Happy Birthday Luke!
Title: Happy Birthday Luke
Pairing: Luke and Reid
Other Characters: Emma. Katie and Lily, Noah is mentioned but he’s not actually in this fic.
Rating PG
Disclaimer: These are not my characters, all belong to ATWT and its parent company(ies). All mistakes are mine.
Summary: It’s Luke’s birthday and Reid is trying to be a good boyfriend and cook him dinner.
A/N: This is for my friend sleeper6 for her birthday!! Happy Very Belated Birthday my friend I hope you enjoy this! I truly apologize for taking so long to write it.
Reid sat at his desk, when a reminder appeared on his computer screen. “Luke’s b-day is in one week. Don’t forget!!! You’re a genius figure something out.” Oh crap what am I gonna do for him?
Reid thought for a few minutes and decided that his favourite things were food and sex and he knew that when he was happy Luke would be happy so he decided to work with that.
“Hi Katie,” Reid said as he answered his phone.
“Hi Reid,” Katie smiled. “I’m just calling to remind you that it’s Luke’s birthday in a week.”
“Yeah, I know,” Reid grumped.
“So,” Katie paused. “What do you have planned for his big day?”
“Dinner and sex,” Reid said with a shrug.
“Uh huh,” Katie said. “Where are you taking him for dinner?”
“I don’t know,” Reid huffed. “I’ll probably just get take out from Al’s.”
“And how would that be different from any other night?”
“Why does it have to be different? Dinner and sex is the perfect way to spend an evening, why would I mess with that? I’ll pick up a cake for him, so there, that’s what’s different.”
“Reid,” Katie shrieked . “This is Luke, the best boyfriend on the planet, Luke. You can’t just get take out and expect him to put out.”
“He loves putting out; so it’s not exactly a hardship for him. He knows that I’m not good at the romantic stuff,” Reid shrugged.
“REID, you’ve got to do better!”
Reid leaned back in his chair and pinched his nose between his thumb and index finger, “Fine,” he blew out a breath. “What do you suggest?”
“Hmm,” Katie paused. “Luke really likes big romantic gestures, why don’t you get someone to cater his favourite meal? You can hire someone to decorate your place with flowers and candles,” Katie continued dreamily.
“Katie,” Reid barked. “I’m not a thirteen year old girl. I’m not going to go all hearts and flowers and everything. Luke knows who I am and he loves me anyways.”
“Why???” Katie sighed, “is the question. Can’t you put yourself out there for him? It’s his birthday. Do something to make him happy. Show him how much you love him. Cause I know that you love him enough to tap into your inner girl,” Katie finished with a smirk as she heard Reid sigh with resignation..
“Fine,” Reid huffed. “I’ll plan a dinner for him. Beef tenderloin with all of the trimmings. Satisfied?” Reid asked.
“Yup,” Katie answered, “I’ll email you a list of caterers that we use at the studio.”
“There’s a whole list, not just one or maybe two?” Reid teased.
“Smartass,” Katie answered as she typed in the three names and hit send.
“Thanks Katie,” Reid said, sincerely.
“No problem,” Katie smiled into the phone. “Just don’t screw it up.”
***
Reid dutifully called all three caterers, but as none of them offered him a tasting menu and the prices they were charging were outrageous, he decided to cook the meal himself. After all how hard could it be, he was a brain surgeon dammit, and surely to God he could manage to cook one meal. He decided that Luke would appreciate all the effort that Reid put forth and duly reward him. Satisfied with this plan, Reid phoned Emma to ask for the recipes.
“Um Reid, of course I’m happy to give you the recipes but are you sure that you want to cook this meal…yourself?” Emma inquired as politely as she could. “I mean I would be happy to cook it for you, I could even make it at your place if that would be easier for you?”
The thought of Emma cooking the meal for him was enticing, but the thought of Emma touching all of his things in the kitchen and tutting to herself over things that she thought he needed, made him shudder.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure that I’ll be fine,” Reid answered.
“You know Reid, cooking can be quite complicated, I didn’t realize that you knew the basics,” Emma said.
Reid took a deep breath and counted to ten. “Thanks for your concern, but I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he answered. “I’m a genius, how hard can it be to follow a recipe???” he muttered, mostly to himself.
“Well if you’re sure, I’ll email you the recipes you’ve requested,” Emma said.
“Thanks,”
“What are you making for dessert, would you like me to prepare something for you two?”
“No thanks, I’ve got it covered,” Reid answered, getting impatient.
“Okay, well call me if you have any questions,” Emma said before she hung up.
***
“Hello,” Luke answered, groggily.
“Hey,” Reid responded. “Sorry I woke you.”
“Reid?”
“Yup, I just wanted to wish you Happy Birthday!”
“You remembered,” Luke said. “Thanks.”
“Uh yeah,” Reid paused. “So about tonight…”
“That’s okay, we’ll do it another time,” Luke sighed.
“Wait, what? Are you busy tonight? I thought you were coming over for dinner, I was going to cook, you know Beef Tenderloin with all the fixings…”
“You were going to cook??”
“YES,” Reid huffed. “Why doesn’t anyone think that I am capable of cooking?”
“No, no it’s not that, it’s just that no one has ever cooked for me, except you know my mom and Grandma Emma. But I get it something has come up and you can’t do it.”
“Luke, I’m only busy with You, I just wanted to see if 7 was okay for you… So is it?”
“Really? Yeah, 7 would be great,” Luke replied, happily.
“Okay, see you then,” Reid replied.
“Bye.”
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy Birthday!”
***
“Hi Baby,” Lily said as Luke walked into the Lakeview. “Happy Birthday!”
“Thanks Mom,” Luke replied, reaching out to hug her.
“Thank you for meeting me for lunch, Baby. Otherwise I wouldn’t get to see you today.”
“Mom,” Luke warned.
“What? I’m just saying. Noah always shared you with your family on your birthday. You know how important this day is to your siblings.”
“Mom, we’re celebrating at the farm this weekend. It’s a much better time for everyone.”
“Luke, you know we would all make time for you, especially today. It just seems kind of selfish of Reid that’s all. I just want you to be happy!”
“Mom, I am happy!! Don’t you know how great it feels to me that Reid wants to spend time with me? Don’t you know what an incredible gift that is for me?”
“What are you talking about, Luke? Everybody likes to spend time with you?”
“Noah didn’t,” Luke said quietly.
“What are you talking about? Of course Noah liked to spend time with you. He loved you. I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you must know that Noah loved you. And you loved him. Let’s not rewrite history here.”
Luke sighed heavily. “Yes, Noah loved me, and I loved him, but we weren’t a good fit. He loved spending time with our family, but when it was just the two of us, I often felt like I wasn’t enough for him. It was like what he loved most about me, was being part of my family.”
“Oh Baby, I’m sure that’s not true. Think of all the great times you had together. You were so sweet together,” Lily smiled, dreamily. “Reid is not sweet.”
Luke laughed. “No, Reid is definitely not sweet,” Luke paused. “Reid respects me and he treats me like an equal.”
Lily stared at Luke. “Honey, he’s a world class brain surgeon, and you’re lovely, but come on Luke, you’re at completely different places, career wise, I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You and Noah were both just starting out.”
Just then the food arrived. Luke looked at his plate and noted that his mother had ordered him macaroni and cheese.
Lily smiled at Luke. “I know it’s your favourite!”
“Thanks Mom,” Luke sighed. “You know I’m a big boy now, and can order for myself.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “You see this is what I’m talking about, you were never rude like this when you were with Noah, I don’t think that Reid’s a good influence on you, at all.”
“Mom asking you to treat me like an adult, which I am is not really being rude. But you’re right that being with Reid has given me the confidence to stand up for myself. Noah always, okay maybe not always, but often belittled me. He called me clingy and needy,” Luke paused and saw Lily nodding in agreement. “And okay, I was those things, but Noah brought that out in me. Every time I tried to help Noah, he complained that I was interfering, which made me feel badly about myself, thus bringing out my insecurities and making me more needy.”
“Honey, you can hardly blame this all on Noah. Plus I’m sure that Reid wouldn’t like you at your most insecure either, Desperate isn’t attractive on anyone.”
“Seriously!!” Luke said. “For the record I’m not insecure with Reid, yes I have my doubts, but he makes me feel really good about myself and about our relationship so I don’t need him to constantly reassure me. He just does. You know when I went to Dallas with him to help him get his license reinstated, he thanked me, he was grateful. He was happy that I was able to help him.”
“Of course he was, Sweetie,” Lily simpered. “Anyone would be thankful for your help. He probably wouldn’t have been reinstated so quickly without it.”
“You don’t get it. Reid is a genius and an incredibly successful neurosurgeon but he really respects my opinion. He values my help, he values me. Do you know how great that feels?”
“We all value you, Baby. We all love you.”
“I know that you love me, but it’s not the same. Noah always made me feel like I was less than, that he was doing me a favour by being with me. Yes he loved me, I know that, but it always felt conditional, like I was always one mistake away from losing him. I thought that was normal, but it’s not. Reid makes me feel like he loves me no matter what. That even if I screw up and we fight, we’ll get through it. And you know what else? He says he’s going to screw it up even more than me, but that’s okay because that’s part of life. He wants to be with me, forever.”
“Wow,” Lily said gobsmacked.
“I know,” Luke said, and began to eat his mac and cheese.
They ate in companionable silence for awhile.
“I guess I was more comfortable seeing you and Noah together, you just seemed so comfortable together, innocent even. Reid doesn’t radiate innocence at all. Sometimes when he looks at you, it seems like he wants to eat you alive. That man is sex on a stick.”
“Uh huh, I know.” Luke answered dreamily.
“Noah was always very respectful, playful almost. He never looked at you with the raw hunger that comes off Reid in waves.”
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “Noah never really wanted to be, uh, physical with me. He always made me feel like he was doing me an enormous favour. I felt really unattractive a lot of the time.”
“Oh Luke,” Lily cried. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize. You must know that you are a very attractive young man, and I’m not just saying that because I’m your mother.”
“Thanks Mom.”
“So why did you stay with Noah for so long if you were that unhappy?”
“Well, I didn’t realize that I was that unhappy for awhile, and I kinda thought that we had a normal relationship. I also believed that all of our problems were really my fault, that I needed to be better.”
“Oh my God, Luke I had no idea.”
“Yeah well I didn’t really know all of it either. I started to realize that we just weren’t right for each other when he began working with Mason Jarvis.”
“Wasn’t he the professor that hit on Noah and then was fired for his inappropriate behaviour?”
“Yup,” Luke nodded.
“Well Noah must have appreciated your help in getting Mason fired. He was always such a stickler for proper behaviour.”
“Well, not exactly. The thing is, I was uncomfortable with Mason from the beginning. He wanted Noah and I knew it I was jealous and I wanted Noah to find another advisor, but Noah said I was being ridiculous and refused to hear a bad word against Mason. Even after Mason told me he was going to get Noah, Noah refused to be swayed. Finally Mason kissed Noah and I saw it on videotape and showed it to Damian, and well you know what happened next. Mason was fired; Noah had his accident and blamed me for his blindness. I felt incredibly guilty, even thought I really had nothing to do with the accident. I needed to fix it and that led me to Reid. So in a funny way I’ll always be kinda grateful to Mason.”
“What do you mean you weren’t really involved with the accident? I thought that you must have set up the fireworks for Noah.”
“Oh God no, I don’t know anything about that sort of thing, clearly neither did Noah. He blamed me, because Noah always blamed me, and I always let him. I was there trying to talk to him, but he sent me away before the explosion even happened.”
“Really? I always assumed that you were somehow directly involved,” Lily sighed, realizing she had been wrong about Noah being perfect for her son. “I’m so sorry.”
“Its okay, Mom. Actually Reid is the one who pointed out that it wasn’t my fault. I felt really guilty for the longest time. He’s really logical and he forced me to see the situation from his perspective, and honestly it was a huge relief.”
“Wow,” Lily said, staring at Luke and really seeing him. “I’m glad that you have him in your life, Luke. I think maybe he’s really good for you.”
“He is,” Luke nodded.
“I’ll try harder with him. Anyone who is that important to you is going to be important to the whole family. I guess if I was that wrong about Noah, I was probably wrong about Reid too.”
“Mom, you love Noah, and that’s fine. I’m glad that he has you and the family. With Reid I know that it’s all about me and that’s an incredible feeling.”
“Honey, Noah loved you, yes he loved us too, but don’t ever think that he didn’t love you. He was your first love, and you were his but I guess that they don’t always last.”
“Yeah I guess not. It’s just that what I have with Reid is so much bigger, it’s hard to explain. It just feels so good,” Luke finished dreamily.
“Well I’m glad,” Lily said, feeling a little uncomfortable at the intensity of the look on her son’s face.
***
At 7:00 Luke knocked on Reid’s door. When there was no answer, Luke decided to use his key to let himself in. The apartment was completely dark
“Hello,” he called out. “Reid, are you here?”
Silence.
Sighing to himself and trying not to give in to the abject disappointment, Luke switched on the lights. He was reaching for his phone to see if Reid had texted him when he heard a grunt and looked up to see Reid, sitting on the couch clutching a throw pillow that Katie had given to him.
“Hey,” Luke said walking over to sit beside Reid. “Did something happen at the hospital?”
Reid sighed. “No, nothing happened at work.”
“Uh okay,” Luke said sitting beside Reid, wondering what had happened. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I failed,” Reid barely breathed.
:”You what? Hold on, I’m going to get you something to drink. I think maybe you need a beer,” Luke said, standing up and heading toward the kitchen.
“No Luke, wait, don’t go in there,” Reid begged, but it was too late, Luke had already opened the door.
“Oh my God, Reid what the hell happened in here?” Luke said as he stared at the catastrophe that had become Reid’s kitchen. He could see that there was a pan with what looked like the charred remains of beef tenderloin; a scorched frying pan with what Luke could only guess was the shallot glaze that should have topped the tenderloin. Resting innocently was a baking sheet with smooshy white blobs that might have been trying to be fluffy buttermilk biscuits. On the floor was a small soggy brown pile of what were probably mushrooms. There was even some thick foam on the stove, which he belatedly realized was from a fire extinguisher. There were other pots on the stove that Luke was afraid to look into. All the pots had a sad blackened tinge to them.
“I’m sorry,” Reid moaned from the couch, clutching the pillow even tighter than before.
“Wow,” Luke sighed, incredibly touched that Reid had gone to so much trouble just for him. He quietly closed the door and went back to check on Reid.
“So, have you eaten yet?” Luke asked with a smile.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Did you not see my epic failure?”
“Yup, it was pretty impressive,” Luke paused, still smiling. “Do you think we could order a pizza, I’m starving and you must be too.”
“Uh…sure,” Reid mumbled as Luke began scrolling for Reid’s favourite pizza place. He ordered Reid’s favourite pie as well as some drinks for them to share.
“It’ll be here in thirty minutes or less,” Luke reported, still smiling.
“Why aren’t you mad? I ruined your birthday.”
“No you didn’t. All I really wanted was to spend time with you. Food and sex, with you, that’s all I really wanted,” Luke frowned. “We are still going to have sex, right?”
“I’m gonna kill Katie,” Reid grumbled before leaning in to kiss Luke lovingly. “We will definitely be having sex!” Reid promised before kissing Luke some more and wondering if they had time for a quickie before the pizza arrived.