Science and Faith (5/?)

[bhumimak]

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 a gorgeous song of the same title 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: Sorry for the lateness...LJ has been acting really stupid as you guys probably know hence the delay in posting this chapter! If LJ behaves I hope to update more regularly!  Thank you to the wonderful traciamc for the beta! Feedback would be loved! Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

“Hey, hot stuff,” Reid heard from behind him. He then felt a hard slap to his ass, making him jump and almost yell out loud, almost. Instead, he turned around and sent a scowl to his best friend, knowing that it couldn’t be anyone but her.

“Go away, Grace. I don’t have time for this.”

“Time for what?”

“Time for...” Reid waggled his fingers between the both of them before looking down at his chart going back to writing his notes, “...whatever comes out your mouth.”

Grace pulled a face, “Bastard.” She sighed before pursing her lips, “Fine then, you won’t be getting this awesome lunch I got for you.”

Reid’s head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes, “What?”

“Nothing! It’s just...I know you just came back from a long surgery and you haven’t had a chance to eat, and to thank you for the other day with the babysitting I thought I could get you some lunch and we could eat together. But...” she shrugged sadly, producing a bag which seemed to be heaving with food from behind her back, “...you don’t want to hear anything that comes out my mouth so...”

“What’s in the bag?”

“What? This bag?” she said, waving the bag in front of Reid’s face. “Nothing much, just an amazing burger, with fries and a chocolate milkshake plus an amazing piece of your favourite dessert, pie.”

Reid took a breath, finishing off the notes quickly on his chart before handing it back over to the nurse. He faced Grace again with a fake but bright smile, “You’re looking very pretty today Grace, I must say.”

Grace pressed her lips together, trying not to smile, knowing that she had him eating out the palm of her hand. “Oh really? Reid, thank you so much,” she said patting his cheek. “Now, since you don’t want this, I’m just going to go into my office and have my lunch. I’ll see you later!” She waved and walked back down the hallway however she didn’t get too far alone once Reid wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“How about we take this lunch into my office, sweetheart?” he said with a smirk.

Grace snorted, rolling her eyes, “Sweetheart? Seriously?” But she then sighed, huffing a laugh and wrapped her arm around his waist, but not before giving his ass another squeeze, “Sure thing honeybun. That sounds like a great idea.”

***

“So, Reid...”

“Yeah?” asked Reid, looking up at Grace whilst still chewing on the last bit of his burger. He was seated on the sofa in his office, on leg bent under him facing Grace, who was sitting cross -legged facing him. The food had all been laid out between them, separated equally so that no sharing would take place since neither Grace nor Reid liked to share their food.

“There’s this guy...” she started.

“Nope,” snapped Reid.

“But Reid, let me finish--”

“No, when the conversation starts with ‘this guy’ I know I don’t want to know so just stop.”

“But he’s so hot,” she whined.

“I don’t care.”

“Reid, he’s fucking British and he has the accent...the accent! And, I know you’re a sucker for it, remember Harry?” she asked with a knowing smile.

Reid sent her a puzzled look, “Who?”

“’Harry oh Blimey? The guy who moaned ‘Oh blimey’ in throes of passion leaving me sleepless at night because all I could hear was a chorus of, ‘Oh fuck’ from you and ‘Oh blimey’ from him, all night.”

Reid laughed softly as he remembered, “Oh yeah, he wasn’t so bad.”

“Wasn’t so bad? Okay, forget about the annoying sex sounds for the moment, but his looks combined with the accent, holy crap, so hot.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So the guy I’m talking about is this professor...”

“No...I don’t want to date anyone. I don’t have the time for anything like that.”

“Reid!”

“Grace...”

Grace carried on talking anyway, “He’s this friend of Dan’s, his name is Dexter Gray and he’s an English professor who’s actually from England teaching at a college here. He’s like a hot nerd, kinda like you were, I mean are. Oh, oh, and he’s got these sexy frameless glasses, bright blue eyes, and he wears these tight jeans and oh my god, trust me, he’s got a nice ass and--”

“Does your husband know that you’ve been eyeing up his friends?”

“Only the one that he knows are gay,” she grinned.

“You have a few screws loose in that head of yours.”

“Lucky you’re there to fix them for me.”

Reid rolled his eyes, “Look Grace, no guys, British or otherwise. I don’t want to date anyone.”

“Why are you so against dating someone? Is it because there’s someone on your mind?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Is it this Luke guy?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows.

Reid scoffed as he downed the last of his milkshake, wanting to avoid saying anything more to fuel the situation.

Grace gasped, “Holy shit! It totally is!”

Reid swallowed hard and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “No, it isn’t him or it anyone else for that matter. Like I said I don’t have the time for dating, relationships or men in general.”

“Who said anything about relationships?” asked Grace with a sly smile on her face. Reid was momentarily lost for words and dropped his eyes to the couch. He cleared his throat and tried to change the subject to something that he was slightly more comfortable talking about.

“By the way, where did you get the food from?”

Grace dropped the ‘relationship’ thing knowing that forcing Reid to talk wasn’t such a good idea, not right now anyway. “Just this place,” she replied quickly, finishing off her burger.

Reid narrowed his eyes in suspicion, knowing that something was off in the tone of Grace’s voice, “Which place?”

“Just this place, Reid, why do I have to be so specific?” she said, avoiding his eyes as she chewed on some fries slowly.

“Which place, Grace?” Reid asked firmly.

“Caro’s Café,” she said quietly, hunching her shoulders and ducking her head for the inevitable tirade that would fall upon her.

Reid ducked his head to catch her eyes before glaring at her, “For fuck’s sake, I told you not to go there!”

Grace exhaled sharply, not wanting to put up with his shit, “Calm down, Reidette, I didn’t go and ask for Luke or mention anything. I just ordered the food, took it and left. Oh, but I did have a good look around - he wasn’t there. I was very disappointed.”

Reid groaned in frustration, holding his head in his hands. “Why are you so annoyed about the fact that I went there, Reid?” asked Grace. “I mean, if this guy doesn’t mean anything to you then it shouldn’t be that big of a problem, should it?”

“It isn’t a problem,” Reid lifted his head from his hands plastering a fake smile on his face. “Do whatever the fuck you want, I don’t give a damn.”

“Whatever, Reid...I know you. You give a damn, you so give a damn.”

“Urgh, whatever, Grace.” Reid swiftly got to his feet, packing away all their rubbish and throwing it in the trash. “Look, I have this shit meeting to go to about budgets or staff or something and you’re annoying me so go away.” Reid pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stifle the headache that was forming.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” She walked up behind him and massaged his shoulders for him, pressing gently but enough to ease the tension. “Is the meeting long?”

“An hour or two, I don’t know,” he sighed. “Hopefully it’ll be over quick so I can go home and get some sleep.”

“You’ve been working all night?” asked Grace, as she released him from her hold and sat down on his desk facing him.

“Yup, and then this surgery came up so I couldn’t rest.”

“Reid, you’ve been working too hard, taking on extra shifts for those who had family emergencies or whatever. And I can’t believe I didn’t mention this before, but Jesus, you look like Jesus.”

Reid was confused for a moment but then rubbed a hand over his face wondering whether Grace was overreacting or not, 'Shit,’ he thought, ‘I really do need a shave.’

The only things he’d had time for these days were to shower, sleep and eat, and then come back to the hospital to work...the daily grind, which he loved. Even though he’d had the urge to go back to the café, he’d been too busy to contemplate it. And anyway, a haircut, a shave and the café weren’t high up on his list these days, saving lives...well that was his priority. “Better than Judas though, right?” he said with a smirk.

“Shut up, jerk,” she swatted his arm, “That scruff is hiding all your gorgeousness.”

“But isn’t it what’s on the inside that counts?”

“Ha ha, but get rid of the monstrosity on your face as soon as possible. I don’t want you to be missing out on all the beautiful men out there.”

“I can get men, no matter what I look like.”

“I’m sure you can,” she winked whilst laughing. “By the way, Ava misses you, you know.”

Reid narrowed his eyes as a smile curled up on his lips, “Are you just trying to rope me in to babysitting her again?”

Grace widened her eyes innocently, “No, why would you ever think that?” She grinned, hopping off Reid’s desk planting a kiss on his cheek. “I’m going to head off because I’ve got an appointment with a lovely little boy who is way nicer to me than you are.”

Reid rolled his eyes and led Grace to the door, “How is Drew by the way? Is his speech back to normal yet?”

“Shouldn’t be long now, he’s forming words and is able to ask for simple things. But, he wouldn’t even be able to do that if it wasn’t for you.”

“Yeah, well he was in a coma for a few days and he’s still young and fucking cheeky for a six-year old, he’ll be back to normal in no time. He’s a strong little guy.”

“Reid, I’m trying to give you a compliment and you’re deflecting it? What has the world come to?”

“I know I’m amazing but I don’t need to be told all the time. Plus, I’m just doing my job.”

“You’re unbelievable,” breathed Grace, unable to understand what the hell Reid was made from to make him so unique. Reid smirked back at her knowing that an answer was not needed, he knew he was unbelievable after all. “Anyway,” Grace said as she stepped out the door, “Drew asked about you so make sure you go and see him when you’re done today, okay?”

Reid nodded sharply as Grace winked once more. “Call me later?” she asked. Reid nodded again and sent her a crooked smile before watching her make her way down the hallway. He shut the door and slumped down in his chair behind his desk, leaning his head on the headrest. If it wasn’t for this meeting, he would be on his way home by now and maybe, just maybe, he might have picked up some food from the café.

He shook those errant thoughts out of his head and glanced down at his watch. He had just over twenty minutes left until the meeting, which was more than enough time to eat the slice of peach pie. “Oh my god”, he moaned as he took a bite, chewing slowly wanting to savour the taste. If he was going to go back to the café for anything, it was the pie and only the pie...maybe.

***

Reid’s eyes were fixed on the table as he tried to block out the monotone voice of his Chief of Staff. Dr. Morrison was a decent guy and a good doctor, but man, did he waffle on. Reid hadn’t been so bored in a long time; he’d rather either be eating or doing his work, not sitting here listening to...whatever the old man was talking about. He wished that Grace had been with him to reduce the boredom somewhat, but she’d gone home after finishing her rounds since Dan had a shift.

Reid glanced around the room noticing that he didn’t seem to be the only one whose attention was elsewhere. Some were listening intently, taking notes as the COS talked, but a few of them were doodling in their notebooks. One of the other doctors, the young blonde woman, was drawing what seemed to be a lifelike drawing of some guy, ‘Not bad,’ he thought. He sighed and lifted his eyes to the clock in the room, ‘Shit’, it had only been forty minutes and he probably still had another forty minutes of this to endure. Before he could contemplate faking a quick get away by sending an emergency page to Grace, there was a loud knock on the door followed by a door slamming open.

“I’m so sorry, Dr. Morrison. Classes ran over and I--”

Reid turned around at the sound of the familiar voice, his eyes meeting brown, and his skin tingling at the sight of the blonde café kid, who was staring right back at him. He looked good, really good in his suit, his shirt maybe a size too small, unbuttoned a little to reveal the tantalizing view of chest hair which didn’t go unnoticed. His chest was heaving as he tried to get his breath back, realising that he’d most probably run his way there. He watched as Luke licked his dry lips and took a stuttering breath in, his words stopping once he caught sight of the doctor too. His eyes dropped to the floor and he cleared his throat addressing Dr. Morrison again.

“I apologise--”

Dr. Morrison waved his hand in dismissal, “No need Mr. Snyder, better late than never. Although I was starting to worry, please take a seat.”

Luke nodded his thanks, his eyes spectacularly failing to not meet Reid’s as he managed to find a seat that was right in front of him. He sat down carefully, urging himself not to turn around and acknowledge Reid, now knowing why his name had sounded so familiar when he’d heard it from his mouth a few days ago. Reid was confused, so very confused wondering what the hell Luke, or Mr. Snyder was doing here. His question was answered almost immediately.

“To those who don’t know Mr. Snyder, he is our very generous benefactor who has contributed to some of the research projects within the hospital. He was also the one to help us with the Christmas fundraiser last year so thank you for that, Mr. Snyder.”

Luke shook his head, feeling embarrassed if he had to be honest, “It’s nothing more than anyone else would do, please. This hospital has done a lot for me, too. I’m just giving back the best way I can.”

Reid couldn’t believe that it was this ‘generous benefactor’ that was one of the reason that he moved here in the first place. But wasn’t he in college and where the hell did he get all this money from in the first place?

The meeting carried on as normal, well as normal as it could anyway with the exception of the blonde distracting him. He couldn’t do more than just stare at the back of Luke’s head while the old didn’t fail man rambled on about something, but was brought out from his reverie when he heard his name being said accompanied with something that didn’t sit well with him.

“Excuse me, what?” Reid asked, the harsh tone in his voice evident.

Luke turned around in his chair to look at Reid with a look of apology and confusion, which only served to baffle Reid further.

“We’re going to have to cut some of the funding for your research project and put some of the equipment you ordered on hold,” replied Dr. Morrison.

Reid sat up straight in his chair, his hands curling into fists on the table, “What the hell? You can’t do that, I’m not even halfway through and--”

“I’m sorry Dr. Oliver,” Dr. Morrison dismissed his comment with a wave of his hand, “but there’s not much we can do in this matter.”

“What about Richie Rich here?” he said, throwing a glare at Luke. “Can’t he throw some more money into it?”

Before Luke could answer, Dr Morrison stepped in, “Mr. Snyder is already helping us with some extra funding for our paediatrics wing.”

Reid’s eyes dropped to the table, his jaw clenched in annoyance and once again his anger rose irrationally. He had grossly underestimated who Luke was and internally scolded himself for...for what? There was nothing there to be angry about, it wasn’t like they had anything going on, they weren’t friends....they weren’t anything.

The only thing he was angry about was the fact that he wouldn’t be able to help the people that needed it. Reid hadn’t even realised how long he’d been seething and hadn’t said a word until he noticed that people were leaving the room. The meeting was over, thank god. Without thinking he quickly got to his feet and swiftly left the room not wanting to engage in conversation with anyone, least of all, Luke.

Once he was almost halfway down the hallway, Reid heard a voice call out for him and then felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Listen Dr. Oliver, I--”

Reid turned around sharply, dislodging the hand on his shoulder, his nostrils flaring, his voice firm but harsh. “You know what? I don’t want to know! You obviously get your jollies out of taking money from those who need it the most. Instead of building a theme park for the kiddies, how about helping to save them first?”

Luke was taken aback, flinching at the words, offended by such an accusation, “Dr. Oliver, please...”

“Mr. Snyder, I don’t want to hear your excuses so you can keep your money, have fun, while I go and try to do my job with whatever scraps I have left.”

Luke frowned, unable to believe what was coming out of Reid’s mouth, “Just wait--”

“You trust fund brats have this whole persona of being so giving but then just as easily you snatch it away. But you know what? I don’t even know why the hell I’m bothering anyway,” he sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead with his hand. He then turned on his heel and strode down the hall, his white coat flying behind him as he did.

Luke made to walk after him and try to help him understand but knew that there was no point. He couldn’t believe that Reid acted the way he did and what he accused him of was out of line and unnecessary. Luke took a breath and ran a hand through his hair, wondering whether it was a good idea to track him down to try and explain, but he knew it was useless.

Reid hated him and he didn’t know how to fix it.

***

Fulfilling Drew’s request and Grace’s too, once he’d left Luke in the hallway he had gone to see him and spent some time with him whilst teaching him how to play chess. He’d regretted it almost immediately, because he could see that Drew had a flair for it. Maybe there was someone out there who could beat him. It would take a couple of years, but Reid knew that Drew would be as good as he was. Okay maybe not quite as good as him, as Reid was quick to inform Drew. Reid had waited until Drew was asleep and until his mother had come back before he left and went back to his office, mulling over the events of the day.

Thinking about it now, Reid knew that he’d overreacted, but not unnecessarily. But something in Luke’s eyes as he tried to talk to him told him that whatever happened didn’t seem to be his fault. When Dr. Morrison had said that the money was going towards some other things, Luke looked just as shocked and confused as he had. Reid sighed audibly and knew what he had to do next, even though he hated doing it.

***

“Luke!” shouted Bella as he entered the café. He smiled softly and scooped her up in his arms kissing her cheek.

“Hey gorgeous, how was school today?”

“It was amazing! We got to make animals out of paper. Mine was the best though because the others didn’t even read the instructions properly and even my teacher said so. Do you wanna see them, Luke?”

“Maybe later, once I’m done with my homework,” he replied with a smile and Bella grinned back.

“Okay, I’ll show you tonight and then you can see them after I’ve coloured them in.”

“That sounds great,” grinned Luke as he walked behind the counter to kiss Caro hello.

“Hey honey, how was your meeting?”

Luke sat Bella down in her chair and turned to face Caro sighing audibly, his eyes wide.

Caro laughed, “That good, huh?”

“You have no idea,” he said, smiling wryly.

“What happened, sweetie?”

Luke scratched behind his ear nervously, not knowing whether he should tell Caro about it, but there was no way he could keep it inside any longer, “Dr. Oliver was there.”

Caro gasped, “Dr. Sexy was there?”

Luke pressed his lips together to stop himself from smiling, that name brought up images that weren’t needed right now. “Yes, Dr. Oliver was there and it was bad, so, so bad,” he grimaced.

“Oh gosh, what happened?”

Luke inhaled sharply, leaning on the counter, holding his head in his hand, “Remember the money I donated for the research project at the hospital?” Caro nodded as she remembered, “Well,” continued Luke, “That money was for his project, I mean I thought his name was familiar but it just didn’t click, maybe because I was busy with school, I don’t know. But now, Dr. Morrison, the Chief of Staff there, allocated some of that money for the refurbishment of the paediatrics wing and Dr. Oliver has to put a hold on his research.”

“Oh no!”

“Yup, and now, he’s so angry at me because he thought it was my decision. The thing is, it wasn’t and he sort of got all angry and rude and he totally hates me. I don’t know whether I’m gonna get a chance to explain, you know?”

“Sweetie,” Caro moved closer, rubbing his back comfortingly, “I’m sure he’ll listen. Maybe you should go and see him--”

“No way, you should’ve seen him. He wasn’t happy with me at all and definitely won’t want to see me for a few days now.”

“Oh Luke...”

“Caro, it’s okay, but I just hope he gives me a chance to explain what happened because I don’t want him to think that--”

“You don’t care?” Caro finished for him. “Yeah, I get it honey.”

Luke smiled sadly, standing up straight, running a hand through his hair. “I guess...I just think I should wait out tonight and take it from there?”

“That sounds like a plan,” smiled Caroline.

“You need me here tonight?” he asked.

“Nope, I have Tina coming in so you have the night off young man,” she grinned. “Go on, off you go and I’ll bring something up for you later,” she said, patting his cheek.

“Thank you,” smiled Luke gratefully. He hoisted his bag higher onto his shoulder making his way upstairs.

Caro shook her head and sighed, “Boys are so stupid.” She then felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and looked down to see Bella, her vivid green eyes full of concern, “Is Luke okay, Mommy?”

Caro laughed softly, running her hand through her curls delicately, “Luke’s fine, sweetie.”

“Then why does he look kinda sad?”

“He’s not sad, honey. It’s just boys being silly, that’s all.”

“Why are boys so silly though?”

“God knows why, Bella. Just promise me when there’s a problem you just talk it out, okay?”

“I promise,” Bella grinned.

Caro chuckled bending down to press a kiss to her forehead. Now, if only she could make Luke promise her the exact same thing just as easily.

***

Reid was finally on his way home, another emergency surgery coming in just at the last moment meant he had to stay behind for a little longer. He was glad to not be working the next day and sixteen hours of uninterrupted sleep sounded perfect. But once again, thoughts about a certain blonde kid were running around in his head and as much as he tried to not think about him, he thought about him more. He knew that this was something he had to face because he wouldn’t be able to sleep in peace until he could do it. And that’s why he was standing in front of Caro’s Café, contemplating whether he should go in or not. Luke didn’t seem to be around and it looked as if it was closed as no one seemed to be inside. Although the lights were still on, there wasn’t anyone around. Before he could stop himself, he went in anyway.

As soon as he set foot inside, he saw Caroline and Bella walk out the kitchen and they immediately spotted him standing by the counter.

“Oh Dr. Se-I mean Reid. Hi, how are you?” Caroline said, a little shocked to him.

Before Reid could answer, Bella piped in running towards him, “Dr. Ollie! You came late and you just missed dinner, you could’ve eaten dinner with us. We still need to do that!”

Reid chuckled softly, “We do, you have a sharp brain there, young lady. I’ll treat you to dinner very soon, I promise.”

“Okay, I will remember. I have a very good brain, Luke said so.”

“He did? Well I think he’s right.”

“What about your mouth, Bells? Did Luke say something about that? The fact that you talk too much?” Caroline asked Bella, dropping her into her chair.

“Mommy!” she pouted.

Caroline laughed, kissing her forehead, wrapping an arm around her, “I’m kidding honey. Somehow, you got that from your Grandma. I'm sorry about her Reid,” she said facing him. “It’s a hereditary thing I believe.”

“It’s not a problem. Being talkative isn’t a bad thing.”

Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise, “You sure about that?”

“Okay, maybe not so sure,” Reid backtracked smiling whilst Caroline laughed.

“Well then doctor, what can I get you? We’re about to close but I can get you something if you want.”

“Umm, no it’s okay. I was hoping to speak to Luke if he was around?” he asked hesitantly.

Caroline had to force herself to not squeal in joy and clap her hands with excitement, “Luke? He’s upstairs studying at the moment. I can go get him for you though.”

“If he’s studying then I don’t want to disturb him, I’ll come back another time. Thank you,” Reid made to walk away but Caroline stopped him.

“Reid, just wait. I’ll go get him. He’s due a break anyway since he’s been studying since he got back. Just wait there and I’ll leave this monster here to keep you company till then.”

Reid was left with no choice but to wait as Caroline quickly made her way upstairs. He then glanced at Bella who was staring at him curiously. Reid assumed that that this might be a dangerous thing.

“Did you come here to make Luke happy again?” asked Bella matter-of-factly.

Reid frowned, “Why do you say that?”

“’Cause when he came home today he looked sad and I didn’t know why and he’s been in his room all night. So did you come here to make him happy ‘cause I think he really needs it.”

Reid wasn’t too sure how to answer and said the only thing that seemed like the best response, “I guess I did,” he smiled.

Bella immediately perked up, her eyes shining with delight. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luke emerge from behind Bella, a mixture of shock and surprise evident in his face. His hand instantly reached up to flatten his hair as he walked toward him.

“Oh umm, hi,” Luke said hesitantly, now knowing what the hell else to say.

“Hey,” Reid answered, smiling softly.

Caroline looked between the both of them knowing that it was best to leave them alone and then get the juicy details from Luke later.

“Alright boys, us girls will head off now. Luke, can you lock up for me since I won’t be coming back downstairs? I need to put Bells to bed too.”

Luke nodded as Caroline passed the keys over and gave him a wink, making Luke shoot her a glare, a little pissed that Caroline hadn’t told him who it was exactly who had wanted to see him. He wasn’t exactly dressed appropriately either, a pair of sweat pants and a plain v-necked white t-shirt, his hair all tousled and un-styled, he knew he looked a state.

“Come on Bella, let’s go now, and say good night,” she said, grabbing her hand as she hopped off the chair.

“Night, Luke...night, Dr. Ollie,” waved Bella.

“Good night, Bella,” the both of them replied in unison making Caro and Bella giggle as they made their way upstairs.

Luke watched them for a moment, his back facing Reid. He tried to compose himself before he had to talk to him and wondered why he was there. Well, there was only one way to find out. He took a deep breath and finally faced him, trying to dampen down his nervousness, “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.

Reid sighed, “Look, about earlier today...”

Luke squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head, “It’s okay--”

“No, please, just let me say this because I don’t really do this kind of thing often.”

Luke folded his arms across his chest, smirking, “What? Apologise for mouthing off at me?”

Reid laughed softly, rubbing his hand under his nose, the hint of amusement in Luke’s voice not going amiss, “Uhh, yeah...that.”

Luke bit his lip, ducking his head unable to stop his own laughter. He lifted his eyes to meet his, moving closer to the counter, “It’s okay, there’s no need for apologies. What happened wasn’t cool and your reaction was justified.”

“My reaction was justified and I could have handled it better, but it shouldn’t have been aimed at you. It wasn’t your fault, I only understood that when I realised that you didn’t seem to know what happened either. I overreacted so...I apologise.”

“It’s okay. I honestly didn’t know about it and I’ve been so busy with college that this meeting almost slipped by me. I could tell how much it means to you to have that money.”

Reid huffed a laugh, “Yeah, well...I guess I’ll have to figure something out and contact some really questionable people. Sometimes I wonder why the hell I came here in the first place.”

“For the pie?” Luke quipped with a sly grin.

Reid chuckled, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You want some now? I think Fred made peach pie today and there might be some left over.”

“No, I’m good. I already had some.”

Luke’s brows furrowed with confusion, “You came here earlier today?”

Reid shook his head making a mental note to think before he said anything, “Ah no, remember my ex-best friend?” Luke chuckled and nodded as Reid continued, “Well, since she brought me lunch she is now my very good friend, but, she came by here earlier today and she brought some pie, so...”

“So you’re easily pleased with food? I’ll make a note of that then.”

“Oh crap, you found my kryptonite,” said Reid making a face, causing Luke to laugh. Reid chuckled along with him and once again their eyes locked for the moment. Neither of them knew quite what to say, but if anything, it wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable. It was as if their eyes were having a private conversation. But when Reid’s eyes for some reason zeroed in on Luke’s lips, which Luke unconsciously licked, he realised then that the staring had once again gone on for an extended period of time, which was awkward. What the fuck was with all the staring? Reid’s eyes darted around for a moment not wanting to linger on Luke too long, finding it weird and unexplainable. He wasn’t going to tell Grace about this, ever.

Luke dropped eyes and cleared his throat, wanting to fill the silence, “Hey, we’re okay? Right?”

Reid glanced up to see Luke looking slightly nervous, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he rocked on the balls of his feet. A small involuntary smile curled on Reid’s lips, “Yeah, we’re okay,” he breathed. Luke in return beamed him that stupid dimpled smile that made his stomach flutter. Holy crap, what the hell?

Reid looked away again, unable to handle those brown eyes gazing into his. He tapped his fingers lightly on the counter and took a breath to steady his weirdly accelerated pulse before he spoke again. “I had better get going then, you seemed busy.”

“Just doing some work for college. I had to write an essay so I’ve just been reading all evening,” he glanced up quickly at the clock in the café noting the lateness, “and half the night,” he grinned.

Reid nodded and smiled, “I’ll leave you to it then, I’ll see you around,” he said, turning on his heel to leave.

“Dr. Oliver, hold on...” Luke walked around quickly the counter closer to the door and closer to Reid.

Reid turned to face him, his eyes filled with curiosity, “Yeah?”

“Look, let me help. I can try and get in contact with a few people I know to help with the funding. I would give you that extra money, it’s just that it’s tied up with this project I set up in New York and another one here--”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to do this, I know people and like I said, I’ll figure it out.”

“Please, Dr. Oliver, just hear me out. I have contacts at my foundation, and if you just give me a little time, I can try and find something for you.”

Reid’s brows furrowed with bewilderment, “Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s my fault and I want to help,” stated Luke.

Reid sighed, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It kinda was...look, I could’ve avoided this for you if I would have known it would come to this. Just give me a chance and I promise I can help sort something out for you. We’re friends, right?

“Friends?” questioned Reid with a grimace. “I don’t really do friends.”

Luke narrowed his eyes, his lips pursing in thought at his remark, trying not to laugh. “What about that best friend of yours you talk about?”

“She’s more of a parasite! I’ve been suffering with her by my side since I was twenty one. I can’t get rid of her and now her devil spawn is the same.”

Luke laughed, “Fine, we can be ‘acquaintances’ instead, so what do you say? Will you let me help you?

“Do I have a choice?”

“Nope.”

“Then I could hardly refuse, could I?”

“Great,” Luke beamed. “Thank you so much. Okay, so once I can find a few people, we will have to set up some meetings so they know what exactly they’re funding. That’s just procedure I guess--”

“Hold the phone...what do you mean by ‘we’?”

“You didn’t think I was going to let you do this alone, did you? I’m going to help you with this every step of the way.”

Reid was puzzled by what Luke had said. No one had ever done anything like this for him before and well, he wasn’t a stupid man to refuse.

“Thank you, I mean it,” replied Reid, finally managing to get the words out.

“I know you do and it’s my pleasure. So...” Luke grabbed a napkin from one of the tables and a pen from behind the counter before holding them out to Reid, “Can I get your number?”

“That’s a piss poor pick up line, but I’ll take it. It’s honest and direct, I can handle that,” said Reid with a smirk.

Luke ignored him but was unable to stop the chuckle that passed his lips, “Shut up and just give me your number. I’ll call you once I find something, if that’s okay?”

Reid nodded in agreement and took the pen from Luke’s hand scribbling his number down. He handed it over to Luke and watched as he folded it carefully and held it in his hand.

“No late night booty calls, please,” requested Reid quite seriously, “I don’t have time for that. I’m on-call most nights anyway and I would hate to stop in the middle of it.”

Luke snorted, trying to stop himself from blushing at images that brought up, “That’s fine, Dr. Oliver, I have someone else for that kinda thing anyway.”

Reid quirked an eyebrow, his own smile widening, “Touché, Mr. Snyder, touché.”

Luke sent him an ear splitting grin and watched Reid turn around and open the door, making his way outside. Luke followed him, similar to the time before, leaning on the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

Reid turned around to face Luke once more, “Good night, I’ll leave you to your books and nerdy stuff like that,” he saw Luke smile that stupid smile again which made his stomach do stupid things. He swallowed hard and licked his lips before he spoke again, “And thanks for the help with the whole money thing, I really...I really do appreciate it.”

“You can thank me later Dr. Oliver, it’s the least I could do, honestly,” he said sincerely.

But there was one thing bugging Reid, “You know...seeing as though we’re ‘acquaintances’, Dr. Oliver is a little too formal, don’t you think?” Reid hadn’t even realised that he’d verbalised his thoughts until he saw Luke’s expression change into something different, a good different though.

“What would you like me to call you then? Dr. Ollie?” asked Luke, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

Reid laughed, “I think ‘Reid’ will be fine.”

“Okay then,” Luke said, smiling that utterly stupid smile again. “Good night, Reid.”

Reid tried to ignore that chill that ran down his spine when he heard Luke say his name the way he did, but failed...miserably.

“Good night, Luke,” he said softly.

Reid yet again, walked into the dark night down the sidewalk as Luke watched from his place. He looked down at the napkin with Reid’s number scribbled on it and laughed. His handwriting was a little messy but still legible and he had a feeling that if he was to comment on that to Reid, he wouldn’t appreciate it one bit. Luke finally felt the tension from that day disappear, happy that whatever had happened between them, had been fixed.

But then a sudden thought hit him, something he wasn’t sure he wanted to uncover or develop or nurture. How was he supposed to fix the fact that there was something about this guy that was making him feel those feelings again? Those feelings had done nothing but hurt him when he’d given in to them, those feelings that although brought joy at first, then brought betrayal, lies and then ultimately the loss of faith. Reid was a friend, even if he didn’t want to admit it just yet, and it had to stay that way.

‘It just has to stay that way.’