The Long and Winding Road 31/?

[rtruffles]

Title: The Long and Winding Road

Pairing: Luke and Reid

Other Characters: Many Oakdaleites

Summary: This is the story about the courtship of Luke and Reid.

This story is AU, as Reid is very much alive. Katie and Chris are not together. Faith and Parker are not dating in this story.

Rating: PG 14.

A/N Well this is the third chapter of the Retirement party. Honestly I thought that I would get it done in one. I’m rolling my eyes at myself. LOL


“Luke Snyder, I love you! Thank-you for dragging me here to Oakdale,” Reid finished, nodded to Bob, who had managed to join Reid on the dais, and went back to his seat.

Luke kissed Reid as soon as he was able to. “I love you too,” he said earnestly, once he had broken the kiss. “I can’t believe you said that, in front of everyone.”

Reid shrugged. “It’s the truth. I wouldn’t be here without you.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about you thanking me, although that was really great too; I meant that I couldn’t believe that you said you loved me in front of everyone.”

Reid shrugged again. “It’s the truth and to be honest with you I really don’t think anyone was terribly shocked by that announcement.”

Luke just smiled lovingly back at Reid. I’m sure that everyone was shocked by that announcement.

“Oh my God, did you hear that?” Carly shrieked at Lily.

“Er..um…yes,” Lily answered.

“Did you know that Reid loved Luke?” she demanded.

“Well…um…yes,” Lily admitted. “He announced it at a family dinner.”

“Wow,” Carly exclaimed. “He must really love Luke; Dr. Oliver doesn’t seem like the kind of man who is prone to big romantic gestures. I always thought that he was rude and kind of cold. I worried that he might take advantage of Luke’s sweet nature, but now I see that he is one smitten kitten.”

“Well he is cold and rude, but he is also really loving and sweet towards Luke,” Lily admitted, grudgingly. “Luke really loves him. In fact, Luke is happier now than I have ever seen him.”

Carly shot up an eyebrow. “Are you saying that he’s happier with Reid than he was with Noah?”

“Much happier,” Holden interjected. “Looking back I don’t think that he was ever truly happy with Noah.”

“You can’t be serious. I always thought that Luke and Noah would be together forever,” Carly stated.

“Holden, you know that Luke loved Noah. It’s not fair to rewrite history and say that those two boys weren’t happy,” Lily insisted.

“No, I think that Dad’s right. We all thought that Luke and Noah were happy together, but they were always breaking up, and Luke was often sad,” Faith added.

Holden, Lily and Carly all squirmed uncomfortably at the mention of multiple break-ups.

“Sweetie, all relationships have their ups and downs. Lots of couples break-up and then get back together,” Lily explained.

“Well, I don’t think that Reid and Luke will every break up. They just always seem so connected to one another. They’re always touching and smiling at each other. I hope that one day a boy looks at me the way that Reid looks at Luke,” Faith smiled dreamily.

***

“Wow, isn’t that the most romantic thing that you’ve ever heard,” Janet exclaimed, blinking back the tears that were threatening to stream down her face.

“Yeah,” Emily agreed.

“I didn’t think that Dr. Oliver had it in him. He always seems so cold at work,” Ali said.

“I think that it was in really bad taste for Reid to tell Luke that he loves him, in public, no less,” Noah stated, squinting at his table mates. “He didn’t seem very sincere to me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Paul asked. “What guy would say that in public if he didn’t mean it? Unless they were, I don’t know, marrying someone under false pretences,” Paul offered.

“Who would ever do that?” Janet asked, bewildered.

Emily smirked.

“Noah married a woman named Ameera,” Ali informed Janet.

“You married a woman? Really? I thought that you were gay, and that you and Luke were a couple. Did this happen before you met Luke?” Janet asked curiously.

“Those were special circumstances,” Noah explained, squinting self-righteously. “I married her so that she could stay in this country. I saved her life, she was going to be put to death if she had been deported.”

“Uh huh,” Emily added dubiously. “Weren’t you already with Luke when you married her?”

“Yes,” Noah admitted. “Luke understood and supported me whole heartedly. He even wrote our wedding vows and they were beautiful,” Noah sighed, remembering Luke’s loving words.

“You asked Luke to write your wedding vows, when you were marrying someone else?” Janet asked incredulously.

“Luke volunteered,” Noah answered, defensively. “He knew that I was doing the right thing.”

“Poor Luke,” Emily stated. “Thank God he has someone now who obviously puts him first.”

“What are you talking about? Reid only puts one person first, himself. Do you know that he had feelings for Luke from the very beginning? That he made me break up with Luke, so that he could have Luke for himself?”

“Reid had feelings for Luke right from the start?” Ali asked.

“Yes,” Noah responded triumphantly.

“How do you know that?” Emily asked out of curiosity.

“I asked him when he started having feelings for Luke and he told me that it was the second or third time he laid eyes on him,” Noah answered, pleased that he had proof of Reid’s shenanigans.

“Wow,” all three women squealed in unison. “That’s so romantic and sweet,” Ali exclaimed.

“What???” Noah asked. “It’s not sweet, it’s creepy. I was his patient. I think that it might have been an ethical violation.”

“What are you talking about?” Paul asked. “How is being attracted to someone unethical. If it were we would all be in trouble,” Emily gave him a questioning look. “Hypothetically speaking of course,” he smiled at his wife.

“I was his patient, he should not have had any feelings for my boyfriend,” Noah stated indignantly.

“Well the heart wants what the heart wants,” Janet said, nodding sagely.

“Did Dr. Oliver make a pass at Luke way back then?” Alison asked.

“Well no, but he told me to keep Luke away from him. So you see, he is the one who orchestrated our break-up.”

“He didn’t actually tell you to dump Luke, did he?” Emily asked.

“Well no, but I mean what else was I supposed to do? Luke was smothering me. He didn’t understand that I needed space.”

“What do you mean by ‘you needed space’?” Ali wanted to know.

“You know how Luke is. He kept trying to help me, and I needed to be independent. I needed to learn how to live on my own,” Noah explained.

“So you pushed Luke away?” Ali asked, finally realizing that maybe Luke was better off with Dr. Oliver.

“I had to, he wouldn’t leave me alone,” Noah whined.

“So are you saying that Luke and Dr. Oliver didn’t get together until you and Luke had already broken up?” Emily asked.

“Technically, I suppose that’s true, but Luke and I always break  up and got back together. That’s just how our relationship works.”

“Uh huh, maybe Luke didn’t realize that he was supposed to wait around until you wanted to take him back,” Paul suggested.

“Oh Luke never just waited around, “Noah replied smugly. “He always begged me to take him back until I was ready to give in.”

“Wow, and he managed to move on from that…shocker,” Emily stated sarcastically.

Noah squinted at her. “We’ll get back together, I know we will. Luke and I belong together.”

Once again his table mates stared at him, flabbergasted.

***

“Oh my goodness, that Reid Oliver is just the sweetest thing ever, and sooooo handsome!” Lisa exclaimed.

“Mom, I think that we should be focused on Chris right now, not on Reid Oliver,” Tom interjected.

“Well yes dear, I see your point, but I can’t help being excited for Luke. Luke is such a dear boy and he deserves to be with someone who adores him.”

“Kim, how is Chris? Is Margo still with him? Is he going home?” Tom asked as Kim rejoined the table looking grim.

“I’m not really sure how Chris is. Margo asked me to tell you that she had to go to the police station to fill out some paper work. Chris is not coming home. Bob has arranged for him to get help at Deerbrooke.”

“Deerbrooke,” Tom uttered, clearly shocked. “Is that really necessary?”

Kim gave Tom a hard look. “Yes it’s necessary. Do you think that I would put my son in a mental hospital if I didn’t’ think that it was absolutely imperative?”

“Sorry Kim, I didn’t mean it that way,” Tom offered, chagrined.

“I’m sure that everything will be alright,” Tom said. “Do you think that we should send everyone home so that you and Dad can take the time to process this?”

Kim hesitated for a moment.

“Good Heavens, no,” Lisa exclaimed. “This is Bob’s retirement party. We need to celebrate all of his accomplishments. Plus there’s going to be dancing later. I want to see Luke and Reid dance together. Don’t you think that they will look sexy together on the dance floor? Yum!”

“Oh look they’re serving dessert, and it looks delicious,” Craig announced happily.

***

“So Dude, what was up with the big “I love you, Luke Snyder declaration?” Casey asked.

“Ooooh it was so romantic,” Katie practically swooned.

Reid shrugged. “It was no big deal. That’s how I feel so that’s what I said,” Reid answered reasonably.

Luke beamed silently beside him, and squeezed his thigh.

“Well thanks a lot, Dude, you’ve just set the bar higher for romantic gestures,” Casey grumbled, but he was happy for his friend.

“My Henry is very romantic,” Barbara interjected, not wanting to be outdone. “Wait until you see his moves on the dance floor.”

Reid just snorted and waggled his eyebrows at Hank.

“I love dancing with Barbara. We fit together very well,” Henry added, not pleased with Reid’s response.

Barbara beamed at Henry and gave the rest of the table an ‘I told you so’ look.

Reid ignored Henry and Barbara and the image of the two of them together and focussed his attention on something much more pleasurable.

“Wow this dessert is amazing! Do you know what it is?” Reid asked.

“It’s an Opera cake! I thought that you would appreciate the drama,” Luke answered.

“Yes, because I’m all about the drama,” Reid commented sarcastically.

Luke laughed. “Well this is Oakdale; we’re prone to that sort of thing,” Luke mused. “So are you going to dance with me later?”

Reid wanted to say ‘hell no’, but one look in Luke’s big brown eyes and he found himself trapped. “Sure,” he answered weakly, “but later, okay?”

Luke nodded, his smile even brighter than it was before, if that were possible.

Reid just shook his head in resignation.

***

Shortly after the dancing started Katie decided it was time for her to go. “I need to get home so that I can relieve the babysitter,” she explained, while saying her goodbye’s to the table.

“Congratulations on your promotion, I’m really proud of you,” she said as she leaned over and kissed Reid on the cheek. “Am I going to see you later tonight, or tomorrow?” she asked with a gleam in her eye.

“I’m not sure,” Reid answered feeling a little off balance.

“Tomorrow,” Luke stated at the same time. Reid gave him a questioning look. “Definitely tomorrow,” Luke stated emphatically.

“Okay,” Katie smiled. “Have fun,” she added waving goodbye to the rest of the table.

“I have plans for you,” Luke whispered into Reid’s ear, sending shivers of anticipation down Reid’s spine.

“Can we leave now?” Reid asked hopefully.

“No,” Luke replied with a slight pout. “You haven’t even danced with me yet.”

Reid sighed heavily. He was about to ask Luke to dance when Noah appeared.

“Luke, how about taking a spin around the old dance floor with me?” Noah asked although he already knew that Luke would say yes.

Reid snorted.

Noah ignored Reid.

“Well…” Luke hedged.

“Great,” Noah enthused and grabbed Luke’s hand and dragged him off to the dance floor.

Luke looked back at Reid to gauge the other man’s reaction, but Reid just gave him a half smile.

“Dude, what are you doing? Go and cut in,” Casey insisted. “Noah is probably trying to make Luke feel guilty about not letting Noah sit at our table, or something. You’ve got to rescue him.”

“Okay,” Reid replied, secretly happy that it now looked like he was doing Luke a favour rather than chasing after the younger man like a jealous boyfriend.

As soon as Reid was out of earshot, Henry shot a look at Casey. “Reid is totally whipped. Did you see him trying to pretend that Noah dancing with Luke didn’t bother him,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I know,” Casey agreed. “I had to come up with something, or Luke would have been stuck dancing with Noah all night long. Luke is just too nice to tell him to take a hike, but Reid’s not!”

Barbara had heard enough about Reid for this evening, she wanted some attention for herself. “Come on Henry; let’s show these people how it’s done.”

“Of course, Beautiful,” he responded and stood up to take her hand and lead her onto the dance floor.

“Talk about being whipped,” Casey chuckled to himself. He decided to go and get a drink while scoping out the room for a possible dance partner.

***

As Reid approached Luke and Noah he heard part of their conversation. “You can’t really believe that he loves you, can you? How can you be so naïve? You’re lucky to have me around to look out for you,” Noah concluded, pulling a struggling Luke closer.

“I do love him,” Reid responded coldly to Noah. “Do you mind if I cut in?” he asked looking at Luke.

“Yes,” Noah huffed, “we were having a private conversation, if you don’t mind,” but he could feel Luke trying to get away. Noah held Luke tighter.

“As a matter of fact, I do mind,” Reid stated glaring at Noah. “Now let go of Luke.”

“Please Noah,” Luke pleaded. “You need to let me go.”

Noah stared at Luke for a long moment. “This isn’t over,” he warned Reid before stomping back to his table.

“Thanks,” Luke whispered into Reid’s ear as he allowed his body to melt into the other man’s.

“Anytime,” Reid answered, actually enjoying dancing with Luke in his arms. “Now, I believe that you said something about having plans for me…”

“Patience,” Luke answered. “I promise that I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Patience is not my best event,” Reid complained mildly, pressing his erection into Luke’s pelvis for emphasis.

“Mine either,” Luke groaned. “Let’s go.”

Reid smiled to himself as he allowed Luke to lead him around the room as Luke said their goodbye’s to everyone at breakneck speed.

“I hope that I wasn’t too rude,” Luke worried.

“Too rude?” Reid asked perplexed. Then he kissed Luke soundly and Luke forgot about everything and everyone who wasn’t Reid.