Title: Sleepless Nights Chapter: 11 Rating: PG Summary: Luke tells Noah about the dreams, and Noah surprises Luke. Characters: Luke, Noah Genre: Angst, Romance Warnings: None. Disclaimer: This site is no way associated with "As the World Turns", CBS, P&G, or Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann. This is not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended. Authors submit and write their own work. Note: An extra long last chapter for you to enjoy!

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They had moved into the dining room, Noah remembering to switch a light on while Luke moved to sitdown at the end of thetable. Noah kept an eye on him as he put the kettle on boil, knowing his way around the kitchen enough to pull two mugs out and spoon the coffee and sugar into them. He normally hated instant, but right now he simply wanted the familiar comfort of coffee, instant or not.

When the kettle boiled, he made the coffees and made sure the counter was clean before taking them over to the table. It was a force of habit to keep everything clean and in order, but he was more than grateful for the routine this time.

Noah placed the coffee in front of Luke, who immediately wrapped his hands around the cup and breathed in the aroma. His eyes were cast downwards, watching an invisible spot on the table, while he subconsciously bit his bottom lip.

Noah sat at the chair beside him andwatched him patiently, letting Luke take his time, and collect his thoughts. Noah had no idea what to expect,but he was glad that Luke had decided to talk to him about it. He wasn't sure how much help he could be, but it had been hurting him toknow that Luke of all people had been keeping his thoughts to himself. Noah had learnt to take comfort in the fact that even if he couldn't readily admit his feelings, Luke entrusted him with his. It gave him a sense of being needed, a sense of belonging. But lately, it had been lacking. And although he didn't think he could admit it out loud, it hurt.

Unbeknownst to Noah, Luke's eye line had shifted, and it wasn't until Luke took Noah's hand in his that he realized Luke was concentrating on the ring that lay on his left hand. Luke ran his thumb absentmindedly over the steel, occasionally brushing over Noah's skin. He continued the gesture as he spoke. "It looks so much better on you than it did on me."

Luke looked up to lock eyes with Noah, who had turned his hand under Luke's and clasped them together. Luke took a deep breath, before continuing, "I'm sorry i asked for it back. I -"

Noah tugged on Luke's hand and cut him off, "Hey, I thought we were through with this? I haven't taken it off since you gave it to me."

Luke hung his head down, "I know. We are, I just..." He looked back up at Noah. "I'm sorry. I've been an idiot."

Noah pulled Luke into a hug, "Hey, it's okay." He rubbed Luke's back assuredly, "We're okay now. I'm not going anywhere."

That was all Luke needed to hear to break the barrier he had built up inside him. He couldn't believe the force with which he was hit with emotion, but he soon found himself closing his eyes against the tears, and burying his face in Noah's neck.

Noah wasn't sure if he was saying the right things or not, but he held Luke close and continued to rub his back with one hand, while the other went to the base of Luke's neck.

They stayed that way for a while, Noah simply holding Luke to him, while Luke let himself melt into the embrace. When Luke's breathing had returned to normal, Noah pulled back enough to see his face, and gave him a compassionate half smile as he brought a hand to Luke's cheek. "So are you going to tell me about these dreams you've been having?"

Luke pursed his lips together and nodded. A slight smile flickering on his face before dimming. They each sat back in their chairs, Noah keeping Luke's hand in his, while Luke took a sip of his coffee with the other. "Um, well, I've been uh, I've been having these dreams since we broke up. And, at the time, they seemed like nothing. You know, just regular weird dreams. Um, but then... then they started, getting dark."

Noah's eyebrows raised in question, "Dark?"

Luke started eyeing his coffee, running his finger around the rim of the mug. "Yeah.And at first, it wasn't that bad. Just a... feeling." Luke lookedata random spot on the wall as he remembered the dreams. "Like something was after me." Heshook his head and looked down, "God, it sounds so lame."

"No, it doesn't." Luke looked up to see Noah staring at him point blank, his expression telling Luke that he was taking this seriously. It gave Luke the courage to continue.

"I didn't tell you because it seemed so stupid," Luke put on a mocking voice, “Hey, I'm not sleeping at night because I'm having nightmares about getting chased." He looked back down to his coffee.

"You haven't been sleeping?"

Luke nodded. "I mean, it wasn't happening every night, and when it did, it wasn't really even that bad.You know, your typical "wake up with a start" nightmare.Not until..." He let the sentence slip away.

Noah leaned closer, "Until what?"

Luke looked at Noah, "Until a few nights ago."

Noah was clearly letting him take his time, understanding that Luke needed to say this at his own pace. “The night before you fainted?”

Luke once again nodded. “Yeah.” He brought his attention back to their hands, intertwined on the table, and continued, “It’s why i was so freaked out. And i kept trying to forget it, but... i just kept seeing you...” Luke struggled to find the words, “I couldn’t forget it. And when i saw you that day, running towards me, it just brought it all back, and I-”

Noah tipped Luke’s chin up with his free hand, and made eye contact, “Take it easy, it’s okay. Just, start from the beginning.” He dropped his hand to Luke’s knee. “Where were you? Here? In town?”

“I was in a forest.”

Noah nodded reassuringly, “A forest. Okay, what were you doing?”

Luke took a deep breath. “I was running.” He paused. “I never actually saw what i was running from, exactly, i just knew that if i didn’t, it would catch me. They would catch me.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

Luke shook his head slightly. This wasn’t going right. He wasn’t sure he was ready to explain that part yet. “Well, at the time i didn’t know. I just, knew they were after me and that i had to run.” 


Noah nodded again, slower this time, processing what Luke was telling him. “Okay. Then what?”

Luke stalled. “Then... then i came to a house.” He hurried along, wanting to get it all out while he still had the nerve. “It was just, sitting there, in the middle of this huge acre of grass. So i started walking towards it, you know, and it wasn’t until i got to the front door that i realized i felt sick. Like, i knew something bad was about to happen. But i went inside anyway. And when i got inside, it got worse.” Luke swallowed, and squeezed Noah’s hand for comfort. “I walked in, and...” Luke closed his eyes, “You were dead.”

Noah was caught off guard. He really hadn’t been expecting that. Actually, he wasn’t sure what he’d expected. But it certainly wasn’t that. He let out a soft “Oh”, and went silent for a moment. 

“Is that the same dream you had just now?”

Luke opened his eyes again and took in Noah’s expression. Surprised and confused, but mostly concerned and caring. Luke couldn’t believe he had someone so amazing in his life. He almost sidetracked himself with the thought, then remembered he hadn’t answered Noah’s question. He smirked slightly as he remembered the dream from earlier. “Actually, no. Tonight’s dream was... different.”

Noah thought the smirk was a good sign, especially when he noticed Luke’s eyes starting to shine with something a little closer to mirth. “Oh yeah?”

Luke smiled at Noah, “Yeah. Although, can i just say, I don’t think i’ll be able to watch Scream again for a while.” 

Noah smiled, “Thank god.”

Luke faked offense, “Hey, i thought you liked that movie.”


Noah looked at him as if to say ‘are you kidding me?’, and smiled, “No, i only watched it because you like it so much. Although i’ll never know why.”

They shared a smile together before Noah remembered what they had been talking about, and he turned serious again. “So was that it? Because, you seemed quite upset before i woke you up.”

Luke hadn’t wanted to return to the serious side of things. “Right, that.”

Luke was stalling, and Noah knew it. So he prompted him. “Yeah, that.”

Sometimes Luke hated how well Noah could read him. But in that way that meant that he absolutely loved it at the same time. It drove him crazy. “Well, like i said, this one was different. I started off in this strange bedroom, which i later realized was Sydney’s room from the movie, but i didn’t actually know that until you started talking, and i realized you sounded like Skeet Ulrich.”

Noah chuckled in disbelief, “Wait, you made me Billy?”

Noah’s laugh was infectious, and Luke found himself smiling, “It’s not like i planned it or anything. I was pretty disappointed when i realized it was just the movie.”

Noah was still smiling, but furrowed his brow in confusion, “What do you mean, ‘just the movie’?”

Luke smirked, “Well, we were in a compromising position when i figured it out.”

“Really?” Noah had leaned in a little closer. “Then what happened?”

Luke distracted himself for a moment by watching Noah’s lips, then his brain kicked in and he thought back to the dream. “Then? Well, um, i realized it wasn’t you, which was really weird by the way, and so i changed it.”

“Changed it?”

“Yeah. I uh, i closed my eyes and you know, imagined we were in my room instead.” Luke quickly followed with, “And that you were you. NOT Skeet Ulrich.”


Noah chuckled again, “Okay, so far so good.” He looked at Luke quizzically, “So what changed? I mean, to make you upset?”

It was Luke’s turn to be confused, “You know, i don’t actually know. Everything was going really well, and then all of a sudden you pulled away.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and when i reached out for you, you kept moving away.”

Noah squeezed Luke’s hand, “Doesn’t sound like me.”

Luke felt his heart grow a size. God, how he loved this man. He returned Noah’s smile, “No, it doesn’t. Which is why I got confused. And then i got that sick feeling back.” His smile faded as he remembered, “I came after you but you kept walking away from me. Then you said that they were coming for you.” Luke looked down. “And when i asked you who ‘they’ were... you said they were me.”

“You?”

“Yeah. And that’s when it all hit me. The whole reason i’d been having the dreams. All the running, and that sick feeling like my world was about to end... and your ring.” Luke pulled Noah’s hand to him and looked at the item in question, “When I saw you the last time,” he too a breath, “just, lying there, I couldn’t see your face. But i knew it was you. Because of this.” Luke looked back up at Noah, “It was, covered in blood, and i knew you were gone.” Luke brought his free hand to his temple, “I haven’t been able to get that thought my mind. And every time i saw it, i freaked.” He dropped his hand down to his leg, where Noah’s other hand lay, and finally said what he’d been holding back. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Noah responded by pulling Luke towards him and wrapping him up in his arms tightly. “You are not going to lose me. Not now, not ever. We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?” Noah felt Luke nodding on his shoulder. “Do you think you’ll keep having these dreams, now that you know what was causing them?”

Luke rested his chin on Noah’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I hope not.” He moved so he was resting his cheek on Noah’s shoulder instead, his face turned into him, his breathe grazing Noah’s neck. He closed his eyes and finally felt the pressure of the last month slip away, the weight lifting off of his shoulders until all he could feel was Noah’s presence surrounding him.

Noah was the first to pull back, one hand reaching into his jean pocket to retrieve something. Before he pulled it out, he looked up at Luke with a nervous smile. “Close your eyes.”

Luke was apprehensive, but something about the way Noah was looking at him made him a little giddy, so he did as he was told. For a moment, nothing happened, and then he felt Noah take his left hand and place a thin, metal object around his ring finger. But it didn’t feel like a ring, especially because he could hear something rattling, and he could feel something attached to it. He opened his eyes to see that Noah had placed a set of keys around his finger. He looked at Noah, “What’s this?”

It was Noah’s turn to be nervous, “It’s the reason i was late the other day.”

Luke smiled in confusion, “What?”

Noah looked slightly sheepish. “I wasn’t at school the other day when i called you.” Noah picked a spot on the floor and focussed there. “I was, at our new apartment.”

Luke really hoped he wasn’t dreaming this. Because he didn’t think he could feel any happier than he did right now, and he definitely didn’t want to wake up if it wasn’t real. “We have an apartment?”

Noah looked up from the floor, beaming. “Yeah.”

Luke couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first. He felt like laughing, crying, dancing all at once.

In the end, he settled for a kiss. A kiss 10 times better than any dream.

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