"He's seriously been like this for 2 hours!" Shane whispered to Blaine as they peeked into Kurt and Reed's room.
Reed was lying face down on his bed with his head buried beneath a mound of pillows. He didn't seem to be moving at all.
"Yeah," Blaine said with a sigh. "He wasn't even supposed to come back to Dalton until tomorrow but he came tearing through here a couple of hours ago and he refuses to talk to anyone."
"And you're sure he's alive?" Shane asked, his voice tinged with worry.
"Yeah, I've been checking his pulse every 20 minutes." Blaine glanced at his watch "Look, Shane, just do what you can. I was supposed to meet Kurt in the library 10 minutes ago."
"Mmm library sex. Very kinky."
"What!"
"What?" Shane asked with an innocent smile.
Blaine stormed away, threatening him under his breath.
Shane walked into the room and took a seat on the edge of Reed's bed. He made quick work of peeling the pillows off of Reed's head. He tried to roll Reed over but the little painter refused to budge.
"What's wrong, love? You know you can tell me anything, right?"
There was no response.
"Did you fall in front of your family?"
Silence.
"Did your mom yell at you for painting in the wrong shade of white?"
"Are you pregnant?"
"Did someone rip your socks?"
Shane went on for a good five minutes when a sudden sickening thought came to him. The teasing smile was immediately off his face.
"Reed..did someone hurt you? His voice cracked slightly.
Finally there was a response. Reed shook his head vigorously, his curls falling back and forth against the bed. Shane sighed I relief and inched closer to Reed on the bed. He draped his arm across the smaller boy's body.
"Come one, Reed. Just talk to me. Did something bad happen?"
Reed hesitated before nodding a yes.
"Does it have to do with your mom?"
Another nod.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Shane asked as gently as possible.
Reed his shook his head even harder than before. Shane couldn't help but to laugh. Reed was so adorable sometimes.
"Well if you don't want to talk about it why don't you write it down?
There was a slight pause as Reed considered the idea. He nodded slightly. Shane smiled brightly and jumped off the bed to search for some writing materials. He returned with Kurt's math notebook and a blue pen. He placed the pen in Reed's hand and positioned it above the notebook.
"Write!" Shane urged excitedly.
Reed's face remained facedown as he began to scribble away:
"Its really really embarrassing. You have to promise not to tell anyone!"
"Promise!" Shane said. He looped his pinky with Reed's and gave it a firm squeeze.
Reed's pen hesitated above the paper before continuing:
"She was at work. And I was home alone. But then she came back early and I didn't know!"
Shane had no idea where this was going.
"And I was in my room….alone…and she just walked in AND SHE CAUGHT ME AND NOW I WANT TO DIE"
Shane laughed at the ridiculously dramatic statement. "Wait, what did she catch you doing?"
Reed picked up the pen again and wrote:
"Myself."
It took a moment for Shane to understand what he meant by that. When it sunk in, he began to roar with laughter. He rolled off the bed and hit the floor. He barely noticed because there were tears streaming down his face at that point. His entire body shook with his laughter. Shane looked up just in time to see a scandalized Reed run across the room. Shane sprang to his feet and chased him. He caught Reed by the waist before he could reach the door. Reed's hands immediately flew up to cover his alarmingly red face. Shane picked him up in the usual bridal carry, and made his way back to the bed. He took a seat, depositing Reed in his lap.
"I'm sorry for laughing!" Shane said as he tried to peel Reed's hands off his face. "Come on babe you have to admit, its kind of funny!"
"Its not!" came his muffled reply.
"Yes, it is! It happens to the best of us. I've been caught dozens of times."
"R..really?" Reed asked, peeking at him between his fingers.
"Yup," Shane said with a proud nod. "I've been caught my mom, my dad, The Twins, my eighth grade English teacher, and Blaine on several occasions."
Reed's hands fell away from his face in surprise. Shane immediately laced his hands with Reed's.
"Wait….but how many times do you?... You're not careful at all, are you!"
Shane laughed again. This was far too amusing. "Sometimes I just get carried away and I forget to be quiet or lock a door or something. Look, Reed, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's just masturbation. It's natural"
Reed visibly cringed at the word while Shane struggled to hide his smile.
"I can let you watch sometime, if you want," he offered casually.
Reed's jaw dropped and Shane erupted in laughter once again.