Collision chapter 18/?
Chapter 18
Reid, exhausted from working the whole night, slept most of the day away. He woke up late in the afternoon due to the incessant beeping of his phone. With his eyes still closed, he searched around the bed with his hands, patting the covers.
His fingers found the edge of the small black rectangle and he brought the screen up to his face. He groaned when he saw the numerous messages flashing across the screen. There was no escaping anymore; he would have to call her tonight.
He swung his legs off the bed and made his way to the bathroom. After a reviving shower where Reid’s thoughts contained only one subject, Luke, he sat down in a chair and stared at his phone. Would Luke already be in Chicago? He had said he’d call as soon as he was settled. That was obviously not the case yet. He sighed and scrolled through the phonebook on his phone, searched for the right name when he reached ‘R’ and pressed the call-button.
It didn’t take more than one ring before his call was answered.
“You better have a good excuse for not calling me back earlier, you asshole,” were the first words he heard.
Reid smiled at the familiar greeting. “And they say I have bad people skills.”
“You do have bad people skills. But then again, it might run in the family.”
Reid laughed. “I’m sure it does.” He switched the phone to his other hand and leaned back in the chair to get comfortable. “So sister dearest, what’s so urgent it couldn’t wait one more minute?”
Renée sighed. “I can’t believe you’ve been treating Luke Snyder and Kevin Jackson and you didn’t even tell me. I had to read it online, Reid. Online! That is so not cool. We’ve been crushing on Luke Snyder together for years, the least you could’ve done is tell you were going to meet him!”
Reid sat up straight in his chair again. “You read that online? Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. It’s been all over the news. Why? What did you expect?”
Reid ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t bothered with newspapers and gossip magazines, printed or online. Would Luke know? Then he remembered Luke in the hospital, searching for news on his phone. So, yeah, Luke probably knew. He would have to do some surfing of his own later on, see what was said about him. And Luke. About him and Luke.
“Hello? Reid? Still there?” His sister asked impatiently.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” He sighed. “I guess I didn’t think about it. So, what did it say?” He asked curiously.
“You can look that up yourself, I’m not gonna read the internet to you, dumbass.” Renée retorted. “Now you better start talking to me about Luke Snyder and Kevin Jackson, or else I’m going to explode! What exactly is going on with Kevin Jackson? Is it true he’s never going to be okay? And is Luke Snyder really as nice as everybody says? Is he just as good looking in person? Did you talk to him much?”
Renée fired question after question and when she came up for air, she groaned loudly.
“Argh! You should have let me come over, I could have met him! That would have been so awesome. Did you at least get your picture taken together?”
Reid was laughing on the inside. If he told Renée what really happened between him and Luke, he wasn’t sure she would survive. He did want to tell her; he always shared everything with his sister but he would have to talk to Luke about it first.
“No, I didn’t have my picture taken with Luke Snyder, are you crazy? I’m not some sixteen-year-old fan girl, screaming and fainting whenever Luke Snyder is in the room.” Reid acted offended, but he really wasn’t. He and his sister were both soccer fans and Luke Snyder has been the number one on both of their celebrity-crush-list for years. Although when it came to his sister, she had also a major crush on Mike Wilson. Whenever they had the chance, they would watch soccer matches together and compare the players, pointing out their physical strong points to each other.
Renée snorted. “You could’ve fooled me, big brother. When we watched the qualifying matches together, you were practically drooling over him.”
“I was merely admiring his talent, that’s all.” Reid refuted.
Renée knew better than to push Reid into admitting something he didn’t want to admit, or he would shut down completely and she wouldn’t hear anything about Luke Snyder or Kevin Jackson.
“Okay, whatever you say.” She let it go, for now. “But you’ve got to give me something here. I’ve been waiting days for you to call me back. What good is having a brilliant neurosurgeon for a brother if you’re not telling me anything?” Renée whined.
Reid stood up from his chair and made himself comfortable on the bed.
“Well, what do you want to know?” He asked with a smile in his voice.
“Jeez, Reid. I don’t know, let’s just start with the important stuff. Did you get to see Luke Snyder naked in the hospital? Walk in on a sponge bath perhaps?” Renée asked in a hopeful voice.
Reid grinned at the question. “He knocked his head Renée, he doesn’t have to be naked in order for me to treat him. Besides, I was called in for Kevin Jackson, not Luke Snyder. So no, I didn’t see him naked in the hospital.” That was true, he thought to himself. He only saw Luke naked right here in the hotel. “I will tell you this though,” he went on.
“Yes?” Renée interrupted him eagerly.
“He is better looking in person than he is on television, far better looking.” Reid smiled while saying it. “And yes, he is very nice.”
Renée shrieked. “What? Did you really talk to him? I mean, really talk? Not just head injury stuff?”
Reid hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he could tell, before Renée caught on to something. She had been able to read him like a book, even though she was younger than him.
Reid was ten years old when his parents surprised him one night with the news that he was going to have a baby brother or sister. He could still remember how happy he was, how much he looked forward to not being an only child anymore. When he was younger he had asked his parents frequently for a brother or sister and although they had always wanted more children, it just didn’t happen for them. So to say that Renée was a surprise was an understatement.
When she was born, Reid had stood over her crib, completely in awe of this little person that suddenly made him a big brother. He had loved her from the very first moment he’d seen her and held her tiny body so carefully in his arms. And when her eyes opened and Reid had looked into her blue eyes, very similar to his own, he promised to never let anything bad happen to her. Not if he could help it. And he had tried to live up to that promise every day. And when he had left home to make his first footsteps on the path to becoming the world renowned neurosurgeon that he was today, he made sure he knew about everything that was going on in her life.
Even now, with his busy schedule and crazy working hours, they kept in touch and tried to talk at least once a week. She told Reid about her life as a writer and he told Renée about his life, not that there was much in his life beside neurosurgery.
They were very close and Renée was one of the few people Reid trusted completely and told almost everything. Almost.
He finally decided to keep his answer light and superficial. “Yeah, we talked a few times, nothing really interesting though. Mostly chit-chat.”
Renée burst out in laughter, causing Reid to ask in a pretend-offended voice “What?”
“You? Chit-chat? I’d pay good money to see you pull that off.” Renée still laughed, hiccupping a little.
“I managed just fine, thank you.” Reid wasn’t really offended; he was known for his inability to engage in small talk and trivial conversation.
Then he heard a beeping sound in his phone, indicating another call was coming in. Luke.
“Listen, I’ve got another call, could be important.” Definitely important. “Call you later.” And while removing the phone from his ear to check the display, he could hear Renée calling “No, no, no!” But he pressed ‘end call’ and answered the incoming call.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” Luke breathed. “I thought it would go to voicemail.”
“No, no, I was just talking to someone else on the phone, so I had to say goodbye.” Reid said quickly.
“With the hospital?” Luke immediately asked, concerned. “How is Kevin?”
“ I wasn’t talking to the hospital and as far as Mr. Jackson is concerned, you know I can’t discuss his case with you. You have to call his parents for information.” Reid cut Luke off, he didn’t want to talk about Mr. Jackson and he couldn’t.
“ Please, Reid, the only thing Bob told us was that he was awake. That’s all. Can’t you give me something?” Luke pleaded.
“I’m sorry Luke, I can’t. And neither can Bob. How would you feel if I discussed your case with just anyone, only because they ask?”
Silence.
“Just anyone? Like I am just anyone?” Luke then asked in a small voice.
Reid sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course that’s what Luke focused on.
“That’s not what I meant and not what we’re talking about. Look, I can ask for Mrs. Jackson’s phone number for you, so you can call her if you want to know something. How’s that?” Reid tried to compromise.
“Yeah, okay. Fine. Although they might not want to give their number to just anybody.” Luke knew he was being childish, but he didn’t care. He was tired and grumpy from the journey to Chicago and he had been looking forward to calling Reid so much, but now Reid was not being helpful, not even a little.
Reid said nothing. He didn’t know how to deal with an angry Luke, especially when he thought there was nothing he was supposed to be sorry for. He explained why he couldn’t tell Luke about Mr. Jackson’s condition and if Luke chose not to believe him, well… there’s wasn’t much he could do about it, was there?
After a few moments of silence, Luke asked quietly, “Reid? Are you still there?”
Reid cleared his throat as to announce he was still there. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then answered. “Yes, I’m still here. I just don’t know what to say to you right now.” Reid wasn’t mad, just disappointed that their first conversation after Luke’s departure had taken this turn.
Apparently, Luke felt the same way. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to attack you or make you forget your Hippocratic Oath or anything. I just-“
But Reid interrupted him. “I don’t want to burst your bubble, but no one can make me forget my Hippocratic Oath. Not even you.”
Luke heart felt a little bit lighter at Reid’s last words. “Not even me? So I’m not just anyone?” He asked.
Reid snorted. “Well, if you have to ask, I’ve clearly been doing something wrong over the last weeks. I thought I made it pretty clear to you are definitely not just anyone. In fact, you are…”
“Yes?” Luke asked eagerly.
“Hmmm… let me think about that and I’ll get back to you on that.” Reid teased, which made Luke smile.
And just like that they left the argument behind them and went back to the easy conversations they used to have at night, when they were still staying in the same hotel. They talked and laughed and teased and it felt so good. They were getting to know so much about each other. Luke talked about growing up in a small town, where everybody knew everything about everybody, about the weird things that tended to happen there, about his parents and the way he was raised, how determined they were, especially his mother, that he succeeded and became the best in what he did.
“Do you blame them for it?” Reid asked after Luke told him how he didn’t have birthday parties or celebrations because he had practice or a game.
Luke sighed. “I don’t know. I know that if they hadn’t pushed me so hard, I would not be where I am today. I wouldn’t be this successful or be as good as I am. So I have to thank them for that.” Luke paused a few moments, before continuing. “But on the other hand, I think I would be happier if I’d had a normal childhood, with friends and school and fun, you know? Just being able to be kid and goof around. And when I hit puberty, I didn’t even get the chance to act out. I just tried to be what they wanted me to be. Tried to earn their love and approval.”
“You shouldn’t feel like to have to work hard to earn their love, Luke. Real love begins where nothing is expected in return and parents are supposed to love their children unconditionally, Luke.” Reid spoke softly. His heart went out to Luke, to little Luke whose insecurities only increased as he grew up.
“Is that why you haven’t come out to them yet?” He asked cautiously.
Luke felt a familiar lump rise in his throat. It seemed to appear every time he thought about telling his mother and father about his true self, about how he was attracted to men.
“Yeah,” he answered in a thick voice. Luke tried to swallow the lump away, but it seemed to be stuck in this throat. “My mother won’t accept it, I know that much. There was a guy in our town, my age, who came out when he was in college. Apparently, he had a real hard time coming out and all my mother could say about it was how deviant it was, being gay. I went to school with him and he really was kind of a douchebag, but she didn’t even know him. The only thing she knew about him was that he was gay but she hated him anyway. She told me she didn’t even want to go to Java anymore, because he worked there. She couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him. You think she will be any different if it was her own son?” Luke’s voice got higher and higher, as he was desperately trying to keep his emotions in check.
Reid fell silent at what Luke told him. He remembered how upset Luke had been in the hospital when they first talked about his mother. They’d just been talking about his career then and while Reid thought there was nothing wrong with wanting your children to do their best, Luke’s mother was on a whole different level. Not just about his career, but also about his personal life. He really began to see what coming out would mean for Luke in every aspect of his life.
When Reid didn’t say anything, Luke didn’t know what to think. Maybe I said too much?
“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said all that.” He started to apologize.
But Reid wouldn’t hear it. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I had no idea, I mean, God, your own mom. That’s just…wrong.” Reid paused for a second, to continue in a softer tone. “And, Luke, I told you before; you can always talk to me. I just may not always say the right things back.”
“I know, but I don’t like telling this about myself. And I know it’s not easy to listen to. ”
“I am certain it’s more difficult for you to tell me, than it is for me to hear it. But you’re right, it is hard for me to hear, but that’s only because I...” Reid hesitated, “ I…care about you.” Reid closed his eyes and for a moment wished he could have unsaid it. But lately his heart seemed to get the upper hand over his head more than any time before in his life. And he wanted, no needed Luke to know he wasn’t alone anymore, that there was someone who genuinely cared about him. So yeah, there he was, Reid Oliver, slowly opening his heart.
At hearing Reid’s words, Luke’s heart almost burst out of his chest. It was the first time that Reid had spoken out loud that he had feelings for Luke, well, sort of anyway.
With red cheeks and his eyes shining, Luke clutched his phone just a little tighter.
“Thank you so much for saying it.” He said, not even bothering to hide the joy in his voice. Then he laughed, freely and happy. And on the other end of the line Reid was smiling too.
“So Reid, you want to tell me who you were on the phone with, if not the hospital?”
*
Reid, exhausted from working the whole night, slept most of the day away. He woke up late in the afternoon due to the incessant beeping of his phone. With his eyes still closed, he searched around the bed with his hands, patting the covers.
His fingers found the edge of the small black rectangle and he brought the screen up to his face. He groaned when he saw the numerous messages flashing across the screen. There was no escaping anymore; he would have to call her tonight.
He swung his legs off the bed and made his way to the bathroom. After a reviving shower where Reid’s thoughts contained only one subject, Luke, he sat down in a chair and stared at his phone. Would Luke already be in Chicago? He had said he’d call as soon as he was settled. That was obviously not the case yet. He sighed and scrolled through the phonebook on his phone, searched for the right name when he reached ‘R’ and pressed the call-button.
It didn’t take more than one ring before his call was answered.
“You better have a good excuse for not calling me back earlier, you asshole,” were the first words he heard.
Reid smiled at the familiar greeting. “And they say I have bad people skills.”
“You do have bad people skills. But then again, it might run in the family.”
Reid laughed. “I’m sure it does.” He switched the phone to his other hand and leaned back in the chair to get comfortable. “So sister dearest, what’s so urgent it couldn’t wait one more minute?”
Renée sighed. “I can’t believe you’ve been treating Luke Snyder and Kevin Jackson and you didn’t even tell me. I had to read it online, Reid. Online! That is so not cool. We’ve been crushing on Luke Snyder together for years, the least you could’ve done is tell you were going to meet him!”
Reid sat up straight in his chair again. “You read that online? Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. It’s been all over the news. Why? What did you expect?”
Reid ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t bothered with newspapers and gossip magazines, printed or online. Would Luke know? Then he remembered Luke in the hospital, searching for news on his phone. So, yeah, Luke probably knew. He would have to do some surfing of his own later on, see what was said about him. And Luke. About him and Luke.
“Hello? Reid? Still there?” His sister asked impatiently.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” He sighed. “I guess I didn’t think about it. So, what did it say?” He asked curiously.
“You can look that up yourself, I’m not gonna read the internet to you, dumbass.” Renée retorted. “Now you better start talking to me about Luke Snyder and Kevin Jackson, or else I’m going to explode! What exactly is going on with Kevin Jackson? Is it true he’s never going to be okay? And is Luke Snyder really as nice as everybody says? Is he just as good looking in person? Did you talk to him much?”
Renée fired question after question and when she came up for air, she groaned loudly.
“Argh! You should have let me come over, I could have met him! That would have been so awesome. Did you at least get your picture taken together?”
Reid was laughing on the inside. If he told Renée what really happened between him and Luke, he wasn’t sure she would survive. He did want to tell her; he always shared everything with his sister but he would have to talk to Luke about it first.
“No, I didn’t have my picture taken with Luke Snyder, are you crazy? I’m not some sixteen-year-old fan girl, screaming and fainting whenever Luke Snyder is in the room.” Reid acted offended, but he really wasn’t. He and his sister were both soccer fans and Luke Snyder has been the number one on both of their celebrity-crush-list for years. Although when it came to his sister, she had also a major crush on Mike Wilson. Whenever they had the chance, they would watch soccer matches together and compare the players, pointing out their physical strong points to each other.
Renée snorted. “You could’ve fooled me, big brother. When we watched the qualifying matches together, you were practically drooling over him.”
“I was merely admiring his talent, that’s all.” Reid refuted.
Renée knew better than to push Reid into admitting something he didn’t want to admit, or he would shut down completely and she wouldn’t hear anything about Luke Snyder or Kevin Jackson.
“Okay, whatever you say.” She let it go, for now. “But you’ve got to give me something here. I’ve been waiting days for you to call me back. What good is having a brilliant neurosurgeon for a brother if you’re not telling me anything?” Renée whined.
Reid stood up from his chair and made himself comfortable on the bed.
“Well, what do you want to know?” He asked with a smile in his voice.
“Jeez, Reid. I don’t know, let’s just start with the important stuff. Did you get to see Luke Snyder naked in the hospital? Walk in on a sponge bath perhaps?” Renée asked in a hopeful voice.
Reid grinned at the question. “He knocked his head Renée, he doesn’t have to be naked in order for me to treat him. Besides, I was called in for Kevin Jackson, not Luke Snyder. So no, I didn’t see him naked in the hospital.” That was true, he thought to himself. He only saw Luke naked right here in the hotel. “I will tell you this though,” he went on.
“Yes?” Renée interrupted him eagerly.
“He is better looking in person than he is on television, far better looking.” Reid smiled while saying it. “And yes, he is very nice.”
Renée shrieked. “What? Did you really talk to him? I mean, really talk? Not just head injury stuff?”
Reid hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he could tell, before Renée caught on to something. She had been able to read him like a book, even though she was younger than him.
Reid was ten years old when his parents surprised him one night with the news that he was going to have a baby brother or sister. He could still remember how happy he was, how much he looked forward to not being an only child anymore. When he was younger he had asked his parents frequently for a brother or sister and although they had always wanted more children, it just didn’t happen for them. So to say that Renée was a surprise was an understatement.
When she was born, Reid had stood over her crib, completely in awe of this little person that suddenly made him a big brother. He had loved her from the very first moment he’d seen her and held her tiny body so carefully in his arms. And when her eyes opened and Reid had looked into her blue eyes, very similar to his own, he promised to never let anything bad happen to her. Not if he could help it. And he had tried to live up to that promise every day. And when he had left home to make his first footsteps on the path to becoming the world renowned neurosurgeon that he was today, he made sure he knew about everything that was going on in her life.
Even now, with his busy schedule and crazy working hours, they kept in touch and tried to talk at least once a week. She told Reid about her life as a writer and he told Renée about his life, not that there was much in his life beside neurosurgery.
They were very close and Renée was one of the few people Reid trusted completely and told almost everything. Almost.
He finally decided to keep his answer light and superficial. “Yeah, we talked a few times, nothing really interesting though. Mostly chit-chat.”
Renée burst out in laughter, causing Reid to ask in a pretend-offended voice “What?”
“You? Chit-chat? I’d pay good money to see you pull that off.” Renée still laughed, hiccupping a little.
“I managed just fine, thank you.” Reid wasn’t really offended; he was known for his inability to engage in small talk and trivial conversation.
Then he heard a beeping sound in his phone, indicating another call was coming in. Luke.
“Listen, I’ve got another call, could be important.” Definitely important. “Call you later.” And while removing the phone from his ear to check the display, he could hear Renée calling “No, no, no!” But he pressed ‘end call’ and answered the incoming call.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” Luke breathed. “I thought it would go to voicemail.”
“No, no, I was just talking to someone else on the phone, so I had to say goodbye.” Reid said quickly.
“With the hospital?” Luke immediately asked, concerned. “How is Kevin?”
“ I wasn’t talking to the hospital and as far as Mr. Jackson is concerned, you know I can’t discuss his case with you. You have to call his parents for information.” Reid cut Luke off, he didn’t want to talk about Mr. Jackson and he couldn’t.
“ Please, Reid, the only thing Bob told us was that he was awake. That’s all. Can’t you give me something?” Luke pleaded.
“I’m sorry Luke, I can’t. And neither can Bob. How would you feel if I discussed your case with just anyone, only because they ask?”
Silence.
“Just anyone? Like I am just anyone?” Luke then asked in a small voice.
Reid sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course that’s what Luke focused on.
“That’s not what I meant and not what we’re talking about. Look, I can ask for Mrs. Jackson’s phone number for you, so you can call her if you want to know something. How’s that?” Reid tried to compromise.
“Yeah, okay. Fine. Although they might not want to give their number to just anybody.” Luke knew he was being childish, but he didn’t care. He was tired and grumpy from the journey to Chicago and he had been looking forward to calling Reid so much, but now Reid was not being helpful, not even a little.
Reid said nothing. He didn’t know how to deal with an angry Luke, especially when he thought there was nothing he was supposed to be sorry for. He explained why he couldn’t tell Luke about Mr. Jackson’s condition and if Luke chose not to believe him, well… there’s wasn’t much he could do about it, was there?
After a few moments of silence, Luke asked quietly, “Reid? Are you still there?”
Reid cleared his throat as to announce he was still there. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then answered. “Yes, I’m still here. I just don’t know what to say to you right now.” Reid wasn’t mad, just disappointed that their first conversation after Luke’s departure had taken this turn.
Apparently, Luke felt the same way. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to attack you or make you forget your Hippocratic Oath or anything. I just-“
But Reid interrupted him. “I don’t want to burst your bubble, but no one can make me forget my Hippocratic Oath. Not even you.”
Luke heart felt a little bit lighter at Reid’s last words. “Not even me? So I’m not just anyone?” He asked.
Reid snorted. “Well, if you have to ask, I’ve clearly been doing something wrong over the last weeks. I thought I made it pretty clear to you are definitely not just anyone. In fact, you are…”
“Yes?” Luke asked eagerly.
“Hmmm… let me think about that and I’ll get back to you on that.” Reid teased, which made Luke smile.
And just like that they left the argument behind them and went back to the easy conversations they used to have at night, when they were still staying in the same hotel. They talked and laughed and teased and it felt so good. They were getting to know so much about each other. Luke talked about growing up in a small town, where everybody knew everything about everybody, about the weird things that tended to happen there, about his parents and the way he was raised, how determined they were, especially his mother, that he succeeded and became the best in what he did.
“Do you blame them for it?” Reid asked after Luke told him how he didn’t have birthday parties or celebrations because he had practice or a game.
Luke sighed. “I don’t know. I know that if they hadn’t pushed me so hard, I would not be where I am today. I wouldn’t be this successful or be as good as I am. So I have to thank them for that.” Luke paused a few moments, before continuing. “But on the other hand, I think I would be happier if I’d had a normal childhood, with friends and school and fun, you know? Just being able to be kid and goof around. And when I hit puberty, I didn’t even get the chance to act out. I just tried to be what they wanted me to be. Tried to earn their love and approval.”
“You shouldn’t feel like to have to work hard to earn their love, Luke. Real love begins where nothing is expected in return and parents are supposed to love their children unconditionally, Luke.” Reid spoke softly. His heart went out to Luke, to little Luke whose insecurities only increased as he grew up.
“Is that why you haven’t come out to them yet?” He asked cautiously.
Luke felt a familiar lump rise in his throat. It seemed to appear every time he thought about telling his mother and father about his true self, about how he was attracted to men.
“Yeah,” he answered in a thick voice. Luke tried to swallow the lump away, but it seemed to be stuck in this throat. “My mother won’t accept it, I know that much. There was a guy in our town, my age, who came out when he was in college. Apparently, he had a real hard time coming out and all my mother could say about it was how deviant it was, being gay. I went to school with him and he really was kind of a douchebag, but she didn’t even know him. The only thing she knew about him was that he was gay but she hated him anyway. She told me she didn’t even want to go to Java anymore, because he worked there. She couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him. You think she will be any different if it was her own son?” Luke’s voice got higher and higher, as he was desperately trying to keep his emotions in check.
Reid fell silent at what Luke told him. He remembered how upset Luke had been in the hospital when they first talked about his mother. They’d just been talking about his career then and while Reid thought there was nothing wrong with wanting your children to do their best, Luke’s mother was on a whole different level. Not just about his career, but also about his personal life. He really began to see what coming out would mean for Luke in every aspect of his life.
When Reid didn’t say anything, Luke didn’t know what to think. Maybe I said too much?
“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said all that.” He started to apologize.
But Reid wouldn’t hear it. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I had no idea, I mean, God, your own mom. That’s just…wrong.” Reid paused for a second, to continue in a softer tone. “And, Luke, I told you before; you can always talk to me. I just may not always say the right things back.”
“I know, but I don’t like telling this about myself. And I know it’s not easy to listen to. ”
“I am certain it’s more difficult for you to tell me, than it is for me to hear it. But you’re right, it is hard for me to hear, but that’s only because I...” Reid hesitated, “ I…care about you.” Reid closed his eyes and for a moment wished he could have unsaid it. But lately his heart seemed to get the upper hand over his head more than any time before in his life. And he wanted, no needed Luke to know he wasn’t alone anymore, that there was someone who genuinely cared about him. So yeah, there he was, Reid Oliver, slowly opening his heart.
At hearing Reid’s words, Luke’s heart almost burst out of his chest. It was the first time that Reid had spoken out loud that he had feelings for Luke, well, sort of anyway.
With red cheeks and his eyes shining, Luke clutched his phone just a little tighter.
“Thank you so much for saying it.” He said, not even bothering to hide the joy in his voice. Then he laughed, freely and happy. And on the other end of the line Reid was smiling too.
“So Reid, you want to tell me who you were on the phone with, if not the hospital?”
*