It's so stupid, Spencer thinks as he flops back on the sagging couch, blinks the stinging dampness from his eyes, and listens to the familiar choked rumble of Ethan's clunker as he starts the engine and drives away. Just. Just stupid. He doesn't even know what the fight was really about -it certainly wasn't over what brand of milk was in the fridge-but that's just how it's been lately. Every little comment, every little mistake is a potential bomb ticking away underneath their feet, and Spencer's at a total loss over how to diffuse the situation. He can't even figure out what the problem is, much less solve it, and that makes his skin itch even more than the all too frequent shouting. The great Spencer Reid, brilliant genius, laid low by simple human emotions.
He huffs a flat, humorless laugh and drags his hand over his face. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Ethan was supposed to be his chance at happiness. They have so much in common, have so many of the same memories and stories. If he can't make it work with Ethan...
Spencer stops that thought before it can go too far, get too big and fill his throat with panic. Because this will work. It will. It will because it has too. Because Ethan is his tether to the world, keeping him from floating away and getting lost in an invisible realm of words and equations, and he doesn't even want to think about what would happen to him if that connection was lost. Was cut.
A few hours later, Ethan finally stumbles back into their apartment, completely drunk, but apologetic, and Spencer gathers him in his arms and holds him until he passes out next to him in bed. And while Ethan snores into his shoulder, Spencer breathes in the smokey, stale scent that still lingers on his hair from whatever bar he went to and promises himself that tomorrow he'll work harder and do better. Because he can't bear to face the alternative.
Thank you for reading! Feedback is overwhelmingly appreciated.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Written as part of the daily drabble exercise I do over on my LJ. Answers the prompt "Reid/Ethan, the worst fight that didn't break them up."