Luke Snyder was sitting at Java café waiting for his boyfriend, Noah Mayer to get off work. Despite working on little Indie-film projects, Noah had kept his job at the coffee house.

"Hi," Noah said, coming around the counter to the table where Luke sat and kissing him.

"Hi," Luke said. "When you called you said you had something to tell me."

"Yep. My new film was entered in a film festival and is nominated for an award," Noah said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Noah, that's wonderful!" Luke said, taking his hand and smiling. "Am I invited to this festival?"

"Of course you're invited. I can't do it without you."

"Great! When is it?"

"We leave tomorrow and should be gone for about a week. I hope that's okay," Noah said.

"Sounds good to me. Nothing much is going on at the Foundation these days anyway. And it will be good to get away from Oakdale for a while. My mom has been bugging me to no end. I'm out of the house for three years and she still feels the need that she has to talk to me a hundred times a day," Luke said.

"It's settled then."

"By the way, where is this festival?"

"Dallas," Noah said.

Luke's face fell, the smile now gone.

"What?" Noah asked, noticing the change in Luke's demeanor.

"Dallas? Dallas, Texas?"

"No. Dallas, France. Of course Dallas, Texas," Noah mocked.

"On second thought, maybe I'll stay here," Luke said, sipping his coffee.

"Why?"

"Think, Noah. Why wouldn't I want to go to Dallas?"

Noah stared at Luke for a few seconds and then it dawned on him. "Dr. Oliver?"

Luke clenched his teeth and nodded.

"Why does it matter? Dallas is a big city and we'll only be going to the festival. Unless something horrific happens and one of us needs to be taken to the hospital, we should have no trouble getting in and out of Dallas without seeing him."

"Yeah," Luke said. "Alright, I'll go home and start packing." He stood up and grabbed his bag.

"I have to get back to work anyway," Noah said, standing up too. "I'll see you at home in a couple hours."

Luke nodded. As he walked into the Olde Towne, his mind was racing. It had been three years since he had last seen Reid. During those three years, he had occasionally thought about the neurosurgeon he had once blackmailed and kidnapped and what his life might have been like if he'd given their relationship more of a chance. While he told himself that he was happy with Noah – and he was – Luke could never quite shake the feeling that he would have been truly and utterly happy with the older man. Being in different cities, in different states, Luke was able to convince himself that these thoughts were silly and pointless. But now that he was headed to Dallas, he could no longer ignore them. Therefore, as he made his way home, despite Noah's assurances that there would be no need to meet up with Reid Oliver, Luke knew in his heart that if he went Dallas, he was inevitably going to search out the doctor.