“What a day,” Luke murmured, enjoying the strong arm around him.
“It was,” Reid agreed in a whisper. He had experienced some crazy days, but this one definitely made it into the top 5. No question about it. Love and fear, the two basic emotions, had been present in all kind of shapes and forms. The wedding, the proposal, the rejection, the understanding, the kidnapping… it had been an emotional twister and this time it had been hard to not get airborne. The vortex had tried to suck him in and true, he had been wobbly for a while, but he felt grounded again. He had Luke in his arms. He could take on anything.
“Are you okay?”
Reid smiled, while his fingers danced over Luke’s back. That should have been his line. Luke had been the one being upset. After the first crying fit, Reid had asked Luke if he wanted to vent, but to his surprise his lover had shaken his head.
“Not tonight. I just want you to hold me. Close.”
“No sacrifice,” Reid had whispered and they’d lost all track of time while just holding each other. He had felt Luke’s soundless tears from time to time and he had wished he could whisper ‘she will be okay’. But he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure she would be and he hated meaningless words of comfort. So he had settled for ‘we’ll get through this’ and it seemed to calm Luke down too.
Luke then had started to share some anecdotes about Natalie. Stories about her strength. Her resilience. Her sharp wit. They had made them both smile.
“Yeah, she’s something else,” Reid had agreed. “Maybe that’s the benefit of all the craziness that happened to your family. She’s been through a lot and she had some great teachers like you to show her how to bounce back.”
“She even wrote an essay about it,” Luke had remembered. “She’d called it ‘The Drama called Snyder’ and she got an A for it.”
Reid had laughed out loud. “That title alone is A worthy. Brilliant.”
“Yeah, but sad at the same time,” Luke had bit his lip. “At first the teacher didn’t want to believe it all happened and had given her a C and some criticism about the ‘made up elements’. So she had called my mother to the school and my mom had a talk with the teacher, assuring him that Nat’s essay was all real life experience.”
“I can’t blame the teacher. Your family life sounds like a soap opera run amok.”
“I know,” Luke had kissed Reid on his bare chest. “But you’ve turned it into the greatest love story ever told.”
“Sap,” Reid had whispered, slowly deepening the kiss. Slowly rolling on to a whole different form of holding each other close. Their lovemaking had been almost lazy, but extremely loving and soothing.
So Luke’s question made Reid smile. ‘Are you okay?’ Oh yeah!
“I am. I realized something important, tonight.”
That made Luke come up a little, so he could look Reid in the eyes.
“What?”
“Another reason why I love you so much,” Reid answered, almost teasingly. Luke groaned and repeated his question.
“What?”
“One of the biggest problems I have with social interaction is how most people are very quick to judge.”
Luke frowned. He hadn’t expected that answer. Before he could ask what Reid meant, the man gave him an example.
“Take Lydia just now, for instance. She basically blamed Lily and Holden for what happened.”
Luke nodded. That’s how he had interpreted her remark too.
“But it wasn’t like your parents had neglected the kids. It’s not like they all went partying, leaving the kids on their own. Lily and Damian were right there. In the next room.”
Luke nodded again.
“Somehow most people feel this need to point fingers, especially when there’s a crisis. As if a pointless situation gets meaning if you can blame somebody for it.”
“I think it’s a way to step away from it. If someone else can be blamed for it, it makes you feel superior in a way. Rising above it. And that makes it easier to deal with.”
“Interesting,” Reid gave a pensive look, “I always wondered why they did that.”
“I’m not surprised,” Luke chuckled. “You’re so self-confident that you don’t feel the need to put anyone down to feel superior.”
“I was born superior,” Reid grinned when Luke stuck his tongue out.
“Of course you were,” Luke softly tapped Reid’s chest.
“But you obviously were not and that brings me to my realization earlier.” Reid played with a lock of Luke’s hair and then softly pulled it. “I realized that you didn’t go there. You didn’t play the blame game. And I love you for it.”
“You didn’t play the blame game either.”
“I love myself for that, too,” Reid grinned. “But I really liked how you weren’t judging anyone. Not even yourself, I might add. That made me…” Reid’s hand pointed to the lower part of his body, “…all tingly inside.”
“That’s good to know,” Luke teased, snuggling up against Reid again.
“What you also should know is how protected, loved and respected I feel with you.”
That made Luke come up a little again.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Luke grinned. He had heard. He just wanted to hear it again. And again. And again.
“I’m in awe about you. 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.”
“Wow, you really paid attention today,” Luke chuckled, giving Reid a quick kiss.
“Yeah, I really related to their vows and I made a mental note to tell you I feel the same.”
“I’m glad,” Luke smiled. “I feel blessed that you opened your heart for me and showed me the boundless love inside. You make my heart sing and my soul dance.”
“I like that,” Reid whispered and then pulled Luke close for another lazy kiss. Yeah, they would get though this.
