He spotted them as they drove up, right where her brother said they would be. It was a lovely day for it, not too hot and not too cold.

"There they are." He pointed, as his mother parked the car.

They walked down the grass hill towards the family gathered near the bottom and he knew her brother instantly. It wasn't that they looked the same; rather that they both had that smile that spread from ear to ear.

"You must be Josh?" Luke said, shaking his hand.

"Yeah! Thanks for springing me for the day." Josh joked, "This is my jailer, Marion."

His mother laughed and jolted him slightly, "You!" then she reached out to shake Luke's hand, "Pleased to meet you Mr Snyder, Marion Carmody, but please, call me Marion."

"It's Luke, pleased to meet you. Thanks for making an acceptation for Josh. It mean's a lot."

"Not at all." She said, suddenly more sullen, "It's a terrible thing that happened to your sister. Just terrible..."

Josh saw then the pain in his face.

"Yes." He agreed, "But we move on from it, slowly we move on…"

...

Luke, standing at the sink, let out a slight and breathy sound of pain through this teeth, just as Noah was stepping out of the shower.

He wrapped a towel around his waist, tucking it over a few times to keep it from falling down, and then drew Luke's face towards him, lifting it up slightly by this chin. It was just a small nick but still, a tiny bead of blood mingled with the white of the shaving foam, turning it pink in colour.

"Here," Noah said, taking the razor from his hand. "Let me do it." And he manoeuvred Luke so that he was seated on the edge of the bath, before shaking the razor in the sink of water, holding Luke behind his head with one hand and carefully shaving a path upwards, from under Luke's chin to where his bottom lip began.

He'd never shaved another person before, but he figured it couldn't be that different from shaving himself and, in fact, as he continued he realised that, if anything, it was easier.

They remained in silence as Noah worked. Occasionally Luke's sad brown eyes would meet his and Noah could see the fear and trepidation there. In just a few hours Luke would have to explain everything to his parents. He'd have to tell them how he'd run their daughter off the road and then abandoned her there.

Not that that was how Noah saw things. He knew Luke had suffered a mental breakdown that night. It was obvious. But it was how Luke felt and those feelings were making his hands too shaky to shave himself.

"There." Said Noah, trying to sound light hearted as he cleaned off the end of the razor in the sink for the last time, "Not too bad if I'm allowed to say so myself!"

Luke felt his face and smiled, "It's great, thanks."

"That's what fiancés are for…"

Noah pulled Luke's towel from the rack and used it to gently clean the remaining foam from his face, before neatly re-hanging it.

"They're never going to forgive me for this, are they?" he asked dejected. "God! I can't even forgive myself!"

Noah hugged Luke's head to his stomach, "Of course they will! Don't beat yourself up over this, okay? It was an accident."

He felt him nod and then Luke said softly, "You're handling this really well."

"To be honest with you I'm relieved!"

Luke frowned at him.

"I've been going crazy with worry these past weeks. Not knowing what was happening to you… Now that we know, we can try to sort it, right?"

"I'm not sure we can sort this, Noah."

"One step at a time, hey? First… time to shower…" Noah instructed, "Need help?"

"No. I can handle it." Luke replied standing.

"Okay, I'll get dressed in the meantime."

Noah kissed Luke long and deep on the mouth. It was a kiss of reassurance that no matter what happened with his parents, he wasn't going anywhere.

"I love you." He said before he left the room.

...

It had taken quite a bit of persuading to get Nicholas to stay seated in the swing. The child didn't understand it and was nervous to be left hanging there. But eventually, starting slowly, Noah pushed him softly back and forth, and as he felt the wind in his face he smiled. After a few more pushes Noah asked him whether he wanted to try going higher and soon the child was encouraging this himself.

"Higher Noah! Higher!" he yelled through his giggles. "Look-it Grandma! Look!"

"I see baby! Wow!" Lilly replied as she lounged back on the picnic blanket Holden had laid down for her.

As he continued to push Nicholas, Noah noticed Luke looking up the hill and, following his gaze, saw the boy and his mother walking down towards them. He smiled to himself. Luke was hoping all morning that they would come.

...

Luke's relationship with Natalie had always been a special one. Of course he loved Faith and Ethan like crazy and shared a special and unique connection with both of them; but with Natalie the understanding ran deeper. They shared the same spirit and energy and sensed this of each other. So Luke was Natalie's back up. Whenever she wanted something from her parents she'd always recruit Luke to her side, knowing that he had a stronger knack for persuasion than she. And Luke always understood her. He knew what her internal motives were. Those thoughts and feelings the other family members couldn't comprehend. Because Luke thought like her…

So it had hit Luke. It had hit Luke hard to discover that, as he'd matured, he'd also lost this ability. He couldn't understand or anticipate the teenaged Natalie as he had the child. And perhaps this was why the accident happened.

This, as well as other things went through his mind as his mother walked towards him. He took a step back in fear of her retaliation and anger. He'd been unable to tell her. Noah had stayed with him as he spoke to Holden. That had been hard enough! But he simply couldn't stand to see the look on his mother's face and so he'd begged his shaken father to speak to Lilly. They had waited for him to tell Lilly in private.

He expected her to hit him. He almost wanted it. Although he knew the pain of a slap would be nothing compared to the pain he felt for his actions. He deserved whatever came his way.

But it didn't come, instead Lilly threw her arms around him, "You repressed all this? This is why you've been so lost? Oh my god! My poor baby! This is why? This is why you've been so sick these past days?"

"I'm… I'm… so… sorry Mom." He struggled to say, "I just… I just…"

As he tried to get the words out his tearful eyes fell over Lilly's shoulder and onto the tiny body in the bed. He could barely see Natalie for all the machinery they had her wired up to. Instead of finishing the sentence to his mother, he moved away from her to Natalie's bedside and took his sister's small hand in his.

For three weeks they had been sharing visitor shifts with Lilly and Holden and already he'd spent hours in the room with her, holding her hand, talking to her, reading to her, worrying. And in all those hours he never once would have imagined or believed that he was the one responsible.

"It just couldn't be me, you know Nat?" With one finger he pushed her fringe back, "I couldn't be the one that… that hurt you… I couldn't accept that! I can't explain what happened… it… it was like I wanted to change it somehow! I couldn't let it be true!"

He felt Lilly's hands on his shoulders and his forehead collapsed into the sheets by Natalie's arm as he sobbed, "Oh my god! What have I done?"

"Sweetheart…" Lilly said softly, "It's not your fault. It was a terrible accident! A terrible twist of fate..."

"But I LEFT her there Mom! What kind of person am I? How could I just leave her there? What if my leaving her meant she lost those precious minutes that will help her live? Precious minutes that will help her wake up. Oh please! Please wake up Nat!"

"Luke. You were in shock. Anybody would have been. You blacked it out and it's not your fault, okay? It's just how your mind chose to deal with it."

"How can you not hate me?"

"Luke. You are my son and I love you! I've known you your whole life, remember? And I know that under normal circumstances you would never to anything to deliberately hurt her! I know how much you love your sister, baby! I know, okay?"

Luke nodded tearfully.

"Anyway…" and a soft smile played on her lips, "We had some good news this morning… just before you and Noah showed up."

Luke looked up at her. God but she looked tired. The underside of her eyes were black from sleepless nights of worry.

"The doctor's think she's waking up and she's not showing any signs of brain damage so far."

"She's waking up?" His heart lifted slightly, soaking in the hope.

"Yes, baby, she is. They're taking her off the machines in an hour."

He leapt back up and hugged her so hard she had to push him back to breathe. She held his head in her hands and said, "She's going to be fine baby. Everything's going to be okay."

...

"It's because I'm ugly isn't it?" she said dejectedly, scratching at the cast on her left arm.

Josh's first thought at seeing her was that she looked good, all things considered. If it wasn't for the scratches on her face and the cast on her arm, nobody would have known she'd lain unconscious for three weeks.

She'd been so happy to see him too! He could tell. Her faced had simply beamed in joy at the surprise her brother had arranged for her.

"Oh Luke! Thank you!"

"It's the least I could do Nat!" Then drawing her to one side but still speaking loud enough for Josh to catch it he said, "Just fill me in next time, okay?"

"O-kay…" she'd drawn out in agreement. And Josh saw the love her brother held for her as he kissed the top of her head.

Now he felt terrible as he sat and listened to the effort Natalie had made just to see him again. Because she wanted to date him? He wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

"Josh?" she asked interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to her question, "I'm ugly, right?"

"No!" he replied to her, "That's definitely not it! Do you know how many of my friends at camp thought you were cute?"

"Oh yeah?" she asked sceptically, "Then why didn't any of them ever ask me to be their girlfriend?"

Josh sighed as he realised what he'd put his friend through, "I guess because they thought I was interested in you…"

"But you're not…" she looked as though she'd burst into tears.

"Um, damn… How do I…? Um Natalie… I really like you! SO much! And I didn't want to lose your friendship so… It's not you it's me…"

"Oh my god!" Natalie almost yelled indignantly, "That is so LAME! At least tell the truth and say I'm ugly and you'd never date me!"

"Nat… I guess I should have told you sooner but… the thing is… I'm not sure what you'll think… how you'll react… I didn't want to lose you as a friend…

...

He was the new guy at camp. He was older at seventeen and this was his first camp. There was something about the guy. He had this aura around him, he shone almost. Josh felt confused. He couldn't stop staring at him and as a result he caught the boy's eyes a few times. The boy knew he was looking.

Then one day Josh was jostled in the food line and he came face to face with him. He was the same height, gentle blond hair, liquid blue eyes. (What?) He had asked Josh something but Josh was dumbstruck.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

If this guy had asked Josh to jump from a cliff he would have done it, he was lead by something deep inside of him he didn't quite understand.

As they left the camp for the camouflage of the woods, the boy took and squeezed Josh's hand. He kept thinking he should be shocked! He should pull away! But he couldn't! He liked the feeling. He felt wanted… It was almost like electricity… It was instant and he glowed red as he felt himself growing hard within his corduroys. (What the hell?)

The other boy looked around, but most of the kids were at lunch and they were alone. He turned to face Josh and Josh became suddenly aware of a tree trunk against his back. The boy was looking at him with such intensity like he wanted to… (What did he want?)

Josh fought at first as the stronger boy embraced him, trapping him up against the tree, but then he relented when the guy pulled back and looked at him, thumbing his cheek gently and then leaning forwards to kiss him. Josh struggled to get into the kiss at first. His breath shuddered with feeling from the moment the older boy's lips met his. This wasn't his first kiss. He'd had plenty of kisses with girls.

But… but this was…!

The boy's wonderful tongue went down Josh's throat and his hand reached down to the bulge in Josh's corduroys and around to his buttocks.

He could feel the bark of the tree against his back. It burned slightly but just added to the wonderful feelings he was experiencing. This felt so right! This felt like the thing he'd been looking for.

Without further resistance Josh's hands found the muscles in the other boy's back.

...

She snorted like a piglet when she giggled. It was adorable and infectious and under usual circumstances it never failed to set him off too, but at that moment her hilarity was aimed directly at him. It was hard. She was the first person he'd ever told and it was hard to tell her this thing about himself! And here she was laughing at him like he was some huge joke!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She kept saying between snorts as she tried to compose herself into something more serious and understanding. The tears rolled down her cheeks from the laughter. "So let me get this straight!" and that just set her off again.

To be honest Josh was starting to get angry at her. He couldn't believe that she'd do this to him.

"You thought… you thought…" She giggled some more, "You thought I wouldn't understand?" And there was a huge emphasis on the 'I'.

"Okay now look!" he said annoyed. "I get that it's a HUGE joke for some people, but this is my LIFE we're talking about! I thought I might lose your friendship, but really Natalie, you're being so UNCOOL!"

"Okay… okay…" she said calming down a little. She waited a few more minutes, took a deep breath and said, "Josh?"

"WHAT!"

"How long have we been sitting here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how long have we been sitting here watching my family enjoying a picnic in the park?"

"I don't know! What kind of question is that?"

"Try taking a closer look dummy!"

He had no idea what she was on about but he scanned the park. Her parents were playing ball with two younger children, laughing and clapping whenever one of them caught it.

"Cute kids." He said.

"My brother and my nephew." She replied.

"Luke has a son?"

"Well, yes… I guess… it's complicated. Keep looking…"

He saw her sister Faith who he remembered from camp. She was reading under the shade of a large tree, one leg tucked on top of the other swinging up and down. He thought it was amazing how much older she looked since the last time he'd seen her. She'd stopped attending camp at least two years before.

Then he started! His eyes widened as they fell on Luke with some other, taller man locked in a tender hug, smiling at each other, staring deeply, lovingly, into each other's eyes and occasionally leaning in for a kiss.

"Oh." Was the only thing he could think of to say.

"Oh's right!" snorted Natalie once more.

And then, seeing the joke, realising how much time he had wasted trying to hide his true self from a girl who's own brother was gay, Josh burst into fits of laughter and the two of them rolled around together on the grass.

...

"So all of this was over a boy?" Luke asked as he sat at her bedside.

"Yeah. He likes me! I know he does! He just doesn't know it yet! But he's special, you know? He's not just any boy…"

"No obviously not."

"I should have told you before… I know that now." Then when she saw Luke's face turn sad she took his hand, "It's okay Luke. I don't blame you! I was stupid to leave like that! I should never have done it!"

"I'm so sorry Nattie!"

"I'm sorry too… but, hey, look!" she held her arms out to her sides, cast and all, "I'm just fabulous!"

Luke laughed lightly, "Yes you are! You're the best!"

...

Luke found Noah sitting with his back up against the trunk of a tree. Noah patted the space next him in invitation and Luke smiled. As he sat, he slipped his arm around Noah's waist. It had been ten whole minutes since their last kiss and he longed for more.

Noah's eyes were locked with his, reading his desire, and he raised Luke's hand to his lips and kissed the inside of his wrist. Luke watched mesmerised. Bit by bit he made his way up the bare flesh of Luke's arm, his kisses light as a feather. Eventually Noah's mouth reached his neck, his breath warm; his chin resting on Luke's shoulder. Luke's hand, now perfectly positioned, cupped Noah's ear as Noah's kisses reached his jaw, his cheek and finally his mouth. A soft and gentle kiss.

Noah pulled back, smiled and then kissed Luke again, this time a little harder, until they broke off and enfolded their arms around each other. Noah stroked his hair tenderly and it felt amazing. Then, still holding Luke close, Noah kissed his ear, whispering, "You okay?"

Luke smiled, "More than okay…" and he rubbed his cheek against Noah's.

Another kiss began then another and another, harder and more urgent, more insistent until the touch of lips turned to the touch of tongues and desire began to peek for both of them.

When they pulled apart Luke laughed, "Something tells me I might get lucky tonight!"

"Could be." Noah's face was dappled with sparkling sunlight as he looked up at the canopy of leaves above them. His white shirt was a stark contrast to the almost neon green of the park grass. He opened a soda he had next to him and drank, offering it to Luke and watched as Luke doused his thirst as well. When the bottle left his lips Noah stretched over to wipe away a droplet on the side of his lips. They could have talked, but instead they gazed unblinking into each other's eyes until Luke couldn't resist leaning in for another kiss.

There were many moments he'd known with Noah that he'd wished he could parcel in a box and keep for life, opening it up to look at them whenever he wanted. This was one of them. Moments like these when they felt so perfectly aligned.

"Noah?"

"Hmm"

"I'm really glad we're getting married."

"Me too."

"Do you want to know what I think after all of this?"

"What's that?"

"I think it's time for us to get off our lazy butts and start planning a wedding!"

"Oh, same here! Definitely, same here!"

...

Let me know how you liked Natalie!