Fabrication (18/27)
“Hey, buddy!” Luke greeted Ethan, who was sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast. He bent down and hugged him quickly.
“Luke!” Ethan nearly shouted, dropping his spoon in his cereal which resulted in a splash of milk.
“Hey, Luke,” Faith added, not looking up from the text message she was sending.
Luke rolled his eyes. “Nice to see you too. Where’s Mom?”
“Upstairs with Nat.”
“No, we’re right here,” Lily said, leading Natalie into the room.
Lily walked over to Luke, quickly hugging and kissing him. Luke smiled, enjoying the morning chaos that he secretly missed just a little bit.
“Are you hungry?” Lily asked, pulling away. “Have some breakfast.”
“It’s why I’m here,” Luke teased as he sat down next to Ethan and grabbed an apple from the bowl in the center of the table. “No, actually, I was looking for Noah. I haven’t seen him in a couple days, and I need the Richard gossip.”
Lily laughed. “They are back together, I guess. It’s hard to keep track.”
“This coming from you,” Faith muttered.
Luke gave Faith a look, swallowed a bite of apple and nodded. “Good.”
“But he’s not here right now,” Lily concluded.
“Working?”
“No. Pre-op appointment.”
“Pre-op?” Luke asked, startled.
“His surgery is tomorrow. Didn’t you know?”
Luke felt…he didn’t know what he felt. He forced a laugh. “No. I guess I’m just really out of the loop.”
“Luke, why is your neck like that?”
Luke took advantage of the distraction and turned to Ethan. “Like what, buddy?”
Ethan pointed at him. “You hurt yourself,” he said, concern in his voice.
Faith finally looked up from her phone to see what Ethan was talking about. Then she snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think it hurt, Eth.”
“What - ?”
“A hickey, Luke? Really?” Faith asked snidely.
Luke slapped his hand to his neck, and Faith laughed out loud.
“What?” Lily exclaimed, walking back over to the table and craning her neck as she tried to look between Luke’s fingers. “Well, that explains why you haven’t been visiting much.”
“Oh my God,” Luke whispered, blushing deeply. “I can’t believe he - ”
“What’s a hickey?” Ethan asked loudly.
“It’s from when someone sucks your neck,” Faith explained.
“Like a vampire?” Ethan asked, eyes wide.
Lily burst into laughter. “No, honey. Like…kisses your neck. It just means Luke was kissing someone.”
“Luke, you have a boyfriend?!” Natalie asked excitedly, crawling up to her knees in her chair.
Luke folded his arms on the table and buried his head in them. He muttered softly. Then he sat up suddenly.
“I have a meeting with the dockworker’s union rep. Fu - ”
“Luke!”
“ - Dge,” he concluded, with a glance at Ethan.
Lily stepped closer to him, smiling. She reached a hand out and when Luke grabbed it, she pulled him out of his chair.
“Come on. Cover-up.”
“So Luke wears makeup now too?” Faith snarked quietly.
“Shut up!” Luke yelled over his shoulder.
A few minutes later, they were in Lily’s bathroom. Luke perched on the edge of the counter, flashing back to the times when his mother would put antiseptic and Band-Aids on his scraped knees. And now here they were, years later, and she was hiding the evidence of his night of passion. Luke could not stop blushing, which was making Lily’s job rather difficult.
“So,” Lily asked, a teasing smile quirking up her lips. “Who is he? When do I meet him?”
“It’s…it’s not that serious,” Luke said.
“Luke, since you broke up with Noah, you’ve never done more than go out for dinner and kiss a guy goodnight.”
“You don’t know that,” Luke argued.
“Yes, I do. You think I don’t know how your heart works?”
“Mom, please, just…”
“OK,” Lily said. “I’ll let it go. For now.”
“Thank you,” Luke said softly, tilting his head back as Lily continued to blend in concealer.
“Just…are you happy?”
Luke couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m happy.”
**
“Hello Noah. Sorry I’m late.”
Noah looked up in Dr. Oliver’s general direction. He’d been waiting for a few minutes. When he’d arrived at the hospital, the desk nurse informed him that Dr. Oliver wasn't there yet. It was kind of surprising, because, in Noah’s experience, he was always at the hospital.
“Oh, no problem,” Noah said. “Everything OK?”
He could sense the quick smile on Dr. Oliver’s face - or how he pictured Dr. Oliver’s face. He knew he was probably youngish and good-looking, if only because of the crush that Luke so adamantly denied. Other than that, he had no idea how the man looked.
“Just one of those mornings,” Dr. Oliver said. “I have all your blood work and readings and everything here. Looks like you’re in excellent condition, so I have no hesitation about doing the surgery tomorrow.”
Noah gestured broadly and fought a nervous but relieved smile. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Let’s check your eyes one more time,” Dr. Oliver replied, ignoring Noah’s gratitude.
He stepped closer, placing a warm hand to the side of Noah’s head to hold him steady. Noah caught a trace of something, and his brow furrowed. He sniffed a couple times.
“Are you smelling me?” Dr. Oliver asked curiously.
“No, it’s just…I never realized before that you and Luke must use the same shampoo or something.”
Dr. Oliver stepped back quickly, clearing his throat. “Huh,” he said, sounding somewhat awkward. “Coincidence.”
“Yeah,” Noah agreed slowly.
His sudden suspicions were forgotten as Dr. Oliver continued his exam. There was…there was something there.
“Did you just react to the light?” Dr. Oliver asked.
“I - I don’t know,” Noah said. “Something’s going on.”
**
“Look, Jacob! Look who it is! It’s Uncle Reid.”
Reid turned away from the nurse’s desk where he was writing in a file. He smiled at Katie and Jacob as they walked closer.
“Who? You’re, of course, wondering. Uncle Reid! I know we haven’t seen a lot of him lately. And he didn’t even come home at all last night. But don’t worry. He still loves you.”
Reid nodded in amusement, fighting a smile as Katie stopped next to him. “Hello,” he said.
“And where were you last night?”
“Are you my mother? Do I have a curfew?”
“That’s what I figured. Two nights together out of the last three. This is getting serious.”
Reid sighed and closed the patient file. “What are you doing here?”
Katie grinned, then looked down at Jacob. “Oh, this little guy has been rubbing his ear a lot, so we have an appointment with the pediatrician.”
“Ohh,” Reid said, reaching out for Jacob and holding him close to his chest. He touched a finger to Jacob’s nose as he looked down at him. “Why are you always sick, sport? Your mom takes such good care of you. You live with a doctor. This is not good for our reputations.”
Katie laughed in agreement. Then she glanced over Reid’s shoulder and her smile turned even broader.
“Hi Luke,” she said.
**
Luke had made it through his meeting and then another whole hour at the office before he gave up and went to the hospital. He spent the drive trying to come up with excuses. It was too late to say he was there for Noah’s appointment (that he hadn’t even known about until his mother told him). The neuro wing was proceeding as planned, for once. Casey was at class. He didn’t know anyone else who was a patient at the hospital. Finally, Luke decided screw it. Did he really need an excuse? He just wanted to see Reid.
He walked the halls quickly, guessing he’d find Reid around his office. When he turned the last corner and saw Reid holding Jacob, Luke turned all squishy inside. He kind of hated himself for it, but there it was. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face if he tried.
“Hi Luke,” a voice interrupted his thoughts, and he tore his eyes away from Reid.
“Hi,” he replied, smiling at Katie.
Katie reached out and took Jacob back. “I should get going. We’ll miss that appointment otherwise.”
She gave both men a little wave and then disappeared down the hall. Reid turned to Luke, and Luke smiled even wider. He put his hands in his pockets, bending slightly towards Reid as he took one more step closer.
“Good morning. Again.”
“Hi. Why are you here?” Reid asked softly, tilting his head.
Luke bit his lower lip, fighting a smile when Reid’s eyes dropped to his mouth. Luke shrugged.
“No reason, really,” he said. Then he inhaled and started to lean in for a quick kiss. Reid glanced at him, then suddenly over his shoulder. And then Reid took a step back. Luke’s smile fell.
Continued