Marcus1233: The whole Haiku thing was totally impulsive of me, and thanks for continuing to review. I was almost positive I'd offended you and lost a reviewer. That would've depressed me. :-( And yes...That Alex character is an ass.

JessicaRose: Poor Tyler indeed. I feel like JigSaw... "Oh yes, there will be angst." XD

EDWARD CULLEN dazzles me: About the whole "Don't leave him broken" thing...I was planning on putting him back together, but about half-way through I ran out of glue...JK. And let me know if you do decide to write your own slash. I'd be honored to help you work things out. Thanks sooooo much for all the reviews and THANKS A TON FOR THE FAVORITE!!!

cajun beauty: Reid's character reminds me of the over-protective older brother that's just too cool to show he cares in public. But once alone...He's a giant teddy bear of love! XD

blazingfire03: Pogue really isn't in this little two-shot. The only reason I introduced Caleb into this one was so I could have an excuse for Reid to unknowingly confess his love to Tyler :-) 'Cause I'm evil like that.

skysgirlforever: Sorry, no beating of the asshole OC. I'm saving the senseless violence for something else. -evil grin-

lanaktty: For you...Yes. The next chapter will be the slash pairing you wanted. I'm cool with requests. Including scenario requests. Don't be scared to request. As long as you review at the same time. :-)

cutiepie2191: Thanks for that. It was supposed to be sad and yet somehow cute, so I'm really glad I got that across.

the power will come: Here's your update. Where's my cookie?!?! -munches on magical cookie- I wanted to kill Alex too, and I created him! XD

carlyjo: Not quite...The title was from 21 Jumpstreet...But have a cookie for the effort. And to be honest with you, I never thought about it like that, the song lyrics and all...I explained to uniqueme what it was from at the top of an earlier chapter, if you're craving a more indepth explanation. But thanks for the review! THANKS FOR FAVORITING!!

A/N: Thank you to everyone reviews, favorites me or my story or even puts me on the alert list. You're the reason I keep writing. And another thing...If you have a scenario or a slash pairing you want to see, let me know. I'll gladly try my hardest to make it work.

Deterioration(sequel to 'Hope')

"I thought we were through with all this." Reid said softly.

"I thought we were too, but...Reid." Tyler shook his head.

"Just because he's getting out today doesn't change anything." Reid promised.

"It changes everything."

"There's a restraining order. He can't even be anywhere near Spencer's."

"That doesn't mean he isn't going to want to get even." Tyler was terrified.

"He can't. I won't let him anywhere near you."

Later in the month, Tyler was buying grocieries when his fear caught up to him. Someone came up behind him, curly brown hair, wearing a similar cologne to the one Alex had and his breathing stopped. He swore for a moment he was back in the woods and it was Alex behind him. It certainly looked a bit like him. Tyler shook it off and continued shopping. But it's hard to continue on like normal when Alex is walking down the street outside.

"Sir?" The girl at the register seemed a bit worried.

"Sorry." Tyler smiled as he handed her his money.

He walked outside with his bags and loaded up the back of his Hummer when he heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Still so scared? It's not a crime if you enjoyed it as much as I did."

Tyler was determined to not show Alex how scared he was. He turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"It was a crime. I have a restraining order. I call the cops, you're going back to jail." Tyler said, determined to not let his voice quiver.

"I'm leaving Ipswitch. Going to California to live with my uncle."

"Good riddance." Tyler said.

"I might leave Ipswitch, but I'm never going to leave you." Alex smirked and walked away.

"Why didn't you just call the cops?" Reid's voice was even.

"Because I'm tired of relying on other people to save me from situations."

"You're angry." Reid said softly after a moment.

"I guess this is what it feels like when your world falls apart and it put back together only to be jolted and lose a piece or two." Tyler laughed bitterly.

"No. This is called deterioration." Reid said.

"Deterioration of what? In case you haven't noticed, there's not much of me left anymore."

"There's plenty of you left. What's deteriorating is your dependancy on other people, your blame for yourself, you're losing the sense of you deserving what happened..."

"So your saying this is for the best, is that it? It's best that I ran into him today?"

"I'm saying it's for the best."

"Why? Why do you say that?" Tyler asked, unsure of if he should be outraged or confused.

"Because you're not scared of him anymore. You proved to yourself and everyone else you can stand up on your own two feet and be your own person. You've come out better from this experience." Reid said with a smile.

"I knew there was a reason I decided to trust you before anyone else." Tyler said softly.

Reid smiled and was in some twisted way glad Tyler had run into Alex without him there. Sometimes deterioration is necessary...