The next morning Reid woke up an hour before the alarm went off, tossed, and turned thinking about what the hospital board's decision was and not wanting to call them back.

After about fifteen minutes of tossing and turning, Luke rolled over and said,

"Will you stop that? You're making me feel seasick with all the movement."

"Sorry. I'll get up and go in the living room."

"What is going on with you, Reid? I've slept with you long enough to know that when you toss and turn you have a lot on your mind."

"I guess I should've told you this yesterday, but the hospital board called with their decision and I never called them back. But I can't put it off forever."

"Well for the sake of both of your sanity's will you please just call them? I'll be here no matter what they tell you. I'm not going anywhere."

Luke got up then and headed for the bathroom.

Reid sighed and picked up his blackberry from the nightstand.

After three rings, he got a hold of the director's assistant,

"Hi, this is Dr. Oliver; I am returning the director's call."

"Oh, hello Dr. Oliver. Will you please hold for one minute?"

"Sure."

Reid waited patiently for two minutes, when the director picked up,

"Hey, Oliver! Just wanted to let you know the decision was unanimous. You're back in. Plus, Mr. Mayer called and said he was mistaken. Also, we're looking for a fourth in golf, so we wanted to know if you wanted to join our golf group on Wednesdays."

Reid let out a sigh of relief and chuckle at the same time,

"I'll get back to you on that, but thanks for the news."

"No problem, you're free to come back whenever you'd like, even today."

"Does this mean I get my old office back?"

"Of course. I'll even have someone put flowers in there to welcome you back."

Reid laughed at that and hung up the phone. He dropped it back on the nightstand and headed into the bathroom.

Luke was just stepping out and Reid was shaving.

"So… what was the verdict?"

Reid looked at him in the mirror,

Reid just shrugged.

Luke came up behind him and hugged him,

"I'm sorry, Reid. I thought you'd be reinstated."

Reid put down the razor and wiped his face off,

"Oh, you wanted to know about my job? Yeah, I'm reinstated and I got my old office back."

Luke punched him in the arm,

"You are such an ass, Reid."

Reid just laughed as Luke went into the bedroom.

Reid jumped in the shower then and Luke only once flushed the toilet while he was in there, so he knew Luke wasn't too mad at him.

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting at the table eating his cereal, when Katie walked out to grab some coffee,

"So did you ask him, Reid?"

"Ask me, what?"

Luke had just come from their bedroom,

"Oh nothing important."

Katie mouthed the word, sorry to him and went to the nursery,

"Come on, Reid. What were you going to ask me?"

"Really, Luke. It's not important. "

"Come on, Luke. It obviously is important if you talked to Katie about it."

"Well for the record, Katie is the one who suggested I ask, it wasn't my idea. She thinks you should move in, since you practically live here anyway and you buy groceries to restock the refrigerator."

"So are you asking me to move in with you?"

"I guess, it makes sense."

"Wow, how romantic of you. You tell me that Katie thinks I should move in, and instead of asking me to move in because, you want me to, you think it makes sense. "

"Luke, I didn't mean it like that."

"Well, let me tell you something, Reid. When and if I move in with you, it will be because you want to live with me and can't imagine not. I'm not going to move in, simply because it makes sense. "

Luke went around and grabbed all of the things he had left at the apartment over the past month,

"Where are you going, Luke?"

"I'm going back to my mother's. "

"You don't have to move in with me, okay? I mean, we can be what we were before."

"No, we can't Reid. I need to know that we are going somewhere, and not simply just for convenience. "

"Does this mean you're breaking up with me?"

"No… I don't know, Reid. I can't imagine my life without you, I just need some time. I'll call you. I promise."

Reid watched helplessly as Luke left with everything.

He let the tears fall then that had been building up.

He had really fubared that.

When did things get so complicated?

He felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach and ripped his heart out, and it was no one's fault but his own.

He thought back to meeting Luke.

The first time on the phone, he was intrigued and annoyed, then he met Luke and he was attracted and pissed.

I mean how someone could incite such passion and anger in him at the same time was beyond him

Luke made him feel alive for the first time, but he also got under his skin and irritated him more than just about anyone else had done.

He was challenging, he was everything Reid had sworn he never needed or wanted. He was a distraction and God help him, he craved it. He didn't want anything else. Now that he knew what it felt like to love unabashedly and with reckless abandonment, he didn't want to go back to what he had been before.

He grabbed his things and headed for the hospital. He needed to take his mind off all things Luke.

He did great up until lunchtime. He opened his lunch to find another note from Luke.

He nearly crumpled the paper and threw it away, but he was a glutton for punishment and read it anyways.

Instead of a love letter from a famous person, it was all Luke,

Reid, I know that I have not been the easiest person to get along with. I've made your life hell and I've forced you to do things I know you would've never done for anyone else. I am so grateful and thankful for each day that I wake up and you are there, loving me and showing me that I am worthy of your love. I have never experienced anything like this before and you've opened my eyes to the possibility and wonder of true, eternal love. Plato once said that in each person burns a flame, and that there is someone in who burns a flame that is identical to yours. People search their entire life to find their twin flame, the person that makes them complete, their soul mate. I truly believe I have found mine, in you. There is no one else for me, in this life or any other. Even if we were separated, there will always ever only be one true, perfect, eternal love for me, and that man is you. I love you more than I can put into words. Thank you for showing me true, unconditional love. You are the man of my dreams. I can't imagine my life without you, without waking up every day in our bed and seeing your beautiful blue eyes, holding you, and feeling safe in your arms.

All my love,

Luke

Reid wept then. There was no holding back the tidal wave of emotions that swept through him. He just laid his head on his desk and cried. He felt as if he had lost everything. He had done to Luke what Noah had always done. He had pushed him away. He was no different than Noah.

He heard someone clearing their throat then. He looked up to see Alison in his office doorway.

He didn't have the strength or will to say anything mean to her. He wiped his eyes,

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Reid crumpled the paper and dropped the note into the wastebasket.

He headed to the bathroom then and splashed water on his face. He looked like hell. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his cheeks were bright red, and his nose was running.

He simply wasn't up for anything else.

So he took a half day.

He headed to the park and sat on the bench. He felt drained; people watching usually cheered him up because he could make fun of people. But Luke was usually with him.

He sat there for an hour without moving.

Suddenly he felt someone sit down next to him,

"Man, I was so wrong about you."

Reid looked over to see Alison

"Shouldn't you be at work putting IVs in?"

"My shift is done, Reid. Why were you crying earlier?"

"That is none of your damn business."

"Does it have anything to do with this?"

Reid looked over to see Alison holding Luke's note out to him. She had uncrumpled it and smoothed it out as best as she could.

"Why does it matter? Why do you care?"

"Because Luke is one of my best friends."

"And Noah. I remember. You are team Noah."

"Yes. Noah is my friend, and yes I wanted Noah and Luke to work things out, when that was what they both wanted. But honey, Luke moved on. I didn't understand why he wanted to be with you, but this letter right here, I don't care anymore."

"It doesn't matter. Luke and I are on a break or something."

"What happened?"

"I asked him to move in, he said no. Then he took all his things back to his mom's house."

"Uh-huh. How exactly did you ask him to move in with you?"

"I maybe said that it was Katie's idea and that he should move in because it's convenient."

"Wow, you are truly such a guy. There is no way in hell that you two are done, if Luke wrote that letter. He's just hurting. He will come back around, but you need to do something epic and grand to show him that you actually want to be with him."

"How exactly do I do that?"

"Flowers, candles, be romantic."

"I'm not good at things like that."

"I can help you with that."

"Why would you help me, you hate me?"
"I don't hate, you Reid. I just didn't know you."

"Okay, so what's your idea?"
"Give him a list of reasons why you can't live without him."

Alison pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen.

Reid just looked at her, then started talking about all the things that Reid would miss if Luke were to truly leave.