Early Morning Sunday
"Reid! Reid! Get up!" Luke said in Reid's ear.
Usually Reid would love to be awakened at four in the morning by Luke, but as Luke was not in the bed, this could only spell trouble.
"Is someone trying to break in the apartment?"
"Nope." Now Luke was kneeling beside him and tugging on Reid's hand.
"Is there a great flood coming? A freak earthquake? Escaped maniacs from the asylum headed here to do us in?"
"No," Luke said cheerfully.
"Does this involve both you and me being dressed?" He couldn't tell exactly what Luke was wearing as there was little light in the room, but the blonde certainly wasn't naked, which was how Reid last saw him. He smiled a little at that memory.
"I'm afraid so," Luke replied.
"Then, I'm going back to sleep."
"You can't, Reid. We're going fishing at the pond." He said this as if he expected Reid to jump out of bed bursting with enthusiasm.
Reid firmly closed his eyes and groaned. "No, we're not. I'm going back to sleep, and when I wake up, I plan to read the Sunday paper and eat leftovers from last night."
"You'll love fishing."
"Does anything about me scream fish-killer to you?"
"Well, no. But, you'll love the peacefulness. I promise you won't be bothered by anyone."
"I'm generally not bothered by anyone in this bedroom, but you seem to be doing a fine job of it this morning."
"Reid-"
"No, Luke. No fishing. I want to sleep."
"Fine," Luke said with a pout. He shifted to stand up and kneeled on something. "Ouch!"
"Be quiet," Reid responded in annoyance.
"Thanks for the concern. I just bumped into the corner of a book." He peered at it in the dim light coming from a street lamp outside. "Hey, I think it's your high school yearbook."
"Great," Reid said groggily.
Luke frowned at Reid before scooping up the book and saying, "Well, since I'm up and have nothing to do, I guess I'll go look at this."
"Great," Reid repeated.
A minute passed. Reid tossed around in the bed, trying to sleep once more. He couldn't believe Luke would try to take him fishing.
Just as he was about to drift off, what Luke had said popped into his brain. Yearbook. Luke is going to read my yearbook. Oh, Christ.
Reid sat up and quickly jumped out of bed, pulling a sheet with him because the air was chilly. I need to stop Luke before he gets to that page.
Luke, clad in khaki shorts and a green T-shirt, was sitting on the brown sofa in the living room, the book propped open in his lap. He looked up and smiled at Reid as the doctor crossed the room.
"Fishing, huh?" Reid said, desperately hoping he could get Luke out of the apartment and forget about that book.
"Reid, you can go back to bed. This," Luke said waving a hand toward the yearbook, "is way more interesting."
"I doubt that." Maybe he could drop his sheet and entice Luke back into bed. That would be a win-win for all involved.
"Who knew you had so much hair?" Luke said as he merrily pointed at Reid's senior picture.
Reid winced as he looked at the picture of him with a cloud of red hair sticking straight out in all directions from his head. "It was the'90's." He was feeling decidedly unsexy and tightened the sheet around him.
"I didn't know the Ronald McDonald look was in fashion back then." Reid was actually pretty cute back then, but Luke thought teasing the bleary-eyed doctor was fun. Maybe next time, Reid would just agree to go fishing.
"Really, you're going to tease me about hair? You?" He pointedly eyed Luke's currently chin-length locks. I can't believe I'm having this conversation at four o'clock in the morning.
"Anyway," Luke said, changing the topic, "there's lots of stuff in here I didn't know."
"Fascinating. Why don't we get going? I'm sure those fish are just waiting to catch some worms." Reid said.
His voice must have been a little too urgent because Luke grinned evilly and said, "What don’t you want me to see?"
"Nothing." His hand twitched a little at his side, telling Luke everything he needed to know.
"So you won't mind if I keep turning the pages?" Luke asked in a casual manner.
"Not at all, but I think you're wasting good fishing time."
"Uh-huh." Luke started flipping pages. "I didn't know you were so involved at school," he commented as he examined one particular page.
"You had to be 'well-rounded' to get into Harvard according to the college counselor. So, I joined."
"The Constitutional Team? What on earth is the Constitutional Team?" Luke asked with a laugh.
"It's the "Constitution" Team. Don’t ask questions when you don't really want to know the answer."
"Fine, don't tell me," Luke huffed. "This is actually pretty impressive, Reid. You were captain of the Math Team and the Debate Team, and look at this list of awards you received!"
"High school over-achiever, that's me," Reid agreed nervously. "So, can we go?"
"I've just got a few pages more." He looked down at a page entitled "Senior Superlatives." He laughed when he saw that Reid had gotten "Pedestrians' worst nightmare." It figured. Reid had also won "Most studious" and "Most likely to be a rocket scientist." No surprises there, either.
Reid put his hand down on that page, surprising Luke into looking up at him. "If you promise not to ever look at the next page, I swear I'll go fishing and even swim afterwards."
Luke's expression turned calculating. Whatever was on that page must be pretty awful if Reid was willing to fish and swim. Decision made, Luke replied, "No, I think I'll flip the page."
Reid lunged for the book, but Luke was too quick. He managed to spot precisely what Reid didn't want Luke to see. Next to a picture of a glaring Reid being kissed on his cheeks by two girls was the title, "Class Teddy Bear."
Luke choked. "You were voted 'Class Teddy Bear?' Have you taken personality-alternating drugs since then?"
"No! I may have ticked off a couple people on the yearbook staff, and they knew this would annoy me."
Luke then noticed some notes written to Reid in the margins of the page. "Really? Are you sure you weren't known as 'Mr. Cuddles' back then?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, that's what some people who signed your book called you," Luke teased.
Reid tried to count to ten and failed. He should have burned that book. "It was handed to me pre-signed."
Luke wasn't finished. "Maybe we should sign our Christmas cards this year 'from Luke and Mr. Cuddles.'"
"We are not sending out Christmas cards together."
"Okay, Reid. I'll just get a snapshot of me with a red-haired teddy bear, instead."
"Can we go fishing? I'd like to push you into the pond."
Luke taunted in a babyish voice, "Now, now. That doesn't sound like what Mr. Cuddles would say." Then he fell back into the couch and started laughing hysterically.
Reid looked down at Luke and glared. After listening to Luke's unabashed glee for a few minutes, he felt his mood start to lighten. It was impossible to look at Luke's smiling face and not feel pleasure at the sight. And, really, he wasn't that embarrassed by the "superlative" anymore. What could it possibly matter now? Oh, that's right.
"Just promise me you won't tell Katie or Hank about this," Reid said. He'd probably be known as "Mr. Cuddles" for years if they found out about it.
"What do I get for my silence?" Luke asked.
Reid dropped the sheet that had been covering him. "Why don't you come back to bed and find out?"
Luke threw the book on the coffee table, stood up and grabbed Reid's hand. "Sounds like a deal to me. Maybe you can show me your 'cuddly' side…later."
"Maybe," Reid said, knowing that was exactly how they'd spend their Sunday morning.
Usually Reid would love to be awakened at four in the morning by Luke, but as Luke was not in the bed, this could only spell trouble.
"Is someone trying to break in the apartment?"
"Nope." Now Luke was kneeling beside him and tugging on Reid's hand.
"Is there a great flood coming? A freak earthquake? Escaped maniacs from the asylum headed here to do us in?"
"No," Luke said cheerfully.
"Does this involve both you and me being dressed?" He couldn't tell exactly what Luke was wearing as there was little light in the room, but the blonde certainly wasn't naked, which was how Reid last saw him. He smiled a little at that memory.
"I'm afraid so," Luke replied.
"Then, I'm going back to sleep."
"You can't, Reid. We're going fishing at the pond." He said this as if he expected Reid to jump out of bed bursting with enthusiasm.
Reid firmly closed his eyes and groaned. "No, we're not. I'm going back to sleep, and when I wake up, I plan to read the Sunday paper and eat leftovers from last night."
"You'll love fishing."
"Does anything about me scream fish-killer to you?"
"Well, no. But, you'll love the peacefulness. I promise you won't be bothered by anyone."
"I'm generally not bothered by anyone in this bedroom, but you seem to be doing a fine job of it this morning."
"Reid-"
"No, Luke. No fishing. I want to sleep."
"Fine," Luke said with a pout. He shifted to stand up and kneeled on something. "Ouch!"
"Be quiet," Reid responded in annoyance.
"Thanks for the concern. I just bumped into the corner of a book." He peered at it in the dim light coming from a street lamp outside. "Hey, I think it's your high school yearbook."
"Great," Reid said groggily.
Luke frowned at Reid before scooping up the book and saying, "Well, since I'm up and have nothing to do, I guess I'll go look at this."
"Great," Reid repeated.
A minute passed. Reid tossed around in the bed, trying to sleep once more. He couldn't believe Luke would try to take him fishing.
Just as he was about to drift off, what Luke had said popped into his brain. Yearbook. Luke is going to read my yearbook. Oh, Christ.
Reid sat up and quickly jumped out of bed, pulling a sheet with him because the air was chilly. I need to stop Luke before he gets to that page.
Luke, clad in khaki shorts and a green T-shirt, was sitting on the brown sofa in the living room, the book propped open in his lap. He looked up and smiled at Reid as the doctor crossed the room.
"Fishing, huh?" Reid said, desperately hoping he could get Luke out of the apartment and forget about that book.
"Reid, you can go back to bed. This," Luke said waving a hand toward the yearbook, "is way more interesting."
"I doubt that." Maybe he could drop his sheet and entice Luke back into bed. That would be a win-win for all involved.
"Who knew you had so much hair?" Luke said as he merrily pointed at Reid's senior picture.
Reid winced as he looked at the picture of him with a cloud of red hair sticking straight out in all directions from his head. "It was the'90's." He was feeling decidedly unsexy and tightened the sheet around him.
"I didn't know the Ronald McDonald look was in fashion back then." Reid was actually pretty cute back then, but Luke thought teasing the bleary-eyed doctor was fun. Maybe next time, Reid would just agree to go fishing.
"Really, you're going to tease me about hair? You?" He pointedly eyed Luke's currently chin-length locks. I can't believe I'm having this conversation at four o'clock in the morning.
"Anyway," Luke said, changing the topic, "there's lots of stuff in here I didn't know."
"Fascinating. Why don't we get going? I'm sure those fish are just waiting to catch some worms." Reid said.
His voice must have been a little too urgent because Luke grinned evilly and said, "What don’t you want me to see?"
"Nothing." His hand twitched a little at his side, telling Luke everything he needed to know.
"So you won't mind if I keep turning the pages?" Luke asked in a casual manner.
"Not at all, but I think you're wasting good fishing time."
"Uh-huh." Luke started flipping pages. "I didn't know you were so involved at school," he commented as he examined one particular page.
"You had to be 'well-rounded' to get into Harvard according to the college counselor. So, I joined."
"The Constitutional Team? What on earth is the Constitutional Team?" Luke asked with a laugh.
"It's the "Constitution" Team. Don’t ask questions when you don't really want to know the answer."
"Fine, don't tell me," Luke huffed. "This is actually pretty impressive, Reid. You were captain of the Math Team and the Debate Team, and look at this list of awards you received!"
"High school over-achiever, that's me," Reid agreed nervously. "So, can we go?"
"I've just got a few pages more." He looked down at a page entitled "Senior Superlatives." He laughed when he saw that Reid had gotten "Pedestrians' worst nightmare." It figured. Reid had also won "Most studious" and "Most likely to be a rocket scientist." No surprises there, either.
Reid put his hand down on that page, surprising Luke into looking up at him. "If you promise not to ever look at the next page, I swear I'll go fishing and even swim afterwards."
Luke's expression turned calculating. Whatever was on that page must be pretty awful if Reid was willing to fish and swim. Decision made, Luke replied, "No, I think I'll flip the page."
Reid lunged for the book, but Luke was too quick. He managed to spot precisely what Reid didn't want Luke to see. Next to a picture of a glaring Reid being kissed on his cheeks by two girls was the title, "Class Teddy Bear."
Luke choked. "You were voted 'Class Teddy Bear?' Have you taken personality-alternating drugs since then?"
"No! I may have ticked off a couple people on the yearbook staff, and they knew this would annoy me."
Luke then noticed some notes written to Reid in the margins of the page. "Really? Are you sure you weren't known as 'Mr. Cuddles' back then?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, that's what some people who signed your book called you," Luke teased.
Reid tried to count to ten and failed. He should have burned that book. "It was handed to me pre-signed."
Luke wasn't finished. "Maybe we should sign our Christmas cards this year 'from Luke and Mr. Cuddles.'"
"We are not sending out Christmas cards together."
"Okay, Reid. I'll just get a snapshot of me with a red-haired teddy bear, instead."
"Can we go fishing? I'd like to push you into the pond."
Luke taunted in a babyish voice, "Now, now. That doesn't sound like what Mr. Cuddles would say." Then he fell back into the couch and started laughing hysterically.
Reid looked down at Luke and glared. After listening to Luke's unabashed glee for a few minutes, he felt his mood start to lighten. It was impossible to look at Luke's smiling face and not feel pleasure at the sight. And, really, he wasn't that embarrassed by the "superlative" anymore. What could it possibly matter now? Oh, that's right.
"Just promise me you won't tell Katie or Hank about this," Reid said. He'd probably be known as "Mr. Cuddles" for years if they found out about it.
"What do I get for my silence?" Luke asked.
Reid dropped the sheet that had been covering him. "Why don't you come back to bed and find out?"
Luke threw the book on the coffee table, stood up and grabbed Reid's hand. "Sounds like a deal to me. Maybe you can show me your 'cuddly' side…later."
"Maybe," Reid said, knowing that was exactly how they'd spend their Sunday morning.