In a way you can say he was pining the whole time, just for his friendship instead, since he was trying so desperately to get Elliot to like him and drop the truce all the way up to the summer they turned 17.
The way i read it is, Luke didn't allow himself to think of Elliot in that way since he knew Elliot liked Serene and was definitely convinced he didn't like guys. He was so preoccupied with figuring Elliot out and getting him to like him that he didn't allow himself to really consider anything else. It probably didn't help that Elliot was totally trying to see how far he could push the whole time, essentially attempting to prove his assumptions about Luke correct by getting him to hit Elliot, which of course Luke didn't do. You can see there was definitely attraction there by the way that Luke describes Elliot in Wings in the Morning, even though by that time he has basically given up getting Elliot to ever think of him as a friend and stopped giving him leeway.
I also think that when Luke said Dale's name as the person he had a crush on it was just so his two friends would leave him alone, but as he started to consider the possibility he convinced himself it was real because 'aw wouldn't it be nice and easy if we were together, we are so similar and everyone would approve'. At that point, Elliot was pushing Luke so far our of his comfort zone that he needed something to anchor him. Luke feels so out of place with his family and having a crush on someone like Elliot, who is simply not and never aspired to be the Sunborn ideal, would make his position among family members even more unstable, at least in his mind.
You can totally see there are brief moments where Luke allows himself to consider Elliot in that way, like during the play, and you cannot convince me that Luke wasn't staring at Elliot the whole time during that performance btw. Like, we know that Luke wanted to kiss him on the roof after what Elliot said about first kisses, you cannot tell me that he didn't think he was attractive in his costume, Luke has eyes and Elliot is considered objectively hot at that point. But Luke pushes the thought away, vehemently refusing to let himself have those kinds of feelings for Elliot, so he takes the things Elliot says mostly at face value and wallows in the belief that Elliot hates him and that he himself has no reason to like Elliot in the first place or want to be his friend.
And so he gives up and matches Elliot's energy. Which. By that point Elliot has long realized Luke won't hit him but has made a habit out of insulting Luke and doesn't know how to stop, nor does he think his actions will ever have consequences because that's how he's always talked to Luke! He knows how Elliot is, maybe even some part of him hopes that Luke gets him enough to know he doesn't mean what he says. But his actions evidently do have consequences because Luke is in a very bad place and is snapping back and it is plain to see that he does take what Elliot says seriously.
But when Elliot swallows his pride and finally allows himself to show Luke that he does like him and considers him his other best friend along with Serene, no matter how clumsily, Luke is finally able to realize the depths of his affection and that actually yes, he does REALLY like Elliot. In a way that is urgent and nothing like when he talked himself into having a crush on Dale.
Anyways, I talked too much, I love this book more than any other and i really want to engage with it in a meaningful way but the more i write the less articulate i become so i'm gonna stop 😭
Thank you kind people for starting this discussion and prompting me to write a whole essay on the subject matter 🙏
