As soon as Luke and Reid make their relationship public, the whole of Oakdale begins taking bets about how long they'll last. Luke knows it; it doesn't bother him really, because it's Oakdale and betting on how long people will last in a certain relationship is a regular pastime. But then a week after Reid comes back from Bay City with the heart that saves Chris Hughes's life, Luke discovers that Noah is running the pool.
He's walking into Java to get his morning cup of coffee when he sees Henry Coleman handing Noah a twenty dollar bill - and it has nothing to do with Henry's coffee order because Noah makes no move towards the coffee machines behind the counter.
Luke stops dead in his tracks for a second, orders his coffee from another barista, and then walks over to them.
"Hey guys. What's going on?" Luke asks with a smile.
"Henry was just adding to my betting pool on how long it'll take before Dr. Oliver breaks your heart," Noah leers. Luke wonders when Noah got so cruel. Maybe he always was.
"That's real mature of you, Noah," Luke spits, turning away, disgusted, grabs his coffee, and exits the coffee shop.
Later, when Luke pushes open the door to Katie's - no, his and Reid's - apartment and plops down heavily on the couch, Reid asks him what's wrong.
"I just had a really shitty day," Luke answers and rubs his eyes.
Reid puts down the medical journal he's reading and drapes his arm around Luke's shoulders. Luke shifts closer and leans into Reid's side.
"What happened?"
"Hard-ass clients and investors at Worldwide. People not answering calls. Just…nothing was easy today," Luke says.
"And?" Reid knows him so well. He knows there's something left unsaid.
"I went to Java this morning to get coffee. Noah was there with Henry Coleman." Luke pauses. Reid waits. "They were betting on how long before you break my heart," Luke says quietly and a tear falls down his cheek.
Though pissed off, Reid curbs his instinct to say something sarcastic and instead kisses Luke's hair. He pulls his arm off of Luke's shoulders and twines their fingers together on top of Luke's leg. With his other hand, he gently tips Luke's chin up so they are looking at each other.
Luke's eyes glisten with tears and he hates that Noah has done this to Luke again. Reid slides his hand up to cup the side of Luke's face and he thumbs away the remnants of the lone tear that have stained Luke's beautiful face.
"I'm not going to break your heart, Luke," Reid says in a voice that is equal parts firm and gentle.
"You can't promise that," Luke whispers as more tears swim at the edges of his eyes. "I never thought Noah would either. But he did."
"I'm not Noah," Reid says forcefully but not unkindly. One day he is going to break Noah's nose for making Luke feel this way, the risk of ruining his career be damned.
"Maybe not intentionally. But you could stop loving me," Luke says matter-of-factly, but there is an undertone of fear that Reid does not miss. It's almost as if he's expecting it to happen in the near future.
"Don't bet on it," Reid answers and the ends of lips twitch upward.
Luke gives him a watery smile and nuzzles his face into Reid's hand, which is still cupping his cheek.
Reid leans forward then and presses their lips together. It's soft and comforting, nothing heated, nothing passionate, but incredibly intimate.
Thanksgiving that year is a surprisingly quiet affair. After weeks of coaxing, Luke finally manages to coax Reid to the farm with him with the promise of heaps of home-cooked food.
As soon as they step through the kitchen door, Reid feels as if he is under a microscope. The Snyders all stare at him, interrogate him, and some even warn him off hurting Luke. He's halfway through a lecture from Lily - who is just now accepting that Reid is Luke's boyfriend but is nevertheless blathering on about Luke and Noah's great love story for some unknown reason - when Luke finally rescues him.
"Sorry. She can be a bit suffocating," Luke apologizes with a shy smile.
"It's fine," Reid says.
Luke raises an eyebrow at him and then slides their hands together. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Reid asks but willingly follows Luke out of the farmhouse.
"My favorite place in the world," Luke responds.
"Our bed?" Reid deadpans without missing a beat.
Luke sticks his tongue out at his boyfriend and shakes his head in silent laughter. "The Snyder Pond."
Reid's mouth falls open in a perfect "O". Over the months since they first started dating, Reid has heard many stories about Luke's childhood spent by the Snyder Pond. He'll never admit it but he's honored to be shown Luke's sanctuary.
They walk hand-in-hand and in silence for a while, their feet crunching on the leaves that have started falling to the ground, until the pond comes into view. Reid barely stifles a gasp; he's never seen a place so beautiful. A year ago he never would have thought he'd enjoy the peacefulness and simplicity afforded by a family farm and pond, but being here with Luke, Reid's not sure he can imagine anything more perfect.
When they're at the edge of the pond, Luke sits down on the blanket of leaves and tugs Reid's hand. Reid thinks only momentarily of all the bugs that are likely crawling around before sitting Indian-style next to Luke.
"Whenever I needed to clear my head, I'd come out here," Luke says without provocation. "I spent a lot of time here when I was struggling with being gay."
"I can see why," Reid says truthfully and is rewarded by a sparkling grin from Luke.
"We need to come back in the summer. Take a swim." Luke's eyes twinkle with delight at the thought.
"You really think you're getting me in that water, Mr. Snyder?" Reid asks but there is no malice behind the words.
"I can be very persuasive, Dr. Oliver." Luke smirks. "If I want you in that water, you'll get in that water."
"Don't bet on it," Reid answers with a laugh but he knows even as he says it that he will be unable to resist Luke's request to go swimming in Snyder Pond.
By the time they reach their first anniversary, it's become a thing with them: They've taken the Oakdale betting on their relationship and turned it into an inside joke, just for them.
The morning of their anniversary, Luke blinks open his eyes as the bright July sunlight streams through the cracks in their Venetian blinds. His back is pressed close to Reid's chest and Reid's arm is draped over his side. Reid's deep, slow breaths are hot on his neck. Luke smiles contentedly and turns under Reid's arm, careful not to wake him.
When they are face to face, Luke's eyes rake over Reid's sleeping face. He's beautiful like this, peaceful, no thoughts of dying patients or Chief-of-Staff meetings and stuffy Board get-togethers. Luke traces a finger feather-light over Reid's cheek but Reid is a light sleeper - has to be, in case his beeper goes off - and he opens his eyes at Luke's touch.
"G'Morning," Reid mumbles, still half asleep.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Luke says. He shifts closer so their chests are flush and then peppers Reid's neck with butterfly kisses. Reid hums and buries his face in his pillow to give Luke more access. Luke obliges with a smile.
He trails open-mouthed kisses along the curve of Reid's neck, down to the top of his shoulder and back up to his face. He places a quick kiss on Reid's cheek and then sucks Reid's earlobe into his mouth.
Reid makes a noncommittal noise and wraps his arms tight around Luke's waist. Luke smiles against Reid's skin as he lets go of Reid's ear and goes back to kissing Reid's face. Luke feels himself growing hard at Reid's little barely audible moans and increasingly heavy breaths.
As soon as Luke gets near Reid's mouth, Reid captures Luke's lips in his. Luke oomphs in surprise but meets Reid's kiss with enthusiasm. Reid rolls onto his back, pulling Luke on top of him, and deepens their kiss. He pushes his tongue past Luke's lips and Luke twists his tongue around Reid's.
Luke relaxes in Reid's arms, snakes his fingers into Reid's curls, and swings his legs on either side of Reid, so that he's straddling him. They are still naked after falling asleep post-coitus last night and, as Luke settles, their erections brush together. They simultaneously groan into each other's mouths, the sensation making them both grow even harder. Luke pulls away from Reid's mouth to catch his breath when he suddenly finds himself on his back and Reid on top of him, their blanket dislodged from their bodies.
Luke blinks up at Reid who hovers over him. Eyes blown wide and dark with lust, Reid smiles briefly at him and then takes his turn to trail hot, wet kisses across Luke's skin. Luke turns his head as Reid sucks the sensitive spot right behind Luke's ear that Reid knows drives Luke crazy. He bites and sucks and kisses, all teeth and tongue and lips, with just enough pressure to break the skin without actually hurting Luke. Luke grows harder at the thought of going into his meeting at Worldwide tomorrow, the hickey visible just above the collar of his dress shirt and he involuntarily rolls his hips up to meet Reid's.
Reid makes a noise that sounds like hnnnng against Luke's skin and breaks the contact to bury his face in Luke's neck as his hips mimic Luke's movement. Luke takes the opportunity to tug at Reid's hair, pulls his face towards his own, and crashes their lips together in a sloppy, uncoordinated kiss.
"Want you. Need you inside me," Luke gasps into Reid's mouth and Reid thinks he lets out something close to a whimper.
"Fuck" is Reid's only response, his synapses too-far gone with arousal to produce anything more coherent.
"Tryin' to," Luke says, stretching his neck up to mouth at Reid's Adam's Apple.
Through his haze of arousal and concentration to continue grinding their erections together, Reid reaches out his hand towards the nightstand on his side of the bed and, with well-practiced skill, fumbles around in the drawer for the lube and the condoms they keep there. He finds them both quickly and he is back focused on Luke, his mouth ripping open a corner of the condom wrapper and his other popping open the bottle of lube.
Luke's body thrums with anticipation underneath him and it takes Reid all of his self-control not to come just from the kissing and sucking Luke is doing to his neck and bare chest. His cock is painfully hard by now so Reid quickly coats his fingers with lube and teases one at the edge of Luke's hole.
"Come on, Reid," Luke pants, pushing back against Reid's finger and Reid takes it as an invitation to slip his finger inside.
Luke's eyes flutter closed as Reid starts moving his finger, circling and stretching. Luke is still pretty loose from last night's escapades; within minutes Reid is sliding another finger inside Luke. Luke's rocking increases in speed as he fucks himself on Reid's fingers. It's less than a minute before Reid has three fingers in Luke's ass, twisting them in just the right way so that he brushes Luke's prostrate without actually hitting it.
Luke is starting to make incoherent noises and Reid knows he's close. "Reid, please, please, please," Luke begs, pawing at Reid's cock.
"So pushy, Mr. Snyder," Reid teases but he pulls his fingers out, rolls the condom on, and slicks himself up with lube.
Luke watches Reid line himself up and their eyes lock as Reid pushes himself inside, slowly at first, until Luke wraps his legs around Reid's waist, pulling Reid deeper.
"Fuck, Luke. You're so hot," Reid growls and Luke responds with "So're you," before slamming their mouths together in a hard, rough kiss.
"Move," Luke commands against Reid's lips. Reid obliges and begins to thrust in and out, angling himself towards Luke's prostrate. He pulls out and when he pushes back in, Luke gasps into his mouth and bites down on Reid's lip.
"Hnnn - right there, Reid, please," Luke pants and throws his head back against the pillow when Reid follows the order. He wraps his arms around Reid's shoulders to keep him in place and claws at Reid's back, his nails digging in hard, when Reid picks up his pace, hitting him in exactly the right spot to make him see stars.
"More, more, more," Luke chants. "Harder, more, harder, yes, yes, yes."
Reid is shaking now, his orgasm building low in his balls, and he can tell Luke is as close as he is from the way he's babbling and thrusting back to meet Reid's movements.
Reid has one hand planted on the mattress next to Luke's head to brace himself and he wraps the other around Luke's leaking cock, his skilled surgeon's fingers twisting and pulling and kneading at Luke's balls, making Luke crazy. Luke's hips buck at the sensation and Reid slams into Luke only three more times before Luke arches his back, shooting over Reid's hand and his own chest. The look of pure bliss on Luke's face is what sends Reid over the edge after him, pulsing into the condom.
Reid collapses onto Luke's chest, not caring about the come drying there, as they come down from their highs; he rests there for a few minutes listening to Luke's heartbeat return to normal. Eventually, Reid pulls out of Luke, careful of the condom and Luke's sensitivity, and rolls onto the bed next to Luke.
Luke flips onto his side to look at Reid who intertwines their fingers together on the space of bed between them. "Happy anniversary," Luke says with a megawatt grin.
"Can every day be our anniversary if we get to wake up like that?" Reid asks mischievously.
Luke laughs his laugh that always makes Reid's heart skip a beat or two and says, "Don't bet on it."
The August after their second anniversary, Noah comes back to Oakdale for Lily and Holden's wedding. Luke had tried to convince his mother not to invite him but she still insists he's part of the family and Luke had lost the battle.
So when Noah appears at Lucinda's guest house, which has for years been the permanent Snyder family residence, Luke steels himself for the confrontation. As soon as he opens the door, Noah says, "I knew you wouldn't last," and steps past him to walk into the house.
Luke slams the door shut. "Reid and I have been living together for two years, Noah," Luke snaps, his voice hard and cold. "Why do you still care about me and Reid?"
Noah doesn't have a chance to answer because Natalie and Ethan come running to greet Noah with hugs.
At the wedding (which did actually happen this time), Luke takes extreme pleasure in dragging Reid to the dance floor, holding him close, and swaying with him to the music. He sees Noah glare at them from his table and then kisses Reid languidly where all of the Snyders (a bunch of whom he knows have bet against him and Reid staying together) can see them.
When they break apart, Reid whispers into his ear, "Do you think that'll get Noah to fuck off and butt out of our lives?"
Reid feels Luke's smile against his cheek. "Don't bet on it," is Luke's answering whisper.
Luke and Reid get married on the fourth anniversary of the opening of the Snyder Pavilion neurology wing. It was what brought them together after all (not Noah, never Noah) and they consider it their baby. No date seems more appropriate for them to vow their love to each other than this one.
Reid's anxious as he stands in their apartment and lets Katie fix his bow tie; it almost feels like old times, when he first moved to Oakdale so long ago, before a rich young blond kid turned his life completely upside down.
Katie occasionally smiles softly over at him as she drives him to the Snyder farm, no doubt proud of herself for what she considers her superior matchmaking skills.
His fingers twitch nervously at his side as he stands at the altar on the edge of Snyder Pond, waiting for the ceremony to start. Despite his aversion to pomp and circumstance, Reid is never more certain of the appeal of weddings than when Luke appears at the end of the aisle, Lily on his arm.
Luke is stunningly beautiful, his smiling face illuminated by the sunshine bearing down on them, and Reid sees the pure love shining in his eyes as Luke takes his last steps towards Reid.
Reid takes Luke's hands in his and in what seems like only minutes they have said their vows and are bonded for life. Luke bounces on his toes a little, throws his arms around Reid's neck, and smashes their lips together.
As they're swaying to their wedding song on the makeshift dance floor in front of the pond, Luke asks with a grin, "So tell me, Dr. Oliver. You still planning on leaving Oakhell, Illinois?"
Reid laughs genuinely, happier on this day than he ever imagined he could or would be, and answers the usual answer, "Don't bet on it."
Rumor swirls around town through the grapevine that Luke Snyder has moved back into the Snyder farm just shy of his fifth wedding anniversary to Dr. Reid Oliver. It's followed by another rumor that Dr. Oliver has left town completely. The rumors even reach Noah Mayer out in Los Angeles.
Henry Coleman chirps happily to Katie Peretti-Hughes that he knew Luke and Reid's relationship wouldn't last. Katie raises her eyebrow at him and shakes her head, a small smile gracing her lips, almost as if she knows a secret.
Luke sits at the kitchen table of the farm the morning after he moves back when his cell phone rings. He nearly drops his phone with shock when the ID says it's Noah calling; they haven't spoken more than a few words in the years since they saw each other at Lily and Holden's wedding.
Cautiously, Luke answers the phone. "Noah?"
"So are you ready to admit that I was right, yet?" Noah's voice says on the other end of the line without pretense or shame.
"Tell me, Noah. How much money have you lost on your bets that Reid and I wouldn't make forever?" Luke asks while he absentmindedly thumbs at the wedding band safe and snug on his finger.
"Sounds to me like I just hit the jackpot," is the reply.
Luke's laugh tinkles around the kitchen in the early morning quiet. "Were you always this bitter of a person, Noah? Or just since you made the mistake of letting me off the hook?"
Noah's silence is deafening.
"Get over yourself, Noah. Don't call me again unless you have something to talk to me about other than my relationship with Reid," Luke says and hangs up the phone.
Hours later, Luke sits once again at the kitchen table, the sun setting through the window behind him. He's flipping through pamphlets of new organizations to which he's thinking about donating Foundation money when his phone rings.
He smiles softly when he sees the caller. "Hi, baby."
"Hi." Reid's voice is soft but tired on the other end.
"How's the conference?" Luke asks.
"Boring as all hell," Reid answers. "It'd be a lot more interesting if you were here."
"I'm sorry I couldn't come. My dad really needed this help with the new horses. It's only a few more days."
"I miss you," Reid says.
"I miss you, too."
"Were you able to sleep last night?" Reid asks, though he knows the answer. Neither of them sleeps well without the other. Luke is always awake when Reid comes home from emergency middle-of-the-night surgeries.
"Not as well as if you were with me," Luke answers predictably.
"Try and get some proper sleep, Luke." The words aren't commanding, just full of love and concern.
"I will if you will," Luke responds. "But don't bet on it."
A year later, Luke and Reid adopt a baby girl, Julie. Lily, long past her reservations about Reid (and about Reid not being Noah), and Holden are thrilled for their first grandchild, Lucinda and Emma proud and a little bit nostalgic at the thought of their Luke being a dad.
Luke's out one day in Olde Towne, a five-year old Julie tightly clasping his hand in her tiny one, when he sees Henry Coleman and Chris Hughes speaking to each other in hushed tones outside Al's Diner. Luke normally would think they were just discussing something about Katie, except Henry keeps darting his eyes towards Luke and Julie.
Instinctively, Luke knows Henry and Chris are conspiring, no doubt betting with each other about whether Reid is still around or not. Luke's heard the whispers in the years since they adopted Julie; almost immediately, the other Oakdale residents began wondering if and when Reid would up and leave, too fed up with having a child and the mess she makes, or coming to realize he's too old to be a father.
Luke smirks at the identical look on both Henry's and Chris's faces when Reid comes strutting out of Java with two cups of coffee in his hands. He pecks Luke's cheek, hands him a cup of coffee, and then crouches down so Julie can wrap her arms around his neck.
"Chris and Henry look like they're gonna faint," Luke says quietly to Reid who is now standing, Julie secure in the crook of the arm that is not holding his coffee.
"Hank always looks like he's going to faint," Reid answers. "The excitement of this town seems to overwhelm him every minute of his life." Reid's voice drips with sarcasm.
"Think they'll finally believe you're not going anywhere?" Luke asks, looping his arm through Reid's free elbow.
"Don't bet on it," is Reid's reply. He flashes them the biggest of insincere smiles as the three of them pass Al's.
As the years progress, it seems to Luke (and Reid whenever Luke mentions it to him) that Oakdale has finally accepted that Dr. Oliver is not going to break poor Luke Snyder's heart. There are stumbling blocks for sure; days when they are angry at each other and don't speak until the next morning and there are always things they don't agree on. (Not that that's surprising. They haven't been agreeing on things since they met.)
But ultimately, things in their relationship run smoothly and they outlast multitudes of Oakdale relationships that were meant to be "true love".
When Lily announces that she wants to make them a 30th Anniversary party, it takes Luke nearly a month to convince Reid to agree to it. He was never one for socializing; as he's grown older he's also grown impossibly more anti-social. Luke jokes sometimes that all the good he did Reid back in the beginning of their relationship has been completely undone.
What Lily hasn't told Luke - because she knows he'd never in a million years give his consent - is that she's taken it upon herself to invite Noah to the gathering.
Reid nearly falls off the bar stool he's sitting on at Metro when Noah walks into the club accompanied by a man with longish brown hair and a long scarf around his neck. Reid stares unblinkingly at them until he feels a pair of lips press a soft kiss to his cheek. He looks around and finds Julie's warm brown eyes twinkling at him. She's twenty now and starting to look at medical schools for when she graduates from Northwestern.
"Papa? What are you looking at?" Julie asks, following Reid's sightline with her eyes.
"Can you go get your dad?" Reid asks by way of an answer. She furrows a brow at him but stalks off to find Luke.
A couple minutes later, Julie is back with Luke by her side.
"Reid, baby. Everything okay?" Luke asks in concern. Reid nods to the corner of the room where Noah and his guest stand together, talking quietly.
"You have got to be shitting me," Luke says, almost too loudly. "I am going to murder my mother. And I cannot believe he actually had the nerve to bring him of all people here, let alone come at all."
"Dad?" Julie looks between her two fathers, confused. Reid even looks confused at Luke's last statement.
At just that moment, Noah turns his head and his face grows ashen when he sees Luke and Reid glaring at him. After a beat, Noah stands up a little straighter and makes a beeline towards the Snyder-Oliver family, Mason Jarvis on his heels.
"Hey, guys. How's it going?" Noah chirps as soon as they are within earshot.
"Shouldn't you be in a ditch somewhere crying bitter tears over all the money you lost, Noah?" Luke's voice is hard and venomous. Julie's eyes widen in surprise at her father's cruelty. She's never seen him like this.
"Now, Luke. We all used to be friends once. Is that tone of voice really necessary?" Mason butts in.
Luke gapes at him, his mouth hanging slightly open. Reid slides his arm around Luke's waist in an attempt to forestall the anger he knows is bubbling inside his husband. After a minute, a smile slowly creeps across Luke's lips.
"Are you two together?" Mason's leer is the only response Luke needs. "Oh, okay. I see. You probably thought you'd come here to gloat, right, Mason? Thought you'd come back to Oakdale and rub it in my face that you finally managed to get Noah in your bed? Well, guess what? Look where you are. You're at my 30th Anniversary party. Noah is all yours. I really couldn't care less. And, by the way, Mason," Luke pauses for a breath. "There's something I've been meaning to say to you for years: Thank you."
The look of pure shock on Mason's face gives Luke extreme delight.
"Without you, I would not be standing here. I'm serious. If you hadn't set your creepy professor sights on Noah, I never would have met Reid. So thank you, Mason." Luke stops talking and his shit-eating grin makes Noah turn slightly green. Noah grabs Mason's hand and stalks off to the other side of the room.
Luke watches them go and then turns his attention back to his husband and daughter. Reid has the proudest look of love on his face and Julie just looks stunned and lost.
"At some point you'd think Noah would get the message that you don't want him around," Reid says.
"Don't bet on it," Luke answers.
Ten years later, Luke and Reid stand together outside the bridal room on Luther's Corners Church. Luke absentmindedly fixes Reid's tie as they wait for Natalie and Faith to finish helping Julie get ready for her wedding.
"You okay?" Luke asks, smiling softly.
"Yep. Fine." Reid flashes Luke a smile but it wavers.
Luke smirks at him as he slides their hands together at their sides. "I've know you for over forty years. No pretending with me, Dr. Oliver."
Reid's lips quirk upwards at the old, familiar moniker. "You're gonna cry, aren't you?" Reid makes a face of mock disgust; he's long since lost his ability to actually be repulsed by tears or emotions.
"Without a doubt," Luke answers almost instantly and with a little chuckle. Luke smirks and asks, "You?"
"Don't bet on it," Reid answers with his own smirk and Luke knows he's lying.
A week after Luke and Reid celebrate their Golden Anniversary, Luke's kidney finally fails. Reid, silver-haired and achy all over as he pushes ninety, nearly faints himself when Luke doesn't wake up that morning. In his panic, Reid's mind goes almost completely devoid of all his medical knowledge and all he can think to do is to make sure Luke is still breathing.
He leans in close to Luke's lips, which stutter out ragged breaths and, when Reid places the back of his hand on Luke's forehead, he finds it is scorching hot. His mind slowly returns to normal and Reid realizes that Luke has a kidney infection; Luke had been ill the last few days but they both thought it had been the flu.
With shaking hands, he calls first 911 for an ambulance, then Memorial Hospital to alert them that they're coming in, and lastly Julie to let her know what's going on. She's not on call that day but says she'll meet them at the hospital. Reid barely registers it.
It seems like forever before the ambulance rings the doorbell to their house and the ride to Memorial feels even longer.
Reid has never been good at being a patient; when Julie, in her white doctor's lab coat and stethoscope around her neck, demands that he remain in the waiting room while they do tests on Luke, Reid realizes he's even less equipped at being a family member of a patient.
As he hobbles back and forth across the waiting room floor, he has a fleeting memory of a conversation he once had with Luke a lifetime ago, when they were first making plans to build the neurology wing:
"Have you ever been in the waiting room when somebody you love is being operated on? It's hell….All you can do is stand there and think about the fact that behind those doors your entire life could be changed and there's nothing you can do about it. It's awful to feel so powerless."
Reid sinks into the chair next to Matt, his son-in-law, his head in his hands. He's never been so powerless in a hospital. He doesn't even feel like a doctor.
After nearly an hour, Julie pushes open the doors to the waiting room and walks stoically up to Reid and her husband. Her face is ashen as she explains to Reid that Luke's kidney has failed and dialysis will only keep him alive for days at the most.
Reid's whole body shakes as he wraps his arms around his (no longer so) little girl. They hold each other for a couple minutes before she takes Reid's hand and leads him to Luke's room.
The sound of beeping machines overwhelms Reid as he walks inside. Matt and Julie have to grab his arms to keep him from falling when he spots Luke out cold in the bed, IV and dialysis tubes sticking out of him. Luke's beautiful face is wan and yellow-tinged under his mess of silver hair. A hospital room has never before felt so uninviting to Reid.
Julie and Matt help Reid into the armchair next to the bed and then slip out of the room, giving them privacy.
Reid carefully picks up Luke's hand so as not to dislodge the IV and brings it up to his mouth. He places a barely-there kiss across the withered but still-soft skin and then shuffles his chair so he's at an angle where he can comfortably tangle their fingers together.
Reid thinks it's only a minute later when Julie gently wakes him up. In reality, it's been two hours; he had nodded off without realizing it.
"Papa?" Julie's brown eyes so much like Luke's (despite a lack of biological connection) bore into his own blue ones with warm concern. "Do you want me to take to one of the overnight rooms in your neurology wing?"
"No. I'm staying here," Reid says more forcefully than he intends.
"Dad's probably not going to wake up until tomorrow. I know you're not going to go home but you should go rest upstairs."
"No."
Julie straightens up, recognizing a losing battle, but there's a small smile on her lips. She hopes her own marriage to Matt will be even a modicum of the wonderful that her fathers' was - is.
"Alright. I'll be back to check on you in a bit." She leaves again with a flourish of her coat.
When she returns, she has medical journals and the novel Reid had on his bedside table at home, as well as a burger and fries from Al's. "I thought you might be hungry and I brought you some things to keep you occupied."
"Thank you, sweet girl," Reid says, dumping the reading material on the bed and immediately digging into the food. Julie chuckles at her father's never-changing habit.
He's halfway through his burger when Julie's beeper goes off. "Will you be okay?"
"Go," Reid tells her and then he's alone again with Luke.
Reid's just finishing the third of the medical journals Julie brought him when Luke groans. Reid looks up and sees Luke turn his head towards him and slowly blink open his eyes.
"Hey," Reid says, dropping the journal to the floor and moving to look into Luke's eyes.
"Hi," Luke croaks. "What happened?"
"Your kidney failed." Reid's voice trembles. "You're on dialysis."
"How long?" Luke asks. Reid is silent. "Please, Reid. You have been painfully honest with me since the day I kidnapped you and brought you to this dump of a town." Luke's lips twitch at the ends and Reid can't help but smile. "Please don't stop now."
"A couple days at most." Reid reaches out and cups the side of Luke's face. Luke closes his eyes and nuzzles into the long-familiar gesture.
Luke's quiet for a minute or two, his eyes closed, and Reid thinks he's fallen asleep again when Luke says softly, "We had a good run, didn't we, Dr. Oliver?" He looks at Reid sadly.
"Don't you dare say goodbye, Mr. Snyder. Not yet." Reid's voice is an octave higher than normal and the walls of the room suddenly seem like they are closing in on him.
"Arguing with me to the very end." Luke's chuckles rapidly turn into racking coughs. Reid's heart sinks; he knows Luke won't last more than a few more hours.
Reid pushes himself out of his chair, ready to hit the nurses' button, but the coughs quickly subside. Luke is left weaker than he was but he smiles up at Reid. Reid thinks he's never been more beautiful.
"C'mere," Luke breathes and shuffles himself so there is room for Reid to sit on the bed next to him.
"Luke, don't," Reid warns but Luke waves him off stubbornly.
When Luke settles, Reid sinks his aching bones and muscles in the spot Luke has made for him. He wraps his arm around Luke's shoulders; Luke leans into his side, his head resting in the crook of Reid's neck. If Reid closes his eyes and blocks out the clinical sounds of the machines beeping around them, he can almost imagine them back in the apartment he once shared with Katie, curled up together on the couch watching a movie and eating popcorn.
A while later - Reid's not sure how long - Julie comes back into the room, Matt right behind her.
"How is he?" Julie asks and Reid quickly holds a finger to his lips.
"He's sleeping," Reid whispers.
"No'mnot," Luke mutters without opening his eyes. "Hey, baby girl."
"Hi, Daddy," Julie says. Her voice is steady but, if Luke had been looking at her, he would have seen her eyes swimming with tears.
Reid kisses Luke's hair and then buries his face in the soft locks. He's barely holding back tears as his whole life slowly dies in his arms.
"Hey, Dr. Oliver. Dr. Oliver." Luke pokes his leg with a finger and tips his head up so they are looking at each other.
Reid looks down at him and sees only the lost, rich young blond kid who blackmailed and kidnapped him so long ago.
"Hey yourself, Mr. Snyder."
"I love you," Luke says with a tired smile.
"I love you, too." Reid's voice is barely audible.
Luke's breathing is coming in short bursts now, despite his being hooked up to an oxygen machine. It takes him a minute before he gets out his next sentence. "Promise…promise me, Dr. Oliver….Promise me you're gonna keep…keep living."
Reid whimpers, presses their foreheads together, and closes his eyes. Tears fall unbidden down his cheeks.
"Don't bet on it, Mr. Snyder."
Luke smiles again, weakly, at the old phrase, the old joke just for them, and slides their hands together on top of the bed. He pushes his head up off of Reid's shoulder and presses their lips together for a final time, just as the heart machine flatlines.