Trouble in Paradise

Chapter XXII - Luke

"Okay, this is your first paycheck. We're getting you a new wardrobe."

"Calm down, Wells, I can't spend all my money on clothes."

"Sure you can. And sure you will."

Ah, Wells. His logic is always a bit distorted and unrealistic but he means well.

I think.

I park my car on the third floor in the multi-level parking lot of the mall and we walk in with the hopes of finding that 'new me' I'm becoming. I didn't see it at first but the more I think about it, the easier it is to see I had been losing myself in the shadow of my husband.

For so long Peter was the center of my universe that I failed to notice I was fading away and resigning to everything I wanted because I felt content with being Luke Barlett-Montecarlo. With being Peter's husband and nothing else.

Wells and I walk in and out of stores without me finding anything until Wells decides to take the reins of this trip and be 'my guide'. "You'll be the perfect doll for me to dress up. We'll go to all the stores where I buy my clothes and shoes and when we get back to your place we'll burn everything you own. Noah won't know what hit him next time he sees you."

"Ok, first of all, we're donating some of my stuff. I can't go to work looking like a wanna-be version of you, plus, I don't burn things others can use."

Wells rolls his eyes at me and somehow the action makes his golden curls bounce making him look as charming as ever. That's one of the reasons he gets away with murder.

"And secondly?"

I spaced out and forgot what we were talking about. "Uh?"

"And, secondingly? You said 'First of all.' What comes after that?"

"Oh, yeah, that. There's no more Noah."

Wells makes a sound similar to what vinyl would if it scratched a turntable. I dread having to tell him because I know he doesn't understand that two gay men can be friends without ulterior motives. As if he and I aren't proof enough. But I tell him anyway cause then he wouldn't shut up and that's just as annoying.

"Noah and I agreed we'd be better as friends. We like each other but the chemistry is just not there."

"I'm sorry, what?! That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard. Have you seen him? Has he seen you? You're both hot as fuck!"

See?

It took me half an hour to convince him Marco crashing my date wasn't the reason Noah and I didn't work. If anything Noah was laughing when I told him what really happened.

The truth is I have too much going on to focus on trying to date someone. Even if that someone looks like Chris Evans, Jensen Ackles, and a Greek god had a kid and that kid got all their best qualities.

Wells and I go from store to store buying a full new wardrobe like he promised. At this point, I'll end up looking like an unemployed biker with all the torn jeans, and then jackets he made me buy, not to mention the designer shoes that cost him an eye and a kidney —because I refused to buy them— but look like someone used them for two decades to run right next to Forrest Gump. How does it make sense that clothes that look old and dirty cost so much?

Our final stop is a hair stylist that Wells has been seeing for years. The two of them make jokes about me having more gel in my hair than Ross from Friends or that I look like an Italian mafia boss. The last of course comes from Wells who does it because of Peter even if he isn't here. He doesn't mean anything by it. He just likes pissing Peter off and even Peter himself used to joke about it whenever Wells wasn't around.

By the time the hairdresser is done styling me and teaching me how to do it myself moving forward, I look like a brand new man. The man in the mirror smiles back at me and Wells wraps his arms around my waist from behind me resting his chin on my shoulder. He used to do that a lot growing up and just like we did then, I reached up with my right hand to cup his face and link our fingers with my left one.

"You look gorgeous," Wells tells me. "This is not a new you, Luke. Is the version of yourself that you were always meant to be. It's good to finally see you, my friend."

Wells jokes around all the time. He acts like a child, like nothing matters and he just goes with the flow. Wells is everything people find annoying but that's because they don't know that he's one of the kindest men alive and that having him as a friend and in your corner is a privilege and not a burden. I hope Wells one day finds what I couldn't keep. I hope the man who wins his heart can see my best friend for all he means.

I drop Wells off at his place and drive back home to rest. I have the day off from work and school and I plan to do a whole bunch of nothing the rest of the day. When I get home I head straight to the stairs planning on taking a nap but a sniff stops me. It's Marco, and he's... crying? I drop all my bags and run to him.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Ever since Marco told me about him and Beth I can't stop having mixed emotions. I've known both of them for so long and it's hard to take sides when I appreciate them equally. "Nothing, Luke, just... Beth, it's giving me a hard time. She says she won't let me see the kids until I come back home and I'm just not ready for this." Okay, maybe I can appreciate Marco more than Beth.

He doesn't give me a chance to offer a shoulder to cry. Instead, he gets up from the couch abruptly. "I'm sorry, man. I need to take a nap or go hide downstairs. I'm too angry to talk about this."

I nod and let him go. He's never been one to get touchy-feely so I can't expect any different today. I resume my plan to rush upstairs and go to bed and I almost succeed. That plan, however, goes to shit, when I reach the top step and find Peter, naked as the day he was born, drying off his hair with a tower.

My bags hit the floor and so does my jaw. Fuck, I forgot how mouth-watering he is with his dark hair, his abs, his damn everything. The sound of my bags makes him stop and look up, and when his eyes travel up to meet my eyes I forget about words like divorce and new life. I need this man on me right now, and if I regret what I plan to do, well, that's tomorrow's Luke problem.