Disclaimer: I do Not own ATWT or its characters (sadly. I'd love to have my own Reid). I also do not own the wonderful song from The Platters either. I'm just using it for my fic.
Note: This is my response to a prompt by Xander2810 on livejournal's LuRe community(aka the most awesome lj community ever!). Thanks for this prompt. It inspired me at a time of writers block. It's actually longer and a little different than what I expected to write at first, but I like it. I hope you'll like it too!
Note 2: For those waiting for an update on "Le choix du Coeur" don't despair. Chapter 3 is coming up soon. My muse is just super fleeting so I get writers block, sorry
Prompt:"Reid Oliver doesn't do dancing. But for Luke Snyder, he might just make an exception". Luke takes Reid to a black-tie charity benefit. Romantic!Reid.
'blah, blah' thoughts
'blah, blah' inner voice
"blah, blah" speech
For You I Would
Dr Reid Oliver had a very detailed and extensive list of things he didn't like. He also had a list of things he didn't do. On this list, dancing came under the category "I'd rather crack my skull open with a chainsaw and get castrated without anaesthesia than do this", which was why Oliver was sitting on a rather uncomfortable chair instead of prancing around like a monkey in his awful monkey suit like Doogie Hughes was presently doing with Katie. Doing anything Doogie Hughes enjoyed doing was also very high on his list of things he wouldn't be caught dead doing. Beside him, his date and boyfriend Luke Snyder sighed for the millionth time, looking at the dance floor with a look of longing that would make a completely infatuated twelve years old girl looking at her crush proud. Reid shifted on his chair. Because it was uncomfortable.
'uh huh. Of course. And it has nothing to do with the fact that you can't stand Luke being displeased in any way at any given time? Keep telling yourself that big guy'
Ever since Reid had started dating Luke, his inner voice had become much more present and had annoyingly decided to sound exactly like Katie. Like it wasn't enough that he had to live with the interfering woman! Reid didn't think there was any detail of his personal life with Luke that that woman didn't know. She either just kept pestering you until you cracked and answered all of her questions in order to save a part of your sanity or she simply used her manipulative skills until you found yourself spilling your guts in great details with absolutely no idea whatsoever as to how she got you there. Reid almost felt sorry for Doogie. Almost. And what was even worst was that Luke absolutely adored Katie, which meant that he talked to her almost every day about everything and shared secrets with her. Reid was sure there was a conspiracy going on. He was convinced those two were sharing manipulation tricks to get what they wanted. Luke of course rolled his eyes and told him he was a cynical paranoid when he mentioned his theory, but Reid could swear on his extremely talented hands that the trick Katie used to convince Chris to dress up as a woman for the last Halloween contest was a Luke Snyder patented trick.
Chris Hughes and he were so doomed.
But in this case, Mr. Snyder would have to resign to the fact that he can't always get what he wants. Dr. Reid Oliver, master of neurosurgery and sarcasms, did NOT do dancing. Period. There were no exceptions and no negotiations. And really, Luke should know better than to expect Reid to ask him to dance after all the time they've spent together. So really, any disappointment Luke may be feeling was solely due to his own mistake; he should have known Reid would be intransigent about this.
'That's funny. I could have sworn you said the exact same thing six months ago about going to a black-tie charity benefit. And yet here we are! For what? the 6th time?'
Reid growled in frustration. Man, he really hated that voice. 'If only the other doctors weren't incompetent morons. Maybe then I could ask one to go play in my brain and eradicate that damn voice!' Reid thought.
'Yeah, good luck with that. In the mean time, you know I'm right.'
Sadly it was true. Six months ago, the idea of going to any kind of event involving other people was put in the category "I wouldn't do it unless Aliens abducted me and brought me to the Twilight zone". And he had been absolutely clear with Luke about it. A business dinner with a couple of other people, he could do (now). He hated doing it since he absolutely despised small talk and general idiocy, but he would do it to make Luke happy. And with a minimum of complaints, too. Reunions and big events he didn't do. There was just so much blatant ignorance and platitude one can endure without committing genocide. And really, he was doing Luke a favour because your boyfriend being arrested for murder is not a good publicity for a foundation.
The first time Luke asked him to accompany him to such an event, the answer had been succinct and negative. The second time, the response was accompanied by elaborate and unnecessary(Luke's opinion) dripping sarcasm. It had caused a fight and Luke had alternated between looking furiously insulted and downright depressed for almost a week. Reid could deal with an angry Luke… to a certain extent. And Luke was actually quite cute to look at when frustrated. A sad Luke however….Reid had much more difficulty dealing with a depressed Luke. His boyfriend was always so full of "joie de vivre" and optimism that seeing him downcast physically hurt. It was like watching a puppy getting stoned, but worse. And for some reason, it always made Reid feel like an ass.
The third time…well…the third time, Luke didn't ask him. He went to the reception on his own. Reid didn't even know about it until he came home from a 6 hours surgery to find the place deserted. Although Luke and he weren't officially living together (yet), Luke was always at Reid and Katie's place when Reid got home. Even when Luke could only stay for a couple of minutes because of other engagements, he was there. But that night, for the first time in many months, Reid came home to an empty house and a post-it note saying that his boyfriend had gone to some charity event in Chicago and would be back tomorrow. He hadn't liked Luke not telling him in advance but was reassured that he wasn't expected to attend these kinds of things anymore.
That is, until he saw the pictures of the charity event. Luke had had many pictures taken of him that night and in all of them, he either smiled a faked smile or looked sad. He clearly wasn't enjoying himself and normally Luke always enjoyed giving his money away to help better the world. Somehow, this really didn't sit well with Reid and a couple of days of guilt later, he found himself calling Luke's secretary and ordering her to notify him next time Luke was invited to a social event. It was a month later when the secretary called him back and gave him the coordinates of a charity ball for sick children. Again, Luke mentioned nothing and looked deflated the days prior to the ball. So Reid took the afternoon off from the hospital to go shop(which he hated doing) for a darn monkey suit(which he hated wearing. I mean seriously, why couldn't people just wear scrubs everywhere?) and for one of these flower-things that men put close to the heart(he thinks) when they go to a ball. Then he went to the address the secretary gave him and waited. He waited 45 minutes outside before Luke (finally) showed up. He saw him approach the doors, alone, wearing a (hot looking) tuxedo and a fake smile…which changed to a fish-like shocked expression the second he saw Reid in his penguin suit. Luke's jaw was still on the floor when Reid put the flower-thingy on Luke's tux, over the heart. It took Luke another minute before he finally closed his mouth, only to start grinning like an ecstatic lunatic for the rest of the (painfully long 'man people are boring idiots') night.
Ever since that night, Reid had accompanied Luke to every single miserable and horrible event. And Luke smiled the entire night every single time…except tonight. At the ball, Luke had been so surprised and happy to see Reid there that he hadn't even batted an eye at the dance floor. Tonight however, dancing looked like an absolutely wonderful idea to Luke. Especially after dear Doogie had decided to bow in front of Katie and asked her if she could please give him the honour of this dance. Damn Doogie Hughes. Now Luke was hoping that Reid would ask him to dance. This was not happening in any circumstances! 'Haven't I said that I don't do dancing?' Reid thought to himself… But Luke looked so wistful.
" You know Luke if you want to dance..." Reid started and Luke's eyes immediately brighten. "you can go ask someone. I don't mind" Reid finished. A millisecond later, Reid noticed that he had not said the right thing. Luke's jaw tightened, his shoulders tensed and his eyes glared. He didn't bother looking at Reid. He just got up and left.
'What did I do?'
"What did you do?"
Katie and Chris had decided to take a break from dancing and to come back to the table just in time to see Luke storm out angrily.
"Seriously Reid, what did you do this time?" Katie asked
" Nothing. I didn't do anything"
" Well then you said something. So what was it?"
"Nothing. I just…well…I noticed Luke staring at you and Doogie-boy dancing and thought he might want to dance so I told him I didn't mind if he asked someone to dance"
The reactions were instantaneous. Katie looked shocked and indignant while Chris winced and hissed a "ouch".
"What?" Seriously Reid didn't understand what crime he had supposedly committed.
Chris looked at his girlfriend. She was looking at Reid incredulously, so it seemed he was the one who'd have to explain. Katie would leave to go find Luke in a matter of seconds now.
"You're not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to social interactions are you?"
Reid glared. Katie making that sort of comment was acceptable, even expected, but Reid will be damned if he let Chris Hughes talk to him that way. He was about to rip the other doctor a new one thanks to his faithful sarcastic abilities when said doctor interrupted him.
"First of all, you do not ever and I mean ever give your girl…boyfriend in your case the permission to do something. If Luke wanted to ask someone else to dance, he darn well could at any time, and you wouldn't have any right to say anything about it. But what you said is that he normally would need to ask for your permission but you're giving it to him. Big faux pas. Wom..partners like Luke and Katie will never accept that kind of attitude. Secondly, I think you're missing Luke's point entirely"
"Oh really Doogie? You think you know better than me what's up with Luke"
"Right now, yes. Listen, it isn't about Luke wanting to dance. If he wanted to dance so badly, do you really think he wouldn't have gotten up and ask someone? Like Katie maybe?"
Reid thought about Chris' words. It was true that Luke wasn't the type of person to sit around and wait for other people to give him what he wants. He normally goes for it by himself.
"The whole point isn't that he wants to dance and you don't Reid. It's that he wants to dance with you and you don't want to dance with him. He wants to dance with the man he's in love with. He wants to share that experience with you at least once. He wants his first dance as your boyfriend"
"Oh crap" Reid swore. Damn he felt like an ass now. He should have known. Katie and Luke were very similar in this aspect: both of them felt very strongly about first times and sharing new experiences with their partners, which in certain aspects of life was actually quite fun but dancing? Really?
Reid sighed again. "I'm gonna have to do something I find horrible to save this one, aren't I?"
"I'm afraid so. You know how they get when they're disappointed. Man, I don't envy you right now. If you don't fix this tonight, say hello to sad, moping Luke who looks at you with hurt doe eyes yet keep insisting everything is fine although you can almost hear him think "I just expected too much" and then you feel like a complete butthead."
"What did you do?"
"Let's not go there. I'm just starting to return in Katie's good graces again. It took me weeks. "
"Damn"
"Yeah…..we're so screwed" Chris said, echoing some of Reid's previous thoughts.
"Argh…I'm gonna have to dance!"
"Yeah and you better be happy about it because after giving Luke the permission to dance? I'm not sure that's gonna be enough."
On that note, Chris left to find his girlfriend. There wasn't anything else he could do for Reid even if he wanted to. After all, it didn't take him weeks to get back in Katie's good graces because he was good at finding ideas to make things right.
Luke stood outside, kicking a rock. You can ask someone. I wouldn't mind. These words kept repeating themselves in Luke's head. 'Of all the things…argh! He's just so frustrating. Like I need his permission in the first place! And why did he have to bring it up. I know he doesn't want to dance with me and that's fine, but does he need to rub it in'
"Luke are you ok?"
"Oh hey Katie. Yeah I'm fine"
"You sure? 'Cause Reid telling you you have the right to ask someone to dance when you want to dance with HIM so bad, you probably think it sucks"
"Yeah it does."
"You know he doesn't mean anything by it right? He's insensitive but he doesn't mean to be. You know from his point of view, he probably wanted to make you happy by telling you to go dance"
"I know. But I don't want to just dance. I can do that anywhere at any time with anyone. I wanted to dance with him."
"Yeah, I know that, you know that, the entirety of Africa knows that, but Reid? I know he's made progress since he started dating you but he has difficulties with emotional things. And social things…and really, with basically anything that relates to human interaction. You have to be patient. He'll come around eventually. And if he doesn't, I can hide his sandwich ingredients. That should make him eat in your palm in no time!"
Luke laughed. Yeah Reid and his sandwiches
"Thanks Katie, but you're right. I have to give him the time. He has to do it because he wants to not because I blackmail or manipulate him to. It's not right otherwise."
"Says the guy that wouldn't even have met his current boyfriend if he hadn't blackmailed him into coming to Oakdale! Face it Luke. You just can't help yourself with Reid"
"Like you're any better with Chris! How many weeks has he been at your beck and call to make things up to you, again? Because I know he's been forgiven for quite some time now, yet he's still mostly in the doghouse"
"Well, I had to make sure the lesson sticks for next time"
Luke and Katie shared a look and laughed. Reid and Chris were just so much fun to mess with sometimes that they couldn't help themselves. Although they'll have to be more careful in their plans from now on; Reid was starting to get suspicious.
"Now come on. Let's go back inside. You may not be able to dance with your man, but maybe we can find you another sexy man to dance with. If I know Reid, and trust me I know Reid, he'll be jealous and pouting in no time and it'll be even worst since he actually gave you his permission to do it."
Luke smiled. He knew there was a reason he loved Katie so much. That woman just knew exactly how to make the best of every situation. Unfortunately, the smile didn't stay long. He really did want to dance with Reid. And for quite some time too. There was just something so deeply intimate in dancing and he wanted to feel that connection with Reid.
Reid Oliver was nervous. He couldn't stop fidgeting and was already feeling embarrassed even though he hadn't done anything yet. Dear Lord he hoped he didn't totally humiliate himself. In front of Doogie Hughes too. 'I would never hear the end of it' But it didn't matter. What mattered was that his boyfriend had been sad ever since the dancing had started and then, because Reid never knew what to do with a sad Luke, he had made things worst and hurt Luke's feelings. 'Well it's like you said in Texas Reid. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do' And what Reid needed to do was make Luke happy and give him the best night he could.
Therefore, when Luke Snyder came back in the reception room with Katie to find their respective partners, he didn't see his boyfriend at the table. Instead, he saw him up front with the band, looking as sheepish, insecure and embarrassed as that time after the chess game and before Noah saw them kiss for the first time (but not the last. Poor Noah. Although Richard was, to this day, still very grateful for Luke and Reid's PDA. Nothing better to push the guy you like right into your arms than him continuously seeing his ex-boyfriend passionately kiss another man)
Luke frowned. He wondered what Reid was doing up there. He was advancing towards Reid when the latter saw him. Immediately, Reid turned to the guys of the band.
"Alright everyone" said the singer of the band "The next song is a special demand for a very, very special person in this assistance"
'Oh no he didn't.' Luke thought 'Reid wouldn't have dedicated me a song, would he?'
"Katie, pinch me. Did Reid just dedicate me a song?"
"Uh… no. I don't think it's just a dedication sweetie" Katie answered pointing up front, where Reid stood looking at his feet with a micro in his hand.
Only you can make this world seem right
Only you can make the darkness bright
Only you and you alone
Can thrill me like you do
And fill my heart with love for only you
' Oh my god' Luke's brain had officially shut down. He could not comprehend what was happening. Surely he was in the twilight zone or had been kidnapped by Aliens. Maybe he had knocked himself out somehow and was now in a coma because there was no way that Dr. Reid Oliver king of neurosurgery and sarcasm, Mr. I hate public appearances and interacting with human beings in general, was actually singing him a song! And quite well too. 'Wow. I never knew Reid had such a nice voice. He's just…wow'
"Oh my God, Luke. You never told me Reid could sing! That would have been such good teasing material"
"I…I…I didn't know Katie. He never…Did I drink drugged water? I mean, it's Reid. And he's singing. To me. In public." Luke was simply flabbergasted. And even more so when Reid started walking slowly towards him, looking him in the eyes and singing one of the most romantic love songs ever written. He felt his cheek heating up and was convinced he was blushing so hard tomatoes looked white compared to him.
Only you can make this change in me
For it's true, you are my destiny
When you hold my hand
I understand the magic that you do
You're my dream come true
My one and only you
Reid was now right in front of him, putting his free arm around his waist and looking in Luke's eyes as he finish the verse. Then, he gave the micro to Katie and the band's singer started the next verse.
"Well, . May I have the honor of this dance?"
"Reid…" Luke choked. He couldn't talk. His throat was closing up and tears had welled up in his eyes. Reid pulled him closer and started to sway.
"You know , dancing is much easier when one moves one's feet"
Luke gave a small chuckled and put his arms around his lover. There were no words to describe how he felt at this moment. Never in his life had he felt more cherished. Luke knew there was a list of things Reid didn't do and yet… Luke put his head on Reid's shoulder and smiled.
Only you can make this change in me
For it's true, you are my destiny
When you hold my hand
I understand the magic that you do
You're my dream come true
My one and only you
(One and only you)
The song ended but the two lovers didn't stop dancing. Luke was so happy Reid was able to feel it radiating from his lover. And there was something when they were dancing…like a special connection. 'Reid Oliver, you are officially doomed' he thought to himself. He knew he wasn't the same as before and there was no going back. Things wouldn't be the same for him. Being with Luke had changed him and perhaps, it was for the best. Reid Oliver didn't do dancing. But for Luke Snyder, he might just make an exception.
THE END
Little Extra: Katie and Chris watched as their friends danced together. Katie was so happy for them both. She felt tears come up in her eyes as she watched them.
"Hey, honey. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just so happy for Luke and Reid. Look at them. Look at how happy they make each other. I just…you know I never thought I would ever get to see Reid like this when I met him. It makes me so emotional to see him like this"
"Yeah it's a major improvement, although he still is an ass."
"Oh shut up" Katie said as she slapped his arm. "They're so good together. And what Reid did? singing to Luke? Wow. It's like a dream come true, you know?"
'uh oh.' Thought Chris 'Oh no. Is she trying to send me a message? Darn it Reid, you just had to go ubber sweet and make a grand gesture, didn't you?'
" I wonder what it's like to have a man serenade you in front of so many people, declaring his love loud and clear. "
'Yep. She's sending me a message. I'm so screwed.'
"It was so sweet and uncharacteristic from Reid. I mean from you, it could be expected but from him? It's strange." She paused "How come you've never sung me a song?"
'Why do I feel like that's a trap question' Chris thought, getting kind of desperate.
" Because Doogie-boy is stupid in love with you and actually respects you." Reid answered in Chris' place. Reid and Luke had started to dance towards the pair and had overheard the end of the conversation. Katie looked at Reid with a puzzled expression.
"Trust me Katie. I've heard Doogie sing before and it's not pretty. The first time I heard him, I thought a crow and a roaster were getting tortured in the locker room. Most traumatic experience I've lived at Oakdale's hospital as of yet. I'll take a thousand nails scratching a blackboard during a consecutive hour rather than one minute of Doogie singing." And with that Reid led his partner away from the pair. As he turned around, he saw Chris mouth a Thank you to him. Crisis adverted. Good. Chris Hughes might not have been Reid Oliver's favourite person and vice-versa, but with partners like Katie and Luke the two men needed all the help they could get. Even if it met relying on each other.
'uh' thought Chris 'I'd never thought I'd be grateful for Reid's ability to come up with a response to everything. Although, now I guess I owe him. Oh well…now at least I know who to turn to for help next time I'm in the doghouse. I mean, singing? Brilliant. Uh. I might just start like the jackass.'
THE END of the extra
AN: Ok, so now that was it! I hoped you enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed writing it though it took me more time than I thought (Like I said I have a fleeting muse. But when she's here, she's here! I wrote the last 3000 words in a row, which is good 'cause I spent two days without being able to write anything. No inspiration. So now I'm SOOOOO HAPPY that this is completed!) Thanks for reading!