don't give up.
“And I can't believe it's come to this, all our secret codes and battleships.
Don't give up on our love story, when you can't go on.
Don't give up, it's always dark before the morning.
You'll be a brave heart, I'll be a lion's roar.”
It takes six weeks for Reid to relent. And even then, even then -
It's strained and awkward and uncomfortable.
"Reid?" Luke answers his phone embarrassingly quickly, like he's been waiting for it to ring for over a month. And he has.
"Hey." Reid answers quietly, defeatedly.
"Can we - "
"We need to - "
They speak over the top of one another, something they haven't done since early on in their relationship. Reid wonders whether maybe it's just another sign that things have changed so much it might be impossible to ever go back.
"Can we meet and talk about this?" Luke asks quickly before Reid can get another word in. "I need to see you."
"I don't think I can see you, yet." Reid is honest, maybe to a fault. It stabs at Luke like tiny knives, but he's in no position to be hostile.
"Can I talk to you now then?"
"Okay."
So Luke talks. He talks for hours, about who he is and what he's done and how fucking sorry he is that it's killing him he'll never be able to express just how badly he knows he's acted. Reid doesn't say anything, because he doesn't need to. Luke knows implicitly what Reid is feeling, because Luke knows Reid.
Luke knows that Reid hasn't cried. He's not sure that he will. But he knows he hasn't yet. It would almost be enough to second guess Reid's feelings for him if he couldn't hear the hurt in his voice regardless. Even in his breathless sighs, Luke could hear that Reid was in pain. And he put him there.
"I just - this can't be our story, Reid."
"What does that mean?" Reid asks, quietly and carefully. He's exhausted from all this talking about feelings and he wants nothing more than to scream, cry and punch Luke in the face then beg him to come home. But nothing is ever that simple.
"Our story, it can't end like this. It's not even supposed to end. I was stupid and I did something that I'll never be able to forgive myself for, but even though I was awful I know that we're not meant to end like this."
"I need some time." Reid responds truthfully, unashamedly.
"Take however long you need." Luke replies, softer and more reserved than he was in his impassioned pleas of days gone past. "Just remember that I love you, and that I'm so, so sorry. And that I'll never do it again."
Is it enough? Is a promise to never hurt him enough to start again?
cruel, cruel world.