Luke

Copyright and Disclaimer: 1. This is a fictional story with fictional characters. 2. No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it, this isn't the story for you.

Hey everyone! Hope you all are still enjoying. I wanted to take this time right now to let you know that I am planning to wrap up the Luke' series at the end of this set of chapters. I am really happy with the storylines right now for the characters and want to end it on a good note and not drag it out and potentially ruin it. I am playing around with an idea for a new story and if I can get a full outline finished then I will try to post a chapter preview along with the final installment of Luke.' So I want to thank everyone for continuing to read this and for all the readers who send e-mails to me, I really appreciate hearing from you all.

`IT'S ALL TOO MUCH'

Luke paces back and forth in his bedroom. It's early in the morning and Derek is asleep in his bed. He's never been more certain of anything in his life, he knows that Nick is inside of Derek. As crazy and outlandish as it seems, he's certain of it. He lets out a sigh and rubs his dry face with his hands. He wants to tell Derek so desperately, but knows that Derek will just think he's crazy.

"Shit," Luke sighs as he's covering his face.

"What's wrong?"

Luke moves his hands from his face to find Derek looking at him groggily. His eyes are barely open and his hair is all messy. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Luke answers with a weak smile.

"Why are you awake? What time is it?" Derek asks sitting up a little more in bed.

"Five," Luke answers as he glances over at the clock on his bedside table.

"You're awake at five in the morning?" Derek asks. "Why?"

"Nothing," Luke dismisses as he hops back into bed and gives Derek a kiss. "Just go back to sleep."

"You sure you don't want to talk?" Derek asks.

"I'm positive," Luke replies giving another reassuring kiss to Derek before closing his eyes and pretending to sleep.

Once Luke is certain Derek has fallen back into a deep sleep he opens his eyes and stares blankly at the ceiling. `How do I keep a big secret like this?' Luke keeps thinking over and over.

The next day, the four guys meet for lunch at their usual place, The Broken Yolk. Luke always looks forward to the meals he has with Shane, Benji and Ford. It's a routine, yet at the same time each meal brings about a different experience, a new piece of information about one of them that he didn't know before. He loves that after being friends with them for so many years that there are still new things to discover about them.

After the guys ordered their food the relaxed sitting in the sun on the balcony level of the restaurant.

"The sun feels nice," Benji says leaning his head back to soak in the warmth.

"You're in a good mood," Luke notes.

"I am," Benji replies. "I'm in a very good mood."

"Have you gotten your mojo back?" Luke asks with a laugh.

"Oh honey, believe me, I've gotten it back," Benji smiles and raises his eyebrows.

"Who'd you have sex with?" Shane asks as he takes a sip of his drink and furrows his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Myself," Benji replies.

"You masturbated?" Ford asks.

"Sweetie, it was so much more than masturbating," Benji says. "They're the most erotic experiences I've ever had."

"Well don't hold out on us," Luke presses, "Tell us about it."

"Okay, first it just started with a little sexual dream the other night," Benji explains, "But then two nights ago I had the same dream and it went further and then last night it went even further and through out it I could feel my hands roaming over my body in bed and I swear, it was like I had a three night orgasm. It was fabulous."

Luke lets out a laugh, "So are you telling us that your most intense orgasm was from a wet dream?"

"It wasn't a wet dream," Benji defends himself.

"You were dreaming right?" Shane asks.

"Yes."

"You woke up to having cum in your bed, right?"

"Yes."

"Then it was a wet dream."

"That's what it sounds like to me," Luke says.

"Whatever it was," Benji says ignoring him, "It was amazing."

Luke and Shane both let out a hearty laugh. Benji joins in on the laugh, but when Luke looks over at Ford he sees that there's a sadness in his eyes, even though he's trying to hide it with a smile.

"Ford, you okay?" Luke asks.

"I'm fine," Ford replies.

"Still haven't heard from Pacey, huh?" Shane asks.

"No," Ford sighs.

"It's only been a week," Luke says. "He's probably just giving you time to cool off."

"But he usually would call or do something," Ford says. "But this week...nothing."

"Why don't you call him?" Benji suggests.

"Me? Why should I be the one to call?" Ford asks. "He's the one who screwed up."

"Yeah, but it's not like he was out partying or fucking someone else," Benji points out. "He had a business meeting."

"It wasn't just that one time he's done something like that," Ford reminds him. "I just want to know that I'm somewhat of a priority in his life."

"Yeah," Shane nods. "Don't call him. Make him earn your trust."

"Exactly," Ford agrees. "Thank you."

"Okay, so we know that Ford is waiting for Pacey to call him and Benji is having hot wet dreams," Shane says with a laugh, "What about you Luke? How's Derek or Nick or whoever you think it is?"

"Derek is fine," Luke says giving Shane a little glare. "It's me that's the problem."

"Why?" Ford asks.

Luke lets out a sigh before answering, "I just feel like I'm keeping this big secret from him."

"Honey, he'll just think you're crazy if you try and tell him," Benji points out.

"I know that," Luke replies. "That's why I'm so frustrated. If I tell him then he'll think I'm insane and if I don't tell him then I feel like I'm keeping some big secret from him."

"It's a case of being damned if you do and damned if you don't," Shane throws in.

"You know what you need?" Benji offers with a grin. "Retail therapy. All the new Spring lines just came in and I have a few pieces that I think you'll really love."

"I suppose I could kill a few hours," Luke nods. "Okay. I get a discount though, right?" Luke adds with a laugh.

"Of course," Benji replies.

"Maybe I should pick some things up too," Shane says. "Jackson could use some new clothes."

"How about we all just go to the store after lunch?" Benji suggests. The guys all agree. They may differ on many things, but if there is one thing they all have in common is that they love to shop.

"So how are things going with Jackson? You been getting more sleep?" Ford asks.

"Not really," Shane replies. "Things are a bit stressful right now. Work is hectic, I always feel bad for leaving Jackson alone for so long, I'm not sleeping-"

"And losing Wyatt at Sea World I'm sure didn't help," Luke adds, referring to the weekend before when Shane fell asleep at Sea World and his son Wyatt ran off. Everything worked out, but it nearly gave Shane a heart attack.

"I just wish everything could stop for a day," Shane says. "A trip to Vegas sounds pretty good right about now. I just want to escape."

"I'm sorry sweetie," Benji takes Shane's hand, "Some retail therapy I think can do you some good."

"Maybe you're right," Shane manages a smile. He hates feeling sorry for himself, but he knows he's dealing with a lot more than most people could handle and he's not doing so well.

The guys arrive to Benji's store after lunch and begin looking around at all the good stuff that Benji got in.

"These new clothes are great," Ford says pleasantly as he's looking at a red and blue striped sweater.

"Yeah," Luke agrees. "And it's busy." The guys thought that with the economy the way it was that Benji's store might not be doing so well. However, when they arrived after lunch they found that quite a bit of people were shopping.

"I know. I haven't looked at my sales figures yet for this quarter, but I think we're doing good. And it's not just this store," Benji fills them in, "The store managers of my New York stores say that they are doing better this year than the same time period last year."

"That's amazing," Shane says.

"I know, it's pretty fabulous," Benji beams proudly. He's never been one to shy away from his success, so he was very happy and not at all ashamed of showing it. He's worked hard to get his stores to where they are now.

"Maybe Jackson will like this," Shane mumbles to himself as he unfolds a t-shirt.

"Has he gone out at all since you brought him from the hospital?" Ford asks curious.

"He goes to physical therapy," Shane says.

"That's it?" Luke asks. "You take him to physical therapy and back to your place?"

"Yeah, why?" Shane wonders what they're getting at. Luke and Ford both exchange a look with one another as if to say, `Are you that dense?'

"So it's never occurred to you to take him out?" Ford asks.

"I guess I never really thought about it," Shane says after thinking it over. "Should I?"

"Yes," Luke insists. "I bet Jackson is bored as hell being stuck in your place all day."

"Maybe I will take him out then," Shane smiles thinking about a night out with Jackson.

"So have you guys discussed all the other arrangements?" Luke wonders as he browses some sweaters.

"What other arrangements?" Shane looks up at Luke curiously. He's just been taking things one day at a time with Jackson and even though it's been exhausting for him, he hasn't thought about the long-term.

"Everything," Luke simply replies.

"Yeah," Benji adds as he begins to look over some sales figures, "Is he going to go back to work at the newspaper?"

"I don't know," Shane says. "We haven't really talked about it." Shane begins to feel a little bit unsettled as he thinks about it.

"When is he going to go back to his place?" Ford asks.

"I don't know," Shane realizes that he hasn't even thought about that.

"Is he going to move in with you?" Benji asks looking up from his paper work.

"I don't know!" Shane snaps. He knows the guys were just curious, but as they were asking all those questions he realized how little he thought about his situation with Jackson and how long term his staying at his place would be. "I have to go. I have to talk to him." Shane quickly says his goodbyes to the guys before heading out.

"Think he'll be okay?" Ford asks.

"He'll be fine," Luke replies. "He just needs to talk things over with Jackson."

"Fuck!" Benji calls out. Everyone in the store stops to look over at him, but he smiles and waves them off. Luke and Ford go up to him to see what the problem is.

"Something wrong?" Ford asks.

"Yes," Benji says discreetly, "I'm going over my sales figures for this quarter and I'm down thirty percent from last year."

"Thirty percent?" Ford asks. "How is that possible? It's so busy here today."

"Well, I guess it has been sort of quiet on other days," Benji remembers, "But I figured business will pick up."

"In this economy? Things are only going to get worse before they get better," Ford says. "I mean look at me, my section of the paper is only in the weekend edition now."

"Shit," Benji whispers in frustration.

"But your New York locations are doing good, right?" Luke asks.

"Yeah," Benji replies. "Business has to pick up here. I can't close this location. It's my first location, I need this one to survive."

"Call your store managers over there and ask them if they're doing something that's not being done at this location," Luke suggests.

"Yeah," Benji agrees, "That's a good idea. I'm going to go in the back and make the calls. You guys continue to shop and buy a lot of stuff please."

"We'll try," Luke replies.

After Luke and Ford buy some things they head out to grab some coffee and talk.

"Can I ask you a question?" Luke asks.

"Of course," Ford replies taking a sip of his coffee.

"Do you think I should tell Derek?" Luke wonders.

"You want to tell him that you believe your old boyfriend's spirit is inside of him?" Ford asks.

"Yeah," Luke says hesitantly, "I guess it sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud."

"Yeah, it does," Ford agrees. "But if you word it correctly, maybe he'll understand."

"You think?" Luke asks.

"Yeah," Ford nods. "I've already told you that I believe that it's Nick. If I can believe it then maybe he can too."

"God," Luke rubs his face, he just isn't sure if this is the right thing to do or not. He wants to tell Derek so badly, but knows he could risk losing him.

"Just relax," Ford suggests, "It'll work out. If you tell him I'm sure he'll be okay with it."

"I hope so," Luke nods his head. "I just don't want to mess this up with him."

"It's Nick, which means that he found a way back to you," Ford tells him, "So even if the initial revelation freaks him out, he'll come back to you because that's why he's here in the first place."

Luke nodded quietly, he never quite thought of it that way before. Ford brought up a very good point. It's Nick, which means he won't leave him. That thought made the idea of telling Derek a little easier.

"So have you thought anymore about calling Pacey?" Luke asks.

"Nope," Ford replies shaking his head, "And I'm not going to."

"So did you two break up?" asks Luke curiously. Ford never quite fully explained the situation between him and Pacey.

"No," Ford quickly replies shaking his head vigorously. "We didn't break-up. It was just a fight. That's why I'm so mad he hasn't called me."

"I'm sorry," Luke gently pats Ford on the back sympathetically. "Relationships are tough."

"I know," Ford buries his hand into his pant pocket and fishes around until he pulls out his cell phone. He checks hoping maybe there will be a missed message from him, but of course there's nothing. He sets his phone down on the table and looks back up at Luke. "I'm almost tempted to call his assistant."

"Why don't you?" Luke suggests.

"I'll tell you what," Ford decides. "I'll wait until tomorrow and if I don't hear from him then I'll call his assistant. Good plan?"

"Good plan," Luke nods.

"I'm not going to be one of those obsessive boyfriends. I'm going to wait it out, make him worry. I don't care." Ford crosses his arms triumphantly, proud of his willpower.

Ten minutes later, Ford excuses himself to the bathroom and discreetly stepped outside to call Pacey's assistant, Jenna.

"Ford! How are you?" Jenna asks pleasantly. Ford always liked Jenna, she was always friendly and sweet whenever Ford went to Denver to visit Pacey. He actually considers her a good friend. They often sat around and talked with one another whenever Ford was in town and discuss food and restaurants which is a passion of both of theirs.

"Hey Jenna," Ford says overly upbeat, "How are you?"

"I'm good. But how are you?" there's a sympathetic tone in Jenna's voice when she asks that question.

"I'm fine," replies Ford casually. He can already imagine the conversation between Pacey and Jenna.

"Ford called today," Jenna will say.

"Oh?" Pacey will say in surprise. "How is he?"

"He sounds absolutely great," Jenna will answer. "I thought you guys had a fight? It obviously is the last thing on his mind. You should call him and apologize or you'll lose him."

"You're right," Pacey will say in a panic, "I have to see him. I have to show him how much I care about him! I have---"

"Ford?" Jenna's voice comes ringing back to Ford's ear.

"What?" Ford asks refocusing his attention on the conversation. "Sorry, my mind wandered."

"I was asking how you were holding up since the break-up," Jenna repeats herself.

"Break-up?" Ford asks, "We didn't break-up. We just had a fight."

"Oh...I guess I misunderstood...I'm sure it was a mistake...I must not have been-"

"Jenna, did he say we broke-up?" Ford asks.

"No!" Jenna exclaims a little too quickly for Ford to believe.

"Jenna, tell me the truth," Ford presses worriedly, "Did Pacey say we broke-up?"

"He didn't say it, but...he's kind of...on...a...date...now," Jenna hesitantly answers.

"Oh my god," Ford says quietly to himself.

"I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding," Jenna urgently says to try and calm Ford down. "I'll call him now and sort this all out."

"No!" exclaims Ford a little more dramatically than he had intended. He then tries to recover, "I mean...don't bother. Thanks Jenna." Ford quickly hangs up his phone and can feel his eyes stinging. `I won't cry,' Ford thinks to himself. He rubs his eyes quickly and shakes his head before going back to the table.

Meanwhile, Shane finally arrives back to his place to find Jackson exactly where he was when he left him this morning, sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hey," Jackson says cocking his head to the side questionably, "What are you doing back so soon?"

"I need to talk to you," says Shane, determined to sort everything out with Jackson. "We need to go over everything."

"What do you mean?" Jackson looks confused.

"How is this all going to work out?" Shane asks, "How are we going to handle everything? What are we going to do?"

"Whoa, one question at a time," Jackson takes Shane's hand and rubs it gently to try and sooth him.

"We've never discussed how we're going to handle this," Shane takes a deep breath before attempting to explain himself better. "We never discussed how long you want to stay here with me or when you want to go back to your place."

"Do you not want me here? Am I being too much trouble?" Jackson begins to worry that he's annoying Shane by being around.

"No!" Shane quickly replies and gives him a kiss, "I love having you here. I'm just wondering if you have any desire to go back to your place soon. And-"

Before Shane can continue his cell phone rings. He is surprised to see Brenda's number flashing on the caller-ID.

"Brenda, can I call you back?" Shane says answering the phone.

"You are un-fucking believable!" Brenda barks at him angrily.

"Excuse me?" Shane asks confused.

"So were you planning to tell me that you lost Wyatt at Sea World?!" Brenda is furious. Shane cringes. He never got around to telling Brenda what happened, he figured there was no point since everything turned out all right and he didn't want her to get mad at him or worse. He thinks back and thought he told Wyatt not to say anything to her.

"How did you find out?" Shane asks weakly.

"You think an eight year old is going to really remember to keep a secret from his mother?" Brenda asks.

"I am so sorry Brenda," Shane says. "I just-"

"You are completely irresponsible!" Brenda barks. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are? What could have happened?"

"I know," Shane replies feeling horrible, "And I'm so sorry."

"You fell asleep when you were supposed to be watching him!" Brenda accuses. "He could have been kidnapped! He could have been taken by some pervert who abuses kids."

"I know that," Shane says, "But I figured since it all worked out that there was no need to worry you."

"No, you were just trying to keep it a secret to avoid any consequences. Admit it," Brenda says.

Shane winces at that because he knows it's true. He did neglect to tell her for selfish reasons. "Brenda, I'm so sorry-"

"I'm going to only say this once so listen up," Brenda yells angrily. "You are NEVER going to take care of Wyatt again. You hear me? Never!"

"What?" Shane's entire body goes cold at those words. "Brenda, you don't mean that."

"Like hell I do!" Brenda retorts. "I don't want you anywhere near him!"

"Brenda, I've been going through a lot right now. It only happened the one time!" Shane tries to reason with her.

"It only takes the one time!" Brenda says.

"Brenda, you can't do this," Shane says. "He's my son! I need to see my son!"

"You can't be trusted with him," Brenda snaps. "So stay away!" Before Shane can respond Brenda hangs up the phone. Shane's heart is pounding a mile a minute and his whole body begins to shake.

"What happened?" Jackson asks worried.

Shane doesn't answer, he doesn't even hear Jackson. He sits motionless on the couch thinking about everything, his work, Wyatt, not seeing Wyatt, Jackson, how tired he is. It's as if everything is crumbling and he's not able to handle it. His whole world is crashing down around him and he feels helpless to stop it. He's done everything he could, why is it not enough?

"Shane," Jackson says getting his attention. "Talk to me."

"I can't do this," Shane mumbles to himself.

"What?" Jackson asks unable to hear him properly.

"I tried. I've tried to please everyone, but it's too much," Shane says. "I can't do this."

"Shane, what are you talking about?" Jackson asks.

"I'm sorry," Shane says looking at Jackson. "I have to go."

Shane gets up and without saying another word grabs his jacket and leaves. Jackson stares at the closed door wondering what just happened.

Later that evening, Ford walks through the door to his place and sets down his purchases he bought at Benji's store down on his kitchen table. He didn't tell Luke that he called Jenna, but he's pretty sure that Luke knew something was up because he was a lot more sullen for the rest of the afternoon. Whenever Luke asked what's wrong Ford dismissed it and insisted he was fine.

"Jerk," Ford mumbles to himself as he goes to his refrigerator to look for something to eat for dinner. As he reaches for leftovers of chicken he made the night before his cell phone begins ringing. H glances down at the caller-ID he sees Pacey's name flash on the screen. Part of him wants to throw the phone against the wall, but another part of him is hoping he's calling to apologize.

He knows that he probably shouldn't answer the call, but he's too curious and he picks up the phone, "What?"

"So I got a call from Jenna," Pacey begins. "It seems that we have a case of miscommunication."

"Yeah, but fortunately Jenna cleared things up for me," Ford says nonchalantly. "We broke-up. I'm glad she was able to clear things up."

"Ford, come on," Pacey attempts to rationalize with him, "How was I supposed to know it was just a fight? You told me to leave."

"Yeah, well..." Ford goes silent. He realizes that Pacey has a point. It could easily have been misinterpreted.

"See? It's easy to see how I thought we broke-up," Pacey says. Ford hates when Pacey is right because he knows that he'll gloat about it for a while. The two once argued over who the 20th president of the United States was and Ford thought it was Rutherford Hayed, but Pacey insisted it was James Garfield and sure enough he was right and he didn't let Ford forget it for a whole week. "I'm always right, remember?" Pacey would gloat. Ford would have broken up with Pacey for being so cocky it if it weren't for the fact that Pacey gloated with such a childlike manner that Ford found it endearing. Ford now can't even remember why they were arguing about the 20th president, it seems so stupid now.

"So are we good?" Pacey wonders.

"I guess," Ford mumbles. "I mean, It's not like you never slept with the guy you went out with tonight, right?"

"I'm sorry?"

"The guy you went out with tonight," Ford repeats. "You didn't sleep together, right? I mean, we were only `broken up' for a week. You didn't do anything with this guy, right?"

Pacey doesn't reply. Ford's heart sinks. The lack of a response is enough for him. "You slept with him."

"I thought we were broken up!" Pacey insists. "You said-"

"Don't throw my words back at me this time!" Ford interjects. "You slept with him? Didn't realize you could move on that fast."

"It's not like that," Pacey tries explaining, but Ford doesn't want to hear it.

"You know what? You got it right before, we did break-up and we aren't getting back together." Ford angrily hangs up his phone. He's never been so pissed off in his life!

Meanwhile, Luke is sitting in his office at his condo and can't help thinking about Derek. He can never get him off his mind. Does he tell Derek the truth? Ford brought up a good point earlier. Since it is Nick, he won't walk away, but at the same time he knows how crazy it sounds.

Before he can think about it anymore, Benji calls him and invites him out for a drink.

Thirty minutes later, Benji and Luke are sitting down at a lounge together and enjoying a couple dry martinis.

"So did you discover why you're New York stores are doing so well?" Luke wonders, hoping that Benji will be able to help out his California store.

"Yeah," Benji nodded. "But unless I have someone really rich who really likes my store here then I don't think I'll be able to repeat the success my New York locations are getting."

"What does that mean?" Luke asks not knowing what Benji is talking about.

"Apparently my New York stores have one very rich client who buys a lot from my locations there," Benji says. "She just spends money like it's water."

"Must be nice," Luke notes momentarily imagining what it would be like to have millions of dollars and being able to buy anything and everything. He would buy property all over the country, all over the world, he would buy a new car, he's been wanting a new car for years now. Or maybe...

"Luke," Benji says interrupting Luke's fantasy. "You with me?"

"Yeah. Sorry," Luke says shaking his head. "My bad. So who is this rich client?"

"Her name is Donna Vanderbilt," Benji says. "It just sounds like a rich name, huh?"

"Yeah," Luke agrees. "So why don't you call Donna Vanderbilt and see if she'd be interesting in anything you carry at the San Diego store."

Benji thinks it over before responding, he smiles and nods, "That's a really good idea. That's a fabulous idea! Thanks Luke."

"Your welcome," Luke smiles. "Glad to help."

"Maybe I should plan a trip to New York to meet with the client personally," Benji thinks out loud.

"That's a good idea," Luke agrees. "I think you should go for it." They were then interrupted by Luke's phone ringing. "Hello?" Luke answers.

"Luke, this is Jackson." Luke could hear the distress in Jackson's voice.

"Hey Jackson, what's up?"

"I think something's wrong with Shane," Jackson tell him.

"What do you mean?" Luke asks confused.

"He got some call today from Brenda and when he hung up with her he seemed different. I don't know what happened, but he just got up and left and I haven't been able to get a hold of him," Jackson says. "I think something's wrong."

"I'm sure he's fine," Luke says trying to calm Jackson down. "He's just been a little stressed. I'll call him and get back to you, okay?"

"I think it's more serious than that," Jackson says. "I'm really worried."

"I'll call you back," Luke tells Jackson before hanging up. He then dials Shane's number.

"Everything okay?" Benji asks raising an eyebrow.

"We'll find out," Luke shrugs. He wasn't too worried before, but now Shane's phone goes directly to voicemail without it ringing. "That's weird. Shane's phone is off."

"He never turns his phone off," Benji says.

"I know," Luke replies. He then wonders if Jackson is right. Maybe something really is wrong with Shane. Luke and Benji both exchange worried looks with one another, hoping that Shane's okay.

To Be Continued...

With any comments, questions or feedback pleas e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thanks so much! Have a great day!