Buuuzzz....

Buuuzzz...

Luke pushed Duncan's front door buzzer for the sixth time. This time by using the pressure from his forehead as he leant against it in a mix of boredom and frustration.

Buuuuzzzz...

"Come on, come on! Chop, chop. Open the bloody door, Dunc."

Hissing through his teeth, Luke's fingers gripped the paper bag of bacon rolls, from the cafe down the road, resisting the urge to look at the time on his wristwatch once again. Pulling his head back, he pushed the button with his nose, rolling his eyes in an unobserved dramatic way.

"Oh for Christ's sake."

Duncan was probably still in bed. Luke imagined him swearing and shuffling his way - zombie style - to the intercom to push the button and unlock the door.

Luke's imagination was rewarded with a buzz of the release catch. Slamming the door open with a bang onto the hallway wall, he looked up to see Duncan, clad in red boxer shorts, with a severe case of sticky-up hairdo, as he stood, almost comatose at the top of the stairs.

He peered down at Luke through half opened eyelids and sneered,
"Well come on up and make sure I'm fully awake why don't you, you arsehole!"

In his defence, Luke held out the paper bag and shook it with a meaningful expression on his face.

"Ah." Duncan understood. "Sorry."

Luke stomped up the stairway and shoved his way past Duncan, into the kitchen, then began to fumble around in the cupboards to find plates and coffee cups. He glanced at his friend in exasperation while dealing with the task.

"Bloody hell, Duncs. How is it that you manage to forget about this every bloody Monday morning?"

Rubbing his wild hair down to a more reasonable level, Duncan shrugged his shoulders and yawned as he pulled out a stool at the breakfast bar to sit.

"Fucked if I know, Rapunzel."

He perched down and yanked open the bag of warm rolls, releasing the sweet smell of hot bacon and tomato sauce.
"Ahhh."

Closing his eyes and leaving his mouth gaping wide, Duncan waited for Luke to pass him a plate and a square of kitchen roll, before opening his eyes like a child at Christmas.

"Now that's what Monday morning's were made for."

Sitting down opposite Duncan, Luke grabbed another roll and lifted it reverently to his mouth. He kissed the bread tenderly and smiled.

"Oh, yes. It's the only thing to get the week started."

"Hey, by the way, Blondie, did you hear anything more from Loopy last night?"

Luke swallowed down the large bite of bacon roll and brushed the crumbs from his beard absent-mindedly.

"No. Why? Did you?"

Duncan seemed unwilling to go into the reason behind his question. He shook his head and leaned over the counter to flick on the coffee machine.

"Ah, no reason, buddy. You get a good lunch at your old folk's?"

Luke concentrated on his breakfast with more focus than it really needed.

"Sure. Mum's a great cook."

Duncan smiled out of the corner of his mouth. He would have guessed there was so much more to the family story than Luke had really told him.

"Ok, buddy, don't want to spoil your appetite or anything." He shoved a cup under the machine and pressed the button, releasing a fizz of hot liquid. "Guess you'll still be living there with Mummy and Daddy till you're fifty, hey? No chance of bringing home the ladies to that place, mate."

Pushing the cup across to Luke, Duncan put another one underneath the steaming machine. "Not unless you fancy your Mum bursting in and offering tea and biscuits everytime you have someone over for the night. Now, that could be embarrassing, right?"

He picked up his food and paused for effect in mid-bite, waving the half eaten roll at Luke. "Then again mate, that would be a pretty decent way to get rid of a one night stand I suppose."

Luke squeezed the food tightly, and stared at the ketchup as it dribbled from his roll, landing with a light plop on his plate.
"Piss off, Duncs."

Unperturbed, Duncan changed the subject.
"How are you going to deal with dick-for-brains at work this morning? You know, after you clocked him one on Saturday night?"

Luke sighed and stretched his neck.
"Ah, that prat. Yeah. I'd forgotten about him."

"Well, you've got to work with the bastard unfortunately, my son. So what's the plan? Just ignore that anything ever happened or tell him straight out why he deserved it and that he'll get more of the same, if not worse, if he ever says or even dares to come near Loopy again? Well..?"

Luke furrowed his eyebrows and wiped his fingers on the kitchen paper.
"Not really sure about that. I suppose I'll go with option number one. Why?" He glared, narrowing his eyes at Duncan. "What would you do?"

Seemingly wanting to keep the situation light, Duncan belted down the last part of his roll and spoke with his mouth full.

"Not up to me, mate, but I'd've made him crawl on his hands and knees to her, begging for forgiveness."

Little sprays and loose bursts of bread roll shot free of Duncan's mouth while he spoke, making Luke brush down his denim jacket sleeves and sit further back.

"Jesus, Dunc! Were you born in a barn?"

Grinning like a mad man, Duncan replied,
"No way, buddy. That's your background, you old carrot cruncher. Guess that's why she's so into you, hey?"

Luke caught back his reply before it could escape his throat. What was this? With just a couple of words the atmosphere between them had suddenly become tense and electric, uncomfortable and stretched.

The two friends regarded each other with a new found clarity. Luke knew they had guessed each other's thoughts. They were in love with the same woman.

It took five minutes for Luke to finish his coffee and pass an acceptable amount of time before making a less obvious move to leave. He couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. He got up off the stool and made a show of checking his watch, stepping to the end of the table. When he finally spoke his voice was unusually quiet and level.
"Better be going. Takes at least twenty minutes to get a decent parking spot in the centre."

Duncan mirrored Luke's movements from the other side of the breakfast bar. Then stretched his arms above his head.
"Yeah. Parking's a bitch." His tone of voice matched Luke's perfectly. "Listen, buddy," Duncan ceased stretching and rested his hands on the counter top. He avoided Luke's eyeline and gazed at the cooker top instead. "Whatever happens, you know...from now on in I mean... whatever the outcome is, I need you to know something."

Luke cleared his throat and stood up straight to make the most of his tall stature. He wasn't about to show any weakness.
"What's that then, Duncs?"

Still fixated on the stove, Duncan flexed his arms tight and leaned his backside out diagonally as he pushed away from the surface. He braced himself with a long breath, then replied.
"She's not what you think, mate."

Luke tilted his head. "And what is it you think that I think she is, mate." He said the last word with a sour note.

Duncan lifted his palms off the table and held them up in an expression of surrender.
"I'm just saying that our little Loopy Laker ain't all that she's cracked up to be, buddy. There's nothing sweet and innocent about that one."

"And how would you know?"

Maybe he had sensed the growing hostility aimed towards him, as Duncan then seemed to change tracks with his discussion.

"No, no. Nothing meant by that. Just trying to give you a heads up."

"Really?" Luke stalked to the door, wondering if things would ever be the same again. "Guess that's for me to find out for myself, hey Duncs? Oh, and by the way," Luke checked himself for a moment. Did he really want to go that far?

"What?" Duncan snapped at him.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about that summer when your girlfriend came to stay at my place."

Duncan shifted his stare quickly from the cooker to his friend's dark eyes. The emotion behind his gaze betrayed his uncertainty and vulnerability. Luke had a feeling that it wasn't just him who was finding himself in very unfamilliar territory with his best friend.

Duncan croaked out a dry, throaty response.
"What about it?"

Luke sighed and took a deep breath. Had it honestly come to this? Torturing his best mate over a past hurt that may never need to see the light of day? Just for a second of feeling more superior? Feeling certain that he was the correct choice for Sarah, he would try and act as he knew she'd want him to.

Sarah, oh my God. How the hell would she react if she knew what they were trying to do to each other? He buttoned his jacket. The cool metal studs giving his fingertips a wake up call of freshness which somehow seemed to filter through to his emotionally charged brain.

"Nothing, mate. Nothing at all."

Duncan stood up tall, the tight muscles of his torso flinching, his head held high.
"Yeah, well, just remember that we've all got skeletons in the closet, Blondie. Would do you good to think about that."

A slight tremor in Duncan's voice cracked through on his last words and Luke realised just how close they'd come to sabotaging their friendship. Duncan's tone then changed as his usual dry humour kicked in.

"Now get the fuck out of here, Erik, before Thor and the other fucking Vikings find out where you are and drag you off for some raping and pillaging - or ZzTop work out that you're the fourth missing band member."

Relieved that the drama had ended, Luke grinned and stroked his beard thoughtfully, considering a suitable reply. "Guess that just goes with the territory of being a much more awesome man than you." Luke hurried out down the stairs before the situation could devolve once more.

*****

Duncan listened for the slam of the front door before sinking back down onto the stool.

That was close. Too close. What the fuck was up with Luke? They'd always had an understanding between them over Sarah. For the past ten years or so, she'd never been a problem. Why was it changing? Everything was changing. It could be the stress of the extra workload he'd been under, or the dreaded year 2000 steadily creeping up on them. For Christ's sake, he even had weird hallucinations of a boy in his apartment. That was definitely an hallucination, he was more and more convinced of that. What the hell had happened to start all this shit off?

Today was bad with Luke. Way bad. He had to make sure they never got so near to the truth again. Either of them. Duncan didn't want to hear what Luke had been hinting at between him and Clara. Whatever the hell it was, if it was to do with interfering with his memory of Clara then no. He didn't want to know.