Page 54 of Small Sacrifices

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 exactly the 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.

"But there 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 he wants to tell Max, but he figures the kid at least deserves to know why they're spending the evening together.

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. "

"Safe," Max repeats. "What do you mean, safe?"

"That's what I asked him. He wouldn't give me a straight answer."

At the word straight, a grin flashes across Max's face. It's buried quickly, replaced by his almost scowl, but it's there long enough that Reid can realize how strikingly similar Max and Everett look with happy expressions on their faces.

"Well, what's he doing tonight, then?" Max gets right back to the interrogation. There's a little furrow between his delicately manicured brows.

"He said he wanted to talk to your father." That's good, right? Not a lie, but also not too much information.

"He said he wanted to talk to our father, and he wanted me safe?"

Oh, okay. So maybe not good. Not good for multiple reasons, come to think of it. Is that fear on Max's face? It could also just be irritation, but context says differently.

"I'm sorry, that was imprecise. Everett said that he was going to talk to your father and didn't want you to interrupt them. He also, at a separate point in the conversation, said that he wanted you to be somewhere safe."

It's clear by the disbelief on Max's face that this explanation didn't make things better for him.

He opens his mouth like he's going to ask another question, but stops mid-inhale.

A look down at his shoes makes his hair fall into his face again.

But even through the dark curtain, Reid can see him squeeze his eyes shut.

When Max's face reappears in full view, however, there's a grin plastered to it. The teen pushes off the door and ambles over to Reid, drops into a tailor's seat on the carpet in front of him.

"So what are your intentions with my brother?" he asks. It's like the exchange they just had never happened. If Reid didn't remember it, he would think that Max was in a good mood, curious and teasing him. He's pretty sure that's not what this is.

That doesn't stop him from answering the question. "I want to spend time with him."

Max rolls his eyes. "Well, duh. But, like, why? It's not much fun dating someone who has to remain in the closet, is it? I mean, what could you even do besides the obvious?"

"Talk to him," Reid says slowly. Is this a genuine question?

"Watch movies together, play board games, stuff like that.

" Planning to end his father's political career among them.

"A lot of the things people do socially are too much for me, anyway.

Most restaurants are too loud. And so is every bar I've ever set foot in. "

"So what—you're just along for the ride?

" There's an edge to Max's words, but Reid can't tell what it is.

The word ride rings a bell in the back of Reid's mind, especially in connection with what Max said earlier about the obvious.

It makes him want to bang his head against a wall.

He should've remembered how difficult teenagers can be.

"Is that supposed to be sexual innuendo?"

Max breaks out into a gleeful cackle. "I'm sorry, what?"

Oh, good . Reid breathes a sigh of relief. "I just had to make sure. These sorts of things go straight over my head, usually. But if it were, the answer would be no. Your brother is a very kind person, and I want to get to know him better."

He wants to learn all the different ways to make Everett smile or laugh, hear every stupid joke he makes at least once. And he'd really like to see the relief on his face once he realizes that he and his sibling are finally free of their father. Preferably sometime soon.

"So you like him, then." Max's facial expression is shrewd. Reid would like to know what that means.

He won't ask, of course. Right now, he's busy being disoriented by how hard his heart is suddenly beating in his throat. "Yes."

Why is this so nerve-wracking? Surely, Everett knows Reid likes him.

Otherwise, why would he be kissing him and letting him sleep in his bed?

But he's never said it out loud, at least not like that, and maybe that's what's making this feel so intense.

Reid resists the urge to groan. There are so many new feelings involved in this, and he doesn't know how to read them yet.

It's not only confusing, but frustrating.

"Alright," Max says. He's still squinting, but at least he's smiling now. "So, who made the first move?"