Brilliancy 8/14
In the fourteenth week, Luke exits the coffee shop where he has bought Reid´s special caramel latte and a regular one for himself. It´s a few minutes after six in the morning and he is tired beyond belief after another night of almost no sleep at all. But according to Alison, Reid is having a surgery at 8 o´clock and Luke wants to be there before it begins. He is just about to head off to the hospital when he sees Reid. He walks a few steps towards him when he notices the guy standing next to him. He’s tall, blonde and absolutely gorgeous and when he leans forward to give Reid a kiss, Luke feels like someone just stabbed him. Hurt, pain and jealously radiates through his body and he can´t breathe. He can´t believe that this is actually happening. In all the scenarios of how he was supposed to win Reid back, there was never a boyfriend included.
He is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn´t notice Reid until he is standing next to him. He says something Luke can´t decipher and before he knows what´s happening, he slams Reid against the wall and demands to know if the blonde guy is his boyfriend. He is not surprised at all from Reid´s answer and he has no idea if he is being honest. He can´t believe that Reid actually slept with someone else. He tries to tell himself that he should have expected it and that Reid has no reason to be faithful to him but it hurts so much. Reid is his, and in an attempt to show him that, he kisses him hard on the mouth. When he realizes what he is doing, he pulls back and opens his mouth to say something, anything for Reid not to think of him as a complete idiot.
Before he can say anything Reid´s hand cups his cheek and Luke leans into the so familiar touch and closes his eyes. He has no idea who moves first but their lips meet again and this time it´s a lot softer and Luke raises his hand and tangles his fingers in the beautiful auburn curls. Luke´s heart is beating so fast and he can´t believe that this is happening and it´s like his whole body feels whole again after being broken for so long. Their tongues meet and Luke is grateful beyond belief that this is actually happening. Fourteen weeks ago he convinced and prepared himself to believe that he would never see Reid again, never touch him and definitely never kiss him and yet here he is, with Reid´s arm around his waist and their mouths pressed together. Nothing could be more amazing. And then Reid suddenly pulls away, checks his beeper, mumbles something about an emergency and walks off, leaving Luke standing with his mouth ajar, feeling completely and utterly alone.
Back in his hotel room he tries to comprehend what the hell had just happened. He´s filled with so many different emotions that he can´t concentrate. He´s filled with joy, happiness and sheer bliss from the fact that Reid kissed him. He actually kissed him. He can still feel the soft touch of his hand on his cheek and those firm lips against his own and that makes him happier then he has been in months. At the same time he´s so filled with jealousy and anger that he has to stop himself from running off to the hospital and demand that Reid breaks up with that other guy. Luke wants him to swear that it doesn´t mean anything and that he doesn´t feel anything at all for him.
But he can´t do that. Luke isn´t stupid and he knows that his attempt at dealing with Reid has gone from terrible to a complete disaster. He was supposed to win him back by delivering coffee and sandwiches and then, when Reid didn´t despise him anymore, he would ask him out again. And this morning he ruined everything by acting like some creepy stalker and if he were Reid he would get a restraining order. But then again, Reid did kiss him back which could mean…
His thoughts are interrupted as he hears his phone ringing and for some reason he thinks it´s Reid. He flips the phone open without checking the caller ID.
“Yes?” he says breathlessly.
“Darling, that is not a proper way to answer your phone.” Lucinda´s sharp voice seems to echo around the room.
“Grandmother. Hi.” Luke can´t hide the disappointment in his voice and he´s certain Lucinda can hear it as well.
“Don´t sound so happy to talk to me Luke.”
“I´m sorry, I just… I thought it was someone else.” He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his Grandmother. “So, how is everybody?”
“Luke, we are waiting for you. When are you coming home?”
“I´m not… I have to stay here. I can´t leave him again, I thought you knew that? I´ll stay as long as I have to.”
“Darling, it´s Christmas Eve and everybody is waiting for you. I know this is important to you but so is Christmas. I expect you and your father to be here tonight.”
“It´s Christmas?” Luke is surprised that he hasn’t even remembered that it’s Christmas, and for a short second he feels a stab of guilt for actually forgetting about his family. But nothing really matters except Reid anyway. “I´m sorry, but I can´t just leave yet…”
“You can and will come home for a few days”, Lucinda interrupts him, “I won’t take no for an answer even if I have to come and get you myself. Anyway, Damian is out shopping Christmas presents for the children and I´ve sent my plane to come and get you, so be ready at the airport in an hour.” And with that Lucinda hangs up the phone.
Luke is set on refusing at first but when his father shows up, his hands full with shopping bags, full of gifts and says the same things Lucinda does, he eventually gives in and reluctantly goes home.
It feels good to see his family again and he spends a lot of time with his younger siblings, trying to make up for all the time he´s been away. He eats Emma´s food, he spends time with his parents and he tells Lucinda everything about the progress or lack of it, with Reid so far. He receives Christmas gifts, he watches Christmas movies, he eats Christmas candy and the entire time he wonders what Reid is doing, what he´s thinking and what his next move should be. He checks his phone all the time even though there is no reason for Reid to call him. Reid doesn´t even have his number but Luke checks his phone anyway.
Despite his family’s pleadings, he goes back to New York on the 26th. He feels like he has wasted two whole days and he needs to see Reid as soon as possible, he needs to know that this is real. The first thing he does when he arrives in New York is to call the hospital and luckily he gets to talk to Alison. She informs him that Reid is at there even though he´s not scheduled to work and as far as she knows he´s in his office doing whatever as the Chief of Staff he has to do. Luke is relieved to find this out, he thanks Alison and gathers his bags heading directly over to the hospital. Alison welcomes him and when she sees what he´s brought, she smiles and tells him to head over to Reid´s office. He knocks on the door but doesn´t wait for an answer before entering.
Reid is sitting in his office chair, feet’s propped up on the desk and papers scattered all around him. He´s wearing his usual scrubs and as always the sight of those makes Luke surprisingly hard. He can´t really pinpoint what´s so hot about scrubs, but every time he sees Reid dressed in them the only thing Luke can think about is how he wants to rip them off.
“Mr. Grimaldi, there is no way of escaping you is there?”
Luke opens his mouth to answer but when Reid looks up he sees that he is wearing glasses, and the sight astonishes him. He didn´t know Reid wore glasses and he wonders if his Reid wore them too. He realizes again, how little he actually knew about Reid and it still hurts. He won’t let that happen again, there will be no more ridiculous waiting around and he won`t waste precious time anymore.
“I like your glasses.”
Reid raises an eyebrow. “Well, I´m glad they have the Grimaldi approval.”His voice is sarcastic but Luke knows him and he can tell that Reid is not particularly annoyed at him being there.
“They make you look intelligent. And hot.”
“I am intelligent and hot”, Reid says with a smirk. He takes of his glasses and throws them on his desk. Luke would have liked if he had kept them on but seeing how he had behaved recently, now was probably not the best time to come with odd requests. Instead he clears his throat and meets Reid´s gaze.
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted the last time we met…and for the kiss.”
Reid shrugs. “A kiss is just a kiss, it´s not a big deal.”
Luke doesn´t really like that answer but he´s relieved that Reid doesn´t seem to be upset with him so he smiles. “Well, it won´t happen again, unless… you want it too?” He realizes that they are re-playing an actual conversation but somehow the roles are switched and he doesn´t have the courage to do what Reid did, even if his whole body aches to be close to Reid again.
Reid doesn´t answer, he just stares at Luke with his eyebrows raised and Luke decides to drop the subject.
“So, I was thinking, since you´re not busy saving lives we could do something.”
“Do something?” Reid rolls his eyes. “I´ve already told you, I´m not going out with you.”
“Oh, I know that. That´s why I brought this.” Luke gestures at the bags beside him.
“In case you didn´t know, this is a hospital not a shelter for homeless people. So unless you´re here to have a lobotomy done, you can´t really move in.”
Luke laughs. “It´s food, Doctor Oliver. My Grandmother´s homemade Christmas food. You do know it´s Christmas right?”
“I might have heard of it.” Reid says and smiles before concentrating on the important part. “You brought food?”
Luke nods and starts unpacking the turkey, honey ham, mashed potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, rolls and green beans.
Reid looks like he is about to start drooling any second but he manages to turn his gaze away from all the delicious things and looks questioningly at Luke. “Why?”
“Oh, I figured you where working through Christmas and probably ate one of those hideous frozen meals and no one cooks as good as my Grandmother. So, are you going to eat it or just stare at it?”
Reid doesn´t need to be asked twice.
Luke finds it both amusing and comforting to watch Reid eat. They don´t talk very much since Reid is so busy eating but Luke tells him a bit about his family and Oakdale in general and Reid gives a few encouraging sounds to show that he is listening. When he´s finally done he leans back in his chair, closes his eyes and mumbles something.
“Did you say something?” Luke asks with a laugh.
“I have died and gone to heaven. Tell me, is your Grandmother single?”
“Reid! You can´t marry my Grandmother.” Although, you could marry me and we could eat there every day. “But I will tell her you loved her food.”
“So, now that you´ve bribed me with food, what are you expecting me to do for you?”
Luke grabs one of his bags and pulls out a chess board. “Play with me?”
“How did you know I play chess?”
“Oh, I know a lot of things about you, Doctor Oliver,” Luke says teasingly and smiles.
Reid sighs and hits his palm against his forehead a few times. “Of course you do.”
“What do you mean?” Luke´s heart starts to beat a little faster from the ridiculous hope that he knows is pointless.
“Well, since you tried to blackmail me into doing that surgery, I figured you had probably done some research on me. Didn´t think they would care about whether I played chess or not. It´s not like you could challenge me into doing the surgery anyway.”
Luke closes his eyes in disappointment. Of course he doesn´t know anything about us. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly before opening his eyes again. “Yeah, right, the blackmail. So, black or white?” He gestures at the chess board.
“White.”
They play in silence for a few minutes until Reid clears his throat. “So, where is the blind boyfriend now?”
Luke looks up and meets Reid´s gaze, surprised that he asked. “We broke up, before he got his sight back.”
“So you went through all that trouble for nothing?”
“Oh, I wouldn´t say that.”
Reid looks at him questioningly and Luke sighs. “I fell in love with his doctor.”
Reid laughs. “So, let me get this straight. You´ve managed to blackmail some other doctor into coming and do the surgery on your blind boyfriend and then when he got his sight back, you got together with his doctor?”
Luke smiles. “Yeah, that´s pretty much what happened.”
“Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
“Yeah, I do, but it was totally worth it.”
“So, where is the brilliant doctor then?”
Luke´s smile falters and he looks down at the chess board. “He died.”
He is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn´t notice Reid until he is standing next to him. He says something Luke can´t decipher and before he knows what´s happening, he slams Reid against the wall and demands to know if the blonde guy is his boyfriend. He is not surprised at all from Reid´s answer and he has no idea if he is being honest. He can´t believe that Reid actually slept with someone else. He tries to tell himself that he should have expected it and that Reid has no reason to be faithful to him but it hurts so much. Reid is his, and in an attempt to show him that, he kisses him hard on the mouth. When he realizes what he is doing, he pulls back and opens his mouth to say something, anything for Reid not to think of him as a complete idiot.
Before he can say anything Reid´s hand cups his cheek and Luke leans into the so familiar touch and closes his eyes. He has no idea who moves first but their lips meet again and this time it´s a lot softer and Luke raises his hand and tangles his fingers in the beautiful auburn curls. Luke´s heart is beating so fast and he can´t believe that this is happening and it´s like his whole body feels whole again after being broken for so long. Their tongues meet and Luke is grateful beyond belief that this is actually happening. Fourteen weeks ago he convinced and prepared himself to believe that he would never see Reid again, never touch him and definitely never kiss him and yet here he is, with Reid´s arm around his waist and their mouths pressed together. Nothing could be more amazing. And then Reid suddenly pulls away, checks his beeper, mumbles something about an emergency and walks off, leaving Luke standing with his mouth ajar, feeling completely and utterly alone.
Back in his hotel room he tries to comprehend what the hell had just happened. He´s filled with so many different emotions that he can´t concentrate. He´s filled with joy, happiness and sheer bliss from the fact that Reid kissed him. He actually kissed him. He can still feel the soft touch of his hand on his cheek and those firm lips against his own and that makes him happier then he has been in months. At the same time he´s so filled with jealousy and anger that he has to stop himself from running off to the hospital and demand that Reid breaks up with that other guy. Luke wants him to swear that it doesn´t mean anything and that he doesn´t feel anything at all for him.
But he can´t do that. Luke isn´t stupid and he knows that his attempt at dealing with Reid has gone from terrible to a complete disaster. He was supposed to win him back by delivering coffee and sandwiches and then, when Reid didn´t despise him anymore, he would ask him out again. And this morning he ruined everything by acting like some creepy stalker and if he were Reid he would get a restraining order. But then again, Reid did kiss him back which could mean…
His thoughts are interrupted as he hears his phone ringing and for some reason he thinks it´s Reid. He flips the phone open without checking the caller ID.
“Yes?” he says breathlessly.
“Darling, that is not a proper way to answer your phone.” Lucinda´s sharp voice seems to echo around the room.
“Grandmother. Hi.” Luke can´t hide the disappointment in his voice and he´s certain Lucinda can hear it as well.
“Don´t sound so happy to talk to me Luke.”
“I´m sorry, I just… I thought it was someone else.” He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his Grandmother. “So, how is everybody?”
“Luke, we are waiting for you. When are you coming home?”
“I´m not… I have to stay here. I can´t leave him again, I thought you knew that? I´ll stay as long as I have to.”
“Darling, it´s Christmas Eve and everybody is waiting for you. I know this is important to you but so is Christmas. I expect you and your father to be here tonight.”
“It´s Christmas?” Luke is surprised that he hasn’t even remembered that it’s Christmas, and for a short second he feels a stab of guilt for actually forgetting about his family. But nothing really matters except Reid anyway. “I´m sorry, but I can´t just leave yet…”
“You can and will come home for a few days”, Lucinda interrupts him, “I won’t take no for an answer even if I have to come and get you myself. Anyway, Damian is out shopping Christmas presents for the children and I´ve sent my plane to come and get you, so be ready at the airport in an hour.” And with that Lucinda hangs up the phone.
Luke is set on refusing at first but when his father shows up, his hands full with shopping bags, full of gifts and says the same things Lucinda does, he eventually gives in and reluctantly goes home.
It feels good to see his family again and he spends a lot of time with his younger siblings, trying to make up for all the time he´s been away. He eats Emma´s food, he spends time with his parents and he tells Lucinda everything about the progress or lack of it, with Reid so far. He receives Christmas gifts, he watches Christmas movies, he eats Christmas candy and the entire time he wonders what Reid is doing, what he´s thinking and what his next move should be. He checks his phone all the time even though there is no reason for Reid to call him. Reid doesn´t even have his number but Luke checks his phone anyway.
Despite his family’s pleadings, he goes back to New York on the 26th. He feels like he has wasted two whole days and he needs to see Reid as soon as possible, he needs to know that this is real. The first thing he does when he arrives in New York is to call the hospital and luckily he gets to talk to Alison. She informs him that Reid is at there even though he´s not scheduled to work and as far as she knows he´s in his office doing whatever as the Chief of Staff he has to do. Luke is relieved to find this out, he thanks Alison and gathers his bags heading directly over to the hospital. Alison welcomes him and when she sees what he´s brought, she smiles and tells him to head over to Reid´s office. He knocks on the door but doesn´t wait for an answer before entering.
Reid is sitting in his office chair, feet’s propped up on the desk and papers scattered all around him. He´s wearing his usual scrubs and as always the sight of those makes Luke surprisingly hard. He can´t really pinpoint what´s so hot about scrubs, but every time he sees Reid dressed in them the only thing Luke can think about is how he wants to rip them off.
“Mr. Grimaldi, there is no way of escaping you is there?”
Luke opens his mouth to answer but when Reid looks up he sees that he is wearing glasses, and the sight astonishes him. He didn´t know Reid wore glasses and he wonders if his Reid wore them too. He realizes again, how little he actually knew about Reid and it still hurts. He won’t let that happen again, there will be no more ridiculous waiting around and he won`t waste precious time anymore.
“I like your glasses.”
Reid raises an eyebrow. “Well, I´m glad they have the Grimaldi approval.”His voice is sarcastic but Luke knows him and he can tell that Reid is not particularly annoyed at him being there.
“They make you look intelligent. And hot.”
“I am intelligent and hot”, Reid says with a smirk. He takes of his glasses and throws them on his desk. Luke would have liked if he had kept them on but seeing how he had behaved recently, now was probably not the best time to come with odd requests. Instead he clears his throat and meets Reid´s gaze.
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted the last time we met…and for the kiss.”
Reid shrugs. “A kiss is just a kiss, it´s not a big deal.”
Luke doesn´t really like that answer but he´s relieved that Reid doesn´t seem to be upset with him so he smiles. “Well, it won´t happen again, unless… you want it too?” He realizes that they are re-playing an actual conversation but somehow the roles are switched and he doesn´t have the courage to do what Reid did, even if his whole body aches to be close to Reid again.
Reid doesn´t answer, he just stares at Luke with his eyebrows raised and Luke decides to drop the subject.
“So, I was thinking, since you´re not busy saving lives we could do something.”
“Do something?” Reid rolls his eyes. “I´ve already told you, I´m not going out with you.”
“Oh, I know that. That´s why I brought this.” Luke gestures at the bags beside him.
“In case you didn´t know, this is a hospital not a shelter for homeless people. So unless you´re here to have a lobotomy done, you can´t really move in.”
Luke laughs. “It´s food, Doctor Oliver. My Grandmother´s homemade Christmas food. You do know it´s Christmas right?”
“I might have heard of it.” Reid says and smiles before concentrating on the important part. “You brought food?”
Luke nods and starts unpacking the turkey, honey ham, mashed potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, rolls and green beans.
Reid looks like he is about to start drooling any second but he manages to turn his gaze away from all the delicious things and looks questioningly at Luke. “Why?”
“Oh, I figured you where working through Christmas and probably ate one of those hideous frozen meals and no one cooks as good as my Grandmother. So, are you going to eat it or just stare at it?”
Reid doesn´t need to be asked twice.
Luke finds it both amusing and comforting to watch Reid eat. They don´t talk very much since Reid is so busy eating but Luke tells him a bit about his family and Oakdale in general and Reid gives a few encouraging sounds to show that he is listening. When he´s finally done he leans back in his chair, closes his eyes and mumbles something.
“Did you say something?” Luke asks with a laugh.
“I have died and gone to heaven. Tell me, is your Grandmother single?”
“Reid! You can´t marry my Grandmother.” Although, you could marry me and we could eat there every day. “But I will tell her you loved her food.”
“So, now that you´ve bribed me with food, what are you expecting me to do for you?”
Luke grabs one of his bags and pulls out a chess board. “Play with me?”
“How did you know I play chess?”
“Oh, I know a lot of things about you, Doctor Oliver,” Luke says teasingly and smiles.
Reid sighs and hits his palm against his forehead a few times. “Of course you do.”
“What do you mean?” Luke´s heart starts to beat a little faster from the ridiculous hope that he knows is pointless.
“Well, since you tried to blackmail me into doing that surgery, I figured you had probably done some research on me. Didn´t think they would care about whether I played chess or not. It´s not like you could challenge me into doing the surgery anyway.”
Luke closes his eyes in disappointment. Of course he doesn´t know anything about us. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly before opening his eyes again. “Yeah, right, the blackmail. So, black or white?” He gestures at the chess board.
“White.”
They play in silence for a few minutes until Reid clears his throat. “So, where is the blind boyfriend now?”
Luke looks up and meets Reid´s gaze, surprised that he asked. “We broke up, before he got his sight back.”
“So you went through all that trouble for nothing?”
“Oh, I wouldn´t say that.”
Reid looks at him questioningly and Luke sighs. “I fell in love with his doctor.”
Reid laughs. “So, let me get this straight. You´ve managed to blackmail some other doctor into coming and do the surgery on your blind boyfriend and then when he got his sight back, you got together with his doctor?”
Luke smiles. “Yeah, that´s pretty much what happened.”
“Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
“Yeah, I do, but it was totally worth it.”
“So, where is the brilliant doctor then?”
Luke´s smile falters and he looks down at the chess board. “He died.”