EXACTLY, People are so mad at Luke in this comment section not understanding that he has always been this empathetic. Luke is actually such a good guy that knows how to maneuver healthy relationship and actions. Time and time again Luke is open to communication as well as his own boundaries. There are so many scenes that show and express just how deeply Luke values Andrew. He even notices subtle changes such as Andrew being lwk jealous of the girl in the play, and guess what he changed it not bc Andrew wanted it but because he didn't want Andrew to feel that way. Luke has been in a relationship before this and she in a way emotionally cheated. Yet because Luke is mature he doesn't let past negative experiences affect his present relationship. I'm so glad the author didn't go down that route and instead delved into real relationship problems especially with someone new to relationships.
So many people are saying break up and yada yada and that is so immature. Relationships aren't going to be just complete happiness all the time and there will be arguments because guess what different people act differently. To go in with that mindset is so unhealthy for a long term relationship. Andrew is new to relationships and he is so attached to Luke in an unhealthy way for him. He is subconsciously willing to do anything for Luke, that is good quality for a Wattpad fanfic, but in real life that isn't good. Not to say "omg Andrew needs to become an extravert overnight". Like no, Andrew should do what he is comfortable with but it is also clear that reason Andrew is like that is bc of trauma and this lack of trust with strangers. So ofc Luke will try to widen his viewpoint and perspective, but he also did back off.
Tbh Luke is trying really hard to communicate with Andrew and always has this gentle look on his face when talking to him but Andrew doesn't want to communicate, he wants Luke to only see his perspective and act the way he would and feels helpless bc he thinks that Luke is naive and lwk an idiot. I feel like this chapter was actually a good step forward, Andrew aired out everything he's been feeling, the problem is he left mid conversation. I'm sure Luke (whose EQ is incredibly high) with enough talking would be able to understand and Andrew and carry the conversation that reflects both their perspectives. But ig we won't know till next chapter.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I love this story so much because it does reflect real relationship struggles and shows all the awkward and hard conversations that happen in a relationship. Things are messy and fun and there's going to be good and bad moments. There's also not always a right and a wrong and sometimes just muddy grey situations/fights. In this incident, neither are wrong but it is an important point in their relationship where they have a chance to grow together, move forward and strengthen their relationship or stay where they are without progress (which could hurt them long term). It's so easy to blame one of them and make them the bad guy, but I just see 2 adults who love each other, trying their best to help their partner the ways they are familiar with.
Also, I think a lot of readers issue is understanding the difference between being an introvert and being anti social. There's nothing wrong with being shy or hesitant to talk to/get along with others or having a small friend group. But refusing to associate or socialize with anyone IS an issue. Andrew showcases anti social behavior, he's not an introvert, he rejects all forms of socialization (this is best shown with the scenes in the lab, where he refuses to even talk to his coworkers/fellow students that he's worked with for years). There's nothing wrong with having few friends, but he has NO friends, which is the issue that Luke is trying to address.
Someone with common sense and comprehension reading
while you made some valid points, I can‘t agree that the root problem of this entire relationship is andrew. and luke‘s maturity? Idk. luke seems pretty passive to me in most situations. but to each their own and if he thinks he can handle it, that‘s fine. andrew having MAJOR attachment issues is pretty clear and obviously an issue. but luke accused andrew of lying when he warned him about bruno in a previous chapter. Andrew treating luke like some god is wrong as hell but luke puts literally anybody before his boyfriend and seemingly trusts other people more as well. he just dismissed him when he was obviously right and reduced the entire issue to andrew being antisocial. meaning he obviously doesn’t really see andrew as his equal but some broken vulnerable kid that’s too afraid of the world. who wouldn‘t be insecure in andrew‘s position? I know I would be if my bf obviously doesn‘t really trust my judgement and sees me as some project that needs fixing. while andrew tried to understand luke and adapt to him, even though he was uncomfortable, luke kinda just stayed in his comfort zone. just saying a couple reassuring words is not enough. you have to actually do sth. if he wants andrew to trust people, he has to actually show him people can be trusted. but he won‘t achieve that by staying with bruno and all his other friends that were always more bystanders than people who really had luke‘s back. except for the blonde guy, most of luke‘s friends just trashtalked derrick here and there in the back until it got worse enough for them do actually get up and take luke‘s side properly.
so having luke lecture andrew about getting more out there while andrew kinda did, just seems unfair to me. he obviously still hasn‘t really opened up but I appreciated his effort. I think one shouldn‘t complain about their partner not opening up to others while you let people stay around you that actively prove that people can‘t be trusted. bruno is in a shit position but it doesn‘t change the fact that he isn‘t trustworthy and still plays right into that asshole‘s hand. it‘s petty now but we don‘t know how far derrick will go to take revenge on luke and we don‘t know at what point exactly bruno decides that it is enough.
to me, luke and andrew are the perfect example of 2 extremes. luke isn‘t this mature empathetic healed dude imo that many commenters here see. it hasn‘t been that long since derrick tried to humiliate/sabotage luke by making him suck a fake gun off on a stage and bruno is working with him at the moment. luke is absolutely allowed to still be friends with bruno. but he also has to accept that the people who actually care about him will be frustrated about it. good people can do shit things and even if bruno‘s intentions aren‘t bad, we don‘t know when he‘ll actually draw the line and stop. at some point you just have to protect yourself first. just accepting every type of bs is not empathy and it‘s not you being a good friend. sometimes, being a good friends means making decisions that aren‘t comfortable. being a good empathetic friend means making sure your friend doesn‘t end up doing worse things. sitting there and waiting to see if he‘ll f up or not is not always the solution.
I also have a lot of opinions on andrew but you already summarized it well. so I have nothing more to add.
anywho. enough rambling. I just think andrew and luke are both right and wrong at the same time and both need to do a litte more growing individually.
Ong you have the most valid take in this whole comment section I've been seeing ppl arguing who is right, who is wrong and I'm here like isn't it obvious that they're 2 extremes. Andrew is way too guarded and still has a lot of issues to work through that I'm not going to touch on, and Luke is WAY too "empathetic" and "compassionate" that it borders on being complacent, it's not emotional maturity per se (not to say that he isn't bcuz he is "mature" iykwim). The best thing to do in this Bruno situation is quite literally a balance between 2 sides. Yes you can/should be empathetic towards Bruno's situation but at the same time you also should protect and stand up for your boundaries, letting him go do his own thing will A. make things worse for urself (aka Luke) AND B. also makes things worse for Bruno as well (bcuz in these situations we know it doesn't end well for the preparators). It could've been resolved a lot easier if he had just understood Bruno and help him if he can (since the whole empathy/compassion thing) and if he cant than he needs to go with a harsher method (like the police for example) bcuz some ppl needs a wake up call (sometimes they need to learn things the hard way bcuz being complacent is also very harmful). I'm not going to touch on their relationship since you've said all that I could
I feel like people aren't realizing that Andrew hasn't addressed any of his past trauma and it's putting a strain on their relationship. Being overly codependent and only having Luke isn't a good thing, humans need socialization. This also means Luke becomes responsible for all of Andrew's socialization and emotional needs, which isn't practical. There's a reason it's emphasized that people need a support system and community. Andrew refusing to socialize and choosing to stay closed off from others is an issue and it is already causing problems as seen in this chapter. Andrew feels insecure and jealous because he put their relationship in a power imbalance. To him, Luke is his number #1 priority because he has no other priorities or goals in life, therefore centering everything around Luke. But because Andrew has this unhealthy mentality, he can't help but feel insecure with his relationship with Luke. And this is because unlike him, Luke has a community, friends and other goals in his life. Luke has options, whereas Andrew made Luke his only choice. It's bound to brew insecurity and resentment.
Andrew clearly hasn't addressed or worked through any of his past trauma either. Yes, he's been through some pretty intense and messed up situations, but instead of growing from them, he became stuck. While being extra vigilant or cautious is ok, completely cutting off everyone and being overly paranoid isn't ok. While we the readers know about the photos and the possibility of outing the couple, the couple does not know that. So far what Bruno has done to Luke is small petty things. Yes constantly changing the script is cr*p and locking him in the storage room could have been dangerous (but Luke was only in there for a few hours and was physically ok. Also, Bruno came back to let him out, because he felt bad). These aren't ultra terrible things, and weren't things done out of malice but desperation (Derrick picked Bruno because he was someone from a poor background and would be easy to manipulate. Bruno is the main breadwinner, and succeeding in his career can get his family out of poverty). Bruno also isn't an evil person because if he was, he would have handed the photos over immediately, he wouldn't have gone back to let Luke out, and we wouldn't see his inner turmoil and turbulent emotions; he wouldn't have felt bad or feel guilt. But he does. It's because he's a good person that he's hesitant to hurt Luke and hand over the photos. He avoids Luke because he feels guilty. He's not a bad person, he's a person who has done bad things (specifically so his family can have a better life). The reason why Andrew is reacting so intensely and assuming the worst is because of his past experiences, that were extreme circumstances. The average person is too busy worrying about paying rent to come up with schemes to destroy someone's life. Andrew comes from a rich, political background, so while his assumptions of Derrick are correct (because they both come from that same background and were brought up the same way), his assumptions of others are wrong. The reason why Andrew feels comfortable telling Luke to cut off Bruno and doesn't understand Luke's hesitancy is because Andrew doesn't let anyone in. Andrew runs away from others, whereas Luke doesn't. If you cut off everyone over any small betrayal, you will be completely alone. Even now Andrew feels betrayed that Luke isn't immediately agreeing with him and immediately cutting Bruno off. Being in any sort of relationship means you have to be open to getting hurt to an extent.
What Luke is showcasing is basic empathy and emotional maturity. These recent chapters further prove it. He's not naive, he KNOWS what Bruno has been doing and instead of completely throwing away the relationship, he's choosing to try and salvage it. There's a reason why Luke is choosing to try and work things out with Bruno compared to how things went down with Derrick. Because he knows Bruno is a good person and Derrick was is a bad one. It would be stranger for Luke to immediately cut Bruno off because after years of friendship, Bruno suddenly started acting out of character and difficult during 1 project. Luke has also gone through intense emotional and psychological manipulation with his past relationship. While he could have completely cut everyone off, developed intense trust issues or harbored ill will towards Andrew and Stacy, he decided to grow from it instead. And that's where Luke and Andrew differ. Andrew is still stuck in his past afraid to develop relationships with others out of fear of being hurt. Whereas, because Luke took the time to grieve and move on, he's not held back by the fear of getting hurt and is able to freely pursue relationships with others. Luke doesn't let the past stop him from living, but Andrew let's his past stop him (he's stuck at the restaurant).
**Also, if Luke shared the same mentality as Andrew, he and Andrew would have never gotten close to begin with. Because that relationship was ROCKY, and it's because of Luke's emotional maturity and understanding that he was able to improve his relationship with Andrew. Because while Andrew was acting out because of trauma, what he did to Luke in the beginning was on par if not worse than what Bruno is doing now. (he literally punched Luke in the face and beat him up in chapter 6)