Beloved, dost thou love? Or did I see all...
Title: Beloved, dost thou love? Or did I see all...
Author: flowersforchuck
Rating: PG-13ish
Characters: LuRe, Casey
Summary: Prompt from aljc100: Luke finds a text/texts from a mystery man on Reid's phone
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but CSB/P&G do. No harm intended.
Author's notes: Written for “The Luke & Reid December Drabble-a-thon!” No beta, so all mistakes are mine. Title kiped from Elizabeth Barrett Browning and way too flowery for my little piece of fluff. Enjoy!
Luke hadn’t meant to. He really hadn’t; because if he had a choice Luke would rather be oblivious to the fact that Reid was cheating on him.
He was lounging on the couch waiting for Reid to shower and change so they could go out for dinner. It was supposed to be a romantic evening that Luke desperately needed. Luke was spending extra time at the foundation, franticly organizing a town wide 4th of July BBQ, in hopes of pulling donations from new sources. Reid, of course, was spending most of his hours at the hospital.
They needed time to reconnect; to talk and to touch… Luke was imagining all the touching that would happen later that night when a buzz came from the coffee table. Not paying attention he grabbed the phone and flicked it open to read the text.
Gasp! Are you cheating on me?
Luke cocked his head to the side and slowly made his way into a sitting position not taking his eyes off the text. It was Reid’s phone and he glanced at the id only to see the name: Mike Rotch. Luke wracked his brain but he couldn’t remember meeting anybody by that name. Obviously Reid had. He scrolled back to the previous message from Reid.
Nope. Hot date. Some other time.
Reid had been tapping on his phone when he walked in the door. Luke goes back one more looking for the question.
You want to watch a movie with me tonight?
A movie? Three years in Oakdale and Katie was still Reid’s only friend so he was curious to know who the fuck this ‘Mike’ guy was. Luke scrolled to the top and started from the beginning. There weren’t a lot of messages but Reid had only been talking to this guy since the beginning of May.
Hey is L there?
Left for his mom’s, come on over…bring beer.
Lol, awesome!
Come over? This guy was here? And only because Luke wasn’t?
Bringing W tonight. Hope ur up 4 a 3some!
Tonight’s a no go. Just got a call from Luke, he’s coming home early. We’ll have to find another time to get together.
Bummer. I’ll miss you ;)
Luke’s eye went wide and he sucked in a breath desperately trying to come up with a reasonable explanation…
Hey sexy Dr. What ru wearing?
Do not do that!
…but he was at a loss.
I’ve booked a place. You should come over later.
Tomorrow. I’m stuck in in-law hell tonight.
A place? Like somewhere to be alone? Luke had been holding his breath but released it and started to pant.
Holy crap that was close! Does Luke suspect?
No. But from now on I think we should meet at you place.
Oh God?! Was Reid really fucking someone else in their home? In their bed?!
That was awesome! I can’t believe we pulled that off!
It was a great night wasn’t it.
That one came in on the 18th. Jesus, that was just a couple days after his birthday! Tears started to fill his eyes.
Hey, Luke’s still out of town right? Why don’t you come over so I can whip ur a$$?
You are going down!
That was ten day ago when Luke spent the weekend in Chicago. He wasn’t sure if he could read anymore but the last few were the first texts he read.
You want to watch a movie with me tonight?
Nope. Hot date. Some other time.
Gasp! Are you cheating on me?
With shaky hands Luke typed out a message for ‘Mike’
Guess what? I found out. Stay the fuck away from my boyfriend.
Luke tossed the phone back down and got up to pace. He heard a buzz but ignored it. He didn't know what to do. He knew he should kick Reid to the curb and maybe burn some of his things but the truth…the truth was he didn’t want to. Luke loved Reid so damn much and couldn’t imagine living without him.
Another buzz came from Reid’s phone.
But what if…what if Reid wanted out? The though made Luke cry out as if in pain and he held a hand over his mouth to stifle it.
There was ringing now but it wasn't coming from Reid’s phone but his. Luke had planned on ignoring it too but when he saw it was from Casey he answered. “Casey?” God, his voice sounded so broken.
“Shit Luke, listen…”
“Casey, Reid’s cheating on me! I read the texts. God, what am I going to do?”
“Where are you? Have you said anything to Reid?”
Luke took a minute to listen before he answered, “He’s still in the shower. What do I say?”
Casey’s voice was firm. “Nothing. Shut up and listen to me, Luke. Those texts are from me.”
Luke wanted to believe him but it didn’t make any sense. “No, I saw them. They were from a guy named, Mike Rotch.”
Casey had the gall to laugh. “Yeah, Mike Rotch…my crotch? I programmed it into his phone as a joke.
Luke tried to wrap his head around it all but…what those text said. “Casey…are you sleeping with Reid?”
Casey made a choking sound and sputtered, “What?! Luke, no! That’s insane dude, do you hear yourself? We’re friends’ man, that’s all.”
Luke wanted to believe him. He really did. “Since when?”
Casey sighed. “That surprise party I threw for you? Well, Reid helped. He didn’t want to but I talked him into it. Since that, well, Alison’s been taking classes at night and working during the day…if you’re not around to hang out I’ve asked Reid a couple times. I swear Luke, nothing hinkey’s been going on.”
Luke dropped onto the couch and rolled his head against the back. He believed Casey and he felt like a complete ass. “I’m sorry Casey…I can’t believe I thought…”
“Hey, Luke it’s okay. Look, I would have thought the same thing. You’re just lucky I saw the message.”
“How do I make this up to him? He loves me, I know that.”
Casey snorted. “Yes, your guys’ love is epic. People will write sonnets about it…so you make it up to him by not saying anything. Delete the last couple of messages on his phone and pretend nothing ever happened.”
Luke worried the side of his thumb. “I don’t know Casey. It doesn’t feel right.”
Casey made a disgusted sound and railed on. “No, what wouldn’t be ‘right’ would be you spending a night on the couch because you’re human. It sucks to be doubted so go do what I said and then have that hot, gay sex stuff with him.”
Luke giggled and grabbed Reid’s phone, deleting the last three texts. “’Hot gay sex stuff’? Nice Casey.”
“What?!” He was silent for a beat then added. “Hey, Luke? The last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt you, man. You’re my #1 bro.”
Luke placed Reid’s phone where he found it and got off the couch just as Reid was coming out of the bedroom. “I know. Thanks for talking me down Casey. I gotta go.”
He hung up his phone as Reid wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist. “Hmm, talk you down from what?”
“Doing something stupid.” Luke pulled him close and breathed in his favorite scent.
Reid nuzzled at his ear. “Like what?”
“Like, going out to have a romantic evening when we can still have one if we stay in.” Luke leaned forward to capture Reid’s lips. They kissed for a long moment as Reid worked a hand into Luke’s hair.
They rested their foreheads together when they pulled apart and Reid panted into Luke’s mouth. “That Casey is a goddamn genius.” Luke nodded in a daze. “Well Mr. Snyder, seeing as I’m clean how would you like to help me dirty up again?”
Luke smiled and started to pull Reid into their bedroom by his belt loops. “Anything you want Dr. Oliver. I’m yours…always.”