The memories seemed to flood Noah like a broken dam, and Luke worried over him the entire night. But nothing could prepared him for the worry he felt that Friday morning, when he found Noah cooking pancakes for breakfast, for all the world like nothing had happened. And if it weren't for the dark circles under his eyes, Luke could almost believe it hadn't.

"Hungry?"

"Noah, what are you doing?" he asked carefully.

"Making breakfast! What does it look like?" Noah replied, as though Luke had just asked the most stupid question ever.

"Yes, but…"

"Come on, sit down!" Noah cut him off and pulled out a stool indicating to Luke that he should take it.

But Luke didn't sit. He wished he could play along. He wished he could help Noah hide in this veil of normality, but it he knew it wouldn't help.

"Babe…" he began, but Noah was quick and placed a kiss on his lips before he could continue, pulling him back and forcibly pushing him down onto the stool.

"One stack or two?" he asked.

Luke shook his head as his eyes welled up, "Noah…"

"I have blueberries two…" his voice was becoming desperate.

"Noah…"

"And Maple syrup…"

"Noah, stop dammit!" and then he stood quickly as Noah visibly sagged. He grabbed him, bending at the same time to turn off the stove. He removed the spatula from his fingers, throwing it in the sink, before walking him carefully to the lounge. He sat Noah down on the sofa, took his hands and said, "I know you want to, but we can't just pretend it didn't happen."

Noah sighed, "I just needed a moment… just some time..." And then, looking up and seeing the concern on Luke's face he was devastated, "I'm sorry… I'm scaring you aren't I? I'm fine. Really."

"I still can't believe this… I can't take this in…" Luke whispered and they leaned their heads together, squeezing fingers.

Ten minutes later Luke stood up suddenly and with purpose, marching over to pick up the phone.

"What are you doing?" Noah asked.

"I'm calling the police."

Noah rushed up and grabbed the phone, "No, no way!"

"We have to report this!"

"Report what, Luke? Where's the evidence? We're talking about something that happened months ago! It's my word against his!"

"But we can't let him get away with this."

"Luke…"

"No Noah! That kid he tried to drug last night couldn't have been more than seventeen!"

Luke watched as recognition dawned on Noah's features, "Jack. " And then softly, "He's one of the actors." And he walked to the couch, collapsing back down as he said, "Oh my god!"

"Noah, if I hadn't seen him…"

Noah nodded, "Can you just sit here with me for a while, please?"

Luke joined him and they held each other. "He's been completely normal, Luke." Noah said amazed. "Even after… the day after… he asked me how I was, not worried or anything… like you'd ask anyone… just completely normal. "

Luke held him tighter, swallowing back the stones in his throat.

"And we've been out… we've laughed and joked together… How did I not remember? It's mad, right?"

"Noah, we don't know what he gave you and the combination of that and… and I guess… I guess a part of you wanted to forget. And then everything that happened with your dad… the nightmares you had about the fire… they must have dug it all up somehow."

"I guess."

"What should we do now then? What do you want me to do?"

Noah thought for a while and then looked right at him, "We've got to call the police."

And Luke nodded with relief. He stood first and then held out is hand for Noah to take it. Noah took a deep breath and held the extended hand so that Luke could pull him up. They both walked over and stared at the phone.

Noah looked up, the fear clear in his eyes, "Will you do it?"

Luke nodded and dialled the number. Each button click sounded like a gunshot and Luke grabbed Noah's hand tightly as they waited for an answer… "Hello? Yes… My name's Luke, Luke Snyder… Yes, um… I want to report a…" He looked up into Noah's eyes as he realised the word he would have to voice. "I need to report a rape…" And Noah nodded at him before looking at the floor. "No, no it's not me. Um, how does it work? Do we need to come in or…?" Luke waited for the answer and then said, "Okay, yes… we'll be there soon." And he hung up the phone.

"We have to go in?" Noah asked shaking.

"I'm afraid so, but I'll stay with you okay? The whole time."

"Luke… you know if we go to the police that's it, don't you? Everything could go wrong again."

"Things have already gone wrong Noah…" Luke said reaching forward to take his hand. "Now we put them right! We put them right together!"

Noah nodded.

"You okay?" Luke checked.

"Yes."

Luke took a deep breath as Noah kissed his cheek before heading to the bedroom to change.

...

On arrival at the police station they were immediately sent to a specialised rape centre, located across the road. The room they were finally left to wait in looked like that of any doctor's office. The fact that it was decorated with a feminine edge was not lost on either of them.

Noah sat nervously on a couch, eyes following Luke as he paced back and forth, "I'm sorry Luke."

Luke stopped, "I told you Noah, this isn't your fault!"

"No, but I mean for putting you through this…"

Luke sat by his side, "Right now I'm just so proud of you. For being strong! For doing the right thing and reporting it, so that that son of a b***h can't do this to anybody else!"

Just then the door opened and a slight blonde women with a clipboard walked in, "Mr Mayor? I'm Terry Curtis." And she reached out her hand for Noah to shake as he stood politely, "You can call me Terry."

Noah looked at her sceptically, "And you're police, right?"

"I'm from the special rape unit, the officer that referred you here explained that to you right?"

Both men nodded.

"Sorry," Noah said pointing to Luke as he stood up, "This is Luke Snyder, my boyfriend."

"Oh, that's right, hello Mr Snyder…" And she shook hands with Luke as well. As they all sat down she said, "We will look after you here from now on."

"What does that mean?" Noah asked. "What's going to happen?"

"Do you mind if I call you Noah?" Noah shook his head. "Okay, well Noah, right now all you have to do is tell me what happened." Noah looked down. "Take as much time as you want." They sat in silence for a while and then, after a quick glance at Luke she said, "We could do this just you and me, if that would be easier."

Immediately Noah said, "No, no… I want Luke here!"

"Yes, "agreed Luke, "I want to be here." And he took hold of Noah's hand as they both turned to her.

"Okay." She smiled, pushing a flyaway from her face and quickly pinning it back. "So… when did this attack take place?"

"About a year ago…" Luke replied quickly.

Terry held up her hand and said, "If Noah could just tell me what happened himself?"

Luke nodded his apologies.

"Last February." Noah said, "I don't remember the exact date."

"And where did it take place?"

"Um… In his apartment… He lives downtown."

"And your attacker? Do you know him?"

"We… um… I know him. We work together."

"His name?"

Noah looked to Luke who nodded. "Oliver, Oliver Deagostino. He… he just used to flirt with me you know?" He said the words to Luke, as though talking to him directly and his brow creased, "Make little jokes and things. I didn't think anything of it."

"Okay, so, what happened exactly?" When Noah didn't answer but instead looked at his lap she gave him a push, "You were at his place, and so was he…"

"Um, no! Um, I was… I got drunk in a bar and… and he took me home."

"So you were drunk?"

"Yes he was, but he was also drugged!" piped in Luke.

"Please Mr Snyder, I must ask you not to interrupt!"

"But…"

"It's okay, Luke." Noah stopped him this time, "I can handle it." And he gave Luke a small kiss on his cheek. "Yes, I was drunk... um… I… I was pretty messed up that night." And Luke's breath shuddered next to him, prompting Noah to squeeze his hand in reassurance. "So that's partly the reason I've not come forward until now… because I didn't remember any of it. I woke up at his place and I thought I'd done a stupid thing! You know? I thought I'd had a one night stand… But then… last night…" he had started to shake slightly as the memories flooded him again and Luke put his arm around him in concern.

"What happened last night?" She asked.

"Can I?" Luke requested.

"Go ahead." She relented.

"Last night I saw Oliver sneak a powder into a guys drink at the bar. And when I told Noah about it… everything just made sense all of a sudden, you know? I mean Noah's not the kind of person to get drunk and sleep around. If you knew him…"

"Noah, do you remember the rape?" She cut Luke off, sensing that he was about to spiral into anger.

"Yes." It was a whisper, "Until last night I didn't, but I do now... I remember everything."

"I'm going to need you to talk me through it."

Both Luke and Noah shuddered.

...

An hour later, all the details laid out on the table, Luke could take no more. He stood up quickly and left the room, closing the door behind him and leaning sideways against the wall, biting his hand to prevent any noises Noah might hear from the other room. It was horrific! It was horrific! And he couldn't stand the thought that it had happened. That it had happened to Noah! His gentle, kind and sweet Noah who would never deliberately hurt anybody.

And suddenly Luke was angry! So angry that it felt like a fire had been lit in his belly! He stormed back into the room, where Noah and Terry still sat in silence. "I want him arrested! I want him arrested right now!"

"Please Mr Snyder… I realise this is difficult…"

"DIFFICULT? DIFFICULT? How many men has he done this to, hey? How many? And… and… where are they? Where are those men? Why has nobody come forward? Why? If somebody had come forward before then, then… then Noah…then…" And he stood there shaking his head from side to side, as tears cascaded down his cheeks.

Noah didn't move. He simply sat and watched Luke while shedding silent tears of his own. Finally he spoke to Terry, all the while keeping his eyes locked with Luke's, "What do we do now?"

"Well, it's been too long for a medical test to reveal anything. We have Mr Snyder's testimony but it doesn't prove that your particular drink was contaminated... it's circumstantial. And I'm afraid the fact that you were intoxicated won't go in your favour in court. So the next best thing would be the clothes you were wearing that night. Do you still have them?"

Blue eyes communicated silently with misty hazel, "Stay calm." they said, "Stay calm." While to Terry he said, "Yes, but… but I would have washed them."

"It's still worth having them tested. And do you know if you were seen at the bar? If anybody could have seen you?"

"I spoke to the barman for a while… but… it was so long ago I'd be surprised if he remembered me."

"Okay, just one more thing Noah… and it's not very nice I'm afraid, but you'll need to take an AIDS test."

Luke dropped, wide eyed, to the floor but Noah spoke quickly, still holding fast to his gaze, "It's okay. I took one months ago… after… I figured I should since I couldn't remember…"

The relief on Luke's face was palpable.

"Good." And she smiled at him, "That's good. Okay now the next thing you should do is…"

"Hold on!" Luke finally cut in from the floor, breaking the eye contact for the first time to look at Terry, "Why are you sitting there telling Noah what HE needs to do? Why don't you go out there and arrest the bastard who did this to him?"

"Mr Snyder," and then softly, "Luke, there are certain procedures that we have to follow…"

"I don't give a shit about your procedures! That animal needs to be locked up!"

She ignored the outburst to continue, "… and if we do this right, we follow the right procedures then, he will be."

"But you can't guarantee that? Can you?"

"We will do everything we can…"

"And what does that mean? A slap on the wrist?"

"Let US take care of this…"

Luke looked over at Noah desperately, completely lost and helpless, and Noah walked over to join him on the floor, comforting him, creating a tight ball of a hug, his lips touching the nape of Luke's neck.

"I'm so scared for you." Luke sobbed.

"I know." Noah whispered. "But I'll be okay. I promise. So long as I have you I'll be okay."

...

It was early evening by the time Luke and Noah finally arrived back home, both exhausted after a full day of emotional interviews piled on top of a sleepless night. The moment the door closed Luke took hold of both Noah's hands and drew him into a hug.

"I don't want to dwell on this Luke. I just want us to get back to normal, okay? Just you and me… like it's been."

"Okay." Luke said, trying to sound confident.

Just then they were interrupted when the phone rang. Luke squeezed Noah's hands, releasing one to rub down the side of Noah's face before walking over to pick up the phone, "Hello? Luke speaking."

"Hi Luke, it's your favourite friend here!"

"Hi, sweet. Did you make it home okay?"

"Yes I'm all safe and sound but DYING to know how the wrap party went? I can't believe I missed seeing the two of you dressed like penguins! Did you take pictures?"

"Um… Yes. It was… it was good."

"It was good? Then why do you sound like somebody kicked your dog…"

Luke looked over at Noah, asking a question with a look, and Noah nodded his assent before disappearing down the passage.

"Maddie…" he could hear the tears in his voice, "Maddie…"

So could she, "Luke? Are you okay? Is it Noah? Did something happen?"

And Luke told Maddie the entire story from the gruesome beginning.

...

Who the hell was this blonde man! Oliver was incensed! He couldn't understand where this person had come from! Noah didn't seem to socialise enough to have met somebody and clearly these two knew each other well, which made him wonder whether Noah had had a boyfriend all along. Although he didn't think so…

This was a major complication to his plan!

He had spent months since that wonderful night. waiting for the opportunity to have another go at Noah but he never caught Noah drinking more than one or two bottles of beer. And he certainly never saw him drinking alone again. He was definitely starting to lose his patients! He wanted him!

As a result he had spent hours agonising over the problem, knowing that he would have to change tactics in order to catch his prey. But just as fate had shown him the way on that magical night, he was once again given the answer when, one afternoon, a courier handed him, of all the people in the studio, the deeds and the key to Noah's brand new house. And of course, as soon as he possibly could, he'd made himself a copy.

...

Maddie shook from head to toe as she hung up the phone. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and looked around the small apartment feeling totally lost.

Noah. Noah was… Somebody… And Luke's voice… Her heart ached.

She found her feet at last and wandered into the lounge. She stood there for a minute, not even hearing the television as a noisy car chase scene flashed across the screen. Finally she felt her legs give way, but as she fell, Jonathan seemed to appear out of nowhere to catch her.

"Maddie? What is it?" He had to flip his head back as his ginger fringe flopped into his eyes.

She looked up at him as she leaned against his solid support, suddenly noticing him for the first time and she stuttered, "I need to go to LA."

"But Maddie… you just got back?"

"I need to go to LA RIGHT NOW!"

"Okay… Okay… Um. Let's just sit for a minute. Just get your breath back." And he led her gently to the armchair, quickly leaning over to grab the remote and switch the television to mute at the same time.

He knelt in front of her, one hand squeezing on her shoulder. "Maddie, you barely had enough cash to pay for your last ticket. Where will we find the money to buy another one?"

Maddie couldn't think. She didn't care about the money! She looked around desperately searching for a solution and then, eyes connecting with Jonathan's she said, "You can drive me…"

"What? To LA? Maddie, it's a twenty hour drive!"

"Please! Please Jonathan! I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. I NEED to go! They NEED me!"

After some time he nodded before gesturing towards the bedroom, "What about…"

"Catherine can look out for him. She owes me a favour."

"When do you want to leave?"

"How long will it take you to pack?"