Reunion
Title: Reunion
Author: nancygre
Rating: PG [some swears]
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes; Written for the Fun Fic Fridays on Lure_atwt. Takes place in July 2011
Summary: Reid goes to Cambridge
Reid took a sip of his caramel latte with whipped cream as he strolled towards Harvard Square, one of the very few places on Earth that made Reid feel nostalgic. The latte was rich and sweet. Sort of like Luke. Reid snorted. The sun was warm and bright. Flowers were blooming and their perfume filled the air. It was a beautiful day. Except for the stupid chirping of birds. Man, he hated that. It’s like the stupid birds thought that everyone wanted to listen to that crap.
Reid tapped the fingers of his left hand against his thigh. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should have cancelled when Luke got called out of the country on some Grimaldi Shipping crisis involving an embargo. Or possibly pirates. Ethan had been chirping in Reid’s ear about one of his classmates streaking during lunch and Reid may have missed some of what Luke was saying. He was pretty sure that the only reason he was even doing this was because it was something that might make Luke: The Sentimental Sap happy. He liked making the brat happy. Fortunately, Luke was ridiculously easy to make happy.
But maybe Reid was also doing this for himself. Spending the last year or so being enveloped by the Snyder family [both the sane and the insane members] may have altered his views a little on whether family was worth putting up with disappointment and recriminations and resentment. Even with the amount of pain that his ever-unreliable parents had given Luke over the years, Luke still managed to find strength and purpose from his relationship with those fruitcakes.
Of course, Luke also had good memories of his parents. Did Reid really have any good memories of the years he spent with Uncle Angus? He never thought of those years as abusive, emotionally or physically. But they weren’t exactly full of joy. Or even a sense of peace. Instead, there had been judgment and harsh words and heavy expectations.
Reid had never spent a lot of time dissecting his relationship with his uncle. The guy was an asshole. Reid hit the road as soon as he was legally able to do so and had never looked back. Well, until the day Reid graduated medical school and had mailed that stupid chess piece back to Angry Angus. He’d been always been slightly amused about the pettiness of his younger self sending his uncle a “na na na na na” gift.
It never would have occurred to Reid to ever attempt any sort of reconciliation, or even a meeting, with his uncle if it hadn’t been for Luke. Even though his soft-hearted boyfriend was all about familial bonds, Luke had left the decision in Reid’s hands, even after Angus had helped with Luke’s birthday present to Reid.
Shortly after Luke and Reid had started dating, Luke had hired a writer to write a joint biography about Reid’s parents. His parents were school teachers and had died when Reid was young. Reid had loved them fiercely and had felt their loss deeply. Luke had realized this because that was the sort of thing at which Luke excelled. He was Empathy personified. The gift had deeply touched Reid. He’d also been touched by the Snyder Sibs all wanting to read the biography. They had seemed genuinely excited about ‘sharing’ Reid’s parents with him. Luke’s siblings, even snarky Faith, were really very sweet. This was somewhat balanced out by Ethan often being sticky, Faith often being rude and Natalie often being sickeningly earnest.
The writer Luke had hired had approached Angus in order to get assistance on the book. He had wanted Angus to share some of his memories. Angus had, of course, told the writer that he was uninterested in rehashing the past. He may have even told the writer to get off of his lawn. But Luke had approached Angus and had somehow convinced Angus to help the writer. Reid was unsure of how Luke had managed that feat. When asked, Luke just changed the subject while looking kind of shifty.
Luke and Angus had a few conversations during the time that the Angus was assisting the writer. Apparently, Angus had made it clear to Luke that he had a lot of regrets over his less than exemplary guardianship of Reid and would like the opportunity to have some sort of relationship with him now. Luke had given the information to Reid but had let it be known that whatever Reid decided to do about it would have Luke’s full support.
Initially, Reid had stuck to his guns about not wanting anything to do with the bitter man who had provided no succor to the lost little boy that Reid had been after his parents had died. Then Reid had read the biography. He had been amazed and proud of who his parents had been. And he had been saddened by the stories of their childhoods. Particularly his father’s. Reid’s paternal grandfather had been a prick of unfathomable dimensions. After reading the book, Reid hadn’t been surprised that Angus had grown into the man that he had, cold and shut-off emotionally. He had been surprised that his father had somehow, miraculously, overcome that same background and had become a man who had always made it clear to Reid that he was cherished.
After reading the book, Reid didn’t suddenly decide that he loved Angus and that he wanted to be best friends with him. But he thought he maybe understood the guy a little for the first time ever. Angus had been woefully underprepared for most interactions with his fellow human beings, let alone prepared for being a guardian to a child. But Angus hadn’t continued a cycle of physical abuse other than the one time when he had bruised Reid’s hand by enclosing it too tightly around that chess piece. Reid realized how lucky he was that Angus hadn’t mirrored the behavior of Reid’s grandfather.
After awhile, Reid had decided that maybe he’d be willing to see if there was anything salvageable about the tattered remains of the Oliver family. He and Luke had made plans to come to Cambridge for the weekend and to meet Angus at Harvard Square for a game of chess and maybe lunch, if the chess game didn’t result in tears and foot-stomping. But then Luke had been called off to Hong Kong. Or possibly Somalia. So now it was just Reid here in Cambridge.
Reid was a bit early but he scanned the tables to see if Angus was here already. He was. The man was sitting at a table with a chess board in front of him. He was running one of his hands through his thinning hair and glancing at his watch nervously. Never once during Reid’s childhood had Angus ever appeared anything other than a confident jackass with a vicious tongue. For some reason, Angus’ obvious nerves calmed Reid.
Reid approached the table. “Angus.”
Angus hurriedly stood and accidentally knocked over the little table. Reid was careful not to smile. Even if Angus had mellowed over the years, he had made life Hell for anyone who seemed to mock him.
Reid helped Angus pick up the table and the chess pieces.
After they stood, Angus greeted the nephew he hadn’t seen for years. “Reid.”
Reid almost snorted at the taciturn greeting. Maybe Snyders and Hughes and Colemans tended to have rowdy reunions full of laughter and tears but the Oliver reunion was definitely going to be different. And Reid was okay with that. He sat down across from Angus. He chose a black piece and a white piece and hid one in each hand. He held out his hands so that Angus could chose one in order to determine who would make the first chess move.
They played silently. Eventually Angus cleared his throat. Reid raised a brow in question.
“I’m not comfortable with digging through the past,” began Angus. “But I am sorry that I didn’t do better by you.”
Reid was stunned. He had never expected an actual apology from this man. Hell. Were they supposed to have some sort of heart to heart now? Reid really should have postponed the meeting until Luke was available.
“Thank you for that,” said Reid. He wasn’t sure if he actually forgave Angus for the crap that he had put him through but he appreciated Angus trying to make amends, or whatever this was. “I also wanted to thank you for cooperating with the writer on the book. The book means a lot to me and I’m grateful that you gave the writer so much help.”
Angus huffed. “I told the writer to ‘Fuck off’ a few times. But then your boyfriend flew into Boston.”
Reid tensed. He tried to decipher the tone that Angus had used when referring to Luke as his boyfriend. Was it sarcastic, matter-of-fact, resentful?
“How’d he convince you to cooperate?”
Angus smirked. “The angelic-faced son of a bitch blackmailed me into it.”
Reid laughed. At Angus’ questioning look, he explained, “Blackmail’s a hobby of his.”
“Maybe you should teach him chess instead,” suggested Angus while eying the board.
“He already knows how to play,” answered Reid.
“He any good?”
“Absolutely sucks,” replied Reid. “But he has some good points.”
“He seemed . . . nice,” grumbled Angus.
“He is,” agreed Reid. “But he has some good points.”
Angus smirked. Even after all of these years, Angus’ smirk startled Reid. It was just so different from the smiles that Reid’s father had given him. Reid’s father. Angus’ identical twin.
“I went to the library and looked you up on the internet,” confessed Angus. “It seems like you’re a real big shot.”
Reid shrugged. “I’m one of the top neurosurgeons in the world.”
“Your folks would have been proud,” said Angus quietly while avoiding eye contact with Reid.
“Yeah, they would have been,” said Reid. “They’d be proud of my accomplishments. And they’d be proud of the life that I’m building.”
“Your life with the blackmailing Walsh/Grimaldi heir?”
“Yeah. Spent some of that time at the library researching your blackmailer, did you?”
“Yep. Just how many times has the guy been kidnapped?”
Reid laughed.
He and Angus played until it got dark. They exchanged email addresses. It was a start.
Author: nancygre
Rating: PG [some swears]
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes; Written for the Fun Fic Fridays on Lure_atwt. Takes place in July 2011
Summary: Reid goes to Cambridge
Reid took a sip of his caramel latte with whipped cream as he strolled towards Harvard Square, one of the very few places on Earth that made Reid feel nostalgic. The latte was rich and sweet. Sort of like Luke. Reid snorted. The sun was warm and bright. Flowers were blooming and their perfume filled the air. It was a beautiful day. Except for the stupid chirping of birds. Man, he hated that. It’s like the stupid birds thought that everyone wanted to listen to that crap.
Reid tapped the fingers of his left hand against his thigh. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should have cancelled when Luke got called out of the country on some Grimaldi Shipping crisis involving an embargo. Or possibly pirates. Ethan had been chirping in Reid’s ear about one of his classmates streaking during lunch and Reid may have missed some of what Luke was saying. He was pretty sure that the only reason he was even doing this was because it was something that might make Luke: The Sentimental Sap happy. He liked making the brat happy. Fortunately, Luke was ridiculously easy to make happy.
But maybe Reid was also doing this for himself. Spending the last year or so being enveloped by the Snyder family [both the sane and the insane members] may have altered his views a little on whether family was worth putting up with disappointment and recriminations and resentment. Even with the amount of pain that his ever-unreliable parents had given Luke over the years, Luke still managed to find strength and purpose from his relationship with those fruitcakes.
Of course, Luke also had good memories of his parents. Did Reid really have any good memories of the years he spent with Uncle Angus? He never thought of those years as abusive, emotionally or physically. But they weren’t exactly full of joy. Or even a sense of peace. Instead, there had been judgment and harsh words and heavy expectations.
Reid had never spent a lot of time dissecting his relationship with his uncle. The guy was an asshole. Reid hit the road as soon as he was legally able to do so and had never looked back. Well, until the day Reid graduated medical school and had mailed that stupid chess piece back to Angry Angus. He’d been always been slightly amused about the pettiness of his younger self sending his uncle a “na na na na na” gift.
It never would have occurred to Reid to ever attempt any sort of reconciliation, or even a meeting, with his uncle if it hadn’t been for Luke. Even though his soft-hearted boyfriend was all about familial bonds, Luke had left the decision in Reid’s hands, even after Angus had helped with Luke’s birthday present to Reid.
Shortly after Luke and Reid had started dating, Luke had hired a writer to write a joint biography about Reid’s parents. His parents were school teachers and had died when Reid was young. Reid had loved them fiercely and had felt their loss deeply. Luke had realized this because that was the sort of thing at which Luke excelled. He was Empathy personified. The gift had deeply touched Reid. He’d also been touched by the Snyder Sibs all wanting to read the biography. They had seemed genuinely excited about ‘sharing’ Reid’s parents with him. Luke’s siblings, even snarky Faith, were really very sweet. This was somewhat balanced out by Ethan often being sticky, Faith often being rude and Natalie often being sickeningly earnest.
The writer Luke had hired had approached Angus in order to get assistance on the book. He had wanted Angus to share some of his memories. Angus had, of course, told the writer that he was uninterested in rehashing the past. He may have even told the writer to get off of his lawn. But Luke had approached Angus and had somehow convinced Angus to help the writer. Reid was unsure of how Luke had managed that feat. When asked, Luke just changed the subject while looking kind of shifty.
Luke and Angus had a few conversations during the time that the Angus was assisting the writer. Apparently, Angus had made it clear to Luke that he had a lot of regrets over his less than exemplary guardianship of Reid and would like the opportunity to have some sort of relationship with him now. Luke had given the information to Reid but had let it be known that whatever Reid decided to do about it would have Luke’s full support.
Initially, Reid had stuck to his guns about not wanting anything to do with the bitter man who had provided no succor to the lost little boy that Reid had been after his parents had died. Then Reid had read the biography. He had been amazed and proud of who his parents had been. And he had been saddened by the stories of their childhoods. Particularly his father’s. Reid’s paternal grandfather had been a prick of unfathomable dimensions. After reading the book, Reid hadn’t been surprised that Angus had grown into the man that he had, cold and shut-off emotionally. He had been surprised that his father had somehow, miraculously, overcome that same background and had become a man who had always made it clear to Reid that he was cherished.
After reading the book, Reid didn’t suddenly decide that he loved Angus and that he wanted to be best friends with him. But he thought he maybe understood the guy a little for the first time ever. Angus had been woefully underprepared for most interactions with his fellow human beings, let alone prepared for being a guardian to a child. But Angus hadn’t continued a cycle of physical abuse other than the one time when he had bruised Reid’s hand by enclosing it too tightly around that chess piece. Reid realized how lucky he was that Angus hadn’t mirrored the behavior of Reid’s grandfather.
After awhile, Reid had decided that maybe he’d be willing to see if there was anything salvageable about the tattered remains of the Oliver family. He and Luke had made plans to come to Cambridge for the weekend and to meet Angus at Harvard Square for a game of chess and maybe lunch, if the chess game didn’t result in tears and foot-stomping. But then Luke had been called off to Hong Kong. Or possibly Somalia. So now it was just Reid here in Cambridge.
Reid was a bit early but he scanned the tables to see if Angus was here already. He was. The man was sitting at a table with a chess board in front of him. He was running one of his hands through his thinning hair and glancing at his watch nervously. Never once during Reid’s childhood had Angus ever appeared anything other than a confident jackass with a vicious tongue. For some reason, Angus’ obvious nerves calmed Reid.
Reid approached the table. “Angus.”
Angus hurriedly stood and accidentally knocked over the little table. Reid was careful not to smile. Even if Angus had mellowed over the years, he had made life Hell for anyone who seemed to mock him.
Reid helped Angus pick up the table and the chess pieces.
After they stood, Angus greeted the nephew he hadn’t seen for years. “Reid.”
Reid almost snorted at the taciturn greeting. Maybe Snyders and Hughes and Colemans tended to have rowdy reunions full of laughter and tears but the Oliver reunion was definitely going to be different. And Reid was okay with that. He sat down across from Angus. He chose a black piece and a white piece and hid one in each hand. He held out his hands so that Angus could chose one in order to determine who would make the first chess move.
They played silently. Eventually Angus cleared his throat. Reid raised a brow in question.
“I’m not comfortable with digging through the past,” began Angus. “But I am sorry that I didn’t do better by you.”
Reid was stunned. He had never expected an actual apology from this man. Hell. Were they supposed to have some sort of heart to heart now? Reid really should have postponed the meeting until Luke was available.
“Thank you for that,” said Reid. He wasn’t sure if he actually forgave Angus for the crap that he had put him through but he appreciated Angus trying to make amends, or whatever this was. “I also wanted to thank you for cooperating with the writer on the book. The book means a lot to me and I’m grateful that you gave the writer so much help.”
Angus huffed. “I told the writer to ‘Fuck off’ a few times. But then your boyfriend flew into Boston.”
Reid tensed. He tried to decipher the tone that Angus had used when referring to Luke as his boyfriend. Was it sarcastic, matter-of-fact, resentful?
“How’d he convince you to cooperate?”
Angus smirked. “The angelic-faced son of a bitch blackmailed me into it.”
Reid laughed. At Angus’ questioning look, he explained, “Blackmail’s a hobby of his.”
“Maybe you should teach him chess instead,” suggested Angus while eying the board.
“He already knows how to play,” answered Reid.
“He any good?”
“Absolutely sucks,” replied Reid. “But he has some good points.”
“He seemed . . . nice,” grumbled Angus.
“He is,” agreed Reid. “But he has some good points.”
Angus smirked. Even after all of these years, Angus’ smirk startled Reid. It was just so different from the smiles that Reid’s father had given him. Reid’s father. Angus’ identical twin.
“I went to the library and looked you up on the internet,” confessed Angus. “It seems like you’re a real big shot.”
Reid shrugged. “I’m one of the top neurosurgeons in the world.”
“Your folks would have been proud,” said Angus quietly while avoiding eye contact with Reid.
“Yeah, they would have been,” said Reid. “They’d be proud of my accomplishments. And they’d be proud of the life that I’m building.”
“Your life with the blackmailing Walsh/Grimaldi heir?”
“Yeah. Spent some of that time at the library researching your blackmailer, did you?”
“Yep. Just how many times has the guy been kidnapped?”
Reid laughed.
He and Angus played until it got dark. They exchanged email addresses. It was a start.