fic: A Tale of Two Plane Rides
Title: A Tale of Two Plane Rides
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Luke and Reid
Disclaimer: *sighs* I don't own Luke, Reid, anything or anyone in Oakdale, or Oakdale itself, unfortunately.
Summary: Gap-filler of what took place on the way to Dallas and coming home from Dallas.
Author's Notes: I posted a few fanfics on the LuRe zetaboard a while ago and never posted anything here. Thought it was about time I get on it. :D Plenty more where this came from. Comments = love.
Part One
As Luke hastily drove them to the airport, Reid remembered why he allowed his license to expire while in Dallas - driving while angry, flustered, annoyed, or even slightly peeved was dangerous. That, and most people with licenses were morons that should be avoided at all cost. Luke, at the moment, was all of those things and then some, and Reid felt the need more than once to grab onto the dashboard to save him from flying out the windshield.
“Could you drive a little more recklessly? I really want to die today, and your attempt is just falling an inch short of helping me achieve that goal,” Reid said sarcastically.
Luke shot him a look, and then stared back at the road.
Reid sighed. “I know you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset,” Luke replied quickly. “I just - want to get to the airport somewhat on time. Stopping for a snack to eat on the plane and magazines wasn’t a good idea. It made us late.”
“Is that the real reason it wasn’t a good idea to stop at Al’s?” Reid asked. As soon as the question slipped out of his mouth, he regretted it. When it came to Luke’s relationship with Noah, it was like he couldn’t help himself from asking questions.
“Yes.” Luke replied stubbornly. “And you have zero emotion, so don’t you dare try and psychoanalyze me, Doctor.”
Reid’s eyes fell away from Luke and fixed themselves at dashboard instead. Just when he thought they were coming to some sort of understanding, Luke still only saw him as this robotic shell of a person. He wished hearing those words wouldn’t sting so badly as they did at that moment.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Luke said, giving read an apologetic glance.
“Yes, you did,” Reid replied. He accepted apologies about as well as he gave them.
“That’s not true,” Luke said. “You’re a really good guy, Dr. Oliver. You just don’t want people to see it.”
“Oh, and you do see it?” Reid asked.
“On occasion,” Luke said, laughing slightly. Reid noticed that this conversation had taken Luke’s mind off the Noah situation and smiled.
The pulled into the airport parking lot, and Reid let out a laugh. “Oakdale INTERNATIONAL airport? Are you kidding me? Oakdale, population: 30, has an international airport?”
“Obviously it was science that was your strong point, not math, because Oakdale has far more than thirty residents,” Luke said.
“Oh, like what? Thirty one?” Reid cracked.
They pulled around to a separate area where private planes took off.
“Nice. No security check?” Reid asked.
Luke shook his head. “Nah. It’s just us, the pilot, and I think a stewardess.”
“Hope she wasn’t expecting to join the mile high club today when she heard two guys were traveling with her,” Reid said. Luke rolled his eyes.
“That one is mine,” Luke said, pointing out Reid’s window.
“I know. I was on it once before, remember?” Reid asked with bitterness in his tone.
“Oh. Right,” Luke said quietly. “I never told you I apologize for the way I got you here.”
“No, you didn’t, but I hardly see how that matters. After all, against my better judgment, I am staying in Oakdale.”
“True,” Luke replied.
Luke parked the car and Reid retrieved their two suitcases from out of the trunk. “Is someone going to come take these for me or what?” Reid asked.
“Why would they?” he asked, taking his suitcase from Reid. “We’ll just carry them into the cabin ourselves.”
“You aren’t very good at being a spoiled rich kid sometimes,” Reid groaned.
Part Two
The two blondes climbed the stairs and entered the cabin of the plane. As soon as they stepped inside, they were greeted by a tall redhead, no older than twenty five.
She smiled warmly. “Hello! I’m Kristen,” she said.
Luke nodded. “Right, hi! You must be the new flight attendant we hired. She nodded, eying the two up.
“You must be Mr. Snyder,” she said, extending a hand to Luke. He smiled and shook her hand. “Yes, but please, call me Luke. We can be on a first name basis here,” he said.
She smiled at Reid. “Okay! You must be Reid, then,” she said, once again extending her hand. He shook it quickly. “Dr. Oliver,” he said in a mock-serious tone, winking at Luke.
Luke rolled his eyes. Had they been in preschool, Reid’s wink would’ve been likened to sticking his tongue out. Luke sighed. “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s a bit… no, a lot, obnoxious.”
“I’m sorry, did you say ‘a lot obnoxious’? I wasn’t aware those words went together in the English language,” Reid replied.
Kristen laughed. “Well, I’ll let you two bicker in peace. If you need anything, let me know.”
Luke and Reid took their seats across from one another sitting in something much like a booth. A table divided them, with Reid’s magazines already out. “Can you break out the chili and cornbread?” Reid asked.
Luke’s eyes widened. “Oh. I think I may have left it in the car.”
Reid groaned. “Splendid. How lovely of you to give the valet our lunch.”
“Don’t get all bitchy! There’s food in here.”
“Did you just call me bitchy?” Reid asked, amusement in his tone.
“Yup.” Luke said as he peered around the cabin. “Ha! There’s the fridge,” he said. He climbed out of the booth and opened it up.
“You want some soda and fruit?” he offered.
“Do you mean it, or are you going to offer it only to give it to the pilot to eat?” Reid replied.
Luke shook his head, and tossed the closed containers of fruit at Reid. Reid sighed. “I’m not really a fruit eating guy,” he said., looking at the fruit as though it were a bowl of worms.
“Tough,” Luke said. Reid could help but let out a laugh. He was used to dishing out all the snark in the world without ever getting any back. This was one of the many things that made Mr. Snyder different than most people he had met. He didn’t take offense to his hard shell, he didn’t get angry. He tossed it right back. Reid appreciated the effort Luke put in to keep him on his toes. No one had really ever bothered before - they just shrugged and gave up.
The pilot announced that they would be taking off. Luke quickly got back in his seat, buckling his seatbelt as Reid did the same.
Reid let out a harrowing sigh. He stared at the window, nervously tapping the table with his fingertips.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, studying his expression curiously.
“Uh-huh,” Reid murmured.
“Are you ‘okay’ like you were in the elevator?” Luke asked.
Reid shot him a “shut it” glance, and then continued staring out the window.
“I… don’t like the thought of being up in the air in some little jet and not being able to get out,” Reid explained, almost looking embarrassed.
“The claustrophobia?” Luke asked.
Reid shook his head, staring down at his hands. “I used to love flying. I even loved the plane ride here, even though it was under the most ridiculous of circumstances. I… I don’t know why I’m acting like this,” he said. ‘That’s a lie,’ his thoughts corrected. ‘I don’t like the idea of being up in the air in a little jet with Mr. Snyder and not being able to get out.’
As the engines fired up and the plane began to roll, Luke reached across the table and grabbed Reid’s wrist, laughing nervously. “I’m not a fan of the take-off myself,” he explained. Reid’s eyes widened. There it was. Luke’s hand. On his wrist.
“Can it just… stay there for a sec?” Luke asked, staring at his hand just as Reid was.
“Uh. Sure. Whatever,” Reid muttered, trying his best to be nonchalant.
As the plane flew up into the air, Luke’s grip tightened, and so did Reid’s breathing at the touch. Luke’s fingers hit just along the pulse point of his wrist, and Reid felt it throughout his entire body. He shuttered slightly, and finally let out a breath as Luke released.
“Thanks for that,” Luke said with a smile. “Hey - how you feeling?” he asked.
Reid nodded. “Oh, fine.” Another lie.
------
Reid flipped through his Time magazine as Luke stared out the window in wonder, just as he had been for the past few hours.
“What is out there that is so utterly amazing? Is Mighty Mouse flying beside us something?” Reid asked sarcastically, looking out the window himself in wonder.
Luke shrugged. “Just daydreaming,” he said lightly.
“Hopefully about something of importance like the new wing and not about unicorns,” Reid replied.
“Just go back to reading your magazine, Doc,” Luke said with a laugh.
“Fine. Tell Might Mouse and unicorns I said hi.”
Luke rolled his eyes.
The pilot announced their decent. Luke sighed in anticipation of landing to get the touchdown over with. Reid sighed in anticipation to be able to go somewhere that was not two feet away from Mr. Snyder.
Part Three
“I know what I did. I wanted to kiss you. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time, Luke,” Reid said without hesitation. He breathed out fully for the first time in three months.
“Oh.” Luke said. If you touched him with a feather, he surely would’ve fallen over at the moment.
“So can you have the jet ready soon? Now that I’m good with the medical board there’s no reason to stay here,” Reid said excitedly.
“Uh. Yeah. Okay.” Luke said, feeling a bit lightheaded. He didn’t dislike what just happened… he just wanted to know what the hell it was that just happened.
He pulled out his phone almost robotically. “Hi, it’s Luke Snyder. My partner - my business partner,” he stuttered, “and I are uh… we’re ready to go back to Oakdale. Can you be ready soon? Yes? Great. See you soon,” he said, and hung up the phone.
“I just have to pack - do you want to come back to my place and we can leave from there?” Reid asked. His tone was happy, and he couldn’t even control it. In one way, the lack of control annoyed him per usual. At the same time - being able to be around Luke for the first time without being in physical pain wasn’t so terrible.
“Your place? Me?” Luke asked breathlessly. It was impossible for him to get any more pale.
Reid frowned at what Luke was implying, and instantly came down from the high that the kiss gave him. Great - now all he had done was make things awkward. Why was the ‘sharing feelings’ thing made to seem so great? He was far better off five minutes ago, and the fact that it was his own fault pissed him off.
He suddenly remembered why he ached so badly around Luke. It was partially because of his own desires. It was also due to Luke’s lack thereof. He deserved the pain felt around Luke - the guy could never care about someone like him. Why did he allow himself to think otherwise?
“I just meant to go pack so we could leave for the airport together, Mr. Snyder,” Reid replied gruffly.
“Oh.” Luke said.
“Is that all you say now? ‘Oh’?” Reid asked.
“No, I’m just… processing.”
Reid rolled his eyes. “Well, process and pack your things at the same time. I’ll meet you at the airport in an hour.” He shot Luke a small smile, knowing his tone was suddenly coming off rougher than intended. It wasn’t even that he was angry about what had happened - he, like Luke, was just processing. Processing unwanted thoughts was not a common occurrence in the mind of Reid Oliver.
He walked out the door and sighed. Part of it was relief - finally, god, finally, Luke knew what his insides had been pressuring him to spit out for months now. The other part of the sigh was laced with dread - the flight back home was sure to be an interesting one. ‘Great idea, Oliver,’ he thought bitterly. ‘Kiss the unsuspecting victim that now looks like Bambi who just witnessed his mother being shot before a two hour flight. Nice’.
Luke packed up his things in the silence of his hotel room. Just an hour earlier, he and Dr. Oliver were laughing and having fun at the bar. What the hell just happened? Dr. Oliver wanted to kiss him? He has for a long time? Since when? Why? What kind of motive was there? Luke was bombarded with questions, none of which he knew the answer to. Most of which he didn’t want to know the answer to. This was just not in the plan. He and the Doc were destined to be like oil and vinegar - they go well together for very brief moments, only to separate again. He couldn’t picture them ever being any different. He shook his head and looked around the room, trying to think of anything he left still unpacked. He would’ve much rather been over-analyzing how to pack his clothes rather than the incident that just occurred.
Reid entered the plane, drenched. He groaned, taking off his jacket. This flight would’ve been turbulent enough as it is - they didn’t need an actual storm on top of everything else. He looked towards the front of the cabin to find Luke was already sitting in the place he had been on the flight over. He clenched his jaw, setting his bags toward the back. Hesitating only for a moment, he walked over to Luke, sitting in the seat he had previously occupied.
“Some storm, eh?” Reid asked, looking out the window.
Luke nodded, staring at the table. “You took a long time.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave without me, most people would have,” Reid replied.
“I wouldn’t leave you, Reid,” Luke said, a certain vulnerability in his voice.
“Oh,” Reid replied.
“Is that the only thing you say now? ‘Oh’?” Luke replied, mocking Reid’s previous comment.
As Reid was about to open his mouth, the pilot came on the loudspeaker, announcing their takeoff. Reid moved his hands off the table quickly, removing the temptation for Luke to grab him again.
Luke let out a heavy sigh, clearly looking for a distraction from lift-off. “Uh… how are you feeling?” he asked, referring to Reid’s claustrophobia.
Reid shrugged. “It’s there. It’s not something that’s going to go away anytime soon,” he said, a tinge of sadness in his tone. As long as Luke was in his orbit in this way - with this tenseness, this thick, heavy air - the claustrophobia around him was never going to be cured.
Once the plane leveled out, Luke stared Reid in the eyes.
“I want to talk about what happened,” Luke said seriously.
Reid wrinkled his brow. “Why? I told you flat out - I kissed you. I wanted to. As much as you may want it to be, this is not a sappy melodrama, Mr. Snyder. I’m not going to sit here playing footsies with you while sharing a milkshake as I go into a monologue about some epic love that prompted me to kiss you. “
Luke huffed. “I just want to know why you wanted to kiss me.”
“And cue the orchestra,” Reid cracked.
Luke groaned. “Why are you such a jerk?”
“It’s a gift,” Reid replied.
“All I want you to do is explain what happened!” Luke explained with a huff.
“No. You want me to sugar coat what happened to make it just as fanciful as everything else in Luke Land. Everything in your life is so ridiculous and exaggerated that when something happens simply because it did, you don’t know what to do with yourself. I’m not going to diminish nor over-inflate my kissing you.”
Luke stared out the window. Reid was right, as much as he hated to admit it. The man had already explained himself - and again, and then again. He kissed him simply because he wanted to. Luke wasn’t used to someone wanting him in that way, expecting nothing in return. He wasn’t pushing the matter - Reid just left everything as is for Luke to do whatever he wanted with it. So what did he want to do with it, exactly?
“I’m sorry I’m acting this way,” Luke said softly.
“Don’t apologize. I kissed you. You’re entitled to act however you please.” He paused. “And I don’t expect this to change anything between us, so don’t freak out. We’ll go back to Oakdale, go back to being Dr. Oliver and Mr. Snyder, and no one has to know we kissed.”
“I thought you were the guy who was never ashamed of what he did?” Luke pointed out.
“I’m not ashamed that I kissed you. Not for a second. I don’t know if I can say the same for you, though,” Reid replied coolly, trying to keep the pain out of his expression.
Luke shook his head. “I’m not… ashamed. I just feel like I’ve really been thrown for a loop here. A few hours ago felt so different from right now. You know what I mean?”
Reid sighed. “It feels the same right now as it always has for me,” he said bluntly.
“Where do we go from here?” Luke asked.
“Like I said, we don’t have to go anywhere.” Reid replied.
“You’re not going to, like, try to kiss me again? You’re not going to try to cozy up, get me on a date, nothing?” Luke asked in disbelief.
“No. I put everything out in the open. Now you know what I think of you. I’m not going to chase after you when you’re standing still, Mr. Snyder. There’s no point. Either you’ll have mutual feelings for me, or you won’t. End of story.”
“Really?”
“Why are you so compelled to respond to every thing I say with a question?” Reid replied.
Luke put his head in his hands. “I don’t know. I don’t have anything better to say, I guess.”
Reid took out a magazine. “You don’t have to,” he replied.
“I feel like I owe you some sort of answer,” Luke said.
“I didn’t ask you a question, Mr. Snyder,” Reid replied sharply, his eyes forming a slight smile. “You’re asking yourself the questions just fine on your own.”
Reid knew very well the question Luke wanted to answer, but was unable to articulate. It was the same one that, against his wishes, hanged in his own mind as well. If Luke chose Noah, this chapter would be closed. The hurt would linger, but he had thick skin. It would be manageable to let go of something he never had to begin with. What if Luke chooses him, though? Reid hadn’t really entertained the idea until that moment. The answer to that question scared the hell out of him.
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Luke and Reid
Disclaimer: *sighs* I don't own Luke, Reid, anything or anyone in Oakdale, or Oakdale itself, unfortunately.
Summary: Gap-filler of what took place on the way to Dallas and coming home from Dallas.
Author's Notes: I posted a few fanfics on the LuRe zetaboard a while ago and never posted anything here. Thought it was about time I get on it. :D Plenty more where this came from. Comments = love.
Part One
As Luke hastily drove them to the airport, Reid remembered why he allowed his license to expire while in Dallas - driving while angry, flustered, annoyed, or even slightly peeved was dangerous. That, and most people with licenses were morons that should be avoided at all cost. Luke, at the moment, was all of those things and then some, and Reid felt the need more than once to grab onto the dashboard to save him from flying out the windshield.
“Could you drive a little more recklessly? I really want to die today, and your attempt is just falling an inch short of helping me achieve that goal,” Reid said sarcastically.
Luke shot him a look, and then stared back at the road.
Reid sighed. “I know you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset,” Luke replied quickly. “I just - want to get to the airport somewhat on time. Stopping for a snack to eat on the plane and magazines wasn’t a good idea. It made us late.”
“Is that the real reason it wasn’t a good idea to stop at Al’s?” Reid asked. As soon as the question slipped out of his mouth, he regretted it. When it came to Luke’s relationship with Noah, it was like he couldn’t help himself from asking questions.
“Yes.” Luke replied stubbornly. “And you have zero emotion, so don’t you dare try and psychoanalyze me, Doctor.”
Reid’s eyes fell away from Luke and fixed themselves at dashboard instead. Just when he thought they were coming to some sort of understanding, Luke still only saw him as this robotic shell of a person. He wished hearing those words wouldn’t sting so badly as they did at that moment.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Luke said, giving read an apologetic glance.
“Yes, you did,” Reid replied. He accepted apologies about as well as he gave them.
“That’s not true,” Luke said. “You’re a really good guy, Dr. Oliver. You just don’t want people to see it.”
“Oh, and you do see it?” Reid asked.
“On occasion,” Luke said, laughing slightly. Reid noticed that this conversation had taken Luke’s mind off the Noah situation and smiled.
The pulled into the airport parking lot, and Reid let out a laugh. “Oakdale INTERNATIONAL airport? Are you kidding me? Oakdale, population: 30, has an international airport?”
“Obviously it was science that was your strong point, not math, because Oakdale has far more than thirty residents,” Luke said.
“Oh, like what? Thirty one?” Reid cracked.
They pulled around to a separate area where private planes took off.
“Nice. No security check?” Reid asked.
Luke shook his head. “Nah. It’s just us, the pilot, and I think a stewardess.”
“Hope she wasn’t expecting to join the mile high club today when she heard two guys were traveling with her,” Reid said. Luke rolled his eyes.
“That one is mine,” Luke said, pointing out Reid’s window.
“I know. I was on it once before, remember?” Reid asked with bitterness in his tone.
“Oh. Right,” Luke said quietly. “I never told you I apologize for the way I got you here.”
“No, you didn’t, but I hardly see how that matters. After all, against my better judgment, I am staying in Oakdale.”
“True,” Luke replied.
Luke parked the car and Reid retrieved their two suitcases from out of the trunk. “Is someone going to come take these for me or what?” Reid asked.
“Why would they?” he asked, taking his suitcase from Reid. “We’ll just carry them into the cabin ourselves.”
“You aren’t very good at being a spoiled rich kid sometimes,” Reid groaned.
Part Two
The two blondes climbed the stairs and entered the cabin of the plane. As soon as they stepped inside, they were greeted by a tall redhead, no older than twenty five.
She smiled warmly. “Hello! I’m Kristen,” she said.
Luke nodded. “Right, hi! You must be the new flight attendant we hired. She nodded, eying the two up.
“You must be Mr. Snyder,” she said, extending a hand to Luke. He smiled and shook her hand. “Yes, but please, call me Luke. We can be on a first name basis here,” he said.
She smiled at Reid. “Okay! You must be Reid, then,” she said, once again extending her hand. He shook it quickly. “Dr. Oliver,” he said in a mock-serious tone, winking at Luke.
Luke rolled his eyes. Had they been in preschool, Reid’s wink would’ve been likened to sticking his tongue out. Luke sighed. “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s a bit… no, a lot, obnoxious.”
“I’m sorry, did you say ‘a lot obnoxious’? I wasn’t aware those words went together in the English language,” Reid replied.
Kristen laughed. “Well, I’ll let you two bicker in peace. If you need anything, let me know.”
Luke and Reid took their seats across from one another sitting in something much like a booth. A table divided them, with Reid’s magazines already out. “Can you break out the chili and cornbread?” Reid asked.
Luke’s eyes widened. “Oh. I think I may have left it in the car.”
Reid groaned. “Splendid. How lovely of you to give the valet our lunch.”
“Don’t get all bitchy! There’s food in here.”
“Did you just call me bitchy?” Reid asked, amusement in his tone.
“Yup.” Luke said as he peered around the cabin. “Ha! There’s the fridge,” he said. He climbed out of the booth and opened it up.
“You want some soda and fruit?” he offered.
“Do you mean it, or are you going to offer it only to give it to the pilot to eat?” Reid replied.
Luke shook his head, and tossed the closed containers of fruit at Reid. Reid sighed. “I’m not really a fruit eating guy,” he said., looking at the fruit as though it were a bowl of worms.
“Tough,” Luke said. Reid could help but let out a laugh. He was used to dishing out all the snark in the world without ever getting any back. This was one of the many things that made Mr. Snyder different than most people he had met. He didn’t take offense to his hard shell, he didn’t get angry. He tossed it right back. Reid appreciated the effort Luke put in to keep him on his toes. No one had really ever bothered before - they just shrugged and gave up.
The pilot announced that they would be taking off. Luke quickly got back in his seat, buckling his seatbelt as Reid did the same.
Reid let out a harrowing sigh. He stared at the window, nervously tapping the table with his fingertips.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, studying his expression curiously.
“Uh-huh,” Reid murmured.
“Are you ‘okay’ like you were in the elevator?” Luke asked.
Reid shot him a “shut it” glance, and then continued staring out the window.
“I… don’t like the thought of being up in the air in some little jet and not being able to get out,” Reid explained, almost looking embarrassed.
“The claustrophobia?” Luke asked.
Reid shook his head, staring down at his hands. “I used to love flying. I even loved the plane ride here, even though it was under the most ridiculous of circumstances. I… I don’t know why I’m acting like this,” he said. ‘That’s a lie,’ his thoughts corrected. ‘I don’t like the idea of being up in the air in a little jet with Mr. Snyder and not being able to get out.’
As the engines fired up and the plane began to roll, Luke reached across the table and grabbed Reid’s wrist, laughing nervously. “I’m not a fan of the take-off myself,” he explained. Reid’s eyes widened. There it was. Luke’s hand. On his wrist.
“Can it just… stay there for a sec?” Luke asked, staring at his hand just as Reid was.
“Uh. Sure. Whatever,” Reid muttered, trying his best to be nonchalant.
As the plane flew up into the air, Luke’s grip tightened, and so did Reid’s breathing at the touch. Luke’s fingers hit just along the pulse point of his wrist, and Reid felt it throughout his entire body. He shuttered slightly, and finally let out a breath as Luke released.
“Thanks for that,” Luke said with a smile. “Hey - how you feeling?” he asked.
Reid nodded. “Oh, fine.” Another lie.
------
Reid flipped through his Time magazine as Luke stared out the window in wonder, just as he had been for the past few hours.
“What is out there that is so utterly amazing? Is Mighty Mouse flying beside us something?” Reid asked sarcastically, looking out the window himself in wonder.
Luke shrugged. “Just daydreaming,” he said lightly.
“Hopefully about something of importance like the new wing and not about unicorns,” Reid replied.
“Just go back to reading your magazine, Doc,” Luke said with a laugh.
“Fine. Tell Might Mouse and unicorns I said hi.”
Luke rolled his eyes.
The pilot announced their decent. Luke sighed in anticipation of landing to get the touchdown over with. Reid sighed in anticipation to be able to go somewhere that was not two feet away from Mr. Snyder.
Part Three
“I know what I did. I wanted to kiss you. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time, Luke,” Reid said without hesitation. He breathed out fully for the first time in three months.
“Oh.” Luke said. If you touched him with a feather, he surely would’ve fallen over at the moment.
“So can you have the jet ready soon? Now that I’m good with the medical board there’s no reason to stay here,” Reid said excitedly.
“Uh. Yeah. Okay.” Luke said, feeling a bit lightheaded. He didn’t dislike what just happened… he just wanted to know what the hell it was that just happened.
He pulled out his phone almost robotically. “Hi, it’s Luke Snyder. My partner - my business partner,” he stuttered, “and I are uh… we’re ready to go back to Oakdale. Can you be ready soon? Yes? Great. See you soon,” he said, and hung up the phone.
“I just have to pack - do you want to come back to my place and we can leave from there?” Reid asked. His tone was happy, and he couldn’t even control it. In one way, the lack of control annoyed him per usual. At the same time - being able to be around Luke for the first time without being in physical pain wasn’t so terrible.
“Your place? Me?” Luke asked breathlessly. It was impossible for him to get any more pale.
Reid frowned at what Luke was implying, and instantly came down from the high that the kiss gave him. Great - now all he had done was make things awkward. Why was the ‘sharing feelings’ thing made to seem so great? He was far better off five minutes ago, and the fact that it was his own fault pissed him off.
He suddenly remembered why he ached so badly around Luke. It was partially because of his own desires. It was also due to Luke’s lack thereof. He deserved the pain felt around Luke - the guy could never care about someone like him. Why did he allow himself to think otherwise?
“I just meant to go pack so we could leave for the airport together, Mr. Snyder,” Reid replied gruffly.
“Oh.” Luke said.
“Is that all you say now? ‘Oh’?” Reid asked.
“No, I’m just… processing.”
Reid rolled his eyes. “Well, process and pack your things at the same time. I’ll meet you at the airport in an hour.” He shot Luke a small smile, knowing his tone was suddenly coming off rougher than intended. It wasn’t even that he was angry about what had happened - he, like Luke, was just processing. Processing unwanted thoughts was not a common occurrence in the mind of Reid Oliver.
He walked out the door and sighed. Part of it was relief - finally, god, finally, Luke knew what his insides had been pressuring him to spit out for months now. The other part of the sigh was laced with dread - the flight back home was sure to be an interesting one. ‘Great idea, Oliver,’ he thought bitterly. ‘Kiss the unsuspecting victim that now looks like Bambi who just witnessed his mother being shot before a two hour flight. Nice’.
Luke packed up his things in the silence of his hotel room. Just an hour earlier, he and Dr. Oliver were laughing and having fun at the bar. What the hell just happened? Dr. Oliver wanted to kiss him? He has for a long time? Since when? Why? What kind of motive was there? Luke was bombarded with questions, none of which he knew the answer to. Most of which he didn’t want to know the answer to. This was just not in the plan. He and the Doc were destined to be like oil and vinegar - they go well together for very brief moments, only to separate again. He couldn’t picture them ever being any different. He shook his head and looked around the room, trying to think of anything he left still unpacked. He would’ve much rather been over-analyzing how to pack his clothes rather than the incident that just occurred.
Reid entered the plane, drenched. He groaned, taking off his jacket. This flight would’ve been turbulent enough as it is - they didn’t need an actual storm on top of everything else. He looked towards the front of the cabin to find Luke was already sitting in the place he had been on the flight over. He clenched his jaw, setting his bags toward the back. Hesitating only for a moment, he walked over to Luke, sitting in the seat he had previously occupied.
“Some storm, eh?” Reid asked, looking out the window.
Luke nodded, staring at the table. “You took a long time.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave without me, most people would have,” Reid replied.
“I wouldn’t leave you, Reid,” Luke said, a certain vulnerability in his voice.
“Oh,” Reid replied.
“Is that the only thing you say now? ‘Oh’?” Luke replied, mocking Reid’s previous comment.
As Reid was about to open his mouth, the pilot came on the loudspeaker, announcing their takeoff. Reid moved his hands off the table quickly, removing the temptation for Luke to grab him again.
Luke let out a heavy sigh, clearly looking for a distraction from lift-off. “Uh… how are you feeling?” he asked, referring to Reid’s claustrophobia.
Reid shrugged. “It’s there. It’s not something that’s going to go away anytime soon,” he said, a tinge of sadness in his tone. As long as Luke was in his orbit in this way - with this tenseness, this thick, heavy air - the claustrophobia around him was never going to be cured.
Once the plane leveled out, Luke stared Reid in the eyes.
“I want to talk about what happened,” Luke said seriously.
Reid wrinkled his brow. “Why? I told you flat out - I kissed you. I wanted to. As much as you may want it to be, this is not a sappy melodrama, Mr. Snyder. I’m not going to sit here playing footsies with you while sharing a milkshake as I go into a monologue about some epic love that prompted me to kiss you. “
Luke huffed. “I just want to know why you wanted to kiss me.”
“And cue the orchestra,” Reid cracked.
Luke groaned. “Why are you such a jerk?”
“It’s a gift,” Reid replied.
“All I want you to do is explain what happened!” Luke explained with a huff.
“No. You want me to sugar coat what happened to make it just as fanciful as everything else in Luke Land. Everything in your life is so ridiculous and exaggerated that when something happens simply because it did, you don’t know what to do with yourself. I’m not going to diminish nor over-inflate my kissing you.”
Luke stared out the window. Reid was right, as much as he hated to admit it. The man had already explained himself - and again, and then again. He kissed him simply because he wanted to. Luke wasn’t used to someone wanting him in that way, expecting nothing in return. He wasn’t pushing the matter - Reid just left everything as is for Luke to do whatever he wanted with it. So what did he want to do with it, exactly?
“I’m sorry I’m acting this way,” Luke said softly.
“Don’t apologize. I kissed you. You’re entitled to act however you please.” He paused. “And I don’t expect this to change anything between us, so don’t freak out. We’ll go back to Oakdale, go back to being Dr. Oliver and Mr. Snyder, and no one has to know we kissed.”
“I thought you were the guy who was never ashamed of what he did?” Luke pointed out.
“I’m not ashamed that I kissed you. Not for a second. I don’t know if I can say the same for you, though,” Reid replied coolly, trying to keep the pain out of his expression.
Luke shook his head. “I’m not… ashamed. I just feel like I’ve really been thrown for a loop here. A few hours ago felt so different from right now. You know what I mean?”
Reid sighed. “It feels the same right now as it always has for me,” he said bluntly.
“Where do we go from here?” Luke asked.
“Like I said, we don’t have to go anywhere.” Reid replied.
“You’re not going to, like, try to kiss me again? You’re not going to try to cozy up, get me on a date, nothing?” Luke asked in disbelief.
“No. I put everything out in the open. Now you know what I think of you. I’m not going to chase after you when you’re standing still, Mr. Snyder. There’s no point. Either you’ll have mutual feelings for me, or you won’t. End of story.”
“Really?”
“Why are you so compelled to respond to every thing I say with a question?” Reid replied.
Luke put his head in his hands. “I don’t know. I don’t have anything better to say, I guess.”
Reid took out a magazine. “You don’t have to,” he replied.
“I feel like I owe you some sort of answer,” Luke said.
“I didn’t ask you a question, Mr. Snyder,” Reid replied sharply, his eyes forming a slight smile. “You’re asking yourself the questions just fine on your own.”
Reid knew very well the question Luke wanted to answer, but was unable to articulate. It was the same one that, against his wishes, hanged in his own mind as well. If Luke chose Noah, this chapter would be closed. The hurt would linger, but he had thick skin. It would be manageable to let go of something he never had to begin with. What if Luke chooses him, though? Reid hadn’t really entertained the idea until that moment. The answer to that question scared the hell out of him.