The next two weeks went by faster than he could have imagined. As planned he and his fellow Snyder men had moved the boxes from his apartment to the farm house on Monday. He'd even spoken to Noah near the end of the week. It was a brief but necessary phone call in which Noah let Luke know that he'd moved all of his stuff out as well and that he'd talked to the landlord and sorted everything out. They still had to pay that month's rent but other than that they were officially no longer the residents of that apartment. The call left Luke feeling empty inside and so he laid out at the pond again. The next day Lily took him apartment browsing and bought him lunch. Luke made sure not to bring up Reid with Lily. While he knew that his mother's heart was in the right place, he also knew that she would react badly because of Noah, whom she still considered to be family. Or maybe he was just afraid to admit to her that he was moving on so soon. Either way, the conversation never took place, and it didn't bother him a bit.
Each night Luke fell asleep thinking about Reid. Some nights they were good thoughts, imagining seeing him again and what they would do together. Other nights he worried about the fact that Reid hadn't tried to text or call once. Then again, Luke hadn't initiated anything, either, and so he would usually fall asleep in good spirits.
The second Friday morning came and Luke woke before his alarm like a child on Christmas morning. He'd packed the night before and left Reid a voicemail letting him know that he'd be in around 4pm and was staying through Sunday morning again. When it was just about time to get going Luke returned to his room and grabbed up his things. Just as he was getting ready to leave his room his phone went off. He checked it anxiously, finding that he had a new text. It was from Reid. Immediately his face lit up, especially when he read it:
"I'll be expecting your call at four fifteen."
Luke smiled, able to pick up Reid's attitude through the phone. He knew that Reid was trying to sound nonchalant, but with Luke, it wasn't working.
He was smiling endlessly as he came bounding down the stairs into the kitchen, still holding the phone and viewing Reid's text, though that smile faded the moment he saw Noah sitting there at the table with a somber look painted on his face.
"Luke," Noah said quickly, standing as soon as he saw the blond enter the room. His eyes widened and Luke felt his face take on a similar expression.
"Noah?" said Luke in reply, unable to hide his surprise. He dropped his duffel bag on the ground and set his laptop bag carefully on the counter along with his cell phone that he had quickly snapped shut. "What are you doing here?"
"I, well," Noah stuttered. "I heard that you were going out of town again and I wanted to talk to you before you left," he explained nervously.
Luke crossed his arms protectively, leaning against the counter, unable to look Noah in the face. Noah gulped.
"Look, Luke… I hate how we left things a few weeks ago. I was angry and frustrated about my movie and I said some things I didn't mean," Noah began. Luke felt his chest tightening uncomfortably. "I know we've made things official; we haven't really talked since that night, we're already trying to move on, we've moved out of the apartment," his voice cracked, "but the thing is, I still can't let go of it all."
Luke had no idea just how wide his eyes were. He was now staring at Noah, biting the inside of his lip and trying to keep himself together.
"Luke, say something…" Noah pleaded.
"What do you want me to say, Noah?" Luke exclaimed wearily.
"Just, please, tell me you'll think about it," said Noah, stepping up to Luke. He reached for Luke's hand but Luke looked away, so Noah changed his mind. "We're finishing the movie today. I know you're going to be gone all weekend, but I was hoping that when you get back, you and I could try to talk, figure things out."
Luke clenched his jaw, staring away from Noah.
"Please, Luke," he said again, putting a hand tentatively on Luke's arm. "I'm not asking you to forget what happened, I just want to see if we can't work something out." Luke looked up, his eyes wide with uncertainty but also with longing. He managed to barely smile, and nodded.
"Okay. We'll talk when I get back," he said softly. Noah smiled weakly. They didn't say anything else before Noah left. Luke turned, trying to process the short conversation. His eyes fell on his phone and he found that he couldn't look at it for too long.
Luke finally forced himself to gather his things and head to the airport. Not quite four hours later he was landing in Dallas. It was 4pm. Right on time. His things were loaded into the car and they started into town. He glanced at his phone every two minutes, watching as 4:15 approached and passed. Around 4:30 they arrived at the hotel. Luke pulled his bags onto his shoulder and headed inside. He checked in and was just headed toward the elevator when a handsome man sitting in a chair across from the desk caught his eye.
Reid.
And not a happy looking Reid at that.
Luke stopped dead in his tracks. "Reid?"
Reid didn't reply, just casting him one of his famous "you're an idiot" looks. Luke sighed.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, I had this crazy idea, and I mean that literally, to surprise you here. Then you didn't call…" he trailed off.
Luke frowned. "I'm sorry, I should have called."
"So you were purposely ignoring me? And here I thought maybe you just forgot, or your phone stopped working," he said in a mock singsong voice.
"Reid, will you please just listen? I'm sorry, it's been a rough day," Luke sighed. Reid stood up and ran a hand over his hair, sighing as well.
"Fine. But only because I'm in a strangely good mood today, obviously," he said, referencing the fact that he had gone out of his way to be there in the first place.
"I should get my stuff put in my room. Do you want to walk with me? We can talk on the way," Luke suggested.
"Alright. But what I said last time still sticks; don't think you can trick me into your hotel room and seduce me, Mr. Snyder," he said with a faint grin. Luke smiled, glad that he wasn't too angry.
They got into the elevator, thankfully alone, and Luke carefully began to explain the situation with Noah. He gave only the necessary background, telling Reid that he and Noah were together for two and a half years before their break up not quite a month ago. Luke didn't go through the details of everything he and Noah had been through or how he and Noah were each other's first, well, pretty much everything, but he did share as much as he felt Reid needed to know. He watched as Reid's face hardened, no doubt putting together the fact that he and Luke had first met barely a week after the break up.
"He showed up this morning before I left, and was asking me if I would consider trying to work things out with him," Luke said quickly as they stepped out of the elevator onto the 9th floor. They walked slowly down the hall, Reid was still silent. "Please say something, Reid," Luke frowned.
Reid sighed. "What do you want me to say, Luke?" Reid began, and Luke couldn't help but recognized his words as the same ones he'd used with Noah. "You're still getting over your boyfriend, I happened to be around at the right time… I get it."
Luke frowned as they stopped outside his door. "That's not it at all, Reid."
Reid forced a smile, waving his hand and closing his eyes as he tried to contain his thoughts. "You don't have to explain, Luke."
"Yes, I do," Luke sighed. "Just, let me sit this stuff down and then we can talk, okay?" They stared at each other for a moment, Reid deliberating and Luke holding his breath, waiting for an answer.
"Alright," was all Reid said in a monotone voice. Luke opened the door and both men stepped into the simple but classy hotel room. Reid looked around, mostly for the sake of not watching the blond. Luke moved to the bed and dropped his bags gently on top of the blankets before turning back to Reid.
"Do you want to talk here or go down to the bar or…?" he asked, unsure which setting would work best. Reid's mouth formed a thin line again. He sighed, crossing his arms protectively.
"Here works," Reid said unsurely. Luke had a feeling his decision came from wanting to get this over with instead of walking in silence to some secondary location. Luke nodded and moved around the room nervously, almost pacing.
"I know I should have called you. I'm sorry," he began, daring to look at Reid but cringing at the expression on the other man's face. It wasn't of hurt or even anger. Instead, Reid looked almost bored, as though he didn't care at all what Luke was saying. "But Noah showing up at my house this morning… it freaked me out. And it was right after I got that text from you, and it just threw me for a loop."
He waited, hoping Reid would say something, but he didn't. Reid watched him, standing still as a statue.
"Please say something, Reid," Luke pleaded again. Reid couldn't take those doe eyes any longer and let out a frustrated sigh, dropping his arms dramatically.
"What am I supposed to say, Luke?" he said with a mock laugh. "We had dinner once, it's not like this is a relationship or something. What happened with you and what's his name is none of my business."
Luke almost looked relieved but at the same time unsure, trying to figure out how to take Reid's words.
"So what does that mean for us?" he asked cautiously. Reid stared at him.
"Us? I didn't realize there was an 'us'," replied Reid and Luke knew he was trying to play things down.
"You know what I mean," he sighed.
"Do I?"
Luke pursed his lips, his shoulders falling and his head tilting to the side, staring at Reid intently. "Reid," he began, annoyed. "We talked about doing something this weekend, hanging out, going to dinner or something. And I still want to do that," he added, the question in his voice becoming more and more obvious. "But only if you want to."
Reid shrugged, surprising Luke with an almost immediate response.
"Like I said, Luke, it's not like this is any big deal. You're the one worried about your ex, not me," he said casually. Luke straightened up.
"So you still want to go out?" Luke said, obviously seeking clarification.
Apparently Reid thought he was an idiot, or at least that's the story his expression told. Luke laughed, scratching the side of his face nervously.
"Well, good," he said with finality, trying to act at ease though he clearly wasn't.
All at once it seemed to hit both men that they were standing alone in Luke's small hotel room, the bed only a few feet behind them. Luke felt himself grow tense and his face felt warm. Reid shuffled awkwardly.
"Let's… go somewhere," Luke suggested, almost saying it as a question. Reid nodded.
"Yeah, right," he stumbled, turning and opening the door without further instruction. Luke made sure he had his wallet and his phone, following Reid into the hall. "Just, don't start doodling my name on your folders or something," he said over his shoulder, cringing at the idea. Luke rolled his eyes happily.
