The Best Thing That's Ever Been Mine

by xoUntilxoKingdomxoComexo

For the first time in my life, I can see a future, a forever and it's all because of him. Not that I would have believed you if you had told me that a few years ago. It wasn't just any guy that made me feel like this - it was Reid Garwin.

I don't own 'The Covenant'

You Are The Best Thing That's Ever Been Mine

Mine – Taylor Swift

The Covenant – Reid Garwin / OC (Grace Montgomery)

Reid Garwin's reputation preceded him. Without ever really meeting him, I knew so much about the type of person he was, or rather, the type of person that he pretended to be. I started going to school with him at fourteen, and in the four years that I spent at the 'prestigious' Spenser Academy, Reid didn't speak to me once, I don't think that he even saw me. Not many people did, though, in the elite world of Spenser, I was invisible; I was nobody. Not like Reid and his friends; the infamous Sons of Ipswich, they were legendary. Caleb Danvers; the golden boy and leader of their little group, he went out with Sarah Wenham; a transfer student in our senior year. Then we have Pogue Parry; biker boy and the 'it's complicated' boyfriend of tanned beauty and Ipswich gossip queen; Kate Tunney. Of course there's Reid Garwin; the one and only blondie playboy, sleeping with a different girl every night, in his four years at Spenser I think that he slept with half of its female population. Last but most definitely not least, there's Tyler Simms; the only son of Ipswich that I wasn't invisible to, although that was only because he was going out with my best friend and roommate, Aria Smith. We were actually quite good friends, he understood where I was coming from when I was annoyed at someone or if I was frustrated. He became my brother of sorts, he didn't treat me like everyone else did (except Ari), he made me realise that there is so much out there in the world, you just need to find it.

You were in college working part time waiting tables
Left a small town, never looked back
I was a flight risk with a fear of falling
Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts

I was in college when I first spoke to Reid Garwin, I had moved to Maine to go to college there. I walked into this cafe, and as I sat down a waiter came and as I looked up I realised that it was Reid. I was gobsmacked, but still, I gave him my order.

As he was coming back, I said to myself: "I will never forget this day"

"And why's that?" he asked me.

"Because I never thought that the infamous Reid Garwin would be serving me Hot Chocolate..." I replied with a smirk.

"What?"

"I went to Spenser, Reid. You know Tyler's girlfriend, Ari, I was her best friend."

"Oh yeah, you always had your nose in a book, your name's..." he was at a loss when trying to recall my name.

"Grace Montgomery, and yeah, that's me."

"Look, I've got to get back to work but do you think that we can grab a coffee sometime?"

I was hesitant to answer; all the relationships that I've ever seen had ended badly. I was so scared that one day, I was going to fall for someone and they were going to break my heart. I never really understood why people bothered with love, I mean; it never lasted anyway, at least not in my world.

I decided that for once in my life, I was going to take a chance on something, so I grabbed a napkin from the table and wrote down my number.

"Sure" I said as I gave him the napkin, "I'll see you around, Reid Garwin"

"You too, Grace Montgomery"

I say can you believe it?
As we're lying on the couch
The moment I could see it
Yes, yes, I can see it now

Within six weeks from that day, Reid and I were going out. If you had told me at fourteen that within five years, I would be dating the Reid Garwin, I would have called you delusional. I think I would have when I started college too. Reid went to the same university as me, studying business rather that art.

One day, we were sitting on the couch in my apartment. He was lying down with his head in my lap as I played with his platinum hair.

Looking down into his shining blue eyes, I said, "Can you believe it, a year ago we had never even spoken to each other?"

"I glad we did though," With a soft smile, he brought my head down to his and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Me too"

Reid, he made me a better person, for the first time in my life, I saw a future with someone. I couldn't believe that in six short weeks he had manage to change me so much, but he changed me for the better. I would never change a minute of our time together, I would treasure every second forever.

Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

In the following months, Reid and I spent a lot of time on the Beach. We wouldn't always talk, the silence was nice sometimes. It allowed to relish and to cherish the moment. Sometimes we'd walk along the shore, playing in the waves, other times we'd just sit there looking out at the horizon. I scared me sometimes, the immensity of the ocean, of the world. It excited me too, knowing that there was so much out there in to world to explore, to discover. This one time, we'd been going out for about two weeks (I think), and he put his arm around me for the first time and suddenly, I wasn't so scared of the immensity of the world. Reid made me feel safe, protected. It was like no matter what the world threw at us, as long as we were together, it didn't matter, and nothing could touch us.

Flash forward and we're taking on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

After about six months, it was like we were taking on the world together; facing every obstacle together. We missed our friends sometimes, especially Ari and Tyler, but we had found a new way of living. We knew that one day we would go back to Ipswich. For now, though, we were living in the moment, in Maine, and we loved it. We loved each other. It was nice sometimes, the isolation from the people we knew in high school, the people we were in high school.

I had practically moved half of my stuff into Reid's apartment by the end of the semester, and he into mine. Quietly and without us really noticing we had solidified ourselves into the other's life and I had never felt happier or more secure. Reid was one of the first people to whom I told my most protected secret, the reason that, to begin with, I was so guarded. When I was a kid, ten, I think, my parents started fighting. It was okay to start with, I thought it was normal. Then I looked at my friends lives and I realised that they had more love in their lives that I did. Within a year my house had transformed from my home, my sanctuary, to just a building where I slept at night. In the two years that lead up to my parents' divorce, that house became my prison and I started to believe that love never worked and falling in love was pointless. I felt that way for a long time; I was always afraid that any relationship I was in would end up like my parents. But Reid taught me that sometimes being fearless or brave or courageous doesn't mean that you aren't afraid. Sometimes to be fearless, you need to jump head first into something that scares you.

"We'll never make your parents mistakes Grace, I promise," He told me, when I recounted the story to him.

I wasn't the only one with secrets to tell. In return for me telling him about my parents, Reid told me about his family's history. About the covenant, about the power, about the addiction. That's what scared me the most; the possibility, the definite possibility that I could lose him.

But we got bills to pay,
We got nothing figured out,
When it was hard to take,
Yes, yes, this is what I thought about

Even though we faced every hurdle in life together, our life wasn't easy. We had a million and one bills to pay, we had college and work and we had nothing figured out. Sometimes that got hard and we'd hardly see each other between school and work but we managed to hold on to that connection. A connection that made me feel alive, it made me feel like I finally had something to get out of bed for. When things got really hard, we'd think back to the moment that we met - the spark between us and everything seemed a little brighter.

We didn't really tell our friends about us, we liked our little world in Maine. Away from the expectations and reputations of Ipswich, we were able to be who we wanted to be. There were no Aaron Abbots or Kira Sniders, no-one to judge us because of our backgrounds. No-one knew anything about who we were before we came to the little town that we now knew as home. We liked it that way, there was no-one to interfere.

Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

There was this one time when we were sitting down on the beach, just looking out at the lights that reflected on the ocean. I was wrapped up in Reid's arms, as always. Something changed in my eyes that night; I started to believe in love, in us, for the first time with all my heart.

My dad was never the most careful person; he died in car crash when I was fourteen. He was speeding and drunk, drove straight into a wall and died on impact. He's the reason that I barely ever drive, unless I need to, and why I don't drink, at all. Since I joined High School, I'd always been so careful, so cautious. Reid, he made a rebel of me, he made me push the limits, and I loved it, I got such a rush from it. Like this one time, we walked up to the cliffs and then jumped off into the ocean below. With him, I feel like I can do everything because I know that he'll protect me.

And I remember that fight, 2:30 a.m.
As everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street

There is this one time I remember, but it's not for good reasons. It was half two in the morning and we had this massive fight. It felt like everything was slipping away from us; that is was falling out of hands. I'd caught him using a lot before hand and I was so frightened that I was going to lose him. I couldn't face that, losing Reid – he meant too much to me. All I kept thinking was; 'this is it, this is goodbye'. I remember running out onto the street, tears streaming down my face, mixing with the pouring rain around me. I could hear Reid's footsteps as he followed me, but I couldn't look at him, I didn't want him to see me like this; weak. I had always made out that I was stronger than I was, but really, inside, I was still that little girl who hid in her bedroom while her parents screamed at each other downstairs.

Braced myself for the goodbye
'Cause that's all I've ever known
Then you took me by surprise
You said I'll never leave you alone

He grabbed my hand, as I ran away from him, turning me around to look at him. I braced myself for the end, for the goodbye. We were at the brink of that, I could feel it. Would we be able to come back from that, from the edge of a goodbye? It was all I'd ever known, goodbyes; first my parents' divorce and then saying goodbye to Aria and Tyler when I moved to Maine. My questions were answer when, to my surprise, Reid said "I'll never leave you alone, Gracie, I love you!"

Through my tears, I managed to choke out, "I love you too Reid!"

I never thought that I would get this; my happily ever after. I definitely never thought that I'd get my happily ever after with Reid Garwin.
He looked into my eyes and said;
"You said I remember how we felt sitting by the water
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine"

Hold on, make it last
Hold on, never turn back
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

In that moment, I decided that I was going to make this thing last, that I was going to hold on to it as tight as I could and never look back.

I did make it last.

I did hold on...

And I never looked back.

Within two years, we were married (after we told our friends and family) and I became Mrs Reid Garwin. We didn't get married in Ipswich like Reid's brothers did. We got married in the place where it all started. It was a beautiful day, just like the day we met. But we weren't the people that met that day anymore;

I wasn't afraid of falling anymore because I knew that Reid was there to catch me.

Reid was dedicated to making a life for us instead of running away when things got hard.

Do you believe it?

We've now got a beautiful baby boy, Jake. He looks just like his father, not that we need another high school Reid Garwin on our hands.
We're gonna make it now
I know that we're going to make it. We're not the only ones either.

Tyler married Ari and they have a gorgeous little boy, Nate.

Caleb married Sarah (his girlfriend from senior year) and they just had a baby boy called Will.

Pogue and Kate stayed together; they're married now with Alex, their 6-month-old boy.

I can see it
I see a future, a forever...

I can see it now

And I'm never going to let it go.

Reid Garwin really is the best thing that's ever been mine.