Page 91 of Small Sacrifices

Chapter 32: Waiting game

When Max arrives, it's not the doorbell that rings—it's Everett's phone. Reid watches, taken aback, as Everett gives his sibling directions to the apartment and then rolls off the couch to press the buzzer.

He then stands with the door wide open, listening as Max tromps up the four flights of stairs. By the time Max's face comes into view, it's flushed from exertion—what little of it Reid can see, hidden as it is behind a curtain of silky black hair.

Reid steps aside, gesturing for Max to come in. "Hi, nice to meet you again. Come on in! I'm Reid." Without waiting for a response, he turns away, busying himself with rearranging the snacks leftover from when Everett had to cancel on Sunday.

He's thought a lot about how he could show Max that he's a safe person, but nothing felt right. Starting a talk about pronouns would be very pointed and awkward, which is exactlythe wrong thing to do. But it's not like he needs Max's proper pronouns to talk to Max. That's what "you" is for. The clothes Max wears look masculine. Perhaps Reid can be forgiven for using masculine pronouns, if only in his head.

In the corridor, Reid can hear a hissed argument about why the hell Max needed to come here tonight. Another good reason to have left the room. But soon enough, they're saying their goodbyes, and then Everett is calling Reid back in.

"Where'd you disappear to? You didn't even give Max the opportunity to properly say hi."

Max looks like he would prefer just about anything else. Reid can empathize. He's always been wary of strangers. But the kid still holds out a hand.

Up close, Reid can see how dark Max's eyes are, so different from Everett's chocolate brown. His face is slimmer, too, with sleeker eyebrows and a longer nose. But they have the same determined set to their mouths. As Reid shakes Max's hand, he feels himself being scrutinized.

Everett huffs a laugh. "I guess a full sentence was too much to hope for. My turn now."

It only takes him two steps to draw Reid into a firm kiss—and before Reid can even think about whether he wants to kiss back in front of Max, he’s dragged into a tight hug.

"Thank you."

The warm breath of the whisper hits Reid's neck and makes him shudder. Everett tightens his hug in response, but only briefly. Then he reluctantly lets go. "I really need to get going." He points a finger at Max. "You behave, kiddo, alright? Reid's weird, but he's cool. You just need to get him talking."

Then he directs his attention to Reid one last time. "I'll call you. 9 p.m. at the latest. So that you know nothing's wrong."

With that, he's gone. Both Reid and Max stare after him as he takes the stairs two steps at a time. The door to his apartment building closes with the usual crash, and then they're alone.

Max turns and frowns up at Reid. "What was he talking about?"

If only Reid knew. That foreboding feeling from this morning is back, twisting in the back of his mind.Something is wrong.But he can't say that. Instead, he shrugs. "I don't know."

He takes the opportunity that closing the door offers him to collect himself a little. "Are you hungry? I have snacks. Or we could order pizza."

But when he turns back around, Max is still staring at him. "I don't want pizza. I wanna know what's up with you and my brother."

Oh no. "You didn't ask your brother?" Is this a question about their relationship or a question about Everett's weird behavior? Because those are two completely different things. At least he hopes so.

Max snorts. "Of course I did. He wasn't very helpful."

Reid can imagine. He's had a few of those interactions himself. And he'd be happy to answer any questions that he can—the problem is that he doesn't know how much Max is supposed to know. Why is Everett keeping secrets? With a sigh, Reid sinks down onto his little sofa.

"Right," he says. He's got his thumbs and pointer fingers pressed together on each hand to ground himself. "If you ask me questions, I will try to answer them. But—" He raises his arm to stop Max from interrupting him. There's a gleam in Max's eyes that is frankly disturbing."Butthere are other people's secrets involved in this situation, and I signed an NDA that keeps me from talking. There isn't much I can tell you."

There isn't much hewantsto tell Max, but he figures the kid at least deserves to know why they're spending the eveningtogether. Or—well. As much about that as Reid can say without divulging anything about what Everett had implied about abuse. Does Max even know about that? Is there a way that Everett would have been able to keep this from his sibling?

"Are you dating now?" Max asks. He's leaning back against Reid's apartment door now, long hair brushed behind his ear on one side. That still leaves half his face in the dark—and the other half may as well be. Reid doesn't understand the expression on it. It looks complicated.

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"Friday." At least Reid thinks so. He hopes that he and Everett agree on this, otherwise, it'll get quite embarrassing for him once Max finally gets to interrogate his brother.

"And how does that qualify you as my babysitter?"

Ah, there it is.Reid knew this was too easy. "It doesn't." His right hand wanders into his curls, finds one, and tugs on it. "I don't know why he thought this would be a good idea. But he said he wanted you safe. And there aren't too many people who know what's going on. I think he just thought I was the best option out of a small selection of people."

---