Reid's relationship with the Windwillows is a very interesting and complex one, much more so than how it started out.
Fauns and humans may get along considerably better than they used to, but for the most part, a barrier still lingers. While most of them may not try to harm each other, sticking to their own kind remains an unspoken rule.
That's why it was such a big deal when Malachi became the first faun High Priest, and that's what feeds the conflict for my overall story. It is possible and ultimately vital to overcome prejudice, but it's a complicated process and even those who make it through don't get there overnight.
It even took Jonathan quite a few years to really warm up to humans, more so due to his beloved father's horrifying brush with death at the hands of humans. And then when Jonathan got to the point where he started to embrace a human as legitimate family, his parents raised a surprising protest...which didn't sit well with him or Reid, to say the least.
You could say Reid's need to be loved is one of his weaknesses. He can be a bit too clingy for his own good, but he doesn't force anyone to like him or act entitled in any way. Let's just say he trusts the Windwillows a little too much at first, and then they learn a hard lesson in taking such trust for granted. So, neither side is all right or all wrong, and lessons on both sides are learned the hard way.
As irony would have it, fauns are big on loyalty and don't take kindly to betrayal. Then the Windwillows, who know as well as anyone what it's like to be on the receiving end, find themselves doing the exact same thing to someone else.
For all the pain Reid goes through, this is among the worst. He can sort of expect everything else to happen to him, he can almost count on other people hurting him...but having the very people he was so sure he could trust stab him in the back is something else. He's like an affectionate dog who gets struck out of the blue by the same hand that used to pet him, and now he cowers in the corner with his tail between his legs.
This is heavily based on Sulley scaring Boo in Monsters, Inc. Man, I'm choking myself up already.
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