Hear Me Now: Chapter Seven
Title: Hear Me Now
Author: dolce_amore93
Pairing: Luke/Reid
Rating: G-R
Genre: Future-Fic/Angst/Romance (And I guess AU - Ghost Reid does not exist in this fic :P)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did, but alas, I do not. This story is based off of the song "Hear Me Now" by Secondhand Serenade. Again, not mine. :)
Chapter Title Song Lyrics Credit: Snuff by Slipknot (And I'm obsessed with the lyrics to this song, so it might be used a lot :P)
Summary: Upon being told by Reid that he is in love with him, Luke freezes up. Not because he doesn't feel the same, or because he's unhappy, he's just... afraid. Out-of-control. Panicked. For reasons he can't even figure out himself he knows he simply cannot repeat those three little words back to Reid. So, like a frightened child, he runs away to New York, leaving everything and everyone behind without warning. After a year of being gone, he misses home. He misses Reid. He's ready to return to the place he pushed away. He has no idea what awaits him, but he knows one thing for sure - he's not afraid anymore.
Author's Notes: Another angsty one!!! Thank you guys so much for your comments and also, thank you for your well wishes when I was sick. You're the best. Sorry for the week long wait - I have a bad habit of getting many story ideas all at once and just have to write them out as they come, lol. Thank you for your patience! Comments = love. <3
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Chapter 7: You Couldn't Hate Enough to Love - Is That Supposed to be Enough?
Reid walked through the door and let out a harrowing sigh. Katie watched him carefully as she stood in the kitchen, cup of tea in hand. She went to speak, then pursed her lips shut.
“What?” Reid asked glumly.
She shook her head. “No, nothing, sorry. How was your day?”
“Judging by the way you just stopped yourself from spilling something juicy, I think you already know.”
“How do you know I was going to spill something juicy?” she asked.
“You had that… look,” Reid replied simply.
“Oh.”
“Where did you see him? Did he come here?” Reid asked, his expression, to Katie’s disappointment, indiscernible even to her.
Katie shook her head. “No, no. He didn’t know you moved, he went looking for you at your old apartment,” she explained.
Reid groaned. “Shit, I forgot to pick up surfer dude’s rent.”
Katie picked up the check from the counter and waved it. “I picked it up for you before picking Jacob up from daycare. That’s when I saw Luke.”
“Thanks. Where is the kid? It’s freakishly quiet in here,” Reid asked, peering around.
“He’s taking a nap. When I picked him up they told me he spent the entire day running around outside. I think it wore him out,” Katie said, smiling to herself. She straightened back up, looking Reid in the eyes. “Don’t make this about Jacob, though. This is about you and Luke.”
He slumped down into a chair at the table, tapping it as he stared mindlessly at his fingers running through the motions. “This ordeal has proven to be more melodramatic than I needed in a lifetime. Let’s not give any more weight to it by wasting time talking about it.”
“Fair enough,” Katie replied, sitting down beside him. He looked at her suspiciously.
“You’re not going to say I should talk to him?”
She shook her head. “It’s not my business if you talk to Luke or not.”
Reid had to try his hardest not to look dumbfounded. “Uh - since when is something not your business? Are you okay?”
Katie chuckled. “Other people need my interference from time to time. You even need my interference from time to time. But I can’t tell you how to handle this, Reid. I think Luke coming home is something you’ve thought about for a long time, am I right?”
Reid nodded silently.
“Then I think you already know how you want to handle the situation.”
“There is no situation. I just want Luke to leave me the hell alone,” Reid blurted. He finally looked up at Katie, his eyes wide. “I do. Luke has no right to come to me, to act like I owe him something. What do I owe him? He’s looking for me to say something to make him feel better. The audacity of that notion - please. My time is too valuable to worry about mending Luke Snyder’s ego.”
Katie stayed quiet for a beat, making sure Reid’s rambling was done before she spoke. “I think Luke is scared.”
“Why?” Reid asked, scrunching his forehead.
“Because he made a huge mistake that he doesn’t know how to fix.”
Reid shrugged. “That’s not my problem.”
“I’m not saying it is, I’m just giving you my opinion of the situation.”
Reid nodded and his eyes softened on Katie. “Thank you. For, y’know, whatever this just was.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome. Whenever you want to talk about not talking about something, I’m here,” she said with a wink.
-----
Luke walked back to his car with slow, heavy steps. He didn't expect Reid to greet him with open arms - anything but. He expected anger, aggression, hate. He was ready for it. He was ready for the coldness. He was ready for the snarkiness. He deserved every bit of it. What he could've never prepared himself for was what the lack of being picked on and cut down by Reid Oliver felt like. From the first day he met Reid, they had a back and forth that he had never experienced with everyone else. Whether he was angry with Reid or madly in love with Reid, their banter was consistent. It was "them". Even when they spent the night laying on top of each other, arms over chests and breath blowing against necks, waking up to kisses and morning sex and "I'll meet you for lunch" conversations - they were always Mr. Snyder and Dr. Oliver. They always had that fire, whether they acknowledged it out loud or not. It was simply who they were.
Luke remembered the time when he just wanted Reid to call him "Luke", to break down the barrier and go deeper. He remembered how much it stung when after getting close to one another when they called each other by their titles, how they knew it and used it as a weapon. Because that, too, was who they were. They knew how to fight with each other best because they knew how to love each other best. They knew what hurt as much as they knew what the other man needed. To put it simply - they just knew.
At first, Luke made the mistake of thinking that Reid addressing him as "Luke" earlier meant that perhaps the damage wasn't as extensive as he thought. It was actually was far worse. For the first time ever it really hit Luke that they weren't "them" anymore. They weren't the "them" that they were in early 2010 when they first met, and they weren't the "them" that they were that laid in bed together the morning he left. They weren't "them" at all, which to Luke was the equivalent of not breathing. Being away from Reid and subconsciously realizing they weren't the same was one thing. Being in the same breathing space as Reid and realizing this was something entirely different.
And it was all Luke's fault.
Author: dolce_amore93
Pairing: Luke/Reid
Rating: G-R
Genre: Future-Fic/Angst/Romance (And I guess AU - Ghost Reid does not exist in this fic :P)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did, but alas, I do not. This story is based off of the song "Hear Me Now" by Secondhand Serenade. Again, not mine. :)
Chapter Title Song Lyrics Credit: Snuff by Slipknot (And I'm obsessed with the lyrics to this song, so it might be used a lot :P)
Summary: Upon being told by Reid that he is in love with him, Luke freezes up. Not because he doesn't feel the same, or because he's unhappy, he's just... afraid. Out-of-control. Panicked. For reasons he can't even figure out himself he knows he simply cannot repeat those three little words back to Reid. So, like a frightened child, he runs away to New York, leaving everything and everyone behind without warning. After a year of being gone, he misses home. He misses Reid. He's ready to return to the place he pushed away. He has no idea what awaits him, but he knows one thing for sure - he's not afraid anymore.
Author's Notes: Another angsty one!!! Thank you guys so much for your comments and also, thank you for your well wishes when I was sick. You're the best. Sorry for the week long wait - I have a bad habit of getting many story ideas all at once and just have to write them out as they come, lol. Thank you for your patience! Comments = love. <3
----
Chapter 7: You Couldn't Hate Enough to Love - Is That Supposed to be Enough?
Reid walked through the door and let out a harrowing sigh. Katie watched him carefully as she stood in the kitchen, cup of tea in hand. She went to speak, then pursed her lips shut.
“What?” Reid asked glumly.
She shook her head. “No, nothing, sorry. How was your day?”
“Judging by the way you just stopped yourself from spilling something juicy, I think you already know.”
“How do you know I was going to spill something juicy?” she asked.
“You had that… look,” Reid replied simply.
“Oh.”
“Where did you see him? Did he come here?” Reid asked, his expression, to Katie’s disappointment, indiscernible even to her.
Katie shook her head. “No, no. He didn’t know you moved, he went looking for you at your old apartment,” she explained.
Reid groaned. “Shit, I forgot to pick up surfer dude’s rent.”
Katie picked up the check from the counter and waved it. “I picked it up for you before picking Jacob up from daycare. That’s when I saw Luke.”
“Thanks. Where is the kid? It’s freakishly quiet in here,” Reid asked, peering around.
“He’s taking a nap. When I picked him up they told me he spent the entire day running around outside. I think it wore him out,” Katie said, smiling to herself. She straightened back up, looking Reid in the eyes. “Don’t make this about Jacob, though. This is about you and Luke.”
He slumped down into a chair at the table, tapping it as he stared mindlessly at his fingers running through the motions. “This ordeal has proven to be more melodramatic than I needed in a lifetime. Let’s not give any more weight to it by wasting time talking about it.”
“Fair enough,” Katie replied, sitting down beside him. He looked at her suspiciously.
“You’re not going to say I should talk to him?”
She shook her head. “It’s not my business if you talk to Luke or not.”
Reid had to try his hardest not to look dumbfounded. “Uh - since when is something not your business? Are you okay?”
Katie chuckled. “Other people need my interference from time to time. You even need my interference from time to time. But I can’t tell you how to handle this, Reid. I think Luke coming home is something you’ve thought about for a long time, am I right?”
Reid nodded silently.
“Then I think you already know how you want to handle the situation.”
“There is no situation. I just want Luke to leave me the hell alone,” Reid blurted. He finally looked up at Katie, his eyes wide. “I do. Luke has no right to come to me, to act like I owe him something. What do I owe him? He’s looking for me to say something to make him feel better. The audacity of that notion - please. My time is too valuable to worry about mending Luke Snyder’s ego.”
Katie stayed quiet for a beat, making sure Reid’s rambling was done before she spoke. “I think Luke is scared.”
“Why?” Reid asked, scrunching his forehead.
“Because he made a huge mistake that he doesn’t know how to fix.”
Reid shrugged. “That’s not my problem.”
“I’m not saying it is, I’m just giving you my opinion of the situation.”
Reid nodded and his eyes softened on Katie. “Thank you. For, y’know, whatever this just was.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome. Whenever you want to talk about not talking about something, I’m here,” she said with a wink.
-----
Luke walked back to his car with slow, heavy steps. He didn't expect Reid to greet him with open arms - anything but. He expected anger, aggression, hate. He was ready for it. He was ready for the coldness. He was ready for the snarkiness. He deserved every bit of it. What he could've never prepared himself for was what the lack of being picked on and cut down by Reid Oliver felt like. From the first day he met Reid, they had a back and forth that he had never experienced with everyone else. Whether he was angry with Reid or madly in love with Reid, their banter was consistent. It was "them". Even when they spent the night laying on top of each other, arms over chests and breath blowing against necks, waking up to kisses and morning sex and "I'll meet you for lunch" conversations - they were always Mr. Snyder and Dr. Oliver. They always had that fire, whether they acknowledged it out loud or not. It was simply who they were.
Luke remembered the time when he just wanted Reid to call him "Luke", to break down the barrier and go deeper. He remembered how much it stung when after getting close to one another when they called each other by their titles, how they knew it and used it as a weapon. Because that, too, was who they were. They knew how to fight with each other best because they knew how to love each other best. They knew what hurt as much as they knew what the other man needed. To put it simply - they just knew.
At first, Luke made the mistake of thinking that Reid addressing him as "Luke" earlier meant that perhaps the damage wasn't as extensive as he thought. It was actually was far worse. For the first time ever it really hit Luke that they weren't "them" anymore. They weren't the "them" that they were in early 2010 when they first met, and they weren't the "them" that they were that laid in bed together the morning he left. They weren't "them" at all, which to Luke was the equivalent of not breathing. Being away from Reid and subconsciously realizing they weren't the same was one thing. Being in the same breathing space as Reid and realizing this was something entirely different.
And it was all Luke's fault.