As promised Reid had called Luke about an hour later, explaining the situation with words Luke didn't understand but the important part was that Reid would be out of there by 4pm. True to his word, Reid arrived back at the house shortly before 4:30, and he did his best to make it up to Luke by trapping him in the bedroom for two hours.

Luke continued to come down to Dallas almost every weekend. Sometimes it would be every other weekend, in which case he would come down on Friday instead, spending the evening with Reid, wandering the city or lounging at the house while Reid worked on Saturday, and then spending Sunday together. More times than Luke cared to count, Reid's pager would go off, cutting their evening or their day short, but they made the most of the time they did have together.

Christmas was on a Friday and after spending the morning and much of the day with his family he flew down to Dallas for the night, bearing Emma's cooking and a few cards from the rest of the family. They exchanged presents as well. Luke first gave Reid earplugs, joking that he could use them to ignore his pager, before giving his real present; a biography on a famous neurologist he knew Reid admired. Reid laughed at the earplugs and genuinely appreciated the book, only mildly teasing that of course Luke would by him a piece of literature.

Reid's gift was much more simple. It was a journal with two pens, two pencils, an eraser and matching sticky notes. There was a card as well, in which he apologized for not being more creative. Luke laughed and kissed him, insisting that it was perfect. It wasn't until later that night when he got out of the shower and saw Luke sitting at the kitchen table, writing away in the journal, that Reid believed him.

Reid being Reid had worked most of the day, taking over rounds for some of his colleagues that wanted to be home for the holiday. He insisted that it was because he had nothing better to do, but Luke knew it was because Reid was a good person, regardless of what anyone else thought. By the end of the evening they were both exhausted, though, and so they cuddled in bed, only kissing for a few minutes before turning out the lights and drifting into sleep. Luke left the following afternoon but came back the next Friday, spending New Year's Eve with Reid. They kissed at midnight, having their own mini celebration with sparkling cider and funny hats that Luke had insisted upon before ringing in the new year in Reid's bed. As usual, Luke only stayed through Sunday night before once again returning home.

They continued this routine for weeks, months even. Luke had started bringing some of his work with him and would be sitting at the table going over paperwork when Reid got home on Saturday, or reading out on the patio. Once or twice Luke had come up to see Reid at work, sit with him during his lunch break, which Reid thoroughly appreciated. He would let Luke wander with him from the cafeteria to his first appointment or set of rounds before they finally had to force themselves to part, but that only made reuniting in the evening so much more enjoyable.

The Snyders were quite use to not seeing Luke on the weekends by now. Even on the weekends that Lucinda needed the jet for business of her own, Luke would fly commercial and have Reid pick him up at the airport. Lily only complained once when Luke had to leave a family picnic early, but she couldn't bring herself to be too hard on him. Luke was a happier person these last few months, and as his mother, who was she to mess with that?

"One of these times you are going to have to bring this man up here, we want to meet him," Lily insisted with a smile, motherly adjusting Luke's collar on his jacket as he went to leave. Luke laughed.

"We'll see, mom," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

"I mean it," she said, hitting him playfully. He just smiled at her, waving as he left the house. She sighed as she wandered back through the living room, though. It really was becoming difficult, not knowing this man that Luke was spending every Friday through Sunday with, knowing that Reid was such a big part of her son's life, and yet not even knowing his smile or his laugh first hand. Still, she had confidence that when they were ready they would take that step, a moment she could hardly wait for.

His mother's words lingered with him during the flight to Dallas. Luke was flying on the jet again, enjoying the peace as he would be flying commercial on Sunday. The flight wasn't any longer than usual but he felt like it was dragging. He continued to think about what Lily had said as he sat alone in the jet, the sound of the engines buzzing beneath him. It was late March. They had done a mini Thanksgiving together on Friday, complete with food from Emma, spent Christmas and New Years together, both took off Valentine's Day to pretty much spend the day in bed, and now with five months under their belts, Reid still hadn't come to Oakdale to meet Luke's family. They'd talked about it vaguely and to Luke's comfort he knew that it wasn't about Reid not wanting to meet them, in fact, Luke sometimes felt that Reid was more anxious for the introductions than he was. The problem was that it was hard for them to find time, not to mention they were still technically unofficially together, and Luke was nervous to push things too fast.

Saturday came and Luke decided to visit Reid during his lunch break. Traffic was working against him, though, and so he only managed to catch the last five minutes of Reid's free time. Still, they sat and talked while Reid devoured his sandwich. Cautiously, Luke suggested the idea of coming to Oakdale, just as Reid was returning his lunch tray.

"Are you crazy? I can't take that kind of time off," Reid huffed, red in the face. Luke wondered if it was the time off that had him up in arms or what Luke had ultimately suggested.

"Fine, then just one day, Reid. We'll leave Saturday night and I'll have you home by ten on Sunday, I swear."

Luke moved closer, taking Reid's hand and pulling the slightly shorter man to him. Reid groaned in protest but not enough to keep Luke from drawing him near. Luke was smiling and Reid knew it was on purpose. He couldn't resist that smile, a fact Luke was quite savvy to. He sighed, and Luke knew that meant yes.

"Just one thing, Luke," Reid said seriously before Luke could become too excited. "Promise me this isn't about parading me around like some new boy toy, that you aren't just asking me to come with you to make your ex jealous," he frowned. Luke smiled understandingly, taking Reid's other hand and stepping close.

"Definitely not," he said in a whisper. "In fact, Noah isn't even going to be in town."

Reid watched with slightly widened eyes, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

"He's showing his film at a festival on another campus. He and some of his classmates are going to be gone all weekend."

"Why do I get the feeling the timing isn't a coincidence?" asked Reid, somewhat amused.

Luke laughed. "Probably because it's not," he smiled. "And before you say it, it has nothing to do with not being able to be around you both at the same time or anything," he began hastily. "It's just that I want to be able to show you around and have you meet a few people, get to see what it's like in my corner of the world on a good day."

"And if Noah is around it won't be a good day?" inquired Reid.

"Pretty much," Luke said with a faint laugh. Reid understood and smiled as well.

"You know you're going to owe me big for this," Reid said, stepping away and pointing threateningly at Luke, who just crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I know," he smiled. Reid rolled his eyes.

"I gotta get back to work, but I'll see you tonight?" he asked casually. Luke nodded. Reid leaned in and kissed him quickly before turning away with a smile. Luke watched Reid walk away, grinning like an idiot. One of the nurses nearby was staring at him with a knowing smile, but he didn't notice.