Noah knocked on the door as he entered the kitchen at the farm. "Anyone here?"

Luke walked over to the door covered in ribbons. "Come on in Noah."

Noah looked Luke up and down and smiled. "Did a packaging company explode or something?"

Luke turned and walked back over to the table. Not really in the mood for joking, after the previous night at Eddie's. "Very funny. I'm wrapping presents."

Noah followed Luke. "Looks like your the one that got wrapped."

Luke threw a roll of ribbon at Noah. "Instead of criticizing, why don't you help."

Noah blocked the flying ribbon. "Sure. I'm a pretty good present wrapper."

Luke handed Noah a package and some paper. "What have you been up to all day?"

Noah began to start wrapping the package. "I slept most of the day."

Luke grabbed the tape. "I'm not surprised. You looked like you were having a good time last night. You seemed to fit right in."

Noah cut the paper. "Yeah, I guess we stayed later than we had planned, but it was fun. The music and dancing. Everyone was really nice. Kenny didn't seem to be feeling any pain. Don't know what he was drinking. Bob was quite the dancer. Especially when he wasn't dancing with anyone." Noah paused for a minute. "You seemed to be talking to quite a few people. I saw you with Lisa and Beth at one point, when I was dancing with Bob and Roth seemed to be keeping you entertained."

Luke put the finishing touches on the present that he was wrapping. "Yeah I guess."

Noah didn't notice Luke's mood, as he continued to recap the previous night's events. "It was funny watching everyone work the room. There was so much freedom. Eddie was the leader of them all. Everyone seems to gather around him. He's like a magnet. I see why they call him a slut. He could have his pick of anyone in the room. Did you see him disappear into the bedroom with those two guys?"

Luke tried to hide his disgust. "I didn't notice."

Noah looked up at Luke. "Didn't you have fun?"

Luke didn't look up from his package. "It was okay."

Noah put his hand on Luke's arm. "I know we stayed out later than planned. We could have left when ever you wanted. I would rather have been home with you."

Luke still refused to look at Noah. "Really." He said flatly.

Noah got up and knelt down next to Luke. "Really. Don't you know that you are the most important thing in my life. You are the one I want to spend my time with. Last night was just a chance to hang out in the gay scene and relax and have some fun. Something that I have never had a chance to do before. I always had to be on my guard and be the good son and worry about what everyone was thinking."

Luke still didn't look up. "I can understand why you would think that last night was fun. Everyone seemed really into you."

Noah put his arm around Luke "Yeah I did have a good time. Are you jealous? There is nothing for you to be jealous of. Although I had fun, it's just isn't my thing. I wouldn't want to do that all the time and I certainly I'm not into the life like Eddie seems to be." Noah put his hand on Luke's arm. "I am a one man man and if you didn't know, that one man is you."

Luke finally looked up at Noah. "I'm glad to hear that."

Noah moved Luke's bangs from his eyes and rested his hand on the side of his face. "I didn't know that I had to say it. I thought you knew."

Luke smiled. "I guess I did, but it's certainly nice to hear." Luke kissed Noah and hugged him.

/////////////////////////////////

"That's my last one." Luke said getting up from the table.

Noah put a bow on his last package. "Wow that was a lot of presents."

Luke walked over to the refrigerator. "Santa is always good to the Snyders at Christmas. Do you want something to drink?"

Noah got up from the table. "Yeah, sure."

Luke got two cans of soda out and handed one to Noah. "Do you want to watch a movie?" Luke said walking towards the living room.

Noah took the can and then followed behind him. "Sure, but I need to take care of something first." Noah grabbed a hold of Luke's arm.

Luke turned and looked at him. "What?"

Noah pointed up at the mistletoe hanging above the doorway. Luke smiled. Noah pulled Luke into a kiss. It was gentle, but firm. Then Noah released Luke from his grip. "Now that's taken care of, what's on?"

Luke stood there for a moment relishing in the kiss. He smiled and then continued into the living room. "I think I remember reading that 'It's a Wonderful Life' was coming on tonight."

Noah followed Luke. "I love that movie. It doesn't seem like Christmas without it. I remember my Dad..." Noah went quiet.

Luke turned and put his arm around Noah's waist. "It's okay to talk about your dad and have some fond memories of him. Now that he is gone, it will make things a lot easier."

Noah nodded. "Yeah, but I can't help but feel that everything we shared was a lie."

Luke held Noah's face in his hands. "Noah, your dad might have done some terrible things. His love was controlling and kept you from being the person you wanted to be, but the special times that you shared were real. Don't forget those just because he hid another side of himself from you. All those memories are what made you who you are today. The good and the bad."

Noah looked into Luke's eyes. "You are amazing. After what he did to you, you should want me to hate him, but instead you tell me that it is okay to have good feelings about him."

Luke gave Noah a half smile. "He was your father. You loved him, in spite of what he did to you. Only remembering the bad things will only make you feel conflicted, because how could you have loved someone that was so horrible. It would make you question everything that happens in your life from now on. Make you not want to trust people who try to get close to you, because you think they will hurt you too. You don't want to live your life like that."

Noah kissed Luke gently on the lips. "Your right. After all, I trust you. I will try and hold on to the good things. He can't hurt me anymore and I don't want him to come between us in any way."

Luke turned on the television. "Glad we got that settled. Now let's watch that movie."

Luke snuggled under Noah's arm. He loved being in Noah's arms. It's funny how he had spent most of his life thinking that he didn't fit in, but here he seemed to fit perfectly. Noah leaned his head on Luke's. The room was dark and quiet except for the flicker and sound of the television. All seemed so right. Noah loved the smell of Luke. He rubbed his cheek against the top of Luke's head and then gently kissed it. Luke lifted his head and looked up at Noah. They looked at each other for what seemed like hours, but it was only seconds and both knew that neither was going to see the end of the movie. Noah raised his hand to Luke's face and slowly kissed his lips. Luke put his arm around Noah's neck and pulled him in closer. Their kiss grew hungrier as the two men began to explore each others bodies. Luke removed Noah's shirt and began to kiss down his neck to his chest. He settled on Noah's right nipple and began to suck and bite the little nub. Noah moaned his approval. Noah grabbed Luke's face and brought it back to his. He wanted to taste those lips again. He pressed his mouth hard against Luke's and used his tongue to probe for Luke's. He released him long enough to pull Luke's shirt over his head. He slid his hand down Luke's' body towards the button on his pants.
/////////////////////////////////////////////
Lily and Holden walked into the kitchen. Lily saw all the wrapped packages. "Someone has been busy." She put her purse on the counter. "Wonder where they could be I saw Noah's truck outside." She began to take off her coat. "Luke. Are you here?"

Holden hung up his coat. "Maybe they are in the living room." Holden walked towards the living room, as Lily went to hang up her coat. He got to the living room and found it dark. He turned on the light.

Luke and Noah sat up. "Hey, we were watching a movie." Luke protested as he squinted in the bright light.

Holden dimmed the lights a bit. "Sorry, guys didn't know you were in here. What are you watching?"

Noah turned to look at Mr Snyder. "It's a Wonderful Life."

Holden walked over to the sofa. "I love that movie."

Luke quickly chimed in. "It's almost over."

Holden sounded disappointed. "Too bad. Maybe it will be on again before Christmas."

Lily walked into the room. "There you guys are. I saw you got a lot done."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, so we were relaxing a bit."

Lily seemed to understand what Holden didn't. "Well, we will be going back in the kitchen and leave you two alone. Did you want anything?'

Both boys shook their heads. "No thanks." They said in unison.

Lily and Holden walked into the other room.

Luke and Noah looked at each other. "Boy that was close." Luke said.

Noah nodded. "Yeah. I guess your grandma's sofa wasn't the best place to let ourselves get so carried away."

Luke smiled. "Your probably right. I probably wouldn't be able to sit on the sofa again without thinking of you and getting quite a hard-on."

Noah smile. "Speaking of hard-ons. Good thing your grandma has a lot of pillows on her sofa."

Luke looked down at his pants as he moved the pillow. "Your right. We better watch the rest of the movie to give ourselves time to cool off."

Noah put his arm down by his side. "If that's the case you better sit over there."

Luke and Noah both laughed.
//////////////////////////
In the kitchen Lily continued to lead Holden out of the living room. "Why are you rushing me out?"

Lily smiled at Holden. "I wonder about you sometimes. Has it been that long for you? Luke is sitting in a dark room with his boyfriend. Do you really think that they were watching the movie?"

Holden's mouth fell open as it finally dawned on him what he had interrupted. Ohhh."
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Noah started to get up from the sofa. "I should get going."

Luke grabbed hold of his arm. "I wish you could stay."

Noah sat back down next to Luke. "I do to. I love being at the farm. It's not just being with you. It's your whole family. Even with what is going on with your parents, there is still so much love here. The farm is all decked out for the holidays. It makes me feel warm inside just seeing the house in the distance. I go home to my apartment and all I can do is think about my life and all the things I missed out on until now."

Luke put his hand to Noah's mouth to stop him. "Don't think about that. Even when we aren't together. I'm always with you." He moved his hand down to Noah's chest. "Right here."

Noah smiled. "I know that gets me through a lot." Noah began to get up again. "I'll see you tomorrow. What time should I be over?"

Luke got up to walk Noah to the door. "Grandma usually does an early dinner before church, so you can come over whenever."

Noah walked into the kitchen. Lily and Holden turned towards the two boys. "Are you leaving, Noah?"

Noah and Luke walked to the door. Noah nodded and waved at Lily and Holden. "Yes, but I will see you tomorrow. Good Night."

Luke walked Noah outside. "Remember I'm always here. You can call me later if you want."

Noah gave Luke a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll remember. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Noah walked off. His head down.

Luke waved. "Bye." Luke walked back into the kitchen and saw his parents sitting at the table. All of a sudden he got an idea. "Dad I need a favor."

Holden looked at Luke with a confused expression.

Coming Soon: Just like Family
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Section 3