Like We're In Love (2/?) [Casey/Reid]
Title: Like We're In Love (2/?)
Author:casiedearestfic
Pairing: (Pre)Reid Oliver/Casey Hughes, implied Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Unbeta'd
Words: 2300
Summary: After Luke ditches on date after date to be with Noah, a not-so-happy Reid decides that if Luke's moving on, so can he... even if it is just a fake relationship, baited by the promise of digging up Katie's information on the Vienna issue.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the boys. All characters belong to respective copyrights.
Notes: Will eventually get full on slashy, and... there's likely to be porn. Might include spoilers on the Casey/Vienna plotline, but should be pretty basic outside of that. Updates may be slow, as I am stupidly busy this summer.
Casey tugged at the collar of his shirt, deciding to take a break from fiddling with the pen in his pocket. Reid was ten feet away, ten feet exactly, Casey guessed. It was an annoying habit he'd picked up since he'd agreed to do this, always knowing where Reid was, like it was some kind of sonar or radar. He figured it was like the way Alison had arachnophobia; she could always spot a spider from across the room. And, in the stark space of the hospital, Reid sure was one hell of a big spider.
It'd been three days since pizza and beer, three days since an infomercial became the soundtrack to The Epic New Romance of Reid and Casey. So far, said romance had yet to debut, and Casey was glad that Reid was keeping his word about it being only for Luke. Casey had felt guilty about it... for all of twenty seconds. Until he realized that Reid had his facts straight, and Luke really had been continually blowing him off to spend time with Noah. It was an issue, and although Casey would normally side with Luke over Reid any day, well... this wasn't any day, and these weren't normal circumstances.
He was aware that Reid was almost blackmailing him, baiting him into something dark and dirty. The entire arrangement had been built on lie over lie, but Casey needed facts, and Reid needed help. He'd come to terms with it by now, spent enough time thinking it over, realizing that it actually had a lot of logic to it. It had it's flaws, but few at that. Luke may be hurt by it, but he had no right to be. Not when he was treating Reid like shit, and expecting him to just wait until he was done with Noah. And of course, the entire town would know of 'that time when Casey had a thing with a dude', and probably label him until he couldn't breathe. But, in all honesty, that didn't bother him, not so much. He was comfortable with who he was, and if having his friends think he was gay for a while was all it took to get the information he needed, well, Casey could handle it.
"Yeah, no, false alarm. That was a weird month for me. Totally straight, now on to the next chick."
"Hey, have you seen Reid?" A voice questioned from beside him, low and familiar, raising red flags in Casey's mind immediately.
"Oh, uh," Casey turned to face the source, taking in the face of his best friend. "He's... uh..."
"Luke," Reid's voice rang through the hall, "I'm surprised to see you here," Reid droned, dull and loud at the same time.
"Uh, I... I come here often, Reid," Luke raised an eyebrow, stepping forward into Reid's personal space, as Reid shifted sideways into Casey's.
"Surprised to see you at all, is what I mean," He explained, leaning his weight on one foot, shoulder brushing against Casey's chest.
Luke's eyes flitted between them for a moment, before finally, mercifully, resting on Reid again. "Yeah, well... I came to see you," He admitted, putting his hands on his hips.
Casey swallowed hard as Reid turned, pushing up against him, so that his back was flush against Casey's chest. Casey wanted to move, to step back just an inch, but it wasn't worth it. It was only for Luke, and Luke wouldn't be around forever. Casey forced himself to pretend they were in a crowded elevator, completely normal... completely right.
"Well, I'm sorry. I'm now on my lunch break," Reid replied hastily, words tumbling out carelessly.
"Well, that's a good thing," Luke hoped out loud, silenced by Reid shaking his head.
"I'm busy, Luke. I made plans to have lunch with Casey. I have no interest in breaking that promise to him," Reid lied, turning slightly to study Casey's face. Luke's hands dropped from his hips, falling almost comically to his sides. Casey chewed at the inside of his lip as Reid smiled at him, reaching one hand back, to rest over the hand Casey had resting on the desk beside them.
"So perhaps, a different day, Luke," Reid concluded, and Casey felt like shit. He tried to tell himself that Luke could handle it. In all honesty, Luke even deserved this punch for what he was doing to Reid. But, years of friendship was overriding that logic, and Casey considered pulling his hand away, taking that much needed step back, and just trying to reason with Reid. It wasn't until he saw Chris walk by, that he changed his mind. It was this, or that, and that wouldn't be pretty.
"Oh," Luke finally snapped back, floundering as his cheeks flushed a deep red. "I see," He said, eyes locked intensely over Reid's hand, which had somehow started tracing idle patterns over Casey's fingers. "Well you go have a good lunch then, Doctor Oliver," He barked, full of snark and sarcasm and bite, before turning on his heels to make quick work of his disappearance.
Casey watched him leave, wanting to go after him, wanting to explain the entire thing, and never look back.
"Well," Reid interjected, "That went well."
"No. No it did not," Casey argued, finally taking his space back, yanking his hand away in the process.
"What are you talking about? That was flawless!"
"That was horrible!" Casey pushed, fully believing that it was. "Luke is hurt, you know that right?"
"That was the point, you know that right?" Reid bit back, stepping into Casey's space in a way that was even more uncomfortable than his flirty advance before.
"But it doesn't feel right," Casey complained, wincing at the whine in his voice.
"That's because it's wrong!" Reid admitted, face solid and cold. "Everything about this situation is wrong, and entiely unfavorable. But, such is life, Mister Hughes. Get used to it," He warned, before pushing past, and down the hall.
Casey watched after him for a moment, subconsciously admitting that the doctor was right. Bad things had happened, that much was true. And if more bad things had to happen to fix them, well... an option was an option.
Casey stared up at his ceiling, unable to sleep. It wasn't even late, sun still warming it's way through the sky, but life sucked, and sleep didn't, so sue him for wanting to start on a seven o'clock bedtime. He sighed heavily as his phone rang, letting it chirp for a long, tense moment. He didn't know who it was, and at this point, he didn't really care. It wasn't until he remembered he had an important job that he decided he should probably answer.
"Yep," He monotoned into the phone, keeping his eyes closed.
"Hey," Luke's voice replied coldly. Casey took a deep breath, wishing he'd just left the damn thing ringing.
"What's up?" He tried.
"Was about to ask you the same thing, Casey," Luke replied immediately. "And don't say nothing, because what I saw was not nothing."
Casey stayed silent for a moment, just listening to the buzz of the connection. He could hear dull sounds coming from Luke's end of the line, sounding like running water. "Is someone with you?" He asked suddenly, not even sure why that would matter. Luke took a moment to reply.
"Noah's here," He said finally, voice low. Casey nodded, forgetting that his friend couldn't see him.
"Yeah, well... how are things between you guys now, anyway?" Casey fished.
"It's nothing," Luke snapped quickly.
"I don't know, man. Doesn't really seem like nothing..." He let the words hang for a moment.
"Well it's not something, anyway. It's just... a thing," Luke stammered, sounding unsure. Casey thought back, almost physically wincing from the second-hand pain he was feeling for Reid, although he'd admit that if you ever asked him. Casey was no stranger to heartbreak, in fact, it was something he was really quite familiar with.
"Well, that's good," Casey lied, knowing it wasn't good. He still didn't like what Reid was having him do, but Luke was making it a whole lot easier at the moment.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, no... I mean... Reid. What's up with you and Reid? More importantly, what's up with you in general, Casey?" Luke rambled, pushing questions in all directions.
"Reid's a friend," Casey replied, not even sure if that was true. "A good friend," He added, realizing that he had to carry on the charade, even when Reid wasn't around to force it.
"How good, Casey?" Luke pressed, voice sounding accusatory. Casey opened his mouth to reply, closing it again once he realized he hadn't thought this far at all. All the preparing he'd done had revolved around getting himself ready to handle whatever Reid wanted to act out. He'd never spent a minute to think about what he'd say about the situation on his own.
"He's ju--"
"Hold on a minute," Luke interrupted, and Casey could hear him pulling away from the phone. There was a scuff and a bang, followed by voices, Luke's, unmistakeably, replying to Noah. Casey closed his eyes, trying hard to listen, picking up random words, including shower, shirt, and bed. Casey was a logical person, or... at least, he could be. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, and he really didn't want to accuse his best friend of anything, but Reid's suspicions were starting to look more and more legit as the days went on, and Casey couldn't sit by while Luke did this to him. Casey knew how it felt to be... deceived like that.
"So," Luke returned, voice loud and clear again. "How good, Casey?" He asked again, full of bite.
Casey stared at the ceiling again, laying perfectly still as his stomach turned. "Really good, Luke," He answered finally. "He's really, really good."
He snapped the phone shut before Luke had a chance to reply, didn't even want to know what Luke would have to say to that. So, Casey was playing dirty, alert the press. He had no intentions of feeling bad about anything while Luke was making a mess out of the best doctor the hospital had ever seen.
"Have you found anything out about Vienna yet?" Casey pressured, following closely behind Reid through the halls of the hospital.
"No, Mister Hughes, not as of this moment," Reid replied coolly, eyes focused on a clipboard.
"Dude, why do you keep trying to make me call you by your first name, but you still call me by my last?" He asked, feeling annoyed by that fact.
"This is our workplace, need I remind you? I'd asked you to call me by my first outside of the hospital, which, currently... we are not," He explained like it should be obvious, and really... it actually kind of was.
"Okay, well... whatever. But I really... I'm trying hard here for you, Doctor Oliver. I've already made good on my end of the deal, and you've gotta start doing the same on yours," Casey warned, fully intending to walk away from their arrangement, if Reid didn't start providing.
"There's only so much I can do here, Casey," Reid looked up from his papers, calling Casey by his first name, which just hurt his head even more. "I assure you, once Katie starts talking, or writing, or whatever it is that she's going to slip up on... and believe me, she will slip up... I will be there to collect the information," Reid swore, tucking a pen into the pocket of his coat. "It's not as if I can just ask her to talk, or force the facts out of her. You have to be patient," He explained, sounding almost patronizing.
Casey sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd mentally prepared himself to go on with this for one month. He hoped it'd take less, and prayed it'd need no more, but at this rate, a week had already flown by, and nothing had been established. "Okay," He finally agreed tentatively, knowing that Reid's logic was sound, and there was no way to fight it. "Have you... have you spoken with Luke at all lately?" He questioned, wondering if Reid had any idea about the more-than-awkward phone call.
"Not since I ordered my blender," Reid replied dully, mouth twitching into something that was a cross between a smirk and a frown. "Have you?" He shot back quickly, eyebrows raised.
Casey dropped his arms from his chest, not knowing what to do with his hands. "Yeah, kinda, uh... he called me. Last night," He admitted. "He was asking what was going on between us. You and me, I mean," Casey explained.
"Well, yes, of course you and me. Otherwise you would have meant you and Luke, which would have been extremel--"
"Yeah, no. No. You and Me. He wanted to know," Casey finished, almost forgetting that he'd inevitably have to explain how the conversation concluded.
"And you told him..." Reid's words hung between them, making it clear that Casey was, in fact, supposed to finish the sentence.
"I told him we were friends. Good friends. Really, really good friends," Casey said, knowing it was close enough to the truth not to be a lie. He'd worded it slightly different for Luke, but... Reid didn't have to know that.
"That's good work, Mister Hughes," Reid commented, almost smiling. Almost... but not quite.
Casey didn't reply, just shrugged instead.
"I'll make an effort to pay my undivided attention to Katie tonight," Reid promised, and Casey's lips turned into a soft smirk, as he was amused by how odd that phrase sounded.
"Thanks," He offered, earning a nod from the doctor as he walked away again.
Things really weren't so bad, and maybe... if this ended up working... Casey may not even regret it.
-To Be Continued-
Author:casiedearestfic
Pairing: (Pre)Reid Oliver/Casey Hughes, implied Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Unbeta'd
Words: 2300
Summary: After Luke ditches on date after date to be with Noah, a not-so-happy Reid decides that if Luke's moving on, so can he... even if it is just a fake relationship, baited by the promise of digging up Katie's information on the Vienna issue.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the boys. All characters belong to respective copyrights.
Notes: Will eventually get full on slashy, and... there's likely to be porn. Might include spoilers on the Casey/Vienna plotline, but should be pretty basic outside of that. Updates may be slow, as I am stupidly busy this summer.
Casey tugged at the collar of his shirt, deciding to take a break from fiddling with the pen in his pocket. Reid was ten feet away, ten feet exactly, Casey guessed. It was an annoying habit he'd picked up since he'd agreed to do this, always knowing where Reid was, like it was some kind of sonar or radar. He figured it was like the way Alison had arachnophobia; she could always spot a spider from across the room. And, in the stark space of the hospital, Reid sure was one hell of a big spider.
It'd been three days since pizza and beer, three days since an infomercial became the soundtrack to The Epic New Romance of Reid and Casey. So far, said romance had yet to debut, and Casey was glad that Reid was keeping his word about it being only for Luke. Casey had felt guilty about it... for all of twenty seconds. Until he realized that Reid had his facts straight, and Luke really had been continually blowing him off to spend time with Noah. It was an issue, and although Casey would normally side with Luke over Reid any day, well... this wasn't any day, and these weren't normal circumstances.
He was aware that Reid was almost blackmailing him, baiting him into something dark and dirty. The entire arrangement had been built on lie over lie, but Casey needed facts, and Reid needed help. He'd come to terms with it by now, spent enough time thinking it over, realizing that it actually had a lot of logic to it. It had it's flaws, but few at that. Luke may be hurt by it, but he had no right to be. Not when he was treating Reid like shit, and expecting him to just wait until he was done with Noah. And of course, the entire town would know of 'that time when Casey had a thing with a dude', and probably label him until he couldn't breathe. But, in all honesty, that didn't bother him, not so much. He was comfortable with who he was, and if having his friends think he was gay for a while was all it took to get the information he needed, well, Casey could handle it.
"Yeah, no, false alarm. That was a weird month for me. Totally straight, now on to the next chick."
"Hey, have you seen Reid?" A voice questioned from beside him, low and familiar, raising red flags in Casey's mind immediately.
"Oh, uh," Casey turned to face the source, taking in the face of his best friend. "He's... uh..."
"Luke," Reid's voice rang through the hall, "I'm surprised to see you here," Reid droned, dull and loud at the same time.
"Uh, I... I come here often, Reid," Luke raised an eyebrow, stepping forward into Reid's personal space, as Reid shifted sideways into Casey's.
"Surprised to see you at all, is what I mean," He explained, leaning his weight on one foot, shoulder brushing against Casey's chest.
Luke's eyes flitted between them for a moment, before finally, mercifully, resting on Reid again. "Yeah, well... I came to see you," He admitted, putting his hands on his hips.
Casey swallowed hard as Reid turned, pushing up against him, so that his back was flush against Casey's chest. Casey wanted to move, to step back just an inch, but it wasn't worth it. It was only for Luke, and Luke wouldn't be around forever. Casey forced himself to pretend they were in a crowded elevator, completely normal... completely right.
"Well, I'm sorry. I'm now on my lunch break," Reid replied hastily, words tumbling out carelessly.
"Well, that's a good thing," Luke hoped out loud, silenced by Reid shaking his head.
"I'm busy, Luke. I made plans to have lunch with Casey. I have no interest in breaking that promise to him," Reid lied, turning slightly to study Casey's face. Luke's hands dropped from his hips, falling almost comically to his sides. Casey chewed at the inside of his lip as Reid smiled at him, reaching one hand back, to rest over the hand Casey had resting on the desk beside them.
"So perhaps, a different day, Luke," Reid concluded, and Casey felt like shit. He tried to tell himself that Luke could handle it. In all honesty, Luke even deserved this punch for what he was doing to Reid. But, years of friendship was overriding that logic, and Casey considered pulling his hand away, taking that much needed step back, and just trying to reason with Reid. It wasn't until he saw Chris walk by, that he changed his mind. It was this, or that, and that wouldn't be pretty.
"Oh," Luke finally snapped back, floundering as his cheeks flushed a deep red. "I see," He said, eyes locked intensely over Reid's hand, which had somehow started tracing idle patterns over Casey's fingers. "Well you go have a good lunch then, Doctor Oliver," He barked, full of snark and sarcasm and bite, before turning on his heels to make quick work of his disappearance.
Casey watched him leave, wanting to go after him, wanting to explain the entire thing, and never look back.
"Well," Reid interjected, "That went well."
"No. No it did not," Casey argued, finally taking his space back, yanking his hand away in the process.
"What are you talking about? That was flawless!"
"That was horrible!" Casey pushed, fully believing that it was. "Luke is hurt, you know that right?"
"That was the point, you know that right?" Reid bit back, stepping into Casey's space in a way that was even more uncomfortable than his flirty advance before.
"But it doesn't feel right," Casey complained, wincing at the whine in his voice.
"That's because it's wrong!" Reid admitted, face solid and cold. "Everything about this situation is wrong, and entiely unfavorable. But, such is life, Mister Hughes. Get used to it," He warned, before pushing past, and down the hall.
Casey watched after him for a moment, subconsciously admitting that the doctor was right. Bad things had happened, that much was true. And if more bad things had to happen to fix them, well... an option was an option.
Casey stared up at his ceiling, unable to sleep. It wasn't even late, sun still warming it's way through the sky, but life sucked, and sleep didn't, so sue him for wanting to start on a seven o'clock bedtime. He sighed heavily as his phone rang, letting it chirp for a long, tense moment. He didn't know who it was, and at this point, he didn't really care. It wasn't until he remembered he had an important job that he decided he should probably answer.
"Yep," He monotoned into the phone, keeping his eyes closed.
"Hey," Luke's voice replied coldly. Casey took a deep breath, wishing he'd just left the damn thing ringing.
"What's up?" He tried.
"Was about to ask you the same thing, Casey," Luke replied immediately. "And don't say nothing, because what I saw was not nothing."
Casey stayed silent for a moment, just listening to the buzz of the connection. He could hear dull sounds coming from Luke's end of the line, sounding like running water. "Is someone with you?" He asked suddenly, not even sure why that would matter. Luke took a moment to reply.
"Noah's here," He said finally, voice low. Casey nodded, forgetting that his friend couldn't see him.
"Yeah, well... how are things between you guys now, anyway?" Casey fished.
"It's nothing," Luke snapped quickly.
"I don't know, man. Doesn't really seem like nothing..." He let the words hang for a moment.
"Well it's not something, anyway. It's just... a thing," Luke stammered, sounding unsure. Casey thought back, almost physically wincing from the second-hand pain he was feeling for Reid, although he'd admit that if you ever asked him. Casey was no stranger to heartbreak, in fact, it was something he was really quite familiar with.
"Well, that's good," Casey lied, knowing it wasn't good. He still didn't like what Reid was having him do, but Luke was making it a whole lot easier at the moment.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, no... I mean... Reid. What's up with you and Reid? More importantly, what's up with you in general, Casey?" Luke rambled, pushing questions in all directions.
"Reid's a friend," Casey replied, not even sure if that was true. "A good friend," He added, realizing that he had to carry on the charade, even when Reid wasn't around to force it.
"How good, Casey?" Luke pressed, voice sounding accusatory. Casey opened his mouth to reply, closing it again once he realized he hadn't thought this far at all. All the preparing he'd done had revolved around getting himself ready to handle whatever Reid wanted to act out. He'd never spent a minute to think about what he'd say about the situation on his own.
"He's ju--"
"Hold on a minute," Luke interrupted, and Casey could hear him pulling away from the phone. There was a scuff and a bang, followed by voices, Luke's, unmistakeably, replying to Noah. Casey closed his eyes, trying hard to listen, picking up random words, including shower, shirt, and bed. Casey was a logical person, or... at least, he could be. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, and he really didn't want to accuse his best friend of anything, but Reid's suspicions were starting to look more and more legit as the days went on, and Casey couldn't sit by while Luke did this to him. Casey knew how it felt to be... deceived like that.
"So," Luke returned, voice loud and clear again. "How good, Casey?" He asked again, full of bite.
Casey stared at the ceiling again, laying perfectly still as his stomach turned. "Really good, Luke," He answered finally. "He's really, really good."
He snapped the phone shut before Luke had a chance to reply, didn't even want to know what Luke would have to say to that. So, Casey was playing dirty, alert the press. He had no intentions of feeling bad about anything while Luke was making a mess out of the best doctor the hospital had ever seen.
"Have you found anything out about Vienna yet?" Casey pressured, following closely behind Reid through the halls of the hospital.
"No, Mister Hughes, not as of this moment," Reid replied coolly, eyes focused on a clipboard.
"Dude, why do you keep trying to make me call you by your first name, but you still call me by my last?" He asked, feeling annoyed by that fact.
"This is our workplace, need I remind you? I'd asked you to call me by my first outside of the hospital, which, currently... we are not," He explained like it should be obvious, and really... it actually kind of was.
"Okay, well... whatever. But I really... I'm trying hard here for you, Doctor Oliver. I've already made good on my end of the deal, and you've gotta start doing the same on yours," Casey warned, fully intending to walk away from their arrangement, if Reid didn't start providing.
"There's only so much I can do here, Casey," Reid looked up from his papers, calling Casey by his first name, which just hurt his head even more. "I assure you, once Katie starts talking, or writing, or whatever it is that she's going to slip up on... and believe me, she will slip up... I will be there to collect the information," Reid swore, tucking a pen into the pocket of his coat. "It's not as if I can just ask her to talk, or force the facts out of her. You have to be patient," He explained, sounding almost patronizing.
Casey sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd mentally prepared himself to go on with this for one month. He hoped it'd take less, and prayed it'd need no more, but at this rate, a week had already flown by, and nothing had been established. "Okay," He finally agreed tentatively, knowing that Reid's logic was sound, and there was no way to fight it. "Have you... have you spoken with Luke at all lately?" He questioned, wondering if Reid had any idea about the more-than-awkward phone call.
"Not since I ordered my blender," Reid replied dully, mouth twitching into something that was a cross between a smirk and a frown. "Have you?" He shot back quickly, eyebrows raised.
Casey dropped his arms from his chest, not knowing what to do with his hands. "Yeah, kinda, uh... he called me. Last night," He admitted. "He was asking what was going on between us. You and me, I mean," Casey explained.
"Well, yes, of course you and me. Otherwise you would have meant you and Luke, which would have been extremel--"
"Yeah, no. No. You and Me. He wanted to know," Casey finished, almost forgetting that he'd inevitably have to explain how the conversation concluded.
"And you told him..." Reid's words hung between them, making it clear that Casey was, in fact, supposed to finish the sentence.
"I told him we were friends. Good friends. Really, really good friends," Casey said, knowing it was close enough to the truth not to be a lie. He'd worded it slightly different for Luke, but... Reid didn't have to know that.
"That's good work, Mister Hughes," Reid commented, almost smiling. Almost... but not quite.
Casey didn't reply, just shrugged instead.
"I'll make an effort to pay my undivided attention to Katie tonight," Reid promised, and Casey's lips turned into a soft smirk, as he was amused by how odd that phrase sounded.
"Thanks," He offered, earning a nod from the doctor as he walked away again.
Things really weren't so bad, and maybe... if this ended up working... Casey may not even regret it.
-To Be Continued-