Fic: Coming Home 52/?
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/ 41/ 42/ 43/ 44/ 45/ 46/ 47/ 48/ 49/ 50/ 51/
Chapter 52
Luke drove over to his grandmother’s cottage, wondering what was going on with Reid. He hadn’t shown up last night, and when he’d called it was quite late and he seemed kind of…emotional. When Luke had told him that he loved him, Reid seemed almost to sigh, like he was relieved to hear it.
Let’s meet for brunch, Luke had suggested. Reid liked the idea, and when he asked where they should go, Luke had said he’d come by and pick him up.
He pulled into the driveway at a little before ten; he saw Reid’s car and Stephen’s rental, and he parked his own and got out into the cold February air, walking up to the front door. He knocked and waited, rubbing his gloved hands together, still wondering what had gotten Reid so…well, weird for lack of a better word. He was always so calm and sure…steady; but last night on the phone, he sounded almost like a small child.
After a while, since no one was answering, he knocked again, louder. How much did Reid have to drink last night?
Finally the door opened, and there was Stephen, still in his boxers and t-shirt, rubbing his eyes. “Hey, Luke,” he stepped aside to let him in. “G’morning.”
“Morning.” Luke said with a smile, looking around the empty living room, looking for his boyfriend. “Reid in the shower?” he asked, noticing that the couch was already cleared of bedding.
“God, no.” Stephen chuckled. “He’s just waking.”
This was his grandmother’s place; Luke knew exactly how many bedrooms, or beds rather, were here - just one. He looked at Stephen, who even in this sleepy state looked rather too handsome for Luke’s liking; had he given up his bed for Reid? No, Luke didn’t think that was it.
Stephen seemed not to have noticed Luke’s unspoken concerns, rubbing his hands over his face. “Go on in,” he inclined his head towards where Luke knew the bedroom lie. “He probably wants to talk to you.”
Wants to talk to me? About what? Just what the hell happened here last night?
Stephen walked casually away towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some coffee.”
Luke nodded and headed towards the bedroom; he slowly opened the door. Reid was sitting on the end of the bed, his back towards Luke, with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Oh Jesus, is this it? Did he and Stephen…? No they couldn’t…they wouldn’t…
Luke swallowed and exhaled. Reid turned around and smiled at him.
Luke smiled back, against all reason. “Hi.”
“Good morning,” Reid replied.
Luke’s eyes took in Reid, from his mussed up hair and tired eyes, to the way his t-shirt…Stephen’s t-shirt…hung on him; he swallowed, and reluctantly took in the state of the bed, which had obviously been slept in by two people.
“Hey,” Reid said softly. He got up and made his way over to Luke. He stopped in front of him and looked up into Luke’s face; and that’s when Luke saw it - the visualization of what he’d heard on the phone last night. Reid appeared vulnerable, childlike.
All his concerns about what might have happened in this bed last night fled momentarily. He caressed Reid’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked his beautiful doctor.
Reid continued to look at him, seeming to want to say something, but also seeming unsure of what to say. “Um…nothing?”
Luke looked at him dubiously. “Nothing.”
“I was an idiot?” Reid said sheepishly.
Now Luke was concerned again. “Oh God, what happened?”
“What?” Reid’s brow furrowed, confused and worried. “What do you mean?”
“Okay, I’m totally confused, Reid.” He sat down on the bed. “What happened last night?” Luke wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Um, I went over to your place and…”
“What? No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.” Reid began to pace. “I went there, and Noah was there…”
Luke nodded, still confused.
“He was there and…” Reid ran a hand through hair and looked down at Luke, seeming embarrassed.
“And what?” Luke encouraged, his hand making a circling motion, indicating that Reid should continue.
Reid inhaled and swallowed. “And I heard you tell him that you still loved him…that you always would.”
Luke sat up straighter and his eyes opened wide. “You were there?”
Reid nodded.
Luke’s brow furrowed. “So then you came here?” He looked around the room.
Reid shrugged and nodded.
“Why Reid? Why did you come to Stephen? Why didn’t you come to me?”
“You were with Noah? You’d just told him you loved him. I couldn’t stay. I needed to talk to someone.”
“And that someone was Stephen…your best friend…” Luke got up to pace and then turned around with his hands on his hips.
“Yeah,” Reid was looking confused now. “He is my best friend. I can always count on him to be there for me…and he was.”
“Oh, I bet he was.”
“Yeah, he was; and we talked, and one thing lead to another, and it got late, and well, here I am.” He scratched his head again.
“And you don’t see anything wrong with this?” Luke asked, his hands waving around the bedroom.
Reid - confused - was silent for a beat, and then his eyes took in the bed, the shirt he was wearing, and his mouth fell open as realization slowly dawned on him. “Oh,” he said quietly.
“Oh?” Luke asked, incredulously.
Reid took a step towards his beautiful, young…jealous lover, who was standing there with his arms crossed on his chest defiantly. “Luke,” he said.
Luke eyed him skeptically. “What?”
“Luke, I slept here last night.” He gently took one of his hands. “Just slept here.”
“Oh.” Luke said quietly, feeling all of about twelve years old. “Just slept here.”
Luke believed Reid, he did. Now he felt embarrassed. But still insecure.
“But you love him.” Luke said.
Reid nodded. “You love Noah.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Perhaps.” Reid inclined head. “Luke, I came here last night because I heard what you said, and like an idiot, I panicked - thinking maybe I’d lost you.”
Luke began to soften.
“And Stephen helped me to see that I was an idiot for ever believing that could be true.” He took Luke’s other hand. “And then I slept here, beside my best friend…just slept.”
Luke swallowed, feeling somewhat embarrassed but still not quite assuaged. “He is quite handsome.”
“You think so?”
“You know he is, Reid.”
“But, you’re the one that I want Luke.” He touched Luke’s cheek, looking into his eyes. “Noah’s handsome too…and the two of you are spending all that time together.”
“He can’t compare to you Reid…on so many levels, not even close…but you and Stephen, you have a closeness that I don’t have with Noah.”
Reid nodded, understanding.
“I’m not usually jealous of the relationship you have with him, Reid but…well, I didn’t expect to find you…well, that you’d slept in the same bed.” Luke smiled a bit. “I guess I panicked, too. Felt a little insecure.”
“Yeah. Me too. Here,” Reid said as he stepped over to fetch something out of his pants pocket. He pulled out his wallet and opened it up, sitting on the bed and indicating that Luke should join him. He handed it to Luke.
Luke looked down at a slightly faded photo of a group of people gathered around a Christmas tree, laughing together. He looked carefully and, sure enough, found Reid, his beautiful slight smile hard to miss; his arm was around the shoulder of a pretty redheaded girl, and on his other side was a young Stephen, around twenty-five years old probably. The girl looked so similar to Reid’s best friend.
“Is that Stephen’s sister?”
Reid nodded. “Maggie.”
The family looked happy.
“That was probably my…oh, third or fourth Christmas with them.” Luke looked at him. Reid was looking at the photo fondly. “They became like a second family to me.” He sighed. “Well, my only family at that point.”
Luke caressed his cheek.
Reid turned the small photo page over and Luke found himself looking at a picture, the likes of which he’d never seen before. It was a photo of himself, sleeping, his one arm tucked under his head, the other resting on his hip, the blankets pulled up to his waist. It was taken here, in this room.
“When did you take this?” he asked.
“That first weekend.”
Luke, still holding the wallet, turned towards Reid and took his face in his hands. “Reid, I love you.” He caressed his face with his eyes and hand. “Sure, I love Noah but…” He shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
Reid smiled back at him, looking still childlike. “I love you too, Luke.” He rolled his eyes. “I know I seem all confident.” He titled his head. “But sometimes…” He got up and sighed, pacing a bit. “You and Noah have such a history together, I just worry that…I don’t know…habit? You’ll…”
“I’ll what? I’ll forget about how I feel for you?”
“You’ll start to believe all the old ‘Luke and Noah are forever’ myths.” He looked sheepishly back at Luke. “He reminds you often enough, I’m sure.”
Luke stepped up to him and laid a hand on his cheek. “Reid.” He studied his beautiful face. “Those myths, well…they aren’t as shiny and beautiful as everyone imagines, right? And even the beautiful parts of the Luke and Noah story…” He kissed Reid. “They don’t hold a candle to this.” He kissed him again, and looked into his eyes.
“Did you really think…” Reid asked, inclining his head towards the bed again.
Luke bit his lower lip. “In the moment…for one moment…I panicked and…”
Reid looked back at him, his brow furrowing.
“It’s not that I believe you would, or could, do that to me, it’s that…” He sighed. “It was my own insecurities taking over; you and Stephen have so much history, Reid. It’s not just how good-looking he is, it’s how close you two are.” He swallowed, looking down. “He had you…and I don’t mean sexually…he had your friendship, your trust, and your love…way before I came along.”
Luke looked back up into Reid’s eyes.
“I sometimes don’t know if I can compete with that.”
Reid pulled him close and held him tight. “Luke,” he sighed. He leaned back to look Luke in the eyes. “Luke, you don’t have to.”
“It’s not a competition.” Luke laughed quietly, half-heartedly.
Reid looked at him quizzically.
“That’s what Katie said; it’s a long story.”
Reid sighed again, smiling a bit at him. “I didn’t think.” He said.
“You didn’t think what?”
“Well, Stephen and I have shared a closeness for so long, it’s second nature; he’s almost like a brother, only closer I guess. I guess I just didn’t consider that you’d be jealous of him.”
“Of how close you are to your ex?”
“I don’t really think of him that way.” Reid shook his head. “Not really. He’s my best friend - someone dear to me, that I can’t…that I don’t ever want to live without.”
“And me?” Now Luke was feeling childlike, vulnerable.
“You.” Reid laid a hand on his cheek once more. “You’re my Luke, you’re my love.” His eyes looked into Luke’s intensely.
Luke’s heart raced, and he could see the same in Reid’s eyes.
“I want to wake up next to you…everyday.” Reid said. “I want to find you beside me when I wake in the night.” An arm went around Luke’s waist. “I want to hold you, and I want you to hold me. Luke, you’re…”
He sighed, stepping back from Luke and pacing again. “I never wanted forever with anyone, or I never believed in it…for years; and then Stephen came along and I started to believe that maybe I could have that, or maybe it could even be a possibility. He made me believe that, because he believed it.”
He sighed again, looking at Luke. “And when it was clear that Stephen and I…we weren’t going to be that for each other…I guess I gave up on it completely.”
He stepped closer to Luke, but didn’t take his hand. “And then I met you.” He said quietly, shaking his head from side to side. “And you turned my life upside down. You became the answer to all the questions I never even knew or asked.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “God, that sounds corny.”
Luke took his face in his hands and kissed him firmly.
“Luke, you became the answer to that question. Could I have forever with someone…someone to call my love. With you Luke, it’s not even a question. You simply are my forever, whether or not I actually have forever with you.”
Luke kissed him again. “Reid.” He said quietly, looking at his face. “I love you…so much.” He pulled Reid’s arms around him. “Hold me.” Reid held him. “Don’t ever let me go, Reid.”
Luke held him tight.
“Ever.”
And Luke felt those arms around him, holding him; and he never wanted to be released. And then he remembered Reid’s voice and his eyes, when he’d worried that perhaps he’d lost Luke. Luke wasn’t used to that side of Reid; sure, he’d shown it a few times, more often when they were making love than at other times. Reid wasn’t big on words. But Reid let him know, one way or another, that he needed Luke.
He pulled back just slightly and ran a hand gently over Reid’s cheek. “Sometimes…Reid.” Reid looked back at him. “You’re so strong, and you’ve let me lean on you and become stronger myself.” His eyes studied Reid’s face before stopping again at his eyes. “And then…suddenly…you need me to hold you.” He looked again down at the beautiful, vulnerable man. “And I love holding you; I love being strong for you.”
“Hold me, Luke.” Reid said quietly.
“I am,” Luke replied.
Reid looked at him with a silent plea.
Luke held him closer, and Reid closed his eyes.
“Don’t ever let me go.” Reid said quietly.
And Luke held Reid’s face close to him and tucked his chin into the crook of his neck, kissing him.
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/ 41/ 42/ 43/ 44/ 45/ 46/ 47/ 48/ 49/ 50/ 51/
Chapter 52
Luke drove over to his grandmother’s cottage, wondering what was going on with Reid. He hadn’t shown up last night, and when he’d called it was quite late and he seemed kind of…emotional. When Luke had told him that he loved him, Reid seemed almost to sigh, like he was relieved to hear it.
Let’s meet for brunch, Luke had suggested. Reid liked the idea, and when he asked where they should go, Luke had said he’d come by and pick him up.
He pulled into the driveway at a little before ten; he saw Reid’s car and Stephen’s rental, and he parked his own and got out into the cold February air, walking up to the front door. He knocked and waited, rubbing his gloved hands together, still wondering what had gotten Reid so…well, weird for lack of a better word. He was always so calm and sure…steady; but last night on the phone, he sounded almost like a small child.
After a while, since no one was answering, he knocked again, louder. How much did Reid have to drink last night?
Finally the door opened, and there was Stephen, still in his boxers and t-shirt, rubbing his eyes. “Hey, Luke,” he stepped aside to let him in. “G’morning.”
“Morning.” Luke said with a smile, looking around the empty living room, looking for his boyfriend. “Reid in the shower?” he asked, noticing that the couch was already cleared of bedding.
“God, no.” Stephen chuckled. “He’s just waking.”
This was his grandmother’s place; Luke knew exactly how many bedrooms, or beds rather, were here - just one. He looked at Stephen, who even in this sleepy state looked rather too handsome for Luke’s liking; had he given up his bed for Reid? No, Luke didn’t think that was it.
Stephen seemed not to have noticed Luke’s unspoken concerns, rubbing his hands over his face. “Go on in,” he inclined his head towards where Luke knew the bedroom lie. “He probably wants to talk to you.”
Wants to talk to me? About what? Just what the hell happened here last night?
Stephen walked casually away towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some coffee.”
Luke nodded and headed towards the bedroom; he slowly opened the door. Reid was sitting on the end of the bed, his back towards Luke, with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Oh Jesus, is this it? Did he and Stephen…? No they couldn’t…they wouldn’t…
Luke swallowed and exhaled. Reid turned around and smiled at him.
Luke smiled back, against all reason. “Hi.”
“Good morning,” Reid replied.
Luke’s eyes took in Reid, from his mussed up hair and tired eyes, to the way his t-shirt…Stephen’s t-shirt…hung on him; he swallowed, and reluctantly took in the state of the bed, which had obviously been slept in by two people.
“Hey,” Reid said softly. He got up and made his way over to Luke. He stopped in front of him and looked up into Luke’s face; and that’s when Luke saw it - the visualization of what he’d heard on the phone last night. Reid appeared vulnerable, childlike.
All his concerns about what might have happened in this bed last night fled momentarily. He caressed Reid’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked his beautiful doctor.
Reid continued to look at him, seeming to want to say something, but also seeming unsure of what to say. “Um…nothing?”
Luke looked at him dubiously. “Nothing.”
“I was an idiot?” Reid said sheepishly.
Now Luke was concerned again. “Oh God, what happened?”
“What?” Reid’s brow furrowed, confused and worried. “What do you mean?”
“Okay, I’m totally confused, Reid.” He sat down on the bed. “What happened last night?” Luke wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Um, I went over to your place and…”
“What? No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.” Reid began to pace. “I went there, and Noah was there…”
Luke nodded, still confused.
“He was there and…” Reid ran a hand through hair and looked down at Luke, seeming embarrassed.
“And what?” Luke encouraged, his hand making a circling motion, indicating that Reid should continue.
Reid inhaled and swallowed. “And I heard you tell him that you still loved him…that you always would.”
Luke sat up straighter and his eyes opened wide. “You were there?”
Reid nodded.
Luke’s brow furrowed. “So then you came here?” He looked around the room.
Reid shrugged and nodded.
“Why Reid? Why did you come to Stephen? Why didn’t you come to me?”
“You were with Noah? You’d just told him you loved him. I couldn’t stay. I needed to talk to someone.”
“And that someone was Stephen…your best friend…” Luke got up to pace and then turned around with his hands on his hips.
“Yeah,” Reid was looking confused now. “He is my best friend. I can always count on him to be there for me…and he was.”
“Oh, I bet he was.”
“Yeah, he was; and we talked, and one thing lead to another, and it got late, and well, here I am.” He scratched his head again.
“And you don’t see anything wrong with this?” Luke asked, his hands waving around the bedroom.
Reid - confused - was silent for a beat, and then his eyes took in the bed, the shirt he was wearing, and his mouth fell open as realization slowly dawned on him. “Oh,” he said quietly.
“Oh?” Luke asked, incredulously.
Reid took a step towards his beautiful, young…jealous lover, who was standing there with his arms crossed on his chest defiantly. “Luke,” he said.
Luke eyed him skeptically. “What?”
“Luke, I slept here last night.” He gently took one of his hands. “Just slept here.”
“Oh.” Luke said quietly, feeling all of about twelve years old. “Just slept here.”
Luke believed Reid, he did. Now he felt embarrassed. But still insecure.
“But you love him.” Luke said.
Reid nodded. “You love Noah.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Perhaps.” Reid inclined head. “Luke, I came here last night because I heard what you said, and like an idiot, I panicked - thinking maybe I’d lost you.”
Luke began to soften.
“And Stephen helped me to see that I was an idiot for ever believing that could be true.” He took Luke’s other hand. “And then I slept here, beside my best friend…just slept.”
Luke swallowed, feeling somewhat embarrassed but still not quite assuaged. “He is quite handsome.”
“You think so?”
“You know he is, Reid.”
“But, you’re the one that I want Luke.” He touched Luke’s cheek, looking into his eyes. “Noah’s handsome too…and the two of you are spending all that time together.”
“He can’t compare to you Reid…on so many levels, not even close…but you and Stephen, you have a closeness that I don’t have with Noah.”
Reid nodded, understanding.
“I’m not usually jealous of the relationship you have with him, Reid but…well, I didn’t expect to find you…well, that you’d slept in the same bed.” Luke smiled a bit. “I guess I panicked, too. Felt a little insecure.”
“Yeah. Me too. Here,” Reid said as he stepped over to fetch something out of his pants pocket. He pulled out his wallet and opened it up, sitting on the bed and indicating that Luke should join him. He handed it to Luke.
Luke looked down at a slightly faded photo of a group of people gathered around a Christmas tree, laughing together. He looked carefully and, sure enough, found Reid, his beautiful slight smile hard to miss; his arm was around the shoulder of a pretty redheaded girl, and on his other side was a young Stephen, around twenty-five years old probably. The girl looked so similar to Reid’s best friend.
“Is that Stephen’s sister?”
Reid nodded. “Maggie.”
The family looked happy.
“That was probably my…oh, third or fourth Christmas with them.” Luke looked at him. Reid was looking at the photo fondly. “They became like a second family to me.” He sighed. “Well, my only family at that point.”
Luke caressed his cheek.
Reid turned the small photo page over and Luke found himself looking at a picture, the likes of which he’d never seen before. It was a photo of himself, sleeping, his one arm tucked under his head, the other resting on his hip, the blankets pulled up to his waist. It was taken here, in this room.
“When did you take this?” he asked.
“That first weekend.”
Luke, still holding the wallet, turned towards Reid and took his face in his hands. “Reid, I love you.” He caressed his face with his eyes and hand. “Sure, I love Noah but…” He shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
Reid smiled back at him, looking still childlike. “I love you too, Luke.” He rolled his eyes. “I know I seem all confident.” He titled his head. “But sometimes…” He got up and sighed, pacing a bit. “You and Noah have such a history together, I just worry that…I don’t know…habit? You’ll…”
“I’ll what? I’ll forget about how I feel for you?”
“You’ll start to believe all the old ‘Luke and Noah are forever’ myths.” He looked sheepishly back at Luke. “He reminds you often enough, I’m sure.”
Luke stepped up to him and laid a hand on his cheek. “Reid.” He studied his beautiful face. “Those myths, well…they aren’t as shiny and beautiful as everyone imagines, right? And even the beautiful parts of the Luke and Noah story…” He kissed Reid. “They don’t hold a candle to this.” He kissed him again, and looked into his eyes.
“Did you really think…” Reid asked, inclining his head towards the bed again.
Luke bit his lower lip. “In the moment…for one moment…I panicked and…”
Reid looked back at him, his brow furrowing.
“It’s not that I believe you would, or could, do that to me, it’s that…” He sighed. “It was my own insecurities taking over; you and Stephen have so much history, Reid. It’s not just how good-looking he is, it’s how close you two are.” He swallowed, looking down. “He had you…and I don’t mean sexually…he had your friendship, your trust, and your love…way before I came along.”
Luke looked back up into Reid’s eyes.
“I sometimes don’t know if I can compete with that.”
Reid pulled him close and held him tight. “Luke,” he sighed. He leaned back to look Luke in the eyes. “Luke, you don’t have to.”
“It’s not a competition.” Luke laughed quietly, half-heartedly.
Reid looked at him quizzically.
“That’s what Katie said; it’s a long story.”
Reid sighed again, smiling a bit at him. “I didn’t think.” He said.
“You didn’t think what?”
“Well, Stephen and I have shared a closeness for so long, it’s second nature; he’s almost like a brother, only closer I guess. I guess I just didn’t consider that you’d be jealous of him.”
“Of how close you are to your ex?”
“I don’t really think of him that way.” Reid shook his head. “Not really. He’s my best friend - someone dear to me, that I can’t…that I don’t ever want to live without.”
“And me?” Now Luke was feeling childlike, vulnerable.
“You.” Reid laid a hand on his cheek once more. “You’re my Luke, you’re my love.” His eyes looked into Luke’s intensely.
Luke’s heart raced, and he could see the same in Reid’s eyes.
“I want to wake up next to you…everyday.” Reid said. “I want to find you beside me when I wake in the night.” An arm went around Luke’s waist. “I want to hold you, and I want you to hold me. Luke, you’re…”
He sighed, stepping back from Luke and pacing again. “I never wanted forever with anyone, or I never believed in it…for years; and then Stephen came along and I started to believe that maybe I could have that, or maybe it could even be a possibility. He made me believe that, because he believed it.”
He sighed again, looking at Luke. “And when it was clear that Stephen and I…we weren’t going to be that for each other…I guess I gave up on it completely.”
He stepped closer to Luke, but didn’t take his hand. “And then I met you.” He said quietly, shaking his head from side to side. “And you turned my life upside down. You became the answer to all the questions I never even knew or asked.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “God, that sounds corny.”
Luke took his face in his hands and kissed him firmly.
“Luke, you became the answer to that question. Could I have forever with someone…someone to call my love. With you Luke, it’s not even a question. You simply are my forever, whether or not I actually have forever with you.”
Luke kissed him again. “Reid.” He said quietly, looking at his face. “I love you…so much.” He pulled Reid’s arms around him. “Hold me.” Reid held him. “Don’t ever let me go, Reid.”
Luke held him tight.
“Ever.”
And Luke felt those arms around him, holding him; and he never wanted to be released. And then he remembered Reid’s voice and his eyes, when he’d worried that perhaps he’d lost Luke. Luke wasn’t used to that side of Reid; sure, he’d shown it a few times, more often when they were making love than at other times. Reid wasn’t big on words. But Reid let him know, one way or another, that he needed Luke.
He pulled back just slightly and ran a hand gently over Reid’s cheek. “Sometimes…Reid.” Reid looked back at him. “You’re so strong, and you’ve let me lean on you and become stronger myself.” His eyes studied Reid’s face before stopping again at his eyes. “And then…suddenly…you need me to hold you.” He looked again down at the beautiful, vulnerable man. “And I love holding you; I love being strong for you.”
“Hold me, Luke.” Reid said quietly.
“I am,” Luke replied.
Reid looked at him with a silent plea.
Luke held him closer, and Reid closed his eyes.
“Don’t ever let me go.” Reid said quietly.
And Luke held Reid’s face close to him and tucked his chin into the crook of his neck, kissing him.
next part/