Noah sat on the bench in Old Towne, sipping his cup of coffee ever so slowly. His shift at Java was over and he didn't have any more classes today, but he really, really didn't feel like going home. All he wanted was to forget how shitty life was at the moment, and seeing Luke would be a very vivid reminder.

He was stunned at how their lives had completely spiraled out of control in such a short space of time. If he only had a time machine, he'd go back to when Luke first decided to run for presidency of the student body - to tell him it was a stupid, pointless, asinine idea that he should drop immediately. But of course, back then, he hadn't imagined that the situation would turn out like this in his worst nightmares. He didn't know how emotionally invested Luke was, how personal the election was for him, and resultantly – what measures he might resort to in order to win.

If Luke had lost the election and that was it, they'd deal. But losing the actual election was the least of their worries now; Luke had lost himself in his blind determination to beat Kevin, given up things that made him Luke. Noah tried to step in and prevent that, but to no avail. When Luke had already cheated, he attempted damage control, telling him to come clean; it was just as useless. Noah didn't question that Luke loved him; he knew it, felt it every single day. But those feelings of love couldn't have been as strong as the hatred, the anger, the seething resentment Luke felt towards Kevin. His choice in the matter made that clear.

Noah had no idea how he could just forget that his boyfriend cheated, put aside the fact that Luke was president due to stealing the election, but things got even worse before he had any time to contemplate that. The dean called him in to openly ask if Luke had rigged the election. Noah felt his world collapsing around him. He wanted to put his fist through the window of the dean's tastefully appointed office. Why, Luke? Why put me in this fucking situation? How am I supposed to choose between what's right and what's gonna protect my boyfriend? He had warned Luke not to do this, done everything in his power to keep this from happening. And now he was forced to be the one giving up his boyfriend to the people in charge.

Noah felt like shit for what he did. He would have felt like shit if he'd lied, too. It was a no-win situation. What he wouldn't give for the dean to have called in someone else, for him not to have faced that choice. It wouldn't have prevented Luke from getting caught, he knew that much, but at least then neither of them would have to live with the knowledge that Noah was the one to turn him in. Noah believed that he did the right thing, that he couldn't have become part of the lying and cheating he'd tried so desperately to talk Luke out of, but it didn't make him feel any better. Nor, obviously, did the fact that Luke got expelled for what he did – technically making Noah responsible for the destruction of his future, whether he could have helped it or not.

In the end, it all came back to Kevin. Noah was sure of it. He didn't blame Kevin for what had happened, at least not completely, but he sure as hell blamed Luke's issues with him. He was sick of it, sick of whatever Luke couldn't put behind him hanging over them like a dark cloud, sabotaging their relationship and ultimately Luke's entire life. So even when Luke seemed to recognize his error in stealing the election, Noah couldn't just take him back. Luke had to figure out why Kevin affected him so much and put a stop to it; they couldn't go on with their lives before he did. In hindsight, Noah was already feeling guilty – again, some more – for refusing to get back together, for turning Luke down when he looked so sad and pained. But he didn't know what else to do.

"Hey, Noah."

The gentle, kind voice lifted him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Alison. "Hey," he offered her a rather thin smile, "What's up?"

"The worst day of everyone's lives, apparently," she gave a sad chuckle and sat down next to him. "Poor Luke and Casey. I can't believe this is happening."

Noah immediately looked down at the pavement. Alison had clearly been brought up to speed with recent events, and he could not handle this right now; not another person telling him he'd betrayed Luke when he was feeling awful enough as it was.

"I'm not about to blame you for anything, you know," she offered, interpreting his expression correctly. "If I'd been in that position, I wouldn't have been able to lie either. I tried to talk Casey out of it just like you did with Luke. I just wish they would have listened."

"It just sucks so much," Noah understated, looking back at her. "We got into this stupid election a lot more than we should have. After they posted that video of Luke on the web, and after what those freaks did to you, I honestly didn't know how he could even keep going. But he did, because it was so important to him, and I just prayed that he'd win in the end. Instead, we get this…" he shook his head in defeat.

"How's Luke doing?" she wondered, clearly concerned.

"Not well," he sighed, tossing his now empty coffee cup in a trash can. "Kevin was doing a number on him enough as it was. Now that he's been kicked out of school, things are really bad."

"Then what are you doing here?" Alison asked in surprise. "Go find him. He needs you."

Noah bit his lip, knowing full well that that last statement of hers was correct, yet she wasn't aware of everything. "That's… kind of a problem right now," he admitted awkwardly. "Luke and I, well, we broke up. Not permanently or anything," he quickly added as her eyes flashed in shock, "It's just because of the way things are right now."

"Noah, that's terrible," she said sadly, gently touching his shoulder. "I wish he wouldn't blame you for what's happened. He should know by now that it was his own fault."

"No, I was the one to break up with Luke," he explained, feeling even shittier about it now that he had to spell out the situation to Alison. She looked, if possible, even more agitated.

"Why would you do something like that? I get that you're angry, what Luke did was way out of line, but you can't punish him for it! He's already being punished enough, that's for sure."

"It's not about that…". Noah groaned, finding the conversation less and less pleasant with every exchange. It wasn't Alison's fault, she was just trying to be supportive, but he hated having to explain what was going on and justify his actions yet again. "It's about Kevin," he clarified, meeting her eyes again. "He's what started this whole mess. Not because Luke decided to run against him, even though I wish to God he hadn't; because meeting him again completely messed Luke up. Even when he and I are together, all he can think about is how bad Kevin is making him feel. Alison…" he hesitated, he had a feeling admitting this would be pathetic, but if they'd gone this far he might as well finish. "Luke and I can't be together right now because he hates Kevin more than he loves me." There. He'd said it, and it sounded even more pitiful out in the air than it did in his head.

Alison stared at him for a beat, looking as though she couldn't believe her eyes.

"That's it. Come on," she decided, standing up and pulling Noah off the bench with her.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Nothing. You, however, are going home to Luke," she informed him.

"Listen, that's not gonna do any – " he started to protest, but she interjected.

"No, I've already listened. Now it's your turn. I was mad at Casey too, but he was down and needed someone to be there for him, so I was. It would have been no use to stay away and let him suffer on his own. You know what? Fuck Kevin and the issues you guys have with him, alright? Luke needs you, and you're sitting here feeling sorry for yourself!".

Noah was rather stunned, but soon realized she was simply telling him the truth he didn't want to hear. He'd left Luke on his own during his time of greatest need. Luke didn't need space, or alone time to figure out how he was feeling about Kevin, or any more reminders of how badly he'd screwed up; he needed Noah. It was definitely time to head back to the farm.

"You're right," he nodded, feeling rather ashamed of himself. "I'm gonna go see how he's doing. Thanks, Alison."

She leaned forward to kiss him affectionately on the cheek. "The next time I see you two, I expect you to be all lovey-dovey and in a much better mood, you got that?"

"Yeah," he chuckled and started to walk away. "I'll see you later." It was completely unrelated, but he'd just realized that Alison kept comparing Casey and herself to Luke and him. It hadn't been the first time he noticed the way these two talked about each other.

"Hey, Alison?" he spun around to give her one last, knowing look before leaving. "You and Casey should really go out, like, on a date sometime."

The delighted blush on her face sent Noah off to his mission feeling marginally more cheerful.

Tbc...