fic: Falling - chapter 3
Title: Falling
Author: anwamane13
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Noah, Bob, Lilly, Holden, Katie
Genre: romance/drama
Rating: Some chapters are NC-17 . The restis PG-13.
Beta" rajncajn, traciamc and eimeark
Warnings: sex, strong language, violence
Disclaimer: Luke and Reid belong to CBS. If they were mine, they would be in bed right now
Chapter III
Reid recovered first than Luke. “Good afternoon, Mr. Mayer.”
Noah’s face changed from sunny to a rainy day in seconds. “Hello, Dr. Oliver. We were just talking about you,” he said holding Luke’s wrist possessively.
Luke frowned and looked at Noah, because they hadn’t even mentioned Reid’s name. But Reid’s face didn’t move a muscle, except for a raised eyebrow at Noah.
“Oh?” was all he said opening Noah’s chart.
“We were - we were -“Luke stammered, unable to handle Reid’s apparent indifference when they had just shared a kiss hours before.
“We were wondering when you’re going to discharge me,” Noah said, smiling defiantly at Reid. “I want to go home. I miss being alone with my boyfriend.”
“Noah…” Luke started embarrassed. It wasn’t like Noah to be so open about their relationship.
“You still have some exams to go through, but I believe that in a day or two you’ll be ready to go,” Reid said, flipping pages on Noah’s chart and writing things here and there.
“Can you at least look me in the eye when you talk to me, Dr. Oliver?” Noah said, a sudden animosity in his voice. “It’s my life we’re talking about.
Reid closed the chart and looked directly at Noah’s eyes. “Alright, Mr. Mayer. You still have weeks, maybe months of therapy to go through in order to fully recover your right hand’s motor skills, but other than that you’re clear to go after the tests.” The whole time he didn’t look in Luke’s direction once.
“Yeah, well, months of therapy…” Noah said, face twisted in a frown. “Not something I’m looking forward to. I guess that having someone digging around inside my brain wasn’t so perfect after all.”
“Noah, please!” Luke said, bothered by Noah’s tone. “If it wasn’t for Dr. Oliver you’d still be blind! I wish you could remember that, because you couldn’t handle being blind anymore, and what he did for you was so…”
Reid raised his hand in Luke’s direction, a clear gesture for him to stop talking, looking at Luke for the first time since he entered the room. “I can speak for myself, Mr. Snyder.” He turned to Noah. “If you didn’t want your sight restored, Mr. Mayer, all you had to do was say so. It would have spared us all a lot of trouble. Maybe someday your boyfriend can explain to you the exact circumstances that brought me here, so you can understand that it wasn’t a walk in the park. I’m not expecting words of gratitude, but you should at least be happy that you have your sight back. I gave you your life back, Mr. Mayer; you wouldn’t want it to stay the way it was, believe me.”
“Oh, you have a big ego, don’t you?” Noah said, face red and flustered. “You should at least sound a little more human, like Dr. Hughes. He knows how to treat people, and that’s why I’d rather deal with him.”
“Dr. Hughes is a fine doctor and believe me, I respect him a lot, but he couldn’t have done for you what I did.”
“Yeah, you were so perfect at ’fixing’ me that now I can grab things but I can’t write, and great part of my memories are gone. Gee, thank you, doctor.”
Luke stared at Noah, mouth hanging open, unable to understand the animosity towards Reid. The doctor wasn’t the most ‘likable’ person in the world, but there was no reason for Noah to act the way he was acting, like a totally spoiled brat.
“Deal with your limitations like a man, Mr. Mayer. Stop complaining like a whining child. We can’t have everything we want. No one can.” Reid looked coldly at Luke. “You have your sight back. Be glad about that and focus on your hand. Your movements, and maybe even your memory will come back with hard work, not with childish behavior.”
“You know, for a genius, your bedside manners suck. I wonder how Dr. Hughes allowed you to stay working at his hospital.”
“He and his hospital were lucky I stayed so far. I’m aware of my bedside manners, but believe me, no one gives a damn about them when I restore their sights, or their movements, or the sensation in their legs…when I save their lives. Now, if you excuse me, I have other patients to attend to.”
Reid left Noah’s room and stopped at the nurse’s desk, writing furiously in Noah’s chart. But behind his controlled face he was fuming. Noah was really a spoiled brat, and if Luke wanted to be treated like shit by the man he claimed to love, Reid wasn’t going to accept the same treatment. Noah was his patient and Reid expected the same respect he got from all the others because, as a doctor, he gave his patients his best, no matter what he thought about them. So, in spite of wanting to punch Noah Mayer for being such a jerk to Luke, Reid had treated him, reverted his condition and now he would had to endure Noah’s bad moods? No way.
“Nurse, I need these exams scheduled for -“he looked around him and saw that he was alone in the nurse’s station. “Nurse!” he called, irritated.
“Ye - yes, Dr. Oliver?” A nervous nurse came out of the break room, munching on something.
“Am I interrupting your rest?” Reid asked her.
“Sorry, I was just - I was just - “
“You were just being incompetent and leaving the nurse’s station completely unattended. I see. Schedule these tests for Mr. Mayer for tomorrow morning,” Reid shoved some papers in the stunned nurse’s hands “and try to put your patients’ well being before your stomach. That’s what good professionals do.” He turned and walked away, leaving a confused nurse behind him.
“Reid, wait!” Luke’s voice called from the end of the corridor.
“What is it you want, Mr. Snyder? I actually have work to do, you know.”
“Noah…he…he asked me to say he’s sorry for the way he behaved.”
“Oh?” Reid rolled his eyes. “Now you’re speaking for him too?”
“He’s really confused about everything that’s happened. We gotta understand that.”
“Yeah, forgive me if I don’t cry with your emotional speech.”
“He’s been through a lot. He just woke up from a brain surgery. We need to understand…he’s allowed to feel confused.”
“I understand better than you think. I can even go through his mood shifts and pretend that I feel sorry for him. But next time, tell him to treat me with a little more respect. No one understands better about brain surgeries than I do, Mr. Snyder. I know it’s normal if he feels agitated or depressed, but I won’t put up with this forever. I expect you to control your boyfriend’s behavior next time.”
“He’s not my boyfriend, and you know that,” Luke gave a step in Reid’s direction, hand on Reid’s shoulder.
The doctor suppressed a shiver. Why the hell a simple touch from Luke made him feel like his stomach was upside down? “This is not the right place nor the right time for this.” As if on cue, his beeper went off. “See? I have work to do,” Reid said, walking away with the feeling of Luke’s warm hand till on his shoulder.
Luke sighed unhappily, turned, and entered Noah’s bedroom again.
...
“Reid, I’m leaving,” Katie said from the door with a huge bag in one hand and Jacob in her arms.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“No, it’s okay, Henry is outside waiting for me.”
“Yeah, about that, why do you have to make the poor baby suffer with Hank’s presence all the time?”
“Because he’s my best friend?” she said, smiling. “And because Vienna insisted that I take Jacob this time.”
“Your best friend is a jerk,” Reid deadpanned, mouth twitching a little. “I hope you know that.”
“Aww…are you jealous?” she said smiling and walking back inside the house, stopping in front of Reid.
“Yeah, as if a brilliant doctor like me would be jealous of someone like Hank.”
“Don’t worry,” Katie said softly, kissing him on the cheek. “You’re my best friend too.”
“Don’t put me in the same category as that -“
“Come on, kiss me and Jacob, I gotta go.”
“I don’t do goodbye kisses. They’re pathetic.”
“Yes, you do,” Katie said, smiling at him. Jacob mumbled something and grabbed the front of Reid’s shirt.
The doctor rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright,” he kissed Jacob’s head and Katie’s cheek, his own cheeks turning pink. “Go now or Hank’s car will turn into a big pumpkin. And it’s not even midnight.”
“Bye” Katie said, already walking to the door. “It’s just dinner at Henry’s house. We’ll be back soon.”
When she closed the door, Reid went straight to the bathroom and took a long shower. The warm water cascading on his shoulders helped to relax his tense muscles a little. Then he went to the kitchen, made himself a big sandwich and opened a can of soda, deciding against the beer because of the critical patients he had in the ICU. He never knew when they would call him. Sitting on the sofa, he turned the TV on and opened his mouth wide to give the sandwich a big bite…
Then the bell rang.
Looking at his watch, he sighed, put the sandwich on the coffee table eyeing it with longing and got up. With his hand on the door knob, Reid prepared a sarcastic remark, intending to woo whoever it was. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain one of Katie’s friends while she got back. The remark died on his lips as soon as he opened the door and Luke was staring at him from the other side.
“You said I could come,” Luke said hesitantly.
“Well, I figured you wouldn’t, after the emotional display of affection I saw this afternoon.”
“Reid, I…” Luke looked around. “Look, can I come in? I don’t want to have this conversation here.”
“Do you even want to have any conversation at all?” Rid asked frowning. “Because if it’s about your boyfriend, I - “
“I already told you he’s not my boyfriend.”
“It’s a little hard to believe, when I just heard you say he’s the only one for you.”
Luke sighed and stepped inside the living room, not waiting for Reid’s invitation. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Reid closed the door irritated. “I’m glad I did, at least I don’t misunderstand things between us.”
“That’s not what I meant. God, why is it so hard to talk to you?”
“Because I’m not buying your bull shit, that’s why,” Reid said mater-of-factly.
“There is no bull shit. Noah needs me and I intend to be there for him.”
“Great, so be there for him and leave me alone.”
“I can’t,” Luke said helplessly.
“Why the hell not? If you love him so much…”
Luke invaded Reid’s space and held the redhead’s face with his hands. “I’m not sure what I feel for Noah anymore. But I’m here because I want to, because I can’t stop this thing going on between us.”
“And I am supposed to wait until you figure out what you want?” Reid whispered. “Sorry, I can’t do that. Not when I’m not even sure there is something going on here.”
“Yes, there is,” Luke murmured, so close to Reid’s mouth that he felt the blond’s breath on his face. This time Luke was the one who initiated the kiss.
Once again, the kiss started slowly, a soft caress. But is a few seconds its intensity grew, escalating to something urgent, dragging low moans from both. Luke buried his hands in Reid's auburn hair while Reid put his hands on both sides of Luke's waist, pulling him closer. Luke started to unbutton Reid's shirt with trembling fingers this time, and with the shirt opened, Luke ran his hands on the other’s bare shoulders, the shirt slowly dropping on the floor. Reid started to unbutton Luke’s shirt too, running his hands on the blond’s chest, feeling the softness of the thin layer of hair covering it. They only parted because they needed to breathe, and they did it reluctantly, as if it hurt to stay apart, panting and resting their foreheads together.
“What are we doing, Luke?” Reid murmured against Luke’s mouth.
“I don’t know…But I can’t stop. Can you?”
As an answer, Reid pushed his tongue inside Luke’s mouth, and the blond gave a small whimper, throwing his arms round Reid’s neck. As the kiss grew deeper, Luke started to float and wondered again how a simple kiss could feel like that. But suddenly the kiss stopped and Reid’s hands were on his chest, pushing him away a little.
“Yes, I can,” Reid murmured, panting.
“What?” Luke mumbled, still a little bit out of orbit from the kiss.
“You asked me if I can stop it and I’m telling you that yes, I can.”
“Reid…?” Luke frowned. “I thought you wanted this as much as I do.”
“I want this. I’m just not sure that’s what you want.”
“Can’t you tell?” Luke smirked a little. His arousal against Reid’s hip was so obvious that there was no way to deny it.
“Yeah,” Reid smiled despite his serious eyes. “But I’m not sure if you’re not going to regret this later.”
“I won’t,” Luke said.
“You don’t know that. The last time we were in this room together you couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”
“I was distressed. I was scared.”
“And suddenly you’re not scared anymore?”
“I am,” Luke admitted. “But unexplainably, the thought of not being here with you scares me more.”
“Last time…you said you didn’t want something to happen, that we couldn’t take back. What if you regret this later? I don’t want you to regret anything about me, Luke.”
Luke sighed and gave a small step back, but his arms didn’t leave Reid’s shoulder.
“Can I at least stay here with you?”
Reid thought about it for a while. “Why?”
“Is this a doctor thing? Wanting to know the ‘whys’ of everything?”
“Yes, it is. Despite my lack of personal life, I don’t do anything halfway or without a reason, Luke. I want to know why you want to stay here and not by Noah’s bedside.”
Luke sighed and rested his forehead on Reid’s again. “Because just this time, this isn’t about Noah. It’s about me. I like to spend time with you.”
“And you think that’s enough? Last week Noah was the love of your life. I don’t believe that now, suddenly, you don’t love him anymore.”
Luke let his arms fall beside his body. “I didn’t come here to talk about Noah.”
“So why did you come?”
“I just want to be…” Luke shrugged, “close to you. You make me feel…light; serious and mischievous at the same time… Even being so infuriatingly obnoxious.”
“Imagine that,” Reid smirked, bending to grab his discarded shirt and starting to put it on.
“So, what do you say?” Luke buttoned up his own shirt, just to have something to do with his hands. When Reid didn’t say anything, he insisted. “Will you let me stay around?”
Reid pursed his lips and nodded curtly. “Okay.” He bent again and picked his sandwich from the coffee table. “Wanna eat?”
“What the heck is that?” Luke asked, eyeing Reid’s plate suspiciously.
“Dinner. Want me to make you one?”
“Sure,” Luke shrugged. “Just not as…stuffed as yours, okay?”
“Stuffed?” Reid waved the plate in front of Luke. “Just so you know, this is a rare combination of ingredients that are perfect together, bringing every flavor to your mouth perfectly.”
“Every flavor, alright…but…everything at the same time? I think I’ll go wit the old ham and cheese.”
“You’re no fun,” said Reid, walking to the kitchen.
They ended up on the sofa, side by side, in front of the TV, watching “The Bourne Identity”. Reid commented on some scenes here and there, adding suggestions about how he would make the scene less unrealistic from his point of view. Luke just rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything, happy to just listen to Reid’s voice. It wasn’t always that the doctor talked about mundane things and it was pleasant to hear him babbling a little.
After an hour Reid started to speak less and less, and when Luke noticed, Reid was sleeping, head lolled, resting on the sofa’s back. Luke smiled and got up, turning the TV off.
“Reid?” he shook the redhead’s shoulder gently. “Come on, time for bed.”
Reid didn’t even open his eyes fully. “Okay,” he said, not moving from where he was.
“You’re not going to sleep here. Come on, get up.”
He tugged Reid’s arm a little, and the man got up reluctantly, walking with wobbly steps at his bedroom’s direction. Luke went behind Reid, guiding him by the shoulders. Once inside, Reid let himself fall on the bed fully clothed, face pressed against the pillow.
Luke smiled a little. God forbid if Dr. Reid Oliver knew how adorably vulnerable he looked in that moment, especially when he turned on his side, grabbed the pillow and snuggled it…but there was no other way to describe him right now.
“Are you going to sleep like that?”
Reid didn’t even answer, snuggling the pillow even closer and sighing. Luke actually wanted to laugh at the sight, but he decided to take Reid’s shoes off. Then, after debating if he should or not, he took Reid’s belt off too, and un-tucked his shirt. “There you go,” he murmured to himself and turned to leave.
Reid sighed contently. “G’night,” he mumbled.
Luke’s eyes widened. He had no idea that Reid knew that he was in the room yet, but apparently the doctor was in a semi-slumber state, when one’s not deeply asleep but it’s not awake either. Hesitating a little, Luke kneeled next to Reid’s face and ran his hand through the red locks lightly. “Night, Reid.”
“M’glad you stayed.” Reid said so low that Luke wondered if the man was awake or talking in his sleep. Maybe the last option, because there was no way Reid would let Luke see him with all his defenses down like that.
“I’m glad too. See you tomorrow.”
Reid didn’t answer anymore, and Luke stayed looking at him for a few seconds, mesmerized by the calm and the hint of a smile in his face. Then, sighing, he got up, turned the lights of the apartment off, leaving only a small lamp by the sofa turned on and left.
… …
The day Noah was discharged Luke didn’t see Reid until it was time for Noah to leave. In fact, he hadn’t seen the doctor for two whole days. He had been busy at the foundation and all his spare time he spent with Noah, who was anxious to go home and wanted Luke around all the time. In fact, Noah was surprising Luke with the sudden change in his personality. He was attentive and sweet, always wanting to hold Luke’s hand, even with people around, and telling him how much he loved him and needed him.
The night before, Lilly and Holden had been there to see him, and Noah hinted that he would like to go back to Lilly’s house. Lilly promptly offered him his old bedroom back, saying they all would love to have him around and that the kids had missed him, and that he should’ve never left in the first place. Holden just smiled in the quiet way of his and said that, although he didn’t live there, he knew Noah was dear to the Snyders and in fact, if Noah wanted a quieter place to relax and recover, he would be welcome to spend some time at the farm. Emma would love to spoil him with tons of food.
Luke stood there, watching the dialogue between his parents and his…and Noah, wondering why Noah hadn’t talked about returning to Lilly’s house when the two of them were alone earlier. But Noah looked at him with a huge happy grin and Luke found himself softening, smiling back at the brunet and, after Lilly’s expectant look, saying that he would like very much to have Noah in his mother’s house again.
That settled’ the following day Luke got up early and went straight to the hospital. He spent the entire day with Noah and, around six PM, he went to the cafeteria to have some coffee. When he got back, Reid was leaving Noah’s room, surrounded by interns who watched him with mouths almost hanging open as he explained the complicated procedures of restoring one’s sight with brain surgery.
He glanced briefly at Luke and said in the most professional way possible, “Mr. Mayer is discharged; you can take him home.”
“Thank you, Dr. Oliver,” Luke answered.
A hint of a smile crossed Reid’s face, but it was so brief that Luke thought he had imagined it. Reid started to walk along the corridor followed by the interns, not looking at Luke again. When Luke’s hand held the door knob, his cell phone beeped indicating a text message.
Under Reid’s name was written, “TOMORROW AT JAVA AT 10 AM.”
“ OK ” Luke texted back, not even noticing that he was grinning like a fool.
Author: anwamane13
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Noah, Bob, Lilly, Holden, Katie
Genre: romance/drama
Rating: Some chapters are NC-17 . The restis PG-13.
Beta" rajncajn, traciamc and eimeark
Warnings: sex, strong language, violence
Disclaimer: Luke and Reid belong to CBS. If they were mine, they would be in bed right now
Chapter III
Reid recovered first than Luke. “Good afternoon, Mr. Mayer.”
Noah’s face changed from sunny to a rainy day in seconds. “Hello, Dr. Oliver. We were just talking about you,” he said holding Luke’s wrist possessively.
Luke frowned and looked at Noah, because they hadn’t even mentioned Reid’s name. But Reid’s face didn’t move a muscle, except for a raised eyebrow at Noah.
“Oh?” was all he said opening Noah’s chart.
“We were - we were -“Luke stammered, unable to handle Reid’s apparent indifference when they had just shared a kiss hours before.
“We were wondering when you’re going to discharge me,” Noah said, smiling defiantly at Reid. “I want to go home. I miss being alone with my boyfriend.”
“Noah…” Luke started embarrassed. It wasn’t like Noah to be so open about their relationship.
“You still have some exams to go through, but I believe that in a day or two you’ll be ready to go,” Reid said, flipping pages on Noah’s chart and writing things here and there.
“Can you at least look me in the eye when you talk to me, Dr. Oliver?” Noah said, a sudden animosity in his voice. “It’s my life we’re talking about.
Reid closed the chart and looked directly at Noah’s eyes. “Alright, Mr. Mayer. You still have weeks, maybe months of therapy to go through in order to fully recover your right hand’s motor skills, but other than that you’re clear to go after the tests.” The whole time he didn’t look in Luke’s direction once.
“Yeah, well, months of therapy…” Noah said, face twisted in a frown. “Not something I’m looking forward to. I guess that having someone digging around inside my brain wasn’t so perfect after all.”
“Noah, please!” Luke said, bothered by Noah’s tone. “If it wasn’t for Dr. Oliver you’d still be blind! I wish you could remember that, because you couldn’t handle being blind anymore, and what he did for you was so…”
Reid raised his hand in Luke’s direction, a clear gesture for him to stop talking, looking at Luke for the first time since he entered the room. “I can speak for myself, Mr. Snyder.” He turned to Noah. “If you didn’t want your sight restored, Mr. Mayer, all you had to do was say so. It would have spared us all a lot of trouble. Maybe someday your boyfriend can explain to you the exact circumstances that brought me here, so you can understand that it wasn’t a walk in the park. I’m not expecting words of gratitude, but you should at least be happy that you have your sight back. I gave you your life back, Mr. Mayer; you wouldn’t want it to stay the way it was, believe me.”
“Oh, you have a big ego, don’t you?” Noah said, face red and flustered. “You should at least sound a little more human, like Dr. Hughes. He knows how to treat people, and that’s why I’d rather deal with him.”
“Dr. Hughes is a fine doctor and believe me, I respect him a lot, but he couldn’t have done for you what I did.”
“Yeah, you were so perfect at ’fixing’ me that now I can grab things but I can’t write, and great part of my memories are gone. Gee, thank you, doctor.”
Luke stared at Noah, mouth hanging open, unable to understand the animosity towards Reid. The doctor wasn’t the most ‘likable’ person in the world, but there was no reason for Noah to act the way he was acting, like a totally spoiled brat.
“Deal with your limitations like a man, Mr. Mayer. Stop complaining like a whining child. We can’t have everything we want. No one can.” Reid looked coldly at Luke. “You have your sight back. Be glad about that and focus on your hand. Your movements, and maybe even your memory will come back with hard work, not with childish behavior.”
“You know, for a genius, your bedside manners suck. I wonder how Dr. Hughes allowed you to stay working at his hospital.”
“He and his hospital were lucky I stayed so far. I’m aware of my bedside manners, but believe me, no one gives a damn about them when I restore their sights, or their movements, or the sensation in their legs…when I save their lives. Now, if you excuse me, I have other patients to attend to.”
Reid left Noah’s room and stopped at the nurse’s desk, writing furiously in Noah’s chart. But behind his controlled face he was fuming. Noah was really a spoiled brat, and if Luke wanted to be treated like shit by the man he claimed to love, Reid wasn’t going to accept the same treatment. Noah was his patient and Reid expected the same respect he got from all the others because, as a doctor, he gave his patients his best, no matter what he thought about them. So, in spite of wanting to punch Noah Mayer for being such a jerk to Luke, Reid had treated him, reverted his condition and now he would had to endure Noah’s bad moods? No way.
“Nurse, I need these exams scheduled for -“he looked around him and saw that he was alone in the nurse’s station. “Nurse!” he called, irritated.
“Ye - yes, Dr. Oliver?” A nervous nurse came out of the break room, munching on something.
“Am I interrupting your rest?” Reid asked her.
“Sorry, I was just - I was just - “
“You were just being incompetent and leaving the nurse’s station completely unattended. I see. Schedule these tests for Mr. Mayer for tomorrow morning,” Reid shoved some papers in the stunned nurse’s hands “and try to put your patients’ well being before your stomach. That’s what good professionals do.” He turned and walked away, leaving a confused nurse behind him.
“Reid, wait!” Luke’s voice called from the end of the corridor.
“What is it you want, Mr. Snyder? I actually have work to do, you know.”
“Noah…he…he asked me to say he’s sorry for the way he behaved.”
“Oh?” Reid rolled his eyes. “Now you’re speaking for him too?”
“He’s really confused about everything that’s happened. We gotta understand that.”
“Yeah, forgive me if I don’t cry with your emotional speech.”
“He’s been through a lot. He just woke up from a brain surgery. We need to understand…he’s allowed to feel confused.”
“I understand better than you think. I can even go through his mood shifts and pretend that I feel sorry for him. But next time, tell him to treat me with a little more respect. No one understands better about brain surgeries than I do, Mr. Snyder. I know it’s normal if he feels agitated or depressed, but I won’t put up with this forever. I expect you to control your boyfriend’s behavior next time.”
“He’s not my boyfriend, and you know that,” Luke gave a step in Reid’s direction, hand on Reid’s shoulder.
The doctor suppressed a shiver. Why the hell a simple touch from Luke made him feel like his stomach was upside down? “This is not the right place nor the right time for this.” As if on cue, his beeper went off. “See? I have work to do,” Reid said, walking away with the feeling of Luke’s warm hand till on his shoulder.
Luke sighed unhappily, turned, and entered Noah’s bedroom again.
...
“Reid, I’m leaving,” Katie said from the door with a huge bag in one hand and Jacob in her arms.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“No, it’s okay, Henry is outside waiting for me.”
“Yeah, about that, why do you have to make the poor baby suffer with Hank’s presence all the time?”
“Because he’s my best friend?” she said, smiling. “And because Vienna insisted that I take Jacob this time.”
“Your best friend is a jerk,” Reid deadpanned, mouth twitching a little. “I hope you know that.”
“Aww…are you jealous?” she said smiling and walking back inside the house, stopping in front of Reid.
“Yeah, as if a brilliant doctor like me would be jealous of someone like Hank.”
“Don’t worry,” Katie said softly, kissing him on the cheek. “You’re my best friend too.”
“Don’t put me in the same category as that -“
“Come on, kiss me and Jacob, I gotta go.”
“I don’t do goodbye kisses. They’re pathetic.”
“Yes, you do,” Katie said, smiling at him. Jacob mumbled something and grabbed the front of Reid’s shirt.
The doctor rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright,” he kissed Jacob’s head and Katie’s cheek, his own cheeks turning pink. “Go now or Hank’s car will turn into a big pumpkin. And it’s not even midnight.”
“Bye” Katie said, already walking to the door. “It’s just dinner at Henry’s house. We’ll be back soon.”
When she closed the door, Reid went straight to the bathroom and took a long shower. The warm water cascading on his shoulders helped to relax his tense muscles a little. Then he went to the kitchen, made himself a big sandwich and opened a can of soda, deciding against the beer because of the critical patients he had in the ICU. He never knew when they would call him. Sitting on the sofa, he turned the TV on and opened his mouth wide to give the sandwich a big bite…
Then the bell rang.
Looking at his watch, he sighed, put the sandwich on the coffee table eyeing it with longing and got up. With his hand on the door knob, Reid prepared a sarcastic remark, intending to woo whoever it was. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain one of Katie’s friends while she got back. The remark died on his lips as soon as he opened the door and Luke was staring at him from the other side.
“You said I could come,” Luke said hesitantly.
“Well, I figured you wouldn’t, after the emotional display of affection I saw this afternoon.”
“Reid, I…” Luke looked around. “Look, can I come in? I don’t want to have this conversation here.”
“Do you even want to have any conversation at all?” Rid asked frowning. “Because if it’s about your boyfriend, I - “
“I already told you he’s not my boyfriend.”
“It’s a little hard to believe, when I just heard you say he’s the only one for you.”
Luke sighed and stepped inside the living room, not waiting for Reid’s invitation. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Reid closed the door irritated. “I’m glad I did, at least I don’t misunderstand things between us.”
“That’s not what I meant. God, why is it so hard to talk to you?”
“Because I’m not buying your bull shit, that’s why,” Reid said mater-of-factly.
“There is no bull shit. Noah needs me and I intend to be there for him.”
“Great, so be there for him and leave me alone.”
“I can’t,” Luke said helplessly.
“Why the hell not? If you love him so much…”
Luke invaded Reid’s space and held the redhead’s face with his hands. “I’m not sure what I feel for Noah anymore. But I’m here because I want to, because I can’t stop this thing going on between us.”
“And I am supposed to wait until you figure out what you want?” Reid whispered. “Sorry, I can’t do that. Not when I’m not even sure there is something going on here.”
“Yes, there is,” Luke murmured, so close to Reid’s mouth that he felt the blond’s breath on his face. This time Luke was the one who initiated the kiss.
Once again, the kiss started slowly, a soft caress. But is a few seconds its intensity grew, escalating to something urgent, dragging low moans from both. Luke buried his hands in Reid's auburn hair while Reid put his hands on both sides of Luke's waist, pulling him closer. Luke started to unbutton Reid's shirt with trembling fingers this time, and with the shirt opened, Luke ran his hands on the other’s bare shoulders, the shirt slowly dropping on the floor. Reid started to unbutton Luke’s shirt too, running his hands on the blond’s chest, feeling the softness of the thin layer of hair covering it. They only parted because they needed to breathe, and they did it reluctantly, as if it hurt to stay apart, panting and resting their foreheads together.
“What are we doing, Luke?” Reid murmured against Luke’s mouth.
“I don’t know…But I can’t stop. Can you?”
As an answer, Reid pushed his tongue inside Luke’s mouth, and the blond gave a small whimper, throwing his arms round Reid’s neck. As the kiss grew deeper, Luke started to float and wondered again how a simple kiss could feel like that. But suddenly the kiss stopped and Reid’s hands were on his chest, pushing him away a little.
“Yes, I can,” Reid murmured, panting.
“What?” Luke mumbled, still a little bit out of orbit from the kiss.
“You asked me if I can stop it and I’m telling you that yes, I can.”
“Reid…?” Luke frowned. “I thought you wanted this as much as I do.”
“I want this. I’m just not sure that’s what you want.”
“Can’t you tell?” Luke smirked a little. His arousal against Reid’s hip was so obvious that there was no way to deny it.
“Yeah,” Reid smiled despite his serious eyes. “But I’m not sure if you’re not going to regret this later.”
“I won’t,” Luke said.
“You don’t know that. The last time we were in this room together you couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”
“I was distressed. I was scared.”
“And suddenly you’re not scared anymore?”
“I am,” Luke admitted. “But unexplainably, the thought of not being here with you scares me more.”
“Last time…you said you didn’t want something to happen, that we couldn’t take back. What if you regret this later? I don’t want you to regret anything about me, Luke.”
Luke sighed and gave a small step back, but his arms didn’t leave Reid’s shoulder.
“Can I at least stay here with you?”
Reid thought about it for a while. “Why?”
“Is this a doctor thing? Wanting to know the ‘whys’ of everything?”
“Yes, it is. Despite my lack of personal life, I don’t do anything halfway or without a reason, Luke. I want to know why you want to stay here and not by Noah’s bedside.”
Luke sighed and rested his forehead on Reid’s again. “Because just this time, this isn’t about Noah. It’s about me. I like to spend time with you.”
“And you think that’s enough? Last week Noah was the love of your life. I don’t believe that now, suddenly, you don’t love him anymore.”
Luke let his arms fall beside his body. “I didn’t come here to talk about Noah.”
“So why did you come?”
“I just want to be…” Luke shrugged, “close to you. You make me feel…light; serious and mischievous at the same time… Even being so infuriatingly obnoxious.”
“Imagine that,” Reid smirked, bending to grab his discarded shirt and starting to put it on.
“So, what do you say?” Luke buttoned up his own shirt, just to have something to do with his hands. When Reid didn’t say anything, he insisted. “Will you let me stay around?”
Reid pursed his lips and nodded curtly. “Okay.” He bent again and picked his sandwich from the coffee table. “Wanna eat?”
“What the heck is that?” Luke asked, eyeing Reid’s plate suspiciously.
“Dinner. Want me to make you one?”
“Sure,” Luke shrugged. “Just not as…stuffed as yours, okay?”
“Stuffed?” Reid waved the plate in front of Luke. “Just so you know, this is a rare combination of ingredients that are perfect together, bringing every flavor to your mouth perfectly.”
“Every flavor, alright…but…everything at the same time? I think I’ll go wit the old ham and cheese.”
“You’re no fun,” said Reid, walking to the kitchen.
They ended up on the sofa, side by side, in front of the TV, watching “The Bourne Identity”. Reid commented on some scenes here and there, adding suggestions about how he would make the scene less unrealistic from his point of view. Luke just rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything, happy to just listen to Reid’s voice. It wasn’t always that the doctor talked about mundane things and it was pleasant to hear him babbling a little.
After an hour Reid started to speak less and less, and when Luke noticed, Reid was sleeping, head lolled, resting on the sofa’s back. Luke smiled and got up, turning the TV off.
“Reid?” he shook the redhead’s shoulder gently. “Come on, time for bed.”
Reid didn’t even open his eyes fully. “Okay,” he said, not moving from where he was.
“You’re not going to sleep here. Come on, get up.”
He tugged Reid’s arm a little, and the man got up reluctantly, walking with wobbly steps at his bedroom’s direction. Luke went behind Reid, guiding him by the shoulders. Once inside, Reid let himself fall on the bed fully clothed, face pressed against the pillow.
Luke smiled a little. God forbid if Dr. Reid Oliver knew how adorably vulnerable he looked in that moment, especially when he turned on his side, grabbed the pillow and snuggled it…but there was no other way to describe him right now.
“Are you going to sleep like that?”
Reid didn’t even answer, snuggling the pillow even closer and sighing. Luke actually wanted to laugh at the sight, but he decided to take Reid’s shoes off. Then, after debating if he should or not, he took Reid’s belt off too, and un-tucked his shirt. “There you go,” he murmured to himself and turned to leave.
Reid sighed contently. “G’night,” he mumbled.
Luke’s eyes widened. He had no idea that Reid knew that he was in the room yet, but apparently the doctor was in a semi-slumber state, when one’s not deeply asleep but it’s not awake either. Hesitating a little, Luke kneeled next to Reid’s face and ran his hand through the red locks lightly. “Night, Reid.”
“M’glad you stayed.” Reid said so low that Luke wondered if the man was awake or talking in his sleep. Maybe the last option, because there was no way Reid would let Luke see him with all his defenses down like that.
“I’m glad too. See you tomorrow.”
Reid didn’t answer anymore, and Luke stayed looking at him for a few seconds, mesmerized by the calm and the hint of a smile in his face. Then, sighing, he got up, turned the lights of the apartment off, leaving only a small lamp by the sofa turned on and left.
… …
The day Noah was discharged Luke didn’t see Reid until it was time for Noah to leave. In fact, he hadn’t seen the doctor for two whole days. He had been busy at the foundation and all his spare time he spent with Noah, who was anxious to go home and wanted Luke around all the time. In fact, Noah was surprising Luke with the sudden change in his personality. He was attentive and sweet, always wanting to hold Luke’s hand, even with people around, and telling him how much he loved him and needed him.
The night before, Lilly and Holden had been there to see him, and Noah hinted that he would like to go back to Lilly’s house. Lilly promptly offered him his old bedroom back, saying they all would love to have him around and that the kids had missed him, and that he should’ve never left in the first place. Holden just smiled in the quiet way of his and said that, although he didn’t live there, he knew Noah was dear to the Snyders and in fact, if Noah wanted a quieter place to relax and recover, he would be welcome to spend some time at the farm. Emma would love to spoil him with tons of food.
Luke stood there, watching the dialogue between his parents and his…and Noah, wondering why Noah hadn’t talked about returning to Lilly’s house when the two of them were alone earlier. But Noah looked at him with a huge happy grin and Luke found himself softening, smiling back at the brunet and, after Lilly’s expectant look, saying that he would like very much to have Noah in his mother’s house again.
That settled’ the following day Luke got up early and went straight to the hospital. He spent the entire day with Noah and, around six PM, he went to the cafeteria to have some coffee. When he got back, Reid was leaving Noah’s room, surrounded by interns who watched him with mouths almost hanging open as he explained the complicated procedures of restoring one’s sight with brain surgery.
He glanced briefly at Luke and said in the most professional way possible, “Mr. Mayer is discharged; you can take him home.”
“Thank you, Dr. Oliver,” Luke answered.
A hint of a smile crossed Reid’s face, but it was so brief that Luke thought he had imagined it. Reid started to walk along the corridor followed by the interns, not looking at Luke again. When Luke’s hand held the door knob, his cell phone beeped indicating a text message.
Under Reid’s name was written, “TOMORROW AT JAVA AT 10 AM.”
“ OK ” Luke texted back, not even noticing that he was grinning like a fool.