𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕕

reid watched as ollie paced their kitchen, glad that he’d given up on punching for the moment. he was sure the punch ollie had landed was already causing his face to redden and he wasn’t going to be surprised if the throbbing of his face turned into a bruise over the next few hours. as he thought about it, his hand went up to his face, grimacing as he felt the pain and heat of his skin. at least reid could hold his own against ollie, they were probably the best matched to fight against each other on campus. as he saw ollie’s fist clench, he stepped out of the kitchen to the other side of the island, noting a little bit of space would be best for them both. part of him wanted to give his friend a sarcastic response but he held his tongue; ollie was already mad enough without him being mature about it. “ i can’t, ” he said calmly, preparing for ollie to make his way around the counter to punch him yet again. he deserved it, he knew, which was why he hadn’t done more than push the male off the first time. “ it just - happened. ”

his eyes closed as his body relaxed, hovering over her and he rested his forehead against her bare shoulder, taking deep breaths. he laid there a moment before he pulled his hands away from her wrists, brushing her hair back gently. he placed a kiss on her collar bone before rolling off of her, laying beside her on the bed. he turned his gaze to her, eyes locking on her eyelashes as his breathing finally settled. what happened now? normally he had no qualms about girls staying the night, but she wasn’t just any girl. still, the alcohol in his system made it hard for him to want to let her go quiet yet. the sooner she left, the sooner he had to deal with what they’d just done - all on top of the chaos going on with his sister. “ you want some water? ” he asked and sat up, eyes immediately darting around his room in search for his clothes.

reid was too overwhelmed with the thought that she’d pull away from him if he reached out for her, despite how much he wanted to. maybe the closer she was the less broken this would all be. he knew it was naive. he’d messed up whatever was between them more than he ever thought possible. at the tremor in her voice, he felt a sting in his chest. was he ever going to be able to repair what damage he had done? he opened his mouth to say more but stood silently as he watched her exit. he rested his head against his door after she left, a heavy, broken sigh escaping his lips.

reid had just started gathering ingredients when he heard the door open. he’d barely glanced up to see ollie’s frame before turning his attention back to the food. “ i’m making breakfast, you wa-- ” he stopped short when ollie’s fist made contact with his face, grasping the counter to maintain balance before he was pushed back against the wall. honestly, he’d been expecting this, though he had to admit he was expecting a little more warning. “ i -- ” he started, closing his mouth as the other male repeated the question before he even got a chance to respond. his patience was wearing thin and he pushed ollivander off of him, shrugging his shoulders to fix his shirt. “ yes! ” he responded, getting the word out before ollie could repeat the question again. he knew it was beyond the point of lying his way out of it. it was obvious octavia had told him, though reid was having a hard time piecing together how she knew - especially with the headache now pounding through his skull. “ fuck. yeah, i did. ”

reid wished there was something he could say but he knew that there was no reasoning that would make this somehow better. they might not’ve been a couple but up until that night, he’d been exclusive with her ( even if she didn’t know that fact ). maybe that was the reason he felt so guilty over his actions, why he felt so compelled to tell her the truth instead of some lie about it being someone else. even more confusing was the way he was already trying to figure out how to fix this - normally breaking things off was so easy. but with nora, he was overwhelmed with the fear that her walking away now meant forever. as she got off his bed, he stepped toward her. “ nora, ” he said softly, stopping in his tracks as she requested him to let herself out. “ i’m sorry. ”

reid turned to face her, sticking on the other side of the room. there were few people he cared about knowing the facts and the person that mattered most was right in front of him. he let out a slow breath, sliding his hands in his pockets to stop the fidgeting. he watched as the realization dawned on her and he held his breath, wishing not for the first time to take those actions back. he lowered his gaze to the blanket that was draped over his bed, staring at the hem of the fabric. “ i told you it was worse than you think, ” he whispered, unable to give her an outright yes.

despite not wanting to look at her reaction, his eyes quickly snapped to her face one she spoke, trying to gauge how she really felt. she had much more practice hiding what she truly thought than he did - she was in the public eye, after all. all it took was the slightest slip up and it was all over the news for her. maybe she didn’t have reason to tell him not to, they’d never said they were exclusive, but that didn’t stop the guilt that weighed on him. his face paled at her next words and he stood up from the bed, pacing to the other side of the room. why’d she have to pull out that example of all things? “ ...and - how much would it matter? if it was? ”

reid sighed as the girl inched out from under him and he moved to sit on the edge of his bed. his gaze hovered over her head, unable to actually look her in the eyes. he didn’t necessarily want to see the way her face looked when he told her - he knew it wasn’t going to be anything good. “ worse than you think, ” he admitted, looking down at her hands. he wished it was as simple as a stupid infection; an infection would go away and she wouldn’t hate him after he told her what had happened. “ it’s not an infection, ” he started and let out a long sigh. “ i just - it was - just some - stupid one night stand. ” was there any way to soften the blow of who that one night stand was with? if there was, he couldn’t think of one. “ i was drunk, ” he added, as if that was somehow an excuse.

now that they were in his home - that this was something real and distinctly happening, reid wanted nothing more than to shut off the little voice in his head screaming how wrong this was. he’d had enough practice ignoring that voice over the years that it was easy enough to continue on, following her demand. he led her back to his room, removing his shirt and throwing it to a random corner before his hands found her waist again. kicking the door shut behind him, he led her backward until her knees hit the mattress and she fell back on the bed. he kissed along her neck as he worked with the button of her trousers.

as the girl got her shirt back on, reid worked on zipping and buttoning his pants, staring at his home. once she finished speaking to pete, his gaze transferred back to her and he nodded in response. “ yeah, i think you might be right, ” he responded and pressed his lips to hers. he opened the door and led her to the front door before pausing, realizing just how bad this could go if he walked in attached to the blonde and his roommate was there to witness it. “ let me check if the coast is clear, ” he said before he made a run through of the house, quickly returning when he noticed ollie wasn’t there. “ dunno where he is, ” he started, his hands on her waist as he pulled her in, “ but he’s not here. ” once she was through the threshold, he closed the door behind her, his lips quickly finding hers.

reid had naively hoped that they’d be too caught up in each other for her not to notice the marks adorning his skin. it had worked for some time but when he felt her hands stop, he knew she’d seen them. his already increased heart rate became erratic. he glanced down to his skin, his hand tentatively wrapping around hers and he slowly guided her hand away, trying to redirect her attention to anywhere but the spots. “ ah, uh -- i don’t -- remember? ” he replied, a flimsy lie. although much of the night was a blur, he definitely knew where - or rather who - the marks came from and how they got there.

reid’s hands splayed out on nora’s thighs as she wrapped her legs around him, slowly making their way to the small of her back. “ i’d bet on it, ” he replied, mumbling against her lips. he reached behind him and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume slightly before setting it on his nightstand. he flipped them over, hovering over her and he looked at her, a half-smile on his lips. emotions he couldn’t quite place were rushing through him; all he knew was she felt infinitely more right than anyone else ever had. he pressed a light kiss against her collar bone, trailing up to her lips.

“ fair enough, to both points, ” he replied with a chuckle. the driver would have to be pretty obvious to get the angle she was at regardless. he adjusted on the seat, a soft sigh of relief escaping his lips as she pulled away the fabric. he hadn’t completely realized how constricting it was until it was no longer there. he tangled his fingers in her hair, keeping her hair from falling in her face and his eyes fluttered partway closed. bridge was quite possibly the worst person he could be doing this with but he couldn’t force himself to care and they’d already gone so far. “ bridge, ” he let out with a breath, leaning his head back.

reid’s eyes snapped open as her lips pulled from his, brows raising as she lowered herself to the car’s carpet. this was probably in his top ten for most stupid ideas but in the moment he couldn’t find himself regretting it. this was definitely a better idea than spending the night hitting trees around campus. “ and he won’t get suspicious at all if we’re completely quiet? ” he asked, his fingers running along her jawline. “ isn’t he sworn to royal secrecy or something anyway? ” 

reid nodded at the girl. “ you can say you’re staying at my sister’s place. moral support, ” he shrugged. it was something that could be followed up on; he and dana were in the same place and it wasn’t like she wasn’t friends with lulu. the lie was easy and he knew dana would lie for them when push came to shove. “ i’ll do whatever makes you happy, ” he replied, pressing his lips to hers. could anything lift the guilt he was feeling? “ if that’s watching whatever movie this is, i’ll do that, ” he said before adjusting his positioning to better guide her into his lap. “ but i think you may have a better idea. ”

reid had honestly, truly tried to hide the events of the night before prior to meeting up with nora, but found there was only so much he could do without the assistance of makeup - which would most certainly draw her eye even quicker than the marks that adorned his skin. so he found himself hoping she wouldn’t notice as they sort-of watched a movie together, his arm around her. he’d realized not long in that they spent more time glancing at each other than actually watching the movie. “ you wanna stay over tonight? ” he asked, turning his head toward her and he brushed her hair away from her face. “ we can keep this whole movie ‘watching’ thing going. maybe get through the whole series, ” he joked.