FIC: CONFRONTATION 1/1
Title: Confrontation
Chapter: One-Shot (Companion fic to " Comfort")
Author: carolinablu85
Characters: Luke, Alison, Casey
Rating: R for language
Spoilers: current storyline, set the day after the June 9, 2010 episode
Summary: “This whole thing sucks, Luke. And you’re being stupid.”
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cell phone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
A/N: Yeah…. So remember how that last one-shot was slightly biased? Take out the ‘slightly’ and you’ve got this one. Casey just kinda goes off on Luke. If you don’t want to read that, if you don’t agree that maybe Luke needs to get yelled at, please don’t click on this one. Again, this is just a reaction to everyone being SO FRAKKING MEAN TO NOAH and how I don’t like that. So I don't even know if this is a good fic, it's more therapy than anything else ;) And, um, enjoy!
She was innocently talking to Luke in the break room, about some new movie coming out or whatever, when the door burst open and a fist came careening towards Luke’s head.
“Whoa!” Luke threw himself back, narrowly missing the punch.
“Casey!” Alison shrieked, eyes wide, staring. She took a step forward but then stopped, unsure of what to do. “What are you doing?”
Casey didn’t even look at her, still glaring at Luke. “I cannot believe you,” he spit out the words. “Out of everyone, I never would’ve thought that you…”
Luke’s eyes went as wide as Alison’s. She frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. Luke held up his hands defensively. “Case. Look, I-”
“With his doctor, Luke? Seriously? If you needed a new boyfriend, why would you pick Noah’s doctor of all people?” Casey took another step closer, face dark.
Luke turned when Alison gasped. “Oh my God,” she whispered, staring at neither of them. Luke with Dr. Oliver? “Oh God, that’s why Noah was so-” she cut herself off at the curious look on Luke’s face. No, if this was true, she wasn’t going to tell Luke anything.
Yesterday, Dusty had dropped Noah off at the apartment sometime after dinner. When Ali had asked where his truck was, Noah had offered some monosyllabic answers and headed straight for his room. But not before Ali had seen the tears on his face. She had never, ever, seen Noah cry before.
“Was so what?” Luke dared to ask, expression hard to read.
Ali fought off a glare of her own. Noah had looked devastated, physically pained. It had kinda reminded her of the look on his face last year while recovering from that gunshot wound. Like the agony was being dragged through him whether he wanted it or not. He had locked himself in his room and she hadn’t seen him since. But Casey obviously had.
“Ali,” Casey got her attention now, his voice quieter, contained. “Will you excuse us for a little bit, please? I need to talk to Luke.”
She looked back and forth at both of them. One part of her was scared to leave, the other was dying to race home and be with Noah right now. “S-sure,” she stammered, gathering her purse and heading for the door. She paused before leaving, exchanging a glance with Casey. He nodded, even though she wasn’t sure what she had asked and what he was answering.
Once she was in the hall, she leaned up against the wall next to the doorway. Not at all ashamed to be eavesdropping. If she was going to comfort Noah, she figured the easiest way to get the whole story was this way. Definitely not from Noah, she already knew that.
“Casey, look,” Luke’s voice was soft, trying to preemptively get his excuses out. “Noah and I may love each other, but it wasn’t enough anymore. We’re over. I’m sorry.”
“You should be sorry,” Casey replied tightly. “You basically cheated on him. Maybe not in the normal sense of the word, but in the Luke-and-Noah sense? You did. You gave him hope, let him think he had a chance. He gave you the chance to come clean- more than once- and you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t tell him then,” Luke protested. “He had just woken up from brain surgery. God, any upsetting news could have-”
“Oh, that’s a bunch of crap. It’s a nice excuse, Luke, but all it is is crap. You two have always been honest with each other, no matter what. To an annoying extent, by the way.” Ali could picture Casey shaking his head, flexing his hand again. “Noah’s been through a lot. Before and after the surgery. Do you really think the way things went down is any better than him finding out from you right away?” When Luke didn’t answer, Casey snorted. “And when did this all start?”
“Nothing has started,” Luke said almost desperately.
“Fine,” Casey shot back. “Then when did all this ‘nothing’ start?”
There was a pause, then a small voice. “Dallas. He kissed me when we were in Dallas,” Luke admitted. “But Noah doesn’t know that. Because it didn’t matter at the time, it doesn’t now, what I told Noah at Yo’s last week is true, I-”
“Damn it Luke!” Casey was just this side of shouting. “He knows there was more than one kiss. He knows it’s been going on longer than you told him.” Ali heard him pace. “Because your current boyfriend is apparently more honest with Noah than you are.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Luke was starting to get upset too. “What did Reid say to Noah? What are you talking about?”
Casey snorted. “If you want to know so bad, why don’t you ask ‘Reid.’ Since you two are so close and honest with each other. Since you follow him around everywhere anyway. I would’ve thought you already knew everything he said to Noah at his checkup yesterday. I guess not.”
Luke paused again, and Ali wondered if he was taking a moment to calm down. She shifted a little closer but couldn’t get a look into the room. “Why are you even involved in this, Casey? Why do you care?”
“That’s why, you idiot! Because this whole damn town follows your every move like you’re the second coming of Christ, and that’s not fair to Noah. No one seems to care about him unless he’s attached to your arm.” Casey’s voice got even angrier, disbelieving. “Did you know your dad told Noah it was okay if he didn’t want to come by their house anymore?”
“Wh-what?” Luke stammered. Then he cleared his throat. “So? What’s so-”
“You know as well as I do that saying something like that to Noah confirms every fear and self doubt he has about himself. Everything is swamping him right now! Did you know he’s been freaking out for weeks about how to pay for school and rent and everything? He’s afraid he’s not good enough to get back into filmmaking?”
“How do you know that?” Luke sounded pained. Ali shut her eyes, leaning her head back. She didn’t even know Noah felt that way. Man, Noah was like the epitome of the phrase ‘still waters run deep.’
“Noah’s my friend,” Casey answered. “We kinda get each other right now, I guess. We’re helping each other through these summer classes, and out of everyone I know what it feels like to be cheated on.”
Ali flinched at that, but couldn’t let herself get upset. It was true. She knew how much she had hurt Casey, she knew she had probably lost one of the best things to happen to her. Thank God they were able to be friends now, she didn’t know what she’d do without him. It made her wonder just what Noah was going through right now…
“I didn’t cheat on anyone!” Luke insisted, getting loud again. “Even when Reid and I kissed, it was after Noah ended things with me. We weren’t-”
“Noah didn’t end things with you!” Casey burst in. “You’re the one who broke up with him! And yeah, you had your reasons. Fine. But trying to rewrite history now, just to make yourself look like the victim? It’s cheap and wrong.”
“Hey, that’s not-”
Casey didn’t let Luke continue. “I don’t understand how you- after everything you two have been through- how you could let Noah go like this. Shouldn’t you get it by now? That Noah hates himself when bad things happen, and he feels like he needs to punish himself for whatever crime brought it on?”
“Fine!” Luke growled. “Maybe I was the one who officially ended things. But Noah stopped being with me months before that. He was punishing me more than he was punishing himself.”
“Oh that’s such bullshit,” Casey argued back, scoffing. “You haven’t been trying to understand what Noah’s going through. You just turn everything he feels into something for you to feel instead. Everything he did or said, you twisted into a comment or reflection or whatever of your relationship.”
Ali had to admit, she was pretty impressed with Casey’s analysis. And she was pretty sure it was true, since she tended to do the same thing.
Casey was still lecturing. “You were hearing what he was saying, but not listening. And all that forced Noah to become selfish, because he was losing himself otherwise! You couldn’t let him breathe without thinking of how it affected you. The two of you together messed up this relationship. Don’t pretend otherwise.”
Luke’s voice got farther away, like he was pacing now too. “Whatever. It was all a matter of time anyway. We weren’t even that happy before the accident. This would’ve happened no matter what-”
“Stop giving me these fucking soundbite answers, Luke! Noah was perfectly happy and in love with you. That’s crap about not being happy ‘before.’ That's just you trying to justify ditching instead of working things out.”
There was the sound of what Ali guess was Luke shoving Casey away. She inched even closer, and could now see about half the room. Casey and Luke were breathing hard, glaring at each other.
“There’s no way you could know any of this,” Luke gritted his teeth. “This is what happened. Noah got depressed and wanted to be alone. So I gave him what he wanted.”
“How is that a better description?” Casey asked.
Luke ignored him. “At least with Reid… he knows what he wants. He makes me feel the way I want to feel.”
“So that’s it?” Casey shrugged. “You’re done with Noah?”
Luke deflated a little. “No, I… I don’t know. I don’t know! I love Noah, I always will. I’m still in love with him,” he admitted. “But he can’t give me… what Reid can.”
“So,” Casey said shortly. “Basically, you’re just going with whichever person gives you the most attention?”
“Fuck you,” Luke snapped.
Ali’s eyes went wide when Casey’s hand balled into a fist again. But Casey took a deep breath, dropped his hand. And then smirked. “The doctor is just like alcohol all over again, isn’t he? People don’t treat you the way you think you should be, so instead of trying to figure out what that means and why you get that way, you shove it all aside. You take whatever you can get for the immediate rush and… and… self gratification.” He snorted. “Yeah, that’s real healthy.”
“What does that mean?” Luke had taken a few steps back when Casey had almost hit him. He stayed there now, crossing his arms protectively.
Casey fixed him with a stare. “You’re kinda leading them both on, aren’t you? Reid’s giving you what you want right now, so you follow him around. When you should be showing Noah that he isn’t some worthless reject. That he hasn’t been written off as ancient history, totally forgotten.”
“Noah wouldn’t think that,” Luke said weakly.
“Are you kidding me? Or kidding yourself? You’re confirming every fear he’s ever had about his own failings, and you’re doing it with a guy who trashed you for months, manipulated both of you, and has been trashing Noah to anyone who’ll listen for weeks now. This whole thing sucks, Luke. And you’re being stupid.”
There was another long pause, and when Luke spoke again he sounded close to tears. “It’s just… Case, this whole thing is so messed up. And what does it matter? Noah doesn’t want me anymore because of Reid. You don’t understand, I was… I was so alone when Noah was hurt. My life was going nowhere, stalling. I just needed something to make me feel…” He trailed off.
Ali felt herself tearing up at the pain in his voice, and was shocked when Casey sounded just as angry as before. “Get the fuck over it, Luke.” He stepped out of the way when Luke tried to shove at him again. “Drop the whole whiny emo crap and wise up to this. What is so fucking horrible about your life?”
“Excuse me?” Luke was starting to sound offended.
She watched as Casey rolled his eyes. "I just don't get it. How, exactly, is your life so fucked up? Do you need three guys to fawn all over you? Do you need yet another job to just fall at your feet? Do you need another family to love you and support you and give you everything you want no matter what you do? Jesus, Luke. Stop fairy-taling your life and own up to shit. All this stuff you want? You have. But you're about to lose the thing you need. And honestly? Right now he deserves better than that."
Casey was quiet, catching his breath after that monologue, then he continued. "I've known you for a long time, man. And through everything, I've always looked up to you. Always been proud and kinda, I don't know, awed that you wanted to be my friend. But right now? You- you, now- I feel like I don't even know you anymore. And I think Noah feels the same way."
“It’s too late, Casey,” Luke finally said after nearly a full minute of staring at him in shock. “Noah doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. He wouldn’t trust me anymore anyway.”
“Of course he doesn’t trust you now, dumbass. You told Noah at Yo’s that the kiss with Reid meant nothing, that Reid meant nothing. And yet every day since then, you’ve been following the guy around, chasing after him, trying to make amends with him. With him. You’re fighting for him, the wrong guy.”
Luke was obviously starting to get frustrated that Casey had a retort for everything he said. “Yeah, well, I got tired of fighting for Noah. And Noah said he was done, fed up. Following him around isn’t going to help anything, he’ll just walk away faster.”
Casey sighed. “If you ever knew Noah at all, you’d know that Noah will never not be in love with you. But see, you’re acting like you can do just fine without loving Noah. That’s probably just as painful to him as anything.”
He took a step away, calming down, and then turned back to Luke again. “And P.S.? For the most part, you weren’t fighting for Noah. You were fighting for your side of your relationship. Not the same thing. And now you’ve tossed that away to fight for something that’s never even been a real relationship.”
He cornered Luke against the lockers. “How do you think that makes Noah feel, Luke? God, get your head out of your ass and fix this. If you’re really done with Noah, say it. Tell me, and I’ll find a way to get Noah through this. Without you.”
Luke said nothing.
Casey regarded him sadly, looking disappointed. Ali couldn’t help but think it was the most like Margo that he’d ever looked. “That’s what I thought,” he said quietly. He turned away from Luke, heading for the door. “Figure out what the fuck you’re doing with your life, Luke. Stop looking to other people to solve that shit for you. It’s yours to fix.” A pause at the door. “And I still owe you a punch, by the way. You’re welcome.”
Then Casey stepped out of the door, slamming it shut behind him, leaving Luke alone in the break room. He saw Ali standing there, and didn’t even try to act surprised. “I figured you’d stick around.”
She nodded, studying him. He was vibrating almost, from either anger or exhaustion, she wasn’t sure. In a strange way, she was really proud of him. “You’re an amazing friend, Casey Hughes,” she finally said quietly, touching his arm lightly.
He stared at her for a second, maybe not even seeing her, before blinking once and then relaxing a little. He offered her a smile, and she returned it.
“Do you need a hug?” she asked. He smirked a little but shook his head. She squeezed his arm tighter before letting go, re-shouldering her purse. “Well, come on. Let’s go get some take out from Al’s, go back to my place and pester Noah into watching Jersey Shore with us.”
Casey snorted. “God, hasn’t the guy suffered enough?” She laughed, linked her arm through his, and led him out of the hospital.
The End! (hee, sorry Luke. I know we were mean to you, but someone needed to say it. Just be glad it was Casey and not Lucinda who did the yelling!)