Morgan watched the young man across the table from him closely as Reid played with the end of the tie he was still wearing. He could see that Reid was thinking, probably trying to figure out how to say whatever he had come to say besides the apology that he had already gotten out. If there hadn't been anything else he wanted to say, Reid would have retreated from the room by now.

"Morgan, I didn't tell you all he details about that night when I first told you about it when we were in Texas," Reid finally said. Though his voice was low, Morgan was able to hear the words clearly. Could hear the guilt in them.

"Okay," Morgan replied slowly. "There's nothing wrong with that, Kid. You shared what you felt comfortable sharing at the time. Is there something else that you want to share with me now?"

Reid swallowed hard, his Adam's apple visibly moving with the action.

"After they stripped me and tied me to the goalpost, they didn't just stand there and watch," Reid said quietly.

"I imagine there were a lot of throwing insults and laughing going on," Morgan ventured, when the silence seemed to drag on.

Reid nodded. "But that wasn't the worst part of it. The teasing and laughter were an everyday thing. I was use to it by then," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

~No one should ever get used to that kind of treatment, ~ Morgan thought, thinking of his own experience with it. He had chosen to do something about it. Find a way to stand up to his tormentors. Reid hadn't been able to do that.

"I was already humiliated enough that I was naked - I don't know if the fact that it was both guys and girls there made it better or not but I guess tying me to the goal post like that wasn't enough for them."

Morgan's brain was coming up with ideas about where this was going and he didn't like it. ~Please, don't let him say what I think he's going to say, ~ Morgan's mind pleaded silently. Thoughts of what Carl Buford did to him came to mind and the thought of a twelve-year-old kid being subjected to that kind of treatment by kids five or six years his senior was making him see red. ~If any of them subjected him to that kind of abuse, I will search them out and . . . ~

Morgan let the thought trail off as Reid started talking once again.

"A couple of them had cameras with them. Alexa Lizben had a camera. I remember seeing her laughing face as she pressed the button. As if it was enough that the football team had witnessed my humiliation . . . those pictures seemed to haunt me the rest of the school year. I never knew when they would show up." Reid swallowed hard, trying to check his emotions, before looking up and gazing across the table at Morgan. "What if one of those pictures show up at the reunion tomorrow night? I'll never be able to live down the humiliation. Nor am I exactly the ideal image of a human male nowadays."

~I wouldn't be so sure about that, Kid. I'd definitely like to see you without those clothes on, ~ Morgan found himself thinking.

"Reid you're borrowing trouble," Morgan said out loud, hoping the words didn't come off as too dismissive of his friend's fears. "A lot of things from our school days tend to get thrown out or packed away. Chances are, no one even has any of those pictures anymore."

"What if they do?"

"Then you hold your head up high and leave. People like that aren't worth your time worrying about. The idea is for you to go have a good time at your high school reunion with Ethan. If that doesn't happen, there is nothing saying you can't make it an early night," Morgan told him. Across the table Reid nodded, although he was back to looking down at his tie and playing with it. "Then when you get back here, you can find me and tell me what an idiot I was for convincing you to go in the first place," Morgan said lightly.

The words had the desired effect, as the slightest trace of a smile appeared on the corners of Reid's mouth.

There was a brief moment of silence between them before Reid got to his feet. "It's late. I shouldn't be keeping you up like this," he said softly, as he started walking toward the door.

"It's fine, Kid. My door is always open to you," Morgan told him. ~As is my heart, ~ he added silently.

"I know," Reid said, "and I appreciate it. It's been a long day and we're both probably exhausted - I know I am."

"Okay, then. I'll come get you for breakfast," Morgan told him as he got to his feet, sensing that Reid was pulling away again. "Eight o'clock? Or do you want to sleep in?"

"Eight is fine. I'll see you then," Reid replied, reaching the door. He reached for the doorknob and let himself out of the room.

Continuing toward the door, Morgan reached it as the door clicked shut. Morgan leaned forward and rested his head against the door Reid had just walked out. It hurt to watch him leave like that when he longed to hold the younger man close to him and soothe away all his troubles if he could.

Reaching his hotel room, Reid headed for his bed and crawled into it, kicking shoes off in the process. He grabbed one of the large hotel pillows and hugged it close to him trying to draw comfort from it. After having been hugged by Morgan though the pillow did nothing for him. It was soft and cool, where Morgan's bare chest had provided something firm and warm for him to be close to. To draw comfort from.

The last thing that Reid had wanted to do was to move away from Morgan's embrace but he had been scared that if he had held on too long he might give his friend the wrong impression. Or well, it would be the right impression in that it was how Reid honestly felt, but it would ruin his friendship with Morgan and it was that friendship that kept him going some days. The last thing the young genius wanted to do was to alienate Morgan. To lose the one person who meant the most to him after his mother. It was why he had gone to apologize in the first place.

Telling Morgan the rest of what had happened out on that football field fifteen years ago had felt good. It was like he was sharing the burden instead of carrying it around. It didn't change what happened. It didn't change the fears and anxieties that he felt about the upcoming reunion. The only thing it changed was that Morgan had a better understanding of where he was coming from.

With a sigh, Reid let go of the pillow, and rolled onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling. Not for the first time, Reid thought about just not going tomorrow night. He could call Ethan in the morning and tell him he had changed his mind. His friend had Eve to keep him company during the reunion tomorrow. Reid had a feeling that the couple really wouldn't miss him anyway. The only other person at the reunion that Reid might possibly like to see again was Parker as it had been awhile since he had seen him during a case in LA. Even then, Parker had teased him about looking like he had in high school and despite always feeling young due to always being with people who were older than him, Reid hardly thought he looked twelve.

~I won't go. Ethan can take Eve and catch up with whoever he wants. He won't even miss me, ~ Reid told himself, feeling a sense of calm come over him at the decision. ~I'll go see my mother, spend a good portion of the day with her and perhaps Morgan and I can fly home tomorrow night instead of Sunday.~

Morgan. As soon as he thought of his friend, Reid immediately saw the disappointment that would be in Morgan's eyes when he heard those plans. Morgan might not say anything, might tell him he understood but deep down Reid knew he would be disappointed in him. Disappointed that he had backed out of this opportunity to face past demons.

~I can't win. Either I go and face whatever the reunion holds for me or I back out and live with the fact that I disappointed Morgan.~

Reid let out another sigh. It was a no-win situation but somehow, a few hours dealing with people he would hopefully never see again was somehow preferable to having to live with the knowledge that he had disappointed Morgan.

Resigned to the fact that he was going to have to at least make an appearance at the reunion, Reid closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. It didn't take long for old memories to start haunting him. In an attempt to banish those demons for the moment, Reid tried instead to concentrate on a more recent memory - namely the one where Morgan's arms were around him holding him tight.

Morgan glanced at his watch and then back at the elevators. Reid was now ten minutes late, having said he would meet Morgan in the lobby at five o'clock. Morgan had been relieved when Reid had consented to let him drive the younger man to the reunion and pick him up. Morgan's fear was that if things went bad, Reid would avoid him afterwards instead of letting him give the moral support he had made the trip out to Vegas for.

Wondering if the kid was getting cold feet, Morgan headed for the elevator. Before long he was on Reid's floor and walking toward the younger man's hotel room. Reaching room 743, Morgan reached out and knocked on the door. When he didn't get an answer for a few minutes he knocked again, wondering if they had managed to miss each other on his way up.

"I'm coming," Reid called from inside the room.

Moments later the door was opened and Reid stood before him - black slacks, a black dress shirt, a tie undone hanging around his neck. Looking down at the floor the two mismatched argyle socks were clearly visible as Reid didn't yet have his shoes on.

"Unless you plan on going barefoot, you're clearly not ready," Morgan commented, looking back up.

Reid turned from the door and headed into the room's bathroom. "I'm having trouble with my tie," he replied, a long sigh following the words.

Morgan walked into the room, and let the door shut behind him. Standing just outside of the bathroom he watched as Reid made an attempt at knotting the tie - and was successful to a point. The tie now had a knot in it but not the one it was supposed to have. As long fingers worked on taking the knot out, Morgan bit his lower lip gently to keep from laughing.

"Here let me," Morgan said, stepping into the bathroom.

Reid gave a resigned sigh and turned sideways as Morgan came to a stop in front of him. The fact that he didn't give a word of protest to the offer of help told Morgan just how nervous and frustrated Reid was feeling right now.

Morgan made short order of the tie. "There you go. Now get some shoes on and I can still get you to the reunion in time to be fashionably late instead of just outright late," Morgan said lightly as he turned and leaned against the bathroom counter.

"Why would you care if I'm late?" Reid commented as he started out of the bathroom past Morgan. "Though you're kind of dressed up yourself," he added, taking in the dark-skinned profiler's black dress shoes, black dockers, and navy dress shirt on which the top two buttons had been left undone. "If you're worried about making your own date on time, I'll find another way to the reunion."

"I don't have a date this evening," Morgan replied. "As for the clothes, well maybe I just want to look nice in case you change your mind and decide you want a little back-up at the reunion tonight."

"I'm going to a high school reunion, Morgan, not going undercover," Reid called in reply, rasing his voice a little as he was now in the main area of the room.

"You may not be any safer than if you were going undercover," Morgan said softly as he pushed off the counter and followed Reid.

"What was that?" Reid asked, pulling black dress shoes out from underneath the bed.

Morgan noted how new the dress shoes looked as Reid slipped one on. They didn't really look like they had been worn before.

"Did you buy new shoes the reunion?" Morgan asked.

"No. Why?"

Those look like they haven't been worn."

"I've worn them before - twice in fact. They're not comfortable though so I only wear them for certain events."

Morgan grinned, thinking of the canvas shoes or loafers that he normally saw Reid in. Being in style was certainly not something Reid could be accused of, though Morgan had to admire the Kid's confidence to wear what he wanted and not care about current trends. Reid dressed for his comfort - not style.

"I'm ready," Reid finally said getting to his feet. "Time to get this over with."

"Try not to sound so enthusiastic there, Kid," Morgan commented as the two of them left the hotel room.

As they walked down the hallway, Morgan heard Reid muttered something under his breath, but didn't quite catch the words. Deciding he probably was better off not knowing, Morgan didn't ask the genius to repeat himself.