Disclaimer: Unfortunately don't own it. Reid would be alive because idiot Chris would have died from his idiocy.

AN: Here's another chapter! Read and enjoy! And review 'cause I really need feedback on this chapter.

Lily was frustrated. Noah had apparently not been able to convince Luke to give up his crazy idea of moving in with Reid Oliver. She just didn't know what to do anymore. She couldn't recognize her son. And deep down, she was starting to think maybe Holden was right and she was losing her son.

"How is my favourite business partner going?" said Craig, entering Lily's house, a smile on his face.

"Oh." He said noticing the look on Lily's face. "What's going on? Did Holden do something to upset you?" It wasn't news to anybody that Lily wasn't taking well the engagement between Holden and Molly.

"Yes and no. It's Luke actually. He…I don't know how to explain it"

"Well start at the beginning. It's usually how things work" He said, giving her a reassuring smile.

And so Lily did. She told him about how Luke and Noah were so good together until Dr. Oliver arrived, how Luke had left Noah to go out with Oliver, about her fights with her son and the one with her ex and how the Doctor had now manipulated her son into buying a house together.

"You say he manipulated Luke. How?"

"Luke is very naïve sometimes."

"It wasn't what I asked, Lily." He answered calmly. He had a feeling that his friend, and how weird was it for him to genuinely consider her a friend, didn't have the whole story.

"Lily, as much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I'm not a stranger to manipulation myself. I know the tricks of the trade. I've heard about Oliver. With Oakdale being so small, it was hard not to. If there's one thing I believe I know about the man, is that he's painfully honest. He's known for being very direct with people, always speaking what's on his mind. Are you sure Luke is being manipulated? A manipulator often pretends to play nice with people, Lily. That man has done everything but."

"How else would he have taken Luke away from Noah?"

"Relationships normally end for various reasons. Are you sure Noah and Luke didn't have problems before Oliver came? That Luke hadn't fallen out of love with Noah before? And even if he had fallen out of love with Noah after Oliver arrived here, it's not like you can control who you fall in love with."

Lily was pensive for a moment. She had thought Craig, being her friend, would have agreed with her, but it didn't look like it. She couldn't understand why.

"You really think Luke is in love."

"Lily….Luke fought with you, his mother, over that man. Would you fight with your family, separate yourself from it, for someone you didn't love?"

"I think Luke thinks he loves Oliver but he doesn't really know what love is!"

"Do we? My definition of love and your definition of love might be different. Does that mean we both never loved?"

"No" Lily admitted. Everyone expressed their love differently, it was true.

"Look, you know your son better than I do. When you think of how Luke has been these last few months, did he look like he was in love?"

"No…"

"Really think about it, Lily" Craig interrupted her.

"I…I don't know. Maybe he loves Oliver. It doesn't mean Oliver loves him back!"

"Well it's certainly not by refusing to meet the man that you will be able to see if Oliver loves Luke or not. How can you fairly judge the man when you haven't met him?"

"So you agree with Holden then." Lily said, hurt dripping from her tone.

"I don't think Holden handled it well. Accusing you like he did, did nothing but frustrate and hurt you. However, I believe he had a point. If you don't let Luke make his own decisions, your son will come to resent you for it. And you don't want that to happen. Trust me. I have a very difficult, almost inexistent relationship with my oldest son, and there's nothing I regret more. Don't make the mistake of pushing your son away. You admitted you didn't know some things. Ask about them. Talk to Luke about Oliver. Try to know him better before making a judgement about the man."

"I just want to protect Luke from getting hurt."

"I hate to say this but it's not what you've been doing. You've obviously hurt Luke if he couldn't even come and talk to you himself." Craig said as softly as he could. He didn't want to make the same mistake as Holden. He genuinely cared about Lily. "Besides, the more you treat him like a child, the angrier he will be with you"

"Just….talk to Luke calmly and treat him like an independent adult. Tell him about your worries. Make him understand your motivations and then he'll share his. You'll see. Things will get better this way." He said putting his hand on Lily's, offering comfort. Lily silently nodded and accepted his silent comfort.

Luke lay awake in Reid's bed thinking. His boyfriend had long left for his shift at the hospital. Something was bothering Luke today. At first, he thought maybe he was still upset about his confrontation with Noah, but he soon realised it wasn't the case. Noah had hurt him but he didn't have that kind of power over Luke anymore. No. Something else was wrong. That's when it hit him. He knew what had been floating in the back of his mind. How had Noah known that he was moving in with Reid? He had only told his father…Of course! That's what had been nagging his mind since yesterday. His mother! As much as he didn't want to believe it, it was the only plausible answer; Lily Walsh was the one who had called Noah and asked him to talk to Luke. Suddenly, Luke felt a deep rooted anger wash over him. How dare she? Didn't she have any idea of what she could have caused? A few months before, a disastrous meeting with Noah would have left Luke completely devastated. He would have felt so completely worthless because of Noah's insults. Telling him he was only good for his money and sex, that Noah was a saint to stay with him even though he was an alcoholic, making him feel guilty yet again about his drinking problem….like that would help said problem any! No, yesterday he didn't feel worthless. He only realised the toxicity of his relationship with Noah even more than before and finally felt like he could move on. Still, it had hurt, but what hurt most was that his mother was the one who engineered the whole thing. His own mother had put him in a position where he could have been severely emotionally hurt. And she hadn't minded her own business and treated him like a child yet again. 'You know what?' Luke thought to himself, 'I have enough of this! Enough of running away from my mom. She has a problem with me and Reid moving in together than she'll have to tell me face to face instead of hiding behind a messenger! I'm not a child anymore. I shouldn't have asked Dad to intervene. Well I won't make that mistake again.' And with that thought, Luke got out of bed, fully decided to talk to his mother.

The closer Lily's house was, the angrier Luke got. He simply couldn't believe his mother. She obviously didn't know him well. It was about time he stopped letting her walk all over him and stopped avoiding her. If he could confront Noah, then he could confront his mom too.

"Mom!" Luke said entering the house. Lily came down the stairs.

"Luke. You're here!" She exclaimed, going to hug her son. Luke was so surprised that he stayed stiff in her embrace. "Have you changed your mind? Are you coming back home?" She asked hopeful. A part of her wished that her son had seen reason and the other part, the one that had listened to Craig, was scolding her for that thought.

For some reason, Lily's affectionate hug had made Luke lose it. Here she was playing the dutiful mother when she had sent Noah after him! Luke felt the anger take over him. "How dare you! How dare you act like you did nothing wrong! Like you didn't tell Noah I was moving in with Reid! It's not either of your business! God, do you know just what you did?"

"Yes, I tried to make you see sense!" She said, going on the defensive at her son's accusation, much like she had done with her ex-husband.

"No, you set me up to get hurt! What do you think would happen? Huh? What, you think Noah would have calmly sat down and talk to me like an adult?"

Lily looked at her son with a confused expression on her face. She wasn't sure what he was implying exactly.

"What do you mean?"

"Mom…Did you ever stop to think that there was a good reason why Noah and I were broken up and another one as to why we weren't talking anymore?"

"If Oliver didn't…."

"No! I'm stopping you right there!" Luke interrupted. "Reid has nothing to do with Noah and I. You and Noah need to open your eyes, Mom."

"To what? What is it that I don't see Luke!" Lily said, exasperated. She didn't understand. But she had to listen. It's what Craig had said; she had to give Luke a chance to explain things to her.

"You need to open your eyes to how much better off I am with Reid than with Noah"

"See I don't understand that! How can you think for a second that that man is better for you than Noah was? Noah and you were so happy together, honey."

Luke shook his head "Not for a long time. I've been miserable since before the accident. Noah didn't make me happy, Mom. Not any longer. You don't know how things were between us."

"Then please tell me because I don't understand why you're with Reid Oliver. I admit I might have been too quick to judge the man."

"Might?"

"Alright, I have been too quick to judge" Lily admitted. "But that's only because I wanted to protect you from getting hurt."

"That's funny because you did the opposite!"

Lily's expression sadden considerably. Luke felt his anger diminished. His mother seemed to be making an effort today. Perhaps he should make one too and try to settle this calmly. "Alright, look, I think we've fought enough as it is. Why don't we just sit down and talk about it like two adults."

"I agree" Lily said. She was glad her son offered her an olive branch. Maybe their relationship could heal from this after all.

"Noah made me feel like I wasn't good enough, like I didn't deserve him. He made me feel guilty over things that I wasn't guilty of. He constantly pushed me away after the accident and when I asked him to choose all over nothing….he chose nothing. And then suddenly, after his operation, he wants to date again, completely forgetting the hell he put me through. And then, when he saw me kissing Reid, he made it sound as though I betrayed him. But I didn't, Mom. We had been broken up for months and he had started going on dates with a guy named Richard. Did you know that?"

"No. No I didn't know that" Lily answered. Noah had never told her about Richard, not even the night he came to tell her he had seen Luke kiss another guy. She had always thought that Luke still wanted to be with Noah and was just waiting after the operation to make his move and that Dr. Oliver had seduced and manipulated him away from Noah.

"I understand that Noah hurt you when he pushed you away, but we don't know how hard it was on him."

"True, but it's no reason to treat me so bad and constantly implying the accident was my fault. It was an accident Mom."

"I know"

"Do you agree with Noah that I should be blame for it" He asked. He hoped the answer wouldn't be yes.

"No, of course not, honey. I never thought it was your fault and I never thought Noah seriously blamed you. What did you mean about Noah making you feel like you weren't good enough?" she wondered.

"It's just how I felt with him. Every problem was always my fault. I was constantly feeling guilty. I was constantly walking on eggshells waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was giving my everything and receiving barely nothing in return. That's not a way to live, Mom. It's not healthy. I was so dependent on him that even after I stopped loving him, I still couldn't admit there was anything wrong with our relationship. I couldn't stop putting him on a pedestal and always defended him to Reid. It almost cost me Reid. But Allison came and talked to me and made me realise many things. Then I explained to Reid why I was always acting the way I was. Dating Noah…it was good at the beginning but then it turned sour. Noah…with the way he acted, he ended up killing all the love I had for him. And things haven't changed."

"What do you mean?"

"You really didn't know what would happen when you sent Noah after me, did you?" He said more to himself than his mother.

"The first thing Noah did was ask me if I was stupid. Then he implied Reid was only with me for my money and for sex and when I showed that he was wrong, then he said it didn't mean Reid would put up with my crap and that a lesser man than him would have dumped me a long ago with all the shit that came with me. One of which, he reminded me was my alcoholism. Like I needed reminding! You know what Reid said when I admitted I was an alcoholic. He didn't run away scared or made me feel guilty. He said he would go to reunions for families of alcoholics and he actually went and talked to Jack and Carly about what living with an alcoholic was like and asked how he could help me if I ever started drinking again. And he told me to stop feeling guilty about what happened to him."

"What happened?" Lily realised that there was a lot she didn't know.

"He worked non-stop after I broke things off. He could have killed himself with how he was treating himself and I felt so guilty when I found out. And yet, Reid did everything so I wouldn't feel guilty. The opposite of what Noah always did."

Lily was flabbergasted. She…she really didn't know her son and Noah, whom she had come to love like her son. And it appeared that she had misjudge Oliver as well. The way Luke now talked about him. She had never seen him like that. Even with Noah. He was clearly in love. Craig was right; all she needed was to really listen in order to understand. She had no clue that Luke had felt all those things when he was dating Noah. She always thought he was happy.

"I thought you boys were happy together."

"I wasn't. But I was convincing myself that I was. I clinged to Noah for much too long. I can see now that our relationship wasn't good. It was toxic."

"I never saw that"

"No offense, Mom, but that doesn't surprise me."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think you were happy with Dad?"

"Yes, of course!" Lily said.

"Then why did it always turn sour? Did you feel with Dad like you're the most amazing person in the world? Did you make him feel that way? Were you waiting for the other shoe to drop? Were you equally devoted to each other? Did you love each other's faults or did you resent them? Did he make you a better person? Or did you become with him a person you didn't like? With Noah, I felt like the latter." Luke stopped there. He didn't want to push the subject of his parents being an unhealthy couple. It would just hurt his mom at this point and their relationship couldn't afford to start fighting again anyway.

"Don't answer me. It's just something to consider when you think about Dad, you know. Noah and I were on again/off again and I don't think that's healthy. With Reid, it's the real deal. We love each other and are equally devoted to the other and most of all we love even the other's faults. I never had that before."

"I see. It seems Craig was right. I didn't act towards you fairly. I should have met your…your boyfriend before judging him. I think…I'm still scared you'll get hurt, but it's obvious now that you've been hurt before and I didn't even know about it. I guess it's time I finally let go of you. You're an adult now. You have to live your own life and make your own mistakes. But…I don't think being with Dr. Oliver is a mistake. Not anymore. I…I….if you say you love him and he loves you, then I trust your judgement. And I wish you both all the happiness in the world. I know it didn't seem like it these last few months but…I really only want what's the best for you and for you to be happy."

"I am happy mom. More than I've ever been. And I'd…I'd like it if you could come and meet Reid."

"Do you think it's a good idea honey? I doubt I made a good impression on him with the way we've been fighting about him."

"Well, Reid might be feeling protective of me, but not talking to him won't help. I know a part of you still probably wants me away from Reid and that part won't disappear until you spent time with Reid."

"Alright then. I'll come and meet him when you want me to."

"Great! Let's go!"

"You want me to meet him now?" she asked nervously. Suddenly, she felt that she had to make a good impression on the man if she wanted to mend her relationship with Luke. Oliver…Reid was so important to him.

"Well, we're moving in together in a matter of days. I'd rather my mom meet my boyfriend before I move in with him."

"Okay." Lily said, following her son out.

Luke knew his mother wasn't sure they were ready for this but Luke thought they had lost enough time already. Plus it was like ripping a band-aid. It's better to do it quickly than slowly. Plus, this way, Reid didn't have the time to say no.

AN: Okay, so I'm really not sure about how this chapter turned out. This wasn't my first idea. I thought at first Luke would fight with Lily, Craig would talk to Lily and make her see sense, than Lily would show up the day of the moving, apologizing and all but it's not what I wrote. Sorry for those who preferred that scenario, it's just my muse surprised me by changing plans. Is this okay? Was Luke too quick to forgive Lily? Or Lily too quick to change opinion?

Please, please, please give me feedback about what you thought!