Collision epilogue
3 years later
Luke stepped out of the training complex, briefly inhaled the fresh air after being in the locker room and quickly walked to his car. A few fans came running to him followed by a handful of photographers.
The little kids reached him first, tugging on the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "Luke? Can we have your autograph? Please?" It was the same question every day and every day Luke smiled, gave his autograph and posed for pictures. He never minded, in fact he liked that he had fans that were still so enthusiastic about seeing him. He had learned to ignore the clicking of the cameras of the nearby photographers and never even looked in their direction.
When he gave back the pen he used to sign the last autograph, he smiled one more time and turned to go to his car.
"Luke! Luke!" Now that the kids were gone, the shouting became louder and the camera's came closer. "How's Reid? Everything okay? Luke! Are you two breaking up? Luke! Come on! Just answer one question! Luke!!
Luke pulled his cap deeper over his eyes and slid into his car, thankful he was always able to park near the entrance because he had his own parking space. The downside to that was that they always knew if he was there.
Once he shut the car door, the photographers backed off just a bit, giving him little space to drive away. Nevertheless, Luke always made sure to drive slowly and carefully. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he accidently hit the papparazzi even if they jumped in front of his car to get a good shot.
Fortunately, he was able to drive away pretty quickly and he began to drive home, checking his mirrors to see if he was being followed. When that didn't seem to be the case, he relaxed in his comfortable seat and sped up a little. He was anxious to go home;he knew Reid was waiting for him and it was a special night after all.
*
"Reid?" Luke asked while stepping into their home.
"Yeah, upstairs." He heard Reid's voice, coming from somewhere above him.
Luke took the stairs two at the time, coming to a sudden halt in the doorway of their bedroom. He took in the sight that was before him. The lights were dimmed, there was some funky saxophone music playing in the background and Reid was laying on the comfortable sofa that stood opposite their kind-sized bed.
He had placed a small table nearby on which a bottle of wine and two glasses were standing. Waiting.
Luke smirked. "You want to do it in here?"
Reid sat up, shrugging his shoulders with a small smile. "Sure, why not?"
A year after they had started dating, Luke had organised an intimate dinner to celebrate the occasion. During that evening they had decided that they would do that every year. Not just remember and celebrate the date, but really sit down together and tell the other what it was they loved, what still attracted them to the other person, to express what about the other made them happy.
Reid grabbed the bottle of wine and started to pour wine into the glasses. "You want one too, right?"
"Of course." Luke smiled. He leaned in to kiss Reid, letting his lips linger a little bit.
He raked his hand through Reid's curls, tugging on them a bit to make him look up.
"You okay?" He asked softly.
Reid nodded, his hand coming up to grab Luke's shirt and kiss him again. He tugged a little harder, causing Luke to lose his balance. Thanks to his quick reflexes, Luke caught himself with one hand on thearmrest beside Reid's head and held himself up, smiling into the kiss before carefully lowering himself onto Reid's body. Reid's arms came around him immediately, holding him close.
Luke broke the kiss and nuzzled into Reid's neck. He sighed, completely content with just laying there with Reid's hands stroking up and down his back.
After a few minutes, Reid tugged on Luke's hair to make him look up. "Don't fall asleep now."
Luke shook his head. "I'm not,I’m just very very comfortable." He kissed Reid's neck once more and pushed himself up to stand up, giving Reid space to move his legs from the couch. Luke fell down again, leaning his head against the cushions. His hand came up to play with the curls on the back on Reids' neck.
Reid reached over and grabbed the glasses of wine and passed one to Luke. He sat back sideways, facing Luke and held out his glass.
"To us. To another year." He said
Luke smiled. "To us." He replied and let his glass touch Reid's softly. They both took a few nips and then looked at each other again.
Luke touched Reid's hand for a moment. "Shall I start?"
"If you want, sure." Reid said with a nod.
Luke reached out and cupped Reid's face. "I love you. It still seems more and more every day. I know I've said that before but it's still true. Even though the last year has been difficult," Luke swallowed, "it's still true."
He took a moment to gather his thoughts. They flashed back to about 9 months ago, when the pressure of a life in the spotlight in Barcelona got to Reid. He had no idea what it would be like to live with someone as famous as Luke. And to be honest, he underestimated it. Soccer players in Spain were like gods to the fans. So the constant attention in the press, the ever present reporters and photographers, the fans that seemed to always be at their gates and the lies in the tabloids and newspapers just became too much at one point. So Reid took a leave of absence from the job he grew to love and left. He'd flown back to the States, saying he needed to get away. Not from Luke, because he loved Luke with his whole heart but from their life in the spotlight. He left Luke, who was devastated, behind but he did not begReid to stay. If Reid wanted to stay, he should do so because he wanted to. Not just because he gave in to Luke.
It took Reid almost two months, 7 weeks to be precise, to fly back to Barcelona, to Luke, to their life. The weeks apart taught him that even though, despite their efforts, their life in Barcelona was not very private, is was their life together. A life alone, without Luke, was no longer an option for Reid. He missed Luke with every fiber of his being. It wore him down, tired him out and it didn't take his sister Renée very long to slap her brother over the head and tell him to come to his senses. What made matters worse, was that he saw pictures of Luke emerge, looking tired with bags under his eyes. And when he played, he played without the enthusiasm and lightness that was so typical for him. He committed some unnecessary faults on the field, frustration radiating from his body, his mouth set in a grim line.
It shattered Reid's heart and there was nothing that he wanted more than to be by Luke's side, paparazzi and fans be damned. So he flew back, asking Luke's forgiveness for not staying and trying to work something out.
After a few nights filled with long talks, they both agreed that their time in Barcelona had to come to an end. They already stayed longer than they had planned , but since Reid had loved his job and Luke got a great extension on his contract, they decided to stay. But now, 3 years later, they were both done. Luke was going to see if there was a club back in the States where he could still play, because he was not ready to retire at 29 and after Reid made some calls, it was obvious he had no trouble getting a position anywhere he wanted.
And while during their time apart they both felt the absolute worst, it also made it very clear that they never wanted to be apart again.
"Maybe even more true," Luke continued, "because now I know what life without you is like and I really don't want to go through that again."
Reid felt his cheeks get warm and he looked down, he still felt guilty about the way he handled things back then.
"I know, me too." He said. "And I am sorry for making you feel like that. I don't want you hurt you, Luke. I never did."
"I know and I didn't bring it up to make you feel bad, I just wanted to say how I feel." Luke said.
"There are a lot of things about our relationship that aren't easy, most things are though. But Reid, please understand that falling in love with you is the easiest thing I ever did." He sighed.
"You know that I had doubts when we started out. About how people would react to us, about
what the press and the fans would say. And yes, sometimes it was really bad and sometimes it didn't matter at all. But I never had doubts about us and I know it was the same for you. It was the circumstances that drove you away. And I felt guilty, Reid. Guilty that I was the reason you had to go through all that shit, that your privacy that means so much to you, was and ís shot to hell. All because of me and what I do for a living." Luke said with a pained expression on his face.
"No, Luke, no. Don't blame yourself. " Reid said, taking one of Luke's hands between his own.
"What happened...." Reid searched for words. "We've talked about what happened. Does it still... bother you?" He asked tentatively.
Luke thought about that for a moment. "No. It doesn't bother me every day and I don't think about it 24/7. But now, when we're looking back on the past year, it just brings back certain feelings." He shrugged. "I can't help it."
"I know and I understand, because I feel the same. I guess we both feel guilty”,he said with a hint of a smile, "because I still hate the way I handled things. Looking back on it now, I say to myself 'what was I thinking?' But at the time, it seemed like the only option was to go away. I should have stayed and talked to you."
"Yeah, you should've." Luke agreed. "But we talked about it when you got back and we're good now, right?"
Reid squeezed Luke's hand. "We're more than good. We're amazing. If there's one thing I learned from the whole thing, is that I never want to be without you, Luke."
He took a deep breath and continued. "I love you too. It seems more every day and I am so sorry for hurting you the way I did. I promise you I will never do something like that again. I can't promise I will never hurt you again, because I will. I'm stubborn and I can be an ass sometimes, But I'll try, Luke." He stopped and stared at Luke. "I want you to be with me for the rest of my life. I really do." He scooted a little closer to Luke, cupped his face with both hands and kissed him, slow and deep. Luke kissed back with enthusiasm, his hands coming up to hold on to Reid's wrists.
When the kiss broke, Reid pulled Luke towards him, resting his forehead against Luke's shoulder. "Maybe when we get back home, we should look into this marriage thing." Reid's voice was muffled against Luke's shirt.
To say Luke was surprised hearing these words coming from Reid was putting it lightly.
He jerked back and looked at Reid with wide eyes, completely shocked.
"What?" he almost shrieked.
Reid hasted himself to explain. "Look, I know we agreed early on that marriage wasn't our thing and I still don't see the need for a piece of paper telling me that you're mine and I'm yours. But think about it, it would give us certain rights that we wouldn’t have otherwise. It would be just a technical thing, no one needs to know, right? It would be just you and me."
Luke thought about Reid's words for a moment. "I see your point." He nodded. "And it's not like I'm against getting married, I just don't care about it. At all. And I'm glad you're on the same page." He leaned back into Reid's space. "We could look into it when we're back." He said, while ghosting his lips over Reid's cheek to his ear. "But I already know we're going to be together for the rest of our lives." He whispered.
Reid closed his eyes, inhaled Luke's scent and let his hands trace Luke's strong arms. Even though Luke was being a little playful, Reid picked up on the serious undertone in his voice.
He pulled Luke into his arms and whispered back, "You're my everything, Luke. Even when I don't act like it, it's still true. Never forget that."
Luke wrapped his arms around Reid's back in return and nodded against Reid's head.
"I know." He pinched Reid's side softly. "We just need to work on the acting like it." He smiled.
"Ha ha." Reid said. "As if I'm not perfect already."
"No." Luke replied, still smiling. "You're not perfect. But you're perfect for me."
"Jesus, Snyder. That has got to be the cheesiest line I've ever heard." Reid groaned.
Luke smiled sweetly. "But you love it."
Reid looked at him, at Luke's smiling face with the big brown, expressive eyes in which Reid saw so much love, just for him, that he had to swallow something in his throat before he was able to answer.
"I do. God, I do." His voice was still a little hoarse. He pulled Luke towards him and kissed him again. "Let's move this to bed and I'll show you exactly how much you mean to me."
"Yes." Luke didn't need any more words to accept Reid's offer. They quickly got lost in each other, but took their time celebrating each other, not wanting to rush this time. When they finally did move together, bodies perfectly in sync, they wanted to savour the moment, stretch it out, but the passion between them became too overwhelming too quickly, leaving them both out of breath, panting into each other mouths, unable to kiss properly.
Later when their breathing had slowed down and they cleaned up a little, Reid lay in Luke's arms, his head on Luke's chest. He drew little circles on his stomach, watching the muscles contract under his touch.
"You know, if someone told me 5 years ago that I would end up here, with you, like this, I would have scheduled a lobotomy." He said contemplative.
Luke smiled in the darkness and moved his hand to Reid's head, burying his fingers in his hair. "Why?"
Reid moved on top of Luke, resting his chin on his folded hands on Luke's chest.
"Oh, come on, Snyder. Why would you, the international soccer star, give me the time of day?"
Luke's hand stopped for a moment, before gripping Reid's curls a little tighter. "You know, I never think of myself like that. I'm really just a guy. And when we met, when I first saw you, there was something about you that just drew me in. Even before I knew you were gay and I was willing to admit that I was attracted to you physically, there was something else."
"I know." Reid said quietly. "I felt the same way. I've watched you for years as a soccer player, but when I met you as a person, it was like the whole you-being-famous-thing seemed to disappear and there was just you. I guess we kinda are perfect for each other, huh?" He said with a crooked smile.
"Jesus, Oliver, that has got to be the cheesiest line I've ever heard." Luke teased, laughing.
"I rest my case." Reid replied with an smile just a wide.
The end.