Fic: Fate (30/?)
Title: Fate
Author: slayerkitty
Genre: Romance, Angst, AU
Rating: R
Characters: Luke/Reid
Disclaimer: As the World Turns and it's characters are not mine, no matter how much I enjoy playing with them. :)
Summary: Luke is in car accident on the way home from a business trip. Reid saves him in more ways than one.
Author's Notes: So, this was sort of inspired by sripley's "It's the What If Factor." I was re-reading it, reveling in her ability to change up the story so awesomely and still keep it true to the characters, and thought to myself, I can do that. So this is me trying another take on the the Luke/Reid relationship with a different beginning, and we'll see where we end up. Story starts in January 2010. If it isn't said enough, the medical stuff I am making up as I go.
You guys....I just love you guys. Dude, you guys. Chapter 30. 30! This is for all of you awesome people. :) BTW, the end of this chapter was inspired by a fic I read that I can't remember the name of or who it was by. I'll explain more at the end as I don't want to give it away, but the idea is not mine. :)
Previous Chapters: Prologue/ 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
Luke did not expect the day to go like this. He stared at Reid, horrified.
*
Nearly a month had gone by since Reid had kicked him out and said they were over.
At first, Luke was angry and hurt. He’d taken his stuff, unwilling to go back to his mother’s and let her know she’d been right, and had gone to stay with his dad out at the farm.
It was all right, living there, except he couldn’t bring himself to go anywhere near the pond. Holden pretty much stayed out of it, just letting him know he was there if Luke needed to talk.
Luke declined. He couldn’t talk about it. It was too awful and it hurt too much.
He was still dodging his mother’s calls, but he knew she knew where he was, because Holden had refused to keep it from her. Luke was insistent she not come out to see him. All of their foundation communication was done through email, and if something personal slipped in, Luke ignored it.
He was sitting on the porch, his feet propped up staring unseeingly into landscape the first time Allison stopped in to see him. He figured she must have some idea what was going on - Oakdale wasn’t that big and she worked at the hospital. She sat there with him, not talking, for almost an hour, before hugging him good-bye and promising to come back soon.
He watched her leave, smiling faintly.
The second time she came, about a week later, Casey came along. Luke was feeling a little better about things. He had his foundation to keep him busy, to keep his mind off of Reid and horrible things he’d said. Casey and Allison were clearly dying to know the whole story, but he just couldn’t. Instead, they did their best to entertain him with honeymoon stories, and reminisce about their past a little.
The third time Allison showed up, Noah was with her. He looked as uncomfortable as Luke felt, standing awkwardly on the porch. Somehow, they convinced him to meet Casey at Java for coffee, and while there, the whole story came spilling out. He didn’t mean to tell them, but he couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore.
He felt lighter afterward…and then Reid walked in. He looked awful. Like he hadn’t been sleeping or eating, and…he was still the most beautiful man Luke had ever seen. He couldn’t stop staring, completely ignoring his friends’ chatter.
Reid must have felt his eyes, because he turned and met his gaze. The pull between them was still there, Luke could feel it. He wished he knew what had possessed Reid to say those things because from the expression on Reid’s face, he couldn’t have meant them. It’s that moment when doubt creeps in.
Casey, Allison and Noah finally realized that he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation, and turned to see what he was looking at.
“I can’t believe he had the nerve to come here.” Noah muttered.
“Drop it.” Luke replied, glancing back at Reid. He was turning to go outside. Luke must have had quite an expression on his face, because the next thing he knew Noah was getting up out of his chair to go after him.
He tried to stop Noah, but he and Reid had words, and because Reid couldn’t keep his mouth shut, Noah punched him in the face.
Luke couldn’t help himself. He followed Reid outside, bent on making him talk. He had to know if he was insane for thinking that Reid hadn’t meant the things he’d said. Reid was his usual self, full of anger, and calling Noah his boyfriend and pissing Luke off so much he didn’t even bother to deny it. He walked back inside, and couldn’t help but turn around to watch Reid and Katie interact.
That was when Luke knew.
Reid was lying. He was just as miserable without Luke as Luke was without him.
There was just one question left to answer.
What really happened?
*
Luke didn’t know how to go about getting his answers. Reid didn’t want to see him, or so he said. Katie was a dead end, because he wouldn’t ask her to betray Reid that way.
Luke sighed.
Something had changed that day. Reid had been happy when he’d left for work, kissing him good-bye and promising to call when he was out of surgery.
And then Luke had come home, and Reid had been a completely different person.
He was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He eyed the caller id warily. His mother still called him daily, but thankfully it wasn’t her number.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Luke?”
“Katie?” Luke was surprised.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Listen, I’m at the studio and we’ve been going through and updating all our old copies to DVD.”
“That’s nice, Katie. What does that have to do with me?”
“Well, you and Noah used to work here, and I came across some stuff you guys did, and now that we’ve updated the copies, I thought you guys might want it.”
“Well, did you call Noah?” Luke asked.
“I tried, but he’s not answering.” Katie said. “I figured you could come get it and you guys can keep whatever you want.”
“Yeah, sure, I guess.”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “Just meet me down in the archives when you get here.”
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
*
“Katie?” Luke called. It was clearly after hours at the studio, and most everyone had gone home. A flustered looking intern had directed him to the archives and he made his way down the stairs.
“Luke, you made it!” Katie exclaimed. “Listen, I just have to go make a quick call, and I’ll be right back to show you what’s what, okay?” She blew past him, leaving him standing in the archive room. He looked around glancing at the stored equipment and rows upon rows of tapes and DVDs. The door opened up behind him, and he turned around.
“Kat…” He trailed off. Reid was standing there.
“Luke?” Reid said, taking a step into the room. The door clicked shut behind him. “What are you doing here?”
“Katie asked me to meet…” He saw the look on Reid’s face. “She set this up.” Reid didn’t say anything, just turned around and pulled on the handle.
The door didn’t move.
“I can’t get it open.” Reid said after a second.
“What?”
“It’s stuck.”
He and Reid glanced at each other.
They were trapped.
***********************
So, remember when Katie trapped Chris and Allison in the archives way back when? Well, I once read a LuRe fic with the same premise and couldn't resist incorporating it here. Does anyone know the story I'm talking about or who wrote it? I'd love to read it again.
Author: slayerkitty
Genre: Romance, Angst, AU
Rating: R
Characters: Luke/Reid
Disclaimer: As the World Turns and it's characters are not mine, no matter how much I enjoy playing with them. :)
Summary: Luke is in car accident on the way home from a business trip. Reid saves him in more ways than one.
Author's Notes: So, this was sort of inspired by sripley's "It's the What If Factor." I was re-reading it, reveling in her ability to change up the story so awesomely and still keep it true to the characters, and thought to myself, I can do that. So this is me trying another take on the the Luke/Reid relationship with a different beginning, and we'll see where we end up. Story starts in January 2010. If it isn't said enough, the medical stuff I am making up as I go.
You guys....I just love you guys. Dude, you guys. Chapter 30. 30! This is for all of you awesome people. :) BTW, the end of this chapter was inspired by a fic I read that I can't remember the name of or who it was by. I'll explain more at the end as I don't want to give it away, but the idea is not mine. :)
Previous Chapters: Prologue/ 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
Luke did not expect the day to go like this. He stared at Reid, horrified.
*
Nearly a month had gone by since Reid had kicked him out and said they were over.
At first, Luke was angry and hurt. He’d taken his stuff, unwilling to go back to his mother’s and let her know she’d been right, and had gone to stay with his dad out at the farm.
It was all right, living there, except he couldn’t bring himself to go anywhere near the pond. Holden pretty much stayed out of it, just letting him know he was there if Luke needed to talk.
Luke declined. He couldn’t talk about it. It was too awful and it hurt too much.
He was still dodging his mother’s calls, but he knew she knew where he was, because Holden had refused to keep it from her. Luke was insistent she not come out to see him. All of their foundation communication was done through email, and if something personal slipped in, Luke ignored it.
He was sitting on the porch, his feet propped up staring unseeingly into landscape the first time Allison stopped in to see him. He figured she must have some idea what was going on - Oakdale wasn’t that big and she worked at the hospital. She sat there with him, not talking, for almost an hour, before hugging him good-bye and promising to come back soon.
He watched her leave, smiling faintly.
The second time she came, about a week later, Casey came along. Luke was feeling a little better about things. He had his foundation to keep him busy, to keep his mind off of Reid and horrible things he’d said. Casey and Allison were clearly dying to know the whole story, but he just couldn’t. Instead, they did their best to entertain him with honeymoon stories, and reminisce about their past a little.
The third time Allison showed up, Noah was with her. He looked as uncomfortable as Luke felt, standing awkwardly on the porch. Somehow, they convinced him to meet Casey at Java for coffee, and while there, the whole story came spilling out. He didn’t mean to tell them, but he couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore.
He felt lighter afterward…and then Reid walked in. He looked awful. Like he hadn’t been sleeping or eating, and…he was still the most beautiful man Luke had ever seen. He couldn’t stop staring, completely ignoring his friends’ chatter.
Reid must have felt his eyes, because he turned and met his gaze. The pull between them was still there, Luke could feel it. He wished he knew what had possessed Reid to say those things because from the expression on Reid’s face, he couldn’t have meant them. It’s that moment when doubt creeps in.
Casey, Allison and Noah finally realized that he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation, and turned to see what he was looking at.
“I can’t believe he had the nerve to come here.” Noah muttered.
“Drop it.” Luke replied, glancing back at Reid. He was turning to go outside. Luke must have had quite an expression on his face, because the next thing he knew Noah was getting up out of his chair to go after him.
He tried to stop Noah, but he and Reid had words, and because Reid couldn’t keep his mouth shut, Noah punched him in the face.
Luke couldn’t help himself. He followed Reid outside, bent on making him talk. He had to know if he was insane for thinking that Reid hadn’t meant the things he’d said. Reid was his usual self, full of anger, and calling Noah his boyfriend and pissing Luke off so much he didn’t even bother to deny it. He walked back inside, and couldn’t help but turn around to watch Reid and Katie interact.
That was when Luke knew.
Reid was lying. He was just as miserable without Luke as Luke was without him.
There was just one question left to answer.
What really happened?
*
Luke didn’t know how to go about getting his answers. Reid didn’t want to see him, or so he said. Katie was a dead end, because he wouldn’t ask her to betray Reid that way.
Luke sighed.
Something had changed that day. Reid had been happy when he’d left for work, kissing him good-bye and promising to call when he was out of surgery.
And then Luke had come home, and Reid had been a completely different person.
He was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He eyed the caller id warily. His mother still called him daily, but thankfully it wasn’t her number.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Luke?”
“Katie?” Luke was surprised.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Listen, I’m at the studio and we’ve been going through and updating all our old copies to DVD.”
“That’s nice, Katie. What does that have to do with me?”
“Well, you and Noah used to work here, and I came across some stuff you guys did, and now that we’ve updated the copies, I thought you guys might want it.”
“Well, did you call Noah?” Luke asked.
“I tried, but he’s not answering.” Katie said. “I figured you could come get it and you guys can keep whatever you want.”
“Yeah, sure, I guess.”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “Just meet me down in the archives when you get here.”
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
*
“Katie?” Luke called. It was clearly after hours at the studio, and most everyone had gone home. A flustered looking intern had directed him to the archives and he made his way down the stairs.
“Luke, you made it!” Katie exclaimed. “Listen, I just have to go make a quick call, and I’ll be right back to show you what’s what, okay?” She blew past him, leaving him standing in the archive room. He looked around glancing at the stored equipment and rows upon rows of tapes and DVDs. The door opened up behind him, and he turned around.
“Kat…” He trailed off. Reid was standing there.
“Luke?” Reid said, taking a step into the room. The door clicked shut behind him. “What are you doing here?”
“Katie asked me to meet…” He saw the look on Reid’s face. “She set this up.” Reid didn’t say anything, just turned around and pulled on the handle.
The door didn’t move.
“I can’t get it open.” Reid said after a second.
“What?”
“It’s stuck.”
He and Reid glanced at each other.
They were trapped.
***********************
So, remember when Katie trapped Chris and Allison in the archives way back when? Well, I once read a LuRe fic with the same premise and couldn't resist incorporating it here. Does anyone know the story I'm talking about or who wrote it? I'd love to read it again.