Almost Everything 4/15 [Lure Big Bang]
Almost Everything Master Post
Chapter 4
While Luke squared everything away with the judge and lawyers, Reid had to once again convince his friend Mark that Reid wasn't doing something completely stupid or out of character-even though marrying Luke felt like both.
"You're really didn't marry that kid for the money?" Mark asked, as both men looked at Luke talking to the judge.
Reid rolled his eyes. "He's not a child."
Mark cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."
"Well, it's not illegal," Reid conceded. "Besides, didn't your mother ever tell you to marry ’em young so you can train your spouse?"
"And what exactly have you been training Luke to do?"
Reid knew there was no way he could explain the trust fund and the utter disdain he had for Luke since he wouldn't stop calling his office twenty times a day. Was that really only three months ago? All of that had changed. Reid couldn't pinpoint the exact moment, but something about the headstrong man intrigued and annoyed him because Luke was the last type of person Reid would ever get involved with. What he found most disturbing was Mark knew that, and he'd have to deflect, come up with some excuse that seemed reasonable.
"All right, fine. You're right. It's the mind blowing sex-that's why I'm marrying him," Reid said.
Mark chuckled. "Now that? That I believe. Outside of your work, food and sex are the only things you care about."
Looking over at the man he just married, Reid said quietly, "Well, now it's Luke."
"And after that kiss? I know you definitely feel something for the guy," Mark replied.
Reid felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He prided himself on keeping his emotions in check. One kiss and he felt like he had been flayed and pinned to a board, exposed for the whole world to examine. Before Reid could respond, Luke appeared at his side. "Ready?" the blonde checked.
"Yeah, bet you're anxious for the honeymoon," Mark said and gave Luke a conspiratorially wink.
The young man’s chuckle had a nervous tone to it and Reid grasped his hand. Neither could be sure if he did it for appearances or to reassure Luke.
"But, Luke, please, take care of him," Mark said, appearing serious for the first time today. "I know he can be a pompous jackass-"
"Hey," Reid interjected.
"Well, he's my pompous jackass," Luke said. "And I promise…I do care about Reid."
The redhead almost believed Luke, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.
*
The next few weeks went by in a blur for the newlyweds. They had managed to find a way to coexist, although Reid was a little convinced that Luke was trying to kill him. While the young man always had coffee brewing by the time Reid got out of the shower, over a cup of that coffee, Reid had the perfect view of his husband walking out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. Luke had given Reid the master bedroom, which had its own bathroom in suite. Luke had to use the bathroom down the hall from his own bedroom, which was close to the kitchen. Hence, the morning show. Reid was afraid to complain. First, he didn't want Luke to realize the affect he had on Reid (if the constant burns on his tongue from his distracted sips were any indication) and second, Reid didn't necessarily want the show to end either.
After two weeks though, it became too much, and Reid left a new bathrobe on Luke's bed one afternoon before he left to work a late shift. The next morning Luke greeted him in the robe and offered a shy, "Thank you." Reid tried to ignore his disappointment over how much the robe covered.
Word quickly spread of their marriage. Lucinda planted a few tips to newspapers to get the word out and expedite the process for Luke's trust fund becoming available. Then there was Katie. With her current matchmaking kick, she couldn't wait to share the news of her former roommate's marriage. Her invitations to have them come on the show for an interview were always refused.
Reid and Luke kept mostly to themselves. Luke was trying to spend more time at Grimaldi Shipping, and Reid worked at the hospital or spent his nights at home locked in his office.
Noah had continued to avoid Luke's phone calls, texts and emails. Reid refused to discuss the case, always citing doctor-patient confidentiality. Luke felt so alone. The only time he had some semblance of peace were the couple nights a week they'd go over to Katie's for dinner. It was nice to talk to Katie and watch Reid with Jacob. She understood how difficult it could sometimes be to live with the abrasive doctor. She offered an ear to listen, but she would gently prod Luke to not give up on Reid either. Luke wasn't over Noah, but he had started to let go of the dreams for the life they would share. He wasn't ready to think about more with anyone else though.
One night three weeks into their marriage, Luke was fed up. Reid had come home and immediately went into this study. Luke had felt a headache forming while he tried to figure out one of the accounting books for the shipping company. Throwing the papers down, he went to Reid's study. He hesitated for a moment before knocking.
"Is the house on fire?" Reid's voice greeted him.
"No, but I'm bored," Luke called through the door.
"I'm your husband, Luke, not your babysitter."
He shook his head and realized it was useless, because his "husband" couldn't see him. "Reid-"
"Call Katie."
"Pizza and a baseball game?" Luke counter-offered. When he didn't hear anything for a few moments, he figured Reid was going to turn him down again. He started to leave when the door swung open.
"Sausage, pepperoni, ham, and green peppers," Reid told him.
Luke smiled. "Got it."
Reid looked for something to drink while Luke called in the order. All he found was milk, a bunch of soda and the bottled water Reid preferred. Luke often kept the fridge stocked, and Reid was grateful, but who watched a game without beer? Then Reid wondered if his husband was old enough to drink and was about to ask when the object of his thoughts appeared.
"Hey," Luke greeted him. "It should be here soon."
"Great."
"Do you need anything? I was going to do a market run tomorrow. And I was wondering-" He shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Reid could tell Luke was nervous about something, and his request for beer was forgotten. "What?"
"Well, I was wondering if you could give me your schedule. I mean, I know emergencies happen and all, but it'd be nice to…" He shrugged. "My family is going to want to get to know you. We can only fake the holed-up newlyweds thing for so long."
"Sure," Reid answered, grabbing a bottle of water and soda for Luke.
"Really?" Luke asked, taking the proffered drink.
Setting his water down on the counter, Reid crossed his arms over his chest and started to close the distance between them. "You expect me to argue about giving you my schedule?"
Luke set his own drink down as well. “Well, we argue about everything. Why would this time be different? Besides, I don’t really know you."
"That's not true. You know me.”
Maybe it was their natural tendency to push each other, but Luke couldn’t agree with Reid’s last statement. “Every night you're not at work or with Katie, you lock yourself in your office. I just now found out how you like your pizza," Luke said, and he took a step closer to Reid. There was barely any space between them.
Each man gave the other an assessing look.
"My favorite color is blue," Reid conceded.
Luke smiled. "I prefer green."
The doctor shook his head with a smirk. He wasn't sure if it was true or if Luke just wanted to disagree with him. "I love baseball," Reid continued. "I learned to love football when I moved to Dallas. It's a religion in Texas."
A bubble of laughter escaped Luke's mouth, but he didn't say anything else.
"I hate small talk, the sharing your life story thing. It's not me. I also don't believe in playing games. If I want something, I go after it."
Luke swallowed, imaging what it would be like to be wanted by Reid. It wasn't completely off-putting, and Luke never expected to feel that way. "That's…" His tongue darted out to wet his dry lips, and Reid's gaze locked on Luke's mouth.
"That's an attractive quality," Luke finally murmured.
The doctor's gaze was still locked on the man in front of him. "To whom?" his own voice had lowered as well.
The blonde opened his mouth to respond, but the doorbell rang. "Dinner," Luke announced and rushed to answer the door.
Reid let out a frustrated breath.
They ate in relative silence. The game played in the background. The moment they shared wasn't forgotten, but neither man spoke of it either.
When Luke's cellphone buzzed, they both jumped. Luke grabbed it without checking caller ID. "Hello?"
"Luke?"
"Yeah."
"It's Noah."
The blonde sucked in a deep breath. "Noah."
Reid took one look at Luke's face, and he dropped the piece of pizza he was working on.
"Yeah, Dr. Oliver probably told you, but with the surgery tomorrow-"
"Your surgery's tomorrow?" Luke questioned, his gaze locked on Reid's. The doctor looked right back as though he were daring Luke to say something. "No, he didn't tell me," Luke spit the words through his gritted teeth.
"Luke, I-I know we have a lot to discuss, things haven’t…” Noah let out a breath in frustration. He hated that even after all this time he couldn’t find a way to voice his feelings to Luke. “I'm scared."
Turning away from his husband, Luke continued the conversation, "Where are you?"
"I'm at home."
"I'm on my way," the blonde said, getting up from his chair.
"You don't have to, I just-"
"Noah, you need me. I'm there." He quickly hung up. "I have to go."
"So I heard," Reid muttered.
"Why didn't you tell me Noah's surgery was tomorrow?"
"I don't talk about any of my patients with you," he said, getting up and rounding the table, so he was standing in front of Luke.
"Don't hide behind that," the younger man countered.
"What? My ethics? It's Noah's surgery. If he wanted to tell you, I thought he would. Now he decides to tell you, and you go running to him."
"Noah needs me."
"And dinner and the game…what was that?"
Luke's eyes narrowed briefly before he replied, "Every night that you're actually here, you're holed up in your office. Don't act like me going to help a friend-"
"Friend!" Reid laughed bitterly. "You used to spend every chance you could telling me that Noah is the love of your life. So don't pretend that you going over there is about friendship."
"We broke up."
Reid shook his head. "And you're still chasing after him."
Why couldn’t Reid understand why Luke needed to do this? "He doesn't have anyone else."
"Tomorrow's a big day for me, too, but you're running off to support him. I'm just the surgeon who's going to give Noah is eyesight back. And oh, right, I'm only the guy you married."
"Reid…" Luke’s hand itched to reach out for the older man.
The doctor took a step back. He couldn't believe the way he was acting. When did he become jealous and petty? "Go," Reid instructed. "Noah needs you. Go. I'll be here when you get back."
"I…" Luke gave into his feelings,. He reached out and placed his hand on Reid's arm.
"Noah's waiting," he quietly reminded Luke.
The younger man looked at Reid for a moment. There was still so much Luke wanted to say, and he realized that's how he usually felt around the doctor. However, he couldn't say any of those things. There was Noah, and Luke didn't know what he was going to tell Reid. Especially since they only got married for a business deal and this was the first time in weeks they'd spent any time together.
The blonde was so caught up in his thoughts that he jumped when he felt Reid's on his face, cupping Luke's cheek. "I'm sorry," Reid murmured. "Noah will need your support; you should go be with him."
Luke tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him to stay. He leaned over and briefly brushed a kiss against Reid's cheek before heading out. The motion was so instinctual, but it left both men completely confused.
*
"I'm sorry," Noah greeted him.
"For what?" Luke asked, walking past him and sitting down on the couch. "I want to help you, Noah."
"I know," he replied, making his way over to Luke. "All you've wanted to do is help me, and I keep pushing you away. But I was sitting here, thinking about the surgery. And Dr. Oliver…I know you're, whatever, but I'm scared."
"Reid will do whatever he can to help you, Noah."
The brunette reeled back as though he had been hit, and in a way he was. "It's weird hearing you call him Reid, and I can’t believe you're married to him. When I told you about Dr. Oliver, I never expected…"
Luke reached out for Noah and hugged him. "Don't think about that," he whispered in Noah's ear, his chin resting on the brunette's shoulder. "We just need to focus on your surgery tomorrow." He pulled back slightly but kept his hands on Noah's shoulders. "After that, you'll be able to see again. That's what's most important."
"You really think…" He shook his head. "After all these months, I just, I can't…I'm afraid to hope."
"Then I'll have enough faith for the both of us."
Noah smiled. One of the things he missed most was Luke's determination. He knew he shouldn't have pushed him away for so long. He vowed then and there that if he got his vision back, he would fight for Luke and what they had. After all, didn't Luke tell him this was a business arrangement? Noah had heard the distain in Dr. Oliver's voice plenty of times where Luke was concerned. He didn't have to worry about this marriage of convenience turning into something else.
Noah reached for Luke's hands, and he paused when he felt something he didn't expect. The brunette relied so much on his other senses that he knew what he felt was… "Luke, are you wearing a wedding ring?"
Luke suddenly pulled his hands away. He looked down at the platinum band on his finger. "Uh, yeah. Noah, we have to make everything look real."
"Does Dr. Oliver have one as well?"
"Yeah," the blonde admitted. "And that was a fun conversation,” he muttered more to himself. “Actually it went better than I thought, but still sometimes I want to announce that the grass is green just to see if he'll argue with me even when I'm right."
Noah hesitated for a moment. "So…you guys still don't get along?" he checked.
Remembering the conversation he'd had before leaving his husband and the argument about Luke's leaving to go support Noah, Luke was about to agree. But then he also remembered the feel of Reid's hand cupping his cheek and the fingers in his hair, and he swore his scalp still tingled. And Luke couldn’t forget the way he had kissed Reid’s cheek before leaving either. "We have our moments," Luke admitted. "I don't want talk about Reid right now. What do you need, Noah? How can I help you?"
"I don't want to talk about the surgery or Dr. Oliver. Can we just sit and be with each other without everything else?"
"Yeah."
They leaned back against the couch, and Luke wrapped his arm around Noah's shoulders. The brunette burrowed his head into the crook of Luke's neck. "Thank you for coming," he said.
"Where else would I be?"
*
Reid quickly cleaned up the remnants of their dinner. He went to wash his hands and automatically reached to take off his wedding ring. With seeing patients and his surgeries, Reid washed his hands several times a day, and it became a reflex to take off the ring and place it in his pocket. He'd always pat it though to make sure the ring was still there, that he didn't drop it. Reid often told himself it was because he didn't want to pay for a replacement. He'd given Luke a tough time about the ring; it wasn't like it meant anything to him.
Reid and Luke had been living together for just a few days. One night they were getting ready to head over to Katie's place for dinner.
"Are you ready?" Reid called impatiently. Katie would most likely tease him if they were late. He could hear her voice now saying some comment about having to tear themselves away from the bed-if they made it that far-to come over for dinner.
Luke appeared a few moments later. "Sorry, I was on the phone with the bank."
"Everything okay?"
"No, but hopefully it will be soon."
Reid wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Warm and comforting weren't words usually associated with him. "Well…" He gently patted Luke on the arm. "I'm sure we can figure it out."
Luke eyed him suspiciously for a moment. "Thanks."
"Yeah. I’m hungry. Let's go."
"Oh, wait," Luke called as he suddenly remembered his errand from earlier.
Reid let out a breath. "Now what?"
"I, uh, have something for you."
The redhead couldn’t hide his suspicion. "What?"
Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. He handed it to Reid.
"What's this?" the doctor asked.
"Open it." Luke shook his head. He half-wondered if Reid suspected every one of Luke's actions.
Doing as he was instructed, Reid clicked open the box, and two wedding bands stared back at him. The light reflected off of one of them, almost winking at him.
"Look, I know what you're thinking," Luke's voice started rambling at a quick speed, and Reid had difficulty deciphering the words."But we have to make this look as real as possible. So…I got the rings. And I had to guess on the size, so if it's too tight or too small, we can-"
"Which one?" Reid's voice came out a little hoarse.
"What?"
"Which one is mine?"
"Oh." Luke grabbed the box and pulled out the ring selected for Reid. "No inscription, I promise."
"Good, easier to hock it when we get a divorce."
Luke smirked. "There's the romantic man I married." With force, he grabbed Reid's hand and tugged.
"Hey, watch it. My hands are my livelihood," Reid reminded the younger man.
"Sorry," Luke murmured. His own hand started to shake as he nervously placed the band on his husband's finger. He'd always imagined this moment with Noah, and the significance of it wasn't lost on him.
"Perfect fit," Reid said. Then he reached for the box and pulled out the other ring. Ttaking Luke's hand, he placed it on the blonde's finger.
Luke was caught for a moment. His gaze locked on their entwined hands and the matching wedding bands. Suddenly everything felt a little too real.
"Ready to go?" Reid asked.
Luke jumped slightly. "Yeah."
Reid washed the dishes and put the last one on the drying rack, trying to push aside the memories of that night. He could still hear the squeal of Katie's voice when she noticed the rings. She'd complimented Luke on his excellent taste and spent a good half-hour after dinner talking to Reid about his marriage, while Luke played with Jacob. Despite his numerous attempts to remind Katie he was in a business arrangement with Luke, his fingers tugged on the ring whenever he mentioned his husband's name.
The doctor washed his hands once more and reached for his wedding ring, automatically putting it back on.
*
When Luke got home, he found a note taped to his bedroom door.
Got paged for an emergency. Set the coffee machine. It hates me. Be back when I can.
Reid
Smiling gently to himself, Luke set the coffee machine and went to bed. They both had an early day. Before leaving Noah's, he promised to be there during the surgery tomorrow. Luke hoped Reid's emergency didn't last too long, and he'd be able to get some rest as well.
===============
Thank you for reading. I loved writing the part about the wedding rings. Hope you enjoyed it.
On to Chapter 5...