FIC: WHEN OUR FRAMES COLLIDE 1/16
Title: When Our Frames Collide
Chapter: 1/16 - I Played A Ghost In A Sheet
Author: carolinablu85. or you can call me Ella! (or you can call me Al, if you like the song...)
Characters: Luke/Noah, Casey, Holden, Lily, Damian
Rating: PG
Spoilers: sequel to my fic "Sins of the Father," refers to lots of things that happened in that story, takes place a few months later!
Summary: Noah wrestles with his childhood while Luke tries to deal with his future.
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: A pretty big hurt/comfort fic, be prepared! But lots of cuteness too, I hope. This chapter's title is brought to you by the song "Noah (Ghost In A Sheet)" by Fionn Regan. Beautiful song, you should download it!
He stared hard at the screen of his laptop. Microsoft Word was mocking him, he knew it. Was probably saying mean things about him behind his back to the other computer programs. He was pretty sure that the minute he left the room they’d all be laughing at him…
“Okay,” Noah said to himself, his voice sounding extra-loud in the extra-quiet of the living room. “Maybe it’s time to take a break.” He had been looking at this blank screen for way too long if he was giving it a personality and a back-story. He closed the laptop a little bit harder than was probably necessary, shoving it away and flopping back onto the couch with a sigh.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been resting there, eyes closed, when he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck from behind and someone drop a kiss onto the top of his head. “How’s today going for you?” the now oft-repeated question was murmured into his ear.
He leaned back more into the arms, another sigh escaping his lips, though this one was a little more relieved than the first. “Kicking my ass,” he mumbled with eyes still closed.
Luke chuckled, letting go so he could walk around the couch and sit down perpendicular to his boyfriend, leaning against the arm of the couch, propping his feet up on Noah’s lap. “What’s the project this time?” Noah had a new short film assignment every three weeks for his Film and Personal History senior seminar class, and every three weeks he had what Luke secretly referred to as a ‘nerd meltdown’ before he figured out what each film would be about.
Noah had opened his eyes the moment Luke’s feet ended up in his lap, and now he was staring spitefully at his laptop, hands absentmindedly rubbing at Luke’s ankles and feet. “I have to recreate my earliest childhood memory,” he finally answered, shrugging more with his voice than his actual shoulders.
Luke felt his stomach drop to the floor. Because ‘Noah’ and ‘childhood’ were two things Luke wanted to keep separate for the rest of their very long lives. He was just starting to plan the angry letter to Noah’s professor, or wondering if a note from Lucinda would excuse Noah from the assignment, when Noah playfully smacked his foot. Luke shook his head, looking back at him. “What?”
Noah’s smile was knowing, shy. “It’s okay. It’s not a bad memory.”
Luke studied his face, looking for any sign of a lie. Well, not a lie. Noah didn’t lie. More like… protected the truth. But the look on Noah’s face was open and honest. And Luke trusted it- Noah was getting so much better about opening up.
It had been almost eight months since the Colonel had reappeared and wreaked havoc on all their lives. Six months since the Colonel, Alan, and the other men had been shipped off to prison. (Four months since Luke and Noah had decided to extend their lease on the apartment for the year.) And maybe nine days since Noah’s last nightmare.
Luke could never predict when a nightmare was going to happen, and he didn’t think Noah could either. Sometimes it would be enough to wake both of them up in the middle of the night, Luke finding a way to calm Noah’s shaking. Or sometimes Luke wouldn’t find out until the morning, waking up to Noah’s forehead pressed into his chest and hand holding onto Luke’s shirt.
And sometimes he wasn’t sure if Noah even knew he had had one until the morning. They just showed up like unwelcome houseguests every once in a while. They’d always be a part of Noah. Of both of them. But Noah didn’t try to hide them anymore, so Luke had to believe he wasn’t lying now.
“You sure?” Well. It wasn’t like he still couldn’t check, right?
Noah just nodded, not offended. “He’s not even in it.” He was glaring at the computer again.
“Then what’s the big problem?” Luke pulled his legs away, tucking them in under himself so he could scoot closer. Noah had his dorky frown on, which was always the prelude to a nerd meltdown. “You and your Mac having artistic differences?”
It was a joke, but Noah nodded seriously. “It’s incomplete.”
“What do you mean incomplete?” He was leaning in even closer, head positioned next to Noah’s, trying to see whatever it was he was seeing.
“It’s like…” Noah unconsciously leaned into Luke. “Like we’re there and then it just stops. Really suddenly. Like someone pulled the plug on my brain or something.”
Luke reached out, resting his hand on the back of Noah’s neck, fingers playing with his hair. “Who’s we?”
Noah shook his head. “No idea. Two kids, a boy and a girl, I think. Older than me. We’re playing with a dog.”
“Your friends, maybe?” Luke guessed. “Neighbors?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he agreed. “Probably their dog. God knows I was never allowed to-” he cut himself off with a quick jerk of his head. “I just can’t figure out why it stops so suddenly.”
“Noah, you were probably, what- three or something? You’re not going to remember everything,” Luke reminded him.
“But then how am I going to do this project?” And the dork frown was back.
Luke couldn’t help but smile, no matter how hard he tried to remain serious for Noah’s sake. “I’m sure that big ol’ brain of yours will come up with something. Maybe you’re just thinking too much. I can’t really relate there, but you’ve been known to do it before.” Noah didn’t even crack a smile, so Luke tried again- tentatively- with, “If you need someone to bounce ideas off of…”
Noah looked up at him, startled. “Really? You’d want to?” His face was doubtful, and Luke had to stop himself from feeling hurt by that. Luke deciding not to go back to school had finally stopped being a sore subject between them, and he was determined not to make it an issue anymore.
So he shrugged instead. “Yeah, sure, if you need me.”
Then Noah smiled, fiddling with the collar of Luke’s polo shirt. “I always need you.”
Luke laughed, tapping a finger on his boyfriend’s nose. “Aw, you’re such a sweet talker.”
Noah waved Luke’s hand away, unable to fight off the blush that always appeared when Luke teased him. “And you’re a sweet… crap, is that really what time it is?” And somehow Noah was up and off the couch before Luke had time to blink. “I have to go.”
Luke sighed at the empty space on the couch where Noah had just been sitting. “What, you have a hot date or something?” he grumbled, turning around to sit backwards on the couch and watch Noah as he threw some books and his laptop into his school bag.
“Yeah, I don’t want my other boyfriend to get mad,” Noah shot back, scanning the room quickly to see if he was forgetting anything. “You know Casey doesn’t like it when I’m late.”
Luke turned back around with a huff, not really wanting to tease anymore. He knew he still had an irrational jealousy of Noah’s schoolwork- not to mention that as Noah’s lab partner, Casey got to spend so much time with him- but another part of him didn’t care. He wanted his boyfriend with him, damn it! Was that so much to ask?
He realized then that there was no noise or movement behind him. He looked up to see Noah standing behind him, looking down with that knowing smirk on his face. “Hey,” was all Noah said.
“What?” Luke was still pouting, and he really didn’t care who knew it.
Noah leaned down, planting a sweet, soft, upside-down kiss on Luke’s mouth. “Spiderman,” he murmured, smiling again.
Luke couldn’t help but laugh then, shoving him towards the door. “Dork.”
“Brat,” Noah called out over his shoulder. “I’ll be back by seven, want me to bring Chinese home for dinner?”
“It’s my turn to pay, there should be a twenty in the jar by the door,” Luke replied, still smiling a little. He always smiled when he heard Noah use the word ‘home’ so easily.
Noah snatched up the twenty dollar bill with a grin on his way out the door. “Thanks, dear.”
“No problem, sweetheart,” Luke teased back. Noah just blew an exaggerated, overly-sappy kiss in response before disappearing outside. Luke waited for half a moment until he heard Noah’s truck pull away. Then his smile faded and he heaved a giant sigh, reaching under the couch to pull out a stack of folders.
The first folder contained some paperwork for the foundation. Grant applications, budgets, whatever else. Luke flipped through them half-heartedly, signing his name on a couple dotted lines. Sometimes it felt like his signature was all he was to the foundation. A name on a piece of paper and nothing more. His voice, his passion… the Luke Snyder Foundation didn’t really seem to need Luke Snyder all that much.
It was the next couple of folders that Luke was really interested in. Expense reports, data sheets, requisitions, time cards… Luke went through each page methodically, making notes and calculations as he went. At some point he paused, his fingers lightly tracing the company emblem on the top of the page. Who ever would’ve thought he’d actually like working for this man? Probably no one, since no one knew he was. He had to wonder how much trouble he’d be in once this secret got out.
************
“Okay. So this one would be…” Casey frowned down at his notes, chewing on his pen cap. “Sedimentary?” he drew the word out uncertainly.
Noah was looking over his own notes. “Are you asking me or telling me?”
Casey shrugged. “Both?” They raised their heads and looked at each other for a moment before coming to an unspoken agreement, slamming their books shut. Casey shoved his hair out of his face with a sigh. “Dude, I don’t think it’s biologically possible for the human brain to study geology for more than two hours a day.”
Noah chuckled, checking his watch as he gathered up his books. “Tell that to Professor Singler.”
Casey pointed a finger at him, as though Noah had just had some great revelation. “Exactly! It’s January. We’ve had this class for two weeks and we’re already studying for a hardcore exam. What is that about?”
“Just keep thinking about May, Case,” Noah reminded. It had been their motto all year. ‘Just keep thinking about May,’ when they would be graduating from college. Graduating from college. It was hard to wrap his brain around that sometimes, a pinnacle Noah honestly thought he’d never reach.
Casey sighed and closed his eyes, mumbling “May” to himself for a little while. When he opened them again, he watched Noah pack up his stuff and send a quick text on his phone. “What are you up to now?”
Noah was smiling without realizing it. “Chinese food. Luke. Home.”
“Loser,” Casey teased, finally tossing his own books haphazardly into his backpack. “Eating Chinese food at home on a Thursday night? Sounds boring to me.”
Noah shrugged. “Not when we do it.”
Casey stared at him for nearly a full minute. “Dude. Do not go into detail.”
He laughed again. “Why are you asking in the first place? Aren’t you and Alison hanging out tonight or something?”
Casey shrugged this time. “Or something. I guess. I don’t know.”
“Everything okay between you two?” Noah asked, frowning at Casey’s tone. He didn’t think Casey and Ali were having any problems at the moment.
“Everything’s fine,” Casey said with a grimace. “But that’s the problem. It’s just fine. It’s nice. But it doesn’t feel like everything to me. We aren’t, like… we don’t have…” Another sigh.
“Spark?” Noah supplied. He made sure his voice didn’t sound too knowing, just supportive. He and Luke had talked about this not too long ago, wondering how long it would take Casey-and-Ali (Noah had long ago forbidden Luke from calling them ‘Cali’) to fade away. He had just assumed Alison would be the one to figure this out first, not Casey.
Casey’s eyes went wide. “Yeah. We don’t have any spark.” He ran a hand through his hair again, agitated. “It’s starting to bug me a little, you know? Like I’m noticing it more and more. And it’s not that I don’t love her, I do, I just…” Another shake of his head, dislodging the hair he had just brushed away. “I see you and Luke, and it’s so… I can tell when you two are in a room together. I can, like, feel it, whatever it is between you two. But sometimes- and I feel like a complete jerk for thinking this- sometimes I don’t think I would be able to tell if Ali was in the same room or not.”
Noah was literally rocked back in his chair by this. He studied Casey seriously for a moment before figuring out what to say. “Casey, man, you can’t compare our relationships. Luke and I are totally different from you and Alison.” He spoke quickly to cut off Casey’s joke. “Besides the gay thing. Every relationship is different, people get together in different ways and relate in different ways. What Luke and I have-”
“Is true love,” Casey finished for him, nodding. “Come on, Noah. You know it, I know it, the homeless guy who hangs out behind Yo’s knows it. But me and Ali… I love her, but I don’t know if I ‘true love’ her. And I don’t know if I should be doing something about it.”
Noah stared at him. “Like what, break up with her?”
“What? No, no. I mean, I don’t think so. No. I like being with her now, I think, but…”
“Casey,” Noah’s voice was quiet, serious. “I don’t know if this is something you can just ‘think.’ If you’re not happy with-”
“It’s not that I’m not happy,” Casey jumped in to say. “It’s just I… sometimes I wonder if I could be happier. Maybe I’m supposed to be with someone else.”
“Like who?” Noah prompted, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer, even if Casey didn’t.
“No idea,” he almost grunted, frustration clear in his voice. “I… sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to dump this on you. It’s something I have to figure out for myself anyway. Don’t worry about it.”
“Hey,” Noah leaned closer. “Come on, man. You’ve been there for me through some pretty crappy stuff. Least I can do is return the favor. You can talk to me.” He was surprised when Casey started to laugh. “What?”
“I think what happened to you was possibly more than ‘pretty crappy stuff,’ Noah. And thanks for putting my trivial dilemma in perspective,” his grin showed he was teasing.
Though Noah couldn’t help but duck his head a little, grimacing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
Casey waved away the apology. “I know you didn’t. And thanks. For listening. And making sure I don’t fail geology.”
Noah half-smiled. “Don’t thank me for that yet. We’ve got awhile until May.”
“We’ll get there,” Casey nodded firmly. “Speaking of dilemma, you get that latest film thing figured out?”
Now it was Noah’s turn to groan in frustration. “Don’t remind me.”
“Eh, you’ll be fine. You’ll figure it out, you always do,” Casey shrugged, not at all worried. He stood up from their table in the study lounge, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “You have to get going, don’t you? Is it dinner time yet for you and Luke?”
“Is it dinner time yet?”
Noah shook his head. What? A voice was echoing in his brain. He didn’t recognize it, had no idea where it came from. But then suddenly the scene was playing out behind his eyes…
The sounds were muted, distant, like he had cotton in his ears. And the edges of his vision were fuzzy. It was just like a flashback in an old movie. He was standing in the front yard of a house. Green grass, blue sky, there was even a white picket fence around him. He could see the next yard over, just as immaculately gardened. As was the one next to that, and the one next to that.
The two kids in the yard with him were older by a few years, a boy and a girl. He couldn’t make out their features, not that it mattered. He’d had a lot of ‘playmates’ as a little kid that he couldn’t remember anymore. There was a dog too, a big English sheepdog. Noah wished he could remember its name or which neighbor owned it.
“Is it dinner time yet?” the boy, the oldest of them, called out. There was an answering call from the house, but it sounded more like the warbling of the Charlie Brown teacher than actual words. Noah had no idea who was talking or what was said.
He turned a little in the direction of the house, saw a blonde woman standing in the doorway. She was holding something in her hands. She said something else, and the two kids ran off in different directions. Noah was alone in the yard…
“Noah?” Casey waved a hand in front of his face, eyes narrowed, face pinched with concern. “Hey, you in there somewhere?”
Noah flinched instinctively, moving away and regretting it when Casey’s face momentarily flashed with worry. “Sorry. Spaced out for a second.”
Casey didn’t look convinced. “You sure you’re okay? You’re not, like, getting sick or anything, are you?”
“I’m fine,” Noah really hoped he wasn’t blushing. Everyone still got so freaked out about his health, it was embarrassing. It seemed like every time he coughed, someone was there pushing Vitamin C and a thermometer at him, making sure he didn’t have another relapse of pneumonia. Never mind he hadn’t gotten it again in months. He was convinced that the Snyders had to be secretly germaphobic or hypochondriacs. Why else would they obsess over his immune system so much?
“Really?” Casey brought him back to the present. Again.
“Really really,” Noah replied firmly, shoving the memory out of the way for the moment. He stood as well, following Casey to the door. It was time for Chinese, Luke, and home. Whatever was going on his head would just have to wait. Preferably until May…
************
Holden re-entered the kitchen just in time to see Lily decisively shut one cookbook and open another. “You do realize we just had dinner, right?” he teased.
She made a face at him, flipping through the second cookbook. “Ethan asleep?”
He nodded, joining her at the table. “For now, at least.” He casually hooked his arm around the top of her chair, squeezing her shoulder. “So what’s with the cooking research?"
“I’m just trying to find something different to cook for dinner tomorrow night. Something fun,” she shrugged very deliberately.
Holden studied her for a moment, smiling knowingly. “Trying to make sure the boys keep coming for Friday night dinner?”
“Maybe,” she admitted, laughing at his raised eyebrows. “It’s just… they were both kind of quiet last week. Well,” she amended. “Luke was quiet. Noah was Noah, but he seemed a little distracted. I don’t want them to stop our tradition. With Noah in school and Luke working at the foundation so much, I feel like I never see them. So-”
“So you’re bribing them with a three course meal?” Holden teased again, ducking when Lily tried to smack him. “The boys are fine, stop worrying. Noah was probably thinking about whatever his new film assignment is- you know how he gets with that- and Luke…” he shook his head. “If you can ever figure out what mood Luke is in and why, then you’re a smarter person than me.”
“Well, I already knew that,” Lily said absent-mindedly, flipping through the cookbook again.
Holden snorted. “Thank you. I’m just saying, the boys might have a lot going on right now, but they’re not going to give up our Friday night dinners. No matter what, I don’t see two twenty-one-year-olds turning down a free meal. And anyway, they love coming here, and they love you. So quit worrying.”
Lily smiled then, blushing a little. “Am I that transparent?”
“No,” Holden answered, giving her a kiss. “I just happen to be pretty smart too.”
She laughed briefly before growing serious again. “You aren’t worried about Luke, are you? He was quiet last week. Do you think maybe he’s doing too much with the foundation? We hardly ever seen him, and he-”
“Lily, sweetheart,” Holden tightened his arm around her. “No worrying. You haven’t lost your baby boy, okay?” In the silence that followed before Lily could reply, Ethan’s shouting from his bedroom could be heard all the way in the kitchen. Holden sighed. “Though if you do feel like getting rid of just one of these kids…”
Lily laughed again, slapping his shoulder. “Just for that? You don’t get to enjoy my cooking tomorrow night. All three courses.” She smiled as Holden went to go check on their youngest. Maybe he was right. There was probably nothing to worry about…
************
“I really don’t think there’s any reason to worry,” Luke said, tucking his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he flipped through the paperwork. “It was a simple clerical error. If you fix the calculations on page six of the contract, everything adds up right in the end.”
“Thank goodness for that,” he could hear Damian shuffling papers on the other end of the phone. “Sometimes I think this company would be lost without you, Luciano.”
Luke refrained from correcting him on the name. “It’s not that big a deal, anyone could have caught it.”
“But not ‘anyone’ did. You did,” Damian pointed out. “It seems like you’re always the one fixing these problems lately, son.”
Luke also refrained from correcting the ‘son’ thing because, honestly, Damian wasn’t saying anything untrue. Even though it was weird to hear. “I’m just doing my job, Damian.”
“And you’re doing it well, Luciano. I’m very proud of you.”
Luke couldn’t help but blush at the compliment, despite the fact that no one could see him. “Thanks.”
“It makes me wish you’d reconsider my offer. Most employees would jump at the chance for a promotion like this one.”
Luke shook his head inwardly, propping his feet up on the coffee table, his heel tracing the indent on the edge of the table where Hunter had accidentally chipped off part of the wood during a movie night last month. “Most employees aren’t related to you. Besides, I’m already putting in a lot of hours. Any more and my parents are going to start to wonder.”
He heard Damian sigh on the other end of the phone. “Luke. You need to tell them. You’ve been working for Grimaldi Shipping for months now, the longer you keep this a secret the worse it will be when they find out. This may sound… hypocritical coming from me, but I really think the truth is best.”
Luke snorted. “You’re right.”
“I am?” Damian sounded suspicious.
He was right to be. “You’re right, it does sound hypocritical coming from you. Look, Damian, you may be my boss and you may be my biological father, but I really don’t think you have a right to lecture me about my family.”
There was a heavy silence on the other end, followed by a sigh. “Yes, that’s true. I’m sorry, I have no right to butt into your personal life like that.”
Never stopped you before, Luke grumbled inwardly. But he kept calm, letting out a steadying breath. He was determined not to pick a fight. He and Damian were getting along so well recently, and Luke had to admit he liked it. He liked this new and improved Damian (Damian 2.0?) that actually seemed to care about him.
There was still a little part of Luke that was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Damian to show his true colors once again, but for right now Luke was more content than he had been in a long time. His family was happy, his job was fulfilling, and he had Noah.
“It’s my decision,” he reminded Damian and himself. “I’ll tell them when the timing is right.” God, he could only imagine the reaction he’d get from his dad. His mom and Noah wouldn’t like that he had been keeping this from them, but they might be okay with what he was doing. Holden Snyder, however… Luke had to admit it was a fear of his dad’s reaction that kept him from telling anyone what he was doing.
“When do you think the timing would ever be right to tell something like this?” Damian asked, again making a good point. Luke was starting to get annoyed by that.
“It’s my decision,” he repeated. “If it’s not affecting my work performance, then I don’t think you should have any say-” The sound of the door opening and closing interrupted Luke’s tirade. Was it seven o’clock already? “Damian, I have to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow sometime, okay?”
Another sigh. Damian was getting really good at that too. “Of course, Luciano. I’ll see you at the office.”
Noah entered the living room, arms full of Chinese takeout. Luke smiled at him. “Okay. I’ll see you around, bye.” He hung up before Damian could say anything else. “Hey, how was studying?”
Noah dropped the cartons onto the coffee table, sitting on the floor by Luke’s feet and leaning tiredly against his legs. “Same as always.”
Luke smiled, resting one elbow on Noah’s shoulder while he reached for the fried rice with his other hand. “Casey freaking out about failing?”
Noah grinned in response. “I did say ‘same as always,’ didn’t I?” He grabbed an egg roll. “I think I figured out how to fix my film, though.”
“What are you going to do?” Luke help but smile wider when he and Noah traded takeout cartons without saying a word- they knew each other that well. It was little things like that that always got Luke so giddy.
“I thought maybe if I can look through some of the boxes I have of my parents’ stuff, there’s got to be pictures of our houses or the yards or something. Something to tell me where that memory is from, right?” Noah managed to keep his voice mostly steady. It always seemed to shake when he talked about either parent, he couldn’t help it.
While he had been speaking, Luke moved one hand to Noah’s neck, rubbing it gently. “Sounds like a good place to start,” he said quietly, encouragingly. “Let me know when you want us to do this, okay?”
Noah’s head swung up to face Luke. “Us? You want to help?”
Luke was about to say ‘Of course, you moron!’ but figured he could convey that with a glare. Noah’s slight blush told him the glare was successful. “Name the time and place, love, and I’ll be there.”
“Okay.” Noah’s hand came up to hold Luke’s briefly, a silent thanks. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly. “So… that was Damian on the phone? What did he want?”
“Oh, uh…” Luke cleared his own throat. “Just to talk. Wants to get together sometime next week. I thought maybe we could invite him over for dinner again?”
Noah shrugged. “Of course, if you want. As long as it’s not a Friday.”
Luke shook his head, a little exasperated. Once they had gotten settled into their apartment, his mom had insisted they come over to the house for dinner every Friday night. And while Luke loved being with his family and loved his mother’s cooking, the real reason he went along with it was because it was obvious Noah was absolutely thrilled by the ‘tradition’ of it all, with having someone expect him for dinner once a week. That little eight-year-old boy was more present in Noah, and Luke would do just about anything to keep it alive and well. “As long as it’s not a Friday,” he agreed.
Noah nodded, satisfied, settling back comfortably against Luke’s legs and picking up the carton of Lo Mein. “By the way, I’ve got some interesting developments between Casey and Ali.”
Luke shook his head yet again. “Are they together this week? I can’t remember…” He laughed when Noah smacked his leg with a chopstick, and then leaned forward towards his dinner and his boyfriend, listening as Noah began to speak. Yep, life was pretty good right now, Luke wasn’t going to complain.
************
He was standing in the front yard of a house. Green grass, blue sky, there was even a white picket fence around him. He could see the next yard over, just as immaculately gardened. As was the one next to that, and the one next to that.
The two kids in the yard with him were older by a few years, a boy and a girl. There was a dog too, a big English sheepdog.
“Is it dinner time yet?” the boy, the oldest of them, called out. There was an answering call from the house, and Noah saw a blonde woman standing in the doorway. It was his mother, he was sure of it. He could feel it. The two kids ran off in different directions, and Noah was alone in the yard.
He clapped his hands for the dog to come back over to him. The sheepdog bounded over, and Noah threw a ball as hard as his little arm could throw. The dog chased after it, and Noah laughed at its floppy-legged running.
Then it suddenly seemed to get much darker and colder outside, like the prelude to a storm. Noah looked around, but there was nobody outside and no blonde woman (his mother!) standing in the doorway. He was alone. Suddenly a car came barreling down the street next to him, the sound of tires screeching loud in his ear-
Noah shoved himself out of the dream and upright in bed. He was breathing harshly, his chest heavy. Fighting off the warning signs of a panic attack, he willed himself to calm down, counting silently in his head. One, two, three…
Luke continued to sleep next to him, unaware, and Noah couldn’t bring himself to wake him up. He sat back against the headboard, running a hand through his slightly damp hair. Was it just a dream, or was there more to the memory than he realized?
What the hell was going on?
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Noah is disappointed with what he finds, Casey wonders why it's easier to argue with Jade than talk with Alison, Damian has an interesting offer for Luke...
Chapter: 1/16 - I Played A Ghost In A Sheet
Author: carolinablu85. or you can call me Ella! (or you can call me Al, if you like the song...)
Characters: Luke/Noah, Casey, Holden, Lily, Damian
Rating: PG
Spoilers: sequel to my fic "Sins of the Father," refers to lots of things that happened in that story, takes place a few months later!
Summary: Noah wrestles with his childhood while Luke tries to deal with his future.
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: A pretty big hurt/comfort fic, be prepared! But lots of cuteness too, I hope. This chapter's title is brought to you by the song "Noah (Ghost In A Sheet)" by Fionn Regan. Beautiful song, you should download it!
He stared hard at the screen of his laptop. Microsoft Word was mocking him, he knew it. Was probably saying mean things about him behind his back to the other computer programs. He was pretty sure that the minute he left the room they’d all be laughing at him…
“Okay,” Noah said to himself, his voice sounding extra-loud in the extra-quiet of the living room. “Maybe it’s time to take a break.” He had been looking at this blank screen for way too long if he was giving it a personality and a back-story. He closed the laptop a little bit harder than was probably necessary, shoving it away and flopping back onto the couch with a sigh.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been resting there, eyes closed, when he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck from behind and someone drop a kiss onto the top of his head. “How’s today going for you?” the now oft-repeated question was murmured into his ear.
He leaned back more into the arms, another sigh escaping his lips, though this one was a little more relieved than the first. “Kicking my ass,” he mumbled with eyes still closed.
Luke chuckled, letting go so he could walk around the couch and sit down perpendicular to his boyfriend, leaning against the arm of the couch, propping his feet up on Noah’s lap. “What’s the project this time?” Noah had a new short film assignment every three weeks for his Film and Personal History senior seminar class, and every three weeks he had what Luke secretly referred to as a ‘nerd meltdown’ before he figured out what each film would be about.
Noah had opened his eyes the moment Luke’s feet ended up in his lap, and now he was staring spitefully at his laptop, hands absentmindedly rubbing at Luke’s ankles and feet. “I have to recreate my earliest childhood memory,” he finally answered, shrugging more with his voice than his actual shoulders.
Luke felt his stomach drop to the floor. Because ‘Noah’ and ‘childhood’ were two things Luke wanted to keep separate for the rest of their very long lives. He was just starting to plan the angry letter to Noah’s professor, or wondering if a note from Lucinda would excuse Noah from the assignment, when Noah playfully smacked his foot. Luke shook his head, looking back at him. “What?”
Noah’s smile was knowing, shy. “It’s okay. It’s not a bad memory.”
Luke studied his face, looking for any sign of a lie. Well, not a lie. Noah didn’t lie. More like… protected the truth. But the look on Noah’s face was open and honest. And Luke trusted it- Noah was getting so much better about opening up.
It had been almost eight months since the Colonel had reappeared and wreaked havoc on all their lives. Six months since the Colonel, Alan, and the other men had been shipped off to prison. (Four months since Luke and Noah had decided to extend their lease on the apartment for the year.) And maybe nine days since Noah’s last nightmare.
Luke could never predict when a nightmare was going to happen, and he didn’t think Noah could either. Sometimes it would be enough to wake both of them up in the middle of the night, Luke finding a way to calm Noah’s shaking. Or sometimes Luke wouldn’t find out until the morning, waking up to Noah’s forehead pressed into his chest and hand holding onto Luke’s shirt.
And sometimes he wasn’t sure if Noah even knew he had had one until the morning. They just showed up like unwelcome houseguests every once in a while. They’d always be a part of Noah. Of both of them. But Noah didn’t try to hide them anymore, so Luke had to believe he wasn’t lying now.
“You sure?” Well. It wasn’t like he still couldn’t check, right?
Noah just nodded, not offended. “He’s not even in it.” He was glaring at the computer again.
“Then what’s the big problem?” Luke pulled his legs away, tucking them in under himself so he could scoot closer. Noah had his dorky frown on, which was always the prelude to a nerd meltdown. “You and your Mac having artistic differences?”
It was a joke, but Noah nodded seriously. “It’s incomplete.”
“What do you mean incomplete?” He was leaning in even closer, head positioned next to Noah’s, trying to see whatever it was he was seeing.
“It’s like…” Noah unconsciously leaned into Luke. “Like we’re there and then it just stops. Really suddenly. Like someone pulled the plug on my brain or something.”
Luke reached out, resting his hand on the back of Noah’s neck, fingers playing with his hair. “Who’s we?”
Noah shook his head. “No idea. Two kids, a boy and a girl, I think. Older than me. We’re playing with a dog.”
“Your friends, maybe?” Luke guessed. “Neighbors?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he agreed. “Probably their dog. God knows I was never allowed to-” he cut himself off with a quick jerk of his head. “I just can’t figure out why it stops so suddenly.”
“Noah, you were probably, what- three or something? You’re not going to remember everything,” Luke reminded him.
“But then how am I going to do this project?” And the dork frown was back.
Luke couldn’t help but smile, no matter how hard he tried to remain serious for Noah’s sake. “I’m sure that big ol’ brain of yours will come up with something. Maybe you’re just thinking too much. I can’t really relate there, but you’ve been known to do it before.” Noah didn’t even crack a smile, so Luke tried again- tentatively- with, “If you need someone to bounce ideas off of…”
Noah looked up at him, startled. “Really? You’d want to?” His face was doubtful, and Luke had to stop himself from feeling hurt by that. Luke deciding not to go back to school had finally stopped being a sore subject between them, and he was determined not to make it an issue anymore.
So he shrugged instead. “Yeah, sure, if you need me.”
Then Noah smiled, fiddling with the collar of Luke’s polo shirt. “I always need you.”
Luke laughed, tapping a finger on his boyfriend’s nose. “Aw, you’re such a sweet talker.”
Noah waved Luke’s hand away, unable to fight off the blush that always appeared when Luke teased him. “And you’re a sweet… crap, is that really what time it is?” And somehow Noah was up and off the couch before Luke had time to blink. “I have to go.”
Luke sighed at the empty space on the couch where Noah had just been sitting. “What, you have a hot date or something?” he grumbled, turning around to sit backwards on the couch and watch Noah as he threw some books and his laptop into his school bag.
“Yeah, I don’t want my other boyfriend to get mad,” Noah shot back, scanning the room quickly to see if he was forgetting anything. “You know Casey doesn’t like it when I’m late.”
Luke turned back around with a huff, not really wanting to tease anymore. He knew he still had an irrational jealousy of Noah’s schoolwork- not to mention that as Noah’s lab partner, Casey got to spend so much time with him- but another part of him didn’t care. He wanted his boyfriend with him, damn it! Was that so much to ask?
He realized then that there was no noise or movement behind him. He looked up to see Noah standing behind him, looking down with that knowing smirk on his face. “Hey,” was all Noah said.
“What?” Luke was still pouting, and he really didn’t care who knew it.
Noah leaned down, planting a sweet, soft, upside-down kiss on Luke’s mouth. “Spiderman,” he murmured, smiling again.
Luke couldn’t help but laugh then, shoving him towards the door. “Dork.”
“Brat,” Noah called out over his shoulder. “I’ll be back by seven, want me to bring Chinese home for dinner?”
“It’s my turn to pay, there should be a twenty in the jar by the door,” Luke replied, still smiling a little. He always smiled when he heard Noah use the word ‘home’ so easily.
Noah snatched up the twenty dollar bill with a grin on his way out the door. “Thanks, dear.”
“No problem, sweetheart,” Luke teased back. Noah just blew an exaggerated, overly-sappy kiss in response before disappearing outside. Luke waited for half a moment until he heard Noah’s truck pull away. Then his smile faded and he heaved a giant sigh, reaching under the couch to pull out a stack of folders.
The first folder contained some paperwork for the foundation. Grant applications, budgets, whatever else. Luke flipped through them half-heartedly, signing his name on a couple dotted lines. Sometimes it felt like his signature was all he was to the foundation. A name on a piece of paper and nothing more. His voice, his passion… the Luke Snyder Foundation didn’t really seem to need Luke Snyder all that much.
It was the next couple of folders that Luke was really interested in. Expense reports, data sheets, requisitions, time cards… Luke went through each page methodically, making notes and calculations as he went. At some point he paused, his fingers lightly tracing the company emblem on the top of the page. Who ever would’ve thought he’d actually like working for this man? Probably no one, since no one knew he was. He had to wonder how much trouble he’d be in once this secret got out.
************
“Okay. So this one would be…” Casey frowned down at his notes, chewing on his pen cap. “Sedimentary?” he drew the word out uncertainly.
Noah was looking over his own notes. “Are you asking me or telling me?”
Casey shrugged. “Both?” They raised their heads and looked at each other for a moment before coming to an unspoken agreement, slamming their books shut. Casey shoved his hair out of his face with a sigh. “Dude, I don’t think it’s biologically possible for the human brain to study geology for more than two hours a day.”
Noah chuckled, checking his watch as he gathered up his books. “Tell that to Professor Singler.”
Casey pointed a finger at him, as though Noah had just had some great revelation. “Exactly! It’s January. We’ve had this class for two weeks and we’re already studying for a hardcore exam. What is that about?”
“Just keep thinking about May, Case,” Noah reminded. It had been their motto all year. ‘Just keep thinking about May,’ when they would be graduating from college. Graduating from college. It was hard to wrap his brain around that sometimes, a pinnacle Noah honestly thought he’d never reach.
Casey sighed and closed his eyes, mumbling “May” to himself for a little while. When he opened them again, he watched Noah pack up his stuff and send a quick text on his phone. “What are you up to now?”
Noah was smiling without realizing it. “Chinese food. Luke. Home.”
“Loser,” Casey teased, finally tossing his own books haphazardly into his backpack. “Eating Chinese food at home on a Thursday night? Sounds boring to me.”
Noah shrugged. “Not when we do it.”
Casey stared at him for nearly a full minute. “Dude. Do not go into detail.”
He laughed again. “Why are you asking in the first place? Aren’t you and Alison hanging out tonight or something?”
Casey shrugged this time. “Or something. I guess. I don’t know.”
“Everything okay between you two?” Noah asked, frowning at Casey’s tone. He didn’t think Casey and Ali were having any problems at the moment.
“Everything’s fine,” Casey said with a grimace. “But that’s the problem. It’s just fine. It’s nice. But it doesn’t feel like everything to me. We aren’t, like… we don’t have…” Another sigh.
“Spark?” Noah supplied. He made sure his voice didn’t sound too knowing, just supportive. He and Luke had talked about this not too long ago, wondering how long it would take Casey-and-Ali (Noah had long ago forbidden Luke from calling them ‘Cali’) to fade away. He had just assumed Alison would be the one to figure this out first, not Casey.
Casey’s eyes went wide. “Yeah. We don’t have any spark.” He ran a hand through his hair again, agitated. “It’s starting to bug me a little, you know? Like I’m noticing it more and more. And it’s not that I don’t love her, I do, I just…” Another shake of his head, dislodging the hair he had just brushed away. “I see you and Luke, and it’s so… I can tell when you two are in a room together. I can, like, feel it, whatever it is between you two. But sometimes- and I feel like a complete jerk for thinking this- sometimes I don’t think I would be able to tell if Ali was in the same room or not.”
Noah was literally rocked back in his chair by this. He studied Casey seriously for a moment before figuring out what to say. “Casey, man, you can’t compare our relationships. Luke and I are totally different from you and Alison.” He spoke quickly to cut off Casey’s joke. “Besides the gay thing. Every relationship is different, people get together in different ways and relate in different ways. What Luke and I have-”
“Is true love,” Casey finished for him, nodding. “Come on, Noah. You know it, I know it, the homeless guy who hangs out behind Yo’s knows it. But me and Ali… I love her, but I don’t know if I ‘true love’ her. And I don’t know if I should be doing something about it.”
Noah stared at him. “Like what, break up with her?”
“What? No, no. I mean, I don’t think so. No. I like being with her now, I think, but…”
“Casey,” Noah’s voice was quiet, serious. “I don’t know if this is something you can just ‘think.’ If you’re not happy with-”
“It’s not that I’m not happy,” Casey jumped in to say. “It’s just I… sometimes I wonder if I could be happier. Maybe I’m supposed to be with someone else.”
“Like who?” Noah prompted, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer, even if Casey didn’t.
“No idea,” he almost grunted, frustration clear in his voice. “I… sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to dump this on you. It’s something I have to figure out for myself anyway. Don’t worry about it.”
“Hey,” Noah leaned closer. “Come on, man. You’ve been there for me through some pretty crappy stuff. Least I can do is return the favor. You can talk to me.” He was surprised when Casey started to laugh. “What?”
“I think what happened to you was possibly more than ‘pretty crappy stuff,’ Noah. And thanks for putting my trivial dilemma in perspective,” his grin showed he was teasing.
Though Noah couldn’t help but duck his head a little, grimacing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
Casey waved away the apology. “I know you didn’t. And thanks. For listening. And making sure I don’t fail geology.”
Noah half-smiled. “Don’t thank me for that yet. We’ve got awhile until May.”
“We’ll get there,” Casey nodded firmly. “Speaking of dilemma, you get that latest film thing figured out?”
Now it was Noah’s turn to groan in frustration. “Don’t remind me.”
“Eh, you’ll be fine. You’ll figure it out, you always do,” Casey shrugged, not at all worried. He stood up from their table in the study lounge, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “You have to get going, don’t you? Is it dinner time yet for you and Luke?”
“Is it dinner time yet?”
Noah shook his head. What? A voice was echoing in his brain. He didn’t recognize it, had no idea where it came from. But then suddenly the scene was playing out behind his eyes…
The sounds were muted, distant, like he had cotton in his ears. And the edges of his vision were fuzzy. It was just like a flashback in an old movie. He was standing in the front yard of a house. Green grass, blue sky, there was even a white picket fence around him. He could see the next yard over, just as immaculately gardened. As was the one next to that, and the one next to that.
The two kids in the yard with him were older by a few years, a boy and a girl. He couldn’t make out their features, not that it mattered. He’d had a lot of ‘playmates’ as a little kid that he couldn’t remember anymore. There was a dog too, a big English sheepdog. Noah wished he could remember its name or which neighbor owned it.
“Is it dinner time yet?” the boy, the oldest of them, called out. There was an answering call from the house, but it sounded more like the warbling of the Charlie Brown teacher than actual words. Noah had no idea who was talking or what was said.
He turned a little in the direction of the house, saw a blonde woman standing in the doorway. She was holding something in her hands. She said something else, and the two kids ran off in different directions. Noah was alone in the yard…
“Noah?” Casey waved a hand in front of his face, eyes narrowed, face pinched with concern. “Hey, you in there somewhere?”
Noah flinched instinctively, moving away and regretting it when Casey’s face momentarily flashed with worry. “Sorry. Spaced out for a second.”
Casey didn’t look convinced. “You sure you’re okay? You’re not, like, getting sick or anything, are you?”
“I’m fine,” Noah really hoped he wasn’t blushing. Everyone still got so freaked out about his health, it was embarrassing. It seemed like every time he coughed, someone was there pushing Vitamin C and a thermometer at him, making sure he didn’t have another relapse of pneumonia. Never mind he hadn’t gotten it again in months. He was convinced that the Snyders had to be secretly germaphobic or hypochondriacs. Why else would they obsess over his immune system so much?
“Really?” Casey brought him back to the present. Again.
“Really really,” Noah replied firmly, shoving the memory out of the way for the moment. He stood as well, following Casey to the door. It was time for Chinese, Luke, and home. Whatever was going on his head would just have to wait. Preferably until May…
************
Holden re-entered the kitchen just in time to see Lily decisively shut one cookbook and open another. “You do realize we just had dinner, right?” he teased.
She made a face at him, flipping through the second cookbook. “Ethan asleep?”
He nodded, joining her at the table. “For now, at least.” He casually hooked his arm around the top of her chair, squeezing her shoulder. “So what’s with the cooking research?"
“I’m just trying to find something different to cook for dinner tomorrow night. Something fun,” she shrugged very deliberately.
Holden studied her for a moment, smiling knowingly. “Trying to make sure the boys keep coming for Friday night dinner?”
“Maybe,” she admitted, laughing at his raised eyebrows. “It’s just… they were both kind of quiet last week. Well,” she amended. “Luke was quiet. Noah was Noah, but he seemed a little distracted. I don’t want them to stop our tradition. With Noah in school and Luke working at the foundation so much, I feel like I never see them. So-”
“So you’re bribing them with a three course meal?” Holden teased again, ducking when Lily tried to smack him. “The boys are fine, stop worrying. Noah was probably thinking about whatever his new film assignment is- you know how he gets with that- and Luke…” he shook his head. “If you can ever figure out what mood Luke is in and why, then you’re a smarter person than me.”
“Well, I already knew that,” Lily said absent-mindedly, flipping through the cookbook again.
Holden snorted. “Thank you. I’m just saying, the boys might have a lot going on right now, but they’re not going to give up our Friday night dinners. No matter what, I don’t see two twenty-one-year-olds turning down a free meal. And anyway, they love coming here, and they love you. So quit worrying.”
Lily smiled then, blushing a little. “Am I that transparent?”
“No,” Holden answered, giving her a kiss. “I just happen to be pretty smart too.”
She laughed briefly before growing serious again. “You aren’t worried about Luke, are you? He was quiet last week. Do you think maybe he’s doing too much with the foundation? We hardly ever seen him, and he-”
“Lily, sweetheart,” Holden tightened his arm around her. “No worrying. You haven’t lost your baby boy, okay?” In the silence that followed before Lily could reply, Ethan’s shouting from his bedroom could be heard all the way in the kitchen. Holden sighed. “Though if you do feel like getting rid of just one of these kids…”
Lily laughed again, slapping his shoulder. “Just for that? You don’t get to enjoy my cooking tomorrow night. All three courses.” She smiled as Holden went to go check on their youngest. Maybe he was right. There was probably nothing to worry about…
************
“I really don’t think there’s any reason to worry,” Luke said, tucking his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he flipped through the paperwork. “It was a simple clerical error. If you fix the calculations on page six of the contract, everything adds up right in the end.”
“Thank goodness for that,” he could hear Damian shuffling papers on the other end of the phone. “Sometimes I think this company would be lost without you, Luciano.”
Luke refrained from correcting him on the name. “It’s not that big a deal, anyone could have caught it.”
“But not ‘anyone’ did. You did,” Damian pointed out. “It seems like you’re always the one fixing these problems lately, son.”
Luke also refrained from correcting the ‘son’ thing because, honestly, Damian wasn’t saying anything untrue. Even though it was weird to hear. “I’m just doing my job, Damian.”
“And you’re doing it well, Luciano. I’m very proud of you.”
Luke couldn’t help but blush at the compliment, despite the fact that no one could see him. “Thanks.”
“It makes me wish you’d reconsider my offer. Most employees would jump at the chance for a promotion like this one.”
Luke shook his head inwardly, propping his feet up on the coffee table, his heel tracing the indent on the edge of the table where Hunter had accidentally chipped off part of the wood during a movie night last month. “Most employees aren’t related to you. Besides, I’m already putting in a lot of hours. Any more and my parents are going to start to wonder.”
He heard Damian sigh on the other end of the phone. “Luke. You need to tell them. You’ve been working for Grimaldi Shipping for months now, the longer you keep this a secret the worse it will be when they find out. This may sound… hypocritical coming from me, but I really think the truth is best.”
Luke snorted. “You’re right.”
“I am?” Damian sounded suspicious.
He was right to be. “You’re right, it does sound hypocritical coming from you. Look, Damian, you may be my boss and you may be my biological father, but I really don’t think you have a right to lecture me about my family.”
There was a heavy silence on the other end, followed by a sigh. “Yes, that’s true. I’m sorry, I have no right to butt into your personal life like that.”
Never stopped you before, Luke grumbled inwardly. But he kept calm, letting out a steadying breath. He was determined not to pick a fight. He and Damian were getting along so well recently, and Luke had to admit he liked it. He liked this new and improved Damian (Damian 2.0?) that actually seemed to care about him.
There was still a little part of Luke that was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Damian to show his true colors once again, but for right now Luke was more content than he had been in a long time. His family was happy, his job was fulfilling, and he had Noah.
“It’s my decision,” he reminded Damian and himself. “I’ll tell them when the timing is right.” God, he could only imagine the reaction he’d get from his dad. His mom and Noah wouldn’t like that he had been keeping this from them, but they might be okay with what he was doing. Holden Snyder, however… Luke had to admit it was a fear of his dad’s reaction that kept him from telling anyone what he was doing.
“When do you think the timing would ever be right to tell something like this?” Damian asked, again making a good point. Luke was starting to get annoyed by that.
“It’s my decision,” he repeated. “If it’s not affecting my work performance, then I don’t think you should have any say-” The sound of the door opening and closing interrupted Luke’s tirade. Was it seven o’clock already? “Damian, I have to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow sometime, okay?”
Another sigh. Damian was getting really good at that too. “Of course, Luciano. I’ll see you at the office.”
Noah entered the living room, arms full of Chinese takeout. Luke smiled at him. “Okay. I’ll see you around, bye.” He hung up before Damian could say anything else. “Hey, how was studying?”
Noah dropped the cartons onto the coffee table, sitting on the floor by Luke’s feet and leaning tiredly against his legs. “Same as always.”
Luke smiled, resting one elbow on Noah’s shoulder while he reached for the fried rice with his other hand. “Casey freaking out about failing?”
Noah grinned in response. “I did say ‘same as always,’ didn’t I?” He grabbed an egg roll. “I think I figured out how to fix my film, though.”
“What are you going to do?” Luke help but smile wider when he and Noah traded takeout cartons without saying a word- they knew each other that well. It was little things like that that always got Luke so giddy.
“I thought maybe if I can look through some of the boxes I have of my parents’ stuff, there’s got to be pictures of our houses or the yards or something. Something to tell me where that memory is from, right?” Noah managed to keep his voice mostly steady. It always seemed to shake when he talked about either parent, he couldn’t help it.
While he had been speaking, Luke moved one hand to Noah’s neck, rubbing it gently. “Sounds like a good place to start,” he said quietly, encouragingly. “Let me know when you want us to do this, okay?”
Noah’s head swung up to face Luke. “Us? You want to help?”
Luke was about to say ‘Of course, you moron!’ but figured he could convey that with a glare. Noah’s slight blush told him the glare was successful. “Name the time and place, love, and I’ll be there.”
“Okay.” Noah’s hand came up to hold Luke’s briefly, a silent thanks. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly. “So… that was Damian on the phone? What did he want?”
“Oh, uh…” Luke cleared his own throat. “Just to talk. Wants to get together sometime next week. I thought maybe we could invite him over for dinner again?”
Noah shrugged. “Of course, if you want. As long as it’s not a Friday.”
Luke shook his head, a little exasperated. Once they had gotten settled into their apartment, his mom had insisted they come over to the house for dinner every Friday night. And while Luke loved being with his family and loved his mother’s cooking, the real reason he went along with it was because it was obvious Noah was absolutely thrilled by the ‘tradition’ of it all, with having someone expect him for dinner once a week. That little eight-year-old boy was more present in Noah, and Luke would do just about anything to keep it alive and well. “As long as it’s not a Friday,” he agreed.
Noah nodded, satisfied, settling back comfortably against Luke’s legs and picking up the carton of Lo Mein. “By the way, I’ve got some interesting developments between Casey and Ali.”
Luke shook his head yet again. “Are they together this week? I can’t remember…” He laughed when Noah smacked his leg with a chopstick, and then leaned forward towards his dinner and his boyfriend, listening as Noah began to speak. Yep, life was pretty good right now, Luke wasn’t going to complain.
************
He was standing in the front yard of a house. Green grass, blue sky, there was even a white picket fence around him. He could see the next yard over, just as immaculately gardened. As was the one next to that, and the one next to that.
The two kids in the yard with him were older by a few years, a boy and a girl. There was a dog too, a big English sheepdog.
“Is it dinner time yet?” the boy, the oldest of them, called out. There was an answering call from the house, and Noah saw a blonde woman standing in the doorway. It was his mother, he was sure of it. He could feel it. The two kids ran off in different directions, and Noah was alone in the yard.
He clapped his hands for the dog to come back over to him. The sheepdog bounded over, and Noah threw a ball as hard as his little arm could throw. The dog chased after it, and Noah laughed at its floppy-legged running.
Then it suddenly seemed to get much darker and colder outside, like the prelude to a storm. Noah looked around, but there was nobody outside and no blonde woman (his mother!) standing in the doorway. He was alone. Suddenly a car came barreling down the street next to him, the sound of tires screeching loud in his ear-
Noah shoved himself out of the dream and upright in bed. He was breathing harshly, his chest heavy. Fighting off the warning signs of a panic attack, he willed himself to calm down, counting silently in his head. One, two, three…
Luke continued to sleep next to him, unaware, and Noah couldn’t bring himself to wake him up. He sat back against the headboard, running a hand through his slightly damp hair. Was it just a dream, or was there more to the memory than he realized?
What the hell was going on?
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Noah is disappointed with what he finds, Casey wonders why it's easier to argue with Jade than talk with Alison, Damian has an interesting offer for Luke...