37 Labels and love
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #37 Labels and love
Rating: PG13
Summary: Mr. Mayer is back in town
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#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
Today was a good day. Reid leaned back in his chair, his hands folded in his neck. His conversation with Duke Kramer had been fairly pleasant and they’d reached an understanding they both felt comfortable with. He’d also met up with Dr. Lucy Montgomery and it had taken a small amount of time to decide she would be an asset too, so his team was getting stronger.
Reid scrolled through his schedule and smiled. He could leave early today and after the craziness yesterday, he felt like it too. When he left the house this morning, Luke had been roaming the land of Nod, so he took out his phone to find out about Luke’s schedule.
“Hey you!” As always, Luke was happy to hear his voice, “I was just about to call you!”
“Great minds…”
“Exactly,” Luke chuckled. “Did you hear or is your call about something else?”
“I’ll need some details before I can answer that.”
“Then you didn’t hear,” Luke concluded. “Abigail is here.”
“Here where? Oakhell…”
“Our couch.”
Oh boy. Reid crossed out the four on the wish list in his head.
“Is she passing or crashing?”
“A little bit of both, I guess.” Luke sounded worried and - why didn’t Reid pick up on that earlier? - a little upset.
“What’s wrong, Luke?”
“It’s not about me. Well… in a way it is, but not directly…” Luke sighed. “I’d rather tell you in person. Do you have any idea…”
“That’s why I called. I’m done, so I’m coming home. I’ll just check on Damian and Barbara and then I’m out of here.”
“That’s great,” Luke sounded relieved and Reid started to get more worried.
“Whatever it is, we’ll work it out.” Reid’s pep talk was received with a little chuckle and a “I love you, Reid. See you soon.”
After disconnecting, Reid decided Damian and Barbara were both in good hands. Luke was more important. With his coat in his hand, he walked over to Gwen’s office, but stopped in his tracks. What was he doing here?
Reid took a deep breath and after a quick knock on the door, he interrupted the conversation.
“Mr. Mayer. Couldn’t live without Oakhell?”
Without waiting for an answer, Reid turned to Gwen. “If you don’t have anything new, I’m out of here.”
“Nope, nothing new,” Gwen smiled. “You do remember it’s Paper day, tomorrow?”
Reid grinned. “I remembered, but thanks for reminding me. I hope to sleep in, so don’t call to check on me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Gwen rolled her eyes. “I’ll be busy with my own paperwork, so don’t call to check on me either.”
Reid laughed out loud and turned to Noah again.
“Does Luke know you’re in town?”
Noah looked nervous. “I’m not sure. I didn’t tell him. Why?”
“Nothing important. Luke needs my input on something and after seeing you… well, I guess I jumped to the obvious conclusion that you managed to make him feel miserable again…”
“Dr. Oliver…” Gwen tried to give him a look of reproof, but failed. And Reid was glad she did. He really didn’t need a Noah-fan working for him.
“I know… too much honesty. I’m off.”
With a hand movement he greeted Gwen and ignored Noah.
***
“Honey, I’m hommmmme!”
With a graceful swing Reid’s coat found its way to a hook on the wall and before he could turn around, two arms hugged him from behind. He covered the hands with his own and pulled Luke even closer.
“That bad, huh?”
Reid managed to turn in Luke’s grip, cupped his head and kissed him firmly. It gave Luke some color on his cheeks, but the brown eyes were still a pool of sadness. What was going on?
They walked into the living room and when Reid saw the girl, he smiled. This was Abigail. He knew he’d heard her name before, but on his way home couldn’t remember a face with it. But now he could recall. Emma’s kitchen, another marriage that didn’t happen…
This time Abigail wasn’t vibrant and perky, though. She had obviously cried. A lot. He felt awkward.
“Do you want me to leave you two…”
Before he could finish, Luke and Abigail shook their heads.
“Please stay,” Abigail looked as uncomfortable as Reid felt, but her smile was genuine. “I could really use your input…”
“Sure…” Reid found a seat, “but let’s get one thing clear… Dr. Phil I’m not and I don’t have any insight when it comes to female emotions.”
Abigail chuckled. “I understand you lived with Katie for a couple of months, so maybe you know more than you think.”
“Don’t count on it,” Reid grinned. “I was an expert on avoiding ‘the talks’.”
Luke came back with a big pitcher filled up with the lemonade he knew Reid loved and the doctor understood the underlying message. This could take a while. After taking a huge draught, he leaned back, pulled Luke close and focused his attention to Abigail.
“I’m ready for you. Shoot.”
And Abigail told her story again. It was easier this time, because she didn’t have to worry about Luke’s feelings. She did notice Reid’s reserve when her story came to a crucial point.
“…so when he told me his name was Noah, I thought it was a funny coincidence and I told him that name had a familiar ring to it, because my brother’s former boyfriend was a Noah too. Imagine my shock when it turned out to be the same guy!”
“What are the odds,” Reid had to agree. Los Angeles, two youngsters, meeting in a coffee bar, hitting it off… sharing personal details - like a period in his life where he was misled into being gay - and then discovering they were both connected to the same person. Luke.
Reid kissed the blond locks. He now understood why Luke was so upset. Misled into being gay? P-lease.
“Well, I’m not sure you both know, but Noah is in town.”
Their reaction underlined they didn’t had a clue.
“What is he doing here?” Abigail was in shock.
“I didn’t ask, because… well… frankly, I didn’t care. But he was talking to Gwen when I signed off, just now.”
“He followed me, even after specifically asking him to leave me alone.”
“That sounds like the Noah we know,” Reid murmured and Luke slapped him softly on his arm. “What? I know I’m outnumbered here, but I don’t like Noah and I’m not gonna lie about it.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Luke said on a soothing voice, “but maybe you can tone down on the sarcasm?”
“I already did,” Reid grumbled. “If you knew what I really wanted to say about him, you’d understand I extremely softened my tone.”
Luke kissed his cheek. “Thank you for that.”
Reid grumbled some more and Abigail smiled at him.
“I’m sorry I’m bringing all this old Noah stuff back up…”
“Don’t worry about it. I can remove a brain tumor, so Noah Mayer is no real concern to me.”
This time Abigail even laughed out loud.
“You’re an amazing drama killer,” she concluded and Reid looked proud.
“I am,” His grin was wicked, “and if I could have a go at it, I could verbally crush a certain barista that will stay anonymous.”
“I’m almost tempted,” Abigail admitted, “but that’s just the anger talking.”
“Even anger has some wise things to say, sometimes.” Reid rolled his eyes and now Luke joined the laughter too. He snuggled up to his boyfriend even more. For some reason everything looked a lot brighter, now Reid was home.
After talking in circles for way too many minutes, Reid still didn’t understand what the real problem was and when he asked, both Luke and Abigail watched him in disbelief.
“You cannot be serious. You don’t find it just a little bit strange that Noah claims to be in love with me?”
“Quite the contrary,” Reid stated calmly. “What’s not to love?”
Abigail blushed. “Thank you for that, but we are talking about Noah.”
“As if you two would let me forget,” Reid replied. “But so what? If I understand correctly, Noah has a history of having feelings for women, so where’s the big surprise?”
“But he’s gay!” Abigail sounded frustrated.
“Maybe he’s not. Or not completely, at least. Society likes to pigeon-hole sexual preferences, but there’s a whole range of possibilities. Ever heard of the Kinsey scale?”
Luke looked like he vaguely remembered something by that name and Abigail shook her head.
“It’s worth a Google,” Reid smiled. “It’s a scale from 0, being exclusively heterosexual, to 6, being exclusively homosexual. Numbers 1 to 5 indicate bisexuality in various degrees. I think it safe to conclude that Noah is not a six.”
“Are you?” Abigail slapped her hand before her mouth and her eyes shouted ‘I’m sorry!’, but Reid laughed.
“As far I can tell, I am. I’ve never felt any sexual inkling with a woman.”
“Me neither,” Luke sounded relieved. “But that Kinsey scale explains a lot. I just couldn’t understand how Noah could lie like that, but maybe he’s not lying. Maybe he honestly feels like that.”
“Who knows why Noah does what he does,” Reid shrugged. “He was pretty possessive about you, so that doesn’t sound like ‘being misled into being gay’ to me.”
“True,” Luke nodded. “Maybe he’s confused. I know I would be if I felt attracted to both men and women.”
“Especially when you labeled yourself as gay,” Reid agreed. “The world would make a lot more sense if we all labeled ourselves as human and be done with it.”
Abigail smiled. “You’re so right. And thank you for explaining the Kinsey scale. For some reason it gives me peace of mind.”
Reid took another pull from his lemonade.
“I’m glad I could help,” he crushed a piece of ice between his teeth, “So what’s your next step… does Noah stand a chance?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Abigail rose to her feet. “But thanks to the both of you, I’ve calmed down and I have a lot to think about. I’ll leave you two to it…”
“Are you staying at the farm?” Luke stood up too and motioned Reid he could stay seated.
“Yes, I am. Holden asked my mother to come over and I’m the designated chaperon.” She rolled her eyes. “As if my mother could ever not love Holden.”
On her way out, she surprised herself and Reid by bending over to the couch and kissing him on the cheek.
“Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.”
He could hear Luke saying goodbye and after closing the door, Reid let out a loud sigh. It made Luke produce a radiant smile.
“That bad, huh?”
“Stealing my lines again, are we?” Reid stretched out on the couch and Luke could take a hint and found his peace on top of him.
“I am. I love your lines,” his finger stroke Reid’s chin, “Every line. And I’m so glad you’re a six and I’m a six.”
“Me too. Together we’re a twelve. So I guess that makes us officially gross.”
They both laughed.
“I love being gross with you,” Luke whispered. “How tired are you?”
“Number four is hounding me all day…” Reid pushed aside a blond lock from Luke’s face and smiled when Luke licked his lips. Without another word their tongues met and the world disappeared.
Author: SYLnl
Title: #37 Labels and love
Rating: PG13
Summary: Mr. Mayer is back in town
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#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
Today was a good day. Reid leaned back in his chair, his hands folded in his neck. His conversation with Duke Kramer had been fairly pleasant and they’d reached an understanding they both felt comfortable with. He’d also met up with Dr. Lucy Montgomery and it had taken a small amount of time to decide she would be an asset too, so his team was getting stronger.
Reid scrolled through his schedule and smiled. He could leave early today and after the craziness yesterday, he felt like it too. When he left the house this morning, Luke had been roaming the land of Nod, so he took out his phone to find out about Luke’s schedule.
“Hey you!” As always, Luke was happy to hear his voice, “I was just about to call you!”
“Great minds…”
“Exactly,” Luke chuckled. “Did you hear or is your call about something else?”
“I’ll need some details before I can answer that.”
“Then you didn’t hear,” Luke concluded. “Abigail is here.”
“Here where? Oakhell…”
“Our couch.”
Oh boy. Reid crossed out the four on the wish list in his head.
“Is she passing or crashing?”
“A little bit of both, I guess.” Luke sounded worried and - why didn’t Reid pick up on that earlier? - a little upset.
“What’s wrong, Luke?”
“It’s not about me. Well… in a way it is, but not directly…” Luke sighed. “I’d rather tell you in person. Do you have any idea…”
“That’s why I called. I’m done, so I’m coming home. I’ll just check on Damian and Barbara and then I’m out of here.”
“That’s great,” Luke sounded relieved and Reid started to get more worried.
“Whatever it is, we’ll work it out.” Reid’s pep talk was received with a little chuckle and a “I love you, Reid. See you soon.”
After disconnecting, Reid decided Damian and Barbara were both in good hands. Luke was more important. With his coat in his hand, he walked over to Gwen’s office, but stopped in his tracks. What was he doing here?
Reid took a deep breath and after a quick knock on the door, he interrupted the conversation.
“Mr. Mayer. Couldn’t live without Oakhell?”
Without waiting for an answer, Reid turned to Gwen. “If you don’t have anything new, I’m out of here.”
“Nope, nothing new,” Gwen smiled. “You do remember it’s Paper day, tomorrow?”
Reid grinned. “I remembered, but thanks for reminding me. I hope to sleep in, so don’t call to check on me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Gwen rolled her eyes. “I’ll be busy with my own paperwork, so don’t call to check on me either.”
Reid laughed out loud and turned to Noah again.
“Does Luke know you’re in town?”
Noah looked nervous. “I’m not sure. I didn’t tell him. Why?”
“Nothing important. Luke needs my input on something and after seeing you… well, I guess I jumped to the obvious conclusion that you managed to make him feel miserable again…”
“Dr. Oliver…” Gwen tried to give him a look of reproof, but failed. And Reid was glad she did. He really didn’t need a Noah-fan working for him.
“I know… too much honesty. I’m off.”
With a hand movement he greeted Gwen and ignored Noah.
***
“Honey, I’m hommmmme!”
With a graceful swing Reid’s coat found its way to a hook on the wall and before he could turn around, two arms hugged him from behind. He covered the hands with his own and pulled Luke even closer.
“That bad, huh?”
Reid managed to turn in Luke’s grip, cupped his head and kissed him firmly. It gave Luke some color on his cheeks, but the brown eyes were still a pool of sadness. What was going on?
They walked into the living room and when Reid saw the girl, he smiled. This was Abigail. He knew he’d heard her name before, but on his way home couldn’t remember a face with it. But now he could recall. Emma’s kitchen, another marriage that didn’t happen…
This time Abigail wasn’t vibrant and perky, though. She had obviously cried. A lot. He felt awkward.
“Do you want me to leave you two…”
Before he could finish, Luke and Abigail shook their heads.
“Please stay,” Abigail looked as uncomfortable as Reid felt, but her smile was genuine. “I could really use your input…”
“Sure…” Reid found a seat, “but let’s get one thing clear… Dr. Phil I’m not and I don’t have any insight when it comes to female emotions.”
Abigail chuckled. “I understand you lived with Katie for a couple of months, so maybe you know more than you think.”
“Don’t count on it,” Reid grinned. “I was an expert on avoiding ‘the talks’.”
Luke came back with a big pitcher filled up with the lemonade he knew Reid loved and the doctor understood the underlying message. This could take a while. After taking a huge draught, he leaned back, pulled Luke close and focused his attention to Abigail.
“I’m ready for you. Shoot.”
And Abigail told her story again. It was easier this time, because she didn’t have to worry about Luke’s feelings. She did notice Reid’s reserve when her story came to a crucial point.
“…so when he told me his name was Noah, I thought it was a funny coincidence and I told him that name had a familiar ring to it, because my brother’s former boyfriend was a Noah too. Imagine my shock when it turned out to be the same guy!”
“What are the odds,” Reid had to agree. Los Angeles, two youngsters, meeting in a coffee bar, hitting it off… sharing personal details - like a period in his life where he was misled into being gay - and then discovering they were both connected to the same person. Luke.
Reid kissed the blond locks. He now understood why Luke was so upset. Misled into being gay? P-lease.
“Well, I’m not sure you both know, but Noah is in town.”
Their reaction underlined they didn’t had a clue.
“What is he doing here?” Abigail was in shock.
“I didn’t ask, because… well… frankly, I didn’t care. But he was talking to Gwen when I signed off, just now.”
“He followed me, even after specifically asking him to leave me alone.”
“That sounds like the Noah we know,” Reid murmured and Luke slapped him softly on his arm. “What? I know I’m outnumbered here, but I don’t like Noah and I’m not gonna lie about it.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Luke said on a soothing voice, “but maybe you can tone down on the sarcasm?”
“I already did,” Reid grumbled. “If you knew what I really wanted to say about him, you’d understand I extremely softened my tone.”
Luke kissed his cheek. “Thank you for that.”
Reid grumbled some more and Abigail smiled at him.
“I’m sorry I’m bringing all this old Noah stuff back up…”
“Don’t worry about it. I can remove a brain tumor, so Noah Mayer is no real concern to me.”
This time Abigail even laughed out loud.
“You’re an amazing drama killer,” she concluded and Reid looked proud.
“I am,” His grin was wicked, “and if I could have a go at it, I could verbally crush a certain barista that will stay anonymous.”
“I’m almost tempted,” Abigail admitted, “but that’s just the anger talking.”
“Even anger has some wise things to say, sometimes.” Reid rolled his eyes and now Luke joined the laughter too. He snuggled up to his boyfriend even more. For some reason everything looked a lot brighter, now Reid was home.
After talking in circles for way too many minutes, Reid still didn’t understand what the real problem was and when he asked, both Luke and Abigail watched him in disbelief.
“You cannot be serious. You don’t find it just a little bit strange that Noah claims to be in love with me?”
“Quite the contrary,” Reid stated calmly. “What’s not to love?”
Abigail blushed. “Thank you for that, but we are talking about Noah.”
“As if you two would let me forget,” Reid replied. “But so what? If I understand correctly, Noah has a history of having feelings for women, so where’s the big surprise?”
“But he’s gay!” Abigail sounded frustrated.
“Maybe he’s not. Or not completely, at least. Society likes to pigeon-hole sexual preferences, but there’s a whole range of possibilities. Ever heard of the Kinsey scale?”
Luke looked like he vaguely remembered something by that name and Abigail shook her head.
“It’s worth a Google,” Reid smiled. “It’s a scale from 0, being exclusively heterosexual, to 6, being exclusively homosexual. Numbers 1 to 5 indicate bisexuality in various degrees. I think it safe to conclude that Noah is not a six.”
“Are you?” Abigail slapped her hand before her mouth and her eyes shouted ‘I’m sorry!’, but Reid laughed.
“As far I can tell, I am. I’ve never felt any sexual inkling with a woman.”
“Me neither,” Luke sounded relieved. “But that Kinsey scale explains a lot. I just couldn’t understand how Noah could lie like that, but maybe he’s not lying. Maybe he honestly feels like that.”
“Who knows why Noah does what he does,” Reid shrugged. “He was pretty possessive about you, so that doesn’t sound like ‘being misled into being gay’ to me.”
“True,” Luke nodded. “Maybe he’s confused. I know I would be if I felt attracted to both men and women.”
“Especially when you labeled yourself as gay,” Reid agreed. “The world would make a lot more sense if we all labeled ourselves as human and be done with it.”
Abigail smiled. “You’re so right. And thank you for explaining the Kinsey scale. For some reason it gives me peace of mind.”
Reid took another pull from his lemonade.
“I’m glad I could help,” he crushed a piece of ice between his teeth, “So what’s your next step… does Noah stand a chance?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Abigail rose to her feet. “But thanks to the both of you, I’ve calmed down and I have a lot to think about. I’ll leave you two to it…”
“Are you staying at the farm?” Luke stood up too and motioned Reid he could stay seated.
“Yes, I am. Holden asked my mother to come over and I’m the designated chaperon.” She rolled her eyes. “As if my mother could ever not love Holden.”
On her way out, she surprised herself and Reid by bending over to the couch and kissing him on the cheek.
“Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.”
He could hear Luke saying goodbye and after closing the door, Reid let out a loud sigh. It made Luke produce a radiant smile.
“That bad, huh?”
“Stealing my lines again, are we?” Reid stretched out on the couch and Luke could take a hint and found his peace on top of him.
“I am. I love your lines,” his finger stroke Reid’s chin, “Every line. And I’m so glad you’re a six and I’m a six.”
“Me too. Together we’re a twelve. So I guess that makes us officially gross.”
They both laughed.
“I love being gross with you,” Luke whispered. “How tired are you?”
“Number four is hounding me all day…” Reid pushed aside a blond lock from Luke’s face and smiled when Luke licked his lips. Without another word their tongues met and the world disappeared.