miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2007-11-15 06:04:00 |
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Original poster: dedebee
Author: dedebee
Characters: Luke/Lily
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2170
Spoilers/Warnings: Nothing really spoilery, since it takes place in the future
Summary: Luke contemplates Noah's proposal, with some help from his mother, Lily.
Notes: Thanks again so much for the comments and feedback for the story so far (which can be found HERE and HERE)! This one is a bit longer than the first two parts, but it's got a lot of heart (if I do say so myself). As always, let me know what you think!
"Ultimatum," Part Three
Luke sat alone at the kitchen table in the Snyder Farm, attempting to process the prior day’s events with the help of some homemade chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.
“Did you hear me? I asked you to marry me, Luke.”
“I—I heard what you said. Look, Noah…I just need some time to think about all of this…time alone, or at least…away from you. I think I will go to the farm—“
“I ask you to marry me and you’re running away? “
“No, I’m not running away. I just need time to think, okay? You can’t possibly believe I can give you an answer tonight after just springing all of this on me…I’ll be back tomorrow, I swear.”
“I thought you loved me?”
“I do! But I can’t answer you tonight. I just can’t.”
"Don’t go, Luke—“
”I’m sorry…I have to.”
Evening passed and morning dawned, yet the imprint of Noah’s hand grabbing Luke’s arm as he left lingered. Luke wondered if that angry gesture would be one of the last times they would touch. Of course, if Luke said yes, if he moved to Los Angeles with Noah, then it definitely wouldn’t be the last time. But could he see himself saying yes?
The idea of marriage had never even occurred to Luke. Even though it was legal for him and Noah to marry in some states, it was something he never thought he would want for himself. Sure, he imagined sharing his life with someone, with Noah even, but a marriage? Until last night, it didn’t even occur to him that it was something that Noah even wished for, but there it was. Noah’s cards were on the table, and now it was Luke’s hand, with their entire relationship at stake. As he sat in the kitchen, deep in the thought, the door suddenly slammed shut and startled him, causing him to gasp out loud.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry!” Luke looked up. It was his mother, Lily.
“Mom! Give a guy a heart attack!”
“I said I was sorry,” Lily said, still chuckling at what happened. “What are you doing here anyway? Is Noah here too?”
“Noah’s, uh…he’s at work. And I wasn’t feeling good, so I took a sick day. And I didn’t want to be all alone in the apartment, so I came here to keep Grandma company.”
“You took a sick day? And you came here?” Lily looked her son up and down. “In your pajamas?”
“Uh, yeah…” Luke felt flushed and embarrassed, as if he were five years old and his mom caught him red-handed with the cookie jar. “Like I said, I wasn’t feeling good, when I, um, woke up, so I just got right in the car and, uh…I’m so busted, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.” Lily grinned from ear to ear. He might be 24 years old, she thought, but in many ways, he would still always be her little boy.
“What are you doing here anyway, Mom?” Luke asked, trying to turn the attention away from his problems.
“I just wanted to drop some clothes off for Ethan because I’ll be at the Lakeview when he gets out of school and—hey, weren’t we talking about you here?” All these years, and his mother still would get the best of him. “So are you going to tell me why you’re here, at the farm, in your pajamas? And where is Noah?”
“We’re not always together, Mom. Noah has a life of his own, and so do I.”
“Uh-huh.” She wasn’t buying it. Luke realized he might as well give it up.
“Okay! Noah and I,” Luke replied, turning his head away to escape his mom’s glare, “we kind of had a fight. I spent the night here.”
“It must have been a hell of a fight if you felt you had to spend the night away from him.”
“Well, it was.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“I take it ‘not really’ really means yes.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Well, I think it does.” Lily sat down next to her son and placed her hand on top of his. “Indulge me here, Luke. I know you’re a grown man, but couldn’t you just this once let your mother think she still has a say in your life?”
Luke and his mother had their problems throughout the years, but Luke always knew he could talk to her, and his even dad, about anything. Even if it was something he wasn’t comfortable talking about, his coming out taught him that they would always be receptive to listening, no matter what.
“Okay, I’ll tell you,” he said, caving in. “But you can’t freak out about it.”
“I won’t, I swear.” She held her hand up as if she was taking an oath.
“Noah…he was offered this job in L.A., and—“
“Oh my god, you’re moving to L.A.?”
“No, I’m not—“
“So you two are breaking up?”
“No, we’re not—“
“How could he do this to—“
“Mom, please! Would you let me finish?”
Lily took a deep breath. The thought of Luke being so far away was somewhat devastating, as was the possibility of her son having his heart broken. However, in the six years Luke and Noah had been together, she had come to love Noah like a son as well, and he had become a part of their family.
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll be quiet. Please, go on.”
“Okay. Like I said, Noah was offered a job in L.A., something he never even discussed with me. He pretty much already decided he was going to take it, and we got into this huge fight about it, and…well, he kind of asked me to go with him.”
Lily practically fell out of her seat in anticipation. “And what did you say??”
“I didn’t say anything. I told him I needed to think about it, and I came here.” Luke looked at his mother’s reaction, equal parts disappointment and excitement. “That’s not all though. Noah…kind of asked me to marry him.”
“He…kind of asked you to marry him??”
“No, he did ask. He asked me to marry him,” Luke said matter-of-factly.
Lily attempted to take in everything Luke had told her. She knew what she wanted to say, what she wanted to tell Luke to do, but that wasn’t important. What was important was what her son wanted.
“So what do you think, Mom?” Luke asked, hoping for some much-needed guidance. “What should I do?”
“Well, what do you think you should do?”
“Wait, you’re not going to tell me? I know you’re dying inside to give me some advice…just tell me what you think I should do.”
“I can’t do that, sweetie. It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is what you think.”
“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my mother?” Luke started to get annoyed. He wanted Lily to tell him to go, or to stay, or that everything was going to be alright, anything to set him in the right direction and reassure him.
“Well, you see Luke,” Lily said, “if I’ve learned anything from your father, it’s that I should mind my own business sometimes, especially when it comes to you kids. I can’t tell you what to do here. You’re a man now…you need to reach figure it out on your own.”
Luke was disappointed, but he relished the fact that his mother realized he was a man. That didn’t stop him from trying though. “So you can’t even give me a hint?”
Lily laughed. “No, I can’t. But I will be here to listen. So tell me…what do you think you should do?”
“I don’t know,” Luke replied, reflecting on the possibilities. “I love Noah, I do…and I don’t think I could bear to lose him, but what if I go out there with him and it doesn’t work out?”
“Well, what’s the difference between things not working out between you guys in Los Angeles and things not working out for you here in Oakdale?”
“The difference is if things don’t work out here, then I’ve got you guys to fall back on. You, Dad, Grandma, Faith…even Natalie and Ethan...they’re just kids still, but I know they got my back.”
“We’re not going to be here forever, Luke.”
“I know. But you guys are like my security blanket. Knowing you're not too far when Noah’s getting on my nerves, going on and on about his old movies or whatever, it makes me feel better." Lily began to realize her son's relationship wasn't as perfect as it seemed.
"And we’re still so young! And Noah is…well, he’s the first guy…I ever…you know….”
“I know, Luke. Believe me, I know.”
“I mean, sometimes I can see myself being with him forever. But then other times, I look at myself...I'm 24 years old, and I've only ever been with Noah! Being with one guy forever kind of terrifies me!”
“Well, you know, your father and I were just about the age that you and Noah were when you first met.”
“I know, Mom, and look how that turned out.” Luke’s gift for sarcasm always shone at the most inopportune moments.
“Yes, please, Luke. Have a laugh at my expense. I know as well as you do that your father and I have had our differences over the years…but we still find our way back to each other in the end.” She looked down at the ring on her finger celebrating her reunion with Holden, her beloved husband.
“Yeah, but for how long?” Luke was only half-joking, but the slap on the arm his mother gave him hurt fully.
“This time, forever,” Lily replied. “Hopefully.”
Luke smiled. There were just as many bad times as good for his mother and father, but their love still shone through it all. It might crack a little during the next obstacle they had to face, but the foundation would still be intact.
“I just never saw myself getting married,” Luke said. “What difference does that make anyway, whether we’re together like we are now or if we’re married? I mean, look at Cousin Jack and Aunt Meg…did getting married really change anything for them?”
“Okay, I changed my mind,” Lily said, beginning to lose her patience. “I am going to give you some advice.”
“Good. I need it.”
“First of all, if you were to move away from Oakdale, with Noah…” Lily paused. “My heart would break.” She fought back the tears as she contemplated this hypothetical situation.
“But,” she continued, “it would heal. Because I know how much you love Noah, and how much he loves you, and I know you both would take care of each other and you would both be alright.”
Luke wiped a tear from his eyes. Like many children, he couldn’t stand to see his mom cry.
“As for getting married,” she went on, “you might be right. It might not really make any difference to you. But maybe it does to Noah.” Luke realized he never really wondered why Noah might want to get married.
“Now, Luke, I’m going to tell you the most important thing to remember in any relationship, something it has taken me years to figure out.” She grabbed both of his hands and looked right into his eyes. “When you’re with someone you care about, someone you love…sometimes you have to take yourself out of the picture and realize that…there is something bigger than you. You can’t always think of each other separately…you have to figure out what works, together.”
“Wow, Mom,” Luke said in amazement. “That’s so…lame.”
Lily smacked her son’s arm yet again, hard, causing him to scream in pain and laugh at the same time.
“Well, I’m sorry you think that way. But it took a long time for your father and me to figure that out. I just hope it doesn’t take that long for you and Noah.”
“I hope it doesn’t either. ” Luke reached over and hugged Lily. “Thanks, Mom.” She hugged him tight in return, and they cried together, realizing no matter how old they were, they would still need each other.
“Ah, you’re welcome.” After their embrace, Lily stood up and began to regain her composure. “Well, I have to give these things to Emma and get going…but just remember what I said.”
“I will, Mom.”
“And Luke? No matter what you decide, just know that I love you, and that I love Noah as well. Both of you will always be my boys.”
“Of course, Mom.”
“Oh, and one more thing? Don’t tell your father I meddled in your business. You know he doesn’t like that.”
Luke laughed. “How about I tell him I asked you to meddle?”
Lily squinted her eyes and thought for a second. “How about you just tell him I listened to you, and you figured it out all on your own?” She smiled slyly one last time as she walked out of the kitchen. Luke went back to his cookies and milk, prepared to weigh his mother’s advice as he made his decision.
END OF PART THREE