Chapter 2
No one said anything for a while and it became a battle of the eyes. Noah looked down at Luke's finger again, then up at Luke's face, then over at Reid. Luke looked from Noah to the floor and then back up at Noah. Reid looked from Luke to Noah and then over to the counter to see if his food was coming any time soon. He really was starving. Luke was the first one to speak "Hey Noah…" was all he could get out.
"Hey? That's all you have to say?" Noah slid into the booth not caring if he wasn't invited and glared at Reid when he heard him sigh deeply. Noah reached out and lifted Luke's hand by his ring finger holding it up for them all to see. Reid adjusted himself in his seat not really liking the fact that Noah was touching Luke. Luke pulled his hand away. "What the hell is that?"
"Well…Ummmm…" Luke trailed off
"What the hell does it look like…It's a ring" Reid interrupted. Luke turned to look at Reid a little angry that he interjected like that and with such hostility. He had to know that this was hard for Noah and he didn't need Reid making it any worse. Reid sighed at the look on Luke's face knowing that he had upset him. "I'll give you two a minute" he said as he went to sit at the counter.
Luke watched him go and then turned his eyes back to Noah who was just sitting there with this blank expression on his face, eyes focused in on the ring. Finally he looked up at Luke with such sadness in his eyes that Luke shuddered. He didn't want to hurt Noah. He never did. "I don't know what to say…"
Noah took in a deep breath. God he didn't think he could hurt any worse than he did when he heard Luke say that he was in love with Reid. But this was too much. He wanted to explode. He wanted to make it known to Luke and Reid just what he thought of this whole situation. He looked back up at Luke and could see the mixture of emotions in his eyes. He could see that Luke was obviously upset that he was hurting but he could also see this light in his eyes that he had never seen before. It was happiness. Pure and simple. It was love. "You're going to marry him" was all he said. It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes" Luke said staring down at his hands which were clasped so tightly together that his knuckles were turning white. Noah looked down at them and could see how hard this was for Luke. As much as it hurt him and as much as he wanted to yell and scream and maybe even cry…he didn't.
Over at the counter Reid sat there nervously waiting for something, anything to happen. He looked from one to the other wondering how this was going to turn out. He could see the tension in Luke's body. He could see the hurt in Noah's eyes. Then he saw Noah reach out his hand and place it over Luke's. He took in a sharp breath and held it.
"Luke" Noah's hand trembled a little on top of Luke's.
Luke looked up at Noah. Then opened his hands and closed them around Noah's. "I'm so sorry Noah. I never wanted to hurt you"
"No, Luke. Don't apologize." He took his other hand and placed it on top of their hands that were already gripping each other and let out a sigh. "If this is what you want Luke then I will try and be happy for you"
Luke looked up shocked at how Noah was taking this. He was sure that he would yell. He was sure that he would tell him that he was making a mistake. That it should have been them. But he didn't. A look of relief flooded Luke's face as he gave Noah a faint smile. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that"
"I think I do." Noah said as he released Luke's hands from his own and stood. "I'm gonna get going…" Looking over at Reid "Sorry for the interrupting…" With that he turned and walked out of Al's as fast as he could. He was so desperate to get out of there before he fell apart. He couldn't let them see him crumble. Especially Reid.
He could barely get into his apartment fast enough before he lost it. "Fuck!...Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Noah threw his keys across the room. He ran his hands through hair almost tearing some of it out. He could feel the tears in his eyes starting to well up. Before he could stop himself his hand was plowing into the wall "Fuck! OWWWWW! Fuck!"
Ally could hear the yelling as she was coming down the hall. She ran the last few steps and burst through the door seeing Noah crouched on the floor clutching his right hand to his stomach. "Noah, what happened are you ok?" She saw the hole in the wall above him and figured out what had happened. She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and he flinched. She sat down next to him and draped her arm over his shoulder pulling him into her and he let go. Ally could feel him shaking in her arms and tears soaking her shirt. "It's ok…" she said as she rubbed his back in small circular motions. She didn't know what was wrong but she didn't ask.
A few minutes later when Noah's sobbing had slowed he pulled away. Ally took this opportunity to look at his hand. It was badly bruised and obviously swollen. "Oh, Noah this is bad. You need to go to the hospital" She got up and went into the kitchen. When she came back she had ice wrapped in a towel and placed it over his hand. He winced at the contact. "Come on, I'll drive you." Noah didn't protest. Didn't say anything. He just got up and followed her out the door.
On the way there Ally finally got Noah to tell her what was going on. She couldn't help but be torn about the news but tried not to show it. On one hand she felt horrible for Noah because she knew how much he was hurting. On the other hand she was happy for Luke. When they got to the hospital and Ally had gotten Noah settled into a room she texted Casey.
Noah sat in the hospital room holding the ice to his hand thinking about how stupid it was to hit that wall. He didn't know it was going to happen until it did. He had done so well at Al's. He held it together for as long as he could stand it. His hand was killing him and he was thinking to himself that at least things couldn't get any worse when the door opened and he heard that familiar voice.
"So, Mr. Mayer…Who have we been punching today?"
Back at the diner where Luke was now sitting alone since Reid had to go to work he looked down at his phone as it vibrated on the table. It was a text from Casey.
So I hear you're marrying a doctor! Congrats!
Luke just smiled to himself. Only in Oakdale….
