Drabble #3
Title: The Fight
Author:sunalsosets
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,221
Pairings: Luke/Noah
Summary: Luke and Noah have a fight that leads to a discussion of something deeper.
Comments: I don't know if this qualifies as a drabble considering it's over 2,000 words but there you have it. Also, I have no clue how it ended up being this long.
The Fight
Luke could smell the faint aroma of spices as he hustled quickly through the front door. A feeling of guilt immediately washed over him.
He’d called Noah to let him know he would be running really late and that even if he was going to try really hard to get out of the conference call he was on as quickly as possible, he probably wouldn’t make it home in time for dinner. It certainly wasn't the worse crime but “Friday Night Dinner” had been his brilliant idea.
Just a few months after settling into California, Luke had quickly realized that with everything they had going on, it would be too easy for them to lose track of each other. After all, it had happened once before, when he’d first started working full time for Damian and Noah had started working on his final senior project.
Days went by which quickly turned into weeks and before they both knew it, they could barely remember the last time they’d had a conversation that had lasted more than five minutes, or shared an entire meal or been intimate in any way that didn’t include a 10-minute quickie wherever they could manage it.
And it was that emotional distance that had made it so easy for Mason Jar to slither in and create doubts in Luke’s head, eventually leading to the darkest period of their relationship. Luke knew he couldn’t let that happen to them again. Couldn't allow them to slip away from each other without their even knowing it until it was too late.
And with that in mind, he'd come up with the idea of a weekly “Friday Night Dinner”. The plan was that no matter how busy they were, no matter what was going on…school, work, etc. it would all be put aside for this one night. One night, every week, they would eat, talk, laugh, shut the rest of the world away and just be with each other.
And they’d both religiously stuck to the plan, no matter how difficult some nights were with all the commitments they both had…until this night. Luke was just on his way out of the office when his assistant/secretary informed him that Warren Davis was on the phone.
Mr. Davis was an extremely wealthy billionaire who spent much of that fortune on philanthropic ventures. The Foundation had been trying to work out some kind of arrangement with him for months, since he was also one of the rare billionaire philanthropists who gave much of his fortune to LGBT causes. Unfortunately, he was also an extremely busy man whose time was very valuable.
Luke had hesitated, practically out the door. However, he thought about the Foundation, thought about what this could mean for it and the work they did but more importantly he thought about what it could mean for all the lives they saved. And with that, he walked back in his office to take the call.
***
He found Noah in the kitchen storing away the last of the food while simultaneously loading the dishwasher.
Laying his side-bag and the stack of books and papers in his hand on the table, he slowly slid up behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. For some odd reason, he could swear he felt Noah stiffen slightly but decided he was probably imagining things.
Still, just in case Noah was a little upset about his missing dinner, he laid a soft kiss to the back of his neck before whispering softly, “I’m sorry I missed dinner,” adding, “it smells delicious.”
Noah remained silent for a few seconds before finally mumbling, “It smelled a lot better two hours ago.”
And with that comment, he slowly pulled out of Luke’s embrace. Before Luke even had a chance to react to that, much less respond, Noah turned on him with accusing eyes, snapping out, “What call was so important that you couldn’t put it off for one night. I mean this whole thing was your stupid idea anyway.”
Stunned, Luke whispered, “what?” Then in a clearly hurt voice, he added, “Did you just call our Friday Night Dinners, ‘a stupid idea’?”
Staring down at the kitchen floor, determinedly avoiding Luke’s eyes, Noah fidgeted slightly, digging his hand around his pockets before finally muttering, “I need to go walk Hemmingway.”
Hemmingway was the 2-year old rescue dog they’d adopted from the local animal shelter. They’d had a coin toss to decide who would get to name him and with a name like Hemmingway, it was obvious Luke had won.
“No, you don’t get to say something like that and walk off in the middle of the discussion.” Luke snapped.
Looking genuinely sorry for his comment, Noah mumbled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that”.
Mollified, Luke gently reached for Noah’s arm, before saying, “ It’s okay and I’m really sorry too. You’re right, this was my idea and you have to believe me baby, if it wasn’t really, really important, I would have been here.”
For some reason however, this turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Pulling his hand away a little harshly, Noah snapped out, “what, as opposed to the stuff that I have going on which is not as important?”
“What,” Luke asked, confusion written all over his face. “That is not what I meant.”
“I mean I may not be running some major Foundation but my classes, my job and not to mention all the crap I have to do for my assistantship is pretty damned important to me.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
“The whole point of this dinner thing was supposed to be that nothing and no one was more important than you and me and our relationship. At least that’s what it means to me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Luke was spared an answer as they were interrupted at that exact moment by Hemmingway’s whining coming through the sliding doors leading out onto the porch deck. Seizing upon the interruption as an escape, Noah moved around Luke’s body, carefully avoiding his eyes as he headed towards the porch.
By this point, Luke’s emotions had ran the gamut from hurt and confusion to now just pure anger.
“Hey,” he yelled out loudly at Noah’s retreating back.
He wasn’t sure it would work but after a few tense seconds, Noah stopped and turned to face him, sighing before saying in what sounded like an exhausted voice, “what?”
“What is your problem,” Luke asked angrily. “I called and said I’d be late, I apologized, you know if there was any way I could be here I would.”
Some of the anger slowly edging out of his voice, he added softly, “what is going on, why are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“I’m not,” Noah said but the denial sounded fake and a little forced to both of them. Running a hand through his hair, looking like he was having some kind of internal struggle with himself, he eventually turned away, avoiding Luke’s hurt and confused stare as he repeated his earlier statement.
“I have to go walk Hemmingway. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
And with that, he was gone.
Luke remained rooted to his spot in the kitchen wondering what the hell just happened and what the hell was going on with his boyfriend.
***
The walk with Hemmingway lasted almost two hours.
Luke laid in bed trying to read a novel for his Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture class. He’d been trying to read it for the past hour but hadn’t gotten past two pages at best.
He listened quietly as Noah puttered around the living room, then the kitchen and finally heading towards the bedroom. He walked in silently, not saying a word to Luke before eventually heading straight for the bathroom.
Luke silently observed him, just waiting, hoping that he’d say something to explain what was going on because frankly, Luke had no clue. Finally, after what felt like forever but actually turned out to be a few minutes, Noah slowly walked out of the bathroom, eventually easing down gently on the edge of the bed.
He stared wordlessly at the floor for a few tense moments before finally looking up and staring Luke squarely in the eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Okay…” Luke had a feeling there was more and was willing to wait.
“You were right. I was trying to pick a fight with you because it was easier than just talking to you about what was really bothering me.”
“Which is what?” Luke asked. He’d flipped the covers back and crawled down to meet Noah at the foot of the bed. Tentatively, he ran his hand down Noah’s back, “honey, what’s going on?”
Taking a deep breath, Noah hesitantly started talking.
“Okay…do you remember two nights ago when I was working on my big term paper for my elective class, that was due that night?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, I had just finished and was getting ready to submit it when my laptop froze for some reason. Anyway, of course I had it saved on my USB so I just grabbed your laptop. You'd left it on the bed. It was unlocked and also open to your email.”
Still not exactly following, Luke shrugged slightly, “okay…”
“Before I could open a new page, I happened to glance at your messages and saw the most recent one you’d received.”
Staring past Luke to a blank spot on the wall, Noah muttered, “It was from Reid.” Before Luke could respond, he quickly added, “I didn’t open it and I didn’t read it…I swear.”
“I believe you,” Luke said softly.
“Anyway, I just opened a new page, submitted my paper and that was it.”
Smiling sadly, Luke said, “clearly that wasn’t it Noah.” Then gently, he grabbed Noah’s face with both hands, forcibly getting him to look at him.
“Two weeks ago I was speaking to my Mom and she mentioned that Reid had won this really prestigious medical achievement award. Apparently it was all the talk at Memorial and was some kind of huge deal, especially at his age. Anyway, I sent him an email that said, “Congratulations and I’m happy for you.” Two days ago he responded with a simple “thank you” and that was the first and last communication we’ve had since I left Oakdale.”
Noah said nothing, staring at Luke’s lips, his chest, his hands and everywhere else he could think of that didn’t include meeting his eyes.
“Noah, you have to know that there is absolutely nothing between me and Reid.”
“I know, I just…”
“You just what?”
Finally, Noah met his stare. What Luke saw in those bright eyes tore at his heart. It wasn’t the very faint tears, or the tension or even the sadness but it was the panic and fear.
Pulling Noah in closer to him, Luke whispered tenderly, “baby what is it?”
“I know you love me, I do and most days I’m pretty secure in that but when I saw that email, it scared me because it reminded me that you had feelings for someone else at one point. In my head I know that you chose me and you love me but seeing that, knowing that you’re capable of wanting someone else it just brought up all these feelings and I don’t know…it just made me scared that one day you’re going to wake up and realize you can do so much better and you’re going to leave and…”
“Shh…stop.” Luke interrupted.
Grabbing tenderly at Noah’s face, gently swiping at the tiny drops of tears running down his face, Luke whispered, “omg Noah” before adding fiercely, “listen to me, I am not going anywhere. Do you understand me?”
Uncomfortable at baring his insecurities so nakedly, Noah could only give a half-hearted nod. Luke wasn’t deterred. Grabbing onto Noah’s face even tighter, he ran a finger delicately down his cheek and over his lips before adding, “There is no one better than you, Noah, no one.”
“Yeah right,” Noah scoffed out.
“I mean it,” Luke stated. “Okay look, sure, you’re not perfect but neither am I. But what we are is perfect together.”
A lopsided, slightly sheepish grin spreading across his face, Noah said, “So what you’re saying is we’re imperfectly perfect together?”
“Exactly,” Luke laughed. Then sobering up, he added, “but seriously, I don’t want you to ever have those kinds of doubts again Noah. I am not going anywhere. Hate to break it to you Mayer but you’re stuck with me for life.”
With a soft smile, all the passion, need, love and desire he felt for Luke starkly reflected on his face, Noah said, “I could live with that.”
“Good,” Luke said, before leaning in for a kiss. What started as a simple, delicate kiss quickly turned into something desperate, hungry and frenzied. Luke wanted desperately to show Noah how much he loved him and Noah desperately needed to feel it. When the need for air became a priority, they slowly pulled away, Luke already reaching for Noah’s shirt.
Staring up at him with love and desire written all over his face, he whispered softly, “do you believe me?”
Matching Luke’s desire, hungry lust written all over his face, Noah said, “I believe you.”
And then words were no longer necessary.
Author:sunalsosets
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,221
Pairings: Luke/Noah
Summary: Luke and Noah have a fight that leads to a discussion of something deeper.
Comments: I don't know if this qualifies as a drabble considering it's over 2,000 words but there you have it. Also, I have no clue how it ended up being this long.
The Fight
Luke could smell the faint aroma of spices as he hustled quickly through the front door. A feeling of guilt immediately washed over him.
He’d called Noah to let him know he would be running really late and that even if he was going to try really hard to get out of the conference call he was on as quickly as possible, he probably wouldn’t make it home in time for dinner. It certainly wasn't the worse crime but “Friday Night Dinner” had been his brilliant idea.
Just a few months after settling into California, Luke had quickly realized that with everything they had going on, it would be too easy for them to lose track of each other. After all, it had happened once before, when he’d first started working full time for Damian and Noah had started working on his final senior project.
Days went by which quickly turned into weeks and before they both knew it, they could barely remember the last time they’d had a conversation that had lasted more than five minutes, or shared an entire meal or been intimate in any way that didn’t include a 10-minute quickie wherever they could manage it.
And it was that emotional distance that had made it so easy for Mason Jar to slither in and create doubts in Luke’s head, eventually leading to the darkest period of their relationship. Luke knew he couldn’t let that happen to them again. Couldn't allow them to slip away from each other without their even knowing it until it was too late.
And with that in mind, he'd come up with the idea of a weekly “Friday Night Dinner”. The plan was that no matter how busy they were, no matter what was going on…school, work, etc. it would all be put aside for this one night. One night, every week, they would eat, talk, laugh, shut the rest of the world away and just be with each other.
And they’d both religiously stuck to the plan, no matter how difficult some nights were with all the commitments they both had…until this night. Luke was just on his way out of the office when his assistant/secretary informed him that Warren Davis was on the phone.
Mr. Davis was an extremely wealthy billionaire who spent much of that fortune on philanthropic ventures. The Foundation had been trying to work out some kind of arrangement with him for months, since he was also one of the rare billionaire philanthropists who gave much of his fortune to LGBT causes. Unfortunately, he was also an extremely busy man whose time was very valuable.
Luke had hesitated, practically out the door. However, he thought about the Foundation, thought about what this could mean for it and the work they did but more importantly he thought about what it could mean for all the lives they saved. And with that, he walked back in his office to take the call.
***
He found Noah in the kitchen storing away the last of the food while simultaneously loading the dishwasher.
Laying his side-bag and the stack of books and papers in his hand on the table, he slowly slid up behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. For some odd reason, he could swear he felt Noah stiffen slightly but decided he was probably imagining things.
Still, just in case Noah was a little upset about his missing dinner, he laid a soft kiss to the back of his neck before whispering softly, “I’m sorry I missed dinner,” adding, “it smells delicious.”
Noah remained silent for a few seconds before finally mumbling, “It smelled a lot better two hours ago.”
And with that comment, he slowly pulled out of Luke’s embrace. Before Luke even had a chance to react to that, much less respond, Noah turned on him with accusing eyes, snapping out, “What call was so important that you couldn’t put it off for one night. I mean this whole thing was your stupid idea anyway.”
Stunned, Luke whispered, “what?” Then in a clearly hurt voice, he added, “Did you just call our Friday Night Dinners, ‘a stupid idea’?”
Staring down at the kitchen floor, determinedly avoiding Luke’s eyes, Noah fidgeted slightly, digging his hand around his pockets before finally muttering, “I need to go walk Hemmingway.”
Hemmingway was the 2-year old rescue dog they’d adopted from the local animal shelter. They’d had a coin toss to decide who would get to name him and with a name like Hemmingway, it was obvious Luke had won.
“No, you don’t get to say something like that and walk off in the middle of the discussion.” Luke snapped.
Looking genuinely sorry for his comment, Noah mumbled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that”.
Mollified, Luke gently reached for Noah’s arm, before saying, “ It’s okay and I’m really sorry too. You’re right, this was my idea and you have to believe me baby, if it wasn’t really, really important, I would have been here.”
For some reason however, this turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Pulling his hand away a little harshly, Noah snapped out, “what, as opposed to the stuff that I have going on which is not as important?”
“What,” Luke asked, confusion written all over his face. “That is not what I meant.”
“I mean I may not be running some major Foundation but my classes, my job and not to mention all the crap I have to do for my assistantship is pretty damned important to me.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
“The whole point of this dinner thing was supposed to be that nothing and no one was more important than you and me and our relationship. At least that’s what it means to me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Luke was spared an answer as they were interrupted at that exact moment by Hemmingway’s whining coming through the sliding doors leading out onto the porch deck. Seizing upon the interruption as an escape, Noah moved around Luke’s body, carefully avoiding his eyes as he headed towards the porch.
By this point, Luke’s emotions had ran the gamut from hurt and confusion to now just pure anger.
“Hey,” he yelled out loudly at Noah’s retreating back.
He wasn’t sure it would work but after a few tense seconds, Noah stopped and turned to face him, sighing before saying in what sounded like an exhausted voice, “what?”
“What is your problem,” Luke asked angrily. “I called and said I’d be late, I apologized, you know if there was any way I could be here I would.”
Some of the anger slowly edging out of his voice, he added softly, “what is going on, why are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“I’m not,” Noah said but the denial sounded fake and a little forced to both of them. Running a hand through his hair, looking like he was having some kind of internal struggle with himself, he eventually turned away, avoiding Luke’s hurt and confused stare as he repeated his earlier statement.
“I have to go walk Hemmingway. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
And with that, he was gone.
Luke remained rooted to his spot in the kitchen wondering what the hell just happened and what the hell was going on with his boyfriend.
***
The walk with Hemmingway lasted almost two hours.
Luke laid in bed trying to read a novel for his Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture class. He’d been trying to read it for the past hour but hadn’t gotten past two pages at best.
He listened quietly as Noah puttered around the living room, then the kitchen and finally heading towards the bedroom. He walked in silently, not saying a word to Luke before eventually heading straight for the bathroom.
Luke silently observed him, just waiting, hoping that he’d say something to explain what was going on because frankly, Luke had no clue. Finally, after what felt like forever but actually turned out to be a few minutes, Noah slowly walked out of the bathroom, eventually easing down gently on the edge of the bed.
He stared wordlessly at the floor for a few tense moments before finally looking up and staring Luke squarely in the eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Okay…” Luke had a feeling there was more and was willing to wait.
“You were right. I was trying to pick a fight with you because it was easier than just talking to you about what was really bothering me.”
“Which is what?” Luke asked. He’d flipped the covers back and crawled down to meet Noah at the foot of the bed. Tentatively, he ran his hand down Noah’s back, “honey, what’s going on?”
Taking a deep breath, Noah hesitantly started talking.
“Okay…do you remember two nights ago when I was working on my big term paper for my elective class, that was due that night?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, I had just finished and was getting ready to submit it when my laptop froze for some reason. Anyway, of course I had it saved on my USB so I just grabbed your laptop. You'd left it on the bed. It was unlocked and also open to your email.”
Still not exactly following, Luke shrugged slightly, “okay…”
“Before I could open a new page, I happened to glance at your messages and saw the most recent one you’d received.”
Staring past Luke to a blank spot on the wall, Noah muttered, “It was from Reid.” Before Luke could respond, he quickly added, “I didn’t open it and I didn’t read it…I swear.”
“I believe you,” Luke said softly.
“Anyway, I just opened a new page, submitted my paper and that was it.”
Smiling sadly, Luke said, “clearly that wasn’t it Noah.” Then gently, he grabbed Noah’s face with both hands, forcibly getting him to look at him.
“Two weeks ago I was speaking to my Mom and she mentioned that Reid had won this really prestigious medical achievement award. Apparently it was all the talk at Memorial and was some kind of huge deal, especially at his age. Anyway, I sent him an email that said, “Congratulations and I’m happy for you.” Two days ago he responded with a simple “thank you” and that was the first and last communication we’ve had since I left Oakdale.”
Noah said nothing, staring at Luke’s lips, his chest, his hands and everywhere else he could think of that didn’t include meeting his eyes.
“Noah, you have to know that there is absolutely nothing between me and Reid.”
“I know, I just…”
“You just what?”
Finally, Noah met his stare. What Luke saw in those bright eyes tore at his heart. It wasn’t the very faint tears, or the tension or even the sadness but it was the panic and fear.
Pulling Noah in closer to him, Luke whispered tenderly, “baby what is it?”
“I know you love me, I do and most days I’m pretty secure in that but when I saw that email, it scared me because it reminded me that you had feelings for someone else at one point. In my head I know that you chose me and you love me but seeing that, knowing that you’re capable of wanting someone else it just brought up all these feelings and I don’t know…it just made me scared that one day you’re going to wake up and realize you can do so much better and you’re going to leave and…”
“Shh…stop.” Luke interrupted.
Grabbing tenderly at Noah’s face, gently swiping at the tiny drops of tears running down his face, Luke whispered, “omg Noah” before adding fiercely, “listen to me, I am not going anywhere. Do you understand me?”
Uncomfortable at baring his insecurities so nakedly, Noah could only give a half-hearted nod. Luke wasn’t deterred. Grabbing onto Noah’s face even tighter, he ran a finger delicately down his cheek and over his lips before adding, “There is no one better than you, Noah, no one.”
“Yeah right,” Noah scoffed out.
“I mean it,” Luke stated. “Okay look, sure, you’re not perfect but neither am I. But what we are is perfect together.”
A lopsided, slightly sheepish grin spreading across his face, Noah said, “So what you’re saying is we’re imperfectly perfect together?”
“Exactly,” Luke laughed. Then sobering up, he added, “but seriously, I don’t want you to ever have those kinds of doubts again Noah. I am not going anywhere. Hate to break it to you Mayer but you’re stuck with me for life.”
With a soft smile, all the passion, need, love and desire he felt for Luke starkly reflected on his face, Noah said, “I could live with that.”
“Good,” Luke said, before leaning in for a kiss. What started as a simple, delicate kiss quickly turned into something desperate, hungry and frenzied. Luke wanted desperately to show Noah how much he loved him and Noah desperately needed to feel it. When the need for air became a priority, they slowly pulled away, Luke already reaching for Noah’s shirt.
Staring up at him with love and desire written all over his face, he whispered softly, “do you believe me?”
Matching Luke’s desire, hungry lust written all over his face, Noah said, “I believe you.”
And then words were no longer necessary.