FIC: The Third Roommate (7/?)
Title: The Third Roommate
Rating: PG-13
Genres: AU, Romance, Angst
Word Count: ~ 2,200
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Characters are property of ATWT, CBS, P&G etc. No profit is made from this fan creation. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Luke and Reid have their "date". Thanks to my beta ditzybea!
Luke took a long shower after he came home from work and changed into something more comfortable, whilst making sure that he still looked somewhat nice. Then he had decided to finally sit down and answer some of the long overdue emails to his friends and family while he waited for Reid to come home. When it wasn't for his talks with Jason or his work for the foundation, Luke was often too tired to reply to their emails and he felt bad about it, even though he was keeping in touch with his loved ones over the phone.
One hour passed before Luke closed his laptop and glanced at his watch - almost 7 p.m. His stomach growled and he realized he had no idea when Reid's shift at the hospital ended. He remembered that his roommate had left at 6:30 this morning when his beeper went off and he wondered if an emergency at the hospital had forced him to work overtime. They had never exchanged their phone numbers so there was no way for Reid to let him know either.
The blonde went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Coke out of the fridge, taking a sip as he leaned against the kitchen counter. This morning he had been standing in this very spot when Reid had asked him if he wanted to have dinner with him. 'It's a date' Reid's voice rang in his head. Of course Luke was aware that it wasn't a real date. That was likely never going to happen, but he couldn't deny that he was looking forward to get to know his roommate better. He was still somewhat skeptical but he hoped that Reid would be in the same light mood that he had been in this morning.
Ten minutes later Luke when was about to give up and get his growling stomach some food, the front door suddenly opened and moments later Reid entered the room, who immediately collapsed onto the couch with a groan.
Luke paused for a moment, hoping that Reid wasn't back to his grumpy self. 'There is only one way to find out' the blonde thought as he walked over to the living area "Hey, you look like you had a tough day?"
"You can say that again." Reid replied, rubbing his tired eyes for a moment. "It was one of those crazy days when I didn't even have time to sit down and drink a coffee and just when I wanted to leave there was another emergency."
"That's what I figured." Luke replied as he sat down on the couch opposite of Reid.
"I wanted to call you to let you know, but then I realized that I don't even have your number, so I hope you didn't wait for too long." Reid said.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Luke gave him a small smile. "We can have dinner together another time if you're too tired now."
"I am pretty tired, but I didn't have anything to eat all day. I'm starving." Reid replied, stretching his arms above his head. "Or did you eat already?"
"No, I was waiting for you." Luke said with a shy smile. As if on cue his stomach growled, making both of them chuckle.
"I'm craving for pizza. Is that okay with you?" Reid asked.
"Sure."
Luke got up to get the 'Sarpino's Pizzeria' menu from where it was pinned on to the side of the fridge and sat back down on the couch, but next to Reid this time. The older man decided on the House Special while Luke went with a Pizza Margarita.
"Do you mind if I take a quick shower while we wait for the delivery guy?" Reid asked after he finished the call. "I feel a little less than fresh."
The blonde chuckled while images of a certain naked redhead flashed through his mind. 'What the heck was that?' "Um sure no problem." Luke stuttered. He felt himself blush and hoped that Reid wouldn't notice anything.
"Okay." Reid pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, holding out three ten dollar bills to his roommate. "This should be enough to cover the bill."
"That's really not necessary." Luke replied. "I can take care of it."
"I said it's my treat, didn't I?" Reid said with a small smile on his lips and shoved the money into Luke's hands. "Just think of it as a mild recompense for the past few weeks."
Luke smiled back. "All right. Thank you."
***
Twenty minutes later Luke sat cross-legged on the couch with the pizza box in his lap while his roommate sat next to him with the pizza box in front of him on the coffee table. They ate in silence for a while as if both of them were too hungry to talk.
Reid was the one to break the silence after he had wolfed down half of the pizza. "So last night you said that you're not comfortable when you're alone for too long?" Luke nodded his head. "Why is that? If you don't mind my asking."
Luke hesitated for a moment, but realized that also needed to open up to his roommate if they really wanted to get to know each other better, even though he hated talking about what happened to him back then. So he put the pizza box aside, telling Reid how he had been robbed a few years ago and how he had been bound and blindfolded to his bed for two days. "It felt like an eternity to me until my mom finally found me after two days when I didn't show up for work."
"Sounds terrifying." Reid said softly, not sure what else to say.
"It really was. I moved back in with my parents afterwards and hadn't lived on my own again since." Luke chuckled nervously, scratching himself behind his ear. "Anyway, I've seen crazier things happen in Oakdale."
"Like what?" The older man asked, taking a sip from his beer.
"Well, like people being kidnapped, blown-up, babies switched at birth, multiple personalities, mobsters, or coming back from death for example and most people have probably been married more than three times." The blond said and Reid raised an eyebrow at him. "I know it sounds crazy, but it really does happen in Oakdale."
Reid remained silent for a moment, finishing the last slice of his pizza. He slowly began to see that Jason had probably been right about Luke; that the blond really had been through a lot in his life already. It made him wonder what else happened in Luke's past that he doesn't know about yet. Maybe he wasn't the only one with a fucked up past. "Sounds more like Oakhell to me." Reid said, trying to lighten the mood.
Luke chuckled. "It's definitely not the typical small town, but it's my home nonetheless."
Reid nodded. "So, are you still gonna eat that?" He asked pointing to the pizza box with two slices the blond hadn't touched yet.
"I'm stuffed." Luke replied, rubbing his stomach. "Besides I try not to eat this late in the day; I try to watch my weight. So please help yourself."
The auburn haired man gave his roommate the once-over. "Everything looks fine to me." He said before snatching the pizza box and shoved the first bite into his mouth. He smiled inwardly when he saw that the blond was blushing and obviously at loss for words for a change.
"So. I'm sure you're dying to ask me some questions." Reid said with a smirk once he finished the first slice of Luke's pizza. "Go ahead. I know you want to."
Luke chuckled. "Well I really don't know that much about you so how about you just tell me something about yourself?"
"Like what?" Reid asked. "I'm not really good with that kind of stuff... you know small talk and all that."
The blond adjusted himself, linking one leg under him. "How about you tell me why you wanted to become a doctor?"
"That's kind of a long story." Reid replied after a moment of silence.
"You don't have to tell me if you---"
"No it's okay. I want to tell you." Reid interrupted. He shoved the last piece of pizza into his mouth and put the now empty pizza box on top of the other one on the coffee table. "I have been disappointed a lot when I was younger. My parents never told me that they're proud of me or that they love me when I was a kid and basically grew up with a nanny. I once heard them saying that I was 'an accident'." He paused for a moment, lost in memories of his past until a warm hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present. The younger man gave his shoulder a squeeze as if he was trying to encourage him to go on.
Reid cleared his throat. "I guess I was a nerd in school and some others often took advantage of that. At first I didn't mind because I thought they were my friends, but they really weren't. By the time I went to college I barely trusted anyone anymore and yet I got involved with a guy. It was my first semester and I was studying law because that's what my parents wanted and I was trying to make them proud, but when my boyfriend broke up with my after one month and I found out that he was just with me because of a stupid bet, I finally had enough." He let out a shaky breath of air. "I wanted my life to mean something. I needed to do something that means something and I wanted to help other people. Lawyers only do so much, so I decided that I would become a doctor."
"What did your parents say to that?" Luke asked, his hand still resting on Reid's shoulder.
"They tried to change my mind about it." Reid said with a shrug of his shoulder. "I told them that it was what I really wanted to do, but they didn't even listen to me. Instead they told me that they won't pay for college anymore if I really decided to transfer to Harvard. So I moved out and moved into the dorms at Harvard. Fortunately, I had applied for a few scholarships, I had a feeling that they would react the way they did. I had also saved some money so that I only had to work a few nights a week and could focus on my studying the rest of the time." He swallowed, letting out a deep sigh. "I haven't spoken to my parents since that day I left."
"I'm sorry." Luke squeezed his roommate's shoulder one more time before he finally pulled his hand away. He could see the sadness in Reid's eyes when he spoke about his parents and it almost broke his heart. "I guess that explains why you have problems with trusting people?"
Reid nodded his head. "Yeah. I didn't really let anybody get close to me for years. That was until I met Jason." The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile. "He just wouldn't leave me alone."
Luke smirked. "I can well believe it."
"So what about you? Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer?" Reid asked, after finishing his beer.
"No, not really." Luke replied. "I always loved writing, even though I was never sure if I was good enough that I could do it for a living. When I was kicked out of college, I stopped writing for like a year until I decided to give it another try and took a job at the local newspaper. Looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made."
Reid raised an eyebrow at the blond. "You have been kicked out of college? Sounds like you have been a bad boy Mr. Snyder." He teased, making Luke blush again. Suddenly the older man couldn't suppress a yawn anymore. "I guess you need to save that story for another time. I should really go to bed, I'm working the early shift tomorrow. I hope you don't mind."
"No, of course not." Luke replied, giving him a smile. "I guess tonight went well."
"Sounds like you're surprised." Reid said in a teasing tone as he picked up the two empty pizza boxes and carried them into the kitchen.
Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I just didn't know what to expect I guess, but I would like to do this again if you're okay with that."
"Sure, but next time you're paying." Reid teased.
Luke chuckled. "No problem and thanks again."
"No need to thank me." Reid replied with a small smile. "By the way, would you mind giving me your phone number? You know, just in case something like today happens again, so that I can let you know that I might be late."
"Sure. Of course." Luke walked into the kitchen area and quickly scribbled his phone number onto a piece of paper, before he handed it to Reid. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Reid folded the paper, shoving it into his back pocket. "See you tomorrow?"
Luke nodded. "Good night Reid."
"Good night."
Rating: PG-13
Genres: AU, Romance, Angst
Word Count: ~ 2,200
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Characters are property of ATWT, CBS, P&G etc. No profit is made from this fan creation. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Luke and Reid have their "date". Thanks to my beta ditzybea!
Luke took a long shower after he came home from work and changed into something more comfortable, whilst making sure that he still looked somewhat nice. Then he had decided to finally sit down and answer some of the long overdue emails to his friends and family while he waited for Reid to come home. When it wasn't for his talks with Jason or his work for the foundation, Luke was often too tired to reply to their emails and he felt bad about it, even though he was keeping in touch with his loved ones over the phone.
One hour passed before Luke closed his laptop and glanced at his watch - almost 7 p.m. His stomach growled and he realized he had no idea when Reid's shift at the hospital ended. He remembered that his roommate had left at 6:30 this morning when his beeper went off and he wondered if an emergency at the hospital had forced him to work overtime. They had never exchanged their phone numbers so there was no way for Reid to let him know either.
The blonde went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Coke out of the fridge, taking a sip as he leaned against the kitchen counter. This morning he had been standing in this very spot when Reid had asked him if he wanted to have dinner with him. 'It's a date' Reid's voice rang in his head. Of course Luke was aware that it wasn't a real date. That was likely never going to happen, but he couldn't deny that he was looking forward to get to know his roommate better. He was still somewhat skeptical but he hoped that Reid would be in the same light mood that he had been in this morning.
Ten minutes later Luke when was about to give up and get his growling stomach some food, the front door suddenly opened and moments later Reid entered the room, who immediately collapsed onto the couch with a groan.
Luke paused for a moment, hoping that Reid wasn't back to his grumpy self. 'There is only one way to find out' the blonde thought as he walked over to the living area "Hey, you look like you had a tough day?"
"You can say that again." Reid replied, rubbing his tired eyes for a moment. "It was one of those crazy days when I didn't even have time to sit down and drink a coffee and just when I wanted to leave there was another emergency."
"That's what I figured." Luke replied as he sat down on the couch opposite of Reid.
"I wanted to call you to let you know, but then I realized that I don't even have your number, so I hope you didn't wait for too long." Reid said.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Luke gave him a small smile. "We can have dinner together another time if you're too tired now."
"I am pretty tired, but I didn't have anything to eat all day. I'm starving." Reid replied, stretching his arms above his head. "Or did you eat already?"
"No, I was waiting for you." Luke said with a shy smile. As if on cue his stomach growled, making both of them chuckle.
"I'm craving for pizza. Is that okay with you?" Reid asked.
"Sure."
Luke got up to get the 'Sarpino's Pizzeria' menu from where it was pinned on to the side of the fridge and sat back down on the couch, but next to Reid this time. The older man decided on the House Special while Luke went with a Pizza Margarita.
"Do you mind if I take a quick shower while we wait for the delivery guy?" Reid asked after he finished the call. "I feel a little less than fresh."
The blonde chuckled while images of a certain naked redhead flashed through his mind. 'What the heck was that?' "Um sure no problem." Luke stuttered. He felt himself blush and hoped that Reid wouldn't notice anything.
"Okay." Reid pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, holding out three ten dollar bills to his roommate. "This should be enough to cover the bill."
"That's really not necessary." Luke replied. "I can take care of it."
"I said it's my treat, didn't I?" Reid said with a small smile on his lips and shoved the money into Luke's hands. "Just think of it as a mild recompense for the past few weeks."
Luke smiled back. "All right. Thank you."
***
Twenty minutes later Luke sat cross-legged on the couch with the pizza box in his lap while his roommate sat next to him with the pizza box in front of him on the coffee table. They ate in silence for a while as if both of them were too hungry to talk.
Reid was the one to break the silence after he had wolfed down half of the pizza. "So last night you said that you're not comfortable when you're alone for too long?" Luke nodded his head. "Why is that? If you don't mind my asking."
Luke hesitated for a moment, but realized that also needed to open up to his roommate if they really wanted to get to know each other better, even though he hated talking about what happened to him back then. So he put the pizza box aside, telling Reid how he had been robbed a few years ago and how he had been bound and blindfolded to his bed for two days. "It felt like an eternity to me until my mom finally found me after two days when I didn't show up for work."
"Sounds terrifying." Reid said softly, not sure what else to say.
"It really was. I moved back in with my parents afterwards and hadn't lived on my own again since." Luke chuckled nervously, scratching himself behind his ear. "Anyway, I've seen crazier things happen in Oakdale."
"Like what?" The older man asked, taking a sip from his beer.
"Well, like people being kidnapped, blown-up, babies switched at birth, multiple personalities, mobsters, or coming back from death for example and most people have probably been married more than three times." The blond said and Reid raised an eyebrow at him. "I know it sounds crazy, but it really does happen in Oakdale."
Reid remained silent for a moment, finishing the last slice of his pizza. He slowly began to see that Jason had probably been right about Luke; that the blond really had been through a lot in his life already. It made him wonder what else happened in Luke's past that he doesn't know about yet. Maybe he wasn't the only one with a fucked up past. "Sounds more like Oakhell to me." Reid said, trying to lighten the mood.
Luke chuckled. "It's definitely not the typical small town, but it's my home nonetheless."
Reid nodded. "So, are you still gonna eat that?" He asked pointing to the pizza box with two slices the blond hadn't touched yet.
"I'm stuffed." Luke replied, rubbing his stomach. "Besides I try not to eat this late in the day; I try to watch my weight. So please help yourself."
The auburn haired man gave his roommate the once-over. "Everything looks fine to me." He said before snatching the pizza box and shoved the first bite into his mouth. He smiled inwardly when he saw that the blond was blushing and obviously at loss for words for a change.
"So. I'm sure you're dying to ask me some questions." Reid said with a smirk once he finished the first slice of Luke's pizza. "Go ahead. I know you want to."
Luke chuckled. "Well I really don't know that much about you so how about you just tell me something about yourself?"
"Like what?" Reid asked. "I'm not really good with that kind of stuff... you know small talk and all that."
The blond adjusted himself, linking one leg under him. "How about you tell me why you wanted to become a doctor?"
"That's kind of a long story." Reid replied after a moment of silence.
"You don't have to tell me if you---"
"No it's okay. I want to tell you." Reid interrupted. He shoved the last piece of pizza into his mouth and put the now empty pizza box on top of the other one on the coffee table. "I have been disappointed a lot when I was younger. My parents never told me that they're proud of me or that they love me when I was a kid and basically grew up with a nanny. I once heard them saying that I was 'an accident'." He paused for a moment, lost in memories of his past until a warm hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present. The younger man gave his shoulder a squeeze as if he was trying to encourage him to go on.
Reid cleared his throat. "I guess I was a nerd in school and some others often took advantage of that. At first I didn't mind because I thought they were my friends, but they really weren't. By the time I went to college I barely trusted anyone anymore and yet I got involved with a guy. It was my first semester and I was studying law because that's what my parents wanted and I was trying to make them proud, but when my boyfriend broke up with my after one month and I found out that he was just with me because of a stupid bet, I finally had enough." He let out a shaky breath of air. "I wanted my life to mean something. I needed to do something that means something and I wanted to help other people. Lawyers only do so much, so I decided that I would become a doctor."
"What did your parents say to that?" Luke asked, his hand still resting on Reid's shoulder.
"They tried to change my mind about it." Reid said with a shrug of his shoulder. "I told them that it was what I really wanted to do, but they didn't even listen to me. Instead they told me that they won't pay for college anymore if I really decided to transfer to Harvard. So I moved out and moved into the dorms at Harvard. Fortunately, I had applied for a few scholarships, I had a feeling that they would react the way they did. I had also saved some money so that I only had to work a few nights a week and could focus on my studying the rest of the time." He swallowed, letting out a deep sigh. "I haven't spoken to my parents since that day I left."
"I'm sorry." Luke squeezed his roommate's shoulder one more time before he finally pulled his hand away. He could see the sadness in Reid's eyes when he spoke about his parents and it almost broke his heart. "I guess that explains why you have problems with trusting people?"
Reid nodded his head. "Yeah. I didn't really let anybody get close to me for years. That was until I met Jason." The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile. "He just wouldn't leave me alone."
Luke smirked. "I can well believe it."
"So what about you? Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer?" Reid asked, after finishing his beer.
"No, not really." Luke replied. "I always loved writing, even though I was never sure if I was good enough that I could do it for a living. When I was kicked out of college, I stopped writing for like a year until I decided to give it another try and took a job at the local newspaper. Looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made."
Reid raised an eyebrow at the blond. "You have been kicked out of college? Sounds like you have been a bad boy Mr. Snyder." He teased, making Luke blush again. Suddenly the older man couldn't suppress a yawn anymore. "I guess you need to save that story for another time. I should really go to bed, I'm working the early shift tomorrow. I hope you don't mind."
"No, of course not." Luke replied, giving him a smile. "I guess tonight went well."
"Sounds like you're surprised." Reid said in a teasing tone as he picked up the two empty pizza boxes and carried them into the kitchen.
Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I just didn't know what to expect I guess, but I would like to do this again if you're okay with that."
"Sure, but next time you're paying." Reid teased.
Luke chuckled. "No problem and thanks again."
"No need to thank me." Reid replied with a small smile. "By the way, would you mind giving me your phone number? You know, just in case something like today happens again, so that I can let you know that I might be late."
"Sure. Of course." Luke walked into the kitchen area and quickly scribbled his phone number onto a piece of paper, before he handed it to Reid. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Reid folded the paper, shoving it into his back pocket. "See you tomorrow?"
Luke nodded. "Good night Reid."
"Good night."