264 “Thank you for loving me”

Finally. He was finally attending a wedding that was actually happening and he had to admit…it was doable. He managed to block out the sniffling of almost every female present and concentrated on what happened in front of him. Holden and Molly had arranged their wedding in a small chapel and Reid would have been perfectly fine without all the decorations, but it wasn’t as excessive as he’d feared. It was stylish, if you liked all those flowers, candles and white doves stuff.

He smiled, looking next to him. Luke liked, no question about it. Reid had noticed the soft sigh when they had walked in and the whispered “This is beautiful” had reached Reid’s ears. He had loved the faces of his kids even more. They were clearly profoundly impressed and kept looking around with their mouths half open. Even Zoë, who usually kept her emotions close to her vest, had squeezed his hand. She had been silent, but visibly in awe.

Seated in the front row, Reid had a clear view of the bride and groom and he liked what he saw. They were totally focused on each other, seemingly oblivious of all their guests. He imagined Luke and he would also… Reid frowned. Where did that thought come from?

He focused his attention on the bride again and forced himself to listen to her little speech to Holden.

“From the moment I saw you, I wanted to marry you. And it was not about the whole wedding thing,” was it Reid’s imagination or did Molly really quickly smile at him? “but about spending my life with you. I loved you from the very first second and I could picture us together forever.”

This time her scanning of the room was abundantly clear and when her eyes stopped at Lily, she sent a vague smile.

“But you fell in love with Lily and I knew I didn’t stand a chance. So I moved on. But I never stopped loving you. And today we stand here before our family and friends and I can express that love once more. I feel so blessed. Having you in my life is what I always pictured in my head, multiplied by ten. You make me feel protected, loved and respected. Thank you for loving me.”

Female sniffling filled the chapel and it took some discipline not to roll his eyes, but Reid managed. Mainly because Molly’s words and expression were genuine and had touched him. It made him think of Luke. He felt protected, loved and respected by Luke too. He understood what she felt. He was feeling the same. When was the last time he thanked Luke for loving him? He made a mental note to do that tonight.

“Over the years I finally learned a very important lesson.” Holden’s voice was emotional. “Love comes in all kinds of shapes and forms. And every love brings something important to the table.”

He looked up and smiled at Lily for a while. Reid couldn’t see her, but he could hear her sniff.

“So I’m grateful for all the love I’ve known,” Holden focused on Molly again, “because it made me recognize and appreciate your love. And it’s special. I love how you always make me laugh. You’re so full of life. Vibrant. Thrilling. I love how you always throw yourself into the breach for someone in need. Like when Zoë’s uncle came to town to take my beautiful granddaughter away from me, away from her two loving dads and away from her great big brother. You turned into a tiger, ready to do anything to protect Luke and his family. That really blew me away, but then I realized you fight with that same passion for strangers who face injustice and I’m in awe about that. I’m honored that you chose me to love. I’m honored that you’re willing to spend your life with me. I will gladly spend all my time on making you as happy as possible.”

Again the chapel filled with sniffling, but this time Reid wasn’t annoyed by it. He was too busy fighting back some treacherous eye fluid of his own. Again, he completely understood where Holden was coming from. He was in awe of Luke too. He still couldn’t completely comprehend why Luke had chosen to love him. This grumpy, arrogant, socially challenged, detached human being – genius human being, Reid corrected himself…- what had Luke been thinking?

Well, for whatever reason, the combination had proven its perfection. They did very well together. And it was like Holden had said…Reid felt honored that Luke was willing to spend his life with him. When was the last time he had shared those feelings with Luke? He made a mental note to do that tonight.

The whole ceremony had been filled with some very loving symbols and he held Zoë a little closer to his chest, when a small choir came out of nowhere and started to sing a beautiful hymn. When he looked at Luke out of the corner of one eye, he felt a nice tingling seeing the dreamy look on his partner’s face. He was starting to understand why Luke loved the whole wedding stuff so much. It was a celebration of love and if there was really love to be celebrated, it was very moving.

“It’s almost over,” Luke whispered, obviously trying to be reassuring, and Reid let his fingers play with Luke’s.

“I’m fine,” he whispered back and when Luke looked up to him, Reid smiled. “More than fine.”

The surprise on Luke’s face was telling and it made Reid chuckle, but then they both focused on the final ceremonial acts that made Holden a married man again. And judging by the enormous grin, he liked that a lot.

“Your dad looks happy enough,” Reid whispered, as they stood up to applaud the new couple and Luke grinned.

“He does. Let’s just hope he’ll stay that way…”

“I thought being cynical at a wedding was my job.”

“It is, but you didn’t deliver, so I filled the gap,” Luke gave him a wink and a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for being here.”

“You’re welcome. I actually enjoyed…most of it,” Reid said, putting Zoë on her own two feet, so she could join Natalie who was waving her in.

“I loved it,” Luke’s words sounded like a sigh again and he seemed startled by it, but before he could lower his eyes, Reid had lifted his chin up, forcing him to look him in the eye.

“I even understand what you meant by picturing yourself in that position,” Reid’s blue eyes darkened by the emotion he felt and Luke felt hypnotized by Reid’s words and aura. His brain stopped functioning. He could feel something was going on, but he didn’t understand what.

In a vague mist he saw his relatives and friends gathering around Holden and Molly to congratulate and he realized he should be out there too, but he didn’t move and focused on Reid again. The whole air felt charged and then he saw Reid lowering himself, grabbing his hand. What was he doing on one knee?

He refused to put all the pieces together. This could not be happening. Not with Reid. No way.

And then the voice he loved so much said something and Luke tried very hard to make sense of it. This couldn’t be real. He felt dizzy, like he could faint at any moment. Reid was silent now. What had he said? Luke couldn’t remember, but he suddenly realized everybody was looking at him. Like they were waiting.

He panicked and looked at Reid for help.

“What?”

Reid smiled, softly caressing his hand.

“Luciano Eduardo Grimaldi Snyder…will you marry me?”

Disbelief and hurt found their way to the surface. Why would Reid joke about something like this? In front of everybody? They both knew how Reid felt about marriage.

So Luke pulled away his hand, shaking his head.

“No!”