GREGORY GOLDSTEIN has been friends with Brian Reynolds for as long as he could remember. Therefore, it's safe to say that he knows everything about the boy.
He knows how nervous he gets around people, as he could never maintain eye contact for more than five seconds, or talk to someone new without stuttering or fidgeting -( poor boy was sweating like a cornered nun when he had to make an announcement for their book club.)
He knows how clumsy he was because every time they get paired up for Chemistry he has to always be the one to hold the test tubes -( because Brian couldn't stop shaking and whisper that hydrochloric acid could melt the skin off your bones.)
He knows how willing he is to sacrifice himself for other because one time he got hit by a car for jumping in front of it to usher a kitten off the road, - ( Gregory had to visit him every day in the hospital to make sure he doesn't miss his lessons.)
He knows how much he likes to cry, whenever he feels overwhelmed. Not that it's a problem, -( only when that one time, where he tried defending Peter Parker from Flash Thompson and ended up crying before he could do anything, causing Michelle Jones to punch Flash in the face because she thought he had been picking on Brian. The four of them ended up in detention, and Brian couldn't stop apologizing to both Peter and Michelle.)
Despite all of this, Gregory had never once seen him as pathetic, or worse, some kind of burden. He never stood by him for the sole reason of pitying him. The last person who told him that he was only friends with him because he felt sorry, ended up with a bloody nose.
On the contrary of what people might think, he actually looks up to the Hufflepuff. -( He actually had a crush on him back in middle school, but he found out that his tastes lingered more to boys like Peter Parker, not that he would actually say it out loud.)
He looks up to how kind he is, despite his recklessness he never hesitates to give way to others. That's how they were friends in the first place, he remembered six-year-old Brian, - ( the boy with chubby cheeks and nervous babbling ) shoving his own sandwich in Gregory's hands when he saw him not bringing anything during lunch time, before proceeding to run away.
He found out that it was the only thing he had that day, but he gave it nonetheless to Gregory, the lonely boy down the block whose parents always fight, whose sister ran away from home and never looked back for him.
Brian didn't know all of this back then, but then again, it never mattered to Brian Reynolds if you were Gregory Goldstein or Flash Thompson, his heart was filled to the brim with understanding and forgiveness -( he couldn't imagine anyone who'd forgive Flash Thompson, but Brian did it in a heartbeat.)
