fic: A Beautiful Mess, 8/22
Fic: A Beautiful Mess, 8/22
Summary: Luke is a pediatrician! He is officially Dr. Luke Snyder.
Spoilers: References to Luke's past from canon and that's about it.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Wish they were mine but they're not.
Note: This was inspired by this entry in lure_prompts by the brill _alicesprings. Feedback, concrit, etc. welcome! ♥
Sorry that this one has taken ages. I'm concentrating on a couple of challenges right now so this story's on hold until then! But, promise there's a follow up to this one. Just had to split it. One of the challenges is noah_who and if you haven't heard of that community, what are you waiting for? Deadline's December 19th. There's still time to participate! Hope to see you awesome people there.
It's the day of the hospital Thanksgiving and Reid doesn't even realize it until he's standing in the hallway surrounded by hospital decorations. "Oh sh--"
"Dr. Oliver!" Bob calls out to him and he turns around to face him.
"Dr. Hughes," he replies.
"I thought that you weren't gonna come to the Thanksgiving feast?"
"I wasn't. I'm not. I just got called in early this morning." He rubs the back of his neck, feeling like he's being cornered into helping with this lunch. It's bad enough that he's agreed to socialize with a bunch of people that he could care less about this afternoon. He's pretty sure that he's only agreed to it because of the guilt he feels about his impressions of Luke at the bar.
"Well, stick around for a little while if you want. I'm sure Dr. Snyder would appreciate the help." Bob gives him a pat on the shoulder as he walks past him and into the cafeteria.
The reason Reid's down here is to get something to eat but now that they're setting up, he thinks that he'll just get something at home.
Despite his tired body's protests and as much as he knows he's going to regret this, he walks through the door, and looks around. He recognizes several doctors and a few nurses that he's terrorized. Those nurses scurry away from him now. His eyes still scan the room and then he spots him.
Luke turns his head and his eyes connect with Reid's. He puts the paper plates down and then he goes to meet him near the door. "Dr. Oliver, this is a surprise."
"I could say the same to you Dr. Snyder. Have you slept at all?"
Luke shrugs his shoulders. "Some. I got a couple of hours in my office."
"Well, I just wanted to stop by and see how things were shaping up," he glances around the room, watching a couple of doctors spread the tablecloth on the long table. "If ..." he sighs, trying to summon the words. "If you need another hand ..."
Luke laughs and crosses his arms over his body, shaking his head. "This is painful for you," he says good-naturedly. "Go home, Reid. Get some rest and I'll come by afterward."
In front of almost every employee in the hospital, Reid closes the distance between them, and kisses him in full view of all the curious eyes.
When they pull away, Luke has a wide smile on his face, and Reid's thought that he's seen him with a smile on his face before but this is something else. Reid can't tear his eyes away from him. Luke's the first one to break their stare, ducking his head, and Reid leans forward again to press a kiss to his temple.
"See ya," Reid tells him and turns around to make his grand exit. He knows that everyone in the room is focused on the both of them or on his back as he walks away from the scene. There's a satisfying feeling he gets from being the center of attention.
Now everyone knows that they're a couple.
---
A few hours later, Reid pulls at tie that he's slipped on, and it just feels too tight no matter how many times he reties it.
He's showered, shaved, and since it's a casual thing he's only wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and even managed to catch a few hours of sleep after he got home. He feels fine. He's getting hungry but that's not anything new. Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, he finally settles on that familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Anxiety.
It's more than anxiety. Reid doesn't do family gatherings. He barely went to any of his own. Thanksgiving had never really been any kind of special event in his house. Everywhere he goes in the hospital, he's reminded that it's probably normal to have a large Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends.
His family is gone and any friends that he has aren't the kind of friends that he wants to celebrate anything with.
This is definitely all Luke's thing. Luke is the reason that he's gonna be there. He owes it to him to be there after the horrible things that he thought.
The doorbell rings once and then twice and on the third ring, he stands up to answer it.
Luke's there, eyes wide, all smiles. The smile falters when he looks at Reid.
"Are you okay?"
Reid doesn't realize that he isn't smiling and he changes that, smiling a little. "Yeah, I'm ... fine."
Luke walks inside and Reid tries to stop him but Luke already closes the door behind him. "What's up? Do you ... do you not wanna go? Did you change your mind? Because it's okay if you don't wanna meet my family and everything. I think I kinda forced you into it and --"
Reid shuts him up with a kiss and Luke relaxes into it before he pulls away. His hands are on Reid's arms, holding him for a moment before releasing him.
"I don't really do family ... things," Reid tells him. "I never really had one myself and in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in the running for Mr. Congeniality." Luke chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. "No one's ever ... no one's ever wanted me to 'meet the family'. I've never been that guy."
Reid can see Luke's gaze soften into that sympathetic, puppy dog thing that he does. Reid knows that that isn't pity. That's the way that Luke reacts to a lot of things.
"Reid, if this is gonna make you uncomfortable, then I don't want to put you into that situation just for me. I can come here after and we can just do our own thing."
"No," Reid says firmly. "This isn't my first relationship, you know," Luke laughs and nods. "So, I know about the whole give and take thing and I know you want me there so I'll be there."
"Really?" Luke asks.
"Yeah, really."
"All right, but just say the word and we'll split. Snyder-Walsh family gatherings can be a little crazy."
"You're a little crazy so I suppose that's an inherited trait." Reid smirks and Luke glares before it turns into a smile.
They kiss, Reid grabs his jacket, and then they're off to the farm.
---
Reid can easily imagine Luke growing up on a farm. Luke certainly has a build of a farmer. He's all broad shoulders and firm muscles, perfect for manual labor. Instead, Luke became a doctor. But, the minute that they step out of the car, Luke takes a long look around. The love that he has for this kind of environment is obvious to anyone who looks at him.
Luke seems to be lost in a memory until he turns his head to look at Reid. "Here we are," he announces, walking around the car to join Reid's side. "Home sweet home."
"Looks ..." Dirty, smells, too many animals. "Rugged," he concludes.
Luke laughs as if he's able to read his mind. "Ready?" he asks him as they walk to the front door.
"Sure, are those pies ready?"
Luke smiles and shakes his head. He knocks on the door and Reid's impressed that anyone can hear it. The second the door opens, it's all noise. It comes out toward them in a blast, kids screaming, adults talking and laughing.
Reid's starting to feel the strain of his tie again.
"Kids! Calm down," he hears a man say.
"Luke!" a short elderly woman with a thick head of curly brown hair reaches for him to embrace him. "Come here, my boy," she squeezes the hell out of him and Luke's laughing, hugging her back.
"Okay, Grandma. Can't breathe," he kisses her cheek and then pulls away, still holding on to her hand. "Grandma Emma, this is Dr. Reid Oliver."
"Dr. Oliver," she speaks to him like she knows him. "It's such a joy to meet you. I've heard so much about you from Luke," she reaches forward and clasps his hand and the feeling settles into a warm, calm sensation in the pit of his stomach.
"Joy's probably an overstatement," Luke nudges his shoulder and rolls his eyes. "But, um, I've heard a lot about your cooking."
"Well, then you have to come in and have a sample. Come in, come in, boys," she moves aside and ushers them both in.
"Luke!" Another man comes toward Luke and gives him a hug.
A chorus of "Luke" begins to ring out as soon as Luke enters the room.
Reid takes a step back to observe it all. He doesn't think that he's ever met anyone that's so well-liked as Luke Snyder. Everyone loves him. He's starting to think that he might too.
"Reid," Luke calls out to him and Reid cautiously walks closer. Luke takes his hand and they make the rounds, getting several introductions out of the way. There are two sisters, Natalie and Faith. There's a little brother, Ethan. There are a million and one cousins. Finally, he stands next to the man who called out to the kids earlier. "Reid, this is my dad, Holden Snyder."
Luke is almost 30 but Holden looks at Reid like they're going out to prom and he better have his precious baby boy home by a reasonable time. They shake hands and it's all very polite and cordial.
"Welcome, Reid. Did Luke tell you about a little tradition that we have around here?"
"Tradition?"
"Dad," Luke's fitting into his role as the teenage prom date. All he's missing is a pout and an eye roll. "Reid doesn't have to --"
"Come on, Luke. It's almost time," Holden taps his watch, raising both eyebrows, and then clasping his hand on Luke's shoulder.
"All right, all right, I'll be there. I'm just looking for mom." Reid gives him his patented "what the fuck" look and Luke shakes his head. "You'll see. I'm just looking for ... mom!" he finds her and she smiles when she sees him.
"Honey," she holds him tightly against her and eventually releases him. "Is this ... is this him?" she asks as she looks directly at him.
"I am him. I am the one that Luke has been raving about," Reid smirks and introduces himself. "Dr. Reid Oliver," he shakes her hand and she does the same.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," her smile falters a little and he notices, a curious expression on his face. "Well, we're eating soon so let me just wrangle up the kids."
She slips away and he watches her walk away. Luke catches him watching her and he nods his head toward her. "Is everyone in your family hot? " he makes an off-hand comment and he almost laughs when he sees Luke's horrified expression.
"Please stop thinking that everyone in my family is hot. I'm starting to feel like you're making some kind of list and my name keeps going down in the rankings."
"It's always at the top," he assures him and leans in to kiss him.
Luke smiles when he pulls away. "Better be. No, wait, there shouldn't be a list. No list," he sticks his finger in the middle of Reid's chest, wanting to emphasize his point.
"No list," Reid repeats.
There's a commotion by the door and they both turn to look. Luke leans in to explain, "Every year the Snyders cut a hubbard squash. It's kind of a tradition that we've done forever. It's this giant, huge ..." Luke stops speaking and keeps his eyes on the door.
Reid follows his gaze and stares curiously. There's no squash in that doorway.
A man walks into the room and his stare is focused on one person only. "Luke?"
Luke takes in a deep breath and releases it slowly before speaking. He looks at Reid and then he looks back toward the door.
"Noah."
Everyone in the room freezes and Luke's mom is the first to speak, "Noah, I'm so glad you made it."
"You knew about this?" Luke accuses her.
"This is your first Thanksgiving back at home, honey. Noah wanted to come by and see you."
"Well, here I am. Satisfied?" he holds out his arms, putting himself on display.
"Luke ..."
"No, I'm outta here," Luke pauses before he takes a step. "Reid?" he questions and Reid can do nothing but follow him out the door, unsure of what's going on around him.
They walk out the door and Luke's practically running back to the car.
"Hey, hold it," Reid chases after him, holding on to his shoulder as he fumbles to get his keys. "Hey, hey," Reid soothes him as much as he can, reaching forward, and taking Luke's keys out of his hand. Luke lets him and keeps his head down. "Come on, give me a tour of the place."
"What?" Luke asks, still lost in his thoughts.
"Let's take a walk," he says instead.
Luke nods and is leading the way, walking away from the house, and away from everyone who's looking out at the both of them right now.
They say nothing as they walk. Reid's allowing him to walk off whatever's going on and if he wants to talk then that's fine. If he doesn't then they're getting a nice, cold walk on the property.
"Noah was my ... he was my first everything," he begins to speak after they've been walking for a little while. "First love, first boyfriend, first person who ever wanted me, I think."
"And why is your first boyfriend showing up at your family's Thanksgiving?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in years. I don't know why he's here and acting like he's part of the family. He's not," Luke sighs and crosses his arms in front of his body.
Reid still doesn't understand Luke's reaction to his presence and asks, "Do you think it's weird or something that I'm here and he's here?"
"No, no, nothing like that. God, I don't even know where to begin to tell this story." Luke stops to face him and he takes in a deep breath, his breath visible when he exhales. "Noah and I had a pretty rocky relationship. I was so desperate when I met him. I just wanted someone to want me, you know? I was in love with my best friend from high school and he more or less hated me after I told him I was gay."
While Luke speaks, Reid begins to slowly turn around, following the path they took to get here.
"Anyway, Noah and I met when we were interning for the local television station here. He was actually dating my friend Maddie and then we ended up kissing. But, Noah was pretty deep in the closet. He was so deep that I think he was about to hit Narnia in there. His dad was this strict military guy. Homophobic and he tried to kill me ... twice."
"Wait, what?" Reid looks at him, unable to believe what he's hearing. "He ... what?"
"Yeah. First he tried to shoot me and I hurt my back in the fall and ended up in the hospital where he tried to shoot something into my IV line."
"I really hope that this story ends by you telling me that that son of a bitch is in jail."
"He is. But, that's what I went through when Noah and I were dating. I really should've taken it as a bad sign of what's to come," he rubs the back of his neck and sighs to himself. "We have a long history. Long story short, I stayed with him for longer than I should've. I was finally able to get away when I went to Chicago for school."
"What do you mean, finally? He didn't hurt you did he?" Reid's ready to run back to that house and pummel the guy if Luke tells him yes.
"Physically? No. Emotionally," he shrugs his shoulders. "Being with him made me realize that maybe I don't deserve to be in a relationship, that I'm not really worth the trouble, and that anyone would be crazy to date me with my history."
"Well, I have my eccentricities but I wouldn't go as far as to call me crazy," Reid can't help but comment even though there's no levity to his words. Reid turns to face him and takes his hand out of his pocket to cup Luke's cold cheek in his warm palm. "Listen, no one should make you feel that way. Whatever you've gone through has made you the guy that I've fallen for so if your history's part of who you are now, I accept it, whatever it is."
"Reid, I --"
"No," he stops him before he can refute his words. "You absolutely deserve to be in a relationship. That you think that at all because of him tells me that he's the one who didn't deserve to be with you. Anyone would be crazy to turn you down."
"Reid," Luke smiles a shaky smile and Reid covers those lips with his own, able to taste the tear that falls. They stand there, slowly kissing, Luke's arms wrapped tightly around Reid, and Reid holding him close.
When he does eventually pull away, he smiles at him, and gently thumbs his chin. "Come on, let's go back there and you can show off your hot boyfriend."
"You just wanna go back for the food," Luke accuses him, slipping his hand into Reid's.
Reid's fingers lace through Luke's and he nods decisively. "Well, who am I to deny your Grandma the pleasure of seeing all her pies devoured in one sitting?"
Luke laughs and that's exactly what Reid wants to hear. Inside, he's seething at the thought of having to see that Noah again. Reid's amazed by this innate protective feeling that he has when it comes to Luke Snyder. It's yet another new feeling that settles into him like a second skin. As much as this should terrify him, it doesn't.
The advantages of being with Luke Snyder far outweigh any disadvantages that he can think of.
As they approach the house, Luke hesitates, not wanting to walk forward. Reid gives him an encouraging nudge and squeezes his hand gently. Luke takes in a deep breath and keeps his head up as he begins to walk forward. That determination that he sees in Luke's posture is the Luke that Reid knows, the Luke that's convinced him to do things that he's never wanted to do, and feel things that he's sure he would never feel.
Reid thinks that the Snyder family Thanksgiving is just about to get a little more interesting.
Next.