fic: mom knows best
“Mom, can you get the door? It's probably Reid. Tell him I'll be down in five” Luke shouted from the bathroom.
He was just about to getting ready for his first real date with Reid. Well they had sort of already tried to have an official date, at his fathers wedding, but seeing the wedding was over before it even got started, it didn't really count as a date.
And now they had agreed to go on an official date. No big deal or anything, but Luke seemed really exited!
Lily walked over to the door, a slightly frowning. She knew that something had been brewing between the two for some time, and while she was in Paris, they'd apparently started dating. Luke even bringing him to his fathers wedding, or non-wedding as it turned out, to meet his family.
She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, wanting, of course, her oldest son to have someone in his life again. And she had finally been letting go of the hopes of Luke and Noah reuniting, realizing that maybe that relationship wasn't as good for any of the boys as she'd liked to think.
Still, she hoped it wouldn't mean loosing all contact with Luke's ex-boyfriend, whom she considered a part of the family.
Part of the family, Lily thought, wondering if Reid would ever feel like part of the family some day. She couldn't quite understand this relationship. The few times she'd met the man, he seemed distant, rude and sarcastic. Not the kind of man she'd think her son Luke would be attracted to. Quite the opposite of his own personality, she felt.
But she also remember the first time she had found out that there was something going on between them; the surprisingly soft expression on the otherwise rude doctors face, trying to comfort Luke. Like he actually cared.
And then the smile on Luke's face when he spoke about Reid.
But back then she'd been too upset and shocked about Luke feeling anything like that for someone other than Noah, to really take notice.
Now that they were started dating, she had decided to give Dr. Oliver a chance, for Luke's sake. And if Luke could see something more in the man, there had to be something there. She knew Luke, and she was willing to trust his judgment of character.
She reached the door, and open it, facing a slightly surprised looking Reid, just about to ring the doorbell again. “Oh, Miss Walsh, good evening, I didn't realize you were home. I have plans with Luke” he said, pausing, looking down at his hands , before looking back up, trying to look past Lily, as to see if she kept Luke hidden from him in there somewhere. “So, I.... Yeah, I'll just wait out here for him”
“Don't bee silly, come inside!” Lily exclaimed, opening the door further, stepping aside a little so Reid could enter. “Luke is in the bathroom, getting ready, he'll be down in five minutes”
“Figures” let out in a small huff. “getting his hair all gel' ed up, I'm sure. That boy and his hair..” he said, shaking his head a little, an amused smile forming briefly on his lips, before his facial expression quickly changed back to the neutral, expressionless it had been before, as if he realized he had been giving too much away.
But Lily noticed. And she also noticed how his hand were fidgeting against his thigh.
And then, she suddenly realized; the man was nervous! Dr. Reid Oliver, the amazing neurosurgeon, the genius, was standing in her living room, waiting to take her son out on a date. And he was nervous!
She was about to say something, offer him a drink while he waited. But then his face broke out in a big smile, changing his face completely. She turned to see her son had come in to the room, wearing a smile matching the one on Reid's face.
“Hi”
“Hi”
The two men looked at each other like a couple of teenagers going on their first date or something, Lily thought. She decided to leave them alone, wished them a good night, and left for the kitchen. Once out of the room, the smile she had been suppressing broke out. And she couldn't help feeling surprised by what she had just witnessed. Pleasantly, of course, and amazed, and even slightly jealous if she was to be completely honest with herself.
Surprise, of course to see a different side of Dr. Oliver. But also the look on her son's face. She hadn't been able to understand why Luke would want to start up anything with the older man, and was a bit worried he confused real feelings for the man by the flattering feeling of being wanted by someone like Dr. Oliver.
Jealous, not at Luke, really, all though she had to admit, the doctor was attractive. But, seeing the two men together, she missed that feeling. The feeling of falling in love with someone, just starting out, butterflies, first dates, all of that. She had been searching for that feeling all her life. She and Holden had fallen in and out of love with each other, and others ,all her adult life. But it never seemed to last. Maybe that was the reason, she thought, that she was too addicted to that feeling. That she always needed something new and exiting. She hoped that Luke wouldn't fall into the same pattern.
But was Luke in love with Reid?
Lily was waken later, by someone gently shaking her shoulder ; “mom, mom, you fell asleep on the couch.” she sat up, a bit to fast, the crossword magazine she had been working on fell to the floor.
“What time is it” she said with a yawn.
“00.30. were you waiting up for me?” Luke responded, half amused, half surprised.
“No, I just.... well, maybe, sort of.» she allowed. “Well, I would have gone to bed eventually, but I guess I fell asleep before. And it's not that it's that late. And you know me, I fall asleep on the couch all the time” she defended.
“But, I can't deny that I'm a bit curious about your date, care to share? You don't have to answer if you don't want to” She added quickly.
“You want to make sure the big, bad doctor didn't hurt my feelings” Luke said, still a little amused, but there were also a more defensive tone to his voice then.
“What! No not at all, Luke. Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted when I found out about you and Reid. It was just so unexpected, and I didn't know what to make of it.”
Luke looked like he was about to say something, but Lily cut him of.
“But I know now, that it's not about me, and if you are happy, and even if you're not happy, you are an adult, and it's your experiences to make. And I trust you to make your own decisions in your life.
But from that little I saw earlier, and the way you look now, I'd say the date went well?”
He just smiled, and ducked his head a little, before nodding in confirmation. “Yeah, it went very well”
“So, the movies? You two could agree on a movie you'd both enjoy?”
“Actually, we never made it to the movies”
“That good?” Lily said, raising an eyebrow, “not sure I want you to go in to any details here.”
“What?.... no, NO, not like that! jeez, mom!” Lily just smiled, and waited for him to continue. It was up to him if he wanted to talk about the date.
“We started out at Al's” he began. “And, I mean, if you had seen that man eat......” he shook his head, smiling fondly at the memory.
“So dinner took longer time than expected, and when we finally made it to the movies, all the good ones had already started. So, after buying a big box of popcorn, we just walked around for a while. And he took my hand, just like that, no big deal! And it's not a big thing maybe, but... well..first; I actually never expected Reid to be the holing hands type, and it's just a small gesture, but it also tells me how comfortable he is with himself, with us, you know. Before....” he hesitated, “...before, it wasn't always like that” he said quickly.
“So, yeah, after that we just talked about everything, never missing a chance to mock each other” he said with a small laugh. “But everything is just so easy with him, it's so natural. We ended up back at his and Katie's, and then.... Uhm, we.....” he ducked his head again, blushing and scratched his ear. “We, you know....made out...and....yeah, like you said; no details.”
“But you came home?” Lily questioned, before putting up her hand, “sorry, I didn't mean to...”
“No, it's ok, I mean, not like it's any of your business or anything, but I want it to be the right time, and even though tonight was good...” he trailed of. “It was just bad timing. First Katie came home, and both Reid and I have an early start in the morning, so after a little while, he took me home. And that's when I found you here, sleeping on the couch.
He stood up, straightening his clothes a little.
“But now I better get to bed, I suggest you do the same” he said motioning to the magazine on the floor “before you fall asleep again, and wake up with a sore neck.”
“Good night, Luke. I'll be up a little longer, to awake now, I guess” She smiled.
“Well, like I said, have an early start tomorrow, so good night, mom”
He turned to walk up to the second floor.
“Luke”
He stopped.
“I'm glad your date went well, I'm happy for you” she said.
“Thank you”
Lily meant what she said, she was happy for Luke. The way he had acted tonight; it was really nice seeing him like that. And she realized she couldn't remember when he last had seemed like that, so happy, so, in love.
She stopped for a second at that thought.
Was Luke in love with Reid?
After tonight, Lily thought, she suspected he was. If not already, he was pretty close.
A few days later, Lily was making her way down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She had been up in her office all evening, working on some papers, and had completely lost track of time.
The doorbell had rung earlier, but as she had heard the door been answered, it soon slipped her mind.
Walking trough the doorway of the living room, she suddenly stopped.
There he was. Dr. Oliver. Reid. Sitting on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, leaning back, a document or something like that in his hand. And leaning comfortable in his lap, reading a book, was Luke.
They didn't speak, just doing their things, in silence. Reid's hand rested on Luke's chest, their fingers intertwined.
Suddenly, Luke brought Reid's hand up to his lips, planting a small kiss on the back of his hand. Their eyes met and they shared a smile. Reid letting go of Luke's hand for a moment to turn the page, before he let his hand run trough Luke's already messy hair, before finally it again rested on Luke's chest. They looked at each other, still smiling, before continuing reading. They never noticed Lily, and before they had the chance to, she had turned and quietly walked back up stairs. The water could wait, she decided.
For some reason she didn't want to disturb, not that there was something to disturb. But she didn't want to disturb the silence.
She smiled as she turned back to the papers she was working on, and suddenly the question from the previous night came in to her head again;
Is Luke in love with Reid?
From what Lily could tell; Absolutely! And also from what she could tell; the feeling was mutual.
But she already knew that!