Wednesday morning arrived with the kind of energy that ca before a break—anticipation humming beneath the surface of routine.
Luca woke to find Noel already in the shower, water running, steam creeping under the bathroom door.
He grabbed his phone from the nightstand, squinting at the brightness.
Three new ssages from Jordan.
Jordan: dude you awake
Jordan: got the thing you asked for
Jordan: lmk when you want to pick it up
Luca typed back quickly.
Luca: yeah I’m up. can I grab it after work?
Jordan: sure. I’ll be ho around 6
Luca: perfect. thanks man
Jordan: no problem. he’s gonna love it btw
Luca smiled, setting his phone down just as the bathroom door opened.
Noel erged in a cloud of steam, towel around his waist, hair damp and sticking up in odd directions.
"Morning," he said, moving toward the closet.
"Morning." Luca watched him pull out clothes—dark slacks, a crisp white shirt, the blazer that made him look unfairly professional. "You look fancy."
"It’s the last day before break. Trying to make a good impression."
"You always make a good impression."
"That’s because I try." Noel glanced at him. "You should shower. We leave in forty minutes."
"I know, I know."
By the ti Luca finished showering and getting dressed, Noel had made coffee and was sitting at the table scrolling through his phone, the cat draped across his lap.
"Hey. Traitor," Luca said to the cat.
The cat, yawned.
They ate quick breakfast toast, fruit, the last of the yogurt—and were out the door by eight-twenty.
The walk to work felt different today. Lighter.
People on the street seed more relaxed, smiles easier, the collective relief of an approaching holiday visible even in morning commuters.
"What’s your day look like?" Luca asked as they neared the office building.
"Export docuntation review. Max wants everything finalized before break."
"Sounds riveting."
"It’s necessary." But Noel was smiling slightly. "What about you?"
"Georgia’s probably going to pile on last-minute tasks. You know, holiday spirit and all that."
"Sounds about right."
They entered the lobby together, rode the elevator up, separated at their floors with a brief touch of hands and a shared look that said *see you at lunch*.
The fourth floor was already busy when Noel stepped off the elevator.
He headed toward his departnt—International Business, a corner section with large windows overlooking the city, desks arranged in a semi-open layout that encouraged collaboration while maintaining focus.
His desk was near the window, beside Ren’s, with a clear view of Mr. Max’s office and the conference room they used for client calls.
Ren looked up as Noel approached. "Morning. Ready for the final push?"
"As ready as I’ll ever be." Noel set his bag down, logging into his computer.
"Max sent the export docuntation list last night," Ren said, pulling it up on his screen. "Twenty-three files need review before end of day."
"Twenty-three?"
"He wants us to be thorough."
"Of course he does."
Across the open space, Jace erged from the office he shared with Mrs. Chen, carrying a stack of folders. "Morning, gentlen. Ready to drown in paperwork?"
"Looking forward to it," Noel said dryly.
"That’s the spirit." Jace dropped the folders on his desk with a thud. "Mrs. Chen says we need to double-check all the trade compliance forms. Apparently there were discrepancies in last quarter’s reports."
"How many discrepancies?" Ren asked.
"Enough that she’s being extra careful this ti."
Noel pulled up his task list. Export docuntation, trade compliance, client follow-ups, year-end summaries. All due by five.
He took a sip of coffee and got to work.
The morning passed in a blur of spreadsheets and forms—checking customs codes, verifying shipping docuntation, cross-referencing tariff classifications with international regulations.
Tedious work, but Noel found it oddly satisfying.
Everything in its place, every detail accounted for, the precision of it appealing to the part of his brain that needed order.
Around ten-thirty, Mr. Max erged from his office, coffee mug in hand, surveying the departnt with that characteristic expression of controlled assessnt.
"How’s everyone doing?" he asked, stopping near Noel’s desk.
"On track," Noel replied. "About halfway through the export docuntation."
"Good. Any issues?"
"A few discrepancies in the shipping weights, but nothing major. I’ve flagged them for verification."
"Excellent." Max glanced at his screen, nodding approval. "Keep it up. I want everything clean before we break."
He moved on to check with Ren, then headed toward the office Jace shared with Mrs. Chen.
The door was open—Noel could see Mrs. Chen at her desk, glasses perched on her nose, completely absorbed in whatever she was reviewing.
Jace was explaining sothing, gesturing at his computer screen.
In the adjacent office, Mr. Park was on a phone call, visible through the glass partition. Ren had ntioned they were collaborating on budget projections for next quarter.
The whole floor had that focused energy—everyone pushing to finish before the break, but not stressed. Productive. Efficient.
Exactly how Noel preferred it.
He worked through lunch at his desk—a sandwich from the cafeteria, eaten between reviewing docunts because Luca had texted saying his team was swamped and couldn’t break away.
Luca: Georgia is evil
Luca: actually evil
Luca: she keeps finding more work
Noel: it’s the last day. she probably wants everything finished
Luca: yeah but like. does she have to ENJOY it
Noel: probably
Luca: you’re not helping
Noel: I’m being realistic
Luca: sa thing
Luca: see you tonight?
Noel: obviously
By three o’clock, Noel had finished his primary tasks and moved on to helping Ren with his backlog.
By four, they’d completed everything on Max’s list.
"That’s it?" Ren said, leaning back in his chair. "We’re actually done?"
"Looks like it."
"I was expecting to be here until six."
"We were efficient."
"You were efficient. I just followed your system."
Noel smiled slightly. "Teamwork."
Max erged from his office at four-thirty, reviewing their completed work with ticulous attention. After ten minutes, he looked up.
"This is excellent work. All of you." He glanced around at the team. "Go ho early. You’ve earned it."
No one needed to be told twice.
Noel packed up, said goodbye to Ren and Jace, and headed for the elevator.
The third floor was still active when he passed—he could hear voices, the sound of printers, the general chaos of a departnt still racing to finish.
He continued down to the lobby, pulling out his phone.
Noel: finished early. heading ho
Luca: LUCKY
Luca: we’re still drowning
Luca: go ho, I’ll be there when I can
Noel: want to wait?
Luca: no it’s fine. might be another hour
Luca: feed your cat for ?
Noel: already planning on it
Luca: you’re the best
The walk ho was quiet, peaceful.
The city was transitioning into late afternoon—shops closing early for the holiday, people carrying wrapped packages, strings of lights visible in windows.
Their apartnt was empty when Noel unlocked the door, Luca Jr. greeting him with a plaintive ow.
"Hi Luca. Jr," Noel said, crouching down to scratch behind his ears. "He’ll be ho soon."
He fed the cat, changed into comfortable clothes, and settled on the couch with his laptop to catch up on emails.
An hour passed. Then another.
His phone buzzed.
Luca: FINALLY DONE
Luca: on my way ho
Luca: but I need to make a quick stop first
Luca: be there in like 30 min
Noel: okay
Noel: everything alright?
Luca: yeah all good. just picking sothing up
Noel set his phone aside, suspicion creeping in.
Luca was being vague.
Which ant Noel was probably not going to like whatever surprise was coming.
But he’d deal with it when Luca got ho.
Luca practically ran the three blocks to Jordan’s apartnt.
Jordan answered on the second knock, grinning. "Yo! Co in, co in."
The apartnt was chaos—clothes everywhere, gaming equipnt taking up an entire wall, the sll of instant noodles hanging in the air.
"Sorry about the ss," Jordan said, not sounding sorry at all. "You know how it is."
"I know exactly how it is." Luca followed him to the kitchen.
Jordan pulled a bag from under the counter. "Here. Everything you asked for."
Luca opened it, checking the contents. Perfect. Exactly what he needed.
"You’re a lifesaver, man."
"Hey, anything for love." Jordan waggled his eyebrows. "So, what’s the plan? You gonna propose or sothing?"
"It’s his birthday, not a marriage proposal."
"Sa energy though, right?"
"Not even remotely the sa."
"If you say so." Jordan leaned against the counter. "But seriously, he’s gonna love it. Very romantic. Very you."
"I hope so."
"Trust . You got this."
They talked for a few more minutes Jordan updating him on his latest dating disaster, Luca half-listening while ntally reviewing his plans for tomorrow before Luca checked the ti.
"I should go. Noel’s waiting."
"Go, go. And hey—rry Christmas, man."
"rry Christmas, Jordan."
The walk back was quick, the bag feeling heavier than it should, anticipation building in his chest.
Tomorrow. Noel’s birthday. Their first Christmas together.
He had to get this right.
When Luca finally walked through the apartnt door, Noel was on the couch with his laptop, cat curled beside him.
"Hey," Luca said, slightly breathless from the stairs.
"Hey. Where’d you go?"
"Just had to pick sothing up." Luca held up the bag. "For tomorrow."
Noel’s eyes narrowed. "What’s tomorrow?"
"Christmas. Don’t act like you forgot."
"I didn’t forget. I just don’t understand why you’re being secretive."
"It’s called a surprise."
"I told you, I don’t like surprises."
"You’ll like this one." Luca disappeared into the bedroom to hide the bag, returning a mont later. "Trust ."
Noel looked skeptical but didn’t push.
Luca collapsed onto the couch beside him, imdiately sprawling across Noel’s lap, displacing both the laptop and the cat.
"You’re in my space," Noel said.
"This is our space. Sharing is caring."
"You’re ridiculous."
"You love anyway."
Noel’s expression softened. "Unfortunately."
"Unfortunately?"
"You heard ."
Luca grinned, reaching up to pull Noel down for a kiss. "an."
"Accurate," Noel corrected, but he was kissing back.
They stayed like that for a while—trading lazy kisses, the laptop abandoned on the coffee table, Luca Jr. reclaiming his spot on the armrest with an indignant ow.
"What do you want for dinner?" Noel asked eventually, fingers threading through Luca’s hair.
"Don’t care. Sothing easy."
"That’s not helpful."
"Order pizza."
"We had pizza two days ago."
"And it was delicious. Let’s have it again."
Noel sighed but pulled out his phone with his free hand, navigating to the delivery app. "Fine. But I’m adding vegetables."
"You can’t add vegetables to pizza."
"I can and I will."
"That’s a cri against pizza."
"That’s called being an adult."
They bickered good-naturedly while Noel placed the order.
By the ti the pizza arrived forty minutes later, they’d sohow ended up with one half vegetables, one half pepperoni—a compromise that satisfied neither but worked anyway.
They ate on the couch, a random movie playing on the TV that neither of them were really watching.
"Last day before break," Luca said, mouth full of pizza.
"Don’t talk with your mouth full."
Luca swallowed dramatically. "Last day before break," he repeated.
"I heard you the first ti."
"Are you excited?"
"For the break?"
"For your birthday. Christmas. All of it."
Noel considered. "I don’t know if excited is the right word. Content, maybe. It’ll be nice to have ti off."
"Very romantic."
"You asked."
"I did." Luca leaned against him. "I’m excited though. For tomorrow."
"Because of your mysterious surprise?"
"Partially. But mostly just... being with you. No work, no rushing around. Just us."
Noel’s hand found Luca’s, fingers intertwining. "Yeah. Just us."
They finished dinner slowly, cleaned up the minimal ss, and returned to the couch.
Luca pulled up a cody special he’d been aning to watch, and they settled in—Luca stretched out with his head in Noel’s lap, Noel’s hand absently playing with his hair, cat sprawled across the back of the couch like a furry gargoyle.
The codian was actually funny they both laughed at the sa jokes, Luca’s whole body shaking with it, Noel’s quieter but no less genuine.
"This guy’s good," Luca said during a brief pause.
"Yeah."
"We should see him live if he cos here."
"Maybe."
"That’s Noel-speak for yes."
"That’s Noel-speak for we’ll see."
"Sa thing."
Noel poked his side. "It’s not."
"It is though—" Luca’s protest was cut off by Noel leaning down to kiss him, effectively ending the argunt.
When they broke apart, Luca was smiling. "Cheater."
"Efficient."
"You’re using that word wrong."
"I’m using it perfectly."
They went back to watching, but Luca kept glancing up at Noel—the way the TV light played across his face, the small smile that appeared during the funnier bits, the unconscious way his fingers traced patterns against Luca’s shoulder.
Tomorrow was going to be perfect.
It had to be.
The special ended around ten.
They were both tired—the kind of pleasant exhaustion that ca from a full day and the knowledge that tomorrow held nothing but rest.
"Bed?" Noel suggested.
"Probably should."
Neither of them moved for another ten minutes, too comfortable to make the effort.
Finally, Noel shifted. "Co on. We’ll both regret it if we fall asleep here."
"Fine." Luca dragged himself up, following Noel to the bedroom.
They went through their nightti routine—brushing teeth, washing faces, Luca stealing Noel’s skincare products despite having his own, Noel pretending to be annoyed but leaving everything within reach anyway.
In bed, they gravitated toward each other imdiately—Luca curling into Noel’s side, Noel’s arm wrapping around him, everything settling into comfortable familiarity.
"Tomorrow," Luca murmured into the darkness.
"Tomorrow," Noel agreed quietly.
"Your birthday."
"And Christmas."
"Our first one together."
"Yeah."
Luca felt Noel press a kiss to the top of his head, soft and unhurried.
"Goodnight, Luca."
"Goodnight."
Outside, the city was settling into its own rest—lights dimming, traffic thinning, the collective breath before the holiday.
Inside, they drifted toward sleep, hands still linked beneath the covers.
Tomorrow would co soon enough.
And with it, everything Luca had been planning.
![Unwritten Fate [BL] cover](/images/Unwritten-Fate-BL.jpg)
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