. He’d learn his lesson one of these days, right?
************
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us they broke up!” Jade exclaimed, indignant. She held the door open for both Luke and Noah, their arms full of Al’s takeout, then headed for her car.
Luke shrugged as best he could with his arms loaded down. Friday Night Dinner had become Monday Night dinner this week, and getting enough burgers and fries for eight people was a slightly daunting task. “I think it just happened, maybe Hunter wasn’t ready.”
“Or maybe he thought we wouldn’t be friends with him anymore if he wasn’t Maddie’s boyfriend,” Noah suggested, following behind them.
“Is there anything we can do to show him that’s not true?” Luke turned to look over his shoulder at his boyfriend.
Noah grinned at him triumphantly. “Already taken care of. I sent Casey over to Hunter’s apartment an hour ago with pizza and beer.”
Luke laughed even as he glanced over at his cousin to see her reaction. Jade caught his look, held up a hand. “I do not- repeat: do not- want to talk about what is or isn’t happening between me and Casey. Got it?”
“Got it,” Luke would have held up a hand too, if his weren’t full of food. “Change of subject?”
“Please,” she nodded.
He grimaced. “Well, I still haven’t found any proof on Damian. I’ve spent the past two weeks keeping quiet and out of trouble, but unless I can find a way to talk to the Port Authority guys or get into their offices-”
“No way,” both Noah and Jade cut in. Noah continued, “You are not putting yourself in the line of fire with this. Best thing you can do is get out of it all together.”
“He’s right, Luke,” Jade chimed in. “It’s not worth it to get pulled down into Damian’s mess.”
Luke grumbled. “But if he’s doing something wrong, I want him to get caught. And if he’s not doing something wrong, I need to know that too.”
“Statistical probability says he’s doing something wrong,” Jade replied. “It’s not your job to see him brought to justice, Luke. All you’ll end up doing is get yourself into trouble. I know he’s your bio-dad and all, but he’s not worth it.” She unlocked her car, helping the guys load the food in. “Speaking of family,” she turned to Noah, “what’s the latest on yours?” A pointed look at Luke. “That was me, changing the subject again.”
“Nice,” he snarked back, running for the passenger seat. “Shotgun!”
Noah sighed wearily. “Man, I barely fit in the backseat!”
Luke grinned as he took the winner’s seat. “You should have thought of that earlier. Standard shotgun rules, I called it first.”
Noah did the only thing he could do- stuck out his tongue at Luke- and tried to make himself comfortable in the backseat as Jade started the car. “The family’s fine,” he went back to Jade’s question.
“How long are they staying in Oakdale?” she asked curiously. Luke forced himself not to spin around and look to Noah for the answer. It was a question he had been wondering too.
“They’re not sure,” Noah replied. “Eric is a teacher and he took the whole semester off, just in case. It’s pretty open-ended, I think.” He shrugged. “They know I’m in school and don’t want to mess up my schedule and all that.”
“And when the semester’s over?” Jade kept questioning.
Another shrug. “No idea yet. Last time we had dinner they mentioned maybe me coming with them to Augusta sometime in the summer, just to visit.”
“What?” Luke did look over his shoulder this time. “When did this happen?”
Noah looked back at him, confused. “Nothing’s happened. Saturday was the first time they even thought of it.”
“And when were you going to tell me?” Luke persisted.
Noah was still looking at him like he was crazy. “There’s nothing to tell. And if it had become an actual idea, you know you’d be the first person I tell. Come on Luke, what’s going on?”
He opened and closed his mouth a few times. “I… I’m worried. About them.”
“About the Millers?” Noah stumbled a little on the question.
Luke winced. “Yeah. I just… I’m sorry, I just don’t know if I trust them yet. And how they react to you being-”
“They know I’m gay, Luke. They’re okay with it. They’re okay with me,” Noah’s voice turned pleading. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t think they’re as great as they seem,” he insisted. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Noah turned to look out the window, at the town as they drove through, obviously centering himself. “I… I finally might have a family. That treats me like I deserve to be a part of it. Why are you trying to make it worse than it is?”
Luke felt himself get a little defensive at that, he couldn’t help it. You already have a family that treats you that way! But knowing that wouldn’t help, and knowing Jade wouldn’t help either (she had her eyes fixed determinedly on the road in front of her), he tried another tactic. “It’s not that I’m trying to make it worse, I’m just going by history here.”
Oh. So not the right thing to say, Snyder.
“You’re going by history?” Noah repeated. “My history, is that what you’re saying?”
“Noah…”
“No, Luke, that’s what you mean, isn’t it?” Noah’s voice had hardened, getting defensive on his own. “Anyone who’s related to me must be evil, right? That’s what history has shown. No one in their right mind would ever really want to be tied down to me. Right?”
“No,” Luke said firmly, willing himself to stay calm, look Noah in the eyes. “No, Noah, that’s not right.” He held Noah’s gaze, waiting for Noah to relax, before continuing. “I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean it that way. I shouldn’t have… You’re going to have to suffer through me being a little overly worried for awhile, okay?” Quieter. “You know I want you to be happy more than anything, that’s why I act so crazy.”
Noah calmed down finally, leaning forward a little to rest his head in his hands. “I know. I’m sorry Luke, I didn’t mean to…” he shook his head without looking up. “Sometimes, it’s just not fair that-”
It came out of nowhere.
Luke wasn’t really sure what had happened, but everything suddenly jolted like he was on a bumper car. Instinctively he turned back around to face front but couldn’t recognize anything out the window, things were moving too fast and too hectic, like the car was driving in all directions at the same time. And the world was spinning and Jade was yelling something and glass seemed to be flying everywhere, and it was all so chaotic that the darkness taking over was almost a relief.
It only took less than a minute. When it was over, there was nothing left but a small, mangled car on its back. No movement except for one scorched tire spinning aimlessly in the air.
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Sarah is put to work, Casey and Alison finally talk, one family is at odds with another, someone is forced to leave Oakdale...