The next day, after Noah had left for the preparations before the first day of the festival, Luke got ready for his lunch with Reid. Seeing Reid the previous day at the hospital had brought to Luke a happiness and giddiness that he couldn't explain and that he hadn't felt in a long time. Until he had come face to face with Reid, he hadn't completely realized just how much he had missed the doctor over the years. Their exchange of snarky comments and their bickering had always intrigued and enamored Luke who, upon thinking of their brief but wonderful relationship, realized how much their back-and-forth verbal matches had made being with Reid so exciting. He also came to realize just how sorely he missed that kind of excitement in his relationship with Noah.
At 11:30 Luke left their hotel room and took a taxi to Local, the restaurant where Reid had said to meet him. Despite leaving a half hour early, Luke got to the restaurant only five minutes early.
When he entered the restaurant, Luke saw that Reid was already there, sitting at a table waiting for him. Luke smiled. He must have wanted to talk to me more than he let on. He hates getting places early. Enthusiastic about this lunch, Luke made his way to the table.
"Hi," Luke said, sitting down. "Is traffic always this bad here?"
"Yes," Reid said shortly. "I must say, one of the few graces of Oakhell was that I could walk everywhere and get to places on time."
Luke smiled. "So how've you been, Reid?" Luke asked once they had ordered.
Reid looked at Luke for a minute before answering. "I've been okay," he said slowly but confidently. "Busy with the hospital."
"I saw that you performed a miracle surgery," Luke said. "Not that I'm surprised. I'm sure that every surgery you perform successfully seems like a miracle to those lowly peons that surround you." Despite the years apart, Luke felt himself sinking back into the comfortableness of sarcastically boosting Reid's ego that he had had when they had been dating.
Reid's mouth twitched in his attempt not to smile. "How are you?" Reid asked as a humongous triple-decker hamburger was placed in front of him and a regular one in front of Luke.
"I'm good," Luke said, as Reid immediately bit into his food. "I'm still working at the Foundation and my mom is still as annoying as ever."
"Still making you go to those stuffy black-tie affairs?" Reid asked through a mouthful of beef.
"Yep. Lots of parties you wouldn't like," Luke said, smiling slightly.
"Does Noah like them?" Reid asked, almost absentmindedly. Luke's face fell and his body tensed.
"Sort of. More than you," Luke said slowly. "But it was a lot more fun seeing you there. So uncomfortable and itching to leave the moment we got there."
Luke's kind words were unbearable to Reid who said bluntly, "Why did you want to talk to me? Was it just because Noah's too busy with his movies to care about you."
Luke was taken aback. "I wanted to talk because I wanted to see how you were doing."
"I'm not a fragile piece of chinaware, Luke. You didn't break me," Reid said, getting mean now.
"I didn't say you were fragile," Luke said, getting angry. But he relished in the fire he felt inside him at the argument brewing between them. It was a passion that was missing between him and Noah. "I just…you were once a major part of my life and like any normal person would do, I wanted to know what you'd been doing since I last saw you."
Reid heard the hurt in Luke's voice and it softened him. "I'm fine, like I said before."
The ends of Luke's mouth twitched in a shadow of a smile. "Have you been seeing anyone?" It was the question Luke most wanted answered.
Reid stared at Luke for a minute and then said, "Here or there." But his voice sounded strange. "Nothing that lasted too long."
"Oh. I'm sorry," Luke said, though some tiny part of him was glad. "I saw the way you were with that girl's parents. It was very compassionate. I'm glad you didn't lose that human side of you I worked so hard to bring out." Luke smirked.
"Yeah. Well, what can I say? It feels nice sometimes," Reid said, as the check was placed on the table.
Before Reid could even lift his hand to take it, Luke grabbed it. "I'm paying."
"You don't have to –" Reid said.
"I know. I want to," Luke said, as Reid's beeper went off.
Luke smiled at the familiar sound. "I missed that," he said softly without thinking.
Reid's heart constricted, but he said nothing other than, "I have to go." Reid stood up and grabbed his jacket. Before he left, he said, "Thanks for the lunch, Luke. It was good to see you." He left.
Luke paid the bill and went back to the hotel. Once he was back in the room, Luke sat down on one of the chairs and buried his head in his hands. Today's lunch had felt so natural, like getting back on a bike after years of not riding one. It had also brought to him a feeling of peacefulness and tranquility he hadn't felt since he had gotten back together with Noah.
"Because I still feel like I have to fight to stand next to him. It doesn't come easily like with Reid," Luke said aloud to himself.
And suddenly everything was clear as crystal to Luke.