Letter From the Past, Empire Records, Joe/Lucas
Title: Letter From the Past Author: Starkindler Fandom: Empire Records Category: Scene Pairing: Joe/Lucas Rating: Teen Warnings: None Disclaimer: Not mine. Empire doesn't belong to me, though the plot isn't one that was intended, I'm sure. Reviews: Like the cherry on my sundae, lovely and yummy, but not required. All reviews welcome. Betas: Joe and Dru Summary: Lucas rereads an old love letter. Prompt 15: Love Letter Author's Note: This is for my 50episodes challenge for Lucas.
Lucas wiped away the tears from his face as he put the last of Joe's belongings away in a box to store in the back of the closet. It hurt to look at the items just casually tossed around the house, reminding him of his husband.
Fifty wonderful years they'd had together before the cancer took Joe away from him. Thirty of those had been spent as a married couple, once the country had got its thumb out of its ass and legalized marriage for everyone. And while they'd had their rocky moments, Lucas wouldn't have traded any of them for anything in the world.
He picked up the box and lugged it to the back of their walk-in closet. He placed it in the corner, where he wouldn't trip over it, but would have easy access should he want to look inside it sometime. He was about to walk out of the closet when a small cigar box lodged in the corner of the top shelf caught his eye. He reached up and plucked it off the shelf and carried it into the bedroom.
Sitting on the bed, he opened the box, nearly bursting into tears again as he saw what was sitting inside. Only one item…a single letter, all too familiar handwriting scrawled across the front of the envelope.
Hands shaking, Lucas reached in and took it out, carefully plucking the nearly fifty-year-old piece of paper out of the envelope. He unfolded it slowly, taking care not to tear the delicate paper; it had been read many, many times in their early years, though over the years he'd forgotten about it, his life focusing more on his husband and their time together, and then the cancer they'd fought three times before Joe had finally succumbed.
My dearest Lucas,
I honestly don't know why I'm writing this instead of talking to you directly. In all honesty, I feel like a twelve-year-old girl. But in person, I seem to just be a chicken shit, so I'm putting pen to paper.
I love you. There, I said it. I'm in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I've been acting like an idiot because I don't know how to tell you that face to face. I'm also terrified I'm going to fuck this all up. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. You're too important to me.
Please, please don't let me screw this up. I want you in my life. I don't want to wake up one day and find that you've walked out the door, leaving me alone. I know you love me. You say it often enough, and I need you to know that I feel the same way, even though I haven't been able to tell you yet.
I love you.
Joe
Lucas laughed through the tears. It was as close to a love letter as Joe would ever get, and it was perfect. And Joe had been able to say it after giving the letter to him…six months after. Still, it had been worth the wait.
And now Joe was the one to leave him instead, and Lucas could only wait until it was his time to meet him on the other side.