Sparks and Gasoline Chapter 29
Subject: Sparks and Gasoline Chapter 29
Title: Sparks and Gasoline
Summary: Luke and Reid grew up together, but neither had liked the other. Reid moved away for college then, and Luke never saw him again. Sixteen years later, Luke is the editor in chief of the local newspaper, Oakdaily. When a corporation decides to take over Oakdale Memorial, Luke becomes suspicious and starts investigating. Then unexpectedly, Bob decides to retire and hire Reid Oliver to come back to town. Hijinks ensue as Luke is convinced Reid has something to do with the corruption and mystery. What will happen when sparks and gasoline meet?
Rating:R (for language)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with ATWT
Thanks to rumpltzr and traciamc, my wonderful betas!
A/N: Things are starting to work themselves out...
As always feedback = <3
The next morning, Luke grabbed his jacket and headed to the soccer field. Faith came long to take pictures. They met Lily, Holden, Ethan, Emma, and Lucinda at the field.
Lucinda was the first to spot them.
She called Luke over.
Luke walked over and stood beside her.
“How was your jail stay? I take it, it wasn’t too uncomfortable.”
“Depends on what you refer to as uncomfortable. It wasn’t like staying at the Lakeview.”
“Did you find the accoutrements to your liking?”
“By that, do you mean the condoms and lube you so generously supplied for us? The Trojan Mint Tingle condoms were a nice touch. “
“So, you’re saying you enjoyed them very much?”
“I’m not saying anything, grandmother. Next time you want to help me out, how about bailing me out when I ask, instead of forcing me to spend the evening in jail.”
Luke picked up the coffee he brought and sipped it as he watched Natalie’s team. They weren’t very good, but they tried really hard.
He saw Katie and Jacob sitting farther down as they watched Chris coach the team.
He went over to talk to Katie.
“So, how was your prison stay?”
“It was wonderful, thanks for asking.”
“So, did you two finally talk?”
“What do you think?”
“Why not? You had an entire night together.”
“I think because he was too busy having hate sex with me to talk to me.”
“WHAT?!?!!?”
“You heard me.”
“I cannot believe that you slept with him!”
“He was the one to instigate it, Katie. Not me.”
“But you didn’t stop it.”
“I don’t think I could’ve if I wanted to.”
“Whatever, Luke, please tell me there is at least hope for you two.”
“Well, if by hope, you mean Reid dating Patrick, a police officer, and telling me after we had sex, that he initiated, that it was a mistake, yeah, tons of hope.”
“Dammit.”
“Yeah.”
“I hope you have a plan to get Reid back.”
“Excuse me?”
“Come on, Luke. You cannot believe that Patrick is right for him, especially not after he slept with you.”
“I don’t believe Patrick is right for Reid, but Reid doesn’t want to hear about it from me. I already tried, believe me.”
“Looks like I need to kick his ass too.”
“How about you just leave us alone and let us live our lives the way we choose. Because I’m tired of feeling like constant crap and always getting yelled at by people, because I’m not in a relationship with a guy who, by all indications, hates me.”
“Reid does NOT hate you. That I am positive of.”
“Yeah, how do you know?”
“He smiles whenever he sees you. You never see it of course, but I don’t think he can help himself.”
“Oh, wow, smiling. Yeah, he’s in love with me.”
“I didn’t say that, but I do know that he does not hate you.”
“Whatever. I would like for one day to quit talking about what Reid does or does not feel about me.”
“Well maybe you should just stop. I mean it’s clear that you don’t care that much about Reid. Otherwise, you would have read his letters, treated him well when he came back, and actually took the chance to apologize to him when you had the chance. Reid doesn’t deserve to be tossed around whenever you feel like playing emotional Russian roulette with him. So, just quit. Don’t follow him and give him false hope. Let him move on. While I firmly believe you two are meant to be together, I’m not going to wish you on him. You need to actually do something in order for anything to happen and I’m tired of you doing nothing hoping he’ll make the first move. It’s not his place, Luke. You need to make it right.”
Katie took Jacob then and joined her sister, who was holding Madeline.
Luke stood there. He didn’t want to quit. He did want Reid. But she was right; he wasn’t doing anything, hoping Reid would make the first move. That way if something went wrong, this time it wouldn’t be his fault. That sounded stupid even to him.
He walked back to his family and watched the rest of the game. When it was over, he offered to take Natalie to the pizza place for the after game pizza party.
Lily pulled him aside before he could leave.
“Luke, Holden is going to take Natalie, Ethan, and Faith to the farm to pick out pumpkins this afternoon. Could you come over to the house? I decided to repaint your old room.”
“Sure, mom. I’ll be over around two.”
He dropped Natalie off at the pizza place when he received a text from Amber.
Meet me at Al’s. I have info.
-A
Luke walked in and saw Amber sitting in the corner.
“Hey, so did you go to the hospital yet to talk to Reid?”
“Nope.”
“Then why did you call to meet me?”
“Because I went to the police station, and talked to Jack about the text and letter. Jack said to drop off the phone to him and he’d have his tech. specialist look at it. As for the note, well, I made a copy of it and gave it to Jack already. Their best forensic specialist is working on it.”
“Wow.”
“So, YOU get to talk to Reid and work with him on his memo.”
“Hell, no. I’m still your boss, Amber. You can still do that and go see Casey, you know, your boyfriend?”
“Casey and I have plans this afternoon. So, sorry, but I can’t make it with Reid. Would you rather I do the memo, and blow off Casey once again?”
“You’re such a bitch. Fine, go with Casey, have fun, and I’ll go to the hospital and work with Reid’s assistant.”
“On a Sunday afternoon? She won’t be working.”
“Fuck.”
“Language, Luke.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
Amber just giggled and took a sip of her soda.
“So, did you eat lunch yet?”
“No, I just got done with my sister’s soccer game, and I’m meeting my other in about an hour.”
“Oh, well I was going to offer to buy you lunch, but with your schedule, it’s a wonder how you ever eat.”
“Rain check?”
“Sure, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go home and shave my legs, so when I see my boyfriend, it’s perfect.”
“Thank you for that mental image, Amber.”
“You are welcome, Luciano.”
Luke headed to the police station then.
He handed over his cellphone and waited as the tech guy worked on tracing the number.
Parker came over to him and offered him some coffee.
They sat and talked about Liberty and his two kids. Luke couldn’t believe that Parker and Liberty had been married for nearly five years, and had been since they were seventeen.
Finally, Ed came out and handed his phone back.
Jack pulled him into the interrogation room.
“The phone was a disposable one.”
“So, no leads?”
“The only thing I can tell you for certain that the call came from within Oakdale.”
“And the note?”
“That was a bit more telling. We know for certain the author is left-handed and most likely female.”
“Really? So our killer is female and left handed.”
“Yes.”
“I guess being left-handed narrows it down a bit. But to be honest, besides myself, I don’t know many left-handed people.”
“Sorry we couldn’t do more for you.”
“No, it’s okay Jack. We’re still waiting on the analysis from the coffee grounds, and we found some film from Pete Hasting’s apartment. We’re just trying to figure out if there is anything important on it.”
“Keep me updated, Luke. Just do me a favor, when it comes to issuing an arrest warrant, don’t tell the judge you stole the evidence, okay?”
“Sure thing, Jack.”
Luke left then and headed to his mother’s house.
Luke walked in his mother’s house.
He put his jacket down and headed up the stairs.
Luke saw his mother taping down the last of the woodwork when he walked in.
“Okay, mom. I’m ready. I changed into my old ratty jeans and old stained Beatles t-shirt.”
“Thanks for coming, honey.”
“So where do you want me to start?”
“How about we do the ceiling first?”
“Sure thing.”
Luke grabbed one of the ladders and moved to the corner.
They painted in silence for a good ten minutes, before Luke said anything.
“So, why did you decide to repaint?”
“I thought it was time for a change, something new, you know? I thought it was time to move on from the old.”
“Is that supposed to be symbolic?”
“I just think it’s time for you to quit living in the past, honey.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, quit blaming yourself for everything that has gone wrong in life.”
“Yeah, okay, ‘cause I clearly wasn’t to blame for cheating on Reid.”
“Luke, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about me cheating on your father, and me drinking. None of that was your fault. You weren’t to blame. I had many problems, most of which stemmed from the ill-advised relationship I had with Damian. Yes, I cheated on Holden. Yes, I drank and you were forced to raise Faith for many years, and I regret nothing more. I couldn’t get my shit together, and in turn I negatively affected you. I hate that you went this long thinking you were the cause.”
Luke’s heart constricted. He had waited years to hear this, from the person he needed to hear it the most. He couldn’t speak for fear of completely losing it.
He stepped off the ladder and ripped off a piece of paper towel.
He wiped his eyes, which were leaking at the moment.
Lily walked over to him. She took the roller out of his hand and placed it in the tray.
“Come here, Luke.”
Luke allowed Lily to lead him downstairs and to the kitchen.
She poured him a glass of milk, and pulled out of a box Nilla Wafers, which was always his favorite snack growing up.
“You remembered.”
“How could I forget? You would eat the whole box if I didn’t cut you off. Just so you know, Ethan also inherited that trait.”
Luke just grinned and grabbed a handful of the wafers.
“Luke, listen to me. I love you and I don’t want you blaming yourself anymore. You are one of the kindest and most compassionate people I know. You are nothing like Damian. You are not to blame for what I did, or for Adam dying. You blame yourself far too often for things you had no control over. It’s okay to forgive yourself. It’s okay to move on. It’s okay to love Reid, and to want to fix things. It doesn’t make you selfish.”
By this time Luke was sobbing while Lily held him.
“It’s okay, baby. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of forgiveness. Please don’t blame yourself anymore. It’s not healthy and I want you to be happy. And if that is with Reid, then that’s what I want. If it’s with that cute barista from Java, then it’s time to move on. Either way, Luke, you need to move on with your life.”
Luke knew she was right, and he finally knew what he truly wanted, and what he was going to do.
Title: Sparks and Gasoline
Summary: Luke and Reid grew up together, but neither had liked the other. Reid moved away for college then, and Luke never saw him again. Sixteen years later, Luke is the editor in chief of the local newspaper, Oakdaily. When a corporation decides to take over Oakdale Memorial, Luke becomes suspicious and starts investigating. Then unexpectedly, Bob decides to retire and hire Reid Oliver to come back to town. Hijinks ensue as Luke is convinced Reid has something to do with the corruption and mystery. What will happen when sparks and gasoline meet?
Rating:R (for language)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with ATWT
Thanks to rumpltzr and traciamc, my wonderful betas!
A/N: Things are starting to work themselves out...
As always feedback = <3
The next morning, Luke grabbed his jacket and headed to the soccer field. Faith came long to take pictures. They met Lily, Holden, Ethan, Emma, and Lucinda at the field.
Lucinda was the first to spot them.
She called Luke over.
Luke walked over and stood beside her.
“How was your jail stay? I take it, it wasn’t too uncomfortable.”
“Depends on what you refer to as uncomfortable. It wasn’t like staying at the Lakeview.”
“Did you find the accoutrements to your liking?”
“By that, do you mean the condoms and lube you so generously supplied for us? The Trojan Mint Tingle condoms were a nice touch. “
“So, you’re saying you enjoyed them very much?”
“I’m not saying anything, grandmother. Next time you want to help me out, how about bailing me out when I ask, instead of forcing me to spend the evening in jail.”
Luke picked up the coffee he brought and sipped it as he watched Natalie’s team. They weren’t very good, but they tried really hard.
He saw Katie and Jacob sitting farther down as they watched Chris coach the team.
He went over to talk to Katie.
“So, how was your prison stay?”
“It was wonderful, thanks for asking.”
“So, did you two finally talk?”
“What do you think?”
“Why not? You had an entire night together.”
“I think because he was too busy having hate sex with me to talk to me.”
“WHAT?!?!!?”
“You heard me.”
“I cannot believe that you slept with him!”
“He was the one to instigate it, Katie. Not me.”
“But you didn’t stop it.”
“I don’t think I could’ve if I wanted to.”
“Whatever, Luke, please tell me there is at least hope for you two.”
“Well, if by hope, you mean Reid dating Patrick, a police officer, and telling me after we had sex, that he initiated, that it was a mistake, yeah, tons of hope.”
“Dammit.”
“Yeah.”
“I hope you have a plan to get Reid back.”
“Excuse me?”
“Come on, Luke. You cannot believe that Patrick is right for him, especially not after he slept with you.”
“I don’t believe Patrick is right for Reid, but Reid doesn’t want to hear about it from me. I already tried, believe me.”
“Looks like I need to kick his ass too.”
“How about you just leave us alone and let us live our lives the way we choose. Because I’m tired of feeling like constant crap and always getting yelled at by people, because I’m not in a relationship with a guy who, by all indications, hates me.”
“Reid does NOT hate you. That I am positive of.”
“Yeah, how do you know?”
“He smiles whenever he sees you. You never see it of course, but I don’t think he can help himself.”
“Oh, wow, smiling. Yeah, he’s in love with me.”
“I didn’t say that, but I do know that he does not hate you.”
“Whatever. I would like for one day to quit talking about what Reid does or does not feel about me.”
“Well maybe you should just stop. I mean it’s clear that you don’t care that much about Reid. Otherwise, you would have read his letters, treated him well when he came back, and actually took the chance to apologize to him when you had the chance. Reid doesn’t deserve to be tossed around whenever you feel like playing emotional Russian roulette with him. So, just quit. Don’t follow him and give him false hope. Let him move on. While I firmly believe you two are meant to be together, I’m not going to wish you on him. You need to actually do something in order for anything to happen and I’m tired of you doing nothing hoping he’ll make the first move. It’s not his place, Luke. You need to make it right.”
Katie took Jacob then and joined her sister, who was holding Madeline.
Luke stood there. He didn’t want to quit. He did want Reid. But she was right; he wasn’t doing anything, hoping Reid would make the first move. That way if something went wrong, this time it wouldn’t be his fault. That sounded stupid even to him.
He walked back to his family and watched the rest of the game. When it was over, he offered to take Natalie to the pizza place for the after game pizza party.
Lily pulled him aside before he could leave.
“Luke, Holden is going to take Natalie, Ethan, and Faith to the farm to pick out pumpkins this afternoon. Could you come over to the house? I decided to repaint your old room.”
“Sure, mom. I’ll be over around two.”
He dropped Natalie off at the pizza place when he received a text from Amber.
Meet me at Al’s. I have info.
-A
Luke walked in and saw Amber sitting in the corner.
“Hey, so did you go to the hospital yet to talk to Reid?”
“Nope.”
“Then why did you call to meet me?”
“Because I went to the police station, and talked to Jack about the text and letter. Jack said to drop off the phone to him and he’d have his tech. specialist look at it. As for the note, well, I made a copy of it and gave it to Jack already. Their best forensic specialist is working on it.”
“Wow.”
“So, YOU get to talk to Reid and work with him on his memo.”
“Hell, no. I’m still your boss, Amber. You can still do that and go see Casey, you know, your boyfriend?”
“Casey and I have plans this afternoon. So, sorry, but I can’t make it with Reid. Would you rather I do the memo, and blow off Casey once again?”
“You’re such a bitch. Fine, go with Casey, have fun, and I’ll go to the hospital and work with Reid’s assistant.”
“On a Sunday afternoon? She won’t be working.”
“Fuck.”
“Language, Luke.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
Amber just giggled and took a sip of her soda.
“So, did you eat lunch yet?”
“No, I just got done with my sister’s soccer game, and I’m meeting my other in about an hour.”
“Oh, well I was going to offer to buy you lunch, but with your schedule, it’s a wonder how you ever eat.”
“Rain check?”
“Sure, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go home and shave my legs, so when I see my boyfriend, it’s perfect.”
“Thank you for that mental image, Amber.”
“You are welcome, Luciano.”
Luke headed to the police station then.
He handed over his cellphone and waited as the tech guy worked on tracing the number.
Parker came over to him and offered him some coffee.
They sat and talked about Liberty and his two kids. Luke couldn’t believe that Parker and Liberty had been married for nearly five years, and had been since they were seventeen.
Finally, Ed came out and handed his phone back.
Jack pulled him into the interrogation room.
“The phone was a disposable one.”
“So, no leads?”
“The only thing I can tell you for certain that the call came from within Oakdale.”
“And the note?”
“That was a bit more telling. We know for certain the author is left-handed and most likely female.”
“Really? So our killer is female and left handed.”
“Yes.”
“I guess being left-handed narrows it down a bit. But to be honest, besides myself, I don’t know many left-handed people.”
“Sorry we couldn’t do more for you.”
“No, it’s okay Jack. We’re still waiting on the analysis from the coffee grounds, and we found some film from Pete Hasting’s apartment. We’re just trying to figure out if there is anything important on it.”
“Keep me updated, Luke. Just do me a favor, when it comes to issuing an arrest warrant, don’t tell the judge you stole the evidence, okay?”
“Sure thing, Jack.”
Luke left then and headed to his mother’s house.
Luke walked in his mother’s house.
He put his jacket down and headed up the stairs.
Luke saw his mother taping down the last of the woodwork when he walked in.
“Okay, mom. I’m ready. I changed into my old ratty jeans and old stained Beatles t-shirt.”
“Thanks for coming, honey.”
“So where do you want me to start?”
“How about we do the ceiling first?”
“Sure thing.”
Luke grabbed one of the ladders and moved to the corner.
They painted in silence for a good ten minutes, before Luke said anything.
“So, why did you decide to repaint?”
“I thought it was time for a change, something new, you know? I thought it was time to move on from the old.”
“Is that supposed to be symbolic?”
“I just think it’s time for you to quit living in the past, honey.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, quit blaming yourself for everything that has gone wrong in life.”
“Yeah, okay, ‘cause I clearly wasn’t to blame for cheating on Reid.”
“Luke, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about me cheating on your father, and me drinking. None of that was your fault. You weren’t to blame. I had many problems, most of which stemmed from the ill-advised relationship I had with Damian. Yes, I cheated on Holden. Yes, I drank and you were forced to raise Faith for many years, and I regret nothing more. I couldn’t get my shit together, and in turn I negatively affected you. I hate that you went this long thinking you were the cause.”
Luke’s heart constricted. He had waited years to hear this, from the person he needed to hear it the most. He couldn’t speak for fear of completely losing it.
He stepped off the ladder and ripped off a piece of paper towel.
He wiped his eyes, which were leaking at the moment.
Lily walked over to him. She took the roller out of his hand and placed it in the tray.
“Come here, Luke.”
Luke allowed Lily to lead him downstairs and to the kitchen.
She poured him a glass of milk, and pulled out of a box Nilla Wafers, which was always his favorite snack growing up.
“You remembered.”
“How could I forget? You would eat the whole box if I didn’t cut you off. Just so you know, Ethan also inherited that trait.”
Luke just grinned and grabbed a handful of the wafers.
“Luke, listen to me. I love you and I don’t want you blaming yourself anymore. You are one of the kindest and most compassionate people I know. You are nothing like Damian. You are not to blame for what I did, or for Adam dying. You blame yourself far too often for things you had no control over. It’s okay to forgive yourself. It’s okay to move on. It’s okay to love Reid, and to want to fix things. It doesn’t make you selfish.”
By this time Luke was sobbing while Lily held him.
“It’s okay, baby. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of forgiveness. Please don’t blame yourself anymore. It’s not healthy and I want you to be happy. And if that is with Reid, then that’s what I want. If it’s with that cute barista from Java, then it’s time to move on. Either way, Luke, you need to move on with your life.”
Luke knew she was right, and he finally knew what he truly wanted, and what he was going to do.