Customer Satisfaction [COMPLETE]

A Bit Of A Mess

Two weeks ago, on her fateful birthday...

"You had better clean up the mess." Luke inspected, tiptoeing around the clothes dotting the thick carpet to reach the large four-poster bed in the center of his room. A groan ensued from it, and a blond head lifted from the tangled sheets.

"Get out." Will groaned.

"You're in my room." Luke pointed out. Will cracked a bloodshot eye open.

"No way." He lifted his head to look around, then groaned and dropped it. Luke winced sympathetically.

"You were drunk yesterday and couldn't remember your password. Why do you change it so much?"

"Keep people out." Will muttered, rubbing his eyes. Luke pulled his closet open, sorting through the clothes.

"Well, it certainly keeps you out." He muttered.

Will had other things in mind. "Why am I in your bed, you pervert?"

Luke raised his eyebrows, throwing clean shirt at his lifelong friend, where it fell smack on his head. "Get your shit together. And I didn't invite you in—you and that pretty brunette saw me opening my door and sailed right in like you owned the place. I had to sleep on the couch. In my own place."

The guilt trip didn't work. "Brunette?" Will stripped the shirt off his muscled torso, a tattoo flashing on his bicep, and roughly chucked it aside, "What brunette?"

Luke glanced upward in exasperation, "She sneaked out. Left this, though." He kicked a thong towards Will.

Will grimaced, "Well, good for her. I'm not up for an awkward, morning after chat." He frowned and Luke followed his gaze, noticing the crumpled up letter sticking from under his lampshade. Will smoothed it open, reading out loud, "Saw the picture in your wallet—didn't mention a girlfriend. Go fuck yourself."

Luke let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head, "Well, that's not new." He said dryly, as Will stood up, groaning and clutching his head, "Maybe you should just tell everyone that you have a sis—"

"Shut it." Will muttered, slamming into the bathroom. Luke's smile faded and he set about righting the room, not really having expected Will to clean up, not in the state he was in. Today was that day of the year where Will made questionable decisions to drown out the hurt and the memories. 

Luke balled up the discarded clothes, his gaze falling on a small figurine sitting on his side table, and he stilled lowering himself on the edge of his bed. He absently discarded the clothes, reaching for the tarnished figurine that had once been a glittering ballerina, and cradled it between his long fingers, feeling his chest tighten with regret.

"Happy birthday, Chipmunk." He whispered to himself, his thumb brushing across its tiny head.

"It fell down the toilet."

Luke jumped, glaring at Will.

"What?"

"I was trying to wash my face...the soap slipped. The arc was beautiful—bounced off the wall and shit before going down."

Luke carefully placed the figurine back in its place, casually walking to his medicine closet to fish out a new bar of soap. He turned around, throwing the bar towards Will, and it slammed against his chest.

"Ow!" Will jumped back, glaring at him, "What was that for?"

Luke shrugged, "Sorry." He checked his watch, ignoring Will glaring at him, "Be ready in ten. We need to go to work."

Will wasn't ready in ten, but Luke dragged his grumbling ass out the door, shoving scalding coffee in his hands. They rode the elevator in silence, both lost in their own thoughts, stepping out in the basement of luxurious hotel and walking towards the offices. Luke noticed women watching him, hoping to catch his eye, and he gave them an acknowledging nod before striding past, his mind far away.

"You always do that." Will muttered. Luke glanced at him, noticing the shadows under Will's arctic eyes. He would look like a wreck for about another week, which meant another week of babysitting for Luke.

"Do what?" Luke said calmly, nodding at the woman seated at the information desk who had been watching him, and she broke into a giggle as he passed her.

"They always watch you, and you're always so...curt."

Luke blinked in surprise, "I'm not curt." He felt like he had been behaving politely, acknowledging everyone who was angling to catch his eye, even smiling at a few.

"With all those beautiful women, it wouldn't hurt to flirt."

"I do flirt." He said, annoyed.

"Well, not outside of bars, you don't. I mean, how can you resist the drooling?" Will asked, just as he winked at someone who had been trying to catch his eye. Luke shot him a shot of disbelief, and then shrugged, walking ahead.

He had always been that way. He had got along well with everyone as a child, and as he had hit teens he had realized that women were attracted to him with increasing frequency—and he to them—but he was never able to let anyone within his personal space, even for something as casual as office flirting. In the Foster Home he had been showered with adoration and awe yet had kept everyone at an arms distance, and that hadn't changed much as an adult. 

The only two people who had wriggled past his every defense had been Will and his sister, and they had lost her years ago.

A brooding expression settled on his face, and he slid his card into his office door to unlock it, stepping inside. The door would have closed behind him, but Will squirmed inside, pausing to send his empty Styrofoam coffee cup flying towards the basket—and missing—before turning to Luke, who lowered himself in his chair, stretching his long legs in front of him, regarding Will questioningly.

"Let's go to the bar tonight. Some local band's playing. Get trashed. You need to loosen up."

"I'm loose." Luke drawled, turning on his computer, fixing his gaze on it and hoping Will got the hint. He could see that blond head shaking from his peripheral vision.

"You weren't like this before. You've become too aloof. Hell, you were the one who pulled me in all the mischief, growing up."

Luke felt a part of him snap inside, and his fists clenched. Yes, he wasn't like Will. He didn't get trashed. He didn't lose control and go on furious rampages when he was hurt, because someone had to be mature of the two of them, and for the past few years that responsibility had fallen to Luke. So at moments when he was hurting, he had to pull himself together and present a calm face to make sure Will didn't go down the deep end...and prevent Will from making any rash decisions, like going to find her.

Will had made Luke promise to stop him from ever, ever finding her.

And if Luke lost his own control? He wasn't sure he wouldn't beat his friend to it.

"Things change. Someone needs to grow up." Luke snapped at his friend, annoyed. Will looked thoughtful, and didn't seem to hear.

"I suppose with your reputation for one night stands...one can't really call you a prude, I'll give you that." Will muttered, smirking.

Luke's breath hissed through his throat, his knuckles whitening on the armrest. "Shut it. Don't try to ruin my day while trying to distract yourself from your demons. I have work to do." He gaze was burning when he glanced at his friend, who raised his hands in a mock retreat, shrugging, as he slowly backed off.

Luke pretended to type until Will left, a soft click indicating that the door had slid in its place, and then he grabbed the nearest file, flinging it towards the door.