Work Text:
Reid was having a rough few days, Ethan knew. The young adult, kid to Ethan but he was turning eighteen so he digressed in his argument, made the decision that it would be best to put his mom in a sanitarium.
Reid didn’t really mean to tell him, but Ethan could tell something was wrong and managed to persuade it out of him. After getting the explanation, Ethan agreed that it was probably for the best. Being told he was doing a good thing did little to ease him, he still felt incredibly guilty and terrible. He knew his mom wouldn’t go easily and the idea of forcing her and making her feel crazy was upsetting.
Even if she was crazy.
He wanted to just get it over with and do it on his birthday but Ethan wouldn’t let him. He didn’t want for him to taint the memory of his birthday with such a bitter thing.
So Reid didn’t. He waited for the day after.
Sending his mom away was as heartbreaking as he expected. He tried to reassure himself with logic that this was the right thing. She would be taken care of 24/7, there would no longer be times where she forgets to eat or fulfill her basic needs. That alone already made her healthier. She was going to get her proper medication at proper times, that was good for her too. Someone would be there to help her through episodes and provide company and care.
Something her son wasn’t able to do.
He blamed it on school. He told himself and the office when doing the paperwork that he did school in another state and between the distance and getting a PhD it would be impossible for him to have time. And while both reasons were technically true, he couldn’t ignore the relief he’d felt when he originally got accepted into Cal-tech.
He didn’t hate her.
He didn’t. He loved her. She was his mom and no matter if she knew that at times, it would always be true.
He didn’t hate her.
She probably thought he did.
She probably hated him too.
She seemed so disappointed in him when he told her that he called the men. She seemed so desperate to not go. It was like he was ruining her life. She probably saw it that way.
Maybe he was.
He cried more on the plane ride home. The old woman next to him had mostly ignored it throughout the ride, which he was grateful for, and gave him a head pat and candy when they landed.
It got a small wet laugh and ‘thank you’ out of him, but that was all he had said since sending her away.
He was planning on staying in Vegas to help her settle down but each time he visited she screamed for him to go away. The doctors solemnly told him it would be best to leave and let her get used to it. They recommended calling or writing and said that they would give updates. The young lady at the front desk reassured him that most of them were like that at first.
“I know it doesn’t make it any better now, but please don’t hold this against her. I’ve seen patients who come in cursing their relatives and their bloodline but after a few months, their singing happy birthday and requesting to go on a trip with them,” he nodded numbly, attempting to seem engaged, “it will work out, you’re doing something good”
Of course she would say that, she worked there.
No. She was right, it was good. It was for Diana’s own health that she was there. It was wrong to take it out on the worker. He hoped his case would be like the one she spoke about.
Surely his mom wouldn’t hate him forever for this. And eventually if she turns to just silently hating him instead of lashing out, then he’d visit her either way. He could take insults in stride, he just needed her to know he still loved her.
Admittedly, he had been sensitive the last few days leading up to this. So when he went back to the dorm teary and red rimmed eyed, Ethan wasn’t particularly surprised.
Reid didn’t have to share a dorm due to his age being illegal compared to his classmates, but ever since befriending Ethan his dorm was usually not empty. Entering to find him and his Korean friend, San, sitting on the floor borderline stressed with opened books spread around wasn’t very surprising either.
Ethan immediately caught onto the reason for his expression.
“Your keyboard came?” he gestured to the box. Ethan had been talking about picking up piano as a hobby, he already had plenty of knowledge on it and Reid was happy for him to. Ethan smiled, knowing what Reid was trying to do.
“Yeah, I’m making myself write this essay before I open it,” he went along. He knew Reid wasn’t going to want to talk about it, at least right now. The younger nodded in acknowledgement.
“I’m going to watch scream, you two can stay” he never knew how they managed to get in, it was probably against the rules, but he was too used to it to care.
“Keep the door open or I’m suicide proofing the place” Ethan shouted as Reid went to the bedroom, he heard a hum in response. San, for all his concern, laughed at the bluntness.
“Is he good?” the man asked, he was originally Ethan’s friend, for a while the only thing Reid and him bonded over was being friends with him. But over time the kid had grown on him. Ethan didn’t really respond, just waved him off. They went back to writing their essays, one more happily than the other. San was majoring in arts, Ethan criminology.
They took a break thirty minutes later when Ethan declared that he needed to feed him. Of course their definition of food was hot pockets or chicken nuggets (dinosaur shaped that Reid had been quick to defend, they were cheaper and came with more so it was efficient). San didn't know exactly what happened with Reid but over the time they knew each other he hadn't seen him so sad. Something was clearly wrong and he deserved something better than a hot pocket or microwaved chicken nuggets.
San cooked for the three of them. Chiding Ethan for being the adult between the two of them and not being nearly as responsible.
Food was done by the time Reid had fifty minutes left of the movie. Ethan peaked inside and told him food was done. San was pretty sure Reid tried to decline the not-offer because he could hear Ethan threaten to drag him out of bed.
A ruffled Reid walked out of his room smiling slightly and huffing at Ethan. San couldn't help but smile watching them.
“Thank you for the food,” he said politely. It was very obvious that he was sad. San smiled and nodded,
“No problem. Least I could do for all the answers you give me”
Getting help from someone who wasn't even eighteen had injured his ego a bit, but luckily he never had that much. Reid tended to help both him and Ethan a lot, even though they weren't taking any of the same classes.
San and Ethan talked while they ate, normally Reid would too but the fact that he didn't this time wasn't surprising. He reacted to most of the things they said, he'd grimace, roll his eyes, and laugh. He just wouldn't talk.
Going nonverbal was something Reid hardly ever did but when he did it was because of something serious. He never did it just from stress or the amount of work he had, getting a phone call from his mom where she obviously wasn't doing well was the only time he'd seen him react like that.
The conversation would die down at times when they were focused on eating. The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Reid still broke it obliviously.
“Can we go trick or treating together?”
“.. we're in our twenties-” San was promptly punched under the table, cutting off any argument why he couldn't trick or treat.
“Sure, why not?”
San actually had plenty of reasons why not to. But Reid smiled happily, it didn't fully reach his eyes but he genuinely seemed happier than he had all week. San could see why Ethan was incapable of telling him no.
Stupid puppy dog eyes.
They finished up their meal swiftly and Reid thanked him once again before retreating back to his room to finish watching Scream.
“Dude, why would we go trick or treating? I would've expected we'd go to a party or something”
“Because Reid loved Halloween and has been sad all last week. He put his mom in a mental hospital, he feels terrible even though he doesn't need to. And knowing him, trick or treating with us is going to make him happy so I don't care if I need to kidnap you, you're going trick or treating”
He put his mom in a mental hospital… damn, San sighed but nodded.
“Okay, fine, I'll go. It won't be too bad anyway, I'm not sure about you, you have a bit of gray, but I could pull off young enough to trick or treat. If anything you'll look like our dad taking us.” Ethan rolled his eyes at the comment,
“Whatever man,” he said unconvinced. As long as he agreed it didn't matter.
As long as Reid could be happy.
Leading up to his birthday and sending his mom away he had been on the edge. It was understandable, whenever he snapped Ethan took it in stride, he never held anything against the younger. He couldn't exactly help though. Reid didn't want it, he still didn't it seemed. So if trick or treating was really what he needed then it was easy enough. No one really cares about whether they see adults go trick or treating anyways.
The next morning Ethan woke up to Reid in the living space with Scream 1 playing on the small TV.
Reid did that sometimes, he'd rewatch his favorite movies despite having just seen it. He knew by now not to even question the fact he had just watched it the previous night.
Still, he was tired from just waking up and could hear screams of someone being chased.
“I know you're depressed and obsessed with Halloween but is seven am not too early to watch people get murdered?”
“No, it's never too early for Billy Loomis,” Reid replied easily, shrugging slightly. “It was either this or Saw”
“I take back my complaints then. Thank you for not making me watch someone get tortured while I eat cereal”
Reid laughed at his deadpan tone.
The sound of him laughing was so much better than the repressed sounds of sobs from when Reid was on the phone with the hospital earlier.
He hated that the two days Reid was supposed to enjoy the most, his birthday, which had passed, and Halloween, that was coming up, were both being dulled by responsibility he shouldn't have. Ethan knew bits and pieces of his childhood, he knew enough that his father hadn't been around since he was ten. His father should've been the one to do this, not Reid. Reid only just turned eighteen, how he had managed to help his sick mother through episodes and just in general was beyond him.
He had to grow up too fast. It was a recurring theme Ethan noticed with Reid’s life.
The price to pay for being a child prodigy, he assumed. Even if it wasn't something that was optional.
Thankfully Halloween came quickly. Reid’s favorite holiday and time of year, if he was going to get cheered up it would be on this day.
For two days he had asked what Ethan's costume was going to be, for both days he was denied and told it would be a surprise. Reid was partially sure it was just his way of procrastinating getting one despite his insistence that he had one.
Reid himself was this witch thing. With a fancy black shirt and loose black pants tucked together so it sort of looked like a dress from afar, a white painted face, and pointed hat. He admittedly looked pretty freaky.
“You look so dumb” Reid laughed when he saw Ethan.
He was wearing a colorful button up and vest and regular work pants. Colorful mismatched socks could be seen from where his pants legs were slightly rolled up. It was very out of Ethan's wardrobe. It was so weird to see him dressed in colors, let alone a button up and vest. Reid couldn't help but laugh at him.
“Well that's the point. I'm dressed as you” Reid rolled his eyes, still laughing slightly.
“I’m smarter than you, I'm not dumb”
“Whatever you like to think” Ethan knew it was true but he would never admit it. He couldn't rival Reid’s intelligence really, but he could get close to and make him have to think. The answer of who was smarter was one that was playfully argued about a lot but they both secretly knew the answer. “I think you're kinda dumb” he teased.
“Am not”
“Definitely are too.” Reid fixed his hair from where Ethan messed with it. He should've kept the hat on, he side-eyed him playfully.
“Is San coming? He doesn't have to,”
“He is, he's a zombie I think. But he might've changed. He was going to be a rockstar at some point, then changed to a vampire, then like some lagoon monster, somehow he settled on a zombie.”
Meeting up with San outside of the college led them to the conclusion he had once again changed his outfit and became a zombie rockstar. It worked, oddly enough.
“And you made it sound like you would never want to go trick or treating” Ethan taunted the very dressed up man.
“I never said all of that, and if I'm going trick or treating I'm going to look good. Who knows, maybe I'll see some hot ladies” Reid and Ethan looked at each other and laughed, San was not appreciative of the implications. “At least Reid and I have a chance, you look ridiculous”
“I'm actually going as Reid so maybe you'll want to reconsider that sentence”
San and Ethan kept bickering like that all throughout the night, Reid being in the middle and sometimes forced to choose sides. It was all very funny.
He was thoroughly distracted. Of course, he wasn't aware that was what Ethan was trying to accomplish.
Reid forgot about serious responsibilities and his home life for the night. It was completely out of his mind, which was something that he hadn't managed to do since the idea of putting his mother into a home first came to his mind. He was allowed this one night of bliss. He'd have to deal with another attempt at a phone call in the morning.
Ethan shoved him slightly, he stumbled onto the grass before returning a much gentler shove back.
“We're in public, stop. I'll bump into someone” he tried to reason, dodging the next attack that landed on San instead.
They probably trick or treated much longer than they should've considering they had classes the next morning. They still stayed up though. Nightmare on Elm Street played while they traded candy they didn't want across the table.
San left ruffling Reid's hair and drunkenly walking to his dorm one room over.
Ethan tidied up from dinner and turned off the TV knowing that they both were going to bed. They were already dressed into comfortable clothes.
“Thank you”
“It's no problem, I like stealing some while I put them away anyways” Ethan said easily.
“I don't mean putting the food away. Thank you for tonight. I appreciate you spending time with it. It helped” Ethan's expression softened, he hadn't realized Reid knew what he was doing. But of course the genius would catch on by the end of the night.
“Thank you for letting me. I like being able to help you and I'll continue to be here for you whenever you need. If something ever happens, come to me, ‘kay?”
“Mhm” Reid nodded, a bit close to tears.
They were never romantic. Reid was a child and he still basically was. Even if it wasn't like that between them, Ethan never wanted to sleep in the same room as the kid. Morals. But tonight Reid needed comfort and he had always said he was comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed, let alone room, as Ethan, so that night Reid forced Ethan into the large enough bed with him.
“Goodnight. Thank you again”
“Happy Halloween, Reid. Feel better”