miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2008-09-22 09:43:00 |
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Current mood: | anxious |
Current music: | Justin Timberlake |
Fic: Deception
Original poster: sagiegurl
Title: Deception (Chapter Four)
Author: sagiegurl</lj>
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst
Summary: AU Luke and Noah at age 27
Again this chapter should answer some more questions. I hope you like it and I hope the much anticipated dinner is not a disappointment. Please keep the comments coming, they give me the motivation to keep going. Thanks for reading!
***
“How did I let you talk me into this?” Luke asks.
“Oh I don’t know. You succumbed to my awesome powers of persuasion.”
“Remind me again why I couldn’t drive myself? What if I want to plan a quick getaway?”
“Haha. You couldn’t drive yourself, because this way I will have to drive you home and we can have some much needed alone time.”
“Oh.” Luke says, “I’m really surprised you even want me to meet your family.”
“Well they are a big part of my life and now that you’re back in it you are a big part of it too.”
“Noah I’m doing this because I love you, but its going to be really hard for me to watch you with them. It’s what I want for us and I know I can never have it.”
Noah doesn’t really know what to say, so he just picks up Luke’s left hand and kisses it. Then he puts both hands back on the steering wheel and continues to drive. They drive in silence all the way to his house and it gives Noah some time to reflect on how he got to this point in his life.
After his graduation he thought everything in his life was going just the way he wanted it to. His dad had seen him receive his diploma and seemed to be genuinely proud of him. Noah had found out the day before that he had gotten the internship at the movie studio in Hollywood. He wanted to call Luke and tell him right away, but they had agreed to wait until his father left town to speak. Luke had said it didn’t matter where they lived as long as they were together, so Noah started looking for a place in California right away. He found one the next day. A quaint little two bedroom apartment in the heart of the city. It wasn’t much but it would be theirs. He made all the arrangements over the phone. The landlord faxed him the lease and he signed it and express mailed it back along with the deposit.
He was so excited to tell Luke the good news. But when Luke came to see him he had news of his own. Noah was so confused, he didn’t know how he went from the highest high to the lowest low a in just a few days. Noah thought they could work things out, he thought the move would be a fresh start for them, but Luke had already made up his mind leave him. So Noah went without him. He didn’t know how he was going to handle moving to California all by himself, with no friends or support of any kind. But he did it and he was proud of himself.
On the first day of work he met his fellow intern Maddie they got along so well. She knew old movies just like him and they seemed to have a lot in common. They talked about how they ended up in Hollywood. Noah told Maddie how he had planned to move to California with his best friend Luke but they had a terrible fight and he ended up coming alone. Maddie told Noah that she was living with her loser ex-boyfriend, but he had just been thrown in jail and she had received an eviction notice that morning before work. When Noah found out she needed a place to live it just made since for her to move in with him. Noah didn’t want to live there alone and he definitely had the space. Noah and Maddie were sort of an accident. He was still so broken up about Luke and she had just been dumped too. They were a comfort to each other when they were both going through a very hard time.
The next weekend after they had unpacked every last box, Noah and Maddie decided to have a late night movie marathon. They sat in the dark discussing their favorite movies and actors of all time. They argued and disagreed and laughed until they were crying. It was the happiest Noah had felt since Luke had left him. So when Maddie leaned in to kiss him he didn’t pull away. He just wanted to keep feeling happy, so Noah just closed his eyes and thought of Luke. But when they made love that night Noah wanted to cry, because he knew he would never make love to Luke again.
In a lot of ways he thought Maddie was good for him. They got along so well and had a lot in common. So Noah decided that what had happened was a good thing a chance for him to move on with his life. But when Maddie told Noah she was pregnant he was beyond scared. It was all happening so fast and he was unsure of what it would mean for his future. But he did what he thought was the responsible thing to do. They got married right away in the courthouse downtown . All during the pregnancy he started to think the whole thing might have been a big mistake. He thought about how he could get out of it. He thought about how he could let Maddie down easy. He thought about maybe finding a nice new guy and trying to forget about Luke. That was until his daughter was born. There was no way Lucy was a mistake. There was no way he wanted to run away from her. He loved her more than he imagined he could and he loved Maddie for giving him that gift.
Soon, Noah began to think that he and Maddie had a good relationship, better than a lot of other married couples. And he truly did love Maddie. He loved her in the only way he knew how to love her, like a best friend. She was there for him when he had no one and he was eternally grateful for that. But she wasn’t Luke and she never would be. Noah had decided that Luke was the only person who could make him truly happy, so why break Maddie’s heart by telling her he was gay? He was never going to be with Luke; so why not try to make Maddie happy? He’d had his heart broken beyond repair and he couldn’t bear to do that to another person. So Noah stayed with her all those years, and he was the best husband he could be, until now.
With Luke back in his life he didn’t know if he could stay anymore. He was as happy as he could be with Maddie, but he knew he would be so much happier with Luke. But there was also Lucy to think of. If he left Maddie he would be loosing time with Lucy too. He didn’t want to break his little girl’s heart by leaving her mother. But how long could he spread himself this thin? How long could he divide his time between his wife and daughter and the love of his life? He had only been doing it for a month and it was already exhausting. There was no easy answer.
He must have been on autopilot because before he knew it he was pulling into the driveway of his home. He looked over at Luke who seemed nervous and preoccupied all at the same time.
“Luke, I think I’m gonna tell Maddie.”
“No, Noah. I know I get upset sometimes, but this is a big decision. I know how much your family means to you and I don’t want you to do something you might regret later.”
“I won’t regret it. I love you and I want to be with you.”
“You don’t have to decided anything right this second, okay? We’ll talk about it later. Right now we have other things to focus on.”
“You’re right, Luke. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Noah.”
“Are you ready baby?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
They both step out of the car and walk up to the front door. Luke can feel the butterflies rising in his stomach and he begins to dread agreeing to this in the first place. Noah places his key in the lock but before he can turn it the door flies open.
“I thought I heard you pull up!” Maddie says with a smile.
“Hi sweetheart sorry we’re a little late.” Noah says as he leans down to give Maddie a peck on the cheek. Luke feels like he’s being stabbed in the heart.
“This must be Luke.” Maddie says directing her attention to the man standing quietly behind Noah, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I feel like I already know you. When we first met, Noah used to talk about you non-stop. I can’t imagine why you two lost contact, but I’m glad you are speaking to each other now. Look at me I’m rambling. Please come inside.”
“It’s so nice to meet you too.” Luke says as he steps inside and extends his hand to Maddie. But instead of taking his hand and shaking it, she pulls him into a warm embrace. Luke is startled at first, but hugs her back. Luke slowly pulls apart and smiles.
They all walk into the living room and immediately a giddy little girl comes running in. She has curly brown hair and big brown eyes. She’s absolutely stunning and Luke can’t help but smile.
“Daddy!” Lucy screams and runs into her father’s arms.
Noah picks her up and spins her around before kissing her forehead and gently setting her back down.
“Hey what happened to your hair?” Noah asks curiously.
“I got a haircut.” Lucy says laughing.
“You did? Well did it hurt?”
Lucy shakes her head from side to side.
“You look beautiful. So is that the surprise mommy had for me? That my little princess got a haircut?”
Lucy smiles and shakes her head from side to side again. Noah looks at Maddie with a confused expression. Then turns his attention back to his little girl.
“Princess, I want you to meet my friend Luke.”
“Hi Luke.” Lucy says quietly, hiding behind Noah’s leg.
“Hello Lucy,” Luke says, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“You’re my daddy’s best friend, right?”
“That’s right” Luke says back.
“I have a best friend too. Her name is Olivia.”
“Oh,” Luke says “Is she a princess like you?”
Lucy smiles wide and nods her head up and down.
It fills Noah’s heart with joy to see his little girl interacting with the love of his life. Luke is so great with kids. He’s always been a great older brother and Noah knows he will make a great dad someday. Lucy creeps from behind Noah’s leg and walks over to where Luke is standing. Then she stretches out her arms and hugs Luke’s leg. He sort of stands there for a moment looking awestruck and then kneels down to hug her back. Noah has to hold back the tears forming in his eyes.
“All right” Maddie says, “I think we should sit down at the dinner table.”
“Daddy can Luke to sit by me?” Lucy asks.
“Sure if he wants to” Noah answers.
“Lucy there is nothing I would like more.”
They have a lovely dinner. Noah talks about how the film is going. Luke fills Maddie in on what he has been up to since college and how he found out Noah was in town. Lucy announces that purple is her new favorite color instead of pink and Maddie just soaks it all in.
“I want to say something,” Maddie finally chimes in, “I know this is going to embarrass Noah, but I’m going to say it anyway. Luke I am so glad you are back in Noah’s life. He was so upset when he first came to California, so I know how close you two were. I just found out a few hours ago that you two have been talking for the past month, but it all makes sense now. Because about a month ago Noah started being in the best mood all the time. I had no idea why until today.”
“Maddie!” Noah interrupts.
“Noah let me finish. I just want to say thank you for finding him and thank you for helping to bury hatchet so to speak. Now that I’ve met you I can see why Noah values you so much as a friend. You two are soul mates and once you’ve found your soul mate you should never let them go.”
Noah and Luke both shoot glances at each other before Noah turns his attention to his wife.
“Honey, what are you talking about?”
“Mommy, what’s a soul mate?” Lucy asks before Maddie can answer Noah.
“It’s your soul’s true match baby girl” Maddie says with a smile.
“Don’t you think Noah is your soul mate?” Luke asks seriously.
“Nope.” Maddie says, “I knew Lucy was my soul mate the moment I laid eyes on her. And I knew you were Noah’s soul mate from the moment he started talking about you all those years ago. That’s why I thought it was such a shame you weren’t speaking anymore. Believe me I tried so many times to get him to call you, but he just refused.”
“Maddie please” Noah begs.
“Well anyway. A soul mate isn’t just who your lover is, although it can be. It’s the one person in this world that makes your soul complete. Mine is my daughter and my husband’s is his best friend. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t think that means I love you any less.” Maddie says as she leans over to kiss Noah on the tip of his nose.
“So what about this surprise?” Noah says trying to change the subject.
“Oh yes. I have one for each of you.” Maddie cries as she jumps from the table to grab two envelopes from the kitchen counter, “Luke you go first.”
Luke takes the envelope from Maddie’s hand and turns it over to open it. He pulls out the piece of folded paper and opens it up. It’s a drawing in crayon. As far as Luke can tell it is two men in a field of flowers and they are holding hands.
“That’s daddy,” Lucy says pointing to the taller man “and that’s you,” she says pointing to the other one. “You’re holding hands cuz you’re best friends” she says matter-of-factly.
“Well thank you, Lucy,” Luke says sincerely “I love it.”
“You’re welcome” she says proudly.
“I especially like these pretty lines you drew above our heads” Luke says pointing to the colorful arch in the picture.
“It’s not lines Luke,” Lucy says laughing “it’s a rainbow. I love rainbows.”
“Me too” Luke says almost whispering. He folds the piece of paper up and puts it back in the envelope.
“Now your turn” Maddie says handing Noah his envelope.
He flips over it over and pulls out the contents. His heart starts to thump in his chest. He can hear it so loud he thinks that everyone at the table must be able to hear it too.
“What is it daddy?” Lucy asks curiously.
“It’s uh. It’s an ultrasound, princess. It means mommy’s gonna have a baby.”
Maddie laughs and throws her arms around Noah’s neck. She pulls him into a hug and says, “No silly, it means we’re going to have a baby.”
Noah gazes over Maddie’s shoulder to stare at Luke across the table. He looks about the way Noah feels, completely floored. Maddie releases Noah and sits back down in her seat.
“I’m almost 10 weeks. Can you believe it? I hadn’t been feeling well, so I went to the doctor while Lucy was at school today. I didn’t have a bug like I thought. Believe me I was as shocked as you look right now, Noah. Well say something. Babe say something.”
“Congratulations!” Luke speaks up trying to sound convincing “I’m really happy for you two.”