miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2007-10-30 19:38:00 |
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Current mood: | accomplished |
New Fic: Brother's Keeper
Original poster: chelseafrew
My second Nuke fic! I am on a roll. God only knows how inspired I will be by tomorrow's episode...
Title: Brother's Keeper
Author: Chelsea Frew
Pairing: Luke/Noah (of course)
Rating: PG
Summary: Noah pays Luke a visit. (Again)
Warnings/Spoilers: No/Yes (for everything in the recent past)
Notes: Thanks to marzilla for beta-reading this, even when she hasn't started to watch the show yet.
When Noah arrived at the farm, Luke's physical therapist was already there. Luke's dad told Noah he could wait -- they would be done soon -- and offered him a soda. Noah accepted a can of cola, then Mr. Snyder excused himself to go take care of some business.
Noah sat down at the dining table and popped open the soda. He could hear murmuring voices in the next room. One of them was unmistakably Luke's, and he didn't sound happy. Noah had looked at the book of exercises the therapist had brought on his first visit -- not much there in the way of fun.
"Hey." A much closer voice interrupted his thoughts. He re-focused his eyes and discovered Luke's little sister, Faith, standing across the table from him.
"Hey," Noah returned.
"Are you here to see Luke?" the almost-teenager inquired.
Noah nodded.
"He's with the therapist," she informed him.
"That's what your dad said."
Faith pulled out a chair to sit more or less eye level with him. She stared at him silently for a long moment, then asked, "Are you Luke's boyfriend?"
That was…unexpected. He had no idea what to tell her. He didn't know how much Luke had told her or how much Luke -- not to mention her parents -- wanted her to know.
When he didn't answer her, she prompted, "Well, are you?"
He couldn't lie. That was the bottom line. So he nodded. "Yes. I think so."
"You think? Don't you like him?"
Noah couldn't help but smile. "I do. I like him a lot."
Faith narrowed her eyes -- looking eerily like Luke when she did so -- and announced, "He's never had a boyfriend before."
"I know," Noah told her, not exactly sure what she was getting at. "I haven't, either."
"Your father tried to hurt him." She still wasn't exactly working hard at clearing up what direction she was going in.
But he could offer a correction. "My father did hurt him."
"He told me he may never be able to walk again," Faith said sadly.
Noah didn't quite know what to say in response to that, so he decided not to risk anything and see where Faith wanted to drive the conversation next.
When she realized that the floor was still hers, she asked, "Does it bother you that he can't walk now?"
Double-edged sword: Faith was no dummy. "Of course it bothers me. He shouldn't be having to go through this at all. But it doesn't make me care about him any less."
The thoughtful look on her face told him his answer had been acceptable. "Luke really likes you," she went on.
"Did he tell you that?"
She nodded. "He was really worried when you didn't come to visit him in the hospital at first."
Noah still felt really guilty about that. His world had just been turned upside down, and he hadn’t known at the time just how drastically Luke's world had been, too. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," he told Faith sincerely. "I should have been."
"The doctors told Mom and Dad that Luke is going to need lots of help and support now that he has to be in a wheelchair."
"I'm sure you're helping him out a lot."
"I'm trying to. Especially since Mom and Dad are so busy fighting all the time."
It was definitely not an easy time for anyone in the Snyder family.
"Are you going to help him, too?" Faith finally asked the question most likely at the heart of the matter.
Noah nodded firmly. "Absolutely. In any way I can that he will let me."
"You're sure?"
He nodded again. "Positive."
"Promise?"
Noah understood the score now. Faith was issuing the closest he she could get to an ultimatum. If Noah hurt her brother, she would hurt Noah. He nodded solemnly. "I promise."
"Good." She seemed satisfied.
Noah inwardly sighed his relief at having made it through the treacherous water that was this conversation. He smiled at Faith. "You're a good sister. Luke is lucky to have you."
She beamed, then wondered aloud, "Do you have any brothers and sisters?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Maybe Luke will be willing to share."
"Maybe Luke will be willing to share what?" Noah jumped at Luke's sudden appearance. Evidently therapy was over. Luke sat in his chair at the end of the table, looking expectantly from Faith to Noah. Luke's therapist stood silently behind Luke.
"Me," Faith revealed.
Luke grinned. "I don't know about that. You're a pretty good sister. I'm not going to lend you out to just anyone."
"Luke?" the therapist -- whose name Noah was blanking on -- jumped in. "You won't forget to do those new exercises I gave you later tonight, will you?"
Luke's face fell a little at the reminder of his current situation. But he dutifully answered, "No. I won't."
The therapist nodded approvingly. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yep," Luke agreed.
Once the therapist had let himself out, Noah waited for Luke to turn back in his direction. When he did, Noah said, "Hi."
Luke smiled again. "Hi."
"Should I ask how the therapy session was?"
"Torturous."
Noah smiled sympathetically.
Luke looked at Faith. "Were you keeping Noah company?"
She nodded.
"You didn't give him any dirt he'll use on me later, did you?"
Faith smiled, but shook her head. "Not this time."
"Good."
"I'm going to my room now," she said to them.
"Okay," Luke said.
"Thanks for the conversation," Noah told her.
"You're welcome." With that, she left the room.
"So," Luke began, "you came by to entertain me?"
Noah grinned. "I was kind of hoping you'd entertain me, too."
Luke grinned back. "I can try." He wheeled around the table and quickly arrived at Noah's side. Once there, he reached for Noah's face and pulled him in for a kiss.
"Mmmm," Noah murmured appreciatively. "This is definitely entertaining."
They shared a few more kisses, reveling in being alone together for the first time in a while. Then Luke asked, "So, what were you and Faith talking about?"
"You."
"Me?" Luke playfully ran a finger down Noah's forearm.
Noah nodded. "She asked if I was your boyfriend."
Luke's eyes widened and his finger stopped moving mid-arm. "What did you tell her?"
"I told her yes." Noah held his breath while he waited for Luke's response.
Luke sighed quietly. "Well, I guess that saves me that conversation."
"You're not mad?"
Luke shook his head. "She already knew that I like you. If she asked you about the boyfriend thing, she'd already made that leap."
"I think she threatened me," Noah told him next.
"Threatened you? Noah, she's twelve. How could she threaten you?"
"She wanted to know if I really liked you, and if I was going to stick around no matter what."
"I hope the answer to that one was yes, too."
Noah smiled. "It was. And she made me promise. I think she'll hurt me if I hurt you."
Luke's own smile was mischievous. "Well, then you'd better not hurt me."
Noah placed a hand over Luke's. "I'm going to do my best."
Leaning forward, Luke stole another kiss.
"So," Noah asked, "how long do you think we have until your dad gets back?"
Luke glanced at the clock in the kitchen and shrugged. "Maybe a half hour. He doesn't like to stay away too long."
"Then we should make the most of that half hour."
"I agree. But I'm not sure we should make the most of it out here."
Noah grinned. "You could invite me to see your etchings."
"Huh?"
Shaking his head, Noah sighed. "You are so uneducated. Haven't you seen any movies made before you were born?"
"But there are so few explosions and special effects in those."
Noah stood and got behind Luke's wheelchair, grasping the handles firmly. "I hope your TV back there gets Turner Classic Movies." He began pushing Luke in the direction of his bedroom at the back of the house.
"Old movies?" Luke asked incredulously, twisting to look back up at Noah. "We have a half an hour and you want to show me old movies?"
"You've also never really picked up on what people who are seeing each other do while watching movies, have you?"
They were crossing over the threshold into Luke's room at the moment Noah could tell Luke got it.
"Maybe," Luke said, "old movies aren't so bad."
Noah parked Luke's chair by the end of his bed, reached for the remote on the nightstand and sat at the end of the bed. Flipping the TV on, he quickly surfed through the channels until he found an old black and white movie starring Gary Cooper.
He returned the remote to the nightstand and turned to Luke. "Okay. Ready for Lesson One?"
Luke smiled. "Go for it."
"Well, generally it starts with one or the other of the couple stealthily trying to put an arm around the other's shoulder and--"
"Noah?" Luke interrupted.
"What?"
"Clock's ticking. Shut up and kiss me."
So he did.
End (29 October 2007)