November Rain, Part 2
"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.
"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.