Classic Disclaimer: It's a fanfic. I don't own the characters, I'm just playing with them.
He liked to think that the fight had started off well. He was certain that he had broken at least two noses and cracked a guy in the ribs with a solid kick. Reid liked to think just about all of his fights started off well, even when they ended badly.
It was literally his last day on the high school campus. Graduation had been predictable. His mother had even made an appearance, three hours late, but still. All of his worldly belongings were in the back of a truck and Tyler was probably waiting for him in the parking-lot on the other side of campus.
A knee to his gut doubled him over and he looked up just in time to take a fist to the cheek, throwing him all the way down to the ground where he heaved out an exhale just before a boot to his ribs tried to force out more.
Right there, with his cheek to the ground and the taste of blood in his mouth, Reid Garwin was certain that he was not going to miss high school. Not even a little bit.
This hadn't even been his fault, not that he made a habit of admitting when a fight was his fault. In the process of moving, Tyler had dropped a box that morning. It just had to be the box with the brunet's porn mags and it just had to be when the lacross team was passing by. They had been more than excited to pick them up at first- less so when greeted by some heavy man on man photography. Reid had made fun of Tyler for buying those years ago. Who bought porn? It was everywhere on the internet for free!
Before his red cheeked bestfriend could stammer out some sort of response, Reid had snatched the mag back from the jocks and thanked them for picking up his stash before the headmaster saw it.
Reid coughed and rolled onto his back, the handful of boys still on their feet around him actually high fived one another before picking up their own wounded friends. "Job well done boys." Reid spat blood and lifted his hand to give them the thumbs up, his right eye blurry from a sharp knuckle to his socket. "Pummeled the dick lovin right out of me. I officially hate my own gender." He mumbled, rolling to his side to get up just in time to take another kick. He never was good at shutting up.
He realized that he blacked out when he opened his eyes to find a small gaggle of sophmore girls hovering over him and texting god knows who. He rolled to his knees and stood a little more shakily than he would have liked, wincing at the daylight that now had his head throbbing. Fan-fucking-tastic. "Ladies." He rolled a hand in their direction, knuckles torn up, before walking away.
He had more or less straightened himself out by the time he reached the parking lot. He was in better shape than he expected, nothing broken, and was feeling a little arogant by the time he reached the truck. Tyler was about to lay into him about taking so long but whatever words he had practiced caught in his throat. "What the fuck?" The brunet asked, those eyes going impossibly wide.
"You get to drive." Reid told him, tossing the keys. He decided, based on the success of his toss, that he had no eye damage either, despite one side of his face tingling and swelling against a cut on his cheekbone.
"No shit. What happened to you?" Tyler was rounding the front of the truck to come to his side, hovering as he opened the door. "Who did this?"
Reid grinned at the edge to his best friend's tone. Angry. Like he might actually do something about it. Tyler wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a fighter either. He had been in more than a handful of scuffles but he'd never started it and if he could have walked away, he would have. Tyler was reasonable. Reid thought it was cute. "Wrong side of the car, Baby Boy. Do I have to explain driving to you again?" He huffed when he got into the passenger seat, pulling down the visor to get a look at his face.
Tyler was frowning but he closed the passenger door and walked around the truck. When the engine started so did the air conditioning, cold air blowing in and making the small cuts on Reid's skin burn. He closed his eyes when the pulled off the city streets and onto the highway.
When he woke again it was dusk and the long stretch of road was winding upward toward the glow of a city. "Fuck, how long was I asleep?" He blinked and stretched. The music was on and Tyler was tapping his thumb against the steering wheel in time with it.
His friend let out a laugh, glancing at him before returning his focus to the road and merging cars into the offramp. "Uh, at least six hours, man. You missed all the rest stops." He grabbed a paper bag from the middle of the cab between them and tossed it into his lap.
Reid opened it to look down at a cold burger wrapped in waxy, grease stained paper. "Gee, thanks." He put the bag back in the space between them and looked around, seeing a road sign. They were already there. "Sorry." He yawned.
Tyler shrugged. "Don't be. The car ride goes a lot smoother when you're not making me honk at every douchebag we pass."
Reid laughed, grabbing at the visor again to check out the state of his bruises only to find his face clean. Smooth skin and sharp cheeks. "Ty.."
"I know, I know." His friend said almost irritably. "You haven't seen them in two years, you really want to have your face all fucked up when you finally do?"
Reid's face scrunched angrily. "The fuck do I care what my face looks like when they see it?" He was about to huff and glare angrily out the window when he twisted in his seat to look at the driver. "What do you mean see them? Why the fuck would we see them, Ty?"
Tyler held onto the steeringwheel and seemed suddenly very interested in the road as they entered the city. "Hey look, I think that gym has a pool." He nuged his chin in the direction of a building.
"Baby Boy." Reid hissed.
"I don't know! They live in the same city. Go to the same university. Why wouldn't we see them?" He shouted defensively.
Reid frowned. Tyler only used that tone when he was up to something and trying to wiggle out of trouble. "The fuck did you do?"
"Nothing!"
"It's a big city, Ty, why would we see them?" Reid shouted. "Have you been talking to them?"
"No!" Tyler shouted back before biting his lip. "I mean, I text Po sometimes.."
Reid groaned and leaned forward to thud his forehead to the dashboard.
"We were friends." Tyler continued to argue, trying to fill the silence with reason in hopes that it would sink in. "It was a misunderstanding, Reid."
The blond's head popped up. "Misunderstanding?"
"Come on." Tyler pleaded.
"He was wrong and I was right and Po fucking believed him."
"They're best friends-"
"We were all best friends!" Reid snapped angrily.
Tyler pulled the truck into an open space in front of their new apartment building but before he could even turn off the car, Reid had opened his door and jumped out of the truck. "Where are you going?" He shouted just before the door slammed shut and his friend stormed off down the darkening sidewalk, one arm raising behind him to offer the brunnet a middle finger in reply.
Tyler groaned, sitting alone in the truck and watching Reid grow smaller and smaller before the shadows swallowed him up down the street. His phone buzzed in the pocket of his hoodie and when he tugged it out the glowing screen showed a text from Po. 'Make it in one piece?' Tyler almost laughed and quickly replied. 'Almost.'
Pogue was looking at his phone when Caleb walked out of the house and into the garage, opening the freezer they kept there.
Po looked up from where he stood by his bike, the garage door already open.
"Did they make it?" Caleb asked but didn't look up.
Pogue put his phone in his pocket, watching his brother carefully. "Yeah."
Caleb stood there for a second longer, shoulders tense, before grabbing a white wax paper package of meat from the freezer, closing it, and going back inside.
Another covenant fanfic! Alright, this will be ongoing. All the lovin will be between the guys, so if it's not your thing, jump ship now. If you have any requests for what you might like to see in this one, you're welcome to toss it out there. I might not do it, but there's no harm in giving suggestions.
/hearts