(Never) without you - Chapter 6
Title: (Never) without you
Chapter: 6
Characters: Luke, Reg, Tony, Noah, Damian
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,819
Beta: geezlouise from the Wiki, thank you!
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. I don’t own, characters belong to ATWT, CBS, P&G, etc.
Author's Notes: Sequel to the real me. Comments are very welcome.
"Shhhhh! Keep your voice down. He'll hear you!" Tony closed the swinging kitchen door in the apartment he shared with his boyfriend Reg. "Now, what is your problem? Can't you try to be a little sympathetic toward Luke and what he's going through right now?""Look, I feel for the guy. I really do." Reg put one hand on Tony's shoulder and gestured with the other. "But for God's sake, one night is long enough. Luke has to deal with Noah not coming back. He made it quite clear in the note. Luke's got to get on with his life and off our couch!"
Tony had persuaded Luke to spend the night after Luke told him he couldn't bear to spend another minute alone in the apartment he had shared with Noah, who had apparently left Oakdale and him. Luke had spent a restless night under a blanket on the couch in his friends home. "Why Mr. Carrington, I do believe you're jealous!"
"Me? Jealous of the blonde mop-head still stretched out on our sofa at." Reg looked toward the living room and then at his watch. "at 11 o'clock in the morning?"
Luke began to stir in response to the raised voices.
"So you are jealous!"
"I am not. It's just you're not paying any attention to me. Let Luke go lick his wounds at Snyder Farm or better yet at the Walsh Estate. Why does he have to camp out in our living room?"
Tony sighed. "Look. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help out a friend here. God forbid I should take any attention away from you and your needs!"
"If that's what you think, then fine!" Reg grabbed his gym bag and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Tony shook his head in disgust and glanced over to the couch. Luke was up and folding the blanket. "Luke, what are you doing?"
"Reg is right. I should go. I've imposed on you long enough."
Tony walked over to Luke, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him down on the couch. "You're not going anywhere."
"But what about Reg?"
"Don't worry about him." Tony waved his hand toward the door. "Reg'll take his regular spinning class; flirt with the guys around the juice bar; and then come back full of apologies."
He quickly stepped into the kitchen and came back with coffee and a bagel for Luke.
"That gives us time to talk about you and Noah." Luke sipped the hot beverage. "I can't believe he would just leave you like that. There's got to be more to it."
"I know." Luke pulled out the folded letter from his pants pocket. "I spent most of last night going over and over his reasons for leaving. There's just something that Noah said that doesn't quite make sense. But I can't put my finger on it."
" Let me take a look at it again," Tony took the note out of Luke's hand and read it aloud.
"Luke, Damian gave me the chance to start a whole new life. With his help, I have the chance to go to Northwestern and finally realize my dream. I am sorry I had to leave you like that, But I just had to take the chance.We had a good time together. But you should go on with your life without me. Don't try to find me, Luke. Give your father another a chance. He's a good guy. Ta..."
Luke snatched back the note.
"Give your father another chance. That's it!" Luke's face began to brighten. "Noah knows that I never call Damian father. I told him that Holden is my father in all the ways that count."
"Wait...what are you saying?" Tony gestured with an open hand to the letter. "You think Noah didn't write this? But I thought you said it was definitely Noah's handwriting."
Luke began to pace across the living room floor. Bits of conversations with Noah about Luke's vow never to call Damian father flashed through his mind.
"I know it's Noah's handwriting. But he didn't write it of his own free will."
"Come again?"
Luke sat down next to Tony and kept hitting the note with his index finger.
"Noah might have written it but not voluntarily. We only have Damian's word on what went down between him and Noah. Pretty d'amn convenient, don't you think? What if Damian somehow forced Noah to write this?"
"You actually believe Damian is capable of doing something like that?" asked Tony.
"Of course! He sent me to that camp under false pretenses. He didn't like it that the treatment didn't take. And the fact that I have a boyfriend must have really sent up him the wall." Luke shook the letter in his hand.
"I don't know, Luke?" Tony questioned his friend.
"If Damian wanted to get Noah out of my life, Noah could be anywhere." Luke's eyes began to tear up. "God, you don't think Noah is ...."
"Hey, don't even go there. What do you say you and I walk around Old Town and see if anybody has seen Damian or see if we can run into your old man, himself."
"Yeah. Maybe some of bio-dad's cleverness has rubbed off on me. Let's hope so for Noah's sake."
For the next few hours, Tony and Luke walked through Old Town without laying eyes on Damian or finding anyone who had seen him recently. Luke was becoming discouraged.
"C'mon, let's go back to the apartment; get something to eat and try again later."
Just then Luke spotted Damian coming out of the alley between Fashions and Java and toward himself and Tony.
"Play it cool." Luke cautioned himself. "Don't let him see that you're on to him."
"Son, I heard you have been looking for me," Damian tossed Tony a dirty look while wrapping a protective arm around Luke.
"So did you change your mind? Do you want to talk to me?" Damian said hopefully.
"I'm warming up to the idea, Damian. But right now I need Noah's forwarding address so I can send his editing equipment and DVDs. You have his address at Northwestern, don't you?"
"Noah's address?" Damian's concerned father facade began to crack.
"You do have it, don't you Damian?"
"Not on me, son. But I can get it for you." Damian pulled out a business card from his leather coat and jotted down a phone number. "Call me in one hour and I'll give it to you then."
Luke took the card and started to say something but felt a tug on the back of his hoodie.
Damian looked at his watch. "Uh, will you look at the time? I'm late for a very important meeting with a supplier. Call me in one hour. Now I must leave. Ciao Luciano."
Luke and Tony watched as Damian walked hurriedly back down the alley.
Luke started to go after him. But Tony yanked his friend back.
"What are you doing? We've got to follow him. I'm sure he knows where Noah is."
"I know. I think so too. But we should follow Damian at a safe distance. We can't let him know we're on to him." Reg said. The two amateur sleuths watched Damian continued to walk toward the docks.
"C'mon." Luke and Tony followed the elder Grimaldi, managing to hide between buildings and behind signs every time Damian looked back.
When Damian reached the docks, Luke and Tony saw him turn in the direction of the Dry Dock Section. Once there, Damian climbed up a ladder and boarded a GSL tug boat.
***************
From a safe distance, Luke and Tony watched as Damian light a small ship lantern and then disappear below deck.
A puzzled Tony turned to Luke. "An old, worn out tug boat is a funny place for an important business meeting, don't you think?"
"Especially when the GSL headquarters building is in the opposite direction," Luke gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. "I remember Noah and I walking down here one time. We talked about what stories these old boats could tell and what kind of stolen treasure could be stored below...Oh my God."
"What? What's wrong!"
"Tony, Noah's on that tug. I can feel it."
Luke started to rise from behind the barrier when Tony pulled him back down.
"Are you crazy? You can't just go charging in there. If Damian's done anything to Noah, you could be next."
"He won't hurt me. I'm his son." Luke took out his cell phone and hit speed dial for his cousin Detective Jack Snyder. He then pressed the phone into Tony's hand. "When Jack answers, tell him what happened and toget down here fast."
Luke took off running toward the tug boat.
*****************
Damian walked into the crew quarters where Noah remained chained to the stripped bed. He shook the bed violently to wake the sleeping captive.
Still feeling the effects of being drugged and dehydrated, Noah was slow to react.
"Guess what Noah? You're going to walk the plank sooner than expected. I just ran into Luciano and he started asking about you and Northwestern. So I have to get rid of you now...permanently."
With that, Damian swung the lantern at the defenseless Noah, striking the young man's head. Damian started to raise the lamp again to level another blow when he was pulled off balance from behind by Luke.
"Get away from him, you bastard!" Damian and the lantern went sailing down to the cabin floor.
"Luciano? Son?" a surprised Damian mumbled.
"Shut up Damian. Don't dare move from that spot." Luke then turned toward his unconscious boyfriend, now bleeding from Damian's strike. "Oh God. Noah! Can you hear me?"
The only audible response coming from Noah was the sound of heavy labored breathing. Luke turned, picked up the lantern and moved toward Damian.
"Son...Listen to me. I was only trying to protect you from people like him." Damian struggled to his feet. Sirens could be heard in the distance. "I did it so you would become the strong Grimaldi heir that you were meant to be."
"By attacking the person I love more than anyone else in this world?"
Damian made a dash for the door to the hallway. He didn't count on Tony armed with an old fire extinguisher coming up behind him. He smashed it against Damian's back. The kidnapper crumbled into a heap against the wall.
"I got a hold of Jack." Tony said excitedly while looking down at Damian. "They're all coming. The Oakdale Police. The Coast Guard. The Harbor Patrol. Can you hear the sirens, Luke."
Luke held Noah in his arms. He stroked his boyfriend's hair and gently caressed Noah's cheek with his thumb. Tears streamed down Luke's face as he whispered in Noah's ear.
"C'mon baby. I love you Noah so much. Please. Don't leave me. "
Chapter: 6
Characters: Luke, Reg, Tony, Noah, Damian
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,819
Beta: geezlouise from the Wiki, thank you!
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. I don’t own, characters belong to ATWT, CBS, P&G, etc.
Author's Notes: Sequel to the real me. Comments are very welcome.
"Shhhhh! Keep your voice down. He'll hear you!" Tony closed the swinging kitchen door in the apartment he shared with his boyfriend Reg. "Now, what is your problem? Can't you try to be a little sympathetic toward Luke and what he's going through right now?""Look, I feel for the guy. I really do." Reg put one hand on Tony's shoulder and gestured with the other. "But for God's sake, one night is long enough. Luke has to deal with Noah not coming back. He made it quite clear in the note. Luke's got to get on with his life and off our couch!"
Tony had persuaded Luke to spend the night after Luke told him he couldn't bear to spend another minute alone in the apartment he had shared with Noah, who had apparently left Oakdale and him. Luke had spent a restless night under a blanket on the couch in his friends home. "Why Mr. Carrington, I do believe you're jealous!"
"Me? Jealous of the blonde mop-head still stretched out on our sofa at." Reg looked toward the living room and then at his watch. "at 11 o'clock in the morning?"
Luke began to stir in response to the raised voices.
"So you are jealous!"
"I am not. It's just you're not paying any attention to me. Let Luke go lick his wounds at Snyder Farm or better yet at the Walsh Estate. Why does he have to camp out in our living room?"
Tony sighed. "Look. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help out a friend here. God forbid I should take any attention away from you and your needs!"
"If that's what you think, then fine!" Reg grabbed his gym bag and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Tony shook his head in disgust and glanced over to the couch. Luke was up and folding the blanket. "Luke, what are you doing?"
"Reg is right. I should go. I've imposed on you long enough."
Tony walked over to Luke, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him down on the couch. "You're not going anywhere."
"But what about Reg?"
"Don't worry about him." Tony waved his hand toward the door. "Reg'll take his regular spinning class; flirt with the guys around the juice bar; and then come back full of apologies."
He quickly stepped into the kitchen and came back with coffee and a bagel for Luke.
"That gives us time to talk about you and Noah." Luke sipped the hot beverage. "I can't believe he would just leave you like that. There's got to be more to it."
"I know." Luke pulled out the folded letter from his pants pocket. "I spent most of last night going over and over his reasons for leaving. There's just something that Noah said that doesn't quite make sense. But I can't put my finger on it."
" Let me take a look at it again," Tony took the note out of Luke's hand and read it aloud.
"Luke, Damian gave me the chance to start a whole new life. With his help, I have the chance to go to Northwestern and finally realize my dream. I am sorry I had to leave you like that, But I just had to take the chance.We had a good time together. But you should go on with your life without me. Don't try to find me, Luke. Give your father another a chance. He's a good guy. Ta..."
Luke snatched back the note.
"Give your father another chance. That's it!" Luke's face began to brighten. "Noah knows that I never call Damian father. I told him that Holden is my father in all the ways that count."
"Wait...what are you saying?" Tony gestured with an open hand to the letter. "You think Noah didn't write this? But I thought you said it was definitely Noah's handwriting."
Luke began to pace across the living room floor. Bits of conversations with Noah about Luke's vow never to call Damian father flashed through his mind.
"I know it's Noah's handwriting. But he didn't write it of his own free will."
"Come again?"
Luke sat down next to Tony and kept hitting the note with his index finger.
"Noah might have written it but not voluntarily. We only have Damian's word on what went down between him and Noah. Pretty d'amn convenient, don't you think? What if Damian somehow forced Noah to write this?"
"You actually believe Damian is capable of doing something like that?" asked Tony.
"Of course! He sent me to that camp under false pretenses. He didn't like it that the treatment didn't take. And the fact that I have a boyfriend must have really sent up him the wall." Luke shook the letter in his hand.
"I don't know, Luke?" Tony questioned his friend.
"If Damian wanted to get Noah out of my life, Noah could be anywhere." Luke's eyes began to tear up. "God, you don't think Noah is ...."
"Hey, don't even go there. What do you say you and I walk around Old Town and see if anybody has seen Damian or see if we can run into your old man, himself."
"Yeah. Maybe some of bio-dad's cleverness has rubbed off on me. Let's hope so for Noah's sake."
For the next few hours, Tony and Luke walked through Old Town without laying eyes on Damian or finding anyone who had seen him recently. Luke was becoming discouraged.
"C'mon, let's go back to the apartment; get something to eat and try again later."
Just then Luke spotted Damian coming out of the alley between Fashions and Java and toward himself and Tony.
"Play it cool." Luke cautioned himself. "Don't let him see that you're on to him."
"Son, I heard you have been looking for me," Damian tossed Tony a dirty look while wrapping a protective arm around Luke.
"So did you change your mind? Do you want to talk to me?" Damian said hopefully.
"I'm warming up to the idea, Damian. But right now I need Noah's forwarding address so I can send his editing equipment and DVDs. You have his address at Northwestern, don't you?"
"Noah's address?" Damian's concerned father facade began to crack.
"You do have it, don't you Damian?"
"Not on me, son. But I can get it for you." Damian pulled out a business card from his leather coat and jotted down a phone number. "Call me in one hour and I'll give it to you then."
Luke took the card and started to say something but felt a tug on the back of his hoodie.
Damian looked at his watch. "Uh, will you look at the time? I'm late for a very important meeting with a supplier. Call me in one hour. Now I must leave. Ciao Luciano."
Luke and Tony watched as Damian walked hurriedly back down the alley.
Luke started to go after him. But Tony yanked his friend back.
"What are you doing? We've got to follow him. I'm sure he knows where Noah is."
"I know. I think so too. But we should follow Damian at a safe distance. We can't let him know we're on to him." Reg said. The two amateur sleuths watched Damian continued to walk toward the docks.
"C'mon." Luke and Tony followed the elder Grimaldi, managing to hide between buildings and behind signs every time Damian looked back.
When Damian reached the docks, Luke and Tony saw him turn in the direction of the Dry Dock Section. Once there, Damian climbed up a ladder and boarded a GSL tug boat.
***************
From a safe distance, Luke and Tony watched as Damian light a small ship lantern and then disappear below deck.
A puzzled Tony turned to Luke. "An old, worn out tug boat is a funny place for an important business meeting, don't you think?"
"Especially when the GSL headquarters building is in the opposite direction," Luke gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. "I remember Noah and I walking down here one time. We talked about what stories these old boats could tell and what kind of stolen treasure could be stored below...Oh my God."
"What? What's wrong!"
"Tony, Noah's on that tug. I can feel it."
Luke started to rise from behind the barrier when Tony pulled him back down.
"Are you crazy? You can't just go charging in there. If Damian's done anything to Noah, you could be next."
"He won't hurt me. I'm his son." Luke took out his cell phone and hit speed dial for his cousin Detective Jack Snyder. He then pressed the phone into Tony's hand. "When Jack answers, tell him what happened and toget down here fast."
Luke took off running toward the tug boat.
*****************
Damian walked into the crew quarters where Noah remained chained to the stripped bed. He shook the bed violently to wake the sleeping captive.
Still feeling the effects of being drugged and dehydrated, Noah was slow to react.
"Guess what Noah? You're going to walk the plank sooner than expected. I just ran into Luciano and he started asking about you and Northwestern. So I have to get rid of you now...permanently."
With that, Damian swung the lantern at the defenseless Noah, striking the young man's head. Damian started to raise the lamp again to level another blow when he was pulled off balance from behind by Luke.
"Get away from him, you bastard!" Damian and the lantern went sailing down to the cabin floor.
"Luciano? Son?" a surprised Damian mumbled.
"Shut up Damian. Don't dare move from that spot." Luke then turned toward his unconscious boyfriend, now bleeding from Damian's strike. "Oh God. Noah! Can you hear me?"
The only audible response coming from Noah was the sound of heavy labored breathing. Luke turned, picked up the lantern and moved toward Damian.
"Son...Listen to me. I was only trying to protect you from people like him." Damian struggled to his feet. Sirens could be heard in the distance. "I did it so you would become the strong Grimaldi heir that you were meant to be."
"By attacking the person I love more than anyone else in this world?"
Damian made a dash for the door to the hallway. He didn't count on Tony armed with an old fire extinguisher coming up behind him. He smashed it against Damian's back. The kidnapper crumbled into a heap against the wall.
"I got a hold of Jack." Tony said excitedly while looking down at Damian. "They're all coming. The Oakdale Police. The Coast Guard. The Harbor Patrol. Can you hear the sirens, Luke."
Luke held Noah in his arms. He stroked his boyfriend's hair and gently caressed Noah's cheek with his thumb. Tears streamed down Luke's face as he whispered in Noah's ear.
"C'mon baby. I love you Noah so much. Please. Don't leave me. "