Science And Faith (1/?)
Title: Science and Faith
Rating: PG-13 moving onto NC-17
Warnings: Angst, AU and a mention of Noah
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Character/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Other Characters, very brief Luke/OC and other character couples.
Disclaimer: Don't own the boys, I only wish I did! The title of the fic comes from this gorgeous song by The Script.
Summary: Luke is happy, or so he thinks, his life seems to be perfect barring one thing. Reid Oliver has everything he needs and wants, he's happy with his work and saving people and everything else takes second place...until he meets a certain blonde that is. When these two meet will they both find what they need?
A/N: Hey guys! *waves* I'm back with a new AU and I promise you that I haven't forgotten about the Better Man sequel (If you guys even remember that!lol!), that will be coming after this! I felt like I wanted to write another love story with the boys and I hope that you like this! I'm a little nervous posting it and I have no idea why, but, if you guys do find this in anyway entertaining or enjoyable, do let me know and I promise that it will be finished! I have been posting on LRO so I will update everyday here till both are at the same chapter! :)
A HUGE thanks to traciamc for being an amazing beta and my support! Well, I best let you guys get on with reading it! Feedback would be LOVED! Thank you! :D
If Luke had to be honest, he was glad to be on his way back home, well his second home anyway. Taking the chance to get out of Oakdale when he did was, he believed, the best decision he’d made. And after everything that had happened with Noah, well, he was someone he didn’t want to think about, so moving away to Dallas when he did had been good for him. He loved his family fiercely and he missed them, he did, but this was his chance to live his life and to do what he wanted without restrictions and without baggage. It wasn’t as if he was alone where he was, he’d found his own surrogate family, a family away from home which he was most definitely grateful for. But the new surroundings, not so new after nearly three years, were perfect for him to live his life his way before he went back to Oakdale for good.
Christmas had been, as usual, a busy but fun-filled time. His siblings had enjoyed having their big brother back for the festive period, especially Ethan, who had missed him terribly. Luke was sure to make it up to all of them with as many presents as he could, it wasn’t the best way, but he hoped that it was enough for the moment. They knew that their big brother was off studying and that’s why he couldn’t be around as much, but the phone calls and packages he sent from time to time helped them to feel like he was near them in some way. Spending Christmas and New Year’s together had been amazing for Luke, but now on his drive back, being the slight nerd he was, he was excited to get back to his studies and back to the daily grind.
Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t even realised he’d reached his destination. His home away from home was only a few minutes away. Christmas and New Year’s decorations were still hanging up in the shop windows and on houses from the festivities rolling around into this New Year. He finally pulled up outside a small café and swiftly grabbed his bag out of the car before glancing inside the window to see it with only a few customers sitting at the tables. He knew that wouldn’t last, knowing the evening rush was about to start. When the bell on top of the door rang announcing his arrival, and before he could take a few steps inside, he was met with something solid hitting his legs with a squeal of joy.
Luke looked down to see a little girl with a mop of brown curly hair clinging onto him tightly, arms around his waist and he couldn’t help but laugh. He ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it affectionately before green eyes met brown and he was treated to a huge toothy smile.
“You’re back!”
Luke grinned back, dropping his bag to the floor before hoisting the girl up and onto his hip so that their eyes were level. He cupped her cheek lightly and planted a sloppy wet kiss on her forehead.
“Yup, I’m back, gorgeous,” he grinned.
“Ewww,” she giggled, her button nose scrunching up in disgust as she tried to wipe the kiss away exaggeratedly. Luke laughed out loud and pulled her in for a hug which she gave into willingly, wrapping her small arms around his neck.
She finally pulled away from the hug and fingered Luke’s t-shirt collar, “I missed you loads and loads, you know?”
“I missed you loads and loads too. You didn’t think I would miss my gorgeous girlfriend?” he asked with a knowing smile.
“Well,” she mused, pressing her lips together “if I’m your girlfriend, you should be missing me all of the time.”
“And I did, you can ask Ethan and Natalie and my Dad. You were all I talked about! I was always like, ‘Bella said this’, ‘Bella said that’ and by the end of my vacation, they were telling me off for talking about you too much.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Luke confirmed, flicking her nose affectionately and she giggled delightedly.
“What about your mother-in-law to be?”
Luke looked over Bella’s shoulder to see a woman, an older version of the girl in his arms, standing with her hands on her hips expectantly, eyebrows raised questioningly. He walked towards her and smiled sheepishly before pulling her into a tight hug whilst Bella wrapped her arms around the both of them happily.
“I missed my mother-in-law to be loads too,” he said quietly into her ear. He let her pull away from the hug after a few moments as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“I missed you too,” she said as she patted his cheek before pinching it. “Luke, you look like you’ve put on weight. I bet your family thinks I don’t feed you properly or something.”
Luke rolled his eyes and laughed, “Caroline, they don’t think that, honestly. My grandma just wants to make sure she feeds me properly all the time, that’s all. Do you think I’ve really put on weight though?” he asked as patted his stomach concernedly.
“It looks good on you honey, you were getting too skinny lately. I like my men with a bit of meat on them and a little muscle too,” she winked.
Luke grinned and wrapped his free arm around Caroline’s shoulder, pressing a kiss to her temple, “My mission by the end of this year is to find you man. Dreaming has gone on too long, Caro. I’m finding you a man with some meat and muscle on him.”
Caroline slapped Luke’s arm playfully, “I’ll hold you to that, Snyder. It's a shame you're off limits otherwise I would've had you already," she joked.
"Wow, I didn't know you were such a cougar."
"Honey, I like my meat young," she said whilst laughing. She looked at her daughter and ran her hand through her hair, smiling at how happy she looked. Bella was showing no signs of letting go of Luke, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, as she watched her mom and Luke talking to each other.
“Bella, sweetie, how about you let your boyfriend freshen up and get some rest. The café’s going to get busy now and I need all hands on deck.”
“But Mommy, I want to stay with Luke,” she said pouting, burying her head into Luke’s neck.
Luke rubbed his hand up and down her back and chuckled. “How about you let me go now and then later I can give you your present. Ethan sent something for you something too...”
Her eyes widened in joy, “He did?”
“He sure did, but I have to unpack first and I can only do that if I can go.”
“Okay then, but don’t forget...I want it before bedtime,” she said pointedly.
“Yes Madam, I promise,” he saluted.
“Okay,” she said and wriggled out of Luke’s arms and onto the floor, running back over to the table in the corner and got back to her colouring.
Luke smiled fondly at the scene, and turned back to look at Caroline who wrapped her arm around his waist.
"Luke, you didn't have to get anything for her, you spoil her too much."
"It's no trouble and I love spoiling her. But, she has a good head on her shoulders like her mother, so I'm sure she'll turn out fine."
Caroline squeezed his hip and nudged him playfully, “You’re a flatterer, you are.”
Luke winked at her, making her laugh before they moved out of the way and behind the counter. “When did Bella get back from her dad’s?” Luke asked.
“Just yesterday. Her dad had dibs on New Year’s but thank god it was only for a week. I don’t think I could survive longer without her.”
“You’re her mom, of course you couldn’t,” Luke answered, knowing how hard it was for her to let Bella go.
“Yeah, well, it’s something that I’ll have to get used to till she’s eighteen, I’m afraid. Anyway, you go and freshen up and I can whip you up some of your favourites for dinner, what do you say?”
“That sounds great, thank you.”
Luke made his way upstairs to his apartment, but not before saying his quick ‘hello’s’ to the rest of the staff at the café, Fred the cook and Tina, the other waitress. Not feeling like unpacking right at that moment, he slumped down onto his bed and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He’d missed Caroline and her daughter on his trip back home to Oakdale and wished that he could’ve brought them along.
When he’d first moved to Dallas for his first year of college, he’d been lucky enough to find dorms to stay in and although studying took up much of his time, he wanted to do some work on the side. When he found a job at ‘Caro’s Café’, he knew he’d found the perfect place. Caroline needed all the help she could get with Bella only just over two years old at the time, and the addition of Luke made all the difference. Caroline and Luke struck up an immediate friendship and when in his second year Luke had needed an apartment to rent, he took up Caroline’s offer of the small apartment above the café and after that, Luke didn’t look back. He knew that he could easily afford his own larger apartment and he didn’t even need to work, but he wanted to be a normal college kid, even if he was a little older than most of them there.
In time, Caroline became Luke’s best friend but also his boss, which she was quick to remind him of every time, jokingly. Bella helped Luke cope with leaving his siblings and family behind. She in no way replaced them, but made her own pretty big space in his heart. Watching her grow up, going to school, seeing her learn things, listening to her babble on about her day at school like it was a day at the office was something Luke loved to see. At nearly five years old, she was one of the smartest kids in school and Luke couldn’t be prouder or happier.
Despite all of that, there was still this ache in his heart that never failed to abate. Something was missing from his life, and as much as Luke tried to fill that void with other things, it never went away and so he chose to ignore it. It had been almost three years and that memory still pierced his heart like it was yesterday and he wondered when the hell he would just get over it.
Luke exhaled loudly, shaking his head to rid himself of those errant memories and dragged himself into the shower. He was looking forward to his final few months of studying and the uncertainty of what would happen in the future. For once, that uncertainty was a good thing.
***
After they’d closed the café that night, Luke, Caroline and the rest of the staff had sat down to eat together as they usually did. Bella in all her excitement had fallen asleep in Luke’s lap as the night went on, content and happy that her friend was back again. She had been most pleased with her gift from Luke and Ethan’s gift, she proclaimed, was her favourite. They all had an early night and Luke offered to open up in the morning, with it being a Sunday. Caroline took him up on the offer but warned him that Bella would probably join him, not that he minded anyway.
Caroline was indeed right and when Luke opened up at 7am the next morning, Bella had made her way downstairs in her pyjamas and kissed Luke good morning before helping him set the silverware on the table. Fred came in a little later and set to work in the kitchen, and of course prepare Bella’s usual Sunday morning breakfast.
Luke had just gone to the kitchen to check up on Fred and when he came out, he saw the Bella talking animatedly to their first customer of the day. He seemed to be intently listening, nodding along as she chattered away however also looking a little intimidated. But when Luke caught a glimpse of the man’s face, he thought things like this only happened in movies, but if he was honest, his breath was literally taken away.
The winter sun pouring in through the large windows highlighted the man’s auburn hair and his blue, blue eyes. His face was flawless, his pronounced cheekbones almost regal, and he had an air of authority about him made him even more attractive in his eyes, although Luke felt that the facial hair that the man had was hiding what he thought was an incredibly stunning face. Luke snapped out of his daze and took a deep breath, ridding himself of these stupid feelings, it’s not like he’d had much success in the man department anyway.
As Luke approached them, he saw the man glance up at him and narrow his eyes in interest, but he noticed a hint of a smile on his lips and Luke wasn’t too sure what to make of it.
Luke smiled apologetically as he wrapped an arm around Bella, lifting her up and into his arms, “I’m sorry about Bella, she tends to talk too much, don’t you?”
Bella pouted exaggeratedly and crossed her arms, “I do not.”
“Let’s leave this argument for another time,” Luke laughed, “Why don’t you go and eat your breakfast? Fred has it all ready for you.”
“Strawberry pancakes?” she asked excitedly, her annoyance forgotten.
“With extra strawberries too,” Luke added.
Bella beamed a huge smile and Luke let her drop the floor but before she left, she turned back to look at the man, “Bye Dr. Ollie, have a nice day,” she waved.
Luke turned back to see the auburn haired man wave back with a smile. He watched Bella, her curls bouncing, as she made her way upstairs and faced the man again.
“I’m sorry if she was bugging you,” Luke said, laughing nervously. “She has this habit of talking too much and I’m guessing she found out your life history in the minute I left her alone with you.”
The man huffed out a laugh and rubbed a hand over his face, “No, it’s okay. She’s not too bad for a little person and she’s definitely the most civil person I’ve had a chance to talk to in a long time, actually.”
Luke suppressed a smile and finally caught a glimpse of the man’s uniform, a set of blue scrubs and a hospital badge attached to one side, “Off to work?”
The man glanced down at himself before looking back up, “Yup, hence the early morning visit here. Could I get that coffee by any chance?” he asked with a smirk.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I guess I have a habit of talking too much, too. Coffee to go?”
“That would be great.”
Luke cursed himself inwardly at how stupid he was being. He ran a hand through his hair and got to work getting the man his coffee and in the spur of the moment, he wrapped up a slice of warm apple pie which had just been made this morning. He handed over the coffee and pie and when the man went to pay, Luke waved the money away.
“It’s on the house this time since you’re new here.”
“How did you know I was new?” the man asked, a little taken aback.
“I just did,” Luke shrugged.
The man nodded uncertainly, his eyes creasing with a smile. “Thank you for this,” he motioned to the pie and coffee, “but...there’s one thing I don’t like.”
“What’s that?”
“I now owe you something,” he said as he smiled wryly.
“Oh,” Luke sighed dramatically, “well, I promise not to ask for anything you can’t give me,” he joked.
The man quirked an eyebrow and chuckled softly, “Okay then. Just as long as it’s within limits, I’ll be amenable to anything.”
Luke laughed, his eyes dropping to his counter before he looked back up at the man, his bright blue eyes finding his own making his heart beat irrationally faster, and he didn’t know what the hell to say.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you around then,” the man nodded his goodbye with a soft smile, before making his way out the café.
Luke finally took a breath that he didn’t even know he’d been holding. He dropped his head into his hands and groaned with embarrassment. He knew this was just a passing attraction or something, and he didn’t want to dwell on it or make it anything it wasn’t. The doctor probably wasn’t even gay knowing his luck. But once school started up again, he was sure he would hardly see the man anyway but that didn’t quell the hodgepodge of feelings that were bubbling up inside of him. Luke mentally shook himself and took a deep breath. The day had to go on, regardless of whatever distractions he may face in the future.