dpracket

Diffused

dpracket — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:06:38 GMT

He could hear Reid's voice before he even rounded the corner, getting louder and higher pitched. As he entered the entrance to the neuro unit, he saw Chris with a red face and his hands balled into fists at his side. "I told you to stay out of it," he yelled, his face close to Reid's.

"You shouldn't be here, Chris," Reid countered. "I'm going to keep saying it until you hear it, you selfish bastard!"

Luke quickly scanned the room, nurses and patient family members looking on in stunned silence. Reid's eyes met his for a brief moment before he returned his attention to Chris. "As your chief of staff, I'm ordering you to go home."

"You're not the Chief of Staff," Chris argued. "My father is still in charge, at least for the next few months."

"And he's not here right now. Someone has got to have some fucking sense around here. You need to leave the hospital!"

A nurse gasped from a few feet way.

Luke walked toward Reid, and gently tugged him by the crook of his elbow. "C'mon...you need to stop." He turned to Chris. "Both of you."

Reid pulled his arm out of Luke's hold, but Luke didn't give up, tugging his arm again.

"Cut it out," Reid complained, pulling his arm away.

"Reid!" Luke said forcefully but in a low voice, and Reid finally stepped back from Chris. He looked around at the people in the room and nodded. "Yeah, ok...yeah." He let Luke lead him away, towards the hallway to his office, looking back over his shoulder briefly and loudly saying, "Please, Dr. Hughes, go home."

They didn't speak as they walked to Reid's office. Luke tried to put his arm around Reid's shoulders, but Reid pushed him away gently, shaking his head.

Reid unlocked the door and held it open for Luke, his breath coming out in bull-like pants. He followed Luke into the interior of his office, locked the door, and slammed his own back against it, growling. "Fucking Doogie!" He took off his labcoat, frustrated when his arm got caught briefly, and then threw it at the wall.

Luke approached him and put his arms on Reid's biceps, squeezing gently. Reid wouldn't look at him, and Luke could see the muscles in his jaw twitching.

Luke didn't say anything and instead moved his right hand to the side of Reid's neck, while is right hand continued to massage his arm and shoulder. Reid's breathing contined to be erratic.

Finally, Luke moved his hands to gently hold Reid's head and waited patiently for his lover to look at him. When he finally did, his eyes were watery. Luke nodded his head to let Reid know that he understood his frustration and his concern. Then he leaned forward and kissed him softly. Reid didn't kiss back, but when Luke pulled back, Reid held his eyes, his breath slowing. Luke kissed him again before pulling back, feeling the tension in Reid's body subsiding. He leaned forward again, and this time Reid met him halfway, kissing Luke deeply before breaking the kiss and pressing his forehead against Luke's.

"Better?"

Reid nodded, and if it had been anyone except Luke, they would have missed it. Reid moved his hands to his boyfriend's hips, sighed, and slumped back against the door, pulling Luke with him. He rested his forehead on Luke's shoulder, his breathing now normal, as Luke played with the curl behind his right ear.

"I don't know what he's thinking," Reid said softly. "It hasn't even been five months, and he has the immune system of a newborn. Hospitals are crawling with germs. We don't advertise that, but shit...he's a doctor. He knows this is no place for him right now. He needs to take care of himself."

Luke smiled at Reid's concern, though he knew that his worries were rooted in his love of Katie, rather than his weird friendship/enemy relationship with his colleague.

"Somebody died to give him that heart. I don't want him to squander it by being an idiot."

Luke chuckled. "It's probably very hard for him to be away from it. I can't imagine you not being able to perform surgery and help people. You love it, and it drives you. I'm not making excuses for him, but it might help you to understand it more if you consider that maybe he's struggling to find some normalcy in this new life of his. I think you can relate to that."

"He's not much good to his patients if he's dead," Reid sighed.

"No..."

"And he's not much good to Katie if he's dead either. He's being selfish. I love being a doctor Luke, but...I don't know...........I don't think I'd do anything that would risk me being apart from you. Maybe that's selfish too."

Luke kissed the side of Reid's head. "Not selfish.....in fact, it's incredibly sweet." Reid rolled his eyes and smiled. "Consider also...and I know this from experience...transplants are a huge physical burden, but there is a lot that goes on that's not physical. There's guilt. There's anxiety. Depression too. It's a new existence. Even if it feels like it sometimes, Chris is not living to annoy you. He's dealing with a lot."

Reid nodded. "You're right." He kissed Luke softly. "I'll try talking him to again...believe it or not that conversation started out civially in the break room." He kissed Luke again. "Thanks. I don't know how you do it, but you always find a way to diffuse me."

"It's one of my many talents." Luke smiled cheekily.

Reid stood up straight and cleared his throat. "And since you brought it up..." He reached down and took Luke's hand. "I do love being a doctor. That's why before Bob went on vacation, I told him that I don't want to be chief of staff." Luke smiled. "Why are you smiling? I thought you'd be disappointed."

"I never thought it was a good idea," Luke admitted sheepishly.

Reid chuckled. "But what about all that coaching and refining of my freaking people skills?" Reid asked with a smile.

"I thought it was what you wanted, so I was being a supportive boyfriend." Luke pushed at Reid's shoulder playfully.

"I thought I wanted it too, but in the past few months, watching this wing coming alive, THIS is what I want. It's my kingdom, and I'm going to rule it."

"It's good to be the king." Luke laughed.

"Yes it is," Reid agreed in a deep voice, as he ran a finger along Luke's jaw.

"Are you done ruling here today? How about we go home..."

Reid tweaked Luke's chin. "I love how you call my place home." He walked over to his lab coat, picked it up, and hung it on the coat rack by the door.

"Reid, I haven't slept in my own bed in 19 nights."

"That many?"

"Yes, my mother reminded me of it on the phone just this morning..."

"Maybe we need to talk about..." Reid trailed off and smiled, his eyes shiny.

"What?" Luke asked.

Reid shook his head. "I just never thought..." He shook his head again, still smiling. "Just...let's think about it and make some plans... Luke smiled and squeezed Reid's hip. "But in the meantime," Reid said, putting his arm around Luke's shoulder before opening the office door and turning off the lights. He kissed the side of Luke's head. "Let's make it 20..."

Contents Under Pressure (short for fff prompt "under pressure")

dpracket — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 20:03:11 GMT

"Are you sure this is going to work, Dr. O?"

Reid looked at the sixteen bottles of Diet Coke sitting in various spots on the concrete patio in the back yard. "I think so, buddy."

Reid popped a piece of candy into his mouth and offered the roll to Ethan, who took a piece of candy and smiled. "It's going to explode like a volcano!" Ethan exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. "How does it work?"

Reid continued to unroll the candies from their wrappers, placing them in a bowl on the patio table. He handed another candy to Ethan. "Look at the candy. It's shell is porous, which means that it has a lot of very tiny holes in it. Ya know how when you shake a bottle of Coke, it makes a lot of bubbles?" Ethan nodded, popping the candy into his mouth. "That's because there is carbon dioxide in the Coke. Well, the ingredients in the candy react with the carbon dioxide, and those little holes on the candy allow bubbles to form rapidly. It happens so fast that it creates pressure within the bottle, and the foam comes flying out like a geyser."

"Cool! I can't wait. This is gonna be awesome!"

"Yes, it is," Reid said laughing. "We're using Diet Coke rather than regular sugar soda because aspartame lowers the surface tension of the liquid much more than sugar, which allows the process to happen faster." Ethan looked at him with a furrowed brow. Reid shook his head. "Nevermind...that's not important really, but do you know what is important?"

"What?" Ethan asked with enthusiasm.

"That you wear these," Reid answered, picking up a pair of safety goggles off of the table. He put the elastic strap over Ethan's head and adjusted the goggles until they fit snugly. "Promise me you won't take these off until I say it's okay. Got it, E Man?"

"Got it, Dr. O!" Ethan saluted Reid and giggled. "Are you going to wear some too?"

"Of course," Reid said picking up the larger pair of goggles off the table. "Safety first, young man."

"Safety first," Ethan repeated. "You look funny in those."

"You look funny," Reid countered to Ethan's delight.

Reid toed off his shoes and peeled off his socks. "Better take your shoes off," Reid suggested. "I don't want you mom to be mad at us."

"Oh, she's gonna be mad at us alright," Ethan said giggling and sitting down to remove his shoes. "This is gonna make a big mess."

"Nah..." Reid said, smiling. "It's just a little bit of soda......and we'll spray it down with the hose afterwards."

"It's a lot of Coke, but you're gonna tell her it was your idea, right?" Ethan asked, looking slightly worried.

"Of course. It was my idea."

Ethan smiled again. "Cool."

Reid picked up both their pairs of shoes and threw them inside the door to the kitchen. After closing the door, he asked, "You ready?"

"Ready!" Ethan exclaimed.

Reid put his hands on Ethan's shoulders and guided him over to where he wanted him to stand. "Okay. You stand here for maximum saturation."

"What's that mean?"

"This is where you'll get the most wet."

Ethan jumped and pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah!"

"Remember to keep those goggles on, 'k?"

"Yup."

Reid picked up the bowl of mentos off the table and went over to the first bottle. He picked up a handful of candy. "You sure you want to do this?" he asked teasingly.

"Dr. O!"

"Okay, okay..." Reid said laughing. "Ready? One......two.........THREE!" Reid dropped a few candies into the first bottle before hurrying to the next one. He heard Ethan squeal and looked back to see the first bottle already spewing sweet, brown foam into the air. Reid made his way around the patio, dropping candy into each bottle before kneeling down next to Ethan while they both got doused in soda. Reid looked up in the air and opened his mouth to catch some of the soda in it, and Ethan followed suit, laughing and jumping around. When the last bottle stopped foaming, Ethan exclaimed, "That was AWESOME!!! Let's do it again! Can we? Can we?"

Reid laughed. "We don't have any more soda, but maybe we can do it again another day."

"When Luke is here?" Ethan asked. "This is fun."

Reid smiled. "Yeah, I think he'd like this."

As if on command, Luke exited the back door of the house. "Oh my God. What have you two gotten yourselves into?" he asked, laughing.

"Dr. O made Coke volcanoes!" Ethan ran up to Luke and gave him a sweet, wet hug.

Luke laughed, peeling Ethan's arms from around him. "You're soaked."

Ethan licked his own arm. "I taste like Coke! We even drank some. It was like Coke rain."

"Hey, Eth" Reid said, pulling his goggles off. "Why don't you go to the side of the house and get the hose? We need to wash down the patio before your mom gets home, or she might never let me babysit you again."

"I'm not a baby," Ethan protested.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Reid said, playfully bumping Ethan's chin with his fist. "She might not let us hang out again."

"That would suck," Ethan replied before clamping his hand over his mouth. "Stink! It would stink! Don't tell mom I said that, Luke!"

Luke smiled. "You secret is safe with me. Go get the hose, okay?"

"Okay," Ethan said, running off to the side of the house.

Luke turned to Reid and kissed him, running his tongue over his own lips as he pulled away. "Mmmm. You're sweet."

"And sticky," Reid replied in a deep voice, kissing Luke again, lingering a moment or two before pulling back.

"Thanks for staying with him on such short notice. I couldn't get away from the office, and Mom was freaking out because Mrs. Huggins was out of town." Luke looked around at all of the now empty two-liter Diet Coke bottles. "You are like a mad scientist with this stuff." He laughed and turned back to Reid.

"Reid Mc-Fly, the Science Guy."

"And a dork!" Luke continued. He put his hand out and brushed Reid's wet hair off his forehead. "You're a mess...........as if Ethan doesn't already idolize you enough, given that you touch brains and all, now you do this? He'll never want Mrs. Huggins to babysit him again."

"I aim to please," he said, smacking Luke on the butt before starting to pick up the empty soda bottles.

Ethan came barreling around the corner with the hose in his hand. "Can I spray you, Dr. O? Please?"

"I think you should spray Luke instead," Reid replied facetiously.

"Oh no, you don't!" Luke said, smiling. "I am perfectly clean, and..."

"Get him!" Reid exclaimed, dropping the bottles in arms and wrapping his arms around Luke so that he couldn't move.

Ethan laughed and squeezed the sprayer on the hose.

Blue Skies and Pain, Part Two

dpracket — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 16:08:18 GMT

PART ONE: http://dpracket.livejournal.com/75967.html

"Good morning," Greg said, leaning down and kissing the side of Reid's neck from behind him. "I can't believe you're up before me. What time did you get in?"

"Around 3:15," Reid answered. "There's coffee, and I picked up some bagels. They're on the counter."

A few minutes later, Greg sat down across from his boyfriend, licking cream cheese from his finger.

Reid put the paper down that he was reading. "Hey, uh, listen........last night. I stayed late at the hospital, but I wasn't working."

"Oh?" Greg thumbed through the paper to find the sports section.

Reid took a sip of his coffee. "I was with a patient, but..." He sighed.

"You okay?" Greg asked.

"I told you about that guy I was involved with briefly here in Oakdale when I first moved here, right?"

"The younger guy? Yeah."

"Luke. He's at Memorial right now, in the ICU. I went up there to see him. He's in rough shape." Greg nodded but didn't say anything. "I sat with him for a while, and then I ended up falling asleep, and that's it. You thought I was working, and I don't want to mislead you."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He should be."

"How was that for you? Seeing him again?"

"Weird. I mean, he was asleep most of the time. He freaked out when he first realized I was there, but his temperature was dangerously high, and he was sort of out of it. I'm not even sure he'll remember me being there." Reid shook his head. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know."

"Thanks for telling me, but you know I trust you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Reid replied, reaching across the table to play with the fingers on Greg's left hand. "You gonna give me a bit of that bagel or what?"

*********************************************************

The following day, after his morning rounds, Reid stood outside the window to Luke's ICU window again. His parents were visiting him, and Luke looked a lot better. He was sitting up, and he was eating breakfast. Reid was just about to turn to leave, when Holden met his eyes through the glass. He nodded toward Reid, and appeared to excuse himself as Reid stepped away from the window. Holden caught up with him by the elevators. "Dr. Oliver."

Reid turned around and sighed. "Hello, Mr. Snyder."

"Where are you going?" Holden asked.

Reid shook his head. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay, and he looks better, so I'm..."

"Come in and see him. He'd like that."

"No. I've got to get back to my floor. I have a consult in an hour, and I need to go over the radiology reports before then."

"He said that he had a dream that you came to his room the night before last, but the nurse told him that it wasn't a dream."

"I heard he was here, and I had to make sure he was okay," Reid answered, defensively.

"She said that you spent a few hours with him in the middle of the night."

"Where's Noah?" Reid asked, the name sour on his tongue, but he wanted to shift attention off of himself.

"I don't know," Holden answered, his voice sharp. "And I don't care. He and Luke broke up a few months ago, thank God. The move to LA was not good for my son, and that piece of shit did nothing but make him miserable out there."

Reid was taken back by Holden's words, but he wasn't interested in hearing the specifics. "Well, he's in good hands now. Listen, I have to get back to work." He glanced back at the door to Luke's room. "Don't tell him I was here. I'm not really interested in........I don't know................shit." He took a deep breath. "I'm glad he's okay."

"Okay is a debatable word." Reid didn't reply. "He's in a bad place. He could use a friend."

"Are you implying that you'd like me to be his friend?"

"You cared about him."

I still do. "And he left. Prior to yesterday, I had not seen him or spoken to him in over a year and a half."

"He's been hurting himself," Holden said, looking down. "And a few months back, he attempted suicide. He denies it, but we believe he wanted to kill himself."

Reid's stomach suddenly felt like it was filled with rocks. "Then he doesn't need a friend; he needs a psychologist," he said stoically.

"How can you be so cold?" Holden asked.

"Listen, Luke and I were together just a few weeks. WEEKS. Not months. Not years. But you're right...I cared about him a lot. I would have done anything for him, but he dumped me in order to run over the same ground with Noah again. His choice. Not mine. What the hell do you expect from me? He's got you. He's got his mother. This whole damn town loves him. He's related to half the people in it in one way or another. I'm sure there will be plenty of friends around to help him pick up the pieces of his broken heart. Again. This is what they do, right? Break up and get back together and then break up again? I'm not getting sucked into this, Mr. Snyder. If you are worried that he's depressed and might hurt himself, then get him a therapist, but don't expect me to be the one to hold his hand through this."

******************************************************

Greg looked up from the papers he was grading on the couch. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, not taking his eyes off the TV.

Greg glanced at the screen. "Well for one, you're watching Dancing With the Stars..."

"Oh," Reid answered, picking up the remote and changing the channel.

"And you're fretting," Greg observed.

"I'm not fretting. Old ladies fret. Me? I frot," Reid tried to joke, but he couldn't even manage a smile.

"Oh, really? Your leg is doing that bouncing thing it does when you're worried or nervous, and your eyebrows are all pinched up." Reid shook his head. Greg put the papers on the coffee table and took off his glasses. "Out with it. What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on."

Greg took the remote out of Reid's hand and turned the TV off. "Talk to me, doc. What's got you so preoccupied that you have control of the remote and are not making me watch Man vs. Food?"

Reid ran a hand through his hair. "You don't want to know."

Greg took a deep breath. "Is it that guy? Luke?"

Reid shook his head. "I don't want to talk to you about him."

"Why?" Greg asked, putting his hand on the back of Reid's neck.

"Because if you were talking about an ex, I'd hate it."

Greg chuckled. "Well, we all know that I am infinitesimally more evolved than you are. I can handle it. Spill." Reid still stayed quiet. "Have you seen him again?"

"Really? We're going to do this?"

"Reid!"

"Okay, fine. No. I did not see him again. Well, yes, actually I did see him, but just through the ICU window."

"Stalker."

Reid felt the corners of his lips curl up. He loved that Greg could always get a positive reaction from him, despite his mood. "I talked to his father. It was more like his father cornered me and badgered me about what I was going to do to help Luke."

"Is he your responsibility?" Greg asked.

"Right? No. And that's pretty much what I said to him. But he told me some stuff, and..." Reid knocked his knuckles against his own forehead. "...and I can't stop thinking about it."

"Is it bad?"

Reid sighed. "He tried to commit suicide."

"Damn."

"And when I was at the hospital with him.........he's.........." Reid shook his head, not wanting to say it. "He's cutting himself. He has cuts on his stomach and on his upper leg."

"Self harming is serious. I took a workshop on it a couple of years ago because we, as instructors, need to be aware of this stuff to spot students in distress."

"It's fucked up," Reid replied. "Why would someone do that to themselves?"

"It's a coping mechanism sometimes, and it's definitely a symptom of something greater. You're right to be worried about him."

"Who said I'm worried about him?" Reid asked defensively.

"Reid..." Greg scooted closer to Reid, put his arm around his shoulders, and kissed the side of his head. "You are so cute, when you are trying to act tough and aloof."

"Fuck you," Reid said, faking a jab to Greg's ribs with his elbow, but then he relaxed and leaned into Greg's embrace. "I have very little patience for drama....or self-loathing..........or being a victim of your own bullshit behavior."

"But you care about him."

"I don't want to care," Reid argued. "I want to hate his guts."

"But you don't."

"How are you okay with this?" Reid asked, sitting back to study Greg.

"I'm really not, but I'm trying to be supportive. As I told you yesterday: I trust you."

Reid narrowed his eyes. "I think you're trying to use some reverse psychology voodoo on me...like if you say it enough times, I'll be unable to do anything that would break your trust."

Greg smiled and nodded. "Ahhh, you've figured out my master plan. I can't put anything past you." He tweaked Reid's chin.

Reid sobered. "I have no idea how to help him," he admitted softly.

Greg put his hand on Reid's forearm. "You're a brain surgeon; you'll figure something out." He nodded toward the papers on the coffee table. "Those aren't due back until Friday." He sat up and kissed the side of Reid's neck. "How about we go to bed and I take your mind off things?"

Reid leaned over and kissed Greg hard on the mouth. He pulled back and cupped his cheek. "I don't deserve you."

Greg smiled. "This is true," he teased. "C'mon, let's go to bed."

***********************************************************

Two days later, Reid received a text from Luke after lunch: HEY.

Reid answered: How do you feel?

Luke: Better. I was moved to a regular room. 422. Do you have time to come see me?

Reid: Maybe Reid wanted to lie. He wanted to say that he had surgery.

Luke: I'd like to see you if you get the chance. Ok?

Reid: yeah, ok

********************************************

Just under three hours later, Reid walked into room 422. The blinds were closed, and Luke had his eyes closed. Reid turned around to leave when Luke stirred and opened his eyes. "Reid..."

"Yeah, hey," Reid answered, approaching the side of the bed. He looked Luke over. "You look a lot better than the other night."

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I don't remember much. One of the nurses told me I was a little out of my head. I thought it was a dream."

"You were out of it. Your temperature was dangerously high."

"She also told me that you stayed with me. Thanks." Reid nodded. "Sit down," Luke said, gesturing toward the chair.

"No, that's okay. I can't stay long."

"You look good, Reid. How are you? How have you been?"

"Fine."

"Talkative as ever," Luke teased, but Reid didn't take the bait. "I hear that the neuro wing is a great success...and Chief of Neurology......hail to the Chief...."

"Why are you hurting yourself?" Reid asked bluntly, the question having gnawed away at his brain for the past few days.

"I'm not," Luke said, shifting in the bed and looking away.

"Bullshit, Luke. I saw the cut marks the other night. Some of them were recent."

"That's nothing," Luke said. "It's no different than a tattoo."

"In what universe?" Reid demanded. "Jesus, Luke...why the hell would you do that to yourself?" Luke let out a puff of air, his jaw firmly set. "What's the matter, you don't feel like talking now?"

"You should leave," Luke said, glaring at Reid.

Reid approached the bed and put his hand on top of Luke's. "What happened to you out there?" Luke pulled his hand away. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me about it."

"I don't need your help. I'm fine."

"That's not what Good Dad says."

"What did he tell you?" Luke asked, his voice squeaky.

"Did you try to kill youself?"

"No!" Luke answered. "I OD'd. It was a mistake. I took some pills with vodka, and....why would he tell you about that? Fuck."

"Pills...What kind of pills?"

"I don't know. Pain. Anti-depressents. Who knows."

"Are you crazy?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing this with you, Reid."

"You can't mix that crap," Reid offered. "You could have died."

"No shit, Doctor. Tell me something I don't know."

"How'd you get the pills?"

Luke smirked. "I'm Richie Rich, remember? You can pretty much get anything if you have the money. And when I didn't have enough money on me, there was always my mouth.........or my ass."

Reid felt his stomach roll. What happened to the guy who made him wait? What happened to the guy who didn't share his body without being absolutely sure of the relationship? "Luke.........why?.......why didn't you call me?"

Luke let out a strangled laugh. "Right. Do you not remember how angry you were with me? Don't you remember telling me that if I left with Noah that you had no desire to ever see me again?" Reid closed his eyes against the memory. "I screwed you over, Reid. I know that. So, I wasn't about to call you and ask for help. It wouldn't have been fair to you."

"I would have helped you," Reid said, his voice softer. "You know that, right?"

Luke nodded. "I know, but I just.........I couldn't......." Reid stayed quiet. He didn't know what else to say. He had an overwhelming desire to just wrap his arms around Luke, but he fought it with everything he had. He meant what he'd said to Holden about not wanting to be sucked into Luke's drama with Noah. However, he'd also not slept much the past two nights, thinking about Luke hurting himself, of being so desperate that he washed down pills with alcohol and had possibly intended to never wake up. Luke took a deep breath. "I'm going into rehab, as soon as they discharge me. I don't need it, but my family is fucking forcing me. They've frozen my accounts because ya know, none of it has ever been my money. I'll be there for a month."

Reid felt relieved. "Will they address the cutting?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they will. My parents arranged everything, and they're freaked out about that too."

"That's not surprising. It's not healthy behavior."

Luke rolled his eyes again. "Whatever."

"That's mature," Reid said, suddenly irritated with Luke's attitude. "Where's Noah?" Reid didn't think before asking.

"Hell if I know," Luke answered. "He turned out to be an asshole. Just like you said. Congratulations. I know how much you like being right."

"Did he hurt you?" Reid asked. "Physically, I mean..."

"Not anything I couldn't handle." Reid felt his jaw clench, but he didn't say anything. "You should go."

"Luke..."

"Are you fucking deaf? I don't want you here!" Luke picked up the tissue box from next to his bed and threw it at Reid, who caught it. "Get out!"

Reid could see the unshed tears in Luke's eyes. He bit his tongue so as not to say something that he couldn't take back and drew in a deep breath. "I hope they can help you, Luke."

"Whatever," Luke repeated, turning his head away from Reid but not before Reid saw the tear slide down his cheek.

"Take care of yourself," Reid said softly before walking out the door.

*****************************************************
"It smells great," Reid remarked, standing up from the couch and walking to the door. He opened it to find Luke standing on the mat with a six pack of Dr. Pepper and a plate of cookies. "Luke," Reid said, blocking the door with his body. "You're out of rehab already."

"Yup. I got out yesterday."

"Good. Uh, good. How do you feel?"

"I'm great," Luke said, the smile on his face reflecting his words, as he tried to peer around Reid into the apartment. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"Um, yeah.....yeah, of course," Reid answered, stepping aside.

Luke stepped into the apartment, and as he walked into the living room, he saw a man turn around from the stove and look at him. "Hi," Greg said.

"Oh," Luke said. "Hello."

Reid took a deep breath, and took the soda out of Luke's hand and placed it on the coffee table as Greg walked toward them, wiping his hands on a towel.

Reid cleared his throat. "Greg Bowman, this is Luke Snyder." He turned to Luke. "Luke, this is my boyfriend, Greg."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Greg said, extending his hand toward Luke. "I've heard so much about you."

Luke shook Greg's hand. "Oh. You have? I mean...um, yeah, it's nice to meet you too."

Reid looked between the two men, Greg with a smile on his face and Luke with wide eyes, and he wished a hole would open up in the floor and swallow him whole.

"Um," Luke stammered. "Uh, yeah. Here," he said handing the cookies to Reid. "My grandmother made them...........I should have called first. Yeah, I'm gonna go."

"Wait," Greg said, and Luke turned back around. "We're about to eat. Why don't you join us?"

Luke looked at Reid, who was tapping his thumb nervously against his thigh. "Uh, that's um.....that's nice, but I think I should go."

"I made plenty of food," Greg said, chuckling. "I always make extra because this one eats like a linebacker." He put his hand on Reid's shoulder. "You're welcome to stay, right, Doc?" Luke glanced at Reid, who tried not to look like a deer caught in headlights. "Reid?" Greg repeated.

"Oh, um....yeah.....yeah, of course. You should stay, Mr. Snyder." No. Don't stay. Please, don't say.

"Mr. Snyder?" Greg said, laughing. "That's a little formal." He shook his head and made a face to indicate that Reid was nuts.

Luke smiled. "Ok. Yeah. I'll stay for dinner. Thanks."

"Great!" Greg answered, turning and heading toward the kitchen. Reid knew that his boyfriend had a lot of questions, but he was playing it cool, and Reid was thankful for that.

Luke turned to Reid. "Where are Katie and Jacob?" he whispered.

Reid made a face like Luke had two heads. "They moved out over a year ago. She lives with Doogie now. I get visitation with the kid on Wednesdays and every other weekend."

Luke nodded, his mouth hanging open.

"I'm kidding," Reid said, shaking his head.

"I've lost touch with everyone," Luke said softly.

"Her cell's the same. Give her a call. I bet she'd love to hear from you," Reid offered. "C'mon. Greg's a great cook. Let's eat."

Blue Skies and Pain, Part One

dpracket — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 15:01:11 GMT

Reid stood outside ICU room #5, staring at the sleeping figure in the bed. His heart raced in his chest, and his stomach rolled. He thought he might be sick. He eyed the garbage can in the corner, wondering how many steps it would take him to get there.

"Doctor?" Reid turned and looked at a short nurse with dark hair and large brown eyes. "Are you consulting on the case? If so, I need to see your badge number." Reid handed her his badge. "Neurology?"

"I'm not consulting...I........." He looked back through the window. He hadn't seen Luke in over nineteen months, ever since he had left for Los Angeles with his film maker boyfriend with perfectly restored vision. They hadn't kept in touch in any fashion. No calls. No texts. Katie had tried to relay news about him the first few months, but he'd always cut her off, and it got so heated between them one evening that he told her that she needed to stop or he was moving out. He sucked in a breath and ran a hand over his face. He always knew that he'd run into Luke again in this god forsaken town at some point; it was Luke's hometown after all, but he didn't expect to see him like this. "Um......I'm just checking in on him..."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

Reid huffed out a stifled chuckle and felt his stomach roll again. "No.......I mean, yeah............I guess...."

The nurse handed Reid's badge back to him. "The shift before me told me that he was flown in by private jet this morning. I'll be monitoring him closely throughout the night. Feel free to go in. It's well past visiting hours, but you're on staff, so it's fine. Please, let me know if you need anything. My name's Sandra."

Reid nodded as the nurse walked away. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text: *i'll be here late* He pocketed his phone, took a deep breath, and turned the handle on the door.

The room was incredibly quiet, which was odd for the ICU. Reid walked over to the IV stand and looked at the bags hanging there. He studied the monitor near the bed, the vitals that it was monitoring looking good. Finally, he looked at Luke, who was thinner than he'd ever seen him. He appeared pale and gaunt, and Reid was taken back by his tightly cropped hair. He closed his eyes, remembering how Luke's hair was always in his eyes when they first met, back when they had both hidden behind the pretense of hating each other, and how he had to restrain himself from reaching out and touching it. Reid opened his eyes and continued to survey Luke: days worth of stubble on his dimpled chin, a new scar by his left eyebrow, chipped black nail polish on his fingers. He appeared years older than the last time he'd seen him.

"I'm sorry, Reid...I have to go to LA with Noah. Please, don't hate me."

Reid shook his head to clear out the memory. He pulled a chair up close to the bed and sat down. He watched Luke's chest rise and fall. He listened to him breathe. Finally, he sat forward, leaned his forehead against the mattress, and closed his eyes.

****************************************

**************************************

Luke grumbled.

"I know, Mr. Snyder, but it's important that I monitor your vitals every couple of hours. I'm sorry, hon. You can go back to sleep as soon as I'm through."

"Thirsty," Reid heard Luke croak out, and he raised his head, blinking sleep out of his own eyes.

"Your fever has increased," Sandra said as Reid saw the realization on Luke's face.

"Reid? Reid?!" Luke's voice was thick, and he sounded surprised and panicked at the same time. "Is that you?"

Reid stood up and brushed his hand over Luke's fevered head to calm him. "Yeah, it's me." He looked up at the monitor and saw that Luke's heart rate was elevated. "It's okay, Luke......you need to calm down. Relax, okay?"

"Reid?!!"

Reid looked at Sandra. "Sweetie, sit back," she instructed, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. "You're okay. Dr. Oliver is here to see you, but you have to stay calm."

Luke shook his head violently.

"Mr. Snyder!" Reid said in a commanding voice. Luke sucked in a breath and then covered his eyes. When he lowered his hands, Reid could see tears there. "Luke..." He reached forward, wrapping his hand around Luke's forearm. He looked at Sandra. "He's on fire."

She nodded. "Mr. Snyder, let's remove your gown. We need to reduce your temperature." She hit the call button near the bed.

"Reid," Luke repeated, reaching out and grabbing a fistful of Reid's shirt. "Reid..." He pulled himself to a prone position and pulled at Reid's shirt with his other hand as well.

"Cut it out, Luke," Reid said, trying to remove Luke's hands.

"Reid, please..." Luke held on tighter, and Reid could feel the waves of heat rolling off of him.

"It's the fever," the nurse said. "It's making him agitated. He's not thinking clearly."

"YES?" a crackly voice on the Intercom sounded.

"Deanne, I need the sedative Dr. Mack prescribed, and we need some wet towels. Also, check his chart and see if he can have Ibuprofen again. If so, bring it."

"Sure thing," the voice answered.

Reid managed to remove one of Luke's hands from the grip on his shirt, but the other one still held on. Sandra put her hand on Luke's cheek and turned his face toward her. "Mr. Snyder, hon...please, let go of Dr. Oliver. You're making him uncomfortable." Luke looked back to Reid, and Reid could hear the labored puffs of air coming out of Luke's nose. Luke relaxed his hold, but not completely. "That's it, sweetie. You're okay," the kind nurse said putting her hand behind his back and easing him down. "That's good. You're okay. That's right, lay back." Luke nodded, clarity coming to his eyes, and he finally released Reid's shirt. "That's good. Thank you." Sandra untied Luke's gown behind his neck. "We're going to take this gown off of you, okay? Your fever is too high. We're going to get it down, and then you'll feel more like yourself, okay?"

Luke nodded weakly. "Reid..."

Reid put his hand on Luke's arm. "Yeah. I'm here. You're okay, Luke."

"Reid.....I'm sorry...."

Reid could see the tears welling in Luke's eyes.

Reid shook his head. "There's nothing to apologize for. C'mon, let's get this gown off so we can work on getting the fever down." He looked at the nurse and they both tugged on Luke's gown and pulled it off. Reid sucked in a breath. Luke was thinner than Reid had even thought, and he had a dark bruise on his side, near his transplant scar. "Luke. You're...........how'd you get the bruise?"

"Fight," Luke said, his eyes closing. "I won." He chuckled weakly. "Kicked that fucker's ass." Reid didn't bother asking who Luke was talking about. His eyes were too busy taking in the large dragon tattoo on Luke's shoulder and then lowering to see a number of small cuts on Luke's abdomen. His eyes met the Sandra's. Luke cuts himself. What the hell happened to him out there?

Just then a second nurse walked into the room and handed a syringe to Sandra. "Sedative."

Sandra put the syringe in her pocket. "He's okay now. We'll hold off," she said nodding to Luke, who now had his eyes closed and was breathing evenly. "Deanne, this is Dr. Oliver. He's a friend of the patient."

Deanne nodded. "Hello, Doctor. Long time no see. I used to work in your department."

Reid nodded, even though he didn't remember her. Maybe she looked familiar, he thought. He watched her inject what he assumed was additional Ibuprofen into Luke's IV line. "Don't hold my prior behavior against me," he tried to joke, knowing that if she worked his department he'd probably been an ass to her at one time or another.

She smiled.

Both nurses began wiping Luke's chest, torso, neck, shoulders, and face with the wet towels. Reid looked down and realized he was now holding Luke's hand. He knew that he should probably move out of their way, but he couldn't. He didn't want to let go. Luke. "What's his diagnosis?" Sandra looked at him. "I can go look it up on the hospital intranet," Reid argued, knowing that the nurse didn't want to violate patient confidentiality.

"Severe UTI, and it has affected his kidney," Deanne answered instead. "He should be okay. His body's fighting it hard."

Reid nodded.

After thirty mintues, Sandra ran a thermometer across Luke's forehead. "101.3. That's better, Mr. Snyder."

Reid looked at Luke who was sound asleep. The nurses gathered the wet towels, and Deanne left the room. Reid rubbed his eyes. "You staying here for awhile?" Sandra asked him.

"Yeah."

"I'm gong to leave him uncovered to let the additional heat escape. If he wakes up and is cold or shivering, he can have a light sheet. No blanket."

Reid nodded, having no desire to snark that he was a doctor and he knew that. He was internally thankful to the nurses for getting Luke's fever down to a manageable level.

After Sandra left the room, Reid sat in the chair on Luke's left side. His eyes ran over Luke, trying to take in each and every hint of what he'd been through since he'd last seen him. Where was Noah? Were they still together? Was Luke drinking? Doing drugs? Why was Luke self harming? Reid pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a shaky breath that alarmed him. Why did he care about this kid so much? They had not even been officially together six weeks when Luke dropped the bomb that he was moving to LA. He'd known Luke all of seven months. He'd now been away from him more than double the time he had even known him. The blonde had made him fall in love with him and then disappeared. Reid should hate him. He wanted to hate him. But when he looked at Luke lying there sick and alone, Reid felt fiercely protective. And sad. And angry at everything and anything that had ever hurt Luke.

Reid sighed and tugged the sheet down just to Luke's upper thigh and wasn't surprised to see more small cut marks there. "Jesus, Luke..." he whispered. He then put his chin on the mattress and gently leaned his forehead against Luke's tattooed shoulder. He was exhausted, and it only took a couple of minutes for him to fall asleep.

************************************

Reid startled awake, sitting up quickly, his eyes landing on Sandra, who was raising the sheet up over Luke's torso. "His fever broke," she whispered.

"Good," Reid said, stretching. He placed his hand on Luke's sweaty forehead softly and nodded, confirming the fact for himself.

"Would you like a pillow and blanket for the couch?" Sandra asked.

Reid looked at his watch. 2:37. "No, uh....no. I need to get home."

"Very well. Don't worry, we'll keep a close eye on him tonight." Reid nodded. "Goodnight, Doctor."

"Goodnight...and uh,....thank you." Sandra smiled and left the room.

Reid gently ran his hand over Luke's head. "Goodnight, Mr. Snyder." He leaned down and pressed his lip to Luke's forehead.

***************************************

Reid entered the apartment and went straight to the refrigerator. He filled a glass of water from the dispenser on the door and drank it down before filling it up again. He eyed the leftovers in the fridge and thought about making a plate, but his eyes burned, and the need for sleep won out over his need for food. He walked to his bedroom with the glass in hand, turning off the light in the living room. He entered his dark bedroom and put the glass of water on the nightstand. He shucked his clothes, leaving them all on the floor, and then went to the attached bathroom to pee. When he returned, he climbed into bed and spooned up against the form sleeping there. He felt a hand reach back and run through his hair. "Everything okay?" a voice asked, sleepily.

Reid kissed the side of his boyfriend's head. "Yeah, go back to sleep." He wrapped his arm around the man sleeping next to him and stared into the darkness.

Blue Skies and Pain (Part Three of Four)

dpracket — Thu, 15 May 2014 17:59:56 GMT

"He's great," Luke said, as Reid walked him to the apartment elevator.

"Yeah, he is."

"And cute," Luke added. Reid rolled his eyes. "And that accent!"

Reid chuckled. "Yeah."

"And he's a professor? You hit the jackpot. You get to act out all those dirty teacher fantasies," Luke teased. Reid shook his head and smiled. "How long have you been together?"

"Almost a year. He moved in a four months ago. It was a little quick, but his lease was up, and I don't know...it just felt right."

Luke took a deep breath. "I'm happy for you, Reid." The elevator chimed. "Well...thank Greg again for dinner."

"Luke," Reid said, reaching out and tugging on Luke's arm. "Wait. How was rehab?"

Luke shrugged. "Ya know........they pull out all of your demons and make you talk to them."

"Are you clean?"

Luke bristled. "Reid. It's been twenty four hours. Are you asking if I'm using already? Do I seem fucking high to you? Drunk?"

"No, of course not. That's not what I meant," Reid said shaking his head, still getting used to a Luke who cursed freely. "Relax. I'm not accusing you of anything. I just........how do you know if it worked?"

Luke huffed out an irritated chuckle. "It didn't, at least not in the way you want me to tell you it worked. I'll always want to drink. Every day, for the rest of my life, even on the good days."

"And on the bad days?"

Luke shook his head. "On the bad days, I'll have to fight myself for my own life, but that's nothing new. I've been doing this for years."

"You can do it. You're strong."

"No, I'm really not. You don't know me, Reid. You don't know a thing about me."

Reid tried not to let Luke know that his words hurt but then again, maybe he didn't know Luke afterall. "Is today a good day or a bad day?" he asked.

Luke laughed. "Your fucking ego." Reid's brow knotted in confusion. "I can handle the fact that you've moved on, doctor." Reid shook his head. That's not what he meant at all. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go home and off myself over the fact that you have a hot, British boyfriend.........who is a scholar and has mad skills in the kitchen."

"Welsh."

"What?"

"He's Welsh, not British," Reid corrected Luke. "He's from Wales. For some reason he gets all bent out of shape about being called British, which I don't understand, Wales is part of the United Kingdom. It's some weird rivalry thing or something...sort of like Houston and Dallas..." Reid realized he was babbling and closed his mouth.

Luke softened and smiled. "Now I know why you call him Harry, even though his name is Greg. You and the nicknames..." He shook his head.

"Prince Harry's the hot one."

Luke laughed. He then rolled his lips in and nodded. "We probably shouldn't see each other," he said, rather abruptly. Reid agreed, but he didn't say anything. "I think it will be easier for both of us. And....as hospitable as your boyfriend was this evening, I don't think he'd be too happy if you were hanging around with me."

"We're bound to run into each other here in this tiny burg."

Luke nodded again. "We can be cordial, but...." Luke pressed the button to retrieve the elevator again.

"Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"If things are ever bad for you..."

"I'm going to be fine," Luke reassured him. "I've got plans. You don't need to worry about me."

Reid was struck by the hollowness of Luke's words. He wrapped his hand around Luke's wrist. "I don't think I'd survive it if something happened to you, okay? Promise me if things get bad, you'll ask for help."

"From you?"

"From anyone."

The elevator chimed again. Luke leaned forward and kissed Reid on the cheek. "Goodbye, Reid."

************************************************

Reid re-entered the apartment, laid down on the couch, and put his head on a pillow in Greg's lap, unable to shake the uneasy feeling he had about Luke. He swore he could still feel the scratch of Luke's facial hair against his cheek where he had kissed him.

"He seems nice," Greg said, resting his hand on Reid's chest.

Reid nodded. "Thanks for being so cool about him just showing up here. I don't know what I would have done if the roles were reversed."

"You probably would have been a snarky asshole," Greg said, smiling and moving his hand to play with the curl of hair behind Reid's ear. "He's good looking,"

"He said the same thing about you."

"And young," Greg continued, his voice low. "And he didn't know I existed before walking through the door..."

Reid shook his head. "The conversation didn't come around to it." Greg sighed. "Seriously," Reid said, sitting up. He put his hand on the back of Greg's neck. "That first night, he was sick, and then the second time I saw him, we didn't talk for long before he was asking me to leave."

"You would have told him?" Greg asked, sounding much too unsure for Reid's comfort.

"Of course I would have told him! I thought you trusted me."

"I did." Greg insisted, shrugging Reid's hand off of him. "I mean, I do! But he's incredibly attractive, and he's funny, and I can see why you like him."

"Liked him. And have you looked in the mirror?" He took Greg's face in his hands and ran his thumb over his bottom lip. "You're not exactly struggling in the looks department either." He kissed Greg softly on the lips. Greg rolled his eyes but smiled at the compliment. "And we're not going to see each other. So, this is a non-issue, ok?" Greg nodded. "I'm going to bed. You coming, Prince Harry?" Reid asked as he stood up off of the couch. He put his hand out to Greg, but Greg picked up the remote instead.

"No. I'm going to watch TV for awhile."

*************************************************************

Over the next few weeks, Reid and Luke didn't see each other like they agreed, except for the one day that Reid had seen Luke in the check out line at the grocery store, but Luke didn't see him. Reid had ducked behind a display, his heart beating wildly, and he had waited until Luke exited the store before resuming his shopping.

Reid tried not to think about Luke or wonder how he was doing, but every now and then when his mind was idle, Luke had a way of sneaking into Reid's thoughts. When this happened, Reid would let his mind's eye linger on Luke for awhile, whether it was in the form of concern, fantasy, or a memory, but after a few moments, he would shove his thoughts back behind a curtain of indifference and mentally scold himself for letting his mind go there.

Things were good with work and with Greg, and the subject of Luke did not come up again until a Tuesday night in early May when Reid and Greg were sitting at a patio table at the River Dog Cafe, listening to live music while enjoying burgers and beer.   Reid felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He brushed a napkin across his mouth and retrieved his phone. A quick glance at the screen told him it was Holden. He let the phone go to voice mail, but then it vibrated again a few seconds later. Reid sighed and then leaned over and spoke close to Greg's ear to be heard over the music. He excused himself and went to the bathroom, where he pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialed Holden's number.

"Reid."

"Yeah."

"We can't find Luke."

"And you're calling me why...?"

"Have you seen him?"

"No. I haven't seen him in over a month. How long has he been missing?"

"Since around2:30."

Reid looked at his watch and guffawed. "Three and a half hours is hardly a span of time that would require you to send out the bloodhounds. He's a grown man. I'm sure he's fine."

"He got a call from Noah this morning, and then he disappeared this afternoon without telling anyone where he was going. He might have been upset, or maybe he was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? Are you serious?" Reid asked, shaking his head at Holden's ridiculousness.

"It happens. His car is here at the house. We've checked all the bars and clubs in the area...at the hospital. He's nowhere."

"Listen, Mr. Snyder, I'm going to get back to dinner. I'm sure he'll show up. Maybe he went for a walk. He could be at the Java...or eating dinner. Maybe he was picked up by a friend. Have you checked with that Hughes kid?"

"Casey hasn't lived here in over a year now. He and Allison moved to Carbondale so that Allison could attend the University of..."

"Please, I don't need everyone's life story," Reid interrupted. "I've gotta go."

"You're not going to help us find him?" Holden asked.

"He's not my problem. And maybe rather than running around town looking for him, you should chill the hell out and have confidence in him. Maybe he found someone to spend time with." Reid didn't want to contemplate why that possibility made his chest feel tight. "If he doesn't show up by morning, then you can freak out and alert the authorities."

"Oakdale PD is already looking for him."

"Of course they are............so you don't need my help. Good luck...if you'll excuse me, my food is getting cold."

***********************************************************
Reid returned to the table and squeezed Greg's shoulder as he sat down. "Sorry about that."

"Was it the hospital?"

"No, it was um........nevermind. It's not important."

"You're not going to tell me who called?" Greg asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"If you really have to know, it was Luke's father. He can't find him, and he was wondering if I'd seen him." Reid shook his head, hoping to convey that he dismissed Holden's concern. "I told him that I hadn't seen him in weeks." Reid looked at the small, now empty stage. "Where did the band go?"

"He's missing?"

"No. No, he's not missing...you've gotta understand his family...they are all in each other's business all the time, and if someone is unaccounted for for more than five minutes, they're putting out an APB. This town is unreasonably worried about kidnappings for some reason."

"How long since they've seen him?"

"Mid afternoon." Greg chuckled. "See? They're crazy. I'm sure he's fine." But even as he said the words, something in the pit of Reid's stomach didn't feel right. Nonetheless, he picked up his double bacon cheeseburger and took a bite, while glancing over Greg's shoulder at the river that ran by the restaurant. River. Water. Reid put the burger down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I know where he is..." He shook his head. That's the first place they should have checked. Reid took his phone out to text Holden but then decided not to and put it back in his pocket. He quietly concentrated on his food.

"You can go," Greg said before finishing off his beer. "Both of our cars are here." Reid shook his head and took a french fry off Greg's plate. "You know you want to go find him."

"I told you, he's fine. And I don't care anyway."

"Bullshit." Greg signaled the server and pointed at his own beer glass.

Reid looked at his watch. "Are you mad or something?" he asked, reaching for Greg's hand on the table.

Greg pulled his hand away and put it in his lap. "No."

Reid wasn't sure he believed him. "Okay..."

"Seriously, doc...go find him."

"You'd be okay with that?" Reid asked, taking another sip of his drink.

"It's better than you sitting here, preoccupied."

God, Reid couldn't believe he was about to do this. "Okay...but I won't be late. I promise."

"I won't wait up," Greg said. His voice sounded light, almost teasing, but his mouth was in a straight line, and Reid couldn't read his eyes.

Reid threw three twenty dollar bills onto the table and stood up. "Thanks." He squeezed Greg's shoulder and looked toward the bar area. "That's two beers. If you have anymore, call a cab, okay?" Reid knew that the third drink is the one that always got Greg buzzy. "Or call me. I shouldn't be long."

Greg saluted Reid, his eyes straight forward, watching the band return to the small stage. Reid leaned down to kiss Greg goodbye, and as their lips touched, Greg grabbed the back of Reid's head and shoved his tongue forcefully into Reid's mouth. Greg was usually hesitant about public displays of affection. He'd gotten gay bashed when he was younger for holding a guy's hand in a parking lot, so the deep kiss surprised Reid. It felt a little territorial, and Reid couldn't tell if that thrilled him or made him uneasy. When they broke apart Greg gave him a sad smile. Reid pulled his chair back out and shook his head. "He's fine. I don't need to go anywhere."

Greg grabbed the leg of the chair and pulled it back toward the table. "Just go, Reid. I want you to go. If he's in danger, and something happens, you'll feel awful. Go do what you need to do."

Reid nodded. He leaned down and whispered, "I love you," intimately against Greg's ear.

Greg shook his head. "Yeah. Me too."

****************************************************************************

Reid pulled up as close as he could to the pond.. Luke looked back at him, squinting. Reid cut the engine and picked up his phone. He texted Holden: I found him. He's fine.

As Reid walked to the dock, he passed a bike, leaning against a tree. His boots clunked against the old wood of the dock, but Luke didn't turn around again. Reid toed off his boots and removed his socks near a pile of clothes, about five feet from Luke. As he approached Luke, he removed his jacket, and when he reached him, he draped it over his shoulders. "It's not even Memorial Day yet; you really want to be back in the hospital with pneumonia from swimming in this swamp?" He sat down next to Luke and lowered his feet into the water, up to his ankles. "Hell, that's cold." He watched Luke slide his arms into the jacket. "The whole town is looking for you."

"What? Why?"

"Because Oakdale's Golden Boy is missing."

"I'm not missing. I went for a bike ride. I left a note in the kitchen on the table."

Reid shook his head. "Well, your whole family, the citizenry, and the entire police task force of three officers have assumed that you are the victim of foul play and are looking for you."

"And yet you're the only one who knows where to find me."

"I pay attention," Reid joked.   Luke sighed. Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's neck, his skin cool and damp. "You okay, Snyder?"

Luke shrugged Reid's hand off. "Yeah. I'm fine. I guess I better go call my dad." He started to stand up, but Reid gently pulled him back down.

"I already let him know that I found you. C'mon, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Why are you here? We agreed we wouldn't see each other."

"Holden told me that you heard from Noah today."

"Oh my God. What the fuck? He calls my ex boyfriend to talk about my other ex boyfriend? That's so far outside the bounds of..."

"He was worried about you."

"Don't defend those people."

"Those people? They're your parents." Luke stayed quiet for a few minutes, and Reid watched the sun setting behind the trees on the other side of the pond. The water lapped against the dock and lightening bugs started to show themselves in the waning light of the day.

"He's moving to Berlin." Reid turned toward Luke, and Luke sighed. "Noah. He's moving overseas. And he's getting married."

Reid's brow furrowed. "Married? Well he better get married over here. I don't think Germany allows same sex marriage."

Luke laughed out loud, which startled Reid. "He's marrying a fucking woman."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Wow," Reid said, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah."

"How does that make you feel?" Reid asked.

"You sound like my therapists in rehab. The weird part is, I don't feel anything. I don't care." Luke sighed. "It doesn't surprise me as much as it should."

"It doesn't surprise you that he's bi?"

"I don't want to talk about him. We're done. People move on." Luke glanced over at Reid, and Reid felt vaguely like Luke was accusing him of something. Luke turned and stared out at the pond again.

They were quiet for a few moments. Reid looked at the pink and yellow clouds and listened to the birds across the pond. He then turned to Luke who was sitting with his hands in his lap, wearing nothing but a pair of wet boxers and Reid's jacket. Reid needed to know, so he took a deep breath and asked the question that had been on his mind for weeks now. "What happened to you out there? How did it get so bad?"

Luke stood up and took off Reid's jacket. "I'm going to change. If you want to look, then look. If not, don't."

Reid thought that was a strange thing for Luke to say. He didn't like the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. He stayed facing forward and heard the wet boxers hit the dock with a thwump. He decided that Luke probably didn't feel like talking about California or his decline into drugs and alcohol, so he wouldn't push the issue. A couple of minutes later, Luke sat down next to him in rolled up jeans. He had Reid's jacket on again. "I hope this is okay. I'm cold," he said, pulling the front of the jacket closed.

"Yeah...yeah, of course," Reid said. He looked at Luke's damp hair and struggled to keep from putting his arm around him to warm him up.

Luke took a deep breath. "The time out there is a blur. In the beginning, it was fun being in LaLa Land...ya know, moving into our apartment and exploring the area. We went to Venice and Malibu, acting like tourists...to the Hollywood sign and the Planetarium...the Tar Pits and the Museums....up and down the Boulevard. But after a few weeks, the novelty wore off. Noah was working all of the time, and I wasn't doing anything. I didn't have a job. I missed my foundation work, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I even missed running the shipping company. He'd go out with his film colleagues, and I'd be at home eating Ramen. I missed my family...my friends.......you. Sometimes I'd go with him to work functions, but he acted weird, like he was someone else, like he was putting on a front to cover up the fact that he was wet behind the ears, ya know? He was always talking about his stupid artistic vision, and when I tried to contribute to the conversation, he'd make jokes at my expense, like I wasn't Hollywood enough or something......or he'd just leave me sitting there by myself, not knowing anyone. After while, I just stopped going. I hated it out there. I felt invisible."

"Why didn't you come home?"

Luke shook his head. "I felt like I needed to follow through on something for once...I don't know. It was stupid. I got a job at a book store, so at least I had something to do, but Noah was home less and less, and when he was home, he was distant and moody. Things weren't going well on his project; he lost some financing. I offered to make up the difference, but of course that just sent him into a tirade about how my money couldn't fix everything and how wonderful it must be to be so privileged. I've grown a thick skin about it over the years, but it still hurts when someone I care about ridicules me for my wealth. It's not like I asked for it. It was all out of my control. I didn't ask for any of it. And let me tell you, when people need money, I'm everyone's best friend."

Reid immediately felt a pang of guilt, as his words from almost two years before came flooding back to him: trust fund brat, richie rich, silver spoon. "Luke, I..."

"Relax," Luke said, bumping Reid's shoulder with his own. "I wasn't talking about you."

"I said those things before I really knew you...before I knew how generous you were, and..."

"Before I funded your neuro wing?"

"Ouch. Luke, I'm s..."

Luke shook his head. "Reid. Don't. That was a long time ago, and I know you don't feel like that anymore." Reid nodded, not sure that Luke believed his own words. "So, Noah's project was shitty, and he was taking it out on me most of the time. He'd rant and rave, and if I offered any advice he'd scoff and make it clear that I knew nothing about film and storytelling, and whatever. I tried. I tried to be supportive. I tried to rationalize the fact that he was verbally abusive. I also tried to rationalize the fact that we weren't having sex. He was tired, overworked. That was his excuse anyway. I could handle not having sex, but......he never really even looked at me anymore...or kissed me...touched me. It felt a lot like when he was blind, his unwillingness to give me anything I needed. It was all about him. We slept in the same bed, but it felt like we were roommates, not lovers."

"Maybe he DID suffer brain damage when I restored his eyesight...what an idiot..."

Luke smiled,and when his eyes met Reid's, the doctor experienced a surge of warmth in his chest and a stomach full of butterflies that felt familiar in regards to Luke.   Instantly, Reid was transported to early 2010 when his arguing with Luke bordered on flirting, when he had to fake annoyance to mask his desire. Reid turned away and cleared his throat.

"I was lonely in L.A....sounds like the name of a bad movie, huh? I went for a walk one night, and I ended up at a gay bar. I wasn't invisible in there."

"I bet."

"I had every intention of drinking, but instead, I ended up leaving with a guy. I didn't even want to know his name. We went to his place, which was not that far from our apartment. The whole time, I was thinking how unlike me it was to be doing those things with someone I didn't know, but then afterwards, there was a freedom in it. There were no expectations. I'd gotten what I wanted. I didn't have to stay. He had some pills on the kitchen counter. I took some...stole them.....on my way out the door, just put them in my pocket. When I got home I took them, and I slept like the dead."

"What were they?"

"I have no idea."

"Jesus, Luke..."

"After that, I started going to bars almost every night. There was always someone to talk to. I wasn't sitting home alone anymore. These guys didn't consider me low brow or pedestrian like Noah seemed to. I hung out with that guy a few more times. His name was Tank. Can you believe that? Tank." Luke chuckled. "And I hung out with other guys too."

"Hung out or fucked?"

"Both." Luke sighed.

"Did you do more pills?"

"Yeah, I did a lot of pills. Uppers. Downers. Ecstasy. I drank a little too, but I was drinking less. I was actually proud of myself about drinking less." Reid shook his head. "I know it was messed up, Reid. But at the time, it all made me feel normal. I didn't feel as lonely. Guys wanted to spend time with me."

"Of course they did, " Reid answered, more sarcastically than he meant. He was having a hard time wrapping his mind around what Luke was telling him. Luke, who had made him wait....allowing Reid only the tamest access to his body. And now here was Luke telling him that he was pretty much fucking any guy with a pulse.

"Then one night I was feeling sick, so I went home, and I walked in on Noah getting fucked in our bed." Luke made a sound that was half laugh/half whine. "I didn't care really...I mean, I was fucking around.........but I can count on one hand the number of times he let me anywhere near his ass. He wasn't into that, or so he'd told me......but there he was with his ass in the air for someone else. In reality, I guess he just wasn't into it with me."

Luke got quiet for a few minutes, and Reid wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to hug Luke. He wanted to tell him that Noah was an asshole and that he was blind in ways that had nothing to do with his eyes. He wanted to tell him that Noah's rejection had nothing to do with Luke and everything to do with Noah's own issues. Instead, he stayed quiet and waited for Luke to continue.

"Anyway," Luke finally said, "We fought. He turned it around on me...said that he knew that I was drinking and screwing around on him. I didn't deny it. It was true. He called me a slut and a drunk...I guess it was true...........told me that I was weak and that I was disappointment. I don't even remember everything we said to each other, but at one point, he took a swing at me. I ducked and then stood and gave him an upper cut to the jaw." Luke smiled sardonically. "That felt good.......................I left that night...packed a duffel bag and just left. I met up with a guy I knew and spent the night at his place, but I was gone before morning. The next day, I rented a room in a motel. I continued to party. I left my job one day and never went back. I didn't care. I felt so out of control. All I did was get high and fuck...when I wasn't so out of my head that I couldn't get it up. It was another addiction...something that made me feel good at the time but that I was ashamed of the next day. I did that for months before I got sick, broke down, and called my parents. You know the rest."

Reid ran a hand over his face. "Listen, Luke...I don't discount the merits of recreational sex, but.....please, tell me you were careful."

Luke shrugged. "I think I was, but there are some nights I simply don't remember...and I wasn't thinking clearly during that time....I simply didn't care......I was stupid.......did a lot of risky things.........but I've been tested a couple of times now, and they've come back negative. I'll test again in three months."

Reid stopped resisting and put his arm around Luke. He squeezed the junction between Luke's shoulder and neck gently. "What about the cutting?"

Luke sighed. "I swear to you that I haven't done that since rehab. I can't explain it except to tell you that it made me feel better....less lonely.......more in control. Stupid, huh?"

Reid shook his head. "Hey, I'm the king of defense mechanisms, who am I to judge?" He chuckled but then got serious. "I hate that you were going through all of that and that I didn't know. I would have been there in a heartbeat."

Luke nodded. "I know."

Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's head, Luke turned to him, and before he knew what was happening, Luke's lips were pressed against his own. Reid gave into it for a few brief moments. Their mouths remembered each other and molded together easily. Luke smelled and tasted familiar in a way that made Reid's chest ache. He even opened his mouth briefly when he felt Luke's tongue swipe his bottom lip, but then he thought of Greg and pulled back immediately, missing the warmth of Luke's mouth as soon as they separated. "Luke..."

"Oh my God," Luke said, pushing Reid's arm from around his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Reid. I shouldn't have done that."

Reid shook his head. "No, it's okay.........it's just.................I can't."

"I know. I'm sorry," Luke said, standing up and taking off Reid's jacket. Reid stood up as well, and Luke handed him his jacket without looking at him.

Reid watched silently as Luke put on his shoes and started walking off the dock. He picked up his own shoes and followed Luke. "Where are you going?"

Luke lifted the bike away from the tree. "I'm going to farmhouse to call my parents. They're probably worried. They'll come pick me up."

"I can drive you. I have some rope in my trunk. We can put your bike in it and tie the back down."

"No," Luke said, looking away. "It'll be too awkward, and..."

Reid put his hand out and touched Luke's arm. "Luke." He turned to him, and Reid pulled him into a hug. "It's me, Luke. Things have never been awkward between us. Let's not start now. Okay?"

Luke stepped out of Reid's embrace. "But I kissed you, and you're in a relationship, and..."

"And I kissed you back," Reid admitted. "And then we stopped, so let's not make a federal case out of it."

"Will you tell Greg?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Luke asked.

"We're honest with each other. I won't deceive him."

"Oh, God. He's going to hate me."

Reid laughed. "Luke, you're my ex. He's supposed to hate you. But knowing Greg, he'll understand............I mean, c'mon, he knows how irresistible I am. How could you not kiss me?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "You are insufferable, Dr. Oliver."

Reid sucked in a breath and hoped Luke didn't hear it. Luke hadn't called him that in a long time and it brought back another flood of memories. Reid cleared his throat. "C'mon, I'll take you home," he said and couldn't help adding, "Mr. Snyder."

*******************************************************************

Reid walked in the door to find Greg sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand, the flickering of the tv the only light in the living room. He looked down at the coffee table and found four empty beer bottles there. "You kept the party going when you got home, huh?" He sat down next to Greg and kissed him on the cheek. "I didn't see your car out there. Did you call a cab? We can pick your car up in the morning."

Greg took a sip of his beer and ignored Reid's question. "Did you find him?"

Reid nodded. "He was exactly where I thought he was."

"And is everything okay with the young Mr. Snyder?"

"Yeah, it turns out he left a note at..."

"Did you fuck him?"

"What?" Reid asked, turning toward Greg, taking the beer out of his hand and placing it on the coffee table. "No!"

"Do you want to fuck him?"

"Greg," Reid said, putting his hand on Greg's arm. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question now, does it?" Reid stayed silent. "Are you still attracted to him?"

Reid shook his head. "It doesn't matter because I'm with you. I'm committed to you. I don't cheat."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

Reid didn't know how to answer that. "Can we stop with the barrage of questions?"

"Answer me," Greg insisted.

Reid wanted to be honest with Greg. He did feel something for Luke, but he wasn't sure what that was. All he knew for certain was that he wanted to shield him from anything bad that might hurt him. "I feel..........protective of him, but I don't want to be with him, if that's what you're asking. I'm with you."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true!" Reid felt frustration building inside of him. "Jesus, Harry...........what do you want from me?"

"Have you kissed him?"

"What?"

"Have.You.Kissed.Him?" Greg enunciated slowly. "Since he's returned to Oakdale...have your lips touched his?" Reid closed his eyes. He felt Greg scoot away from him on the couch. "Oh my God. You have."

"He kissed me tonight, but I stopped it."

"Did you kiss him back?" Greg asked.

"I just told you; I stopped it." Greg huffed out a disbelieving chuckle. "I kissed him for a few seconds," Reid admitted reluctantly, "but then I stopped it. And he freaked out and apologized, and that was it. It won't happen again."

"If I wasn't in the picture, would it have gone further?"

"I don't know."

"How about you be honest with me."

"Shit. Yeah, okay? Is that what you really want to hear? But none of that matters because you are in the picture."

Suddenly, in a quick move, Greg straddled him, and then he was kissing Reid hard, with his tongue practically down his throat. Greg started moving, rolling his pelvis so that his ass ground down in tight circles against Reid's crotch. He abruptly broke the kiss and panted against Reid's mouth. "Tell me." Reid tried to kiss him again, but Greg pulled back and repeated, "Tell me that you're mine."

Reid knew that Greg was drunk. He probably should have pushed him off his lap and put him in bed to sleep it off, but instead he grabbed two handfuls of Greg's ass and pulled him in hard against his growing erection. "I'm yours," he said against Greg's parted lips. He kissed Greg and repeated, "I'm yours," not sure if he was trying to convince Greg or himself. "I want you." He kissed him again. "Inside me. My mouth. My ass. I'm yours." My heart entered Reid's mind, but he couldn't say it. He should have said it. His heart was Greg's, right? But minutes later, when Greg entered him roughly from behind, as the carpet burned Reid's knees with each of Greg's purposeful thrusts, all he could see was Luke's face.

********************************************************************

The next few weeks went by without incident. The subject of Luke didn't come up again. Greg seemed satisfied that Reid wanted to be with him, and if he still had doubts, he didn't voice them further. For his part, Reid tried to be attentive to Greg's needs, making an extra effort to show him affection, whether it was spontaneous cuddling on the couch, crossing the room to kiss him for no particular reason, or a shoulder massage at the end of the day. He loved Greg, and it bothered him that maybe he felt less than secure in their relationship. Yeah, it was true that Luke snuck into his thoughts every now and then, but things had been over between them for a long time, and Reid wasn't interested in revisiting a relationship with him, no matter how much he thought about him.

Reid was walking down a ground-level hallway of Memorial Hospital, reading a chart, when he suddenly ran headlong into someone. The chart went flying, and the papers that the other person was holding scattered as well.

"Watch the hell where you're going!" Reid bellowed, stooping down to pick up his patient's chart. When he stood up, he found himself staring into the shocked face of Luke Snyder. "Oh..."

"Reid! I'm so sorry," Luke said, crouching and gathering his strewn papers. "I wasn't paying attention..."

"No.....it's okay.........neither was I." Reid picked up a few sheets of paper and handed them to Luke. "How are you?"

"I'm great," Luke said, quickly reorganizing the papers in his hand. "How are you?" he asked, looking up.

"Me? Oh. Yeah, me. I'm good." Reid took in the attractive sight of Luke in a pair of jeans, a button down shirt, and a sports coat. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm meeting with the family of a pediatric cancer patient. They live in a rural area, and we are going to provide housing for them while they are here for their son's treatments."

"We?"

"The foundation. I'm doing a little bit of work for them, even though there's a new administrator to run it. It feels good to be doing something worthwhile again." Reid nodded. "Hey, um.....this shouldn't take too long. Are you free to grab a coffee in the cafeteria when I'm finished? I want to tell you something."

Reid wondered what it could be. "Yeah, sure. Greg's meeting me for lunch a little later, but I have time for coffee."

"Great...meet me in the cafeteria in about forty five minutes?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

Luke grabbed Reid's wrist and looked at his watch. "Oh crap, I gotta book it. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Yeah. See ya."

************************************************************

Reid signaled Luke over to the table when he saw him enter the cafeteria. Luke approached him, smiling. "I hope it's okay. I got your coffee already." He pointed to the cup on the other side of the table. "Cream, no sugar."

"Thank you," Luke said, pulling off his sports coat and draping it over the back of his chair.

"How did your meeting go?"

"It went well, but it's such a sad situation. They have a disabled daughter, and now her little brother has cancer. It's unfair for one family to be hit with so much, ya know? It's a lot for the parents to handle." Reid nodded. "But we're going to be able to alleviate some of the financial burden, so that will at least make that part easier for them. Their daughter is so cute. She hugged me goodbye."

"Kids love you. You cracked me up that time I went with you to the peds ward.........you were like the pied piper in there with those kids."

"I do enjoy them."

Reid took a sip of his coffee. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Luke smiled. "I'm moving."

Reid suddenly felt like he had a lead weight in his stomach. "Again? Did you reconcile with Noah?"

"No!" Luke exclaimed but then looked around and brought his voice down. "God, no. I'm, uh.....I'm moving to New York next month."

"New York?"

"Yeah, the Big Apple. I've already signed a lease on a very small apartment...extrememely small.........it has a fire escape, just like you see in movies...I love that for some reason.......... and I've enrolled in four courses at NYU. Two of them are writing courses. I don't know that I'll get a degree, but I want to explore my options. I already have over two years of classes under my belt, so it wouldn't take me long to finish if I set my mind to it."

"Wow. Do you know anyone there?"

"Not a soul!" Luke said excitedly. "I think that's what is most exciting to me. It'll just be me, in a new city......free to be whomever I want to be."

"All you have to be is yourself."

"I don't even know who that is, so it will be fun to find out." Luke scratched behind his ear. Reid loved that particular nervous habit of Luke's.

"I hope you're not trying to isolate yourself." Reid didn't want to sound like a downer, but he felt worry clawing at his chest.

"Not at all. I've already contacted an AA group there, and there's a woman who wants to be my sponsor. I have a consultation appointment to meet my new nephrologist up there, two days after I move, and my therapist here has recommended another therapist in the city and has already contacted her about me."

"It sounds like you've thought of everything."

"Probably not...but I'm really excited about this. It's time for me to stand on my own and to make some good choices for my future. My mom is a wreck, saying I'm not ready and that I need to be near her and my dad, but I feel like I need the exact opposite. I need to be on my own, meeting new people, and doing things that are good for me. I feel really good about this."

"I'm happy for you," Reid said sincerely, smiling and putting his hand over Luke's on the table. "You're going to do great."

Luke smiled for a brief second but then pulled his hand away quickly and glanced up and over Reid's left shoulder while clearing his throat. Reid glanced over his shoulder and saw his boyfriend staring at Luke. "Greg! Hey. I thought we were going to meet at Al's?"

Greg lifted his chin a bit. "I got away earlier than I expected. I thought I'd surprise you."

"You did," Reid said, taken back by the awkward chuckle that he heard come from his own throat. Why was he nervous? "Sit down."
He put his hand around Greg's wrist. "Have a seat."

Greg nodded in Luke's direction. "Luke."

"Hi, Greg," Luke answered, offering an outstretched hand, which Greg shook as he sat down.

Once Greg was seated, an awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, until Reid took a deep breath and said, "Luke was just telling me that he's moving to New York."

"Moving?" Greg asked. "How soon?"

Subtle, Reid thought.

"In the next few weeks," Luke replied, catching Reid's eyes. "Um...ya know what? I'm running late. I better get going." He stood up. "Greg, it was nice seeing you." He turned to Reid. "Reid.........um, bye."

Reid instinctively reached out and grabbed Luke's forearm as he stood up. "Wait." He watched Luke glance at Greg and then back to Reid. He looked unsure.

Reid nodded and let go of Luke's arm. "If I don't see you, good luck in New York.    Just don't root for those damn Yankees." Luke laughed. "And be good to yourself."

Luke smiled, almost sadly. "I will. I promise."

Reid nodded. He felt like he should hug Luke. Or kiss him goodbye. Maybe this was it. He might never see him again. Instead, he put out his hand, and Luke shook it. Their eyes met. Luke said, "Bye, Reid," and then he was walking away. Reid watched him for a few seconds before sitting back down. He ran a hand through his hair and met Greg's eyes. He tried to smile at him but failed. He knew he was hurting Greg in that moment, but he didn't know how to stop it, so he found Greg's hand under the table and slotted their fingers together without saying anything. He was relieved to feel Greg squeeze his hand.

"You okay, Doc?"

"Don't," Reid said, shaking his head and sniffing. "Don't be nice to me. Don't be cool about this..."

"About what?" Greg asked, smiling weakly, "About you being sad that he's leaving? What do you want me to do? Be pissed that you have emotions? Jesus, Reid.......you feel what you feel."

Reid continued shaking his head, but then he leaned forward and kissed Greg hard on the mouth. When he pulled back he said, "I'm starving. Al's?"

"Sure," Greg said, "Al's."

************************************************************

Reid felt the length of a body pressed against his back, teeth biting into his shoulder, and a hand wrapped around his dick. He pushed back with his ass and felt hardness sliding along his crack. Reid made a sound that was part sigh and part moan, reaching back and finding hair, tugging gently. "Luke..."

Everything stopped and Reid's eyes flew open in the early morning light. Greg. He felt the emptiness in the bed as Greg shifted away from him and rolled out of bed. Reid rolled over and watched Greg pull on a pair of boxers. "What the fuck, Reid...?" The bathroom door slammed shut.

****************************************************************

Reid walked into the apartment and almost tripped over the suitcases by the door. "What's this?" he asked, stepping toward Greg, who was sitting on the couch.

Greg stood up. "I'm going to stay with Colin for awhile."

"What are you talking about?..." Reid answered, reaching for Greg, but Greg put his hand on Reid's chest to stop him. Reid dropped his hands to his sides and looked at Greg with a look of confusion on his face. "What's..."

Greg raised a hand to stop him. "School's almost out. I'm not doing summer classes. I've booked a flight back home for next week. I'm going to stay there a few weeks this summer."

"Okay, but why are you moving out?"

Greg took a deep breath and raised his chin. "I don't want to be someone you settle for."

"What are you talking about?" Reid asked again.

"I'm worth more than that, Reid."

"Is this about Luke?" Reid asked, truly flummoxed. "Don't be crazy, that's over. C'mon, I'll help you unpack these," he said turning, but Greg caught his arm.

"It's not over. Maybe you think it's over. Maybe you want to pretend it's over, but Jesus, Reid, anyone with eyes can see that you still have feelings for the guy."

Reid felt anger flare up inside him. "We were barely even together, and we broke up a year and a half ago. He left. It's done."

"Oh, c'mon....please don't insult me by lying to me. Can you at least give me that much?"

Reid looked down and away before returning his eyes to Greg's. He put his hands on Greg's upper arms. "I have not cheated on you, I swear. Not once."

Greg nodded. "I know that."

"So then why are you doing this? Is it because I said his name the other day? I already told you: I was half asleep."

"And even when you are sleeping, you're thinking of him."

I'm with you!"

"But your heart is with him."

"Fuck, Greg. I'm trying, here. What else do you want from me?"

Greg let out a small chuckle. "That's the thing though, isn't it? If I was the one you truly wanted to be with, you wouldn't have to try."

Reid winced, but then he wrapped his arms around his lover and pulled him into his arms. "Please, don't go." He brought his hands up to the side's of Greg's face and kissed him. "I love you." He could feel the tears in his own eyes, but he blinked them back, determined not to let Greg see him cry.

Greg kissed him hard on the mouth, their tongues sliding together. When the kiss broke, Greg answered, "I love you too. That's why I want you to be happy."

"But I am happy," Reid argued. Greg shook his head. "I won't see him anymore. Is that what you want?"

"No, it's not......because it's not what you want. Be honest. Do you really want him out of your life?"

"I lived without him for nineteen months......................and for a whole 35 years before I met him. I can do it again."

"But do you want to do that again?"

"It doesn't even matter," Reid argued. "He's moving. He's not going to be an issue."

"Reid, he's always going to be an issue until you make peace with your feelings for him, whether or not they are returned or if they even lead to anything. I'm not angry. I know you are not trying to deceive me or to hurt me. Things are what they are. Nobody can control their heart." Reid sighed, not knowing how to respond. "Walk me out?"

Reid shook his head and pulled Greg into his arms again. He held him until Greg reciprocated and wrapped his arms around Reid as well. They silently held each other for a long time. Finally, Reid stepped back. "Ya know what's really fucked up?" he asked, wiping at the tear sliding down Greg's cheek. Greg shook his head but didn't answer. "We wouldn't even be together if it wasn't for him."

"Because he left?"

"No.........because he opened up something in me that wasn't there before I met him. When he left, I was screwed up for awhile, but as time passed, I knew it was something I wanted again. To feel like that. And I knew it was something I deserved to have again." He put his hand on Greg's arm. "And then we met, and it was like, okay, yeah. I get another shot at this. It never felt like settling. It felt right from the start. Please, believe me." Greg nodded. Reid took Greg's hand in his. "Stay."

Greg put his hand over Reid's and shook his head. "I can't. Don't make this more agonizing than it already is.

Reid's bottom lip threatened to wobble, so he bit the inside of his cheek to stop it. "I'm not going to beg."

Greg kissed his forehead. "I wouldn't expect you to."

*******************************************

Katie kissed Reid on the cheek as she walked in the door, carrying a brown shopping bag. She went to the kitchen and began unpacking items from the bag. "I've got break up food.........and wine," she said holding the bottle over her head. "Two pints of Ben & Jerry's ..........and I have Thelma and Louise and Bridget Jones' Diary on Blu-ray."

"You do know that I'm not a woman, right?" Reid asked, retrieving spoons from the drawer.

"Of course, silly...that's why I got you this..." Katie pulled a six pack of Heineken from the bottom of the bag. "And those gross vinegar chips you like."

"That's more like it. Thanks, Goldilocks," Reid said as he opened a beer. He then opened the Cabernet for Katie and poured her a small glass.

"I told Chris I was staying here tonight."

"In that case..." Reid gulped the small glass of wine down and handed Katie the bottle. "You can drink out of this." He picked up his opened bottle of beer and clinked it against the wine bottle. "Cheers..." He took a long pull on the beer. He closed his eyes for a second, feeling the warmth of the alcohol spread in his stomach. Yeah, he was getting drunk tonight. Reid handed the pint of Chocolate Therapy to Katie and grabbed the pint of Cherry Garcia for himself. "What kind of man lets his wife spend the night at another man's house?" he asked facetiously.

"The kind of man who is secure enough in his relationship to let his wife hang out with her homo friend. However, he doesn't know, nor does he ever need to know, that I crushed on you hard before I knew that you didn't fancy breasts."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Reid joked lamely.

"Cut it out," Katie said, swatting his shoulder. "You knew. You had to know."

Reid shrugged. He wasn't buying it, but he'd play along. "If I liked breasts, I'd choose yours. I'm not so gay that I can't appreciate the fact that you have a great rack."

"Oh my God. Shut up," Katie cackled.

Reid picked up two spoons, two extra beers, and the chips and nodded toward the couch.

Once Bridget Jones was in the DVD player, Reid sat on the couch next to Katie and picked the ice cream up off the coffee table, cramming a large spoonful into his mouth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Katie asked.

"Not particularly," Reid answered around a mouthful of cream and cherries.

Katie sighed and reached over with her spoon to take some of Reid's icecream. "I liked Greg."

"Me too," Reid replied, shoving a handful of salt and vinegar chips into his mouth.

Katie grimaced as Reid washed down the chips with beer. "Any chance he'll reconsider?"

"Doubtful. He's headed across the pond for the summer anyways, and......." Reid drew in a deep breath, not knowing how to finish his sentence. He didn't even want to think about Greg being that far away.

"What about Luke?" Katie asked, sipping wine from the bottle.

"What do you mean?"

"Greg broke up with you because he thought you had unfinished business with Luke, right? Do you? "

"Have you seen Luke since he's been home?" Reid asked. "He's all kinds of screwed up. No. Do you know what I need? I need to go back to being an island. Me. By myself. It worked for thirty six years; I can make it work for thirty six more."

"You don't mean that."

"I most certainly do," Reid insisted, looking at the TV. "Colin Firth. Now, if he showed up at the door, I might make an exception."

Katie put her head on Reid's shoulder. "I know. He's dreamy, isn't he?"

"He's old. But yeah..." Katie put her arm around Reid's waist and snuggled in closer. "What are you doing, Blondie?"

"You're heartbroken. You need a hug."

Reid rolled his eyes and drank down the rest of his second beer. He leaned forward and put the empty bottle on the coffee table. As he sat back, he put his arm around Katie and then rested his cheek against the top of her head. He felt emotion prickling his eyes, as it had been for the past two days as he'd moped around the empty, silent apartment. Yeah....ok. Maybe he did need a hug. "I'm glad you're here," he said softly and kissed the top of his best friend's head. "Thanks for hanging out here tonight."

"I always have your back," Katie replied.

Reid smiled sadly. "I know."

***************************************************************************

"I'm sorry, Reid. I don't know what to say."

Reid shrugged while sitting next to Luke on the back porch of Lily's house. He had gone there without calling, his car seemingly having a mind of its own after work. He'd just wanted to stop by and wish Luke well with his move, as it was now just a couple of weeks away. That's what he told Luke anyway as he tried unsuccessfully to convince himself of the same. In reality, he wanted to see Luke. He'd been thinking about him, and it bothered him that he was thinking about Luke more than Greg, even though he missed Greg terribly.

"There's a small part of me that wishes you hadn't come back," Reid said after a few silent minutes.

Luke nodded, and Reid wished he could take the words back immediately, even if they were true.

"And the other part of you?"

In one quick motion, Reid grabbed Luke's face and brought their mouths together in a deep kiss. Reid felt Luke's hand on the back of his neck, and he felt his other hand fisting into the front of his button-down shirt. Luke tasted good and familiar, and he felt warm and solid. Reid wrapped his arm around Luke's waist to pull him closer, but suddenly Luke was pushing at his chest and pulling away. "Wait..." Reid tried to kiss Luke again, his fingers digging into Luke's waist. "Reid!"

Reid sat back with a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," Luke said, smoothing his shirt.

Reid shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

"Oh, God, Reid...I have a lot to be sorry about, but..." Luke stood and started pacing. "I wish we could go back and start over...to before I hurt you and to before I made so many bad decisions, but we can't.........and I'm leaving in nine days. And I know you're lonely right now, Reid. I know that you're hurting...............because I know you.........you don't let a lot of people in, but when you do.....you fall hard and fast, and you love fiercely. I know that about you.......so, I know that you're hurting right now.....I know that you miss him.......and I think maybe you miss me too, in the same way that I've missed you......................and it would be so easy for me to wrap my arms around you, take you to bed, and just start over...because I still love you, Reid, I do. But......I can't be with anyone right now. I need to be alone. I need to prove some things to myself. And it has nothing at all to do with you and everything to do with me. I can't filter my life through someone else. I have to be selfish right now. I have to. I have to be well, and I don't think I'll ever be well if I can't be on my own."

Reid nodded and stood up. He rubbed his eyes. He was so tired of feeling emotional. Luke was correct, and maybe that's what he needed too...just to be alone. By himself. Solitary. An island, like he'd told Katie. People left. It was a hard fact he'd learned early on, and he was suddenly irritated with himself for his inability to remember that unwavering piece of information at times when his heart started having other ideas along the way. But even with these thoughts running through his head, Reid couldn't help but reach out and touch Luke, to pull him into his arms. He closed his eyes against the emotion in them and spoke softly against Luke's ear. "I love you too."

Then he kissed Luke's temple and walked away.

Waiting. And Watching. for fff

dpracket — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 17:23:46 GMT

Luke and Reid have been making out on Reid's bed for awhile now, the baseball game on the tv long forgotten. They are both breathing hard. Reid's shirt is unbuttoned, and Luke's t-shirt is pushed up to his chest. Their lips are red, and Luke's got a light hickey on the side of his neck. When Reid brushes his thumb over Luke's hardened nipple, Luke makes a sound that's half sigh, half moan. Encouraged by Luke's response, Reid lowers his hand and squeezes Luke's erection through his jeans. Luke gasps and grabs Reid's wrist. "Reid..."

Reid opens his eyes and looks at Luke, his own need for release thudding away in his jeans. This is how it's been the last few weeks: go, go, GO....Stop. He rolls away from Luke onto his back and stares at the ceiling for a few moments before picking up the remote off the mattress and changing the channel, while putting one hand under his head.

"Don't be mad," Luke says, sitting up and straightening his shirt.

"I'm not," Reid answers, not taking his eyes off the tv but not seeing it either.

"Liar," Luke challenges, looking on the floor for his shoes. It's time to go home.

Reid puts his hand on Luke's lower back, and Luke turns around to look at him. "I'm not mad. I said I'd wait, didn't I?"

"But you're frustrated," Luke says, running his hand through his hair.

"Yes, I'm frustrated. We get going, everything is great, you seem as into it as I am, and then you pull back. I don't get it."

"I told you, I associate all of this with..."

"Don't say his name." Reid sits up. "It doesn't feel very good knowing that you're thinking about him when we're together."

"Reid, don't."

"You're never going to move past it if you keep inviting him into bed with us."

"That's not fair!" Luke says, standing up, disbelief all over his face.

Reid grabs Luke's arm and tugs so that Luke sits back down next to him. "You're right, it's not fair. It's not fair that you broke up with him months ago but that he's still fucking with your head."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I? C'mon, Luke, you're twenty three years old; sex should be all you ever think about. Damn, I'm thirty five, and outside of surgery, meals, and sleeping, it's pretty much all I ever think about."

Luke lies back on the bed. "I do think about it," he insists, running a hand over his face, his eyes trained on the ceiling. "All the time."

Reid smiles and rolls toward Luke, facing him and squeezing his hip. Luke turns his head and can't help smiling back. And just like that the tension is gone, the argument over.

"What do you think about?" Reid asks, waggling his eyebrows and licking his lips on purpose.

Luke chuckles. "I'm not telling you."

Reid presses his face into the side of Luke's neck and smiles. "Aw, c'mon, you're not giving me sex. The least you can do is talk dirty to me," he jokes, kissing Luke's jaw. Luke shakes his head, a blush coming to his cheeks. "Tell me, Mr. Snyder..."

"No," Luke answers, scrunching his shoulders up in ticklishness from Reid's breath against his ear.

"Please?" Reid implores, licking at Luke's earlobe.

Luke bites his lip before softly saying, "You," and then closes his eyes.

"Well, that's a good start," Reid says warmly. "I'm glad that I'm the one in your mind's sex tape. And what am I doing to you?"

"Nothing," Luke answers.

"Nothing?"

Luke smiles. "Well, I mean, sometimes you're doing stuff to me.......but usually it's just you. Um....ya know.....you.........taking care of yourself? Solo." He covers his eyes.

Reid feels his still hard dick twitch. "A masturbation fantasy." His voice is deep and seductive, his hand now under Luke's shirt, resting on his stomach.

"Yes," Luke says, opening his eyes.

"And where am I?" Reid asks, his lips against his ear again and brushing away the goosebumps that rise on Luke's skin.

Luke doesn't hesitate in answering now. "Usually in the squeaky desk chair in your office...or sometimes in your car. Some times here, in the shower......or on the bed. But mostly in that chair at work...I like imagining you in there, just...." Luke's sighs. "I've had this same fantasy about you since before we were even together.......before I even liked you."

Reid raises himself up on one elbow and then leans down to kiss Luke deeply. When the kiss breaks, he thumbs Luke's chin and says, "I love hearing that. Keep going. What am I wearing?"

Luke laughs at the delicious absurdity of the conversation but then continues. "Sometimes nothing, but usually you're half dressed.......ya know, like you have on a lab coat but no shirt under it or you're in a suit with the tie loosened and your shirt sort of open, and your pants...they're just undone enough to get a hand on yourself."

Reid moves his hand to brush over one of Luke's nipples and is rewarded with the rolling of Luke's hips. "Are you there too?"

"Sometimes," Luke responds breathlessly. "But you don't know I'm there."

"Mmm. You like watching," Reid says.

"Yeah...God, Reid..."

"Are you touching yourself too?"

"Yeah."

"So sexy," Reid says huskily. "Tell me what I'm doing."

"Hmmmngh?" Luke answers, his hand on top of Reid's and pushing it down his body. "Please..."

Reid smiles and squeezes Luke through his jeans before caressing him. "Tell me how I do it."

"Slowly," Luke says, panting now, and rocking his hips in time with Reid's hand. "You just do it in long strokes, and your head is back, your eyes closed........and....your body is so.........ngh....you're leaking, and it's so hot."

"Fuck, Luke," Reid responds, his leg wrapping around Luke's and his hips moving, trying to find some friction against his straining cock.

"And your other hand, it's just all over your body. You're making these hot little sounds, and the chair is creaking because of the way you're moving, and I want you." Reid increases the speed of his strokes and kisses the side of Luke's head. "And then your fingers are in your mouth getting them nice and wet, and you are reaching back, and...." Luke goes still and then shudders before he puts his hand over Reid's and comes with a long moan.

Reid can feel Luke's dick spasming even under the thick, rough material of his jeans, and he's pretty much out of his head with the need to come himself. Luke's had him on the edge for weeks now, and as he lies there watching Luke ride out the aftershocks, Reid's hands go to his own jeans, quickly undoing them and wrapping a hand around himself. Everything goes hazy, and It's only a few strokes before he feels the first wave hit him, and as it does, he hears Luke's voice saying his name and feels Luke's hand on top of his, helping to stroke him through his orgasm.

A few minutes later, Reid opens his eyes in time to see a naked Luke stepping out of his pants and then pouncing on the bed. A huge smile graces his face, but his eyes are dark. He kisses his way down Reid's body, tugging at his undone jeans. "Let's do it again."

I Didn't Know Where Else to Go (for fff someone saved my life tonight)

dpracket — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:33:41 GMT

Reid pulled on a pair of sleep pants and opened his bedroom door. He almost bumped into Katie in the dark hallway.

"Who could be here at this hour?" Katie asked, flipping on the hall light.

"Let me get it," Reid said, stepping around Katie, "just in case. Go back in your room with Jake."

Reid walked to the door and asked. "Who is it?"

"It's me."

Luke. Reid's heart jumped in his chest, and his stomach rolled. What the hell was he doing there? Reid hadn't spoken to him outside of neuro wing business except maybe twice in the last four or more months, since Luke had returned to his relationship with Noah, telling Reid that he was attracted him but that he was still in love with Noah. Reid accepted it. He wasn't going to beg. If Luke couldn't see how dysfunctional his relationship was with the formerly blind barrista, that was his problem. Reid would be fine. And he was. Most of the time.

Reid pulled the door open and looked at a very tired-looking Luke. He didn't say anything, giving Luke the opportunity to speak first. After a few moments, Luke said, "Hey," but his eyes darted away from Reid.

"What are you doing here?" Reid asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"I...." Luke began but then just shook his head.

Reid observed that he looked fairly well wrecked, unshaven with dark circles under his eyes, and as angry and then apathetic as he'd felt toward Luke in the last few months, the doctor in him couldn't help but be concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked, stepping closer to Luke. "You look terrible."

Luke huffed out a half-hearted chuckle. "Thanks, Doc," but then he shook his head and Reid could see the tears in his eyes. He looked off to the side and said, "I didn't know where else to go." He tried to take a step backward, but Reid stepped forward further and put his hand on Luke's arm to stop him.

"Okay," Reid said gently, surprised at feeling an overwhelming desire to protect Luke. "Okay. You're here. Talk to me."

Luke tried to speak, but he looked uncertain, and Reid saw his lip wobble, so he dropped his hand to Luke's and squeezed it. "Hey, you're safe here, okay? Talk to me, Luke. What happened?"

Luke wiped at his eye. "I've been drinking." Reid nodded but didn't say anything. "Not tonight, but lately." Luke closed his eyes. "I want to drink so bad right now." A sob escaped his throat. "I'm sorry, Reid....I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, hey," Reid said putting his arm around Luke's shoulder and pulling him into an embrace. "Hey, now...you're okay. I've got you, alright?"

Luke shook his head and pushed at Reid's chest. "No, no, no....I don't deserve your help. I'm sorry, Reid........I can't........I'm just so sorry."

Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's head and held him tighter,until he felt Luke stop fighting the embrace. He then pulled back and took Luke's face in his hands. "Hey, I don't care about that. It doesn't matter right now, alright? Please, let me help you. I care about you, Luke. Okay?" Luke nodded. "Tell me what you need." Luke shook his head. "Okay, listen, you're here, tell me what you were hoping for by coming here. Anything, Luke."

Luke clung to Reid, the pads of his fingers, digging into the muscles in Reid's back. "This," Luke said, his tears warm on Reid's shoulder. "Please, Reid...just this."

"You've got it," Reid said, stepping backward and pulling Luke with him, closing the door, and holding Luke tightly. He hugged Luke for a good number of minutes, running his hands soothingly over his back and shoulders, kissing the side of his head, speaking words of comfort against his ear. He didn't ask him anymore questions, knowing that if Luke wanted to talk he would. Right then, he knew that Luke just needed a safe place. He needed someone who wouldn't berate him or tell him all that he was doing wrong. He didn't need someone being overprotective or telling him how reckless he was being with his precious life. Reid instinctively knew that what Luke needed at that point was refuge in the arms of someone who cared about him. In a strange way, Reid was grateful that in a time of desperation, Luke reached out to him. Yeah, maybe that was a little messed up in it's own way, but in that moment Reid didn't care.

After a few minutes, Reid pulled back and wiped at the tears on Luke's cheeks. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Luke sniffed and looked off to the side.

Reid smiled and thumbed Luke's chin. "I don't mean that......well, unless you want to." He waggled his eyebrows. ; That got a small smile out of Luke and he rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, Mr. Snyder. But it's nearly two o'clock, and you look tired, and I know I'm tired, so do you want to stay here or not? And just so you know, I'm not letting you leave in this state, so you might as well just say, 'yes,' so that we can go to sleep, rather than staying up and arguing about it."

Luke nodded. "Yes. Thanks, Reid."

"Anything for you," Reid answered, and God help him, he meant it. He leaned forward and gently kissed Luke on the lips. "I just want you to be okay." Luke looked like he might start crying again, so Reid took him by the hand and led him to his room.

Once Luke had changed into a pair of Reid's sleep pants, he laid down in the bed. Reid could tell that Luke felt awkward lying next to him, so he pulled the sheet up over both of them, put his arm around Luke, and spooned up behind him, his nose pressed against the back of Luke's neck. "Relax, okay?" Luke nodded, and Reid felt Luke's body ease back into his embrace. "I'm glad you came here," Reid said.

"Me too." Luke's voice cracked.

Reid's arm tightened around Luke's waist, drawing him closer. "We'll talk more in the morning, if you're ready."

Luke nodded, and both men fell silent, sleep easily overtaking them.

Who's On First?

dpracket — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 19:54:37 GMT

"I'll give you some time alone," Bob said, as he left Luke and Reid sitting together in his office.

Luke stared at the paper in his hands before looking up at Reid with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Reid..."

Reid got out of his chair and knelt in front of a seated Luke. He took the piece of paper out of Luke's grasp and then held his hands, rubbing his thumbs over Luke's knuckles. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not fair."

"It's biology," Reid said chuckling, his eyes bright.

"I want him to be both of ours."

Reid held Luke's face in his hands and kissed him gently. "He is both of ours."

"Cut the crap, Reid...you know what I mean. How are you so okay with this?"

"Because it's not a surprise. I've always known. I knew the day he was born."

"How?" Luke asked, wiping at his eyes.

"I don't know...I just did, and as he's grown, it is more and more evident to me. He looks just like you."

"But he has your blue eyes, and he's stubborn, and he's so smart, and I just hoped..."

"You hoped that I was his biological father?" Reid asked, standing and pulling Luke to his feet.

"Yeah."

Reid smiled and cupped Luke's cheek. "Then you should be able to understand why I'm thrilled that you my baby daddy."

Luke put his hand over his mouth, surprised by the laughter that bubbled up in his chest. "Oh my God, Reid..."

Reid kissed Luke. "You're beautiful and kind, and you're the father of my child. How can I not be happy about that?"

"And you're the father of my child," Luke said, "in every way that matters."

Reid pulled Luke into his arms. "The DNA results change nothing. Okay?" Luke nodded and hugged Reid tightly. "It's almost 2:00. How about we go pick our son up from school and take him out for ice cream at Sully's?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Luke said, "I love you so much, Reid."

"I love you too."

FIFTEENTH of five scenes that didn't involve kissing but now do

dpracket — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:01:29 GMT

"Oh my God, there's Noah," Casey said, ducking behind his laptop and opening a menu. "Hide."

Allison lowered her head down behind the menu, as they sat in the far corner of Java. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Casey whispered. "Things are just so weird since Luke broke up with Noah. He's pissed off about Dr. Oliver dating Luke, and lately anytime I see him, he trash talks Luke, says he doesn't know what Dr. Oliver sees in him. It makes me uncomfortable."

Allison watched Noah sit down with his cup of coffee. "He's leaving for California soon. Don't you think we should spend as much time with him as we can?"

Casey sighed and started to stand up, but then he saw Dr. Oliver walk in the door and hid behind his computer again. "Oh, damn. The shit's gonna hit the fan."

He and Allison watched Reid walk over to Noah, who saw the doctor and sighed with irritation. "How's the eyesight?" Reid asked.

"Fine," Noah answered tightly.

"No hazing? Everything's in focus?"

"Twenty-twenty."

"No headaches? Dizziness?"

"I'm A-ok, doc, I made a full recovery."

"When are you heading out to LA?" Reid asked.

Noah smiled smugly. "Don't worry, I'll be out of Luke's life by the end of the week."

"That's not the reason I asked the question," Reid replied, looking down.

Noah made a face and stood up. "Whatever you say..." He walked over to the refill counter.

"I want to give you the name of one of my colleagues out there," Reid said, following Noah, "Not that I'm expecting you to have any problems, given the stellar job I did on you."

Noah turned around, a smile of derision on his face. "Oh, you are far too modest, you know that?"

Reid sucked in what seemed like an equally irritated breath and grabbed a napkin off the table. He took a pen from his pocket. "You'll need regular checkups so..." He scribbled on the napkin. "...Dr. Cullen McNaughlty at Cedar Sinai. He'll take good care of you."

Noah leaned against the counter. "There's another doctor out there that you trust and respect? I'm shocked."

"He's not as brilliant as I am," Reid offered. Allison rolled her eyes. Noah smiled in disbelief. "But, ya know, he's close. I'll tell him to expect your call." He held the napkin out to Noah.

Noah looked at the napkin in Reid's hand. "Thanks, but I can find my own doctor." He walked past Reid and slapped him on the shoulder. "Jeeze," Casey said softly. "You think he'd be a little nicer to the guy who gave him his sight back, even if he is boning his ex, huh?"

"Gross," Allison replied.

Reid turned around. "I put a lot of skill and effort into fixing you, Noah."

"Yeah, and you never fail to hesitate to remind me or anybody else."

"Don't compromise your health just because you're ticked off at me for..." Reid trailed off and shook his head.

Just then, Luke walked into the coffee shop. "Oh, shit," Casey muttered.

"Yeah? What? Go ahead, say it. Stealing my boyfriend?"

Luke stepped forward. "Hey, guys," he said tentatively and then acknowledged, "This is awkward." He looked away, like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Noah walked toward Luke, putting his coffee cup down on the table. "Oh, hey, Luke, no. Nothing bad's happening," he said, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "Reid and I were just balancing the books."

Casey watched Luke give Reid a curious look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Reid is passing along a neurologist friend in LA, and I'm passing along.........you." Noah turned around and said, "So, we're square now, right, doc?" He slapped Reid rather hard on the shoulder again. "Oh my God, what a dick. See how he's acting, Ally?"

Luke watched Noah leave the coffee shop and then turned to Reid and looked at him accusingly. "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing!" Reid said defensively. "I gave him the name of a colleague of mine in LA. He went all emotional on me." He grimmaced. Ally chuckled softly.

"Why?" Luke asked. Casey wondered why Luke looked like he didn't believe Reid.

"I don't know," Reid answered, sounding slightly irritated. "I heal brains; I don't read them."

"Well, I have to go after him," Luke said, making to leave the coffee shop.

"Suit yourself," Reid replied.

Luke turned back around, a playful smile on his face. "Don't be mad."

"I'm not," Reid said. Casey believed him. "Noah needs to stand on his own two feet. He can't do that if you keep coddling him."

"He's going away. I don't know when I'm going to see him again. I don't want him to leave like this."

"Do what you have to do," Reid replied, and Casey could tell that he meant it. "I have to get to the hospital."

Luke's eyes ran down Reid's body and he smiled slightly. "Well, I'll meet up with you there." They made eye contact. "Thanks for understanding."

Reid watched Luke walk out the door, his eyes settling on Luke's ass. Suddenly, Luke turned back around and strided toward him. Reid opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Luke's hand was on the back of his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. Allison squeaked and put her hand over her mouth. Casey chuckled awkwardly, as he watched Reid's hands go to Luke's hips.

After a few moments the barrista cleared her throat and said, "Hey guys, that's hot, but it's not even noon, and..."

Luke and Reid broke apart, but then Luke went in for another peck. "Yeah," Casey said out loud, closing his laptop and knocking over the menu. "Get a damn room already." Ally whistled and smiled broadly at the two men.

Luke smiled back and shook his head in good nature at his friends before thumbing Reid's chin. "I'm serious. Thanks for being cool about this. I'm gonna go catch up with him, okay?" Reid nodded. Luke kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in a little while." He turned to Casey and Ally and waved. "See you later, guys."

As Reid watched Luke walk out the door, Casey called out, "Hey, Dr. Oliver...get a coffee and come sit with us. If you're dating my best friend, we need to get to know each other better."

Reid rolled his eyes but then smiled before nodding to the barrista.

The end of a long day.

dpracket — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 14:25:03 GMT

Luke stood outside Jacob's bedroom, watching through the doorway as Reid rocked the boy in his arms, gently shifting his weight back and forth between his feet, as he spoke softly to him. Reid had insisted on picking Jacob up from Margo's on the way home from the hospital, He had said it was because he wanted Jacob to sleep in his own bed, that kids, even babies, could feel when things were off and that he wanted to keep things normal for the tyke...but Luke suspected that it was because on days like the one Reid had just had, human beings find themselves wanting to be close to the people they love. And Luke knew that Reid did, in fact, love Jacob. And Katie. And Luke. He loved Luke. There, I said it. Luke backed away from the room and went down the hall to Reid's bedroom. He'd never been in there. Luke shook his head at the fact that he'd been with Reid for almost three months and that he'd never set foot in his bedroom, had never lay in his bed. He had never watched Reid's eyes flutter open in the morning light or rested his head on his bare chest. Reid had said it the other day: Life is short...and the day's events had certainly driven that point home. Luke was suddenly aware of the lateness of things as he glanced around the bedroom, at Reid's space..at the two framed pictures on his dresser, one of them a photo that Katie had snapped of the two of them at the park a month earlier. The unexpected sentiment of it made Luke smile. Reid had grumbled about hating grass and bugs and air, but in the end, they had enjoyed a wonderful few hours of hiking around the lake and playing with Jacob in the sandbox. Luke assumed that the other photograph was of Reid's parents. Reid didn't talk about them much. All Luke knew was that they were both professors and that they had died in a car accident when Reid was eleven. Luke looked at the cross on the wall, at the poster of the Milky Way on the opposte one, at the boots kicked off by the bathroom door, at the shirt thrown haphazardly over the back of a chair at the desk, at the iPad and ear buds in the middle of his neatly-made bed, at the stack of books and half-empty water bottle on the nightstand, at the telescope leaning against the wall in the corner,...and he realized there was still so much that he didn't know about the man he loved.

*******************************************************

Reid entered his bedroom, placing the baby monitor on his desk and watched Luke stand up from the bed. He felt exhausted, physically and emotionally. He unbuttoned his own shirt and let it drop to the floor as Luke's eyes swept over his body. He stepped toward Luke and tugged at the bottom of his shirt. Luke immediately lifted his arms and let Reid remove his shirt effortlessly. Reid drew in a breath as he took in the sight of Luke's bare skin, skin that he had longed to touch, to taste, for months now. The wait was over. Reid sensed it with certainty. Luke was ready. God, they were both more than ready. But tonight wasn't about that. Tonight was about finding some stasis in the dwindling minutes of a day that was blurry and dark around the edges. Reid stepped forward into the safety of Luke's solidity, his face finding the comfort of Luke's neck, his mind quieted by the reassurance of Luke's strong arms around him. Luke pulled him down on the bed, his arms going tighter around Reid's back and shoulders, his hands caressing him, soothing words falling from his lips, as Reid allowed himself to be held. Reid thought about the man whose heart he had carried to Oakdale in a cooler, a man younger than him, a young father whose life was cut short on a sunny September day while he was busy living his life, not unlike his own father, who had died on another random sunny day many years before. He thought of that heart, the ultimate gift from a stranger, that he had delivered to be put into Chris' chest, and his hand dropped to Luke's side, his fingers delicately tracing the scar there as he felt a wave of gratefulness for the original owner of the perfect, working kidney that filtered Luke's blood. He felt a tear slide down his cheek, but he didn't pull away. He didn't try to hide it. He didn't feel the need to jump behind a wall or hide behind a mask. He felt Luke's hand slide into his, as Luke murmured, "Tomorrow will be better." Reid closed his eyes, safe in Luke's embrace, and drifted off to sleep.

And suddenly, all the love songs were about you...

dpracket — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:56:46 GMT

a/n: for the FFF prompt "Love me if you Dare." I don't know when this takes place...LuRe are working together on the wing, spending more time in each other's company. They've definitely moved into some flirty territory with each other. Maybe the elevator happened, as well as the "what am I missing" thing with Noah in the hallway. There's no Dallas. Noah's still blind in more ways than one and his surgery is imminent.

Luke doesn't know when it happened. He doesn't know when the switch flipped. He watches him from across the restaurant, eating with........enthusiasm.

Luke had hated him, or at the very least he had disliked him greatly, the arrogant doctor, and he's not really sure when that disdain turned into fascination. Dare he say into like? Into lust. Into some kind of crazy want. When did he start noticing his jaw line? Or the yellow flecks in is blue, blue eyes? His tight frame? His long, slender fingers...

Luke knows it's wrong, yet every stupid love song is suddenly about him. Every sexy lyric on the radio swiftly, surprisingly brings images of him to Luke's mind. Images he shouldn't entertain. Images that he should find appalling......................but doesn't.

Just then, as if he feels Luke thinking about him, the doctor raises his head and instantly makes eye contact with him. Luke should look away. He can't. Instead he smiles, and Reid nods his chin to him in acknowledgement before a small smile lights his eyes as well. Luke likes that smile. A lot. He's been seeing it more and more lately, and it does crazy things to his stomach.

"Luke?"

Luke tears his eyes away from the object of his constant thoughts as of late and looks at his ex, who is squinting past his left shoulder. "Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

Luke looks down at the plate of food he hasn't touched. "Eating," he replies, picking up his fork.

"You're quiet."

"Am I?"

"And you're acting weird."

Luke sighs. "Am I quiet, or am I weird? Which one is it, Noah?"

Noah puts down his fork and knife. "Ya know what? This was a mistake. I knew I should have asked someone else for a ride to my appointment...and lunch? We just shouldn't be doing this. We're not a couple anymore, and I don't think we should be spending..." Luke tunes out Noah's rant and watches Reid pay the waitress and then walk out the door. "...Luke?....Hello? Are you even listening to me?"

Luke shakes his head. "Hey..." he says, cutting Noah off, "Noah.....um.....excuse me for a minute."

Luke stands up and walks to the exit quickly, Noah calling after him. "Wait. Where are you going? LUKE!"

Luke throws open the door and turns to the right. "Dr. Oliver!"

Reid turns and walks toward Luke. When they meet on the sidewalk, Reid steps into Luke's personal space, which is something he's been doing the past couple of weeks, seemingly on purpose, to counter Luke's inability to respect his own personal boundaries. He's been vocal about it. Luke knows he does it to unnerve him. And it does. But it also makes him feel strangely powerful. Luke sort of lives for the dance they've been doing lately...a facade of annoyance with an undercurrent of.........something incredibly.............................interesting. "Yes, Mr. Snyder?" He lifts his eyebrows. It's probably just in Luke's mind, but it feels like a dare to him. A dare he wants to take.

Luke chuckles, falters for a second, but then regains his footing. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Luke bites his bottom lip.

"Out with it then."

Luke looks over his shoulder and off to his left side before turning back to Reid, putting his hand on the back of his neck, and pulling him into a kiss.

Reid gasps ever so slightly, but then his mouth is opening, and their tongues slide together, and they are kissing like they fucking mean it on a busy sidewalk in broad daylight with Noah not 20 yards away.

Luke pulls back, laughs, and puts a hand over his mouth.

"I wasn't expecting that," Reid says, smiling and licking his bottom lip, his hand on Luke's waist.

Luke laughs again. "I'm sorry!" His brown eyes sparkle.

Reid leans close to Luke's ear. "Mr. Snyder," he says, his breath warm against Luke's jaw. "You should never apologize after you kiss someone." He leans back slightly and thumbs Luke's chin.

Luke steps back and nods. "You're right. I'm not sorry." He leans forward and pecks Reid's lips with another quick kiss, "I've wanted to kiss you for a long time, Reid."

Reid smiles, and Luke turns and heads back to the restaurant, looking back over his shoulder and laughing again.

snow day

dpracket — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:45:52 GMT

"I don't know that this is a good idea, Mr. Snyder," Reid said, watching the windshield wipers of Luke's truck brush away small ice pellets as they landed against the large windshield.

"I've lived here my whole life," Luke replied, turning off of the highway. "I know all of these back roads. That report a minute ago said that the highway is closed because of an overturned oil truck not too far from Oakdale. I don't know about you, but I'd like to get home before it really starts coming down. It's supposed to be bad overnight. Relax, we're only about forty five minutes from my family's farm, and Oakdale is just twenty minutes south of there."

Reid sighed. He pulled at the knot of his tie and loosened it. He was tired. It had been a long day of meeting with prospective surgeons, two of which Memorial was interested in acquiring in about a year's time to serve in the new neurology pavillion that had barely even broken ground. He'd wanted to go alone, but Luke Snyder, being the freaking busy body that he was, had insisted on traveling with him because Bob had prior commitments and couldn't go. After meeting with them, there was really only one surgeon that Reid felt was suited to work on his team. Luke, of course, had schmoozed them all, and had made Oakdale sound like an Illinoisan nirvana. Reid picked up his phone to check his email and sighed again. "Great. I don't even have service out here."

Luke chuckled. "I never have service in this area. It's nothing but farmland and rural homes in these parts."

In these parts? "Fantastic," Reid said, putting his phone in his pocket and pulling his coat tighter around himself. He looked over at Luke, who was leaned forward slightly in his seat, concentrating on the road. Reid was actually glad Luke was driving instead of him. Driving had never been one of Reid's favorite things to do, never feeling completely comfortable behind the wheel. Driving was something one needed to do, but it wasn't something Reid found any pleasure in doing. Luke had originally offered for them to take his grandmother's jet (fucking Richie Rich), but when the weather looked iffy, they'd decided that driving would be better, so as not to get grounded at O'Hare. They had watched the forecast, and they hoped that they could leave Chicago early enough to stay ahead of the weather. Now, as the precipitation turned to snow, Reid wondered if they should have just postponed the meeting. He yawned and decided to close his eyes and catch a few Z's, as he still had dictation to complete when he got back to the hospital.

Reid had been dozing for about twenty minutes when a loud bang started him awake. "What the hell?"

"Blow out," Luke replied, fighting the steering wheel as the truck slid across the road.

"Turn into it," Reid said, but Luke could not get control of the truck, and it slid into the grass, slamming nose first into a large tree stump and coming to a jarring halt.

*************************************

Reid shook his head and wiped away blood from his nose as he looked at the wrecked dashboard in front of him. He instinctively flexed his toes. He closed his eyes against the blinding pain at the bridge of his nose and went through a mental catalog of possible injuries, moving different parts of his body in check. He turned to Luke, who looked dazedly out the window. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned toward Luke. "Hey," Reid said putting his hand on Luke's forearm. "Snyder.....hey, you okay?" When he didn't respond, Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's neck, pressing gently.  "Mr. Snyder..."

Luke turned to him but looked blankly over his shoulder past him, and Reid could already see a bruise forming under his left eye. Luke suddenly brought his hands up to his face. "Ow....wha?...."

"Airbag," Reid said, reaching over the center console and unbuckling Luke's seat belt. "Luke," Reid said, taking Luke's face in his hands. "Look at me." Luke lowered his hands and looked at his passenger, blinking. "Okay. Listen. Close your eyes, and don't open them until I say so." Luke did as instructed, and Reid ran his thumb over the bruise, pressing softly. "Okay, open," Reid said, pulling down gently on Luke's bottom eye lids with his thumbs. Reid watched Luke's pupils react to the fading daylight and said, "Good." He ran his hands down Luke's arms, taking a relieved breath. "Good," he repeated. "Move your fingers." Luke did. "And your feet," Reid instructed further, looking down at the floorboard of the car to see Luke flex his feet. "Push against my hand," Reid said, putting his hand out, palm up. Luke put his open hand against Reid's and pushed down. "Good. Do you have any pain?"

"Just my nose and under my eye," Luke said straigtening.

"How's your neck?"

Luke turned his head from side to side and then bristled, pushing Reid's hand away when it came up to his face. "I'm fine, Dr. Oliver, I'm fine." Reid ran a hand over his own face. "But you're bleeding!" Luke exclaimed, looking worried.

Reid pulled down the visor in front of him and inspected his nose in the mirror. "It's not broken." Luke handed him some tissues out of the console. "Thanks," he said, wiping at his nose. He watched Luke sit back and turn the key in the ignition. Nothing. Luke tried again. Still nothing.   Luke put the truck in auxilliary and tried the radio, the overhead light, the heater. Silence. Luke sighed and opened the driver's side door. "Where are you going?"

"To survey the damage."

*************************************************************

After determining that the radiator was leaking and that something was dripping from the engine ("probably oil"), Luke stood up and brushed the wet, snowy dirt off his gloves onto his dress pants. Reid watched Luke look one way up the road and then the other way. He looked up to the sky for a moment and then put his hands on his hips. "I'll walk back toward the highway. You stay here."

"It's almost dark," Reid pointed out, his hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets. "We are at least fifteen miles from the highway...probably twenty."

"So, what do you suggest?" Luke asked, obviously pissed at himself and directing it at Reid. "We can't just sit here and freeze to death. The heater's not even working."

"We are not going to freeze to death. Someone is certain to come down the road eventually. We'll keep a look out, and if we see lights, we'll get out and flag them down." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for a signal. Nothing. "Check your phone." Luke did, sighed, and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Okay, let's get back in the truck and enjoy whatever warmth is left in it. It's not going to last long. None of the electrical is working."

**************************************************

They had been in the car for over three hours. It was very dark. They had not seen a single car, and now snow was covering the windshield. Reid rubbed his hands together to keep them warm, the sound noticeable in the quiet car. "You don't have gloves?" Luke asked.

"Obviously not, or I'd be wearing them, wouldn't I?"

"You're mad," Luke said. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad; I'm frustrated. And I'm cold. You have nothing to be sorry about."

"It's my fault we're stuck out here in the snow."

"Not every bad thing that happens is your fault, Mr. Snyder."

"But if I'd stayed on the highway..."

"If you'd stayed on the highway, we could have hit something a lot bigger than a tree stump. Like another car. And we might have gotten hurt, or maybe people in another car would have gotten hurt."

"Yeah, but what about the blow out? I must have run over something, right? And I wouldn't have run it over on the highway."

"Or your tire had a flaw. We have no idea what caused the tire to blow. Fuck, Luke, you can sit here and second guess yourself all night, if you want, but it doesn't change anything. What's done is done, recalculate and move on."

"You don't ever second guess yourself?"

"I try not to."

"Even at work?"

"Especially at work," Reid answered, feeling annoyed.

"Like, if you have a patient die, you don't wonder if you could have done things differently? You don't try to figure out where you went wrong?"

"I learn from it, if there's something to learn, and usually there is, and then I move forward. I don't dwell on it. People die."

Luke shook his head. "How can you be so callous?"

Reid was silent for a number of seconds, closing his eyes in the darkness. Conversations with this kid had a way of turning into fights, and Reid didn't feel like fighting in an icebox on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. "Because I have to be. I can't get emotional about it. I have a job to do. If I wallowed in regret after every surgery that didn't go exactly the way I planned, I wouldn't be as good at it as I am today."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"Stop apologizing."

Luke was quiet for a few minutes. "You called me Luke....a few mintues ago....you called me by my first name...and earlier, right after the crash, you called me Luke then too." Reid didn't answer. "Reid," Luke said, and the doctor could almost hear the smile on Luke's face as he said it.

"Fine," Reid grumbled. "Sure. I guess when you are deserted in the frozen tundra with someone, first names are fine, but when we get back to work, we go back to Mr. and Dr. Let's just figure out how we're going to sleep in here tonight," Reid advised, eager to change the subject away from his slip up.  Inside the privacy of his mind, Luke was Luke. Using his surname had been a way for Reid to distance himself from Luke in the beginning, to assert his superiority, but within a couple of times of seeing him, he decided it was prudent to keep using it, to not let himself get distracted by Luke's eyes and the way he always invaded his personal space. Not to mention the way he smelled. "We need to clear the snow off the windows, so that we'll be able to see lights, if there are any, and I guess we'll have to take shifts sleeping."

"Oh!" Luke exclaimed suddenly. "Oh, ............I've got......yes!.......in the utility box back there, I've got a sleeping bag! Maybe even a blanket, but definitely a sleeping bag. My brother and I were going to go camping a few weekends back... with his Indian Guides group. My dad couldn't go because he had to meet with a breeder in Wisconsin. We were going to go up by Arrow Head Lake, but the weather took a turn, and..."

"Luke."

"What?"

"I'm freezing. Let's go see what's in that box."

"Oh," Luke said, chuckling. "Sorry......I mean, okay." Reid bit back a smile and moved to open the door. "Wait," Luke said, reaching across to the glove compartment in front of Reid. I've got an ice scraper in here, and..." He shifted things around inside the glovebox until the truck lit up dimly. "A flashlight! And I know there is at least another one back there in the box."

*********************************************

They entered the truck, both of them breathing rather hard and shivering. "Fuck," Reid complained, rubbing his hands against his pants to warm them up. "I can't believe the amount of snow out there already. The temperature must be in the single digits.."

"It's the wind," Luke answered, climbing into the backseat, the small flashlight between his teeth, snow falling out of his hair and off his jacket. Reid turned around to look at Luke, who was pulling the backpack that he'd retrieved from the utility box onto his lap. "Let's inventory what we have." He pat his hand against the sleeping bag on the seat next to him and kicked one of the boots on the floor. "One sleeping bag and one pair of rubber work boots," he said, as he unzipped the backpack and shined the light inside. "Another flashlight...Batman." He held up a battery-powered lantern and turned it on. "A lantern." He turned off the flashlight, able to see better with the brighter light. "A compass..." He pulled out some other items. "A pair of Batman underwear."

"Yours?" Reid teased. Luke ignored him.

"A box of granola bars."

"Thank God. Dinner. Give 'em here," Reid said, untucking his right hand from inside his coat and reaching for the box.

"Marshmallows...oh, yeah, we were asked to bring that for smores." Reid reached back again, but Luke put the package on the seat beside him. "Listen, doc...just eat ONE granola bar, okay? In case we're still here in the morning?"

Reid could see Luke's steamy breath in the cold vehicle. He nodded and said, "Yeah, sure," with his mouth full.

"And Ethan's hoodie. He's probably been missing this..........that's it......oh, wait, let me check the side pockets...................a lighter.................and........hand sanitizer. That's it."

"Okay, well, here...you want a granola bar?"

"No, that's okay, I"m good for now. I ate a big lunch. So did you, but ya know, I realize your brilliance probably burns calories."

Reid laughed. "You're correct, it does." Luke shook his head. "Listen, I'm used to long hours, so I'll take the first shift." Reid looked at his watch. "It's 10:30. I'll wake you up at two o'clock, maybe three if I'm feeling awake enough. Do you think that would be okay? You can stay up for two or three hours and then wake me up. I'll be alert enough to take a few hours after that. I don't require a whole lot of sleep."

Luke nodded. "Okay, yeah, that sounds good. Hey, uh...you're a doctor. How long does it take for hyperthermia to set in?"

"It's HYPOthermia, and I don't think that's an issue. For one, there are two of us, and we can share body heat if necessary.  We have a sleeping bag, and it's insulated. We have shelter. I know it feels cold in here, but it's warmer than outside, and we're not exposed to the wind. We're not too wet right now, but we need to be careful if we go outside, that we don't spend too much time out there because the way it's coming down, the snow will be getting deeper. Mostly, we should only go out there to eliminate or if we need to scape the window. Hypothermia is when your core body temperature drops below 95 degrees farenheit, or 35 degrees celcius. I really don't think it's going to be a problem. If one or both of us starts shivering violently, that's the first sign. And by violently, I mean that our teeth will be chattering excessively. The heart rate speeds up. There's some mental confusion...hypertension, hepatic dysfunction, vasoconstriction, and diuresis."

"English, please?"

"High blood pressure. Liver dysfunction. Your blood vessels narrow. You pee excessively."

"Damn."

"And that's just at the early stages. When it's really bad, the heart and respiration slow dangerously, and the blood vessels constrict further to try to compensate and keep the vital organs warm . The good thing is that you kind of lose your mind by then, ya know...lots of mental confusion, so you wouldn't be aware. There's even cases where people start shedding their clothing, which makes it worse, and they'll burrow into anything they can...like an animal going into hibernation."

"Jeeze."

Reid chuckled. "Don't worry. We'll be okay. We just need to watch each other for signs...crazy shivering, slurred speech, blue lips. And we need to stay hydrated."

"I only have one kidney," Luke blurted out. "And I'm not the original owner." Reid didn't say anything, so he continued. "I always have a week's worth of anti-rejection meds on me. They are in my messenger bag. You should know that."

Reid nodded and picked up Luke's watered down coke out of the cup holder. "Drink." He then drank the rest of his watered down Dr. Pepper before opening his door and scooping clean snow into his cup. He closed the door and put it in the cup holder. "Staying hydrated shouldn't be a problem with all that frozen precipitation out there. And if we have to, we can just share the one cup to drink and use the other one to urinate. I don't think we're at that point yet." Luke looked uncertain. "We're fine. We're going to be fine. Luckily for you, you're stranded with a doctor." Luke rolled his eyes. "Lie down," Reid said, turning back around and sitting on his hands to warm them up. "Get inside that sleeping bag, and get some shut eye. It'll be your turn to stay awake before you know it."

"What about you?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine."

"You could come back and here. We could unzip the sleeping bag and spread it over both of us. You were just saying how cold you were a little bit ago."

"I said, I'm fine. I'm not snuggling with you, Mr. Snyder, unless my life depends on it. Go to sleep. Remember to unzip your jacket. It will help with the flow of heat under the sleeping bag."

Luke sighed and unzipped the sleeping bag. He balled Ethan's hoodie up to use as a pillow and laid down on the back seat, unzipping jacket as Reid had suggested The man was a walking encyclopedia. Luke wasn't going to question it. "Aren't you going to ask why I had a kidney transplant?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really," Luke said, pressing on the bruise under his eye.

"Then, no. It's none of my business. Seriously, Snyder. Close your damn eyes and get some sleep."

********************************************

Reid hated being cold. He'd never enjoyed the winter time in Massachusetts and New York growing up, and he'd quickly acclimated when he'd moved to Texas, happy to trade unbearable winters for almost equally unbearable summers. Even more than being cold, he hated being in small spaces, and the space within the truck seemed to be getting smaller by the minute, especially now that snow had covered the front windshield again. He had concentrated on the rhythm of Luke's soft snoring for awhile in the stillness of the truck's interior, but Luke was quiet now. Reid yawned and blinked slowly, feeling the heaviness of his eyelids. He wondered what time it was, but looking at his watch would require him removing his hand from the warm place he had it tucked against his coat. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Dr. Oliver, you're shivering. C'mon, let's switch places."

Reid sat up from the position he was in, slightly bent at the waist, with his arms tucked in to his body. "I'm fine. Take another hour or so, and we'll switch then."

"Don't be an idiot," Luke said, tugging on Reid's jacket. Reid didn't respond. "Reid, get back here." Reid nodded and then climbed into the back seat. Luke turned on the flashlight, lifted the sleeping bag, which was unzipped completely, forming a large blanket. Reid got under it, immediately feeling warmth on the small amount of exposed skin that he had. He unbuttoned his coat to let the heat in, and he instinctively turned toward Luke and the warmth radiating off of him from being holed up under the thermal sleeping bag. Without even hesitating, Luke began running his hands up and down Reid's arms. He took off his gloves and covered Reid's cold ears with his warm hands for a few minutes. Reid didn't make a move to stop him and closed his eyes. After awhile, Luke put his hands under the sleeping bag and took Reid's hands in his, rubbing them to warm them. "Your hands are like ice." He brought them up to his mouth, with his warm hands wrapped around them and blew air through his own fingers to reach Reid's hands.

Reid opened his eyes. "Thanks, that feels good."

"I run warm," Luke said. He moved his own hands out of the way and blew directly against Reid's knuckles and after a few mintues, he put his warmed gloves on Reid's hands. "Your turn to wear them," Luke offered. "Go to sleep. I'll keep watch for a few hours."

Reid shook his head. "We've been here for hours. Not a single car has gone by. The roads are getting worse by the hour. I doubt this road is even passable at this point. Just go to sleep. We'll worry about things in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Reid replied, his eyes closing against fatigue and the headache that was forming across his forehead and the bridge of his bruised nose. "We need to sleep if we're going to be hoofing it back to the highway."

"How are we going to do this?" Luke asked, sounding unsure.

"Do what?"

"I mean, are we going to sleep sitting up like this? Or do you want to lie down? You can lie down, and I can stay sitting up. I don't think we'll both fit on the seat if we lie down, and I don't know that we could get into a comfortable position to keep warm, and..."

Reid sighed and opened his eyes.  The lantern was making crazy shapes on the ceiling from shadows and the reflection off of the snow-covered windows. "Don't complicate things. This big Ford of yours has plenty of room." Reid pushed on Luke's shoulder. "Lie down like you were before." Luke lay back and pulled his feet up onto the seat, his head on Ethan's balled up hoodie, his legs on either side of Reid. Reid maneuvered between Luke's legs, pulled his own feet up onto the seat, pushed up and sort of planked on his left arm and dropped down with his back against the seat and the rest of his body on Luke's right side. He drew his knees up a bit, his legs tangled with Luke's, and put his head on Luke's chest, near his shoulder.

"Oh," Luke said, awkwardly. "Okay. Yeah. I guess this will work." Reid tugged on the sleeping bag and tucked it under Luke's left side "So, I guess your life depends on this?" Luke teased, recalling Reid's comment from earlier.

"Shut it, Snyder. Are you comfortable?" Luke nodded hesitantly and turned off the lantern. Reid took Luke's left hand and pulled it into his jacket, placing it on his chest. He then did the same thing with his own right hand, pushing it inside Luke's jacket and tucking it around him, where it was warm. They laid in silence for a few minutes. Reid tried not to think about the fact that Luke's body was up against his own. He tried to ignore the scent of Luke's shampoo or his soap or his skin, or whatever it was that he found so alarmingly appealing in the close quarters of the truck. His attraction to this kid was becoming increasingly annoying.

"This is probably awkward for you," Luke said in the darkness, a nervous chuckle escaping his throat.

"No more awkward for me than for you, I'm sure. Let's just make a pact to never speak of this, okay? Nobody needs to know about this."

"Sure...but no, I mean...ya know, it must be weird for you to be huddled up under the covers with a guy." Reid laughed and shook his head, Luke's jacket soft against his cheek. "What?" Luke asked.

"Nothing," Reid replied.

"Tell me," Luke insisted.

Reid sighed. "For a fag...you have terrible gaydar." Luke sat up, taking Reid with him. "Damn, c'mon, Luke, we just got situated!" Reid said, as he felt the warmth of the sleeping bag fall away.

"Why would you call me that? Do you know how offensive that is? I can't believe that you would say th................wait. What?" Luke turned on the lantern. "What do you mean?" Reid raised his eyebrows, daring Luke to connect the dots. He watched Luke's brow furrow. "You are not," Luke said, but he didn't sound sure of what he was saying. Reid shrugged and then pushed Luke's chest and nodded with his chin, indicating that he should lie back down. Once Reid's face was against Luke's chest again, Luke decided to argue the point. "Why are you messing with me? It isn't a joke."

Reid raised his chin so that his breath was warm against Luke's jaw. "You're requiring proof? How would that work exactly?" When Luke didn't say anything, Reid made himself comfortable on Luke's chest again. "Turn off the light, please."

After a few moments of silence, Luke asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did."

"You know what I mean. We've known each other for a couple of months, and you never thought to tell Noah or me."

"Noah knows." Luke stayed silent. Reid sighed. He finally felt warm for the first time since the accident, and he really just wanted to go to sleep. "Do you want to share the secret handshake?" he asked to lighten things up.

"Are you in the closet?" Luke asked, ignoring Reid's question.

"What about me tells you that I would ever give a fuck about what anyone thinks about me?" Reid answered bluntly.

"So that's a no?" Reid didn't answer. "But, if you'd told me, maybe we would have..."

"Bonded?"

"Yes, maybe."

"I guess lying in each other's arms like lovers isn't enough bonding for you?" Luke was silent. Reid smirked. "Goodnight, Mr. Snyder."

Luke nodded. "Goodnight, Dr. Oliver."

*********************************************************

Reid opened his eyes. He could tell by the scarce amount of light in the truck that the weather conditions were still bad outside. He couldn't move. At some point during the night they must have shifted positions because his face was now pressed against the back seat, and Luke was spooned up tightly behind him. Reid could feel Luke's hand on his hip and his warm breath against the back of his neck. Reid's body felt nice and temperate, in stark contrast to how he had spent a number of hours the previous day, and he briefly fantasized about rolling over and kissing Luke awake. Like that's going to happen. He closed his eyes again and tried to not think about the fact that his ass was pressed against Luke's crotch. After a few minutes, he felt Luke begin to stir. Luke groaned and stretched, before tucking back in and wrapping his arm around Reid, drawing him closer. "Luke?"

"Mmm?" Luke replied, his nose nuzzling behind Reid's ear, causing goodbumps to break out on Reid's left side.

"Hey, Luke."

Suddenly, Luke stiffened and then sat up completely. "Oh, my God. I'm sorry. Jeeze. I didnt' mean to..."

Reid rolled over and looked at Luke's wide eyes. "Relax, Snyder. Most gay men can't keep their hands off of me; why should you be any different?"

Luke pulled back some more, his left foot dropping to the floorboard. "You are something else, Dr. Oliver. And believe me, I have no designs on you. So, ya know....just uh, stand down with that ego of yours. You're not my type." Ouch. He zipped his jacket and pulled his hat onto his head. "I'm going outside to use the restroom."

"Knock yourself out," Reid replied.

"Oh," Luke said, putting his hand on the side of Reid's face and moving it toward the dim light of the window. "You have two black eyes. Not terrible, but you look, um...a little beat up."

"You should see the other guy," Reid joked, pressing on the swelling at the bridge of his nose. "People that live in glass houses..."

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"You should check yourself out in the mirror, pretty boy. You've got a shiner going on too." Reid pushed on his own chest and ribs. "I can tell I have some bruising from the seat belt too."

Luke unlocked the door and tried to open it. When it didn't open, he leaned his shoulder against it. "Darn," Luke said, leaning against it again, having no luck opening it. "I think the we're iced in."

Reid sat up quickly. "What do you mean, we're locked in?" Reid asked, his voice sharp with panic. He scrambled to the other side, unlocked the door, and pushed against it forcefully with his shoulder. The door gave way, and Reid tumbled down into the snow outside the truck. He stood up, brushing snow off his face, but as he stepped back his foot sunk in the snow, and he stumbled back again, landing on his butt. "Fuck."

Luke stepped out of the truck laughing and lowered his hand down to Reid, hefting him up out of the snow.  "What was that about?"

Reid ran a hand through his hair, brushing snow out of his short curls. "Nothing."

"You sure? You seemed kind of...I don't know...freaked out for a second."

"I said it was nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing," Luke persisted.

"Fine," Reid said, rubbing a finger under his nose and looking off to the side. "Not that it's any of your business, Mr. Snyder, but I maybe have a little bit of an issue with closed in spaces."

"You're claustrophobic."

"I didn't say that," Reid said, a frustrated expression on his face.

Luke chuckled. "Listen, doc, I won't think any less of you if it turns out that you're human after all."

"I'm only claustrophobic in cramped spaces." Reid sighed. "I'll be over here, taking a piss." He turned around and walked toward the trees.

**************************************************

Reid closed the door and got under the sleeping bag, blowing into his hands. "You okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah." He put his hands under the sleeping bag and continued to rub them together. "Fuck. It's cold."

After a few moments he asked, "Can you keep this to yourself? I'm not going to beg or anything, but....I just hate this about myself, and I don't like people knowing about it. It's embarrassing. World renowned neurosurgeon cracks up in tight places..."

"A lot of people are claustrophobic." Reid stayed silent. "I won't tell anyone. You have my word."

"Thanks."

"Did it bother you being stuck in the truck last night?"

"No, I thought about it once or twice, but I'm fine as long as I know I can get out. I don't like elevators. I'll ride them, but I prefer the stairs. And I'm not too keen on airplanes. And movies when people are put into the trunks of cars...can't watch 'em. I'll turn it off."  Luke smiled slightly. "What?"

"Nothing."

Reid shook his head. "You're happy that you have something else to use against me."

"I wouldn't use something that's painful against you. I'm not like that."

"You are the son of Damien Grimaldi. I wouldn't put anything past you. Bribery. Extortion. International Espionage."

"You don't know anything about me."

Reid scoffed. "I know that you used bribery to get me here."

Luke laughed now. "Well, doctor, you're not as smart as you think you are because I had nothing on you."

"Bullshit," Reid said, not believing him.

"But that's just it. It was. It was all bullshit. I was bluffing." Reid tongued the inside of his cheek and huffed out a disbelieving chuckle. "Whatever, you don't have to believe me, but I've always wondered what it was that you thought I had on you. The fact that I was able to blackmail you so easily is proof that you've done something that you don't want anyone to know about." Luke nudged Reid with his shoulder. "Out with it, Dr. Oliver...what is the very bad thing you did?" Luke cocked an eyebrow at him.

Reid sighed. "Insurance fraud." Shit. Why was he telling Luke this?

"Insurance fraud?!"

"It's not what you think. I didn't profit from it. It was one time. I had a kid, a patient...fifteen......an illegal from Mexico. He needed surgery. He would have died within a couple of years without it. He didn't have insurance. His family was dirt poor."

"So, why didn't you just wave your fees and do the surgery?"

"Because it's not just me, Mr. Snyder. I need an operating room. Facilities. Equipment. Anesthesiologists and nurses. And everything costs money. A lot of fucking money. It's really ridiculous how much it all costs."

"So, what did you do?"

"I talked to a guy...who knew a guy...who knew another guy..."

"Who knew another guy?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. And ultimately, we filed for everything under someone else's insurance, under another name."

"Damn...how did nobody get caught?"

"The guy who arranged it was very good. I paid him, and I paid off the person whose insurance we used. Everything looked legit. I gave him money for the out-of-pocket copays, deductible...whatever...he applied it somehow...made it look good on all the paperwork. I don't know how it all worked. I could still get fucked at some point."

"That's a huge risk."

"Yup. But it was a calculated risk."

"You could lose your license."

"I could go to jail." Reid ran a hand over his face.

"Then why'd you do it?"

"Because there was a kid who needed me to save his life, and that's what I do. I save lives."

Luke ran a hand through his own hair. "Wow. I didn't know." He shifted in his seat. "I'm sorry that I made you think that I did know. No wonder you gave in to my demands."

"Whatever, doesn't matter."

Luke put his hand on Reid's arm, and Reid tried not to react to his touch. Thank God for a thick jacket and layers. "No, really...I'm sorry." Reid nodded. "And for what it's worth, if I had known, I wouldn't have used that against you."

"It was illegal."

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean it was wrong." Reid stayed silent. "Have you done other things like that? I mean...have you cut corners to get other people medical care?" Reid still stayed quiet. "Nevermind...you don't have to tell me..."

Reid sighed. "Not anything like that. But yeah, I've done what I needed to do for the good of the patient. What can I say, I have a little bit of a Robin Hood mentality."

Luke smirked. "Is that why you despise my wealth?"

Reid turned toward Luke, his eyes settling on Luke's lips before coming back up to his eyes. He only held Luke's gaze for a moment before looking away. He sighed and shook his head. "I've given you shit about it...............but I know that you're generous. I know you do good with it. I've seen you in action."

Luke chuckled. "Gee, Dr. Oliver. You said something nice about me. That had to hurt."

"A little bit, yeah," Reid said chuckling.

Luke's smile faded after a few moments. "I won't tell anyone. You did what you had to do. You can trust me."

Reid nodded. "So...breakfast..." he suggested, changing the subject. He leaned forward and grabbed the cup of water from the cup holder and handed it to Luke. "Melted snow. We can pretend it's hot, steaming coffee. And..." He picked up the box of granola bars. "And pancakes."

"Don't forget the bacon," Luke replied, retrieving the bag of marshmallows and holding them up in the air like a prize.

"Breakfast of champions."

*********************************

Two hours later, the two men stood outside the car, on what used to be the road, calves-deep in snow. "I don't think we should risk it. We'll make terrible time trudging through snow this deep, it's still snowing, those clouds don't look good, and we don't have the footwear for it." Reid pulled his right foot out of the snow to prove his point and shook the cold, stubborn white stuff off his dress shoe."

"I have work boots in the cab, remember? I could go by myself, and then I'll bring help back."

"And what happens when you still haven't made it to the highway by nightfall, or you get a leg cramp from walking though this shit? Then what happens?"

"I'd huddle down in the woods."

"In the snow?"

"I'd climb a tree maybe. Or I could find a cave in the woods."

"In the dark?" Reid sighed. "Listen. I know this sucks, but we're actually okay here. We have shelter and a small amount of food. We have all this fucking snow, so we won't get dehydrated. We have a means of keeping warm. We could last here a few days before things got desperate. We pigged out for breakfast, subjectively speaking, but for lunch and dinner, we could just share a granola bar. How many do we have left?"

"Five."

"Okay, so that's two more meals today and three tomorrow, if necessary. But honestly, it won't come to that right?"

"Right." Luke didn't sound convinced.

"We're mostly sitting, so we're not expending any energy. And we have almost a full bag of marshmallows, which is just puffed sugar, but it's something. As soon as it stops snowing, plowing will start. Even country roads get plowed eventually, right?"

"Yeah. The town plows the roads in Luther's Corners fairly quickly after a storm, so I'm sure it will be the same here. This is a county road."

"And this road leads off of the highway," Reid offered, "So, surely it won't take that long to plow it."

Luke pulled out his phone. "I've still got nothing."

"Me either. I'm sure the storm isn't helping. C'mon, let's get back inside. I can already feel my socks getting wet. I was serious about what I said last night; I'm not worried about hypothermia, but we need to take precautions to keep from getting too wet."

**************************************

Once inside the car, both men removed their shoes and socks and sat with their backs against either side of the back seat, facing each other, their legs tangled in the middle, trying to get their feet warm under the sleeping bag.

"I'm sure my family is worrying about me. I feel bad for them."

"Yeah, Katie's probably wondering where the hell I am, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Want to hear something funny?" Luke asked.

"Mm?"

"I thought you and Katie might be......you know..." Luke laughed.

"Um, no." Reid smiled and whispered, "I like her and all, but the vagina is a deal breaker."

"Well, I know that now..." Luke shifted. "Are you close with her?"

Reid jutted out his bottom lip and thought about it. "Yeah. Sure. We're friends." He nodded. "She's sad, ya know, because of her husband, but she's trying to be strong. She makes me hug her sometimes." Reid rolled his eyes. "But it's not entirely terrible, I guess.........she's a good cook, and she lets me hold the remote control.........and the kid....he's grown on me. He gets excited when I walk in the door, like he's happy to see me." He couldn't help the smile that came to his face, thinking about Jacob. "I'm a light sleeper so sometimes I get up with him at night so Katie can sleep. I walk him around the apartment and softly explain neurology to him, or read medical journals to him until he falls asleep. Knocks his lights out pretty quick." Reid chuckled. "Maybe some of it will sink in, and he'll be a science geek like me."

Luke smiled. "I'm starting to think there's a lot I don't know about you, Dr. Oliver." Reid raised his eyebrows in question. "You walk around town and through the hospital like you're this incredible bad ass, but..."

"Oh, make no mistake, Mr. Snyder, I am a bad ass."

"Yeah, but you're also saving the poor and rocking babies to sleep, and..."

"And nothing. Don't paint a picture of me that isn't true. I know what I am. I'm an uncompromising asshole. People don't like me. I'm fine with that."

"Some people like you." Reid didn't respond and looked out the back window. "Katie. Bob," Luke offered.

"NOT Bob's wife."

Luke smiled but then got serious. "And me." Reid looked at him. "I'm starting to think that maybe I could like you...or at least hate you a little less."

"Well, then," Reid answered, clearing his throat. "I better think up some new insults for you, Mr. Snyder."

**************************************

"Oh my God, no wonder this puts Jacob to sleep!" Luke moaned, blindly throwing the medical journal over his shoulder from where he was sitting in the reclined front seat.

Reid picked the journal up off the floor. "Hey, I like to keep these in pristine condition! I wouldn't have let you read it if I knew you were going to abuse it." He looked at the cover. "Were you reading the one about the glioblastomas? That one is promising, but studies are still needed. I've consulted with the author of that article, and she..."

"I don't know what I was reading. It sounded like white noise in my head. Why does medical terminology have to be so complicated?"

"Would you like us to give things names like Bill and Bing and Polka Dot?"

"Yes, I would actually. As God of your field, can you get right on that?" Luke turned around in his seat. "Do you use those big words with your patients?"

"Well, I don't speak to them like they're stupid. I explain things just fine. If they're still too dense to get it, I have them speak with my PA. She's very good at translating."

"Yeah, Sylvia's great. She doesn't have much patience for physician egos though. I'm surprised she agreed to be your PA, of all people, and that she hasn't told you to go jump off a cliff yet."

"Sylvia and I have an understanding. We work just fine together."

"Yeah, I can see that, I guess. You have similar personalities."

"She's a thousand times nicer than me."

"I won't argue that." Luke poked Reid's knee. "Do you know who I think you'd get along with great?"

"Hugh Jackman. I'd like to get along with Hugh Jackman."

Luke laughed. "No, I'm serious. My grandmother. Have you met her?"

"Why would I have met your grandmother, young Snyder?"

"Because you live in Oakdale. Duh. Her name is Lucinda Walsh. Have you met her?"

"I do not believe that I have had the pleasure of making her aquaintance," Reid answered drolly. "But I'm bad with names, so who knows..."

"Well, you should. I'll introduce you sometime.....................if we ever get back to Oakdale." He looked at the grayness outside his window. "I'm starting to think we're going to die here. We might have to resort to cannibalism like in that movie."

Reid pursed his lips. "And who is eating whom in this scenario of yours?"

Luke shook his head, sighed, and turned back around. "I'm so bored..."

Reid opened his briefcase and pulled a deck of cards from the right-hand pocket. He placed them on the center console next to Luke's right arm. Luke looked down. "You have cards? Why didn't you say so sooner? Jeeze, I wasted precious moments of my life reading The New England Journal of Medicine, and you have cards?!" With an impressive amount of agility, Luke hopped up from his seat and used his arms to propel himself into the backseat, landing squarely next to Reid. "What should we play?"

Reid licked his bottom lip and made a show of catching Luke's eyes. "Strip poker?" He was mostly kidding.

Luke laughed. "Yeah, uh....I think it's a little cold for that, Dr. Oliver, don't you think? How about Crazy Eights?"

Reid nodded and picked up the deck. "Crazy Eights it is."

***************************************************************

Reid entered the car quickly, removing the rubber boots he'd worn outside and shaking them outside the door to get the snow off. He then closed the door and put the boots in the front seat. "What are you laughing about, Snyder?"

"I guess that answers the question."

"What question?"

"Does a neurosurgeon shit in the woods?"

"Fuck you. If we're here much longer, nature will eventually call you too." He rubbed his hands on his pants, trying to warm them. "Damn, it's cold. I washed my hands with snow."

"Here," Luke said, pulling the bottle of hand sanitizer from the side pocket of the backpack.

Reid lifted his hand, and Luke squirted some into it. "Thanks," Reid said rubbing his hands together and then blowing warm air on them. "This sucks. I never would have made it as a cave man. I need a shower."

"Me too," Luke said, chuckling. "Mmmm. A nice hot shower."

"Yeah. And a toothbrush," Reid added, running his tongue across his front teeth. "I have skunk mouth."

"Wait!" Luke said, hopping up and leaning into the front seat. Reid secretly enjoyed the view of Luke's ass as Luke pulled open the ash tray. "Ah ha!" he exclaimed, sitting back down. "Ta-dah!" He handed Reid a pack of peppermint gum. Reid smiled, took a piece, and then handed the pack back to Luke.

***************************************************
"How'd you get that scar?" Luke asked.

Reid raised his forehead off of the head rest in front of him and opened his eyes. He ran his fingers underneath his left jaw. "It's creepy that you're staring at me enough to see a very faint scar."

"How'd you get it?"

"What is this need you have for small talk?" Reid asked, sighing and leaning his back against the seat, blowing air into his cupped hands that seem like they'd never be warm again.

"There's nothing better to do. You hate talking, don't you?"

"I don't mind talking. It's small talk that I try to avoid. Silence is actually okay sometimes."

"Look, doctor, we have all this free time to get to know one another, and maybe, just maybe at the end of this ordeal we could be friends. Wouldn't that be crazy, huh? And then maybe we'd work better together. That would make Bob happy. And he's your boss, so it would probably be in your best interest to make him happy." Reid closed his eyes. "Fine. You don't want to talk, we don't have to talk."

Luke turned his face away from Reid, and Reid adjusted the sleeping bag over his legs, getting comfortable, and trying to take a nap.

"I have scars too," Luke said after a few short minutes.

Reid opened his eyes and sat up straighter. "You really can't stay quiet. I think it's a disorder." Luke pursed his lips and gave Reid a dirty look. Reid sighed. "When I was twelve years old, my uncle........my guardian.....he was drunk, as usual, and he pushed me backwards through a sliding glass door. He cut up my arm and my jaw." Reid pulled his jacket off and rolled up his left sleeve, showing Luke a two inch scar on the back of his forearm. "There. You happy? Thanks for bringing up that stellar memory." He tugged his sleeve down vigorously. Luke stayed quiet and Reid could see him cover his face out of the corner of his eye. Shit. "Luke, it's no big deal."

"Noah's father shot me," Luke said, taking Reid by surprise.

"Shot you?" Luke tugged up his jacket and shirt, revealing a circular scar near his rib cage. Reid looked at the scar. "Jesus." But then his eyes were drawn to Luke's flat stomach and the soft looking hair that covered it. He was disappointed when Luke lowered his shirt as quickly as he had lifted it. "Why?"

Luke chuckled sardonically. "Because I turned him gay, that's why."

Reid smiled. "That's some pretty powerful mojo you've got going on, if you can make a straight man like dick."

Luke laughed, surprised by Reid's bluntness, and covered his mouth. After a few quiet moments, Luke said, "We broke up, you know."

"Yeah."

"He told you?"

"He said you wouldn't be bothering me anymore. Yet, here I sit in freezing cold car with you." Luke shook his head. Reid reached over and poked Luke's arm. "I'm kidding."

"No you're not."

"Why'd you break up? He said that you ditched him, not the other way around."

"He didn't want me."

"Sexually?" Reid teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

Luke laughed sardonically. "In any way." He ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't want me around. He didn't want my help. My support. Nothing. He said that it made him feel small, that I made him feel helpless."

"He's an idiot."

Luke turned toward Reid, his look fierce. "Ya know what? Don't talk about him. You're the one who told him to stay away from him. You probably made it worse."

"I didn't tell him to stay away from you. I told him to keep you away from me. And I even recanted on that, so don't pin your relationship issues on me."

"What do you mean?"

"After a week or two...after being trapped in this hell hole of a town and realizing that yes, I was indeed going to treat Mr. Mayer, I apologized and told him that he had the right to have anyone with him that he needed for support. I told him that you were welcome to be at his appointments and that you and I would just have to deal with our negative feelings toward each other. I'm a professional. I was pissed off when I first arrived in Oakdale, but I know that patients fare better with support, and it wasn't in his best interest to keep you away."

Luke scooted further away from Reid. "You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"I can't answer that," Reid said, seeing the hurt look on Luke's face and wishing he'd said nothing.

"Why wouldn't he have told me that?" Luke repeated, his voice softer.

"He's an idiot," Reid offered again.

"Stop saying that. Why would you say that about your patient?"

"Listen, I don't have to like someone to fix him. And he is an idiot. Have you seen the guy he's been hanging around with? He looks like his own less attractive twin. And from the limited number of words that I've heard come out of his mouth, he doesn't seem very bright either. He drove you away and hooked up with that? I mean, I know he's blind, but c'mon. I stand by my statement. Mr. Mayer is an idiot."

Luke laughed and covered his mouth. He looked at Reid and laughed again. "Oh my God. I shouldn't laugh at that."

"Why not? He's not here."

Luke got more serious and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah..." He nodded, looking defeated.

Reid reached out and put his hand on Luke's forearm. "You can do way better than him. You know that, right?" Luke shook his head slightly. "You're a millionaire. You're fucking loaded. You're a good enough looking guy. You're successful. You've got a lot going for you. Plus, everyone likes Luke Snyder, Oakdale's golden boy."

Luke looked down at Reid's hand on his arm, and Reid pulled it away awkwardly. "Everyone except you, right?"

Reid sighed but then gave Luke a smile. "Yeah. Everyone except me."

***************************************************

"Why were you raised by your uncle?" Luke asked, trying to warm his own earlobes between his fingers.

Reid sighed and cracked his knuckles. "Not talking about that."

Luke shook his head. "Okay. Fair enough." He turned to Reid, pulling one leg up on the seat. "Is there anything you want to know about me?"

Reid rolled his eyes. "Haven't we shared enough for one day, Mr. Snyder? Honestly, why don't we just enjoy the peacefulness of our little snow storm, shall we?"

Luke huffed, pulled his jacket tighter around himself and turned away from Reid. He leaned his head against the wall of the backseat. After a few moments he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend in Dallas?"

Reid laughed and made a show of looking at his watch. "Wow, you almost made it five minutes that time."

"You're such an asshole," Luke grumbled, shaking his head.

"We've already established that, remember?"

Luke closed his eyes. Reid studied his profile and decided that maybe he was giving the kid too hard of a time. Maybe Luke just wanted to get his mind off the fact that they were trapped and that tomorrow wasn't looking any better, in terms of getting the hell out of this situation. Reid sighed. "No."

Luke looked at him, a pissed off look on his face. "No, what?"

"No. I don't have a boyfriend in Dallas." Luke stayed silent. "I find guys to spend time with."

Luke looked at him. "Romantically?"

Reid laughed. "Yeah, sure. If you want to call it that."

Luke scoffed. "Well, what would you call it?"

"I'd call it sex."

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "You don't care about them though?"

Reid shrugged. "The guys I see more than once...sure. I mean, I don't want to see them get hit by a bus or anything, but it's.....it's casual. And it's occasional. It's not like I go around fucking any guy with a pulse. Most nights I have a date with my hand, if you know what I mean."

Luke covered his eyes and laughed. Reid smirked and tried to remember the last time he'd actually had sex and woefully decided it was at that conference in Maryland before Thanksgiving. Okay, that's embarrassing. I need to get laid. "Speaking of which, where the hell do gay men go for a little action in Oakhell?"

"How should I know?" Luke asked, seeming offended.

"You are gay, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I don't do that."

"Fuck?" Reid asked and watched Luke flinch. He had been wrong. Conversation with Luke could be fun.

"Up until a few weeks ago, I was in a relationship, remember?"

"Otherwise known as sex on a regular basis..." Luke scoffed. "What?" Reid asked.

"Nothing." Reid poked Luke's arm, prodding him to say more. Luke sighed. "Let's just say that I'm not exactly unfamiliar with my hand either."

"Shit."

Luke shook his head. "Yeah, well..."

Reid closed his eyes and contemplated the idiocy that was Noah Mayer.

November Rain, Part 2

dpracket — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 17:05:26 GMT

"What's this?" Reid asked, sitting in Luke's truck and looking at the old building in front of them.

"I live here. My apartment is on the fourth floor, top of the building. I own it. The whole building. What do you think of it?"

Reid looked at the dark buildings around them. "You bought a warehouse to live in?"

"Technically, it's a factory. In the 40s they manufactured ammunition, and then after the war, a furniture manufacturer bought it. They made furniture here until about 1977. It was empty for a few years, and then there was a photography studio on the top floor for awhile, but they moved to Chicago. I got it for a steal."

"This is the warehouse district. I don't know how safe it is around here, Snyder."

"It's fine. The hospital is only eight blocks north of here. C'mon, I'll show you. You can see if from my apartment." They got out of the truck quickly and ran to the side door in the rain. Luke punched a code in the keypad by it and he slid the door open. "The dance studio had an alarm installed years ago. I just had to sign up for monitoring. Watch your step." Once inside, Luke hit a few switches and the interior of the building was lit up by large overhead lamps. Reid looked around and then turned to Luke with crinkled eyebrows. "I know," Luke said. "I know it's dusty, and there's all this equipment to move out, but I'm going to relocate my foundation offices here. I'd like it to be run from here by October. There's more than enough room for offices and counseling room, and in the back there...see that door? It leads to another room...it's pretty big, and I think we can have a food pantry set up in there, with clothes and blankets too, for people who come in and need it." Reid nodded but still seemed to have trouble envisioning the cluttered, grimy space as Luke's future work environment. "The exposed brick is great, isn't it? I think it's part of the building's character. And see all those windows on that side? They run up the entire height of the building, and there are windows on the east side too, on the rest of the floors. They are dirty now, but when they are clean, they'll let in so much light. It will be a sunny environment, ya know? The people who come to our foundation need help. They need a safe place. They need some sunny days."

"It's going to take a lot of money to renovate this place," Reid said, turning to Luke and wiping away a droplet of water off of Luke's face.

Luke instinctively leaned into Reid's touch, but just as quickly Reid pulled away, and wiped a hand over his own wet face. Luke nodded. "I know. That's why I'm selling the shipping company."

"You're what?"

"It takes so much of my time running that place, and half the time I don't even know what I'm doing. It's not something I ever thought I'd do, and I can't wait to not have to worry about it. I've already got some interested buyers, and next week I'm meeting with some lawyers to handle the purchase. I'm going to make at least $27 million dollars from the sale, and I could possibly make over 30 million," Luke answered, as they walked through the former manufacturing area.

Reid whistled. "Richie Rich."

Luke nodded. "Listen, Reid, If I can use it for good, then I feel worthy of the wealth I have. My father...he's had a lot of shady dealings. I've run the shipping company legally, but I'm sure it has laundered dirty money in the past. The accountant and I have tried to find out for sure, but everything on paper looks legit. I used Damien's blood money to start the foundation because that's the only way I could live with having received that money, and I have no problem cleaning up this dirty money, if in fact it is dirty, by using it to take the foundation to the next level. I want to help as many people as possible."

"Saint Richie Rich."

Luke ignored Reid's barb. "My grandmother's corporation is also going to fund the renovation of the second and third floors. I'll offer the second floor spaces to any community groups that need a place to meet...ya know, AA, literacy advocates, citizenship classes, safe sex counselors, and so forth. I've also talked to Oakdale's version of Habitat for Humanity about using one of the offices. There's a warehouse behind this building that was part of the factory. They can put building materials in there for storage. They have accepted, and I think it will be a great partnership with the foundation. And the third floor....It will be six separate, small apartments."

"You're going to rent them out?" Reid asked as he looked around the large room.

"No. Well, not entirely anyway. The neurology wing, YOU, and Dr. McNaulty, who you just insisted Bob hire, are already drawing new patients from other parts of the country, and the neuro facility is not even halfway through construction. Once patients are here, the family support needs to get a hotel to stay in while their loved one undergoes treatment. It can get costly, and some of them simply can't afford it."

"So, you'll let them stay here. Your own Ronald McDonald house?"

"Yes. And it won't just be for the neuro patients, but any patient's family that needs a place to sleep.   There are a lot of rural areas around Oakdale, and so we get a lot of those people when they need care. Why should they be driving back and forth every day in the dark? Not to mention, people WILL travel from Chicago to come here. It's only an hour away, and there will be people from all over the country that will come here for our very specialized neurological care. If they can pay, we'll charge a nominal nightly or weekly charge, but if they are struggling financially, then of course, they'll stay for free as our guests. The foundation is going to solicit volunteers to help with transportation and with cleaning the rooms between guests."

"Wow, Luke," Reid said, respect evident in his voice. "This is quite an undertaking."

"Yes. I know. But it's where my heart is directing me, so I'm going to follow it. My accountant and I have done the math. I'm going to have the money to do this, and to run it."

"You've been busy. I had no idea."

"How would you, Reid? We don't talk to each other. We see each other all the time at the hospital. We sit in meetings together. We discuss plans and schedules, but we....we never really talk, do we? I hate that we don't talk. Even when we run into each other outside of the hospital, you barely look at me." Reid looked down and away. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to talk to you about this, to discuss ideas, look at it from a doctor's perspective. You're a philanthropist at heart. I know about the clinic in Dallas, and even though you don't run it anymore, I know for a fact that you still help fund it. These kinds of services are important to you. It might be the one thing you don't boast about. You're quiet about the fact that you live simply, so that as much of your salary as possible can go right back into medicine."

"Why wouldn't I? It's the one thing I believe in."

Luke swallowed hard, wishing there was one more thing that was worthy of Reid's conviction. "I want your insight on this, as my foundation moves forward with the project, if you're willing to share it. It's important to me." Reid nodded. Luke smiled. "Good. Thanks. Good...........C'mon, I'll show you my apartment." They moved to the front of the building, where Luke slid open the door on what looked to be a cargo elevator.

"I'm not getting in that thing," Reid said, stepping back.

"Oh, c'mon, Reid...I've been living here four months. It works just fine. I use it every day." Reid peered inside the elevator warily. "Or you can take stairs. The stairwell is dimly lit though. They say this building is haunted," Luke teased as he pointed at the door in the corner and then stepped into the elevator.

Reid looked at the stairwell door and then back into the elevator, where Luke was smiling smugly.

************************************

They stepped off the elevator into a large, empty room, except for the free weights in the middle of it and a stationary bike in front of a wall of windows. "My home, gym," Luke said chuckling, pulling Reid by the arm over to a spot by the windows. "I'm going to do something with this half of the floor, but I don't know what yet. Look, down this street," Luke said, pointing. "You can see Memorial. See it? On the left."

Reid nodded.

"This was the photographer's studio. He lived in the apartment and used this room for his business. It's so well lit during the day, it's incredible. And the sun sets on this side of the building, so it's all warm and orange in here in the evening." Reid followed Luke to a door in the corner, where Luke turned a key.

They stepped into the next room, and Luke turned on the overhead lighting. "What do you think?" Luke asked, pride in his new living space evident in his voice.

Reid looked around at the large studio-style loft apartment that smelled like wood and cinnamon, where everything was all in one open room. The kitchen area was in the far left corner, with a modest table chairs. An office area, with a desk and shelves of books was in the far right. The living room area, which consisted of a comfortable-looking couch facing two chairs, a lot of pillows, a wood burning stove, and a large, old fashioned console tv, was in the center of the room, and a large bed, dresser, and armoire, made up the bedroom to the right of where they were standing, with a doorway that lead to a bathroom.    There were a few dark green, distressed support columns in the room, just like in the empty room they had just left, and the room had exposed brick on three walls, with a wall of windows on the right. Light wood made up the floors, and long, dipping lines of clear bulbs hung from the ceiling, providing a warm glow. On the brick wall to the left hung large black and white prints, which Reid recognized as familiar scenes of Oakdale, though they seemed much more gritty and sultry in the photographs. Sheer scarves of different colors hung from a rod that spanned the length of the wall of windows, and they seemed to glow with the lights from the street below. The whole place was stylish but laid back at the same time. It was very much Luke.

Reid noticed a bean bag chair all by itself in the middle of the floor near the windows, magazines and books strewn on the floor around it, and he couldn't help but smiling. "Damn, Luke. This is a fantastic. What a sexy space."

Luke rolled up on the balls of his feet and back down. "I know, right? But I can't take much credit. Most of what's here is from the previous owner. He left all of the furniture, except for the bedroom stuff. I had the couch and chairs reupholstered, and all of the living room furniture was made by the furniture company that owned this building. Cool, huh?" Reid nodded while looking around some more and jumped when he felt Luke's hands suddenly on his shoulders. "Here, give me your jacket," Luke said, sliding it off Reid's shoulders, along with his scarf, and then shucking his own. "I'll get us some drinks. Have a seat. I'll make a fire in the stove. It warms the place right up."

Reid sat down and watched Luke hang their coats on hooks by the door they had just come through and then move to the kitchen area. A few moments later, he handed Reid a beer and clinked his own root beer bottle against it gently. "Cheers." He took a sip, put it on the coffee table, pulled up the sleeves on his shirt, and then knelt in front of the wood burning stove. Reid watched as Luke put logs into the front of the stove and got it lit. He admired Luke's broad shoulders and the muscles that flexed in his forearms as he worked. God, he needed to get out of here. He didn't need to be here, with his attraction to Luke getting the best of him as feelings he'd managed to put away and tamper down for over five months threatening to break the surface again. He pulled his eyes away from Luke and focused on the long metal chimney that went up to the ceiling before his eyes moved to the windows that were streaked with rain that seemed to be coming down harder now.

Luke toed off his shoes and sat down next to Reid, one leg tucked underneath himself. They sat quietly for a few moments, the only sounds being that of the crackling logs and the pelting rain. Luke reached over and brushed the hair near Reid's temple gently with his fingers, and Reid turned automatically into the touch. He closed his eyes. He missed Luke's touch. His memory flashed on the time Luke had gently run his fingers through his hair before kissing him in the front room of his mother's house.

Before he could open his eyes, Luke's lips were there again, pressing against his own. Reid wanted to give into it, open his mouth and let Luke suck on his tongue. He wanted to fall into bed with Luke and fuck away every lonely second of the day.    Instead, Reid put his forearm against Luke's chest and pushed him away, breaking the kiss before it really began, the dark beer bottle still in his hand.

"Reid, what is it?"

Reid shook his head and leaned his forehead against Luke's, holding it there for just a second, Luke's breath teasing his lips. "I can't do this," he said, standing up and putting his beer bottle on the coffee table. "I shouldn't have come here."

"You can't do what?"

Reid started walking toward the door. He thought maybe he was going crazy. He knew he was acting crazy. Forty five mintues ago, in the parking lot of the diner, Reid had wanted nothing more than to be alone with Luke, but now that he was, he wanted to be anywhere else. He didn't trust himself around Luke. He didn't trust himself to make rational decisions in the face of intoxication that Luke made him feel.

"Can't do what, Reid?" Luke looked confused, asking the question again. Reid didn't answer.. "You can't leave," Luke said, catching up to Reid and pulling at his arm. "We came in my truck, remember?"

"I'll walk," Reid said, pulling his coat from the hook by the door, wrenching his arm free of Luke's grasp, the warm air in the apartment making him feel closed in. He needed to get outside. He needed to pull the cold, wide-open, late November air into his lungs. He needed to be away from Luke.

"It's torrential out there right now," Luke observed, glancing at the window, "Let me drive you."

Reid put his scarf around his neck and leaned forward, kissing Luke on the cheek. "I'm sorry, Luke...I thought I could........." He shook his head, unable to finish the sentence. He wasn't even sure what his intention was, coming home with Luke, being alone with Luke.

He turned to leave, but Luke grabbed his arm. "Reid, please! Stay. I love you."

That's when Reid felt something crack. He turned around and pushed Luke's chest, the knee-jerk reaction more forceful than he intended, and Luke stumbled backwards a few feet. "Fuck you, Luke!" Luke regained his footing and stepped forward, reaching for Reid, but Reid put a hand against his chest to stop him. "You don't get to fucking say that to me!" Reid was horrified to feel tears in his eyes. His face crumpled slightly. "You don't have the right to say that to me."

"Even if it's true?" Luke asked, grabbing a fist full of Reid's coat. "It's true, Reid. I love you."

Reid shook his head, trying to clear out the jumble of thoughts running through it, before he steadied himself and clenched his jaw. "No."

"Yes," Luke said, tears in his eyes too, pulling Reid closer and wrapping an arm firmly around his waist.

"No...Luke, don't...," Reid said, pushing at Luke's chest. "It's the fucking holidays, and you're lonely, and you saw your boyfriend with someone else tonight. That's all it is."

Luke didn't let go and just held Reid tighter. "Forget Noah. He has nothing to do with this." Luke touched Reid's face. "You're the one I think about every day. You. I find myself missing you, more and more. I thought it would go away, but it hasn't. I wonder how you are. I wonder if you are happy and what you're doing with your evenings and days off. I wonder if you ever think about me." Reid stayed silent. "And today, I was wondering if you were alone or if you had someone to share the day with. I thought about you maybe missing your parents today. I hoped someone had cooked for you and made you feel included. And then I stepped into that diner, and there you were. That must mean something."

"It was nothing more than a coincidence..."

"Or fate," Luke offered in response. "Tell me you haven't thought about me. Tell me that you don't still feel something for me, because I think you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't have kissed me tonight. You wouldn't be here if you didn't feel something."

Reid's hands came up to his own head, his fingers in his hair, as his emotions continued to get the best of him. He felt raw and exposed, but he couldn't step back, he couldn't make himself step away from Luke again. "Luke..."

Luke shushed him, as he kissed the tears on his face, kissed his eyes, kissed his jaw. "It's okay to be scared...I'm scared too."

Reid wanted to protest. Reid Oliver wasn't scared of anything...but the truth was he was terrified in that moment...terrified that Luke could see him and that Luke owned him in a way nobody else ever had.

"I hate you." Reid knew it wasn't true, but he needed Luke to stop touching him, to stop looking at him, and it was the only caustic thing he could think of to say.

Luke didn't move. Instead, he just nodded. "I deserve that."

Reid stepped back, pushing Luke's hands off of him.. No, you don't, Reid thought. Even after everything, Luke didn't deserve to be hated.

"At least I can work with that," Luke said, stepping into Reid's space again. "You've hated me before." Luke tried to look okay with it, but Reid saw his chin wobble.

Reid felt another tear slide down his own cheek. He took Luke's face in his hands. "I......I don't hate you, Luke. I never have. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it..."

"But you want to hate me." Reid nodded, dropping his hands. "Listen, Reid, I want to tell you something, and then if you want to leave, I won't try to stop you." Reid nodded again. "Back then, I thought I was supposed to be with him. We'd been doing this push and pull thing for so many years, that I couldn't imagine doing anything else. That's what we did. We'd fight. We'd break up. We'd get back together. It was a cycle, and I always ended up on the losing end somehow. And ridiculously, I was grateful when he wanted me back. And believe me, you don't have to point out the fact that maybe some of that behavior was ingrained in me by my parents. I have two dads, and my mother...she was always breaking up or getting back together with them. At the time I didn't see the correlations though, and I also couldn't see how inferior I felt around him, how inadequate. I never felt good about myself ...because he was always there to tell me what a failure I was...a drunk, a cheater, a dropout, a slut, a deviant...too clingy...too flighty....too gay...too everything. " Reid had stopped with the tears now and felt his hands clenching into fists at his side. "But then you came along, and...it's no secret that we didn't get along." Reid nodded. "We didn't like one another, but in all the times that we argued about this, about that, about the color of the sky....you never made me feel inferior............even when you were going on and on about how SUPERIOR you were to just about everybody, including me."

"If the shoe fits..." Reid smiled weakly.

"You challenged me, Reid. After arguing with you, even if you had mopped the floor with me, I always felt exhilarated. Not defeated."

"That's because you were sexually aroused," Reid said huskily, relieved to have something to joke about to try to save face. Jesus, he couldn't believe he had cried.

Luke smiled and rolled his eyes before becoming serious again. "You wanted me...and I don't mean wanted me..."

"Oh believe me, Mr. Snyder, I wanted you like crazy."

Luke stopped long enough to blush slightly. "And you wanted me around. You accepted my help, with the wing...and in Dallas. You took my advice. You thanked me for helping you. He never did that. I bent over backwards to help him, and he never thanked me. Not once. Instead, he made me feel guilty, and pushed me away." Luke's eyes went very soft. "And then suddenly Noah has his sight back, and what's one of the first things he says to me? 'Have you been drinking?' He never could find a way to believe in me. And then a short time later, he's calling me a cheater again, and instead of standing up for myself, instead of reminding him that he and I were no longer together and that I was free to kiss whoever the hell I felt like kissing, I apologize and lie and say that YOU mean nothing, that it was just a kiss, and I beg him to come back to me. What the hell?! And then I go to you and tell you that I don't know what to do because Noah doesn't want me back? No wonder you kicked me out of your apartment."

Reid stepped back at that point, rubbing at his chest, remembering that day, when he chastised himself for opening himself up to Luke and swearing that he'd never invest himself in someone again.

"And I stood there. Did you know that? I stood there outside your apartment, looking at your door, wanting to beat on it until you let me back in. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to tell you how I had never felt with anyone the way I felt when I was with you. Alive. On fire. Worthy. Happy. Strong. Capable. But I knew........I knew that with enough groveling Noah would take me back, like he always did. He was the safe bet. And you? I had no idea where things would go with you. I had no idea if you really wanted me....all of me...or if you just wanted to fuck me. So, I took the safer route." Luke shook his head. "I was so fucking stupid. I should have trusted what I was feeling. I should have trusted YOUR goodness. I squandered something that could have been really great. And I knew...within days I knew I had made a mistake. It was the same shit...Noah going on and on about my supposed infidelity and how lucky I was that he took me back." At this point, Luke growled. "And I kept thinking about you and how I had hurt you." Reid looked uncomfortable and opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. "I know you don't want to admit it, but I did. I hurt you. And I'm not proud of it, and that's why when I tried to reconcile with you, when you wanted nothing to do with me, I respected that. I didn't push. I haven't pushed, right?"

"No..........well, not until now."

"And then tonight, we ran into each other, and sitting there talking to you, even though I could tell you were guarded...God, Reid. We click. I feel at home with you. I feel safe with you. I've never felt so sure about something. We could work, Reid. I know it."

"Luke..."

"Maybe I'm not explaining myself clearly, or maybe from your end it's all a bunch of bullshit...maybe you don't feel any of this. If you don't, then tell me. I'll let you go. I won't bother you again."

Reid swallowed, turned, and walked over to the window, the rain coming down even harder than just a few minutes ago. He put his hands on the window and looked down. He was always in perfect control of his emotions. Always stoic. He delivered the worst information imaginable to families as he remained composed and detached. So, then how was it that Luke was essentially undoing him, causing this crazy swirl of hope in the middle of his chest and tears to breach his eyes again? He was so tired...so tired of maintaining the facade. Luke came up behind him and tugged the jacket off his shoulders. "Tell me what you're thinking..."

Reid turned around and stepped close to Luke. He brought a hand up to gently tug on a stray lock of Luke's hair as he met his eyes. He mentally decided to step off the ledge and hope that Luke caught him. "I'm thinking that I love you too," Reid answered truthfully, his voice cracking with emotion.

*****************************************************

Luke woke up, surprised by the brightness in the apartment. After almost two weeks of dreariness, it had finally stopped raining. Luke breathed in deeply. He could smell the fire in the stove, cut by the smell of coffee. Reid must have gotten up and made himself at home. Luke smiled at the thought of Reid putting logs on the embers. He rolled over and saw Reid in his scrubs sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall of windows by the office, a mug of coffee resting at his side and a phone at his ear. Luke stretched and felt soreness everywhere, but it was a good kind of ache, and Luke smiled thinking about the things he'd done with Reid throughout the night. He thought about the sounds Reid had made, and the dirty sweet things he he had said...the way he moved...and the way he'd made Luke feel like everything Luke was doing and wanting was right. Luke had never felt more free. He wasn't even sure how many times they'd had sex. In reality, Luke thought maybe it was one, long, multi-orgasmic mutual feast of pleasure. They never really stopped touching. Even after climax, they'd just kept going...kissing, talking, stroking, moving, rubbing, tasting, laughing, touching...until one or both of them was coming again. It was frantic in the beginning, both of them anxious to experience each other after months of longing, but in the end, it was tender with surges of roughness, and it was.......safe, so incredibly safe, with no demands, no withholding, no judgements. In a daze of passion, Luke had imagined that they could survive on nothing but each other. Exhaustion had won out eventually though, and they had passed out, tangled in a heap of sweaty limbs, sometime around sunrise. Luke glanced at the clock, which read 11:06 and listened to the deep, soft timber of Reid's voice.

"Okay....m'hmm....yeah....okay." He chuckled. "You too. Talk to you soon..............bye."

Luke got out of bed and slipped on a pair of sleep pants and socks and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. He padded over to Reid and sat down in front of him, his legs tangling with Reid's as he wrapped them around his waist so that he was practically sitting in his lap. "Good morning," Luke said and kissed Reid gently on the mouth.

"Hey..." Reid answered, putting his hands on either side of Luke's face and kissing him deeply, his mouth tasting like coffee and sugar. "I'm sorry that I woke you."

"I'm not." Luke pulled back and smiled, happiness radiating out of his pores. He looked up at the sky. "But really, I think it was the sun that woke me. I can't believe it finally stopped raining. What a difference a night makes, huh?"

Reid thumbed Luke's chin. "In a lot of ways."

Luke smiled even brighter and scooted closer putting his forehead on Reid's shoulder. They stayed like that for a few moments, silent, hands smoothing over each other's skin, their bodies warmed in the sunlight. After awhile, Luke asked, "Were you talking to Katie?"

"No...Angus."

Luke's head shot up. "What? He called you?"

"I called him," Reid answered, playing with a piece of string on the edge of the blanket.

This surprised Luke. The one and only time Reid had talked about his uncle, Luke got the impression that Reid didn't care if he ever saw or talked to him again. He was sure that they had not spoken in years, and he wondered why Reid chose this particular day to call him. "How was it?"

Reid looked up from the piece of string. "It was good actually." He smiled softly.

"Really?" Luke asked, squeezing Reid's arms.

Reid nodded. "He got married. I don't know how that mean, old bastard found someone to marry, but he says her name is Irene, and they've been married a little over two years." Reid shook his head.

"Wow." Luke wasn't really sure how to react to anything about Angus Oliver. Reid's relationship with the man who took care of him after his parents' death was a very sore subject in his life, and Luke tried to keep his responses in check.

"The geezer finally learned how to use the Internet. He said that he's been 'keeping tabs' on me for years." Reid made air quotes. Luke cocked his head. "He said that he's been reading my journal articles...'every word,' he said, even when he doesn't understand any of it. He knew about the neuro wing at Memorial, and he
said he had a newspaper article about my clinic in Dallas hanging on his refrigerator." Reid shook his head again. "He told me he was proud of me." Luke watched a look of awe and disbelief flicker across Reid's face before he shook his head again. "Can you believe that shit? I know a 16-year-old kid who needed to hear those words.........................better late than never?" Reid shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe," he said, answering his own question.

Luke's heart ached for a teenage Reid and then in the next very breath filled with pride for all that Reid had become, given his shaky start.

Reid put his hands on Luke's hips. "He invited me for Christmas."

"To Brooklyn?"

Reid nodded. "I told him, yeah. I want to go. He's getting old, and as shitty as things were with him................." Reid shrugged. "I think I should go."

"You don't need to justify it to me, Reid. That's great. I'm happy for you."

"Well, let's see how the visit goes...I might not last ten minutes with him."

"Maybe it will be great, Reid. He's married. Maybe love has mellowed him."

Reid chuckled. "I asked him if I could bring someone." Reid looked away awkwardly and then back to Luke. "I mean....just in case...........ya know, if we're even together in a month and you want to go......you don't have to. I know you have family here that you probably would rather be with at the holidays. It's not a big deal."

"I'd love to go," Luke answered simply, leaning forward and kissing Reid softly on the lips. "I think it's a very big deal." He wasn't even going to address the question of them being together a month from now. They would be. There was no doubt in his mind, and it kind of made him ache that maybe there was a doubt in Reid's.

Reid smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Reid said, squeezing Luke's hips. "Good." He kissed Luke. Then he laughed. "He asked me if the person I'd be bringing was a man. Subtle, right? I told him that yes, I was still gay, if that's what he was asking and that yes, there was a particular man that I wanted to invite. I thought that might be a deal breaker, but then he says, 'We'll make sure the guest bedroom is ready for you.' Then he asked me if you made me happy.'" Reid pulled back from Luke a little bit and stared over his shoulder, his eyebrows knotted slightly. After a few moments, he looked at Luke. "Do you know how many times I had to listen to that man call me a fag? Take out the garbage, faggot. Clean your room, you queer. Hey, fag, don't forget to pick up cigarettes on the way home." Reid shook his head. "And now he's cool with me sharing a bed with a man under his roof? I don't get it."

Luke wrapped his arms around Reid and felt Reid's head drop onto his shoulder. "People change, Reid. They evolve."

"That much?" Reid sighed. "I don't know about that."

Luke pulled back. "He's older. Maybe he has some regrets. I'm glad you told him that you'd go to New York. Maybe it will be healing for both of you." Reid shrugged and they stayed silent for awhile. Luke tugged on the hem of Reid's shirt. "How did you answer him...about whether or not I made you happy?"

Reid licked his lips. "I told him that thus far you've mostly made me miserable."

"Oh."

Reid put a finger under Luke's now downward chin and pushed up gently until they were looking into each other's eyes. "And then I told him that we were working on the happy part and that we were off to a promising start."

Luke smiled

After a few minutes, Reid pushed the blanket off of Luke's shoulders, causing Luke to shiver when the cool air hit his skin. His arms broke out in goosebumps, and he smiled as Reid soothed them away before his fingers went to trace the bite mark on Luke's shoulder. Luke watched Reid's eyes scan his torso, and then Reid leaned forward and kissed the bruise on Luke's collar bone. "I'm sorry," he said, blowing warm air against Luke's skin. "I marked you up."

"I love it," Luke said, recalling happily how it had taken Reid very little time to figure out Luke's pleasure/pain kink and how when Luke reacted to a pinch or a bite, it seemed to turn Reid on even more, making him moan and curse and rut against him. Luke's dick twitched at the thought, and he felt a warm rush of want in his stomach. "Last night was so good." He ran a hand over his face, feeling a new wave of heat with the memory of it. "I can't even believe how good it was."

Reid continued to look at him, his hands soothing Luke's shoulders and arms, his eyes bright. "It was fucking spectacular."

Luke laughed and kissed Reid. "What do you want to do today?"

Reid kissed Luke, pushing him back until he was laying on top of him. "More of this," he said, leaning down to suck on Luke's neck, as he nestled in between Luke's legs.

"Sounds perfect," Luke drawled out, as Reid started kissing his way down Luke's body. About half way down, he brought his nose back up to Luke's neck and sniffed. Then he sniffed Luke's chest. "What are you doing?"

Reid moved his nose back and sniffed near his own upper arm, close to his armpit. "We both stink."

"I don't doubt that," Luke said laughing.

"You have a shower in this joint?"

"Yes...it's sort of locker-room style with two showers, a lot of shower heads, and a bench for........activities."

Reid groaned into Luke's neck. "Okay, shower sex first..." Luke laughed. "And after breakfast..........kitchen table sex."

"Sounds like a plan," Luke said, nipping at Reid's earlobe. "Wanna race? Last one there makes the pastry run to Nan's Bakery."

"You're on," Reid said, pulling Luke to his feet and slapping his ass before running for the bathroom, determination on his face.

Fin.

We Both Reached for the Gun -- 1/1

dpracket — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 21:34:09 GMT

Luke hears the doorbell ring and quickly checks his look in the mirror: black jeans, a light grey v-necked tee shirt, dark gray patterned vest, and a scarf. He hopes the look will be okay. He and Reid have been together for four months now, and when Reid heard that Luke had never stepped foot in a gay club, he booked a room in Chicago for the following weekend, and that's where they are headed now, a two hour drive into the city for dinner and then to enjoy a club or two, with field box seats at a Cubs game the next day.

Luke opens the door, and Reid's eyes immediately slide down Luke's body, and a smile appears on his face. "You look delicious," Mr. Snyder, he drawls out, as he leans in for a kiss.

"You do too...," Luke replies, running his hand along the black linen button-down that Reid is wearing. "And you smell good."

Luke grabs his phone and keys off the table and picks up his overnight bag near the front of the door and says, "I'm ready."

Reid steps in front of him and looks at him closely. Luke looks down and away. "Are you wearing eyeliner?" Reid asks, his voice low and deep.

Luke steps back, purses his lips for a moment, and answers, "Maybe," suddenly feeling very self-conscious about his style choices for the evening. He rolls his lips in and looks at Reid for a moment. "Is it too much?.......way too gay?" Reid just continues to look at him, his brow knotted. "Of course it is......I'm sorry," Luke says, stepping back further. "I'll go wash it off."

Reid grabs Luke's wrist and pulls him back to him. He puts an arm around Luke and then runs a thumb down his cheek while he studies his eyes. "Do you like wearing it?"

Luke shrugs and tries to pull away, but Reid holds him firmly in place. "Luke..."

Luke nods. "Sometimes."

"Does it make you feel sexy?" Reid asks, his breath warm, as his lips barely graze the skin, close to Luke's ear.

Luke feels the pads of Reid's fingers digging into his hip, and he sees the sudden heat in Reid's eyes. He watches Reid lick his lips. "Maybe..."

"I think it's hot," Reid says, his body so close to Luke's now that Luke's not sure they are going to even make it out the door because Reid's breathing pattern has changed and there's that predatorial growl to his voice that Luke loves so, so much.

"You won't be embarrassed, walking into a club with me, wearing makeup?"

"It's just a little eyeliner," Reid answers, his eyes going soft, though still heated. "And we're going to a gay bar, not a country club." He kisses Luke. "Skywalker, you look so good....every man in that bar tonight is going to wish he was me."

Luke smiles bashfully, biting his bottom lip.

Now Reid's hand is on the side of Luke's neck, holding him in place, and he's looking into his eyes. "Do you do this often?"

Ohmygod, he's into it, Luke realizes and immediately feels a surge of empowerment. He rolls his shoulders. "Every now and then..."

"In private?" Reid asks, his voice seamlessly dropping an octave, going impossibly deeper. Luke rewards him with a seductive head nod, his eyes dark but still sparkling. "And it turns you on?" Reid asks, his voice cracking.

Luke smiles brightly and squeezes Reid's upper arms. "It's turning you on, huh, Doc?"

Reid's smile matches Luke's because this is safe, it's fun, and they are in this together, nobody's judging anyone, and hell yeah, it's turning him on. "Does it ever involve.................clothes?" Reid asks, tonguing the inside of his cheek.

Luke laughs out loud before hugging Reid close and saying "You kinky little fucker," hotly in his ear. "I love you."

"I love you too," Reid says, bending down to pickup Luke's overnight bag, which has fallen to the floor at some point during their exchange. He gives Luke a soft kiss and then lets his lips hover near Luke's. "We will be exploring this, in depth, very soon, Mister Snyder." He kisses Luke again.

Luke pushes Reid away and puts his hand on his hip. "I look forward to it, Doctor Oliver," he says in a deep, seductive voice, licking his bottom lip with intent.

Reid makes a noise in his throat that is halfway between a moan and a growl before turning and heading out the door. "C'mon, let's get out of here, Adam Lambert."

Luke follows, his hand in Reid's, smiling and marveling at how free he feels being loved by a man who meets him where he stands. Every. Single. Time.

a/n ...Noah who?

November Rain, Part 1 of 2

dpracket — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:04:32 GMT

a/n: The inspiration for the title of this fic is the song "November Rain," by Guns-n-Roses. It takes place Thanksgiving, 2010. Luke and Reid never got back together after May 31, when Reid kicked Luke out of his apartment. Luke tried to mend things with Noah, but it didn't work, and Noah moved to LA a month later. Luke and Reid still work together, but their relationship is strictly professional. Reid's walls are firmly in place. They are amicable to each other, but Reid keeps Luke at a distance. This is so much different than my plans for it at the beginning. It was supposed to be a smut fic, set at Thanksgiving, where Luke and Reid fall into bed for some revenge/make up sex. However, I very quickly I realized my muses had a different idea. :)

Thanks for reading and commenting and making my day. :)

Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. I just need to proofread it.

Here's the GnR video. I love the theatricality of this video. Slash is so dang cool. Why does their drummer look like Anthony Geary?

And when your fears subside,
And shadows still remain,
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame.
So never mind the darkness;
We still can find a way,
'Cause nothin' lasts forever,
Even cold November rain.

Don't ya think that you need somebody?
Don't ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody;
You're not the only one.
YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE.

Luke ducked into Kirby's Diner, the only restaurant open in the vacinity of Oakdale, hating the sound of the bell over the door. He shook the rain droplets from his hair and wiped them from his eyes. "Hey, honey, come on in and get warm! It's a mess out there," a large red-headed woman greeted him from the counter. "The place is pretty much yours. Sit wherever you like, and I'll be right with you, baby." Luke looked around the restaurant. A teen couple sat in the corner, completely "into" each other, and one other lone diner sat with his back to him, a knitted cap on his head. Luke went to sit down by the window, with his back to the couple in the opposite corner, but as he did, he recognized the watch on the lone diner's arm and walked over to him. "Reid?"

Reid looked up from the five plates in front of him. "Mr. Snyder," he drawled, with his mouth full of food.

"Reid, cut it out. Don't call me that." Reid mock saluted Luke without looking at him and kept eating. Luke looked around at the empty tables in the restaurant. "May I sit with you?" Reid pointed to the opposite side of the table with his fork. "I'll take that as a yes," Luke said, removing his coat and spreading it along the back of his chair. He pulled the cap off Reid's head and placed it on the table. "I didn't recognize you with that thing on." He sat down and watched Reid eat, neither of them speaking.

"My name's Vivian...you can call me Viv. Do you need a menu, darling?" the red-headed waitress asked when she arrived at their table. She looked over at Reid briefly and warned, "Slow down their, cowboy. It's not going anywhere," before turning her attention back to Luke.

"No, mam. I'd just like a cup of coffee, black, please, and a slice of pumpkin pie, if you have it."

"Well, of course we do, sweetheart, it's Thanksgiving. I'll get that right out to you."

"Thanks." Luke's eyes returned to Reid. "Why aren't you over at the Hughes' with Katie?"

Reid shrugged. "She invited me, but I don't know..........I would have felt out of place, and ......" he shook his head and continued eating.

"The Hughes throw a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. You should have gone."

"What about you?" Reid asked, changing the subject but still not looking at Luke. "Why aren't you with your hundreds of relations here in Mulberry?"

Luke smirked. "I was out at the farm with everyone, but....." He shook his head.

"But what?"

Luke shook his head again. "Forget it."

Reid took a sip of his soda. "But the farm dogs made off with the turkey?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No."

"But a tornado came and ironically took everyone to Oz but you?"

Luke smiled. "No."

"But your mother ran off with your father again...good dad? Bad dad? Anyone's guess..."

"Reid..."

""Let me guess, a squinty-eyed, formerly-blind-barrista-slash-Ron-Howard-wannabe showed up, and it made you feel forlorn?" He made an overly dramatic sad face.

"Ya know what Reid, fuck you."

"Hmm," Reid replied. "Hit a nerve, huh? Close guess or on the money?"

Just then the waitress arrived with Luke's pie. "Viv, I'll take that to go," Luke said, standing up.

"Oh, c'mon," Reid said, leaning over and tugging on on the sleeve of Luke's black Henly. "Don't be an idiot. Sit."

Luke sighed and sat back down. He took a bite of pie and a sip of coffee. "I wasn't forlorn about anything." Luke explained defensively. "He brought someone. A guy........a blond, tanned, freaking Abercrombie-model-looking beach god." Luke tongued the inside of his cheek and shook his head. "Why did he have to be so damn good looking? God. I mean, I'm happy for him, ya know........I guess.........yeah, of course I want him to be happy, but...." Luke picked at his pie with his fork.

"But you don't really want to hang around and watch it, do you?" Reid asked, licking cherry cheesecake off the side of his fork. "Yeah. I get that." He glared at Luke.

"Yeah," Luke replied, trying to ignore the irritation in Reid's voice. He wondered if he and Reid could ever be friends. They saw each other two or three times a week at the hospital, but they didn't talk unless it was necessary, and Luke knew that Reid avoided him whenever possible. If he tried to start up a friendly conversation with the doctor, Reid would shut it down immediately. Luke thought back to their very brief start, hate turning into affection and respect for one another and how they'd gotten closer, so much closer, sharing intimate details about their lives, before Luke had stupidly returned to a relationship with Noah once his sight was restored. It didn't last long because Noah hadn't changed. Not one bit. However, by the time Luke had ended things with Noah for good, Reid wasn't interested in setting himself up for a fall again. He didn't say it in those words, but Luke knew why he wasn't willing to give Luke a second chance. He had hurt Reid. The stubborn doctor would never admit that of course, but Luke knew it, and he hated himself for it. Reid was a master architect when it came to constructing emotional fortresses. Luke knew why. He felt a pang in his chest just thinking about the whys. And, well...Reid wasn't the kind of person that was going to give you the chance to hurt him a second time.

Luke noticed Reid was wearing scrubs and had his stethoscope around his neck underneath his jacket and decided to change the subject. "You worked today?"

"I always work holidays," Reid answered, motioning for Viv to return to the table while arching his back to pull his wallet out of his back pocket. "Nobody else wants to, and since I don't celebrate things, I might as well be there doing what I love to do."

"What do you do there on a holiday?"

"Monitor patients in house. Cover the ER. Sickness never takes a day off. A resident came in and took over for me this evening."

Vivian approached their table. "What else can I get for you, Doc?"

"A piece of blueberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream....make that two scoops, and put his stuff on my check," Reid said, motioning toward Luke and handing Vivian cash. "Keep the change."

"Sure thing, honeybear," she said, walking away, but then she suddenly turned back around. "I think you've made a mistake," she remarked, returning to the table and holding up two $100 bills.

"I don't make mistakes. Right, Luke?" It was the first time since Luke had sat down that Reid's eyes met his and held them.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Dr. Oliver is perfect and makes no mistakes, Viv. Everyone knows this," he said sarcastically.

"See?" Reid said, looking smug. "Mr. Snyder says I'm perfect."

"This is too much," Vivian said, handing the bills back to Reid. Your check is only going to be forty five dollars or so, even with the desserts and coffee. Thank you, but I can't accept this."

"You served me an excellent Thanksgiving meal, Reid said, patting his stomach. Please, accept it as a sign of my gratitude."

Viv chuckled. "It was a burger, chili, and three greasy sides."

"Plus a very thick and creamy choclolate shake, a soda that you kept refilled.......and don't forget the pie and cheesecake. I enjoyed every bite. Please, keep the change. Happy Thanksgiving."

Viv clutched the money to her ample chest, and Luke could see tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Doctor. You have no idea how much I need a little extra money right now. Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Reid said, grimacing. "Let's not get all weepy about it."

Viv smiled through her tears. "I am going to wrap up a whole pie to go for you. Which flavor would you like? Blueberry? Apple?"

Reid picked up his fork and stole a bite of Luke's pie as Luke smirked at him. After swallowing it, he replied, "Pumpkin."

As Vivian walked excitedly away, Luke said, "That was really nice of you."

Reid shrugged. "It sucks having to work on a holiday."

"You just got done telling me that you always work on holidays."

"That's because I want to. Ms. Sweetie Pie/Baby Cakes/Darling Honey Bear over there probably has a family that she'd much rather be with than here serving me a cheeseburger." Reid looked over at the counter, watching the waitress pack up a pie to go, and Luke thought he looked a little bit sad.

"What did you mean when you said you didn't celebrate things. You celebrate some things, don't you? What about New Year's Eve?"

"A lot of casualties come in on New Year's Eve, especially after midnight..."

Just then, Luke's phone rang. He looked down at the screen. "Shit. It's my mother."

"Send her my regards," Reid said sarcastically.

Luke shook his head and answered the phone. "Hey, Mom...........no........no, I'm fine...........I know........Yes, mom, I know I should have told someone I was leaving...........................I know; I'll call her tomorrow and apologize.........................I'm at Kirby's.........no.............................................no!..........seriously, mom...........please, don't send him over here.....................I ran into someone, ok? I'm having dessert..................just someone, mom..............yes, a guy............." Luke looked at Reid and rolled his eyes. Reid actually looked amused. "Listen, mom........I've got to go............no, it's not like that.....................Mom!..........I'm hanging up now..........yes...........ok............bye.........yeah, you too. Bye." Luke rubbed his forehead. "Sorry about that..."

"You in trouble, Richie Rich?"

Luke chuckled. "You haven't called me that in forever."

Reid shrugged. "It stopped seeming appropriate when you started funding the neuro wing."

"It was never appropriate. No, um.....I didn't tell anyone I was leaving, so they were all ready to send the bloodhounds out looking for me."

Viv arrived at their table, refilled Luke's coffee, placed a slice of blueberry pie in front of Reid with a "Honey, I don't know where you put it," and handed him a bag. "One pumpkin pie. Thank you so much, love; you made my week."

Reid grinned just slightly as Vivian cleared some of the plates off the table. "You're welcome."

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, gentlemen. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," Luke replied.

Reid slid the blueberry pie to the middle of the table and nodded towards it.

Luke grinned and picked up a fork; the simple gesture of sharing his pie was the most warmth he'd gotten from Reid in a long, long time.

"So, why did you leave without telling anyone?"

"I had to get out of the house. I went out to the barn to just get away from them. My mom was fawning all over Noah and his boyfriend...I can't remember his name."

"Abercrombie."

Luke laughed. "Yeah, Abercrombie, and they were going on and on about Noah's cinematic vision and blah, blah, blah...I guess Noah found someone who's excited about film as he is"

"Jealous..."

"No, I'm not. I swear. I just didn't feel like listening to it. I had to listen to it for four years. And for four years I feigned interest. I can't tell you the number of mind numbingly boring movies I sat through with him. Sometimes I'd fall asleep, and he'd get pissed. But he'd take me to these art house films that were so slow that I literally could not stay awake." Luke sighed. "Do you know that the whole time we were together, we never once went to see a stupid, mindless comedy? Ya know...the kind that is ridiculous but makes you laugh so hard that your side hurts? I wanted to see The Hangover. He refused, but then he didn't want me to see it either, telling me that it was going to lower my IQ and that if I was going to be the partner of a famous director, I needed to be better than that. So, I didn't go when Casey asked me. Never rented it. Still haven't seen it." Luke shook his head, trying to shake off the bad feelings that always seemed to come up when he thought too long about his and Noah's failed relationship.

"I saw it. I laughed my ass off. My IQ is still as high as ever," Reid said, pointing to his head with his fork.

Luke smiled. "Yeah." His eyes lingered on Reid's. "Anyway," Luke said, shaking his head, "I started to go back into the house after awhile, but I don't know, the thought of going in there and smiling and pretending that I didn't want to punch them both in the throat was just too much. I wanted to leave instead. So I did."

"Why did you come here?"

"Because I left before dessert," Luke said chuckling. "And I love pie."

"Me too."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, until the pie and ice cream were gone. "Reid?" Luke said, placing his fork on the plate.

"Yeah."

"On Christmas, are you working?"

"That's the plan, Stan."

if you don't have somewhere to eat, call me." Reid opened his mouth to protest, but Luke kept on talking. "Even if you work, and dinner's over... there's always leftovers. My grandmother makes way too much food. And she's such a good cook. She cooks Italian for Christmas...lasagna, baked ziti, spaghetti and meatballs. Different breads. And pie. Lots of pies. You don't have to be alone on Christmas."

"I'm fine eating by myself. It's just another day."

Luke nodded, knowing that Reid didn't need him to push the matter, understanding that underplaying his solitude was something Reid needed to do. "Just, if you find yourself not wanting to be alone..."

"Will Abercrombie be there?"

Luke laughed. "No. He won't. Noah said something about them going to Washington for Christmas."

"Pity," Reid said, jokingly. "How are, um," Reid shifted in his seat. "How are Noah's eyes? I've been wondering about them, and he took me out of the loop when he realized that we..."

"They're good! Oh, Reid, they're really, really good..." Luke reached over and put his hand over Reid's on the table. "It's a miracle, what you did." Reid pulled his hand away and put it in his lap. Luke sat back. "I know he was a dick to you because of....us, but I'm grateful, Reid. I'm grateful to you on his behalf."

"It wasn't a miracle. I just did what you dragged me here to do. My job. That's it. It's always part skill, part luck. There's nothing miraculous about it."

Luke shook his head. "No, it was you. And I'm so grateful...I don't know if I ever could have been free of him if he stayed blind. I just don't think I ever could have stopped feeling guilty about it."

"Glad to have been of service to you, Mr. Snyder," Reid said blandly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Luke took a deep breath, not knowing how to bridge the gulf that was between him and Reid and deciding to let Reid off the hook. He looked at his watch. "I'm gonna go. Thanks for dessert." He stood up, leaned across the table and kissed Reid on the forehead. "I miss you, Reid. Happy Thanksgiving." Reid nodded and held Luke's eyes for a few seconds. Luke wasn't sure what was going on behind them. The whole windows- to-the-soul thing didn't work with Reid. He had a way of drawing the blinds on those windows, and it was almost impossible to see inside when he was like that. There definitely was no smile in them, no joy. He looked tired. "Bye, doc."

************************************************************

Reid watched Luke walk out the door, that stupid bell ringing, seeming to mock him somehow. Reid stared at the door long after Luke was gone.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" Viv asked as she picked up the pie plates and Luke's coffee cup. Reid looked at her, his brow furrowed. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Reid grimaced. "No," he answered, his voice cracking.

"Hmmm...you don't sound so sure of that, but okay," she answered. She walked away and came back with a pitcher to fill Reid's water glass. "I'm just saying, life's short, honey."

Reid huffed out a breath. Yeah, he knew all about that. "It's pretty bold of you to assume that two men you don't know are gay. It's not like we were making out or anything."

"It had to do with the way you looked at each other right before he left. There's regret there, but maybe a little bit of hope?"

Reid scowled. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"He kissed your forehead."

"Yeah. So?"

"That's a sign of genuine affection." Reid pshawed. "If he had been your brother or other family member, he would have kissed your cheek. A friend would have shaken your hand or squeezed your arm. A lover would have kissed your lips. He chose to kiss your forehead. It's a protective gesture. It's intimate. He cares about you."

"No he doesn't," Reid argued softly, but then his eyes went back to the door.

Vivian smiled. "Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith. Nobody should be alone on Thanksgiving."

Reid looked at the waitress. Every year there was someone who was worried about Reid being alone during the holidays. Sometimes it was someone he knew, and other times it was a total stranger...a meddling stranger who had no business trying to analyze him or his life. What did it matter? Their concern did nothing but make him feel like a pariah. It was just another day, like any other. He worked. He got off work. He ate dinner. No big deal. It was the same as every other Thursday in every other week of the year, but because someone made up some stupid story about Pilgrims eating with Indians, oh sorry Native Americans, suddenly the solitude that had served him well for his entire adult life, and even part of his childhood, is not good enough anymore. He's supposed to be with someone? Fuck that. "Who's at home waiting for you?" Reid asked, the exasperation clear in his voice.

Viv cocked her head. "My husband and teen daughters. We will celebrate the holiday tomorrow when I am off of work. Why?"

Reid just shook his head. "What if I want to be alone? Nobody ever thinks of that." His voice sounded more bitter than intended and he closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"That's your choice. But he's still out there, ya know. In the parking lot. It's not very heavy, just a drizzle now, but he's standing in that cold rain."

Reid refused to look out the window. He sat for a few minutes, drinking water, chewing on the straw, and staring at the table. When Viv came back to wipe the table she asked, "So, do you?"

"Do I what?" Reid asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"Want to be alone?"

Reid knew there was a good chance he'd end up at a bar when he left the restaurant because, no, he didn't want to be alone. He'd have a few beers to make the day go away...his version of a holiday tradition. If he picked the right bar, he might even get laid, or at the very least get his dick sucked. Hookups were pretty easy to find on Thanksgiving. Christmas. Everyone in bars on those days was just like him...alone and desperate not to feel that way. Reid sighed and finally let his eyes wander to the window. It was hard to see because of the restaurant light reflecting his own image back at him, but he could see Luke, leaning against his truck. Waiting for me.

"Are you in love with him?" Vivian asked for the second time.

Reid looked at the waitress, He hated nosy people. What gave her the right to start asking these kinds of personal questions? Then again, she was a stranger, and what harm was there in telling a stranger a secret...someone who he would never see again...? He nodded, just slightly. "Yeah." He glanced out the window again. "Fuck."

"Then why are you still sitting here?"

Reid looked at the waitress. He nodded and stood up, putting the cap on his head. "How much do you make, working today?"

"That's a rude question, hon. I only work because we need the extra money. We have two girls who will be in college before we know it." Reid stared at her. "Double time."

"Which is....?"

"Let's just say that your tip made it more than triple time."

"Fair enough," Reid replied, reaching into the inside pocket of his coat and pulling out his checkbook. "You have a pen?"

Viv pulled a pen out of her apron pocket. "What are you doing?"

Reid took the pen and began writing. "What's your husband's name?"

"Clayton."

"What's he do?"

"He works construction. Right now he's working on that new hospital addition at Memorial. Are you familiar with it?"

Reid shook his head at the coincidence. "I happen to know a lot about that new wing. It's being head up by some hot shot from Dallas. And your daughters?" Reid asked, signing his name at the bottom of the check.

"Ashley and Michelle. They are thirteen and sixteen."

Reid nodded, tore the check from the checkbook and folded it in half. He handed it to Vivian with the pen. "You can fill in the payee with your full name. It's dated November 15th of 2011. You can cash it then. Tell your boss that you're not working next year. It should be enough to cover what you need for Thanksgiving dinner too." Reid returned his checkbook to his pocket and zipped up his coat. "Look at it after I leave." Viv seemed stunned into silence, looking down at the folded piece of paper in her hand. Reid picked up the bag with the pie in it and started walking to the door.

"Why are you doing this?" the waitress asked, her voice the smallest it had been since Reid walked into the restaurant an hour and a half earlier.

Reid turned around and shrugged. He didn't even know why himself.

"I'll never forget this. You're an angel."

Reid laughed for the first time all day. "Lady, I'm no angel...believe me."

Vivian shook her head, tears in her eyes. "But you are. I can see your wings."

*********************************************************************

Luke watched Reid approaching him, his head down. When he arrived, he placed the bag with the pie in it on the hood of Luke's truck. He looked up at the sky, and Luke watched the soft, cold rain hitting Reid's face before he lowered his gaze to Luke's eyes. They stood looking at each other for a moment, neither of them speaking. Reid stepped closer, his eyes searching Luke's. Luke watched their steamy exhales mingle in the cold November air. Reid cocked his head slightly, and Luke watched the blinds go up. In that moment he could see Reid...see right into soul, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around him and take care of him forever.

"Reid, I'm so sorry..." But Luke's words were silenced by the firm and insistent press of Reid's lips against his own. They stayed like that for a good amount of time, lips just pressed together, as Reid gripped the sides of Luke's head, and Luke's hands came up to Reid's waist, pulling him closer. The kiss broke and turned into hug, which took Luke by surprise, feeling Reid's entire body against his. He gasped ever so slightly and Reid pulled back to look at him, his eyes glassy.

"Come home with me," Luke said softly, almost a whisper.

Reid nodded and kissed Luke again.

A Halloween Love Story

dpracket — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:27:17 GMT

2017

"How did you know that he was the one?" Faith asked, gently rocking in one of six chairs on the back porch of Luke and Reid's house, overlooking the Snyder pond at sunset. She and Luke had been talking about Anthony, Faith's longtime boyfriend, and the fact that they had been discussing getting married.

Luke thought about it for a moment and smiled, memories flashing across his mind. "I think I was half way in love with Reid before I'd even admit that I liked him." Luke closed his eyes for a second and then looked over at Faith. "I hated him at first, but I was also intrigued by him. I thought about him all the time, and even though he said that he didn't want me around him, our paths would always cross at the hospital, and he'd..........he'd look at me, and.......I don't know. It was crazy. His mouth would be saying one thing, usually something outrageously rude, but his eyes would be saying something else."

"He's still like that," Faith said laughing. "I love how he can keep a straight face, but then you catch his eyes, and there's a whole world of amusement going on behind them."

Luke nodded. "If you hold his eyes long enough though, he can't contain the smile. That's when you get to see it, or sometimes he'll just lick his lips or tongue the inside of his cheek, and if he's let you in on the joke, you're the only one that sees it. I love that about him." Luke stares out at the pond a few moments, a soft grin on his lips.

"Luke?"

Luke seems to snap back from somewhere far away. "Oh, yeah, um...so anyway, Reid and I fell pretty hard and fast once we both stopped being idiots. I remember thinking a month or so in that I'd never felt anything like I was feeling with Reid. The intensity. I was falling headlong into a relationship with a guy who mostly infuriated the hell out of me, but I had never felt more liberated in my life."

"That's because he loves you for who you are. So, is that how you knew he was the one you would spend your life with?"

"No, not at first, I don't think so. All I knew in the beginning was that I was having fun. I couldn't believe how good everything was with him."

"Everything?" Faith asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Everything," Luke repeated, his cheeks feeling warm. "God, yeah. Everything."

"And that was how you knew that he was the one?"

Luke shook his head. "No. I don't think there was one specific moment where I................" Luke trailed off, looking out at the pond.

Faith smiled, leaning over a few moments later and gently poking her brother's elbow.

Luke turned to her, his eyes shining. "Ya know what? There was this day...........it was Halloween. We'd only been together since the summer. Rodney and Trish invited..."

"Rodney?!" Faith exclaimed. "Hot Rodney? Whatever happened to him?"

"He married Trish, moved to Chicago, and they have a couple of kids. Anyway...................." Luke said, glaring playfully at his sister. "Rodney and Trish invited us to a karaoke bar, and I thought that Reid would say no, but he was game, saying that it would be fun to go watch people act like morons. You know Reid, such a way with words." Faith smiled and nodded. "So, I went over to Reid's apartment; he was still living with Katie, and when I opened the door he was green. Green! His hair was green, his skin. He was in a tattered pair of jeans and a tattered lab coat, and he told me he was The Hulk. Now granted, he was the skinniest hulk you've ever seen, but I wasn't complaining because his arms and stomach were showing, and seriously, he was sort of fulfilling every superhero fantasy I had ever had."

Faith laughed. "What was your costume?"

"I was Batman."

"I remember that! You took Ethan out trick or treating earlier. He was Robin. You guys looked so cute."

Luke nodded and smiled. "So, we go to this bar, and there are probably ten to fifteen people from the hospital there. You remember how Rodney was; the party seemed to follow him, right? It was fun. There were some people who took it seriously, but mostly it was half-drunk people singing 'The Monster Mash.' I remember we laughed a lot. Reid had a couple of beers, and at one point he excused himself to go to the bathroom. I watched a few singers and then started wondering where he was and figured he'd run into someone from work and was talking to them. I looked around the bar a little, and when I turned back around, Reid was on the stage."

"He was not!" Faith exclaimed, laughing and leaning forward, waiting for Luke to continue.

"Yes, he was. Up on the stage, and before I could even think to shout out, 'what the hell are you doing,' he had the microphone in his hand, and he was saying, 'This one's for you, Luke,' while looking right at me. And I was laughing thinking that he was going to sing some sappy love song or some throw back N'Sync song, because ya know his forever crush on Justin Timberlake and all...........but then the music starts playing, and it's..."

"What?" Faith asks. "What was it?"

"White-n-Nerdy."

"What? No," Faith says, standing up. "No."

"Yes," Luke said laughing.

"He sang? And rapped? Reid? Reid rapped. He did not."

"He did."

"No."

"Yes," Luke said, chuckling.

Faith flopped back down into the chair, laughing. "Was he any good?"

"Yeah, he was. He was animated about it to0, and everyone was up on their feet and laughing and clapping, taking pictures. It was funny. I couldn't believe how funny he was."

"Oh my, God," Faith said, laughing harder now and holding her stomach. "And he was green!"

"Yes, very green. And when the song ended, he had a huge smile on his face...ya know, that big goofy smile he has when he's relaxed and having a good time. He took a bow, jumped off the stage, did that Hulk muscle flexing thing and growled, walked over to me, pulled me to my feet, and kissed the hell out of me. Everyone was whistling and clapping. Trish took a picture. It's still on the cork board in Reid's office. The Hulk and Batman making out in a karaoke bar."

"And that's when you knew? Because Reid was being a huge goofball and singing to you on Halloween?"

"No, not quite. But I tell you what...I never had to field another 'what-do-you-see-in him-anyway' question after that. Word got around, and I think people just started seeing Reid differently. Everyone realized that he wasn't an aloof egomaniac all the time...just the ten hours a day that he was at work."

"Luke, you and I both know that everyone at the hospital has a lot of respect for your husband."

Luke nodded. "So, anyway......then he takes my hand and walks me out of the bar, where he pushes me up against the outside wall, and I thought he was going to maul me, but instead, he wrapped his arms around me and just hugged me. He had his cheek pressed against mine, and after a few moments he moved his lips to my ear and told me something, and that's when I knew. Right then. I was his." Luke looked out at the lake, feeling his eyes mist at the memory.

"You can't stop there. What did he say?"

Before Luke could answer, a deeper voice behind him repeated the words he'd said almost seven years ago. "You make me happy."

Faith looked over to the back door of the house and saw Reid leaning against the door frame, her two-year-old nephew asleep on his shoulder.

Luke didn't turn around and instead smiled out at the pond. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Reid said, stepping out onto the porch and running the back of his hand across the side of Luke's face before gently tugging on his earlobe. Luke leaned his head against the back of the chair and looked up at Reid. "Finn's out. I'm going to put him in the crib and take a shower. I smell like bar-b-que." He leaned down and kissed Luke, while holding the child against his shoulder. It was just a peck, but there was a linger to it.

Reid turned to go in the house, and Faith said, "I'm leaving in a few minutes, Reid. I need to get over to mom's. She's in fits because I came here, straight from the airport, without going home first. Thanks for the grilled steak. It was delicious."

Reid smiled softly, picked up his sleeping son's chubby little hand, and waved it at his sister-in-law. "See ya later, Aunt Faith."

Faith watched Reid enter the house and sat back in her chair, sighing. "God, Luke............"

Luke bit his bottom lip and nodded, the warmth evident in his eyes. "I know."

Faith giggled, "Great story...........c'mon, big brother, walk me to the door." She sniffed exaggeratedly and made a face. "I think you smell like smoke too. If you get in there, that sexy nerd of yours can wash your back..."

Dr. Oliver is lookin' fine today...

dpracket — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 19:59:45 GMT

This fic is set a few weeks weeks after the kiss in the parking lot, but it was just a kiss goodbye as Luke headed back to work after lunch. There was no heart emergency. There was no train.

This fic was inspired by scotianova and her fff fic about nurse gretchen crushing on dr. oliver.

The two nurses in this short fic are from the beginning of this video. And ah, this video makes me miss Reid. Chris was such an asshat.

"Mmm, girl. Dr. Oliver is lookin' fine today..."

Gretchen looked up from from her computer screen and had to admit to herself that Dr. Oliver did look handsome in his suit, coupled with a dark grey overcoat, as he spoke with another physican near the waiting area. She had warmed to the man over the last several weeks because ever since he had started dating Luke, he somehow had become slightly less caustic. He smiled more. He wasn't quite so aloof or irritable. He even seemed, dare she say it, happy. "He had a meeting with one of the county commissioners this morning," she replied in a low voice, looking over at her friend, Sandra. "Yes, he looks nice, but maybe you've been down on the second floor too long. You hate him, remember?"

"Yeah, Dr. O. is an arrogant prick, it's true," Sandra answered in a hushed tone, "But look at him. He's easy on the eyes. Mmm-hm. Down on two, the only one we have available to look at is Dr. Chirs." She grimmaced. "I think I need to request some shifts up here, just for the eye candy."

Gretchen smiled. "You do know he's gay, right?" She glanced over at Luke, leaning against the nurses' station and fiddling with his phone. She knew that he was listening to this conversation about his boyfriend with amusement.

Sandra looked in Reid's direction and ran her eyes down his body. "That's what they say, but I don't know.............maybe it's because he's never experienced the pleasures of a fuller figured woman..."

Gretchen caught Luke's gaze and discreetly rolled her eyes, pulling her lips inward to hide her smile.

Sandra's eyes followed Gretchen's gaze. "Luke Sndyer, you're a gay man. What do you think of Dr. Oliver? He's hot, right? And you look nice in that suit by the way."

Luke looked down at his clothes. "Thanks," he said with a smile. "And Dr. Oliver?" He pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders. "He's okay, I guess..." He bit back a smile and watched Reid now approaching the nurses' station, pulling a scarf around his neck and slipping on black, leather gloves.

Reid looked at the nurses and gave them a chin nod, before standing close to Luke. "You ready?" Gretchen watched Luke nod and press his lips to Reid's. Reid smiled into the kiss, and Gretchen felt a blush coming to her cheeks as she watched Reid's tongue just barely come out to graze Luke's lips before he pulled back. "Let's go. I'm starving," Reid said, before giving Luke one more peck on the lips. Luke slipped his hand into Reid's and trailed just slightly behind him. As they walked away, he looked back and lifted his eyebrows at Sandra before smiling and mouthing the words "He's mine."

Gretchen returned to her work on the computer, but Sandra watched Luke and Reid until they entered the elevator. As the doors closed, she saw Reid pulling Luke to him by his coat and kissing him again. "That lucky bastard," Sandra said under her breath, retrieving orders from the inbox and sighing.

"Which one?" Gretchen asked, while typing and smiling, amused that there was still someone in the hospital who had not been aware of the chemistry between Dr. Oliver and Luke Snyder.

"Both of them."

"I told you he was hot."

dpracket — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 19:54:37 GMT

"I want to be alone with you," Reid said breathlessly, holding Luke's face.

Luke pulled back. "This is all happening so fast..."

"And that's bad, why?" Reid replied, kissing Luke again. He felt Luke smile against his lips and then start walking backwards, tugging Reid with him by the belt loops, and when Luke's hands came up to unbutton his shirt after a few steps, Reid almost couldn't believe it. I'm finally going to have sex with Luke Snyder, Mr. Trustfund himself.

By the time they shuffled to the bannister, Luke had pushed Reid's shirt partially off and bitten down on his shoulder gently, getting a small taste of his skin. "God, Reid..." He lowered himself onto the stairs and pulled Reid down on top of him, his leg wrapping around Reid's calf. Reid started kissing him again. He liked kissing Luke. He was a fantastic kisser. Reid hated it when guys tried to stick their tongues so far in his mouth that it felt like they were licking his tonsils, but Luke used just the right amount of tongue, swirling and teasing, pulling at his lips and occasionally grazing them gently with his teeth. Yes, Reid liked kissing Luke very, very much. He moaned in happy surprise when he felt Luke roll his hips up against him while gripping his ass. This was going to be even better than his detailed fantasies about Luke. He pushed Luke's shirt up to rub a thumb over his nipple while he lowered his head to suck on Luke's neck.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Reid looked up to see Noah a few feet from the stairs, and then he looked back down at Luke and saw the realization register on his face. Damn It! Playtime was over. Luke pushed at his chest. "Noah....oh my God, Noah....."

Reid sighed and stood up, putting his hand out to help Luke up. Luke got to his feet, and Reid watched him pull his shirt down, and brush his hands over his jeans instinctively before facing his ex.  "Noah, you can't just barge into my house without knocking, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Me?" Noah asked increduously as Richard walked up behind him. "What the hell are YOU doing making out with my doctor?" He squinted more than glared at Reid.

Luke looked at Reid, standing there with his still unbuttoned shirt.    He reached over and pulled it closed while shaking his head. Reid rolled his eyes and started buttoning it. Noah Mayer. Erection killer.

"Oh my God!" Luke said, suddenly forgetting his frustration with Noah and turning around. "Noah! You can see!"

He looked at back at Reid. "You did it!" He grabbed Reid by the side of his face and kissed his other cheek. "You said you could do it, and you did!"

"Of course I did," Reid said confidently, a small smirk on his face, but internally he was doing cartwheels. It was a tricky procedure, and if there was one person he didn't want to disappoint it was Luke. Noah was a seeing man again. He couldn't wait to examine him with his opthamologist. He stepped toward Noah. "How do you feel? Is your eyesight clear?"

Reid watched Luke turn around and wrap his arms around Noah. "This is unbelievable! Congratulations!"

Noah pushed him back, not answering Reid's questions about his well being, and Reid felt an incredible desire to punch the guy in the throat. "I can't believe you're sleeping with Dr. Oliver."

Reid carefully watched Luke cross his arms and stare at Noah with that look of bitchy defiance that he pulled off so well. Reid smiled. Luke has this. "Not that it's any business of yours, but I'm not sleeping with him..." He turned and looked at Reid, running his eyes lustfully down his body. "...yet." Luke licked his bottom lip and met Reid's eyes. The doctor immediately felt a hot swirl in his gut and had to bite his tongue to keep from smiling. Luke Snyder. Erection reviver. He needed to have his body pressed against Luke's again. As.soon.as.freaking.possible.

"You always were a slut, weren't you?" Noah spat, taking Luke by surprise. Reid felt his hands curling into fists at his sides.

He saw Luke's eyes well up. "Noah, you have no right to talk to me like that."

At that point, Richard tugged on Noah's arm. "C'mon, Noah. That's enough. Let's get out of here." Noah shrugged off his hand and kept glaring at Luke. "Really, c'mon, Noah. This is ridiculous. You're not together anymore. He can be with whoever he wants. You've moved on, so what's the big deal? Let's go celebrate your new eyes."

Noah turned on Richard and screamed, "Shut up! Get the hell away from me. This has nothing to do with you!"

Richard's hands came up in the air in a surrender pose. "FIne. Ya know what, Noah? Fuck you."   He turned around, grabbed his denim jacket off the couch and walked to the door.

"Wait!" Noah said, turning and walking toward RIchard. "You can't leave. I don't have a car."

"Whatever, dude. I'm not sticking around while you fight for your ex. I'm not anyone's second choice. You have eyes now. You can walk home. It's not that far..." He looked past Noah to Luke. "Have fun with your hot doctor, man," he said with a smirk and then looked at Noah and gave him a yeah-i-said-it-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it head nod before turning on his heel and heading for the door.

"I can't believe you're leaving me here, Richard!" Noah complained, but Richard walked out the door without another word. "You suck!" Noah screamed at the closed door.

When Noah turned back around, Reid had his hand resting protectively on the back of Luke's neck, and Luke had his arms crossed again. "You need to leave, Noah. We are no longer together, and I don't have to suffer your belittlement anymore."

"Oh, c'mon, Luke. Give me a ride. I just got my sight back, and it's bright out. I might hurt my eyes. Plus, we can talk in the car, away from him. We can work this out."

Luke shook his head. "I really don't care about your issues, and there's nothing to work out. We're over. Goodbye, Noah. You can see the door, right?"

Reid squeezed the back of Luke's neck gently and managed to keep a straight face, despite his pride in Luke's attitude. Those were words he might have said himself...but then the doctor in him stepped forward. "No, hey, uh......Noah, I'll take you home." He turned to Luke, happy to find Luke's eyes soft. "He's right, Luke. He's still post-surgical, and we don't want to jeopardize the incredible work that I've done restoring his eyesight, right? This is a huge success."

Noah guffawed. "Oh my, God. Could you be any less modest?" he asked sarcastically. "Luke, seriously, you find this egomaniac attractive?"

Luke looked at Reid and pursed his lips in faux thought. "Very," he said, holding Reid's eyes. Reid felt a warm buzz in his limbs, and he struggled not to tell Noah to take a hike so that he could take Luke up to his bedroom and suck him senseless. Luke smiled sheepishly. Reid swallowed hard. Did Luke know what he was thinking?

"That's it. I'm walking," Noah threatened. "I can't stay here, or I'm going to be sick."

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Mr. Mayer. I'm going to drive you, and we're going to stop at the hospital to see Dr. Boudreaux, so she can examine your eyes and I can run a few tests as well."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I'll just wait here." Noah walked over to side chair and sat down. "Lily will drive me when she gets home."

Reid smirked. "You really want to sit here while I take your ex upstairs and fuck him into the mattress?" Reid heard the audible gulp behind him, which made him smile. "Or maybe he'll fuck me instead. We haven't discussed roles yet, but with him..." He looked back at Luke quickly. "...I'm game for anything."

Reid was happy to see Noah's top lip curl up in disgust.

Just then Lily walked in the door. "Oh, thank God!" Luke exclaimed, stepping around Reid and tugging Noah out of his seat and toward Lily. "Mom, great news. Dr. Oliver restored Noah's eyesight. He needs to go to Memorial to see Dr. Boudreaux. He's refusing Reid's help. Will you drive him, please? And then take him home? Reid and I have some things to discuss."

Reid smiled at Luke's eagerness to get rid of the dolt.

"This is ridiculous!" Noah exclaimed. "They're not going to discuss anything. They're going to have..."

Lily interrupted Noah as she pulled him into an enormous hug. "Oh, Noah! You can see!" She kissed his cheek. "This is wonderful news!" She then walked over to Reid and pulled him into a slightly less enthusiastic hug. "Thank you, Dr. Oliver. Thank you for restoring our Noah's eyesight."

Reid pulled back awkwardly from the hug and nodded. "Just doing my job."

Noah groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Cut the modesty act. Everyone knows that you're an arrogant asshole who can't stop talking about his own brilliance."

Lily gasped. "Noah Mayer!" she exclaimed in a stern, motherly tone. "Dr. Oliver gave you your sight back. I think you should do right not to disrespect him, especially today." She grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go. I will take you to the hospital."

"You do know that as soon as we leave, Luke and Dr. Oliver are going upstairs, and..."

Lily stopped him. "Noah, I love you. I always will. But you and Luke broke up awhile ago. Luke is a grown man, and that's none of our business." She glanced back at Luke and Reid, and Reid knew that it about had to kill her to say that. "Now, sweetie, let's go see that eye doctor and then we'll go pick up pizza and take it to the farm to celebrate with the kids and Holden." She turned to Luke. "Baby, we will be out a number of hours." She closed her eyes and shook her head quickly, seeming to struggle with her own glibness.

"Okay, thanks, mom. And Noah," Luke said, stepping toward his ex. "I really am happy that you have your sight back."

"Whatever," Noah replied, turning his back to Luke and walking to the door.

"Noah," Reid implored. "Please, make sure you check in with neurology as well. I understand that you want nothing to do with me, but don't be stubborn when it comes to your health. Dr. Harris can take over your care."

Noah grimmaced and gave another, brilliant "Whatever."

Once Noah and Lily had gone, Luke turned to Reid and took his face in his hands. "You did it."

"Yes I did." He followed Luke to the stairs but then tugged on his fingers so that he would turn around. "Why did Noah call you a slut? I mean, I don't care. Slutty or not, I want you, but it was just weird because you don't strike me that way, but like I said, I'm in whether you..."

"Reid," Luke said softly, putting a finger over Reid's lip.

"Hmm?"

"I've only ever been with one guy. Him."

"Then why'd he call you a slut?"

"Because I liked sex, and he......didn't. Well, not as much as me anyway. I liked it a lot." Luke closed his eyes and shook his head. "I wanted it all the time, and he........again, he didn't."

"What an idiot."

Luke chuckled. "I take it, this will not be a problem with you." Reid shook his head, a huge smile on his face, not saying a word. "Good." Luke kissed Reid on the lips. "It wasn't even that good. Noah was sort of...I don't know.........he didn't do it very well."

"Sex?"

"Yeah, he was a little rigid...inhibited."

"I'm not."

Luke smiled and tugged on Reid's hand. "Prove it to me." Reid followed Luke upstairs and spent the next several hours proving it to him.

Untitiled -- For the FFF prompt "Come, said my soul"

dpracket — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:57:44 GMT

Reid stood across the church from Luke, his Luke, dressed in a tuxedo (no tie, per Reid's request) and looking radiant. He was smiling brightly and rolling up on the balls of his feet, as he tended to do when he was excited or exuberantly happy about something, and Reid couldn't wait for the damn entrance music to start so that he could meet Luke in the middle, just as they had practiced the previous evening, before the big rehearsal feast at the farm. When planning their wedding, they had both agreed that nobody would be walking down the aisle like a bride and that they would enter the santuary at the same time and meet in the middle. Reid was in a tuxedo as well (no tie, per Luke's request), and he found himself laughing at Luke's "come hither" motion that he was making with his finger. Reid bit his bottom lip and shook his head teasingly at his very soon-to-be husband. He couldn't believe he was about to get married. It's not something he had ever thought he would do. From a very young age he knew that he'd never marry a woman, and then, well, it's just not something he ever entertained as a possibility...finding someone to love him. But now here he was, and he had found Luke, his Luke, who loved him with a fierceness that Reid knew he didn't deserve, and in the year 2016, the laws were such that every state in the nation would recognize their union.

At this point, Luke was now dancing and gesturing for Reid to come to him with his hands. Reid was glad Luke was being silly while they were both out of sight of the people gathered to witness and celebrate their vows. Reid had battled butterflies in his stomach all morning, which made him recall the way he felt before his first few operations as a young surgeon, and it was oddly comforting that Luke was being playful and not completely serious. Reid covered his smile with his hand as Luke turned around and shook his ass a couple times before turning around and laughing quietly, their eyes meeting. The soft piano music stopped, and that meant it was almost time to walk. Reid saw Katie take her place with Jacob beside her, a small, satin pillow in his hands, and he saw Casey and Ethan take their places on the other side of the aisle. He tugged down on his shirt sleeves and took a deep breath, looking up and meeting Luke's eyes. Luke mouthed the words, "It's okay," and Reid nodded. It was more than okay. Everything was perfect.

Finally, the string quartet started playing "Pachabel's Canon," and Reid was finally able to walk to Luke. Reid knew there were a lot of people in attendance, but as he and Luke made their way toward each other, all he could see was Luke, still smiling, but his eyes more serious now, glistening, revealing his emotions like they always did. Luke, Luke, Luke...it seemed like an eternity to get to him, but then there they were, meeting in the middle just like they'd planned. Luke looked beautiful. Beautiful. In any other situation, Reid would have laughed at his own thoughts, but here, now...there was no other way to describe the way his partner looked. Without thinking, Reid lifted his hands and put them on either side of Luke's face and kissed him. There was an audible gasp in the church as the music died away. Reid had violated the traditional order of events. When they separated, Luke smiled and said, "Hey..."

"Hi," Reid said quietly, kissing his lips softly again. "You look incredible."

Luke chuckled softly. "So do you."

Reid rested his forehead against Luke's. "I love you so much...I can't believe how happy I feel right now..."

Luke smiled and kissed Reid. "Me too..." His hand came up and stroked Reid's cheek.

A gentle clearing of the pastor's throat and the soft laughter of the congregation pulled the men out of their private moment.

Reid suddenly didn't feel nervous at all. He was about to be Luke's husband.

Luke smiled at him. "Ready, Dr. Oliver?"

"Yeah, Mr. Snyder. I'm ready to marry you," Reid said, leaning in and kissing Luke one more time before turning to face the pastor, the fingers of his hand intertwined with Luke's.

The pastor smiled warmly at them before lifting her hands in a welcoming gesture to the congregation. "We are gathered here today to unite these two men in holy matrimony..."

"Calling Dr. Love." for the FFF prompt "secret indentities"

dpracket — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:27:03 GMT

"You were not."

"I was."

Luke , who had Reid's feet in his lap on the couch, looked at Reid suspiciously and smiled. "You're messing with me. We've been together over three years, and you're just now telling me this?" Reid shrugged and continued to read the book in his hand. Luke thought about it for a few minutes. "No way. You're too skinny."

"Don't call me skinny. I am toned. And back then, I did 1,000 sit ups a day...500 in the morning before school. 500 at night before bed. I lifted weights in the basement of my dorm. My shoulders and chest were pretty built up. I wasn't huge or anything, but I was young. It was easy. I refused to put myself in a tanning bed though, so they put bronzer on my every night. The bronzer guy was hot. I didn't mind it."

"You don't even dance."

"I can dance. I choose not to."

"No way. No. You did not have time for that in medical school."

"I'd lost a scholarship that was pulled by the benefactor's estate when he died, greedy sons of bitches. The guy was loaded. It was only a few thousand that year, but I needed it. I was strapped for cash. Working at Pizza Hut wasn't going to cover it. I did it for a year...my senior year of undergrad studies. I was 20. My roommate got me into it...I swore him to secrecy, reminded him that I was already handy with a scalpel. I didn't want it biting me in the ass later on. I only did it every Friday and Saturday night, but I still had groupies." Luke scoffed. Reid smirked. "Okay, sure, they didn't let unescorted guys into the place, so they were mostly female; but still.... Have you ever had groupies, Snyder?"

Luke tried not to laugh. He shook his head. "Okay...I'll play along. What was your stage name?"

"Dr. Love." Luke laughed harder. Reid sang softly, "♫Callin' Dr. Love...I've got the cure you're thinkin' of...♪" and chuckled. Then his voice dropped to a deeper timber as he spoke the lyrics. "And even though I'm full of sin, in the end, you'll let me in." He grinned laciviously at Luke, who just stared at him. "They played it my first dance of each show. We did two shows a night."

Luke studied Reid who went back to reading his book. "You're bullshitting me."

Reid sighed and stood up, placing his book on the coffee table. "Give me your phone." Luke reached into his pocket and handed Reid his iPhone. Reid then disappeared into the other room and came back with a kitchen chair, which he placed in the middle of the living room. "Sit," he said to Luke, while pointing at the chair. He turned around and fiddled with Luke's phone for a minute before attaching it to the USB cord, connected to the stereo.

He turned around, and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," came thumping out of the speakers.

"Oh my God," Luke said, practically bouncing in the chair.

"Yeah, I know you love this stupid misogynistic song. Now, listen, you have to imagine me with 20 additional pounds of muscle and 20 years younger. Are you ready, Mr. Snyder?"

"Yes!" Luke said, enthusiastically, but then he stood up. "Wait....Wait!" He ran into the bedroom and came back out with a fist full of bills. "Now I'm ready."

Reid laughed and proceeded to give Luke the lap dance of his life. Luke tried to touch Reid numerous times while he danced lewdly around and over him, but Reid would just slap his hands away and shake his head while singing along to the music. By the end, Reid was in nothing but his boxers, with bills sticking out of the front and the back, and straddling Luke's lap. An old Billie Holiday song oozed out of the speakers. They were both laughing, and Luke's hands were pretty much all over Reid, as he wasn't slapping them away anymore. Reid looked down at the money tucked into the front of his underwear. "This is pretty lucrative...maybe I should go back into the business."

"No way.," Luke protested. "This secret alternate identity of yours is all for me," he said kissing Reid's neck. Reid smiled and pulled them both down onto the floor. They were both laughing and ridiculously turned on. Luke yanked his shirt off as Reid worked the button on his jeans. After a lot of touching and even more kissing, and after a litany of sweet and dirty words spoken against each other's lips and skin, Luke gave Reid a lap dance all his own.

:)

(posted 9/10/13 on lure lj)

A Conjugal Visit

dpracket — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 15:53:28 GMT

Reid enters the dimly lit hospital room, closing the door behind him. He looks at Luke lying in the bed. His Luke.

Reid has spent most of his adult life in a hospital. He's witnessed pain and suffering up close. He's fought death many times and helplessly watched it win. He's stood by and been amazed by miraculous turnarounds and incredible wills to live. He's cried in grief and frustration and celebrated with patients in times of joy and healing. He's spent his life in hospitals, and yet none of it, nothing, has prepared him for the pain of watching Luke, his Luke, suffering in a hospital bed.

He walks over to Luke and rests his hand gently on Luke's head, relieved to find it cool and his skin dry. Luke needs to be as strong as possible for the kidney which could become available any day now...any day...please, please, please. Reid realizes that he's wishing, praying, for someone to die,some faceless stranger, someone with a physical make up very much like Luke's, a match in the ways that matter. He closes his eyes, not sure how to be okay with that.

Luke opens his eyes, and he tries to offer Reid a smile, but instead, he just says, "Hey," as Reid leans down to kiss him gently on the lips.

"I thought you were sleeping at home tonight," Luke says softly as Reid goes over to the sink to get the bottle of coconut lotion.

"I was going to, but..." Reid returns to the bed and removes the blankets from Luke's legs. "I hate sleeping alone." There was a time when he loved sleeping alone. He never spent the night with anyone. Fuck? Yes. Sleep? Hell no. But now? Now there's Luke. And the thought of sleeping anywhere outside of an arm's reach of Luke is unacceptable. He squeezes some lotion into his palm and rubs his hands together before picking up one of Luke's feet and starting to massage it. "How were the muscle cramps today?"

"Not too bad. I think maybe the magnesium you ordered is helping."

"Good," Reid says, continuing to massage Luke's feet and calves, kneading the muscles gently. "Good."

Luke closes his eyes and starts to drift off again. The renal failure and daily dialysis has made him fatigued and weak. A few minutes later, he feels Reid run his hands over the top of his feet one last time and replace the blanket. He opens his eyes as Reid sits down next to him. For the next few minutes, they sit, Reid's left hand gently carding through Luke's hair. Reid studies Luke's face, the circles under his eyes look darker than the day before. He rubs a thumb over Luke's stubbled chin and smiles. He'll help Luke shave in the morning.

"I'm so tired of being here," Luke says softly.

"I know," Reid says, squeezing Luke's shoulder.

"I want to be in our bed. On our couch. I want to come home from work, kick off my shoes by the front door, pet the dog, and kiss you hello. It feels like it's been forever since I've done that. I want to wash dishes with you. Mow the fucking lawn. Take out the garbage. If I make it out of here alive, Reid, I swear I'll never argue about taking out the garbage again."

"Soon. Soon," Reid says, running his hand down Luke's arm to soothe him. "And you making it out of here alive is the only option I'll entertain, so don't say 'if,' Luke. Don't."

"They made me take my ring off today," Luke says, holding up his left hand. Reid can see the sheen in Luke's eyes.

Reid takes Luke's hand and examines his ring finger, running his thumb over the ridge where Luke's wedding ring used to be. "I can feel the dent it left on your finger, and your tan line is still there.....it's okay, Luke.....it's just until after the surgery. The dialysis is causing you to retain water. Better to take it off now than have it cut off later."

They are quiet for a few minutes until Luke asks, "Reid, can you do my arms too? I've been itchy today."

"Of course," Reid says, reaching for the lotion.

He proceeds to massage Luke's forearms, careful to not disturb the fistula in Luke's right arm, and when he begins to massage Luke's hand, tugging gently on his fingers, Luke lets out a soft, gentle moan. Reid looks up from his concentration on Luke's hand to find Luke with his eyes closed and his lips parted every so slightly. Reid's chest tightens. He misses that sound. He misses hearing it in the quiet privacy of their bedroom when Luke is letting him know "yeah, right there," wherever "there" happens to be at that particular time. Reid tugs on Luke's middle finger, massaging both knuckles, the lotion making his movements fluid, and he's rewarded with another soft, breathy moan. Reid continues to massage Luke's hand, his fingers soothing the muscles there.

After a few moments, Luke tugs Reid's hand up to his chest and moves Reid's hand over his nipple. "Please," is all he says. Reid moves one finger, still slick with lotion, over Luke's nipple and watches it harden immediately; He rubs it a few times and then moves over to the other one. When Luke moans gently, Reid gives the nipple a small pinch and watches Luke's back arch slightly off the bed. "Please," is all he says again.

"I've got you, Walker," he says, knowing what Luke wants. Knowing he just wants to take a break from the bad. That he wants a distraction from the pain, the fear, even if it's just for a brief amount of time. Knowing most of all that he wants to feel normal. Reid stands, leans forward and latches onto Luke's hard nipple, sucking on it and massaging it with is tongue. He feels Luke's hips roll and feels himself getting hard. "I've got you," he repeats against Luke's now damp skin, his tongue, lips, teeth, and fingers traveling down Luke's torso as Luke's fingers thread into his hair. His senses are flooded, and he realizes how much he's yearned for the smell and taste of Luke's skin the past three weeks. "I love you," he says before pulling Luke's boxers waistband down and licking a long stripe just above his pelvic bone. He can smell Luke's musk, his heat.

"Reid, please..." That's all Reid needs to hear, the painful need in his lover's voice. He doesn't even care that one of his coworkers on the floor could walk in at any second. He tugs Luke's boxers down and sinks his mouth down onto him, opening his throat and hearing the surprised gasp, followed by a thankful groan, as Luke rolls his hips and thrusts into Reid's mouth. It's been weeks, so it only takes a few short minutes of hard sucks and creative tongue action until Luke is crying out and streaming down Reid's throat.

Reid swallows all of it, continuing to suck until Luke is completely spent and softening in his mouth. He pulls off, kisses the head of Luke's deflating dick and nuzzles into the course hairs at the base, breathing in deeply. After a few moments he stands and pulls the sheet up to cover Luke. That's when he sees the tears in Luke's eyes.

"Luke..." Reid says, reaching for him. "Oh, Luke...." He drops the rail on the side, and he slides into the small bed with Luke, careful of the wires and tubes and wraps his arms around him so that Luke's head rests on his shoulder. "I've got you," he says, kissing the top of Luke's head, but he's already aware of the tears on his own face and the shakiness of his own voice. He hugs him tighter. "I won't let anything happen to you.," he says running his hand over Luke's arm. "You're on the top of the list. That kidney is going to be here any day now..." He closes his eyes and takes back every wrong word he has ever said about Lily securing a kidney for Luke on the black market. He gets it now, and he wonders how he can go about doing the same.

He pulls Luke closer and closes his eyes as he feels Luke's face settle into the crook of his neck. He sighs and decides that if he pretends hard enough, it almost feels like they are at home, in their bed, with his arms wrapped around Luke, and Luke's arms wrapped around him.

Almost, but a million miles away.

He squeezes his eyes shut even tighter and prays to a god in which he doesn't even believe.

Closure, or...

dpracket — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 02:17:32 GMT

Reid looked up to the soft rapping on the frame of his office door to find Luke standing in the doorway. He looked thinner, but more solid, and his hair was shorter than Reid had ever seen it. He had a tightly trimmed goatee. He looked older. More mature. Confident. Sexy as hell.

It had been ten months since they had broken up over Bob's ultimatum. Less than two months later, Bob had told Mona Cross and Invicta to take a hike and had found investors elsewhere, but by that time, the damage had been done. There had been too many arguments, too many misunderstandings, and too many things said in the heat of the moment between two willful men who weren't willing to budge from their positions.

Reid wasn't going to give up the neurology wing or his patients at the hospital. Luke had known saving patients was Reid's life, how could he ask Reid to give that up? How could he be so selfish? Three months...that's all Reid was asking for...a three month break and tthen hey could pick right back up where they had left off. It wasn't that unreasonable, was it? And hell, he knew that they would find ways to steal time with each other along the way. Bob and that Mona lady couldn't be everywhere. They'd find time with each other. But Luke?...Luke had been tired of being with people who didn't put him first. Period. Three months? No way. He clearly didn't see the appeal of an undercover relationship.

Of course, since that time both of them had realized that maybe they could have gone about things in a different way, maybe could have seen each other's point of view, come to a compromise, talked it through, made things work....but even as those thoughts had crossed their minds, neither one had been willing to make the first move, and then when the other one didn't try to make amends, they had separately come to the conclusion that maybe it was beyond repair, that even if they cared the other one didn't. Their relationship had been in the early stages, and what little they had built was already torn down, and neither of them was willing to build it back up.

They had avoided each other, aside from meetings and hospital decisions, almost successfully for the last ten months. A couple of chance run-ins in Old Towne, Al's, and the bookstore had proven awkward and painful. One day they had run into each other at Java and even sat down with their coffees to talk, but then a few minutes into their civil conversation, Noah had walked in, said something caustic, and it had all fallen to shit, with Reid leaving the table and telling them that they both needed to grow up. There had even been an unexpected, barreling kiss one night in the parking lot of Yo's when Reid was drunk and his defenses were down. Reid had tasted familiar and strangely safe, and Luke had wanted to take him to his bed and get lost in his blue eyes and warm skin, but in the end, he'd reluctantly put and easily-guided Reid into Casey's car instead, telling himself that going home with a drunk (or any) Reid would be reckless.

They never talked about it...the lingering feelings or the mistakes they both had made...the fact that it didn't need to be like this between them. Instead, they kept telling themselves it was over and that it didn't matter, that they were better off without the other one. Lies, lies, lies.

Reid realized he'd been looking at Luke and not saying anything. He cleared his throat. "Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Snyder?" he asked in a professionally annoyed tone.

Luke didn't take the bait. "Hi, Reid," he said pleasantly as he stepped into the office without an invitation, closing the door behind him. He looked at the clock on the wall: 9:34 pm. "I was hoping you would still be here. I was pretty sure that you would be." He placed two large paper bags on Reid's desk. "How about you put those charts on the credenza? And turn on the lamp."

"I'm working," Reid complained, even as his stomach growled from the delicious aromas coming from the bag.

"You're avoiding, that's what you're doing."

The doctor glared at him. "Listen, Mr. Snyder, the last thing I need today is you psychoanalyzing me and telling me what and why I'm doing things."

"Reid?" Luke ignored what Reid was saying and nodded his head toward the credenza.

Reid let out an exaggerated sigh. "If I'm not ready for that consult on Monday, he lied, it will be your fault, Mr. Snyder." But then he gathered the stack of papers together and put them where Luke had requested and turned on the small lamp on the credenza as well. "What the hell are you doing here, anyw......"

Reid's words faltered when Luke turned off the bright, florescent light overhead, leaving the room in the warm, dimmer glow of the lamp. "Open the blinds," Luke instructed, walking back to Reid's desk, taking off his coat, and reaching into the bag.

Reid watched Luke a moment, pretending not to notice how good Luke looked in a pair of low-slung jeans and tight t-shirt. Had Luke been working out? His chest and shoulders looked broader. He shook his head at himself and turned around to open the blinds. From his office on the fifth floor, he could see the mist that threatened to turn into snow and the city lights. Why was Luke here? When Reid turned back around, two glass mugs sat on each side of the desk. "Luke," Reid said, his voice free of annoyance or aggression, "What are you doing? You don't have to do this."

"I know," Luke said simply, pulling a bottle of Reid's favorite beer out of the bag and opening it.. "Sit," he said, pointing toward Reid's chair and pouring the beer into the mug. Reid nodded slightly and sat down, as Luke opened a root beer and filled his own mug. He then held his mug up toward the doctor. "Happy birthday, Reid."

Reid tried not to roll his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was successful. "C'mon, Luke, you know I don't cele..."

"Listen, Reid," Luke interrupted, "I'm standing here with a drink in my hand, toasting you on your birthday. Why don't you not be an asshole about this and lift your glass to mine and say 'thank you'...?"

"Okay, yeah," Reid said, lifting his mug and clinking it against Luke's. "Um. Thank you."

They both sipped their drinks, and Reid sighed softly, watching Luke lick rootbeer foam from his upper lip. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Luke asked, shaking his head, a small amused smile on his face. Reid couldn't help but smile back just slightly.

Reid sat quietly and watched Luke unpack items onto his desk. Luke placed a styrofoam box in front of him and put his finger on the cover. "One bacon double cheeseburger, no onions, extra cheese, extra pickles, jalapenos and mayo added." Reid's stomach growled in approval. "Seasoned fries," Luke added, reaching into the bag. He placed a small plastic container next to the box. "Chili cheese for your fries, and..." He reached into the bag and pulled out a large handful of ketchup packets. "And thirty seven ketchups."

"Thirty seven?"

"One for each year of your life." Reid chuckled and watched Luke remove another styrofoam box from the bag and place it in front of himself. "Oh, and Henry sends his love."

"I'm sure he does," Reid answered sarcastically as Luke pulled out a small square cake with white icing and blue trim, removed the plastic cover, and placed it on the desk between them. Reid wanted to protest. He didn't celebrate his birthday. He never even told people it was his birthday because he didn't care that it wasn't recognized. He'd made the mistake of talking about birthdays with Luke on that damn flight home from Dallas, when Luke was asking him a million questions to avoid talking about the kiss the night before. Damn it, this wasn't something he liked doing. He had some faint memories of being a child and his mother making a big deal about his birthday, and he remembered that one year his parents had given him a real, honest to goodness microscope for a gift, complete with prepared slides, how excited he'd been...but that was a long time ago, and when he was a young teenager, his uncle, his guardian, never bothered with cake or presents, so rather than being disappointed each year, it was easier to think of it as just another day, like any other. Nothing special. Nothing worth celebrating. However, it seemed like Luke had put thought into this, for whatever reason, so Reid bit his tongue and sat quietly, watching Luke light the small number of candles on the cake.

"I didn't want to put thirty seven candles on, I mean, God, we'd probably set off the ceiling sprinklers in here."

"Screw you, Snyder," Reid dead panned, but there was a hint of teasing and a smile with the words.

"So I used eleven, three plus seven.....and one for good luck." Luke sat down. "Make a wish."

Reid looked uncomfortably at Luke, his skin glowing warm in the flickering candlelight. Their eyes locked briefly, but Reid couldn't hold Luke's gaze. He closed his eyes and felt the wish float across his mind. He opened his eyes, leaned forward, and blew out the candles. He took a deep breath and swallowed, feeling emotion threatening the fortress he'd been maintaining around himself since the moment Luke had walked through the door. He didn't know what to say to Luke, and he couldn't even bring his eyes up to look him. Thankfully, his ex (?) seemed to take pity on him by saying, "C'mon, let's eat before it gets cold."

Reid nodded, not saying anything. He opened the box and smiled. "Fried pickles too?"

"Of course," Luke said, taking a bite of a french fry and smiling. "They're your favorite."

After a few minutes of eating in silence, Reid asked, "Why'd you do this?"

Luke swallowed and wiped his mouth, appearing to think about the question. "Because I knew you would be alone tonight........and I didn't want you to be."

Luke's words made Reid's stomach tighten, and he still found it hard to look at him. He nodded and continued eating. After a few moments he said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Luke replied, taking a sip of his soda.

"No," Reid said, meeting Luke's gaze. "I mean it. Nobody's done this in a long.................just.........thank you."

Luke smiled, and they concentrated on eating. After a few awkward starts, they shared comfortable conversation by staying on safe subjects like the neurology wing, Luke's foundation work, movies, music, and current events. As Reid was finishing his piece of cake and contemplating seconds, Luke slid a small box with a blue bow over to him. "What's this?" Reid asked, automatically sliding the box back toward Luke. Gifts? No. No gifts.

Luke put his hand on top of Reid's. "Just open it."

Reid tried to tamper down the rush of electricity he felt at Luke's touch. He reluctantly pulled his hand away, tugged on the ribbon, and opened the box. He looked at Luke briefly and then picked up a plastic card that read "Four Seasons, New York." He ran his thumb over it and looked at Luke questioningly.

"That's a card key. My grandmother's plane is fueled and ready to go at the airport. The manifest has our names on it."

"Luke, I can't go to..."

"I've taken care of everything. You're off this weekend. Katie packed a bag with some of your clothes, and it's in my car. Dr. Harris and Dr. Garcia are covering your rounds. Your patients are in good hands."

"What are you doing?"

Luke ignored Reid's question. "That card key is for a 52nd-floor suite with city and park views." Reid tried to process what Luke was suggesting. "The hotel has a spa, world class dining, and an extensive room service menu."

"What are you proposing here, Luke?" Reid asked, not sure how to feel about such a forward suggestion.

"Reid, I miss you." Reid nodded but didn't speak, feeling a flicker of hope flair up in his chest. "I think about you every day. I wonder what you're doing and if you ever think about me." Reid suddenly found a spot on the table very interesting and didn't respond. "And maybe this isn't fixable. Maybe it really was doomed before it even started, I mean, hell, we hated each other for the first few months after we met. And how long were we officially together, a mere two weeks?"

"C'mon, Luke...you know it started before then."

"Yeah, Reid, it did. There's been something between us since the first day you walked into Memorial."

Reid nodded, remembering his instant attraction to Luke, the way he'd liked arguing with Luke those first few days and weeks, the way he'd hated the way his body immediately responded everytime Luke was in the room, the way he'd told Noah to keep Luke away from him but then liked it when Luke just couldn't stay out of his orbit, the way Luke was what he saw every freaking night he closed his eyes to sleep, the way he'd fantasized about him and stroked himself off to the images in his mind. "So, we go to this hotel, and.........what?"

"We get away from the noise of Oakdale, away from all the people who think they have a say in how you and I relate or don't relate to each other. For months now, I've had people asking me if I've talked to you, when we're going to make up, and then some people I know are all 'good riddance' about it. I'm sure you've got Katie all over you about it every other day, and Henry...I've heard the two of you have been hanging out, and Henry's none too shy about making his opinion known. And when I saw you at the bar a couple of months ago, you were with people from work, so I know you have friends, Reid, and I'm sure they want to give you advice because, well, this is Oakdale, and everybody's in each other's business." Reid nodded. Just last week, Katie and Hank had double teamed him and went on and on about Luke, about him not dating anyone, about him not even speaking to Noah anymore. "But screw them, Reid. It's none of their business. It's about us. Not them. So, let's go away, where the only voices we hear are yours and mine. And then we find out if there's something here worth salvaging."

"How do we do that?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know...talk? Fuck?" Reid's eyebrows shot up. "Scream? Throw things? I have no idea, but.....I know that we never talked it through. We just stubbornly let it go."

"And if it doesn't work?" Reid asked, his hand wrapping around Luke's wrist, his fingers caressing the soft skin on the underside.

Luke shivered, visibly affected by Reid's touch and licked his lips. "Well, then...I guess we'll know."

"We were..." Reid shook his head. "...we were pretty terrible with each other. I don't know if I want to go through that again."

"Well, that's honest....but if we can't make things work, then at least we'd have some closure finally. If we really are done with each other, I need that. Because right now, talking to you, sharing a meal with you, it doesn't feel like we're finished.................I went out with a guy a few weeks ago," Luke revealed. "Dinner and a movie. I felt like I was going to throw up the whole time."

"Food poisoning?" Reid asked with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

"Reid."

Reid let out an awkward chuckle. "I was at a bar a couple of months ago......I don't know.....I was just looking for..." Reid rolled his eyes and then shook his head. "Some male company. I was talking to this guy, and he leaned in to kiss me, just out of the blue. I wanted to punch him in the throat."

Luke laughed nervously. "Why? Was he ugly?"

"No, he was hot."

"So, then, what was the problem?"

"He wasn't you."

"Oh," Luke answered, tugging on his ear. "Did he kiss you?" he asked shyly.

"No, I did the duck and weave and got the hell out of there unscathed." Both men laughed as Reid stood, went around to the other side of his desk, and pulled Luke up into a hug. He kissed his temple. "I miss you too...and I do...........I think about you....all the fucking time." He felt emotion prickling his eyes, so he closed them. Luke was warm and felt like home, and Reid didn't know what to do with that, so he broke the embrace and stepped back. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, his thumb tapping against his thigh.

"No." Luke smiled at Reid's hand twitching nervously at his side. "I realize that this could end in disaster. You're right. We haven't treated each other well in the past year. That's why I got a suite. It's a big enough hotel room that we can get away from each other if we need to, and there's always the city. I'm pretty sure New York is big enough to get lost in." He smiled, but Reid just looked terrified, so Luke slipped his hand into Reid's to stop its movement. "There was a moment, when we first started acting on our feelings...you asked me how you made me feel...at your apartment, the day we returned from Dallas. Do you remember that?" Reid nodded. "I didn't answer you at the time because I was scared to death of just how affected I was by you. Did you know that? You'd kissed me the day before, and my mind had played with that the entire night and on the plane ride back, and you were standing so close to me. You smelled good...you were wearing that tight shirt. Our bodies were so close, and you were leaning into me. It was like you were daring me not to touch you, and you were asking me how you made me feel. I swear, if your pager hadn't gone off, and I had allowed myself to touch you....God." Luke swallowed hard and licked his lips. You made me feel free for the first time in my life. Un-judged." He grabbed the sides of Reid's head and held him there, looking into his eyes. "And strong...God, I felt strong...and powerful. Infuriated. Intoxicated. Reckless and safe at the same time." Luke leaned forward and kissed Reid gently on the mouth. "And wanted, Reid." He ran his thumb over Reid's lips. "You made me feel wanted...............needed.........the way you looked at me......I was with someone for years who never looked at me like that...........with so much heat.....................Nobody else has ever made me feel like that, and I'm scared to death that nobody else ever will."

"Luke," Reid whispered, pulling Luke's mouth to his and kissing him deeply and murmurring, "I still want you," against Luke's lips when the kiss broke. "I want all of you."

"Then come to New York with me, and let's figure this out." Reid stepped back, still looking unsure. "It's okay, Reid. I'm scared too."

"I'm not scared," Reid said grimacing, but then he looked down at the floor while playing with his eyebrow and tonguing the inside of his cheek. After a moment he looked back up at Luke and pursed his lips, nodding in acknowledgement.

"I've changed a lot in the past ten months."

"Yeah, I noticed. You look really good."

Luke smiled, his cheeks flushing. "No, I mean...I've..............I'm not that petulant asshole I was when I demanded you quit your job, for me." He rolled his eyes. "I got my own place six months ago. It's close to Landon Park. I........I feel a lot more settled....Independent, I guess......" Luke shook his head. "I got back together with Noah for like a week at the beginning; I don't even know why, other than I was scared to be alone. But I realized it was wrong immediately and broke it off for good. He didn't take it well, kept badgering me for awhile, but I haven't seen him in a good four months now. I heard he finally moved to LA......he never even said goodbye. I've been alone for almost a year, and...I don't know...but I think I needed that. I jumped straight from a terribly dysfunctional long term relationship with him into something new with you, and I never really settled into myself, ya know?....I had a lot of baggage, and I think that some of my reactions in regards to you were nothing but a remnant of old esteem issues I had because of him. It wasn't fair to you, and because of that we probably never stood a chance. I've been seeing a therapist."

Reid smiled. "That's where all this self-realiztion is coming from, huh?"

"I'm selling the shipping company. The work I've been doing there is so not me. We already have some interested parties. I want to concentrate on helping people. I'm going to funnel most of the money into the foundation, but I'm also going to use it to go back to college. I enrolled in three classes. I want to get my degree. I'm going to write, and I want to be a teacher."

Reid grinned. "You've been busy, Mr. Snyder."

Luke let out a breath that he felt like he'd been holding for almost a year. There had been a time when Reid calling him by his surname had been a way to get under his skin, a way to put distance between them, a way to keep Luke away, but now, the way it rolled playfully off his tongue, it felt familiar and comfortable.

"Yes, I have, Dr. Oliver..." Luke said back, equally as playful in tone.

Reid smiled and started to pull Luke toward him, but then he stopped and looked nervous again.

"It's okay, Reid," Luke said, stepping into Reid's personal space. "You can say 'no.'"

"No, uh yeah...I uh..........I really don't think I can say no."

Luke smiled. "Good. Then I guess we're going to New York. Tonight."

Reid ran a hand over his face and smiled softly. Spontanaity really wasn't his thing, but God, he wanted this. He wanted to find his way back to Luke. "Yeah. Tonight." Tonight. He could see unshed tears pooling in Luke's eyes, so he wrapped his arms around him because if he saw Luke cry, he wasn't sure he could keep from crying himself. He felt Luke's face immediately tuck into his neck, and they fit so perfectly, with their bodies pressed together, that it felt like they were custom made for each other.

"I'm sorry," Luke said against Reid's skin. "About all of the shit that happened between us."

Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's neck. "I'm sorry too. I should have fought harder for you." Reid pulled back and kissed Luke gently on the lips. "Let's get out of here."

They went to New York and talked and did lots of other stuff in every room of the suite, got back together, and lived happily ever after. The end. :)

Drunk

dpracket — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:18:21 GMT

It had been a bear of a day. Reid had gotten to the hospital early on Friday morning for a scheduled surgery, and just as he was about to walk out the door at 3:00, casualties had come into the ER from a multi-car accident on the highway that ran through town, two of them needing his expertise to save their lives. And now it was 10:20, and he was walking into Yo's for a couple of beers and maybe some pool or darts...maybe even a hookup?...(yeah, he knew it was a stretch)...to take the day off his shoulders and out of his head so that he'd be able to sleep.

When he walked in, he scanned the room on his way to the bar and decided that in addition to all of its other short comings, Oakdale was pathetically lacking in gay men. Queer Nation, Oakdale was not. He sighed and approached the bar, digging into his pocket for his wallet. As he did, he saw Mr. Snyder arguing with the bartender. So, there was another gay man in the bar, after all. And although he found Luke incredibly attractive in more ways than one, Luke hated his guts. And he was a blackmailing, overly indulged brat. Oh, and there was the matter of him having a boyfriend. Who was his patient. Reid considered turning around and going home. There was beer in his fridge. He could relax with ESPN SportsCenter, maybe find some porn on the Net......but then he noticed that the bartender was raising his voice, so he walked up behind Luke.

"Come on, Matt...we've known each other since middle school. I'm fine!"

"Listen, Luke, this is the last time I'm saying this," the bartender replied, the frustration evident on his face. "You can give me your car keys, and I'll call you a cab, or I can call the police and have them take you home. I'm not giving you another drink, and that's final. You're wasted. You need to sleep it off."

"Fuck you," Luke muttered before getting off his bar stool and heading for the door.

Reid watched the bartender pick up the phone. He got his credit card out. "Hey...wait. That's not necessary. I'll make sure he gets home safely." He placed his credit card on the bar. "Pay his tab with this. I'll be back to sign the receipt in a minute." Matt looked at him suspiciously. "Listen, I know him, okay? I'm a doctor at Memorial. His boyfriend's my patient....I'm not going to steal his car or wallet, okay?" Matt didn't say anything. "Or I can leave him here, and maybe he'll come back to argue with you some more. Take it from me, he doesn't know when to let things go and just shut the hell up."

Matt nodded and picked up the credit card. "Yeah, okay...see if you can talk some sense into him."

Reid walked quickly over to Luke and put his hand on his arm, causing Luke to spin around.

"Hey, Dr. Ol'ver! Whaderyou doin' here?" Luke smiled widely, which caught Reid off guard for a second.

"Yeah, hey, Mr. Snyder. Where are you going?"

"To my truck. That asssshole cut me off. Go'na go to Huey's, by the river. Issnot that far..."

Reid tugged on Luke's arm. "Why don't you sit down. I'll go up there and get you a drink. The bartender won't know. I could use some company. Drink with me."

"You wanna buy me a drink?" Luke asked increduously. "Are you hittin' on me, DoctrrOl'ver?" Luke teased and stepped closer to Reid.

"Hell, no," Reid said, putting his hand on Luke's chest to stop him from completely invading his personal space. "C'mon, Trust Fund, What are you drinking?"

"S'prize me, Docterr," he slurred, as he sat down at a small table by the door and let out a giggle. "You look cute in re'glar clothes..."

Reid looked down at his maroon button down shirt and black jeans. He shook his head. "Okay, don't move. I'll be right back with our drinks."

"You rock, Doc."

Reid was unable to hold his smile at Luke's complete state of drunkenness and returned to the bar. "What's he been drinking?" Reid asked, adding a large tip to the receipt and signing it.

"Gin and tonic."

"Wow, how 1970s of him....Um, yeah, ok...can you fix up a drink that looks like gin and tonic, but make it with water and tonic? At this point, he won't taste the difference. And a couple of shot glasses of water with two limes?" He pulled a $5 bill out of his pocket and put it on the bar. "And a...." he looked at the taps. "A Michelob."

Matt nodded. "Luke shouldn't be drinking, man. I wouldn't have served him if I'd been out here, but I was working in the office tonight, and then I came out to relieve Nick when his shift ended. Luke was already shit-faced. I've been trying to get his keys from him for half an hour." A few moments later he put all the drinks in front of Reid. "Thanks for the tip, bro."

Reid nodded, wondering why Luke shouldn't be drinking, took the drinks, and walked over to Luke, whose head was down on the table. He put the drinks down and Luke raised his head, reaching for the "gin and tonic."

"Hey, hey, wait," Reid said, sitting down. "Do a shot with me first." He picked up a shot glass and handed it to Luke. "White tequila," he lied. "Are you even old enough to drink?"

"I'm twennythree," Luke said, picking up the other shot glass. "What showe toast to?"

"Viva Mexico," Reid replied and clinked their glasses together.

Luke laughed and threw the shot glass back. Reid handed him a lime, which Luke sucked. Reid squeezed the other lime into his beer and dropped it in the glass. They were quiet for a few minutes while Reid drank his beer and Luke enjoyed his "gin and tonic."

"Whadaya doing here alone, Docter Ol'ver?"

"I could ask the same of you," Reid answered. Luke snickered and another few moments went by.

"I broke up with Noah today," Luke said suddenly, and then he dissolved into laughter. "You shoullda seen his face...I bet henever thought I'd do it." Luke chuckled again. "But I did..." Luke stopped laughing and took another sip of his drink and grimmaced. "This drink sucks."

Reid put his hand out and tipped the glass back toward Luke's mouth. "Drink..."

Luke took three long gulps of the water and then put it down. "Are ya tryyin' to get me drunk, Doc Ol'ver?"

Reid looked at his watch. "It's getting late, Mr. Sny...."

"Tell me somethin', doc," Luke said, his eyes glassy. "Do you have a boyfriend down in Texas?"

Reid grinned. He'd never told Luke he was gay. He'd never told Noah either, for that matter. "Nope. No boyfriend, Mr. Snyder."

Luke rested his chin in his hands on his elbows and gazed goofily at Reid. "You have pretty eyes...they're clear like....pool water....when it's sunny......"

Reid stayed quiet, not sure how to respond to Luke waxing poetic about his eyes.

"Let's dance!" Luke said, suddenly standing up. He pulled some money out of his pocket. "I'll pick a song in the jukebox."

Reid stood up and put the money back in Luke's pocket. "There's no dance floor." He leaned closer to Luke and lowered his voice. "And I don't think the patrons in this establishment would take too kindly to two men dancing together, know what I mean?"

Luke stepped back and gave Reid a nod of annoyed acceptance.

"Let me take you home," Reid offered, putting his hand in the crook of Luke's arm.

"NO!" Luke argued, pushing Reid's hand away. "No. I don't wanna go home. I'm not going home. I can't. I'm not answr'ing their questions. No. I'm not goin'home."

Reid sighed. Shit. Why couldn't he have left well enough alone and let the bartender call the cops? Let them take Luke home in their squad car?    Of course he knew why...because Richie Rich would have made it on the road before they got there. And Reid knew all too well what happened to human bodies when they ran off the road...or into trees...or into oncoming traffic. "Okay, then why don't you come home with me?" he suggested. "I have some of that 'white tequila' at my apartment," Reid lied. "We can do some shots...keep this party going. What do you say?" He knew that Luke wouldn't even make the ride home before falling asleep. If he could get him up the stairs, he figured there was no harm in letting Luke sleep off his stupor on the couch. Katie would be okay with it.

Luke smiled. "Now we're talking," he slurred as he ran his hand over Reid's chest. Reid shook his head, pulled Luke's hand away from his body, and motioned toward the exit. Luke shrugged and started walking toward the door. As Reid followed him out, he looked over his shoulder and caught Matt's eyes to let him know that Luke would be okay.

*********************************************

Luke immediately headed towards his own truck in the parking lot, but when Reid took him by the crook of the arm, Luke easily followed him to Reid's black Challenger. As they approached the car, Luke said, "Cool car. Is it a standard? Can I drive it?"

Reid laughed. "I'll make you a deal, Mr. Snyder, I'll let you drive it anytime...when you're sober. 'K?" Reid wondered why the hell Luke was impressed with something as pedestrian as a Dodge. The kid could probably afford a fucking Bugatti, if he wanted one.

"You'rrr no fun," Luke slurred, leaning against the car, as Reid opened the passenger door. "I am wasted though." He giggled. Then his face fell. "I can't go home."

"You're coming home with me, remember?" Reid reminded him as he tugged on his arm, " C'mon, get in."

Luke sat down and closed his eyes.

"Buckle in," Reid said, nudging Luke on the shoulder.

Luke opened his eyes and gave a half smile before closing them again.

"Great," Reid muttered, leaning down and stretching the belt across Luke to secure it. As he did, Luke opened his eyes and brought his hand up to the side of Reid's face. Reid turned toward him and before he knew what was happening, Luke's lips were on his. Reid lost his wits for a moment or two, instinctively opening his mouth and searching for Luke's tongue because, God, he'd wanted to kiss Luke since the day he'd met him.   However, as soon as his tongue slid against Luke's, he tasted gin and lime, reminding him of Luke's inebriated state, and he reluctantly broke the kiss. He gently pushed Luke's head back against the seat and moved the hair out of his eyes. "It's probably not a good time for that," Reid said, shaking his head.

Luke nodded and closed his eyes again. Reid ran a hand over his own face and then buckled Luke in completely. He closed the door, leaned his forehead against the cool metal of the car, and hoped Luke wouldn't remember that kiss in the morning.

When he started the engine, Luke startled and then settled back in the seat. "I broke up with Noah today," he told Reid for the second time that evening, as they drove through the darkness. Reid looked over at Luke and by the dashboard lights he could see a small smile on Luke's face. "I think I s'prized him." Luke giggled but then his smile faded, and he closed his eyes.

**************************************

"Oh, my God, Luke! Is he okay?" Katie asked, standing up from the couch. As she got closer to Luke, who was leaning on Reid, she got a whiff of the very distinct smell of vomit and put her hand over her mouth and nose.

"He puked in the parking lot on the way in here, and then he fell in it," Reid said, a grimmace on his face. "The little shit is lucky he didn't puke in my car."

Reid continued to guide an only partially awake Luke to his room. "Do me a favor; call his mother. Feed her some bullshit. He was over here watching a movie or something with you and fell asleep. You don't want to wake him or whatever. Don't tell her he's drunk."

"Okay. Yeah, I can do that. Oh, Luke, you shouldn't be drinking, hon..."

Reid noted that those words had been said in regards to Luke two times that evening. Apparently, Richie Rich had issues with alcohol. "I'm going to get him cleaned up. Will you get some Tylenol and water too?..."

Reid walked Luke into the bathroom and sat him down on the closed toilet seat. Luke slumped against the half wall between the toilet and the shower. Reid looked at the stand-alone shower and then at the tub on the other side of it and then back at Luke, who had puke in his hair and on his clothes. He sighed, trying to imagine peppermint and snow, and knelt down in front of Luke, pulling off his shoes and socks. He looked at the shower again and wondered how he was going to do this. "Hey, Mr. Sny.....Luke."

Luke didn't respond.

Reid knew that Luke couldn't stand up in the shower by himself. He considered just putting him in the tub and letting him sleep it off there, but the thought of dried vomit in his hair in the morning made Reid feel like gagging. If he put Luke in the tub and washed his hair, he wasn't sure he'd be able to lift him out afterwards, even with Katie's help. "Okay, Mr. Snyder," Reid said, pulling off his own shirt. "I guess we're showering together. Yeah, I know you've fantasized about it," he joked with himself, more than with Luke. He undid his belt while toeing off his shoes. "Shit, I can't believe this..." He stepped out of his jeans until he was standing in front of Luke in nothing but his boxers.

He tapped Luke on the cheek a few times. "Mr. Snyder." Reid tugged up on the hem of Luke's shirt as Luke groggily opened his eyes and saw Reid's bare chest.

"Whatter ya doin'?" Luke demanded, pushing Reid's hands away. "Don'touch me..."

"C'mon, Luke. You got sick. You need to get washed off. You're a mess. Take off your shirt." Luke obliged and pulled the shirt over his head. Reid took it from him and chucked it in the direction of the tub, just making it. "Okay, now stand up," Reid instructed, putting his hand out to Luke who took it and pulled himself to his feet with Reid's help. "Take off your pants." Luke leaned his forehead onto Reid's shoulder and didn't make a move to remove his clothing. "C'mon, Snyder," Reid said, holding Luke steady with his left hand and unbuckling Luke's belt with his right. He felt Luke's hands on his sides, against his bare skin, to steady himself. Reid maneuvered the best he could getting the belt and button undone and lowering the zipper. "C'mon, help me out here, Mr. Snyder," he said, trying to tug Luke's pants down with his one hand. Luke came to his senses a bit and tugged the other side down. He put both of his hands on Reid's shoulders and stepped out of his jeans, leaving his boxer briefs on. "There ya go," Reid said, and walked Luke over to the shower.

Reid opened the door and turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up and adjusting it, while Luke leaned limply against him. "Okay, here we go," Reid said when the water was the right temperature. He walked Luke into the shower and helped him sit on the bench seat. He pulled the shower massage down, put it on gentle, stood with his legs on either side of Luke's right leg, and began washing Luke's hair while Luke leaned his forehead against his toned chest.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Ol'ver," Luke said attempting to soap his own hair but seeming relieved when he felt Reid's hands there to do it instead.

Reid shook his head. "Let me do it; it will be quicker."

"I'm such a screw up..."

"There's no self-loathing allowed here, Mr. Snyder," Reid answered as he gently scrubbed Luke's scalp and worked his fingers through his long hair. "It's my bathroom, so I make the rules." He felt Luke's hands suddenly on his hips and the pads of his fingers pressing into his flesh. He was surpised by his own sharp intake of air. As he rinsed Luke's hair, Reid felt hyper-aware of the heat, the steam, how close they were, and the feel of Luke's hands on his bare skin.

When he finished rinsing, he put his hand on the back of Luke's neck, and Luke raised his head. "Thanks," Luke tried to stand up, but he got dizzy.

Reid pushed him gently back against the wall. "Sit."

Luke sat on the bench and slumped against the side wall with his eyes closed. Reid proceeded to wash Luke's face, Luke sputtering as water ran over his nose and mouth. Reid then moved to his neck and chest, as well as his back and stomach, his hands and fingers taking their time to outline the angles and muscles on Luke's body and to rake through his chest hair. He was only human, after all. When his hand moved over the scar on Luke's side and lower back, he felt a world of understanding and protective feelings run over him. "Oh, Luke.....damn......."

Luke seemed to come to for a second. "I told you I was a screw up."

Reid stood upright and ran his soapy hands over Luke's broad shoulders. "Relax, Luke...just...........don't worry about it right now........right now, you need some water and some sleep."

Reid quickly washed his own hair and body and turned the water off.

He stepped out of the shower, leaving Luke balanced on the bench, while he toweled off, stepped out of his boxers, and wrapped a towel tightly around his waist.

He helped a half-conscious, very slippery Luke out of the shower and toweled him off, taking time to dry his hair and smooth it back. He slid Luke's now very clingy boxer briefs off, forcing himself not to look, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He then walked him out of the bathroom, over to his bed, and helped him to lie down on his back, his legs hanging off the side.

"Oh, my," Katie said, walking in and seeing a toweled Reid standing over a mostly naked Luke, passed out on the bed.

"Can you believe this shit?" Reid asked, running a hand through his damp hair. He couldn't believe he had just cleaned up Luke Snyder's puke. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sleep pants, which he put on in the bathroom. He then came out and pulled a pair of boxers and a tank top out and threw them on the bed next to Luke. "I need some help," Reid said, nodding in Luke's direction.

"Sure thing," Katie said, smiling and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"You are such a fucking perv," Reid teased, even managing to smile in the middle of all the ridiculousness.

"Okay, Mr. Snyder, you've got to stand up one more time. But first, just sit up." Luke groaned and Reid tugged on his hand. Luke reluctantly let him pull him up to a sitting position and then Katie held him there, lovingly stroking Luke's shoulders. Reid knelt in front of him and put Luke's feet through the legs of the boxers and pulled them up to his thighs. "Okay, Katie, help me stand him up. They both pulled Luke to a standing position. Reid pulled the boxers up the rest of the way, cursing under his breath (but sort of loving it) when he felt Luke's dick catch on the elastic waistband. When he was sure Luke was completely covered, he removed the towel. He pulled the soft, gray tank top, that read "Harvard Rowing" over Luke's head, and Luke pushed his arms through on his own. Katie retrieved the glass of water and handed it to Reid, who put it up to Luke's lips. "Drink." Luke took a sip. "More," Reid instructed. Luke took a large gulp. "Good, open." Luke opened his mouth. Reid placed two Tylenol on his tongue. "Okay, last one. Drink." Luke took one last bit of water, swallowing the aspirin down and coughing a little.

"Good job," Reid said, walking Luke over to the side of the bed. "Lay down."

Luke got into bed without an argument. Reid pulled the sheet up to Luke's chest and was surprised when Luke reached up and took his hand. "Noah and I broke up," he divulged to Reid for the third time in less than as many hours.

This time Luke didn't smile or giggle, his hand fell away, and Reid saw tears welling in his eyes. "I know, buddy..." He reached down and softly rubbed his thumb from the bridge of Luke's nose up to his forehead, and Luke's eyes closed. Reid smoothed Luke's damp hair back and listened to his breathing become deep and steady. He looked up to find Katie staring at him with a smile on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," Katie said happily and rolled up on her toes.

Reid rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Goldilocks. I've got some laundry to do," he said heading toward the bathroom to get their clothes.

"You care about him," Katie said, as she followed Reid, who had an armful of soiled clothes, down the hall. "You wouldn't have brought him home and taken care of him tonight if you didn't."

Reid glanced at Katie. "First of all, I'd rather give him a ride home than work to put his brain back in is skull when they page me at 1 a.m.. I spent enough time in the hospital today; I didn't feel like going back to fix Luke Snyder's stupidity. Second, I had no choice than to clean him up. Were you going to do it? Stop trying to make more out of this than it is."

"Why didn't you just take him home then?" Katie asked.

"Because he begged me not to, said he couldn't go home. He never said why, but he seemed..........I don't know.....panicked at the thought of going home."

"I still say you care about him."

"Will you stop with this matchmaker shit? Luke Snyder and I have absolutely nothing in common, so drop it. On top of that, he hates my guts."

"But you don't hate his," Katie observed. "Do, you Doctor Oliver?"

Reid stopped and looked at his roommate. "Katie..."

"When I called Lily, she said that Luke broke up with Noah today. Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah, it means that he's so upset about it that he drank himself into a stupor."

"No, silly, it means he's free. Unencumbered. Up for grabs. It's your chance, Reid. I know you like him. You can deny it all you want, but I know you do. You have feeeeeelings for him. You want to play it off that he's just this spoiled rich kid that you can't stand, but I see through that, doctor. It's not your fault. Nobody can resist Luke. And if you show Luke a little bit of what you've shown me, well, you're ridiculously irresitable too. It took no time at all for Jacob and me to fall in love with you."

Reid looked over at Luke through the bedroom door. "Yeah, no. Guys on the rebound are not my thing." He looked back at Katie. "You're in love with me?"

Katie pursed her lips and shook her head and then smiled at Reid. "Well, I'm just glad he ended things with Noah. It's about time as far as I'm concerned. That guy's been hot and cold on Luke for years. He's pushed Luke away many times, and then over and over, he's expected Luke to be there when he decides he wants him again. I'm glad Luke finally wised up. He deserves better."

"And you think I'm better? Really, Katie? I've never been in a relationship that lasted more than ten months. No...I'm the last thing Luke Snyder needs. What he needs is an AA meeting."

"Okay, so then...be his friend. Can you do that?"

Reid looked over at Luke now sleeping peacefully. He nodded.

"Good. It's a start." She leaned over and kissed Reid's cheek. "Just be gentle with him. He and Noah were together for a few years. I'm sure his heart is a little bruised."

"Yeah, well....I'm a head guy, not a heart guy."

Katie rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder motherly. "You sleeping in there with him?"

Reid looked at Luke again. "Yeah, I want to be there if he gets sick again. I don't think he will, but..."

"Just in case," Katie said resolutely.

"Yes, just in case," Reid rationalized, continuing to the laundry room.

*********************************************************

Reid set the dryer to "tumble warm," and then walked out to the living room and turned off the light. Katie had gone to sleep a half an hour earlier. When he entered his bedroom, the light from the bathroom dimly lit the bed, and he could see that Luke was now sprawled out across both sides of it. He shook his head and went into the bathroom. When he came out, he walked through the dark room and over to the side of the bed. He got into bed, gently rolling Luke over and away from him so that he had room to lie down next to him. As he laid down, Luke mumbled incoherently and rolled back over toward him until Luke's back was against his bare chest, and he found himself sort of spooned against him. His mouth was mere centimeters away from Luke's bare shoulder, and it took everything in his power not to steal a taste of Luke's skin. He allowed his lips to hover there for a couple of minutes, fighting against temptation, and let his body relax against Luke. He then he lifted his head just slightly, until his nose brushed against the clean and still damp locks of Luke's hair. He breathed in deeply, groaned, and then forced himself to roll over onto his back, his shoulder slightly under Luke's. He lay staring at the ceiling for a good 45 minutes, aware of Luke's skin, his heat, his scent, before finally falling asleep close to 2:00 a.m.

**********************************************************

Luke stretched and opened his eyes.    He looked up at the ceiling and then to the side. He had no idea where he was. He was in a dim, early-morning-lit room with pale gray walls and white crown molding. On the one side of him was an open closet and a dresser. He rubbed his head, having no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He looked at the sparse number of clothes in the closet, a few collared shirts, a few pairs of pants, a suit jacket, and a pair of dark blue scrubs. His eyes dropped to a pair of brown boots on the floor of the closet and then back up to the scrubs. Luke's eyebrows knotted together. No. He rolled over the other way, his head hurting, and sucked in a deep breath. Dr. Oliver? He looked at Reid's bare chest and his eyes traveled down over his flat stomach to the sheet bunched just below his navel. Luke looked down at his own chest (Harvard rowing???) and felt below the covers, relieved to find that he was wearing underwear. He looked at the doctor again, snoring softly next to him. What the hell?...

Luke closed his eyes and tried to recall the events of the evening before. He remembered being at Yo's and talking to a couple of girls at the bar and joining in their flirting with Nick. He remembered playing darts for awhile, and he remembered arguing with Matt, but he couldn't recall what they were arguing about. After that? Nothing. Shit. And now he was in bed with Dr. Oliver, of all people. Half-naked Dr. Oliver. Please don't be naked, please don't be naked, Luke chanted in his head as he slowly lifted up the covers and looked tentatively beneath them. "Oh, thank, God," Luke whispered when he saw sleep pants on the man sleeping next to him. Reid shifted a little, mumbling, and turned toward Luke, his hand coming up to rest on Luke's stomach. Luke closed his eyes and didn't move. After a few moments he opened his eyes and looked at Reid, his face so different in sleep...relaxed, free of tension. Luke let his eyes trail over Reid's face...his long eyelashes, his perfect nose, his strong jaw, his soft-looking lips. His eyes drifted lower to his neck, his sinewy arms, his creamy skin, his smooth, hairless chest, his lean torso....Stop! Luke reprimanded himself and slid quietly out of bed, hoping beyond hope that Reid wouldn't wake up.

Once he was in the bathroom, with the door closed securely and quietly behind him, Luke turned on the light and looked in the mirror. What the hell had happened the night before? He tried hard to remember having seen the doctor at the bar or anywhere, and he came up with nothing. Why were they in bed together? Was Dr. Oliver gay? Had they had sex? No.... A brief image of Reid moving into him from behind moved across Luke's mind, which sent a warm rush to his stomach and groin. No... Luke felt his ass clench at the thought. He didn't feel any soreness there. No. Just, no. There was no way he would have sex with Dr. Oliver. No way. He couldn't stand the guy, with his pompous attitude and his smug smile. With his blue eyes and his fit, tight frame... Luke shook his head and told himself to stop being ridiculous. "No," he said out loud, looking at his own eyes in the mirror. I wouldn't. "We did not sleep together." Would I?

Luke decided he needed to get out of there before Dr. Oliver woke up, but where were his clothes? He had not seen them in the room, and they weren't in the bathroom. He looked at the Harvard Rowing tank in the mirror. He had no recollection of putting it on. While he peed, Luke ran his tongue over his teeth and realized his mouth tasted like shit. He pulled open the vanity drawer, looking for toothpaste, which he found, along side a razor, some shaving cream, a hairbrush, and a strip of condoms. Another image skittered across Luke's mind. This time he was on top of Dr. Oliver, and................No! He quickly picked up the tube of Crest and closed the drawer. He squeezed some onto his finger and proceeded to brush his teeth like he had at camp in middle school.. He inwardly chuckled at the memory, as the door creaked open. "Mr. Snyder, you okay?"

Luke instinctively pulled down on the front of the tank he was wearing. "Dr. Oliver!" he exclaimed, his mouth full of toothpaste.

"Good morning," Reid said, rubbing his eye. "How are you?"

Luke spit and rinsed his finger. "I'm good, I'm good," he said uncomfortably, even though his head hurt and his stomach was a little queasy.

"You feel okay?" Reid asked pulling his toothbrush out of the holder and picking up the tube of toothpaste.

"Yeah, yeah...sure. I'm fine..." Luke said nervously, as Reid began brushing his teeth. Luke didn't know what to do. Should he leave? Yes, I should leave. But his feet seemed to be cemented in place. He looked down at Reid's bare shoulders as he bent forward over the sink...his muscular back.... And then he forced himself to pull his eyes away before they went any lower. What the hell was happening to him?

Reid straitened up and wiped his mouth on a towel. "Dr. Oliver?" Luke asked shakily. "We didn't...um...ya know..." he gestured between himself and Reid, his eyes lingering on Reid's chest. "Right?"

"No!" Reid said, defensively, but then he said it again, more calmly. "No." He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "No, I swear. No. We didn't."

"Oh, thank GOD," Luke said relieved, running his hand through his wild bed head. "I mean, you're not even gay, right?" He stepped forward and then backward, not really knowing where to go. "And if you were, I'm sure I would never be your type." Why did I say that? He looked down. "These aren't mine," he said gesturing toward the clothes he was wearing.

"No," Reid replied. "They're mine. Um....just how much do you remember from last night?"

"Not much. I remember being at Yo's, but I um...I don't remember seeing you there. I was drinking......Were you there?"

Reid chuckled. "Yeah, you were pretty well hammered."

Luke's hands covered his face so that he didn't have to look at himself in the mirror and so that he couldn't see Reid's face. "Yeah, I gathered as much. Shit..." He pulled his hands away suddenly, and Reid could see the tears in Luke's eyes. "Don't tell Noah! Please, don't tell Noah..." Reid put his hand on Luke's shoulder, but Luke knocked it away immediately. "Dr. Oliver, I'm begging you! I know you would love to see me humiliated, but please, don't tell Noah. I promise I'll stay away from you. I won't show up at any of Noah's appointments, just........please, he can't know about this."

"Hey," Reid said, watching Luke wipe a tear away. "I won't. I wouldn't do that."

"Why should I believe you?" Luke asked, his voice high and squeaky.

"Hey, calm the fuck down, okay?" Reid replied, feeling the familiar frustration that was common when dealing with Mr. Snyder. "I saved your ass last night, you entitled little..."

"W-what do you mean?" Luke asked, looking at Reid in the mirror.

"What I mean is, you were fucking lit. The bartender was ready to call the cops because you wouldn't give up your keys. If I hadn't stepped in, you would have either wrapped your truck around a tree or been delivered home by the police. I paid your tab, placated you, drove you here, cleaned up your fucking puke, put you to bed, washed your clothes, and made sure your mother wouldn't find out. So, I really don't give a shit if you believe me or not."

Luke covered his face with his hands again. "I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed and hating the fact that Dr. Oliver, of all people, had seen him that way. "Shit, shit, shit, shit," he muttered, shaking his head back and forth.

"Hey," Reid said, putting his hand on Luke's shoulder. "It's okay. C'mon, don't........it's okay....don't listen to me.............I'm just cranky in the morning. You can ask Katie."

A nervous laugh escaped Luke's throat, as he removed his hands, revealing fresh tears. "Just in the morning, Dr. Oliver?"

Reid shrugged and smiled. He thumbed at the tear on Luke's cheek. "Don't cry..."

Luke nodded and wiped his face. "Every morning," he said, looking at himself in the mirror. "I get up, look in the mirror and tell myself how many days I've been sober. Today was supposed to be 517. And now it's ruined." Luke lowered his eyes.

Reid thought about the scar he'd felt on Luke's body the night before. "Hey," he said, gently pushing Luke's chin up so that he could see his eyes in the mirror. "Don't let one night erase almost a year and a half of hard work." Luke tried to pull away. "No. Hey. Look at me." Luke looked at Reid in the mirror. "So, what.? You slipped. Everybody fails sometimes. Even me. Yeah, I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." He groaned at his own lame attempt at humor.    "It was one night. And I know that you know that you can't drink, right? It will kill you. You have to protect your kidney. You know that, right?"

Luke nodded. "How did you..."

Reid didn't let him finish his question. "So, you stand up, brush yourself off, and start over. If you did it for 516 days, then you can do it for 516 more. Don't give up just because you had one lousy night. You're stronger than that."

"How do you know if I'm strong or not. You don't know me. It's so hard. I struggle with it every day. Every. Day."

"I'll help you," Reid said, putting his hand on Luke's shoulder.

Luke pushed it off of him. "Why? Why would you help me? You hate me."

"If I hated you, I would have turned around and left you in that bar to fend for yourself."

Luke ran a hand over his face. "I don't know how anyone can help me...I don't even know how to help myself."

"Well," Reid said, looking at Luke in the mirror. "You can either go home and wallow in everything you're feeling today and risk having a repeat of last night, which will leave you feeling disappointed in yourself again tomorrow morning................or...............you can spend the day with me,and we'll find a way to keep your mind off of things. And then tomorrow, you can wake up, look in the mirror and say, 'I've been sober one day.' After that, you just keep doing what you've been doing. It's been working, right?'"

Luke nodded and swallowed. "Why are you being so nice to me, Dr. Oliver?"

Reid sighed. "Okay, first of all, you might as well call me Reid. I mean, we've now shared a shower and a bed. I think that puts us on a first name basis. And B., contrary to what everyone seems to think around here, I don't kick people when they're down."

Luke attempted a smile but failed. "So, you've seen me naked?"

Reid smiled softly. "Nope, nope....I was a perfect gentleman. I'm not going into specifics, but it was all very chaste."

Luke chuckled. "Okay....yeah, okay."

Reid stepped behind Luke's shoulder and they held each other's eyes in the mirror. Luke nodded, realization about Reid's nature flooding over him. They were the same in one way. How could he have missed that in the past few weeks? Why hadn't Reid mentioned it? He smiled and then looked down shyly. "Reid?" Luke said, testing the name on his tongue and lips.

"Hmm?"

"Did I kiss you? I don't know why, but I have a feeling that I kissed you."

Reid licked his bottom lip. "Yeah, you did."

"I'm sorry, ohmygod...." Luke closed his eyes them opened them slowly as he raised his head to find Reid's eyes again. "And what did you do?" he asked tentatively.

Reid smiled and moved his hands to Luke's hips. "Duh. I kissed you back."

Luke laughed. "I guess my gaydar is better when I'm drunk..."

"Yeah, you even asked me to dance at the bar."

Luke closed his eyes. "That would have been a great way to get our asses kicked."

"Mmm, that's pretty much what I said when I turned you down."

Luke smiled, still well aware of Reid's hands on his body. He looked up at his eyes in the mirror. "Last night....did I tell you that I broke up with Noah."

Reid chuckled. "Only about 27 times..."

"Oh...." Luke covered his eyes. "I'm sorry. I must have been babbling away drunkenly about the stupidest stuff. You must think I'm such an idiot."

"I'm kidding," Reid said, his fingers pressing into Luke's flesh to get his attention. Luke opened his eyes. "It was only three times. The first two times you told me, you were laughing. The third time you told me..............you looked like you wanted to cry."

Luke sucked in a sharp breath and nodded. "I had to do it. I know he's going to turn this all around on me and say that I deserted him during his time of need, but the truth is that he didn't want me there. He hadn't wanted me in a long time...emotionally, physically....none of it."

"He's the idiot," Reid said, stepping closer to Luke. "And he's blind in ways that I can't fix." Reid rested his chin on Luke's shoulder.

After a few moments, Luke sighed and turned around, his breath catching when he realized how close he was to Reid. "Thank you." He looked Reid in the eyes. "Thank you for looking out for me. I didn't deserve it with the way I've treated you."

Reid shrugged and struggled to resist touching Luke. "I gave as good as I got." He looked away nervously. "Uh, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, but.......I've gotta pee."

***************************************************

When Reid came out of the bathroom, Luke was laying in the bed, the sheet pulled up to his waist.

"I'll go get your clothes out of the dryer," Reid said, moving to the bedroom door.

"I don't remember it," Luke said, sitting up.

"Remember what?"

"Kissing you."

Reid let go of the door handle and laid down next to Luke, pulling him down with him. He propped himself up on one elbow and cupped Luke's face, causing Luke to draw in a surprised breath. He bent down and pressed his lips against Luke's. Luke's mouth opened automatically and Reid let his tongue slide against Luke's one time before breaking the kiss. "It was something like that." He leaned in and kissed Luke softly on the lips again.

Reid pulled back and watched Luke blink a couple of times before he felt Luke's hand on the back of his neck, pulling him into another kiss. They kissed deeply, and Reid rolled over on top of Luke, who opened his legs to accomodate Reid's weight on top of him, his hands kneading the flesh of Reid's bare shoulders and back.

"Oh," Katie said, from the crack she'd opened in the door. "I'm sorry." She opened the door further, as Reid groaned and broke the kiss, picking up a pillow and flinging it at her.

"Did you ever hear of knocking, Blondie?!"

"Oh, yeah. I'm.....I was just checking on Luke....Hi, Luke."

"Hi, Katie," Luke said sheepishly as Reid rolled off of him.

"Hi, there..................." Katie smiled. "Oh well, um...yeah. I'm sorry I disturbed you. Go back to whatever it is that you were doing, and when you are finished....um, I'm making pancakes. Come out and eat some pancakes. And eggs, sausage, syrup, and..."

"Katie," Reid said calmly.

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. " She cackled. "Oh my God. The two of you.................I knew sooner or later, you would hit it off.....I just didn't know it would be so soon...." She rolled up on the balls of her feet and clapped.

"Katie!"

"Okay, already! Jeeze, you're no fun at all, Reid..........................but, Luke, he's a good guy. Don't let his rough edges scare you away. I mean, when I met him, gawd.............I thought he was such an asshole................but then he moved in, and he's just one of the most genuine and caring people I've ever........you should see him with Jacob..........they are adorable together. Reid sings to him and reads him stories, and just the other day I found him playing...." Katie ducked to dodge the second pillow that came flying her head. She shot Reid a look. "Fine. I'm going...I can take a hint..."

"Can you? Really?" Reid answered sarcastically.

"Remember...pancakes when y'all are finished with your, um....man time................"

Luke smiled and Katie closed the door.

Reid buried his face in Luke's neck and groaned. "Sorry about that."

Luke chuckled awkwardly and moved away from Reid's mouth as it went to attack the soft skin on Luke's neck. "Yeah." He stood up, tugging nervously on his ear. "Um..."

Reid stood too, nodding. "It's okay, Luke. This probably isn't a good idea right now, huh? Way too soon...you just ended a long-term thing." He ran a hand down Luke's arm. "I'll go get your clothes."

"Thanks," Luke answered, stepping back from Reid. He let his eyes run down Reid's body and then back up to his eyes. "You have a nice body, Reid, and you're a really good kisser.............you have no idea how much I'd like to just...I don't know.........get lost in that for awhile."

Reid smirked. "I think I do, actually." He reached down and played with the fingers on Luke's left hand. "I'm very attracted to you, Luke...always have been."

Luke pulled his hand away and stepped back even further, as if Reid's proximity and touch were too much. "So, what do we do now?"

"I get your clothes..."

"And put on a shirt," Luke added. "Please, put on a shirt."

Reid chuckled. "I'll put on a shirt, you'll put on your clothes, and then we'll go out there and have breakfast with Katie and the kid."

"Okay, yeah," Luke agreed, nodding. "Reid? Please, don't tell anyone about this, okay? I mean... not us...........I mean.......I don't mean us...there's not an us." Luke took a deep breath and steadied his thoughts. "I mean, please don't tell anyone that I was drunk. My family will be so disappointed, and they'll worry. I don't want it getting back to Noah because he'll just berate me about it."

"I won't tell anyone. I promise. You have my word, okay?"

Luke nodded, stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Reid. "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't there last night."

Reid hugged Luke in return, rubbing circles on his back. "It's okay, Luke. And if you're ever in that kind of situation again....I mean, ya know, where you want to drink. Please, call me. No judgement, okay? Just call me."

Luke nodded, and took Reid's face in his hands, placing a gentle kiss against his lips. Reid groaned in frustration, which caused Luke to laugh.

Reid pulled away, gently slapping Luke's ass. "Clothes, breakfast, and then....we'll figure out something to do today."

Luke nodded and watched Reid walk out the door. He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror over Reid's dresser. "Day one. I can do this."

And of course, this was just the beginning, and they went on to live a life of happiness together. The end.

I told you that I would wait.

dpracket — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 20:38:03 GMT

When Luke came out of the bedroom in his suit, Reid was sitting on the couch, picking at a thread on his sleeve, thinking about Chris but also concerned about the fact that Luke had thought he was cheating on him. "Do you think we need ties for this?" Luke asked, stepping in front of him, two ties hanging loose around his neck and two others in his hand.

"Hey, come here a minute," Reid said, motioning for Luke to sit down with him.

"Mmmm...I think this burgandy one would look great with your suit," Luke hummed as he sat down next to Reid, who immediately took his face in his hands and kissed him.

"We're together, right?" Reid asked as he sat back.

Luke smiled shyly. "Yeah, we are..."

"And I said that I'd wait, right?"

"You did. Reluctantly." Luke licked his lips and smiled again.

"But I said I'd wait." Luke nodded and Reid kissed him. "Then, don't doubt that. Don't let other people make you doubt that. I wouldn't cheat on you. That's not the way I work."

"Noah was right." Reid's brow furrowed. Why the hell was Noah's name coming up again? But then Luke leaned forward, held Reid's head in his hands, and kissed him hard and deep, and suddenly Reid didn't really care about anything else except the way Luke tasted. Luke broke the kiss and dropped his hands to Reid's biceps and ran his hands over them through his shirt. "He said that you were nothing like him." Luke chuckled. "He said that he couldn't believe that I was with you because you were nothing like him."

Luke stood up again. "And I sat there agreeing with him, like an ass! He had me fucking agreeing with him, telling him that I didn't ever think I'd ever be with someone like you either. What the hell?" As realization hit Luke, he turned away from Reid and let out a booming laugh.

"Yeah, uh, Snyder, could you get to the point?" Reid asked, putting his head back and looking at the ceiling, suddenly feeling a little uneasy with the way the conversation was going.

"No, no, no...don't you get it?" Luke whirled around and straddled Reid, which caused Reid's head to pop up and his hands to grip Luke's hips. Even during their heaviest make-out sessions the past few weeks, Luke had never straddled him. Reid felt all the blood in his body rush to his... "You are nothing like him! Nothing. And that's the point! I traded UP!!" Luke laughed. "Of course, he doesn't see that. In his eyes, I'm with you only because I'm not with him. He's such an asshole. He doesn't even realize that even if there was no YOU, I wouldn't be with him. He asked me to go to LA with him, ya know."

"He what?" Reid asked, instinctively pulling Luke against him.

"Like I was going to drop everything and go with him, right?" Luke answered, his respiration increasing with anger and want. "Of course, he wanted to blame it on you, that I couldn't or wouldn't leave because of you...like I don't have a foundation and a company to run. But, God, Reid, yeah...if I'm honest, the biggest reason is you." He kissed Reid and then continued. " I am much more comfortable with you than I was with him, even this early on. I love that you're a little rough around the edges, that most people don't get you............. because I get you. I like that our relationship leaves people scratching their heads, including Noah. " Luke cupped Reid's cheek. "I like that I know the softer facets of your personality and that I always know where I stand with you. And I'm really sorry that I let my stupid ex put doubts in my head about the kind of person you are, or about how you feel about me, and even about how I feel about you. I defended you to him today but with too little conviction, and he did try to make me doubt the solidity of our relationship.." A few seconds went by and Reid didn't respond. "Reid?"

Reid pushed Luke's jacket off his shoulders and then cupped Luke's cheek with his right hand. "You don't need to defend me to him. I don't care what he thinks about me or what he thinks about our relationship. But I do care what you think, so listen up, Mr. Snyder, so that there's no confusion. I'm in this. I'm invested in us." He kissed Luke's jaw, his neck. "I have never felt like this with another man. This fucking safe. This certain. God, Luke...whatever you want or need...it's yours." He kissed the other side of Luke's neck and let out a low, breathy moan.

Luke shifted against Reid, aware of his want and pressing down on it. He kissed Reid and spoke against his lips, "Why are we waiting?" He ran his hands over Reid's neck and shoulders. "What the hell was I thinking?"

Reid chuckled and put his head back against the couch as Luke sucked on his neck. "I have no idea, Snyder..." He pushed up against Luke, which caused Luke to gasp and straighten up. As he did, Reid tugged at Luke's arousal through his dress pants. Luke bucked forward and said Reid's name before starting to unbutton Reid's shirt. Reid kissed Luke hard, his hands gripping the sides of his head, his tongue searching for Luke's. And that's when Reid's pager and his cell phone buzzed simutaneously. "No, no, no, no," Luke whispered, his thumb grazing Reid's left nipple and his forehead resting on Reid's shoulder.

Reid groaned and sat up straighter, his arms on Luke's biceps, pushing him back slightly, gently, reluctantly. "I'm sorry," he said, removing both devices from his belt. "I'm on call for emergencies tonight and tomorrow..." He looked down at his phone. Bob had sent him a text message: Don't forget about the meeting in 30 minutes. Metro. Please, don't be late. I can't find Chris. Have you seen him?"

Chris. He needed to check on Chris. Reid put his phone and pager next to them on the couch and wrapped his arms around Luke. "We've got to go. The cocktail schmoozefest is in half an hour. I need to talk to Chris before it starts, if he's there."

"Why wouldn't he be there? If he wants to stay in the running for Chief of Staff, he needs to be there, right?"

Reid shook his head and ran his hands down Luke's back to his ass. He squeezed gently. "Fucking cock blockers...all of them."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, but ya know, what? My mom and little brother and sister could walk in that door at any second, so this probably isn't the best place for us to end our waiting." He climbed off of Reid's lap and kissed him softly.

Reid stood up and said, "We don't need ties, right? It's just a cocktail party. And I like that I can see a little chest hair on you."

Luke pulled the two ties from around his neck and dropped them on the coffee table. The other two had come to rest earlier on the floor near the couch. He slipped his hand into Reid's, "C'mon, it's time for you to go be awesome."

Reid followed Luke out the door, hoping like crazy that Chris was okay.

14th of Five Scenes that Didn't Involve Kissing but Now Do! :)

dpracket — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:35:08 GMT

ALL SCENES ARE ONE SHOTS EXCEPT FOR SCENE 6

Scene 1 (Pizza Day): dpracket.livejournal.com/10552.html
Scene 2 (Par-tay at the Lilypad): dpracket.livejournal.com/10792.html
Scene 3 (Good D or Bad D?): dpracket.livejournal.com/12806.html
Scene 4 (Luke thinks Reid is cheating on him): dpracket.livejournal.com/13476.html
Scene 5 (the sexually tense scene at the Lilypad): dpracket.livejournal.com/14320.html
Scene 6 (a DVD extra...haha...the parking garage, which ulimately turned into a multi-chapter fic, with a lot of Reid/Henry bromance)
The sixth of five scenes: dpracket.livejournal.com/14667.html
After the parking garage (pt 2): dpracket.livejournal.com/15254.html
What are You Doing Here? (pt. 3) : dpracket.livejournal.com/20200.html
A Peek Behind the Wall (pt 4): dpracket.livejournal.com/20336.html
On the hook(pt 5): http://dpracket.livejournal.com/20581.ht ml
Non-Date Night (pt6): dpracket.livejournal.com/20820.html
The Sentry (pt7): dpracket.livejournal.com/21032.html
Avoidance (pt8) dpracket.livejournal.com/21720.html
Opposites Attract (pt9) dpracket.livejournal.com/21929.html
Here (pt 10) dpracket.livejournal.com/22197.html
Reluctance (pt 11) dpracket.livejournal.com/22326.html
Where Else Would I Be? (pt12) dpracket.livejournal.com/23506.html
I've Got You (pt 13): dpracket.livejournal.com/23602.html
Romance or Something Like It (pt 14) http://dpracket.livejournal.com/24936.html
Life In Oakhell (pt 15...final): http://dpracket.livejournal.com/25245.html
Epilogue http://dpracket.livejournal.com/65425.html
Scene 7 (post Judd punch, Reid lookin' all sexy with that bruised eye...I mean, really...how could Luke resist?! *evil grin*) dpracket.livejournal.com/24539.html
Scene 8 (Reid's eating shredded wheat for dinner and sulking) http://dpracket.livejournal.com/43596.html
Scene 9 (HOLD THE PHONE): http://dpracket.livejournal.com/44909.html
Scene 10 (NOT THE EASIEST GUY TO DEAL WITH): http://dpracket.livejournal.com/54998.html
Scene 11 (Luke's suggesting chinos and a polo to a guy who probably wouldn't be caught dead in chinos and a polo.) http://dpracket.livejournal.com/61865.html
Scene 12 (ExamRoom! Luke) http://dpracket.livejournal.com/62734.html
Scene 13 (Reid's gay! yay!) http://dpracket.livejournal.com/64646.html

"What a travesty. I wouldn't be surprised if you paid the judge off," Henry said, as he followed Reid out of the court room.

Reid turned around. "Want to know the best thing about leaving this town, Hank?" he asked smugly. "Never seeing you again. And don't bother waving goodbye," he teased facetiously, "I wouldn't want you to hurt your finger."

Henry stared at Reid in disgust as Luke exited the courtroom behind them. Reid stepped around Henry. "Mr. Snyder," Reid said, holding out his hand, "Thank you."

Luke looked at Reid's outstretched hand with disgust and didn't take it. "I kept up my end of the bargain; now you keep up yours. Get Noah his sight back," he said, as he walked away.

Reid watched Luke walk away from him, as Henry continued to badger him. "You should be in prison."

Reid wanted to go after Luke; he looked damn good in a suit; he wanted to go yank him against himself by his tie, but instead, he reluctantly pulled his eyes away from him and sighed. "Don't worry, I'll be out of here just as soon as I wrap things up," he told Henry, hoping he would go away.

Just then, Bob and Kim came up behind Luke. "What would it take to get you to change your mind?" Bob asked.

"About what?" Reid asked, confused. "Leaving town?"

"I respect you a lot more than I dislike you. We could certainly use you at the hospital."

"Oh, you're being generous," Reid said, amused, "Calling that place a hospital."

Kim did not look amused at all. "We do the best we can," Bob answered, humbly. "But you haven't answered my question. What would it take to keep you here?"

"Well, let's see," Reid said, willing to play along. "How about a state-of-the-art neurosurgery unit, a ridiculously outrageous salary, and a title with the word genius in it," he suggested sarcastically. "How's that grab ya?"

"You drive a hard bargain," Bob said, much more amused than Kim.

"That I do. Good luck, Dr. Hughes," Reid said, shaking Bob's hand. "I wish I could say it's been a pleasure."

As he walked away, Henry said, "Oh my God, he's so arrogant..."

"Well," Bob said, disappointed that Reid wasn't willing to discuss staying in Oakdale as a viable option, but not really blaming him either. "...sometimes people are good enough that they can get away with that."

"I say good riddance," Henry countered, watching Reid walk down the hall.

***********************************************************************

Reid rounded the corner and saw Luke pushing the elevator button impatiently, both cars agonizingly slow in the ancient court building. Luke noticed Reid approaching the elevator and turned quickly and pushed the stairway door open. There was no way he was riding in the elevator with that man. To his dismay, Reid entered the stairwell also and said "Mr. Snyder, wait," as Luke made his way down the first flight of stairs.

When Luke arrived on the landing he stopped and turned. "What?! What do you want?"

Reid took the last step slowly onto the landing. "When someone offers you their hand, you're supposed to shake it," Reid said, bringing his eyes up to Luke's. "And when someone gives you their thanks, it's customary to say 'you're welcome.'"

Luke pshawed. "Really, Dr. Oliver? You're giving me a lesson on politeness? You? Of all people...seriously?"

Reid extehded his hand to Luke again. "Thank you for what you did in the courtroom today, Mr. Snyder."

Luke looked down at Reid's outstretched hand and shook it this time. "You're wel..." Reid's firm handshake equaled Luke's, and Luke felt electricity shoot up his arm and straight down to his crotch, just as he had the day he'd pushed Reid up against the wall at the police station. He pulled his hand away quickly and cleared his throat. "You're um, yeah. You're welcome." He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. Why was he here, arrogant and insisting that they shake hands and make nice? For someone who didn't want Luke "in his orbit," he sure had a way of finding a way to be around him. Luke brought his eyes back to Reid with his smug grin and piercing blue eyes. He hated this guy. Hated him. So why the hell was he so damn attracted to him?

Reid let his eyes run down the length of Luke. "You clean up well, Mr. Snyder." Luke looked back at Reid, not used to the doctor saying anything nice to him. Reid rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "I mean...you, uh....you look good in that suit."

Luke's eyebrows shot up. Okay, what was that? Reid seemed weird all of a sudden. Nervous. Why the hell was he noticing the way Luke looked? It was unexpected, confusing, and caught Luke off guard. Reid was straight, wasn't he? Luke wasn't sure how to take that particular compliment, so he gave Reid an awkward half smile and said, "Okay. I'll see you later," and started down the next flight of stairs, anxious to get away from Dr. Oliver and the crazy swirling warmth that he was suddenly feeling low in his abdomen. He hated that the doctor had this affect on him. It was wrong. He should only feel like this about Noah...Noah who hadn't complimented him on anything in forever. Or thanked him, for that matter.

Reid followed him down the two flights of stairs, neither of them talking, but when Luke reached the bottom and pulled open the stairwell door, Reid's hand came from behind him and pushed the door closed. The next thing Luke knew his back was against the cold cement wall and Reid's warm hands were on his hips. "What the hell are you doing?" Luke asked but made no move to push the doctor away, his eyes dropping to Reid's mouth.

Reid answered by pressing his lips against Luke's. The kiss was firm and insistent, and before Reid could pull back to assess the effect of his ridiculously bold and arguably reckless move, he felt Luke's hand on the back of his neck and Luke's slightly open mouth meeting his again. And when he felt Luke's tongue slide against his own, he stepped in closer so that their chests and hips touched, and he was a rewarded with a low moan from Luke. Reid brought his hands up to grip Luke's head and kissed him deeper, causing Luke to pull him even tighter against the length of his body.

Just then, the sound of the door swinging open and voices caused them to break apart as a uniformed policeman and a man and woman dressed in business attire entered the stairwell. Reid stepped back and dropped his hands from Luke, who was breathing rather rapidly. Reid kept his eyes trained on Luke and heard a voice behind them say, "Gentlemen, you need to take that some place else."

Reid watched Luke's eyes move up the stairs as he said, "Of course, officer..." Luke continued to keep his eyes on the stairs as the footsteps and conversation sounded farther and farther away in their ascent. When a door opened and closed and the stairwell fell silent, Luke finally looked back at Reid. After a few seconds, Reid leaned forward to kiss Luke again, but Luke put his hand on Reid's chest to stop him. He looked like he was battling himself as he shook his head. "I have to go..."

Reid stepped back and nodded, pulling the knot of his tie away from his neck. This was so far outside the boundaries of medical ethics that he couldn't believe he had done it. Luke fucking Snyder. Luke stepped around Reid, but as he did, he ran his hand down the inside of Reid's arm and tugged gently on his fingers. Reid didn't move, and he wasn't even sure he breathed, as he listened to the door open and then close, the sound echoing in the quiet stairwell. Reid sighed, undid his tie and pulled it off, mumbling "stupid" to himself.

When Reid emerged from the stairwell, he practically ran into Katie who was coming off the elevator. "Where were you?" she asked. "I've been calling your cell."

"I put it on silent in the court room. Thanks for reminding me," he answered, raising the volume on his phone and turning his pager back on.

Henry walked up behind Katie. "Are you okay, Dr. Evil?"

"Yeah," Katie agreed, looking Reid up and down. "Your neck is flushed. Do you have a fever?" She asked, putting the back of her hand against his forehead. "You're clammy. Are you coming down with something? Stress can weaken your immune system, and you've..."

Reid stepped back, pushing Katie's hand away. "I'm fine. I don't get stressed out, and I'm not sick. Can we get out of here? I'm starving."

"I don't know. You don't look so good," Henry said, sarcastically. "Maybe you should be quarantined. I heard there's been a TB outbreak."

"You're never gonna let that go, are you, Hank?"

"Nope."

"Well, you're lucky I'm in a good mood. I've just been exonerated." And I just sucked on Luke Snyder's tongue... "Lunch is on me. C'mon, Goldilocks. You too, Hank."

Katie looped her arm through Reid's and followed him out of the courthouse, with Henry trailing behind them.

As they walked through the parking lot, Reid spotted Luke getting into his truck from a row away. As if he was able to feel Reid's eyes on him, Luke turned around from his perch on the truck's running board and looked directly at him, their eyes locking. Luke absentmindedly licked his bottom lip and shook his head, as he smiled and dropped down into the driver's seat.

Katie had noticed Luke's expression too and then looked over to see the goofy grin on Reid's face, as he continued to walk with his eyes on the ground.

Katie lifted a hand and pulled his face toward him by his chin as they walked. She raised her eyebrows and then smiled as Reid shrugged, looking like a kid who just got caught taking the last cookie out of the cookie jar.

She reached down to take Reid's hand and squealed.

Henry, of course, was clueless to the inside joke and rolled his eyes, feeling sick with jealousy at how close Reid and Katie were becoming.