Page 63 of The Long Way Found

Luke felt the words like a punch to the gut and pulled away slightly.

Thank you.

Not “I love you, too.”

Not “I'm falling for you.”

Not even “I'm trying” or “You’re so special.”

Just... “Thank you.”

Like Luke had done him a favor. Like he'd picked up Jack's dry cleaning.

Luke smiled, but it felt brittle. He pulled his hand away from Jack. "Come on. Let's finish dinner before the pasta gets overcooked."

He pulled away and turned back to the stove.

Jack stood frozen for another moment, then went back to chopping vegetables with mechanical precision, the thunk, thunk, thunk of knife on board.

Luke drained the pasta, tossed it with the sauce, and put everything on plates. This was fine. He'd said what he needed to say. Jack's response—or lack thereof—didn't change anything.

That's what he told himself, anyway.

Dinner was quiet.

They sat across from each other at Luke's small table, candlelight flickering between them. Luke had imagined this moment differently. He had thought that maybe saying "I love you" would open something up between them, make things easier.

Instead, it felt like another wall had gone up.

They talked about work, the weather, and Marley's obsession with the neighbor's cat. Jack asked about the fundraiser planning.

“Budget coming together after those sponsors backed out?” Jack asked.

“Working on it,” Luke replied

Luke asked about Jack's students. Jack answered. Back and forth, careful and polite.

Luke tried to act normal, but everything felt different. The words hung in the air between them: I love you. Thank you.

When their eyes met across the table, Jack looked away first.

After they ate, Luke cleared the plates while Jack scraped leftovers into containers, both moving carefully around each other in the small kitchen. Not touching. Not talking.

"Want to watch something?" Luke asked finally.

"Sure."

They moved to the couch. Jack reached for him, and Luke went, curling against Jack's side with his head on Jack's shoulder. It should have felt good, but it felt wrong, like they were pretending.

"I'm sorry," Jack said quietly.

Luke closed his eyes. "For what?"

"For not... for not being able to..." Jack's arm tightened around him, making Luke feel sick to his stomach. "I don't know."

"It's okay,” Luke’s torso and face flushed with heat. He couldn’t take this.

"It's not."