Disclaimer: If I owned ATWT, it would still be on. And all the characters would be gay.
Story notes: AU, set in November, 2010. 1.) No train, obviously; Reid procured the heart for Chris in Bay City, saving his life. 2.) Noah isn't scheduled to go to LA for his film project until after Thanksgiving.
Summary: Noah has a bad day. Luke has a worse one.
Friday November 5th
Damn Reid Oliver, Noah thought for the five hundredth time. Damn him to hell!
Noah Mayer couldn't believe the man's gall. Just when he thought the guy couldn't be any more of a jackass, he goes and pulls something like this. It was bad enough to be indebted to a man that full of himself. It was worse still that the horse's ass in question had stolen Luke!
So, all right, maybe that wasn't exactly accurate, but whatever. And now this! Did the jerk live solely to make Noah's life miserable? Noah was supposed to be on his way to L.A., and while not exactly excited at the prospect of going without Luke, the one big perk had been getting the hell away from Reid Oliver.
At least in California, Noah could be fairly certain he wouldn't run into that blowhard at every turn. He could walk into a diner or a coffee shop or anywhere else, and not have to watch Dr. Evil gloat in Noah's face that he had Luke, and Noah didn't. Not that the guy exactly boasted, in so many words. He was just there, and that was reminder enough.
Noah couldn't miss the irony. Looking at the man who restored his sight should remind Noah what he had gained. Instead, it only ever drove home what he'd lost. Luke. Every time the name crossed his mind, his heart gave an aching clench in response. And since Noah still thought about Luke all the damn time, that amounted to a good deal of pain.
There was nothing he could do about that now. Luke had made it clear they were through, though he'd tried to throw Noah the "friends" bone. The most cutting thing of all was, deep down, Noah knew it was his own damn fault.
If he would've just let Luke in during all those months after the accident, they'd be together now. They'd be en route to Los Angeles, full of piss and vinegar, ready to take on the world. Instead, Noah had to leave his dream guy behind to pursue his dream. And it all felt like a damn nightmare.
Now, the bitter icing on the cake of Noah's personal hell was Reid Oliver's latest stunt.
Tonight was the night.
The night.
Luke Snyder checked his reflection in the mirror one last time. Not bad, he decided. Anyway, he knew Reid didn't care. Reid seemed to want him no matter how he looked, or what he was wearing.
It felt incredible.
Luke couldn't help but to bask in the heady bliss of it. To be with a man who wanted him 24/7 no matter what felt phenomenal. Admittedly, he and Reid had never been confronted with the kind of extreme "no matter what"s that he and Noah had...
No. He wouldn't think about that. It was true that Luke and Reid hadn't faced the same severity of obstacles, but that didn't mean they wouldn't prevail if and when they did.
Reid loved him. And Reid was a self-possessed, confident man. He wasn't weighed down by the excess baggage of insecurity and doubt like... some people.
No. When it came time for Reid and Luke to meet adversity, they would survive. Reid wouldn't push him away to twist in the wind, alone and decimated.
Even as he held this internal conversation with himself, his honest side scolded Luke that he wasn't being fair. Reid was a neurosurgeon, for God's sake. Take his eyesight, and sit back to watch the batshit that would necessarily commence.
"Fuck!" Luke didn't want to be fair. He wanted to be happy. He'd lost that chance with Noah, and he damn sure wasn't about to let qualms about fairness to his ex ruin his life with Reid.
Tonight, that life would begin in earnest. Luke said he needed time, and Reid had waited more than patiently. Even two months after Reid confessed his love, they still hadn't made love.
Reid had, however, made changes. After successfully securing a heart in Bay City for Chris Hughes, Reid moved out of Katie's apartment, making way for a recovering Chris to move in. Luke knew Reid had been excited to get his own place.
Renting a home of his own allowed Reid and Luke to spend time together, without the constant threat of someone strolling through the living room at just the wrong moment. Luke had been grateful for the alone time, too, but continued to hold back. And Reid, while clearly frustrated, never breathed a word of complaint.
Now, it was time. It was time to let go of old dreams and move on, once and for all. Luke knew what prompted this decision.
He'd seen Noah today. Noah, who would soon be on his way out of Oakdale, and really, out of Luke's life, for good. Truthfully, Luke had been purposely avoiding him since their talk at the end of the summer, when Noah took Luke's olive branch of friendship and snapped it in two.
It had stung. Badly. But in the hours after that meeting, Luke's pain morphed into anger. At both Noah, and himself.
After the misery he'd survived when Noah had pushed him away during his blindness, Luke thought he'd protected his heart. He'd let go of Noah and started anew with Reid. So how in the hell had Noah's latest rejection hurt so fucking much?
Luke's upset was soon soothed by two events. The first was Reid's declaration of love. It had been so straightforward; so devoid of pomp and circumstance. And yet to Luke, it was a life preserver in the sea of his heartbreak.
Reid loved him. Reid Oliver, who'd sworn that love was for fools and that he was no kind of fool. Luke clung to Reid's simple admission, wrapping himself within it to feel what he so desperately craved.
The second event was his decision to avoid Noah like the plague he so clearly was on Luke's heart. Luke didn't just distance himself emotionally this time, but physically. He avoided Java, Al's, and anywhere else Noah could potentially turn up.
The last couple of months had been good. Except for the unavoidable sighting at Lily and Holden's remarriage two weeks ago - where they hadn't spoken - Luke stayed the hell away from Noah. He spent every available moment with Reid, and the sharp cut of Noah's dismissal had eventually dulled to a throbbing ache.
But as the date for Noah's departure approached, Luke couldn't resist the impulse to see him one last time. Noah couldn't mask his surprise when Luke walked into Java. Luke went directly to the counter - to Noah. A few moments passed in which both stared, and neither spoke.
Then, finally, Noah broke the moment. "What'll it be?" Luke blinked; it took a moment to sink in.
Noah wasn't going to apologize for cutting Luke from his life. And he wasn't about to ask Luke for anything. Luke's heart plummeted at the realization.
They would never be them. There wasno them, anymore. And for fuck's sake, he'd let it happen again - he'd let Noah pierce him once more.
He had fucking strolled into Java with his heart ever-so-slightly ajar, just in case. Just in case what? Goddammit, Luke cursed himself as he turned on his heel and walked out.
What had he expected? For Noah to say it was all just water under the bridge, and they could be friends? Luke told himself that was it; that was why was so disappointed.
There was no way in mother-loving hell Luke would admit what he'd really wanted Noah to say, one more time.
Come with me.
Acute pain shot from the back of Noah's head to his eyes as he awoke. The crush of chaos assaulting his senses menaced his aching mind. Noah grappled with the multitude of competing stimuli, striving to get a grasp on all the what the fuck around him.
The overwhelming stench of burning. The thick fog stinging his eyes. The nausea assaulting his stomach. The searing shine of emergency lights, and their shrill, relentless peal. The commotion of countless upside-down legs walking past his head, bringing realization that he was lying on the ground.
Suddenly, all of it fell away in the wake of the hellish scream. Luke! Noah immediately shot into a sitting position, and was nearly felled by the duel urges to vomit and pass out.
He held on, though. Luke needed him. Oh God - what the fuck had happened to Luke?
Noah couldn't see his ex through the suffocating smoke. He tried to stand, but quickly collapsed. Then, he heard the cries - broken, piteous sounds that burst to the very heart of him.
Oh God Oh God Oh God. Noah crawled towards the wails through the blanket of smoke, scrambling and crying and stumbling, his fear growing exponentially with every clutch at the ground. Luke was in excruciating pain; that much was certain.
He must be injured. Was he dying? Oh holy fuck, please God no!
Noah's throat burned, and he could barely breathe from the smoke and the sobs and the snot blocking his airway. But somehow, he arrived at the shaking form of a soot-faced Luke, who'd pulled his knees to his chest and was rocking himself manically as he sat huddled on the ground. Noah paused before reaching out, scared out of his mind at the sight before him.
Whatever had happened, their lives had changed forever - of that he was sure.