The earliest bits of sunrise drifted through the window of Noah's hotel room, slowly pushing him awake. He stifled his yawn, trying not to wake Luke. The other man didn't wake, but Noah's movement didn't go entirely unnoticed: The arm draped around Noah's chest pulled him closer to Luke. He wasn't about to complain. After last night, he guessed, Luke was his boyfriend. Or at least he hoped so. And lying in bed with his boyfriend seemed like a good way to spend the morning.

As he laid there, remembering the night before, Noah's eyes drifted to the alarm clock. 7 am. Were he still on a military base, the day would have already started.

And suddenly Noah's found himself a bit less carefree. The thoughts of his youth had dragged his mind back to his Father. At some point, his father would find out. And deep down, Noah knew that would probably be the last time his father would ever talk to. Regardless of how much they didn't get along, that would hurt.

Maybe he could just not tell his father. It's not like they saw each other every day.

But Noah knew that there was no chance that would work. The Colonel's last visit made it clear that he had no problem with showing up unannounced. Sooner or later, his father would find out. It would probably be best if it was because Noah told him face to face. Noah let out a frustrated sigh and rolled onto his back. Today was going to suck.

Noah mentally berated himself a little as Luke began to wake up. He hadn't meant to wake Luke, but his mind had been elsewhere. After a yawn and a few seconds of blinking, Luke rolled over and faced Noah. Noah managed to smile at his boyfriend, but the look Luke gave him made it clear that his anxiety had not gone unnoticed.

"Noah," Luke asked, "what's wrong?"

Noah paused for a moment, looking into Luke's eyes. "It's nothing," he replied. "I… I was just thinking."

Luke sat up in the bed. Noah's 'answer' clearly wasn't sufficient. "Noah! Tell me what's wrong. Please. You… you don't regret what we did? God, I'm so stupid. How could I think you were ready for this? I should have known this…"

Luke's voice was cut off. Noah had pressed himself up against Luke and kissed him. After a second Luke gave in and ran his hands through Noah's hair, desperately trying to search for some source of leverage to pull himself further into the kiss.

After a minute Noah broke the kiss. "I don't regret anything about last night, Luke," he said. "Not a thing."

"What is it then?" Luke asked. "I know something's wrong."

Noah sighed. "I was thinking about my father. I'm… I'm going back to Brandson today."

"So you're telling him?" Luke asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Noah nodded. "It's not exactly something I've been looking forward to."

Luke opened his mouth, ready to say something, but he hesitated. "Do you…" he finally asked, "Do you want me to come?"

Noah smiled at Luke. He hadn't even considered that Luke might come. It meant a lot that he was willing to do that for him. But this was something he had to do alone. "No," he replied. "It would probably only make things messier. And anyways, you really ought to talk to Maddie. I don't want to see you two drifting apart."

Luke put his hand on Noah's shoulder. "If you're sure…"

"I am," Noah replied. He got out of bed, saying "I should start getting ready. It's a long drive to Brandson."

Luke pulled himself up a bit further against the headboard. "I'll be here when you get back."

Noah smiled as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

"I know."