We picked up right where we left off yesterday on As The World Turns, with Damian in Luke's hospital room. Luke pulled his hand away and asked what Damian was doing there and Damian told 'Luciano' that he cared about him. Luke reminded him that his name is Luke Snyder, and that Luciano Grimaldi (the name on Luke's birth certificate) doesn't exist.
Damian told Luke that he'd like to make peace with him, that he's not proud of the way he handled the 'situation' the last time he was in town. Luke informed Damian that the 'situation' hadn't changed and that he's still gay.
Damian asked who Noah, the guy Luke had asked for, was, and Luke curtly replied that Noah was his boyfriend. Damian wondered if it was serious and if Noah made his son happy, but Luke wasn't buying the sincerity behind the questions. Damian assured Luke that he hated himself for how he'd acted when his son came out, but pleaded with Luke to understand that the way he was raised made it difficult for him to understand Luke's choice.
At which point, Luke pointed out that being gay wasn't a choice, that it was the way he was born. Damian replied that he'd love to get to know the man Luke has become, to get to know his son again, but Luke told him that it wasn't going to happen.
I have to say that Van Hansis was really incredible in these scenes. A lot of actors would probably have made this a one note performance all about Luke's anger towards Damian, but Van brought a lot more than that. You could really feel that Luke was sad, scared, and angry all at once. In spite of everything, there was even a touch of longing there, deep down, for acceptance and love from Damian. Human emotions are so complicated, we can feel twenty different conflicting things at once, and Van clearly gets that and can convey it in his performance. That's part of what makes him such an incredible actor.
Around that time, the walking, talking exposition showed up. By that I mean Holden, Lily, and Noah who, having just come from the police station together, still found it necessary to recap amongst themselves everything that was going on with Luke's hit and run in question and answer form, as if they'd just run into each other for the first time all night. They were busy with this when they suddenly heard Luke shouting at someone to get out of his room.
They all ran in, no doubt expecting to find that the hit and run driver had returned to finish the job. In fact, I think Holden and Lily would have actually preferred that to finding Damian in their son's room.
Luke's parents immediately tossed Damian out into the hall and Noah was left to express his amazement that he'd actually just seen Luke's infamous bio dad in the flesh. Noah thought that there was still a connection between Luke & Damian, like it or not, but Luke felt that Damian would never really accept him for who he is.
Out in the hall, Lily and Holden made it clear that Damian was not welcome, even after they realized that he was the one who'd brought Luke to the hospital. Damian claimed that he just wanted a chance to rectify his mistakes and start fresh, that he loved Luke. Holden reminded Damian that he'd tried to 'fix' Luke and that wasn't love, it was possession.
After Holden went to sign Luke's discharge papers (wow, that was fast! Luke suffered paralysis from falling down a mild slope awhile back, but plow him down with a car at high speed and he's out of the hospital a couple of hours later with a few scrapes on his face!), Damian tried to plead his case to Lily, but she raked him over the coals for having played on her emotions after Luke came out and for encouraging her to push him to be straight.
Luke was all ready to head home, except for not being able to find his watch, the one that Noah had given him for Christmas. Lily asked how he was doing after seeing Damian so unexpectedly and Luke assured his parents that he wasn't going to let Damian get to him this time.
Noah, ever the loving boyfriend, told Luke that he was going to head to Java and get someone to cover his shift and then would be with Luke as soon as possible. They had a really sweet moment which included mutual "I love yous" and then a nice kiss, with Damian lurking unseen in the background, watching. The look on his face was definitely inscrutable. Of course, even if he truly has come to accept Luke's sexuality (doubtful), it's probably still not easy to see him kissing a guy for the first time.
Later, Noah was hurrying to finish up at Java so he could be with Luke when Damian walked in. Awkward! Damian introduced himself and gave Noah Luke's watch back, saying that a nurse in the E.R. had given it to him. Noah was surprised to find out that Damian had been the one who took Luke to the hospital.
Noah mentioned that he'd given the watch to Luke and Damian said that he'd read the inscription and knew that it must mean a great deal to Luke. Since he knew he wouldn't be welcome at Holden & Lily's and that Noah and Luke were 'friends', he thought Noah could return it for him.
Noah quickly reminded Damian that he and Luke are more than friends. Damian noted that Luke had told him they were very happy together and then shook Noah's hand and said it was nice to meet him. Hmmm. Clearly, Damian knows that the way to his son's heart is through his boyfriend. Especially when the boyfriend has unresolved Daddy issues of his own.
Noah gave Luke back the watch and revealed that Damian had been the one to save him. Noah wondered if maybe Grimaldi wasn't all that bad after all. Luke reminded Noah about his own father and said that the Colonel and Damian would have made great drinking buddies. More to the point, he told Noah that Damian would fake whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted from someone.
Meanwhile, Lily set up a meeting with Damian and told him that Luke was still incredibly hurt by his actions and that if he really loved Luke as much as he claimed to, he'd leave town.
Damian tried to plead his case again, asking her to believe in him and give him a chance to show that he'd changed. He got downright angry when Lily pointed out that he'd given up the right to call Luke his son a long time ago, telling her that Luciano is his flesh and blood and nothing will ever change that.
Holden showed up around that time and he and Lily both more or less ordered Damian to get on a flight back to Malta that night. After they left, Damian muttered rather menacingly to himself that he wasn't going anywhere until he got what he wanted.
I think this will be interesting. Damian is an intriguing character in that he does really love his son, but not as much as he loves himself. He's shown in the past that he's not above using Luke as a means for personal gain.
I also really doubt that his macho Italian pride has truly cooled to the point where he's accepted Luke being gay. I think it would actually be great if we got to see that happen onscreen, over time, rather than have him just return as an accepting father.
Either way, I'm feeling really good about this story at the moment. Well, as good as I can about any story in the hands of these writers. Plus, Damian has that whole sexy Italian thing going on, which never hurts! All of which begs the question: Which of Luke's fathers is the hottest? We have Holden to the left and Damian to the right. Tough choice! I think I'd go with Holden if I absolutely had to pick just one, though.
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