miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2008-07-29 21:36:00 |
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Original poster: lucky4me1
Title: Mildly Warm - Chapter 2
Author: lucky4me1
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Luke and Noah meet with Damian
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to ATWT, PGP and CBS, no profit is intended
Luke stopped short at the bottom of the stairs so that when Noah followed him down the stairs, he bumped into him, knocking Luke out of his momentary stupor. “What in the hell are you doing here?” was all Luke could think to say.
“I came to see you Luciano” Damian started saying. “I was hoping..”
“It’s Luke, my name is Luke, Luke Snyder” he corrected, deliberately putting emphasize on the Snyder.
Damian was actually a little taken aback by the bitterness that he heard in Luke’s voice, he knew he had done some awful things in the past, but had hoped that time had softened some of his son’s hatred of him.
“OK, Luke, I was hoping that I could get some time to talk to you, alone” he said looking directly at Noah who had never moved an inch from Luke’s side.
“Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Noah, not that I want to hear anything you have to say”.
The tension in the room is so thick that Noah felt he had to step in. “Luke, can I speak to you in the parlor for a minute?” he asked as he pulled Luke through the door, not really giving him time to respond to the request.
****************************************
Once alone in the parlor Luke pulled his arm from Noah’s grasp and asked rather curtly, “What, what do you want?”.
“Hey don’t bite my head off, I‘m on your side remember”.
Luke sighed, “I’m sorry, your right, just seeing him put me over the edge. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It’s alright”, Noah said while moving closer to Luke and running a hand over his cheek as he continued saying “but I think that you should give him a chance to explain himself.”
“What, you’re kidding right?” Luke said, more than a little surprised by what Noah was suggesting.
“No I’m not kidding. Maybe his being here is a good thing. Maybe he wants to make up for the past.”
“Noah this is a man who when I was 11 kidnapped me, faked our deaths so that my mother wouldn’t look for us, tried to steal my trust fund and when I was 17 arranged to ship me off to a deprogramming camp for gay teens”. Luke’s voice started out in a normal tone, but gradually became louder with each angry word.
“Keep your voice down, he’ll hear you.” Noah whispered.
“I don’t care. He has no right coming here.”
“Luke, look if I know anything, it is how it feels to have unresolved issues with a Father, I am just saying you may want to give him the opportunity to explain what he wants. I would give almost anything to have been able to resolve things with my father.” Noah said trying to hold back his emotions.
Luke could see the hurt in Noah’s eyes and reached out and hugged him around the waist, staying in the embrace until Luke actually felt the rage leave his own body.
“You know what, you’re right. I will listen, but there are no guarantees.”
****************************************
Luke and Noah walked back into the kitchen, hand in hand, to find Damian pacing, not so patiently waiting for his son to return.
Once they reached the kitchen table, Noah leaned into Luke and whispered “I’ll be upstairs if you need me”. Luke could not help the small smile that came to his face watching him leave, what would I do without him, he thought.
He turned to Damian and calmly said, “You wanted to say something?”
“I just want to know if there is any possibility you could give me a second chance, I have changed and would like to prove it to you.”
Luke chuckled and said sarcastically, “I think you mean fourth or fifth chance, don’t you.”
“I suppose you’re right, and maybe I have used up all of my chances, but I am asking for one more, even if I don’t deserve it. Obviously I have shocked you by coming here, and I think maybe I should give you some time to think about this. Would you be willing to meet me for dinner tonight, there are things I want to tell you, things I need to say.”
Luke was hesitant, “I don’t know if that is a good idea”.
“You can bring your friend with you if that would make you more comfortable”, obviously referring to Noah.
“Boyfriend”, Luke corrected.
“Excuse me” Damian said as if he hadn’t heard what was said.
“Noah is my boyfriend”, Luke repeated and then wanting to shock Damian added, “or my lover if that is what you would prefer to call him”.
****************************************
It took several minutes after Damian had left for Luke to gather himself and head upstairs to Noah. He hoped he was available for dinner, because he sure as hell did not want to face Damian again without him. Luke could not help but feel that he had made a huge mistake agreeing to meet him at the Lakeview that evening.
He opened the door to his bedroom just in time to see Noah emerge from the bathroom, freshly showered, wearing nothing but a pair of Luke’s boxers. “Wow” was all he could say.
Noah looked over and smiled and said “What?”
“How is it possible that those boxers can look so damn sexy on you when on me they are just clothing?”
Noah looked down and said “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed them. And don’t sell yourself short, you look pretty damn hot standing there in just your boxers and a tee shirt. You do realize you had that whole conversation with your father barely dressed.”
“That is what he gets for showing up unannounced, and please don’t call him my father.”
Noah could not help himself when he moved closer to Luke and replied “He would have gotten quite a show if he had shown up last night”. He could have sworn Luke blushed at his words.
Luke reached up and ran his hands through Noah’s damp hair and teased “It’s not fair you’re all nice and clean and here I am all stinky.”
Noah leaned down and sniffed Luke’s neck. “I like the way you smell, but if a shower is what you want, a shower is what you will get”. He took Luke by the hand and led him into the bathroom.
“But you already showered” Luke teased.
Noah turned around and started removing Luke’s tee shirt, while a grin lit his face. “Don’t worry I plan on getting plenty dirty.”
“Thank God” was all Luke could manage to say before Noah pulled him close and kissed him, wiping out all thoughts of Damian, making Luke think only of this moment.
****************************************
Several hours later Noah was at work. It was a slow day, so he had a lot of time to think. He kept reliving the past 24 hours in his mind. Being with Luke was the best thing in his life and he would not change what had happened for anything in the world. He had not smiled this much in a very long time.
He was very concerned about Luke’s meeting with Damian. Luke had filled him in on their conversation and he had whole heartedly agreed to go with him to dinner later that night. He would not let him face this alone.
Behind him he heard the door open and a voice say “excuse me”. Noah knew from the accent who it was that entered Java, so he was not surprised when he turned around and replied “Can I help you?”.
Damian on the other hand was surprised to be face to face with the young man from this morning.
“Yes, can I get an espresso?” he asked. Without replying, Noah began brewing his order when Damian continued. “You’re Noah yes? I did not get to properly introduce myself earlier, Damian Grimaldi” he said extending his right hand to Noah.
Noah, taught to always be polite, shook his hand and replied, “Yes sir, I’m Noah, Noah Mayer”.
“Did Luke ask you to join us for dinner tonight?” Damian asked.
“Yes he did, I will be there.”
“Good. It’s actually a good thing I have run into you. I was wondering if I could ask a favor?”
Noah was a little surprised, but respectfully asked “What favor could you possibly want from me?”
“I was wondering if you could use your influence with Luke to get him to listen to me and give me a real chance tonight” he asked.
Noah thought to himself, this guy has a hell of a lot of nerve. He could not help but respond somewhat sarcastically “Mr. Grimaldi, I have already done you that favor. If I had not talked to Luke, you would not have gotten past the first five minutes this morning”.
“Oh” he said, “well thank you for that”.
Noah was glad that there were no other customers in Java because he had to get something off his chest. “Mr. Grimaldi, can I speak frankly?”
“Of course, what is it?”
Noah took a deep breath and said in a very serious tone, “I love your son. He is my reason for living and I have to tell you I will always be on his side, I will always choose him. You will never be able to use me or my influence with Luke to get Luke to do anything he does not want to do. I know all about your history with Luke, and if I find out that you are here to use him or if you hurt him in any way, you will have to deal with me. I may seem like a mild mannered guy, but the Mayer men have a way of doing whatever it takes to protect the people they love, no matter the cost. And I promise you I will protect Luke with my life.”
Something in Noah’s eyes made Damian realize he meant every word. Noah Mayer was not a man to be crossed. “Luke is lucky to have you”.
“No, I’m the lucky one”.
****************************************
Luke and Noah arrived at the Lakeview first, and were lead to one of the secluded tables in the corner. They slid into the bench seat, sitting side by side, waiting for Damian to join them.
Luke was fidgeting with the silverware when Noah reached over and grabbed his hand, “I know you are nervous, but please stop, you’re driving me crazy”.
“Sorry, I just don’t know what he could possibly want from me, I know he wants something.”
“You know, I meant to ask you earlier, why did you have such a negative reaction to Damian calling you Luciano? Lucinda calls you that sometimes and doesn't seem to bother you”.
“I don’t know, I guess when he calls me Luciano he makes me feel so much like the little boy he hurt time after time after time” Luke admitted.
Noah smirked, “Well, Luciano” he said placing his hand on Luke’s inner thigh, “We both know you are not a little boy”.
Luke grabbed hold of the tie that Noah had insisted on wearing and pulled him in for a kiss. And that is how Damian found them, making out in the back booth of the Lakeview dining room.
“Hmm Hmm”, Damian cleared his throat to get their attention as they pulled apart and he sat down in the seat across from them. “Thank you for coming, both of you” he said looking from Luke’s face to Noah’s.
There was an awkward moment of silence before the waiter came over for their drink order. Damian looked at the couple across from him and asked what they would like, and they agreed soda would be fine. Damian looked at the waiter and said, “I will have a scotch neat and my son and his boyfriend will have a soda”.
Luke was shocked at how easily the phrase “my son and his boyfriend’ came out of Damian’s mouth.
Luke’s curiosity got the best of him and he had to finally get the answer to the question that he had been asking himself all day. “Well, Damian, what exactly do you want from me?”
Damian was not sure where to start, so he just spoke from his heart. “First and foremost, I want you back in my life. My life has changed so much this last year, and I finally understand what it means to love someone and not want to just own them.”
“How did you suddenly come to this realization?” Luke could not help but ask.
“I got married about six months ago, and she has made me understand how important family is.” Damian seemed a little sad when he finished speaking.
Luke was somewhat stunned, but could tell that there was more to this story. “What else, what aren’t you telling me?”
“There is one other thing” Damian added, reaching into his coat pocket to retrieve a picture that he slid in front of Luke and Noah.
The picture was one of a little girl about 7 or 8 years old, with dark hair and honey brown eyes. Noah thought the eyes looked familiar and those bow shaped lips were unmistakable. He came to a realization before Luke could ask the question, “Who’s that?”.
Damian hesitated then said “She’s your sister and Luke, she needs you.”