This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait-
Far Away, Nickelback
Luke was reflecting on the events of the past year. He had loved two men and lost both of them. He had thought that Noah was the love of his life; that was until he had met Dr. Reid Oliver. There was an immediate connection that could not be explained. Though he and Noah had been on the outs when he met Reid, he still wouldn't commit to Reid. Reid tried everything he could to make Luke love him. He courted him, he tried patience, he tried ultimatums, but none of it was enough to make Luke give up on Noah. And in the end Luke Snyder wound up empty and alone. And he had no one to blame but himself.
Reid had made it clear the last time they talked that he did not want Luke to contact him anymore. It was an ugly fight that left Luke emotionally drained and wounded. He knew it couldn't have been easy for Reid as well. He replayed the events of that night over and over again in his mind, thinking that there could have been another way, different words, another path he could have taken. Anything that would have stopped Reid from walking out that door and out of his life. But fate had reared its ugly head, and Dr. Oliver was gone, and Luke was a shadow of a man, broken, not whole, and nothing or no one could fix him.
"I'm getting tired of waiting Luke. It's been six months since you broke up with Noah. Why do you still carry his photo in your wallet?" Reid had demanded.
"I can't just forget him like that. I'm human, not a robot. I have feelings and emotions. I don't know what you want from me."
"I want you. I want us. I want a relationship, not a wall. I've given you everything I have and you've given me nothing. I'm tired of waiting. What do you want? Do you want me or do you want him? He's moved on Luke. Why can't you accept reality?"
"And what is reality Reid?" Luke asked sarcastically.
Reid stared at him. "The reality is you've just lost two men that have loved you. You've lost the one man who has loved you unconditionally and has waited for you longer than any other person ever would have. I'm not doing this anymore. Forget me Luke. Forget you know my name."
"Reid…"
Reid didn't even look at Luke as he turned around and calmly shut the door, as calm as Luke had ever seen him. He knew Reid meant business this time. There was no turning back. Reid was gone, and it was all his fault.
Today was especially hard. It was the day he had met Reid, and he would never forget it. It was torture knowing he couldn't be with the man he loved. This was crazy. He could sit around and be miserable or he could get off his butt and fight for Reid. He had to. He had nothing left to lose.
Luke ran through the local drive thru and picked up some fried chicken and mashed potatoes and then drove to the hospital. Taking a chance, he walked up to the nurses' station and asked where he could find Dr. Oliver.
"He's on break," came the reply.
He didn't have to be told twice. Walking as quickly as possible, he found the break room and sure enough, watching mindless t.v. was Reid, propping his feet up on an extra chair. He turned around and found himself face to face with the man he once loved more than anything. It had been a very long time since he had seen Luke. For once he wasn't quite sure what to say.
"I brought you lunch," Luke tossed the meal on the table.
Reid examined it. "Is that why you're here? You could have had pizza delivered."
"Yeah but you wouldn't have had a delivery boy as cute as I am," Luke smiled. Reid didn't.
"Why are you here? It's been a long time. I don't know what we really have to say to each other."
"On the contrary, I think we have a lot to say. Reid, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I know I was wrong to push you away for so long. I used Noah as an excuse to push you away. I was wrong and I was hurtful and I hurt the person I loved more than anything. I would do anything if I could go back in time and change things. But I can't. All I can do is tell you that I still love you. And I don't know if that means anything to you now but I would love it if you gave me another chance," Luke declared boldly.
"Why should I?" Reid scoffed. "You made it perfectly clear back then that you didn't want anything to do with me. You much preferred a ghost of a relationship to a possibility of a real thing."
"Reid, I don't know what was wrong with me. I was scared. I was scared of loving you. I was scared of how I felt for you. It took losing you to own up to my own feelings and to realize that I can't live without you. I don't know what I have to do to prove to you that what I feel is real. But I need you, Doc. I don't want another year to go by without having you in my life. I love you. I always have. And I need you to believe me."
Reid stared at him for a minute. "Chicken, huh?" he asked, looking at the bag of food Luke had brought him.
Luke looked at him and started to laugh. Reid smiled, then walked closer to him. He took Luke by the hand, then pulled him closer for a hug, and that hug turned into a kiss. There was no hesitation on either part. Reid knew that Luke was for real, and Luke knew that Reid still cared. It might have been a long time coming, but they both had found something special, and neither of them were willing to let go, ever again.
The end