Reid Oliver was sitting on the couch in his apartment watching TV. He was actually quite bored. Luke wasn't home yet and he had been in surgery all day and was off tomorrow, so he didn't want to look over his medical files. Frustrated with the baseball game he was watching, Reid shut off the TV and unceremoniously threw the remote on the coffee table.
At that moment, the door opened and Luke walked into the apartment carrying a bag of take-out food from Al's Diner.
"I love you," Reid said, bouncing off the couch and grabbing the food from his boyfriend's hand.
"Glad to know you're always happy to see me," Luke said sarcastically, putting his keys on the table, shutting the door, and taking off his jacket. Reid was in the kitchen taking out dishes and unpacking the food.
"You know I am," Reid said, sitting down at the table and taking a bite of his hamburger.
"Yes. But not as much as you are to see food," Luke said, smiling slightly.
Reid smiled as Luke sat down next to him and started eating his own hamburger.
When they had finished their dinner, Reid sat back on the couch, Luke putting the dishes in the sink for later. Luke then walked over to the couch and sat down next to his boyfriend. Immediately, the doctor slung his arm around the younger man's shoulders. After picking up the remote and turning the TV back on, Luke took Reid's other hand in one of his and intertwined their fingers. He then placed his head on the older man's shoulder, the top of his hair tickling Reid's cheek.
"Ugh, the Cubs lost again," Luke said, as the sportscaster announced that day's baseball scores.
"Did you expect otherwise?" Reid asked a slight jest in his voice.
"No," Luke said, defeated. Reid chuckled.
After watching the news in silence for a quarter of an hour, Reid said, "Are you okay? You've been quiet."
"Hmmm? Yeah, I'm okay," Luke said.
"Are you sure?" Reid asked, removing his arm from Luke's shoulder so he could better look at the blonde.
"Yeah," Luke said, though his voice betrayed a hint of falsehood and he didn't look at Reid.
"No you're not. You're usually chipper and talkative," Reid said. "What's wrong?"
Luke looked at Reid, a slight smile tugging at the ends of his lips. Luke ran his free hand across the doctor's cheek and his fingers played with the curly, auburn hair. "You know me so well."
Reid said nothing, but smiled slightly.
Luke sighed. "My parents are having problems again." He leaned back on the couch, his head resting against the back cushions.
"Like what?" Reid asked, leaning back also.
"Are you sure you want to hear about this? You hate these kinds of conversations."
"You're upset. Talk to me," Reid said. "What happened?"
"I don't even know. No one will tell me the truth. From what Faith told me, Dad found out that Mom had never properly divorced Damian. She claims she didn't know that it didn't go through, but he doesn't believe her."
"So, what, your parents aren't actually married?"
"I think that's what it comes down to. I don't know. I'll find out more tomorrow," Luke said, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Reid said, gently running his hand through Luke's hair.
"You know, it doesn't even bother me any more. They've broken up, gotten back together, and broken up again so many times that I'm used to it," Luke said, his eyes still closed.
"That's not true," Reid said. Luke opened his eyes and looked at him. "You wouldn't be acting like this if it were. It does bother you that you're parents aren't together."
"Maybe a little," Luke said, shifting so he could put his head back on Reid's shoulder. "I just don't understand. They say that they love each other, but then they do things like this. It makes me really sad for me – for us. If they can't do it, if they can't last forever, how am I supposed to expect us to?" There was a hint of hysterical desperation in his voice.
"Because we're not Holden and Lily," Reid said simply. "As long as you promise that you're not going to up and marry Noah one day, then we'll be fine."
Luke chuckled. "I promise. But I am still sad for my parents. And Natalie and Ethan. They should have their parents together. I mean when I was a teenager and they were going back and forth between each other and other people, it really messed me up. I don't want that for Ethan, especially."
"You can't control your parents, Luke. But you can help your brother and I know that you will," Reid said.
"I'll try," Luke said, swinging his legs onto the coffee table and accidentally hitting the remote with his feet. The news channel rapidly changed to a music one.
"Oh! Sorry!" Luke said, taking his feet off the table and reaching over to change the channel back.
But Reid grabbed his hand. "No. Don't."
"What?" Luke looked at the older man in confusion.
Reid stood up and held out his hand to Luke. "Dance with me."
Luke stared at Reid for a minute and then broke into an enormous grin. He took the doctor's hand and stood up.
"What is this?" Luke asked suspiciously, while allowing Reid to envelope him in his arms and wrapped his own around Reid's neck.
"What? Did you never dance with Noah?" Reid said, his voice in a tone that was both sarcastic and incredulous.
"No, I did. But you? Dancing isn't exactly one of your top ten favorite things to do," Luke said, though they swayed together where they stood.
"Not in public," Reid said, looking at Luke and smiling.
"I always knew you were secretly a romantic," Luke said, smiling back at Reid.
"Yeah. And I'd like to keep a secret," Reid said, sheer panic showing in his eyes.
"I won't tell a soul. I promise," Luke said, kissing Reid. When they broke apart, Luke placed his cheek against Reid's.
"I love you," Reid whispered into the blonde's ear.
Luke smiled, said, "I love you, too," and closed his eyes, while tightening his grip around the doctor's neck.
The two lovers continued to sway on the spot for nearly an hour, until they were both tired and headed to the bedroom.