Author's Notes:
FIRSTLY, there are a few little texts in this one that look better formatted but there isn't a real need to link you to a formatted copy like Chapter 26 and 28!
This was a difficult chapter to write because there was so much I wasnted to get in and mention and it was difficult to structure. I still managed to get my little Reid/Jacob obsession in there though, ha! I hope it's ok to follow and don't worry if there are maybe a few things unresolved or not mentioned- they will be :)
Hope you enjoy and DON'T HATE me... things will be fine :P Please excuse me for any mistakes I may have made! xxx

Luke gulped another mouthful of coffee and rubbed his stinging eyes. After nearly two weeks of being in England and studying intensively without the complexity of Oakdale University's politics and his past discretions, he felt good. Exhausted but whole- or more complete than when he arrived.

He missed home though. He'd even woken up and shocked himself one morning as he glanced around the bedroom in blind confusion. England was different but not too far fetched so that it was a shock to the system. He'd enjoyed the change and no doubt embarrassed himself taking photographs of red double decker buses but it had all been escapist- especially the writing.

Away from the shackles of family disfunction and the drama of Oakdale, Luke found his shoulders a little looser and mind a little clearer, mainly because its contents were being spilled onto paper on a daily basis. He'd written so much. The course coordinators commented on his writing and style saying it was 'full of heart', 'achingly honest', 'a touch of naivity met with a wealth of experience' and his personal favourite 'infused with passion'. That's how he felt...finally. He smiled, licking the caffeine from his lips, and glanced at the clock.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit." Luke wasn't a swearer but it was called for. Rubbing his aching temples, he picked up his pen again and scribbled, the writing lump on his finger burning under the friction. Four hours. Four hours to go.

Buzz.

I know you're still awake. Sleep. R x

Luke felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to see him, even for a second. Longest two weeks in history.

I am asleep :P

Luke- those tablets you're on do not like tired bodies. Sleep. Now. R x

Luke replied, ending with hearts and kisses, promising to sleep. He lied.

The end of course assignment was simple- write a creative piece centred around something that inspires you. They were all entered into a file and sent to a publisher's house in central London and considered for an internship placement. Luke wanted it. Badly. He didn't think he'd slept properly in three days but his muse was out in force and he just had to keep writing. After spending the night in a local restaurant with his other course mates and eating way too much, Luke's body was crying out for sleep, his eye twitching and back strained from sitting upright. He fought it, widening his unfocused eyes and getting down to work. Four hours until hand-in. It was 3am.

"We don't approve of this Jacob. Ok? Just you remember that. No matter how many times your mum tries to convince you that this is entertainment. It's not. We watch and we mock." Jacob gurgled on Reid's knee, his malleable neck swinging back and hitting his chest. "Yes that's right. You know what's good for you. Whether it's Grey's Anatomy or ER or whatever... what do we do?" Jacob giggled again, a line of drool dripping down his chin as he clasped Reid's fingers and bounced on the spot. "That's it! We watch and we mock. I knew we'd get along just great."

In the comfort of the dimly lit lounge, Reid sat with baby on lap and a small blue towel thrown over his shoulder. After a small disagreement with a bottle earlier, Reid's shirt was decorated with a white splat mark but everything else remained calm and orderly. Reid felt smug and awash with contentment. There was something about spending time with a baby alone that was soothing for the soul. The man to man conversation was hardly scintillating but Reid was, as much as it pained him to realise it, having fun. They'd scaled the very heights of neurosurgery, contemplated Jacob's many possible futures, dissected Reid's relationship with Luke so far, lightly touched upon the pain of losing a patient, discussed the highs and well, mainly the lows, of Katie's newfound attraction to Doogie Hughes. Reid had taken too much pleasure in noticing that Jacob giggled gleefully at the word 'Doogie'. Kid has his head screwed on, he concluded and had proceeded to discuss his route to med school.

Reid prised the remote from Jacob's sticky fingers and jabbed the button to get rid of Patrick Dempsey's face in a flash. Much better, he thought.

"So kiddo, it's getting late. You need... what do babies need before bed?"

Jacob lolled his head back again to meet Reid's chest and gazed into adult eyes, listening intently and smiling at every sound. He clutched still to Reid's fingers and steadied himself.

"Don't look at me like that... Cheeky," Reid teased with a nudge of the baby's chubby chin, "were going to get you ready. Come on or your mom will castrate me for keeping you up so late and that, my friend, would not be pretty. You can stop smiling. It'd be awful, you're a guy you can imagine."

Jacob squealed and squirmed in Reid's arms as they made their way chatting into the nursery. "If only your Uncle Luke could see us now. Can you imagine the smug face he'd have? I can. Disgusting. It's best he never finds out about our nights, ok?" Reid asked into Jacob's now horizontal face, half covered with a blanket as he kicked and played in his crib. "Of course, you're done with me. I know when I'm not wanted. Your blanket is now the most interesting thing in the world. Hey kid, enjoy it while you can. Sleep well germ breeder." With a quick smile and an affectionate caress of the baby's head, Reid left the nursery quietly and turned off the small blue lamp.

As he tidied the lounge (Katie would only call him a messy teenager again if he didn't) and prepared for bed, Reid checked his phone again. There were no texts or missed calls from Luke. At last, he thought, he gets the hint and goes to sleep.

With a smile, his mind wandering to a tucked up Luke Snyder, Reid cringed at his own blatant sentimentality and tiptoed into his room to scan a few journals before lights out.

...

"Morning handsome!"

Luke groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. Rough didn't even begin to cover it.

"Morning Rosie. You can spare the handsome, I look-" Luke stopped mid sentence and rubbed a still bed-warm hand over his back. So unnecessary, he thought, stop hurting and let me have my day.

"Hey hey hey now. What's with the screwed up face? What's wrong?" Rosie placed a gentle palm on Luke's shoulder, rubbing soothingly.

Luke straightened again, tugging his bag over his arm and ironing out his face again. Got to keep going. "I'm good. Ignore me, I just hardly slept last night trying to finish this piece and I wanted it to be perfect. How about you?"

They walked in conversation down the creaking stairs of the dusty bed and breakfast and out into the cold air. By the time they reached the hall, both were a little nervous.

"So, who first?" Rosie asked, an excitable smirk on her face.

"I will be glad to hand this in and know that by tonight I'll be on a plane back to Oakdale to surprise Reid and smother him in kisses." Luke's cheeks flushed. They did that now when Reid's name was mentioned.

"Oh you're such a cutie pie aren't you?" she teased, pinching his cheeks as he flinched and laughed, "but are you certain you're talking about the same Reid? I don't see Doctor Oliver taking lightly to being smothered in kisses. Isn't he a little... I don't know..."

"Cold?" Luke asked sharply, prompting Rosie's reply.

Her eyebrows raised in surprised, she answered, "Well, yes."

"He's different. He'd say he hated it. He'd probably even protest but I know him. He secretly loves every second. I swear it's my stubbornness and persistence that got me anywhere. I owe it a lot." He laughed, letting his mind wander.

"Well, you're clearly the man for it. He even smiled at me the day before we left for England."

Luke giggled, imagining the pain it must have caused him. "Oh he gives a new meaning to the word complicated, that's for sure. It's strange though because when we're together... there's nothing simpler, nothing easier. I don't know. Anyway. We have our submissions to hand in."

Rosie blinked and frowned. "Ok right. Managed to distract ourselves there didn't we?" Luke nodded with a grin. It was easy to put off anything with motor-mouth Rosie Dawes.

"I'll see you out here afterwards." Luke asked, tugging at his scarf from his neck and straightening the paper inside the plastic folder. He suddenly felt exhausted, something pulled at his spine, dragging him down into the ground and forcing him to rest, to stop. He forced it to shut up. This was a possible internship at Random House or another incredible publisher. No way was some tired episode going to get in the way. He disconnected himself from his jelly legs – just nerves, he thought-, he shrugged off the pain in his lower back- those awful wooden chairs were not built for writers, he mused- and as he climbed the stone steps, he shook off the nausea in his stomach- that coffee binge was maybe a bad idea. He thought of his family as he continued, and how proud they'd be, how Lucinda would brag about it to her many contacts, how Lily's eyes would light up when she spoke about his future again, how Grandma Emma would throw her arms around him and whisper into his hair how proud she was and the way Holden's voice would sound when he said "my son"-full of pride and aspiration. It would be like old times. Reid crossed his mind. It wasn't rare for Luke to wonder why a genius neurosurgeon was so interested in a college drop out with no prospects and two jobs handed to him on a plate. He's going to leave when he realises I'm not that special, he concluded daily. This was at least something that might change things, keep him around. It was too long since he felt worthy of being respected and truly deserving of praise. He'd made mistakes and screwed up one too many times but this was something good, something so admirable and done entirely alone. It was a positive step ahead in a future that Luke felt was shaping up nicely. Fuelling that fiery passion again, Luke stepped through the large wooden door and sighed, reclaiming himself and heading to have a shot at securing a future.

...

Reid, whistling and secretly carrying a steaming caramel latte with all the trimmings disguised under a coffee lid, kicked open the on-call room door. He dressed slowly in scrubs and tucked his stethoscope lead into one pocket. I'm back at work, Luke is back tomorrow, my roommate owes me one, I slept well and I have four hours of detangling brains, Reid sang inwardly, this is going to be a good day.

"Aha, Reid, Morning."

"Bob. Now, can I stay today, am I safe to actually do my duties or do you want me to take the day off to go bake or feed ducks?" Reid's eyes danced playfully, sarcasm dripping in true trademark style.

"Such wonderful suggestions, maybe keep those options in mind next time you have a day off," Bob started with a wise smile, sitting in one of the blue seats by the door, "but no, you're present, correct and wanted in surgery in an hour. You're early but I'm hardly going to complain about that."

Reid laughed a little, stopped himself then took a seat opposite. "Good because the wrath you'd get wouldn't be pretty."

"Oh I can well imagine."

They fell into a comfortable silence, intermittently interrupted by slurps of coffee, the flutter of newspaper pages and the odd echo of machines down the hall. It was music to Reid Oliver's ears.

Buzz.

Incoming Call – Luke Snyder.

Reid let a lazy smile tug at his lips. He just couldn't wait before tomorrow, could he?

"Well hello there Wordsworth, to what do I owe this distinct pleasure?"

"Doctor Oliver? Reid?"

The voice wasn't Luke's. It was frantic and sharp. Reid's heart quickened and his skin instantly paled.

"Who is this?"

"Doctor Oliver, it's Rosie. Nurse Dawes?"

"I know who you are. What is it?"

"Doctor Oliver, it's Luke... I think you should come right away."