Chapter 31

After Justin had taken Luke back to Emmett's place that night, things had continued as normal. On Friday Luke had joined them for dinner once more and once again it had been a surprisingly nice experience.

It was obvious that they were all missing their normal time together and when Luke stayed for dinner, they made the most of that time together.

Conversation flowed easily and was nice and Vicky was beyond happy to see her brother once more.

On Sunday Luke even joined family dinner which had surprised both Brian and Justin. Family dinner had been scheduled to take place at Emmett's house and Justin had offered that they could host it at Britin instead, so Luke wouldn't be put in an awkward position with the whole family coming over to his temporary home.

Emmett had thanked him for the offer, but had then explained that Luke had talked to him and had told him that he would be fine with dinner going ahead as planned and everyone coming to his house.

Both Brian and Justin had been beyond surprised, but had decided to go with the flow. As Luke had asked them, they allowed him to do this in his own time and if he felt that family dinner would be okay, they would be the last to contradict him.

When dinner came around, neither was really surprised though that Luke mostly spent his time with Jenny and Vicky and mostly avoided talking to any of the adults. There were short greetings, but that was mostly it and thankfully everyone in the family seemed to accept that Luke wasn't ready for more yet.

Brian still remembered how Luke had come up to him after dinner and had sat down in the seat next to his where Vicky had been sitting earlier.

“Dad?”

“Yeah?” Brian looked at his son with a frown, slightly surprised that Luke was now sitting next to him after he had pretty much ignored all of the adults, including him and Justin for most of the evening.

“Are you busy at work tomorrow?”

Brian frowned, not quite sure what to make of that question. “I don't think so. This close to Christmas there shouldn't be anything too urgent. I'll have to check with Ted.”

Luke nodded, then cleared his throat.

“It's just that... I have that follow-up appointment at the hospital tomorrow and... I wondered if you could come along. I mean... you know about these types of injuries and know what to ask and what to pay attention to,” he said and it wasn't hard for Brian to hear the insecurity in his son's voice. “Only if you're not busy of course. Otherwise I can just ask Papa or Emmett or someone...”

Brian turned to look at Luke more closely. “Of course I can come along. You know I'll make the time for it.”

“Thanks, Dad. I... I appreciate it,” Luke said quietly, looking at his father gratefully.

“Of course,” Brian nodded. “When is the appointment?”

“After school. I was thinking I could take the bus once class is over.”

“I can pick you up from school. I'll be coming in from Pittsburgh and will pass it anyway,” Brian offered.

“Yeah, that would be great,” Luke nodded. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Don't worry about it,” Brian said seriously. “You know I'll always be available if you need me.”

Luke nodded gratefully, then moved away to his seat next to Jenny again.

When Brian turned around, he felt Justin's hand on his thigh giving him a gentle squeeze. As he looked up and met his husband's gaze, he saw a gentle smile on his face.

“This is good,” Justin said quietly and Brian had to agree. It was good. It was another step in the right direction.

And so Brian had joined Luke at the hospital on Monday for his follow-up. Thankfully, everything had looked good and Luke hadn't felt any pain or discomfort when the doctor had asked him to walk a couple of steps in his office.

It seemed like Luke's ankle had healed nicely and was okay. Nevertheless, the doctor urged him to still take it slow and to not put too much pressure on the ankle. He advised Luke to keep wearing a bandage to offer support for his ankle for at least another week or two and to not do any sports for at least another week.

No one had seemed surprised at Luke's relief to get rid of his crutches and he seemed happy enough as they had left the clinic.

Brian asked Luke if he wanted to come home to tell Justin about the good news himself and was quite excited when Luke agreed.

They then went home and Luke stayed for another dinner with his family at which they celebrated the good news that his ankle was doing okay and he was rid of the crutches that had annoyed him so much.

Luke had come for dinner one more time on the Wednesday of that week and had surprised both Brian and Justin when he had asked them if it was okay if he spent the night on Friday.

“It's Mark's birthday slash Christmas party and I think it's better if someone just has to pick me up and get me back here instead of getting me all the way back to Pittsburgh to Emmett's place,” he had said as he had looked at both his fathers during dinner on Wednesday.

Mark was one of Luke's closest friends and they had been friends ever since they had been in pre-school together. He lived in the same neighbourhood, about five minutes away by car and Luke and Mark had spent many playdates together and would ride to school together, etc.

Brian and Justin knew Mark's parents very well and there had been many sleepovers at their house or Mark's house. They trusted Mark's parents just like Mark's parents trusted them and both sets of parents had become good friends over the years that their sons had been friends.

As Mark's birthday was so close to Christmas, it had become kind of a tradition in the last three years that he would have a birthday/Christmas party for all his friends. It wasn't really a party per se as there was no alcohol, but there was music, greasy food and lots of soda, kind of a last hurrah before the Christmas holidays would begin and everyone would spend more time with their families than their friends.

Brian and Justin remembered how much fun Luke had had at the party the previous year and with Mark being his best friend, they knew he wouldn't want to miss it. And he shouldn't. Not because of some problems that he had with his fathers. That shouldn't impact his friendships with his friends from school.

“We can take you back to Pittsburgh, Luke. That will be fine. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to,” Justin said quietly, looking at his son from honest eyes. “It's fine.”

“There's supposed to be rain and freezing temperatures,” Luke pointed out. “I don't think driving all the way to Pittsburgh would be good with the weather taking a turn like that.”

“Are you sure?” Brian asked, looking at Luke from worried eyes. They knew that things had been better over the last week, but everyone was aware that they were still far from being back to normal. “I am sure if we speak to Mark's parents and explain, they wouldn't mind letting you sleep over if you're more comfortable with that...”

“It's alright, Dad...Papa... Really,” Luke assured his parents, looking at them from sincere eyes. “I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't and... I know that they wouldn't mind if I asked them, but... I think... I think I want to sleep here in my own room...”

Brian and Justin nodded. Both had heard the longing in Luke's voice and knew that this was something he needed to do. They knew that this was the next step and that he needed to see if he was okay with staying at home again. And neither of them would have said anything to stop him. If he thought he was ready for this and this was what he wanted to do, then they would support him and be happy about it. It was the least they could do.

“Okay,” Justin agreed, looking first at Brian, then at Luke. “You know you're always welcome here and if this is what you want to do, this is what we'll do. Your Dad or I can pick you up after the party, no problem.”

And so they had looked forward to Luke spending a night at their home again. It was kind of ridiculous how happy the prospect of Luke spending a night at home made them, but to them it was a further sign that things were moving in the right direction and that Luke was slowly moving on from what had happened when he had been a baby as well. Three weeks ago he had yelled at them and had told them that he hated them and had been ready to run away from home and now he wanted to spend the night. They had clearly made a lot of steps in the right direction over the last three weeks.

It had been close to midnight on the Friday when Luke had called Justin's phone, asking him if he could pick him up from Mark's house as the party was winding down.

In the end it had been Brian who had driven out and had picked up their son.

“Dad? I thought Papa would come and pick me up,” Luke frowned when he saw his Dad in the hallway of Mark's parents' house.

“With the icy conditions outside, we decided it was better if I went and picked you up,” Brian just shrugged and it was clear to Luke that there was more to the story than his Dad was saying, but he also knew that this wasn't the right time to ask questions as they were surrounded by his friends and some parents.

“Okay,” Luke just nodded, though his eyes made it clear that he still had questions. “Can we give Sam a ride home? His mom is home alone as his Dad is at a company Christmas thing and she's a bit afraid of driving in this weather. He lives just around the corner from us, really.”

“Sure,” Brian nodded, looking around at the boys and some of the girls gathered in the hallway. “Does anyone else need a ride?”

They all shook their head and Mark's father just came up to them at that moment. “Are you sure it won't be a problem, Brian? We can give Sam a ride home, no problem.”

Brian waved away his offer. “Don't worry about it. We're already out and on the way anyway. No need for you to get out in these conditions as well.”

“Thanks! I really appreciate it,” he said, sounding rather glad not to have to get out at this time of night.

Brian nodded once more, then turned to Luke and Sam. “You guys ready to head home?”

They both nodded, then said goodbye to their friends as more parents arrived, ready to pick up their children. Brian made small-talk with some of them, knowing them from various school events that had taken place over the years and they all waited for the kids to say goodbye and wish each other happy holidays.

Ten minutes later he and the two boys were on their way home. They dropped of Sam who only lived a couple of minutes up the road from them, then made their way back to Britin.

“Dad?” Luke asked, turning to look at his father from the passenger seat. “Is everything okay with Papa?”

“Of course, your Papa is fine,” Brian said, focusing on the road ahead, which had by now become quite slippery. It had rained earlier and temperatures were freezing which always made for bad road conditions.

“It's just that he said this afternoon that he would come and pick me up and... I know he doesn't really mind driving in these conditions. He does it all the time.”

And Luke was right. Just like Brian was used to driving in these conditions, so was Justin. You didn't grow up in Pittsburgh and live there for so many years without knowing how to drive in winter. And they had been living at Britin for long enough to both be used to winters and drives in winter. There had been enough days with bad weather when they had needed to head into Pittsburgh for whatever reason and both of them were more than familiar with driving in this weather.

Brian sighed, knowing that Luke had looked right through him and his excuse. “He was painting this afternoon. He overstrained his hand a bit and has had cramps all evening. We both agreed that it wasn't really safe for him to drive in this weather if there was a chance that his hand had a cramp during the ride home.”

Luke nodded, then let out a quiet 'Shit'.

“He'll be fine,” Brian immediately tried to assure his son. “You know how his hand gets. He'll just have to take it easy for a day or two and then it'll be okay. He won't like it, but that's how it always is.”

All their children had seen Justin overdo it and had seen his hand having cramps over the years. They all knew why it was happening and that while it was painful and annoying, it wasn't anything serious and would go away again in a day or two. They also knew that other than resting his hand and doing some exercises, there wasn't much that could be done about it.

“It just sucks that it's still happening after all these years,” Luke said quietly, looking at his dad from sad eyes.

He knew the story of his father getting attacked at his prom, he knew the story of him being in a coma and the brain injury he had suffered from and he had also heard about the effects that attack had had on both his parents. He knew how much his Dad hated to see his Papa in pain and he knew how much he was bothered by these cramps when they happened.

“Nothing we can do about it,” Brian just replied, never taking his eyes off the road in front of him. “He's fine. You know he is. Don't worry about him.”

“You're doing enough of that for all of us,” Luke stated, knowing that it was the truth. He knew that his Dad worried about his Papa and every time he had trouble with his hand, it seemed to bother his Dad almost more than his Papa. His Papa seemed to have resigned himself to the fact that it happened and was part of his life, but his Dad always seemed to get angry when it happened and started hovering which in return only annoyed his Papa who didn't see what the big deal was.

“How annoyed is he with you on a scale of one to ten?” Luke therefore asked next, a mischievous grin on his face as he looked at his Dad.

Brian threw a glare in his son's direction, then quickly focused back on the road. Luke almost expected that his father wouldn't reply when he heard a quiet mutter, almost as quiet as a whisper.

“Eight.”

Luke just shook his head in amusement. “You two are hopeless... You know how much he hates when you hover when his hand is giving him a hard time.”

As they turned into the drive to Britin, Brian threw a glance in Luke's direction once more. “And he knows I can't help it. So tough luck...”

Luke chuckled as they made their way up to the house. He knew his parents would probably never change and really, he wasn't sure if he wanted them to.

His Papa having trouble with his hand, his Dad hovering and being overbearing, telling him he shouldn't have overstrained it to begin with, his Papa then getting angry with his Dad and them both muttering angrily about how stubborn the other was was something Luke was as familiar with as his Dad overdoing it on one of their runs, his Papa worrying about his lungs and his Dad getting angry with his Papa for worrying too much. It was just who they were and Luke knew better than to be worried about the fact that they had obviously been fighting.

They always did and then just like they would get angry at each other, his Dad would wordlessly massage his Papa's hand and help him with his exercises to alleviate the pain and all would be good again between them.

He had witnessed it many times before and more than anything it just amused him by now which was why he was still grinning when his Dad parked the car in the garage and they made their way inside.

Luke wasn't surprised to find his Papa sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of him and his microwaveable heat pack wrapped around his hand.

“How was the party?” Justin asked him the moment they entered the kitchen.

“Good, we had a good time. How's your hand?” Luke nodded towards the heat pack that was wrapped around it.

“Not nearly as bad as he'd like you to believe,” he sighed, throwing a look at Brian that spoke about the fact that he knew that Brian had told Luke about his hand. “Almost as good as new.”

Luke nodded, then moved to the fridge and got himself some juice. “That's good.”

He wasn't able to hide his smile when he saw his Dad wordlessly sit down next to his Papa, saw him unwrap the heat pack and start massaging the smaller hand gently. His Papa allowed it to happen without a word and that more than anything showed Luke that they would be alright. Just like they had always been so many times before.

“I think I'll head to bed. It's been a long day.”

“Alright,” Justin nodded. “Sleep tight! We love you!”

“Love you, sonny boy,” his Dad said as well.

Luke nodded. “Love you, too.”

He then headed towards the hallway and the stairs to his room.

When he got up the next morning, he wasn't surprised when he found his fathers kissing as they were preparing breakfast. Just as he had known and expected, they were fine and things had returned to normal between them.

They were kissing just as much as always and seemed just as happy as ever as they prepared breakfast.

Vicky was drinking a glass of orange juice and rolled her eyes at him when he came into the kitchen, making a face about their fathers' antics.

“They just won't stop kissing,” she sighed dramatically in her brother's direction.

“You should be used to it by now,” their Dad threw in their direction when he moved his lips away from their Papa's for a few short seconds.

“I am hungry, Daddy... How much longer till we can have breakfast?” Vicky asked, looking at her father from what she hoped were miserable eyes that would get him to finally take pity on her and get her some breakfast.

“Only two more minutes,” her Papa announced, making his way out of their dad's embrace and bringing over a plate full of pancakes. He then headed to the fridge for some toppings and fruit salad that he had prepared earlier.

Once everything was on the table, they sat down and started having breakfast.

“Are you going back to Auntie Em's soon or will you stay and play with me for a bit?” Vicky asked Luke after she had finished her first pancake. “Please stay and play with me.”

“Sure, I don't have any plans today,” Luke said, smiling at his sister. “Though I want to get in some exercise. I haven't really had much chance recently and was thinking I could spend some time in the gym.”

They had their own gym in the basement though only Brian and Luke used it. Justin just couldn't be bothered and always claimed that he got enough of a workout by being married to Brian and Gus claimed that exercise was overrated anyway. Thankfully, he had inherited his father's genes and was naturally thin.

“Remember what the doctor said,” Brian said with a raised eyebrow.

“I was thinking I could use the bike. That should be fine with my ankle.”

Brian nodded slowly, though it was clear that he wasn't really all too happy about it.

“Why don't you come and join me? That way you can make sure I won't overdo it,” Luke offered, looking up at his Dad. They had often exercised together, so why not do it again?

“I think that would be a good idea,” Justin said, looking from Brian to Luke and back.

And that's where they were now. In their gym in the basement, Brian running on the treadmill while Luke was using the stationary bike.

They had been down here for the last thirty minutes and Luke knew that they should probably call it a day soon. For the sake of his ankle as well as his Dad's lungs. And because there was something he needed to talk to his Dad about. And it was eating at his nerves and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it inside.

“Dad?” He asked, stopping his exercise and turning towards his dad who was looking up at him from the treadmill.

“Can I ask you something?” Luke went on after he had wiped his face with his towel and walked over to the treadmill where his dad was now slowing down the pace and was by now walking at a comfortable pace, looking at him with a frown.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Do you think...,” Luke sighed, taking a deep breath before he continued. “Do you think it would be okay if I came home?”

Brian stopped the treadmill completely and looked at his son from surprised eyes. “If that's what you want to do,” he said slowly, looking at his son closely, not quite sure what to make of that question.

“I just... I don't think I want to not be home for Christmas... I mean... I love Emmett and Drew, but... I think I want to be home for Christmas. With you, Papa...Gus and Vicky,” the boy went on, his voice quiet and full of emotion.

“We would love that,” Brian said sincerely. “I would love that.”

“I just... I know I want to be home for Christmas, but I am still so confused by everything...,” Luke admitted, looking at his Dad from pained eyes.

“We would love to have you back home, Luke. If only for Christmas or even beyond that... We can take it one day at a time. No need to make a final decision yet,” Brian said, looking at his son from understanding eyes. “We promised you that we wouldn't pressure you and we won't.”

Luke nodded gratefully. “Thanks, Dad.”

“If you want to come home for Christmas, we'll gladly have you. I know it will make my Christmas and I am sure it will be the same for your Papa as well and... beyond that... we can worry about that when Christmas is over and you know how it felt for you to be back home.”

“Would you be angry if... if I wanted to go back to Emmett's after Christmas?” Luke asked, his voice wavering slightly as he spoke.

“Sad,” Brian said. “I would be sad, but I wouldn't be angry. Luke, I just want you to be happy and if coming home for Christmas and then going back to Emmett's is what will make you happy, then that's what you'll do. And if you decide that you want to stay after Christmas, then that will be more than okay as well. We'll do this at your pace and you decide what you feel comfortable with. It's completely up to you, but... this is your home and as far as your Papa and I are concerned, we'll always want you back here and we'll always be happy to have you here.”

Luke nodded. “Thanks, Dad!”

“Come here,” Brian said quietly, opening his arms for a hug. He was glad when Luke didn't hesitate and immediately came over and engulfed him. “I love you, Luke. Always have, always will. Never forget that!”

“I love you, too, Dad,” Luke whispered as he hugged his father.

After a few minutes of them hugging and holding each other close, Luke slowly pulled back and made a face at his father. “I stink like a pig... I really need a shower.”

“You and me both, sonny boy,” Brian agreed after raising his arms and making a show of taking a sniff and making a disgusted face. “You and me both.”

Luke wiped his face with his towel once more, then headed for the door.

“Before you go and take that shower, go and tell your Papa, okay? You'll really make his day,” Brian said, his voice gentle and loving when he spoke.

Luke nodded, a small smile on his face as he left the room.

“You just made mine, sonny boy,” Brian whispered as he looked after him, a single tear making its way down his face.