Thanks so much for the reviews. Nukeluvr318, I hope that your head hurts in a good way. Lanie12777, I'm glad you're enjoying the ride, and am relieved that the plot isn't too convoluted to follow. I was a little irritated when my scene breaks disappeared, making a confusing situation even more so. I think I've fixed it, though.

Here it is, Part Two

Past Lives

Luke literally backed into an oil lamp.

He hadn't realized that it was an oil lamp until that moment. But as he pulled his hand back from the too hot glass, he looked around and realized that wherever he was, it wasn't his parent's living room. At least not quite. The draperies were too dark, the TV was gone. In fact, everything that needed a cord or a battery was gone. It was chilly but Luke couldn't hear the furnace kick in even though it clearly should have by now. And now that he was listening for it, Luke realized that all the normal sounds that he recognized as home were completely gone.

Luke looked at Noah and realized with a start that he didn't recognize the clothes that Noah was wearing. Luke didn't know enough about fashion to judge exactly what Noah was wearing, but it looked old. Like antique old, not simply worn old. And since Luke had been with Noah long enough to have seen everything in Noah's wardrobe, Luke could tell with certainty that Noah didn't actually OWN the clothes he was wearing. At least, the Noah that HE knew didn't.

There was an extra Luke in the room, though. Maybe he recognized the clothes. "Who are you?"

The other Luke bristled at Luke's demanded question. He was no doubt angry catching what was presumably HIS Noah in the arms of someone else, but there was more than that. The other Luke carried himself differently than Luke imagined he did. More polish, and a pride in himself that reminded Luke of his biological father, Damian. "I'm Luciano Grimaldi, who the hell are you?"

Luciano? Grimaldi? Well that at least explained the regal carriage and attitude. "I'm Luke Snyder." Luke tried not to sound angry, but this other Luke, this Luciano was seriously riling him up. Plus he always got defensive when he knew he'd done something wrong, and the Luke and Noah that had been about to have sex a few minutes ago apparently had no business doing so.

"Snyder?" Luciano repeated.

"Isn't that the name of your mother's stable boy?" a worried, and puzzled Noah asked. Gone was the heartbroken Noah Luke had first seen, pushed aside by more immediate concerns. Unfortunately the loving one was gone as well. This Mayer guy was looking at Luke like he was some kind of threat. It reminded Luke too much of that summer before he and Noah got together, and he couldn't repress a shudder.

Luke was starting to wonder if he really HAD gone back in time. The room definitely looked more like it had in the pictures he'd seen of it before his parents had renovated, and that had been back when they'd first bought the house, years ago.

Luciano turned to Mayer with a pained grimace. "Stable boy cum boyfriend," he noted before turning back to Luke, the hard edge back in his voice. "Are you one of his relatives? Why do you look like me?"

"That's a long story," Luke admitted, hoping that Luciano wouldn't demand to hear it because honestly he didn't know what it was. Though given reversed circumstances, Luke would likely demand the same answers. "Look, I know that you have no reason to trust me, but I'm starting to realize just how big of trouble I'm in and I think I really need some help."

LUKEAND NOAHFOREVER

Noah, well Other!Noah and Other!Jeff exchanged a concerned look. "You do realize that's the craziest thing I've ever heard, don't you?" Other!Noah asked. He kept his voice low, so his voice wouldn't carry, which Noah appreciated. The pair of Noahs was drawing a lot of attention, for obvious reasons as well as the fact that having both Other!Noah and Other!Jeff sitting at one of the tables had brought service in Java to a crawl.

Bad enough that Noah was a freak show, he wouldn't appreciate his very awkward conversation becoming town gossip. Even if this wasn't HIS Oakdale. "Believe me," Noah told him (himself? Trying to keep this straight was giving Noah a headache), "if it wasn't, I think I'd be even more freaked out than I am now."

"So in your universe, Noah got back together with Luke after his father died?" Other!Jeff asked. Noah looked at him, and was surprised to see only concern and interest in his eyes.

Other!Noah looked at Other!Jeff, shocked. "You can't seriously be buying this."

"Well, something weird is going on. I don't think that at this point we can start eliminating posibilities just because they sound too crazy," Other!Jeff pointed out with a cheeky smile.

Noah smiled in relief. He should have known that Jeff would hear him out, no matter which Jeff it was. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well, you'd just better be telling the truth," Other!Jeff grinned. "If you're just Noah's evil twin, and you're just trying to make fools of us, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Other!Noah didn't look convinced, but he warily asked. "You got back together with Luke last summer?"

"Yeah," Noah replied, well aware that he was squirming in his seat at the very memory of being broken up with Luke. He'd been so relieved that Luke hadn't given up on him, that it had never occurred to him what might have happened if he had. Just like he'd never wanted to think about what his life would be like if he'd never come out.

Noah was briefly relieved that he was here, and not in THAT reality. "Cyndi Lauper was here for Pride, and got Luke and I to straighten everything out." Noah realized that his hands were shaking, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. God, I wasted so much time with him, and now who knows if I'll ever see him again.

"Cyndi Lauper was here?" Other!Jeff asked, surprised.

Surprise that Other!Noah shared. "That would have been so cool." Though there was that hint of regret in his voice, that told Noah that this Other!Noah missed more than just a cool concert.

LUKEAND NOAHFOREVER

"Two Thousand and Nine?" Mayer repeated. It was the first thing any of them had said since Luke finished his story.

Luke wasn't particularly surprised that THAT was going to be the hard part of his story for them to believe. Although what he was starting to understand was leading him to a rather unpleasant realization. "Yeah. I know I'm going to regret asking, but what year is this?"

"The year of our Lord, Eighteen Hundred and SEVENTY-Nine," Mayer told him.

Luke's legs folded underneath him, and he was damned lucky that there was an ottoman behind him, or he could very easily have cracked his head on the stone floor. "Okay, that was a lot further back than I was expecting." He tried to maintain his composure, but he could feel tears leaking out. "How am I supposed to get home?"

The suspicion fell from Mayer's face, as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Luke. "We'll think of something." Despite the fact that Luke knew next to nothing about science, and the people living in Oakdale almost a century and a half ago weren't likely to have much more information. Luke shook, and Mayer just held him like he was his own Luciano.

"That boy." Luciano had been silent this entire time, and it made Luke jump to hear his own voice coming from somewhere else.

Luke looked up to see Luciano staring at him. It wasn't a friendly look. Not surprising again, given that he'd walked in on his lover about ready to have sex with someone else. But with being apparently lost in time, Luke clearly wasn't thinking about sex. And having Luciano getting up in his face about misplaced jealousy was something Luke would rather hold off on for, oh about a hundred and thirty YEARS. "What boy?" Luke asked, completely flummoxed by the comment that had no context behind it that either he or this other Noah could follow.

"I met a strange boy today in the park," Luciano told him. "A boy that said his parents were from 2009." Mayer stood up, shocked at the news. The second he did, Luciano seemed to relax, somewhat.

Luke blushed as he belatedly realized his other self had been envious, not on what he'd walked in on, but of Mayer holding him. "Who was he?" Luke asked, as he tried to pull himself back together. This might be just the clue he needed to get back home.

"He didn't say. He was tall, somewhat Semitic features, blond--"

"Blond?" Luke interrupted. In the back of his mind, he'd thought it was Noah, HIS Noah, but now--

"If he looked like Noah, I'd have said that immediately," Luciano snapped.

Mayer winced at him. "Luciano," he pleaded.

Luciano's face softened immediately. "I wasn't really in the mood to talk. I just walked off. I suppose it was rather rude." Luciano shook his face, apologetic, but dismissive in the way Luke was starting to hate. A way that seemed to be his natural way of dealing with things. "We'll have to try and find him again."

Luciano was headed for the door, when Mayer stopped him with another moan. "Wait. We can't go, now. The guests-- They'll be arriving soon."

Luciano looked back at him, eyes widening. "God, the wedding. I actually forgot."

"So did I. Briefly."

"You guys are getting--" Luke just barely managed to cut himself off before being faced with two angst ridden expressions. Of course they weren't marrying each other. Beyond the obvious current illegality of it, Mayer and Luciano clearly didn't look like they were about to be wed. What was it Mayer had said earlier? This little affair was doomed from the beginning?

As much as he would like to think it was Holden and Lily's counterparts in this time that were getting married, what he'd already heard discounted that theory. Which left him with one other. One that left his blood running cold as he asked, "Who's- Who's getting married?"

Luciano and Mayer shared a pain filled look. "I am," Mayer told him. "This afternoon. To Miss Madeline Coleman."

"No!" The reaction was instinctive, especially after hearing who it was that Mayer was marrying. Luke stood up, and approach Mayer with such intensity, that Mayer actually backed up a step. He knew that he shouldn't do anything that could change history, but this didn't feel like history. This felt like his life. The fact that there was this amazing amount of similarities between now, and his own past was just too much of a goad to ignore. "You can't marry her. You're in love with me! I mean, him! You know what I mean!"

Mayer looked at Luciano again, who offered a hand that was lovingly taken. "I do. But we can't be together like that anymore. We've just run out of time."

"I thought it was too late for us," Luciano told Luke. "But if what you tell us is right, it seems it was sadly too early."

"No," Luke repeated, determined. He started for the door, then whirled around when the other two made no move to follow him. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Mayer asked.

"We're going to find this genie you found in the park," Luke told them. "And then we're going to get our last two wishes."

(To be continued)