Then There Was You- Chapter 33 (FanFiction)
The next morning, Reid woke up to a gorgeous spring day.
He was regretting not taking an extra day off and spending the whole day in bed with Luke.
He rolled over to shut off the alarm and dropped a kiss on Luke’s shoulder, before he got up.
Luke groaned and then a few seconds later said with his voice muffled by his pillow,
“Have a good day at work.”
Reid grinned and headed to the bathroom to get ready.
He drank his coffee and reset the pot so Luke and Katie would have some for when they woke up.
Then he grabbed his lunch from the refrigerator and headed out in the pale early morning light.
The only thing that wasn’t perfect was his still aching nose.
Figures the first vacation he takes in years, he gets injured.
He pulls into the parking lot at the hospital and heads in to make rounds.
He loses track of time and before he knows it, it’s lunch time.
He grabs his lunch and opens up his bag to find a handwritten note stuck in it.
Reid grinned and thought
Luke must’ve stuck this in here when I went to bed last night.
He opened up the paper to see a note,
There would have been the making of an accomplished flirt in me, because my lucidity shows me each move of the game - but that, in the same instant, a reaction of contempt makes me sweep all the counters off the board and cry out: - "Take them all - I don't want to win - I want to lose everything to you!" (Written by Edith Wharton)
-Luke
Reid smirked as he stuck the note in his desk drawer. It joined the other twenty-seven letters.
He really is going to write me two books worth of love letters.
He was just finishing his lunch when a knock came to the door.
“It’s open.”
Reid looked up to see Noah walking the room.
“Mr. Mayer, what can I do for you?”
“Uhh, I really didn’t want to come see you, but I’ve been having these splitting headaches all day and nothing is helping it.”
“Well you did just have surgery not long ago. Come with me to an exam room and I’ll check you out.”
“You don’t have to do that. I mean, I know you don’t want to be around me, so you can just pawn me off.”
“Noah, even though you did try to get me fired and you did break my nose, I am still professional. You are still my patient, and I will do my best to help you, regardless of personal feelings.”
Reid took Noah into a room and shone a penlight in his eyes. Noah winced when the light hit them.
“Did you suffer from migraines before you lost your sight, Noah?”
“Yeah. But they went away when I was blind.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Noah. Your migraines have come back due to the light hitting your retinas. I can write you a prescription for a migraine medication.”
“Really? That’s it?”
“I don’t lie, Noah. Your migraines probably feel worse since you haven’t had one in a very long time, plus your eyes are sensitive to light as it is, since you just got your eyesight back. Just take the normal dosage of the migraine medication, and you’ll be fine in no time.”
“Thanks, Dr. Oliver. If you don’t mind, would make sure not to tell Luke about this.”
“I don’t discuss my patients with anyone other than the patient, Noah.”
“Well good. I mean Luke would freak out and then insist to walk with my every step of the way.”
“And that is a bad thing?”
“I just don’t want his sympathy. I mean, why would I want him to be here for me, if it isn’t because he wants to be with me?”
Reid understood Noah in that moment.
“I get it Noah, but Luke really does care about you. He wants to help you because he loves you. Just because you are no longer together doesn’t diminish what you shared or what you mean to him.”
“How can you be so cavalier about Luke having feelings for me when you are together?”
“Because I trust Luke and I love him. I want him to be happy and I understand him. I get how much you mean to him and I know that he would resent me if I told him he couldn’t.
Noah stared at Reid in wonder,
“You really do love him, don’t you?”
“I never use that word unless I mean it.”
“I have been such an idiot.”
Reid sighed,
Luke should be having this conversation with Noah. Not me.
“Noah, don’t you think you should be having this conversation with Luke?”
“I knew Luke had moved on with someone else. I just didn’t want to accept it. And it made it even worse when it turned out to be you. I mean Luke brought you here to help me, and I ended up pushing him away.”
“Noah..”
“No, let me finish. I was being selfish. I just wanted what was best for me. I didn’t even consider Luke’s feelings. I never thought about what my actions or inactions would do. I guess I took for granted that Luke would always be there. Then he wasn’t. It’s so hard for me to see him moving on, because I guess it means I have to change. Change is a scary thought. I mean so often we fall into old habits, because we don’t want to live the change we know is inevitable. “
Reid just watched as Noah got up from the exam table,
“It’s clear that Luke is happy, and I can’t deny that of him anymore. So I guess all I have to say is thank you. Thank you for giving me my sight and for making Luke happy, when I couldn’t. “
Noah stuck his hand out, and Reid shook it.
“I know we’ll never be friends, but I hope we at least can be civil, Noah.”
Noah smiled sadly and said, “I can do civil.”
As Noah turned to leave, Reid said,
“You should consider calling, Richard.”
Noah looked back in shock,
“I don’t think he wants to talk to me after what I did last night.”
“I’m pretty sure he would forgive you murder, Noah. He’s in love with you.”
Noah smiled at that,
“Maybe I will. Thanks again, for everything, Reid.”
Reid just watched as Noah left the room.
He was still standing there thinking when his cell phone beeped at him,
Noah wants to meet me for coffee. Do you mind if I go?
You don’t have to ask my permission, Luke.
I know, but it’s what you do when you’re in a serious relationship.
Oh, I didn’t know we were serious. My bad.
Oh we aren’t? Well I’m sure Noah would love to hear that.
If you tell him that, I’m changing the locks on Katie’s doors.
You wouldn’t dare.
I went three years without having sex, Luke. Try me.
I love you.
Reid laughed at the last message and put his phone away.
He still had sixteen hours left to go on his shift.
The rest of the day flew by and before he knew it, it was evening.
He stared at the clock on the wall willing the hours to go by faster so he could go home and get a good night’s sleep. He never slept well in the on call room. Reid was filling out paperwork when he realized that he couldn’t sleep well without Luke.
Damn. When did this happen?
Truth be told, he didn’t even mind. So this is what it felt like to be completely in love. It had to happen sometime.
Then an emergency came through the door and Reid went to work.
He finally got home at five a.m. and fell into bed.
He could barely move he was so tired, but then he felt two arms come around him.
He melted into the embrace and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next morning he woke up and found a sticky note on his forehead
Real subtle, Luke
He pulled the note off,
Hey, I went to the farm to babysit for Ethan. Come join me when you’re rested.
Reid just rolled his eyes and nearly turned back over to go back to sleep.
Why the heck would I want to babysit?
But he got up anyways. He’d suffer through babysitting if it meant spending time with Luke.