Disclaimer: I don't own The Covenant

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. Also check out my new Warren Peace/OC story for all you Steven Strait fans. It's called 'Soul On Fire'. I won't be around for the next two days. I'm going to Salem tomorrow and then to Vermont Saturday to watch my friend in her first rodeo. So I wouldn't count on any updates until Sunday. The song for this chapter is 'Enjoy the Silence' by Depeche Mode.


The Life Ruiner by Cara Mascara

Chapter 9: Words Are Very Unnecessary They Can Only Do Harm

-Brody's POV-

"She can't stay with me. My mom doesn't exactly… like her," Caleb said as we stood in the parking lot. I was trying to stop my nose from bleeding.

"Ditto for me. Ever since she heard about Dawn's step dad…" Pogue trailed off. Why do mom's all gossip to each other damn it. More like why can't I just keep my damn legs closed. "And Kate's already staying at my house till her parents get back from the Bahamas. And they just left today."

"I'd say you could stay with me but my parents would flip if I brought a girl home…" Tyler blushed.

"I'm at Caleb's for the week. I live all the way in Boston anyway," Sarah said. I got the feeling she didn't like me all that much.

"Forget it guys. Thanks but… don't waste your time. I'm a pain in the ass. If someone could just give me a ride to the bus station and spot me some cash, I'll be-"

"Oh fuck, you can stay with me!" Reid exploded. Everyone turned to him with shocked expressions. He ran his hands through his hair roughly then came over to me. "But you cannot do drugs in my house, got it?" His eyes were an unusual dark shade of blue. Why is he even offering? It's pretty clear he doesn't want me there. "And if you steal from me Brody, I'll fucking-"

"You know what, forget it! I'd rather sleep on the streets!" I turned away form him but he grabbed me.

"Don't be stupid!" he hissed. "Get in the damn car," he ordered. No one said anything. I just climbed into Tyler's backseat and shut the door. I heard hushed whispering between the people outside, but it soon died down and Tyler and Reid climbed into the front of the car. "My parents are going on business in one day. Plus… my mom always liked you." What Reid said was true. As far as I know, I'm the only girl he's ever brought home to his parents. I think they were a bit uneasy about the way I looked at first, but his mom ended up liking me a lot. "But don't let them know about the drugs, got it? You'll be out on the streets again in a heartbeat." I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

-Reid's POV-

"Mom?" I called as I walked in the house. Brody was right behind me, clutching her backpack tightly. She was nervous of being turned away. I could feel it. She wouldn't be though. My mom asks about her. 'Whatever happened to that nice girl Brody? Why don't you ask Brody on a date?'

"In the kitchen honey!" my mom called. I turned to Brody.

"Listen, just let me do the talking, alright?" She nodded and I went on my way to the kitchen. "Hey mom… uh… I gotta ask you a huge favor." I moved my arm behind Brody and guided her next to me with my hand on the small of her back.

"What is- oh. Brody? I haven't seen you all year! What's wrong?" my mom asked, coming over to us and noticing the unhappy expressions on both our faces.

"Mom, her parents kicked her out at the beginning of last summer. She's been living on the streets. She came home to fix everything and her parents moved away. She has nowhere to go…" I trailed off, hoping my mom would get the hint. She's a bright woman.

"Oh! You poor thing! You can stay here as long as you need to sweetheart. Come here!" My mom hugged her and I rolled my eyes. If she only knew!

"Thanks Mrs. Garwin," Brody said in a soft voice. "I really appreciate it. I'll get a job and stuff. I don't want to be a freeloader."

"That's a kind gesture honey, but don't worry about it right now. I'll make you something to eat. You look starved. Reid, why don't you show her where she can take a nice, long shower? Give her some pajamas."

"Yeah mom. Come on," I said, nodding my head towards the hallway. She trailed after me, saying thanks to my mom about three more times. Kiss ass.

I led her down the hall into my room. She knew where it was. She's been in my room before. I smirked at the thought. I went into my drawers and looked for something for her to wear to bed. I know my mom's going to want to take her shopping. Any excuse to spend money…

"Reid… thank you. I know we haven't been getting along… but I really do appreciate it." Her voice was soft and I turned to see she was looking at my floor.

"Yeah… uh, no problem. Here," I said and handed her a t-shirt and some boxers.

"Thanks." She threw her backpack over her shoulder and took the pajamas from me.

"You can stay in the guest room. And you can use my bathroom," I told her since the guest room is right next to my room. I led her into the bathroom. "The other door goes into the guest room. I'll put your stuff in there for you." So you can't pull drugs out and do them in my house. I know what she did in the bathroom at Nicky's. I know why her nose started bleeding. I'm not stupid.

"Do you have conditioner?" she asked, a hopeful look on her face. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, right there." I pointed to one of the bottles on the edge of the bathtub.

"I haven't used conditioner in so long," she smiled, touching her stringy hair.

"How did you… uh… take showers before?" I asked. Hey, I'm curious and I'm not very good at holding my tongue. Brody blushed and looked around the bathroom.

"Well… I didn't usually. Sometimes I snuck into gyms or motel rooms or something, but that didn't usually work. Shannon let me use his shower when I worked. But most of the time I went into a gas station bathroom or something and used hand soap to clean my hair. Like… today I did that…" Wow. That sucks.

"Oh… well. There's everything you need." I took her bags from her and she eyed them longingly. I have every intention of going through them. I used my free hand to take out a towel for her, then turn on the shower before walking into the guestroom and closing the door behind me.

I sat on the bed and tossed her backpack on the floor, then opened her messenger bag. Wow, she has a lot of crap in here. I carefully emptied the bag's contents. Most of it was dirty clothes. Then there was a toothbrush and a tiny thing of toothpaste. Pictures. She carries pictures around with her? Didn't think runaways took things like that. I flipped through them. I was in some of them. A lot of them were of her and Kate. Some of her family. Me and the boys. One of her and Caleb. I scowled at that one.

He'd wanted her so bad. 'You only want her because I do,' he'd say. She was the only thing that I feel like I ever beat Caleb for. I got her virginity. Not Caleb. She turned him down. I won her. Then she went with him for a while. But she came back to me. That was the icing on the cake. Of course I didn't say anything at the time, but now I felt like rubbing it in his face next time we got into a fight. It's the only time I've ever won against perfect Caleb.

I put the pictures and clothes and other crap beck into the big pocket then flipped the bag over, unzipping the smaller pocket in front. That's where the drugs were before.

Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. I was careful. I don't want to get stabbed with some dirty needle. There were three of them. One was empty and I scowled. I looked at the rest. Cocaine. A small bag of it. It was in a bigger bag with a razorblade and a thin straw. I found a bottle of Robitussin too. Just when I thought that was it I found a zip lock bag with two white pills in it. Extacy I think…

"Jesus Brody…" I muttered to no one. I'm not sure what to do with this stuff. Leave it? Hide it? Throw it out? Well, she isn't going to do it in my house, that's for damn sure.

I took the drugs and went into my room. I looked around, trying to figure out where to hide them. I really should just get rid of them…

-Brody's POV-

I changed into the clothes Reid had given me and went into the guestroom finding my bags in there. My backpack was on the floor and my messenger bag was on the bed. I sat down next to it, running my fingers over the cheap material of the front pocket. I licked my dry lips. My index finger and thumb clutched the zipper.

"Hey, you want some food?" Reid asked, opening the door. I gasped and quickly ran my hands through my hair. "What were you doing?" he asked suspiciously, letting himself in.

"N-nothing. I'm really not that hungry. I think I'll just-"

"Brody," Reid hissed. He shut the door behind him. "Are you serious? Get up." He didn't wait for me to get up on my own, but yanked my arm so I was standing and pushed me over to a full-length mirror on the closet door. He stood behind me and made me face the mirror, grasping my shoulders tightly.

His hands quickly left my shoulders though and lifted up my shirt. "Reid!" I yelled in surprise, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh relax. That's not what I'm doing. Not like it's anything I haven't seen anyway…." He mumbled the last part. I scowled. My body involuntarily shivered when Reid's rough fingertips traced over my ribs lightly. "Look at yourself. That's not healthy." I started at my refection. I didn't see anything wrong with my weight. I could lose the fat on my thighs…

"I'm fine Reid," I said, gently pushing his hands away from my body and pulling his shirt down.

"Don't be so stupid Brody! Listen, you're going to go out there and eat whatever my mom made you. And you're going to like it." I looked at him with wide eyes. Is he seriously mad because I don't want to eat? Last time I checked he didn't give a shit about me.

"I thought you didn't care?" I asked him bluntly. He just gave me a hard look and set his jaw. "I'll eat," I caved. He placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward and into the hallway.

"Oh, Brody. Here I made you some mashed potatoes and I warmed up some of the teak we had last night. Reid, there's some for you there too." Mrs. Garwin, or Anita said as we walked into the dining room. I remember her telling me once shortly after I met her 'Please, call me Anita. Mrs. Garwin makes me sound old'. Well her plastic surgery certainly didn't make her look old. Not that I have anything against plastic surgery. It was just an observation.

The room was much larger then necessary. Especially for a family that was barely ever home. Between Reid boarding at school and his parents on their constant business trips, the house must be empty most of the time. Far too extravagant indeed.

I sat in front of one of the plates of food, staring down at it. Anita settled herself into the chair across from me with a cup of tea while Reid sat at the head of the table. There was silence as I stared at the food and stabbed at it with my fork.

"Brody, aren't you hungry dear?" Anita asked. I snapped out of it and looked up at her, catching Reid's glare as I did so. "You're wasting away."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I have my mind on something… I wasn't thinking." I swallowed and looked back down at my plate. I scooped up a small amount of mashed potatoes and slowly put them into my mouth. "This is really good," I told her. The woman smiled and stood up, tea in hand.

"Well, I'm going to go into your father's study and tell him Brody's staying for a while. Eat up." With that she made her way out of the dining room and I was left alone with Reid, who'd almost finished his plate of food.

"What're you, anorexic? Eat," he snapped. I frowned and scooped a larger mouthful into my mouth. Potatoes. Potatoes are carbohydrates. Carbs turn into fat. Fat goes to my thighs. And my stomach.

I finished the potatoes and stared at the steak. Red meat. Red meat is fattening. I took a deep breath and picked up my knife, cutting into my steak. It was nice to feel my stomach filling, but at the same time I wanted to spit the food out of my mouth and hide it in napkins.

Reid finished is food and pushed his plate away. I could feel him watching me like a hawk. I didn't look up at him until I finished the last bite of the steak. As soon as I did that, he stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving his plate on the table. Probably for his mother to clean up after him. I sighed and shook my head, taking his plate and mine into the kitchen and putting them in the dishwasher.

I saw him through the sliding glass door on the small patio outside. He was leaning over the railing and smoking a cigarette. I slid the glass open and stepped outside with him. It was a nice night. You could see the stars and moon pretty clearly.

"What do you want?" he asked. I shrugged when he glanced at me. Sighing, he handed me his cigarette. I smiled and took it, inhaling deeply while I watched Reid take another out of his pack and light it.

"Why do you hate me?" I asked him. I really don't understand why. I know I never should've opened my big mouth and told him how I felt last year, but does he really need to be so mean to me over it? Couldn't he just pretend it never happened?

"I don't hate you," he said simply. There was a long silence as we sat outside smoking in the night. "I just don't get why you had to say… that. I mean, everything was great until you did that."

"Well sorry! If I knew you'd stop talking to me over it I would've kept it to myself."

He looked over at me sharply. "I wish you had."