Thanks again for you reviews! It's cool to see that some people actually like this story.
After being sick for what felt like at least an hour, but in fact wasn't more than a few minutes, Reid sat on the floor, exhausted, his head leaning heavily against the cubicle wall. Normally, the very thought of sitting on the floor of a public toilet would have filled him with disgust, but at that moment Reid was beyond caring.
People use to say that when you're drunk, you feel better once you have been sick, but somehow that wasn't working for Reid here. Although his stomach had to be empty by now, he was still feeling pretty nauseous and far from sober. If only he…
The sound of the door to the men's room opening interrupted his blurry thoughts. "Reid", he heard Luke's worried voice call out. "Are you in here?"
Reid didn't reply, but since he had left the cubicle door open, Luke found him immediately and crouched down next to him. "Are you okay?", Luke asked gently. Reid just groaned. His head was spinning and he didn't trust himself to talk.
Carefully, almost shyly, Luke reached out his hand to touch Reid's cheek and tentatively caressed it with his thumb. "I'm sorry about what happened with Casey. And he is, too. Once he noticed what he had done, he felt like shit."
Reid rolled his eyes. Casey Hughes' feelings were the last thing he cared about right now. Why was Luke here anyway? Taking care of him, being kind and supportive after everything Reid had said to him last night. This was so typically Luke! And it was so typically him, Reid, to screw up like this again.
"Come on. Let me take you home!" Luke got to his feet and tried to drag Reid up, too. The very thought of having to move made Reid want to be sick again and the moment Luke finally managed to pull him into a standing position, he almost fell back again, if it hadn't been for Luke steadying him. His head was spinning even faster now.
"Listen", Luke said as if talking to child, cupping Reid's face in his hands and looking him straight into the eye. "Everything will be okay. You just have to last a few minutes longer and make it to your place, and then you can go to bed and sleep it all off. You're probably gonna be pretty hung-over tomorrow, though", he teased, trying a grin.
Somewhere inside his spinning, nausea-driven head Reid felt guilty as hell. Luke was again being the selfless, loving boyfriend he had already been with Noah, irrationally optimistic and always trying to make the best of everything.
Luke put his arms around Reid, holding him in a firm grip, and Reid allowed himself to be led out of the men's room and then out of the bar. A waiter handed Luke their jackets on their way out and the loss of Luke's second arm around him almost caused Reid to stumble.
He had to cling tightly to the younger man to stop himself from collapsing while Luke was putting on his jacket and in vain trying to help Reid to put on his. Once they were outside, however, the cold evening air on his cheeks made him feel a little better. The sudden cold caused him to shiver and Luke put his jacket around his shoulders.
Reid's intoxicated brain suddenly felt the need to express his feelings to Luke. "Luke! ... You are too good for me", he slurred. "Actually, you're too good for this world." Luke didn't reply, but kept half dragging, half pushing Reid through the night.
"I treat you like shit and you are still so good. You're so great and I'm such an asshole", Reid continued, still not getting a response from Luke. "I don't deserve you, Luke! You deserve someone much, much better, so much better…"
Luke still didn't say anything and Reid looked at him in confusion. Why was Luke looking so grim? Had Reid said anything wrong? He thought that everything he had told Luke just now was nice and bound to make him happy… Well, maybe Luke was just feeling cold. That would also explain why Luke was increasing his speed…
When they had finally arrived at Katie's place and Luke had let them in, Reid went straight for the sofa and collapsed on it. The room was spinning around him, faster and faster and his stomach started convulsing again.
Then suddenly Luke was beside him, holding a glass of water. "Drink this", he urged Reid, dragging him into a sitting position. "It will help you get better." Lacking the necessary will power to contradict, Reid took the glass into his shaking hand and drank, spilling half the water over his shirt and jacket.
He knew after the first swallow that he shouldn't have done this. His stomach wasn't able to cope with anything and once more he found himself running for the bathroom. Kneeling on the cold bathroom floor, he was sick again, and then everything went blank.
The next morning he awoke with what felt like the worst headache he had ever had in his life. He was sure that if somebody had cracked open his skull for surgery and then just left like that, the pain couldn't have been any worse.
He was lying in his bed, covered by his blanket, but still wearing the jeans and shirt he had worn the night before. Only his shoes and jacket had been removed and he spotted them on the floor beside the bed.
Reid tried to remember what exactly had happened last night, but his memory only revealed a distorted version of the events. He was able to put together more or less everything that had happened at Yo's and on the way home, but the rest was only blurry bits and pieces.
There was him being sick on the bathroom floor, Luke leading him to his bedroom, him lying in bed, shivering, and Luke softly stroking his hair…. Trying to wrap his mind around these images, Reid lay completely still and stared at the ceiling for every little movement caused his headache to multiply. He couldn't remember when he had last been that hung-over, but couldn't.
Reid closed his eyes again. The light from the window was only adding to the piercing pain in his head. Along with his gradually returning consciousness more memories of the previous day came back to him. The conversation with Bob, the decision he had to take, Luke…
Fuck, what the hell had he done getting drunk and then allowing Luke to look after him when he had come to the conclusion that it would be best for Luke, if he broke up with him immediately. Now that he had let Luke back in, this wouldn't be any easier. He only hoped that Luke had gone home…
Reid wondered if it was possible to stay in bed with his eyes closed and just shut off the rest of the world forever. He simply didn't feel up to facing his loss and to deal with Luke, Katie or Bob. Maybe, if he just pretended not to see or hear anything, if he didn't even open his eyes, they would eventually give up and leave him alone…
Unfortunately his thoughts and memories were not as easily shut off as the world outside and after several minutes of being tortured by his own mind, he decided that staying in bed was probably not a solution after all. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position.
There was a glass of water on his nightstand – Luke, of course, thoughtful as usual – which he emptied in one go, suddenly feeling the extreme thirst which was the inevitable consequence of getting drunk. One glass certainly wouldn't do.
Clumsily, he got out of bed. His headache was still killing him and as soon as he was standing, he was so dizzy that he had to concentrate hard on each of his movements in order to keep his balance.
Slowly and carefully, he started to make his way out of his room and into the hallway, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground to make sure he wouldn't stumble over one of Jacob's toys and fully collided with Luke.
Nearly collapsing due to the impact, he quickly reached for the wall in order to steady himself. They both looked at each other and Reid felt utterly uncomfortable. "Sorry, I really didn't see you", he broke the awkward silence and tried a grin. "I figured as much", a little smile materialized on Luke's face, quick, shy, but nevertheless touching.
"So you're finally up", Luke continued, examining Reid with his eyes. "How do you feel?" "Like shit!", Reid replied drily. "One should think that once you're in your thirties you have learned from past mistakes with alcohol… Well, I'm definitely learning now." Another quick smile. Another moment of silence.
"Thanks for taking me home and all", Reid added quickly. "It must have sucked considering the state I was in…" "Yeah, getting you home from the bar and then from the bathroom to your bed was a pretty tough job", Luke laughed nervously.
Reid grinned, too. "Sorry for giving you such a hard time", he joked and only then became aware of how stupid this was considering the way he had treated Luke the day before yesterday. What he owed Luke was a serious apology, not a stupid joke and from the shadow on Luke's face he could tell that Luke's thoughts were running along the same lines.
But as was typical with Reid, knowing what was the right thing to do and actually doing it were two completely different things. "I have to get some water. I'm dying of thirst here." He made his escape to the kitchen, took a bottle of water from the fridge and emptied it without once setting it down.
"Where's Katie?", he asked Luke, who had followed him. "Off to work. And Kim is sitting Jacob", Luke replied. "She was pretty surprised to find me here sleeping on her sofa, so I had to tell her … well … about why you weren't feeling well." Luke's voice sounded apologetic. "I hope that was okay", he added anxiously.
"Of course", Reid assured him absentmindedly. So Luke had spent the night here, on the sofa. Probably not wanting to leave Reid alone.
"Katie wanted to check in on you before she left, but I told her to let you sleep", Luke went on. "Thanks", Reid smiled at Luke, but cursed inwardly. Why did this guy have to be so amazing? Why was he making it so hard for Reid to break up with him?
"I had better take a shower. I still feel like shit." Reid hurried to his room, snatched some clean clothes and went on to the bathroom. Good, another escape. Bought himself some more time.
Reid took a long time showering, brushing his teeth several times and getting dressed. Since the warm water and the steam from the shower had done nothing to diminish his dizziness, he had to do everything very slowly and focus on every movement. He simply didn't feel up to any decision-making now.
When Reid finally came into the living room, Luke was still there, watching TV. Reid sighed. What he wanted now was privacy to think things through properly.
"Hey", Luke looked up when he heard Reid enter the room. "I've made you something to eat. There's nothing like eating something with lots of fat in it to fight a hangover."
He pointed at the kitchen table where Reid discovered a plate with a huge complete Reid-style sandwich on it. Reid had to swallow hard although he wasn't eating yet. He fought a sudden urge to run over to the sofa, just take Luke into his arms and kiss him. Instead, he sat down at the kitchen table and took a bite from his sandwich.
"Thanks!", he said with his mouth full. The sandwich was exactly like one of his, Luke hadn't left out a single ingredient. Only now that he was eating, did he realize how hungry he had been.
Luke was watching him and grinning. "What?", Reid inquired between chewing. "Nothing", Luke smirked. "It's just that you eat as if you were taking part in some competition." "This just shows you how much I appreciate your sandwich. You should be proud." They both laughed.
Luke got up and came towards the table. "Look Reid", he said, his face turning serious again. "I have an appointment at the foundation. Are you going to be okay? Or should I call and reschedule?"
"No!", Reid hurried to reply with emphasis. He stood up and took his plate to the sink. "I'm gonna be okay. All I need now is some more sleep. You have already done more than enough."
"Okay", Luke's voice didn't sound convinced. "Then I will go home and change." He took a few steps, but seemed reluctant to leave. He was looking lost and ever so young with his messy blond hair and dark brown eyes.
He couldn't just let him leave like this. Not after everything he had done. "Luke!" The blonde stopped and Reid went over to him, looking him straight into the eyes. "Thank you!", he said solemnly, carefully touching Luke's shoulder. And before he could help it, he had wrapped his arms around the younger man. All he could see were those deep magnetic brown eyes before he completely closed the distance between them and took Luke's soft lips in a deep kiss.
I think this was the longest chapter so far. Hope you liked it.