After a restful night's sleep—no shenanigans at Luke's, unfortunately—Reid woke to the sound of his beeper vibrating on the nightstand.

The beeper number that flashes across the screen is all too familiar. Damn, Reid thinks. Memorial buzzing him at five am on his day off—not a good sign. He creeps out of Luke's bed, sliding off the sheets slowly so as not to disturb him. Reid's hands are a little unsteady this morning due to sleeping on his knuckles. His hands spent the night smothered under the pillow. It was the only motion that could stop Reid, that he could use to hold himself back to embracing Luke all night. The pull of Luke's body and his feathery hair, soft and touchable with the gel washed out, is hard to resist.

The tiled bathroom tingles Reid's feet. Luke Snyder has lived in Oakdale his whole life. This must have been where he brushed his teeth before the first day of school, where he first noticed his budding physique—and then wondered if it was good enough for anyone.

The beeper vibrates again. "All right, all right." Reid uses his cell to dial Bob Hughes' extension at the hospital. "Hello?" Reid whispers because Luke's soft snoring is only a few feet away.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Oliver, but Dr. Hughes called in sick today. He couldn't have called you." The receptionist chuckles. Reid doesn't know why, but he thinks a lot of people chuckle when they're scared or nervous. He thought about changing for them, just once, to see how people would react. His head nurse at the time had a heart attack. (That was the end of the more-jovial-Reid experiment.)

"Dr. Oliver? Linda, you can hang up now. Thanks for fielding the call."

"Who is this?"

"Dr. Oliver, I'm so glad I caught you. My son hit his head when he dove into a pool, and now he's been having blackouts and seizures. Please, I need your help. He hasn't been able to swim since the accident. We've tried epilepsy medication, but it's ineffective."

Reid pauses, waits a beat before speaking. The distraught woman thinks he's analyzing the situation, but he calculated possible treatment options and risks already. Though his hands are shaky, his brain is not. Reid is really swallowing all the remarks his less experienced self would say. After he saw Luke's pain when Noah was in an awful place, he tries to be a little nicer.

Sometimes, the snide comments escape anyway. "I could give him an inner tube."

"Please, just tell me he can be helped. You're the best in the field. Please. He's only ten. He has his whole life to live."

"If the medication hasn't worked, there are two options: wait for the brain to heal itself, which could take months of therapy and not work at all, or the surgery."

"You'll do the surgery?" she says eagerly.

"The surgery has a high improvement of the quality of life, but the dangers are equal, if not greater, compared to the benefits."

"What do you suggest?"

"Do the therapy. The first few months are the most important. Other than that, try to have him live a normal life. Call me any time if you have questions, and send the updated reports to my office at Memorial."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Oliver."

Reid hangs up. "I can't see why it couldn't wait till morning, though. If she expected me to be less of a grouch at five am…" He's not exactly a morning person, but he knows his time with Luke has mellowed him out a little. He flicks off the fluorescent lights and tiptoes back into bed. Reid's wide awake now, but Luke is still having a snoring marathon. He languishes under the covers for a while, savoring the heat emanating from both their bodies.

A few days later at Memorial, Linda winks at him.

"Do you have something in your eye?" Reid snaps.

"I hear you're in the running for an award tonight at the annual dinner. I hope you get it. You certainly deserve it."

His gaze softens and he manages a small smile. "Thank you," he says, a little dazed. Dinner? What awards dinner? Damn Bob's flu. It's put him behind on all his paperwork. Since this is Reid's first year at Memorial, he didn't know there was an "annual" dinner. It doesn't help that Reid's been spending the last couple of nights at Luke's, either. He hasn't even ventured to check his email, much less seen the memo buried under piles of photo attachments from Luke. Luke believed there could never be enough lolcats in one's inbox.

Luke! Oh, no, Reid thinks. Tonight is the awards dinner. Tonight is also the night I promised Luke would be fantastic. I'm the worst date in the world on Valentine's Day. He hopes the drive across town in the junk bucket will give him some ideas.

But the dinner is at nine, and Reid is supposed to pick Luke up for dinner at seven. What kind of V-Day date ditches his boyfriend in the early evening? A crappy one, that's what.

The phone rings, and Reid jumps up from the couch, where he aimlessly shifts the bishop across the board. He doesn't want to be too early—or too late. Is fifteen minutes early too early? Is five minutes late too careless? He has no idea.

"Hello?" he says, hoping it isn't Luke. What if his care broke down? What if the restaurant went on fire. He tries to swallow the desperate, anxious tone in his voice. Stop being ridiculous, he tells himself. It's just a date. The most important date ever.

"Good luck tonight," Katie says.

"Oh, it's you." Reid out a sigh of relief. "How's the retreat going?"

"Don't even try to change the subject. I want details—where are you going, what are you doing after—"

"After?" He glances at the clock. Five to seven—if he hurries, he can get there at seven exactly. "Gotta go. I'll tell you all about this fiasco later. I hate Valentine's Day." He swipes the phone back on its hook and snatches his coat from the table.

"I bet you look handsome. I hope you and Luke have fun."

Luke paces by the door. Reid is hardly ever late, and he wouldn't be late for such a special occasion—would he? Luke adjusts his black tie, with its stiffening grip around his neck. When Reid knocks, Luke is so thrilled he practically pulls the door off its hinges. "Hey!"

Reid steps inside, blushing. "Hey, you."

Luke takes his hands and clasps them within his. "Happy Valentine's Day." They kiss, lightly at first, more tender than passionate. Reid wraps his arms around Luke, pulling him closer. The kiss becomes fierce and desperate, tongue running over tongue. It's as if each of them have been searching their whole lives for the other, and now that they're finally together, they're terrified to let go.

Reid takes a break for air first, feeling guilty. He shouldn't be setting Luke up for this night of disappointment. He gently slides Luke's hand off his face and the other off his waist. He inhales deeply. Luke is intoxicating. It's hard to concentrate, but he needs to try to pull himself away. He's getting too close. He wants to be too close. Reid's brain fights his body.

"Was that a bit too much? Need a breather?" Luke laughs, cocks his head to the side. "I'll go a little slower next time."

"No, you were great…that was great." Reid smiles slightly. He hates to spoil this evening. Luke looks…shiny, almost. Like a broken little toy being fixed and polished up to treasure once more. Reid knows he'll always treasure Luke—but will Luke still know this when Reid leaves him behind for the dinner? He only chose his career over Luke once before, and that was when he thought Luke was taken. "It's nothing, really. I'm just a little dizzy, that's all."

"What? Maybe you should lie down."

"It's probably just too much caffeine buildup," Reid lies. To say Luke's happiness is overwhelming him, making him shake all over, would be too corny. Luke puts his hands on his forehead. "Stop babying me, I'm fine. Come on, I have reservations at the restaurant."

Though the place is renowned for their excellent service, an hour after they're seated, their food still hasn't arrived. Reid can't help checking his watch under the table.

"Is everything okay?" Luke says.

Reid hesitates, glancing frantically around for the waiter and an easy escape. No such luck.

"Reid?"

"I'm the worst boyfriend you've ever had, and that includes that douchebag, Noah. I'm too much a coward to tell you why I'm a wreck tonight."

"If you're nervous because I was afraid I wouldn't like it, don't worry, I—"

"It's not about you!" Reid snaps. Luke's face falls. "Shit, no, I didn't mean it like that. I mean—you're not he problem. You're wonderful."

"Am I? Aren't you about to get up and walk away from me?"

"What? How did you—"

"So it's true. Some guy is paging you early in the morning to thank you for a good time the other day and you want to go pay him for a visit. You didn't think I heard you creeping to your phone in the middle of the night? Aren't I good enough for the famous Dr. Reid Oliver?" Luke throws his napkin on the table. "You know what? I'm done."

Reid reaches across the table and grabs Luke's hands, almost spilling over the drinks in the process. The salad bowl teeters terrifyingly close to the edge of the table.

"Memorial's annual awards dinner is tonight," Reid blurts out. "Now, to be specific. The gossip mill is saying I'm getting Surgeon of the Year—which just might make Doogie cry, seeing as I've been here just about eight months. It would have been awesome to see his face."

"Would have been?"

"I'm staying with you, Luke. I'll always stay with you, if you'll have me."

Luke leaves his arms crossed. "But what about the incredible Beeper Boy?"

"Just a concerned patient's parent. A mom."

Luke exhales deeply, trying to take it all in. "So you're not seeing anyone."

"I know I try to be a good person for you, but the reality is, most of the world thinks I'm a hardass jerk. And sometimes, I am. But I'd hoped, from this one night on, I could plant you in front of my ego and career and you could stay there. Luke Snyder, you are the most incredible person I've ever met." Luke looks up from glaring at his napkin, startled. Reid leans over the table, the salad bowl shakes, and he kisses Luke on the cheek.

Luke smiles, his sternness slipping away. "I'm sorry I was suspicious."

Reid settles back in his chair. "Happens to the best of us." He turns off his beeper under the table. Tonight belongs to just him and Luke.