Moonspell
Rating 》 T-M for Profanity, Adult Situations, Violence and Sexual Content
Pairing 》 Major Reid/OC & Minor Tyler/OC
Disclaimer 》 Fandoms, canons, music, references and source material are not mine, but this plot is. No monetary profit made.
Author's Note 》 For fanart, fanmixes and fanvids, go to hapadoll,wixsite,com/hapadoll (replace , with . )
2. Like a Charm
Classes resumed and daily life fell back into its normal routine. Any leisure or tranquility of recess became nothing more than memories fading like the tan built up from a sunshine vacation in the tropics. The unforgiving amounts of assignments, tests and projects started early as expected—without bothering to ease gently back in or slow down to explain things. As if they'd never been away from the drudgery and bustle of preparatory school life.
As seniors, Caleb and Pogue were on the home stretch to graduation—the day they'd been both anticipating and dreading in equal amounts. They had prepared for this moment over the past four glorious years of high school. It was creeping up on them like a person's shadow on a sunny day. Faithful and absolute. Each passing day brought them another one closer to the inevitable. It would arrive, marked and circled in red on their calendars and their futures would be upon them. Soon they'd be headed off to the real world where there wouldn't be that bell to summon them to class or the cafeteria to provide them with healthy meal choices.
The underclassmen of the group were simply hanging on, trying to make it to summer when school would be out, days would be longer and the weather would be the kind of perfect that keeps you awake at night thinking about changing your life goals. They still had time to dream and fantasize about all the things they'd like to do or become before making actual, definitive decisions that would affect the path their lives take.
"I'm siiick," Reid complained, drawing out the vowel as he dropped his hydro flask onto the table and unceremoniously wedged himself between Pogue and Sarah. He pointed his chin towards Tyler, who was mid-bite in his chicken-pesto sandwich, "This is your fault."
"Excuse your ugly face?" Tyler retaliated, proceeding to quote from a recent conversation. "'I'm Reid. I have the immune system of a superhero. I will destroy cooties.'"
Reid bit his tongue, choosing to turn the other cheek to the insult. He disregarded the mocking in his friend's voice for no reason other than his throat was sore. So sore that it hurt to speak. Every time he opened his mouth, air hit the back of his throat, rubbing it raw. To combat this discomfort, he chose silence. Only speaking selectively upon what he deemed to be of importance.
"Normally I do, but lack of sleep compromised my ability to fight off your germs."
During their all-nighter of research the previous Sunday, Reid made the mistake of laying down in bed for what he swore was only a moment. He was doomed the second his head hit the pillow.
Tyler hadn't fared better or made it much further between head drops at his desk before he too crawled under the covers, letting sleep claim him at last.
The next thing they both knew, they were jolted awake by a cacophony of bells and alarms from their phones signaling the arrival of morning. Too soon like an insensitive, bad joke about a current disaster.
Luckily for them, the rest of the hellish week back followed suit and a new weekend came just as quickly to replace the one prior. It would give them a chance to catch up on some much needed and well deserved sleep as well as the enormous workload and the mountain of homework that came along with it.
"That's just a silly old wives' tale our grandmas told us to get us to do shit we didn't want to. Like wear a jacket so you don't catch a chill—" Tyler argued, before he was interrupted by Pogue.
"Eat carrots to improve your eyesight."
"Drink milk so you grow big and strong," was Caleb's contribution to the argument against Reid.
Kate's harmonic voice cut into the boys' musings as she dropped some knowledge on the lot of them, backing herself with a little science.
"I'm pretty sure there's actual scientific proven fact behind some of those."
"My grandma used to say to apply perfume to your wrists so you always smell good," Sarah added, feeling left out.
The conversation rolled to a stop and the whole of the group turned to look at her with an assortment of questioning, amused expressions. She shrugged her shoulders as if she hadn't just spewed stupidity from that cute mouth of hers. With her eyes, she silently expressed gratitude to Reid for chiming in with his rough voice to break the awkward silence with the mention of Grandma Garwin; His paternal grandmother who shared her first name.
It always made her laugh to think about their first interaction when the so-called 'ladies-man' of Spencer used such a disastrous pick-up line on her. Yet in spite of a such a blunder, he still somehow got more ass on a regular basis than a Taco Bell bathroom.
His closest friends had come to know that he actually had an exceptional personality at his core, but he presented a warped and distorted version of it to his peers. It was a rarity to catch a glimpse of him beneath the superficial layers of arrogance and pompousness. It was almost as rare and magical as a unicorn sighting.
"Well, GG has never been wrong in her seventy-two years of existence and I don't think she'd start letting me down now."
Kate blatantly rolled her dark, expressive eyes at their friend's melodramatic behavior for the others to see, giving them one last laugh before smiling angelically at the prettier blonde between the two, who was perfectly content being wrapped up in Caleb's arms like a teddy bear.
"I can't believe it's already Friday," squealed Kate, excitement apparent on her breath.
Sarah made an involuntary noise, showing her concurrence on the happier subject.
Kate continued and extended the conversation to the rest, asking, "What's everyone's plans?".
Pogue was the one to answer his girlfriend, though they'd already touched on it earlier that day.
"There's not really anything going on this weekend. Everyone's kind of recovering from the giant ass-kick that is Spencer's 'welcome back'," he laughed sardonically, not looking forward to his upcoming Computer Science project.
"Good, I won't be missing out," muttered Reid, still sulking and sucking down water like a camel at an oasis.
It was grade school bully mentality. He couldn't have any fun, so he didn't want anyone else to have fun either. As if he would be happy to have the rest of the world outside of his own be just as miserable as was.
Tyler ignored the dark cloud that threatneed to creep in, and threw a more positive suggestion into the air in case anyone else was itching to do something like he was. Last weekend had been a weird one on top of a let down. He felt like he had missed out on most of it, because of the funk that unexplained night put him in. It'd been weighing on him all week, but school was surprisingly a welcomed distraction. A little relaxation to clear his head and reset his mind seemed like a good remedy for the stress and anxiety he'd been feeling.
"We could just have a chill night at Nicky's, nothing crazy."
It seemed to sound good to the group who agreed upon their collective Friday night plans, piping in with their opinions. All except for Reid.
"You're staying in then?"
"Fuck yes."
Tyler knew well enough by now that with Reid—the wildcard—Garwin, it was always a good idea to double check just to be sure. A part of him was dispirited that his partner-in-crime would have to sit this one out. Reid's outgoing, life of the party personality pulled the extrovert out of him. The blond's propensity for initiating conversation and meeting new people was one of the things he admired about his fearless friend. Tyler was able to socialize more easily when Reid broke the ice.
If anything, at least it'd be a good opportunity for their tight knit group to socialize within itself. Their time together was limited after all.
The group of friends met up a little later than their agreed upon hour, only to end up spending the majority of their time together gazing down at their phones, taking selfies and 'checking in' for all their not-so-close friends on social media. Tyler reflected back on life before smartphones when you had to just sit there and socialize with people face to face and work to maintain actual relationships.
In just a few months, two of his best friends would be moving away. He knew that they would never completely lose touch. Because they've grown up together, their bond was stronger than friendship. They knew each other's good and bad sides, quirks, idiosyncrasies—stuff nobody else knew. They have confronted one another on sensitive subjects that bothered them about the other person's actions and questioned each other's poor decisions. They may have had fallings out over the years, but they always came back from it stronger, never weaker. They have always seen each other through the hardships and the arguments without any feelings of disgust or disillusionment.
But soon the most they would see of each other for the next several years would be behind the screen of a computer—unless they all stayed in the Cambridge-Boston area. Either way, he wasn't ready to do that just yet. Their dynamic was going to change, whether he liked it or not, but he was determined to enjoy every moment prior to their departure.
"We're playing Phone Stack!"
Tyler made the decision and everyone's phones were begrudgingly placed into a neat little stack in the middle of the table before they could protest too much.
"Whoever grabs their phone first has to pay the tab," he explained.
"Damn. I only have a twenty on me," groaned Kate, knowing she'd end up footing the bill.
"Don't throw in the towel yet, babe. Baby Boy's right. We can disconnect ourselves from technology for a few hours and reconnect with each other."
"I totally agree with them. I don't even care for social media," Caleb chuckled.
"We know! You're an online hermit."
"Thanks, Kate."
Caleb's lack of presence on social media was a running topic his brothers liked to give him a hard time about. Even his own girlfriend joined in every now and then, wishing that he'd proudly display a picture of the two of them for everybody to see like a badge of honor. It bothered her to think of their soon to be long-distance relationship scenario where he'd be away in a new pool of girls who didn't know that he was hers. Sarah pushed her irrational insecurities aside for the moment and giggled at the exchange before her.
"I'm in," Sarah raised her hands in surrender and added, "Everyone that matters is right here anyway."
She corrected herself after a moment.
"Minus Reid. Poor guy. I feel bad that he's so sick, but is it awful that I also think it's a little funny how much of a giant baby he's being about a simple cold?"
The five of them took turns good-naturedly ragging on their friend in question, but the discussion took on a more serious note as the topic shifted to his inability to be monogamous or maintain a healthy relationship. They'd all thought it at one point or another, but they were glad someone had said it aloud. Each person had their own opinion regarding the lifestyle he chose, but the mutual agreement was: here was a guy who had so much to offer, carries so much capacity to satisfy somebody's heart and thrill their life, but he acted as if he did not care to or deserve to be genuinely happy and fulfilled.
The instant he felt like a functioning human being again, Reid was at his computer following up on local legends, ghost stories and folklore that have taken place within the Cape Ann region. It was Rockport they'd initially researched, but Reid had gotten distracted by the countless spooky tales across the state. He always found that kind of stuff interesting. He knew he was getting completely off track, but all he was able to find on Rockport was the same one story about an abandoned part of town that had become overrun by feral dogs and women accused of witchcraft.
Sure, it had captured his attention, but this was Massachusetts: a state saturated with a rich history of mass hysteria and persecution. Its soil drenched with the blood of the innocent and shaken by fear driven violence. Many of the women accused were pure of any involvement in black magic. The witch subject wasn't anything he hadn't seen a thousand times over.
It was about that time that he felt a stinging sensation in his face, started coughing, sneezed a couple of times and grabbed the nearest tissue to clean up with. He rubbed until his nose hurt, but that bothered him less than the grating ache deep inside his sinuses.
He sniffled, muttering "shit" as his blue eyes involuntarily watered.
"You're too sick to do homework but well enough to play on the computer. Interesting," a feminine voice interrupted from the ajar doorway as she peered in to check on him.
"I'm not playing. I was just looking something up. I really do feel like shit," he admitted, minimizing the desktop as he forgot about the machine.
The blonde woman held back the goose down filled comforter to allow Reid to crawl beneath it. She covered him back up and squished the soft material around him, cocooning him in to its cloud like softness.
"Get back into bed. You look horrible."
"Thanks," was his sarcastic response.
"Just rest, I'm going to bring you some soup after it cools a bit."
Reid nodded and let his hands creep beneath the covers to rest on his own bare chest. They felt like two hot irons and ice cubes all at once, but all he could do was try to relax into the fabric that surrounded him. Very few things can beat the feeling of falling into bed and snuggling into its warmth when your body is physically demanding it.
As Caleb schmoozed with Sarah, Kate and another girl from his class, Pogue—the loser—wandered off to get more drinks before the next round. It was a close game, but it ended with Baby Boy getting lucky when Pogue had accidentally sunk the eight-ball, sabotaging himself.
Tyler went to re-rack, squatted down and reached into the ball return to gather them up three at a time in each hand. He knew he had large hands. His feet matched in size. This was due to his six foot height. He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse, just an observation. It didn't mean much to him, but he'd heard a few impressed expressions by girls about the implications that came with the stereotype. Not that he minded. They weren't wrong.
His attention diverted up to a considerably smaller hand decorated in a mix of dainty and statement rings as its fingers gingerly placed a stack of coins on the edge of the table. The action meaning to stake claim on the next game, paying ahead for her turn.
"No rush. Just whenever you're done kicking ass, we'd like to jump in on the next round if you don't mind. We're probably not as good as you, so we could use the practice."
An attractive brunette stood in front of him, playing with a handful of change. There was a light and airy laughter with her statement and a wide smile that revealed a set of white teeth and small but noticeable dimples. She didn't look especially familiar, but maybe he'd seen her around somewhere. It was hard to place as they were so many girls their age running around. He liked to think of that cheesy cliche, that if he'd seen someone as pretty as her he'd remember, but unfortunately that just wasn't the case.
"Yeah, definitely. My friend's on his way back, but we should be quick and then it's all yours."
She'd been comical and charming with her single sentence, while he'd been reserved and to the point. He gave himself internal shit for not being smoother like she'd been, but her sudden and unexpected presence had taken him off guard. The pool table was mainly male dominated. It was a surprise to look up at a pretty face and long hair, aside from Pogue.
Tyler wasn't particularly thrilled about being booted off the table before he was finished, but he wasn't going to be rude about it. When Reid was in tow, they monopolized it all night and got away with it. Even though it may not be the courteous thing to do, they did it all the time and it generally became accepted as theirs. Except by Aaron Abbot, who always weaseled his way into competition with them. Reid loved a good pissing contest just as much and welcomed any opportunity to stick it to his favorite rival.
"You, equals awesome! Me, equals grateful. Ha! Sorry, that was super nerd-alert status, but thank you, I appreciate it," the bubbly stranger expressed gratitude in her quirky way.
Then she went back to join a couple of her buddies who were sitting around a nearby pub table, sharing a pitcher. At least one of them was of age for them to be openly drinking beer. The girl was the only female among their threesome. One of the two smiled at her in a beard stroking way, welcoming her back to the group. The other looked familiar. Tyler's eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to place the face. He didn't know him personally, but he definitely recognized him. Just a local guy who may have already graduated but still lived, worked and hung out in town, a townie.
Pogue came back, carefully balancing two drinks poured way too full and corn chips fresh from the deep frier. They were exactly the way they liked it; greasy and dripping in oil, absorbing into the red and white checkered parchment paper that lined the basket. Tyler took one of the sodas, spiked with whiskey Pogue carried in a concealed flask and thanked him.
"Alright," said Pogue, setting everything else on a nearby tabletop. "Ten bucks says you don't make a single ball on break."
"Well, ten bucks says I can and I will."
Tyler leaned over, positioned the cue stick at an angle, and broke the rack, setting the game into its start.
"You're striped," he said as he sunk a solid ball into the side pocket.
Pogue cursed, slipping a bill into Tyler's open palm. It disappeared down the back of his pants along with his wallet.
"Another ten if you can get that girl's name."
Pogue nodded in the direction behind them. Tyler turned, surprise on his face when the girl from earlier momentarily met his gaze, as if she'd been scanning the room for a familiar face and happened to catch him at the right time.
"Thanks for that awkward eye contact, Pogue. She caught me in a full head turn. She probably thinks I'm a creeper now."
"Not my fault your subtlety is for shit," laughed Pogue. "I saw you talking to her earlier. Well, more like she was talking to you. You were kind of just standing there being weird."
Tyler narrowed his blue eyes as if he was going to glare Pogue to death, thinking asshole in his head.
"Name is too easy," said Tyler, trying to talk himself smoother than Pogue gave him credit for. He wouldn't be winning awards for public speaking any time soon, but he wasn't completely inept at conversation. "I could get her number too."
"Little brother, if you can do that I'll make it twenty," Pogue challenged as he laid a twenty on the table.
Tyler finished his drink quickly and started for his destination, hoping the Jack part of his Coke would seep into his brain, giving him a bold and fearless high. Pogue cleared his throat of the last bit of his own drink and followed at a discreet distance.
It couldn't hurt to mingle.
The bedspread alternated between being his best friend and worst enemy as the chills came in waves like it always does, threatening to swallow him whole. He wondered how the hell he was sweating and freezing at the same time. Reid kept his eyes closed as his teeth were involuntarily pressed close together to subdue their chattering.
He lay there in fragments that would need to gather together before he could feel whole again. He was just drifting off to sleep when a horrible ringing sliced through his throbbing skull like a knife through butter. At first, he covered his ears with the pillows to drown it out, but he recognized the ringtone. It almost felt like a dream when he opened his eyes and went to answer, but he knew he was awake when his friend greeted him on the other end.
"What are you doing?"
They were too close to bother with things as formal as introductions. They always came storming into conversations as if they had just been in the middle of one.
"Just dying in my room alone, watching Breaking Bad in between consciousness."
He'd gone to recooperate in the comfort of his own bed where his mom would be home for the weekend due to a local charity event and there to care for him with hot toddies and homemade Zuppa. He barely survived the stereotypes of growing up with an Irish father and an Italian mother, but both sides came with its perks. Their incredible comfort food was one of them.
"Sounds... cool," said Tyler, trying to sound as jovial and upbeat as possible. "How you feeling?"
"Like total shit for the thousandth time—" Reid paused as a bout of coughs interrupted his speech. "And I probably have pneumonia." After the attack subsided, his voice came out hoarse.
"So... you're definitely not up to coming out tonight then?"
"Not unless I want to wind up in the ER."
"Okay, just thought I'd ask so you didn't feel left out later. Sorry, I'll let you get some rest." Tyler went to end the call, but Reid's prying nature and curiosity stopped him.
"Left out of what? You guys just went to Nicky's."
On Facebook he'd seen everybody's—minus Caleb's— names tagged in Sarah's check-in along with the cute picture she posted of herself and a pretty, pouting Kate.
"Yeah, that was originally the plan, but we met a couple people from the public. They invited us to an IHS house party."
As in, Ipswich High School.
"You little shit. You infect me with your disease and then go rage without me?! And now you call to tell me about it when you know I can't go..."
Reid really hated being excluded from things based on factors he couldn't control. They all knew this about him from way back in their childhood days. He used to try not to show that it bothered him, but he always had a shit poker face and tendency to speak his mind, especially when upset. Impulsivity and recklessness—two traits that Reid personified—are usually driven by emotion, which he wore more transparently than he liked to admit. It was a weakness and he hated that he let trivial things bother him, but they did.
"Yes Reid, that's exactly it. We all snuck around for weeks in cahoots, planning a chain of events that would lead us to this exact moment just so we could go to one party without you." Tyler's sarcastic tongue didn't stop there. Baby Boy must've been a few drinks in for his balls to have descended. "I even went down to Atlanta to create a new strain of virus from the CDC just for you, my friend. I named it Poxvireidae."
Reid didn't speak right away because he wasn't mentally up for stringing together a witty retort to put his younger brother back in his place, though he badly wanted to. Honestly though, he was a little impressed because that was just the kind of remark he'd normally make himself, minus the nerd scientific reference in Latin.
Instead, Reid responded, "Whatever. Take your dad jokes and your bad attitude and go. Ain't no party without me anyway. It's just a meeting."
"Well good, then you won't be missing anything," he ended the call before Reid could reply.
Tyler's cell phone immediately went off. It was a text from Reid; more bitter than a shot of espresso. It read, "Make sure no one has fun without me."
Tyler chuckled at his friend's typical behavior and went to slip his phone back into his pocket when it vibrated again. The sickness really didn't take that much out of him. Reid was still Reid. He always would be, and somehow that was just as much a comforting thought as it was scary. A second message appeared in their conversation, Reid adding to his previous statement.
"And make sure they all know it's because I'm not there."
She glanced past her reflection in the rear view mirror at the Hummer following a few car lengths behind. When they collectively rolled to a stop at a traffic light, she signaled for them to turn right on Argilla.
Though she was endowed with an outgoing personality and the gift of gab, she was surprised how easy it was to befriend this group.
Once she was able to make a connection with Kate and Sarah over where they bought their shoes and got their nails done, Caleb somewhat relaxed with them. It was clear he still had his reservations though. The role of eldest fit him like a glove. He was the protector and keeper of his little "family". He made sure no one messed with them. Now, there was something they had in common. It really didn't bother her whether or not she got his approval. She only had to win over one of them. It might take a bit of time, but it would be worthwhile. Besides, she was ahead of the game.
Who needed to rely on chance encounters when you could mastermind the meeting you wanted?
Author's Note: Thank you for the faves/follows! Review please! It would just make my day!
