Reid sat with Holden for quite some time before Luke finally reappeared. He was smiling and acting as though nothing was wrong in the world, and for now at least, Reid was alright with that. Luke began making himself some tea, joining the conversation from the counter. They were laughing about how they preferred to drive over flying, Holden mentioning his trips to Kentucky and Reid making the comment that before yesterday he'd only ever flown maybe half a dozen times. Luke of course was on the other end, insisting that he'd much rather fly, save some time, and reminding Holden, albeit gently, about what happened last time he took the truck to Kentucky.

"Wait, you were what?" Reid asked, eyes closed and holding out a hand, hoping he'd simply heard wrong.

Holden laughed, taking a large swig of his drink. "I was hijacked, declared dead when the guy drove the truck over a ravine, held against my will for a few weeks," he began as Luke approached the table with his mug.

"And then you decided to come home just as mom was marrying Damian," Luke said with a sympathetic but overly amused smile. He was glad that his parents had moved on to the point that they could talk about it. It helped that Damian and Lily had filed for divorce almost four months ago and Damian had left town.

Reid stared, dumbstruck, at Luke. Holden laughed.

"Welcome to Oakdale," he said. The two Snyder men exchanged knowing grins, and even though he felt like he were on the outside of an inside joke, something told him he didn't want to know.

"Interesting place," Reid commented with a frown, and Luke laughed.

They helped to set up for dinner, which consisted of the three of them, Emma, Meg and Eliza for tonight. While the girls prepared the food, Holden set the table while Luke and Reid cleaned dishes. Emma nearly gasped when Luke offered, knowing he usually hated dishes, but as she watched Luke and Reid flick soap at each other and work together to clean, rinse and dry as though they'd done this a hundred time, and something told her they had, she just smiled. Now she understood.

"I think Reid here is a keeper," Emma announced during dinner, making Luke blush instantly. "Anyone who can get Luke to do the dishes voluntarily has high marks in my books," she added happily. Reid smiled, again feeling that tug of pride. His smile grew into a laugh when he looked over to see Luke was blushing and grinning like an idiot, trying to hide his eyes behind his hand.

Just then Eliza screamed loudly in the seat next to Reid, slamming her fists down and hitting her fork at just the right angle that it went skidding across the table and onto Reid's plate. Meg looked up, smiling with embarrassment as Reid kindly handed it back.

"I'm sorry, we're working on her table manners," Meg laughed uneasily. Reid smirked.

"I'm not much of a pea person, either," he said with mock seriousness, bending down so he was eye level with Eliza. Meg smiled appreciatively and Luke positively beamed.

Reid had to admit that dinner was fantastic, both in terms of the food and the company. He hadn't been a part of a family in a long time, and while he was far from considering the Snyders to be in his family, at least not yet, he had to admit that it was nice to feel like a part of something for a while. After dinner they all helped to clean up and then played a game of "Sorry" at the kitchen table. He and Luke were a team and lost by two spaces to Holden, who was hardly modest in his victory.

Once the game wrapped up it was going on seven o'clock. Reid disappeared upstairs to repack his small bag of belongings. Luke sat at the table with his family, still glowing with the aftermath of the day.

"I like him, Luke," Holden said to break the silence. Luke looked up, hardly surprised but obviously grateful. "He cares about you, that much I know."

"I know he does," Luke smiled, deciding not to mention that he'd heard them talking earlier.

"I like him, too," declared Emma with a smile, taking Luke's hand. "I haven't seen you this happy since… since, well, I'm not sure, but it's been a long time," she said, still smiling but sounding a bit sad, too. It had been hard on Emma, watching her grandson go through so much pain the past year, and it was clear that this new source of happiness was one she whole heartedly approved of.

"Not sure if my opinion counts for much, but I think Reid's a pretty great guy," said Meg kindly.

"Of course your opinion counts!" Luke laughed, biting his lip and beaming at his lovely aunt. This made Meg smile as well.

It was quiet again, though Luke didn't mind, his thoughts driving in a dozen different directions and none of them comprehensible. For the most part they were happy thoughts, though, and he couldn't keep the smile from his face. Then, Holden sighed.

Luke looked up at his father, his smile fading though not fully disappearing. He knew that sigh, it wasn't a happy sigh.

"What is it?" he asked, though afraid to hear the answer. Holden was frowning.

"I'm just afraid that this is going to end badly for you," he began, and everyone stared at him. He closed his eyes and sighed again. "It has nothing to do with Reid personally or that I don't believe you both care about each other or any of that," he clarified, "but you can't fly to Dallas on the weekends forever."

Luke's eyes fell on the table. Both women were silent as well. Luke was barely breathing.

"I know dad," he began sadly. "And that's something he and I will have to figure out, but not now." Luke's voice was desperate as he looked up at his father with wide eyes, his mother's eyes. "Right now, all I want to think about is the fact that Reid is here, in my house, with my family. I still can't believe it, really, or that things have gone so well, all things considered," he said. "But I don't even know what's going to happen between us in a few weeks, let alone further down the road. I just can't think that far ahead right now."

Holden nodded, putting his hand on Luke's arm supportively.

A moment later Reid could be heard coming down the stairs. They all straightened up, doing their best to appear nonchalant when he came into the room. He appeared to not notice anything was awry.

"Got everything?" asked Luke immediately, standing up.

"I didn't exactly bring a lot, not sure how I could misplace anything in twenty-four hours," said Reid, monotone. Luke forced a smile.

Everyone else stood at this point and for the moment Reid put his bag on the counter. He awkwardly hugged Meg, though hugging Emma was definitely easy. She patted him on the back and told him he was welcome in her home any time. Next was Holden. They shook hands firmly before sharing a half-hug, smiling pleasantly though the expected tension was still there. Luke kissed Emma on the cheek and then they were off.