Reid watched Tyler standing infront of the mirror on the other side of the room, fixing himself up for his date later that morning. He wore a white button down cotton shirt and a simple pair of jeans, but he still looked good in them. At the moment, he was trying to tidy up his hair. Reid watched as he layed in bed, the white sheets pulled up around his shoulders. It was about 9:00 in the morning, Saturday, and Reid planned on staying in bed for most of the day seeing how Tyler wouldn't be there.

"So, who's this chick you're taking out this morning?" Reid asked, pushing himself further under the covers so that you couldn't see his mouth.

Tyler was still fixed on his rugged reflection in the mirror, getting overly frustrated with a strand of hair that wouldn't sit in place. "Um, her name is Kristina, she's in our history class on Thursdays, you know, the red head who sits across the room?"

Reid huffed at hearing the girls name and tried to picture her face in his mind. Probabley some stupid slut just trying to take advantage of him, he thought half-heartedly, feeling a strong pang of jelousy in his stomach.

"Why in the morning? Couldn't you have taken her later tonight?" Reid asked, trying to keep the conversation going so it seemed like he actually gave a damn.

"It was her idea, not mine," Tyler answered, glaring furiously at the still rogue strand of brown/black hair. Reid fought back a grin at his friend's terrible efforts. "Besides, I think it's a great idea, we're going to see a movie and then go out for coffee afterwards, rahr, goddamn!"

Tyler shouted out angrily and curved his fingers like claws towards his hair, contemplating weither or not he was just going to rip it out and be done with it.

Reid chuckled quietly and kicked the sheets off to walk over to him.

"Here, let me," he said, reaching around from behind Tyler and twisting and twirling the piece of hair back in to the rest perfectly. He tucked it underneath a few other strands and stepped back to see Tyler's approval.

"How the hell do you do that?" Tyler grumbled, turning his face to look sideways at his now perfect hair.

"Meh, just thank me and get over it," Reid smiled, making his way back to the bed and throwing himself down on his back. He folded his arms behind his head for support and stared up at the white ceiling above.

"You gonna be ok while I'm gone?" Tyler asked, grabbing his phone and sliding it into the pocket of his jacket that he had folded over his arm. He walked around the room, making sure he had remembered everything.

"Yes mother, I know the drill, no house parties, no boys," Reid said sarcastically, earning a glare from Tyler.

He paused with his hand on the door handle to look back at Reid for a few more seconds.

"If you get bored just go and hang out with Caleb and Pogue or something, I'll be back around six,"

Reid gave a sarcastic wave to his friend as he closed the door gently behind him. His smile dropped as soon as Tyler was out of sight.

Caleb and Pogue aren't the ones I want to hang around with he thought sadly, a long sigh slipping from between his lips.

He turned on his side and closed to eyes to try and get a few more minutes of sleep, but as soon as he did images of Tyler and the red-haired girl surfaced. Them sitting together, laughing and gazing at eachother in the coffee shop. Her with her head on Tyler's shoulder in the movie theatre, her hand slowly creeping up his thigh, leaning in closer and closer until their lips were almost touching...

"Fuck," he muttered to himself, sitting up quickly and rubbing his eyes with a closed fist.

A loud distinguishable knock came from the door and made him jump.

"Hey Reid, you in there man?" Pogue's familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Reid groaned. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Are you gonna open the door or not?"

Reid rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the bed. "Open it yourself yer lazy fuck,"

"My arms are full idiot," Pogue started to sound annoyed.

"You know you can open it, Pogue," Reid called.

"I'm not gonna use just to open the door,"

Reid rolled his eyes. "Caleb's there too isn't he?" he sighed.

"Just open the door, Reid," Caleb said now.

If Caleb wasn't there, Pogue would have opened the door without a moment's hesitation and walked right on in, but then again, Caleb had been pretty strict on all of them since he ascended. Reid had often found himself being slapped up the back of the head on more than one occasion.

Reid took his time and forced himself to get back up and walked over to the door. He opened it to see his two older brothers standing there glaring at him. His eyes wandered to the six-pack Pogue held under his arm, and he stepped aside to let them in. Reid sat himself back down on his bed and Caleb and Pogue sat on Tyler's un-made one.

"Where's Tyler?" Pogue asked suddenly, tearing open the six-pack. Caleb shot him a 'really?' sort of look.

"He's on a date, left about five minutes ago," Reid sighed.

Pogue smiled at Reid's expression and handed him a beer which he didn't hesitate to open and start drinking. Caleb glared at them both.

"Aw shuddup Caleb, it's never too early for this shit," Pogue joked, attempting to give one to the older teen, but Caleb held his hand up in refusal and Pogue shrugged, taking it as his own.

"Besides, Reid needs it, look at him, he's a wreck,"

Reid gave a sarastic grin towards Pogue and took another sip of his beer. "Yeah, thanks alot, you don't look too crash hot yourself, asshole,"

Pogue gracefully flipped his hair with his hand, ''What ever do you mean, I'm always fabulous,"

Caleb and Reid couldn't help but laugh at their friend.

A few minutes of silence passed between them before they spoke again.

"So, you gonna tell us what's up?" Pogue asked Reid, who looked up suddenly.

"What? Nothing's up, I'm just tired," Reid answered sullenly.

Caleb and Pogue raised an eyebrow at eachother to stare back at the blonde.

"Reid, we've both seen you tired, don't lie to us,"

Reid sighed. Why can't they just leave it alone for once?

"Is it something to do with Tyler?" Pogue asked.

Reid huffed angrily. "No, it's got nothing to do with Tyler," he said quietly, averting his eyes from his brothers.

Pogue smirked. "Yeah, ok tough-guy, if you say so,"

Reid glared at Pogue again and held his hand out, gesturing for another beer. Pogue tossed him one and he straight away opened the cap and started drinking it.

"So, where are we going today?" Caleb asked, trying to change the subject. He tried to distract Pogue from the sudden conversation topic, he could see the hurt in Reid's eyes.

"Dunno," Pogue sighed.

"Well, how about Nicky's? We'll just hang out there for a while,"

Reid's eyes instantly brightened and he smiled at the other two.

"Sure, I could do with a bit of fun," he grinned.

Maybe today wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.

-CALEB & POGUE POV-

Seeing how it was only an early Saturday morning, Nicky's wasn't the busiest joint in town, but that didn't stop Reid from straight away heading over to the pool tables and starting up a new game with a couple of random teens in the back corner. Pogue and Caleb just rolled their eyes and sat at a table close to the bar to order breakfast.

When Pogue returned back to the table with two plates of bacon and eggs, Caleb just stared at the wooden table top and tapped his fingers. Pogue had already begun stuffing his face before he noticed that Caleb wasn't eating.

"What's up man? Not hungry?" Pogue said over a full mouth, making Caleb grin.

"What are we gonna do about Reid?"

They both glanced over at the pool tables. Reid was joking around with one of the other guys.

Pogue looked back at Caleb.

"What'dya mean?" he asked, confused.

"Damn you're thick Pogue," Caleb laughed.

"In what way?"

"It's so obvious, " Caleb smiled, gesturing a hand towards Reid. Pogue glanced back again for a few seconds before looking back at Caleb with raised eyebrows.

"Ohhhh, you mean with the whole Tyler thing?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah, Tyler doesn't know what he's doing to the kid,"

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Caleb, it'll do Reid good to get a taste of his own medicine," Pogue added, stuffing another fried egg into his mouth.

"C'mon, that's cruel, it's really messin' him up,"

Pogue looked up from his food. "Has he told Tyler yet? Does he know?"

"Nope, he hasn't even told us," Caleb sighed.

Reid's triumphant cheers sounded from the pool area and Pogue and Caleb grinned at the sudden slice of joy the young blonde was having.

"Well, I suppose he will when he's ready, for now let him have his fun," Caleb said.

The two boys turned at the sound of the bell on the frontdoor to see Tyler entering. He looked nervous. A petite little red-haired girl clung to his arm possesively as he made his way to their table.

"Aw shit," Pogue mumbled, exchanging worried expressions with Caleb.

-REID POV-

The game was going great. He had already won 200 pounds in betting money, and things were just getting better and better. He was surprises how well he was playing this early in the morning. He had just managed to bag the highest score against the other five random guys he was playing against, and he felt pleased smirk form over his lips as he saw the semi-pissed off expressions of the others as he leant over the table to make his next shot. They were all eyeing him wearily, watching his every move. No doubt, they thought he was cheating. No-one was this good. Except Reid. He didn't even use once to help him get the upper hand. He was au natu'ral this time.

He squared up the shot perfectly, biting his lip in concentration as he was getting ready to hit the shot. One, two, three... he counted down in his head before thrusting the billiard forward, but he missed as the front door bell rang noisily, startling him and making him miss the winning shot.

"Fuck!" he cursed out, slapping his hand to his forehead.

"Nice try, that would have been the ending shot," one of the guys said. This kid was the nice one in the little group. He was the only guy there that couldn't give a crap about high scores or money. Reid smiled at him and shook his hand, muttering a thanks before turning back angrily to search for the people who had just messed him up.

"Ok, whoever the hell that was I'm gonna..."

He stopped dead as his eyes rested on the couple that had just arrived, settling themselves at Pogue and Tyler's table across the bar. The first thing he noticed was the fragile little red haired girl that clung to the guys arm as she giggled girlishly, practically bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement. His heart ached painfully. His throat was dry and he couldn't swallow. His hands quivered as the guy turned around to face him. Tyler.

"Hey, Reid! Come over here!" he called, waving at him. But he couldn't move. He felt light headed and he could tell that there would have been anger glowing in his eyes.

Without a moments hesitation, he turned and bolted for the back door, ignoring the weird looks and hushed muttering as he pushed his way through the small crowd.

He burst out of the back door and a gust of freezing, wet rain hit him in the face, but he couldn't give a crap. He just had to get out of there. He sprinted like it was for his life through the alley, dodging over empty boxes and beer cans and bottles, almost tripping over twice until he finally came out on the back street. He leaned over and pressed his hands to his knees, breathing heavily. The cold air stung his lungs as he inhaled sharply.

He took a quick glance back to make sure he hadn't been followed. No, they wouldn't have followed him through that junk. He looked around frantically and when he saw that there was no-one in sight, he let himself drop harshly to his knees, his shoulders quivering.

Why was this affecting him so much? Wasn't he happy for Tyler? No, he needs to be happy for Tyler. But, even as he kept repeating this to himself over and over again, he couldn't hold back the tears that stung his eyes. He couldn't stop them from pouring out over his cheeks, his breathing a ragged mess. He stifled back a sob as he gathered himself up, put his hands in his pockets and kept walking. He didn't know where exactley he was walking to, he didn't have a car, he'd come here with Caleb and Pogue, and the dorms were about an hour and a half's walk through freezing cold weather, and his house was even further than that. Not that he would actually consider going home, hell, he hated the place.

With a shaky breath, he turned another corner and kept walking, trying to erase every memory he had seen that night from his head. Why did it hurt so much?

Just keep walking, Reid, just keep walking...don't look back...just keep going...

-TYLER, CALEB & POGUE POV-

Caleb came back in from outside and slid his mobile back in his jacket as he joined up with Tyler and Pogue.

"He's not answering his phone, it just keeps going to voicemail," he said concerned, the others with worried looks on their faces.

"Where the hell would he have gone?" Pogue asked nervously. He wasn't any calmer than the others, usually he was the most cool and collected of the four, but not tonight. Their bestfriend and brother had just ran away into freezing cold weather with no means of getting home. He wasn't even answering his phone, and Tyler was starting to freak. Reid never turned off his phone. Never.

"You sure you asked everyone? No-one had seen him since he ran out?" Tyler said, voice breaking slightly.

Pogue and Caleb shook their heads and Tyler's gaze dropped to the floor. His fists balled up at his sides. "Damnit,"

"It's not your fault, Tyler," Caleb said sternly, grabbing Tyler's arms so he would look him in the eye. "He's just not in his right mind, that's all, I'm sure we'll find him baby boy,"

He could see the tears in Tyler's eyes start to pool up.

"Yeah, because of me!" Tyler yelled, looking away again. "If I hadn't brought that stupid girl here, he wouldn't have run off! I'm such an idiot!"

"You didn't know how he would react, It's not your fault," Pogue added.

Tyler pulled away from Caleb's grip with a frustrated groan and sat himself down heavily in a chair at one of the further tables, resting his forehead down on the cold wooden table and running his hands through his hair.

Caleb and Pogue looked at their upset friend before looking at eachother sadly. Pogue sighed.

"Did you leave any messages?"

Caleb leant his head back in defeat, "Yeah, a whole bunch, but he won't get them, you know how he is when he's like this,"

"Mmm," Pogue sighed, "I don't know why he has to cut himself off from the rest of the world, I know that Tyler was the only one he would talk to about this sort of stuff-"

"-but now he feels like he has no-one." Caleb finished.

They jumped as Tyler slammed his fist down on the table with a groan. "Damnit, I'm such a fucking idiot!"

Pogue shot a questioning glance at Caleb before they made their way over to their younger brother.

"I should have guessed," Tyler mumbled to himself.

"What?" The other two said in unison.

"I think I know where the idiot is,"

"You want us to come wi-"

"No!" the power in Tyler's voice startled the other two and they stepped back a few more steps. "I need to sort this out, just wait here, I'll call you when I've found him,"

With that Tyler quickly stood up and sprinted out the front door to where he had parked his hummer across the street. The cold rain battered against the exposed skin of his face as he hopped into the drivers seat and sped off down the road, leaving Pogue and Caleb with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

-REID POV-

The tree still stood there. A huge hanging willow. He watched the rain drip off the leaves as he walked towards it, holding his shoulders with the cold. His clothes were soaked, and he was shivering wildly, but he couldn't care. As he reached the base of the tree, he ran his hands over the bark. This was their tree. The tree where him and Tyler spent countless hours as younger boys sitting in the branches and hiding from the world...

Tyler looked up at the blonde boy who now sat on the branch just above him and crossed his arms.

"C'mon Tyler!" The blonde called, a huge grin plastered over his face.

The younger Tyler huffed in annoyance.

"I can't climb that high, Reid!" he called up, frowning.

"It's easy, get up here!"

"I can't!"

The young blonde boy laughed at his angry friend below him.

"I'll help you then you big baby,"

The blonde's eyes flashed a luminescent gold and then black, as the younger boy slowly felt his feet being lifted up off the ground.

"Hey! Reid, let me down!" he yelled, struggling to try and reach the ground again. The blonde just smiled as he lifted his friend further up in the air until he dropped him on the branch.

The younger boy panted. He made the mistake of looking down and gulped, scooting over closer to the giggling blonde.

"See, it's not that bad up here," Reid smiled.

Tyler looked into the blonde's icey blue eyes and tried to fake a smile, but he almost slipped off the branch. He was steadied by an invisible force and he straightened back up, moving closer to his blonde friend so he could lean against him in support.

"Damnit, Reid, why did I have to come up here? You know I'm afraid of heights!" Tyler yelled, punching the laughing blonde in the shoulder.

"I just wanted to show you something, look," Reid said happily, pointing out at the sky on the horizon. The sunset was beautiful. All different shades of purple and orange and pink, the clouds bright yellow. Tyler had never really stopped to look at the sunset before, and he stared wide-eyed in awe. Reid looked at his friend smiling.

"Wow," Tyler whispered.

Reid smiled again at his friend's reaction before settling to watch it too.

"Hey, Reid?" Tyler said gently, turning to look at the blonde.

Reid turned to face him then. "Yeah, Ty?"

"We're gonna be friends forever, right?"

Reid nodded once, his trade-mark grin spread across his lips.

"Yeah, promise,"

Tyler smiled happily and looked out over the horizon again...

He pulled his hand back from the bark and laughed at himself. Don't be such an idiot, he thought bleakly at himself. The branches above his head sheltered him from the rain a little, but he could still feel the stray drops against his face as he sat at the base of the tree, wrapping his arms around his legs.