First, HELLO! to all my readers in foreign countries! It is so awesome that Nuke has made it past the USA!

Nuke Lovers Unite!

Anyways!

Well, this chapter is bit longer than the others. I really liked this chapter and I hope you guys do too.

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

14th Day

The next day Luke called his new landlord and made an appointment to see his new apartment. As he was getting dressed he kept thinking back to Noah. How was he? Did he miss me? What was he doing right now? Did anyone remember that he had a doctor's appointment the day after tomorrow? It was in the middle of all these questions that it hit him. This time was about him. It wasn't about his mom or dad or even Noah. He came here to give himself a chance to breathe. To look back on the past few months and give himself some perspective.

Yes. That was right. That was the whole point of leaving home and the one person he loved more than any…

STOP!

New perspective. He could get through the day and not think about Noah. He could. Just concentrate on the things he needed to get together for his new place. First and foremost, the new place. He looked at his watch and realized he had about 30 minutes to get across town.

He walked into lobby of his new building and immediately struck by modern art and bright walls. The floors are a creamy marble and the windows were floor to ceiling and made the room seem much larger. He met the landlord and was shown to his new place.

The first thing that came into his head was "I want to go home!"

The walls were a sea blue with a modern flair. There was exposed duct work and varnished ceiling beams. All the rooms had hardwood floors in a soft honey color. There was only one window in the living room, but it was 15 feet tall and 12 feet across. The living room was in the shape of a triangle with said window as one side. Opposite the wall was a gas burning fireplace; Luke just thought that was wrong for some reason. The bedroom was above a small office sort of loft style, open to the living room below. This was the place for an artist or stock broker. This was not him. He was suddenly missing is tiny little apartment in Oakdale and then of course then he was missing Noah.

The landlord could tell by Luke's face that he was not loving the place.

"The building is pretty new. This unit was recently gutted and almost everything was replaced. All of the appliances are new along with nearly all of the fixtures and there is wireless internet throughout the whole building. So. What do you think?"

"It's great,"

"I'm not buying it. You sure?"

"It's not really me," Luke said and then suddenly lost his voice. He felt unsure about this whole idea; even more than this morning and last night and last week. He thought that once he had a place to stay and call his own that it would get easier, but not really feeling it. Maybe this "whole new perspective" thing was a big mistake.

"Look. I own another building. It's northwest of here in Humboldt Park. The building is a bit older, but I have a feeling that you wouldn't have a problem with that. Here's the address," he said as he handed Luke a slip of scratch paper. "I'll call my super and have him open the place for you,"

"Thanks. I really appreciate this," Luke shook the man's hand and left for apartment two.

Luke met the super in the lobby and was surprised that he wasn't much older than Luke. Scott was a 26 year old architect student at Lake Forest. He was just a bit taller than Luke with sandy blond hair, green eyes and an easy way about him. He sort reminded Luke of Casey. Scott had one dimple that appeared when he smiled; and that made Luke smile. Luke caught himself staring and blushed when Scott's eyes met his.

This was more like it.

The building only had three stories with six units and was surrounded by trees. The two men walked up two flights of stairs and Scott opened the door to the apartment and Luke let out a breath. When Luke walked into the apartment and he could see Humboldt Park through the living room balcony doors, he breathed a sigh of relief. The bedrooms were plain, but classic; cream carpets and white walls. The kitchen was stainless steel with mahogany cabinets. It reminded him of his grandmother's kitchen. The floors were hardwood and there was another small balcony in the master bedroom. There was a fireplace in this one too, but a proper wood burning one. This made Luke smile for some unknown reason. He could feel his anxieties loosening up as he walked through the place.

Scott sat at the kitchen island and watched the cute blond walk around the place. It was about time someone cute and gay moved into the building. There was that history professor on the third floor, but he was too far into the closet to mess with right now. He couldn't help but give Luke the once over when he met him. His hair hung over his eyes slightly and he had the warmest brown eyes he had ever seen. He looked like he worked out a bit and had a sort of carefree way about him.

Yes, he hoped that this hottie would be his new neighbor.

"So, what do you think?"

"Well, I like this place much more than the last one," Luke said and then smiled. Scott could help but return that smile.

"There's one more spot on the tour. Come on," Scott said and opened the front door. He walked down the hall, through a door at the end of the hall and went upstairs. They passed the third floor and went up onto the roof. There was a rooftop deck and patio there. It was sort of an oasis in the desert. There was a long canopy secured to posts that ran the entire length on one side. This was the place for barbeques and parties. But in the middle of February, Luke was using his imagination to picture it. It didn't take long for Luke's teeth to clatter. "It's not much to look at now with six inches of powder, but in the summer everyone is up here. So what do you think?"

"I think I'll take it," Luke said as he gave his new surroundings one more look. Scott tried to hold in the back flips he was doing inside. He was excited to get a bit of new blood in the building, not to mention hot bit at that.

"Great. I've got the paperwork for you to fill out. It's in my apartment on the second floor. Come on before we freeze to death," Scott announced and opened the door for Luke. On the outside he was appearing chivalrous, but really he was wanting to see Luke's ass again. They made their way back to Luke's new place and started to fill out the paperwork. Luke was signing this and initialing that, it wasn't until he saw the date that he panicked.

"Is it really the 14th?"

"Um, yeah. I guess so. When you're single you forget about those dates," that was Scott's subtle way of telling Luke that he was single. Luke quickly fished out his cell and called his mom. She answered on the fourth ring and was excited to talk to her oldest.

"Hello, sweetheart! How's Chicago?"

"Great, um mom, did a package arrive today addressed to Noah?"

Noah woke up and for a split second he had to remember what had happened yesterday. He lay in his bed and took in long slow breaths. He had to tell himself in and out, in and out. He just did not want to think about Luke today. After yesterday he wanted a day where nothing happened. He stayed in his sleep clothes and made his way down to the kitchen. When he lived with Luke, he would sometimes hang out in his comfy clothes all day, but now that he was living with Lily, he would change into his regular clothes as soon as he got up. Today he was making an exception.

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he could smell coffee drifting through the air. He took in a long sniff of the air and walked up to counter. He had been practicing pouring water into a glass, but not with a hot liquid. He placed a mug on the counter and carefully begun to pour the coffee. As soon as he felt heat under his fingertip, which he placed on the cups edge, he stopped. Not bad for his first try.

Look out Java.

"Good morning Noah. How did you sleep?" Lily asked as she came into the room.

"Fine, woke up quite a bit. Where is everyone?"

"Damian is at the office. The girls are in school, Ethan is at Emma's, and my mother is at WorldWide. Did you want some breakfast?"

"I'm not really hungry,"

"You need to eat. Tell you what, I'll make my famous scrambled eggs and some toast. Think you could handle that?"

"Sure," he laughed slightly and sat down at the breakfast table. He was learning not to fight Lily on everything. He hated be waited on and now that Luke was gone…

His train of thought stopped mid-stride.

Luke was really gone.

NO!

None of that. He had to get through today. If he could get through the first day, and then the next, and the day after that, he may be able to get through Luke leaving. He sipped his coffee while he listened to Lily's humming as she cooked. He was really glad that she had taken him in. The adoption thing was a bit weird, but he did now have that strong connection of belonging. A place to call home. He was lost in thought and didn't even notice Lily had placed a plate in front of him until he smelled the butter on the toast and the pepper sprinkled in the eggs.

"Eat up. You and I are going to get out of this house today," Lily announced and sat down across from him. Noah laughed slightly and picked up his fork and took a bite.

"We are? Where are we going?"

"Nowhere. Anywhere. I just want to spend time with you,"

"I know what you're doing," he responded with a full mouth.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about,"

"You're trying to distract me. Because Luke left,"

"I, ah…,"

"It's ok. Thank you, but it would take a lot for me to forget that he's gone,"

"Well, being Luke's mother I am so glad to hear you say that. And being your new mother, I just want to help you not be quite so sad,"

"I know and thanks. Did you have anywhere in particular that you want to do today?" He asked as he finished his breakfast. He and Lily had shared a really nice moment and Noah decided to put that in his back pocket for safe keeping.

Noah and Lily did indeed have a long day. They first went shopping for little things he needed, shampoo, aftershave, etc. They had a nice lunch at Al's, where Maddie spent most of shift hanging out with them instead of working. A stroll through the snowy park was finished by a coffee stop at Java. Jeff was excited to see Noah was still alive and kicking. No matter how bad things got, Jeff knew Noah could survive anything.

When Lily and Noah returned home they were met with a Fed-Ex driver with a delivery. The package was huge. Lily helped Noah into the living room and signed for said package.

"Did you order something?" Lily asked as she hung up their coats.

"No, why?"

"It's addressed to you,"

"Maybe I won a major award," he said quoting his favorite Christmas movie. The package was 18 inches by 30 inches, but only four inches deep. It was wrapped in brown mailing paper with Noah's name written across the middle. It was really heavy and Lily could not even lift it. Noah sat down on the sofa and Lily slid it in front of him.

Noah carefully pulled the paper off and waited for Lily to describe it.

"There's an envelope here," she pulled the envelope from the glass and really looked at. "Well, it's a movie poster and it's framed. It's a poster for The Best Years of Our Lives," Lily could not help but smile. Luke. Her son was a wonder.

"What does the envelope say?" Noah said as his hands slid across the frame. The wooden frame was heavy, but simple. It was meant to not distract from the art inside of it. He could hear Lily open the envelope and pull out its contents.

"Dear Noah. I am writing this after celebrating your birthday. I wanted to give you a gift that you would love and would be meant only for you. It was after watching this movie for the 10th time that I became inspired. I'm a writer. You'd think that I would have thought of it earlier. Anyways. I'm sure you noticed this right away, but the signatures at the bottom are of William Wyler and Gregg Toland. Just think, the director and cinematographer both touched this poster. I had planned on this being your Christmas present, but I wanted to be sure that it was authentic and that the frame was perfect. So, Happy Valentine's Day. I love you and I am so lucky to have you in my life. Love, Luke," Lily finished and carefully put the letter back in the envelope. Noah face was wet with tears. This was the most thoughtful gift he had ever gotten. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even remember that it was Valentine's Day.

Lily couldn't say anything. She lightly rubbed his back; giving comfort where she could. She could not even imagine how he was feeling or was thinking. It was the ringing of her cell that pulled her attention. She saw Luke's name and tried to put on a happy voice.

"Hello sweetheart! How's Chicago?

"Great, um mom, did a package arrive today addressed to Noah?" She could hear a bit of panic in his voice. Lily slipped into the kitchen to talk to him without Noah hearing just half of conversation.

"Yes, one did. He already opened it,"

"Ah, God! I totally forgot it was coming. I got it so long ago and after his accident…,"

"I'm sure that he knows that honey,"

"Can I talk to him? Is he there with you?" Luke asked as he looked into his living room and saw Scott in the kitchen. Lily walked back into living room where she left Noah.

"Its Luke. He wants to talk to you,"

Noah took a deep breath while Lily put her phone in his hand. His cradled the phone in his palm; not sure what he wanted to do. Yes, he wanted to talk to Luke in the worse way, but what would he say? He decided to bite the bullet and put the phone to his ear. Hell, Luke spoke enough for both of them anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hi Noah,"

Well, whatta think?

After a few reviews expressing how sad the story was, I decided to give you guys a lighter one.

Let me know what you're liking or not liking!

BTW The apartments I described are actual places. Just take the spaces out in the beginning of the URL

One Luke didn't like -

www. chicago apartment finders. com/search_apartment_rentals_?listing_table=listings&listing_id=56215

One Luke liked - (I like this one too)

www. chicago apartment finders. com/search_apartment_rentals_?listing_table=listings&listing_id=56431

Thanks for Stopping By!