Kidnap! Universe: The Dinner Party
Title: Kidap! Universe: The Dinner Party
Author: Myrna1_2_3
Fandom: As the World Turns
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid
Rating: R
Summary: There is a dinner party
Disclaimer: Not-not-mine
Author’s Notes: Kidnap! Universe
It was a rare evening that found Reid Oliver leaving Oakdale Memorial Hospital before seven or eight o’clock, but with plans later that night-and a bit of concern for his boyfriend--he left the building at five sharp. He rolled his eyes at what passed for rush hour traffic in the small town and idly hoped Luke’s day had passed okay. There were no voice mail messages, which was a good sign, Reid supposed. It was the first day Luke had spent on his own following his release from the hospital five days earlier, which had been preceded by the two weeks his now-deceased Bad Dad Damian Grimaldi had held him hostage in a drugged stupor.
“This is a weird fucking life you’ve got going,” Reid said out loud.
Because he was a stellar boyfriend, Reid had sent several loving, hang in there, Tiger text messages to Luke, even though the ungrateful little snot had texted back increasingly obnoxious replies questioning Reid’s sobriety, sanity and manhood. An emergency subdural hematoma-coinciding with Luke’s suggestion as to where Reid might store his cell phone for the remainder of the day-kept Reid from offering Luke any additional support.
When Reid walked in their front door, it was obvious he was not the only one surprised to find himself home so early. Luke had the stereo blasting and was singing and dancing along as he rinsed dishes in the kitchen sink. Grinning to himself, Reid leaned against the doorframe and enjoyed Luke’s spirited rendition of “And I Am Telling You.” He let go with a belly laugh when Luke turned around for the big finish and yelped in surprise to find Reid there.
“Are you getting queerer or I am I just paying closer attention?” Reid asked.
Luke laughed, but all he said in reply was a pointed, “Glass house.”
“Meaning?” Reid prompted.
“I’ve seen your iPod,” Luke said, his cheeks still painted a lovely shade of pink. “Diana Ross? Cher? Judy Garland?”
Reid pushed himself off the door frame and sauntered toward Luke. “That is Casey Fucking Hughes thinking he’s funny, and you know it.”
“Thinking he was funny six months ago, but the songs are still there, aren’t they?”
“I’ve got better things to do with my time than obsess over my iPod,” Reid said, sliding a hand over Luke’s shoulder, trailing down his arm, then cupping his ass and pulling him closer.
“That you listen to every day when you run,” Luke pointed out, his face heating with something other than embarrassment.
Reid lifted his chin. “So are you queerer or not?”
Luke gave a careless shrug. “Maybe a little,” he said grudgingly. He started to laugh when Reid did.
Their lips met, kissing through silly smiles. “Looks like your first day flying solo was okay,” Reid said. “I told you you’d be fine.”
And if their positions were reversed, no doubt Reid would have indignantly pointed out that he wasn’t the one who’d had an issue, but Luke just smiled gently and nuzzled Reid’s neck; that sensitive spot just under his ear and said, “It was good.”
True, neither one of them had been ready to just jump back in to regular life once Luke was released from the hospital. Luke knew without asking that Reid had put all things neurological on hold while he’d been missing, and he wouldn’t hear of Reid taking off anymore work once he was released from the hospital. God knows the list of family members and hangers-on eager to lend a helping hand was full to overflowing.
Still, leaving Luke that first morning after he’d been released from the hospital had been a lot more difficult than Reid anticipated. They’d spent the day before together-though Luke had been asleep more hours than he was awake. It didn’t matter--Reid had reveled in his being home. Asleep or awake, Luke made home home to Reid, and once Reid got him through the front door, it was like the piece of him that had still been coiled tight ready for the next devastating blow was gently-finally--released.
Reid had assumed he’d get up the next morning and head to the hospital like he had countless mornings before. He’d been a little surprised that Luke was sitting at the kitchen table when he came down to the kitchen, but Reid had just grinned at his disheveled appearance and kissed the top of his head as he made a beeline for the coffee. He took a tentative sip out of his travel mug-Luke generally made an awful pot of coffee-so weak there was hardly even a point to drinking it. Did you even put grounds in there? was Reid’s usual complaint. That morning it was blissfully strong, which earned Luke another kiss to the top of his head.
Reid grabbed his laptop off the counter and slipped it into his brief case. “So what’s on the agenda for today?” Reid asked.
“Haven’t planned out more than walking out to the kitchen,” Luke admitted. “And that was more exhausting that I thought it would be. As soon as I regroup, I was thinking of going back to bed. Or maybe heading over to the couch. It’s closer.”
Reid snapped his brief case shut and picked it up, testing the weight of it for a few shakes, then he took a deep, fortifying breath. And found himself utterly incapable of moving. “Guess I’ll just, uh, head out to the car, drive to work and, uh, work then,” he said.
Luke nodded, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That’s how I’d play it,” he agreed. “If I was going to work. Those are… pretty much the steps I’d follow too.”
“Yep,” Reid said, and felt like he should raise his voice to be heard over the sudden pounding of his heart. “Car, drive, work. Sounds like a plan.”
“That is exactly what it sounds like,” Luke said.
Reid still couldn’t move, though he did return Luke’s polite smile with one of his own. It was really warm in there all of a sudden. Finally Reid cast his eyes upward and said, “So, I guess I’m still standing here, aren’t I?”
“You are,” Luke agreed. “Standing there.”
Reid looked down at his feet. “Apparently, I am not on my way to the car.”
“Not at this time, no,” Luke said, eyes shining at Reid in that stupid, stupid way that made Reid believe all of the ridiculous things he thought about himself were actually true.
Reid had sighed dejectedly at that point. “What time is your mom going to be here?”
Luke smiled. “As soon as she drops Ethan and Natalie off at school. Eight fifteen probably.”
Reid had rolled his eyes and set his brief case down on the floor. “Want an omelet?” he had asked and headed for the fridge.
He’d left for work when Lily arrived. Reid knew Luke’s surprisingly energetic kiss good-bye had less to do with affection than keeping Reid’s mouth otherwise occupied, but anything that sent Lily scurrying out of the room was okay in Reid’s book.
Reid had spent that first morning barking at nurses and interns and fellow physicians who’d probably thought their lives would be easier upon Luke’s return. Well sucks to be you then, Reid thought sourly as he stormed through the cafeteria at lunchtime. By God if the chocolate chip cookies were already gone there would be hell to pay.
“Thought you’d be slightly less psychotic once you got your only good half home,” Dennis Foster had said, setting his tray down next to Reid’s and risking life and limb by helping himself to once of Reid’s cookies.
Dennis and Reid had gone to med school together, and Reid had brought him to Oakdale after Luke’s kidnapping, fearing that Luke’s transplanted kidney was in danger of failing. It wasn’t-at the moment-but Dennis had prescribed a new approach to Luke’s anti-rejection protocol. He was finishing out the week at Memorial as a visiting physician, though if Reid had anything to say in the matter, Dennis would soon be transferring to the hospital for a permanent position in their nephrology department. Later that week, Dennis’ wife would be flying in to town-ostensibly to eyeball old friend Reid’s newfound boy toy, but really it was to take a gander at Oakdale and discuss a possible move.
Reid had glared at Dennis-or, more accurately, the pilfered cookie in his hand-and said, “I keep telling myself almost everyone who would want to kidnap him is dead, but for some reason, I’m still on edge.”
“Well it’s the almost that gets you in these situations,” Dennis said confidently, as though he’d offered plenty of counsel on the issue. “You want to hear something wild?” he said. “I can’t think of anyone who wants to kidnap me or Sherry or the kids or really anyone else that I have ever met even one time.”
“Really?” Reid said. “I should remember what it’s like to live in that kind of world, but I don’t.”
“Love will do that to you, I guess,” Dennis said with a magnanimous nod. Chris was walking by, trying to remain inconspicuous which was a tragic mistake on his part. Dennis deftly slid his chair backward, effectively stopping Chris in his tracks. “Take a load off, my friend,” Dennis said, nodding toward the empty chair at their table. “We’re talking about the Big L, Chuck. Love. You’re gonna want to get in on this.”
“I thought Luke was released yesterday,” Chris said, looking pained. “Shouldn’t you be jetting back home?”
Dennis shrugged. “Naw. Your dad said he’d introduce me to the hamster who generates electricity for this place by riding a tiny little bike. How could I turn that down?”
Chris smirked at Reid. “Is this your diabolical plan? Fill the halls with all of your smartass cronies?”
“Do you think he’ll let me pet him?” Dennis asked. “I hope I get to pet him.”
Reid smirked back at Chris. “So in your eyes, bringing competency and prestige to Memorial equals a diabolical plan. That explains so much on so many levels.”
“Come on, sit down,” Dennis urged. Chris sat down, but moved to stand back up again as Dennis continued, “We promise to let you ride our coat tails-it’s what besties do!” Dennis laughed and pushed Chris back in his chair. “All right, I’ll be good,” he promised. “So good I won’t even mention Adrian Holman when we go out to dinner with you and Katie Friday night.”
Chris pointed his finger at Dennis and said, “I did not ask that woman to marry me.”
“Which makes her registering at all those Boston department stores seem a little unstable,” Dennis had said.
It turns out, two days in the care, custody and control of his loving family was enough for Luke. When Reid got home from work that second evening, the living room was full of people just like it had been the day before. Holden, some guy Luke was related to, some other guy Luke was probably related to, some woman who was involved with either the first guy or the second guy-probably both knowing this fucking town-(and Jesus, let’s just hope she wasn’t related to Luke too), Lily and Lucinda were all there. Just as he’d done the day before, Luke had escaped to the back porch, where he was cocooned in a down comforter, asleep-well, pretending to be was Reid’s guess--in an oversized lounge chair.
Reid tried not to slip into despondency as he listened to the conversation regarding Ethan’s upcoming birthday party. “I don’t care that it’s a game where you throw a bean bag through a wooden circle,” Lucinda was saying. “Cornhole sounds vulgar. Don’t mention it on the invitation.”
Reid let himself out back, lifted the corner of Luke’s comforter and crawled in, bringing the cover up over both their heads. “I just heard your grandmother say cornhole,” Reid whimpered into Luke’s back.
“I’d ask in what context but I don’t want to know,” Luke said. He turned around so he was facing Reid. “Are they gone?”
“I don’t know. In a few minutes, I’ll start making sex noises. That should scare them off.”
“It does me,” Luke said heartily, squawking when Reid pinched his ass which set off a rather energetic tussle, punctuated by Luke’s girly squeals.
“We’re going to let ourselves out,” Lucinda called from the back door. Luke snickered into Reid’s neck then laughed out loud when she said. “Reid, you might want to review your technique, Darling. Whatever you’re trying to do, it doesn’t sound very pleasurable for our Luke.”
Luke snatched both of Reid’s hands with impressive speed before Reid could nonverbally communicate his thoughts on Lucinda’s advice.
Now that they were safely alone, Luke kicked away the comforter so they could enjoy some fresh air. “I’m ready to nix the daycare,” Luke said. “What do you think?”
Reid pursed his lips. “What do Mama and Papa Bear have to say about that?” he asked, figuring if they’d already objected, he wouldn’t have to weigh in one way or another.
Luke’s eyes narrowed knowingly. “They don’t get a vote,” he said.
Reid nodded slowly. “Aren’t we paid up through the end of the month?” he asked lightly. “I don’t think there’s any refunds.”
Luke’s smile was gentle and understanding, and it used to gall Reid to be so known to him. Now it was just another thing he ruefully accepted when it came to Luke Snyder.
Luke reached for Reid’s hand and pulled it to his chest and quietly let Reid process. All Reid could think of was Luke opening their front door and finding Damian on the doorstep. Luke hadn’t been frightened then, merely confused at his father’s disheveled appearance and odd behavior. Damian had told Luke he’d been paroled early and even showed Luke what looked like a tracking device attached to his ankle. He said he was helping the FBI on a case, and he’d wanted to see Luke one last time to try and apologize, make amends for his past behavior.
Luke actually remembered little else, just disjointed flashes of memory that seemed more like dreams than actual experience. The FBI figured Damian had slipped something into Luke’s water bottle that made him woozy and had managed to get Luke into his car and out of Oakdale without attracting any attention.
Reid supposed he should appreciate the lack of physical violence in the whole scenario but that didn’t make it any less of a violation of what should have been the safest of places for Luke-their home.
Reid shook the images from his mind; he had sighed and worked to swallow past the sudden obstruction in his throat. He let Luke pull him into a hug, and he had idly rubbed his hand up and down Luke’s back, thinking of nothing but how soft Luke’s t-shirt was. He’d kissed Luke’s neck and stroked the downy hair at the back of his head until he was ready to answer. “Not yet,” he had finally whispered.
“Okay,” Luke had said easily.
So for a few more days Luke pretended he appreciated the extra support of friends and family, and Reid pretended he didn’t, and by the time Friday morning rolled around, Reid figured they (he) would be okay if Luke spent the day on his own.
And judging from the impromptu Dreamgirls concert-and the fact that Reid hadn’t eviscerated anyone at the hospital-that turned out to be a good call.
“You still feel up for dinner tonight?” Reid asked, rubbing the dark circle under Luke’s eye with his thumb. Luke caught Reid’s hand and kissed the thumb.
“Yeah,” Luke said. “Real food sounds good, actually. Everyone keeps bringing me milkshakes, like I had my wisdom teeth out or something.”
“I’m surprised Al’s Diner doesn’t have some kind of Kidnap Return Special on the menu.”
“You have appointed yourself as one of his honorary board members. You should probably suggest that at your next meeting.”
Reid threaded his fingers through Luke’s and lead him to the bedroom. “Maybe I will,” he said.
A short time later, they were both standing in front of the bedroom mirror; Reid was pressed up tightly to Luke’s back, arms over his shoulder so he could fasten Luke’s tie. Neither one of them ever mentioned the fact that despite the years between them, Luke had been tying his own tie far longer than Reid had been tying his. Still, if they happened to be getting ready at the same time, Reid liked having the honor of doing up Luke’s tie.
Reid brushed his hand down Luke’s front, letting his hand slip far lower than necessary just to straighten the tie. He smiled into Luke’s neck when his hand met Luke’s cock. He squeezed gently and swayed at his hips so Luke could feel his own half-hardened dick against the crack of his ass.
Luke smiled shyly and ducked his head, and Reid chuffed an explosive breath at how fucking turned on that little move made him. After all this time-and all the countless filthy things they’d done to one another-Luke could be charmingly bashful at such simple intimacies.
“Dressing you before we go out is like wrapping my own present,” Reid whispered silkily into Luke’s ear.
“I like it that you’re not one of those people who tries to unwrap their present without tearing the paper,” Luke said, then frowned and wrinkled his nose, as if the words sounded different out loud than they had in his head.
Reid snorted, then guffawed, and Luke started laughing, red-faced as he pushed Reid away from him. “What?!” he said, laughing through the word. “Look, not all of us aced Dirty Talk 101, okay?”
“Maybe you should stick with the basics. Do me, Reid. Fuck me, Reid. Harder, Reid.”
“Leave the heavy lifting to the experts, huh?” Luke said.
Reid nodded, his own nose wrinkled. He kissed Luke, still snickering. “I love you a ridiculous amount,” he said.
Delighted, Luke smiled at him. “Even though I suck at dirty talk and make terrible coffee and my grandmother says things like cornhole, and…”
Reid gently interjected. “Luke?”
“Mm?”
“We’re better off not making a list.”
Luke nodded in rueful agreement. “So, now, what kind of doctor is Sherry again?” he asked.
“Pediatric Orthopedist,” Reid answered. “And, uh, you know, back in school we kind of got into now and then. She thought Dennis and I were bad influences on each other or something stupid like that so if she seems a little…”
Luke interrupted before Reid went any further. “Have you noticed that every time I meet an acquaintance of yours there’s always a conversation beforehand to put their animosity toward you into some kind of context?“
Reid shrugged carelessly. “Mostly I notice how surprised you are that we have to have the conversation every time. It’s kind of cute.” He thought about it for a second. “And a little sad.”
Luke just shook his head, as he straightened Reid’s coat and tie. “You look great,” Luke said happily.
“You’re too thin,” Reid said.
Luke gaped at him. “You can’t just throw me a you-look-good-too?”
Reid shrugged. “I will when you start putting on some weight,” he said agreeably. “You haven’t eaten any of the ice cream I brought home from Madison’s.”
“Because it’s got huge gobs of fruit in it,” Luke said.
“That’s the best kind.”
“No, that’s the kind you like.”
“The best kind,” Reid repeated.
Luke just sighed and gave a sharp tug on Reid’s tie. “Don’t you and Dennis gang up on Chris tonight,” he said and rolled his eyes at Reid’s exaggerated look of affront. “I mean it-Bob is hardly going to pull out all the stops to get Dennis to transfer to Memorial if the two of you turn dinner with his son into some seventh grade douche-a-thon.”
Reid grinned in spite of himself. He thought he’d been subtle about his plans for Dennis. “You’re kind of smart for someone so pretty,” he said.
“I thought I was too skinny,” Luke said with a sniff.
“Naw, you’re all right,” Reid said.
“Yeah?” Luke said with a coy smile. “Even with my dicey kidney and my crazy, intrusive family and my spoiled, trust-fund ways and my…
“Luke?”
“Mm?”
“I’m serious about the list thing.”
Luke snorted into Reid’s neck. “Noted,” he said and followed Reid out to the car.
Chris and Katie were waiting for them outside of the restaurant, but Dennis and Sherry hadn’t yet arrived. Luke kissed Katie’s cheek in greeting and told her she looked beautiful, then shook Chris’ hand while Reid greeted Katie and complimented her dress. She glared at Chris who gave her a hapless shrug. “I asked if your shoes were new!” he said defensively.
Reid rolled his eyes and slowly shook his head, saying scornfully, “Doogie, that’s like saying to a woman, you got your hair done --unnecessary and inviting conflict all at once. See, what you’ve got to do is…”
“I’m gonna pass on taking dating advice from you,” Chris said.
Reid turned expectantly to Luke who offered a bland look in reply. Reid nudged him with an elbow. “This is where you explain to Chris that I’m awesome at dating, and he would be crazy not to take my wooing advice.”
“Wow,” Luke said. “There is nothing in that sentence that I would ever say.”
A high pitched squeal interrupted the conversation and all heads turned to see a small, wiry woman with short brown hair run toward Reid and jump into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and shouting, “Reid!”
“Sherry,” Reid said so dryly it was surprising the flowers around the entryway didn’t instantaneously wilt.
Sherry jumped down off of Reid with a loud smack of a kiss to his cheek and then turned to take a good, long look at Luke. Without taking her eyes off of him, Sherry said to Reid, “This better not be like our wedding when you hired that hooker to be your date.”
Reid sighed, and his tone indicated he was tired of having to explain this to Sherry over and over again. “Just because I met him at a bar the night before does not mean he was a hooker.”
“Met him at a bar where he was a dancer,” Dennis amended. “You always forget that part.”
“Details,” Reid said with a shrug. He tossed his head Luke’s way. “This one’s legit,” he said. “Luke Snyder, meet Sherry Foster.”
“My God,” Sherry said. “Dennis said you were gorgeous, but he comes home from a fishing trip talking about the gorgeous bass that got away so who knows what that word means to him, right? And then you factor in Reid and the mental image I come up with is one of those gigantic floating alien heads, you know, with the huge forehead and everything?” Luke shook Sherry’s hand looking a little shell-shocked. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about this,” she said sincerely as she dug through her oversized handbag. She pulled out a camera and before Luke could do anything but look pleasantly surprised, she snapped his picture. She shrugged at Luke and reached over to squeeze his forearm. “I’ll get $500 pledges to my Race for the Cure fund from 12 different people we went to med school with so long as I post a picture of you on my Facebook page, and the hospital where I work will match the $6,000, and the person who brings in the largest donation gets a really stellar parking place for the year so, you know, hands totally tied here.” She paused to check the quality of the picture she’d just taken and said, “Holy moly, you and I are dishing on skin care secrets later, FYI.”
“Ahh, how… how do you do?” Luke said weakly.
“And you all wonder why I don’t keep in touch,” Reid said sardonically.
Sherry hugged Chris who just rolled his eyes at her enthusiastic, “Chuck!” Sherr smiled at Katie as she held out her hand. “And you must be Sally?” she said.
Katie looked confused. “No, I’m Katie Snyder.”
Sherry and Reid gave Dennis identical looks of irritation. “I thought you said Chuck’s girlfriend’s name was Sally,” she said.
At the same time, Reid said, “You idiot, Sally was Charlie Brown’s sister.”
Dennis answered Reid, saying, “Yeah, but if I’d said Peppermint Patty, it’s kinda code for lesbian, right?”
“How would I know?” Reid said.
“I coulda said Lucy, I guess,” Dennis said thoughtfully.
“Except Lucy was with Schroeder,” Luke pointed out, earning him an accusing glare from Chris. Luke shrugged helplessly. “In the interest of accuracy!” he said.
“If it’s this much effort, the joke’s not even funny,” Sherry said.
“It’s really not,” Chris said pointedly.
“We can’t drop it ‘til someone explains it to me!” Katie said plaintively as they walked through the restaurant door.
Luke caught the maitre d’s attention with the barest lift of his chin. Luke smiled warmly and greeted the man by name, asking quietly if their table was ready. Reid held his breath, trying to stay calm but ready to pounce if the man mentioned anything to Luke that could be remotely upsetting. Reid pursed his lips in irritation at the way Luke soothingly rubbed a hand down his back, as though Reid were the one needing comfort of some kind.
They were seated with a minimum amount of obsequious fussing, although from the looks Dennis and Sherry exchanged, it was obvious they noticed the special attention paid to their party. The chef coming out of the kitchen to personally welcome them and suggest several off-menu specials he’d be delighted to prepare might have been a giveaway as well.
“Okay, spill,” Katie said, when the chef returned to the kitchen and their drinks were ordered.
Dennis said, “We called Chris Chuck in school.”
“You called me Chuck,” Chris clarified.
Dennis acknowledged as much with a shrug. “Charlie Brown had a really round head too. So, you know, Chuck.”
Katie laughed in spite of herself, then reached out and affectionately rubbed Chris’ arm. “I love your head!” she assured him.
Reid got a devilish glint in his eye and took a breath to speak, but Luke stopped him cold, saying, “You will sleep in the garage for a week.”
Reid sighed and opened his menu. “What looks good?” he asked in defeat.
Dennis snickered and opened his own menu. “Whipped!” he said under his breath.
“You really want to start tallying up?” Reid asked.
Exasperated, Dennis said, “Well not with Sherry sitting right here, no.”
“We called Sherry She-Ra at school,” Reid said to Luke, as if that explained Dennis’ reluctance.
Luke looked blankly at him, shaking his head and shrugging.
“You know, from the He-Man cartoon?”
Luke still look confused and Sherry put her hand to her heart. “Please don’t tell me how old you were in when the rest of us were watching He-Man.”
“Negative three,” Reid said, mouth full of breadstick.
“Oh God, pass the bread,” Sherry muttered. “And I’m gonna need the butter too.” She bumped Katie’s shoulder with her own and said, “Dennis said you have a baby boy. How old is he?”
“Yes, Jacob,” Katie said. “He’s a little over a year.”
“That’s such a great age,” Sherry said. She pulled the camera out of her bag and turned to the back, paging through to find the picture she wanted, then passed the camera to Katie. “Morgan is the baby, he’s almost four, Caleb is eight, Dylan is ten and Chloe is 12, almost 13.”
“They’re beautiful!” Katie said. She passed the camera to Reid and retrieved her cell phone to show Sherry a few pictures of Jacob.
Reid glanced at the picture on Sherry’s camera, then turned to Dennis with a sour look on his face. “I thought we agreed not to fix Chloe’s teeth,” he grumbled.
“Sherry overrode us,” Dennis said, with a sigh of disappointment. “Apparently keeping your teenage daughter as unattractive as possible is bad parenting or something.”
Reid glared at him. “So you don’t care that some dork is going to show up, ask her if her shoes are new and then just take her off God knows where to do God knows what?”
Chris sighed loudly, but the way Katie smiled at him made him blush just the same.
“It’s already happened,” Dennis said glumly. “You should have seen the skinny little bastard. We had to fumigate the living room to clear out the stench of Old Spice.”
Reid held his hands out in a way that asked what-the-hell-are-you-doing? “I thought we agreed she wasn’t going to date until she was 25,” he said, irritated.
“Yeah, Sherr overrode us on that, too,” Dennis said.
“Reid lived with us the first year we had Chloe,” Sherry explained to the table. “He’s under the impression that he’s still one-third owner of the time share.”
Katie stared at Reid with wide-eyes. “Oh my God, do you just roam around and look for people with babies so you can move in with them?”
Reid cast his eyes heavenward, as Luke pursed his lips and nodded in sudden understanding. “This is why you keep bringing home pamphlets with Romanian orphans on the cover, isn’t it?” Luke asked with an uber-sensitive tilt of his head. “Reid, I’m just not ready.”
“Don’t do it ‘til he marries you, Luke,” Chris warned. “And make sure you exclude med school debt from the pre-nup. You don’t want to find yourself paying that off later.”
“I don’t have med school debt,” Reid said in a bored voice. “Some of us were brilliant enough that med school practically paid us to attend. Besides, Luke would never ask me to sign a pre-nup.”
Luke gave him a faintly curious look. “What makes you say that?”
Reid snorted at the question. “You get weepy when the local news airs a clip of two otters holding paws…”
“Did you see that?” Katie cried. “ It was so cute!”
“You’re not going to all of a sudden go all unsentimental and insist on a pre-nup,” Reid finished.
Luke shrugged and said with faux innocence, “Grandmother’s hardly going to let me just jump into some ill-considered…”
“Ill considered?” Reid squawked in outrage. “Your grandmother worships me!” he said indignantly. “I’m surprised she hasn’t already dangled some kind of financial incentive in my face to encourage making an honest man out of you.”
Luke snorted into his club soda. “Can you imagine my mom and dad’s faces if I told them we were getting married?”
“Your parents not all up in the Reid Love?” Sherry asked, feigning great incredulity. “This is shocking news indeed.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Reid said. “I am exactly the perfect specimen of a partner you would mold from clay for your precious baby boy, but all I get are these pissed off you’re-banging-my-son vibes.”
“You can’t say he’s not charming,” Luke told the table.
As their meals were being served, Sherry nodded at Chris. “Did you read Bernard’s piece in the Journal?” she asked.
“Yeah, I read it.” Chris’ tone left little doubt about his opinion of it.
“What are you going to do?”
Chris chuckled. “What am I going to do?”
“Come on,” Sherry said. “Silence is agreement, you know that. And that piece was nothing but pharmaceutically sponsored garbage.”
Chris nodded in agreement, but said, “Without access to his test results, it’s just going to be a he-said, he-said sparring match. That won’t accomplish anything.”
“Right, so step one is to point that out. We’ve got to get access to the test results and the only way to do that is to publically shame Bernard into sharing them.”
“Publically shame?”
Sherry was happy to give examples. “Letters to the Journal editor; better yet, phone calls to the Journal editor, letters to other journals, phone calls to Bernard’s hospital, to the investors…”
Chris shook his head and said, “Sherry, you can’t haul out the troops every time someone publishes a study you don’t agree with…”
“But we can’t just sit by and shut up every time someone publishes a bunch of bullshit so they can pocket a hundred thousand dollars from Marsters Pharmaceuticals either.”
“The medical industry is changing,” Chris said with a shrug. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can…”
“Things can’t get better if we don’t make them better,” Sherry said. “It has to start with us because we can’t make it start with anyone else, even if it should.”
“All right, all right!” Chris said, hands raised in surrender. “Email the editor’s number to me and I’ll call in the morning.”
“Or I could punch the number into your phone and you could call her right this minute,” Sherry said.
Chris sighed and handed over his phone. Sherry smiled victoriously at Chris and pulled out her own phone so she could program in the number for Chris to call.
“Be kind of amazing to add that sort of can-do attitude to the Memorial pediatric department, wouldn’t it?” Reid asked.
Chris rolled his eyes, but his tone was full of admiration. “Yes, it would,” he said.
Sherry pressed the key to dial the editor on Chris’ phone, listened to make sure it was dialing, then handed it over to him. Chris was chuckling as he stood up from the table. “Ellen? This is Dr. Chris Hughes. I believe we met last year at the…”
“This must be what it felt like to attend a master class with DaVinci,” Luke stage-whispered to Katie
“Just grabbing the phone and dialing is kind of brilliant,” Katie agreed. “I’m going to use that!”
Reid could tell Luke was fading a bit as dessert was served, though he had enough energy to bark at Reid for innocently helping himself to a taste of Luke’s flourless chocolate cake. “If you want two desserts, order two desserts but don’t eat mine,” Luke groused.
“If you’re just going to leave it there on your plate, it’s fair game,” Reid said.
“I’m not leaving it, I’m chewing!” Luke said and moved to spear Reid’s grabby hand with his fork.
“Hey, hey, hey, not the money makers,” Reid said.
The evening ended shortly thereafter, with Dennis’ request to the maitre d’ for the check turned away with a quiet, “That’s been taken care of, sir.” The man’s near genuflection at Luke as he offered his thanks for the evening told Reid everything he needed to know about the generous tip that was no doubt included.
“You’re not worried about a pre-nup because you’re giving it all away before I’m in,” Reid said into Luke’s ear. Luke pretended it was an accident when he elbowed Reid in the belly.
Dennis and Sherry said their good-byes, making plans for brunch on Sunday. They were spending Saturday getting a feel for the town, and Luke made them promise to call him if they had any questions about anything.
As Sherry was hugging Reid, she said, “Don’t fuck this up, okay? Or Dennis and I will have to kill you.”
“No!” Reid said, his tone a cross between whine and foot-stomping tantrum. “That’s what you say to him!”
Sherry shrugged helplessly. “I kind of already love him!” she said, looking around at the others for support.
Reid glared at Dennis who could only offer his own helpless shrug. “He gave me an Iron Man,” he said.
“I clocked at least 800 miles with your colicky daughter,” Reid said.
Dennis shrugged again and said, “My own Iron Man.”
Reid muttered under his breath as he dragged Luke to the car and shoved him into the passenger side. He forgave Luke for being the one everyone liked best since Luke held his hand during the drive home and then they necked in the garage a few minutes before heading inside.
Luke plopped down on the couch while Reid continued on to the kitchen. He pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge. He handed one to Luke and motioned for him to lean up so Reid could sit against the arm of the couch. Luke fit himself into the curve of Reid’s shoulder, nuzzling into Reid’s neck. “Dennis and Sherry are kind of awesome,” Luke said. “I like thinking of you in school, hanging out with friends, being all… regular.”
“I might not have been the belle of the ball like some people,” Reid said. “But I’m not exactly a pod person either.”
“I know,” Luke said with a shrug. “But sometimes I imagine you emerging from the womb wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around your neck.” He paused for a beat. “Waving a tiny little rainbow flag.”
Reid snickered. “How did you resist me for as long as you did?”
“Performance anxiety,” Luke answered with a grin.
“Entirely unfounded,” Reid whispered.
Luke leaned back, offering his mouth to Reid who would never turn down such bounty. Reid eventually pushed himself up off the couch and offered his hand to Luke. “Come on, Principessa, time to unwrap my present.” He laced his fingers through Luke’s and pulled him up, leading him to their bedroom. He grinned at Luke over his shoulder. “Don’t you want to say something?” he teased.
Luke ducked his head for a minute and gave a short huff of amusement. He tilted his head, all demure eyes and sharp, beautiful cheek bones. “Fuck me, Reid,” he said.
Reid had always been a selfish lover; he knew that about himself, and not in any self-critical way. He was also an arrogant lover; no one left his bed unsatisfied. But part of the allure of the casual sex Reid had always (and only) enjoyed before Luke was how little he had to worry about his partner. In those encounters, it was understood you were responsible for getting your own needs met, and if you were doing it right, your partner would be good to go. Very, very good to go.
Where Luke had worried about physical inexperience at the start of their sexual relationship, Reid had worried about his own emotional inexperience. It wasn’t as if he wanted that same selfishness to cloud his experience with Luke, he just didn’t know if he could play it any other way.
Strange that Reid’s anxiety turned out to be just as unfounded as Luke’s.
Because with Luke, there was no opportunity for selfishness. There was no room to take anything when it was given to Reid long before he even reached out for it. Very little humbled Reid Oliver in this world, but Luke’s generosity laid him bare in a most beautiful way.
Reid quickly shucked his clothes; holding Luke’s eyes with his own. Luke sat quietly at the foot of the bed, still fully clothed and waited for Reid to come stand in front of him and coax him to a standing position. It was silent as Reid methodically disrobed his lover, letting his fingertips trail along Luke’s soft skin as he removed Luke’s shirt, trousers, boxers.
Reid started to push Luke to the bed, but Luke stopped him with a whispered request. “Say my name.”
Reid didn’t understand, and when he said “Luke?” he wasn’t complying, he was asking for clarification.
Luke shook his head. “Not that one,” he said, pretending to misunderstand. He looked at Reid as tears welled in his eyes. “The other one. Say my other name.”
Reid couldn’t breathe for a beat, the surge of emotion closing off his throat.
Reid had come upon Luke’s passport once and opened it intending to ridicule the picture, but of course Luke Snyder’s photo was actually ridiculously attractive. Reid was about to toss the passport aside in disgust when he read the name. Luciano Eduardo.
“Luciano Eduardo?” Reid had hooted. “That is classic! Luciano Eduardo of Oakdale, Illinois!”
Reid had teased Luke mercilessly, resorting to the name as a means of chiding a Luke who was merciless himself when using those big brown eyes to get his way with Reid and everyone else on the planet. Eventually Reid realized he’d finally found a counter weapon to those lethal eyes. Whisper Luciano in Luke’s ear, punctuate it with a few wet kisses on his neck, and the first shower of the morning and the last piece of salami in the fridge were Reid’s for the taking.
It wasn’t until that moment, as Reid was looking into tear-filled eyes, that he realized he had unconsciously surrendered Luciano to Damian. He hadn’t said it once since Luke had come back to him.
“Luciano,” Reid said, defiantly, chin raised. Luke smiled even as a tear slipped over the rim of his eye and trailed down his cheek. “There’s no part of you that isn’t mine,” Reid reminded Luke, his voice dangerous and low. “He thought he could take some part of you and rewrite history, but everything is mine.”
And Reid supposed that might sound ridiculous. Unhealthy, even. But he was just as much Luke’s as Luke was his, the only difference was that the world felt little entitled to Reid, with his brittle nature and fierce independence, so no reminders were ever needed. But Luke; Luke with his open heart and easy affection; with his quick smile and gentle touch; people felt as though he was offering something or that they were allowed to take something and… well. No.
They didn’t normally talk much during sex-not that there wasn’t a lot of noise, just not a lot of articulate noise. This time, though, Reid kept up a steady litany of words and language that was good and safe and theirs.
“Luciano,” Reid whispered, hips driving slowly, so slowly. He watched droplets of sweat pool on Luke’s soft, smooth skin, round and perfect like dew on a blade of grass. “Luciano Eduardo,” he whispered. “Mio cuore, Luciano.” Luke whimpered, meeting Reid’s gentle thrusts with breathless grunts that tested Reid’s ironclad control. “Mio amore,” Reid said. “Luciano…ti amo…sempre…Luciano, ti amo.”
Luke came with a delicious moan that brought Reid with him, and then the room was quiet save their panting breaths. Reid licked at the sweat on his upper lip mesmerized by the vision of Luke beneath him. There was nothing more beautiful than the site of a well fucked Luke Snyder with Reid’s cock still pressed to the hilt in his ass.
Reid started to withdraw, slowly, so Luke had time to stop him.
“No,” Luke whispered. “After I’m asleep.”
Reid smiled possessively. “After you’re asleep,” he said, and wondered if Luke could fall asleep with Reid’s arms wrapped so tightly around him. Not that it mattered-Reid Oliver loved a challenge. “Ti amo,” Reid whispered.
“I love you too,” said Luke.
“Luciano is mine,” Reid said, more to himself than Luke. They all were, of course: Luciano and Luke and Mr. Snyder. All Reid’s and Reid’s alone.
Always, only.
Sempre, solo.
#
Author: Myrna1_2_3
Fandom: As the World Turns
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid
Rating: R
Summary: There is a dinner party
Disclaimer: Not-not-mine
Author’s Notes: Kidnap! Universe
It was a rare evening that found Reid Oliver leaving Oakdale Memorial Hospital before seven or eight o’clock, but with plans later that night-and a bit of concern for his boyfriend--he left the building at five sharp. He rolled his eyes at what passed for rush hour traffic in the small town and idly hoped Luke’s day had passed okay. There were no voice mail messages, which was a good sign, Reid supposed. It was the first day Luke had spent on his own following his release from the hospital five days earlier, which had been preceded by the two weeks his now-deceased Bad Dad Damian Grimaldi had held him hostage in a drugged stupor.
“This is a weird fucking life you’ve got going,” Reid said out loud.
Because he was a stellar boyfriend, Reid had sent several loving, hang in there, Tiger text messages to Luke, even though the ungrateful little snot had texted back increasingly obnoxious replies questioning Reid’s sobriety, sanity and manhood. An emergency subdural hematoma-coinciding with Luke’s suggestion as to where Reid might store his cell phone for the remainder of the day-kept Reid from offering Luke any additional support.
When Reid walked in their front door, it was obvious he was not the only one surprised to find himself home so early. Luke had the stereo blasting and was singing and dancing along as he rinsed dishes in the kitchen sink. Grinning to himself, Reid leaned against the doorframe and enjoyed Luke’s spirited rendition of “And I Am Telling You.” He let go with a belly laugh when Luke turned around for the big finish and yelped in surprise to find Reid there.
“Are you getting queerer or I am I just paying closer attention?” Reid asked.
Luke laughed, but all he said in reply was a pointed, “Glass house.”
“Meaning?” Reid prompted.
“I’ve seen your iPod,” Luke said, his cheeks still painted a lovely shade of pink. “Diana Ross? Cher? Judy Garland?”
Reid pushed himself off the door frame and sauntered toward Luke. “That is Casey Fucking Hughes thinking he’s funny, and you know it.”
“Thinking he was funny six months ago, but the songs are still there, aren’t they?”
“I’ve got better things to do with my time than obsess over my iPod,” Reid said, sliding a hand over Luke’s shoulder, trailing down his arm, then cupping his ass and pulling him closer.
“That you listen to every day when you run,” Luke pointed out, his face heating with something other than embarrassment.
Reid lifted his chin. “So are you queerer or not?”
Luke gave a careless shrug. “Maybe a little,” he said grudgingly. He started to laugh when Reid did.
Their lips met, kissing through silly smiles. “Looks like your first day flying solo was okay,” Reid said. “I told you you’d be fine.”
And if their positions were reversed, no doubt Reid would have indignantly pointed out that he wasn’t the one who’d had an issue, but Luke just smiled gently and nuzzled Reid’s neck; that sensitive spot just under his ear and said, “It was good.”
True, neither one of them had been ready to just jump back in to regular life once Luke was released from the hospital. Luke knew without asking that Reid had put all things neurological on hold while he’d been missing, and he wouldn’t hear of Reid taking off anymore work once he was released from the hospital. God knows the list of family members and hangers-on eager to lend a helping hand was full to overflowing.
Still, leaving Luke that first morning after he’d been released from the hospital had been a lot more difficult than Reid anticipated. They’d spent the day before together-though Luke had been asleep more hours than he was awake. It didn’t matter--Reid had reveled in his being home. Asleep or awake, Luke made home home to Reid, and once Reid got him through the front door, it was like the piece of him that had still been coiled tight ready for the next devastating blow was gently-finally--released.
Reid had assumed he’d get up the next morning and head to the hospital like he had countless mornings before. He’d been a little surprised that Luke was sitting at the kitchen table when he came down to the kitchen, but Reid had just grinned at his disheveled appearance and kissed the top of his head as he made a beeline for the coffee. He took a tentative sip out of his travel mug-Luke generally made an awful pot of coffee-so weak there was hardly even a point to drinking it. Did you even put grounds in there? was Reid’s usual complaint. That morning it was blissfully strong, which earned Luke another kiss to the top of his head.
Reid grabbed his laptop off the counter and slipped it into his brief case. “So what’s on the agenda for today?” Reid asked.
“Haven’t planned out more than walking out to the kitchen,” Luke admitted. “And that was more exhausting that I thought it would be. As soon as I regroup, I was thinking of going back to bed. Or maybe heading over to the couch. It’s closer.”
Reid snapped his brief case shut and picked it up, testing the weight of it for a few shakes, then he took a deep, fortifying breath. And found himself utterly incapable of moving. “Guess I’ll just, uh, head out to the car, drive to work and, uh, work then,” he said.
Luke nodded, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That’s how I’d play it,” he agreed. “If I was going to work. Those are… pretty much the steps I’d follow too.”
“Yep,” Reid said, and felt like he should raise his voice to be heard over the sudden pounding of his heart. “Car, drive, work. Sounds like a plan.”
“That is exactly what it sounds like,” Luke said.
Reid still couldn’t move, though he did return Luke’s polite smile with one of his own. It was really warm in there all of a sudden. Finally Reid cast his eyes upward and said, “So, I guess I’m still standing here, aren’t I?”
“You are,” Luke agreed. “Standing there.”
Reid looked down at his feet. “Apparently, I am not on my way to the car.”
“Not at this time, no,” Luke said, eyes shining at Reid in that stupid, stupid way that made Reid believe all of the ridiculous things he thought about himself were actually true.
Reid had sighed dejectedly at that point. “What time is your mom going to be here?”
Luke smiled. “As soon as she drops Ethan and Natalie off at school. Eight fifteen probably.”
Reid had rolled his eyes and set his brief case down on the floor. “Want an omelet?” he had asked and headed for the fridge.
He’d left for work when Lily arrived. Reid knew Luke’s surprisingly energetic kiss good-bye had less to do with affection than keeping Reid’s mouth otherwise occupied, but anything that sent Lily scurrying out of the room was okay in Reid’s book.
Reid had spent that first morning barking at nurses and interns and fellow physicians who’d probably thought their lives would be easier upon Luke’s return. Well sucks to be you then, Reid thought sourly as he stormed through the cafeteria at lunchtime. By God if the chocolate chip cookies were already gone there would be hell to pay.
“Thought you’d be slightly less psychotic once you got your only good half home,” Dennis Foster had said, setting his tray down next to Reid’s and risking life and limb by helping himself to once of Reid’s cookies.
Dennis and Reid had gone to med school together, and Reid had brought him to Oakdale after Luke’s kidnapping, fearing that Luke’s transplanted kidney was in danger of failing. It wasn’t-at the moment-but Dennis had prescribed a new approach to Luke’s anti-rejection protocol. He was finishing out the week at Memorial as a visiting physician, though if Reid had anything to say in the matter, Dennis would soon be transferring to the hospital for a permanent position in their nephrology department. Later that week, Dennis’ wife would be flying in to town-ostensibly to eyeball old friend Reid’s newfound boy toy, but really it was to take a gander at Oakdale and discuss a possible move.
Reid had glared at Dennis-or, more accurately, the pilfered cookie in his hand-and said, “I keep telling myself almost everyone who would want to kidnap him is dead, but for some reason, I’m still on edge.”
“Well it’s the almost that gets you in these situations,” Dennis said confidently, as though he’d offered plenty of counsel on the issue. “You want to hear something wild?” he said. “I can’t think of anyone who wants to kidnap me or Sherry or the kids or really anyone else that I have ever met even one time.”
“Really?” Reid said. “I should remember what it’s like to live in that kind of world, but I don’t.”
“Love will do that to you, I guess,” Dennis said with a magnanimous nod. Chris was walking by, trying to remain inconspicuous which was a tragic mistake on his part. Dennis deftly slid his chair backward, effectively stopping Chris in his tracks. “Take a load off, my friend,” Dennis said, nodding toward the empty chair at their table. “We’re talking about the Big L, Chuck. Love. You’re gonna want to get in on this.”
“I thought Luke was released yesterday,” Chris said, looking pained. “Shouldn’t you be jetting back home?”
Dennis shrugged. “Naw. Your dad said he’d introduce me to the hamster who generates electricity for this place by riding a tiny little bike. How could I turn that down?”
Chris smirked at Reid. “Is this your diabolical plan? Fill the halls with all of your smartass cronies?”
“Do you think he’ll let me pet him?” Dennis asked. “I hope I get to pet him.”
Reid smirked back at Chris. “So in your eyes, bringing competency and prestige to Memorial equals a diabolical plan. That explains so much on so many levels.”
“Come on, sit down,” Dennis urged. Chris sat down, but moved to stand back up again as Dennis continued, “We promise to let you ride our coat tails-it’s what besties do!” Dennis laughed and pushed Chris back in his chair. “All right, I’ll be good,” he promised. “So good I won’t even mention Adrian Holman when we go out to dinner with you and Katie Friday night.”
Chris pointed his finger at Dennis and said, “I did not ask that woman to marry me.”
“Which makes her registering at all those Boston department stores seem a little unstable,” Dennis had said.
It turns out, two days in the care, custody and control of his loving family was enough for Luke. When Reid got home from work that second evening, the living room was full of people just like it had been the day before. Holden, some guy Luke was related to, some other guy Luke was probably related to, some woman who was involved with either the first guy or the second guy-probably both knowing this fucking town-(and Jesus, let’s just hope she wasn’t related to Luke too), Lily and Lucinda were all there. Just as he’d done the day before, Luke had escaped to the back porch, where he was cocooned in a down comforter, asleep-well, pretending to be was Reid’s guess--in an oversized lounge chair.
Reid tried not to slip into despondency as he listened to the conversation regarding Ethan’s upcoming birthday party. “I don’t care that it’s a game where you throw a bean bag through a wooden circle,” Lucinda was saying. “Cornhole sounds vulgar. Don’t mention it on the invitation.”
Reid let himself out back, lifted the corner of Luke’s comforter and crawled in, bringing the cover up over both their heads. “I just heard your grandmother say cornhole,” Reid whimpered into Luke’s back.
“I’d ask in what context but I don’t want to know,” Luke said. He turned around so he was facing Reid. “Are they gone?”
“I don’t know. In a few minutes, I’ll start making sex noises. That should scare them off.”
“It does me,” Luke said heartily, squawking when Reid pinched his ass which set off a rather energetic tussle, punctuated by Luke’s girly squeals.
“We’re going to let ourselves out,” Lucinda called from the back door. Luke snickered into Reid’s neck then laughed out loud when she said. “Reid, you might want to review your technique, Darling. Whatever you’re trying to do, it doesn’t sound very pleasurable for our Luke.”
Luke snatched both of Reid’s hands with impressive speed before Reid could nonverbally communicate his thoughts on Lucinda’s advice.
Now that they were safely alone, Luke kicked away the comforter so they could enjoy some fresh air. “I’m ready to nix the daycare,” Luke said. “What do you think?”
Reid pursed his lips. “What do Mama and Papa Bear have to say about that?” he asked, figuring if they’d already objected, he wouldn’t have to weigh in one way or another.
Luke’s eyes narrowed knowingly. “They don’t get a vote,” he said.
Reid nodded slowly. “Aren’t we paid up through the end of the month?” he asked lightly. “I don’t think there’s any refunds.”
Luke’s smile was gentle and understanding, and it used to gall Reid to be so known to him. Now it was just another thing he ruefully accepted when it came to Luke Snyder.
Luke reached for Reid’s hand and pulled it to his chest and quietly let Reid process. All Reid could think of was Luke opening their front door and finding Damian on the doorstep. Luke hadn’t been frightened then, merely confused at his father’s disheveled appearance and odd behavior. Damian had told Luke he’d been paroled early and even showed Luke what looked like a tracking device attached to his ankle. He said he was helping the FBI on a case, and he’d wanted to see Luke one last time to try and apologize, make amends for his past behavior.
Luke actually remembered little else, just disjointed flashes of memory that seemed more like dreams than actual experience. The FBI figured Damian had slipped something into Luke’s water bottle that made him woozy and had managed to get Luke into his car and out of Oakdale without attracting any attention.
Reid supposed he should appreciate the lack of physical violence in the whole scenario but that didn’t make it any less of a violation of what should have been the safest of places for Luke-their home.
Reid shook the images from his mind; he had sighed and worked to swallow past the sudden obstruction in his throat. He let Luke pull him into a hug, and he had idly rubbed his hand up and down Luke’s back, thinking of nothing but how soft Luke’s t-shirt was. He’d kissed Luke’s neck and stroked the downy hair at the back of his head until he was ready to answer. “Not yet,” he had finally whispered.
“Okay,” Luke had said easily.
So for a few more days Luke pretended he appreciated the extra support of friends and family, and Reid pretended he didn’t, and by the time Friday morning rolled around, Reid figured they (he) would be okay if Luke spent the day on his own.
And judging from the impromptu Dreamgirls concert-and the fact that Reid hadn’t eviscerated anyone at the hospital-that turned out to be a good call.
“You still feel up for dinner tonight?” Reid asked, rubbing the dark circle under Luke’s eye with his thumb. Luke caught Reid’s hand and kissed the thumb.
“Yeah,” Luke said. “Real food sounds good, actually. Everyone keeps bringing me milkshakes, like I had my wisdom teeth out or something.”
“I’m surprised Al’s Diner doesn’t have some kind of Kidnap Return Special on the menu.”
“You have appointed yourself as one of his honorary board members. You should probably suggest that at your next meeting.”
Reid threaded his fingers through Luke’s and lead him to the bedroom. “Maybe I will,” he said.
A short time later, they were both standing in front of the bedroom mirror; Reid was pressed up tightly to Luke’s back, arms over his shoulder so he could fasten Luke’s tie. Neither one of them ever mentioned the fact that despite the years between them, Luke had been tying his own tie far longer than Reid had been tying his. Still, if they happened to be getting ready at the same time, Reid liked having the honor of doing up Luke’s tie.
Reid brushed his hand down Luke’s front, letting his hand slip far lower than necessary just to straighten the tie. He smiled into Luke’s neck when his hand met Luke’s cock. He squeezed gently and swayed at his hips so Luke could feel his own half-hardened dick against the crack of his ass.
Luke smiled shyly and ducked his head, and Reid chuffed an explosive breath at how fucking turned on that little move made him. After all this time-and all the countless filthy things they’d done to one another-Luke could be charmingly bashful at such simple intimacies.
“Dressing you before we go out is like wrapping my own present,” Reid whispered silkily into Luke’s ear.
“I like it that you’re not one of those people who tries to unwrap their present without tearing the paper,” Luke said, then frowned and wrinkled his nose, as if the words sounded different out loud than they had in his head.
Reid snorted, then guffawed, and Luke started laughing, red-faced as he pushed Reid away from him. “What?!” he said, laughing through the word. “Look, not all of us aced Dirty Talk 101, okay?”
“Maybe you should stick with the basics. Do me, Reid. Fuck me, Reid. Harder, Reid.”
“Leave the heavy lifting to the experts, huh?” Luke said.
Reid nodded, his own nose wrinkled. He kissed Luke, still snickering. “I love you a ridiculous amount,” he said.
Delighted, Luke smiled at him. “Even though I suck at dirty talk and make terrible coffee and my grandmother says things like cornhole, and…”
Reid gently interjected. “Luke?”
“Mm?”
“We’re better off not making a list.”
Luke nodded in rueful agreement. “So, now, what kind of doctor is Sherry again?” he asked.
“Pediatric Orthopedist,” Reid answered. “And, uh, you know, back in school we kind of got into now and then. She thought Dennis and I were bad influences on each other or something stupid like that so if she seems a little…”
Luke interrupted before Reid went any further. “Have you noticed that every time I meet an acquaintance of yours there’s always a conversation beforehand to put their animosity toward you into some kind of context?“
Reid shrugged carelessly. “Mostly I notice how surprised you are that we have to have the conversation every time. It’s kind of cute.” He thought about it for a second. “And a little sad.”
Luke just shook his head, as he straightened Reid’s coat and tie. “You look great,” Luke said happily.
“You’re too thin,” Reid said.
Luke gaped at him. “You can’t just throw me a you-look-good-too?”
Reid shrugged. “I will when you start putting on some weight,” he said agreeably. “You haven’t eaten any of the ice cream I brought home from Madison’s.”
“Because it’s got huge gobs of fruit in it,” Luke said.
“That’s the best kind.”
“No, that’s the kind you like.”
“The best kind,” Reid repeated.
Luke just sighed and gave a sharp tug on Reid’s tie. “Don’t you and Dennis gang up on Chris tonight,” he said and rolled his eyes at Reid’s exaggerated look of affront. “I mean it-Bob is hardly going to pull out all the stops to get Dennis to transfer to Memorial if the two of you turn dinner with his son into some seventh grade douche-a-thon.”
Reid grinned in spite of himself. He thought he’d been subtle about his plans for Dennis. “You’re kind of smart for someone so pretty,” he said.
“I thought I was too skinny,” Luke said with a sniff.
“Naw, you’re all right,” Reid said.
“Yeah?” Luke said with a coy smile. “Even with my dicey kidney and my crazy, intrusive family and my spoiled, trust-fund ways and my…
“Luke?”
“Mm?”
“I’m serious about the list thing.”
Luke snorted into Reid’s neck. “Noted,” he said and followed Reid out to the car.
Chris and Katie were waiting for them outside of the restaurant, but Dennis and Sherry hadn’t yet arrived. Luke kissed Katie’s cheek in greeting and told her she looked beautiful, then shook Chris’ hand while Reid greeted Katie and complimented her dress. She glared at Chris who gave her a hapless shrug. “I asked if your shoes were new!” he said defensively.
Reid rolled his eyes and slowly shook his head, saying scornfully, “Doogie, that’s like saying to a woman, you got your hair done --unnecessary and inviting conflict all at once. See, what you’ve got to do is…”
“I’m gonna pass on taking dating advice from you,” Chris said.
Reid turned expectantly to Luke who offered a bland look in reply. Reid nudged him with an elbow. “This is where you explain to Chris that I’m awesome at dating, and he would be crazy not to take my wooing advice.”
“Wow,” Luke said. “There is nothing in that sentence that I would ever say.”
A high pitched squeal interrupted the conversation and all heads turned to see a small, wiry woman with short brown hair run toward Reid and jump into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and shouting, “Reid!”
“Sherry,” Reid said so dryly it was surprising the flowers around the entryway didn’t instantaneously wilt.
Sherry jumped down off of Reid with a loud smack of a kiss to his cheek and then turned to take a good, long look at Luke. Without taking her eyes off of him, Sherry said to Reid, “This better not be like our wedding when you hired that hooker to be your date.”
Reid sighed, and his tone indicated he was tired of having to explain this to Sherry over and over again. “Just because I met him at a bar the night before does not mean he was a hooker.”
“Met him at a bar where he was a dancer,” Dennis amended. “You always forget that part.”
“Details,” Reid said with a shrug. He tossed his head Luke’s way. “This one’s legit,” he said. “Luke Snyder, meet Sherry Foster.”
“My God,” Sherry said. “Dennis said you were gorgeous, but he comes home from a fishing trip talking about the gorgeous bass that got away so who knows what that word means to him, right? And then you factor in Reid and the mental image I come up with is one of those gigantic floating alien heads, you know, with the huge forehead and everything?” Luke shook Sherry’s hand looking a little shell-shocked. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about this,” she said sincerely as she dug through her oversized handbag. She pulled out a camera and before Luke could do anything but look pleasantly surprised, she snapped his picture. She shrugged at Luke and reached over to squeeze his forearm. “I’ll get $500 pledges to my Race for the Cure fund from 12 different people we went to med school with so long as I post a picture of you on my Facebook page, and the hospital where I work will match the $6,000, and the person who brings in the largest donation gets a really stellar parking place for the year so, you know, hands totally tied here.” She paused to check the quality of the picture she’d just taken and said, “Holy moly, you and I are dishing on skin care secrets later, FYI.”
“Ahh, how… how do you do?” Luke said weakly.
“And you all wonder why I don’t keep in touch,” Reid said sardonically.
Sherry hugged Chris who just rolled his eyes at her enthusiastic, “Chuck!” Sherr smiled at Katie as she held out her hand. “And you must be Sally?” she said.
Katie looked confused. “No, I’m Katie Snyder.”
Sherry and Reid gave Dennis identical looks of irritation. “I thought you said Chuck’s girlfriend’s name was Sally,” she said.
At the same time, Reid said, “You idiot, Sally was Charlie Brown’s sister.”
Dennis answered Reid, saying, “Yeah, but if I’d said Peppermint Patty, it’s kinda code for lesbian, right?”
“How would I know?” Reid said.
“I coulda said Lucy, I guess,” Dennis said thoughtfully.
“Except Lucy was with Schroeder,” Luke pointed out, earning him an accusing glare from Chris. Luke shrugged helplessly. “In the interest of accuracy!” he said.
“If it’s this much effort, the joke’s not even funny,” Sherry said.
“It’s really not,” Chris said pointedly.
“We can’t drop it ‘til someone explains it to me!” Katie said plaintively as they walked through the restaurant door.
Luke caught the maitre d’s attention with the barest lift of his chin. Luke smiled warmly and greeted the man by name, asking quietly if their table was ready. Reid held his breath, trying to stay calm but ready to pounce if the man mentioned anything to Luke that could be remotely upsetting. Reid pursed his lips in irritation at the way Luke soothingly rubbed a hand down his back, as though Reid were the one needing comfort of some kind.
They were seated with a minimum amount of obsequious fussing, although from the looks Dennis and Sherry exchanged, it was obvious they noticed the special attention paid to their party. The chef coming out of the kitchen to personally welcome them and suggest several off-menu specials he’d be delighted to prepare might have been a giveaway as well.
“Okay, spill,” Katie said, when the chef returned to the kitchen and their drinks were ordered.
Dennis said, “We called Chris Chuck in school.”
“You called me Chuck,” Chris clarified.
Dennis acknowledged as much with a shrug. “Charlie Brown had a really round head too. So, you know, Chuck.”
Katie laughed in spite of herself, then reached out and affectionately rubbed Chris’ arm. “I love your head!” she assured him.
Reid got a devilish glint in his eye and took a breath to speak, but Luke stopped him cold, saying, “You will sleep in the garage for a week.”
Reid sighed and opened his menu. “What looks good?” he asked in defeat.
Dennis snickered and opened his own menu. “Whipped!” he said under his breath.
“You really want to start tallying up?” Reid asked.
Exasperated, Dennis said, “Well not with Sherry sitting right here, no.”
“We called Sherry She-Ra at school,” Reid said to Luke, as if that explained Dennis’ reluctance.
Luke looked blankly at him, shaking his head and shrugging.
“You know, from the He-Man cartoon?”
Luke still look confused and Sherry put her hand to her heart. “Please don’t tell me how old you were in when the rest of us were watching He-Man.”
“Negative three,” Reid said, mouth full of breadstick.
“Oh God, pass the bread,” Sherry muttered. “And I’m gonna need the butter too.” She bumped Katie’s shoulder with her own and said, “Dennis said you have a baby boy. How old is he?”
“Yes, Jacob,” Katie said. “He’s a little over a year.”
“That’s such a great age,” Sherry said. She pulled the camera out of her bag and turned to the back, paging through to find the picture she wanted, then passed the camera to Katie. “Morgan is the baby, he’s almost four, Caleb is eight, Dylan is ten and Chloe is 12, almost 13.”
“They’re beautiful!” Katie said. She passed the camera to Reid and retrieved her cell phone to show Sherry a few pictures of Jacob.
Reid glanced at the picture on Sherry’s camera, then turned to Dennis with a sour look on his face. “I thought we agreed not to fix Chloe’s teeth,” he grumbled.
“Sherry overrode us,” Dennis said, with a sigh of disappointment. “Apparently keeping your teenage daughter as unattractive as possible is bad parenting or something.”
Reid glared at him. “So you don’t care that some dork is going to show up, ask her if her shoes are new and then just take her off God knows where to do God knows what?”
Chris sighed loudly, but the way Katie smiled at him made him blush just the same.
“It’s already happened,” Dennis said glumly. “You should have seen the skinny little bastard. We had to fumigate the living room to clear out the stench of Old Spice.”
Reid held his hands out in a way that asked what-the-hell-are-you-doing? “I thought we agreed she wasn’t going to date until she was 25,” he said, irritated.
“Yeah, Sherr overrode us on that, too,” Dennis said.
“Reid lived with us the first year we had Chloe,” Sherry explained to the table. “He’s under the impression that he’s still one-third owner of the time share.”
Katie stared at Reid with wide-eyes. “Oh my God, do you just roam around and look for people with babies so you can move in with them?”
Reid cast his eyes heavenward, as Luke pursed his lips and nodded in sudden understanding. “This is why you keep bringing home pamphlets with Romanian orphans on the cover, isn’t it?” Luke asked with an uber-sensitive tilt of his head. “Reid, I’m just not ready.”
“Don’t do it ‘til he marries you, Luke,” Chris warned. “And make sure you exclude med school debt from the pre-nup. You don’t want to find yourself paying that off later.”
“I don’t have med school debt,” Reid said in a bored voice. “Some of us were brilliant enough that med school practically paid us to attend. Besides, Luke would never ask me to sign a pre-nup.”
Luke gave him a faintly curious look. “What makes you say that?”
Reid snorted at the question. “You get weepy when the local news airs a clip of two otters holding paws…”
“Did you see that?” Katie cried. “ It was so cute!”
“You’re not going to all of a sudden go all unsentimental and insist on a pre-nup,” Reid finished.
Luke shrugged and said with faux innocence, “Grandmother’s hardly going to let me just jump into some ill-considered…”
“Ill considered?” Reid squawked in outrage. “Your grandmother worships me!” he said indignantly. “I’m surprised she hasn’t already dangled some kind of financial incentive in my face to encourage making an honest man out of you.”
Luke snorted into his club soda. “Can you imagine my mom and dad’s faces if I told them we were getting married?”
“Your parents not all up in the Reid Love?” Sherry asked, feigning great incredulity. “This is shocking news indeed.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Reid said. “I am exactly the perfect specimen of a partner you would mold from clay for your precious baby boy, but all I get are these pissed off you’re-banging-my-son vibes.”
“You can’t say he’s not charming,” Luke told the table.
As their meals were being served, Sherry nodded at Chris. “Did you read Bernard’s piece in the Journal?” she asked.
“Yeah, I read it.” Chris’ tone left little doubt about his opinion of it.
“What are you going to do?”
Chris chuckled. “What am I going to do?”
“Come on,” Sherry said. “Silence is agreement, you know that. And that piece was nothing but pharmaceutically sponsored garbage.”
Chris nodded in agreement, but said, “Without access to his test results, it’s just going to be a he-said, he-said sparring match. That won’t accomplish anything.”
“Right, so step one is to point that out. We’ve got to get access to the test results and the only way to do that is to publically shame Bernard into sharing them.”
“Publically shame?”
Sherry was happy to give examples. “Letters to the Journal editor; better yet, phone calls to the Journal editor, letters to other journals, phone calls to Bernard’s hospital, to the investors…”
Chris shook his head and said, “Sherry, you can’t haul out the troops every time someone publishes a study you don’t agree with…”
“But we can’t just sit by and shut up every time someone publishes a bunch of bullshit so they can pocket a hundred thousand dollars from Marsters Pharmaceuticals either.”
“The medical industry is changing,” Chris said with a shrug. “I’m not sure there’s anything we can…”
“Things can’t get better if we don’t make them better,” Sherry said. “It has to start with us because we can’t make it start with anyone else, even if it should.”
“All right, all right!” Chris said, hands raised in surrender. “Email the editor’s number to me and I’ll call in the morning.”
“Or I could punch the number into your phone and you could call her right this minute,” Sherry said.
Chris sighed and handed over his phone. Sherry smiled victoriously at Chris and pulled out her own phone so she could program in the number for Chris to call.
“Be kind of amazing to add that sort of can-do attitude to the Memorial pediatric department, wouldn’t it?” Reid asked.
Chris rolled his eyes, but his tone was full of admiration. “Yes, it would,” he said.
Sherry pressed the key to dial the editor on Chris’ phone, listened to make sure it was dialing, then handed it over to him. Chris was chuckling as he stood up from the table. “Ellen? This is Dr. Chris Hughes. I believe we met last year at the…”
“This must be what it felt like to attend a master class with DaVinci,” Luke stage-whispered to Katie
“Just grabbing the phone and dialing is kind of brilliant,” Katie agreed. “I’m going to use that!”
Reid could tell Luke was fading a bit as dessert was served, though he had enough energy to bark at Reid for innocently helping himself to a taste of Luke’s flourless chocolate cake. “If you want two desserts, order two desserts but don’t eat mine,” Luke groused.
“If you’re just going to leave it there on your plate, it’s fair game,” Reid said.
“I’m not leaving it, I’m chewing!” Luke said and moved to spear Reid’s grabby hand with his fork.
“Hey, hey, hey, not the money makers,” Reid said.
The evening ended shortly thereafter, with Dennis’ request to the maitre d’ for the check turned away with a quiet, “That’s been taken care of, sir.” The man’s near genuflection at Luke as he offered his thanks for the evening told Reid everything he needed to know about the generous tip that was no doubt included.
“You’re not worried about a pre-nup because you’re giving it all away before I’m in,” Reid said into Luke’s ear. Luke pretended it was an accident when he elbowed Reid in the belly.
Dennis and Sherry said their good-byes, making plans for brunch on Sunday. They were spending Saturday getting a feel for the town, and Luke made them promise to call him if they had any questions about anything.
As Sherry was hugging Reid, she said, “Don’t fuck this up, okay? Or Dennis and I will have to kill you.”
“No!” Reid said, his tone a cross between whine and foot-stomping tantrum. “That’s what you say to him!”
Sherry shrugged helplessly. “I kind of already love him!” she said, looking around at the others for support.
Reid glared at Dennis who could only offer his own helpless shrug. “He gave me an Iron Man,” he said.
“I clocked at least 800 miles with your colicky daughter,” Reid said.
Dennis shrugged again and said, “My own Iron Man.”
Reid muttered under his breath as he dragged Luke to the car and shoved him into the passenger side. He forgave Luke for being the one everyone liked best since Luke held his hand during the drive home and then they necked in the garage a few minutes before heading inside.
Luke plopped down on the couch while Reid continued on to the kitchen. He pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge. He handed one to Luke and motioned for him to lean up so Reid could sit against the arm of the couch. Luke fit himself into the curve of Reid’s shoulder, nuzzling into Reid’s neck. “Dennis and Sherry are kind of awesome,” Luke said. “I like thinking of you in school, hanging out with friends, being all… regular.”
“I might not have been the belle of the ball like some people,” Reid said. “But I’m not exactly a pod person either.”
“I know,” Luke said with a shrug. “But sometimes I imagine you emerging from the womb wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around your neck.” He paused for a beat. “Waving a tiny little rainbow flag.”
Reid snickered. “How did you resist me for as long as you did?”
“Performance anxiety,” Luke answered with a grin.
“Entirely unfounded,” Reid whispered.
Luke leaned back, offering his mouth to Reid who would never turn down such bounty. Reid eventually pushed himself up off the couch and offered his hand to Luke. “Come on, Principessa, time to unwrap my present.” He laced his fingers through Luke’s and pulled him up, leading him to their bedroom. He grinned at Luke over his shoulder. “Don’t you want to say something?” he teased.
Luke ducked his head for a minute and gave a short huff of amusement. He tilted his head, all demure eyes and sharp, beautiful cheek bones. “Fuck me, Reid,” he said.
Reid had always been a selfish lover; he knew that about himself, and not in any self-critical way. He was also an arrogant lover; no one left his bed unsatisfied. But part of the allure of the casual sex Reid had always (and only) enjoyed before Luke was how little he had to worry about his partner. In those encounters, it was understood you were responsible for getting your own needs met, and if you were doing it right, your partner would be good to go. Very, very good to go.
Where Luke had worried about physical inexperience at the start of their sexual relationship, Reid had worried about his own emotional inexperience. It wasn’t as if he wanted that same selfishness to cloud his experience with Luke, he just didn’t know if he could play it any other way.
Strange that Reid’s anxiety turned out to be just as unfounded as Luke’s.
Because with Luke, there was no opportunity for selfishness. There was no room to take anything when it was given to Reid long before he even reached out for it. Very little humbled Reid Oliver in this world, but Luke’s generosity laid him bare in a most beautiful way.
Reid quickly shucked his clothes; holding Luke’s eyes with his own. Luke sat quietly at the foot of the bed, still fully clothed and waited for Reid to come stand in front of him and coax him to a standing position. It was silent as Reid methodically disrobed his lover, letting his fingertips trail along Luke’s soft skin as he removed Luke’s shirt, trousers, boxers.
Reid started to push Luke to the bed, but Luke stopped him with a whispered request. “Say my name.”
Reid didn’t understand, and when he said “Luke?” he wasn’t complying, he was asking for clarification.
Luke shook his head. “Not that one,” he said, pretending to misunderstand. He looked at Reid as tears welled in his eyes. “The other one. Say my other name.”
Reid couldn’t breathe for a beat, the surge of emotion closing off his throat.
Reid had come upon Luke’s passport once and opened it intending to ridicule the picture, but of course Luke Snyder’s photo was actually ridiculously attractive. Reid was about to toss the passport aside in disgust when he read the name. Luciano Eduardo.
“Luciano Eduardo?” Reid had hooted. “That is classic! Luciano Eduardo of Oakdale, Illinois!”
Reid had teased Luke mercilessly, resorting to the name as a means of chiding a Luke who was merciless himself when using those big brown eyes to get his way with Reid and everyone else on the planet. Eventually Reid realized he’d finally found a counter weapon to those lethal eyes. Whisper Luciano in Luke’s ear, punctuate it with a few wet kisses on his neck, and the first shower of the morning and the last piece of salami in the fridge were Reid’s for the taking.
It wasn’t until that moment, as Reid was looking into tear-filled eyes, that he realized he had unconsciously surrendered Luciano to Damian. He hadn’t said it once since Luke had come back to him.
“Luciano,” Reid said, defiantly, chin raised. Luke smiled even as a tear slipped over the rim of his eye and trailed down his cheek. “There’s no part of you that isn’t mine,” Reid reminded Luke, his voice dangerous and low. “He thought he could take some part of you and rewrite history, but everything is mine.”
And Reid supposed that might sound ridiculous. Unhealthy, even. But he was just as much Luke’s as Luke was his, the only difference was that the world felt little entitled to Reid, with his brittle nature and fierce independence, so no reminders were ever needed. But Luke; Luke with his open heart and easy affection; with his quick smile and gentle touch; people felt as though he was offering something or that they were allowed to take something and… well. No.
They didn’t normally talk much during sex-not that there wasn’t a lot of noise, just not a lot of articulate noise. This time, though, Reid kept up a steady litany of words and language that was good and safe and theirs.
“Luciano,” Reid whispered, hips driving slowly, so slowly. He watched droplets of sweat pool on Luke’s soft, smooth skin, round and perfect like dew on a blade of grass. “Luciano Eduardo,” he whispered. “Mio cuore, Luciano.” Luke whimpered, meeting Reid’s gentle thrusts with breathless grunts that tested Reid’s ironclad control. “Mio amore,” Reid said. “Luciano…ti amo…sempre…Luciano, ti amo.”
Luke came with a delicious moan that brought Reid with him, and then the room was quiet save their panting breaths. Reid licked at the sweat on his upper lip mesmerized by the vision of Luke beneath him. There was nothing more beautiful than the site of a well fucked Luke Snyder with Reid’s cock still pressed to the hilt in his ass.
Reid started to withdraw, slowly, so Luke had time to stop him.
“No,” Luke whispered. “After I’m asleep.”
Reid smiled possessively. “After you’re asleep,” he said, and wondered if Luke could fall asleep with Reid’s arms wrapped so tightly around him. Not that it mattered-Reid Oliver loved a challenge. “Ti amo,” Reid whispered.
“I love you too,” said Luke.
“Luciano is mine,” Reid said, more to himself than Luke. They all were, of course: Luciano and Luke and Mr. Snyder. All Reid’s and Reid’s alone.
Always, only.
Sempre, solo.
#