Outlier, Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Reid stood at Luke Snyder’s door. He hadn’t seen him in six and a half days.
He was ready.
His heart rate was elevated, his senses sharp; glucocorticoids were currently mobilizing his systems for the upcoming engagement. The tingling in his arms and legs was less easily explained - a bit of transient paresthesia he chose to ignore. Happily, the squeeze was nowhere to be felt. There was no time for that - Reid was on a mission. He was standing outside Luke’s house (three minutes and counting, which of course he was not) for only one reason: to ensure a future in Oakdale. As ridiculous as such an endgame would have seemed only a short time ago, now Reid was committed. To Oakdale. (He was getting better at suppressing the reflexive shudder.) To the new wing, his wing. He’d already made arrangements for short-term trips to Dallas to treat critical patients and for others eventually to be relocated to Oakdale when the wing was completed. And to Katie - she wouldn’t be his usual hit-and-run or convenient arrangement. He’d made a commitment to connection, to learning from each other. To seeing where things could go.
All week he had been methodically establishing a life here - only to have the foundation ripped out. By Bob Hughes, who had just taken a sledgehammer to it, smashing Reid’s wing to bits before it had even been built.
“There isn’t enough money,” Bob had said. “But that’s OK - we don’t need to save everyone, right? We can just substitute a deli slicer for the stereotaxis system. That way Oakdale can remain a bastion of mediocrity.”
Reid might have misremembered Bob’s words slightly. Didn’t matter - he wasn’t standing for it. Fortuitously, it just so happened that he knew someone with a fleet of private planes, a silver spoon up his ass, and, crucially, his own pet foundation. And this someone owed Reid. It was Luke Snyder’s fault that Reid was in Oakdale to begin with. Luke had already gone to quasi-felonious extremes to get his boyfriend the best treatment - what was a little pocket change? Because Reid wasn’t above using Noah’s upcoming surgery as leverage. Would Reid actually abandon Noah? Of course not, he was his patient. But Luke didn’t need to know that. To be honest, Reid was hoping Luke would turn him down at first - he was looking forward to serving a little karmic payback, to seeing the devastation on Luke’s face when he thought he’d failed the love of his life…
The door opened. For a moment, Reid thought he'd forgotten he’d knocked. But no, his arms were still at his sides, and Luke’s coat indicated that he hadn’t been answering the door but on his way out. No matter, Reid could reclaim the advantage and reestablish momentum. Shock and awe, that was his strategy - he would barrel past Luke into the (unexpectedly modest) house and present his demands. He was geared for battle.
And then he saw Luke’s face. The devastation.
“What’s wrong?” The words came out more softly that Reid had intended. He didn’t notice.
Luke blinked at Reid, as if finally seeing him. He didn’t answer.
“Is there something I can do?”
Luke blinked again, this time to clear the tears. He now was looking at Reid as if he weren’t sure what he was seeing.
Reid wasn’t sure, either. The only thing he was certain of was that he never wanted to see this look on Luke’s face again. It was as if a flower had fallen onto a busy highway. Make those two certainties: Reid had just collected another data point. His chest felt as if it were collapsing on itself.
Luke wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “What do you want, Dr. Oliver?” His voice was weary but hardening.
“What do I…?”
Luke strengthened as Reid reeled. “Are you looking for me?”
“I’m…” Systems scrambled to reorganize, to redeploy.
“Lost?” Luke leaned forward, brows raised.
“What?”
“Did you take a wrong turn? Please say yes, ’cause otherwise I really don’t think I’m up to whatever it is you’re here for.”
“Why are you crying?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Turning, Luke walked back into the house.
Reid followed. He’d recovered enough to notice that the inside of the house was as unostentatious as the outside. He noted a simple chessboard sitting on the clean lines of a modest coffee table. Children’s toys were in a basket in a corner; a few hadn’t made it in and were scattered on the floor.
Luke stopped in the middle of the living room and waited, his jacket still on.
His hair is too long. “I need money.”
Luke’s head jerked back slightly. “So…you got lost on the way to the bank?”
“I’m not lost. I’m here for you. For your money. You need to give it to me.”
“Is this a stick-up?”
Focus, Oliver. Marshal the troops. “Hank’s money won’t cover all the costs of the new neuro wing. Not if it’s going to be world-class. And, let’s be honest, I’m not gonna waste my time and rock-star abilities on anything less. So, we need more money. And oh, look, you have a foundation. And, more importantly, you owe me.”
“I…oh, really?” Luke’s arms crossed over his chest.
“Oh, yes. You’re the tornado that dumped me into this alternate universe. And if you want me to stick around - which, I think you do - then you’ll pony up. Because otherwise you and your boyfriend will be back to facing a life of long-distance. And, from what I can tell, your relationship doesn’t need any more challenges.”
Luke turned so that his back was to Reid.
“So, what do you say? We’re talking win-win, here - I get my wing; you get your boyfriend in the same state. Classic no-brainer. Which, wait for it…is what the wing would be without your money.” Reid laughed nervously. The troops were tiring.
Luke was silent.
Come on, Mr. Snyder; don’t make me pull the trigger. The idea of employing the ultimate threat had lost all appeal in the face of having seen that face. As it was, he was fighting the urge to wish Luke well and retreat.
Still no reply.
Reid cleared his throat. He shut his mind to the goings-on in his chest. “You know, Mr. Snyder…if you don’t make this happen I might have to reconsider…I mean, your boyfriend might find himself-”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He’s…what?”
A new type of silence fell, like a heavy, wet snow. Reid was reminded of how oppressive the absence of traffic noise could be - at times like this he was acutely aware of the fact that he wasn’t in Dallas anymore. He wondered if he’d imagined what Luke said. He wondered if he’d ever speak again.
Finally, a small voice: “We broke up.”
“Oh.” Reid swallowed. “When?”
“An hour ago.”
“Ah. So, that’s…that’s why…” Reid found himself stepping closer to Luke, toward his hunched back, his bowed head.
“Yeah, so…can we do this another time? I mean, if Henry’s money really won’t cover everything…then, why don’t…” Luke sighed. “Just go ahead and have Bob send the foundation a proposal, and I don’t see why…” His voice trailed off.
Reid’s chest simultaneously ached and burned. As if it were being branded. His eyes were fixed on the back of Luke’s neck, on the stretch of exposed skin. The tingling in Reid’s extremities was becoming concentrated in his left hand.
“I just…I’d like to be alone now.”
But Reid couldn’t leave. He took another step. After everything he’s done for Noah. “You shouldn’t be alone.” Reid winced - what was he saying? “I’m sure…I’m sure he’ll come back.”
Luke’s sloping shoulders jerked with what sounded like a humorless laugh.
“I mean…now that he’s staying in Oakdale… Wait.” Reid froze. “Did Bob already tell you about the money thing? Did you think that I was…that Noah was going to have to go to Dallas after all? Was that why-”
“No. I didn’t know. And even if I had, it wouldn’t…” Luke shook his downward-tilted head.
Good grief, Oliver - you were ready to use that threat yourself. Why do you care? It’s not as if their breakup’s likely to be permanent, anyway. But seeing Luke like this, his broken form - the idea that Reid could hold any responsibility for Luke’s current pain…
What are you doing? You all but got your money, and Mr. Snyder’s…leaking. Why are you still here? Rather than leave, however, Reid found himself stepping even closer, as if trapped in Luke’s gravitational pull. He couldn’t take his eyes from Luke’s neck, fringed by hair he knew must be soft - he remembered the feel of it against his chin in the police station. His left hand lifted.
Reid didn’t know the words were coming until he said them.
“Ah, I get it - so Noah had been looking forward to leaving town. And when he found out I was staying, well, I guess he just couldn’t stand the thought of suffering through any more of your Olympic-caliber clinginess. Close?”
Reid dropped his suspended hand as Luke wrenched his body around.
“What? How can you-?”
“Be so perceptive? Trust me, Mr. Snyder, a blind man could see the dysfunction in your relationship. To have someone be your whole life? That’s not romantic, that’s certifiable. They have medication for that. I’m not surprised Noah couldn’t take it any more. Kudos to him for making a break for it.”
From somewhere outside his body, Reid watched the fire build in Luke’s eyes. The pain.
He watched the money slip away.
“Leave. Now.”
He couldn’t stop. “Don’t suppose you’d take my advice and not go begging for a second chance? Or fifth, or twentieth, or whatever. Seriously, your relationship isn’t doing either of you any good. And I’ll get a much better journal article out of Noah’s case if he’s not under the constant stress of your smothering.”
Luke’s eyes rippled with transformative heat. “I’m the one who ended it. Now get out.”
“Really? Huh. So much for eternal love. New guy must be pretty hot for you not even to wait until Noah has his sight back.”
Reid reentered his body the moment Luke put his hands on him. He felt Luke’s fingers meet the muscles of his upper arms through the layers of fabric. Head down for leverage, Luke forced Reid backward, gaining momentum as they neared the front door. Reid’s body rebelled; he was done with not being in full control around Luke Snyder. His hands rose to grip Luke’s biceps, his body tilted forward, feet spread, right foot planted on…one of the un-tidied toys. A teddy bear. Off-balance, Reid was slammed against the door. The doorknob dug into his lower back; Luke’s breath struck the side of his face.
Momentarily stunned, the two men were caught, locked in combat, hands still gripping straining arms. A haze of fury continued to hover around Luke, enveloping Reid. Luke’s eyes were molten - the temperature higher than even the last time Reid’s back was to a wall. And Reid's reaction intensified in return - he could feel the destructive urge building again, only stronger and faster - a defensive wave of vitriol rising to spew and slap and scour. It was in his throat, in his mouth.
Luke looked down at Reid’s lips.
They began to burn; Reid could feel it. He felt the molten mix spill out of Luke’s eyes, glazing Reid’s lips with liquid heat. Felt it enter his mouth, pushing back the bile, chasing it down into his gut. Lower.
Reid dropped his arms. Luke lifted his eyes, confusion cooling them. Releasing Reid’s arms, he burrowed his hand behind Reid’s back, lightly pressing against Reid’s side as he fumbled for the doorknob. Reid let himself be shifted aside as Luke opened the door, let himself be pushed outside onto the doormat. Meeting Luke’s eyes, he watched them disappear as the heavy door swung shut, slamming with a rattle, a gust of air in Reid’s face.