The Big Gamble (Part Four)
Part Four:
It had been awhile since Luke had been this close to someone. His and Noah’s relationship had always lacked physical intimacy. They could cuddle up together, but somehow this just felt different. Here he was on the couch of his living room, lying on top of someone who he hasn’t even known a week. Their chests and torsos were touching without an inch of space between them and he was currently finding it difficult to breath in the position. But wait. What did he just say?
“Sorry. What?”
“Love,” he simply replied, bringing his hands down to rest on Luke’s hips. “He knows you too well to believe that you’d actually leave him, which is why we’re not just going to date. We’re going to fall in love. We’re going to have a whirlwind courtship Mr. Snyder. One that’s complete with all that sappy crap people are fond of. I’m going to sweep you off your feet and you’re going to fall completely head over heels for me. Only then when he actually believes that you’re really falling in love with somebody else will he actually make a valid effort to get you back.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Let’s just say I have a feeling behind his mindset.”
“So what do we do now?” Luke asked. He lifted himself with his arms, careful not to graze Reid inappropriately. There would be no brushing of………parts. Not that he wanted to think of such things to begin with.
“For now we…..how did you put it? ‘Get to know each other.’”
“Right.”
“Despite how much I love our current seating arrangement, we might want to actually start off with some distance first.”
“Oh,” Luke said looking down. “Right.”
Luke was pretty sure he had never seen someone inhale egg rolls as fast as Reid could. That man was a bottomless pit. If the egg rolls weren’t enough of an example, then the sheer amount of food the man ordered sure was. He, himself, sat there with his meekly combo plate order of Sesame Chicken and Pork Fried Rice. He chose crab Rangoon as his side. Reid on the other hand had take out boxes that varied from General Tso’s chicken to the House Lo Mein. His stomach had already been filled with steamed dumplings, his egg rolls were nearly non-existant and he was just beginning to dive into his own order of crab Rangoon , breaking off the crunchy ends to dip them in his egg drop soup.
“What?” Reid asked looking up with his mouth full.
Luke shook his head in amusement. “Nothing. You realize that you never answered my question you know.”
“And what was the question again?”
“Do you really not remember or are you just avoiding giving the answer?” he teased.
“Caught me. And to answer your question, yes I have seen ‘The Lion King’.”
“A-Ha!” Luke exclaimed. “I knew it. You’re a closet Disney fanatic, aren’t you?”
“I’m no such thing.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke grinned. “So let me ask you this. Did you cry when Mufasa died? You did, didn’t you? Didn’t you!!??”
“Ow! For the love of God, stop poking me.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
“You’re not as smart as you think you are you know.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, you’re asking the most mundane questions a person could ask when getting to know someone. What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite color? Have you ever….? You’re avoiding getting to the serious stuff. It’s called deflection Mr. Snyder. Question is…..why are you doing it?”
“I’m not,” he attempted to defend himself lamely.
“Yes you are. So tell me Luke….what makes you, you?”
“Where would you like me to start?”
“Hmm…..okay. Earlier. You said ‘not really’ when I mentioned dating a college student. What exactly did you mean by that?”
Luke sighed. “I’m supposed to be in school, but I umm….well…..”
“Spit it out,” Reid said bluntly.
“I got expelled. There. Are you happy now?”
Reid frowned. “For what? Bad grades?”
“No.” Luke shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I sort of….cheated in a student election.”
Reid snorted. “Seriously?” Reid asked incredulously. “What did you try to buy the people’s votes?”
Luke paled and then mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like ‘stuff the ballot box’. Reid’s brow furrowed and opened his mouth, just to close it nearly right after. “Why would you do something like that?”
Luke slumped further down into his seat. “Noah had been working on this movie….”
“Oh here we go,” Reid rolled his eyes.
“What?”
“Noah, aka, what I’m beginning to mentally call the dreaded four-letter word.”
“It wasn’t his fault. I wanted to win the election that way we could have this Gay-Lesbian film festival on campus. My opponent was actually my best friend at one time…until he found out I was gay that is. Needless to say he didn’t take it too well. If he had won, there’s no way the festival would’ve happened…..”
“So you rigged it,” Reid added for him.
“My friend Casey did….but not without my permission first.”
“And he got caught when he was doing it?”
“No. We actually got away with it. But then Kevin and his friends knew that there was no way I could’ve beaten him without cheating, so the school started an investigation.”
“Which they found you guilty of,” he assumed.
Luke cleared his throat. “Someone who knew the truth told them everything.”
“Who else knew beside you and your friend?”
Luke’s eyes shifted and realization dawned on Reid. “Wow,” he said shocked. “He really is a piece of work, isn’t he?”
“You don’t understand,” Luke replied as he attempted to defend Noah. “He was under a lot of pressure. The dean was threatening to kick him out of school if he didn’t tell the truth….”
“And he couldn’t have gotten kicked out if they never found out the truth to begin with.”
“Why are you so set on blaming him?”
“Why aren’t you?”
“He didn’t cheat. I did.”
“For him.”
“That’s not the point. It was my decision and it was the wrong one. I paid the consequences for it, end of story.”
“I just don’t understand how you could’ve stayed with him after he would rat you out. I’m all for the code of ethics, but if it was my partner…..I would’ve yelled at you, called you stupid, and then kept my mouth shut.”
“Well, he did the first two.”
“Did he at least appreciate what you tried to do for him? At all?”
“Actually he broke up with me afterwards,” Luke said straightening up.
“You must have been seriously fucked up in your childhood for you to be in love with that…..boy.”
“You don’t know anything about my childhood,” Luke said snidely.
“I thought that’s what I was supposed to be finding out.”
Luke shook his head. “I think we should call it a night.”
Reid sighed. “Fine.”
After they finished packing up what was left of the food, Luke led Reid to the door. The latter turned around and Luke fidgeted under his stare. “You have my number. The next time you’re ready to try this again, give me a call,” Reid said walking out.
Luke couldn’t stop thinking about Reid’s abrupt departure the night before. He felt bad for snapping at the man. He was technically within his rights to ask Luke about his past behavior. Somehow though that topic kept turning to Noah and their relationship and Luke couldn’t take it anymore. Going through those experiences were bad enough, but having to rethink about them was something else entirely. It hurt even more having someone else question your decision about staying in a relationship. Luke never really allowed himself to do it at the time. It was him and Noah; how it was always supposed to be. You weren’t supposed to walk away from love. After all, walking away was easy. It was staying and fighting for that person that was hard. Luke hesitated at that though. Noah always walked away though, didn’t he? Luke squashed those thoughts immediately. It was too early to go there.
He wasn’t quite sure how he came to be standing in front of the hospital.
“I’m sorry about the other day. It was unfair of me to get worked up when you were just doing what I asked of you.”
“It’s fine,” Reid replied flatly. “I hit a nerve……sometimes I have a habit of doing that.”
“Really?” Luke smiled teasingly. “I’d never have guessed.” Reid’s lips quirked up to the side in amusement. “So, I was thinking that maybe we were going about it all the wrong way. I mean….people who have just met don’t know or find out everything there is to know about each other overnight. Maybe we can just do the whole “dating” thing the normal way….that way it will seem more real.”
“Yeah,” Reid said in agreement. “Sounds fine to me.”
Luke let out a breath of air in relief. “Good.”
NEXT
It had been awhile since Luke had been this close to someone. His and Noah’s relationship had always lacked physical intimacy. They could cuddle up together, but somehow this just felt different. Here he was on the couch of his living room, lying on top of someone who he hasn’t even known a week. Their chests and torsos were touching without an inch of space between them and he was currently finding it difficult to breath in the position. But wait. What did he just say?
“Sorry. What?”
“Love,” he simply replied, bringing his hands down to rest on Luke’s hips. “He knows you too well to believe that you’d actually leave him, which is why we’re not just going to date. We’re going to fall in love. We’re going to have a whirlwind courtship Mr. Snyder. One that’s complete with all that sappy crap people are fond of. I’m going to sweep you off your feet and you’re going to fall completely head over heels for me. Only then when he actually believes that you’re really falling in love with somebody else will he actually make a valid effort to get you back.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Let’s just say I have a feeling behind his mindset.”
“So what do we do now?” Luke asked. He lifted himself with his arms, careful not to graze Reid inappropriately. There would be no brushing of………parts. Not that he wanted to think of such things to begin with.
“For now we…..how did you put it? ‘Get to know each other.’”
“Right.”
“Despite how much I love our current seating arrangement, we might want to actually start off with some distance first.”
“Oh,” Luke said looking down. “Right.”
Luke was pretty sure he had never seen someone inhale egg rolls as fast as Reid could. That man was a bottomless pit. If the egg rolls weren’t enough of an example, then the sheer amount of food the man ordered sure was. He, himself, sat there with his meekly combo plate order of Sesame Chicken and Pork Fried Rice. He chose crab Rangoon as his side. Reid on the other hand had take out boxes that varied from General Tso’s chicken to the House Lo Mein. His stomach had already been filled with steamed dumplings, his egg rolls were nearly non-existant and he was just beginning to dive into his own order of crab Rangoon , breaking off the crunchy ends to dip them in his egg drop soup.
“What?” Reid asked looking up with his mouth full.
Luke shook his head in amusement. “Nothing. You realize that you never answered my question you know.”
“And what was the question again?”
“Do you really not remember or are you just avoiding giving the answer?” he teased.
“Caught me. And to answer your question, yes I have seen ‘The Lion King’.”
“A-Ha!” Luke exclaimed. “I knew it. You’re a closet Disney fanatic, aren’t you?”
“I’m no such thing.”
“Uh-huh,” Luke grinned. “So let me ask you this. Did you cry when Mufasa died? You did, didn’t you? Didn’t you!!??”
“Ow! For the love of God, stop poking me.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
“You’re not as smart as you think you are you know.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, you’re asking the most mundane questions a person could ask when getting to know someone. What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite color? Have you ever….? You’re avoiding getting to the serious stuff. It’s called deflection Mr. Snyder. Question is…..why are you doing it?”
“I’m not,” he attempted to defend himself lamely.
“Yes you are. So tell me Luke….what makes you, you?”
“Where would you like me to start?”
“Hmm…..okay. Earlier. You said ‘not really’ when I mentioned dating a college student. What exactly did you mean by that?”
Luke sighed. “I’m supposed to be in school, but I umm….well…..”
“Spit it out,” Reid said bluntly.
“I got expelled. There. Are you happy now?”
Reid frowned. “For what? Bad grades?”
“No.” Luke shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I sort of….cheated in a student election.”
Reid snorted. “Seriously?” Reid asked incredulously. “What did you try to buy the people’s votes?”
Luke paled and then mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like ‘stuff the ballot box’. Reid’s brow furrowed and opened his mouth, just to close it nearly right after. “Why would you do something like that?”
Luke slumped further down into his seat. “Noah had been working on this movie….”
“Oh here we go,” Reid rolled his eyes.
“What?”
“Noah, aka, what I’m beginning to mentally call the dreaded four-letter word.”
“It wasn’t his fault. I wanted to win the election that way we could have this Gay-Lesbian film festival on campus. My opponent was actually my best friend at one time…until he found out I was gay that is. Needless to say he didn’t take it too well. If he had won, there’s no way the festival would’ve happened…..”
“So you rigged it,” Reid added for him.
“My friend Casey did….but not without my permission first.”
“And he got caught when he was doing it?”
“No. We actually got away with it. But then Kevin and his friends knew that there was no way I could’ve beaten him without cheating, so the school started an investigation.”
“Which they found you guilty of,” he assumed.
Luke cleared his throat. “Someone who knew the truth told them everything.”
“Who else knew beside you and your friend?”
Luke’s eyes shifted and realization dawned on Reid. “Wow,” he said shocked. “He really is a piece of work, isn’t he?”
“You don’t understand,” Luke replied as he attempted to defend Noah. “He was under a lot of pressure. The dean was threatening to kick him out of school if he didn’t tell the truth….”
“And he couldn’t have gotten kicked out if they never found out the truth to begin with.”
“Why are you so set on blaming him?”
“Why aren’t you?”
“He didn’t cheat. I did.”
“For him.”
“That’s not the point. It was my decision and it was the wrong one. I paid the consequences for it, end of story.”
“I just don’t understand how you could’ve stayed with him after he would rat you out. I’m all for the code of ethics, but if it was my partner…..I would’ve yelled at you, called you stupid, and then kept my mouth shut.”
“Well, he did the first two.”
“Did he at least appreciate what you tried to do for him? At all?”
“Actually he broke up with me afterwards,” Luke said straightening up.
“You must have been seriously fucked up in your childhood for you to be in love with that…..boy.”
“You don’t know anything about my childhood,” Luke said snidely.
“I thought that’s what I was supposed to be finding out.”
Luke shook his head. “I think we should call it a night.”
Reid sighed. “Fine.”
After they finished packing up what was left of the food, Luke led Reid to the door. The latter turned around and Luke fidgeted under his stare. “You have my number. The next time you’re ready to try this again, give me a call,” Reid said walking out.
Luke couldn’t stop thinking about Reid’s abrupt departure the night before. He felt bad for snapping at the man. He was technically within his rights to ask Luke about his past behavior. Somehow though that topic kept turning to Noah and their relationship and Luke couldn’t take it anymore. Going through those experiences were bad enough, but having to rethink about them was something else entirely. It hurt even more having someone else question your decision about staying in a relationship. Luke never really allowed himself to do it at the time. It was him and Noah; how it was always supposed to be. You weren’t supposed to walk away from love. After all, walking away was easy. It was staying and fighting for that person that was hard. Luke hesitated at that though. Noah always walked away though, didn’t he? Luke squashed those thoughts immediately. It was too early to go there.
He wasn’t quite sure how he came to be standing in front of the hospital.
“I’m sorry about the other day. It was unfair of me to get worked up when you were just doing what I asked of you.”
“It’s fine,” Reid replied flatly. “I hit a nerve……sometimes I have a habit of doing that.”
“Really?” Luke smiled teasingly. “I’d never have guessed.” Reid’s lips quirked up to the side in amusement. “So, I was thinking that maybe we were going about it all the wrong way. I mean….people who have just met don’t know or find out everything there is to know about each other overnight. Maybe we can just do the whole “dating” thing the normal way….that way it will seem more real.”
“Yeah,” Reid said in agreement. “Sounds fine to me.”
Luke let out a breath of air in relief. “Good.”
NEXT