Oh God, I've resisted and resisted, and I've finally gone and caved. I've written Soapfic. *facepalm* I'm blaming this all on
passionate_hope, since she's the one that kept nudging me more and more. ;-)
Title: Unbreakable
Pairing: ATWT - Luke & Noah
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 935
Disclaimer: All in good fun. Take it for what it is.
Luke waited at the kitchen table as his laptop hummed to life. Behind him, Holden bumped and banged around the kitchen cupboards, mumbling to himself.
"Do you want some lunch, something besides hospital food?" he started. He rooted around in the fridge, and then sniffed loudly. "There's some egg salad in here that doesn't smell too old."
Luke chuckled and shook his head as he slid his finger over the touchpad on his laptop, opening his email program. His grin grew when he saw the contents of his inbox and he tapped his finger twice, opening his e-mail.
"Luke?"
Luke looked up from the screen. "Sure, Dad."
"Everything ok? You sound a bit distracted," Holden asked as he walked over and set a plate on the table.
Luke reread his e-mail. "Yeah, I'm good." He reread the mail one more time, a slow warmth curling through him, before closing it and moving on to the other messages he'd received while he was in the hospital.
Holden cleared his throat. "I'm going to go," he began, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Shave, shower and change. You all set?" At Luke's nod, he disappeared, leaving Luke alone with his laptop and lunch.
*****
He heard the car in the driveway, the crunch of the tires as they rolled over the gravel. The engine died, then the car door banged shut and, almost immediately after, the front door. Luke turned around, hands going from his lap, to the handles on the wheels, to the lever for the brakes before going back to his lap as he fidgeted nervously.
Luke smiled as Noah filled the opening next to the fridge, and then chuckled when he realized Noah looked every bit as nervous as he felt. "Just get in here," he finally said.
Immediately, Noah relaxed as he crossed the room. He sat in a chair next to Luke and placed a small package on the table. "I got you something," he said quietly.
Luke slowly opened the box and brushed some tissue paper aside. Inside was a nice pair of black leather gloves, finger tips cut off. One at a time, he slid them on, then held out his wrists. "Do me, baby," he requested, wiggling his eyebrows.
Noah laughed. He leaned forward, foreheads almost touching as he fastened the snaps on both wrists. He held onto one hand and tilted his eyes up. "Do you like them?"
Luke wiggled the fingers of his free hand. "Yeah, I do. Thanks."
It was that moment, when Luke had started to tilt his head to kiss Noah, that Holden chose to walk in. "Luke, do you need anything else before I -" He stopped mid-sentence when he recognized Noah.
"Hi, Mr. Snyder," Noah said as he looked quickly at him over his shoulder.
"Hey dad," Luke echoed as he sat back in his chair. He went from watching Noah, who had tensed up visibly since his dad came back in the room, to watching his dad, who didn't look much happier. His eyes had gone hard, his lips pressed firmly together in a thin line, and the muscles of his jaw clenched and unclenched as he stood there. Luke was glad Noah was facing away and couldn't see him. Ice breaker time.
"Dad, look what Noah brought over for me," he said as he held up his gloved hands.
Now, Noah did turn around. There was no mistaking the look on Holden’s face, or who it was aimed at. Noah shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Mr. Snyder, I can go if this is a bad time," he said as he started to stand.
Holden nodded. "That would be a good idea," he said coolly.
Luke put his hand on Noah's arm and stopped him from standing. "Sit down," he hissed.
"Luke, he should go. It's his fault that you're sitting there."
For just a moment, Noah looked as though he'd been slapped. He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. Luke still saw it, but then Noah's shoulders squared and he stood slowly, facing Holden.
"No, Mr Holden, it's not. It's my father's fault. Do I feel guilty? Hell, yes. My father is the only family I've got left and I believed him, trusted him when he said he was happy for us. But he did this, not me, and I won't take the blame for him."
When Holden opened his mouth to say something, Noah kept talking. Luke sat, quietly watching. There was something new to his dad's expression, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"I'm not going anywhere, Mr. Snyder. Luke wants me here and I want to be here, so you better get used to it." Done, he sat back down. Luke flattened his hand on his back, rubbing the tense muscles gently as Noah still held his back straight, shoulders stiff.
Holden's only response was a silent nod before going outside. When the screen door banged shut behind him, Noah sighed and leaned his head on Luke's shoulder, twining their fingers together.
"Wow," Luke said quietly.
Noah laughed nervously. "At least now he has a reason not to like me."
Luke finally figured out what the subtle shift in his father's expression meant. "But he also respects you, which is pissing him off. He's trying very hard not to like you - and you're not making that very easy."
"Yeah well, I'm a likeable guy," Noah joked.
Luke shifted in his chair and took Noah's face in his hands. "Yeah, you are," he said quietly before leaning in to kiss him lightly.
- fini -