This is the end. Last chapter.

I hope that you guys have enjoyed it.

Chapter Thirteen

"Luke? What's wrong? Its…it's three in the morning," Casey said with gravel lined voice. Luke looked at his phone and it was indeed 3:08 in the morning. He had been so caught up in the journal, that he had no idea what time it was.

"I'm sorry. I just, I really need to talk to you,"

"Are you hurt or in pain?" Casey asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"No, I just need to talk,"

"Luke, it's late or early. Look, go get some sleep and we can talk tomorrow. You really need to keep your strength up. Staying up all night is liable to put you back in the hospital. Ok?"

"Yeah, you're right. I know you're right. Sorry that I called so early. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Luke said and slid his phone shut. He thought that there was no way that he was going to be able to sleep, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. The exhaustion of his latest flash and learning so much had taken his toll.

Casey texted Luke later that morning that he would meet him for lunch. Luke sat at the Lakeview waiting for Casey. They were supposed to meet for lunch. It was Casey's idea and he was late. What else was new? Casey always did have terrible timing. Luke was ready for an excuse; Casey was always ready with an excuse. Luke looked down at his watch; it was a little after two and they were supposed to meet at one-thirty. Luke was getting frustrated and embarrassed for waiting here. He pulled out his cell and decided to call him again to find out what the hell was up.

"Casey, where are you?" Luke said into his phone after Casey's voicemail picked up. "I'm at the Lakeview. And I've been here for at least a half-hour. Lunch was your idea and you are late. Call me when you get this," Luke slid his phone shut and tucked it back into his pocket. He was going to give him ten more minutes and then he was going to leave. He needed to talk to Casey. He needed his advice for how he should handle what he was feeling for Noah. He had been going over all of these jumbled memories that were banging around in his head. He needed Casey's medical and friendly advice to help sort them out. Figure out what he should do now.

"Sorry, I'm late," a voice said behind him and came around to sit in front of him. Luke was shocked to say the least. What was Noah doing here?

"What are you doing?" Luke asked, wanting some sort of explanation.

"My friend Jade said that her boyfriend Casey had a friend and they set-up this blind date. I'm sorry I'm late. Did you order yet?" Noah asked as he opened his menu.

"Ah, no. What's going on?"

"Well, he can have lunch and get to know each other," Noah said as he looked up from his menu. Luke looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

"This is crazy," he said as he stood up and started to walk away. Noah reached out and clasped onto Luke's wrist. Luke's pulse sped up as Noah's thumb brushed along the inside of his wrist.

"Luke, its just lunch. Please?" Noah asked softly. Luke looked at him and saw fragile hope in his eyes. Luke couldn't bear to say no. He had hurt him so much lately; that he just couldn't do anymore.

"Ok, we split lunch and you're paying for dessert," Luke gave him his demands before he moved back to his chair.

"You got it," Noah answered and settled into his seat while Luke sat back down into his. He was trying to convey calmness, but in reality he was jumping for joy inside. He coughed to relax his voice before he spoke. "So, Casey didn't tell me much about you expect that you're name is Luke and that you are hot,"

Luke blushed, he couldn't help it. This entire thing was ridiculous.

"So, do you have any family?"

"This is stupid," Luke uttered, not holding back. He shifted in his seat, clearing uncomfortable.

"Luke, come on. I'm trying," Noah confessed; he could feel his heart hurt. He would beg if he had to, but he was hoping that Luke would just go along with it.

"Ah, yeah," Luke gave in; rolling his eyes for emphasis. He was going to go along with this, even though it was nuts. "I have an older sister and brother, two younger sisters and a younger brother,"

"Wow, six kids in your family. You parents were a bit busy," Noah sipped his water. It felt like his mouth was lined with cotton.

"Well, my dad is the father of all the kids except me,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, my dad already had two kids when he married my mom. She was pregnant with me when they got together and they have three kids together. What about you?" Luke asked, but was then interrupted when the waitress came. They ordered and Luke looked to Noah to answer his question.

"I'm an only child, no real family to speak of. I have a lot of great friends though. Have you lived in Oakdale your whole life?" Noah asked and then took another sip from his water. His mouth was turning to sand he was so nervous.

"Yeah, most of it. My families are sort of institutions in this town, but I love it here. Where did you grow up?"

"My dad was an Army colonel so we moved a lot. I was never in one place for too long. When I graduated from high school I applied for summer internship at WOAK and I fell in love. With the town," Noah covered and Luke smirked at him. He was really trying to make this work. This crazy plan that he and Casey cooked up. "I enrolled in OU instead of Northwestern and I never looked back. What do you do?"

"Oh, well, I run a foundation that I started with money I inherited from my biological dad's family. I recently stepped down from CEO of my father's company, but I'm still on the board. And I recently enrolled in OU for the fall semester," Luke said and saw Noah do a double take. Luke knew that he would get a reaction out of him with that bomb-shell.

"Really? I didn't know that you…,"

"Yeah. I left the school several years ago and I decided that I wanted to go back. I figured it was time,"

"What are you going to be studying?" Noah was desperate to know this. He leaned forward in his chair slightly. Luke had to bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.

"I'm just taking my generals now, but I plan on getting a teaching degree,"

"I'm so proud of you," Noah blurted out. He knew that he was supposed to play like he had never met Luke before. It was Casey's plan. To show Luke that he was willing to start from the beginning again. To just be two guys dating and not two guys married. Casey hoped that this would give Luke equal footing with Noah in regards to their relationship. But Noah couldn't help it. As soon as he heard Luke say that he was going back to school, he felt this balloon of pride swell in his chest. He had to tell him how unbelievably proud he was of him. When those five words entered Luke's heart, his cheeks immediately blushed red and he gave Noah one of his little side smirks. The one that made Noah want to kiss him senseless.

"Thank you Noah,"

Their food came right after and they fell into conversation. They got to know each other and Luke quickly relaxed into their "date". Luke soon forgot that Noah knew nearly everything about him. He enjoyed himself. He was learning things about Noah that he didn't know before. Even though Luke had read nearly everything that he had written about Noah in his journal entries, he was finding out little things that he didn't know. For instance, Luke didn't know that Noah had never been to concert until he was 17. He snuck out of his house and went to a Coldplay concert in St. Louis with his best friend Gabe. That Noah had a crush on Miss Piggy when he was 5, that was until his heart was broken when he found out that she was a puppet. That the only memory he had of his mother was the perfume she wore. Whenever he smells Chanel No. 5, he gets a flash of her in their house at Fort Leonard Wood.

Luke was surprised how easy it was to be with him. He could see how he had fallen in love with him all those years ago. He felt safe around him. That Noah would do anything to keep him safe, if he had to. Luke was also surprised by how quickly the lunch crowd turned into the dinner crowd. He looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly 5pm. He was supposed to go to his mom's for dinner, but god help him, he didn't want to this to end.

Luke looked up and saw the maitre d' look over that their table for the sixth time; he figured it was time to call an end to this date.

"I think we are hogging this table," Luke said with a shy laugh. Noah looked over his shoulder and saw what Luke was referring to. He laughed at the frustrated host as well and turned back toward the blonde.

"I think you may be right," Noah said brightly and signaled for the check. The waitress quickly brought it and hoped for a big tip. These two guys had been talking and laughing for nearly three hours. She was almost positive that her tip would be good; people in a good mood always gave great tips.

The two men paid their bills and walked out into the parking lot. The late summer breeze was blowing across the lot and gave Luke Goosebumps. When he got ready for lunch, he had no idea that he would still out and didn't bring a jacket. He tucked his hands into his front pockets and they continued to their cars. Noah walked Luke to his car and the two men fell into a comfortable silence.

"Thank you Noah,"

"For what?"

"For a great lunch. I haven't had that much fun in a while,"

"I'm glad. Me neither," Noah felt like he was 18 years old again living with a huge crush on Luke and not knowing what to do about it. He looked down at his feet and racked his brain for his next move.

"Can I try something?" Luke asked and he watched as Noah's brow furrowed.

"Ah, I guess. What?"

"Just stay right there," Luke said and with a surge of courage he stepped into Noah's space. He cupped the taller man's cheek and brought Noah's mouth to his. Noah was stunned at first, but recovered. His hands went to Luke's hips and rested just at his waistline. Luke's other hand came up to hold Noah's mouth to his. He lightly sucked at Noah's lower lip, but kept the whole thing chaste. After everything that he put Noah through the past few months, he didn't want to go too fast. Noah could feel his heart racing so fast he thought he was going to pass out. He held tightly to Luke, using him to keep his knees from buckling. He knew that he missed this so much, but he forgot just how much until he felt Luke's soft lips against his own. Luke could feel his own temperature rising as he felt Noah's fingers dig into his sides slightly. He finally pulled away when he needed air. He didn't pull away from Noah though. He rested his forehead against the brunette's and took in a few slow breaths. He could feel Noah shaking under his hands. He could feel how much Noah wanted him in that moment.

"Thank you," Noah said breathlessly.

"For what?" Luke asked and leaned back to stare up at him. His hands were still caressing Noah's face; his thumbs lightly brushing against his cheekbones.

"For everything," Noah softly answered.

Luke looked into Noah's eyes and felt an uncontrollable swell of affection flood into his body. But it wasn't a just a flood, it was a tsunami. It was so intense that he almost had to gasp for air. He had never felt anything even close to this in his entire life. As he looked into his "date's" eyes, Luke wondered something. He was still thinking about it when Noah started to talk again.

"I guess we should call it a night," Noah said reluctantly. This day had been so great, that he didn't want to push it too much. They had talked, actually talked. He found it so easy to be like this with Luke. He could just turn off his nagging doubts and just be with Luke. Even though he knew so much about Luke it was nice to be just on a date with him, getting to meet this Luke again. He found himself telling Luke things that he never told him before. He felt like he did when they first started to date and that was the point. When Casey came up with this idea, Noah thought he was crazy. He thought there was no way that Luke would go along with it. Noah felt like this was his last chance to get Luke to try. Casey did have a good point too, the worst that Luke could say was no. Noah had to try and he was delighted by the results.

But he wanted to go as slow as Luke needed to.

"Yeah, maybe we should," Luke said as reluctantly as Noah had. He slipped his hands into Noah's and gripped them tightly.

"Can we do this again?" Noah asked expectantly.

"I would love to," Luke answered quickly and Noah had to fight the joy that wanted to burst out of him.

"Ok, great. I'll give you a call. Is that ok?"

"Yeah,"

"Goodnight Luke," Noah said softly and turned to walk away. His car was about twenty feet from Luke's. He had just slipped his key into the slot and unlocked his door when he heard Luke behind him.

"Hey, Mayer!" Noah smiled and turned to face Luke. "I just realized something," Noah raised his eyebrows, Luke had intrigued him. "I do believe that you still owe me dessert. Care for a milkshake at Al's?"

"That sounds perfect," he said and locked his car. He walked back to Luke's side and offered him an outstretched hand. Luke looked down at it quickly and Noah could see the blonde's cheeks blush a light shade of pink. Luke slipped his hand into Noah's and they walked the five blocks to Al's.

As they sat in their booth at Al's, Luke with his hot fudge shake and Noah with his strawberry shake, Luke's mind wandered back to that thought he had in the parking lot outside the Lakeview. He was thinking about that swell of feelings he had when he looked at Noah right after their kiss.

He was wondering if this was what it felt like to be in love with Noah Mayer.

Looking at Noah now, he had his answer.

Well, whatta think of the ending?

I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed it.

I have a couple more stories brewing. I have the next chapter of "Time to Say Goodbye" started and I promise I will finish it.

Thanks!