Page 29 of Small Sacrifices

Reid, because he knows what's good for him, keeps his mouth shut in response to that one, even though he feels a strong wave of disagreement well up inside of himself. Briana knows people, but she doesn't know Everett. Hell,hedoesn't even know Everett. It's useless to speculate, so Reid's just going to go by his instincts. And his instincts are telling him that Everett, under all the bluster, is probably a decent person who helped someone because it was the right thing to do.

"Can you at least tell me what to do about this so that it doesn't get worse?" he asks. Even to his own ears, his voice sounds plaintive.

She snorts. "It's not gonna get worse."

"Briana."

His sister lets out a wordless groan, then takes a deep breath to settle back into the conversation. "How high are the chances that you'll meet this guy again?"

"Well, given the fact that I met him three times within the past week, I'd say pretty high." Reid bites at the hard part of the cuticle on his thumbnail.

Briana sighs. "I maintain that was either a total fluke or engineered somehow."

"Not the point!" Reid complains. "Can we please stay on topic here? I feel like you're not taking me seriously."

That finally reins her in. On the other end of the line, he can hear her shuffle into a different seating position. "Sorry. Right, ifyou're worried about that, maybe be proactive? If you address it first, then you can't be surprised when he does it."

They go back and forth on how best to do that, but they don't find a way that Reid likes. At some point, he cuts the phone call short so that he can still do his weekend grocery shopping. If he wants to be in time for fresh flowers, he has to leave before noon. Briana lets him go, but only reluctantly.

As a result, Reid can't say he's surprised to see his sister waiting for him when he climbs the stairs with his bags full of produce. She's leaning back against the door to his apartment, her knees drawn to her body and a book propped up on them. When she glances up at him, her eyes are sharp and assessing.

"Are you okay?"

Reid takes a deep breath and barely manages not to bite his tongue.

"I'm fine," he says and raises his tote bags as proof. "See? I went grocery shopping."

Briana knows the significance of this, but she also knows better than to trust him completely, and accordingly raises a pristine eyebrow. That's fair, technically. But it still rankles. He wishes they'd be able to trust him in his assessments of his own wellbeing.

She scoots to the side so that he can unlock the door and push it open. The sound she makes when she gets to her feet doesn't sound thrilled, but Reid expects that's going to be part of the"listen to your wise older sister"spiel. At least she lets the interrogation wait until he's put all the perishables away and cut the stems of his tulips. The splash of fresh red is a relief in the drab gray of his tiny apartment.

They sit next to each other on the couch, admiring the flowers, when Briana clears her throat. "I know you're anxious about what happened because of Everett, but I'm really worried that you let it get far enough to shut down at work like that."

Despite the softness of her tone, Reid feels his fingertips dig into the meat of his thighs.This again.

"It was an important issue. I had important work to do, and so I did it. If I hadn't run into anyone on the way out, I would probably have been fine." At least he hopes he would've been. Because if he hadn't run into Everett, then he would've gotten into his car. And he doesn't want to imagine what might have happened then.

Briana's face does something very complicated. She takes a few deep breaths and then sighs. "Sometimes you really worry me, you know?"

Reid does know. He worries his parents, too, and where did that get him? Nowhere good. Briana can't know about the ultimatum yet, or she would have brought it up. He wonders if he should tell her, but what if she talks to his parents about what happened yesterday, and what if they decide it's enough to cut him off so he comes home? He decides it's best she doesn't know and apologizes.

But Briana isn't done yet. "Do you think you've got that out of your system now?"

When he tilts his head in question, she sighs. "I don't think it would go well if you tried to do this another week, you know?"

Something heavy swirls in Reid's stomach at being questioned like that.Every time.He bites his lip to keep from saying something.

"No." He clears his throat. "That was the planning. The planning is done now."

Briana's eyes skim over Reid's face, giving him the impression she's unconvinced. He almost shrugs it off but catches himself. He doesn't want to seem dismissive, so he swallows his pride. "I think it was about the deadline. I needed to meet a deadline yesterday and got too focused. It won't happen again."

He's picking at his cuticles when Briana leans over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really proud of you, you know that?"

"Hm?" She says that sometimes, but he's not sure he's ever understood what she means. It always feels patronizing, especially when she tries to explain.

"You care so much." He can hear the smile warm in her voice as she speaks. "You have such a big heart, and you actually follow through. The way you help people makes me incredibly proud. But it scares me how you can lose yourself in that, you know?"

"Sometimes, people really need help. And I can help." It feels important to say it.

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