Affairs of Life and Heart
Author: Emberlynn
Fandom: As the World Turns
Pairings: Luke/Noah, Lily/Holden, Maddie/Casey
Rating: T/PG-13
Disclaimer: Own nothing. Sadly.
Spoilers: None, but you're going to have to go read Secret Nights to understand what's going on. So, go, read it again!
Part: (1/7)
Summary: "Let us capture this moment, and make it forever."
Author’s Note: I’m baaaaaaaack! With another Victorian Luke & Noah story! New characters, new twists, new turns, and so on.

This starts the same evening/night as the final scene in SN!

-Chapter One: Defying-

Madeline,

I cannot suppress my feelings for you any longer, and I must write this letter to you. I know it is not my place to write or read, but after several years of living with the Grimaldi’s, and now working with your family, it is most difficult not to learn.

Your engagement to the son of Colonel Winston Mayer does come as a rather unpleasant shock to me. When you told me of your encounter with him several years ago, you did not seem to care for him – I recall your saying he was a troublemaker and a deviant. From what little information I gather from my mother, he frequently calls upon Mr. Grimaldi. The new head of the Grimaldi household seems to have a rather peculiar relationship with your intended. I feel I must warn you of this, since growing up in the Grimaldi household was far from a pleasant experience.

And you, my love, how do you fare? I long for the day to whisper sweet words in your ear, to caress your rose-tinted cheeks – but I know this can never be again. Before Mayer steals you away to an empty life without love, and yes, he does not, and cannot, love you, and I know you have naught but bitterness for him, for your heart is already mine to treasure – before he takes you away from me, we must meet one last time. Tomorrow. In our usual place.

My heart to keep,

C. R. M.

Madeline Coleman unceremoniously dropped the teacup she held, watching it shatter as it met its demise on the floor. “Oh, Madeline!” Vienna Hyatt pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. Vienna was the new fiancée of Madeline’s eldest sibling, Officer Henry Coleman, “Is it a love letter from your future husband?”

Madeline’s breath hitched in her throat as she lied, “Yes. Yes it is.”

--

Deep in the Oakdale forest walked two boys near the lake near at the forest’s center. The moonlight and the stars shone onto the solitary spot, causing everything to have a soft, pale white glow.

“It is very peaceful out here,” Noah told Luke they circled the frozen spring.

“A son of one of our servants showed it to me once,” Luke recalled, sitting down near the edge.

“Oh?” Noah gave him a suspicious (‘Jealous?’ Luke pondered) glance.

“When we were children,” Luke explained, “My father was not fond of his presence. And whenever I grew frustrated with him…The boy once showed me this place, his escape. Which soon became my escape as well.”

“And now it will be ours,” Noah sat wrapped his arm around Luke with a rascal’s grin painted on his face.

“Don’t ponder on it, Mayer,” Luke read Noah’s thoughts, “The ice is much too thin. And I wouldn’t want you falling through and freezing to death.”

“Ever the worrier,” Noah whispered, tucking a piece of Luke’s hair behind his ear.

“And rightfully so, in my opinion,” Luke playfully glared at the other man, “Ever since Father passed away, my family’s world has been turned upside down. My mother expects me to pick up my father’s business right where he left off, and it is impossible for me to do so.”

“You do not understand your father’s trade?”

“I do, but I do not wish to have any part of it,” Luke scowled, “’Tis a dirty business. Too many innocent people hurt for money and power.”

“Hurt?” Noah was appalled.

“Please, Noah,” Luke’s voice was filled with regret and hesitancy, “Do not ask me to speak about it.”

“Then I shall not,” Noah concurred, “Let us sit here and enjoy the night sky together.”

“And let us capture this moment, and make it forever,” Luke laid his head on Noah’s shoulder.

“With you, that is all I want,” Noah pressed a kiss onto Luke’s forehead, tenderly grasping Luke’s hand in his own.

“You never feel that this could be…wrong?” Luke asked quietly and uncertainly, “That this isn’t how it supposed to be, you and me, together, like this?”

“Oh, my Luciano,” Noah chuckled, “Nothing has ever felt quite so right. Rules of society have never mattered to me. You make me happy. There is no law that can say that is wrong.”

“But, Mayer…”

Noah pulled away from Luke to stare intently at him, “Are you trying to express that you feel indecent being together like this?”

“No! I just – I just don’t fully understand the ways of the heart, I suppose,” Luke shrugged.

“It does work in strange ways,” Noah agreed, “But whatever unimaginable ways aside, we are here now. I say we enjoy this night before it ends, and it will, all too soon for my taste.”

“We have our futures to consider,” Luke reminded, “Your intended, my occupation…”

“And you,” Noah pressed, “Whether you like it or not, you will be a part of my future, and I yours.”

“Stubborn to the end, Mayer?”

“As always.”

“Well, it is a good thing then, that I am someone who easily acquiesces to your mulishness,” Luke smirked.

“Then it is even better, when these stubborn lips of mine,” Noah closed the gap between them, his hands running along Luke’s back, pulling him close, “meet your conceding…” Their mouths met before Noah could complete his thoughts. Luke’s hand came to rest on Noah’s cheek while their lips dueled. The taste of passion tingled skin on skin, tongue on tongue, lips on lips. A few fleeting moments later, Noah pulled millimeters away, murmuring, “I need to know one thing, Grimaldi.”

“What?” Luke replied, a hint of agitation in his answer.

“When did youth and loneliness become excuses?”

“Mayer,” Luke smiled, “please, do shut up and kiss me again.”

And Noah most happily obliged.

-End Chapter One-

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