#lukebobby

Luke pokes the latest addition again. It’s bright orange and small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. This time, it wobbles enough to turn around, showing the smiley face carved into one side.

Luke grins and picks the pumpkin up, inspecting it closely. He forgets all about his shitty work day as he lets his fingers slide over the neatly carved ridges.

Whoever is leaving these pumpkins behind definitely knows how to cheer him up. He just wishes he knew who it was.

Suddenly, a loud noise comes from Luke’s bathroom, followed by a muffled curse. Luke nearly drops his pumpkin. It only takes him a moment to recover, reach for a spatula, and turn towards the bathroom.

Spatula raised and pumpkin cradled close to his chest, he advances on the bathroom. The door is opened slightly, but he can’t make out who is in there. Either he has a burglar in his house, or his benevolent pumpkin bringer is behind that door.

“Who’s in there?” He asks once he’s a few feet away. For a few seconds, everything is silent. Then, he hears a sigh and sees the door swing open.

“No way.” Luke stares at the intruder. He slowly lowers his spatula. “It’s you?”

Bobby smiles weakly, waving with his free hand. The other is clutching a shower curtain with pumpkins printed all over it. The curtain is partially attached to the rod in Luke’s bathroom. Clearly, he caught Bobby in the middle of hanging it up.

“Surprise,” Bobby says, scratching the back of his neck. “I, uh, I didn’t plan on being here when you got home. Guess it took me longer than expected to figure this out.”

“You made this?” Luke asks, holding up the tiny pumpkin.

Bobby nods.

“And the ones on my kitchen table, were they from you as well?”

Bobby nods again. 

“And the green one on my nightstand, and the super tiny one in the pocket of my jacket?”

Bobby nods. 

“And the one in your living room, and on those bookshelves - which you need to clean, by the way, they’re super dusty - and the one in your shoe.”

They both wince. Luke hadn’t found that one quickly enough and ended up with mashed pumpkin all over his foot. 

“Why?” Luke asks, after cycling through a billion questions in his mind. This one feels like it covers everything he wants to know.

Bobby shrugs. He’s still holding the shower curtain. 

“I don’t know, I just thought they might cheer you up a little. I know you’ve been having a rough few weeks, so I borrowed Alex’s key and brought you these. Reggie texted me earlier to say you were having a bad day. I just wanted to drop these off and get out. You weren’t supposed to see me.”

Luke slowly places the spatula in the bathroom sink. He doesn’t need to ask why Bobby didn’t want him to figure this out. Bobby has always been a giant softy on the inside, but he hides it behind a tough layer of swagger and sarcasm. The only reason Luke noticed it at all is that he’s been halfway in love with Bobby for months now and has dedicated way more time than he should’ve to the study of Bobby Shaw. 

The point is that Bobby never lets anyone know how much he cares, and he’d never take the credit for singlehandedly brightening Luke’s entire month. Not unless Luke makes him. Not unless Luke’s intuition about why Bobby went to such extremes is right.

“I’m glad I did,” Luke says softly. “See you, that is.”

The pumpkin joins the spatula in the sink. Luke gently pries the shower curtain from Bobby’s fingers. It falls to the ground, held up by one single point. 

“And I’m really happy with the pumpkins,” he adds. “They definitely cheered me up.”

“Good,” Bobby breathes out. He raises a hand and cups Luke’s cheek. Luke tangles his fingers together with Bobby’s other hand, tugging him closer. Looks like his intuition was definitely right.

“Luke, I-”

Luke doesn’t let him finish, cutting him off with a kiss. He has a feeling he knows what Bobby wants to say, anyway.

Bobby tastes like the pumpkin cookies he left in Luke’s fridge. Later, once the shower curtain is hung up properly, they’ll curl up on Luke’s couch and eat them together. They’ll plan a date to go to the pumpkin patch Bobby has been frequenting. 

For now, though, they kiss and hold on to each other, the pumpkin in the bathroom sink long forgotten.