Chapter Text
Luke had always had trouble sleeping. He had tried everything. Chamomile teas, meditation, melatonin pills , you name it. Nothing worked. Well except for one thing. Some nights , Aemond would read to him and his velvet like voice would calm him enough to avoid the nightmares. It is so bizarre how the person he hurts over and over again in his nightmares ,is the one to calm him down . Fifteen years ago, Luke and Aemond were playing with their siblings and cousins at the playground near their houses. Their moms were best friends, so it was only logical for them to be best friends too. Even though Luke was younger than Aemond, that didn’t stop them from spending all their time together playing , reading and having sleepovers at each other’s house. But that day was different.
Aemond was always jealous of his cousin Rheana for no specific reason. Well, Luke knew the reason behind the jealousy but Aemond never admitted it back then. Rhaena was also a very close friend of Luke’s. And that day, she had the brilliant idea that they should have a wedding where she would be the bride and he the groom. Heleana would make paper rings, baela would be the flower girl and maid of honor and Jace would officiate the wedding. Of course Luke asked his best friend Aemond to be his best man, but Aemond got really mad for no apparent reason and left the preparations.
By the time everything was ready, Rheana went to get the rings but they were nowhere to be found. She was confused but when she saw Aemond a few meters near their “venue” holding the rings and a lighter, she realised everything. She ran immediately towards Aemond and started yelling at him to give them their rings back . Luke couldn’t hear what they were saying , but when he saw Rheana at the ground and Aemond about to throw a huge rock at her head , he knew he had to act. He would never choose between his two best friend but Aemond wanted to hurt Rheana and you could see it in his malicious grin. Luke shoved Aemond out of the way and as a result Aemond hit his head while landing to the ground.
After that, there is so much fog in Luke’s brain. He remembers blood, him crying , Aemond not responding , their mothers finding them and taking Aemond to the closest hospital. After that day, Luke couldn’t escape the nightmares that haunted him. It took a while for Aemond to forgive him but in the end he realised that what he had done wasn’t right either and Luke was protecting one of his friends. So the years passed and their friendship turned into a relationship, after a very heartfelt love confession at Luke’s high school graduation after party .
Now Luke is 21, a college student whose dream is to become a doctor and he lives with his boyfriend in their small apartment. Everything was going well up until that point in their relationship. Aemond has published his first book, the first of a Valyria inspired sci-fi book series. While writing his second book, he had found it difficult to concentrate and was probably in a small writers block.
Luke told him not to worry and instead spend some time with friends and family, in order to relax and find inspiration. So it was one of those Saturday nights where Aemond would have dinner with his family . During those nights, Luke would probably finish his schoolwork, watch a movie or FaceTime one of his friends while waiting of Aemond to return home. Luke found himself drifting to sleep when he was startled by a text. He checked the time and it was 1:35 AM.
Aems ❤️
Hey can’t come back home tonight
Aegon got us to drink 2 bottles of wine so imma sleep here
Me
Oh that’s ok babe
I’ll wait for you in the morning for hungover breakfast😘
Sleep well💤
After that Luke couldn’t go back to sleep so he decided to start a Criminal Minds marathon , cause he had to do something if he wasn’t going back to sleep. Next morning came and with it Aemond didn’t come home.
Me
R u coming for breakfast?
Aems❤️
Sorry can’t make it mom wanted help with the garden
Me
Oh ok talk to you when you come home ❤️
Hours passed after their texts and Luke found himself busy with cooking dinner. He decided to make Aemond’s favourite since he hadn’t seen him for at least a day and a half and he was missing him like crazy. It’s was around 7:30 PM when Aemond walking into their house. He looked actually hungover and the thought of Aemond’s brother pouring him wine all night was hilarious, since Aems wasn’t a big drinker and he wouldn’t be caught dead acting like Aegon did.
“ I see you remembered you had a home and a boyfriend to come back to” , he said smiling waiting for Aemond to tease him back .
“Luke I’m not really in a mood right now, can you stop all this cutsie bullshit?”, Aemond said not even sparing him a glance since he walked in.
“ Um sorry I was just kidding there’s no reason to get upset”
“ Yeah sure. I’m gonna have a shower and get to bed cause I have to wake up early tomorrow for a minute with my editor.”
“But I made dinner for us. It’s your favourite.”, Luke said clearly confused with Aemond’s behaviour.
“I have already eaten. Anyway going to take a shower”
“But..”, Luke didn’t have a chance to respond and was left to clean all the pots and pans and eat by himself.
He couldn’t figure out what just happened. Did Aemond get this upset form what he said? It was true that for the last month Aems ,wasn’t really himself with all the anxiety he had for his second book. Luke then decided to speak to him when he got the chance. He could propose a vacation at his family’s summer house in Driftmark. They could spend some time there together away from everything , in order to relax and find their balance again. Yeah , they really needed that . After cleaning the dishes and taking a quick shower, he got to their bedroom where Aemond was already asleep. He looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to wake him, so Luke silently snuggled in Aemond’s arms. Even if he couldn’t hear his voice, his presence was enough to calm him. When he got up next morning , Aemond was already gone. Luke found a note on his nightstand.
“I have many meetings today but I promise to bring Chinese for dinner tonight❤️. Sorry about yesterday”
The note made Luke smile. There was a promise to make up for yesterday and an apology , how could Luke not forgive him? He quickly got ready for his classes cause he had a 9 AM lecture and he was already late. After the first lecture, Luke had a thirty minute gap so he decided to return some books to the library. Before getting to the library door thought, he bumped into his friend Alyn.
“Heyyy busy man you almost ran me over”, Alyn said smiling
“Hahah I wouldn’t dare”
“So I haven’t seen you in a while where have you been? Did you go out in the weekend?”
“Sorry friend I am drowning from all my assignments. I have at least 3 tests and 4 lab reports to do before next month. And to answer your question, no I didn’t go out during the weekend.”
“Really? Cause my brother told me he saw your pretty boy at the club on Saturday with Aegon,so I figured you’d be with them.” Luke was left without words. Alyn must be mistaken. Why would Aemond tell him that he would sleep at his mom’s if he was at the club?
“Um what? I was home so I don’t really know what you’re talking about. Could you please tell Addam to text me?”
“Yeah sure. Luke are you okay? You look pale.” It was like he felt all the colour leaving his face while processing that Aems probably lied to him. Why would he do that?
“I’m good. Look I have somewhere to be right now talk to you later, bye”
Luke didn’t really hear what Alyn said when he bolted towards the direction of the parking lot. He got in his car and tried to calm down before driving home. When he got home he immediately called Alicent, Aemond’s mother and his own mother’s best friend.
“Hey Luke. Don’t you have class right now? How come you’re calling me?”
“Hey Alicent sorry to disturb you I’m calling to ask if you could search your house for Aemond’s jacket, he forgot it there yesterday”. He knew that he had to ask if Aemond was there indirectly, in order not to raise suspicion.
“Sure hun, even though I’m pretty sure Aemond was wearing his jacket when he left home yesterday after dinner”
“Do you perhaps know what the time was when he left yesterday?”
“Um probably 11:30 PM, I’m really not sure. Why?”
“No reason. Thanks Alicent ,I’ll tell him he probably forgot it in his car”
“ My pleasure Luke, give my baby a kiss when he gets home. Byee”
Luke hung up after that. He couldn’t believe it. So dinner with Aemond’s family ended at least two hours before he texted him and on top of that he didn’t even sleep at his moms house. Where did he sleep then? And most importantly where was he the whole day when he was apparently helping Alicent with her garden?
Some of his questions where answered a few hours later when Addam texted him.
Addam (Alyn’s brother)
Hey Luke Alyn said you wanted to ask me something
Me
Hi
Yes , Alyn told me you saw Aemond and his brother at the club on Saturday
Addam (Alyn’s brother)
Yeah that’s right
Me
R u sure it was them?
Addam (Alyn’s brother)
Yeah I mean they where the only white haired guys at the club
I have a pic where they’re in the background tho
Me
Could you send it to me?
Addam (Alyn’s brother)
Sure
*sends picture where in the background there’s a black haired woman sitting on Aemond’s lap kissing him. Aegon is beside them drinking shots*
Isn’t that your boyfriend drinking shots with those guys?
Me
…
No it’s the other guy
Addam (Alyn’s brother)
I’m so sorry Luke
Luke read the message but chose not to respond. He was distraught. What just happened ? Tears started falling from his eyes and he didn’t even realise it. That cheating fucker had the nerve to leave a fucking note in the morning trying to make up for the weekend. Make up for what exactly ?because the list is quite long at this point. Would he ever tell him about Saturday night? Was this a one time thing or a relationship? Luke figured non of that mattered. He needed to leave. But he would leave with all the dignity he had left at this point. He printed the picture Addam sent him, zoomed to show the adventures of the Targaryen brothers and he left a note. Then he picked up his suitcase , wrote the address of the Driftmark summer house at his gps and left the house.
( the note wrote “is that how you do family sleepovers?)