All My Shadows

Being pre-occupied with the holidays combined with SON's downtime caused this entry to be a month and week later than the last entry. Of course, I apologize. Honestly, if anyone has any good tips on how to pick a timeframe and stick to it, PLEASE let me know! I honestly don't see how some of you guys have the ability to just pump out material day after day after day. You guys are much better than me! Anyways, here is part fifteen of our story. Oddly enough, I've decided to make the story run longer because I feel I need more time to develop some things that will become important as the story goes on. Whatever happens, I hope that everyone is enjoying where things are at now! Comments are more than welcomed. AS THE WORLD TURNS "Luke & Kevin" Part 15 Lucinda sat in her home office reviewing paperwork for her company. She was back in full force after taking a leave to deal with her cancer. It was so hard for her to just sit there and watch other people make major decisions for the business that she built from the ground up. It was what she had always envisioned it to be and the thought of others running it...it scared her. But she was back now, back where she belonged, and nothing was going to make her leave again. She exhaled deeply and put her elbows on the desk, resting her chin on the platform made by her fists. She aimlessly looked down at the desktop and picked up the day's issue of her newspaper, The City Times. Thumbing through the pages, looking for something to take her mind off work, she found something that did exactly the opposite, a headline about Sean Davis's death. Lucinda rolled the paper up and threw it across the room into a trash can. She got up and went for the door, but before she could put her hand on the knob, it twisted and the door opened. It was Kevin. "Um, hello, who are you?" Lucinda asked, rather annoyed that he just slipped into her home without notice. "Can I help you?" "I'm Kevin Davis," Kevin answered. There was an edge in his voice, but he didn't seem to angry. Of course, this was indeed the woman he blamed for his father's death. It was too easy to just take it all at face value and come to the realization that it was Sean's decision to do what he did and that he had to live with his mistake. No, Kevin had to have someone right there to put the blame on, and somehow, he decided Lucinda was that someone. Lucinda carelessly let out a little laugh. "Ah yes, of course, of course." In her mind, she thought, "This is just what I needed." "I wanted to know if you've seen Luke yet today. I went to his house, but the place was empty. No one was there" The diva was a bit relieved. "No, no, I haven't seen my grandson at all today. You must be the young man who's putting his heart on cloud nine, I presume." Kevin seemed to ignore that comment. "If you see him, tell I need to talk to him, please." He nodded and turned to walk away. "Um...young man, I can't express how deeply saddened I am about the news of your father's passing. Please except my deepest sympathies," Lucinda said to him as he stood in the hallway. He turned to face her. "If there's anything that Worldwide can do..." Kevin couldn't believe that this woman just proposed to give him some sort of consolation prize for losing his father. "No, thank you, I'm fine," he simply said, fearing that she would unleash the anger in him. Lucinda wasn't convinced, so she continued to try to make him see that she was truly sorry. "I just got off the phone this morning with some of the executives at Worldwide and we've decided to put a memorial plaque in the lobby of our headquarters." "Why?" Kevin asked before he could stop himself, but now it was too late to stop. "Why spend money on a plaque that he'll never see? Why couldn't you just have let him keep his job? I mean, he was working there ever since you even started the business, I'm sure he deserved more than to be given a pink slip." Lucinda felt cornered. "His whole division was cut. I assure you that we tried our best to keep your father on board, but what had to be done had to be done. We even set up another job for him at another division, but he refused to take it." Kevin did not know this. Why on Earth would his father pass up the chance of having another job? "Of course, he would have had to move to Chicago, but..." "Move...to Chicago?" Kevin asked. And now it was suddenly understandable to him. His mother lived in Chicago and his father, the selfish jerk, didn't want Kevin to live closer to his mother. "Yes," Lucinda said. "He said that you wouldn't have been able to adapt so easily to the big city life, so he passed on the job for your own good. Not that I'm blaming you for the events that have occured..." "I understand," Kevin cut in. He didn't know what to feel at this point. The realization that his father's jealous greed killed him...it just tore through the young man's soul. He could have helped his father! If he had only knew about the job offer... "I hate to rush you, but I do have some business to tend to," Lucinda said, hoping not to ruffle any feathers. She could sense that she had let him down already, she didn't want to make it worse. "Oh, of course, I'm sorry," Kevin sincerely replied. "Uh...thank you. Thank you very much." ~~~~~~~~~ Lily put her key into the doorknob of her home and turned. Just as she stepped over the threshold, she could hear her husband's vehicle arrive in the driveway. Following were his footsteps as he took the same path that she had taken not too long before. Lily kept the door open for him and smiled at his presence. It was odd, they had been together on-and-off for years and years, yet they still felt a small rush of excitement when they saw each other. They had gone through so much since their first meeting over twenty years ago, but both were now sure that this was it. They were going to be together forever. Now, they hugged. "My, my, my," Holden said. "I keep bumping into this woman, this amazing woman..." "Oh, really?" Lily asked, playing along. "Well, I keep seeing this tall stranger, this dashing debonair man..." "Oh, really? Well, if I catch the jerk, I'm going to knock his head off!" "Oh, Holden..." Lily simply sighed as they walked into the living room together. She hoped, hoped, hoped that the conversation would not turn to their teenaged son, but she also knew that it was inevitable that it would. Unbeknownst to her, Holden also wanted to stay away from Luke conversation. He wanted to believe that they didn't have to always be there for Luke's rescue and that maybe he'd figure out his current troubles all on his own. Like Lily, he also had a feeling that they'd eventually start talking about their son. Instead of beating around the bush with smalltalk, Holden decided to just get started with it. "Where's Luke?" he asked. Lily let out a small chuckle. "Luke...well, Luke is on his way to see Kevin, or so he told me." Holden's face wrinkled with question. "That doesn't sound right." "He's gone to see Kevin, Holden. I'm not going to just say it like it's nothing, especially after what happened today." Now she had his attention. Honestly, as long as she planned to go on and on about her disapproval of Kevin, he wasn't going to invest much into the conversation, but now, he wanted to know. "What happened today?" Lily wanted to take back what she said. She figured that she had already handled the situation herself and she really didn't want to get Holden involved. But, on the other hand, he was Luke's father and he did have a right to know. Really, she was beyond pissed when finding out Luke was gay hit her all at once. All Holden had to do was just tell her that he had suspicions, but he didn't. It would indeed serve him right to be left out in the dark, but Lily knew she couldn't do that to him. He was the man she loved. "Well...I went to the library earlier today to pick up some books for the girls, and right as I pulled up into the parking lot, Luke...was being heckled by a bunch of guys from his school," Lily said. She tried to make it seem like it was no big deal, but she knew it wasn't working out that way. "I had to break it up, but Luke said that everything was fine." Holden reacted the way she knew he would. "Wait a minute, you say he was heckled. What are we talking, verbal, physical? Who were these guys?" "Well, when I showed up, they were all cornering Luke in front of the library, and one of them was holding him down, but I don't think - " "Oh hell no!" Holden exclaimed. He got up and began to walk away, but Lily's call stopped him. "Holden? Where are you going? Are you going to do something stupid? They're just immature little kids who don't know how to acknowledge the differences in people! They'll learn, someday they'll learn." "Yeah, because I'm going to teach them a damn lesson!" Holden said. Never had he been so upset about something. "Where's Luke now?" "I don't know. We talked for a while at the library then he left. I asked him if he was going to be okay and he said that he would be fine. Come on, Holden, sit down. It's not worth getting worked up over." Holden sat down next to Lily on the sofa. "This was the last thing I wanted to happen to him. The last thing." "I know...me too, but...I don't know. Luke is a young adult now. I think he's at the point where he wants to experience things. Think about our own lives. Would we be the same people we are today had it not been for things we've had to deal with in the past?" Holden let Lily's words soak in. What she said made so much sense to him. He kissed her. "No, we wouldn't. And I guess that maybe you're right...this kind of stuff only makes him stronger. But I just wish that I could eliminate all of that from his life. I want to just take it away for him." "Holden, so do I! We just have to...we just have to let him do what's best for him and not get in the way." "Okay...and just who are you? What did you do with my wife?" "What is that supposed to mean?" Lily was glad that their talk became a more light-hearted. "Is your wife not allowed to be mature and make sense?" "Oh, she is, but she usually opts to take another route," Holden said. He kissed her again. "I love you." "I love you too." "And we both love our son." "Right." "And so do the girls. And so do Mama and Lucinda, and Meg, and Jack and Carly." "And Kevin." Holden looked Lily in the eyes. "And Kevin," he repeated. "And Kevin loves him too." ~~~~~~~~~ Luke showed up and Nora's apartment late in the morning. It seemed like a lifetime since he and Kevin had been with each other and the thought of being close to the person that he loved was something that kept him burning all through the night and into the morning. It was the prospect of continuing his relationship with Kevin that kept him going. He was quite interested in seeing where this thing would go. They were still only in the beginning stages, but in Luke's mind, there was a whole world ahead of the two of them. But for now, they'd have to help each other get through some things. Luke worried about Kevin's feelings about his father. He knew that their relationship was far from conventional, but he did not know what to expect of Kevin's reaction. Whatever it was, Luke had a feeling that Kevin felt that it was done. But Luke himself knew all too well that it wasn't. He rang the doorbell twice, but there seemed to be no one home. He rang the bell again, this time following it with a knock. Just as he turned around, ready to give up, the door opened and a strange woman appeared. "How can I help you?" she asked. Luke felt embarrassed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have the wrong place. The last time I came here, it was dark and -" "Well, if you're looking for my niece Nora, you're at the right place." "Oh! Okay, yeah. Wait a second, though...you're niece Laura?" Luke looked at her for a second. "Mrs. Davis?!" "Yes...and how do I know you?" Sheryl replied, as if she was almost ready to slam the door. "Mrs. Davis, it's me! Luke Snyder! Kevin's best friend." Sheryl stepped back and looked at him. "Oh, it is you!" she finally said. She took him into a hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you and you've grown so big and tall, I could hardly recognize you!" "I almost couldn't recognize you," Luke said. They broke apart. "You look really, really good, Mrs. Davis. You know, Kevin told me about what went on between you and Mr. Davis and I'm glad that you...you know, that you were able to move past that and turn over a new leaf." "Thank you, Luke," Sheryl said. They went inside. "It was hard at times. Oh, it was so hard. I think the hardest part of it all was not having my son with me. But I knew what I had to do and I knew someday it'd all pay off." "You're right," Luke said. They sat down on the sofa. "How do you feel about coming back to Oakdale to bury your ex-husband?" Sheryl paused and looked at him, telling him that his question made her uneasy. "Or is that really none of my business?" he quickly added. "No, no, it's not that," Sheryl said. "It's just that you're the first person who's asked me that since I've come here and you know, I really don't know the answer. I feel...I don't know. I feel betrayed because that sense of closure isn't there. I always believed that even though I'd never ever get back with Sean, he could be a nice enough guy for me and him to be friends for Kevin's sake. But that can never happen now. I just want it all to be over with so I can go back to Chicago with my Kevin." Luke's heart was warmed by that sense of hope that Sheryl had. But then he actually listened to what she said. "Go back to Chicago with Kevin?" "Yes," Sheryl said. "When did you all decide that?" Luke asked, kind of sternly. "Well, he's been staying here with Nora for a few days now and I just wanted him to put Oakdale behind him and - " "Wow," Luke subconsciously let out, not knowing that he cut off her sentence. He didn't know what to feel now. Kevin was honestly going to leave Oakdale without telling him? No, Kevin would have told him. He was simply waiting for the right time to tell him. "When...when are you guys leaving?" "As soon as we tie up the loose ends with Sean. He didn't want a service, so that'll make things much easier." "And then...and then you and Kevin will be moving to Chicago?" "Well...Kevin isn't completely sure yet if he wants to go with me...but I'm going to give him time. I'm sure he'll see what good it's going to do him." Luke suddenly felt sick. His breath grew short and he became scared. The last time this happened...the last time was too scary to even revisit. He took a deep breath. "I'm going to leave...I have to go outside to get some air." He went for the door and as soon as he was outside, he pulled out the inhaler that he had to use and took a puff from it. He looked at his car and didn't even think to go back to say goodbye to Mrs. Davis. She was not on his happy list at this moment. But then a car pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Luke didn't recognize it, but it parked right next to his, so he hesitated going to his car. He didn't want to run the risk of getting mugged or something. But then Kevin exited the car and said goodbyes to the guys inside, thanking them for the ride. As the car drove away, Kevin noticed Luke standing outside Nora's door. "Oh my God, Snyder, I've been looking for you all day! Where you been?" Luke looked at him. "I went to the library earlier today. And that's about it." "Oh okay," Kevin said. "We should go inside, it's getting really frosty out here considering it's summer. Come on." Kevin took Luke's hand in his and as Kevin put his key into the knob, Luke remembered that Sheryl was sitting inside and she would probably wonder why her son was holding hands with him. The door opened and he quickly jerked his hand out of Kevin's. Obviously not a good idea, as Sheryl was no longer in the living room. Kevin was surprised by Luke's action. "What's the matter?" he asked as he closed the door behind them. "Your mother is here," Luke replied. Disappointed, Kevin rolled his eyes. "You want to go somewhere else?" "No, I'm fine here. As a matter of fact, I wanted to ask you something about her." Kevin sighed. "Don't ask me any questions about her, because I can honestly tell you that I'm just as clueless as anybody about her." Luke took another deep breath. "Actually, it's more about you and her. It's more about you moving to Chicago with her." "Did she tell you that?" Kevin asked, annoyed. "Did she honestly tell you that?" "Yes, and it seemed like things are pretty set as far as that's concerned. Why didn't you tell me that you wanted to move?" "Because I don't! She wants me to move with her, but I'm not going. I'd rather move back into the charred remains of the happy, happy Davis home that move to Chicago. Why...why would I even consider that now that I got you?" Luke couldn't explain his feelings at that point. He felt that he had overreacted about the whole thing. His breath now back to normal, he smiled at Kevin. It was one of those smiles that said "Come here." Kevin understood it perfectly and walked closer to Luke. "I told you that I love you and that means that I'll never leave you." "Of course," Luke said. Kevin put an arm around him and then came the kiss. And soon, both of them had their arms around each other in a soft but passionate lip lock. As they found themselves in this familiar place yet again, one of them kissing the other to make him feel better, they seemed to forget that they were not alone. Sheryl had gone into Nora's bedroom to find herself something to sleep in and to take an aspirin, but once she realized that she heard her son's voice coming from the living room, she returned. She came down the hall way and before she knew it, she saw it. She saw her son and his boyfriend, standing by the front door, holding on to one another and kissing as if there was no tomorrow. TO BE CONTINUED...

Awesome! This is what should have been on the show. Taking time out to celebrate the holiday, but also having the storylines make some kind of progress. I loved it!

And the story continues. I want to take some time in this entry to show some mucho support to all of the other blogs here on SON (or SONBC as some like to call it). I don't comment often (I'm working to change that lol) but that's because usually after catching on the stories, I am just in awe of the greatness and I promise to come back and comment later. Then I wondered, what else would be more encouraging than for someone to read EXACTLY how their writing made them feel? Some of you will think I'm crazy after receiving some of my comments about your work, but please no, I LOVE IT. I love all of the blogs here, though I do keep up with some more than others (and one, I've been following since it's early-early stages, back when it was a thread on the boards). Nevertheless, good job to all. I'm especially enjoying Steve's "From These Roots" at the moment. But anyway, here's part 14 of our story. I went over it so many times and rewrote it a lot, so it changed a lot from what I originally intended, but this version feels right. I think it really highlights that I can be strong with dialog but lacking with descriptives, etc. There are some changes with the blog, as is probably obvious to you all. I changed the blog title to "The Stories" because it's shorter and easier to say than "The Various Soap Opera Fan Fiction Blog." And plus, it gives a shout out to all of the grandmothers out there who still refer to their favorite soap as "my story." The current story's title has been shortened to just "Luke & Kevin" because I think it sounds better than the original title. I added a small cast list on the right side of the screen. Whenever I get to doing the next story (another ATWT tale, focused on the Hughes family), I'll add a list of "past stories." Feel free to comment! AS THE WORLD TURNS "Luke & Kevin" - Part 14 The sound of a vacuum cleaner whizzing across shag carpeting. The smell of lasagna baking in the oven. The sight of a perfectly organized, perfectly cleaned, perfectly beautiful apartment. Surely this was not the home of Nora Jean Larpenter. Of course not. She'd have the sink full of dishes, the linoleum floor would have waxy yellow buildup, and the odor of wine coolers would be in the air. She wasn't trash, but she had trouble keeping a clean home, despite the fact that she lived alone. It was strange, because a teenaged male moved in with her and suddenly the house became something out of "The Donna Reed Show." But it was Nora's place, and Kevin did what he did best in his times of depression: he cooked and cleaned. The windows would have sparkled, but you could see right through them, so it was like they weren't even there.The floor was such a rich color of navy blue and it was without any dust particles. The pillows on the sofa were fluffed to their fluffy capacity. And Kevin probably emptied half the can of mountain valley-scented air freshener. How did this strange habit come to be? What about death and devastation told him to just become a housewife? Maybe it started back in his childhood, when his father would make it a point to beat his mother at least once a week. After he'd leave to get drunk some more, she'd crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep. The young Kevin couldn't bear to see his mother in such pain and he did all he could to make her the least bit happy. And that meant learning how to do teenager chores at the age of 6. Nevertheless, it was what calmed Kevin down and it was something he enjoyed to do. He was sure that Nora would be impressed by the job he had done. As a matter of fact, when the doorbell rang, he was sure it was his cousin, who had went out for her morning jog and coffee date with friends. He went to the door and was surprised to see his mother through the peephole. He stepped back for a second to collect his mood and took a deep breath before opening the door. "Mom," he said. "Hello, son," she said, giving him a big hug. "How are you today?" Instead of replying, he suddenly resumed his vacuuming. The vacuum cleaner, a 1975 original, was too loud for conversation so Sheryl just stood there, watching her son. She tried to smile, but felt awkward. "You wanna turn that thing off for a second? I'd really like to talk to you," she announced. Kevin looked her in the eye before shutting off the vacuum cleaner. "Come in the kitchen," he said. "I made lemonade." ~~~~~~~~~ Luke dotted into the Oakdale public library with a stack of books under his arm. Truth be told, they weren't the average teenage boy fare. With titles ranging from "Midnight Trysts" and "Sinning with a Summer Stud," these were novels meant for mature audiences. Or were they? Perhaps the intent of the writer was for the spinster who lived alone to fantasize, make herself feel young again. Or maybe the writer wanted a suburban trophy wife to feel special and appreciated. Or maybe, just maybe, this writer, this Constance McLaughlin, wanted a 17-year-old guy from Oakdale, Illinois, to experience, for just a moment, what it felt like to be loved by a man. Luke had absolutely no problems being gay. It took him no time to get used to it when he realized it, but for so many years, he wondered if he'd ever get the chance to have a real relationship. He never counted on coming out so soon, so he wondered how long he'd have to live alone, without a person to feel crazy about. He ached for love, and he needed it more and more as he grew older. But now, he thought, he had it, and with a person he didn't think would love him that way. "Returning these?" Mrs. Stacell asked when she saw Luke standing at the counter. "Uh...yes, ma'am," he said. "Yes, I'm returning these." "Alrighty then," Mrs. Stacell said as she took the books from Luke. "How did I know that you'd be interested in these particular titles?" Luke grinned. "Well, they keep my imagination stimulated whenever I'm babysitting the little sisters. I don't read them out aloud, of course." "I would hope not!" Mrs. Stacell joked. "Have a nice day, Luke." Mrs. Stacell put the books on a cart and proceeded to wheel it away. Luke looked forward to finding some more books, and maybe, he thought, he'd get something that Kevin would be interested in to cheer him up. Luke seriously worried about his boyfriend's well-being. He fully intended on dropping by Nora's to see him as soon as he left the library. Suddenly, his plans changed when a group of boys from his school showed up at the library. They were the four guys who always seemed to cause Luke trouble at school. They always hassled him, heckled him, and outright bullied him. They didn't know that Luke was gay, but they knew that he was unlike all of the other guys at school. Luke preferred the company of girls, had great grades, and otherwise stayed out of trouble. Not a "real man" in the eyes of his tormenters. Luke, not being violent, didn't know how to respond to such terrorism. The only thing he could do was leave, and so he went straight for the door, but it was too late. "Well, lookie here, boys. It's our girlfriend, Lucy Snyder," the lead jock, Jimmy, said to the others. "I wonder if he's in the mood for a date." Luke was so annoyed by this that sometimes he wanted to cry, but he didn't. His mind wouldn't let him. Jimmy's idea of a "date" was pretty simple: he and his friends would torment him continuously until either he or they left. The sad thing was, before it all began, Luke would have died to have had a real date with Jimmy. Jimmy was, in Luke's eyes, the perfect male speciman, physically. He had everything that Luke liked, but those feelings died fast after their first "date." "Look, Jimmy," Luke began, "I'm not in the mood for anything with you guys, okay? Now I know you get some kind of a kick out of my sexual orientation, but please, not today." The jerks were shocked. "Your 'sexual orientation?' You finally admit it now?" Jimmy asked. "You're finally swinging open that closet door?" "You know what? I'm just going to leave. How about that? That'll be fine for everyone. You don't mess with me, I don't mess with you, everybody's happy," Luke quickly decided. He turned around to walk out of the library, but Jimmy and his goons darted after him, grabbing him and holding him still. "You act like you don't like getting this attention from us. We're the closest thing to getting some action that you'll ever see," Jimmy said through gritted teeth. This had never happened before. All of the other times, there'd be a war of words and that'd be the end of it. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Luke called himself. I never should have told them that I'm gay, he thought. He didn't know what they were going to do, but it didn't look pretty. He only stared into Jimmy's eyes as he stood, pinned against the wall of the library. "What are you going to do?" he asked quietly. "We're going to go all the way," Jimmy said. The look in his eyes, the fire, just evoked hate and violence. He seemed so hell-bent on making Luke's life a miserable hell, and Luke was scared. What in the hell were they going to do to him?! ~~~~~~~~~ Kevin just stood against the kitchen counter, drinking from a own paper cup and looking out the window across from him. He had nothing to say to this woman. He hoped that their conversation the day before didn't make her believe that he was over it all. He hoped that she knew that he was still upset with her and would probably be that way for the rest of his life. Sheryl, on the other hand, wanted her son to know how much she loved and adored him. She wanted him to know how much it tore her up inside knowing what he had to spend the last couple of years doing: living with a father who didn't care. She wanted him to know that she was different now, much different. They had seen each other so little over the five years since the divorce that they both changed and, essentially, they stood as strangers in the room. "I talked to Nora and we've decided to have you come stay with me whenever you're ready. We can't have you in her hair forever," Sheryl suddenly said, breaking the awkward silence. Kevin was taken aback. "What do you mean, stay with you? As in living with you, full time?" "Yea...I mean, you've spent so much time with your father and - " "You didn't think that maybe I wanted a say in it. I mean, this is my own future you're talking about here," Kevin cut in. He was obviously upset and he felt betrayed. "But you know, I'm really not surprised that you're making decisions for me. It's the divorce all over again." Sheryl stood up confidently and began to match his tone and pitch. "You wait just one minute. A lot has changed over the last five years, including me. I refuse to be spoken to in that manner." "How do you seriously expect me to be? How should I react to you resurfacing after a year and a half of not seeing me? With hugs and kisses? Those are reserved for real mothers. Mothers who would protect their children from all harm!" "Don't you dare put this on me, Kevin!" Sheryl screamed in defense of herself. "You had just as much right to come to see me as I did to see you." "But I couldn't! You know I couldn't! You knew when you divorced him that he wouldn't let me see you! When you gave up all of your custody rights!" Kevin was no crying. "When you let him have me, knowing that he was sick, knowing that he wasn't fit to take care of himself, not to mention a son." Sheryl's voice softened when she saw her son's tears. "You think I wanted leave you with him? Son, I wanted so much to keep you myself, but I couldn't. I needed help, probably more help that your father did. Can you imagine what kind of a woman would let herself be used a punching bag for years on top of years? I needed so much...so, so much, and I knew that me having you would not leave a good affect on you." "But letting me stay with him would? Mom, do you realize how long and hard that was? He would get drunk two, three times a week. He'd heckle and attack me for trying to keep the house nice. The names he'd call me..." "Names? Oh, Kevin, what names did he call you?" Sheryl walked to her son and tried to put her hand on his cheek, but he rejected her offer of comfort. "What does it matter now? He's gone and he doesn't matter anymore. None of it matters." Sheryl looked at her son as he faced away from her. An idea popped into her head and she went back to the kitchen table for something in her purse. She withdrew a card and held it out for Kevin to take. "This is my therapist's card. Kevin, if there's anything, anything at all that you need to sort out, please, don't hesitate to call her. She made such a difference in my life and I am no longer the woman I was back then, sweetheart. I've changed! I've changed! And so can you. You can learn to forgive your father and try to remember him for the good in him." Kevin looked at the card with a tear in his eye. "You think that little card is going to change anything? You think your little shrink can get into my brain?" "She won't try to get into your brain," Sheryl exclaimed softly. "She'll just listen while you talk and she'll try to help you, that's all." "Well then," Kevin began slowly, building up to give his mother the shock of her life, "I'm sure that she won't be able to stop me from being me." Sheryl was confused. "What do you mean?" "I...I am gay." The look of shock that Kevin wanted so much was there. Sheryl could hardly keep her breath. "What are trying to say?" "I said exactly what I meant to say. I am gay and no therapy, no shrink, no little business card can change that at all, and that's all there is to it!" And with that, Kevin left the kitchen and Sheryl could hear the front door slam. She rushed to the window and saw her son walking away down the road. ~~~~~~~~~ "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I don't have the time for any of this today," Luke pleaded with his attackers outside the Oakdale library. Inside, he quietly prayed for someone, anyone, to happen upon the scene and break up this blatant act of terrorism. Suddenly, he got his wish, but when he realized who was coming along, he knew that this was a mixed blessing. "What's going on here?" Lily asked when she appeared with her purse on her shoulder. She saw the boys huddle around in a circle, but could not see what they were holding up against the wall. A closer glance revealed to her that it was her son that was being victimized. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed, briskly pulling one of the kids off of Luke. "Get your damn hands off my son!" "Mom!" Luke called back at her as she wrestled with one of the other boys. "I can handle it!" Lily stopped her fighting and went for an easier option. She got her cell phone from her purse and dialed a number. "Hello, Oakdale Police Department? Yes, I'd like to report an incident at the Oakdale Public Library." Suddenly, the gang disappeared at the sound of the word police. Lily closed her phone and walked to Luke. She ran her hands down the sides of his arms. "Are you okay? I mean, things looked pretty violent here." "You didn't have to do that," Luke said, walking away from her and sitting down a park bench. "What do you mean I didn't have to do that?! Luke, those jerks were attacking you! They should be lucky that I didn't do more than that!" "What about the police? What are you going to tell them when they come here and they don't see anything?" "The police won't be coming here because I called your cell phone, which was sitting on the kitchen counter at home when I just left from there. I thought I told you to keep your phone with you at all times? What would have happened if I didn't show up here just now? Why were those kids messing with you?" Luke looked at her. "You know why." Lily knew, but she didn't want to say it out loud. "You can't just let people do that to you, Luke." "Well, I'm sorry, I didn't know that I appeared to be enjoying it." "That's not what I mean. Was that the first time you had a run-in with them? Does it happen at school?" Luke couldn't take it anymore. "Let's just not talk about it," he said, getting up and walking away. Lily smiled because this is what happened everytime. She'd tried to show Luke that she cared about him, but he'd just brush her off again. "You know, Luke, I really really don't understand what it is you want from me. I'm trying to understand this thing between you and Kevin, and I've accepted that you are who you are." "Since when are you trying to understand me and Kevin?" Luke asked, almost laughing. "If we broke up today, you'd be so happy." "I would not be happy! Relieved, maybe, probably even thankful, but I wouldn't be happy. Not if my son is unhappy. Why can't you understand that? All I want is to see you happy, Luke, that's all. That's it. I don't care where you find it, who you find it with, how you find it, as long as you are happy. I love you, Luke. I love you so much that if I had to give my life for you, I would." Luke almost cried. Never had anyone told him that before, not even Kevin. Sure, Lucinda probably said it once or twice, but it felt so different coming from Lily. He loved his mother to death, but he also felt that she seemed sort of self-centered, sort of pre-occupied. The statement that she had just made...it blew him away. He walked to her and she put her arms around him. "It's almost everyday, Mom," he said through like tears. "Everyday they pick on me and they can't just grow up and leave me alone. And they never put their hands on me before...I didn't know that they were gonna do that. I'm scared." Lily looked out into the distance as her son rested his head on her shoulder. She rubbed his back up and down and told him that it would all be okay. "Don't worry, Luke. Your father and I are going to take care of it." TO BE CONTINUED...

And here it finally is. I'm not even going to lie. It was so hard to find time to write more over the last few months. I had to get used to some outside things first. But alas, here is part 13 in our story. I've decided on no more than 20 parts to the story, so things will start to move faster and faster to a climatic end! Stay tuned! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" - Part 13 It was the next morning in Oakdale and if Luke Snyder wasn't a male, he would have sworn that he was suffering from morning sickness. He'd been throwing up for a good twenty minutes now. Luckily for him, his parents were nowhere in sight, so he didn't have to answer any of their third degree questions. He knew for a fact that he had not been drinking the night before. He did absolutely nothing wrong last night. All he did was show a little love, and then he got back home and went off to sleep. He couldn't think of anything wrong that he did the night before, so why was he throwing up like this? Maybe I'm just sick, he thought. Wouldn't be the first time. As he came down the stairs in the living room, the doorbell rang. It was good old aunt Meg. "Good morning, sunshine," she said. "Is your father in?" "No, ma'am," Luke replied, putting his hand up to his face to block the sun. The intense summer light hurt his head and at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to crawl back up the stairs and back into bed. "He and my mom took the girls over to my grandma Lucinda's for breakfast and stuff. They'll probably be back later or they might go over to the farm or whatever." "Ah okay," Meg said. It was clear to her that something was on Luke's mind, but she remembered the days when she was a teenager and decided that maybe it was best to just step away and leave him be. "See you later," she said, but just as she turned around and began to walk away, a thought crossed her mind. Indeed, when she was his age, she didn't want anyone's advice or help, but thinking back, she sure needed it. "Luke, what's wrong?" Meg asked, turning back around to face her nephew. "Nothing's wrong, Aunt Meg. What makes you ask a question like that?" he asked, forcing a smile so he could convince her that there really was nothing wrong. "I'm fine. You're fine, I assume. Everything's fine." "Oh really? Well then you won't mind if I come in for a cup of coffee?" she slyly suggested. Luke rolled his eyes. "Sure. Why the hell not?" ~~~~~~~~~ At Lucinda's, the atmosphere was light and airy. It had been such a long time since Holden, Lily, and Lucinda had really spent time together without stress. At that moment, the proud mother couldn't be any more proud as she watched her daughter playfully frolicking on the sofa with her own children. Lucinda briefly caught eyes with Holden and they exchanged smiles, knowing they were both feeling the same emotion: relief. But Lucinda wondered if there really was something to be relieved over. She knew that firing so many workers at Worldwide would drive some of them to partake in desperate actions, but never did she expect someone to kill himself. Never mind the fact that the man who killed himself happened to be the father of the young man that her very own grandson was spending extra time with. Somehow, some way, she felt that maybe this might put a strain on either her relationship with Luke or Luke's relationship with Kevin. That was something that Lucinda Walsh could not let happen. I'm gonna make this family happy, dammit! she thought to herself. "If you sillies would excuse me," she announced through a small chuckle as Faith gently rolled off the sofa onto the floor, "are you okay, my dear? I hope you didn't hit your head too hard. You might end up like your mother! No, seriously, if you sillies would excuse me, I have to take a walk out to one of the guesthouses. I believe I left some important paperwork there one afternoon when I was enjoying the summer breeze and glow." "I'll come with you," Holden offered. "No, no, it'll only take a minute. I'll be back before our Faith here takes another spill from the sofa to the floor." "No, I insist," Holden said, catching Lucinda's eye enough to let her know that he wanted to talk to her about something. Lucinda's eyes grew beady as she nodded. "Okay, if you must, you must." "Sure, and leave me here with these two terrors," Lily said jokingly. "Oh please, you'll be fine. Nobody knows more about taking care of terrors than the queen terror of them all," Lucinda replied. "Funny, mother, very funny." ~~~~~~~~~ "So, what's up?" Meg asked as she and Luke sat down at the Snyders' kitchen table. "Fill me in on what's going on with Luke Snyder." Luke took a deep breath, looking at her as he exhaled and flashing a quick grin that told her to prepare for some drama. "Well...for one, I have a boyfriend." "Really? Are you serious? That's awesome, Luke! Who's the lucky guy?" Meg seemed to be really happy for him. "Kevin Davis, you don't know him. We've been pretty good friends for a long while now and I told him that I was gay a few weeks ago and somehow, by some fricken miracle, he told me that he was waiting for me to come out to him so he could do the same and from there, we just winged it. And now we're together." Meg was astonished. She sipped from her mug of coffee without blinking an eye. "That's creepy yet amazing at the same time. I'm proud of you, Luke, for having the strength to do something like that." "Yeah, well, it gets better from there, believe it or not," Luke said, almost trivializing his melodramatic life. "Kevin happens to be the son of one of my grandmother's ex-employees." "Oh?" "Yeah, and this ex-employee was laid off a few months ago when my grandmother returned to work. She felt that there were too many people on the payroll and he was one of the many that were fired. Now this man was a drunk, a complete alcoholic." "Wow..." "Mhm," Luke said as he sipped some coffee. "Mr. Davis was too drunk to go out and find another job, so he did what anybody would do. He got drunk - of course - and came up with the bright idea of setting his house on fire so he could get the insurance. But he didn't get out in time and he died in the fire." Meg's face showed disbelief and she started to laugh. "Okay, okay, I get it. You're trying to teach me a lesson about prying into your life. I understand. If I try to offer my services, you'll just make up some overly dramatic story." "Aunt Meg, I tell you no lies. This is all the truth. You can call my parents and they'll confirm it. As a matter of fact, I need to be getting over to Kevin's cousin's apartment. That's where he's staying for now." Luke stood up and lead Meg back into the living room. "Well...I'm sorry for not believing you there. I didn't realize how much stress you were under. You don't feel bad or anything, do you?" "Well, yeah I feel bad. My boyfriend - who my mom hates - just lost his father and I'm pretty much all he's got now. I'm the only person who truly knows the real Kevin. He's so used to keeping up appearances around the kids at school and I'm trying to let him see that he can be himself." Meg beamed with pride. "Luke, I want you to know that if there's ever anything you need from me, don't think twice about asking. I'm always here for you, and so are your parents, and Mama, and everyone else. We all love you." "I know," Luke said. He gave Meg a hug. "Now I have to get going to work before I'm late. I'll see you later?" "Definitely." ~~~~~~~~~ Holden and Lucinda were only about 20 feet from the doors to the living room of Lucinda's home before they stopped and Lucinda asked, "Now why were you so adamant about joining me for my little journey?" "What? A son-in-law can't take a peaceful stroll with his darling mother-in-law anymore?" Holden asked, giving her that handsome smile that no one could resist. "Of course he can," Lucinda snapped. "But I know you, Holden, I know when you have something on your mind. You're either worried about that wife of yours or that son of yours and you, being the good man that you are, decided to come right to me and ask for my advice." "You know, Lucinda, you hit the nail right there on the head." "Because I swing a big hammer. Now tell me, what's troubling you?" Holden looked back to make sure he couldn't be heard by Lily. He put an arm around Lucinda and they started to walk. "It's this whole thing with Luke." "Ah yes, continue." "Tell me what you think. Do you think that we should let Luke continue to see this boy?" "Well...the decision of whether or not Luke sees him is not up to me, is it?" "No, and I know what you're getting at." "Do you really?" Lucinda asked, sure that he didn't. "You think that it's up to me and Lily." "Absolutely not. It's up to Luke and Kevin, and them only. They're teenagers. They're not going to listen to you. And especially now that Kevin's going through a rough time...come on, I don't see them breaking up any time soon." "I know that, I really do, but it's convincing Lily that's the hard part. She's so overprotective and she doesn't want to see Luke get hurt. I don't know how to make her stop worrying." "She's a parent! She'll never stop worrying! She'll just have to learn that Luke can take care of himself and when he needs her opinion, he'll ask. It's something that I wish I had found out a long time before I did." "I guess you're right," Holden said. "You always are, aren't you?" "Of course I am." TO BE CONTINUED...

VERY good job! I imagined it as watching an actual episode and by the time I got to the end I was thinking "I can't wait to go to SON and post about how great ATWT was today!" But then I caught myself and remembered that I was reading a TWOO episode lol Congrats on the 200! May there be 200 more!

Nearly a month later, but here all the same. Here is part 12. Look for 13 sometime later this week! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 12 5:32PM. Thursday, June 15, 2006. That's what the clock read as Luke started the engine, his lover in the passenger's seat. He had never noticed the signifance of anything so insignificant before. Clocks told you more than what time of day it was. They gave you an outlook on your entire life. For instance, just a year earlier, his mother was involved with Keith. Holden and Lily were divorced, and Lucinda just discovered that she had breast cancer. If Luke remembered correctly, Casey Hughes was still dating that annoying twit Celia Ortega. Meg had just returned to town and Allison Stewart left Oakdale to be with Luke's adoptive half-brother Aaron. And, now, just two hours earlier, Luke Snyder lost his virginity. To Kevin Davis. And he still didn't know how to react. It was strange to him, that something like this happened at a time like this. Here, Kevin's father just died in a fire, and not even five or six hours later, Kevin and Luke made love on the back seat of Luke's car in the middle of woods, right next to the Snyder farm. It was beyond ironic. "You wanna come in or something?" Kevin asked when Luke pulled up in the parking lot of Nora's Melrose Place-esque apartment complex. "Uh..," Luke said, not really sure if he should or shouldn't. "Come on," Kevin said, reaching over to tug at his shirt. "Nora's cool about everything." "Okay," Luke said. As they walked across the parking lot to Nora's door, Luke couldn't help but notice a familiar car. It couldn't be, he thought. It just couldn't be. But when they knocked on the door and he saw his cousin Jack Snyder, he knew it very well was. "Jack," he said, a little surprised. "Hey, Luke! I was just about to go out to your place," Jack said with a cheerful attitude. He looked at Kevin and made his voice more serious. "Hey, Nora told me what happened to your dad. I'm sorry things happened the way they did." "Thank you," Kevin quietly said fast enough to make sure no "I want no pity!" speeches flew out instead. Jack left just as they arrived, leaving Kevin to do the introductions between Nora and Luke. "This is my cousin, Nora Larpenter. And this is Luke Snyder," he hesitated, "my boyfriend." Nora, who was admiring Jack through the front window as he left, turned to face Luke. "How do you know Jack?" she asked. "He's my cousin," Luke said graciously. "Oh, of course," Nora commented. "I shoulda known, good looks must run through the Snyder family tree. Unless there's something in the water at the Snyder pond!" Luke laughed. First time he smiled all day. "Thanks," he said. "So you're the kid who's got my cousin up all night," she continued, in a way only she could. "You're Luke. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. Would you like something to drink? Yeah you kids look thirsty. How about some sodas? Or maybe you want something to eat? My best friend's husband's sister's daughter sold me these awesome Girl Scout cookies. They're delish. Yeah, I'll get you guys some soda and cookies." "I'm not that hungry," Luke said, but it was too late. When Nora thought out loud, she always went ahead with what she thought about. Whether he wanted to or not, Luke was about to get some high quality soda and delish Girl Scout cookies. Left alone in the living room with Kevin, Luke couldn't help but smile. "You know, I think I like her. I can't wait until Jack's ex-wife meets her, but I like her a lot." "Yeah, Nora has that effect on people," Kevin replied, not really paying attention as he sat down on the couch. Luke sensed that something was wrong and sat down next to him. "Hey, what's the matter?" Kevin looked at him. "Do you regret what we just did?" Luke didn't know how to talk about it. He had never had sex before, so, naturally, he had never talked about it with someone that he actually had it with afterwards. "No," he simply put it. "Not at all." Kevin smiled. "Good. Neither do I. I love you, Snyder," he said. He was somehow showing a vulnerable side. "Don't leave me, okay?" "Not a chance," Luke said. "I'd never leave you." ~~~~~~~~~ "I can't believe this," Lily exclaimed when she came through the front door of her home. "Luke!" she called. Holden came down the stairs and wondered what all of the fuss was about. "Hey, honey, what's wrong?" "This whole damn thing with Luke and Kevin, and I'm going to put an end to it!" she exclaimed. "Luke!" she called up the stairs again. Holden was a little out of the loop. "Okay. Luke's not here, and the two of us need to have a talk." Holden lead her into the living room and they sat down on the sofa. "Now, what exactly has you all riled up?" Lily took a deep breath. "I don't even know where to begin. Our son thinks he's in love with a felon!" Holden passively nodded. "You mean Kevin." "Uh...yea, I do!" Lily snapped, in a condescending tone. "That kid is no good, and now he's stringing Luke along." Holden, with his arm around her on the sofa, looked away. He couldn't look her in the eye, because she'd know that he knew about Luke and Kevin. He was hoping she'd just forget about it, and he himself thought hard of things to change the subject to. Lily wasn't that blind, however. She knew what Holden's silence meant. He had always had a passiveness about him, but it was easy to tell when he felt a little guilty about something. "You knew all about it, didn't you?" she asked. She hoisted herself up and paced. "Of course you did, but you did not tell me. Just like you didn't tell me that Luke was gay in the first place!" "To be perfectly accurate, Lily, I didn't know that Luke was gay at any time before you did!" Holden said, raising his voice just a little bit. He stayed seated on the couch, but sat alert, wanting to get his point across, but not wanting to anger Lily any further. "No, but you had your suspicions and you failed to tell me about them." "What was I supposed to do? If told you what I was thinking, you would have went right to Luke, and where would that put me? He'd make me out to be some kind of spy!" Lily took a deep breath as they both went silent. "We can't let this happen. Kevin as Luke's friend was tolerable, but in a relationship with this kid? Are you for real? Are we even sure that Kevin isn't pretending to be interested in Luke just to set him up for some kind of a heinous hate crime!?" "Lily, you know Kevin wouldn't do that! You know that! Kevin and Luke have been friends for years. We know his parents for goodness sake." "We didn't know that he drank, did we? Holden, he could have had Luke killed!" she exclaimed, her voice softening just a bit. "I caved and let him be Luke's friend, but I can't let it go past that. What if Kevin is ready to do something that Luke isn't ready to do?" Holden got up and put his arms around his wife from behind. "Luke has a good head on his shoulders. He won't do anything that he doesn't want to do. And I don't think Kevin would make him do anything like that." Lily let out a little laugh. "All of those sleepovers they had growing up." Holden joined her laughter. "Yeah, who would have thunk it?" ~~~~~~~~~ "Where have you been?" Lily sternly asked as Luke came through the front door that night. She stood at the bottom of the stairs. Oh, Lord, Luke thought. If it isn't time for "The Lily Walsh Snyder Comedy Hour." He didn't feel like talking about what happened, because if she knew, she'd probably lose her mind and plop her unborn child out right there in the living room. But then he remembered the last time he wanted to just brush her off. He couldn't let that happen again. "Out with some friends." "Well, it's almost 9 o'clock. I wish you would have called and told us that you'd be out for a while." Luke looked at her and didn't know how to answer. How did she want him to answer? Was she looking for an explanation of where he was at and what he was doing? Truth be told, he really didn't want to say anything about where he was at. After leaving Kevin at Nora's apartment, he went for a long, long drive through the country just to clear his mind. He lost track of time and it was only the darkness that convinced him to drive back home. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just went for a drive." "With Kevin," Lily said. "You went out with Kevin, didn't you?" Luke's silence let her know that she was right. "Luke...how many times do I have to tell you that you have to stay away from him? He's showed you too many times already that he doesn't care about your health!" "What? My health?! What are you talking about?! Do I have to remind you that Kevin was the one who called the paramedics when I had a frickin asthma attack!?" "You know, I'm not a doctor and I have no proof, but I wouldn't be surprised if your whole asthma situation didn't arise from your whole kidney situation, which was made worse by Kevin's endless beer runs. What is it going to take for you to see the truth? He's no good!" "Kevin would never hurt me! He'd never hurt me like you have! Kevin loves me!" Lily let out a laugh. "Did he tell you that?! Did he honestly tell you that? Because if he did, I'm sure he said it with his eyes beady and his fingers crossed." "Kevin doesn't lie," Luke firmly stated. Kevin may have done some other off-the-wall things, but he was not a liar. Even when he'd suggest that Luke lie to his parents so he could get out of the house, Kevin never lied. "We'll see about that. Where's he staying at now? What's his cell number? We're going to call him up." Lily started for the phone, but Luke quickly followed and stood in her way. "No! You're not going to call him right now! He's had a long day and he doesn't need this! He doesn't need to hear from you." "Luke, if you know what's best for you, you'e going to stop seeing him, and I mean it. Are we supposed to believe that Kevin just upped and decided he was gay? There's got to be more to it!" "I thought we decided that being gay isn't a decision. You reacted the exact same way when I told you that I was gay. It wasn't a choice. I didn't wake up one morning and decide it. It's something that's been burning inside of me for years and years and...and I finally couldn't take it anymore. And that's what happened to Kevin." Lily stopped her fight for the phone. "Did he tell his father about the two of you?" "No." "Does anyone else know about him being gay?" "His cousin knows. That's who he's staying with." Lily paced to the other side of the room. From where he stood, Luke tried to talk calmly and maturely. "Mom, you have to understand why I can't stop seeing him. I need to be there for him. He needs me more than anything right now." Lily turned and looked at him. "I'm going to bed. Turn the lights off when you're finished down here." She went upstairs, leaving Luke alone in his misery. He did not know what to do and even if he did, he didn't have the strength to do it. He just wanted things to be different. Thinking back, he believed that living with a secret love for Kevin was better than this drama he was going through now. It was unbearable, just unbearable. He wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy. He turned off the lights and went upstairs. TO BE CONTINUED...

Again, I'm sorry for the delay, really. I haven't had nearly as much time as I used to to right this story out, but I assure you that I'm trying to make as much time as possible to get it done! To help make sure that none of my other stories get these kinds of interruptions, I've started writing them in advance, so don't worry! Here's part 11 of the saga of Luke and Kevin. AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 11 It was now around 2:00 PM and Luke had just told Will that he'd see him later. Now he sat in his car near the bridge, starting the engine. When his cell phone rang to the newly-set ringtone of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, he knew who it was. "Kevin," he greeted when he answered. On the other end, there was silence. "Kevin?" Luke asked again. "Luke...he's dead," Kevin finally said. Ever since leaving the blackened remains of his father's house, Kevin had spent the the afternoon locked up in Nora's bedroom at her apartment. Nora and his mother were talking in the living room, but he could do no talking. The shock, the utter surprise, continued to set it and probably would never completely settle in. "Kevin, what are you talking about?" Luke asked in a concerned tone. He turned off his car engine so he could hear Kevin clearer. "My...dad...he's dead." Luke was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say because he still wasn't sure that he heard what Kevin had said. "What...when...how did it happen?" On the other end, Kevin's voice was frail and fragile. He was panged with immense guilt from the way he treated his father. Sean deserved a lot of what Kevin dished out to him, but a man who was in such a desperate state couldn't have possibly sustained all of that. It hurt Kevin when he realized that just the day before, he was planning to leave his father all alone in that house. "Kevin?" Luke said agian. He was now fully alert in his car and very worried about what Kevin was talking about. "Kevin, are you still there?" "Luke, where are you? I need to see you." "I'm by the old foot bridge around my grandma's farm." "I'll be there in a few minutes," Kevin quickly said. "Kevin!" Luke tried to say, but it was too late, Kevin had already hung up the phone. Luke looked around. He got out of his car, took a deep breath, and decided to go for a walk before Kevin arrived. Winding around a corner in the woods, Luke stopped dead in his tracks and started to laugh. "Jade, what the hell are you doing here?" There was the little waif, sitting on an abandoned dock with her feet dangling in the water. "Luke!" she said, immediately jumping from her seat and straightening out her ragged hair. "Oh, please, don't stop your weekly bath on my account," he snapped at her. Jade rolled her eyes and turned her back on him, deciding to ignore him. She knew that she brought all of the scorn upon herself, but she just didn't want to hear it. She was tired of having to hear bad comments from the whole town. "Hey, look, I'm sorry," Luke apologized. He was definitely not a fan, but he knew that she was facing some hard times. "Don't apologize. I gave you reason to hate me a long time ago and I know that you're still feeling the effects from that." "Well...yeah, you're right, but I'm still in a better place than you are. Do you have a place to stay?" Jade finally turned to him again and nodded. "Yeah, actually, I found an ad in the classifieds to share a room with some nice girls." "That sounds nice," Luke replied. It was so awkward. He didn't just want to cut and run and leave her here, but he wasn't really interested in talking to her either. She'd hurt him and his family very much, but she was still a human being with her own motives and reasoning. "I hope you don't mind me asking," she said, "but how are things with your parents and Kevin? Have they gotten better over the last few months?" "Uh...yeah, actually. Dad's been great, Mom's been coming around. The Grandmas are awesome as always." "And Kevin?" Jade asked, grinning because she knew how Luke felt about the subject. "Kevin's...fine, which reminds me, I think I should get back to my car." He turned and started to walk away without saying good-bye, but that came as no surprise to Jade. She was sincerely apologetic for what she did to Luke and his family, but she also knew that telling them that would never be good enough and that it would be best to stay out of the Snyder/Walsh orbit. ~~~~~~~~~ Luke sat in his car. It was getting increasingly late and was already an hour past the time he got Kevin's call. Luke could barely grasp the idea that Kevin's father was dead. Maybe, he thought, Mr. Davis had some kind of an accident and was in the hospital. Kevin had to be jumping to conclusions with his claims that his father was dead. "Luke," Kevin's voice quietly said from a short distance. Luke quickly got out of his car and went to Kevin, who stood not far away. "Luke," Kevin repeated. "He's gone." "Don't say that," Luke said. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and squeezed him until the feeling in his arms was gone. Kevin's eyes streamed salty tears that stained Luke's shirt. "There's still a chance," Luke quietly whispered into his ear. Kevin backed away. "What do you mean there's still a chance? I saw it with my own two eyes. The house is gone. My dad is gone. He ran out of chances." "What happened? How did it happen?" Luke asked. Kevin took his hand and they sat on the hood of the car. "The police say that he set the house on fire." "What!?" Kevin closed his eyes to keep in the tears as he nodded. He sucked it up and tried to be tough, slipping off the hood and walking around with his arms crossed. "And it's pathetic. And typical. It's just like him and I don't know why I'm surprised." "Kevin, don't say that. I mean, I know you two didn't get along, but he was still your father," Luke said, hoping to make things easier for this boy that he loved. Kevin shook his head in disagreement. "The worst part is that I should have known it was going to happen." Luke was puzzled. "I really don't understand what's going on. How could you know that he was going to accidentally set the place on fire?" Kevin laid it out on the table. "Luke, it wasn't an accident. He did it on purpose to get the insurance money." Luke couldn't believe it. He knew that Sean Davis was a bad man, but would he really stoop that low? Would he honestly set fire to his own home just to get money? And then he killed himself in the process, Luke thought. Sucks for him. "Kevin, I'm sorry." "Don't be sorry," Kevin snapped. "Just don't be sorry for me, I don't need pity." Luke looked at the way Kevin paced around with pain in his steps. Rarely had he seen him this way before. When his mother moved out was one of those times. Also, when he had just missed making the varsity basketball team at Oakdale Latin because he had to miss practice to stay at home and nurse his inebriated father. Luke hated seeing him like this. It was a Kevin that he did not know, but in order to really, truly be with him, he knew that he'd have to know how to bring him out of this state and back into the Kevin that he loved. "You obviously need something," he said. "What is it?" He went to Kevin and slowly pulled him into a hug, never letting their eyes wander away from each other. Their faces were so close. "Whatever it is, I will get it for you." Kevin looked into his eyes. There was so much that they said to each other through their eyes. "I need you," Kevin's eyes seductively said to Luke's. "Right here, right now." Luke understood perfectly and before he knew it, his lips were touching Kevin's. The kiss was by far the most intense that they had shared up to this point and it only got steamier. After finally breaking up a good thirty seconds of lip-locking, they played the eyes game again. It took Kevin no time at all to comprehend Luke's body language. He started to unbutton his lover's shirt, tossing it to the side once it was out of the way. Instantly, Kevin worked his way up and down Luke's neck, savoring every inch of the soft, milky skin. From the neck he went to the arm. Luke had never, ever felt such...such rage before. It was a rage that had existed inside of him ever since the previous summer. It was a rage to love. Never disconnecting their bodies, they worked their way back to Luke's car, opened one of the back doors and, together, fell onto the seat. The only break in the passion was when Luke stopped to make sure this was the appropriate thing to do so soon after Mr. Davis's death. "Kevin, are you okay...do you really want to do this now?" Kevin's answer was light but sultry finger-dance on Luke's back as he reached up for another kiss. ~~~~~~~~~ 5:32PM. Thursday, June 15, 2006. That's what the clock read as Luke started the engine, his lover in the passenger's seat. He had never noticed the signifance of anything so insignificant before. Clocks told you more than what time of day it was. They gave you an outlook on your entire life. For instance, just a year earlier, his mother was involved with Keith. Holden and Lily were divorced, and Lucinda just discovered that she had breast cancer. If Luke remembered correctly, Casey Hughes was still dating that annoying twit Celia Ortega. Meg had just returned to town and Allison Stewart left Oakdale to be with Luke's adoptive half-brother Aaron. And, now, just two hours earlier, Luke Snyder lost his virginity. To Kevin Davis. And he still didn't know how to react. It was strange to him, that something like this happened at a time like this. Here, Kevin's father just died in a fire, and not even five or six hours later, Kevin and Luke made love on the back seat of Luke's car in the middle of woods, right next to the Snyder farm. It was beyond ironic. "You wanna come in or something?" Kevin asked when Luke pulled up in the parking lot of Nora's Melrose Place-esque apartment complex. "Uh..," Luke said, not really sure if he should or shouldn't. "Come on," Kevin said, reaching over to tug at his shirt. "Nora's cool about everything." "Okay," Luke said. As they walked across the parking lot to Nora's door, Luke couldn't help but notice a familiar car. It couldn't be, he thought. It just couldn't be. But when they knocked on the door and he saw his cousin Jack Snyder, he knew it very well was. "Jack," he said, a little surprised. "Hey, Luke! I was just about to go out to your place," Jack said with a cheerful attitude. He looked at Kevin and made his voice more serious. "Hey, Nora told me what happened to your dad. I'm sorry things happened the way they did." "Thank you," Kevin quietly said fast enough to make sure no "I want no pity!" speeches flew out instead. Jack left just as they arrived, leaving Kevin to do the introductions between Nora and Luke. "This is my cousin, Nora Larpenter. And this is Luke Snyder," he hesitated, "my boyfriend." Nora, who was admiring Jack through the front window as he left, turned to face Luke. "How do you know Jack?" she asked. "He's my cousin," Luke said graciously. "Oh, of course," Nora commented. "I shoulda known, good looks must run through the Snyder family tree. Unless there's something in the water at the Snyder pond!" Luke laughed. First time he smiled all day. "Thanks," he said. "So you're the kid who's got my cousin up all night," she continued, in a way only she could. "You're Luke. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. Would you like something to drink? Yeah you kids look thirsty. How about some sodas? Or maybe you want something to eat? My best friend's husband's sister's daughter sold me these awesome Girl Scout cookies. They're delish. Yeah, I'll get you guys some soda and cookies." "I'm not that hungry," Luke said, but it was too late. When Nora thought out loud, she always went ahead with what she thought about. Whether he wanted to or not, Luke was about to get some high quality soda and delish Girl Scout cookies. Left alone in the living room with Kevin, Luke couldn't help but smile. "You know, I think I like her. I can't wait until Jack's ex-wife meets her, but I like her a lot." "Yeah, Nora has that effect on people," Kevin replied, not really paying attention as he sat down on the couch. Luke sensed that something was wrong and sat down next to him. "Hey, what's the matter?" Kevin looked at him. "Do you regret what we just did?" Luke didn't know how to talk about it. He had never had sex before, so, naturally, he had never talked about it with someone that he actually had it with afterwards. "No," he simply put it. "Not at all." Kevin smiled. "Good. Neither do I. I love you, Snyder," he said. He was somehow showing a vulnerable side. "Don't leave me, okay?" "Not a chance," Luke said. "I'd never leave you." ~~~~~~~~~ "I can't believe this," Lily exclaimed when she came through the front door of her home. "Luke!" she called. Holden came down the stairs and wondered what all of the fuss was about. "Hey, honey, what's wrong?" "This whole damn thing with Luke and Kevin, and I'm going to put an end to it!" she exclaimed. "Luke!" she called up the stairs again. Holden was a little out of the loop. "Okay. Luke's not here, and the two of us need to have a talk." Holden lead her into the living room and they sat down on the sofa. "Now, what exactly has you all riled up?" Lily took a deep breath. "I don't even know where to begin. Our son thinks he's in love with a felon!" Holden passively nodded. "You mean Kevin." "Uh...yea, I do!" Lily snapped, in a condescending tone. "That kid is no good, and now he's stringing Luke along." Holden, with his arm around her on the sofa, looked away. He couldn't look her in the eye, because she'd know that he knew about Luke and Kevin. He was hoping she'd just forget about it, and he himself thought hard of things to change the subject to. Lily wasn't that blind, however. She knew what Holden's silence meant. He had always had a passiveness about him, but it was easy to tell when he felt a little guilty about something. "You knew all about it, didn't you?" she asked. She hoisted herself up and paced. "Of course you did, but you did not tell me. Just like you didn't tell me that Luke was gay in the first place!" "To be perfectly accurate, Lily, I didn't know that Luke was gay at any time before you did!" Holden said, raising his voice just a little bit. He stayed seated on the couch, but sat alert, wanting to get his point across, but not wanting to anger Lily any further. "No, but you had your suspicions and you failed to tell me about them." "What was I supposed to do? If told you what I was thinking, you would have went right to Luke, and where would that put me? He'd make me out to be some kind of spy!" Lily took a deep breath as they both went silent. "We can't let this happen. Kevin as Luke's friend was tolerable, but in a relationship with this kid? Are you for real? Are we even sure that Kevin isn't pretending to be interested in Luke just to set him up for some kind of a heinous hate crime!?" "Lily, you know Kevin wouldn't do that! You know that! Kevin and Luke have been friends for years. We know his parents for goodness sake." "We didn't know that he drank, did we? Holden, he could have had Luke killed!" she exclaimed, her voice softening just a bit. "I caved and let him be Luke's friend, but I can't let it go past that. What if Kevin is ready to do something that Luke isn't ready to do?" Holden got up and put his arms around his wife from behind. "Luke has a good head on his shoulders. He won't do anything that he doesn't want to do. And I don't think Kevin would make him do anything like that." Lily let out a little laugh. "All of those sleepovers they had growing up." Holden joined her laughter. "Yeah, who would have thunk it?" TO BE CONTINUED...

Sorry for the continued delay. I was involved in several things this past week that prevented me from having any significant writing time. Thanks to the continued comments and support! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 10 "So, should you say something, or should I?" Luke asked with some snark as Holden started up the car and they set off on their journey to the pharmacy for his asthma medicine. He knew that Holden was just dying to know what was going on with Kevin, and frankly, Luke was rather annoyed with it. Did he constantly ask his parents about their love life? Holden took a quick glance at him, to see his expression, but not long enough to accidentally run off of the road. "I don't mean to get on your bad side, Luke," he said. "I was just a little curious in your situation with Kevin." Luke took a deep breath. Kevin said it himself, he didn't care who knew anymore. But was he in his right mind then? He had to be completely out of it to suggest something like that. "Kevin's gay," Luke suddenly found himself saying. He wanted to kick himself for even uttering the words. "Okay..." Holden said, soaking it in. He didn't want to believe that his son was truly in love with that guy. Sure, he had grown to accept Kevin as one of Luke's friends again, but as a lover would be stretching it. Like Lily, he still found it a tad bit hard to forget all of the trouble Kevin had gotten his son into. "And we're going to be together," Luke said, defensively, "whether you like it or not. We don't care what other people think about us, and if you don't want me to see him again, I'll just move out. Grandma would love to have me." "Slow down, son," Holden responded. "Nobody's going to kick you out and we're not going to make you stop seeing Kevin. Of course, if he gets you in to drinking and drugs again, though..." "Drugs!? What the...Kevin doesn't do drugs! He's never given me drugs!" "I know!" Holden exclaimed. When he mentioned the drugs, he realized how big of a mistake that was and hoped that Luke wouldn't say anything about it, but he did, and that made Holden just a bit mad at himself. "But the drinking is bad enough." "Well, we've both stopped drinking. There's nothing to worry about there." "Your mom and I just want to look out for you. Are you sure you're ready for a relationship?" Luke was disgusted. "Come on, Dad, be for real. If I was straight and Kevin was a girl, you wouldn't even think of asking me that question." "You're right," Holden said, "I wouldn't. You do realize that if you have a relationship with Kevin, if the two of you want to be truly happy, you have to be open to everyone. A lot of people aren't going to take so well to the thought of two guys being together." "I don't need those people. They won't mean a thing to me twenty years from now, but Kevin will." "Well...I hope things turn out well for the both of you." ~~~~~~~~~ "What happened!?" Kevin asked frantically to the many firefighters and policemen camped out around his home. The house itself was now rid of fire, but the damage was done. All of the windows were busted, and the front door was nowhere to be found. Inside, there was still smoke and soot everywhere. "Where's my father!?" Suddenly, he saw his mother standing by an ambulance and ran to her. "Mom!" he called out. "What did they do with Dad!?" Sheryl Davis stood at about 5 foot 4 and had an average build. She was a walking cliche for the abused woman: her eyes were dark from years of crying, her hair was always desheveled. She held out her thin arms to hug her son. She rubbed her hands through his hair. "Sweetheart," she said. "Your daddy didn't make it." Kevin quickly broke the hug. "What?" he asked flatly. "What are you trying to say!?" "Kevin!" Sheryl exclaimed. "He's gone!" "What the hell happened!?" he asked loudly, walking around in circle because he did not understand what was going on. "What is going on!?" Nora asked Sheryl those same questions, but in a more civil way. "Aunt Sheryl," she asked, "what went on? How did the fire start?" Sheryl turned slowly to her niece. "The neighbors say that they saw Sean come home today with a jug of gas. The police are thinking he set the fire himself." "Hey, my father's in there!" Kevin said to the paramedics as they began to load up the ambulance to leave for Oakdale Memorial. "Son," the paramedic said, "your father is no longer living." Kevin watched without words as the ambulance drove away. The sirens did not blare for his father and the lights did not flash. Mr. Davis was dead, and there was no need to rush him to the hospital. Kevin just stood, not being able to digest all that was around him. "Kid," Nora said as she quietly came behind him. "They're saying that your room wasn't hurt much, but they don't think it's safe for anybody to be up there on the second floor. They'll find a way to get all of your things down, though." Kevin turned and looked at her. "I don't care about those things, Nora! I could only pray that my stuff had been burned up and that my father lived!" He broke down in tears and immediately went to Nora's shoulder as she started to pat his back. How could you feel anything for him? This man who abused you verbally for years and treating your mother like a punching bag. This man who drank gin more than he drank water. This man who would never, ever accept his son being gay. How did this happen? What drove a man to do something so desperate? It was the money, Kevin thought as he remembered the conversation he had on the phone with his father the night before at the hospital. The insurance money. Money seemed so damn insignificant to him now. He needed someone blame. He ached for someone to blame! His mother? No, not her. She had no idea. Nora? No, Nora was there for everyone and hated no one. Himself? Or maybe Lucinda? At that moment, Kevin wanted nothing more than to weep his cares away into Nora's shoulder as she whispered phrases of enlightenment in his ear. "Everything turns out fine in the end," she said. "The world will always turn, that's something you can be sure of." ~~~~~~~~~ "You have something to do with this, don't you?" Lily asked her mother as Lucinda poured them both a cup of tea in the living room of her home. "Something to do with what, dear?" Lucinda asked, trying to evade the question. Damn right I have something to do with it, she thought. "This thing with Luke and that kid Kevin Davis. You know something that I don't know and you're going to tell me." "Dear, dear, have you not learned anything over the last, what, 35 years? Nobody makes Lucinda Walsh - or Mary Ellen Walters, for that matter - do anything she doesn't feel she has to do." Lily let out a dry laugh. She was right. Lucinda was not one to be pushed around, ever, and this was no exception. Lily knew that it would take a more than just her wanting to know for Lucinda to spill the beans. "Well, I don't trust Kevin, so if you know anything, you really should tell me." "Honey, please. I didn't trust Holden or any of those Snyders when you first started running around with him, but that turned out fine...for the most part, didn't it?" "So, you're saying that Luke is 'running around' with Kevin? I knew it!" She instantly flashed back to the hospital when Kevin said things that only lovers said. The thought crossed her mind then, but now that she had been thinking about it for a while, it couldn't be denied. "My son loves the guy who almost got him killed." "Oh, come on, Lily, Kevin didn't try to get Luke killed. Luke chose to go out drinking with him all of those times." "Yeah, but that would not have been an option if Kevin hadn't been there around the corner everytime Luke got into it with me or Holden. Every single time, Luke'd get a phone call and out the door he'd go, and when he came back, he'd go straight up to his room, all without a word." Lucinda frowned. "He's a teenager! A teenager! He's not going to want to tell you everything he does, no matter how much you want him to." "But he's just - " "Just your little boy still? Honey, I've said it already. He's a teenager. He knows how to handle things and, if he's anything like his mother, he has a very good head on his shoulders. Misguided at times? Yes, but overall very good." Lily looked at her mother. Rarely did Lucinda say such mushy things, but it was understood mutually how deeply they appreciated each other. When Lucinda did say it out loud how she proud she was, however, Lily couldn't help but feel sentimental. "Thanks," she said, hugging her mother. Just then, the telephone rang. Lucinda went to answer it, and once the person on the other end said what they had to say, a look of guilty relief came across her face. "What is it?" Lily asked. Lucinda slowly hang up the phone. "One of my employees, Sean Davis, one of those who were going to sue me...he just died in a house fire." Lily instantly recognized the name. "Sean Davis?" she asked, almost cutting Lucinda off. "That's Kevin's father!" That couldn't register in Lucinda's mind. "What? Kevin? You mean Luke's Kevin?" "Yes! As a matter of fact, I remember Luke once telling me that Kevin's father worked at Worldwide!" Lucinda couldn't help but laugh at the irony. "Would you believe it? The man who was going to sue me is the father of my grandson's boyfriend. And now he's dead. Only in America, I swear. Wait, no, scratch that. Only in Oakdale!" ~~~~~~~~~ After dropping Luke off at home, Holden went for the drive out to Luther's Corners to visit his own mother, Emma Snyder. Emma was a milk-and-cookies kind of mother and was always able to help solve whatever problems her children were having in their lives. Seldom did her own life become the source of melodrama, so it excited her, the thrill of being involved in the development of people and relationships. "Luke...has a boyfriend," Holden said when Emma sat him down at the kitchen table. "You know, no matter how much I tell myself that everything's going to be okay, I can't help but think otherwise." "It's that old feeling of 'what if?' I think," Emma graciously commented. "May be. But there's something inside me that tells me that this all wrong." "Well, maybe you can tell me the whole story so I can understand it more clearly," Emma said as she poured her son another glass of milk. "You know, it feels like twenty years ago when you were a teenager dealing with your own problems." Holden nodded. "But that's the thing, Mama. The problems I had are worlds apart different from what the problems Luke's going through. I had it easy. I did what was expected of me. I chased skirts around and - " "Luke prefers to chase tight jeans?" "That's a colorful way to put it." "Forgive me," Emma said light-heartedly. "Luke's been best friends with this kid Kevin for years, literally. They practically grew up together, and Luke...well Luke started to trust him, I guess. It's so hard to explain." Emma looked her son in the eye and saw that he was in agony. He couldn't help it. He was so scared that Luke would get hurt, by Kevin or someone who wouldn't be as accepting of his sexuality. He knew that if Kevin broke his son's heart, he'd find him and follow through on the threats he made months ago. "No matter how much I try to understand it, I just can't. And it's not so much the gay part anymore but the fact that over the last year, Kevin's been such a bad influence, and Luke usually knows how to choose his friends in a good way. I mean, Kevin knew all about his kidney, but still had him drinking all night long." "People do strange things for love," Emma said. "What happened when Luke told Kevin how he felt?" "Luke won't exactly tell me what happened, but, from what I gather, things turned out in his favor. Last night when he had the asthma attack, Kevin was the one who was there with him out on Comet's Trail. He knew what to do and he made sure Luke was taken care of until the paramedics got there. And Luke says that he stopped drinking." "Then what's the problem?" Emma asked. As far as she could see, Kevin passed the right tests. He seemed loyal to Luke and that's all that mattered. "He seems like a good young man." Holden caught Emma's eyes, smiled, and started to shake his head 'no.' "You always make everything seem so easy," he said. "Everything that I think about for hours and hours, you just solve in no time. What's your secret?" "No secret," Emma revealed. "I just have more years of wisdom than you do." She started to clear the kitchen table. Holden continued to tell her what was going on. "I don't want Luke to get all hung up on this guy and then it turns out he was just using Luke as some kind of experiment to find out who he is." "If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that people always know who they are. It's just a matter of whether they want to admit who they are or not. How does Lily feel about all this?" Holden groaned. "She doesn't know what to do with anything. She's got our marriage to think about, she's got Luke, she's got Faith and Natalie, she's got to make sure her mother doesn't try to take over the world, and she has a new baby to think about. I want to tell her to let me handle it all, but she knows I can't, so she tries to help out, and with Luke, that only makes it worse." Emma went to her son and put her arm around him. "And when it all looks like it won't work out the way you want it to, and when you just need to sit down and not think about a thing, you know where to go, don't you?" "Home," he said. And with that, Emma gave him a quick peck on the forehead. ~~~~~~~~~ As soon as Luke got home, he got into his own car and drove out to one of the most serene places in Oakdale: a quiet, quaint, cozy clearing that surrounded a small foot bridge. Ever since he was old enough to venture out on his own, it was somewhat of a home away from home for him. It was where he could go to air out. While leaning on the railing of the foot bridge, he was joined by a long time friend, Will Munson. Will was a year older than Luke, but had always been a good person to talk to. After all, Will's half-sister was now engaged to Luke's aunt's ex-boyfriend. With a strong family bond like that, they couldn't help but be friends. "What's up, man?" Will greeted when he walked up onto the bridge. "Nothing much," Luke said as he dropped a stone into the water below. Wanting someone to turn to, he just went for it. "Guess who found himself a boyfriend." "No way!" Will exclaimed. "Who's the lucky guy?" Luke smiled because he was glad to see that Will was happy for him. The "lucky guy" comment didn't exactly hurt his ego, either. "Well, I'm not sure he wants me to tell anyone...but, you know what? Just yesterday he told me that he doesn't care anymore what people think and that he wants the whole world to know." "Sounds like a keeper," Will said. "Is he someone I know?" "Kevin Davis," Luke announced. Will started to laugh. "Kevin Davis!? Well, we all have our crushes. Mine's on Jessica Simpson, but..." "Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Luke asked. Will contained his laughter. "I'm sorry, it's just that Kevin Davis isn't exactly the guy you'd expect to be gay. Not to mention the fact that he's basically Oakdale Latin's resident male slut." Luke became defensive. "Well, there's two things that I can say to that. Looks can be decieving, and don't always believe what you hear." Will could sense that Luke wasn't being serious and that he wasn't looking for jokes. "Hey, I'm sorry, really," he said, putting his hand on Luke's back. "How did you and Kevin come to be...a couple?" Interesting question, Luke thought. Now that he knew that Kevin wanted him for a while, and he had his own feelings for Kevin for a while, could that be interpreted as them becoming a couple the instant they both fell in love with each other, even though both were afraid to say anything? Of course not, Luke said to himself. "I started to trust him," he said to a attentive Will. "Kevin was there for me. And last year, when both my parents were out acting like crazy teenagers with their new boyfriend and girlfriend, Kevin was the only constant, I guess you can say. When that Keith creep got between my and mom and I was mad at Holden for letting her be with Keith, Kevin was the only one I could talk to about anything. He was kinda like a drug." Will couldn't believe that he was here to hear this. This was some deep, serious stuff, probably something that Luke had been wanting to say to someone for a while now. Will thanked God for giving him the opportunity to witness such a life-affirming moment. "Well...if you ever need anything, I hope you know that I'm always here for you." "Yes, I know," Luke replied. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I don't know if I would have ever gotten the courage to come out to my parents in the first place. I'm glad I finally did." "Don't thank me," Will said. "You convinced yourself. It's all you. Your life's what you make of it." Luke thought about that for a second and agreed. "Yeah," he said, with a smiling developing on his mouth. "You're right." Luke wanted a hug. Maybe it was all of the hugs that happened betwen he and Lucinda, he and Lily, he and Holden, and he and Emma over the last week that made him a sucker for them. All he knew was that he couldn't end the conversation without giving one to Will. Will sensed this and spread open his arms. "Come here," he said. It was a male-bonding hug, nothing more than that, but Luke still found himself enjoying the fragrance that was in Will's shirt and on his pale skin. He had always had a schoolboy crush on the older teen, but it never went more than that. Will was a friend, a true blue friend, and Luke was thankful to have him. TO BE CONTINUED...

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few days! I just had to handle some other things for a while and didn't have time to add much to the story. Thank yous go out to everyone's been commenting! Nice to know Ms. Walsh and winterguy125 are keeping up with the story! Part nine is here! We are introduced to a new character in this part who will become part of the cast of my little version of ATWT as she is connected to long-running character who isn't involved in this story. Look for her to be featured more prominently in third ATWT story. Enjoy part nine! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 9 Asthma. Luke looked at the word as it appeared on the front of the brochure that Susan had given him at the hospital. He sat in his room, scared to open it, because it would mean accepting that he suffered from the respiratory disease. "This is just ridiculous," he said aloud. He opened the brochure and began to read. On the first page, there was a passage that said that asthma was commonly diagnosed when the patient is a young child. Of course, he had to defy the odds in this situation. After reading several paragraphs, he threw thew folded paper across his room and watched it land on his desk. He looked out the window and saw the moon sitting up high in the sky, somehow giving him hope. The moon had a funny way about it. No matter what Luke was going through, all he had to do was look up at the moon and he felt better. He went to his door and quietly opened it a bit, looking down the hall to make sure Holden and Lily were fast asleep. Lily's snoring was enough to wake a dead man, so she definitely wouldn't be awake anytime soon. Settling back down in bed, he got out his cellphone and dialed Kevin's number. In Kevin's room, a familiar tune rang and Kevin knew that it was Luke calling him. "Luke," he greeted when he answered the phone. "So you are awake," Luke said surprisingly. "I was hoping you were." "I'm always awake for you, sweetheart," Kevin said. For just a small second, things felt surreal to Luke again. He wasn't used to hearing Kevin say such mushy phrases and terms of endearment. But then he remembered, he liked this Kevin. It wasn't the same as the always joking, rarely serious Kevin, but it was the perfect balance in character. "I can't get to sleep," Luke said. "So, naturally, you called me? Am I that boring?" Kevin asked jokingly. "Of course, I did!" Luke replied. "Five seconds of talking to you and I'm out like a light!" They both started to laugh. It was such a beautiful thing. They weren't even laughing at their own lame jokes, but they were laughing out of happiness to be together. That's what their love was about. Being together and loving each other. "Seriously, though," Luke said, "I think that on top of the kidney crises and this asthma stuff, I might be suffering from insomnia now." "Aw..." "And you know what? I think I found a lump in my breast earlier. And there's this funny looking mole on my shoulder. And I think my Alzheimer's made me call my parents Will and Gwen on the way home from the hospital. But you know what? Everything will be okay once I talk with my grandma. She's gonna love the idea of you living in her guesthouse." Kevin wasn't so sure about that. After realizing that Lucinda was the reason why his father was a raging alcoholic, he didn't think that it would be too appropriate if he lived with her. "She doesn't even know me," he said. "But she knows how you feel about me and that's enough for her to want you around." Kevin didn't know any other way around it. He knew it would break Luke's heart, but he had to tell him the truth. Their relationship was only a few days old and he knew that lying about anything was not good. "Listen, Luke..." he began softly, "I don't know about...well...your grandmother...that's Lucinda Walsh, right?" "Yeah, and she's mega rich. I kinda like it. One grandma is like swimming cash and living in a mansion, but the other one lives on a farm. It's cool." "Yeah," Kevin said, letting it fade. He took a deep breath and just came out with it. "Luke, I don't think I can live with your grandmother." Luke was shocked. "Why not!? Oh God, Kevin, don't tell me you're going to stay with your loser father. What did he tell you? Because it doesn't mean anything!" Kevin felt terrible. He didn't want Luke to worry about him. "Luke, I don't know if you know anything about it, but my dad worked at your grandmother's company." "Worldwide?" Luke asked. "Yeah. He had some complicated position or something like that. But the thing is, he was fired a few weeks ago when your grandmother started going back to work." "Yeah, Grandma's been telling me about how she's been trying to bring the company back from the gutter. She fired a whole bunch of people." Kevin was frustrated. He was hoping Luke would understand without having to tell him himself, but he realized that would not happen. "Well, when she fired my dad, that was when he started to drink more, and..." Luke was insulted. "Kevin, your father was a stinking drunk way before a few weeks ago! You can't blame my grandma for that." "I know!" Kevin exclaimed. "He just...I don't think it would do him any good to know that I'm staying with the woman he can't stand." Luke thought about it for a while, ultimately deciding that Kevin was right. "But you shouldn't have to stay there just because of that. Didn't you say that you have a cousin that you can stay with?" "Yeah," Kevin said. "I'm gonna talk to Nora about it tomorrow and see what she says." They sat on the phone in silence for awhile. Luke felt all kinds of emotions. He didn't want to think about anything for a long, long time. He just wanted to fall asleep. "Kevin?" he asked. "Remember when we'd have sleep-overs when we were younger, and we'd sing old songs the whole night long until we fell asleep?" "Yeah," Kevin said, almost laughing at the memories. "The good old days." Luke had an agenda. "Sing," he coaxed quickly. "Just sing some song to make me feel better." "Um...okay?" Kevin agreed, but in question. He cleared his throat. "You're just too good to be true...can't take my eyes off of you..." Luke was pleasantly shocked out of his mind. Was this really Kevin's voice? It was so smooth, so fragile, but yet so dominant and demanding. It put him in such a spell that he didn't think he'd be able to hear anyone else sing and not compare it to Kevin's singing. "You must be heaven to touch...I want to hold you so much..." So soft, so calm. It was something that Luke thought only existed in dreams. "At long last love has arrived...and I thank God I'm alive...you're just too good to be true...can't take my eyes off of you..." Every word was filled with meaning and truth. As Kevin continued to sing, Luke just listened in silence. How did he get so lucky? He had no idea that Kevin was such a big romantic, but he was so glad that he found out. All he wanted to do from then on was be with the guy that he loved. ~~~~~~~~~ Lily poured a generous amount of orange juice into her glass as she, Holden, and the girls sat at the breakfast table. Both parents understood that, after being diagnosed with asthma, Luke would probably like to sleep a little late this morning. "So what did daddy teach you girls how to make this morning?" she asked the daughters when she sat down. "Scrambled eggs," Faith replied. "Yeah, and Natalie thought it would be funny to hand me the sugar instead of the salt, so be warned." They were all enjoying themselves, having their cheesy family moments. Holden and Lily had been through so much together that they were pleased to be living this life. Two adorable daughters, a baby on the way, and... "Luke!" Faith called out when her brother came into the kitchen. "Good morning, darling!" he greeted her. "What are you guys up to?" "Just a little breakfast," Holden answered, hoping Luke would take his silent offer to sit down and join them. "Well I hope there's enough for another mouth," Luke said. He got himself a plate and sat down. Lily flashed Holden a warm smile. They were both more than happy to make room for their son at the table. "Your dad's gonna go pick up your prescription at the pharmacy later on today," she said. "Oh?" Luke asked. "Yeah, you want to come with?" Holden asked. He wanted Luke to say yes so that they could have some time to talk alone on the way. "Sure, why not?" Luke agreed, knowing exactly why Holden asked. ~~~~~~~~~ Four doorbell rings followed by three hard knocks. Nora Larpenter knew that her favorite cousin was coming over for a visit. The beautiful brunette woman in her mid-30s was engrossed in her favorite soap opera, "As the Wind Blows," and Kevin was the only person she would tear herself away from it for. "Hey, hun!" she greeted in her big voice. Everything about her was big. She was well-rounded (for lack of a better term), her personality was urgent, and her heart was the size of a giant elephant. "Come on in!" Nora went to the kitchenette in her apartment and did what she was used to doing whenever Kevin came over. She got out two sodas and a huge bag of hard candy. Chances are, she thought to herself, he's having problems at home. Kevin waited for her to come back into the living room area before he told her. "How do you feel about putting your old cousin up for a few days...or weeks...or maybe some months?" he asked hesitantly. Nora seemed unfazed by his question. She just opened the bag of candy and put it all in a bowl, casually answering, "I have no problem with it. Where's your bags? Get them out from off of the porch, it looks like it might rain." "Nora!" Kevin said, trying to stop her before her mouth started to talk and talk and talk. "I didn't bring anything. Hell, I didn't think you'd be so open to the idea." "Oh come on, Kevin," Nora said. She put her arm around his back. "You know you're always welcomed to stay here. Uncle Sean is back to...you know, right?" "Drinking? Yeah," Kevin nodded. "I'm just tired of having to live with that." "Well you don't have to anymore." Nora gave him a small slap on the back and opened her cold drink. "We can alternate every night. You take the bed one night, I'll take the couch, then we switch." "Oh, no! No, I can't ask you to do that. I'm fine on the sofa, no problem there." Kevin looked at her for a moment and just hugged her. "Thank you, Nora, thank you so much. I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help out around here." She could hear a little sob in his voice. Kevin was ashamed of himself, crying for something like this, but he didn't care. He was happy to finally be out of his father's home. "Hey now," Nora said, pulling him off of her. "Why the tears? What's the matter?" Kevin knew he was going to have to tell her something about him and Luke, and even though he knew she was going to be perfectly fine with it, he had never really told anyone before that he was gay. The only person who knew was Luke, and the way that happened was so much different from coming out to a beloved family member. "Nora, I'm gay," he said. "Not flaming," he quickly added. Nora laughed and hugged him again. "Your secret's safe with me. After working with the guys at the salon for so long, I'm pretty much used to it." Kevin's tears went at it again. For some reason, he couldn't contain them today. For so many years, he never ever cried, but now, these tears were just streaming out. Must be tears of joy, he thought. "I'm glad you feel that way," he said after they broke apart again. "I told my boyfriend that you wouldn't care." "Boyfriend!?" Nora was surprised at how fast her cousin worked when it came to getting a boytoy. "Is he somebody that I know?" She wad dying for details. "Nah, I don't think so," Kevin replied. "It's kinda funny, actually. We've been friends for so, so long and then one day we went up to my parents' cabin and one thing lead to another, and..." "One thing lead to another," Nora repeated. "That's exactly what Jenny said to Clark when he asked her about her affair with Bernard." Kevin was lost. "Wha?" "I'm talking about 'As the Wind Blows.'" "Oh..." Kevin understood, looking at the TV screen. "Speaking of boyfriends, guess who finally dumped that deadbeat dumbass that she was dating!" Nora announced as she went to throw her empty soda can away. "Really!?" Kevin asked as he joined her in the kitchenette. "Yep. I told him it was over yesterday afternoon. Honestly, it was over weeks ago, but he was too stupid to realize it. I mean, I've even been seeing a new guy ever since last Tuesday." "A new guy? Sounds interesting..." "Yeah, and the best thing is, he's a cop, so if I hear a bump in the night, I can call him up...and get a bump in the night, if you know what I mean!" Nora was the type to laugh at her own jokes, definitely. "Detective Jack Snyder," she said. "He came just the way I like it: fresh off a divorce and in need of help to move on. How could I resist?" Kevin was hit by that last name. "Jack...Snyder?" "Yep. His last wife was a little fiery blonde who lied her way out of everything. I think he's ready for a real woman now." Kevin couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between Jack Snyder and Luke. It didn't really mean anything to him, but he had to laugh at the thought of his cousin Nora at a Snyder family gathering. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he asked when he answered it. "What!?" he exclaimed loudly. "Oh my God! I'm on my way! I'll be there soon!" "What happened?!" Nora asked urgently. "My house! My Dad's house! It's on fire!" "Woah!" Nora exclaimed. "I have to go!" Kevin said, quickly going to the front door. "I'll be following right behind you," Nora told him as she grabbed her car keys from the counter. Kevin opened the door and ran across the parking lot to the other side of the apartment complex, where his car sat. He just couldn't believe this. His father had gotten so desperate for money, so pathetically desperate, that he torched their house on purpose. Kevin didn't know who to blame. Mr. Davis had alcohol running through his veins, so he couldn't be held responsible for what he did. Who drove him to do such a thing? Why? And then Kevin realized it. Lucinda Walsh, he thought to himself as he sped out of the parking lot. It's all her fault. TO BE CONTINUED...

It sounds like a GREAT summer ahead for TWOO! I can't wait to read it! The Henry spoiler intrigues me the most...

Thanks for the comments, Michael and amello! Words of encouragement are always welcomed. I've been toying with some ideas for where exactly I want this story to go, and it's pretty much planned from beginning to end now, though I'm still not sure how many parts I want to break it down into. I'm still estimating around 15-20, so look forward to the story continuing throughout June and early July! Actor87 made a beyond awesome L&K banner that will be put into my signature ASAP, so make sure you check it out! Here is part eight of the story. Just one hint: Kevin and Lily are definitely NOT fans of each other! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 8 "Luke is back to breathing fine on on," Dr. Susan Stewart told alarmed parents Holden and Lily, "but we want to run a few more tests just to be safe." "Tests, tests? Why do you need to run more tests?" Lily asked nervously. "Give it to me straight, Susan. Is it good or bad?" "Well, Luke's shortness of breath could have been attributed to anything. Right now, he's doing fine, but there is always the chance that this is just a symptom of something else. In a way, this was a good thing. We now have the chance to go in and check everything and we'll know if something's wrong now. We can prevent something worse from happening." Lily nodded, but she really wasn't listening. All she knew was that her son couldn't breathe and he was rushed to the hospital by am ambulance. Nothing seemed to make sense to her now. "Can we see him?" "Sure," Susan replied. "You can go in whenever you like." "Thanks, Susan," Holden said. Susan squeezed his arm to comfort him and walked away. Holden put his arms around Lily. "I think that after we see Luke, you should get someone to bring you home. I don't think all this stress is good for the baby." "Oh, no, no," Lily said, kinda laughing. "If you think you're going to convince me to leave my son in that hospital bed hovering between life and death, you're clearly mistaken." "Aw, come on, Lily!" Holden said. "Dr. Stewart said that he's fine, good as he can be. He wouldn't mind it if you left. He would probably want you to leave so you can get some rest." Lily just looked at him before going into Luke hospital room. Luke was in his bed, clicking through the channels on the TV. Lily sat herself down in the chair next to the bed. "So, how are you feeling?" she asked. "Better than I was," Luke replied, not taking his eyes off of the TV, which hung in the air. Lily put on a fake smile and looked Holden, not once changing her facial expression. "Well, Susan says that you're going to be fine, but they still want to take some tests." "That's fine with me," Luke replied, still not looking at either one of them. Holden realized that maybe because it was Lily talking to him, Luke wasn't going to respond too enthusiastically. He decided to take his own chance. "Well, your sisters are at home working on get well cards for you. All of the times you've been in the hospital lately, they've become little pros at it." Lily laughed, Holden chuckled, Luke just gave a 2-second smile. He wasn't in the mood for this. He just needed to escape. There was something that happened to Luke everytime he became extremely upset. Anyone and anything annoyed him and he just shrugged everything off. If they were all at home right then and there, this would have been time where he would have gone up to his room and locked the door. This is just screwed up, he thought. Here, I finally, finally, finally give in to Kevin and we finally start this thing up for real, but then my stupid kidney gets in the way. Luke wasn't sure of it, but he just had a hunch that his breathing problem was linked to his kidney. If he was wrong, that would mean that not only did he have a brand new kidney that worked like crap, but he also had lungs that were equally crappy. Maybe I should just die and possess someone, he thought. ~~~~~~~~~ Outside in the hallway, Kevin was on his phone with his father, trying to convince him not to burn their house down. "Oh, Kevvy," Sean Davis cried through the phone. "The insurance! The only way we can get money is by burning this house down and getting the insurance! I'm just thinking of me and you, Kevvy." He was so drunk, and now he crying his eyes out. So pathetic, Kevin thought, that a grown man lived like this. "I know, Dad," Kevin said, "just, don't do anything until I get home, please." "Where are you?" Sean asked. "I'm...I'm out with some friends. I'll be home soon, I promise." "All right, Kevvy boy," the poor Mr. Davis said. "You're a good kid." Kevin turned off his phone and was wandering around the hospital like a lost soul. He and Luke were finally there. They were finally at level ground and were on the same page. They understood the other's intentions. But then it happened. Something deep in his throat caused him to stop breathing. Why? Was it some kind of punishment from God for the two young men being together? No, Kevin thought. I can't think things like that. It's just something that happened. "You!" Lily calmy exclaimed when she came out of Luke's room and saw Kevin. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" she asked him. "You must think you're so cool, putting my son in the hospital and acting like you really care." "Mrs. Snyder, I'm so sorry," Kevin said. "I don't know what happened. We were just sitting there and he couldn't breathe anymore! I don't know what happened!" "Oh I know what happened!" Lily yelled. She started to imitate a stereotype of the modern teenage boy. "Yo, Luke, I got some booze and some smokes, why don't you come on out here and we can get wasted and high! It's gonna be rad, dude!" "What are you talking about!?" Kevin yelled right back. Normally, he could be so contained. Calm, cool, collected. But when people accused him of things he didn't do, he became their worst nightmare. "You and your husband have been against everything I do for the whole year! God forbid your son has a friend who actually cares about him!" "You don't give a damn about my son, Kevin," Lily said, back to normal volume. "You're just upset because you lost your drinking buddy. I swear, if I knew that you were trying to get my son hooked on marijuana..." "MARIJUANA!?" Kevin yelled in question. "There was no marijuana anywhere! I've never even touched the stuff and Luke hasn't either!" "Yeah, well, whatever has my son in here has to be your fault. He was doing fine until he started hanging with you again." Kevin started to laugh. "I find it funny that you blame all of his problems on me. When he started drinking, you blamed it on me, but it was really because of you and your boyfriend. And then that Jade chick came into town. You can't tell me that I'm the reason for everything wrong in his life." "I don't want you here," Lily said. "That's for Luke to decide!" Kevin felt a little tear come out his eye. He couldn't believe this woman. He cared so deeply and tenderly for her son, but she didn't know it. He didn't want to see him hurt. If he could, he would have snapped his fingers and the two of them would have been back in the back of the old truck, waiting for the stars to appear in the sky. "I care about Luke. More than you could ever understand," he suddenly said to Lily. Kevin started to walk towards Luke's door, leaving Lily speechless. No, she thought. You have got to be kidding me. The words that came out of his mouth were words spoken from a lover, not a best friend. My god, Lily thought. What the hell is going on here? ~~~~~~~~~ In the Luke's room, Holden was curious. "You were with Kevin when it happened," he casually said. "Yeah," Luke answered. "So does this mean that he's coming around?" Luke didn't want to say anything there. He didn't want to be the one to tell people that Kevin was gay. That was Kevin's job. He remembered how furious he was when Lily told Lucinda about himself. Even after he told her he didn't like it, she went and told Dr. Bob Hughes that he was gay too! Luke didn't want Kevin to be upset with him. "I guess so," Luke replied hastily. "Did you tell him about your feelings?" "Um, well, he knows. And he...uh..." And just then, Kevin came into the room. "Hey, Luke, Mr. Snyder." Holden shook Kevin's hand. "We were just talking about you. I can't thank you enough for knowing what to do with what happened. If Luke was alone out there and - " "Ah, it was nothing," Kevin said. "I was just making sure my best friend here was okay." Luke tried to catch Kevin's eyes to tell him not to lay it on too thick, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Kevin was so happy to see Luke well again that he didn't care what came out of his mouth. At this point, he just didn't care what anybody thought of their friendship. "Luke's done a lot for me over the years, and I was just returning the favor." "Ah, yes," Holden said. "Well, I'll leave you two some time to talk." He turned at gave Luke a look that pretty much told him that he knew what was going on and approved of it. He left the room. "Kevin," Luke said, "I think he knows." "Knows what?" "He knows that you're gay." Kevin just looked at him for a moment. "Do you honestly think that I care who knows that I'm gay right now? All I'm worried about is you and how you're doing. Are you feeling better?" Luke didn't understand him. "I'm fine, but what do you mean you don't care? What if your father - " "I don't care about him, Luke. I don't care if the whole world found out. I just realized today how easily you can lose someone that you love. God forbid, if something horrible had happened to you today, I would have been kicking myself for not letting people know how much I love you. Your parents wouldn't have believed me if I told them. As a matter of fact, I just got into it with your mother in the hallway. She had the nerve to accuse me of making this happen to you!" "She did what?!" Luke became livid. "She ruins everything! Everything! I'm sick of her trying to make decisions for me. She tries to live my life and she wants me to live the way she wants me to and I'm tired of it! When she finally dumped that Keith creep, it was MONTHS after I told her that he wasn't any good. She's so self-centered! I thought she was changing, I really did. She went a proved me wrong again." "I can't wait to see her face when I tell her that I love you," Kevin said. "That'll put her right in her place!" Luke wasn't so sure of that. He couldn't care less what Lily thought of Kevin, but he didn't want his boyfriend to have to put up with Mr. Davis's mess. "I think we should wait until you are sure. There were times when I wanted to come out, but decided against it because it was the wrong time. When I thought I was going to die, I wanted to, but it was just going to make things worse. Besides, if your father found out, he would kick you out." "But I don't think I can wait until we graduate before I say anything to him, Luke. I can't imagine going through a whole year of loving you and wanting you, but not being able to have you because of what he would think. I want to move out, but I just don't know how I can do that and still stay in Oakdale." And then, a light bulb went off in Luke's brain. "Oh my God," he said, "I have an idea." "Anything would sound good right now." "You can stay at Grandma Lucinda's guesthouse!" Kevin's face brightened. "Do you think she would go for it?!" "She'd love it!" Luke exclaimed. "She'd love having you around and getting to know you. It would be perfect! And she's not like most older people either, she's really cool. The two of you would get along great!" "Well when can I speak to her about it? I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't want me to suddenly show up on her doorstep with all of my stuff. Besides that morning she found us passed out, she doesn't even know me." "We can go to her place tomorrow or whenever and talk about it. She's going to be ecstatic! Kevin looked at the happiness in Luke's face. There it was, he thought. There's that smile that I love to see. "You're perfect, you know that? You're everything I could ever want," he said, taking Luke's hand. "We're going to be all right." Kevin was glad that there'd be a chance that he'd get out of his father's home, but he remembered something. Lucinda...he heard that name before, and it wasn't in conversation with Luke either. Wait a minute, he remembered. Lucinda is the name of the woman who owns Worldwide. Jesus Christ, he thought, Luke's grandmother is the reason why my dad lost his job? No, it can't be the same woman! She's rich, she must own a company. How many rich businesswomen named Lucinda could there be in Oakdale? Only one, he finally admitted to himself. He didn't know how it was going to go wrong, but he knew it would in the end. TO BE CONTINUED...

Here it is, the next part of the saga! The plot starts to move, and you will be surprised at what happens! I wanted to also say that if you guys have any complaints about anything in the story, please let me know. The only way to make something better is to say something about it. But, anyway, here we go... AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 7 It had been four days since Luke and Kevin decided to start their relationship. Honestly, for the most part, it was nothing to write home about. For fear of their parents getting wind of it, they pretty much stayed isolated from each other. When they would talk on the phone, it would be about the things they would talk about before the kiss. The precise reasons why there was little talk about it all were the same reasons why they took so long to discuss what happened that night at the cabin. Luke was afraid that, in the midst of lovey-dovey conversation, Kevin would go silent and then suddenly utter, "Luke, I don't think I'm right for this," or "I think I might be straight after all." Luke would not be able to show his face around Kevin again if that happened. Was he indeed just a way for Kevin to experiment? What would happen if the young Mr. Davis suddenly decided that he wasn't gay? Luke felt that Kevin wasn't nearly as stressed as he would be if he truly was gay. Kevin was scared to piss Luke off again. When they met at Lucinda's guesthouse, Luke was so nervous and jumpy whereas Kevin wanted to be with him without a care. He knew that any bad word could send him over the edge. I mean, Kevin thought, I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'm sure that if he's stressed enough, something would happen to his kidney right? Kevin just wanted to protect him. Whatever the matter was, Luke was still acting as if they weren't together. He wanted so desperately to be with him, but because of his doubt in Kevin's sureness, Luke thought that maybe he was better off not seeing him. When they last saw each other at Lucinda's, they left on good terms. After declaring that they were in love with each other, they killed the tea and pastry and Kevin went to a doctor's appointment, leaving Luke to analyze his life. He had great parents, a little out-of-the-loop sometimes, but still great parents. Faith and Natalie were the two most adorable little sisters he could ever ask for. Emma was wise and caring while Lucinda was fun and brutally honest. He had started friendships with Maddie, Gwen, and Casey, and renewed his friendship with Will. And now he had a boyfriend who loved him. For some reason, Luke knew that it should have felt right, but it didn't. Perhaps with time, he thought. Luke was out for a brisk before-dusk walk on a Luther's Corners backroad when he spotted someone familiar just a bit down the road. "Swear to God," he said under his breath. "Luke!" Kevin called from down the road. He started to run, getting Luke worried. "Luke," Kevin repeated. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you much ever since..." "Don't worry about it, Kevin," Luke replied. He hated being so redundant by addressing Kevin as the person he was speaking to. He wanted to use a pet name, but decided against it, but the pause from the comma was still there, so he said Kevin's name instead. "I have missed you though." Kevin smiled at him. "Maybe we should do something to celebrate our reunion?" Luke did not understand why he couldn't just agree and take the plunge. Maybe that old "too good to be true" sentiment was returning. "Like what?" "Well, this road here looks like it could use two hot studs walking on it for a while..." "Two hot studs!? Where?" Luke found himself asking in a joke. The funny thing about Luke was, when he wasn't with Kevin and was only thinking of him, he would get so nervous. When he was actually there with him, things mellowed a great deal. "I'm looking at one of them," Kevin said, getting closer to Luke. Being just a tad bit shorter than his boyfriend, he had to stand on his tippy-toes to get a kiss. When they broke it, the eyes went at it again. "So," Kevin began to say as they started to walk together. "How does it feel to have a boyfriend?" Luke was just so taken aback at how casually Kevin spoke of this. Did he not realize how big this was? He really didn't know how to answer that question, but tried to give the most truthful answer anyway. "It's confusing," he said. He stopped walking. "Kevin, do you really love me?" "Oh, here we go with that again," Kevin said, dreading the place that the conversation seemed to be just running to. "Luke, how many times have I kissed you in the last week? How many times have I told you that I love you? I love you, I love you. I love everything about you!" Kevin smiled as he looked at Luke, waiting for a response. "Really?" Luke asked, finally loosening up. "Yes!" Kevin exclaimed. Luke looked at him. His innocent eyes, his guilty smile. Everything that made Kevin who he was. And behind that lied a personality that was so complex and interesting. Luke loved this boy, he truly did, and for the first time, he felt that Kevin loved him too. Spontaneously, Luke pulled him into a hug. As they walked on, Luke was wondering. "Was it obvious that I was gay?" he asked Kevin. He had so many things to ask him, and he felt like a someone who had to spend a million dollars in one day. "Well...that's not really for me to say, Mr. 'I own the first five seasons of Dawson's Creek on DVD'?" "Hey now, wait a minute! I saw all of those magazines underneath your mattress. What were they again? 'Good Housekeeping'?" "I keep those issues just for collective purposes! Do you know how much a Danielle Seel short story will be worth once we hit the apocalypse?" This was so typical of the both of them. Talking about trivial things and making jokes about everything. They felt the same as they always had, but now they had such a broader range of things they could talk about. Yesterday's baseball game, that new rock CD, and now, the cute little birth mark on Kevin's right thigh or how Luke's striped sweaters made him look like a resident of Sesame Street. All of the things that Luke had wanted to talk to him about were now up for grabs. "So how are things with your parents?" Luke asked. "Just as bad as always. Some days are better than others, but it's easier now that Shari is out of the house. Sean is still the !@#$%^&*] that he is, though." "You need to move out of your father's home," Luke suggested. Kevin looked at him. "I told you already, I can't." "I really don't understand why you can't." "If I went to live with my mother, that would mean another city and another high school. I can't imagine being away from you now." Luke understood. "I don't want you to have to go through anything just because of me." "Luke, you're the only good thing about living here with my dad, and you're worth all of the fights and stupid arguing. Besides, you were blessed with a great father. He's hot too." "Ew, Holden? He's my father! Well, actually," Luke began. He never remembered telling Kevin this before, but now that they were together, he figured that it was something he should know. "My real dad is Damian Grimaldi." "Yeah, really, did you just make that up?" Kevin asked, playfully jabbing at his shoulder. "No, I'm serious," Luke said. Kevin realized that he was. "He's some Maltese gangster or something like that. My mom and dad took a little break after the 80s and Mom fell for Damian." "I never knew that," Kevin said. "I thought they were some great love story that could never be parted." "Ha, yeah, well, they aren't. As a matter of fact, my father named me. My real name is - get this - Luciano. Now do you see why I like Luke so much?" Kevin smiled. "Luciano...I like it. It sounds exotic. Luciano..." Luke hated anybody calling him that. "It's Luke!" he would always shout, but now, when Kevin said it, it wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of good. "So, Luke Snyder is actually Luciano Grimaldi. Sounds like an exciting life." "Believe me, all of the exciting stuff happened before I was even bored. I have to get Grandma Lucinda to tell you the stories one time. You'd die with laughter," Luke said, happily recalling when Lucinda told himself the stories of old. "Well you're with Holden now and he's a good guy from all I've seen. I mean, sure, he probably wants to take my head off with a haybaler, but that means he cares about you." "I guess," Luke said. Holden did care, he thought. He cared enough to keep secrets between them, something he was sure his mother would not be able to do. Luke had never seen this side of Kevin before. It was a more sensitive side, and he liked it. It made their relationship feel even more right. The little walk proved to be lucrative. They both found out so much about the other. They were little things that really made no difference, but they were the things that couples just knew about each other. Luke always wondered how his mother found out that his father's favorite color was blue. Maybe it all started with a night like this. For example, Kevin hated peanut butter but loved jelly. They both loved playing sports. Luke wasn't much of a reader, but he liked to hear other people read. Kevin promised to read a trashy short story from one of his issues of "Good Housekeeping" to him. They were lying in the bed of an old, abandoned truck in a field when Kevin asked perhaps the most random question ever. "Do you ever wonder where you're going to be at in ten years?" "Sometimes," Luke carelessly said. With the cool summer wind blowing through them, all words seemed to just float away, but not before stopping in the other's ear. "I used to always wish that I'd be with you in ten years." Kevin turned and looked at him. Knots grew in both of their stomachs. They had never been so open before. Everything was shared between the two of them and they liked it that way. Now they knew where one was weak and the other was strong. They were now able to help each other through anything. If Luke only knew, Kevin thought, how much I love him. Love, love, love, the word had been spoken by the both of them so many times since the weekend that they really didn't understand the strength of it. Love. It was what they felt deep down inside. Love. It gave them permission to be themselves. "Kevin," Luke started to say, "I'm sorry for doubting you. You just caught me off guard." Kevin smiled. "You wanted things to happen how you wanted them to happen, but I came in and changed that. I'm sorry for it." "Don't be sorry. I'm glad," Luke continued. "Now I can be with you." Kevin looked so deep into his eyes, and vice versa. "What are we going to do now?" he asked. "What do you mean?" "We can't hide in the shadows forever. We have to come out with this sooner or later." Luke was puzzled. "I've come out already. It's all up to you now, and I don't want to rush you. Whenever you're ready, I'll be ready." Kevin breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen it too many times before in movies. The out gay guy starts a relationship with the closeted gay guy and though they love each other dearly, the out gay guy leaves the closeted gay guy because he doesn't want to come out. He was hoping Luke wouldn't do that to him. He just needed time. He wanted to come out, but not until he was sure that he wouldn't have to see his father ever again. They were both lying on their sides in the back of the truck. Slowly, Kevin moved his hand over to rest on Luke's hip. He moved himself closer to the one that he loved and soon his hand was moving all around Luke's back. "Kevin," Luke said. "I don't think I'm ready for this." Here it is again, Luke thought. Suck it up, Snyder, he said to himself. He's told you that he loves you and that he cares for you deeply. Make love to him. "No," Luke said aloud. "I'm definitely not ready for this." "Okay," Kevin said to him in reply. "I'm not ready to come out and you're not ready to do this. Now we're even." "I guess we are," Luke said, smiling because Kevin understood and didn't try to convince him to do it. For some reason, he just couldn't do it. An admission of love was one thing, but giving up yourself to a person was another. Luke was still a virgin in every sense of the word. The closest he ever got to doing it was when he and Jade were scantily clad together in his bed. Luke knew that he wanted Kevin to be the one to deflower him, and hopefully, he himself would deflower Kevin. Kevin's not a virgin, Luke thought. But then again, he also used to tell himself that Kevin wasn't gay. Luke's happy grin turned to a look of strangeness and his breath became faint. He tried to speak. "Kevin," he tried to say. "I can't breathe!" "Luke!" Kevin exclaimed. "What's happening!?" "I can't breathe!" It felt like his throat was closing up, but from what? It was so sudden, so out of the blue. "What's wrong with me!?" Kevin quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket and dialed 9-1-1. After giving the necessary information, he laid Luke out flat on the bed of the truck "Just try to breathe, Luke, help's coming." TO BE CONTINUED...

Thanks, guys, for your continued support! I've basically mapped out and plotted out my next two stories: the next one will be AMC-based and the one after will be another ATWT story. The AMC story will be "The Madden/Myrtle Connection" and explores a more legit, decent way of connecting Greg and Josh to the long-running Pine Valley citizens. ATWT's next tale will be "Enter Christina," which deals with Don Hughes's daughter Christina and her coming to stay with her extended family in Oakdale. The following part is all one scene, the scene in which Kevin and Luke "talk" about their kiss. This scene was HARD for me to write. I wanted to express so much but didnt know how to. I did it and read it over and decided that I would understand it, and hopefully anybody who reads it can understand too! Here goes... AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 6 Luke paced around the guesthouse, waiting for the bell to ring or a knock at the door. Where is he? he thought. Where is Kevin? Did he forget? No, he didn't forget. Instead, he was sitting in his car waiting to get the courage to get out. He could see the guesthouse from where he was parked and wondered what Luke was doing inside. Was he pacing around, waiting? Was he watching TV or listening to a CD? The only way Kevin would know is if he got out of his car and knocked on the door. Kevin was so nervous. Last night in the car, Luke had been so quiet and so withdrawn. Kevin was happy with what had happened, the kiss. It chased away all of the hurt that he felt from his parents and he felt loved. He wanted so desperately to know if Luke felt the same way, but he was scared to say anything to him. He didn't know what would make him snap. Luke heard the knock, but hesitated to answer. He looked at the door from his seat on the couch and a little part of him flinched with each hard knock. Finally, he knocked himself over the head with some confidence and got up to open the door. "Kevin," he said. "Luke," Kevin replied, then laughed at the cheesiness of the situation. "Come in," Luke said. "There's tea and pastry, if you're hungry." Kevin nodded and walked in. Luke closed the door behind him and stood, watching his love walk towards the sofa. Luke was so ashamed of what he did the day before. He had himself convinced that he caught Kevin off guard with the kiss and that his admission of love came from nothingbut shock. There was nothing to do now but apologize. Tensions were high. Kevin was ready to apologize himself for going too far. He didn't believe that Luke was straight, he wouldn't let himself believe it, but he thought that maybe he jumped the gun. Maybe they should have talked first and kissed later. "Kevin, I'm sorry," Luke suddenly said. "Luke, I'm sorry," Kevin said, simultaneously. Neither one heard what the other said, and they both stopped at the same time. "You go first," Kevin insisted. "No, you," Luke said. "Hey, it's your grandma's guesthouse. Your tea and pastry. You go first." Luke swallowed hard. "Okay. Maybe we should sit down." They both sat on the couch and Kevin looked at him. Luke quickly looked down to escape the pressure. "Kevin...well, let me just say, if you don't want to be here, you don't have to be. If you feel uncomfortable at all, you can leave and I won't have a problem with it." "I'll never leave you," Kevin said, quickly, firmly, surprising even himself. Luke tried to look at him but couldn't. "Kevin...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday, I swear. I didn't mean for it to happen like that. If I could take it all back, I swear, I would." All of the words spilled out so fast that he didn't know what he was saying. "You have your own problems at home with your parents and I don't need to bring you into my twisted life. I'm just so sorry, and I would understand it if you never wanted to see me again." Kevin looked down at the floor with thought. He was just realizing something. "You thought that I didn't want it? Luke, I wanted it just as much as you did, maybe even more!" he loudly whispered. "I've been trying so hard for the last few months to make you notice me and it wasn't happening and I got desperate, so I did what I did." "But you didn't do anything! It was all me!" "All you?! Hardly!" Kevin exclaimed. "It was me who was prancing around without a stitch of clothes on! It was me who jumped on you on the ground." "But it was me who kissed you." "It takes two people to kiss. I kissed you too and now that I know that you wanted it too, I don't regret it." "Then why were you so quiet about it? Why didn't you say anything to me in the car last night?" Luke asked. He finally was able to look at him, and he wanted to know why this boy who loved him didn't want to talk to him. "Because you were sitting there like some kind of zombie freak! You didn't say a word to me after it happened and I thought that maybe the less said, the better. I didn't want to do or say something to make you go crazy." "Kevin, you could never make me go crazy," Luke said matter-of-factly. "I mean, you were sitting there yourself all silent. I thought that you hated me and was polite enough to not say anything about it." "If I hated you, why would I agree to meet you here?" Kevin asked. They were both loosening up. It felt like they were solving a mystery, figuring out why the other would not say anything after the kiss. "I don't know," Luke said, almost smiling. "I thought you came to read me the riot act and then run away. You know that saying? 'Too good to be true'? I thought for sure that that was what was going on. I didn't want to assume either way, so I just said nothing." "Why was it too good to be true? You didn't believe that I could love you? I mean, I know I have a reputation at school - " "That's it right there," Luke said. "At school, everyone sees you has this big ladies' man. There's no way you could be gay." Kevin shook his head. "Luke, I'm telling you myself right now." He sighed a small bit. He wanted to tell the whole story, but didn't know if he should. He went with his instinct and began the tale. "I guess it all started with that night earlier this year. You probably don't even remember it..." "We were playing basketball," Luke remembered, like magic, "and your back was sore." "So I asked you to massage it." Luke, for a moment, was lost in the fairy tale, but he quickly snapped back to reality. "You're telling me that you just fell in love with me over a stupid backrub?" "It was more than that, Luke!" Kevin yelled. They were both so tense that everything that came out of either one's mouth sounded like an argument to the other. "You...you didn't give up on me! When your parents told you over and over again to stay away from me, you kept coming back. You was there for me everytime my own parents had one of their fights. Even after your old man threatened to kill me, you kept coming back. And after a while, I knew. I just knew that there was something special and it took me some time, but I grew to accept it...I love you, Luke." Luke got up and started to pace. He liked pacing. You could always be sure of where you were going. He sorta wished that you could pace in life, that you could keep going back and forth from one special moment to the other. "I'm not mad," he said, to make sure things were clear. "I'm...just confused. I'm just completely confused." "What's there to be confused about?" Kevin asked. "I knew that I loved you when you kept risking everything to be with me. I love you, Luke," he repeated, this time with a smile and nod to convince Luke that he was being honest. Luke turned to face him. "I was so sure that you were straight. All of the girls you've dated over the years, how could you be gay?" "Nothing," he replied simply. "I felt nothing for them. And I thought that maybe I did, but I never did. I had girlfriends because I thought that was the way I was supposed to be. It was never anything serious with any of them. And you know, even before you and the whole backrub thing, I knew I was gay. I just didn't want to admit it to myself because then it would mean that my father was right." "Your father? What does he have to do with this?" Luke asked. "You don't want to know," Kevin answered. "The way he gets when he's tired and drunk. No wonder I used to drink so much." Luke looked at him. He still couldn't wrap his head around it. "So you wanted me to kiss you? It wasn't all a big mistake on my part?" "It didn't feel like a mistake to me," Kevin said in a soothing tone. He got up and went to Luke, who leaning against the counter. "Come on, Luke, I've never been this real with someone before, not even you. You have to say something. You have to do something." "Say what?" "What are the only words that you want to tell me right now? What do you want to do to me right now?" Luke was mesmerized by the glow in his eyes. He was like a little child looking through a kaleidoscope. "I love you, Kevin." They played the eyes game once more. Luke had tears in his and so did Kevin. "I want you, Luke Snyder," Kevin said quietly. It was so soft that Luke hardly heard him. It was what Kevin had whispered so many times as Luke walked away, but now that he was saying it straight to him, right in his face, it was a struggle to force the words out. "I need you," he said. "I need to have you. I need you to be with me." Luke almost fainted everytime Kevin finished a sentence. There was such a raw truth in Kevin's eyes and voice. His words resonated with Luke so vividly, that it felt like an invasion of privacy to hear someone else say them. Just two days earlier, the hardest problem Luke had was being able to talk to his mother without the conversation turning into a "I don't think I'm gay, I know I am!" debate. That in itself was hard to do everyday, but now this had to come and cause its own stress. Luke quickly analyzed the problem in his mind. Here is Kevin and he loves me. Does he really? Because this is too good to be true, Luke thought. He thought of what Lucinda would say. Just go for it. And he did. He repeated what happened at the cabin and found his lips pressed against Kevin's. It was full of such passion and such angst, that both of them just did not want it end. It was the perfect end to such a delicate conversation. Luke could feel that Kevin wanted more. He felt his hand slid underneath his striped shirt. "Kevin," Luke managed to gasp as Kevin began to kiss his neck, "we can't - " Luckily for him, Kevin broke the kiss. "Now do you believe me," he asked with that smile. "I love you," he said before starting to laugh. "I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you!" Luke looked at him. This was Kevin, carefree and always in a good mood. "I love you!" Luke exclaimed as well. It was so liberating to say those words aloud and to the face of the person he meant them for. Those were words that did not deserve to be said into a pillow during dreams or to a yearbook picture. They held so much meaning. "Be with me, Luke," Kevin offered. "I don't mean for forever or until we die, but for now. Because I need you, and I know you need me." Luke looked at him, just to see the ambition in his eyes. He nodded. "Yes, Kevin. I'll be with you." TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks for the comment Actor87! (I wanted to PM you earlier, but will do that soon). As far as how many parts are in the story, I have no clue. I know where I want to go, and a basic estimate is around 15-20 parts. I started to write my next ATWT story, so when it comes time to put that up, I'll have a set number of parts for it. Until then, here's part five in the current saga. It was going to be much longer, but I cut the actual Luke and Kevin confrontation out and decided to make that part six all by itself. Anyways, here goes... AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 5 Holden and Lily got home just after Luke and the girls came in from riding their bikes. "I promised the girls a horseback riding lesson for today," Holden said. "Oh yeah," Luke said, "they've been reminding me all day long. I think you better get them over there before they contact the Coast Guard!" He seemed to be in a happier mood this time around. Holden liked that and returned his smile, going up the stairs. "I think I'll go feed my cravings," Lily quietly commented as soon as Holden left the room. She didn't want a repeat of the scene from the previous night. "No, Mom, wait," Luke said, stopping her from going to the kitchen. "Look, I'm...I'm sorry for how I acted with you last night." Lily looked at him and knew he was being real. She didn't want him to feel guilty for her. "It's okay, Luke, it's all okay." "No, it's not okay," he said, turning away from her. "You've been trying hard to live with who I am and to accept me and I make it harder by always giving you an attitude. And on top of it all, you have a baby to worry about. You don't deserve that." "And you don't deserve a mother who is too stubborn for her own good," Lily said, carefully approaching him from behind. "I mean, I'm glad that you can see where I'm coming from, but I think that we both need to be better understanding of each other." Luke turned to face her. Lily gently rubbed his face. "I'm proud of you," she said. "I'm proud of the way you've handled all of the things in your life. You're my son, my first-born, and I love you with all of my heart." "I love you, too," Luke said, and they hugged. They broke apart, and with the most serious face ever, Lily looked into his eyes. "Luke, if you really love me, you'll let me go to the kitchen and get a nice big bowl of French vanilla ice cream." "Of course!" Luke exclaimed, laughing. "I may be your mother, but I'm still pregnant, and I really, really need to eat," she joked. "All right, then, go on ahead. I think I'll pay a visit to Grandma's." "Oh, I don't think that's such a good idea. She's hell-bent on restoring Worldwide to greatness, I don't think she'll even notice you're in the room." "Actually, she invited me. She wanted to spend some time with me. We haven't had any good quality time together in a few weeks and I've missed her." "Good, then. It's always important to keep your friends and family close. I hope that you and I can rebuild what we had." "I hope so too," Luke said. "Now go get that ice cream!" Lily scurried out to the kitchen, leaving Luke alone to think about what he was going to say to Kevin. He didn't want to seem as if he'd been in love with him for years and years, even though that was truth. He knew that if he acted naturally, he might come across as an obsessed, stalker-type. He also wanted to let Kevin know that there was in fact love between them. He didn't want to miss the chance to have exactly what he wanted. ~~~~~~~~~ "Where exactly are you going?" Mr. Davis asked his teenaged son as he grabbed his car keys and headed for the front door of their home. "Out," he rudely said. "I hope you're not going out with that Luke Snyder kid," Mr. Davis replied. "What do you have against Luke?" Kevin asked. "I told you over and over again that if it wasn't for that damned grandmother of his, we wouldn't have to live like we're in a third world country!" "What are you talking about?" "You know what I'm talking about. I was laid off from Worldwide two days ago. Ever since that old bitch got cancer, I've been working my up to the top. I wasn't going to be a low-level assistant for long. But no, she came and ruined everything. She had no good reason to fire me and as soon as I can meet with my lawyer, I'm going to file a lawsuit so big - " "No!" Kevin exclaimed. "You can't sue Luke's grandmother!" "I can and I will, little boy!" the aggressive Mr. Davis yelled. He got up and started to intimidate Kevin. "You know, you're starting to act more and more like your mother, and I don't like it. You're running around here, cooking up and cleaning like some housewife." "Is there something wrong with not wanting to starve to death and trying to make things look nice around here!?" Kevin yelled. Here it was, he thought. He's going to call me that name again, and it was going to hurt just as much as it did all of the other times he did it. "All I know is that my son better not be a faggot, do you understand? Because if that's the case, you can walk out that door and don't come back. Your mother might like the idea, but I won't put up with it." Kevin stormed out without saying anything. He wanted so desperately to get out of there. He wanted a better life for himself. He needed a change. But he knew that the second he moved out and went to live with his mother, that would be the end of it all. To begin with, if he lived with his mother, he wouldn't be able to attend Oakdale Latin with Luke and his friend. And of course, if he moved, it would be like telling his father "Yes, you're right, I'm gay." He couldn't deal with that. The only thing that kept Kevin Davis going that afternoon was the thought of being alone with Luke. That was all he needed. That was all he wanted. To be alone with the guy that made everything wrong go away, the guy who would smile and be there. The guy who would never leave him. ~~~~~~~~~ When Luke walked into Lucinda's living room this time around, she was strutting around on her cordless phone. She saw him when he came in and motioned for him to sit down and take advantage of the pastries that she had on the coffee table. She continued to talk as if no one was in the room with her. Whatever she was talking about, she was in a rage. "Honey, you tell them that I want them to take their best shot! Low-level assistants have nothing on me! Don't they know that I can make all of their lives a miserable hell!? How dare they!" Luke was cheering her on in his own subtle way. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said to the phone. "Look, I have an important appointment right now to tend to. We'll speak more about this later. Oh, and if you didn't know, yes, I am pissed!" She put down the phone, ran a finger through her hair, sat down next to Luke, and put on a smile. "Hello, darling," she said. "You know, you are amazing," he said. "Able to contend with things like that and then listen to me come here and whine and complain about everything." "Oh, please, it's nothing. It's my job. Getting Worldwide out of the incredible MESS that those people put it in, that's my job. Helping you out, it's my job. Everything's my job in this world!" Ah, Grandma, Luke thought. "Now come on, come on, when is your gentleman caller coming over?" Lucinda enthusiastically inquired. "I had the guesthouse cleaned from top to bottom just so you would make a good impression on him. There's even a scent of jasmine in the air and tea and pastry on the coffee table." "Thanks, but I think we're a little bit pass first impressions." "That's not true, my dear! I know, when you've known someone for a long time, and then you find out something brand new about them, it changes everything. Your mother, when she found out that she was adopted, she was furious with me. We had to start all over again. I have no doubt that you and your friend will start all over again and head off in the right direction." "You know," Luke began, with a dreamy look in his eyes, "I've dreamed the same scenario every night for so long. Just the two of us together, by ourselves. Grandma, I know that maybe he's not the right one for me, but I just need to find out. I need to have that experience. I mean, I've been gay all my life, but I don't know anything about having a boyfriend. This is all still so new to me." "Just hang in there, kid, you'll be okay. Now, go, go! Get yourself down to the guesthouse, and pretend to be asleep. He'll come in and find you there, all sprawled out on the couch. Lord knows what he would do!" "Grandma, we're not going to get that far," Luke said, smiling at the very thought of it. "We're just going to talk about things and sort this whole thing out. He's probably going to apologize for leading me on, he'll leave, and that'll be the end of that. I'll never be able to face him again." "Honey, you have to get some confidence. Now, you have to prepared if this young man happens to be really in to you! I mean, you're good-looking, you have a good personality. You give the best kisses on the cheek. What more could he want?" Luke stood up and started to walk around. "It doesn't matter. If Kevin's straight, then that means no matter how good I am to him, he'll never be interested in me." "For God's sakes, you'll never know until you confront him face to face. Now go, so I can try to prevent my company from being the laughing stock on America. Go." "All right. Goodbye, Grandma. Thank you so much for everything," Luke said, giving her a hug. He felt that he was giving too many hugs lately. Would seeing Kevin end up in another, more sensual hug? He could only hope so, but even if it did turn out like that, he'd be confused beyond belief. Nevertheless, like coming out, this was something he had to do. TO BE CONTINUED...

Just dropping in to let you know that TWOO has been really great lately! It's always good, but something about it has got me excited lately!

Thanks for the comment, oakdalelover! I was really having a hard time writing the Lucinda scene because it seems that everybody has a different vision of who her character is. Some people like her as the tough, take-no-prisoners businesswoman, while others like her as the witty, clever grandmother to Luke. I just decided to merge those both together and have both of those roles be displayed greatly in this story. Maybe this is a little spoiler, but Lucinda, who is happy for Luke and Kevin now, will NOT be too happy for them down the line! But anyway, here's part four! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 4 "Remember when we got wasted and crashed in her guesthouse?" Kevin asked Luke as they pulled out of Lucinda's driveway. Realizing that maybe he shouldn't have dredged up mistakes of the past, Kevin quickly apologized. "Sorry about that." Luke, of course, took the apology the wrong way. "Don't be sorry, Kevin, because I'm not." He didn't want Kevin to be in the place he was in right now, wondering if he had manipulated the situation and forced the other to kiss him. "Wow, I thought that since you're the one with the new kidney, you wouldn't want to think about getting drunk," Kevin replied. "Oh!" Luke sighed. "You meant the drinking." For a second, things felt normal, but then he realized that Kevin was going to ask him what he thought he had meant. Kevin didn't want to act too fast. They came to a red light. He looked over at Luke, who had guilt written all over his face. In the car's seat, he looked about two feet tall. "Luke, I think we need to talk about this." "Yeah, I think so too," Luke responded, almost automatically. "Listen, can you meet me in my grandma's guesthouse tomorrow, say around 1:30?" Kevin thought for a bit. "Yeah, sure. What do you want to do?" "Well, like you said, we need to talk about this." "All right." ~~~~~~~~~ "How was your trip?" Lily asked when Luke came through the front door. She and Holden were sitting together on the sofa watching the nightly newscast on WOAK. Luke, who was trying his hardest to pretend to not hear her and get up to his room safely, stopped just short of the first stair. He couldn't do it. He just could not tell either one of them what had happened. It was so hard telling fun, easy-going, tough as nails Lucinda, he could imagine the dreadful pain that would accompany confessing to Lily and Holden. First of all, Lily would probably rest for a measure every time she'd say the word gay. Holden would immediately say "But we love you anyway." Lily would want to know exactly what happened, and Holden would quietly dance around the subject of coming out to Kevin. And God, if Luke told them about the near-naked kissing, well, that would be it. Lily would go into full parent mode and forbid him from ever seeing Kevin again, again. She'd accuse Kevin of trying to sex up her son. "Well at least Kevin can't get pregnant," Luke would fire back at her. "It was okay," he finally decided to say. He put his foot up on the first stair, but knew not to waste his time going up. They'd only call him back down again. "Why don't you come in here and tell us about it," Holden said in that deep farmer boy voice of his. Luke breathed a quiet "Fine," and joined them in the living room. They were on the couch, so he sat in one of the large comfortable chairs. He knew he would be there for a while. "What do you want to know?" Lily looked at Holden, not sure how to approach her son. "Did you and Kevin enjoy yourselves?" "If that's your way of asking if we got drunk, then the answer is no," Luke snapped. He figured he could get out of there faster if he threw a diva tantrum. "Come on, Luke, don't be like that with your mother," Holden said. "She's worked hard to try to re-establish connections with you. You can at least meet her halfway." "No," Lily cut in. "He's right. I'm always on his case nowadays, and a teenaged boy needs his space, right?" Luke didn't know how to respond. He just continued to give her the "I don't care" look that he had perfected over the last couple of months. "Are we finished here?" "You know what? I'm going to go check on the girls," Lily said, getting up and going upstairs, leaving father and son alone. Holden wanted to ask Luke how things went with Kevin, but he didn't want to run the risk of touching a nerve. Instead, he decided to address the issue with Lily. "She didn't mean anything by that, you know. She just wanted to know how your day was." "I know," Luke said, not looking Holden in the eye. "It's just that she keeps prodding and prodding and if I give her answers, she's not going to like them." "Answers? Answers Like what?" Holden's interest was suddenly piqued. What was Lily not going to like? "Don't worry about it," and with that rushed reply, Luke went to the stairs. "I'm sorry, Luke," Holden said. "I'm sorry that things didn't turn out the way you had hoped." Of course, Luke thought. He just assumes that Kevin didn't like the idea of me being gay. Luke could have told Holden the truth right then and there, but maybe the less his parents knew about anything right now, the better. ~~~~~~~~~ It was after breakfast the next morning when Luke had to keep his little sisters busy while his mom and dad went for her latest doctor's appointment. Just a few more weeks, Luke thought, and we'll have another bouncing bundle of Snyderness in the house. It was a very good thing for Luke, because a new baby was always a good thing, and he was great with kids, but most importantly, some of the attention given to him would no doubt be pushed away. Simply, a baby would make things easier for everyone. "Luke, can I ask you something?" Faith, the older girl, asked as the three of them got ready to go bike riding. "Sure, sweetheart," Luke said. He had the perfect charm. "Well," Faith began, "I've been doing something that I shouldn't be doing, at least I don't think I should be doing it. Luke, why do you and Mommy fight so much?" Luke was taken aback. "Me and Mommy don't fight at all," he said. "But I hear you guys, almost every night. And last night, she came into my room and she was crying." "She was crying? Why was she crying?" "I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." Luke looked at her. He wasn't sure how to tell her about this. Was she old enough to understand? "Faith," he started, "Faith, Faith, Faith." "What's the matter, Luke?" "What I'm about to tell you is very important," he said. "I want you to listen carefully, okay?" "All right. Are you okay? Is your kidney okay?" Luke laughed. "Yes, my kidney is fine. What I have to tell you is something about...well it's something about me. Do you know what it means to be gay?" "Doesn't that mean happy?" she asked. Luke just loved how cliche the whole situation was playing out. It was the kind of stuff that he and Kevin would die laughing at. "Well, yeah, but it can also mean something else. You see, you know all about love, right? And how one day you're going to find someone that like a lot, right?" "Yeah. Just like how Mommy found Daddy. I'm going to find a nice boy too." "Good, good. Wait until you're at least my age, by the way," Luke said, trying to lighten up. "But anyway - " "Just like you found Jade, right?" "Well, kinda. The thing with Jade and me, though, wasn't about love. It was about something else. But listen to me. Sometimes you're going to come across people who don't do what other people do. You're going see guys...who fall in love with other guys, and girls who fall in love with other girls. I...I am one of those people." "Okay," Faith said, not really understanding the bigness of this moment. "And you're going to hear things about people like me, bad things, but you can't be one of those people who puts a person down for something that they can't change, okay?" "Okay. I love you, Luke." "I love you, too, little girl!" He picked her and Natalie up and they all started to hug and laugh, but Luke still couldn't get over the fact that he had made his mother cry the night before. That was never his intention. He knew that he had to apologize to her, but didn't know how to go about doing it. He loved that woman, no matter what she did to him or said to him. She had went through so much for him. She was going to marry evil Keith Morrissey for him. He couldn't make her cry. ~~~~~~~~~ Holden and Lily sat together in the waiting room at Oakdale Memorial Hospital. A new kid was coming, and they couldn't be happier. Holden was happy because he loved raising children and carrying on the Snyder name. Lily was happy for another reason, a reason that dealt with the fact that their new child was predicted to be a boy. As much as she did not want to admit, she hoped that this one would turn out straight. "Whatcha thinking about?" Holden asked. "Nothing," Lily said, but she knew that her answer was unconvincing. "Luke...and Kevin...and this whole damn thing." "You think they were drinking?" "No, actually, not really. I was actually thinking about why Luke used to be so adament about seeing Kevin even when he would get him drunk. I mean, back then, nothing made sense. This kid was endangering his life but he still wanted to be with him all the time. Why?" Holden wasn't sure if it was his place to tell Lily that Luke was in love with Kevin. "They've been friends for years. You can't just end a friendship like that." "No, I think it was more than that. I think Luke either had or still has feelings for that boy and that's why I didn't want him to go on that trip with him yesterday. There's no telling what they could have been doing up there." "Well for that to have happened, that would mean Kevin is gay too, wouldn't it?" "Yeah, and I wouldn't be surprised if this gay stuff was all Kevin's idea in the first place. We should have a talk with his parents." "No," Holden said. "Let Luke handle it." "Let Luke handle it?! Luke doesn't know how to handle his life. As his parents, we need to help him." "Well, I just don't think that we should help him too much. He's gotta find some things out on his own." "He will. He's going to find a lot of things out in life, and it's not going to be pretty." TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks to Actor87 and oakdalelover for the amazing words of encouragement! Don't worry, oakdalelover, I've already begun work on the next ATWT story. It focuses mainly on the Hughes family and a new character who is related, by blood, to them. Here's part 3 of Luke and Kevin... AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" part 3 The ride home was even quieter than the ride there. Luke didn't know what to say, but if he did, Kevin didn't know how to answer him. They were both of so afraid of saying something that the other wouldn't like. They were scared to admit their feelings for each other even though those feelings were definitely known by now. Luke was shocked. It was like he won the lottery, but wasn't exactly sure if the numbers called out were really his. He knew there was a chance, but didn't think that there was a snowball's chance in hell that Kevin would return his feelings. How did Kevin feel about him, exactly? How long had Kevin been interested in him? Did Kevin dream about him every night? Did Kevin write his name on notebooks just so he could look at it? Did Kevin fall weak everytime he was around Luke? The backrub, Luke remembered. It was a ploy to get his attention, Kevin remembered himself. The backrub was an attempt to turn him on and the drinking was an attempt to get him drunk. Kevin hated himself for endangering the life of his best friend and biggest crush, but he was desperate. He needed to have Luke drunk in order to make out with him. Surely he couldn't have come right out and said it to Luke that he desired him, right? No way Luke could truly want him. But they were both proved wrong that afternoon, and as the moon started its nightly show of inspiring glow, no one speaked. Not a single word was uttered the entire way, except for the usual "See ya," when Kevin stopped in front of the Snyder home. "Wait," Luke said. "Bring me to my grandma Lucinda's house." ~~~~~~~~~ Lucinda was working away at her laptop computer in her living room when she heard the doorbell ring. She'd pretty much faded into the background at Worldwide Industries because of her cancer, but she planned an explosive return that would remind each and every one of her colleagues that Lucinda Walsh was, and would always be, a force to be reckoned with. "Come in, dahling, come in!" she said to Luke when he appeared in her doorway. "Come in from the dark. These days, anybody's bound to be made into a hamburger by some deranged killer!" "Oh, it's nice to see you're back to being yourself, Grandma," Luke said, smiling. They made their way into the living room and sat down. Lucinda wait straight back to her work, leaving Luke to sit there watching her. She looked at him and realized that she was neglecting the poor boy. La Walsh turned off her computer and gave him her full attention. "What can I help you with tonight, my good boy?" she asked. "Well," Luke began, "I really don't know how to say this. I'm still a little bit stunned." "Stunned? Dahling, what's got you stunned? You're not having problems with your mother, are you?" "No, no, it's not Mom. Actually, I think things are getting a little better between me and her." "Really? Because you know how stubborn she can be." "Yeah, I really think so. I think if I just give her a little bit more time, she'll finally be able to just get over it and realize that I'm not some kind of freak and that I'm still me," Luke said. "Yes, dear, you're still you," Lucinda said, with a pinch at Luke's cheeks. "Now what's the problem. What brought you here tonight at eight o'clock? Isn't it time for that show you kids are all crazy about? What is it, 'American Idol'?" Luke laughed. "Kevin hates 'American Idol.'" Lucinda pretended to laugh along with him, but she couldn't help but ask. "Kevin? Who is this Kevin? Is he a little friend of yours?" she asked, nudging Luke's shoulder. He smiled, but started to shake his head 'no.' "That's...well that's part of my problem." "Well, I'm all ears. Go ahead." Lucinda was genuinely interested in what was going on in her grandson's life. "Okay...now it's going to sound like I made this whole thing up, but I swear, it's all true." He cleared his throat and began to recount the story. "Today, my friend Kevin and I went up to his parents' cabin up by Lake Michigan, and we spend the whole day there. As a matter of fact, we just got back. But anyway, we spent the whole day up there, and well...Kevin doesn't know that I'm gay." "Oh," Lucinda said. "And you thought today would be the perfect time to tell him." "Yes! Yes!" Luke exclaimed. "Exactly! But I was so nervous about him hating me, and then we were in the middle of nowhere basically, and if I told him that I was gay and he didn't like it, knowing Kevin he would have just left with the car and just had me stranded out there with nachos and 'I Love Lucy.'" "Wha? Nachos and what?" "Oh it's a long story." "Ah, yes. But you're here now, so obviously your friend reacted better than you thought he would. I mean, you did tell him, right?" "Not exactly," Luke continued, now with a little smirk of remembrance. "So we were outside in the little pond swimming a race, and he beat me, of course. He's the fastest swimmer this side of Bay City." There was a brightness in his eyes when he said that, showing that he was proud. "And he started doing this little victory dance." "Ha ha, he did a victory dance, did he? I'm guessing you were the real winner in all of that, ha?" Lucinda commented, again nudging. Luke loved his grandmother. Her sense of humor was her trademark. She wasn't necessarily a dirty old lady, because, in Luke's eyes, she wasn't dirty and she wasn't old. She was Grandma Lucinda, and she rocked. "Well, you can say that. I got up out of the water and then he wrestled me down to the ground." "Sounds rough!" "Yeah, I thought so too, but then he started playing this little power game with me. He wanted me to surrender all of my defense...and then, I just let go. I stopped fighting him back. And then we just looked into each other's eyes, and then..." Lucinda was holding her breath, but Luke's pause made her gasp for air. "And then?! What happened then?!" "We kissed." Lucinda slapped one hand into the other, stood up, yanked Luke into the air with her and gave him a hug. "I knew it! Didn't I tell you a long time ago that everything was going to be all right?!" "Everything's going to be all right? What are you talking about? Nothing's all right now! I mean, I have my mom on my back all day and night, my sisters keep asking me what's wrong, rumors are starting to circulate about me at school, I have a screwed up kidney, I'm a borderline alcoholic, and now, to top it all off, I just forced my best friend in the whole entire world to be gay." "You hold on one minute, young man! This Kevin something-or-other didn't do anything that he didn't want to do. Now didn't you tell me that he had you pinned down on the ground? Did he resist your little liplock?" "No, but - " "Aha, exactly," she said. She ran her hand down the side of his face. "You know, you're so unlike your mother, it's funny. She was always sure of herself growing up, even now, you have to tell her something a million times before she believes that it's true." "I just don't want to make Kevin do something that he doesn't want to do. He'll hate me for sure." "Dahling, stoop saying that. No one is going to hate you. Now all you did was kiss - and it takes two people to kiss, by the way - so it's not like he's going to be traumatized for his whole life. What happened afterwards?" "Nothing, nothing at all. It was getting dark by the time it happened, so we just got up off of the ground and he said that we should work on getting back home. We packed everything up and came back to Oakdale. We didn't say a thing the whole ride back." "Well, you're going to call him right?" Luke smiled as if he wasn't confident in himself. "I don't know if that's the right thing to do." "Well, dear, when I was a teenager, if some handsome young man like yourself kissed me in a fit of love, I'd be sitting by the phone, just waiting for him to give me a ring. I have no doubt that this Kevin is at home doing the same thing." "No, I kinda doubt that. If anything, he's probably just getting home to hear his parents trying to break each other's necks. His father just moved back in after he got laid off from his job and things aren't going to well for them." "Well there you go. He needs you more than anything right now. Apparently, you're what's keeping him sane." Luke shrugged. "But don't you think you're jumping to conclusions? Two little kisses don't mean anything." "TWO little kisses?! Well, that just opens another can of worms!" Lucinda started to strut around the room. "He obviously planned for it to happen. He pinned you down on the ground for a reason and he's probably just as confused about the whole thing as you are. You need to call him. You're going to promise me that you'll call him." "I don't know..." "Call him! You won't regret it!" She put her hands around his face. He couldn't let her down. She cared for him too much for him to go and let her down. "All right, I'll call, I'll call. I'll call him tomorrow." "And maybe the two of you can meet somewhere?" "No, now that is where I draw the line." "But you want to see him, don't you? How about this - you tell your mommy and daddy that you're coming here to visit me and you get your friend to come here and the two of you can have the guesthouse to yourselves." "Grandma!" Luke exclaimed. "To talk! You can have the guesthouse to talk, or you could walk in the garden perhaps. Whatever makes the two of you happy. Come on, do it. For me?" She looked at him again with those eyes. So innocent, so sweet, but so intimidating. He loved her to death. "All right, I'll do it," Luke said as he started for the door. "I'll call Kevin and invite him over and we'll talk. But you have to promise, you won't eavesdrop or try to interrupt us." "I promise, I promise." She opened the door for him to leave but realized something. "Dahling, how exactly are you getting home?" Luke turned back to her and smiled. "I told Kevin to leave the engine running." "That's my boy!" Lucinda exclaimed. TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks for the comment, Actor87! I've been thinking about doing a regular fan fic featuring all of the characters for a while, but I just feel so uninspired sometimes (while at other times, I have ideas to last a year). I tried that with AMC a few months ago, but as you can see, that didn't work out too well. I think I like this idea more, because I can update whenever I have a decent amount of stuff to add and I like that whenever I decide to finish this story, I can move on to other characters and soaps. I already have ideas for an AMC story and another ATWT story in my head. Here's part two of the current story... AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" - Part 2 The drive up to the Davis's cabin was uneventful so far. Gwen Norbeck's recently recorded demo tape provided the soundtrack for the trip, so hardly any words were spoken on the way. Everytime Luke tried to look at the young man that he had been in love with for so long, his nerves took over and he quickly turned to face the road ahead of him. There was a determination about Kevin that Luke couldn't get enough of. When he first confirmed his feelings, it was after seeing that determination in Kevin's eyes as they raced out to a large rock off the shore of the lake. Kevin won and did a little celebratory dance, unknowingly shaking what his mother gave him in Luke's face, giving his friend an eyeful. Luke laughed out loud at the memory. Kevin looked over at him and joined him in the laughter. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Ah, nothing, just thinking about something. Thinking about the last time I was really happy," Luke responded. "Between my mom's boyfriend and my kidney and the drinking and Jade, I don't think I've been really happy since last summer." Kevin nodded and smiled the million dollar smile that Luke always saw in his dreams. "Well, today we'll change that. I mean it. I owe it to you, Luke. I put you through a lot of pressure earlier this year and I'm sorry, I really am. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have such a screwed up relationship with your parents." "Nah, it's not all your fault. It's a lot of my own troubles too, but hopefully that'll all be put in the past, you know? People change, they grow up. I think my parents realize that I'm not the kid I was in the winter and neither are you." "Yep!" Kevin exclaimed. "We're not kids anymore, we're men! Think about it, when we go back to Oakdale Latin, we're going to be seniors! We'll be able to get all the girls we want." Luke had his guard down and was hit by Kevin's comment. Why was Kevin interested in girls when I've been his best friend for ten years, he thought. Maybe this was all a big mistake. For a second, he wanted to just forget about it all and not come out to Kevin, but he had his mind set on it now and it was something he had to do. Nothing was going to stop him now. ~~~~~~~~~ "This place is a dump!" Kevin yelled when they pulled up at the cabin. "My dad told me that it was right on the coast, but I think the five miles through the woods that we just drove prove him wrong." "I don't think it's that bad," Luke said, admiring the subtle majesty of the small cabin. He looked towards the side of it. "Look, there's a small pond out back. That's better than the shark-infested lake anyway." "Yeah, I guess," Kevin said. "Let's get our stuff inside." Together, they hauled in a twelve pack box of sodas, several bags of chips and cans of dip, a portable grill and all of the fixings for a summer picnic. When they were finally finished bringing the items in, they were both worn out and tired. "I would take a shower, but I don't know if there's enough water to last that long," Kevin said. "Yeah, I could do with one myself," Luke agreed. Kevin went to the window overlooking the pond. "You think that pond's clean?" he asked. Luke joined him in the window. "Should be. The one on our farm is pretty nice." "Good," Kevin said. He walked outside and instantly was in Luke's vision outside the window. He took off his shirt and pants. "What are you doing?" Luke said, laughing. "Taking advantage of this nice pond here. I'm not dirty, I took a bath before we left. I just need to soak in some cool water." Luke smiled as Kevin removed his shoes and socks. He was now naked to the core, with the exceptions of his swimming shorts and underwear. "You think anybody's going to notice if I do it in the buff?" "Yeah, someone's going to notice, me!" Luke joked. "Then maybe you should join me," Kevin replied. He jumped into the pond and floated around gracefully. It was enough to make Luke burst an aneurysm, even if he didn't have any. "Come on, the water's fine. It's cold, but it's not icy." Luke wanted desperately to say yes, but he didn't trust himself enough. He didn't want to do this now and then later, when he would tell Kevin everything, have his best friend question his motives. "Nah, I don't think it's such a good idea. I've been feeling a little feverish lately." "Of course," Kevin said. "I swear, Snyder, you've had every illness in the book." Suddenly, Luke noticed a mass of black cloth floating in the pond. "Hey, what's that behind you?" he asked. "What do you think it is, Einstein? I told you I was going all the way with this!" Luke nodded and forced a grin. He walked around inside the cabin to take his mind away from his naked crush. Giving himself a personal tour of the place, he moseyed down a very short hall. There were three doors, two on the left and one on the right. The right side door was a small bathroom, which seemed to be equipped with plumbing. The first door on the left was a small closet. The third door seemed to have a little hallway of its own. Luke walked through the door and quickly realized that it was a bedroom that wrapped around so that it was in the path of the hallway. The cabin looked small on the outside, but Luke definitely understood that looks could be deceiving. Inside the bedroom, there was a vanity, with some of Mrs. Davis's makeup on it. On the far side of the room, there was a door that led to the bathroom, and right there in the middle up against the wall was a double bed. It showed signs of use, as the sheets were wrinkled and carelessly thrown over the mattress, probably by someone who was in a hurry to leave. Whatever the case, Luke liked the feel of the cabin. There was an intimacy in it that a regular house didn't hold. It was not unlike his great-grandfather Cal Stricklyn's, which sat on the Snyder property and had been most recently occupied by Jade. Luke brought himself back to the living room and went to the window. Kevin was no longer in the pond and his clothes had been picked up, so he must have been out there somewhere drying off. But then, startling Luke, Kevin came through the front door without a thing to cover his body. Luke, shocked at first, quickly covered his eyes. "Kevin!" he cried out. "Give me a break, Snyder!" Kevin said, in his cheery voice. It was innocent yet had a mystery in it. It reminded Luke of the TV character Eddie Haskell. "It's not like I have something you don't." Luke slowly parted his fingers over his eyes and looked down. Inside, he laughed. Yes, Kevin, he thought, you definitely have something that I don't. "Did you have to come in here stark naked?" "I forgot to bring a towel out with me, and I couldn't dry off with a leaf, could I?" Luke didn't care for the reason, he was just thankful for this moment. It was completely shallow and maybe a bit perverted, but he didn't care. After the hell he'd been through the last year, he deserved to be a pervert for a while. ~~~~~~~~~ Hours had passed, literally. Those were hours that were filled with the two teenagers trying their hand at cooking, fishing, bird watching (they were desperate), and watching old reruns on the black and white TV in the cabin. Luke didn't know when the perfect moment would be to talk to Kevin. In his mind, he had the scenario set up. There'd be a fire in the fireplace (even though it was the middle of summer), and they'd both be on the sofa in front of it. He'd look over at Kevin and just say the three words that he had longed to say. "I love you." But he knew it wouldn't happen like that. It was now 4:15 in the afternoon and Kevin was getting restless. "You know, I think there's a big rock out there in the pond," he said. "Bet you I'll beat you to it in a race." Luke swallowed a big blob of air. "What?" "I said I bet you I can beat you out there to that rock in the pond!" The excitement took over Luke. "Oh really?" he asked. "You remember what happened last time, Snyder!" Kevin exclaimed. "I'll beat you again and defend my title as the fastest swimmer this side of Bay City!" "We'll just see about that!" Luke replied. "Come on!" They laughed and taunted each other all the way out to the pond, playfully pushing each other. To Luke's surprise, Kevin dropped down to nothing again. That's it, Luke thought, I lost. I can't take the distraction. Luke himself only got down to his swimming shorts. They both jumped into the water and situated themselves right next to the shore. "On your mark," Kevin said. "Get set," Luke continued. "Go!" they both hollered, and off they went. Kevin's technique caused water to fly as high as the sun while Luke's style was more modest. Nevertheless, Luke allowed Kevin to beat him again, if only just to relive that one special moment. "2-4-6-8! Who do I appreciate? Luke Snyder, Luke Snyder, yeah, Luke Snyder!" Kevin sang and danced. Luke looked up at him on the grass as he himself stayed in the water. He looked at Kevin's legs, firm from the years and years of sports and activity. He looked at the back, which was pretty much the same way. Kevin had it all, Luke thought. And I need to have him. Luke lifted himself out of the pond and up on the ground. Suddenly, Kevin, who had his underwear on again, tackled him to the ground. "Who's the winner?" he asked aggresively but jokingly. "Who owns you?!" "You do!" Luke responded. It was like some sort of dream that he had had night after night. "What's my name?!" "Kevin! Kevin! Your name's Kevin!" Luke continued to scream. This was too surreal! Kevin pinned him down and they were face to face, only an three and a half inches separating their mouths and eyes. Luke looked into Kevin's eyes and knew that it was right. He knew that he was the luckiest young man in the world. Completely and utterly doubtless, Luke reached his head up and his lips met Kevin's. They savored each other. Figuratively speaking, Kevin's lips were lips of wine. Luke, his eyes closed and his mind in another world, reveled in his happiness. Here he was, on the ground behind a cabin in the woods, making out with his best friend, the guy he had been in love with for who knows how long. Last year was only a realization for him. It was then that he admitted it to himself that he loved Kevin, but he knew that the feelings he had for him had existed long before then. Kevin, in his own mind, was proud of himself. It worked, he thought. And this is the perfect payoff. All of the months of teasing Luke and subtly seducing him have worked. No one stood between us. Not Holden, not Lily, not that pathetic bitch Jade. We're destined. It was even more a testament to their connection when they both broke the kiss at the same time. "Kevin," Luke said, "I love you." "I love you too, Snyder," Kevin replied, hardly able to catch his breath. "I love you, Kevin," Luke repeated. "As long as the world turns, I will love you." And at that moment, they could do nothing but kiss again. TO BE CONTINUED...

Well, my first idea of regular blog-writting quickly died, but I remembered this thing and had a feeling that I'd think of something to bring it back to life. Well, while I was having one of my "Damn it, I love ATWT to death!" moments, I just started writing away and came up with a little story about Luke and Kevin. I wrote a pretty good bit of it already, and I decided to post some of it here to see what you all think. Make some comments! If I'm motivated enough, I'll finish the story out and post it all here, and I might even move on to some other characters or maybe go and do something with AMC. Whatever the case, let me know what you think! This takes place in July of this year and follows what would happen if Damian didn't show up in town. The main characters are, for now, Luke, Kevin, Holden, and Lily, but as time goes on, Emma and Lucinda play major parts. Other characters are mentioned and might pop up a couple of times, mainly Will, Gwen, and Jade. Kevin's parents will also be included a lot. And some parts might be a little dull, but hey, I was in one of my moments! AS THE WORLD TURNS "The Luke and Kevin Story" Luke Snyder sat at a table at Java, mulling over where his life was going. It had been two months since he told his family and friends that he was gay. Unfortunately, the first person he told was Jade, who milked the situation for all it was worth. But now Jade was stuck working at the library and living somewhere that was unknown to Luke. Luckily, he uncared. Looking up, he saw his former best friend Kevin Davis enter the cafe. Kevin was one of the few people who did not know. The only ones who did know were Jade, Luke's parents Holden and Lily, his grandmothers Lucinda and Emma, and his friends Will and Gwen. Luke knew it would probably be extremely hard to tell Kevin the news because it was his love for Kevin that convinced him he was gay. He knew he had to tell him sooner or later, and, more than anything, he wanted to make sure Kevin heard it straight from him and not in the halls at school. Luke knew it was now or never. Almost instantly, Kevin joined Luke at his table. "How's it been going?" he asked in that almost always cheery voice of his. "Things could be better," Luke said, hoping Kevin wouldn't inquire any further. "You sound like you could use a vacation, my friend!" Kevin announced. "What do you say me and you hang out sometime. I mean, your parents have to be over the drinking stuff right?" Luke sighed. "I don't think that's such a good idea. So long, Kevin." He got up and started to leave, but Kevin stopped him right outside the building. "Come on, old pal, it could be like old times. My parents are out of town for the whole summer and they left me the keys to their cabin up by the lake. We can drive out there tomorrow morning, do some swimming, just hang out. Maybe we can find some chicks." Luke thought for a moment. This would be the perfect opportunity to come out to Kevin, and he knew it. Would his parents go for it? He smiled at Kevin. "All right, I'm in." "Ah, I knew you'd say yes! It was the chicks wasn't it? That's what changed your mind!" Luke forced a smile this time without answering. ~~~~~~~~~ "Absolutely not," Lily said, and she meant it. It was she, Holden, and Luke in the Snyder living room and Luke had just asked for permission to go on the trip with Kevin. "That boy is the main reason why you were sick in the first place!" "Actually," Luke said with snark, "I got sick from when I stowed away on your boyfriend's plane." "Don't you dare bring Keith into this," Lily snapped back. She softened her voice a little. "Kevin got you drunk how many times? We can't trust him anymore. There's no telling what kind of stuff he's in to now! Drugs, maybe?" "Kevin's not like that," Luke persisted. "He's changed a lot. He hasn't had a drink since spring." He looked at Holden, who stood behind Lily, with pleading eyes. Holden caught Luke's glance, and deep down he knew what was going on. "What time do you guys plan to be back?" Holden asked. Lily turned and looked at him with astonishment. Luke replied, "We'll leave right when it starts to get dark." "And there'll be no alcohol at all?" Holden asked. "None what-so-ever." "And you guys will behave yourselves, right? You'll keep the Davis's place in order?" "Of course. We're not little kids anymore." Holden shrugged at Lily as he took some money from his wallet. "Here," he said to Luke, "here's twenty bucks in case you guys get hungry on the way back. It's enough for a burger joint, I guess." Luke looked Holden in the eye again. He knew that Holden knew, so he smiled and accepted the offer. "So you mean I can go?" "Yeah, sure, why not? Just be back before 10:00 and all of that. And no alcohol!" Holden said. "Thanks, Dad, I really mean it," Luke graciously thanked before going up to his room to start planning for the next day. Lily was ready to take Holden's head off. "Why did you just do that?" she asked him. "You don't trust Kevin Davis anymore than I do." "Well, you heard Luke. He said Kevin's changed. He sees him more than we do, so we kinda have to take his word for it." Lily exhaled briskly. "I swear, if that kid does anything to our son, I will personally make sure he has no contact with Luke ever." Holden looked at her and knew she was serious. ~~~~~~~~~ Later that day, Luke went to pick his little sisters up from the Snyder farm, owned and operated by Holden's mother Emma. Emma had a slightly hard time understanding Luke when he came out. She had always had a certain set of values and morals in her mind, but slowly she realized that in order to accept her grandson and love him for who he truly was, she would have to learn to change her feelings. By the time Luke went to pick up Faith and Natalie that day, Emma was completely supportive of his life. "Hello, Grandma," he said to her when he entered through the kitchen. "Oh, hello, my dear one," she greeted enthusiastically, rushing from the stove to give him a big hug. "How has your day been, darling?" Luke grinned. "It started off a little dull, but I think it's going to be okay." "Aw, that's nice to hear. Your Aunt Meg's upstairs with the girls getting them ready to go home, so they might be a while. Would you like to talk about anything?" Emma's voice was so sure and honest to Luke that he couldn't resist. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do have something to talk about." Within in minutes, they were on the Snyder porch with some fresh homemade lemonade. "Now what is it you want to talk about?" Luke hesitated. "Well...you remember how I told you that I was...gay, right?" Of course she remembered, he thought, but he couldn't think of another way to bring up the subject. "Yes, I do," Emma said, trying to let him know that she held nothing against him. "Well, my friend, Kevin, he asked me to go up to the lake with him tomorrow and spend the day up there." "Oh..." "Yeah, and he doesn't know about me yet." There was something about saying the word gay to his grandmother that just rubbed Luke the wrong way. "And at first I wasn't going to go, because I didn't think that I could be there and spend the whole day with him and - " "You didn't want something out of your control to happen." "Right!" Luke exclaimed, surprised that she understood the situation. "But then I decided that maybe I should go. And use it as a chance to tell him everything." "Well," Emma began, "you know I'm used to giving advice about love to your father and your aunts and uncles, and for a while, I've wondered what I would say when you yourself would come to me for romantic advice, but after days of thinking about it, I decided that love is love no matter who it's between, and we all share the same type of problems. Right?" "Yeah, I guess." "Well, then. I think you should tell Kevin exactly how you feel. If he's really the friend that you think he is, he'll understand. I'm not saying that he'll be accepting at the very beginning, but he'll come around. If it doesn't happen that way, then maybe it's for the better that he walks out of your life." Luke looked at her and knew that she was right. She always was. ~~~~~~~~~ It was 3:45AM. Luke was downstairs in the kitchen looking for something to snack. He needed something to relieve his nerves. He did not know how he was going to approach Kevin at the beach or what he would say. He was thinking about cancelling the trip altogether when he heard someone stirring in the living room. Soon after, Holden was with him in the kitchen. "Is something wrong?" Holden asked his son. "Are you feeling okay?" Luke looked up at him. "I'm fine." Holden remembered the problem. "You're worried about telling Kevin that you're gay." "Can you blame me? How am I going to tell my best friend that I'm gay?" "And that you love him." Luke gulped hard. "So you figured it out?" "It wasn't hard to figure out. Way back before you even told your mother and me, I had a feeling in my mind. You spent so much time with him and you cared so much about him. I knew something had to be up." "I don't know why I feel the way I do about him. I mean, the guy almost turned me into an alcoholic and he made me go against your wishes, but there's just something about him that I can't shake. The way I feel when I'm around him...I just feel weak, but in a good way." "Aw, come here," Holden said, hugging his son. "Just take a little time and listen to what your grandma said." Luke stepped back. "How do you know what she said? Did you call her or something?" "Yeah, I told her about your little dilemma and she said she'd be of help for ya." "Thanks for everything," Luke said, hugging his father again. ~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, Luke was about to walk out the door to wait for Kevin out in the driveway. He was hoping not to bump into his mother on his way out, but he couldn't be so lucky. Lily was in the living room when he came downstairs and had to stop him. "Have a good time," she said. "Do you really mean that?" he asked her bitingly. "Of course I do! I want you to enjoy yourself. You haven't had a good day to unwind in Lord knows how long," Lily replied sincerely. She took him into a hug. "I know you've been through a lot over the last year, and I know I've been at fault for a lot of it, but I promise I can change," she said. "You're my son and I love you." "I love you too, Mom," he said. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and bid her farewell. "I'll see you guys tonight. Tell Faith and Natalie that I love them." "Definitely. Bye, Luke." TO BE CONTINUED...

Tuesday, February 7, 2006 ACT ONE Palmer Cortlandt Jr, aka PC Cortlandt, is sitting on the steps at the boathouse. He wants to know who it is calling his cell phone. On the other end, Sam asks for Lily again. PC says that Lily can't come to the phone, but he could leave a message. Sam, a little shocked, asks who it is he is speaking to. PC introduces himself and says that he is Lily's new boyfriend. Sam angrily slams down the phone. At the Valley Inn, Erica shows up for a lunch date with Jackson. Erica asks how Jack's day has been and he unenthusiastically says that it's been fine. Erica notes this and wants the truth. Jack spills that he misses his true love. Erica says that she's right there, but Jack says that he means practicing law. Erica understands. She says that her own work life has been a little messy lately too. Between the problems with Amanda and Josh and the pressure she's getting from the network, she doesn't know what to do. The doorbell at the Chandler mansion rings. Adam, coming down from the stairs, opens the door and is delighted by the presence of Brooke. Brooke tells him not to be too happy to see her, she's there for business. They go into the living room and continue their talk. Adam pours himself some wine and asks Brooke that if she didn't wake up with a mad desire to be near him, whatever could she be there for? Brooke says that she wants to interview him for Tempo. Adam chokes on his wine. ACT TWO. Brooke slaps Adam on the back, telling him not to panic. She wants to interview him about the warning signs of heart problems. Adam laughs at what he sees as a unbelievable excuse to get next to him. Brooke threatens to leave if he doesn't take her seriously. Adam apologizes and asks what on earth made Brooke think of him for heart disease. Brooke explains that it has to do with his stubborness to listen to her last year and how it turned out to be much more. Adam brushes her off, saying that there's nothing wrong with his heart. At the Inn, Jack is kicking himself. He says that he wishes he could have found a way to save Bianca, Kendall, and Reggie during the Cambias trial while also saving himself. Maybe he would still be district attorney. Erica disagrees, but listens. He goes on to say that his ruthless efforts to help his family out always come back to bite him in the rear end. Erica says that Jack is the most selfless man she knows and that everything he does, he does it for others. She tells him that his good deeds will be rewarded someway, somehow. PC is sitting on the railing at the boathouse, playing with Lily's cell phone. She approaches him and asks if anyone's called for her while she was gone. He says yes, that some crazy guy called. Lily is worried. She wonders if Jonathan Lavery has found out her number and is trying to kill her again. PC tells her that Jonathan Lavery is locked up in a mental institution and that he can't hurt anyone now. He comforts her and she smiles again. She hopes that whoever it was that called will call again, just as the phone rings. She answers it, but when Sam greets her, she is speechless. ACT THREE Janet is fluttering around her penthouse, Erica's old place, gently brushing dust off of the countertops and straightening up the furniture. She fixes her hair in the mirror just as the doorbell rings. She goes to answer it and sees Krystal there. She says that she wasn't expecting her so soon. Krystal barges in. Janet asks if she can get her anything, but Krystal says no. Krystal says that she needs Janet's help with Babe and JR. Upon mention of Babe's name, Janet's face goes sour, but she remembers that she's trying to be friendly now. She asks what she can do. Krystal goes on to say that she doesn't trust JR as far as she could throw him, even though that's pretty far. She doesn't want her baby doll to be tied up with JR again, and wants Janet to help her break them up. Janet laughs. She says that the only person who could get Babe to leave JR is Jamie. Krystal nods and Janet frowns. Sam asks Lily if she's still there on the phone. Lily says hello, but is frozen. Sam goes on to tell Lily that he's back in town and that he's changed and that he's still sorry for calling her stupid. Lily "mhm"s and nods awkwardly as PC looks on. She tells Sam that she has to go. Sam asks if they could meet together soon because he really wants to see her again and make it up to her. Lily says that she will get back to him and hangs up. At the boathouse, PC is surprised. He wants to know if Lily is playing a game on him and this other guy. Lily explains that she isn't playing a game with him, and that Sam is her old boyfriend. Brooke tries to convince Adam that his body is getting older and that he's brain is suffering from years of neverending stress. Adam snidely comments that everyone he knows has been going through years of stress. Brooke says that that's beside the point. She tells him that if he does this interview it could help other stubborn old men like him when it happens to them. Adam looks at her and his never-ending admiration for her wins. He agrees to the interview. Brooke goes on to tells him to call her whenever he has to time do the interview, but Adam suggests that they do it over a nice dinner for two. Brooke warns him that if he tries anything funny with her, she'll gladly use everything she knows about Chandler Enterprises against him in Tempo. Adam asks her why she can never take a joke. Erica and Jack are eating, as Erica talks about her problems at work. She tells him about all of the little mistakes that have gone on, and wonders if Josh isn't the root of all of the problems. Jack says that she should give Josh a little slack. He's new to the industry and Jack knows that when Erica was new to modeling and all of her other business ventures, she was just as lost. Erica says that she was more conniving than lost. She remembers her days of playing mattress tag with Jeff Martin and Jason Maxwell while pining for Phil Brent the whole time. Good times, she says they were, but the good times are spoiled when Greg appears in the dining room. ACT FOUR Erica rises and greets Greg. Greg asks Erica how she's been and how Kendall and the baby are doing. Erica says that everything with everyone is fine. So fine, in fact, that they're having a dinner party soon. Greg asks for what ocassion, and after a little thought, Erica decides it's to celebrate her family's good fortune. Greg says that he imagines he'd not be welcome anywhere around the festivities, but Erica surprises him. She invites him to the dinner party, making Jack do a double take. Erica tells Greg to be there. Greg happily obliges the invitation. Erica slips back down into her seat. Jack asks her what that was all about. Janet says that Jamie is happy Amanda now and that he'd never jeopardize that for Babe. Krystal says that it's obvious Jamie has no feelings for Amanda. He's just using her as a way to get over losing Babe. Janet tells her that she must be joking. Why would Jamie need to get over Babe? After she lied to him time after time? Krystal reminds Janet that Amanda isn't exactly saint, after all, she did accept JR's money to break Babe and Jamie apart. Janet says that Amanda has put the past behind her. Krystal says that Babe has done the same. Janet agrees, saying that Babe's past is Jamie, and he's definitely behind her now. Krystal is upset. She tells Janet that she thought they would be friends, but obviously she was wrong. She storms out. Janet smiles. She wonders why Krystal ever thought they'd be friends, after the way Babe has treated Amanda in the past. Lily is explaining her relationship with Sam to PC. She tells him how Sam was the only boy who tried to understand her autism spectrum disorder, but PC corrects her. He's trying to understand her disorder too. Lily continues, saying that Sam started to focus on hating Zach Slater instead of on her and she thought that was wrong. Then she tells PC about Sam calling her stupid and trying to have sex with her. PC gets angered. He tells Lily that he would never try anything like that with her. She thanks him and says that she thinks she wants to hug him. PC asks if she really wants to and she says she's sure of it. They hug. ACT FIVE At the mansion, Brooke has left and Adam is reading some reports in the library. Mary shows up. She asks Adam how he's been the last few days because, oddly, it seems as if he's been avoiding her. Adam says that he probably was. Mary takes this as a joke. She says that she couldn't help but hearing him on the phone earlier in the day, talking to a sculpter. Adam says that yes, he's getting a bust of his head done to be put into the library. Mary subtly compliments Adam's physical features, such as his cheekbones and nose. Adam tells her to get to the point of leave. She says that she wants to do the job and that she'll do it for free. Adam guffaws. Prices don't mean a thing to him and if Mary did the job for free, it still wouldn't be worth what he'd pay her. Mary begs and pleads with Adam to let her try. If he isn't satisfied with her work, he can get another one made. He agrees, saying that he's letting the women in his life get the best of him. She asks what he means, and he tells her about Brooke. Mary is annoyed. Erica explains to Jack that the dinner party is her latest idea to get to Greg. Jack sighs. Erica goes on to tell him that she's determined to know why he's obsessed with what was going on in Pine Valley 35 years ago. Jack says that he wants Erica to leave Greg alone before she gets hurt, but Erica says that if she doesn't pump Greg for truth, she'll get hurt regardless. She tells Jack that she's going to use Myrtle to get the truth out of him. After the way Myrtle bonded with Zach, she's sure the old lady will work on Greg. Jack shakes his head in dispprovement, but asks when this dinner party will be held. starring (in order of seniority) Susan Lucci as Erica Kane Julia Barr as Brooke English David Canary as Adam Chandler Kate Collins as Janet Dillon Walt Willey as Jack Montgomery Anna Stuart as Mary Smythe Bobbie Eakes as Krystal Carey Leven Rambin as Lily Montgomery Bobby Steggert as Sam Grey Ian Buchanan as Greg Madden Jake Weary as PC Cortlandt

Monday, February 6, 2006 ACT ONE Zach shows up at BJs for a cup of coffee and spots Julia already enjoying one. She asks him to join her, and he does. She asks how things have been in his life lately and he tells her about his and Kendall's upcoming remarriage. Julia laughs, joking that Zach will now become another victim of Kendall's twisted emotions. Zach tells her that she may be right. At her condo, Kendall is attempting to scramble eggs, but burns them in the process. She tells her unborn child to get used to eating take out. While cleaning up the mess, she is surprised when Ryan comes to her front door. Babe and Krystal are sitting on the Chandler patio drinking tea. Babe is gushing about Little Adam's latest happenings, including some of the not-so-good words he's picked up from his grandfather. Krystal laughs and says she can't wait until the two of them get to have the little boy all to themselves. Babe tells her that she's not too sure that'll ever happen. Across town, Joe is kissing Ruth goodbye on his way to the hospital. She tells him about the call she got from Jeff and that he's doing well and is thinking about coming back to Pine Valley. Joe is surprised, but thinks it would be great to have Jeff around again. Just as he opens the front door to leave, Sam rings the doorbell with luggage at his side. ACT TWO Joe and Ruth welcome Sam into their home, giving him hugs and kisses. They sit down and start talking. Sam explains to them that he and Maria had a discussion back in California and decided that it would be best if Sam came back to Pine Valley to bond with his mother's side of the family. He says that his mother wanted him to stay with Tad, but he wanted to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Martin themselves, his great-grandparents. Ruth and Joe tell him that he is very welcome to stay with them as Joe leaves for work. Julia asks Zach if he's found Kendall in the company of another man yet. Zach tells her no, but whenever she's around Ryan he senses an undeniable attraction between the two of them. Julia laughs. Zach continues to explain that he knows it's just because of the baby, but he's worried that they might get too close because of the baby. Ryan tells Kendall that he's taken the whole day off from work at Cambias to take her shopping for baby stuff at Lacey's. Kendall refuses at first, telling him that if she misses another day at Fusion, things will be ruined beyond repair. He tells her to give Danielle some credit and to go with him. Kendall tells him that Zach wouldn't like it, but he says that it's just two old friends having fun together. Kendall finds it hard to resist and goes to get dressed. Krystal thinks Babe is kidding. Babe tells her that now that she and JR are talking about remarriage, she's fallen back in love with him. Krystal tells her that it's just her heart playing tricks on her and that she must keep her eyes on getting back Little Adam. Babe says that it's much more than that. She says that she feels that JR loves her too and that she has a second chance to prove to him that she can be a good wife and mother. Just as she says this, JR appears from the house. ACT THREE JR tells Babe that she doesn't have to prove anything to him, he already knows that she loves him. Krystal says that she has to go talk to Winifred about her pillows being too fluffy, leaving Babe and JR alone. JR asks what that was all about and Babe quickly tells him that it was nothing. She tells him that the previous night was the best sleep she's had in a long time because it was the first time she slept in the same bed with him since their first marriage. JR returns the compliments and they kiss. Krystal watches from the living room and winces in disgust. Adam sneaks up on her and agrees with her wincing. He tells her that he's happy to see she's finally realizes how horrible Babe and JR are for each other. Krystal warns Adam that JR better not be working Babe in any way. Adam tells her that JR is too bewitched by Babe to even think about working her over. Krystal says that if Babe gets hurt by JR again, she'll take matters into her own hands. At Lacey's, Kendall and Ryan are shopping for baby clothes. Ryan holds up an atrocious outfit, sure that Kendall would like it for their son. Kendall laughs at him, making the mood light and cheery. They pass by the Fusion counter and start talking about the perfume. Ryan sprays some of it and smells it, saying that it reminds him of Greenlee. ACT FOUR At BJs, Julia asks Zach why he thinks Ryan and Kendall are getting too close. Julia's sure that Ryan's smart enough not to fall for Kendall all over again. Zach tells her that he isn't sure what it is, but he feels something between Ryan and Kendall. Julia tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself and to lighten up. Though she doesn't like her, Julia knows that when Kendall sets her sights on a man, she rarely lets someone else come between them. Zach reluctantly accepts Julia's advice and thanks her. Kendall hugs Ryan. She tells him that she misses Greenlee too, even after the scene she caused at Thanksgiving dinner before she left. Ryan apologizes to Kendall for the way he acted at that time and tells her that he didn't understand then why Kendall did what she did, but he does now. Kendall tells him that he still has a chance with Greenlee and that he should look for her. Ryan says that he could, but he wants to let her have time alone for awhile. Krystal prepares to go out to do some shopping herself, but is stopped by Mary on the way out. Mary wants to know why she saw Krystal leaving Adam's bedroom at midnight. Krystal decides to play with Mary's mind for a while, telling her that she and Adam had the most amazing love making session ever. Mary is appalled. When she realizes Krystal is only joking, she is upset. She tries to touch Krystal's soul and asks Krystal if there's anything between the two of them. Krystal tells her that she has nothing to worry about regarding her marriage to Adam, it's only for business. At the Martin home, Ruth is laying down the rules of the house to Sam at the kitchen table. Friends are allowed over, but not past 10 on school nights, and 12 on the weekends, unless they're spending the night. His curfew will be the same times. Ruth says that if Sam gets in the company of a ladyfriend, she's only allowed up to his room during the daytime. Sam finds these rules a bit old-fashioned, but thanks Ruth for letting him stay and promises to behave himself. Ruth thanks him for deciding to move in with her and Joe. She says that they were feeling old without someone younger in the house, and raising another teenager will be good for their health. Ruth pulls him in to a hug and officially welcomes him into the Martin family. ACT FIVE Zach shows up at the walkway between his and Kendall's condos and instead of going into his, he knocks on Kendall's door. After no one answers, he enters with his key. He looks around, calling her name, but gets no response. He goes into her bedroom and sees her robe laying on her bed. Zach picks it up and brings it to his face, thinking of how much he loves Kendall. He leaves. Kendall is alone in the maternity department, looking for clothes that she could buy for herself. She holds up a dress in front of a full-length mirror and tries to see how she'd fit in it. Ryan shows up behind her and puts his arms around her belly. She turns around and they share a passionate kiss. Kendall blinks her eyes, though, and this is all a dream. Ryan returns from the bathroom and asks if she's ready to go. She says yes. At the Martin home, Ruth is leaving to run errands. She tells Sam to make himself at home and to help himself to the refrigerator. The second he hears her car leave the driveway, he picks up the telephone and dials a number. When the phone on the other end stops ringing, he asks for Lily. Krystal is on the road in her car when her phone rings. She picks it up and it is Babe. Babe again tries to convince her mother that she is in love with JR and that the lies need to stop. Krystal tells Babe that she doesn't trust JR, but will be happy for them for Babe's sake. Babe says that this is all she asks and that she knows in her heart that this is the real deal. After hanging up with Babe, Krystal presses some buttons on her phone, bringing up the address book feature. She scrolls until she finds Janet's name and number and presses "Call." starring (in order of seniority) Ray MacDonnell as Joe Martin Mary Fickett as Ruth Martin David Canary as Adam Chandler Sydney Penny as Julia Keefer Cameron Mathison as Ryan Lavery Alicia Minshew as Kendall Hart Anna Stuart as Mary Smythe Alexa Havins as Babe Carey Jacob Young as JR Chandler Bobbie Eakes as Krystal Carey Thorsten Kaye as Zach Slater Bobby Steggert as Sam Grey

I've been feeling a little creative lately, so I decided to try my hand at writing an alternate AMC. I'm taking into account my opinions on the show's current state, as well as the opinions of others, and I hope that at least three or four people could enjoy the whole thing. Everything is taking place in the current time, but with some changes: ~ Josh is in NO WAY Erica's son AT ALL. ~ Jonathan is living at Oak Haven, being treated for his mental illness. Erin has moved back out of town. ~ Janet has returned to town, but NONE of the terrible acts that she have committed happened. She's recently returned to town and has a room at the Valley Inn. She's been on her medications, but hasn't been 100% good. ~ Sam has returned to Pine Valley, after promising to behave himself. He moves in with Joe and Ruth. ~ Simone and Ethan are together, but have left town. ~ Sadly, Dixie is NOT alive. ~ Reggie and Danielle are no longer in high school. Both are around Jamie's age (around 20 or 21). They are slowly coming back together as a couple, but Reggie has also been spending time with an old friend, Joni Stafford. ~ Petey is SORAS'd and is back on the canvas. He now goes by PC, his father's old nickname. He is the same age as Lily and Sam. The three are sophomores in high school. ~ Amanda and Jamie are truly in love. ~ Zach did NOT cause the spermbank blackout. With those changes in mind, this is the current cast list... CONTRACT Marian Chandler Brooke English Jamie Martin Greg Madden Adam Chandler and Stuart Chandler Derek Frye Krystal Carey Janet Dillon Josh Madden Di Henry Babe Carey Myrtle Fargate David Hayward Reggie Porter Zach Slater Tad Martin Opal Peter "PC" Cortlandt Erica Kane Danielle Frye Joe Martin Ryan Lavery Ruth Martin Kendall Hart Palmer Cortlandt Del Henry Julia Santos Lily Montgomery Joni Stafford Amanda Dillon Sam Grey Mary Smythe Aidan Devane Jack Montgomery JR Chandler RECURRING Little Adam Chandler Winifred Del Henry Tom Cudahy Livia Frye Cudahy Expect summary-type episodes, where the events of each episode is done in a recap/spoiler style. Episodes will start being posted on February 6, and will usually be posted daily. Check back on Monday for the first episode as it will set up most of the major storylines!