Luke always felt his cheeks turn bright crimson whenever Noah caught him looking; and yet he couldn't help it.

It didn't matter whether Noah was reading or writing at the dining table or watching television on the wide screen or even just hanging out in the same room. Luke felt compelled to stare at him.

Just spending a few moments in Noah's company resulted in Luke losing all ability to reason. He felt like such a goof and would say things that turned his ears beet red, just like a schoolboy.

He was indescribably, unexplainably in love with one Noah Mayer.

When Noah's enticing lips weren't sealed to his, Luke would be wishing they were.

When Noah spoke in that deep baritone voice, Luke would watch his tongue and wish it was curled to his.

When his hands smoothed the pages of the book he was reading, Luke would get goose bumps imagining those same hands rubbing against him.

When Noah smiled in that opulent way, Luke wished he had a camera so that he could snap every one of those smiles and make a pocket-sized album he'd carry around in his jacket to look at whenever he missed Noah.

And miss him he did; every single minute of every single hour; whether while working at World Wide or waiting for him to return from the movie theatre at night.

Noah dominated his thoughts in ways Reid never had.

Luke was definitely and properly in love.

He was beyond scared that very first morning when he woke up to find Noah gone from the apartment. It nearly sent him into a panic attack; imagining worst case scenarios.

"Did I move too quickly? Did I scare Noah away for good?"

Jumping to the conclusion that Noah had gone back to Brooklyn, Luke had scrambled out of bed and grabbed his jeans; intent on driving over to Juliet's house.

But his attendance at an important meeting at World Wide had taken priority. It was the most excruciating two-hour meeting during which he heard nothing and contributed even less!

He spent the time smoothing the thumb of one hand over the teeth-marks left on the other; a thrilling reminder of what had become the most incredible moment in his life.

...

Luke's heart had positively broken at the sight of the sad young man and his pitiful, small pile of worldly possessions on the front steps of Juliet's house. Noah's eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying over the loss of the loving person who raised him.

If Reid had shown up then, Luke would have killed him without hesitation. What kind of heartless person was he to throw a family member out of the house right after losing a loved one?

After Luke brought Noah back from his grandmother's house and put him to bed, he'd spent hours watching Noah sleep. The young man would wake periodically and sob in Luke's arms over the loss of Juliet. Luke held him close; kissing his hair and smoothing his cheeks, whispering soft words of comfort.

That first time they made love was so intense; there was no time for lingering kisses or examination of each other's bodies. They were both consumed with an urgent desire to immediately douse the overwhelming heat between them.

But the second time they made love was slow and so much more deliberate. It started off with tender kisses and removal of clothing item by item; followed by a full scan of each other with feeling up legs and kissing between thighs; hips rocking forward to deepen the contact.

But when Luke pressed his body closer and touched the source of Noah's arousal, that's when he caught that flash of fear; that slight jerking away from him. It was only as they locked eyes that Noah began to relax once more; keeping Luke in his sights like a security blanket.

So as they lay in the afterglow of their love making, Luke had to ask. He turned to lie on his side and pulled at Noah's arm, encouraging him to do the same. They lay there face to face as he began.

"Noah?"

Noah smiled serenely; with a look so full of contentment and trust Luke almost backed out.

But he could not. "I need you to tell me something."

Noah reached up and rubbed his forefinger along Luke's lip, watching as the plumpness returned after each press. "What's that?"

Luke took a deep breath. "I want you tell me who hurt you."

Noah's eyes quickly filled with intense dread and shot up to meet Luke's in shock.

"Was it Greg?"

The young man's entire body trembled at the unexpected question. He shook his head and tried to get up to leave.

But Luke pulled him back down.

"Don't go…" Luke implored. "Stay…talk to me."

Not once looking back at Luke, Noah firmly said, "I need to go to the bathroom!"

Luke had a grip on Noah's wrist. "Noah…"

"I need to go to the bathroom! Please let me go!"

Luke released Noah's wrist all the while kicking himself for ruining such a magical moment. He lay there seeped in worry wondering what to do.

However a few minutes later, Noah crawled back into bed; spooning Luke from behind and pressing his cheek into the back of Luke's neck.

"I don't want to talk about it," he pleaded. "I just want to lie here in the moment with you."

"Noah…?"

"Please Luke!"

Luke deeply sighed but he'd let it go for the time being.

He tried again of course. A few times. But Noah always found a way to avoid the question or skirt the issue. And Luke didn't want to push him too hard.

Because now, a week after Juliet's funeral, Luke had become increasingly fearful, not of Noah, but of the very real possibility of losing him.

He knew he would have to tell Noah the truth about being married to Reid. But it never seemed like the right time.

The guy was still mourning and deeply hurting. Luke felt he simply couldn't add to that.

Or was he just making excuses?

Either way, the longer he left it the worse it was destined to become.

He already felt terrible about making up some lame excuse not to accompany him to Juliet's funeral when Noah really could have used his support or to the reading of her will.

To see Reid's face when he learned Juliet had completely cut him out in favor of Noah would have been a sight to behold for sure!

But how could Luke tell Noah? What did he say?

"Oh, by the way babe, I'm actually your uncle by marriage?"

And there was the secret Noah refused to share with him; some kind of hidden pain that haunted Luke. He desperately wanted to help, if Noah would only open up to let him.

But they were just getting to know each other. Maybe Luke was expecting too much too soon.

...

"Okay, Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia?"

Noah loved old films. Luke knew absolutely nothing about them. But they did discover a common ground since Luke had read most of the books on which the movies were based.

Besides, most of the time they talked just to hear each other's voices. The important stuff was communicated through looks and touch.

"Um…" Luke had to think about that one. "I don't know to be honest. Both epic! I like the romance of Gone with the Wind. But then Lawrence of Arabia has all those great fight scenes."

"Yeah." Noah agreed. "That question wasn't very fair of me… I also struggle to pick between those two."

"Okay, new question…" Luke had his head on Noah's chest and he ran his fingers lightly over Noah's stubble before asking, "First… who are the two leads again?"

"Clark Gable and Peter O'Toole."

"Oh yes… Okay. My question is… Which one?"

"Which one what?"

"Which one would you sleep with?"

Noah giggled. "I only want to sleep with you."

"Aw…" Luke rolled over him to kiss Noah and enjoyed how Noah's face lit up when he did. "Let's just say I'm not in the picture."

"Um…" Noah considered. "It's hard. O'Toole has those really intense blue eyes…"

"Kind of like yours?"

"Mmm." Noah hummed as Luke kissed him again. "…and Gable has such a sexy smile…"

"So? Which one?"

Noah sighed playfully, "I give up! I can't choose! Both I guess."

"Greedy!" Luke laughed and stretched his hand down to the soft skin on the side of Noah's waist, a particularly sensitive Mayer spot.

"No!" Noah yelped, cottoning on to his motives and starting to laugh before Luke had even touched him there. "Luke!"

They laughed loudly and rolled about on the rug as Luke tickled him.

"Stop! Stop! Please! Okay… Okay…!"

Luke silenced him with an exploitative kiss, taking advantage of his loss of breath to pin him down by his wrists and push him hard into the floor with his body.

When he came up, he was shocked at the sudden panic on Noah's face and he immediately released Noah's wrists and moved back from him.

The alarm in Noah's eyes turned almost seamlessly to shame and he moved to sit with his back up against the couch. After a minute, he banged his head back once in frustration and hugged his knees into his chest.

"Talk to me… please Noah."

"Why?" came the bitter response. "Are you some kind of an expert now?"

"Come on Noah, I'm just trying to help. I'm just trying to understand what he did to you."

"What do you know about what he did to me?"

"I know he hurt you physically, I know that. I've seen it for myself. But I also know there's more to it. I really don't care about what that is, I only care about what it's doing to you. It's always there, right below the surface whenever I touch-…"

"Stop! Okay… stop!" he put his hands over his ears to block out Luke's insistence.

"I can't just sit back and watch how much it hurts you and do nothing. You can't ask me to do that, Noah."

"You don't understand."

"Then make me… I want to know."

"You want to know?" He was getting angry now. "Really? You want to hear about him sticking his hand down my pants. Is that what you want to know?" The words blasted from Noah like bullets.

He instantly stormed off for the bathroom, leaving a shell-shocked Luke on the floor.

Luke knew it was true. He had known all along. He'd seen it written in the back of Noah's soft eyes like some seared branding.

But to actually hear Noah admit it out loud like that was devastating.

He heard Noah splashing his face with water as he approached the en-suite off his bedroom. When Noah came out, he sat on the edge of the bed and put his forehead in the palms of his hands.

Looking up - his eyebrows darker now from the water and his eyes bloodshot with unshed tears - he gazed deeply at Luke, silently communicating as seemed so natural between them.

"I tried to make him stop… But he was too strong… I was just a kid…"

"Noah," Luke's breath shuddered. "Did he ever…?"

"No… No!" Noah shook his head definitely. "It never got that far… not that he didn't try."

Luke sat next to him and used a forefinger to gently push his black curls from his forehead.

"Noah does Re-" He prayed Noah didn't hear the slip. "Does your uncle know? Does he know everything about Greg?"

Noah shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I'm so sorry Bubby."

"I'm better now…"

"Yeah?"

Noah took Luke's hand. "…now you're here…"

Luke responded with a deep kiss to Noah's fingers. "Same here. I'm better now you're here, too."