fic: what it's about
title: what it's about
author: inflowers
summary: By the sixth week, Reid starts to crack.
authors notes: after a particularly awkward chance encounter with the ex, this all came tumbling out. i apologise if it's a bit rushed and not well thought out!
When Luke finally, finally picks Reid - Noah sticks around.
He's started classes again, after his eyesight returned completely. And he's settling back into working at Java and he's found a little apartment to move in to. Everything goes back to normal, everything except the gaping hole in his life where Luke used to be.
The first week after Luke and Reid officially, 'come out' as a couple, is awkward and uncomfortable. It's full of tense chance meetings, and Noah seems hell bent on making it impossible for them to have any kind of a relationship in public.
Because Noah, for all his bravado about being the better person, lashes out. Like a child, he turns to anyone who will listen and tells them of Luke’s so called betrayal. He offers them stories of how he never blamed Luke for the accident, even though it was his fault, and then Luke just goes and leaves him the second his back is turned.
None of it is true, and everybody knows it. But people can’t help feeling sorry for poor Noah, losing out on so much of his life having been blind. They want to sympathise with him, so they listen and they nod along, feeding into the lies that he spins and the webs he creates to make himself feel better.
It doesn’t bother Reid, of course. He’s learnt to live with whatever people say about him, because he’s bigger than that and he knows at the end of the day that while what he did wasn’t necessarily the most polite or compassionate thing, he didn’t force Luke to do anything.
The heart wants what it wants.
But it destroys Luke, knowing that someone he used to love so much could be so cruel, and could tell such lies. It destroys him because for whatever reason, he wants to be Noah's friend.
By the sixth week, Reid starts to crack.
He corners Noah in Java and lays it on him, fire burning behind his eyes and exasperation tripping through his words.
"You can't do this anymore."
"What can't I do anymore, Dr Oliver?" Noah asks sarcastically, rolling his eyes and trying to move around him.
"You know what I mean. Going around playing the victim, making Luke seem like the bad guy."
"He is."
"No, he isn't. Noah, you two had broken up. He was single - he was free to do whatever he wanted. Let it go. At some point you've just gotta let him go. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life letting Luke feel guilty because you're running around this god forsaken town telling everyone how he betrayed you."
"The rest of your life?"
"Well, yeah." Reid says uncertainly, having not realised as the words trickled out.
"Who are you kidding? You'll be done with him in a few weeks."
"And how do you know this?” Reid asks, already bored with the conversation.
"Because I've seen it all before."
"Where, in a movie? Come on, kid. This is real life."
"Whatever, Reid. You don't know him." Noah pouts, throwing his dishtowel over his shoulder and once again trying to manoeuvre around him.
"I know the important things."
"How clichéd."
"Well, you'd know." Reid quips, throwing Noah’s insult back at him.
"Funny."
"Listen, I know enough. I know that despite what you think, he loves you. Sure, he's not in love with you, and if I have anything to do with it, he'll never be in love with you again. But just because he doesn't love you the way you want him to, doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. So for god’s sake, give him a call and just give him a fricking break."
"I don't know why you care so much." Noah says, rolling his eyes and sighing heavily.
"You idiot, why do you think I care so much?"
"What, you love him or something?” Noah snarks, laughing gently.
Reid stays silent, but his gaze holds Noah's and it's resolute. Powerful, and Noah finds himself unnerved by the intensity of it, so he looks away embarrassed.
"Wait, you love him? Since when?" Noah asks, scratching at his neck agitatedly.
"The second or third time I laid eyes on him." Reid answers truthfully, still unwavering in his look. "Noah, call him. He deserves to be happy, and being friends with you would make him happy, god knows why."
Reid doesn’t wait for his answer, knowing that it would most likely be another unappealing retort. He doesn’t have time to waste on jealousies, and the banality of the whole situation bores him immensely.
But he doesn’t regret speaking to Noah, if only because he knows that Noah is too stubborn to make the first move and Luke is still too wounded from feeling as though the whole town has turned its back on him. He’d never want Luke to regret making the choice that he did, and while he knows that interfering in the drama that is The Luke and Noah Story is unwise at best, he really would do almost anything to ensure Luke’s happiness.
Even if it means suffering through a conversation with Noah Mayer.
Noah calls Luke that afternoon, and offers him a semblance of an apology. It’s stumbled out, laced with explanations and uncertainties about who they are if they’re not together, and where they stand. Noah tells Luke he wants to be friends, but he’s not sure how to do that or where to start.
Luke, being Luke, accepts his apology and invites him for a lunch date later in the week to catch up. He speaks quickly and excitedly, telling him how excited he is for them to be friends, getting it all out in a few breaths before Noah has a chance to rescind his offer of friendship.
And Reid, being Reid, watches bemusedly and feels the satisfaction of a job well done creep through his body. He watches the childish joy that Luke gains from the prospect of having Noah in his life in any capacity, and Reid ignores the tiny, insignificant part of him that oozes jealousy.
Because it’s not about him, and he knows it.
It’s not until later that night, when Luke is crawling into bed and curling up against Reid, that they acknowledge it.
“What did you say to him?”
“What makes you think I said anything to him?” Reid asks, feigning innocence.
“Because I know you. And more specifically, I know him. He wouldn’t have just called like out of the blue. Someone must have said something to him, and I’m putting all my money on you.”
“Careful, Mr Snyder. Wouldn’t want you to lose that trust fund.”
“Very funny. What did you say to him, Reid?”
“Nothing. Well, I may have said something. But is it really important if the ends justified the means?” Reid rationalises, leaning over Luke to switch off the light and stopping briefly to run a finger across Luke’s cheek.
“I guess not." Luke shrugs gently, and smiles towards Reid. "Whatever you said, thankyou. I don’t know why you did it, but thankyou.”
“Why do none of you seem to get it?” Reid murmurs to himself, exhaling loudly and settling back into the covers.
“Get what?” Luke asks, cracking open one eye and studying Reid through the darkness.
“Nothing.” Reid breathes against Luke’s neck, and pulls him closer. “Nothing at all.”
Because right now isn’t the time.
Reid will tell him later. Soon, maybe tomorrow. And he can't wait to tell him, because he knows that Luke is just the kind of romantic to revel in confessions of love.
But right now, it's not about him.
And Reid can live with that.
author: inflowers
summary: By the sixth week, Reid starts to crack.
authors notes: after a particularly awkward chance encounter with the ex, this all came tumbling out. i apologise if it's a bit rushed and not well thought out!
When Luke finally, finally picks Reid - Noah sticks around.
He's started classes again, after his eyesight returned completely. And he's settling back into working at Java and he's found a little apartment to move in to. Everything goes back to normal, everything except the gaping hole in his life where Luke used to be.
The first week after Luke and Reid officially, 'come out' as a couple, is awkward and uncomfortable. It's full of tense chance meetings, and Noah seems hell bent on making it impossible for them to have any kind of a relationship in public.
Because Noah, for all his bravado about being the better person, lashes out. Like a child, he turns to anyone who will listen and tells them of Luke’s so called betrayal. He offers them stories of how he never blamed Luke for the accident, even though it was his fault, and then Luke just goes and leaves him the second his back is turned.
None of it is true, and everybody knows it. But people can’t help feeling sorry for poor Noah, losing out on so much of his life having been blind. They want to sympathise with him, so they listen and they nod along, feeding into the lies that he spins and the webs he creates to make himself feel better.
It doesn’t bother Reid, of course. He’s learnt to live with whatever people say about him, because he’s bigger than that and he knows at the end of the day that while what he did wasn’t necessarily the most polite or compassionate thing, he didn’t force Luke to do anything.
The heart wants what it wants.
But it destroys Luke, knowing that someone he used to love so much could be so cruel, and could tell such lies. It destroys him because for whatever reason, he wants to be Noah's friend.
By the sixth week, Reid starts to crack.
He corners Noah in Java and lays it on him, fire burning behind his eyes and exasperation tripping through his words.
"You can't do this anymore."
"What can't I do anymore, Dr Oliver?" Noah asks sarcastically, rolling his eyes and trying to move around him.
"You know what I mean. Going around playing the victim, making Luke seem like the bad guy."
"He is."
"No, he isn't. Noah, you two had broken up. He was single - he was free to do whatever he wanted. Let it go. At some point you've just gotta let him go. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life letting Luke feel guilty because you're running around this god forsaken town telling everyone how he betrayed you."
"The rest of your life?"
"Well, yeah." Reid says uncertainly, having not realised as the words trickled out.
"Who are you kidding? You'll be done with him in a few weeks."
"And how do you know this?” Reid asks, already bored with the conversation.
"Because I've seen it all before."
"Where, in a movie? Come on, kid. This is real life."
"Whatever, Reid. You don't know him." Noah pouts, throwing his dishtowel over his shoulder and once again trying to manoeuvre around him.
"I know the important things."
"How clichéd."
"Well, you'd know." Reid quips, throwing Noah’s insult back at him.
"Funny."
"Listen, I know enough. I know that despite what you think, he loves you. Sure, he's not in love with you, and if I have anything to do with it, he'll never be in love with you again. But just because he doesn't love you the way you want him to, doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. So for god’s sake, give him a call and just give him a fricking break."
"I don't know why you care so much." Noah says, rolling his eyes and sighing heavily.
"You idiot, why do you think I care so much?"
"What, you love him or something?” Noah snarks, laughing gently.
Reid stays silent, but his gaze holds Noah's and it's resolute. Powerful, and Noah finds himself unnerved by the intensity of it, so he looks away embarrassed.
"Wait, you love him? Since when?" Noah asks, scratching at his neck agitatedly.
"The second or third time I laid eyes on him." Reid answers truthfully, still unwavering in his look. "Noah, call him. He deserves to be happy, and being friends with you would make him happy, god knows why."
Reid doesn’t wait for his answer, knowing that it would most likely be another unappealing retort. He doesn’t have time to waste on jealousies, and the banality of the whole situation bores him immensely.
But he doesn’t regret speaking to Noah, if only because he knows that Noah is too stubborn to make the first move and Luke is still too wounded from feeling as though the whole town has turned its back on him. He’d never want Luke to regret making the choice that he did, and while he knows that interfering in the drama that is The Luke and Noah Story is unwise at best, he really would do almost anything to ensure Luke’s happiness.
Even if it means suffering through a conversation with Noah Mayer.
Noah calls Luke that afternoon, and offers him a semblance of an apology. It’s stumbled out, laced with explanations and uncertainties about who they are if they’re not together, and where they stand. Noah tells Luke he wants to be friends, but he’s not sure how to do that or where to start.
Luke, being Luke, accepts his apology and invites him for a lunch date later in the week to catch up. He speaks quickly and excitedly, telling him how excited he is for them to be friends, getting it all out in a few breaths before Noah has a chance to rescind his offer of friendship.
And Reid, being Reid, watches bemusedly and feels the satisfaction of a job well done creep through his body. He watches the childish joy that Luke gains from the prospect of having Noah in his life in any capacity, and Reid ignores the tiny, insignificant part of him that oozes jealousy.
Because it’s not about him, and he knows it.
It’s not until later that night, when Luke is crawling into bed and curling up against Reid, that they acknowledge it.
“What did you say to him?”
“What makes you think I said anything to him?” Reid asks, feigning innocence.
“Because I know you. And more specifically, I know him. He wouldn’t have just called like out of the blue. Someone must have said something to him, and I’m putting all my money on you.”
“Careful, Mr Snyder. Wouldn’t want you to lose that trust fund.”
“Very funny. What did you say to him, Reid?”
“Nothing. Well, I may have said something. But is it really important if the ends justified the means?” Reid rationalises, leaning over Luke to switch off the light and stopping briefly to run a finger across Luke’s cheek.
“I guess not." Luke shrugs gently, and smiles towards Reid. "Whatever you said, thankyou. I don’t know why you did it, but thankyou.”
“Why do none of you seem to get it?” Reid murmurs to himself, exhaling loudly and settling back into the covers.
“Get what?” Luke asks, cracking open one eye and studying Reid through the darkness.
“Nothing.” Reid breathes against Luke’s neck, and pulls him closer. “Nothing at all.”
Because right now isn’t the time.
Reid will tell him later. Soon, maybe tomorrow. And he can't wait to tell him, because he knows that Luke is just the kind of romantic to revel in confessions of love.
But right now, it's not about him.
And Reid can live with that.