Page 50 of Small Sacrifices

"Everett, I really can't."

"But—"

"Can you please just leave?"

Reid's phone pings with a text. It's probably Briana, asking if he's in his room yet. He ignores her in favor of more pressing issues.

Everett crosses his arms. "I can. And I will, if you really want me to. But you said we'd talk, and I thought you meant that."

Reid looks at him, and then back at the door. They'll be better off if he closes it. It doesn't look like Everett is going to leave soon. So Reid pulls it shut and sags against it.

"I really don't have the energy for this right now." He has to close his eyes to ward off the tears that burn in them.Deep breaths,he tells himself. But it's no use. His breath is going way too fast. He can already feel himself spiraling. At least Everett won’t tell his parents.

"Hey, are you alright?" Everett sounds wary. It should probably be funny how quickly he switches from petulant child to concerned friend. But Reid doesn't have the bandwidth to appreciate it right now.

"No," he says.In-two-three, out-two-three. In-two-three...

"What happened?" Leather squeaks.

"He's dead."

"Who's dead?"

"Can you just leave, please?" He has to at least try one more time.

"No," Everett says resolutely. "Who's dead?"

"Robin Greene." Reid presses his hands into the carpet. The texture is nice—prominent loops that dig into his palms. He tries to focus on them.In-two-three, out-two-three.

"Oh. Is that the kid we were supposed to visit in the hospital?"

Reid nods. His phone pings again. But he's in no condition to be calling his sister, anyway.

"Is that what has you in this state?" Everett asks. His tone of voice is inscrutable, which doesn't exactly serve to calm Reid down. But at least he isn't touching him.

Reid shakes his head. Because that's not the reason, not really. "She shoved me."

"Who, Ms. Greene?"

A nod.In-two-three…

"I'm sorry. Is this like when I ran into you?"

Ping,his phone rings out.

"Who's texting you?" Everett asks.

"Briana." A tear escapes the corner of his eye and rolls down his cheek, hot like shame.

"Your... sister?"

Reid nods.

"Does she know what happened?"

His phone rings as soon as Everett has asked that question. Blearily, Reid opens his eyes and wills his hand to move. It's difficult to get his phone out of the pocket of his pants in this condition, but he does it. Then, he just stares at Briana's name and image on the screen until the phone falls silent again.

"Don't you wanna talk to her?" Everett asks.

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