All of this, and we get the rest...
So...there have been a few Nuke fics I've written since I started watching the show last year that didn't quite "make the cut", if you will. For one reason or another, I decided not to post them anywhere or share them with anyone other than my sis Honey.
But since the show is ending (and ending very soon), I figured I would finally start posting them. I don't have a ton, just a small handful, but I figured if I don't share them now, then I probably won't ever share them, and that would be a shame, because I took the time to write them (and even edited/polished some of them up).
So here's the first one of my "Didn't quite make the cut" series of Nuke fics. :-)
Title: Playing for Both Teams
Author: G
Characters/Pairing: Luke/Noah, Maggie/Jenny (OC's), and mention of Reg
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine. I own nothing and for whatever reason, didn't even want to post this at first. Please don't sue me. :-)
Summary: Even if Luke was a girl, Noah would probably still love him the same.
A/N: This was originally written on October 15, 2009. Takes place around when Noah was shooting his senior thesis film, but I've messed around with the timeline/characters a bit. :-) Hope you like! :-D
Noah opened the polished wooden door in front of him and was immediately met with a packed room. Both girls and guys milled about, clumping in groups, standing in corners, huddled by the wooden bar in the back. The music was pumping loudly from the two amps situated to Noah’s right, and a handful of kids littered the dance floor. Behind the bar, a student “bartender” was serving up sodas and waters to a small crowd waiting in front of her. Noah’s entrance went completely unnoticed, but he was not unnerved.
He scanned the room quickly, but Noah’s eyes did not find what he was looking for. Instead, he felt a sharp slap grace his right arm.
“Hey, Mayer!”
A familiar female voice floated up to him, and Noah glanced down to find Maggie, a classmate and recent crewmember of his, grinning up at him under a dusting of jet-black bangs.
“Hi!” Noah replied brightly, returning her smile.
Maggie looped her arm through Noah’s and pulled him more towards the center of the room, away from the door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still grinning, with a hint of mischief in her voice.
Noah glanced quickly around again, then said, “What do you mean?”
Maggie puffed her bangs out of her eyes. “I know that we just finished shooting and all, and you probably want to celebrate, but why are you at this party?”
They had drifted more towards the bar now, in the direction of two empty stools. They slid on to them together, as Maggie waited patiently for Noah to answer.
She interrupted him before he could open his mouth. “I got it!” She winked at him in mock seduction. “You missed me.”
Noah laughed at her instantly. “You have a girlfriend,” he replied.
Maggie pouted at Noah’s words. “So? She’s…flexible.” Maggie traced three fingers on the top of the bar. “Anyway, you haven’t answered my question.”
Noah glanced out over his right shoulder, and his vision promptly located what he had been searching for the moment he’d walked through the door. He pointed across the room.
“See that guy over there? The blonde?” he said over the music.
Maggie followed Noah’s long-stretched finger. “Yeah…” Her eyesight suddenly constricted as she fixed her vision on the man Noah was indicating. She jolted forward on her stool to get a better look. “Holy hell! What about him?”
The blonde stood fifteen feet away, across the room, gesturing emphatically to a darker haired boy about the same height, whom Maggie knew was named Reg. The blonde’s face was lit up in a smile, and the black T-shirt he wore was hugging all the right curves, showing off toned arms and a flat stomach. The tight dark denim he wore complemented his lean legs, rounding over compact muscles.
Noah continued, enjoying Maggie’s reaction. “He’s on the council.”
Maggie nodded. “Okay,” she said slowly. “So he’s a panel member. That still doesn’t explain why you’re at an LGBT dance party. I mean, I know the party’s open to all students, but…most everyone stays away unless they fall under one of those four letters.”
Just then, as if he had sent him a telepathic message, Noah caught the blonde’s eye, and the blonde excused himself from the guy named Reg. Maggie watched in complete awe as the blonde casually sauntered up to her straight friend Noah Mayer and planted a welcoming kiss right on his lips in front of her.
“Hi,” the blonde said to him with a smile. He ran his hand through Noah’s dark locks, and the ease between the pair told Maggie that this was not the first time they had kissed. Far from it.
“Hi,” Noah answered back. He then looked at Maggie with a small smirk. “Do you need further clarification?” he asked her in a teasing tone.
Maggie sat back on her stool, completely taken aback. “Holy shit, Mayer,” was her response. Her hand drifted halfway to her mouth, hanging in midair. Maggie hadn’t even suspected that Noah was into guys. Not even after spending every hour of Noah’s shoot by his side and practically reading his mind every moment he got a glint in his eye for a new direction he wanted put in place.
Noah and the blonde exchanged an amused look, then fixed their vision back on Maggie.
She floundered for words. “I had…no…idea,” she stumbled weakly in astonishment. Suddenly she perked up on her stool and slapped her knee. “This is awesome!”
Noah started laughing. “Thanks?” He looked back at the blonde, who offered him another smile. “Oh! Luke, this is Maggie. Maggie, Luke.”
Maggie reached out and shook Luke’s hand as they said hello. Then Luke asked, “How do you guys know one another?”
Maggie grinned. “Professor Hanson’s Sound and Image Aesthetics class,” she told Luke. She saw his expression waver at her explanation, as both she and Noah were used to whenever they mentioned the class. Nobody outside the realm of film knew what the hell the title of that class meant, and it never sounded good. “I know, sounds boring, right?” Maggie held her index finger up for emphasis. “It’s actually quite interesting.”
“Yeah,” Noah chimed in. “Right now we’re discussing the composition of the dinner scene in American Beauty. You know, when Kevin Spacey comes home and tells his family that he lost his job.”
“I didn’t lose it,” Maggie began quoting on cue. She mimicked Kevin Spacey’s hand movements as she talked. “It’s not like ‘whoops, where’d my job go?’ I quit!” Both Luke and Noah grinned at her impersonation.
Just then a slim platinum blonde sidled up to Maggie and threw her arm around Maggie’s shoulder. “Not American Beauty again,” the blonde complained good-naturedly, smiling.
Maggie let out an exaggerated sigh. “You know I can’t give it up, babe,” she said with a wink.
Luke snuggled into Noah’s side as Maggie introduced her girlfriend, Jenny. Both girls wore their hair in high ponytails, but Jenny’s blonde was in stark contrast to Maggie’s jet black. In fact, the girls themselves were in stark contrast of one another. Jenny was clad in a bright pink sweater and sporting rosy cheeks, while Maggie wore a black tank top and heavy eyeliner. Despite their sharp differences, both girls were easy-going and loved to make new friends, and the four members of Oakdale University’s LGBT group fell into easy conversation, each couple hugging their respective partners close as they got to know one another.
While Maggie, Jenny, and Luke fell out over a well-timed joke from Maggie’s cavernous sense of humor, Noah silently decided that coming to this party had been a great decision. The perfect release after days of intense shooting, a nice soothing and relaxed atmosphere after having had to conform to a tight time schedule in order to get his film done.
*
Maggie was dutifully eyeing something over Noah’s shoulder. “Damn, Mayer.”
He turned to look with her. “What?”
Maggie jerked her chin in Luke’s direction, where he stood across the bar, chatting with some friends Noah recognized from Luke’s Advanced Lit class.
“How’d you snag a hottie like him?” Maggie’s eyes very obviously traveled down Luke’s body as she tilted her head to get a better view.
Noah observed his boyfriend as well. It always seemed that Luke was consistently surrounded by people vying for his attention. Noah was used to it, and in fact, he rather liked it. At school, classmates surrounded Luke, wanting his opinion on new assignments. At the LGBT meetings, the group surrounded him, waiting for directions on their latest fundraisers and activities. And at home, Luke’s younger family members surrounded him, tugging him in three different directions for video games, bedtime stories, and board games.
But at LGBT parties, everyone spread out and gave Luke space. Most likely for the exact thing that Maggie and Noah were doing right at this moment - surveillance. It was the perfect environment for others to watch Luke in action as he sashayed from group to group with his gleaming white smile happily pasted across his face.
Noah fought the urge to grab the biggest towel he could find and wrap Luke from head to toe in it, so people would stop staring. But then the urge to thank Luke for wearing that sinful T-shirt took precedence in Noah, and he smiled to himself. All those delicious curves and that wonderful smile were going home with him tonight.
“Wanna know how I got him?” Noah asked Maggie. “The truth?”
Her eyes sparkled back at him in excited anticipation.
Noah sipped the soda he had ordered. “I just kissed him. Out of the blue.”
Maggie gasped and covered her smile. “No!”
Noah nodded. “Yup. Just did it. Couldn’t fight it anymore. I barely even knew I was gay, but suddenly I was making out with him.”
Maggie slapped his knee in hearty appreciation. “You sly dog. Didn’t think you had it in you.”
Noah scoffed lightheartedly. “Didn’t think I did, either. But thankfully, it worked out pretty well.”
“Oh honey, it’s working out all over the place,” Maggie replied, her eyes fixed on Luke again. “Look at the ass on him.” She clucked her tongue in approval as Luke unknowingly ran his hand down the back of his thigh mid-conversation.
“Hey!” Noah said, shooting her a friendly glare. “Stop staring!”
“Hmm, I dunno,” she replied, not breaking her gaze. “I might have to get me a piece of that.”
Noah grinned to himself. He loved Maggie’s teasing sense of humor, as it had come as a welcomed surprise when she’d served as his assistant director on the shoot. She had kept Noah calm and focused throughout the whole ordeal with just a few expertly detailed wisecracks. “Look, Mags, I know you play for both teams,” Noah said, pointing at her. He switched his index finger to Luke, who was still completely oblivious to them. “But he definitely does not.”
Maggie giggled. “Maybe I could convince him,” she said hopefully under her breath.
Noah chuckled and shook his head. He couldn’t blame a girl for dreaming. “I tried that once,” Noah admitted, taking another sip of his drink.
Maggie returned her vision to her friend. “You tried convincing Luke to bang chicks? Kinky!”
Noah choked on his soda. “No!” he sputtered. “Thank you for supporting that so elegantly, though.” He cleared his throat. “I meant playing for both teams.”
Maggie gasped in mock surprise, not missing a beat. “Noooo,” she drawled sarcastically. “Not you, Mayer.”
Noah nodded. “I had a girlfriend before I had Luke,” he explained. “But girls…I don’t know. Girls just don’t work for me.”
Maggie shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“I know.” Noah nodded. “But sometimes I think that it wouldn’t really matter.”
Maggie cocked her head in interest.
“His gender,” Noah clarified. “Sometimes I think I just fell in love with Luke. If he was a girl, I’d probably still love him the same.”
Maggie burst out laughing. Noah watched her in confusion as she doubled over and slapped her knee.
“You’re such a sap!” she finally managed to gasp out. “I love it! Aww.” She made a heart shape with her fingers and pressed them against the left side of her chest, over her own heart, then stuck her finger towards the back of her throat and pretended to retch. Noah rolled his eyes back at her, but he couldn’t suppress his laugh. The truth was the truth, after all.
*
Noah and Luke swayed gently together on the dance floor. The song that was currently playing was slow and calming, with a soothing beat. Luke’s head rested against Noah’s chest while Noah held him close to his body.
Luke spoke up softly. “You okay? You’re quieter than normal.” His voice vibrated warmly against Noah’s soft cotton shirt.
Noah rested his chin on Luke’s head. “If I was a girl, would you still love me?” he asked.
Luke looked up at him, a smile playing in his eyes. “Are you having an identity crisis, Noah?”
Noah scrunched his nose at his boyfriend. “No. I’m just wondering.”
Luke laughed and snuggled his cheek back into Noah’s chest. “I wouldn’t care if you were a boy, girl, or an alien,” he replied. “As long as you were you.”
Noah chuckled, reveling in the fuzzy feeling Luke’s words had implanted into his stomach. “We aliens do try to stick to being ourselves at all times,” he teased.
Luke slapped his chest with a half-hearted hand. “You know what I meant,” he grumbled into Noah’s shirt. “Smartass.”
Noah laughed again. “I know what you meant. And I feel the same way.”
“Good.” Luke lifted his face from Noah’s chest and rested his chin so that he was looking up into Noah’s eyes. “They say men are from Mars, you know.”
“Glad to have all our bases covered then,” Noah murmured back. He bent and delicately kissed Luke’s waiting mouth, a singular loving, tender, warm, wanting press of lips. Then they smiled at each other and snuggled back in to finish the dance.
But since the show is ending (and ending very soon), I figured I would finally start posting them. I don't have a ton, just a small handful, but I figured if I don't share them now, then I probably won't ever share them, and that would be a shame, because I took the time to write them (and even edited/polished some of them up).
So here's the first one of my "Didn't quite make the cut" series of Nuke fics. :-)
Title: Playing for Both Teams
Author: G
Characters/Pairing: Luke/Noah, Maggie/Jenny (OC's), and mention of Reg
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine. I own nothing and for whatever reason, didn't even want to post this at first. Please don't sue me. :-)
Summary: Even if Luke was a girl, Noah would probably still love him the same.
A/N: This was originally written on October 15, 2009. Takes place around when Noah was shooting his senior thesis film, but I've messed around with the timeline/characters a bit. :-) Hope you like! :-D
Noah opened the polished wooden door in front of him and was immediately met with a packed room. Both girls and guys milled about, clumping in groups, standing in corners, huddled by the wooden bar in the back. The music was pumping loudly from the two amps situated to Noah’s right, and a handful of kids littered the dance floor. Behind the bar, a student “bartender” was serving up sodas and waters to a small crowd waiting in front of her. Noah’s entrance went completely unnoticed, but he was not unnerved.
He scanned the room quickly, but Noah’s eyes did not find what he was looking for. Instead, he felt a sharp slap grace his right arm.
“Hey, Mayer!”
A familiar female voice floated up to him, and Noah glanced down to find Maggie, a classmate and recent crewmember of his, grinning up at him under a dusting of jet-black bangs.
“Hi!” Noah replied brightly, returning her smile.
Maggie looped her arm through Noah’s and pulled him more towards the center of the room, away from the door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still grinning, with a hint of mischief in her voice.
Noah glanced quickly around again, then said, “What do you mean?”
Maggie puffed her bangs out of her eyes. “I know that we just finished shooting and all, and you probably want to celebrate, but why are you at this party?”
They had drifted more towards the bar now, in the direction of two empty stools. They slid on to them together, as Maggie waited patiently for Noah to answer.
She interrupted him before he could open his mouth. “I got it!” She winked at him in mock seduction. “You missed me.”
Noah laughed at her instantly. “You have a girlfriend,” he replied.
Maggie pouted at Noah’s words. “So? She’s…flexible.” Maggie traced three fingers on the top of the bar. “Anyway, you haven’t answered my question.”
Noah glanced out over his right shoulder, and his vision promptly located what he had been searching for the moment he’d walked through the door. He pointed across the room.
“See that guy over there? The blonde?” he said over the music.
Maggie followed Noah’s long-stretched finger. “Yeah…” Her eyesight suddenly constricted as she fixed her vision on the man Noah was indicating. She jolted forward on her stool to get a better look. “Holy hell! What about him?”
The blonde stood fifteen feet away, across the room, gesturing emphatically to a darker haired boy about the same height, whom Maggie knew was named Reg. The blonde’s face was lit up in a smile, and the black T-shirt he wore was hugging all the right curves, showing off toned arms and a flat stomach. The tight dark denim he wore complemented his lean legs, rounding over compact muscles.
Noah continued, enjoying Maggie’s reaction. “He’s on the council.”
Maggie nodded. “Okay,” she said slowly. “So he’s a panel member. That still doesn’t explain why you’re at an LGBT dance party. I mean, I know the party’s open to all students, but…most everyone stays away unless they fall under one of those four letters.”
Just then, as if he had sent him a telepathic message, Noah caught the blonde’s eye, and the blonde excused himself from the guy named Reg. Maggie watched in complete awe as the blonde casually sauntered up to her straight friend Noah Mayer and planted a welcoming kiss right on his lips in front of her.
“Hi,” the blonde said to him with a smile. He ran his hand through Noah’s dark locks, and the ease between the pair told Maggie that this was not the first time they had kissed. Far from it.
“Hi,” Noah answered back. He then looked at Maggie with a small smirk. “Do you need further clarification?” he asked her in a teasing tone.
Maggie sat back on her stool, completely taken aback. “Holy shit, Mayer,” was her response. Her hand drifted halfway to her mouth, hanging in midair. Maggie hadn’t even suspected that Noah was into guys. Not even after spending every hour of Noah’s shoot by his side and practically reading his mind every moment he got a glint in his eye for a new direction he wanted put in place.
Noah and the blonde exchanged an amused look, then fixed their vision back on Maggie.
She floundered for words. “I had…no…idea,” she stumbled weakly in astonishment. Suddenly she perked up on her stool and slapped her knee. “This is awesome!”
Noah started laughing. “Thanks?” He looked back at the blonde, who offered him another smile. “Oh! Luke, this is Maggie. Maggie, Luke.”
Maggie reached out and shook Luke’s hand as they said hello. Then Luke asked, “How do you guys know one another?”
Maggie grinned. “Professor Hanson’s Sound and Image Aesthetics class,” she told Luke. She saw his expression waver at her explanation, as both she and Noah were used to whenever they mentioned the class. Nobody outside the realm of film knew what the hell the title of that class meant, and it never sounded good. “I know, sounds boring, right?” Maggie held her index finger up for emphasis. “It’s actually quite interesting.”
“Yeah,” Noah chimed in. “Right now we’re discussing the composition of the dinner scene in American Beauty. You know, when Kevin Spacey comes home and tells his family that he lost his job.”
“I didn’t lose it,” Maggie began quoting on cue. She mimicked Kevin Spacey’s hand movements as she talked. “It’s not like ‘whoops, where’d my job go?’ I quit!” Both Luke and Noah grinned at her impersonation.
Just then a slim platinum blonde sidled up to Maggie and threw her arm around Maggie’s shoulder. “Not American Beauty again,” the blonde complained good-naturedly, smiling.
Maggie let out an exaggerated sigh. “You know I can’t give it up, babe,” she said with a wink.
Luke snuggled into Noah’s side as Maggie introduced her girlfriend, Jenny. Both girls wore their hair in high ponytails, but Jenny’s blonde was in stark contrast to Maggie’s jet black. In fact, the girls themselves were in stark contrast of one another. Jenny was clad in a bright pink sweater and sporting rosy cheeks, while Maggie wore a black tank top and heavy eyeliner. Despite their sharp differences, both girls were easy-going and loved to make new friends, and the four members of Oakdale University’s LGBT group fell into easy conversation, each couple hugging their respective partners close as they got to know one another.
While Maggie, Jenny, and Luke fell out over a well-timed joke from Maggie’s cavernous sense of humor, Noah silently decided that coming to this party had been a great decision. The perfect release after days of intense shooting, a nice soothing and relaxed atmosphere after having had to conform to a tight time schedule in order to get his film done.
*
Maggie was dutifully eyeing something over Noah’s shoulder. “Damn, Mayer.”
He turned to look with her. “What?”
Maggie jerked her chin in Luke’s direction, where he stood across the bar, chatting with some friends Noah recognized from Luke’s Advanced Lit class.
“How’d you snag a hottie like him?” Maggie’s eyes very obviously traveled down Luke’s body as she tilted her head to get a better view.
Noah observed his boyfriend as well. It always seemed that Luke was consistently surrounded by people vying for his attention. Noah was used to it, and in fact, he rather liked it. At school, classmates surrounded Luke, wanting his opinion on new assignments. At the LGBT meetings, the group surrounded him, waiting for directions on their latest fundraisers and activities. And at home, Luke’s younger family members surrounded him, tugging him in three different directions for video games, bedtime stories, and board games.
But at LGBT parties, everyone spread out and gave Luke space. Most likely for the exact thing that Maggie and Noah were doing right at this moment - surveillance. It was the perfect environment for others to watch Luke in action as he sashayed from group to group with his gleaming white smile happily pasted across his face.
Noah fought the urge to grab the biggest towel he could find and wrap Luke from head to toe in it, so people would stop staring. But then the urge to thank Luke for wearing that sinful T-shirt took precedence in Noah, and he smiled to himself. All those delicious curves and that wonderful smile were going home with him tonight.
“Wanna know how I got him?” Noah asked Maggie. “The truth?”
Her eyes sparkled back at him in excited anticipation.
Noah sipped the soda he had ordered. “I just kissed him. Out of the blue.”
Maggie gasped and covered her smile. “No!”
Noah nodded. “Yup. Just did it. Couldn’t fight it anymore. I barely even knew I was gay, but suddenly I was making out with him.”
Maggie slapped his knee in hearty appreciation. “You sly dog. Didn’t think you had it in you.”
Noah scoffed lightheartedly. “Didn’t think I did, either. But thankfully, it worked out pretty well.”
“Oh honey, it’s working out all over the place,” Maggie replied, her eyes fixed on Luke again. “Look at the ass on him.” She clucked her tongue in approval as Luke unknowingly ran his hand down the back of his thigh mid-conversation.
“Hey!” Noah said, shooting her a friendly glare. “Stop staring!”
“Hmm, I dunno,” she replied, not breaking her gaze. “I might have to get me a piece of that.”
Noah grinned to himself. He loved Maggie’s teasing sense of humor, as it had come as a welcomed surprise when she’d served as his assistant director on the shoot. She had kept Noah calm and focused throughout the whole ordeal with just a few expertly detailed wisecracks. “Look, Mags, I know you play for both teams,” Noah said, pointing at her. He switched his index finger to Luke, who was still completely oblivious to them. “But he definitely does not.”
Maggie giggled. “Maybe I could convince him,” she said hopefully under her breath.
Noah chuckled and shook his head. He couldn’t blame a girl for dreaming. “I tried that once,” Noah admitted, taking another sip of his drink.
Maggie returned her vision to her friend. “You tried convincing Luke to bang chicks? Kinky!”
Noah choked on his soda. “No!” he sputtered. “Thank you for supporting that so elegantly, though.” He cleared his throat. “I meant playing for both teams.”
Maggie gasped in mock surprise, not missing a beat. “Noooo,” she drawled sarcastically. “Not you, Mayer.”
Noah nodded. “I had a girlfriend before I had Luke,” he explained. “But girls…I don’t know. Girls just don’t work for me.”
Maggie shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“I know.” Noah nodded. “But sometimes I think that it wouldn’t really matter.”
Maggie cocked her head in interest.
“His gender,” Noah clarified. “Sometimes I think I just fell in love with Luke. If he was a girl, I’d probably still love him the same.”
Maggie burst out laughing. Noah watched her in confusion as she doubled over and slapped her knee.
“You’re such a sap!” she finally managed to gasp out. “I love it! Aww.” She made a heart shape with her fingers and pressed them against the left side of her chest, over her own heart, then stuck her finger towards the back of her throat and pretended to retch. Noah rolled his eyes back at her, but he couldn’t suppress his laugh. The truth was the truth, after all.
*
Noah and Luke swayed gently together on the dance floor. The song that was currently playing was slow and calming, with a soothing beat. Luke’s head rested against Noah’s chest while Noah held him close to his body.
Luke spoke up softly. “You okay? You’re quieter than normal.” His voice vibrated warmly against Noah’s soft cotton shirt.
Noah rested his chin on Luke’s head. “If I was a girl, would you still love me?” he asked.
Luke looked up at him, a smile playing in his eyes. “Are you having an identity crisis, Noah?”
Noah scrunched his nose at his boyfriend. “No. I’m just wondering.”
Luke laughed and snuggled his cheek back into Noah’s chest. “I wouldn’t care if you were a boy, girl, or an alien,” he replied. “As long as you were you.”
Noah chuckled, reveling in the fuzzy feeling Luke’s words had implanted into his stomach. “We aliens do try to stick to being ourselves at all times,” he teased.
Luke slapped his chest with a half-hearted hand. “You know what I meant,” he grumbled into Noah’s shirt. “Smartass.”
Noah laughed again. “I know what you meant. And I feel the same way.”
“Good.” Luke lifted his face from Noah’s chest and rested his chin so that he was looking up into Noah’s eyes. “They say men are from Mars, you know.”
“Glad to have all our bases covered then,” Noah murmured back. He bent and delicately kissed Luke’s waiting mouth, a singular loving, tender, warm, wanting press of lips. Then they smiled at each other and snuggled back in to finish the dance.