FIC: Oakdale is Not So Bad - Part 10
Title: Oakdale is Not So Bad - Part 10
Author: sleeper6
Characters: Reid/Luke, various Oakdale citizens, and . . . Damian
Rating: R
Disclaimer: All belongs to As the World Turns, not me.
Summary: Sequel to Dad is Not So Bad. After Reid moves to Oakdale to be with Luke, he has trouble adjusting to his new life and relationship.
Notes: This is the end. Oh, and if you’d like, you can vote to choose the prompt for my next fic.
Previous: Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9
Dr. Channing laughed on the other end of the line. “What? You really thought it was all purely coincidental, you bumping into him and his once-in-a-lifetime offer? Come on, I expected a lot more from you, Dr. Know-It-All.”
Reid remained silent as he absorbed the news.
“Grimaldi Sr. was a man with a plan when he took off for Dallas. He was set on finding a replacement.”
“Luke, maybe Dr. Channing isn’t the best candidate for the neurology wing,” Damian said quietly.
“He said you didn’t want the position, said you hated Oakdale.”
“He said,” Dr. Channing said sharply before chuckling. “Oh, who am I kidding? I did hate that one-horse town, still do, but maybe I would’ve grown to love it like you. Never got the chance. After his son’s boyfriend’s vision didn’t return one-hundred percent, Grimaldi wanted me nowhere his expensive investment.”
Reid listened attentively, the longest he’d ever listened to Dr. Channing in the six years he’d known him.
“I’m not bitter, though. I’ve got a great job here, my family is happy, and I don’t have to worry about my wife being prematurely aged or my son having a chip implanted in his brain. But of all the people I could imagine living there, I never pictured you, Oliver. I thought you had more sense than that.” Dr. Channing laughed. “Of course, I get it now.”
“What will it take to get you to move to Oakdale?” Damian interrupted. Reid closed his eyes as if to shut out Damian’s words, but he could still hear him as if he was in the room.
“You not only got yourself a fancy-schmancy facility built to your liking but a first-class boy toy too.”
”I didn’t pimp him out to get you to agree to head the wing. That you are a neurosurgeon and we’re building a neurology unit is purely coincidental.” Liar.
Fucking. Liar.
“Screwing the Grimaldi heir.” Dr. Channing whistled. “Nice! I know you can’t see me but I’m giving you a thumbs-up as we speak.”
Reid said nothing.
“Oliver, you still there? What’s your offer?”
“What? I, uh, I gotta go.”
Dr. Channing chuckled. “Don’t feel bad. He played you and now you’re playing him and as long as you both are okay with that, no harm done, right?” And before he could say any more, Reid hung up.
“Reid, uh, I thought we were meeting there,” Luke said upon opening the front door and discovering Reid outside on the doorstep.
“May I come in?”
Luke looked curiously at him, frowning upon noticing Reid’s left hand twitching. Something was wrong. “What’s the matter?”
Reid ran a hand though his hair, not sure where to begin.
“Reid?”
“Why did you and Damian go to Dallas?”
“What?”
“Why did Damian go to Dallas?”
Luke opened his mouth, taken aback by the random question.
“Answer me, Luke.”
“Reid, what’s going on?”
I don’t know. I have no fucking idea. Why don’t you tell me?
“He-he had business there,” Luke said.
“What type of business?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know but anytime he says that it must be Grimaldi business. Why?”
Reid put his hands on his hips and exhaled. “Did you and Damian go to recruit me?”
Luke’s eyes widened, and he firmly shook his head. “No. You know that.”
Reid stared at Luke.
“What is this about, Reid?”
“I called Channing. He told me that Damian went to Dallas to get me to come here and run the wing and took you along as bait.”
“And you believe him? You believe your rival and enemy over the man you love?” Luke said. He pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. “Good to know where I stand.”
“Luke-”
“I don’t know why Damian went but I didn’t go for you, Reid.”
Reid saw the truth in Luke’s eyes even as he heard him. “I believe you.”
“Good,” Luke said, trying to breathe calmly. “But I don’t believe Channing.”
Reid walked closer to Luke. “You have to admit, Luke, what a coincidence it was that he met me that night. I’ve always thought that. I mean, of all the bars in all the towns in all the world, he walked into mine.”
Luke stared at Reid. “But you asked him,” he said in a whisper.
“And Damian doesn’t lie?”
Luke rubbed his forehead.
“Did you ever mention me to Damian before Dallas? You knew who I was. Did he?”
“No.” Luke shook his head firmly. “No, I never did. If I’d told him how you didn’t want to come to Oakdale to perform Noah’s surgery, he probably would’ve blackmailed you or something.”
Reid stared at Luke. What the-
“He-he asked me to go to cheer me up,” Luke continued.
“He asked you to go to cheer me up, to make sure I came to Oakdale. He used you, Luke.”
Luke slowly sat down on the couch, shaking his head back and forth, as Reid’s words resonated.
Reid joined him. “That’s why he practically forced us to get together even when we wanted to kill each other. Remember the night at the restaurant? He invited me to your table even after he saw how upset you were around me. But he didn’t care. No, he had an agenda and he was going to make sure we got along no matter what. And look at how coincidental it was that you two showed up at my favorite restaurant. Of all the restaurants . . .” Luke didn’t say anything. “Didn’t you think it was odd how desperate he was to have something happen between us?”
“I told you that that was because of how he acted before-in the past-when I first came out. I thought he was trying to be more understanding and accepting.” Reid rubbed Luke’s shoulder. “And as shocked as I was that he’d picked up someone for me, I believed that he was doing it for me.” Luke sadly shook his head. “All this time, he was doing it for the wing.” Luke covered his face with his hands. “I’m so stupid.”
“Hey, hey, hey, look at me,” Reid said, trying to uncover Luke’s face.
“Why does he always do this? Why does he lie, why? And why do I always believe him?” Luke asked, sounding very distressed.
“He’s your dad,” Reid said soothingly. “And it’s who you are. You believe in everyone.” He massaged the back of Luke’s neck. “Look, I probably wouldn’t have said anything yet but he’s back in town and no one knows why and I get this feeling that that might be because of the wing . . . and us.”
Luke stood abruptly. “I have to go talk to him.”
Reid stood too. “I’ll come with you.”
Reid could admit that he didn’t like the idea of confronting Damian alone. He liked the idea of Luke confronting Damian alone even less. But facing Damian together wouldn’t be so bad, right? Maybe they could even get the truth out of him.
“Luke. Reid. I thought we were meeting downstairs,” Damian said in surprise at finding Luke and Reid outside his hotel room.
“Change of plans,” Luke said brusquely, moving past Damian and walking into the room. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his father. “We have some questions for you.”
Damian shut the door. He mirrored Luke’s stance and stared at his son. “Go ahead.”
“Why did you go to Dallas?”
Damian glanced at Reid before turning back to Luke. “It was a business trip, you know that.”
“Business? Hospital business?”
“Hospital? What are you-”
“Don’t lie to me, Damian. Don’t lie.”
Damian stared at Luke without saying anything. Luke stared back.
“Channing talked,” Reid said, standing behind Luke.
Damian released a low chuckle as he uncrossed his arms.
“This isn’t funny,” Luke said. “You used me, Damian. You used me to get Reid here.”
“Luciano-”
“My name is Luke.”
Damian walked to the mini bar and poured himself a drink. He looked at Reid. “Dr. Oliver?”
Reid shook his head.
“I won’t deny what you’re accusing me of,” Damian said quietly before sipping his drink.
Luke and Reid released the breath they’d each been holding in.
“So we did go to Dallas to recruit Reid?” Luke said, his voice tinged with disappointment.
Damian looked at Luke. “Did you really want Channing running the wing?”
“You never said anything!”
“Because you picked him.” Damian sipped some more. “It’s your wing. Your choices. He was your decision.”
“But-but it’s your money, your investment,” Luke argued.
“But the wing was your idea. You hired everyone, including its supervisor. You were so eager to see it succeed. I’ve never seen you so motivated. I wanted that to, Luke, for the wing to be a success for everyone but especially for you.” Damian finished his drink and set the glass down. He walked closer to Luke, but Luke immediately stepped back, bumping into Reid. Reid put his hands lightly on Luke’s waist to hold him steady. “And you thought Dr. Channing was the best choice for its success so . . . I did too.”
“But you didn’t, Damian. You went behind my back when you decided to go get Reid. And you took me along without even telling me,” Luke said, his voice rising.
“Luke, you have to know that I fully intended you to be in control of everything to do with the wing but when I saw that Noah’s sight didn’t return like we’d hoped . . . well, I did what I had to do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve discussed it together but no,” Luke said, shaking his head, “you always do things your way, screw the consequences.”
“What consequences?” Damian asked, his voice louder too. “My sources told me Dr. Oliver was the best so I took a shot and went to find him and lure him here. The worst thing that could’ve happened is that he’d say no, which he almost did. But no part of that plan ever included you getting hurt in any way, Luke.”
“How can you say that? You played with my feelings. And Reid’s. You used me like some chess piece, leading me around Dallas, waiting for Reid to make his move.”
Damian took another step forward. “Son, that’s not how-”
“I thought you’d changed, Damian,” Luke said with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his right eye. “But you never will. No wonder Mom and Dad still don’t trust you.” He turned to Reid. “Let’s get out of here.”
Reid quickly walked to the door with Luke following behind.
“Luke, wait.”
Reid held the door open for Luke.
“Luciano, stop!” shouted Damian.
Luke and Reid turned around.
“I don’t regret what I did.”
Reid crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. “Of course you don’t.”
Damian narrowed his eyes at Reid. “Neither do you, I’d say.”
Reid uncrossed his arms. The man had a point. Still, he wasn’t getting off the hook that easily, at least not without an acceptable explanation.
“What is it, Damian?” Luke prompted.
“I didn’t mean to manipulate you or Reid. I only wanted to . . . manipulate things so that I could ensure that Reid would come to Oakdale.”
Luke laughed dryly. “That’s the same thing, Damian.”
“No, it’s not. It wasn’t-look, you weren’t part of the plan. I asked you to accompany me to Dallas so you and I could find Reid and talk to him together,” Damian said.
“That’s not what Channing said,” Reid chimed in.
Damian ignored Reid, his eyes focused only on Luke. “You’re a great negotiator, Luke. And the plan was to talk business, that’s it. But you were a mess, son. Remember the ride on the jet? You didn’t eat, you didn’t talk. I was going to bring up Dr. Oliver but your mind was a million miles away.”
Luke glanced at the floor. “I was worried about Noah.”
Damian cautiously approached Luke. He hesitated before placing a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I know, son. So I went out alone that night after my sources told me where I could find Reid.”
“You had me followed,” Reid said, as if confirming that fact. “Good thing I didn’t go to a gay bar that night, huh?”
Damian grinned. “That’s what my sources said too.” He turned to Luke. “That’s when I found out he was gay, not before but right there.” He glanced at Reid. “It turns out Dr. Oliver is a very private man.”
Reid said nothing.
“Once I saw him, once I knew, I thought about more than just the wing,” Damian said, squeezing Luke’s shoulders. “I thought about you, son. In that moment, I didn’t want him only for the wing. I wanted him for you too. I wanted to see you smile again.”
Luke stared at Damian. “Why should I believe you?”
Damian pulled his hands away and sighed heavily. “You don’t have to but you came here for the truth and that’s the truth.”
“Is it, Damian?” Luke asked, not yet ready to concede. “I mean, you saw how me and Reid were with each other and yet you kept throwing us together. So, no, don’t stand here and say you were looking out for me because once you saw Reid, once you knew who he was, the ultimate goal was getting him here to run the wing, not to make me happy. Isn’t that right?”
“Are you happy?”
“What?”
“Are you happy, Luke? With Dr. Oliver? With the wing?” Damian asked.
Luke pointed a finger at Damian. “Don’t. Don’t change the subject, Damian.”
“I’m not. We’re still discussing you, Reid and the wing,” Damian said calmly. “And I’m just asking if you’re happy, because if you are, then why does it matter how I got Reid here except that I did and that he’s with you and that you’re happy.” Damian smiled lightly. “It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Luke and Reid exchanged looks.
“It never did, did it?” Damian asked, smiling wider.
“Stop that!”
“What?”
“Stop trying to make things okay because you say they’re okay.”
“But I’m not, am I? Things are okay with you and with Reid, right?” Damian glanced at Reid.
Reid stared at Damian with a mixture of suspicion and awe. This guy is good.
“This was all about you, Luke. Your happiness, just like your mother’s, means more to me than anything in this world. And I know I’ve done some terrible things-”
Reid couldn’t resist a laugh.
“I’ve done a lot of terrible things, but all in the-”
“-name of love,” Luke finished.
“Yes,” Damian confirmed. “You were going to move to Dallas because you love Reid, Reid moved to Oakdale because he loves you. See? We all do what we have to do for love and that’s what I did here. I love you, Luciano. I wanted you to have it all. That’s why I had to make sure that the neurological center would be a success and that you and Reid would end up together.”
“As long as we ended up together in Oakdale,” Luke said.
“No,” Reid said suddenly, “just as long as we ended up together.”
Luke and Damian looked at him questioningly.
“He encouraged you to move to Dallas, remember?” Reid continued, looking at Luke. “He wasn’t thinking about the wing, Luke.”
Luke stared suspiciously at Damian. “Is that true? Or did you support my moving to Dallas because you knew I wasn’t gonna leave?”
Hurt crossed Damian’s face. “You really think so little of me?”
Luke glanced at the floor. “It’s just that you’ve done so many things before . . .”
“Which I’ve apologized and made amends for.” Damian ran a hand though his hair. “And yes, I’ll admit I worried when you wanted to stay in Dallas with Reid but . . . if I had to choose between you and the wing, I’d choose you. No contest.”
Reid smiled. So I’m not the only one.
Luke bit his lip. “You mean that?”
Damian nodded. “You once told me that I’m the person who’s caused you more pain than anyone else in your life. I don’t want to be that person for you, Luke, not ever again.”
Luke’s face visibly relaxed. He sighed. “Then what are you doing here? Reid-he said you went to see him, that you threatened him.”
“What?” Damian asked, clearly surprised. He looked at Reid.
“I’m with Luke. He’s my boyfriend. We talk,” Reid said.
“I never threatened you.”
“Okay, ‘threaten’ is maybe an exaggeration, but you have been watching me now that I’m with Luke. Hell, you’ve been watching me since Dallas,” Reid said. “You said you’re going to make sure he’s okay when he’s with me.”
“As any parent would,” Damian answered quickly. “I simply want you to be good for Luke.”
Luke smiled at Reid. “He is.”
“Good,” Damian said, smiling at Luke as he gently patted Luke’s cheek. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”
Luke nodded. “At least I know the truth now. But what are you doing back? Did you come to check up on me and Reid?”
Damian released Luke and walked back toward the mini bar. “I have some things to take care of but I can assure you that I did not come to interfere with you and Reid.”
“Then?”
Damian smiled as he sipped his drink. “Don’t worry, Luke, it has nothing to do with you.”
Luke and Reid stared curiously at Damian, but neither said anything.
“So, are we good? Dr. Oliver?”
Luke and Reid glanced at one another before nodding.
“All right, then, shall we go down to the dining room? Dinner is still on me.”
Reid held Luke’s hand. “Lead the way.”
Reid thought Damian had acquitted himself well. He might not be Good Dad but he wasn’t Bad Dad either. He was definitely somewhere in between, and as long as Luke was fine with that, then Reid would be too.
“How are you doing?”
Luke smiled from where he sat across the table from Reid. Reid had just walked in to Al’s Diner for an impromptu lunch date arranged by him that morning. Even though things with Damian had been sorted the night before-dinner had been enjoyable and very delicious, if Reid said so himself-Reid was still slightly concerned about Luke.
“Good. I mean, I believe him and all but . . .”
“You still wonder about his reason for being here?”
“Kinda,” Luke laughed. “It’s stupid, isn’t it?”
Reid reached across the table and covered Luke’s hand with his. “No, it’s not, but remember that he said his visit has nothing to do with us so maybe you shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“Yeah,” Luke said, “you’re probably right.” Luke squeezed Reid’s hand. “So, what’s the big news you wanted to share?”
“Channing accepted my offer this morning. I am officially an Oakdale homeowner.”
Luke’s smile nearly blinded Reid. “That’s fantastic. I’m so happy you’re staying.”
“You’re here. Where else would I be?” Reid said with a wide grin of his own.
“So, what’s got you grinning like a fool? You run over someone’s dog, Doc?” Henry asked as he approached their table.
“It was a cat, actually,” Reid said, releasing Luke’s hand and opening the menu.
Luke playfully kicked Reid under the table. “Reid just bought his own place.”
“You’re moving out of Katie’s?”
“Yup,” Reid said, grinning at Henry. “I bet that made your day.”
“Now, hold on. I know what you think I think about you, and it’s all true, but you’re not all bad-uh, for Katie, I mean,” Henry said.
Reid pretended to be shocked. “Hank, did you just say something nice about me?”
Henry rolled his eyes. “It’s Henry and no-not, not really. I just know that Katie feels safe with you. You’ve been good for her.” Henry rubbed his forehead worriedly. “Not sure how good Chris Hughes is for her but we’ll see.”
Reid nodded. He was thinking the same thing. He wanted Katie to be happy-as deliriously and madly in love as he was; he hoped she could find that with Chris but he wasn’t betting on it. “What’s today’s special, Hank?”
Henry laughed. “I’m no waiter. I’m a handsome, wealthy heir like your boyfriend here. I only own this joint, but I’ll get one of the waitresses over here pronto.” He beckoned a young woman over.
Luke bit his lip to keep from laughing. He, just as Reid, was surprised at Henry’s change in attitude towards Reid.
“I’d say the meal’s on the house, you know, to celebrate your big news but you’re a top neurosurgeon and a trust fund baby so you all can afford it.” Henry smirked and then walked off.
“He’s quite a character, isn’t he?” Luke asked with a laugh.
“Never a dull moment when he’s around,” Reid said. “But you can bet that if I didn’t prefer manly bits to girly parts, he’d be poisoning my sandwich right about now.”
Luke laughed louder. “Good thing you like ‘manly bits’ then.”
“Only yours, Mr. Snyder, only yours.” Reid winked.
“Oh, that reminds me. Remember what you said about your place back in Dallas and how you haven’t sold it yet? I was researching some realtors in the area, um, hope you don’t mind,” Luke said, scratching the back of his ear.
“Not at all.” Unlike at the beginning of their relationship, when Reid had gotten after Luke for making decisions for him, Reid felt a lot more comfortable now having Luke’s input in any of his matters.
Luke grinned. “I think you’ll have better luck selling your apartment if you switch to another agency.”
Reid shook his head. “It’s funny that there had been no offers at all for so long, but then we mentioned it to Damian last night and very early this morning, I get a call from my realtor with a very generous bid, which I accepted.”
“Your last tie to Dallas,” Luke whispered.
“Looking out for his son, just like he said.”
It was a very generous offer so Reid didn’t mind Damian’s interference. He just wished Damian believed that he wasn’t leaving, not to Dallas, not anywhere. Oakdale was home now. Luke was home.
“Harry won! Harry won!” Ethan shouted as he jumped on the couch in between Luke and Reid.
“Yes, he did, Ethan,” Luke said, laughing as he pulled Ethan down.
“Like you didn’t know,” Faith said as she looked up from texting on her phone. “You’ve only watched it twenty times before.”
“But Reid didn’t know!” Ethan continued shouting.
“No, I didn’t,” Reid said as he ruffled Ethan’s hair.
“Did you like it?” Natalie asked, sitting on the sofa chair next to the couch.
“Sure,” Reid said, smiling at her. “Glad it’s over, though.” He’d seen Natalie cover her eyes a few times throughout the film. He lowered his voice. “I was a bit frightened there at the end.”
Natalie smiled. “Me too.”
“Put the next one on, Luke!” Ethan shouted yet again.
“Ethan, you don’t have to scream. I can hear you,” Luke said, standing and walking toward the TV.
Reid looked at Luke, his eyes wide. “The next one? There are more of these?”
Faith laughed. “That was the fourth one and there are four more after it. What did you think we meant by a movie marathon?”
Reid shrugged. “Three movies, tops.”
“Not this one,” Faith said, playfully throwing a popcorn kernel at Reid, who caught it in his mouth.
“Put the next one on!” Ethan said.
“Um, Ethan, Reid has to go home. He has to perform surgery in the morning. He’s told you about that. He needs to wake up very early to fix someone’s brain,” Luke said.
Ethan nodded.
”Thank you,” Reid mouthed to Luke. He turned to Ethan. “We’ll watch the other films another night, okay?”
“Tomorrow?” Ethan asked hopefully, standing on the couch.
“Uh-”
“We’re home,” Lily said as she and Holden walked into the living room.
Ethan forgot all about Reid and Harry Potter as he jumped off the couch and straight into Holden’s arms. “Daddy!”
“And that’s my cue,” Reid said, grinning at Luke as he held out his hand. “Walk me out?”
“Have a nice night?” Luke asked his parents as he grasped Reid’s hand.
“Until Damian showed up and joined us,” Lily muttered.
Luke and Reid froze.
What?” Luke asked, his face instantly becoming a mask of worry.
“We’ll tell you later,” she whispered, clearly not wanting to be heard by the younger Snyders.
“He wants my mom back,” Luke said angrily as he and Reid stepped outside.
“How do you-why would you think that?”
“It makes sense. You said he kept asking you about my parents, right?” Luke furiously scratched his head. “He always seems to show up when my mom and dad get back together. And he always causes trouble between them.” He rubbed his face in frustration. “He promised me, Reid.”
It’d been four days since their dinner with Damian, and nothing had happened to make them question Damian’s seemingly heartfelt declarations. Damian had promised not to hurt Luke, and they’d believed him.
Reid held Luke’s face in his hands. “Hey, look, before you jump to any conclusions, why don’t you go inside and talk to your parents and find out what happened? Maybe it really isn’t what you think.”
Luke stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding.
“Talk to them and then call me later, okay? Can you do that?”
Luke nodded again. Reid waited until Luke gave him a hint of a smile. Then he got into his car and drove straight to the Lakeview.
“Reid?”
Reid entered Damian’s hotel room. “Leave Lily Snyder alone.”
Damian shut the door and walked toward Reid, stopping only inches from him. “Excuse me?”
Reid stood as straight as he could. “You stood here and told Luke you wouldn’t hurt him. He believed you. I believe you. You go after Lily, you’ll hurt Luke and the kids. They’re happy. Leave them be.”
Damian, his hands on his hips, smiled down at Reid. “That night I met you, I was glad you turned out to be gay.”
Reid wrinkled his brow. “What does that mean?”
“You’re good for Luke. You love him.”
“So do you.”
“That’s why I’m leaving.” When Reid looked questioningly at him, Damian continued, “I came to make sure Lily was doing well. When I heard she was back with Holden, I . . . I don’t think Holden is better than I am for her but she does so I have to accept that. They’re happy, I know, and I’m not going to ruin that, not for Lily and not for Luke so you don’t have to worry.”
“Just like that?” Reid mentally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m a man with many options,” Damian said with a wink. He patted Reid’s shoulder. “I’m returning to Malta but if Luke needs anything, anything at all, you let me know.”
Reid nodded and walked to the door. He paused and turned to look at Damian. “Um, I never thanked you for the plane ride so, uh, thanks.”
“Oh, I was going to bill you,” Damian said with a grin, “but you’re welcome.”
Reid laughed. “And that night we met, I’m glad you weren’t gay; otherwise, I never would’ve met Luke.”
Damian laughed. “Good bye, Dr. Oliver.”
“Good bye, Mr. Grimaldi.”
“He called and explained that he was only here for business,” Luke said later that night as he and Reid chatted on the phone.
“Told you so.”
“Why are you always right?”
“Because I am.”
Luke laughed and then remained silent for a few seconds.
“Luke?”
“He’s a good dad.”
“He is.”
“Hey, maybe we can visit him in Malta one day,” Luke said.
Reid smiled as he thought about the future with Luke. “Sure.”
Two weeks later, the future was even better than Reid imagined as he and Luke made love in the new bed in Reid’s condo. Holden, Lily, Meg, Natalie, Ethan and Luke had helped Reid move in that morning while Lucinda supervised-which meant she’d basically told everyone what to do and where to put everything. Whenever Reid disagreed, she waved him away.
“Nonsense, darling, this place needs a woman’s touch and since no woman will be living here ever, just hush and let me do my thing.”
Reid, who loved Luke more than everything, let her. Luke’s family was part of his nearly-perfect life, and he wasn’t going to ruin any of it.
Reid pulled out of Luke and collapsed on his back, breathing hard.
“I love your ceiling,” Luke said, staring up at the ceiling. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he surveyed the bedroom. “I love your walls. I love your closet. I love your bed.” He turned to his side and kissed Reid’s neck. “I love you.”
Reid smiled but said nothing.
Luke kissed Reid’s shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
“Doogie Hughes.”
“Should I be jealous?”
“Yuck, no,” Reid said. “I’m thinking how nice it is not to have to put up with his stupid remarks.”
“Now only Katie does.”
“For now.”
Luke looked closely at Reid. “What, you don’t think they’ll last?”
Reid shrugged. He didn’t know if they would-he hoped they wouldn’t-but he could remain optimistic. He suddenly sat up. “I almost forgot. I have to give you this.”
Luke smiled excitedly. “What? What is it?”
Reid put a key in Luke’s hand.
Luke’s eyes widened. “Reid, this-this is a-a-”
“A key,” Reid said slowly. “You open doors with it-well, in this case, you open the front door to this place.”
“You’re giving me a key?” Luke asked, his eyes even wider than before.
“What’s the big deal? You’re gonna be here all the time anyway so it’s best that you have one to let yourself in when I’m not here.” Reid nuzzled Luke’s neck. “And I’d like it very much if you let yourself in every night.”
Luke held on tightly to Reid. “You sure?”
Reid kissed Luke in response.
The weeks went by fast after that with Reid working-and gaining Bob and the hospital board’s admiration and respect, Luke finishing his semester at Oakdale University, Holden moving back into the Snyder residence, Chris moving in with Katie, the builders completing the neurology wing, and Trevor Brown and the design team leaving Oakdale for good.
All in all, Reid had to admit that Oakdale was not so bad after all.
He and the extended Snyder clan made up after the first disastrous meeting. He and Jack even had a drink every so often at Yo’s. Carly tolerated him too, especially after impressing Sage to the point where Sage declared to her parents that she wanted to be a doctor just like Reid. Carly made Reid promise to help her with her studies when the time came.
Meg became a good friend. He discovered she didn’t mind the nicknames and not-so-mean insults he’d heap every now and then at the Oakdale residents. Hell, she even joined in at times.
Emma, just like Reid had predicted back in Dallas, became one of his favorite people. Her cooking was delicious and reminded him of his mother’s, which he still remembered even after so many years.
As a doctor, Reid had double the workload he had in Dallas. Every day, the neurology wing saved lives from Oakdale, Illinois, the Midwest, and half of the country. Patients would fly in-with Luke’s generous foundation help-for consultations with the best neurosurgeon in the U.S. And there were other cases too that Reid couldn’t believe he treated but did anyway-always successfully and always in Oakdale. He’d removed computer chips from three different people, consulted on numerous cases where people thought they were someone else-or pretended to be someone else, determined the cause of a shrunken head, and lost count on how many amnesiac patients he’d treated. Reid realized that almost every person in Oakdale was bound to be afflicted and he really wasn’t looking forward to the day when it happened to Luke or him. But he’d cross that bridge when he got there.
It was nearing Christmas when Reid finally asked Luke the question he’d avoided for the past few months.
“So, is Noah coming for the holidays?” Luke hadn’t mentioned Noah, but Reid remembered Faith had commented on Noah returning to Oakdale to spend time with Luke and the Snyders.
Luke, who was eating the pizza he’d brought over to celebrate the four As he’d earned in his courses, shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Because I asked him not to,” Luke said casually.
“And he’s okay with that?” Reid was glad that Luke had made peace with Damian, but he wasn’t so sure he could do the same with Noah.
“I don’t know but I’m with you now. Besides, everyone’s looking forward to you being part of our Christmas this year, not Noah,” Luke said with a smile.
Reid raised an eyebrow. “Everyone?”
“They’re curious to know if you’re gonna turn green and go around town stealing all the presents,” Luke said, his laughter muffled by the pizza in his mouth.
Reid kicked Luke under the table.
“Love you too,” Luke teased.
Reid cleared his throat. “Seriously, though, you’re-are you over him?”
“Noah who?”
Later that night, after an intense round of sex, Luke-instead of lying lazily next to Reid like he usually did-sat up. “Can I ask you something?”
Reid cleaned himself with a baby wipe and tossed it into the trash can. “What?
“Do you, um, regret of any it? Moving here? Living here? Me?”
Reid didn’t hesitate. “No.”
“Really? Even when we have those stupid, stupid arguments when I’m right and you’re wrong?” Luke asked with a small grin.
Reid sat up and pinched Luke’s chin. “Hold the phone. Who’s right?”
Luke grasped one of Reid’s hands. “I know it was a hard decision to make, a huge decision and I didn’t ask you to do it because I knew but I didn’t have to because you did and I-I just want to know if you think you made the right decision.”
“From the moment we first kissed, I knew what I was going to do. And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made, no matter how irrationally I thought it was at the time.” Reid squeezed Luke’s hand. “You made me realize what I didn’t have in Dallas. You made me want more and now I have it. So no, I have no regrets.”
Luke’s grin made Reid grin. It was infectious.
“I’m glad you’re here, Reid.”
“Where else would I be?” Reid asked before leaning forward and capturing Luke’s lips with his.
NOTE: Thanks for being so patient with this fic! And if you want to help me choose the prompt of my next LuRe fic, please vote here.
Author: sleeper6
Characters: Reid/Luke, various Oakdale citizens, and . . . Damian
Rating: R
Disclaimer: All belongs to As the World Turns, not me.
Summary: Sequel to Dad is Not So Bad. After Reid moves to Oakdale to be with Luke, he has trouble adjusting to his new life and relationship.
Notes: This is the end. Oh, and if you’d like, you can vote to choose the prompt for my next fic.
Previous: Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9
Dr. Channing laughed on the other end of the line. “What? You really thought it was all purely coincidental, you bumping into him and his once-in-a-lifetime offer? Come on, I expected a lot more from you, Dr. Know-It-All.”
Reid remained silent as he absorbed the news.
“Grimaldi Sr. was a man with a plan when he took off for Dallas. He was set on finding a replacement.”
“Luke, maybe Dr. Channing isn’t the best candidate for the neurology wing,” Damian said quietly.
“He said you didn’t want the position, said you hated Oakdale.”
“He said,” Dr. Channing said sharply before chuckling. “Oh, who am I kidding? I did hate that one-horse town, still do, but maybe I would’ve grown to love it like you. Never got the chance. After his son’s boyfriend’s vision didn’t return one-hundred percent, Grimaldi wanted me nowhere his expensive investment.”
Reid listened attentively, the longest he’d ever listened to Dr. Channing in the six years he’d known him.
“I’m not bitter, though. I’ve got a great job here, my family is happy, and I don’t have to worry about my wife being prematurely aged or my son having a chip implanted in his brain. But of all the people I could imagine living there, I never pictured you, Oliver. I thought you had more sense than that.” Dr. Channing laughed. “Of course, I get it now.”
“What will it take to get you to move to Oakdale?” Damian interrupted. Reid closed his eyes as if to shut out Damian’s words, but he could still hear him as if he was in the room.
“You not only got yourself a fancy-schmancy facility built to your liking but a first-class boy toy too.”
”I didn’t pimp him out to get you to agree to head the wing. That you are a neurosurgeon and we’re building a neurology unit is purely coincidental.” Liar.
Fucking. Liar.
“Screwing the Grimaldi heir.” Dr. Channing whistled. “Nice! I know you can’t see me but I’m giving you a thumbs-up as we speak.”
Reid said nothing.
“Oliver, you still there? What’s your offer?”
“What? I, uh, I gotta go.”
Dr. Channing chuckled. “Don’t feel bad. He played you and now you’re playing him and as long as you both are okay with that, no harm done, right?” And before he could say any more, Reid hung up.
“Reid, uh, I thought we were meeting there,” Luke said upon opening the front door and discovering Reid outside on the doorstep.
“May I come in?”
Luke looked curiously at him, frowning upon noticing Reid’s left hand twitching. Something was wrong. “What’s the matter?”
Reid ran a hand though his hair, not sure where to begin.
“Reid?”
“Why did you and Damian go to Dallas?”
“What?”
“Why did Damian go to Dallas?”
Luke opened his mouth, taken aback by the random question.
“Answer me, Luke.”
“Reid, what’s going on?”
I don’t know. I have no fucking idea. Why don’t you tell me?
“He-he had business there,” Luke said.
“What type of business?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know but anytime he says that it must be Grimaldi business. Why?”
Reid put his hands on his hips and exhaled. “Did you and Damian go to recruit me?”
Luke’s eyes widened, and he firmly shook his head. “No. You know that.”
Reid stared at Luke.
“What is this about, Reid?”
“I called Channing. He told me that Damian went to Dallas to get me to come here and run the wing and took you along as bait.”
“And you believe him? You believe your rival and enemy over the man you love?” Luke said. He pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. “Good to know where I stand.”
“Luke-”
“I don’t know why Damian went but I didn’t go for you, Reid.”
Reid saw the truth in Luke’s eyes even as he heard him. “I believe you.”
“Good,” Luke said, trying to breathe calmly. “But I don’t believe Channing.”
Reid walked closer to Luke. “You have to admit, Luke, what a coincidence it was that he met me that night. I’ve always thought that. I mean, of all the bars in all the towns in all the world, he walked into mine.”
Luke stared at Reid. “But you asked him,” he said in a whisper.
“And Damian doesn’t lie?”
Luke rubbed his forehead.
“Did you ever mention me to Damian before Dallas? You knew who I was. Did he?”
“No.” Luke shook his head firmly. “No, I never did. If I’d told him how you didn’t want to come to Oakdale to perform Noah’s surgery, he probably would’ve blackmailed you or something.”
Reid stared at Luke. What the-
“He-he asked me to go to cheer me up,” Luke continued.
“He asked you to go to cheer me up, to make sure I came to Oakdale. He used you, Luke.”
Luke slowly sat down on the couch, shaking his head back and forth, as Reid’s words resonated.
Reid joined him. “That’s why he practically forced us to get together even when we wanted to kill each other. Remember the night at the restaurant? He invited me to your table even after he saw how upset you were around me. But he didn’t care. No, he had an agenda and he was going to make sure we got along no matter what. And look at how coincidental it was that you two showed up at my favorite restaurant. Of all the restaurants . . .” Luke didn’t say anything. “Didn’t you think it was odd how desperate he was to have something happen between us?”
“I told you that that was because of how he acted before-in the past-when I first came out. I thought he was trying to be more understanding and accepting.” Reid rubbed Luke’s shoulder. “And as shocked as I was that he’d picked up someone for me, I believed that he was doing it for me.” Luke sadly shook his head. “All this time, he was doing it for the wing.” Luke covered his face with his hands. “I’m so stupid.”
“Hey, hey, hey, look at me,” Reid said, trying to uncover Luke’s face.
“Why does he always do this? Why does he lie, why? And why do I always believe him?” Luke asked, sounding very distressed.
“He’s your dad,” Reid said soothingly. “And it’s who you are. You believe in everyone.” He massaged the back of Luke’s neck. “Look, I probably wouldn’t have said anything yet but he’s back in town and no one knows why and I get this feeling that that might be because of the wing . . . and us.”
Luke stood abruptly. “I have to go talk to him.”
Reid stood too. “I’ll come with you.”
Reid could admit that he didn’t like the idea of confronting Damian alone. He liked the idea of Luke confronting Damian alone even less. But facing Damian together wouldn’t be so bad, right? Maybe they could even get the truth out of him.
“Luke. Reid. I thought we were meeting downstairs,” Damian said in surprise at finding Luke and Reid outside his hotel room.
“Change of plans,” Luke said brusquely, moving past Damian and walking into the room. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his father. “We have some questions for you.”
Damian shut the door. He mirrored Luke’s stance and stared at his son. “Go ahead.”
“Why did you go to Dallas?”
Damian glanced at Reid before turning back to Luke. “It was a business trip, you know that.”
“Business? Hospital business?”
“Hospital? What are you-”
“Don’t lie to me, Damian. Don’t lie.”
Damian stared at Luke without saying anything. Luke stared back.
“Channing talked,” Reid said, standing behind Luke.
Damian released a low chuckle as he uncrossed his arms.
“This isn’t funny,” Luke said. “You used me, Damian. You used me to get Reid here.”
“Luciano-”
“My name is Luke.”
Damian walked to the mini bar and poured himself a drink. He looked at Reid. “Dr. Oliver?”
Reid shook his head.
“I won’t deny what you’re accusing me of,” Damian said quietly before sipping his drink.
Luke and Reid released the breath they’d each been holding in.
“So we did go to Dallas to recruit Reid?” Luke said, his voice tinged with disappointment.
Damian looked at Luke. “Did you really want Channing running the wing?”
“You never said anything!”
“Because you picked him.” Damian sipped some more. “It’s your wing. Your choices. He was your decision.”
“But-but it’s your money, your investment,” Luke argued.
“But the wing was your idea. You hired everyone, including its supervisor. You were so eager to see it succeed. I’ve never seen you so motivated. I wanted that to, Luke, for the wing to be a success for everyone but especially for you.” Damian finished his drink and set the glass down. He walked closer to Luke, but Luke immediately stepped back, bumping into Reid. Reid put his hands lightly on Luke’s waist to hold him steady. “And you thought Dr. Channing was the best choice for its success so . . . I did too.”
“But you didn’t, Damian. You went behind my back when you decided to go get Reid. And you took me along without even telling me,” Luke said, his voice rising.
“Luke, you have to know that I fully intended you to be in control of everything to do with the wing but when I saw that Noah’s sight didn’t return like we’d hoped . . . well, I did what I had to do.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve discussed it together but no,” Luke said, shaking his head, “you always do things your way, screw the consequences.”
“What consequences?” Damian asked, his voice louder too. “My sources told me Dr. Oliver was the best so I took a shot and went to find him and lure him here. The worst thing that could’ve happened is that he’d say no, which he almost did. But no part of that plan ever included you getting hurt in any way, Luke.”
“How can you say that? You played with my feelings. And Reid’s. You used me like some chess piece, leading me around Dallas, waiting for Reid to make his move.”
Damian took another step forward. “Son, that’s not how-”
“I thought you’d changed, Damian,” Luke said with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his right eye. “But you never will. No wonder Mom and Dad still don’t trust you.” He turned to Reid. “Let’s get out of here.”
Reid quickly walked to the door with Luke following behind.
“Luke, wait.”
Reid held the door open for Luke.
“Luciano, stop!” shouted Damian.
Luke and Reid turned around.
“I don’t regret what I did.”
Reid crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. “Of course you don’t.”
Damian narrowed his eyes at Reid. “Neither do you, I’d say.”
Reid uncrossed his arms. The man had a point. Still, he wasn’t getting off the hook that easily, at least not without an acceptable explanation.
“What is it, Damian?” Luke prompted.
“I didn’t mean to manipulate you or Reid. I only wanted to . . . manipulate things so that I could ensure that Reid would come to Oakdale.”
Luke laughed dryly. “That’s the same thing, Damian.”
“No, it’s not. It wasn’t-look, you weren’t part of the plan. I asked you to accompany me to Dallas so you and I could find Reid and talk to him together,” Damian said.
“That’s not what Channing said,” Reid chimed in.
Damian ignored Reid, his eyes focused only on Luke. “You’re a great negotiator, Luke. And the plan was to talk business, that’s it. But you were a mess, son. Remember the ride on the jet? You didn’t eat, you didn’t talk. I was going to bring up Dr. Oliver but your mind was a million miles away.”
Luke glanced at the floor. “I was worried about Noah.”
Damian cautiously approached Luke. He hesitated before placing a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I know, son. So I went out alone that night after my sources told me where I could find Reid.”
“You had me followed,” Reid said, as if confirming that fact. “Good thing I didn’t go to a gay bar that night, huh?”
Damian grinned. “That’s what my sources said too.” He turned to Luke. “That’s when I found out he was gay, not before but right there.” He glanced at Reid. “It turns out Dr. Oliver is a very private man.”
Reid said nothing.
“Once I saw him, once I knew, I thought about more than just the wing,” Damian said, squeezing Luke’s shoulders. “I thought about you, son. In that moment, I didn’t want him only for the wing. I wanted him for you too. I wanted to see you smile again.”
Luke stared at Damian. “Why should I believe you?”
Damian pulled his hands away and sighed heavily. “You don’t have to but you came here for the truth and that’s the truth.”
“Is it, Damian?” Luke asked, not yet ready to concede. “I mean, you saw how me and Reid were with each other and yet you kept throwing us together. So, no, don’t stand here and say you were looking out for me because once you saw Reid, once you knew who he was, the ultimate goal was getting him here to run the wing, not to make me happy. Isn’t that right?”
“Are you happy?”
“What?”
“Are you happy, Luke? With Dr. Oliver? With the wing?” Damian asked.
Luke pointed a finger at Damian. “Don’t. Don’t change the subject, Damian.”
“I’m not. We’re still discussing you, Reid and the wing,” Damian said calmly. “And I’m just asking if you’re happy, because if you are, then why does it matter how I got Reid here except that I did and that he’s with you and that you’re happy.” Damian smiled lightly. “It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Luke and Reid exchanged looks.
“It never did, did it?” Damian asked, smiling wider.
“Stop that!”
“What?”
“Stop trying to make things okay because you say they’re okay.”
“But I’m not, am I? Things are okay with you and with Reid, right?” Damian glanced at Reid.
Reid stared at Damian with a mixture of suspicion and awe. This guy is good.
“This was all about you, Luke. Your happiness, just like your mother’s, means more to me than anything in this world. And I know I’ve done some terrible things-”
Reid couldn’t resist a laugh.
“I’ve done a lot of terrible things, but all in the-”
“-name of love,” Luke finished.
“Yes,” Damian confirmed. “You were going to move to Dallas because you love Reid, Reid moved to Oakdale because he loves you. See? We all do what we have to do for love and that’s what I did here. I love you, Luciano. I wanted you to have it all. That’s why I had to make sure that the neurological center would be a success and that you and Reid would end up together.”
“As long as we ended up together in Oakdale,” Luke said.
“No,” Reid said suddenly, “just as long as we ended up together.”
Luke and Damian looked at him questioningly.
“He encouraged you to move to Dallas, remember?” Reid continued, looking at Luke. “He wasn’t thinking about the wing, Luke.”
Luke stared suspiciously at Damian. “Is that true? Or did you support my moving to Dallas because you knew I wasn’t gonna leave?”
Hurt crossed Damian’s face. “You really think so little of me?”
Luke glanced at the floor. “It’s just that you’ve done so many things before . . .”
“Which I’ve apologized and made amends for.” Damian ran a hand though his hair. “And yes, I’ll admit I worried when you wanted to stay in Dallas with Reid but . . . if I had to choose between you and the wing, I’d choose you. No contest.”
Reid smiled. So I’m not the only one.
Luke bit his lip. “You mean that?”
Damian nodded. “You once told me that I’m the person who’s caused you more pain than anyone else in your life. I don’t want to be that person for you, Luke, not ever again.”
Luke’s face visibly relaxed. He sighed. “Then what are you doing here? Reid-he said you went to see him, that you threatened him.”
“What?” Damian asked, clearly surprised. He looked at Reid.
“I’m with Luke. He’s my boyfriend. We talk,” Reid said.
“I never threatened you.”
“Okay, ‘threaten’ is maybe an exaggeration, but you have been watching me now that I’m with Luke. Hell, you’ve been watching me since Dallas,” Reid said. “You said you’re going to make sure he’s okay when he’s with me.”
“As any parent would,” Damian answered quickly. “I simply want you to be good for Luke.”
Luke smiled at Reid. “He is.”
“Good,” Damian said, smiling at Luke as he gently patted Luke’s cheek. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”
Luke nodded. “At least I know the truth now. But what are you doing back? Did you come to check up on me and Reid?”
Damian released Luke and walked back toward the mini bar. “I have some things to take care of but I can assure you that I did not come to interfere with you and Reid.”
“Then?”
Damian smiled as he sipped his drink. “Don’t worry, Luke, it has nothing to do with you.”
Luke and Reid stared curiously at Damian, but neither said anything.
“So, are we good? Dr. Oliver?”
Luke and Reid glanced at one another before nodding.
“All right, then, shall we go down to the dining room? Dinner is still on me.”
Reid held Luke’s hand. “Lead the way.”
Reid thought Damian had acquitted himself well. He might not be Good Dad but he wasn’t Bad Dad either. He was definitely somewhere in between, and as long as Luke was fine with that, then Reid would be too.
“How are you doing?”
Luke smiled from where he sat across the table from Reid. Reid had just walked in to Al’s Diner for an impromptu lunch date arranged by him that morning. Even though things with Damian had been sorted the night before-dinner had been enjoyable and very delicious, if Reid said so himself-Reid was still slightly concerned about Luke.
“Good. I mean, I believe him and all but . . .”
“You still wonder about his reason for being here?”
“Kinda,” Luke laughed. “It’s stupid, isn’t it?”
Reid reached across the table and covered Luke’s hand with his. “No, it’s not, but remember that he said his visit has nothing to do with us so maybe you shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“Yeah,” Luke said, “you’re probably right.” Luke squeezed Reid’s hand. “So, what’s the big news you wanted to share?”
“Channing accepted my offer this morning. I am officially an Oakdale homeowner.”
Luke’s smile nearly blinded Reid. “That’s fantastic. I’m so happy you’re staying.”
“You’re here. Where else would I be?” Reid said with a wide grin of his own.
“So, what’s got you grinning like a fool? You run over someone’s dog, Doc?” Henry asked as he approached their table.
“It was a cat, actually,” Reid said, releasing Luke’s hand and opening the menu.
Luke playfully kicked Reid under the table. “Reid just bought his own place.”
“You’re moving out of Katie’s?”
“Yup,” Reid said, grinning at Henry. “I bet that made your day.”
“Now, hold on. I know what you think I think about you, and it’s all true, but you’re not all bad-uh, for Katie, I mean,” Henry said.
Reid pretended to be shocked. “Hank, did you just say something nice about me?”
Henry rolled his eyes. “It’s Henry and no-not, not really. I just know that Katie feels safe with you. You’ve been good for her.” Henry rubbed his forehead worriedly. “Not sure how good Chris Hughes is for her but we’ll see.”
Reid nodded. He was thinking the same thing. He wanted Katie to be happy-as deliriously and madly in love as he was; he hoped she could find that with Chris but he wasn’t betting on it. “What’s today’s special, Hank?”
Henry laughed. “I’m no waiter. I’m a handsome, wealthy heir like your boyfriend here. I only own this joint, but I’ll get one of the waitresses over here pronto.” He beckoned a young woman over.
Luke bit his lip to keep from laughing. He, just as Reid, was surprised at Henry’s change in attitude towards Reid.
“I’d say the meal’s on the house, you know, to celebrate your big news but you’re a top neurosurgeon and a trust fund baby so you all can afford it.” Henry smirked and then walked off.
“He’s quite a character, isn’t he?” Luke asked with a laugh.
“Never a dull moment when he’s around,” Reid said. “But you can bet that if I didn’t prefer manly bits to girly parts, he’d be poisoning my sandwich right about now.”
Luke laughed louder. “Good thing you like ‘manly bits’ then.”
“Only yours, Mr. Snyder, only yours.” Reid winked.
“Oh, that reminds me. Remember what you said about your place back in Dallas and how you haven’t sold it yet? I was researching some realtors in the area, um, hope you don’t mind,” Luke said, scratching the back of his ear.
“Not at all.” Unlike at the beginning of their relationship, when Reid had gotten after Luke for making decisions for him, Reid felt a lot more comfortable now having Luke’s input in any of his matters.
Luke grinned. “I think you’ll have better luck selling your apartment if you switch to another agency.”
Reid shook his head. “It’s funny that there had been no offers at all for so long, but then we mentioned it to Damian last night and very early this morning, I get a call from my realtor with a very generous bid, which I accepted.”
“Your last tie to Dallas,” Luke whispered.
“Looking out for his son, just like he said.”
It was a very generous offer so Reid didn’t mind Damian’s interference. He just wished Damian believed that he wasn’t leaving, not to Dallas, not anywhere. Oakdale was home now. Luke was home.
“Harry won! Harry won!” Ethan shouted as he jumped on the couch in between Luke and Reid.
“Yes, he did, Ethan,” Luke said, laughing as he pulled Ethan down.
“Like you didn’t know,” Faith said as she looked up from texting on her phone. “You’ve only watched it twenty times before.”
“But Reid didn’t know!” Ethan continued shouting.
“No, I didn’t,” Reid said as he ruffled Ethan’s hair.
“Did you like it?” Natalie asked, sitting on the sofa chair next to the couch.
“Sure,” Reid said, smiling at her. “Glad it’s over, though.” He’d seen Natalie cover her eyes a few times throughout the film. He lowered his voice. “I was a bit frightened there at the end.”
Natalie smiled. “Me too.”
“Put the next one on, Luke!” Ethan shouted yet again.
“Ethan, you don’t have to scream. I can hear you,” Luke said, standing and walking toward the TV.
Reid looked at Luke, his eyes wide. “The next one? There are more of these?”
Faith laughed. “That was the fourth one and there are four more after it. What did you think we meant by a movie marathon?”
Reid shrugged. “Three movies, tops.”
“Not this one,” Faith said, playfully throwing a popcorn kernel at Reid, who caught it in his mouth.
“Put the next one on!” Ethan said.
“Um, Ethan, Reid has to go home. He has to perform surgery in the morning. He’s told you about that. He needs to wake up very early to fix someone’s brain,” Luke said.
Ethan nodded.
”Thank you,” Reid mouthed to Luke. He turned to Ethan. “We’ll watch the other films another night, okay?”
“Tomorrow?” Ethan asked hopefully, standing on the couch.
“Uh-”
“We’re home,” Lily said as she and Holden walked into the living room.
Ethan forgot all about Reid and Harry Potter as he jumped off the couch and straight into Holden’s arms. “Daddy!”
“And that’s my cue,” Reid said, grinning at Luke as he held out his hand. “Walk me out?”
“Have a nice night?” Luke asked his parents as he grasped Reid’s hand.
“Until Damian showed up and joined us,” Lily muttered.
Luke and Reid froze.
What?” Luke asked, his face instantly becoming a mask of worry.
“We’ll tell you later,” she whispered, clearly not wanting to be heard by the younger Snyders.
“He wants my mom back,” Luke said angrily as he and Reid stepped outside.
“How do you-why would you think that?”
“It makes sense. You said he kept asking you about my parents, right?” Luke furiously scratched his head. “He always seems to show up when my mom and dad get back together. And he always causes trouble between them.” He rubbed his face in frustration. “He promised me, Reid.”
It’d been four days since their dinner with Damian, and nothing had happened to make them question Damian’s seemingly heartfelt declarations. Damian had promised not to hurt Luke, and they’d believed him.
Reid held Luke’s face in his hands. “Hey, look, before you jump to any conclusions, why don’t you go inside and talk to your parents and find out what happened? Maybe it really isn’t what you think.”
Luke stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding.
“Talk to them and then call me later, okay? Can you do that?”
Luke nodded again. Reid waited until Luke gave him a hint of a smile. Then he got into his car and drove straight to the Lakeview.
“Reid?”
Reid entered Damian’s hotel room. “Leave Lily Snyder alone.”
Damian shut the door and walked toward Reid, stopping only inches from him. “Excuse me?”
Reid stood as straight as he could. “You stood here and told Luke you wouldn’t hurt him. He believed you. I believe you. You go after Lily, you’ll hurt Luke and the kids. They’re happy. Leave them be.”
Damian, his hands on his hips, smiled down at Reid. “That night I met you, I was glad you turned out to be gay.”
Reid wrinkled his brow. “What does that mean?”
“You’re good for Luke. You love him.”
“So do you.”
“That’s why I’m leaving.” When Reid looked questioningly at him, Damian continued, “I came to make sure Lily was doing well. When I heard she was back with Holden, I . . . I don’t think Holden is better than I am for her but she does so I have to accept that. They’re happy, I know, and I’m not going to ruin that, not for Lily and not for Luke so you don’t have to worry.”
“Just like that?” Reid mentally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m a man with many options,” Damian said with a wink. He patted Reid’s shoulder. “I’m returning to Malta but if Luke needs anything, anything at all, you let me know.”
Reid nodded and walked to the door. He paused and turned to look at Damian. “Um, I never thanked you for the plane ride so, uh, thanks.”
“Oh, I was going to bill you,” Damian said with a grin, “but you’re welcome.”
Reid laughed. “And that night we met, I’m glad you weren’t gay; otherwise, I never would’ve met Luke.”
Damian laughed. “Good bye, Dr. Oliver.”
“Good bye, Mr. Grimaldi.”
“He called and explained that he was only here for business,” Luke said later that night as he and Reid chatted on the phone.
“Told you so.”
“Why are you always right?”
“Because I am.”
Luke laughed and then remained silent for a few seconds.
“Luke?”
“He’s a good dad.”
“He is.”
“Hey, maybe we can visit him in Malta one day,” Luke said.
Reid smiled as he thought about the future with Luke. “Sure.”
Two weeks later, the future was even better than Reid imagined as he and Luke made love in the new bed in Reid’s condo. Holden, Lily, Meg, Natalie, Ethan and Luke had helped Reid move in that morning while Lucinda supervised-which meant she’d basically told everyone what to do and where to put everything. Whenever Reid disagreed, she waved him away.
“Nonsense, darling, this place needs a woman’s touch and since no woman will be living here ever, just hush and let me do my thing.”
Reid, who loved Luke more than everything, let her. Luke’s family was part of his nearly-perfect life, and he wasn’t going to ruin any of it.
Reid pulled out of Luke and collapsed on his back, breathing hard.
“I love your ceiling,” Luke said, staring up at the ceiling. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he surveyed the bedroom. “I love your walls. I love your closet. I love your bed.” He turned to his side and kissed Reid’s neck. “I love you.”
Reid smiled but said nothing.
Luke kissed Reid’s shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
“Doogie Hughes.”
“Should I be jealous?”
“Yuck, no,” Reid said. “I’m thinking how nice it is not to have to put up with his stupid remarks.”
“Now only Katie does.”
“For now.”
Luke looked closely at Reid. “What, you don’t think they’ll last?”
Reid shrugged. He didn’t know if they would-he hoped they wouldn’t-but he could remain optimistic. He suddenly sat up. “I almost forgot. I have to give you this.”
Luke smiled excitedly. “What? What is it?”
Reid put a key in Luke’s hand.
Luke’s eyes widened. “Reid, this-this is a-a-”
“A key,” Reid said slowly. “You open doors with it-well, in this case, you open the front door to this place.”
“You’re giving me a key?” Luke asked, his eyes even wider than before.
“What’s the big deal? You’re gonna be here all the time anyway so it’s best that you have one to let yourself in when I’m not here.” Reid nuzzled Luke’s neck. “And I’d like it very much if you let yourself in every night.”
Luke held on tightly to Reid. “You sure?”
Reid kissed Luke in response.
The weeks went by fast after that with Reid working-and gaining Bob and the hospital board’s admiration and respect, Luke finishing his semester at Oakdale University, Holden moving back into the Snyder residence, Chris moving in with Katie, the builders completing the neurology wing, and Trevor Brown and the design team leaving Oakdale for good.
All in all, Reid had to admit that Oakdale was not so bad after all.
He and the extended Snyder clan made up after the first disastrous meeting. He and Jack even had a drink every so often at Yo’s. Carly tolerated him too, especially after impressing Sage to the point where Sage declared to her parents that she wanted to be a doctor just like Reid. Carly made Reid promise to help her with her studies when the time came.
Meg became a good friend. He discovered she didn’t mind the nicknames and not-so-mean insults he’d heap every now and then at the Oakdale residents. Hell, she even joined in at times.
Emma, just like Reid had predicted back in Dallas, became one of his favorite people. Her cooking was delicious and reminded him of his mother’s, which he still remembered even after so many years.
As a doctor, Reid had double the workload he had in Dallas. Every day, the neurology wing saved lives from Oakdale, Illinois, the Midwest, and half of the country. Patients would fly in-with Luke’s generous foundation help-for consultations with the best neurosurgeon in the U.S. And there were other cases too that Reid couldn’t believe he treated but did anyway-always successfully and always in Oakdale. He’d removed computer chips from three different people, consulted on numerous cases where people thought they were someone else-or pretended to be someone else, determined the cause of a shrunken head, and lost count on how many amnesiac patients he’d treated. Reid realized that almost every person in Oakdale was bound to be afflicted and he really wasn’t looking forward to the day when it happened to Luke or him. But he’d cross that bridge when he got there.
It was nearing Christmas when Reid finally asked Luke the question he’d avoided for the past few months.
“So, is Noah coming for the holidays?” Luke hadn’t mentioned Noah, but Reid remembered Faith had commented on Noah returning to Oakdale to spend time with Luke and the Snyders.
Luke, who was eating the pizza he’d brought over to celebrate the four As he’d earned in his courses, shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Because I asked him not to,” Luke said casually.
“And he’s okay with that?” Reid was glad that Luke had made peace with Damian, but he wasn’t so sure he could do the same with Noah.
“I don’t know but I’m with you now. Besides, everyone’s looking forward to you being part of our Christmas this year, not Noah,” Luke said with a smile.
Reid raised an eyebrow. “Everyone?”
“They’re curious to know if you’re gonna turn green and go around town stealing all the presents,” Luke said, his laughter muffled by the pizza in his mouth.
Reid kicked Luke under the table.
“Love you too,” Luke teased.
Reid cleared his throat. “Seriously, though, you’re-are you over him?”
“Noah who?”
Later that night, after an intense round of sex, Luke-instead of lying lazily next to Reid like he usually did-sat up. “Can I ask you something?”
Reid cleaned himself with a baby wipe and tossed it into the trash can. “What?
“Do you, um, regret of any it? Moving here? Living here? Me?”
Reid didn’t hesitate. “No.”
“Really? Even when we have those stupid, stupid arguments when I’m right and you’re wrong?” Luke asked with a small grin.
Reid sat up and pinched Luke’s chin. “Hold the phone. Who’s right?”
Luke grasped one of Reid’s hands. “I know it was a hard decision to make, a huge decision and I didn’t ask you to do it because I knew but I didn’t have to because you did and I-I just want to know if you think you made the right decision.”
“From the moment we first kissed, I knew what I was going to do. And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made, no matter how irrationally I thought it was at the time.” Reid squeezed Luke’s hand. “You made me realize what I didn’t have in Dallas. You made me want more and now I have it. So no, I have no regrets.”
Luke’s grin made Reid grin. It was infectious.
“I’m glad you’re here, Reid.”
“Where else would I be?” Reid asked before leaning forward and capturing Luke’s lips with his.
NOTE: Thanks for being so patient with this fic! And if you want to help me choose the prompt of my next LuRe fic, please vote here.