Fic: First Kiss with the Last Boy (8/11)
Title: First Kiss with the Last Boy (8/11)
Author: gradgirl (aka Ali)
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Primarily Luke and Reid, mentions of Noah, Katie and the Snyder Clan.
Summary: Sometimes it's not about the first boy you kiss, it's the last. Different scenarios in which Luke and Reid could have shared their first kiss.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Not my characters, just borrowing them for fic purposes.
Author’s Notes: As always I have to thank you all for stopping by and reading. All of your comments are so greatly appreciated. I have to thank my two betas (reilaroo and hopeful 624) for making this what it was. This series is made up of 10 one-shots, individual situations in which Luke and Reid could have shared their first kiss. The last chapter explains how they are tied together. ~Ali
{ Chapter 1} { Chapter 2} { Chapter 3} { Chapter 4} { Chapter 5} { Chapter 6} { Chapter 7}
Chapter 8: Things You Can’t Undo
Luke wasn’t sure how he ended up in Old Town. After saying goodbye to Damian, forever this time, he made his way from the police station to Old Town. He didn’t want to shop or get a coffee, but he couldn’t go home yet either. He could never understand how the man who claimed to love him could hurt him so much.
Then, of course, his mind wandered to Noah. They were still together; at least that’s what Luke thought. They hadn’t officially broken up or anything, and he was still planning to be by Noah’s side every step of the way. But… That word hung around Luke’s neck like an albatross, but did Noah want him there?
He loved Noah. He would stand by him. And yet, why did Luke constantly feel that that wasn’t enough? After everything he had done, the consultations, the physical therapy, the… He shuddered. He still couldn’t believe how he behaved, how he threatened Dr. Oliver to get him to come to Oakdale. Luke could try and justify it, claiming that it was Damian’s idea, but he had gone along with it. Now the possibility that Noah could get his eyesight back, it wasn’t some far off distant idea any more. It could actually happen. Did the end justify the means? Luke wondered. Did giving into that part of himself that made him like Damian, did that mean it was okay for him to threaten an innocent man?
Luke laughed gently to himself. Dr. Oliver may have never done anything that the AMA would consider unethical, but he wasn’t an angel either. The doctor had ignored Luke’s calls, annoyed, and been generally disagreeable every time they met. He even told Luke he couldn’t be around Noah. And then…
Luke smiled gently to himself. Damian would not be going away to prison, but if it weren’t for Dr. Oliver, then Luke’s real father, Holden, would still be in prison. Despite everything, Dr. Oliver had helped him. He’d done so grudgingly and made Luke promise not to get “weepy” over the prospect, but he was there nonetheless. And being Dr. Oliver, there were a few coarse comments. He’d never tell his mother that the brilliant doctor found her attractive. Luke’s smile quickly faded. It didn’t matter that Dr. Oliver was straight and apparently found his mother attractive. It was none of Luke’s business. He knew that Lily would never reciprocate such feelings. However, the idea of Dr. Oliver and his mother, of Dr. Oliver and anyone but…
He shook his head. Luke needed to get home; he needed to check in with Noah. He needed to stop thinking about…
“Mr. Snyder,” Reid greeted him.
Luke jumped slightly. He’d found a bench and sat down. He’d been lost in his thoughts and hadn’t even heard the object of his musings walk up to him. Luke swallowed and hastily wiped his hands across his cheeks. He’d felt the moisture and shouldn’t be surprised that he’d been crying. But he hated the fact that the cool and abrasive Dr. Oliver would see him this way. “Dr. Oliver,” Luke returned the greeting.
Reid wasn’t sure why he’d stopped. He’d just gotten out of Java for his afternoon caffeine fix. He was grateful that the barista knew better than to shout out his order and keep it in a plain coffee cup without scribbling the words: caramel and whipped cream. He was just heading back to the hospital; he had a few patients, including Noah Mayer. So he was a little surprised to see Luke sitting on a bench in Old Town. He figured his patient’s boyfriend would hang around; making sure the leash was still in place and the closure worked.
Dr. Oliver had stopped because… Well despite everything he couldn’t not stop. He couldn’t just walk past Mr. Snyder; he couldn’t leave him alone. He was a little curious as to how everything was playing out with the good dad and the bad dad. The drama was better than any daytime soap the nurses kept on the TVs at the hospital. Reid also tried to justify it, that he wanted to check that his medical expertise wasn’t completely wasted.
When he walked up to the young man, he could tell Luke was lost in thought, and then he saw the tears. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if the young man was upset because he needed his tennis racket to be restrung, but he held back. Then Reid was actually angry with himself. Since when did he hold back from anyone, especially Luke Snyder?
The two men hadn’t moved. Reid standing over Luke, the younger man staring at the doctor for a moment.
“What?” Reid finally asked.
“Uh.” Luke stumbled up. “I just left…my…well Damian is going to prison.”
It took the redhead a moment to realize who Damian was. “Bad dad?”
Luke simply shook his head. Why on earth did he think today’s encounter with Dr. Oliver would be any different? “Yes,” he whispered.
“But you’ve got the other one, right? Must be nice to have a spare.”
It took everything Luke had not to grab Dr. Oliver by the collar and toss him against the nearest wall. But violence was another one of those characteristics that Luke hoped he wouldn’t inherit from Damian. “Yes,” Luke replied quietly.
Dr. Oliver grimaced slightly. What was the fun in goading Mr. Snyder if he didn’t react in kind? “Well, some of us have real jobs, so…” He turned and started to head towards his car.
“Thank you,” Luke told the doctor. He couldn’t quite meet the older man’s gaze, but he could feel the speculative eyes on him. “Thank you for what you did for my dad.” He finally looked up at Dr. Oliver. “After everything…I don’t know what any of us would do without my dad.”
For once, Reid found he didn’t have a witty retort. He was curious as to where this was going and even more so to learn what he could about young Mr. Snyder. It was something he didn’t want to acknowledge, but it was there nonetheless.
When Reid didn’t respond with a snarky comment or insult, Luke looked at him. There was a smile tugging at Luke’s lips, and he felt like maybe he could actually talk to Dr. Oliver. “I’ve just…I always wanted Damian to accept me the way my dad did and he… When I was a teenager, I had a lot of problems with…everything,” he admitted.
“When you were a teenager, so just last week?” the doctor asked. He wasn’t a saint and if young Mr. Snyder was going to pour out his heart to him while Reid’s coffee was getting cold, then he needed to have something.
The blonde chuckled softly. That wasn’t the response Reid was hoping or expecting.
“Damian tried to send me to a straight camp. He wanted to fix me,” Luke said the words as though, even after all this time, he still couldn’t believe they were real. “And you know…” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I forgave him, but-”
“Do you regret it?” Reid asked. His coffee had long gone cold and he wasn’t about to walk away either. He knew that having a boyfriend who was blind and constantly pushing you away didn’t mean that Luke was completely without his problems. When he started to mention being a teenager, Reid mentally rolled his eyes. What person didn’t have problems when they were an adolescent?
Luke’s gaze landed on the doctor’s, his hazel eyes directed at blue. He’d never realized how intense Reid’s eyes were, and Luke swallowed, trying to formulate a response, instead of saying something stupid like, Your eyes are really blue.
“Do you regret forgiving him?” Reid asked again.
The blonde’s tongue darted out to wet his dry lips. Reid’s gaze followed the movement, and he shifted slightly, moving closer.
“I wanted him to accept me at a time when I couldn’t accept myself,” Luke answered. “And I guess I’ve been waiting for him to still accept me.”
Dr. Oliver didn’t have anything to say in response. He knew the feeling, but he wasn’t sure if he could admit it, especially to Mr. Snyder.
When Reid didn’t have a witty comeback, Luke decided to supply one for him. The silence was unnerving. “I’m sure you don’t understand that at all,” the blonde said.
“What do you mean?” Dr. Oliver questioned.
“Well your parents have a son who’s the top in his field, a brilliant neurosurgeon. You’ve never drank so much you had to get a kidney transplant. You never got kicked out of school. You’re not gay, so they don’t have to-”
“Who said I’m not gay?” Reid countered. He wouldn’t allow himself to ask the million questions he had about kidney transplants and why Richie Rich got kicked out of school.
Luke’s mouth fell open and then it started to gape once or twice. Reid would have laughed, but he was still caught up in the question. Finally, Luke found his voice. “You’re not gay,” he said, shaking his head.
Dr. Oliver sighed. “And how do you know that?”
“You- Why- You never said anything.”
“Just because I don’t announce every detail of my personal life to the world doesn’t mean that I’m not gay.”
“I’m sorry,” Luke finally whispered.
“I’m not,” Reid countered. He really was regretting that he didn’t walk away. In fact, it seemed like a good idea. He pivoted on his heel, but then there was a warm hand, gripping his arm at the elbow. He swallowed deeply, this felt different than any encounter he had with the young Mr. Snyder in the past. There was anger, of course, annoyance, definitely, but for the first time in his life, Reid felt sparks of electricity.
“I’m sorry for assuming and…” Slowly, Luke’s hand slid down Reid’s forearm. His fingertips brushed softly against the redhead’s hand before he finally let go.
Reid’s gaze met Luke’s for a moment, and then he turned back to the young man. “Your father, Bad Dad.”
“Damian,” Luke supplied automatically.
“Right.” He shook his head and hoped he wouldn’t regret this, any more than he regretted any of his actions so far today. He didn’t live in a world where regrets took place. And he wasn’t about to allow Mr. Snyder to place him there. “You know that it’s Damian’s loss, right? Who you are, and not just the fact that you’re gay, you are someone that he should be proud of. And the fact that he tried to change you just proves that he’s a colossal idiot. But I could have told you that. The way he set up your good dad? It was stupid to use someone with Huntington’s disease.” Reid rolled his eyes and let out a pfft. “But you’ve got the other one. I guess when it comes to parents, it’s always nice to have a spare.”
Luke let all of the words clarify themselves in his mind before he tried to formulate a response. He knew in there somewhere the doctor had actually offered him a compliment. “Can you ever be nice for more than like a minute?”
Reid smirked. “It’s part of my charm.”
The bark of laughter that greeted Reid didn’t deter him from continuing though.
“Mr. Snyder, you need to accept yourself.”
“I do,” Luke insisted.
“Then it doesn’t matter what Damian or anyone else thinks. I don’t apologize for who I am, and, frankly, neither should you. You made mistakes. You were a teenager, that’s part of growing up. Now, be an adult and realize that there are people out there who are stupid or narrow-minded and if they can’t accept you, then it’s their loss.” Reid was done. He didn’t want to give a lecture on what it meant to be a grown up or a gay man, and he especially didn’t want to do it with Luke Snyder. He turned again, debating if he should go get another latte.
“Thank you,” Luke said.
And once again, Reid was stopped. What was it about Luke Snyder that made all of Reid’s intentions to walk away disappear? What kind of hold did he have over him?
“So…” Luke continued when he noticed that Dr. Oliver hadn’t walked away. “Do you have any regrets?”
Reid knew the conversation wasn’t going to end unless he actually left. But he didn’t want to, and in a way, he felt like Luke would start the conversation up again when they met again. “None that I would share with you,” Reid noted. “And generally speaking, no.”
The younger man’s gaze held Reid’s for a moment. “Hmm…”
Dr. Oliver wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but without meaning to, he had placed a challenge at young Mr. Snyder’s feet. He swallowed deeply and planted his feet. It was as though Reid were preparing for an argument. Except for the brief moment when Luke had grabbed his arms, there had been no physical contact. Generally speaking, Reid couldn’t get away from the young man without one push.
Suddenly, Luke’s hands were by Reid’s face, his fingers worked their way into his scalp, palms holding the doctor’s cheeks, and then Luke’s mouth was pressed against Reid’s. The kiss was brief, surprisingly gentle, and his lips melded perfectly with Reid’s. And then just as soon as it had begun, it was over.
Luke pulled away, a triumphant grin on his face. “Do you regret that?” he asked. “Or maybe you regret stopping and talking to me?”
Reid was momentarily stunned, and while he briefly thought that he shouldn’t have stopped earlier, that kiss… “The only thing, I regret, Mr. Snyder…” the doctor noted, as his hand reached out and gripped Luke’s side, pulling him close. Their torsos were pressed together, and Reid could see Luke’s pupils start to grow. The younger man’s breath came out in soft puffs.
“What?” Luke whispered and the words danced across Reid’s face.
“You didn’t do that sooner,” Reid replied before kissing Luke. The doctor dropped the coffee with a soft thunk and his hands reached around, holding Luke in place.
The blonde returned the kiss, a little more hesitantly this time, but he also realized Dr. Oliver was right (not that he’d admit it). There were some things you could regret in life but giving into his feelings for the brilliant doctor wasn’t one of them. With that one last thought, Luke’s hands came around and slid up Reid’s back until he could guide Reid closer.
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Onto Chapter Nine...