"Blaise, get dressed, darling, we are going out to dinner." I made a face and turned the page in my book.

"Do I have to? This is the good part." I whined, Theodore had lent me the book and I wanted to get through it before I met up with him and Draco again tomorrow.

"Yes, the book will still be there when we get back." I groaned and rolled over onto my back, looking at the door where my mother stood. She was already dressed and ready to go, her hair was currently in long box braids falling down to her waist. My Mum always had her hair looking fresh.

"Fiiiiine." I rolled back over and stood up, heading for the closet to get dressed. I thought my Mum would leave the room but I heard her settling into my chair.

"We are going out with my new beau," she warned me.

"Yeah, I know."

"You know?" She sounded surprised.

"You only announce we are going to dinner like that when it's with someone 'special'." I rolled my eyes and she chuckled.

"You are my smart boy." She commented.

Damn right, I was.

I whispered the word damn, trying it out. This past year Alistair had started cussing, a lot. The rest of us did it less, so the words still felt foreign in my mouth, still felt naughty.

I finished getting dressed and came out, looking to my Mum for approval. She hummed softly, standing up and walking over.

"My little boy isn't so little anymore." she realized. "I got so used to seeing you every day that now that I'm not…" She reached out and ran a hand over my hair, I always kept it pretty close-cropped. "There is something else I should tell you, Blaise." She walked away over to my dressing table, grabbed my brush, and came over to carefully smooth it over my hair.

"Yeah?" I asked curiously.

"He has kids." I tensed up.

"What?"

"My boyfriend, he has two kids- they go to school with you actually." I stared up at her, she never dated guys who had kids. I was an only child and had been since birth. I'd never even had a step-sibling.

"Who?"

"His name is Jacob, his kids are Reid and Tate." I thought about it for a Moment, going through all my classmates. Reid Fawley was in my year, a Ravenclaw. She was almost as much of a know-it-all as Granger was.

"Moooom," I whined.

"Blaise." She sighed. "It's one dinner. You know the rule."

If I didn't like a guy, then she dumped him. Mum assured me that I was number one in her life and if I didn't like the guy she was seeing, she would drop him no questions asked. I sighed dramatically, letting my head drop back.

"Fine." I relented. She smiled and pulled me in close, kissing my head.

"That's my boy."

The Moment I got the call from my Mum I had said my goodbyes to my friends and quickly headed home.

"Mother?" I called out, I went for the kitchen first but she was nowhere to be found, then to the sitting room, no luck. I headed up to her bedroom and found her pacing in front of her fireplace. When she saw me at the door, she stopped moving.

"Should we go to the hospital?" She asked. I rarely saw my mother unsure of herself or of what to do, but I did note that it happened the most over the years in relation to Jacob Fawley.

"You said he's in critical condition?"

"That's what they told me."

"Why did they contact you?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Knowing Jacob he never updated his information to have me taken off as an emergency contact." I nodded, that seemed pretty reasonable. I had known Jacob for roughly four years of my life and he was absolutely the guy who would forget to do that.

"I asked if there was anyone there for him, and they said his daughter was." My stomach dropped. Reid,

"Just her?" My Mum shrugged. If Reid was there all on her own-

"We have to go." I insisted.

Mum nodded as if that was the confirmation she'd been waiting for.

"You're right." She agreed She reached a hand out to me and I quickly moved across the room, taking her hand.

St Mungoes had a designated spot where you were meant to apparate into. It was out of the way so you weren't going to end up getting run over by a floating gurney or a team of healers moving on to their next patient.

My Mom's normal instinct kicked in and she crossed the room, every bit of uncertainty she'd had at the house was gone and Jacqueline Zabini was back.

"I'm looking for a patient." She said to the nurse at the desk.

"Name?"

"Jacob Fawley."

"relation?"

"Wife." she didn't skip a beat. The nurse rattled off the room and Mum looked back at me, gesturing for me to follow her.

I'd been to St Mungoes quite a bit. Between former stepfathers falling sick as well as the couple of times I had been here the year before because of Theodore, Coco, and their drama, I knew the layout pretty well. We easily made it up to the room, but it was empty.

my stomach dropped to my toes.

"Oh, Merlin." My Mom's hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"Are you looking for Mr. Fawley?" A red-haired nurse asked. I nodded. "he's down in the OR, you can go to the waiting room down there if you'd like- or you can stay here, it shouldn't be too much longer."

"We'll go to the waiting room, thank you."

The nurse smiled and left us alone. My Mum leaned against the wall for support.

"You go ahead, love, I just need a minute." she waved me off.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, darling, go, I'll be right down." I waited a moment longer before turning and heading for the stairwell to go down to the OR

It felt like a million miles, hurrying down the stairs, I could have taken the elevator but that would have felt like even longer, at least this way I controlled my speed.

I got to the correct floor and pushed the door open, that was when I saw her.

she seemed so small, curled up on the floor, her hands pressed to her face, her hair hanging down around her like a golden curtain.

I crossed the space between us, stopping a couple of feet away from her.

"Reid?" I asked, she looked up at me with wide eyes, tears streaked her cheeks, her face blotched with red.

"Blaise?"

I knelt down to the floor in front of her and after an awkward moment, she nearly threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and crying into my shoulder.

I tensed- it wasn't the reaction I had expected at all but I quickly got used to it and I hugged her close.

I buried my face in her hair and inhaled slowly, flowers and oranges, the same scent I remembered, the one I complained about for years- then dreamed about when she was gone.

"Sorry." She muttered against my shoulder, She unraveled herself from me and I found that I missed the contact almost immediately. "I shouldn't have-"She pushed herself up to stand and offered me a hand to help me up.

The elevator doors dinged and she looked over my shoulder.

"Jacqueline." She greeted. I looked back at my mother whose eyes were also mysteriously red-rimmed now.

"Reid darling." I moved out of the way and my mother crossed over to hug Reid. I noticed how badly Reid's hands shook.

"Um- They said it was his heart." That wasn't surprising, We both knew he'd had heart issues.

"Honey, are you here all alone?" Mum asked Reid. She paused as if thinking about it and then shook her head.

"No, Charles is here." She shot a glance my way and I frowned.

"Who the hell is Charles?" I asked.

"I am." We all turned to see the boy walking our way with a styrofoam container in his hands. "Babe, is everything okay?" He asked.

"Everything is fine, Thanks." He held the container out to her and she took it. "Charles, you probably know Jacqueline and Blaise Zabini."

"Yes, of course." Charles answered. "Charles Travers. Reid's Boyfriend." He held out a hand to me. I waited a moment before going to shake his hand.

Reid did take note of my hesitation and she rolled her eyes. I gave her a grin.

"What?" Charles asked, looking back and forth between us, my hand still grasped in his.

"Nothing, Charles." Reid shook her head. "Just Blaise being Blaise." She promised. Charles released my hand and cleared his throat.

"Right, so did they have any updates?" He kept his attention on Reid.

"Not really. They're almost done with the surgery, but that was kind of all they had to tell me." She looked at the container in her hands as if she was just now processing that she was holding it. I reached out and took it from her, she let me.

"Babe, you need to eat." Charles sighed.

"Let's- go into the waiting room." Mum suggested, gesturing for the door. Reid nodded and turned, heading into the waiting room. There was a family off to the side, quietly crying, Reid tensed p as we passed by them and I automatically reached out to place a hand on her back- instead, my hand landed over Charles's.

He gave me an annoyed and mildly offended look.

Reid didn't seem to notice any of it. I couldn't say I blamed her for that. She took a set and I plopped the container into her lap. She frowned at it then up at me, her gaze flicking over to Charles for a moment before sighing and opening it up.

"I'm going to see if I can talk to a nurse." My mother patted my shoulder and walked off to presumably do just that.

"Eat." I ordered, taking a seat.

"Bite me." Reid responded automatically. Charles looked at her in shock but I grinned. She picked up the half sandwich and took a bite, chewing slowly.

"Where is Tate?" I asked, directing the question at Charles so that Reid would continue eating.

"We don't know." Charles answered- I quirked an eyebrow, curious if I was being sensitive or if he was really putting that much emphasis on the 'we'. He was also sitting weirdly close to Reid, his leg pressed to hers.

"He left while they were preparing to bring Dad here." Reid said around a mouthful of food.

"Have you tried to get ahold of him?"

"No, Just sending psychic vibes." Reid swallowed the mouthful of food and gave me a look- the look that I had received countless times over the years. the urge to reach out and push her over was strong, but I had to remind myself that we were adults now and I couldn't just shove her away like I did when we were twelve.

"Yes of course I have been trying to get ahold of him." Reid took another bite. "He won't respond."

"I'll get someone to find him." I offered.

"No, it's fine. When he's ready to reappear he will do it." She closed the container and sat it off to the side.

"Is that it?" Charles asked with a frown.

"I can't eat anymore." Reid shook her head.

"Nerves tie her stomach in knots."

"I know that." Charles snapped, then seemingly caught himself and he cleared his throat. "I'm aware." He corrected, giving me a look of his own. It took far more willpower to keep myself from shoving him.

"I'll eat more when I know he's okay." Reid promised. Charles reached over and took her hand. She didn't push him away, instead squeezing lightly.

"He's out." Mum announced, walking over. "Well- basically. They're finishing everything up and they should have him in the recovery room soon." Charles let out a sigh of relief and leaned over to kiss Reid's head. She didn't look toward him. I could see the look in her eyes- she didn't want to let herself hope.

"That's great news, Baby." Charles prompted.

"It is." Reid agreed, giving him a smile, he happily accepted it, but it was obviously fake. Anyone who knew her would know that. I was starting to think that maybe he didn't fall into the category of people who knew her.

"Hey Reid, I want something out of the snack machine, come with me?" I requested. Reid gave me an odd look but nodded.

"Sure." She stood and smoothed down her dress. I just then realized how nice the dress was, the dark purple clinging to her body like a second skin. She walked out of the waiting room with me, her hands wringing in front of her.

"Deep breath." I advised. She did just that, automatically. "Okay now, what's up?"

"You didn't want the snack machine."

"Well yes, I do, but also, I could see you're still not doing great so what's up?"

"The surgery just wrapped up there is still so much time for something to go wrong and it feels like acting like it's not is tempting fate and-"

"Another deep breath." I ordered. She stopped her panicked rant and gave me an annoyed look- but still did what I told her. "You're right. he did just get out. He isn't out of the woods yet, but he made it through the surgery and that is worth celebrating." I lead the way to the snack machine- I really did know this place like it was the back of my hand. I popped in a bit of money and the chocolate peanut butter cups fell down. I grabbed them out and held them out to Reid, who snatched them out of my hand.

"Plying me with Candy is rude."

"but effective." I grinned as she ripped open the packaging.

"I shouldn't- Charles is allergic to peanuts." She realized.

"then don't offer him the second one." I shrugged.

"Blaise, if I eat these, we can't kiss until I brush my teeth. And I didn't bring a toothbrush. I didn't bring anything." she let out a bitter laugh. " I ran out of a date with Charles after Tate called me just in time for him to vanish into the fucking-" She stopped and looked at the unwrapped chocolate in her hand. "Fuck it." She bit into it, closing her eyes and groaning.

A groan that I felt in my cock-

Nope, no, bad. She has a boyfriend and-

"You have a boyfriend?" I asked. "For how long- were you two-" I trailed off to let her finish the thought but she didn't she simply gave me an amused look

"Since when do you care if someone has a partner?" She asked. I blanched.

"I don't- normally but you're not normal."

"Thanks."

"You know what I mean, Reid. So were you dating him at the time or not?"

"If I had been dating him, don't you think he would have accompanied me to the engagement party?" Reid asked and my shoulders relaxed just a little. It was a good point. "He and I started dating after that- when you wouldn't return any of my messages."

Oh, yeah- that.

"I meant to."

"I'm sure." She deadpanned, holding out the other cup. I took it and bit into it.

Some habits just didn't die.

"Also- if your boyfriend is going to go into anaphylactic shock anywhere, this is the place to do it." I teased. She rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, going back the way we came. I got a few more candy bars from the machine and followed her. By the time I caught up, she was talking to a nurse.

"We are going to keep him in the recovery room for a little while, but he should be back up in his own room within two hours or so. Would you like to go back and see him?" the nurse asked Reid. I walked up beside them and handed her another candy bar which she took without looking.

"Yes, absolutely."

"Fantastic, follow me." The nurse gestured and Reid followed after her.

I headed back over to where my Mum sat awkwardly with Charles, I took Reid's empty seat and leaned over to pick up the styrofoam container with the sandwich. I opened it up to find a BLT.

"Yum." I picked it up and bit into it, completely unbothered by the fact that Reid had already nibbled on it.

"That's for her." Charles snapped.

"She doesn't like bacon," I replied with a mouthful of food.

"Yes she does-"

"Nope, ever has," I argued, taking another bite.

"Blaise." My mother scolded I shrugged one shoulder.

"I'll go get her something else from the cafeteria." I promised. I didn't even spare a glance for Charles but I could feel him simmering next to me. My mother rolled her eyes and crossed her legs, her focus turned to Charles.

I finished off the sandwich and got up. Fulfilling my promise to get Reid fresh food, something she would actually like, and by the time I got back up to the waiting room- there was someone new there.

"About time you showed up." I pushed past Tate, purposely making sure my shoulder bumped against him. He gave me a wildly unimpressed look.

"Where is Reid?"

"She's back in the recovery room with your, dad, who had surgery, it went well. Which you would know if you'd been here."

"Blaise- I really don't need-"

"Didn't ask what you need." I shrugged and kept walking, heading back to where my Mum still waited.

"Tates here."

"I heard. Blaise, you don't have to be so mean." My mother commented. Charles stood and headed back over towards Tate.

"I do. He left her alone to figure it out on his own." I scoffed. "He's a grown man, who does that?"

"Someone who is scared or upset." She replied, looking over her shoulder at Tate.

"Yeah, and in the process he left her alone." I repeated. My mother quirked an eyebrow but let it go with a shrug. I watched as Tate walked away to talk to a nurse who led him off. Charles walked back over and sat down.

"He's going to go back to the recovery room."

It was another hour before anyone came to let us know that Jacob was being moved back up to his room.

We gathered all our stuff, throwing away any trash before heading up towards the room where Mum and I had started.

The door wasn't completely closed, it was cracked open and we could see in. Jacob was laying out on the bed, his eyes were open and he was pale but he was awake and his mouth was moving. Reid sat on one side of him, her cheeks shining with tears. Tate's back was to the door. Reid glanced out and saw us all out there, loitering. She stood and walked around to Tate. He glanced back and nodded, standing up and the two came to the door.

"Jacqueline, would you like some time alone with him?" Reid asked.

"Oh- you two don't have to-"

"He wants to see you." Reid added. Mum glanced at me and I gestured for her to go. As she went to pass the Fawley siblings, she paused to give them each a kiss on the cheek before going into the room- again, leaving it just a little cracked.

"I should probably head home." Charles said, standing up.

"I'll walk you down." Reid offered, holding her hand out, he offered her his arm and the two of them headed down the hall. I narrowed my eyes at them as they walked. They did make a seemingly perfect couple, she was only a couple of inches shorter than him and even their clothes seemed to be coordinated.

"He's a wanker." Tate sank into a chair.

"What?" I flinched and looked down at him.

"Charles. He's fine I guess but he's a wanker."

"That is the actual definition of an oxymoron."

"Maybe, but it's still true." Tate shrugged. I took the seat next to his and looked into the room. I could see my Mom, she was sitting on the side of the bed- facing the door. I could see as the tears rolled down her cheeks, she just let them fall, dripping down to the blanket that covered Jacob's lower half. He held her hand in his and the of them were talking. The look on her face was exactly what I remembered seeing between them before Jacob packed up his kids and moved to America.

A total, undeniable love. I'd never seen my Mum cry over a man before Jacob and I didn't think I would ever see it again. She loved that man in a way she'd never loved any of her other husbands- and that included my own father.

My heart twisted for her, but more than that it twisted for me, because as the sound of heels against the laminate flooring got louder and I looked up to see Reid walking back over to where we sat- her cheeks now a little flushed, I felt that same feeling my Mum did.

Stupid Love for a Fawley

A/N - Thank you so much for reading! I'm casually obsessed with Reid and Blaise at the moment, and I hope y'all will love them as much as I do. Favorites, Follows and Reviews are much appreciated!