In-Laws

Part 8

“So, how do you like the room, Mr. Mayer?” 

“The room is fine, Reid.”

“Fine?  Why, Mr. Mayer, I would have thought a creative genius like yourself could find a more apropos description for a room in one of the most expensive hotels in Boston.”

“Cut the crap, Reid.”  Noah practically threw his suitcase on the bed.  “And what’s all this Mr. Mayer stuff?  Before I left Oakdale you called me by my first name.  I had no idea you were so formal now.”

“I’m not.  However, I only call my friends and the people I love by their first names.  While I thought there might one day be a chance at friendship, your ridiculously thoughtless stunt today has convinced me that’s highly unlikely.”  Reid was trying to keep his temper.  Losing his cool would also rob him of the upper hand.  If he should actually blow it and lose his cool, no better reason to do it existed than on Luke’s behalf.  Hell, doing anything for Luke was a good cause.

“Look, I get it.  I should have told Luke that Kevin and I were dating.”

“You should have told Luke the minute you spotted him and spoke with him.”  Reid took a deep breath.  “You, of all people, know their history.  I thought you cared more for Luke, certainly more than your current behavior indicates.”

“Luke doesn’t need to be coddled.  He’s perfectly able to speak for himself.”

“He can now -- better than ever before.  I hope that’s exactly what he’s doing at this very minute.  He’s got more chains binding him to his past than Scrooge, only Luke doesn’t deserve them.”

“What are you talking about?  Luke seems fine.”

“Luke will always seem fine to people who don’t care to know him.”

“Hey!”

“If the damn shoe fits, Mr. Mayer, wear it!”  Calm down, Reid.  Make your point.

“Okay, Reid, you want honesty?  Here’s honesty...”  Noah opened the curtain in the room and stared out the window, facing the Boston skyline.  “I was blindsided -- literally -- when I discovered you and Luke that first time.  The image has been burned into my thoughts ever since.”

“You’re intelligent enough to have figured out neither he nor I would have wanted you to find out about us that way.”

“Rationally, I understood, and still understand that.  Emotionally, not really.”

“So this was your chance to shock Luke equally as much, if not more.”

“Something like that.  Childish, I know.”

“Infantile, but at least you’re being honest.”  Reid balled his fists, but remembering his foe was bigger and stronger, he wisely kept his surgeon’s hands at his sides.

Noah turned around.  “Reid, I really care about him.  It’s not just some pretense.”

“Are you talking about Luke or Kevin?”

“Both.  I do care about Luke, but since Kevin’s come into my life I’ve been able to learn to care about someone else, loving Luke as just a friend.”

“Do you love Kevin?”  Reid couldn’t help the wave of empathy that came over him.  He remembered a time when he thought Luke and Noah would reunite.

“We’ve been together for a while.” 

Reid’s eyes widened.  Maybe this man had grown up.  “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I know.  The answer is a mystery to me.”

“Why?”

“Until this moment I never gave myself permission to love anyone besides Luke.  I lived off the idea he and I would somehow get back together.”

“You do know he and I had a commitment ceremony a couple of years ago.  You were invited, as I recall.”  Reid sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Noah mindlessly walked around the room.

“I know.  I didn’t think you’d go through with it.  In fact, I thought it would be the last straw in your relationship.”

“Noah, you weren’t there.  Do you have any idea how much I want Luke in my life, and now Ethan along with him?”

“I’m beginning to see much clearer now.”

“Good.  If you remember, that’s why I came into your life -- to help you see clearly.”

“You’ve done a good job, Dr. Oliver.  I hope I can finally see the two of you tie the knot tomorrow, and by doing so, give myself permission to open myself up to loving someone else.”

Reid stood, walked toward his former patient from behind, and patted Noah on the shoulder, resting his hand there.  “Call me Reid.  All of our friends do -- Noah.”

Noah turned around.  “He was my first true love.  Losing him hurt.”  Reid saw the creases at the edges of Noah’s eyes as the young man tried to be strong in the face of the death of a fantasy.

“Maybe you’ll be able to find your last true love soon.”

“Maybe I have, but I just don’t know it.”

“Kevin may have been a jackass in high school and college, but if you want to have any kind of future with him you should be honest with him.”  Reid hated sounding like the voice of wisdom, but he knew no one else would be there to advise Noah.  “People like Kevin who wait this long to come out of the closet, and fought their feelings for so long, usually need a lot of support.”

Noah huffed.  “I know.  Luke was there for me when I came out.”

Reid nodded.

“You’d better take care of Luke.  He’s worth a billion.”

“He’s priceless, and so’s his little brother.”

“You really adopted Ethan?”

“He’s all mine.”  Reid smiled, thoughts of Ethan running through his mind.

“Why doesn’t he call you Dad?”

“He needs to decide if, and when, there’ll ever be a right time for that.  Holden will always be his father, alive or dead, it makes no difference.  I’m never going to take his place in Ethan’s life.  I can’t, and frankly he shouldn’t want me to.”

Noah smiled genuinely.  Reid wasn’t sure if he’d seen a smile like that since Noah woke from surgery years earlier.  “You’re a lot more sensitive as Reid than you are as Dr. Oliver.”

“It helps to keep those two separate.”

“Sometimes letting them team up might not be so bad.”  Noah chuckled.  “Certainly would make your bedside manner a hell of a lot better than the one I remember.”

“Thank you, Noah.”

“Thank you, Reid.”  Noah put Kevin’s suitcase alongside his on the bed.  “Do you think it’s safe for us to go to your suite now?  I’d like to make sure Kevin knows I really want him here.”

Reid looked at his watch and nodded.  Surprisingly, Noah wasn’t the clueless brat Reid had expected.  He could actually like this man, and call him a friend.

*~*~*~*~*

“Nice room.”  Kevin stood in the center of the living room area of Luke and Reid’s suite.

“It’s a suite.  So much more comfortable, and we can certainly afford it.”

“You’re loaded, in your own right now.  No more parents or grandparents holding the purse strings.”

Luke glared at Kevin.  “I’m an adult, with adult responsibilities, and no parents because they’re dead.”

“I heard.  I’m sorry.”

“Not nearly as sorry as I am.”

“It must be rough raising your little brother.”  Kevin sat in one of the two armchairs that flanked the sofa, his hands gripping the arms.

“It’s a privilege.  I help with my younger sisters too, but they’re better off living with my grandmother.”

“Which one?”

“Which one do you think my parents would assign as their guardian -- a jet-setting business woman or a homemaker on a farm?”

Kevin wisely just nodded.

“I need to tell you something and you need to listen.”

“I’d say, can I have a drink first, but I don’t drink anymore.”

Luke snorted.  “Wonder why -- wait let me guess, you’re a twelve stepper now?”

“I have to be.  Noah respects that.  He never drinks when I’m around.”

“He’s had experience with alcoholic boyfriends.”

“How have you been?”

“Sober.”

“That wasn’t the only thing I meant.”

Luke spotted Reid’s medical bag on the coffee table and smiled.  “I’ve been better than ever.  He loves me more than even I thought he was capable of loving, more than I thought I deserved to be loved.  Reid even insisted I see a kidney specialist while we were here.”

“You’re healthy?”

“Healthy as anyone can be who has someone else’s kidney in his body.  I’ll need another in a few years, but for now I’m okay.  Reid wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.”  Luke stared at Kevin to see if he had the nerve to respond -- to say what Luke had waited so long to hear.

“Not just about your parents.”

“Then what, Kevin?  What the hell are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry I reacted so strongly, so badly when you came out to me.”

“You were a shit.”  Luke let out a breath, saying the words he had wanted to for so long.

“I was.  I was an immature shit who threw his friend under a bus, rather than support him when he needed me most.”

“You were my best friend and you made that term cheap and dirty.  You abandoned me when I needed you and then you destroyed my self-esteem.  I needed you and you weren’t there.  My life and my family were falling apart and you weren’t there, no one was.”

Kevin clasped his hands in his lap, lowering his head as if looking at them.

Luke continued, feeling like a weight was lifting off his chest.  “Then after the transplant, I recovered and started to rebuild everything from zero, and you came along in college and stepped on me again.”

“Shitty, I know.  Peer pressure won out; turned me against my friend.”

Luke looked Kevin up and down.  “It obviously turned you into the president of denial, unable to face who you really were and still are.  It explains so much -- why I felt such a strong attraction to you; why it wouldn’t let go.”

“Noah helped me accept myself for who I really am.”

“He’s a good person.  Don’t screw him over.”

“Or I’ll have to deal with the wrath of Luke Snyder?”

Allowing a grin to begin to form, Luke replied as simply as he remembered Holden would have.  “Something like that.  The Snyders protect those they love fiercely.”

“And you love Noah?”

“As a friend, I always will.”

“And Reid Oliver?”  Kevin dared to look up again.

Luke couldn’t keep the broad smile at bay.  Thinking of Reid was the place he went for peace, happiness, and contentment.  “Reid is everything to me.  He’s the love of my life.  And, in addition to loving me unconditionally, he loves Ethan.  Hell, he adopted him.”

“Can I still be there to watch you get hitched tomorrow?  Maybe start fresh with you.”

“You can be there but don’t expect we’ll all of a sudden be best friends.”

Kevin bit his lip.

“But if you treat Noah with the love and respect he deserves, I’ll treat you with respect as well.  Friendship may be possible, but don’t hold your breath.”

“Noah’s the best friend, huh?”

“No, Reid is.  Noah’s the runner up, who’ll always be important to me and my family for reasons he should share with you.”

Kevin closed his eyes.  “I didn’t think I could get through this without a drink.”

“Neither did I, until I remembered my support system was in the building.”

“Reid?”

“Guessed it in one.  You’re more sensitive than I remember.”  Waiting for Kevin to meet his gaze, Luke continued.  “But if you do anything tomorrow to fuck up the moment I can legally pledge my love to Reid, I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your life... and don’t think I’m kidding; I have the means and the money to make it happen.”

Luke was pleased to see Kevin visibly shudder.  “It’s a good thing Noah’s been a positive influence on me.”

“He has that effect on a lot of people.”  Luke remembered his time with Noah.  There had been some times he’d prefer forgetting, but mostly he remembered the love and caring.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.

“Luke, is it safe to enter or do we need to dispose of the body?”

Kevin chuckled.  “Reid’s a cool guy.”

“Cool, smart, caring, loving.  The whole package.  Like I said, the love of my life.”

“Maybe Noah and I will be that close someday.”

[TBC]

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