Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned in this story. None whatsoever.

A/N: I kinda rushed the last chapter because I knew I wouldn't have time to write for a while. Sorry to keep you all waiting. This is a continuation of the previous chapter, picking up right where we left off. Thanks to my reviewers (zcst4eva, Nickeltjuh, angelabaldwin). And also thanks to my lovely beta zcst4eva for making my story sound even better. I realized I didn't mention something important in the last one so I'll fix it here. Thanks again for reading.

Chapter 3

The Power of Persistence pt 2

"Just a bit more… Almost there… Come on, damn it…" It had been twenty minutes since Noah's phone had stopped ringing. Twenty minutes of him trying to twist and stretch across the roof to grasp the tiny item and maybe get some help. It had lit up when it was ringing, a lone light in this dark of his, but in his haste to try and get it he accidentally managed to push it further away, towards the back of the truck. So he had a pretty good idea of where it was, and several times it bumped against the tips of his fingers. He just… couldn't… reach it!

Sighing loudly, he felt the strain in his shoulder and let his arm hang a moment where it came to rest on the roof. He was starting to get dizzy from not being upright and was losing the battle against nausea. 'I can't take much more of this…' he thought, looking down at his leg, or up at it. God, he was so confused.

Bracing himself, his torso bent as his hands reached out towards the radiant pain source. Maybe if he could just get his leg free… Noah felt along his pant leg, the cold, sticky dampness he encountered there not surprising him. He was prepared for the pain, teeth grit and eyes fastened shut, but he didn't expect that when he arrived at mid-calf, he'd feel something protruding out from him. Oh, did he scream! It may have lasted for only five seconds, but it was the longest five seconds of his life.

But he wasn't ready to give up just yet. He remembered Luke's present, tucked away safely in the glove compartment and was reminded of the moment he decided to get it.

"Noah, you're such a pig!" Luke exclaimed, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Ah, but you love me for it my dear Luke." It was late Tuesday afternoon and Al's diner was mostly empty, except for a few stragglers finishing their meals. The dinner crowd wouldn't set in until later that evening, so there was a calm period in between that Noah and Luke enjoyed taking advantage of.

"So, what did you get me?" Luke asked with a bright smile, placing his cup on the table. Currently they were seated across from each other in a window booth and Noah was trying not to choke on his last bit of hamburger. It wasn't a small bit to say the least.

"Get you for what?" He asked simply after swallowing a large amount of soda. He glanced at Luke and quickly moved onto the French fries, taking two and three into his mouth at a time. Noah was so absorbed in eating that he completely missed Luke's portrayal of a gaping fish.

"Are you kidding?" Noah shook his head negatively and chomped down two more fries. "Noah… my birthday is this week! On Friday!" Luke said in a shocked voice. Suddenly, Noah was choking for a completely different reason, and the mashed potato bits weren't helping. Luke's face fell gradually. "You forgot, didn't you?" he stated, his voice tinged with disappointment.

"No! No, I didn't forget. Honest!" And it was the truth. Noah hadn't forgotten that Luke's birthday was coming, he had just forgotten that Luke's birthday was coming. He had been spending so much time thinking about classes and his escalating relationship with Luke that apparently he wasn't thinking about Luke himself, who was gazing at him with such a sad expression. "Luke, I swear, I didn't mean to-"

"Save it, Noah. Just… save it. It's okay," Luke sighed softly and seemed to glare at the table for a moment before looking at Noah again. He appeared to be more composed and was even giving a half smile, but his eyes… The chocolate eyes usually so full of love and warmth only showed betrayal. "It's okay that you forgot, really. Now you still have time. I'll um… I'll see you at home, okay?" With that he slid out of the booth and left. Noah felt about one inch tall.

He cleared out the remainders of their food and went to the register to pay, contemplating what on earth he could do to make it up to Luke. Henry, who was wiping the counter, saw the look and questioned him as to what was wrong. Noah told him, rehashing the last 10 minutes with a distressed air. He then asked Henry what he would do in that situation.

"Well, first off, that wouldn't happen,' He said with a slight smile. "Vienna would have had it marked down on every available calendar in the house for weeks! But that doesn't help you does it?"

Noah shook his head, 'No'.

"If it had happened, I'd probably have to spend hours apologizing until she got completely sick of me." Henry said slowly, as if thinking about his words carefully. "Then I'd go out and by her something that came from the heart, but was expensive. And gift cards don't qualify. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I don't think Luke would appreciate a card, um…" Then it hit him. He knew exactly what to get Luke. It was perfect, but he didn't have the money or time. Scrambling for his bag and change, Noah smiled at Henry in a panicked sort of way. "Henry, I gotta go! Thanks for the help, seriously!" He dashed out of the diner and jumped into his truck. Luke was going to be so surprised, if he ever forgave him! Had he turned at that moment, he would've seen the knowing smile on Henry's face as he continued wiping the counter.

"Congratulations, Noah."

So Noah had gone to the bank that night and taken 600 from his savings. He didn't have that much to begin with, and it pulled at something inside him to just take it out but he knew he had to do it. Luke meant too much to him to just leave things at where they stood now.

With that newfound motivation, Noah reached for his leg once again, tiny gasps and whimpers escaping him as he tried to manoeuvre it out of its confinement. It hurt, he couldn't lie, and he thought he might die from the pain alone. It wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he tried and Noah was shaking and panting with the effort. "Somebody help me!" He screamed out into the night, pounding on the roof in frustration. "Anybody! I need help! Please!" His voice caught in his throat as he started to cry. "Please…"

"You have a phone call, Luke." It was almost 1:30 in the morning and Luke was not any closer to sleeping now than he had been in the past two, maybe three hours especially now. Holden had returned earlier, allowing Lily the opportunity to get some rest, but not without some bad news first.

"I've been talking with Dallas," Holden said, rubbing his neck in tired circles as he sat on one of the counter stools. "The police have expanded their search to all towns within a 300 mile radius. His picture and information has been sent to all outposts. Wherever Noah was going, he made sure it was a secret. I don't understand how he could have disappeared like this!"

"So they don't have any leads?" Lily had moved behind him, resting her hands on shoulders to take over the massage.

"None. They've been in contact with the stations in other towns. No person by the name of Noah Mayer has been arrested, there's no record of him in any hospital and no reported traffic accidents involving a blue Ford truck. Noah could be well out of State by now! It's like he's vanished!"

"So do we tell Luke?"

Unbeknownst to them, Luke had been standing in the doorway of the kitchen since Holden sat down. He moved off silently, just as Holden said, "It might be best if he doesn't know."

That was half an hour ago and Luke was about to hit redial again. He knew he was being obsessive but he couldn't help it. Just as his finger was about to press down, his father came into the living room with the cordless phone.

"Who is it?" he asked, hopefully. Holden just shook the phone in his direction and Luke grabbed it from him. "Hello?"

"Hey Luke, I just heard! Are you ok?"

"Oh. Hi, Maddie…"

Through with self-pity, Noah got back to the task at hand. He pulled and tugged and twisted and cried but the leg, the leg refused to cooperate. His closed eyes couldn't stop the moisture that threatened to leak out again. "Luke, I'm so sorry," he said softly.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna give up?" The familiar voice startled Noah so badly that his heart skipped three beats. He turned his head to the right in disbelief. But there he was, sitting in the passenger seat upside down, grinning at him. Luke Snyder.

"Hi, Noah… Miss me?"

A/N YasuJ: And the third chapter is finished! -waiting for remarks-…Where are they?

Luke and Noah: -nowhere to be found-

YasuJ: Oh great! Now I've misplaced the characters. The readers are gonna kill me! –to the readers- Um, never fear! They shall be found! In the meantime, R&R! –yelling- Nuke! Loah! Where are you?