fic: take my whole life too.
title: take my whole life too.
author: inflowers
summary: surprise introductions at boring conference dinners.
authors notes: i've only seemed to write angst lately. this is my departure from that. i'm sure i've written almost this exact story before, but this one is set somewhere different so that counts, right? anyway.
"Come on, Luke. All the other doctors will be bringing their stuffy, boring wives. Why can't I bring mine?"
"Excuse me?"
"You know what I mean."
"You know, a few years ago something like that would have devastated me. Am I immune to your hurtful comments now? How did that happen." Luke wonders out loud, pausing for effect. "Besides, this isn't the way you're supposed to go about getting me to do something that I don't want to do."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Shower me with gifts, tell me how much you love me, tell me that you can't go a week without me."
"I can't."
"No, you can't go a week without sex. There's a difference."
"And you can?" Reid scoffs, still picking at the mountain of food in front of him.
"Don't you remember the last time we had this bet? You showed up at my office and dragged me into the parking lot. After only three days!"
"Only because at that time you were still used to Noah "I never put out" Mayer. Of course you won."
"Sure." Luke nods obnoxiously. "Had nothing at all to do with the fact that you couldn't get enough of me, right?"
"In your dreams, Snyder. If you weren't willing to give it up, I could have gotten it anywhere."
"Because there's such an abundance of gay men in Oakdale?" Luke laughs, his eyes shining humour and light.
"Gay, straight, whatever. They're all just irrelevancies to me in my constant quest to get off."
"Honey," Luke starts sarcastically. "You're good. But you're not so good that you could turn straight men gay."
"Wanna bet?"
"No, no I don't."
"Because you know I'm right?" Reid queries, thinking he's already won.
"Because on the very slight chance that you are right, I don't want you to sleep with someone else. Even if they're straight."
"I wouldn't actually do it, you know." He concedes, his mouth still full. "But it'd be nice to know that I've still got it."
"Trust me, with the way the women in this town look at you ... you've still got it."
"Yeah." Reid smirks characteristically, "You're right. I've definitely still got it." He flexes his bicep, maybe to prove it, but probably just to make Luke laugh.
"Okay, as much as I would just love to sit here and listen to you wax poetic about yourself all day, I've gotta go. I'm meeting Casey for dinner then I'm babysitting Ethan."
"Hmm. Casey..." Reid muses aloud, "Now there's a potential target. Although it would hardly be a fair fight, he says he's straight but I'm not so convinced..."
"Reid..." Luke warns gently, rolling his eyes.
"Alright fine. Go. But we're not done talking about this, I want you to come. Sure, it'll be boring for you, but at least you'll be able to make doe-eyes at me all day as you watch me be brilliant."
"If by doe eyes you mean cringe at how rude you are to other members of the medical community, then I'm sure that's all I'd be doing."
"It's not rudeness if they're asking for it."
"I don't think not being as good as you is them 'asking for it', you know."
"That's true, considering so few people in the world are as good as I am. In all areas." He grins at him lasciviously and pulls Luke towards him, crushing their lips together.
"Don't start with me." Luke begs quietly, pushing him away. "I really have to go."
"Mmhmm." Reid murmurs, bringing their bodies back together and holding on tighter, his fingers toying with the belt loops of Luke's jeans.
"Seriously." He whines, because he's fighting a losing battle. "I really, really have to go."
"You can be late." Reid insists, already walking them backwards towards their bedroom. "I'll write you a doctors note."
"You're insufferable." Luke mutters, acquiescing and not even reluctantly.
"I know." Reid replies, smiling against Luke's lips and kicking the door shut behind them.
Six weeks later Luke finds himself at Reid's side, at the very conference he so valiantly fought against coming to. If he's being honest with himself, he knows he was always going to come. Reid never admitted that the reason he wanted Luke to come was because he would miss him too much if he went alone, and Luke wouldn't admit that it was for the same reason he agreed not twenty four hours after Reid started begging.
"What a bunch of nobodies." Reid comments as they wander through the hotel lobby to check in. "This is such a waste of my time. Why that idiot made me come is beyond me."
"Reid, don't talk about your boss like that."
"Why not? Everyone in the first world talks about their boss like that. Just because Grandpa Hughes still hasn't retired doesn't mean I have to be nice to the old guy."
"It's not like he's just some old guy though, Bob Hughes is-" Luke starts before Reid cuts him off with a withering look and a roll of his eyes.
"Please god, don't start that 'Bob Hughes is an institution unto himself' crap again. Christ Luke, the way you talk about him makes me think you might have a thing for the guy. I know how granddads do it for you."
"There has never been a day where I haven't regretted telling you that story." He groans audibly, cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
"That's interesting, because there has never been a day where I haven't revelled in the fact that you told me that story."
"Go to hell." Luke mutters, but his smile gives himself away and they share a gentle look before they reach the check in desk.
"Hi, we have a reservation under Snyder." Luke speaks politely to the receptionist while Reid takes a look around the lobby again. He recognises a few familiar faces, but no one he'd want to involve in a conversation. And from the looks on their faces as they take note of him, the feeling is entirely mutual. Good riddance to them, he thinks to himself as he turns back to find Luke signing the relevant paperwork and handing over his credit card. Reid sidles up against him and whispers (though Luke would argue it's more like a growl), "Have I ever told you how sexy I think your black Amex is?"
"Yes, Reid." Luke replies, exasperatedly. "You tell me every single time I use it."
"It's true."
"Don't say things like that, people will think you're only with me for my money."
"I'm not gonna lie, when you get all bitchy about me leaving my wet towel on the bed... knowing you have money helps."
"You're an asshole."
"You love me." Reid grins widely, and Luke knows he's baiting him.
"I'm not gonna lie, when you leave your wet towel on the bed... it's hard to love you."
"I'll make it easy this week, I promise." He whispers softly as they walk towards the elevator. "Just think, a whole week with no emergency surgeries. I'll be done with the presentations by dinner time at the latest, and I have little to no intention of mingling with these morons for any time longer than necessary. Then I'm all yours."
"Lucky me." He tries for sarcasm but he genuinely does feel lucky, and he can't hide that even when he wants to. Having Reid (mostly) to himself is something Luke isn't used to, and he's going to make the most of it while he can.
Once they reach the elevator, Luke pauses and turns to study Reid's face. Every now and then he'll have trouble getting into elevators, and Luke can usually tell beforehand whether it's going to be a problem, but he asks anyway.
"You okay?"
"Yep." Reid asserts confidently stepping into the lift and pulling his luggage behind him. "Besides, I assume you got the penthouse, right? No way am I climbing all those stairs."
"Yeah right, Oliver. Penthouse? You're lucky I didn't get two separate rooms." Luke takes a second to glow in their gentle ribbing, before turning back to his partner and flashing him a winning smile. "I got two beds though, I'm going to sleep so well without you kicking me or waking me up with your dick pushing into my back."
"You did not." Reid challenges, eyes narrowing as he tries to work out whether Luke is joking. "Luke!"
"What?"
"You know I can't sleep if you're not there."
"That's probably the most romantic thing you've ever said."
"Yeah, well. I can't. You always untuck the bed in the perfect way."
"Ah. Dr Oliver giveth, and Dr Oliver taketh away."
"Your constant reference to me being the lord is thrilling, to say the least."
“You always choosing to see it as me referring to you as the lord is annoying, to say the least.” Luke bites back good naturedly.
He lets Reid out of the elevator first, in a move that is so second nature to them now that neither of them notice it. Wandering along the corridor searching for their room number, Luke takes a second to realise how weary he is. The flight had gone smoothly enough but he'd spent the entire time clenched in anxiety. Not for himself, but for Reid, who mercifully had slept almost the entire flight.
“I think I'm going to take a nap.” Luke comments, yawning once they're settled in (to a room with, thankfully, one king sized bed.)
“I've gotta go and register for the talks I want to see, so I'll catch up with you later?”
“Sure.” Luke moves towards him and kisses him soundly, sending him out the door with a gentle shove when Reid tries to initiate a deeper kiss. Always leave him wanting more, Luke thinks to himself as he turns down the bed and climbs in.
“Holy shit, Luke! Wake up.” Luke awakens sometime later to a foot in his side and a frantic Reid standing above him. “You're never going to guess who is here.”
“Some really boring doctor idol of yours?” Luke guesses as he wipes a hand over his face and notices that he'd been asleep for hours. “The guy who invented neurosurgery?”
“Uh, no Luke. Harvey Cushing died in 1939.”
“Oh, so he was only your professor for a little while?”
“Very funny, gen y. Very funny. You still don't seem to be interested in who I ran into downstairs.”
“Who, then? Who could be so interesting that you had to wake me up, short of maybe the President.”
“Oh, I don't know. The love of your life?” Reid smirks casually, knowing he was bound to get Luke's attention.
“George Clooney is downstairs?!” Luke cries loudly, jumping out of bed quickly.
“Uh... No. Funnily enough, George Clooney has little interest in the American College of Surgeon's annual conference. You suck at this game, Luke. God.”
“Well what are you talking about? Who was downstairs?” Luke, tiring of the game, steps around Reid and heads towards the bathroom to wash the sleep out of his eyes.
“Noah.”
“Noah who?” Luke asks distractedly.
“God, what I would have given to have heard you say that five years ago.” Reid comments, leaning against the doorframe and folding his arms.
“Noah Mayer?”
“Do you know any others?”
“What's he doing here? Is he staying in the hotel or something?”
Reid is surprised at Luke's nonchalance, and how little he seems to care. Neither of them had heard from Noah since he moved to California just after Reid's surgery to remove bits of a train from his body. Luke took the change in his stride, seemingly too interested in caring for Reid to even notice that Noah had gone. And Reid assumed back then, that when he was well enough Luke would inevitably realise what a mistake he had made and follow Noah to LA. But that was over five years ago now, and Luke, despite Reid's obnoxiousness and bad habits still hasn't budged. Reid has never been more grateful for anything.
“Not exactly. He was downstairs at one of the cocktail mixers for the conference.”
Luke turns slightly, cocking his head in curiosity.
“What do you mean? There's no way he went to medical school.”
“Ha!” Reid scoffs loudly at the suggestion. “Medical schools are lowering the bar but it's not that low just yet. No, he's here as someone's date.” Reid whispers conspiratorially, delighting in the juicy gossip.
“Get out, he is not!” Luke replies, equally scandalised. “Who?”
“I don't know. I couldn't seen properly, I just saw him and some suit with his arm around Noah's waist and I had to come and tell you, because this was too good not to share.”
“I'm so flattered you thought of me.” Luke bats his eyelashes flirtatiously, laughing as he wanders out of the bathroom and opens his suitcase. “Well, good for him.”
“Seriously? That's all you're gonna give me?” Reid asks incredulously.
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don't know, get jealous or something so that we can fight and have hot make up sex.”
“You want me to be jealous that my ex boyfriend of years is dating someone else?”
Reid ponders this quietly, with a soft 'hmm.'
“Maybe not.” He eventually concedes, “But it's a bit weird that he ended up with a doctor, Luke.”
“No it's not. Doctors are a dime a dozen.”
“Hot, gay ones aren't!” Reid challenges, throwing himself dramatically on the bed before rolling over and grabbing hold of Luke to pull him down with him.
“Reid, no. We have to get dressed, the introduction dinner is in an hour.”
“Luke, yes. We have to get undressed, the introduction to my cock is right now.” Reid answers facetiously, and Luke can't hold back the laugh that chokes out of his throat.
“I'm well acquainted already actually,” He stands up, pulling Reid with him. “Besides, who says Noah's boyfriend is hot? I thought you didn't see him?”
“Ooh, jealous?” Reid raises an eyebrow, asking hopefully but speaking again when Luke disregards his suggestion. “I didn't, I was just assuming. Noah Mayer seems to be the kind of guy with a type.”
“And that would be?”
“Stop fishing for compliments. I was going to say 'semi-decent looking with money.'”
“Semi-decent looking? Are you nuts, I'm hot as hell and you know it.” Luke emphasises with a hand flourish over his body, and Reid's eyes (trained as they are) sweep over him like they have so many times before.
“Prove it.”
“Get dressed and behave for this dinner, and I might.” Luke answers softly, moving towards Reid. A hand cups the back of his head and fingers tangle in the trademark soft curls, and it's all Reid can do not to drag Luke to the floor and have him right there. But he knows that Luke is right, so he reluctantly moves away and starts readying himself for the dinner.
“He's probably going to be there, you know.”
“So?” Luke comments as he organises his suit for the evening. “We'll have some awkward conversation and life will go on.”
“I just -” Reid pauses like he's not sure what he wants to say, but he knows he should say something. “Don't pay any attention to him, if he says anything to you. About, you know. Me and you, your life, whatever. Don't let him get to you.”
“I don't, not anymore.” Luke affirms quickly, his eyes locking with Reid's from across the room. “He can say whatever he wants.”
Because Luke's life is nothing if not a soap opera, they end up seated on the same table as Noah and his date. Who, Luke acknowledges looking at his name tag, appears to be Dr Aaron Slater, a general surgeon from UCLA Medical Centre.
“Luke?” Noah asks as he wanders back to the table after Luke had taken his seat. “Is that you?”
“Hi, Noah. Surprised to see you here.” He's distracted and mostly uninterested, but it's not an act. The past years have given Luke enough hindsight to realise that Noah damaged him in ways that he wasn't sure he was ready to forgive him for, and seeing him didn't do much to help.
“Oh, yeah.” Noah replies, looking uncomfortable as he gestures to the doctor beside him. “This is Aaron, he's my... husband.”
“No shit, huh.” Reid catches the end of the sentence as he sits down beside Luke, having made a beeline for the bar as soon as he walked in. “Mr Mayer, it's been a long time.”
“Dr Oliver.” Noah nods courteously, “I was just introducing Luke to my husband.”
“Reid Oliver,” He extends a hand in a professional greeting, because he respects that the guy is not only a fellow surgeon, but puts up with Noah Mayer on a regular basis. “Neurosurgeon from Oakdale. And this is my husband, Luke Snyder.”
“Oh, when did you get married?” Noah asks quietly, picking at the appetiser on his plate.
“We didn't, he's being a dick. As usual.” Luke smiles, shoving Reid gently. “But when did you get married?”
“Earlier in the year.” Noah replies, his eyes shifting between the three others involved in the conversation like he's not quite sure where to look. Luke notices how different Noah seems, so much quieter than he used to be. Like he's changed everything about himself in the space of a few years that to Luke, have flown by. And he can't help but notice that for a newlywed, he doesn't seem very happy.
“Well, congratulations.” Luke comments sincerely, hoping that he's wrong about Noah not being happy. As much as he hurt him in the past, Luke really only wants good things for the people in his life, both past and present.
“Thanks.” Aaron interrupts, speaking for the both of them. “We're looking into adoption at the moment, we're keen on starting a family in the next few years.”
“Really?” Luke asks, making no attempt to mask the surprise in his voice. “Wow, Noah. I didn't really know you wanted a family.”
“I didn't really know either, until I met Aaron.”
Luke thinks he sees a moment between them, of genuine love and affection. But he can't shake the feeling that it's forced and not as natural as they're trying to make it out as.
“What about you two, how long have you been together?” Aaron asks interestedly, gesturing at Luke and Reid with his fork.
“Oh, I don't even know. About five years, right?” Luke comments, turning to Reid but quickly finding his attention solely focused on the food in front of him and ignoring the conversation going on around him. Typical, really.
“It's more like six.” Noah comments, so quietly Luke barely heard it. “Luke and I were together.” He explains to Aaron, and Luke wonders if it's the first time Noah has ever spoken of their time together. “Then I had that accident, Reid flew in to fix my sight and while I was blind he and Luke started seeing each other.”
“Noah-” Luke starts to interrupt, before Aaron does.
“Geez, not so big on the ethics huh, Reid?”
“Ethics, schmethics. The kid was hot and I was horny.” Reid replies disinterestedly, sipping his beer and still eating his way through both his and Luke's food.
“It was a bit more complicated than that.” Luke tries to elaborate until he remembers that he doesn't owe anyone an explanation. “But yeah, that's pretty much what happened.”
Reid smiles at him over the rim of his glass, throwing a casual wink in his direction. Time has made Luke much more resilient to others' jabs, and his levels of sarcasm have upped so significantly that Reid considers him the only match he has in terms of verbal sparring. It's one of their favourite activities, and even Reid will admit there have been times when Luke's wit has won out, even against the great Reid Oliver.
“Things seemed to work out for the best though, right Noah?” Luke asks looking at him pointedly. “You went to LA which is where I assume you met Aaron?”
“Yeah. Things worked out fine.” A silence follows his comment, because sincere was the last thing it sounded.
“So five years, that's awhile.” Aaron speaks again when the conversation lulls into awkwardness. “Any plans to get married?”
“Not in this lifetime.” Reid answers, reaching over Luke to grab his bread roll. “Right, dear?”
“Excuse my partner, he's still struggling with you know, manners. But no, no plans for marriage.”
“That's not surprising.” Noah comments, rolling his eyes snidely. “Whose decision was that? Let me guess, Reid's?”
“No,” Luke asserts quickly, his eyes narrowing in defiance. “It was both of ours, actually.”
“I find that hard to believe, Luke. You always wanted to get married.”
“Things change. People change.” He stops, before saying something he'll regret and opts for a simple. “We all have.”
“Still, the fact that he would deny you something that you've wanted since you were a kid is typical of Reid, isn't it.”
“You don't know anything about Reid.” Luke says softly, and he wonders why Reid's not sticking up for himself until he notices that they've brought out the main course and Reid is distracted, once again with the food.
“I know enough to know that he's so arrogant only his wants matter, right? So what does it matter if you want to get married and have kids, have a happily ever after. The only thing that matters is that Reid furthers his career, becomes chief of staff and goes down in history as a legend?” Noah spits out the same vitriol as always, knowing that he shouldn't be saying anything because he played as much a part in his and Luke's breakup that Luke did. But it's like he can't stop himself, and Luke wonders if he's spent the better part of the last few years thinking this way. He can't help but pity Noah if that's the case, because Noah had featured in so little of Luke's thoughts since he left.
“We've talked about having kids.” Reid cuts in, unexpectedly. “I'm not dictating anything. Maybe one day we will, maybe we won't. Remind me again how this is any of your business?”
“I care about Luke.” Noah says, pathetically. “I want him to be happy.”
“Is he giving you any indication that he's not? If you care about him, why did you disappear for so long? Give me a break, Noah. You've got your own life now, you don't need to be interfering in Luke's. He's perfectly god damn fine.”
“You would say that, wouldn't you.” Noah challenges, ignoring the look from Aaron that is so clearly saying to him “please stop this, it's embarrassing” (because of course, the whole table is listening in, pretending they're totally interested in the chicken on their plates.) But Noah continues, because he's nothing if not annoyingly persistent.
“It's true, Noah. I'm fine. I'm better than fine, I'm so deliriously happy that it's making even my parents nauseous. Work is great, my family is great, my life is great and Reid is the absolute best part of it so don't worry about whether or not we get married or whether we have a million kids or whether we quit our jobs, sell our house, move to Texas and start a stud farm. We're going to be fine, I'm going to be happy, even when things are hard.”
“Speaking of hard...” Reid starts, before a look shot from Luke stops him in his tracks.
“Reid, I swear to god-”
“Okay, okay.” He throws his hands up in defeat, smiling all the while as his face shines with pride and adoration. Even if Noah Mayer can't see it, Luke's sure that the rest of the room can see how much love exists between them. And even if they can't, it doesn't matter in the slightest.
“We're going to go.” Luke says suddenly, standing and throwing his napkin on the table. “Reid?”
“What about dessert? I heard there's a four layered cake...” Reid is deadly serious until he sees the look on Luke's face that tells him he's about to get something so much better than four layered cake. “Okay, I'm coming.” And the innuendo doesn't go unnoticed, as Noah rolls his eyes somewhere around them and Aaron blushes furiously. What a strange couple, Reid thinks to himself as he gathers his jacket from the back of the chair and quickly says goodbye.
“I'd like to say it's been a pleasure, but it's been awkward and strange like I knew it would be. Nice to meet you, Aaron. Enjoy cutting out appendixes for eternity and putting up with the Squinting Director over there.” He nods and walks briskly towards the elevator, trusting that Luke is following closely behind.
And he is, after one last forced smile at the newlyweds and telling Noah that if he ever wants to try and be friends, he knows where to find him. An empty gesture, because the both of them know there's no friendship between them. There's barely tolerance, which is sad after the time they spent together however tumultuous it was.
The elevator ride goes slowly, which for Luke is fine because Reid seems hell bent on reclaiming his territory. Futile, Luke thinks to himself as Reid's lips attack his neck in fervent kisses, because Luke's skin, or Luke's body, has always been Reid's. Even before they met, it was waiting for someone else's touch and it took finding Reid for Luke to realise that it was never Noah's. It was always Reid's.
Later, when they're hanging up their suits in silence, having pried themselves away from one another long enough to do so, Reid suddenly breaks the quiet with a statement that he speaks probably louder than necessary.
“I'd marry you in a heartbeat, Snyder.”
“You would?” Luke turns hanging his jacket, left standing in his unbuttoned shirt and dress pants.
“You know I would.” Reid replies, walking towards him to gently remove the shirt. “I just didn't think it's something you'd want. You've never mentioned it before.”
“It's not, really.” Luke says softly, shrugging one shoulder as his clothes are stripped away gently. “We're pretty much already married, aren't we?”
“Right. You're my boring, stuffy wife.”
“Stop calling me your wife.”
“Fine, husband. De facto. Partner. Lover. Whatever you want me to call you, I'm down with it.”
“Just call me Luke.”
“Okay, Luke.” Reid whispers in his ear, as he walks them towards the bed. “But seriously. Are we doing the kid thing?”
“Who knows.” Luke replies genuinely, “Talk again in a few years?”
“Definitely.” Reid answers, wrapping his arms tightly around Luke in one final romantic gesture before he completely defiles him.
In five years, Luke had changed his whole idea about what he needed to be happy. His world, divided into two sections, before he met Reid and after he met Reid, were two different places filled with both happy and sad moments intertwined to make some semblance of a life. Before he met Reid, he thought the only way he'd ever be happy was to have a solid, stable marriage like the one his parents never had, and kids who he could treat way better than he had ever been treated as a child. Kids who would never know about kidnapping and extortion and wheelchairs. After he met Reid, he realised he wanted all those things for the wrong reasons. He wanted them because of everything that had happened to him, because he had never felt safe or secure so he had to make his own sanctuary. And those reasons, as he realised after he met Reid, weren't good enough. He had to want things because they were innate to who he is, because they're what he feels passionately about. And marriage isn't necessarily one of those things, which he saw time and time again as he watched divorce after divorce tear through his family. Kids, he still wasn't sure about, but being with Reid has taught him to slow down and make decisions when they feel right, and not because he feels like he's running out of time.
So they'll talk in a few years, and who knows.
Maybe by then they'll have started a stud farm.