A Rhythm Like You (5/?)
Chapter 1: http://dpracket.livejournal.com/32142.html
Chapter 2: http://dpracket.livejournal.com/32417.html
Chapter 3: dpracket.livejournal.com/33801.html
Chapter 4: dpracket.livejournal.com/34221.html
Notes: So, you can see how firm I was on my "three chapters at most" statement. I'm really bad about that, aren't I? Haha...anyway, I'm making this up as I go along. Reid did the surgery on Noah already. It was a success. And he and Luke didn't break up until now. I guess Reid stayed in town for the new wing. Not sure Luke funded it or not. Lol. And we continue...
dpracket.livejournal.com/34761.html
"You're so weak, Luke!"
Reid approached Luke and Noah, who were apparently having an argument in Old Towne.
"Everything okay here?" Reid asked, looking at Luke alone and stepping behind Luke's right shoulder.
"Yeah, everything's peachy," Noah said with a sneer in his voice. "Except that my boyfriend's lying to me."
"EX boyfriend," Luke said, his voice low, nostrils flaring with each puff of air that left his chest. "Remember? You broke up with me."
"My bad," Noah said sarcastically and looked away.
"Noah thinks I've been drinking," Luke said, staring ahead at Noah while directing his words to Reid. "Oh, and slutting around with some random stranger."
Reid chuckled and stepped so that he was next to Luke, rather than behind him. "Lucky stranger..."
Noah turned to Reid and glared. "Dr. Oliver, can you stay out of this, please? And what the hell does that mean?"
"Yeah, Reid," Luke said, without looking away from Noah. "Stay out of this. I can handle it."
"I know you can," Reid said gently, his eyes moving to Noah.
"Reid?" Noah asked increduously. "Since when are the two of you on a first name basis?"
Luke ignored his question. "I really don't care what you think, Noah...but I wasn't drinking."
"I don't believe you, Luke. You have a hickey on your neck. We broke up a little over 24 hours ago. So, you were either drunk last night, or you are a sleazy..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a minute," Reid began, stepping forward toward Noah, but Luke grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Reid pulled his arm out of Luke's grasp. "Luke wasn't drinking last night," he said, stepping toward Noah again.
"Oh, yeah, Dr. Oliver? How would you know that?"
"Because he was with me last night."
Luke closed his eyes and brought a hand up to cover them. A few seconds later he opened them to see the realization spread across Noah's face as his eyes darted from the mark on Luke's neck and back to Reid. Eventually Noah squinted disgustedly. "Fuck both of you." He turned and walked away.
Reid watched him go, realizing that his fists were balled at his side and slowly relaxing them. He turned to Luke who was standing with his hands on his hips, looking down, and rocking from one foot to the other.
"Hey..." Reid put his hand on Luke's arm.
Luke jerked away from him. "Reid. Don't."
Reid held his hands up in mock surrender and noticed the tears spilling over Luke's eyes and down his cheeks. "Luke..."
"Nineteen months," Luke said, wiping at his face. "I've been clean for nineteen months and three weeks."
Reid started to say something, but Luke put his hand up. "Nineteen months. It hasn't been easy. It's hard every fucking day. I get up every morning and ... I want to drink. Do you know what that's like?"
"No, I don't..."
"It sucks, Reid. It fucking sucks. But I do it. Every day, I make the choice not to drink. For nineteen months I've been doing that."
"It's a good choice," Reid assured Luke, reaching out and touching his arm.
Luke's breath left his lungs in puffs though his nose. Reid could feel the tension in Luke's body, like a bull ready to charge.
"He's always been able to point out when I fuck up. And, yeah, I've fucked up a lot. But I haven't had a drink in nineteen months and three weeks and two fucking days. Do you think he could notice that? Could he give me some credit for that and not assume that I'm going to fall off the wagon again? I've been trying really hard, Reid. It's not easy, but I'm doing it. It's everywhere. But I'm beating it. Everyday."
"I know," Reid said, bringing his hand up to Luke's tear streaked face. "I know. And you're going to keep making that good choice. I know it." He kissed the side of Luke's head. "I know it because you're smart." He kissed Luke gently on the lips and tasted the salt of his tears. "And you're strong, Luke." He kissed him again. "You're strong."
"I don't feel strong."
"You had a really bad day yesterday, and you didn't drink."
Luke guffawed. "Yeah, only because YOU got me out of the bar."
Reid pulled away from Luke. "Bullshit. It had nothing to do with me. You wouldn't have drank."
"Because the bartender knows me and wouldn't have served me. I wanted to drink."
"But you didn't!" Reid said, exasperated.
"He thinks I'm weak. He said it. After almost four years, why can't he believe in me?"
"He's an idiot," Reid said, wiping at the wetness on Luke's cheek with his thumb. "Fuck him."
"He doesn't know me. Four years, and he doesn't know anything about me."
Reid nodded.
Luke chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, fuck him." He blinked away the last of his tears. "You know what I wanted to do? I wanted to lift up my shirt and show him exactly how slutty I was last night."
"You were far from slutty, Mr. Snyder...not that I'd mind..."
"I wanted him to see where else you marked me, especially that dark purple one on my chest. That would've shut him up."
Reid licked his lips at the memory of Luke's nipple under his tongue. God. "Why? You want to make him jealous?"
"No. Because that would mean that I want him, and I don't. But who does he think he is? He barely even kisses me for months, and then he breaks up with me, and he calls me a slut for responding to someone who actually wants to touch me?"
"I definitely want to touch you."
"He thinks we slept together," Luke sighed.
"Good."
"You probably just lost a patient."
"I have others."
"You're not going to let me have the last word on this, are you?" Luke laughed.
"Nope." Reid pulled Luke to him by the back of his neck and kissed him. Luke let his tongue slide across Reid's bottom lip.
Reid smiled and pulled back. "Movie?"
"What? Like a date?" Luke teased.
"Yes," Reid said, sliding his hand into Luke's and starting down the sidewalk toward the movie theater. "A date."