Fic: Coming Home 41/?
Author: PABWECG (aka Patricia)
Title: Coming Home
Genre/Type: Romance
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Luke/Noah, Lily/Holden, Casey, Katie, Bob, assorted little people, possibly others
Warnings: None really, except some Nuke intimacy
Summary: Luke and Noah moved to L.A. in the Summer of 2009 for Noah to do his last year of school with an internship of sorts (no Mason, no blindness, etc. Everything else in their history has happened). Reid arrived, temporarily, at Memorial in August 2010.
Thank you Slayerkitty for being my beta!!!
Previous Chapters: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21/ 22/ 23/ 24/ 25/ 26/ 27/ 28/ 29/ 30/ 31/ 32/ 33/ 34/ 35/ 36/ 37/ 38/ 39/ 40/
Chapter 41
Reid lay on the living room floor, propped up on his elbows, and Jacob carried another book over to him. Reid read him one page before Jacob removed it from his hands and proceeded to “read” it aloud to him instead. He watched as the little boy randomly turned the pages, very seriously babbling away, before setting it down to toddle over to the small shelf to get another one. This had been going on for about ten minutes now.
As he kept an eye on the little boy, his mind wandered back to the weekend. Things with Stephen had gone from wonderful but awkward to just plain wonderful. And he’d met Luke, and they had really connected; he wasn’t sure how or when that had happened, but he could have sworn that there were times when Luke and Stephen were sharing secrets he wasn’t privy to. He tried to be annoyed by that, but how could he be bothered at all by the sight of the two most important people in his life getting along so well?
When Stephen was saying farewells at the hospital, Monday morning, before Reid took him to the airport, Luke had thanked him; Reid wasn’t sure what Luke was thanking him for, but Stephen had very characteristically shrugged, and pulled Luke in for a quick hug.
Reid, right now, felt like the luckiest person in the world. He had good friends in Bob and Katie; he’d found a home in this little town and its little hospital; he was enjoying his work; Stephen might come to Oakdale, as both his favorite colleague and best friend; and Luke…he loved Luke, and now Luke knew that. He truly had everything he could possibly want in life - even things he never knew he wanted.
Jacob came back and sat in Reid’s lap with a book about a hungry caterpillar when the phone rang. Opening it, he saw the phone number and smiled. “Dr. Lewis! Carve into anyone’s head this afternoon?”
“Lovely, Reid…just lovely.” Stephen answered.
Reid laughed. “So, what’s up?” he asked.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know where things stand…regarding the position in Oakdale.” Stephen said.
“Okay.” Reid answered cautiously.
“I said yes…to Kyle.”
“I see?” Reid said, not seeing clearly at all. “You said yes to Kyle, to move in together.”
“Yes.” Was all Stephen said.
“So…is that a no to Oakdale?” Reid tried to prepare himself for the blow.
“No…it was a yes to Kyle…a yes to me and Kyle.” Stephen paused. “The decision on Oakdale…well, we’re thinking about it.”
Reid nodded his head slowly - like an epiphany. “Ah, right. Of course. Together, yes…of course you’ll decide that together since…well, you’re together.” He continued to nod his head, even though no one but Jacob could see it. “Okay, great. Well, let me know when you know.” Reid’s walls were going up.
“Reid.” Stephen said.
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“What?” Reid said again, and Stephen remained silent. Reid sighed. “I’m sorry…right, we’re going to be honest, even with the hard stuff.” After another moment, he went on. “I know you’re with Kyle, and I’m good with that, actually I’m happy with that because I can see how happy you are. I’m just adjusting to the idea that…”
“That there’s another man in my life.”
“Yes. Which sounds totally ridiculous, since I love Luke and I’m so happy for you and Kyle, it’s just that…”
“For years it was just you and me.”
“Yeah.” Reid raised his eyebrows, confounded by all this emotional stuff once again.
“Hey.”
“Huh?” Reid responded.
“It’s still you and me…in a way. It’s just…”
“It’s you and him first.” Reid said, knowing that if the shoe were on the other foot, he’d say the same thing.
“For some things, yeah. But you know that if you ever need me, I’m there. There’s no saying that I can’t love you both.”
“Same here.” Reid said. “I guess it was just so incredible to have you here, to have my best friend back.”
“I am back…we’re back, Reid. No matter how many miles apart we are.”
“Good.” That was what Reid needed to hear. The five years’ distance had been too long. He wasn’t going there again. “Okay, well…”
“Reid, we’re thinking about it. Really we are. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think we’re leaning in Oakdale’s direction. But, we’ll see, and I’ll know soon.”
“Okay.” Reid smiled with gratitude into the phone. “Well, you take care of him…it’s special…when you find that right person…hang on to him, even if it means saying no to this new wing…and to me.”
“It won’t come down to that, Reid…saying no to you…just Oakdale.”
“Well, I won’t lie…I’m glad for that.” Reid said, smiling again. After a moment, he added, “I told him…that I love him.”
“I’m glad, Reid.”
“He already knew.”
“Of course he did.” Stephen said, and Reid chuckled. “You hang onto him, Reid. He’s a good man; smart, generous, cute.” Reid laughed. “A little young, perhaps.”
“Look who’s talking.” Reid said. “How old’s Kyle?”
“Twenty seven.”
“Okay, so that’s only eleven years…where as I’m thirteen years older than Luke…I guess we’re both a couple of cradle robbers.”
Stephen laughed. “Reid?”
“Hmmm?”
“We’ve both found our someone - that’s kinda weird in a way…and really kinda wonderful, don’t you think?”
Reid smiled into the phone. “Yeah, it is…weird, but wonderful.”
Luke piled his few summer clothes into a box on the bed, next to his boxes of books and other belongings he had left at his parents when he’d moved to California. There wasn’t much really. When he’d come to Oakdale in October, he had only packed for the week; since then he’d purchased the things he’d needed, not wanting to call Noah.
He picked up the list he had made - the list of things that he really needed from his and Noah’s apartment - and he dialed the all-too-familiar phone number. This was the landline, and Luke was hoping Noah wouldn’t be home, so he could just leave a brief polite message. No such luck though. Noah picked up after the second ring.
“Luke?”
“Hi, yeah it’s me.” They were both silent for a few moments and Luke realized that he hadn’t spoken to Noah in over a month. He didn’t think they’d ever done that before, not even when Noah had needed his space. “So, how are you?” Luke asked, feeling very awkward.
“Um…okay.” Noah answered.
Luke nodded his head. Why hadn’t he figured out ahead of time just exactly what he wanted to say? “Good.” He said lamely. “Well, um…” he began.
“How are you, Luke?” Luke stood up, one hand in his pocket, rocking back onto his heels nervously.
“What? Um, fine…I’m fine.” He nodded again repeatedly. His words were all gone…and he bit his lower lip. God, maybe he should just buy all new stuff…but no, there were personal things…things he couldn’t replace.
“So…why are you calling?” Noah asked quietly, pulling Luke out of his thoughts.
“I um…” he exhaled. “I need…well, there are some things I need…at the apartment.”
Noah laughed bitterly. “And here I thought maybe you were calling to talk to me.”
“I was…I mean, I do want to talk to you. How are you?” Luke asked, realizing he wasn't at all concerned about Noah’s well-being.
Noah exhaled. “How am I? Luke, would you have even called, if you weren’t looking for you stuff? Honestly?”
Luke closed his eyes. Why was it always so exhausting talking to Noah? “You’re right. I probably wouldn’t have.”
“Great.” Noah said. “So, why do you need your stuff all of a sudden?”
“Because I’m moving out of my parents’ house.” Luke answered.
“Moving in with Reid, are you?”
“That’s none of your business, Noah.” Luke was annoyed.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Noah said.
Luke realized that he could have set Noah straight, told him that no, for the first time in his life he was going to have his own place, but it really was none of Noah’s business anymore. “There’s just a few things I really need, Noah. Some personal things - irreplaceable things.”
“Unlike me, right? I was certainly replaceable.”
Luke inhaled and then hissed it back out silently, gritting his teeth, saying nothing.
“Fine.” Noah continued. “What is it you need?” After a moment's silence, Noah went on. “Luke, I’m only going to ask one more time. Tell me what you need.”
Luke read him the list.
“Just set it aside, Noah. I can arrange to have someone pack it up and ship it here.”
“No. I’ll do it, Luke.”
“Noah?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“That things are so…ugly between us right now.”
“Well, you know why that is, don’t you?”
Luke didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry.” Noah said. “That wasn’t fair. You were right.”
“About what?”
“After I left, when we talked on the phone. You said we hadn’t been happy in a long time…you were right. I’m not sure why, but...we weren’t happy. It wasn’t because of him…because of Reid.”
“Noah?”
“Yes?”
“I hope you can be happy. I want that for both of us.”
“Me too.” Noah said. “We’ll see, I guess. Well, I gotta go, Luke. This is…too hard.”
“I’m sorry, Noah.” Luke said again.
“I know. I’ll get you your stuff. Take care, Luke.” And he hung up and slowly Luke did as well, feeling like he had just cut another string - it was a freeing feeling, but still a bit strange.
next part/
Title: Coming Home
Genre/Type: Romance
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Luke/Noah, Lily/Holden, Casey, Katie, Bob, assorted little people, possibly others
Warnings: None really, except some Nuke intimacy
Summary: Luke and Noah moved to L.A. in the Summer of 2009 for Noah to do his last year of school with an internship of sorts (no Mason, no blindness, etc. Everything else in their history has happened). Reid arrived, temporarily, at Memorial in August 2010.
Thank you Slayerkitty for being my beta!!!
Previous Chapters: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21/ 22/ 23/ 24/ 25/ 26/ 27/ 28/ 29/ 30/ 31/ 32/ 33/ 34/ 35/ 36/ 37/ 38/ 39/ 40/
Chapter 41
Reid lay on the living room floor, propped up on his elbows, and Jacob carried another book over to him. Reid read him one page before Jacob removed it from his hands and proceeded to “read” it aloud to him instead. He watched as the little boy randomly turned the pages, very seriously babbling away, before setting it down to toddle over to the small shelf to get another one. This had been going on for about ten minutes now.
As he kept an eye on the little boy, his mind wandered back to the weekend. Things with Stephen had gone from wonderful but awkward to just plain wonderful. And he’d met Luke, and they had really connected; he wasn’t sure how or when that had happened, but he could have sworn that there were times when Luke and Stephen were sharing secrets he wasn’t privy to. He tried to be annoyed by that, but how could he be bothered at all by the sight of the two most important people in his life getting along so well?
When Stephen was saying farewells at the hospital, Monday morning, before Reid took him to the airport, Luke had thanked him; Reid wasn’t sure what Luke was thanking him for, but Stephen had very characteristically shrugged, and pulled Luke in for a quick hug.
Reid, right now, felt like the luckiest person in the world. He had good friends in Bob and Katie; he’d found a home in this little town and its little hospital; he was enjoying his work; Stephen might come to Oakdale, as both his favorite colleague and best friend; and Luke…he loved Luke, and now Luke knew that. He truly had everything he could possibly want in life - even things he never knew he wanted.
Jacob came back and sat in Reid’s lap with a book about a hungry caterpillar when the phone rang. Opening it, he saw the phone number and smiled. “Dr. Lewis! Carve into anyone’s head this afternoon?”
“Lovely, Reid…just lovely.” Stephen answered.
Reid laughed. “So, what’s up?” he asked.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know where things stand…regarding the position in Oakdale.” Stephen said.
“Okay.” Reid answered cautiously.
“I said yes…to Kyle.”
“I see?” Reid said, not seeing clearly at all. “You said yes to Kyle, to move in together.”
“Yes.” Was all Stephen said.
“So…is that a no to Oakdale?” Reid tried to prepare himself for the blow.
“No…it was a yes to Kyle…a yes to me and Kyle.” Stephen paused. “The decision on Oakdale…well, we’re thinking about it.”
Reid nodded his head slowly - like an epiphany. “Ah, right. Of course. Together, yes…of course you’ll decide that together since…well, you’re together.” He continued to nod his head, even though no one but Jacob could see it. “Okay, great. Well, let me know when you know.” Reid’s walls were going up.
“Reid.” Stephen said.
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“What?” Reid said again, and Stephen remained silent. Reid sighed. “I’m sorry…right, we’re going to be honest, even with the hard stuff.” After another moment, he went on. “I know you’re with Kyle, and I’m good with that, actually I’m happy with that because I can see how happy you are. I’m just adjusting to the idea that…”
“That there’s another man in my life.”
“Yes. Which sounds totally ridiculous, since I love Luke and I’m so happy for you and Kyle, it’s just that…”
“For years it was just you and me.”
“Yeah.” Reid raised his eyebrows, confounded by all this emotional stuff once again.
“Hey.”
“Huh?” Reid responded.
“It’s still you and me…in a way. It’s just…”
“It’s you and him first.” Reid said, knowing that if the shoe were on the other foot, he’d say the same thing.
“For some things, yeah. But you know that if you ever need me, I’m there. There’s no saying that I can’t love you both.”
“Same here.” Reid said. “I guess it was just so incredible to have you here, to have my best friend back.”
“I am back…we’re back, Reid. No matter how many miles apart we are.”
“Good.” That was what Reid needed to hear. The five years’ distance had been too long. He wasn’t going there again. “Okay, well…”
“Reid, we’re thinking about it. Really we are. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think we’re leaning in Oakdale’s direction. But, we’ll see, and I’ll know soon.”
“Okay.” Reid smiled with gratitude into the phone. “Well, you take care of him…it’s special…when you find that right person…hang on to him, even if it means saying no to this new wing…and to me.”
“It won’t come down to that, Reid…saying no to you…just Oakdale.”
“Well, I won’t lie…I’m glad for that.” Reid said, smiling again. After a moment, he added, “I told him…that I love him.”
“I’m glad, Reid.”
“He already knew.”
“Of course he did.” Stephen said, and Reid chuckled. “You hang onto him, Reid. He’s a good man; smart, generous, cute.” Reid laughed. “A little young, perhaps.”
“Look who’s talking.” Reid said. “How old’s Kyle?”
“Twenty seven.”
“Okay, so that’s only eleven years…where as I’m thirteen years older than Luke…I guess we’re both a couple of cradle robbers.”
Stephen laughed. “Reid?”
“Hmmm?”
“We’ve both found our someone - that’s kinda weird in a way…and really kinda wonderful, don’t you think?”
Reid smiled into the phone. “Yeah, it is…weird, but wonderful.”
Luke piled his few summer clothes into a box on the bed, next to his boxes of books and other belongings he had left at his parents when he’d moved to California. There wasn’t much really. When he’d come to Oakdale in October, he had only packed for the week; since then he’d purchased the things he’d needed, not wanting to call Noah.
He picked up the list he had made - the list of things that he really needed from his and Noah’s apartment - and he dialed the all-too-familiar phone number. This was the landline, and Luke was hoping Noah wouldn’t be home, so he could just leave a brief polite message. No such luck though. Noah picked up after the second ring.
“Luke?”
“Hi, yeah it’s me.” They were both silent for a few moments and Luke realized that he hadn’t spoken to Noah in over a month. He didn’t think they’d ever done that before, not even when Noah had needed his space. “So, how are you?” Luke asked, feeling very awkward.
“Um…okay.” Noah answered.
Luke nodded his head. Why hadn’t he figured out ahead of time just exactly what he wanted to say? “Good.” He said lamely. “Well, um…” he began.
“How are you, Luke?” Luke stood up, one hand in his pocket, rocking back onto his heels nervously.
“What? Um, fine…I’m fine.” He nodded again repeatedly. His words were all gone…and he bit his lower lip. God, maybe he should just buy all new stuff…but no, there were personal things…things he couldn’t replace.
“So…why are you calling?” Noah asked quietly, pulling Luke out of his thoughts.
“I um…” he exhaled. “I need…well, there are some things I need…at the apartment.”
Noah laughed bitterly. “And here I thought maybe you were calling to talk to me.”
“I was…I mean, I do want to talk to you. How are you?” Luke asked, realizing he wasn't at all concerned about Noah’s well-being.
Noah exhaled. “How am I? Luke, would you have even called, if you weren’t looking for you stuff? Honestly?”
Luke closed his eyes. Why was it always so exhausting talking to Noah? “You’re right. I probably wouldn’t have.”
“Great.” Noah said. “So, why do you need your stuff all of a sudden?”
“Because I’m moving out of my parents’ house.” Luke answered.
“Moving in with Reid, are you?”
“That’s none of your business, Noah.” Luke was annoyed.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Noah said.
Luke realized that he could have set Noah straight, told him that no, for the first time in his life he was going to have his own place, but it really was none of Noah’s business anymore. “There’s just a few things I really need, Noah. Some personal things - irreplaceable things.”
“Unlike me, right? I was certainly replaceable.”
Luke inhaled and then hissed it back out silently, gritting his teeth, saying nothing.
“Fine.” Noah continued. “What is it you need?” After a moment's silence, Noah went on. “Luke, I’m only going to ask one more time. Tell me what you need.”
Luke read him the list.
“Just set it aside, Noah. I can arrange to have someone pack it up and ship it here.”
“No. I’ll do it, Luke.”
“Noah?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“That things are so…ugly between us right now.”
“Well, you know why that is, don’t you?”
Luke didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry.” Noah said. “That wasn’t fair. You were right.”
“About what?”
“After I left, when we talked on the phone. You said we hadn’t been happy in a long time…you were right. I’m not sure why, but...we weren’t happy. It wasn’t because of him…because of Reid.”
“Noah?”
“Yes?”
“I hope you can be happy. I want that for both of us.”
“Me too.” Noah said. “We’ll see, I guess. Well, I gotta go, Luke. This is…too hard.”
“I’m sorry, Noah.” Luke said again.
“I know. I’ll get you your stuff. Take care, Luke.” And he hung up and slowly Luke did as well, feeling like he had just cut another string - it was a freeing feeling, but still a bit strange.
next part/