Luke watched Winston walk away with mixed feelings. On one hand he was amused that the man actually thought he could scare him away from Noah, but turning around and looking at his friend… Luke could feel his heart break.

Walking up to Noah, he leaned on a chair and smiled. "Noah, I am so sorry"

"Don't!" Noah said, sadly.

"What, why?" Luke was confused. He knew Noah was mad at him for outing him to Maddie and he knew he was probably the last person Noah wanted to talk to right now, but he wasn't prepared for the hurt he saw in Noah's eyes when they met his.

"Noah, please don't shut me out" Luke almost pleaded, hating himself for it. After the disaster with Kevin last summer, he had promised himself not to fall for a straight guy anymore or at least try to forget about him if his feelings weren't returned, but for some reason whenever he was around Noah, he had a hard time listening to his head and he always ended up listening to his heart.

He pulled the chair out and sat down, hoping Noah would talk to him.

"Don't apologize when you have nothing to be sorry about" Noah said, able to muster a tiny smile when he looked at Luke.

"What? But I thought…"

"I know. I know and it's all my fault. I lied Luke. I lied to you, I lied to Maddie, I lied to my father but most of all I lied to myself and I've been denying myself a chance to be who I really am all because I'm scared of my dad"

Luke stayed silent, knowing Noah needed to get this out.

"Do you think Maddie will ever forgive me?"

When Luke didn't say anything, Noah looked up. What he saw broke his heart and he immediately jumped up when he saw Luke making a move to leave.

"No, don't go! I didn't mean it like that"

"Well then how did you mean it Noah, because I am getting pretty tired of being grilled by everyone around me for doing something that you should have done from the beginning. God why do I keep setting myself up to get hurt like this?"

"I don't want to hurt you Luke. Believe me, that's the last thing I want" Noah reached for Luke's hand and squeezed it.

"Be careful, someone might see you" Luke said, wanting to pull his hand away.

"I don't care" Noah whispered.

"What did you say?"

"I said I don't care. Don't you get it Luke? I'm not mad at you, I don't think I ever truly was. I just needed someone to take the blame for me hurting Maddie and you were an easy target. But now that I've had some time to think about it and calm down, I'm actually glad you told her, because she made me see something I never would have seen otherwise"

"What's that?" Luke couldn't help but ask. He knew he shouldn't be giving Noah all these second and third chances, but he couldn't help himself.

"That I'm already a man. Just not the one my father wants me to be"

Noah looked at Luke and was pleasantly surprised when the corners of his mouth slowly rose into a smile.

"What does that smile mean?" Noah asked, afraid to think anything positive.

"It means you finally get it. Or well, Maddie got it for you, but… someone finally voiced what I have been trying to tell you all this time"

"Yeah, I haven't been a very quick study have I?"

"No you haven't" Luke said with a smile.

"Do you think we could go somewhere and talk? There's some things I really want to tell you"

Luke nodded immediately, but then suddenly remembered his mother. "Shoot!"

"What is it?" Noah asked.

"I came here with my mom. She wanted me to get out of the house and stop moping around for you, if you can believe it"

They both laughed and that's how Lily found them seconds later.

"What's so funny?" She asked, somewhat surprised to find Noah and Luke so relaxed together. And was it her imagination or where they standing awfully close?

"Nothing really. Mom, would I be a terrible son if I cancelled our plans? Noah has something important he wants to talk to me about"

Lily looked at Noah for a few seconds, before nodding her head. "It's fine, go ahead"

"Thanks mom, I love you" Luke smiled, giving her a quick hug before taking Noah's hand and almost running out of the dining room.

Lily just shook her head as she watched the two boys leave. Was she ever going to understand her teenage son?

THE END!