FIC - Its still just love (14/15)
Title: It's still just love… (14/15)
Author: wheelie47
Rating: NC17 for whole story but not every chapter.
Pairing: Luke and Noah.
Word count: 3,353
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Warning: Angst!
Summary: Noah Mayer is struggling to make ends meet; trying to keep his garden centre open and desperate to hold onto his research grant from the Institute of Agronomic Research. And he never seems to have time… no time for a life and definitely no time for a boyfriend.
Luciano Grimaldi hates everything about his life and he is so far in the closet where his parents concerned, that he even has a girlfriend, Maddie, to prove it…
AN: This is an AU story based on a French film called “Juste une question d’amour”.
Many thanks to hollyoaks1021 for the wonderful artwork. Thanks Sally.
Luke lost track of time as he sat slumped against the wall, still holding the side of his face where his father had struck him. He was only dimly aware of the lengthening shadows stretching across his dorm room floor, finally moving when his cramping muscles screamed at him for relief.
The blonde got to his feet, one hand placed flat against the wall for support as he stood.
Almost tripping over the bag at his feet, Luke stumbled to the chair in front of his desk and carelessly collapsed down onto it, leaning forward to rest his head against his hands on the desktop.
So, his secret was finally out. And his father had reacted exactly as Luke expected him to. With anger and disgust.
But what about his mom? He lifted his head from the desk. Did she know too?
Suddenly he was consumed with a desperation to know if she had rejected him so easily too. Reaching for his phone where it still lay on the desk, he hit the speed dial… calling his mother’s cell. No answer. He tried again… and again. Each call that went unanswered tore at his heart and made him even more desperate.
He tried calling the house, letting the phone ring and ring; Luke imagining the sound echoing ignored throughout the rooms.
The blonde was just about to hang up when the call was finally answered. “Hello?” His mother’s voice sounded croaky and raw down the line, as if she’d spent hour upon hour crying.
“Mom,” Luke hesitantly breathed out, hoping that she wouldn’t put the phone down as soon as she heard his voice.
“Luciano.” Her voice took on a distant and hollow quality… like she was speaking to a stranger. “You’re not to call here again.”
She let out an anguished gasp that sounded like her heart was being ripped out. “You’ve torn this family apart. How could you?!”
Before Luke could respond the line went dead with a resounding finality.
The blonde was only vaguely aware of getting unsteadily to his feet and collapsing onto the bed. He pulled his pillow to his chest and sobbed.
His last thought, as he drifted toward an exhausted and numb sleep, was of Isaac. What would his parents tell him? Would his little brother understand what was going on? It just about broke Luke’s heart that he wouldn’t be allowed to see him again…
…
Hours later, Luke woke to the weak early morning rays of dawn filtering in through his window. For a split second as he stretched and yawned, it was as if yesterday had never happened.
But then he realized he was lying, still fully clothed, on top of the covers and, as he blinked fully awake and saw the bag still untouched where his father had thrown it, the harsh reality came flooding back. His precarious house of cards double existence had come crashing down around him.
Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, the blonde noticed the open books and the laptop on his desk. And the thought hit him, with a kind of hollow freedom, that he didn’t have to live this life anymore. He didn’t have to put himself through studying a course he hated, just so he wouldn’t have to work with his father and Matteo… that was never going to happen now anyway.
Luke stood as a steely determination built within him. He knew one thing for sure; he wasn’t going to make the same mistake that Marc had. He wasn’t going to stay here and let the pain of his family ignoring him and turning their backs on him, slowly destroy him from the inside. No… he was going to get as far away from here as he could.
There was nothing left here for him anymore.
Luke gathered what little possessions he wanted to take with him from the room, before emptying the bag of the things he didn’t want and zipping it back up. He didn’t have much money, but he figured that he could scrap enough together to get down to the bus station and catch the next Greyhound to wherever. Maybe he’d even have enough left over for a hotel room. Then… well… then he would deal each day with whatever came next.
The blonde bit his bottom lip to stop himself from crying again as he shouldered the bag and closed the door behind him without a second look back, intent on making one stop off before heading to the station…
…
“Who the hell could that be this time of the morning?!” Maddie grumbled, burying her face deeper into Max’s neck at the sound of knocking on her dorm room door.
“Huh?” the man moaned, pulling her closer to him. “Just ignore it, they might go away.”
The knocking became louder and more insistent.
“Alright! ALRIGHT! I’m coming,” she muttered angrily as she flung the covers back.
“Maddie!” Max groaned, yanking the covers back over his body.
“What?! It might be important,” she shot back at him as she shrugged into her dressing gown.
The petite brunette unlocked the door, flinging it open… about to give whoever had woken them up so early a piece of her mind.
She stopped short when she saw Luke at her open door, bag in hand and an ugly bruise across his cheek.
“Luke! What the hell happened?!” She pulled him into her room.
Maddie's shocked and urgent tone had Max shooting up and out of bed, not caring that he was only dressed in his underwear.
Luke had been so caught up with the fact that his parents had found out about him being gay and with the way they had reacted, that he hadn't stopped to think about how they had found out. But, as he saw Noah's friend stood there in Maddie's dorm room, that thought now had his full attention.
“Somebody told my parents all about me!” He stared pointedly at the other man. Noah… it had to be Noah! Who else could it be?
“And your dad?” Maddie reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across the bruise. “He did this to you?”
The blonde simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak at hearing the compassion in his friend’s voice, before turning back to face Max.
The other man took a step closer. “I know Noah, Luke. He wouldn't have done this… he wouldn't have told you parents.”
Luke could feel his anger building. “Really?! Then tell me who you think did. Because right now I can't think of anyone else that would.”
Max bristled and folded his arms across his bare muscled chest, wanting to call Luke out for doubting Noah. But he held his tongue, realizing that Luke had enough to deal with right now. “I just know he wouldn't,” he said simply.
“Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough,” Luke retorted. He’d intended to go straight to the bus station after saying goodbye to Maddie. But now he was determined to confront Noah and demand if it was him that had told his parents.
Maddie had been ignoring the conversation between the two men, staring intently at the bulging bag in Luke’s hand instead. “Where are you going, Luke?” she asked, with a building dread.
Tearing his eyes away from Max, he turned to smile sadly at his friend. “I’m sorry, Mads. I can’t stay; it’s too painful. I need to get away from here.”
“Oh, Luke!” the petite brunette breathed out and pulled him to her. She wanted to tell him to stay… that everything would be OK. But she’d seen the look on his face and knew there would be no way she could persuade him to stay… she wasn’t even sure if it was the right thing to do anyway. Maybe getting away from Oakdale was the best thing for her friend right now.
“Take good care of yourself, Luke. Call me as soon as you get to wherever it is you’re going,” she murmured into his neck, not even trying to disguise the tears.
Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. “Promise me!”
The blonde gently kissed her cheek and smiled half-heartedly. “I promise. Thank you, Maddie. Thank you for all that you've done for me.”
With barely a nod to Max, Luke gently stood back from Maddie's embrace.
He bent to pick up his bag and, after reaching out to rub his friend’s shoulder with a reassurance he didn't feel himself, he turned and left.
Maddie felt strong arms embrace her from behind and she turned to bury her head against Max's chest, letting the tears flow unimpeded…
…
“Noah! Noah! Where the hell are you?” Luke became increasingly angry as he searched through the deserted garden centre, looking for the other man.
Not getting a reply, he raced toward the single-storey building at the back of the nursery.
“Noah!” he shouted again as he used the key Noah had given him and flung the door wide open.
It slammed loud against the wall, echoing through the empty silence of the hallway and the rooms beyond.
After first checking Noah’s room, Luke opened the door to the lab. Nothing! Where was the man?! Infuriated at not being able to confront Noah, the blonde clenched his fists with impotent rage.
Suddenly that rage reached a boiling point inside him. All of the anger and frustration at the injustices in his life found an outlet as he grabbed one of the trays of plants samples, samples he’d helped to prepare, and sent it crashing to the floor.
“Bastard! Ruin my life, would you?!” he yelled as he sent another tray smashing to the tiled floor.
“Luke! Stop! What are you doing?!” Charlene’s voice shouted over the noise.
The blonde ignored her and went for another tray.
Dashing through the door and across the lab, she held his forearms and looked pleadingly into his eyes. “Stop, Luke. Please stop this!”
Luke’s breath came in short bursts as he tried to calm his temper. “Your precious son told my parents!”
Noah’s mom swallowed hard as she took in the bruise on his cheek. Was that because of her… because of what she’d done? She shook her head sadly. “It wasn’t Noah, Luke. He's not here, he's in Chicago. It was me… I told your parents.”
“What? Why… why would you do something like that?”
“I’m so sorry. I was trying to help, Luke. I thought I could make them understand. It was killing me that the two of you were hurting so much. You belong together… I know it.” She tried to explain herself to the young man.
“It’s too late for that, Charlene. Your best intentions backfired.” The words came out bitterly as he gestured to the side of his face. “This is how much my father understood.”
The young man looked down at the mess that surrounded him; feeling guilty at misguidedly taking his rage out on Noah’s research.
He bent and began picking up the broken glass. “I’m just gonna clean this up before I get outta here for good,” he muttered, not meeting her inquiring gaze.
Charlene crouched beside him and began to help.
“No, it’s OK. I did this… I should be the one to clean it up.” At least this was one mess he could clean up.
Charlene had seen the man’s bag by the door and she instinctively knew that Luke wasn’t just talking about the garden centre… he meant to leave Oakdale.
That she had played a major part in Luke’s leaving plagued her with guilt. “At least let me fix you something to eat before you go.” She couldn’t turn back the clock and take back what she had done. But at least she could make sure the young man had something to eat before he left.
Luke just nodded his thanks, not looking up as Charlene stood.
Before she’d even left the lab, she was reaching for her phone. She couldn’t let Luke leave without trying to get Noah back to see him first. She had to try and make amends for what she had done…
…
“Mom! Where are you?” Noah shouted as he raced through the house, the memory of his mother's phone conversation making him anxious with worry:
“Noah, I need you to come home. The doctor says I need to go into hospital for some tests.”
He was pretty sure he'd broken more than one speed limit in making record time to get home.
“I'm through here… in the kitchen.”
He half strode half ran into the kitchen, dropping his bag by the table and sitting down next to Charlene. “What tests? Why didn't you tell me you were ill?” Noah took his mom's hand in his and squeezed it gently.
She could hardly look up into her son’s crystal blue eyes. She hated lying to him like this. But it was the only thing she could think of to get him home so quickly. Charlene wasn't sure if her son would've come if she had told him that it was about Luke.
“Um… it was a false alarm. Some kind of mix-up with my records and somebody else's,” she murmured, flicking her eyes up to meet her son's before dropping them again almost immediately.
“False alarm? Mixed up records?” Something wasn't right here; it wasn't like his mom not to be able to look him in the face. “Mom, what's going on?”
She looked up at him with what she hoped was a contrite expression. “I’m so sorry. I messed up, Noah. I thought I was helping.”
“Helping with what? What are you talking about?”
The woman took a deep breath and looked up at her son. “I went to see Luke’s parents. I…I told them everything.”
Noah couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You did what? Have you any idea what you’ve done?!”
“Um, yeah… I do now. I thought that they were reasonable people. That we were adults and we could talk things through.”
“What gave you the right?” Noah’s voice rose angrily.
Charlene bristled at her son’s tone. She knew he was angry and he had the right to be. But she had only wanted to help. “I was trying to keep the two of you together. Somebody had to try!”
Breathing deeply, he tried to keep his voice calm. “How did they take it?”
“Badly.” His mom shook her head sadly, regret filling her voice.
“And Luke? What about Luke?” Noah asked, his heart fearful for the younger man.
“He says he’s leaving Oakdale, honey. Leaving for good. But he’s not left yet… that’s why I had to get you back here, Noah.” She locked eyes with her son imploringly.
“He’s still here?” Noah asked, gesturing downward to mean ‘here at the garden centre?’ The thought of seeing Luke again before he left made the brunette rise to his feet. He'd gone to Chicago to try and distract himself from thoughts of Luke. But who had he been kidding? Luke had been in his thoughts in Chicago as much as he had been here in Oakdale.
Charlene simply nodded and watched as her son turned toward the door.
A small, hopeful smile played across her lips. At least she’d been able to do one thing right; she had bought the two of these stubborn young men back into the same room.
The rest was up to them…
…
Noah looked for Luke in the lab first, gasping in shock at the trays of missing plant samples. His work! What the hell had happened here?!
Deciding he couldn’t do anything about it now… the damage had already been done and thoughts of finding Luke were forefront in his mind, Noah turned away from the lab and spotted Luke’s bag beside the closed door to his room.
Turning the handle slowly, unsure of what would greet him the other side of the door, Noah stepped inside.
The brunette paused, his hand still holding the door handle, at the sight before him. Luke lay curled on his side on top of the bed covers, the remains of a half-eaten meal left on a tray beside him.
Taking a step forward into the room, Noah was horrified to see an ugly bruise marking the blonde’s perfect skin. The man’s fists clenched in anger, as he instinctively knew… just knew… that Damian had done this. How could a father hit his own son like this?
After moving the tray to the floor, Noah gingerly sat on the bed next to the younger man. He felt sick to the stomach as he realized that he and his mom took some responsibility for that bruise on Luke’s cheek. He’d been the one to encourage Luke to be honest with his parents; telling the blonde that he couldn’t go on living his life like this. And his mom had gone off on a harebrained idea that she could keep the two of them together by telling Luke’s parents all about him.
To Noah, it felt almost as if he’d been the one that had made that mark on Luke’s skin. His fingers were half-way to the blonde’s cheek; itching to soothe away the ugly bruise, before he even realized it.
“Luke,” he murmured, resting his hand on Luke’s hip instead and shaking him gently; he didn’t want to startle the man.
“Hmmm?” Luke mumbled in his sleep.
Noah tried again. “Luke.”
The blonde’s eyes flickered open and the un-focused hazel orbs settled on Noah, widening in surprise when he recognized the man. “Noah! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep… I meant to be long gone before you got back.” He shot upright.
“It’s OK. Don’t worry,” Noah soothed and this time he couldn’t stop his hand from reaching out, his fingertips gently tracing the edges of the angry bruise.
“I’m sorry, Luke. Mom told me what happened. She shouldn’t have done that. Did… did Damian do this to you?” he asked, struggling to control his emotions as he continued to stroke the side of Luke’s face.
Luke couldn’t help himself and he leaned into the touch, closed his eyes and simply nodded.
“I should probably actually thank her. She did something I couldn't,” he murmured, still with his eyes closed… what was done was done and there was no turning back.
His eyes snapped open again at the memory of what he’d done to Noah’s work. “I’m sorry, Noah. I tried to save what I could.” He nodded apologetically toward the lab.
The brunette followed his gaze and shook his head. Noah knew he should be mad at the other man; weeks of research had been destroyed. But somehow that didn’t matter to him now. What mattered to him now was what would happen next.
He turned his head back to face Luke and found the blonde watching him intently.
Luke swallowed and said in a small subdued voice. “I’ll pay you back. When I get to wherever I’m going and get a job… I’ll send you some money to cover the damages.”
Noah looked at Luke for several long moments, intense blue meeting expressive hazel. He wanted to ask the blonde to stay here with him. Now that Luke’s parents finally knew the truth, Noah thought he could help Luke make them see that he was still their son… still someone to be proud of. He had a spark of hope that they could do this together.
But after all that had happened, he didn’t feel he had the right to ask.
Instead Noah found himself reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. “Do you need some money, Luke?”
The blonde shook his head. “I can’t take money from you, Noah.”
Luke gave Noah a small half-hearted smile that was meant to reassure but instead just made him look sad and alone… like a lost little boy. “But I could use a ride to the bus station.”…
Chapter 15
Back to fic master post
Author: wheelie47
Rating: NC17 for whole story but not every chapter.
Pairing: Luke and Noah.
Word count: 3,353
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Warning: Angst!
Summary: Noah Mayer is struggling to make ends meet; trying to keep his garden centre open and desperate to hold onto his research grant from the Institute of Agronomic Research. And he never seems to have time… no time for a life and definitely no time for a boyfriend.
Luciano Grimaldi hates everything about his life and he is so far in the closet where his parents concerned, that he even has a girlfriend, Maddie, to prove it…
AN: This is an AU story based on a French film called “Juste une question d’amour”.
Many thanks to hollyoaks1021 for the wonderful artwork. Thanks Sally.
Luke lost track of time as he sat slumped against the wall, still holding the side of his face where his father had struck him. He was only dimly aware of the lengthening shadows stretching across his dorm room floor, finally moving when his cramping muscles screamed at him for relief.
The blonde got to his feet, one hand placed flat against the wall for support as he stood.
Almost tripping over the bag at his feet, Luke stumbled to the chair in front of his desk and carelessly collapsed down onto it, leaning forward to rest his head against his hands on the desktop.
So, his secret was finally out. And his father had reacted exactly as Luke expected him to. With anger and disgust.
But what about his mom? He lifted his head from the desk. Did she know too?
Suddenly he was consumed with a desperation to know if she had rejected him so easily too. Reaching for his phone where it still lay on the desk, he hit the speed dial… calling his mother’s cell. No answer. He tried again… and again. Each call that went unanswered tore at his heart and made him even more desperate.
He tried calling the house, letting the phone ring and ring; Luke imagining the sound echoing ignored throughout the rooms.
The blonde was just about to hang up when the call was finally answered. “Hello?” His mother’s voice sounded croaky and raw down the line, as if she’d spent hour upon hour crying.
“Mom,” Luke hesitantly breathed out, hoping that she wouldn’t put the phone down as soon as she heard his voice.
“Luciano.” Her voice took on a distant and hollow quality… like she was speaking to a stranger. “You’re not to call here again.”
She let out an anguished gasp that sounded like her heart was being ripped out. “You’ve torn this family apart. How could you?!”
Before Luke could respond the line went dead with a resounding finality.
The blonde was only vaguely aware of getting unsteadily to his feet and collapsing onto the bed. He pulled his pillow to his chest and sobbed.
His last thought, as he drifted toward an exhausted and numb sleep, was of Isaac. What would his parents tell him? Would his little brother understand what was going on? It just about broke Luke’s heart that he wouldn’t be allowed to see him again…
…
Hours later, Luke woke to the weak early morning rays of dawn filtering in through his window. For a split second as he stretched and yawned, it was as if yesterday had never happened.
But then he realized he was lying, still fully clothed, on top of the covers and, as he blinked fully awake and saw the bag still untouched where his father had thrown it, the harsh reality came flooding back. His precarious house of cards double existence had come crashing down around him.
Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, the blonde noticed the open books and the laptop on his desk. And the thought hit him, with a kind of hollow freedom, that he didn’t have to live this life anymore. He didn’t have to put himself through studying a course he hated, just so he wouldn’t have to work with his father and Matteo… that was never going to happen now anyway.
Luke stood as a steely determination built within him. He knew one thing for sure; he wasn’t going to make the same mistake that Marc had. He wasn’t going to stay here and let the pain of his family ignoring him and turning their backs on him, slowly destroy him from the inside. No… he was going to get as far away from here as he could.
There was nothing left here for him anymore.
Luke gathered what little possessions he wanted to take with him from the room, before emptying the bag of the things he didn’t want and zipping it back up. He didn’t have much money, but he figured that he could scrap enough together to get down to the bus station and catch the next Greyhound to wherever. Maybe he’d even have enough left over for a hotel room. Then… well… then he would deal each day with whatever came next.
The blonde bit his bottom lip to stop himself from crying again as he shouldered the bag and closed the door behind him without a second look back, intent on making one stop off before heading to the station…
…
“Who the hell could that be this time of the morning?!” Maddie grumbled, burying her face deeper into Max’s neck at the sound of knocking on her dorm room door.
“Huh?” the man moaned, pulling her closer to him. “Just ignore it, they might go away.”
The knocking became louder and more insistent.
“Alright! ALRIGHT! I’m coming,” she muttered angrily as she flung the covers back.
“Maddie!” Max groaned, yanking the covers back over his body.
“What?! It might be important,” she shot back at him as she shrugged into her dressing gown.
The petite brunette unlocked the door, flinging it open… about to give whoever had woken them up so early a piece of her mind.
She stopped short when she saw Luke at her open door, bag in hand and an ugly bruise across his cheek.
“Luke! What the hell happened?!” She pulled him into her room.
Maddie's shocked and urgent tone had Max shooting up and out of bed, not caring that he was only dressed in his underwear.
Luke had been so caught up with the fact that his parents had found out about him being gay and with the way they had reacted, that he hadn't stopped to think about how they had found out. But, as he saw Noah's friend stood there in Maddie's dorm room, that thought now had his full attention.
“Somebody told my parents all about me!” He stared pointedly at the other man. Noah… it had to be Noah! Who else could it be?
“And your dad?” Maddie reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across the bruise. “He did this to you?”
The blonde simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak at hearing the compassion in his friend’s voice, before turning back to face Max.
The other man took a step closer. “I know Noah, Luke. He wouldn't have done this… he wouldn't have told you parents.”
Luke could feel his anger building. “Really?! Then tell me who you think did. Because right now I can't think of anyone else that would.”
Max bristled and folded his arms across his bare muscled chest, wanting to call Luke out for doubting Noah. But he held his tongue, realizing that Luke had enough to deal with right now. “I just know he wouldn't,” he said simply.
“Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough,” Luke retorted. He’d intended to go straight to the bus station after saying goodbye to Maddie. But now he was determined to confront Noah and demand if it was him that had told his parents.
Maddie had been ignoring the conversation between the two men, staring intently at the bulging bag in Luke’s hand instead. “Where are you going, Luke?” she asked, with a building dread.
Tearing his eyes away from Max, he turned to smile sadly at his friend. “I’m sorry, Mads. I can’t stay; it’s too painful. I need to get away from here.”
“Oh, Luke!” the petite brunette breathed out and pulled him to her. She wanted to tell him to stay… that everything would be OK. But she’d seen the look on his face and knew there would be no way she could persuade him to stay… she wasn’t even sure if it was the right thing to do anyway. Maybe getting away from Oakdale was the best thing for her friend right now.
“Take good care of yourself, Luke. Call me as soon as you get to wherever it is you’re going,” she murmured into his neck, not even trying to disguise the tears.
Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. “Promise me!”
The blonde gently kissed her cheek and smiled half-heartedly. “I promise. Thank you, Maddie. Thank you for all that you've done for me.”
With barely a nod to Max, Luke gently stood back from Maddie's embrace.
He bent to pick up his bag and, after reaching out to rub his friend’s shoulder with a reassurance he didn't feel himself, he turned and left.
Maddie felt strong arms embrace her from behind and she turned to bury her head against Max's chest, letting the tears flow unimpeded…
…
“Noah! Noah! Where the hell are you?” Luke became increasingly angry as he searched through the deserted garden centre, looking for the other man.
Not getting a reply, he raced toward the single-storey building at the back of the nursery.
“Noah!” he shouted again as he used the key Noah had given him and flung the door wide open.
It slammed loud against the wall, echoing through the empty silence of the hallway and the rooms beyond.
After first checking Noah’s room, Luke opened the door to the lab. Nothing! Where was the man?! Infuriated at not being able to confront Noah, the blonde clenched his fists with impotent rage.
Suddenly that rage reached a boiling point inside him. All of the anger and frustration at the injustices in his life found an outlet as he grabbed one of the trays of plants samples, samples he’d helped to prepare, and sent it crashing to the floor.
“Bastard! Ruin my life, would you?!” he yelled as he sent another tray smashing to the tiled floor.
“Luke! Stop! What are you doing?!” Charlene’s voice shouted over the noise.
The blonde ignored her and went for another tray.
Dashing through the door and across the lab, she held his forearms and looked pleadingly into his eyes. “Stop, Luke. Please stop this!”
Luke’s breath came in short bursts as he tried to calm his temper. “Your precious son told my parents!”
Noah’s mom swallowed hard as she took in the bruise on his cheek. Was that because of her… because of what she’d done? She shook her head sadly. “It wasn’t Noah, Luke. He's not here, he's in Chicago. It was me… I told your parents.”
“What? Why… why would you do something like that?”
“I’m so sorry. I was trying to help, Luke. I thought I could make them understand. It was killing me that the two of you were hurting so much. You belong together… I know it.” She tried to explain herself to the young man.
“It’s too late for that, Charlene. Your best intentions backfired.” The words came out bitterly as he gestured to the side of his face. “This is how much my father understood.”
The young man looked down at the mess that surrounded him; feeling guilty at misguidedly taking his rage out on Noah’s research.
He bent and began picking up the broken glass. “I’m just gonna clean this up before I get outta here for good,” he muttered, not meeting her inquiring gaze.
Charlene crouched beside him and began to help.
“No, it’s OK. I did this… I should be the one to clean it up.” At least this was one mess he could clean up.
Charlene had seen the man’s bag by the door and she instinctively knew that Luke wasn’t just talking about the garden centre… he meant to leave Oakdale.
That she had played a major part in Luke’s leaving plagued her with guilt. “At least let me fix you something to eat before you go.” She couldn’t turn back the clock and take back what she had done. But at least she could make sure the young man had something to eat before he left.
Luke just nodded his thanks, not looking up as Charlene stood.
Before she’d even left the lab, she was reaching for her phone. She couldn’t let Luke leave without trying to get Noah back to see him first. She had to try and make amends for what she had done…
…
“Mom! Where are you?” Noah shouted as he raced through the house, the memory of his mother's phone conversation making him anxious with worry:
“Noah, I need you to come home. The doctor says I need to go into hospital for some tests.”
He was pretty sure he'd broken more than one speed limit in making record time to get home.
“I'm through here… in the kitchen.”
He half strode half ran into the kitchen, dropping his bag by the table and sitting down next to Charlene. “What tests? Why didn't you tell me you were ill?” Noah took his mom's hand in his and squeezed it gently.
She could hardly look up into her son’s crystal blue eyes. She hated lying to him like this. But it was the only thing she could think of to get him home so quickly. Charlene wasn't sure if her son would've come if she had told him that it was about Luke.
“Um… it was a false alarm. Some kind of mix-up with my records and somebody else's,” she murmured, flicking her eyes up to meet her son's before dropping them again almost immediately.
“False alarm? Mixed up records?” Something wasn't right here; it wasn't like his mom not to be able to look him in the face. “Mom, what's going on?”
She looked up at him with what she hoped was a contrite expression. “I’m so sorry. I messed up, Noah. I thought I was helping.”
“Helping with what? What are you talking about?”
The woman took a deep breath and looked up at her son. “I went to see Luke’s parents. I…I told them everything.”
Noah couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You did what? Have you any idea what you’ve done?!”
“Um, yeah… I do now. I thought that they were reasonable people. That we were adults and we could talk things through.”
“What gave you the right?” Noah’s voice rose angrily.
Charlene bristled at her son’s tone. She knew he was angry and he had the right to be. But she had only wanted to help. “I was trying to keep the two of you together. Somebody had to try!”
Breathing deeply, he tried to keep his voice calm. “How did they take it?”
“Badly.” His mom shook her head sadly, regret filling her voice.
“And Luke? What about Luke?” Noah asked, his heart fearful for the younger man.
“He says he’s leaving Oakdale, honey. Leaving for good. But he’s not left yet… that’s why I had to get you back here, Noah.” She locked eyes with her son imploringly.
“He’s still here?” Noah asked, gesturing downward to mean ‘here at the garden centre?’ The thought of seeing Luke again before he left made the brunette rise to his feet. He'd gone to Chicago to try and distract himself from thoughts of Luke. But who had he been kidding? Luke had been in his thoughts in Chicago as much as he had been here in Oakdale.
Charlene simply nodded and watched as her son turned toward the door.
A small, hopeful smile played across her lips. At least she’d been able to do one thing right; she had bought the two of these stubborn young men back into the same room.
The rest was up to them…
…
Noah looked for Luke in the lab first, gasping in shock at the trays of missing plant samples. His work! What the hell had happened here?!
Deciding he couldn’t do anything about it now… the damage had already been done and thoughts of finding Luke were forefront in his mind, Noah turned away from the lab and spotted Luke’s bag beside the closed door to his room.
Turning the handle slowly, unsure of what would greet him the other side of the door, Noah stepped inside.
The brunette paused, his hand still holding the door handle, at the sight before him. Luke lay curled on his side on top of the bed covers, the remains of a half-eaten meal left on a tray beside him.
Taking a step forward into the room, Noah was horrified to see an ugly bruise marking the blonde’s perfect skin. The man’s fists clenched in anger, as he instinctively knew… just knew… that Damian had done this. How could a father hit his own son like this?
After moving the tray to the floor, Noah gingerly sat on the bed next to the younger man. He felt sick to the stomach as he realized that he and his mom took some responsibility for that bruise on Luke’s cheek. He’d been the one to encourage Luke to be honest with his parents; telling the blonde that he couldn’t go on living his life like this. And his mom had gone off on a harebrained idea that she could keep the two of them together by telling Luke’s parents all about him.
To Noah, it felt almost as if he’d been the one that had made that mark on Luke’s skin. His fingers were half-way to the blonde’s cheek; itching to soothe away the ugly bruise, before he even realized it.
“Luke,” he murmured, resting his hand on Luke’s hip instead and shaking him gently; he didn’t want to startle the man.
“Hmmm?” Luke mumbled in his sleep.
Noah tried again. “Luke.”
The blonde’s eyes flickered open and the un-focused hazel orbs settled on Noah, widening in surprise when he recognized the man. “Noah! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep… I meant to be long gone before you got back.” He shot upright.
“It’s OK. Don’t worry,” Noah soothed and this time he couldn’t stop his hand from reaching out, his fingertips gently tracing the edges of the angry bruise.
“I’m sorry, Luke. Mom told me what happened. She shouldn’t have done that. Did… did Damian do this to you?” he asked, struggling to control his emotions as he continued to stroke the side of Luke’s face.
Luke couldn’t help himself and he leaned into the touch, closed his eyes and simply nodded.
“I should probably actually thank her. She did something I couldn't,” he murmured, still with his eyes closed… what was done was done and there was no turning back.
His eyes snapped open again at the memory of what he’d done to Noah’s work. “I’m sorry, Noah. I tried to save what I could.” He nodded apologetically toward the lab.
The brunette followed his gaze and shook his head. Noah knew he should be mad at the other man; weeks of research had been destroyed. But somehow that didn’t matter to him now. What mattered to him now was what would happen next.
He turned his head back to face Luke and found the blonde watching him intently.
Luke swallowed and said in a small subdued voice. “I’ll pay you back. When I get to wherever I’m going and get a job… I’ll send you some money to cover the damages.”
Noah looked at Luke for several long moments, intense blue meeting expressive hazel. He wanted to ask the blonde to stay here with him. Now that Luke’s parents finally knew the truth, Noah thought he could help Luke make them see that he was still their son… still someone to be proud of. He had a spark of hope that they could do this together.
But after all that had happened, he didn’t feel he had the right to ask.
Instead Noah found himself reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. “Do you need some money, Luke?”
The blonde shook his head. “I can’t take money from you, Noah.”
Luke gave Noah a small half-hearted smile that was meant to reassure but instead just made him look sad and alone… like a lost little boy. “But I could use a ride to the bus station.”…
Chapter 15
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