Chapter 14

"Never cared, never wanted, never sought to see what flaunted. So on purpose, so in my face, couldn't see beyond my own place."

-Vanessa Carlton

Moving silently down the corridor ,Tyson tried not to disturb any of the other residents in the mansion as he made his way to the library. Two days had passed since he learned Max had lost his virginity to Rei, and now he was more determined than ever to find out what Kai knew that he didn't, and to find Hiro. His brother had obviously been wounded since his jacket was covered in blood, but as to what was the cause behind it, he had no idea.

Pausing at the heavy oak door, he breathed deeply. He had no clue what was beyond the doors, but he hoped to find something that would prove Kai was a liar, or would give him a hint as to what happened to his brother. Pushing the door open, he was blinded by a brilliant light. Standing in the doorway he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light only to be taken by surprise.

Max stood in the middle of the room with a blush on his face and was holding a big brown leather book in his hands. Smiling nervously at his best friend, Max tried to act as if everything was natural. "Oh, hi Tyson. I didn't expect to see you here, since, well you know, you aren't much for reading." Max tried to hide his fear from Tyson, but didn't succeed. They hadn't talked since their fight and Max was sure Tyson was still mad with him.

"Hi," Tyson said in a monotone voice. He was glad it was Max standing there when he opened the door, but right now he wanted to focus on his plan, and after his fight with Max he was sure the blonde wouldn't want to help. Perusing the bookshelves from the corner of his eye he noticed Max was watching him intently. Unnerved with the unwanted staring Tyson said the first thing that came to mind, and of course it was the worse possible thing he could say. "So how was it with Rei?"

Taken by surprise Max dropped the book and blushed deeply. Muttering something under his breath Max bent to pick the book up. "W-w-what are you talking a-about, T-T-Tyson?" Max scolded himself mentally for stuttering.

"You know what I'm talking about, Max!" Tyson shouted, frustrated with how his best friend wouldn't even be honest with him and admit what he had done the dirty deed with Rei. "I heard you two Max, I know!" Clenching his fists so tight that his knuckles turned white, Tyson tried to control his anger. "How could you do that with him? You don't even know him! He kidnapped you! How could you?"

Hurt flashed through Max's eyes as he listened to Tyson's accusation. He knew that some of the things His friend said were true, but he couldn't help it. He had fallen in love with Rei. Looking Tyson in the eye he tried to make him see things his way, but every bone in his body shook with rage and fear towards his friend. "Tyson, I know in your eyes what I did was wrong, but I love Rei, and I-I-I,"

"You what?" Tyson asked with venom as he glared at his friend. First Max said his brother ran away because of him, and then blond slept with Rei! Tyson was no longer sure if he could ever forgive his friend.

Growing more confident by the second, Max took a deep breath to keep himself calm. "I love him Tyson, and even though you think I don't know him, I do. I have talked to him, let him drink my blood, shared things with him, and learned a few interesting things thanks to him."

"How?" the rage, hurt, and betrayal could be heard in Tyson's voice as he asked his question. "How can you love him? How could you betray me? I thought we were best friends, but now all you care about is Rei! You're usually with him, and when you can't find him then you look for me! We've known each other longer, and now you go off with some guy who kidnapped you, lose your virginity to him, and you say you love him. How? How is it possible?"

Tears of hurt and anger flowed down Max's cheeks but he wasn't going to let Tyson win this battle. Walking over to Tyson he tried to look intimidating as he spoke. "I didn't betray you Tyson! You're my best friend, so I'll always love you, but I love Rei more. I don't know how I fell in love with him, but I am, and right now having you mad at me for loving him only hurts me." Placing a hand over his heart Max continued. "It hurts so much Tyson, to know my best friend hates me for something I can't control. It makes my heart feel as if it's on fire, but at the same time frozen over in a sheet of ice."

"Max," Tyson said gently, he didn't know how much he had hurt the blond. In an attempt to comfort his friend Tyson reached out to touch Max's shoulder in a comforting way, but Max pulled back.

"It's a horrible feeling Tyson, and I never expected you to be the one to inflict it on me." Struggling for some control of his emotions Max found none as he continued with his rant. "I'm sorry for all the things I said to you, Tyson, but I can't be sorry for falling in love with Rei, and you forgot one thing. Yes, I was with Rei a lot ,but you were with Kai just as much. I'm not saying you love Kai or anything, but it's not like I'm the only one here at fault. Tyson," Max paused as he pondered the best way to say this. "You're not the only one hurting, but Rei makes me feel special, but I don't want to do anything that upsets you, so I'll let you decide. Should I stay with Rei or not?"

X.X.X.X.X.

"So he is beginning to remember?" Rei asked casually after hearing what Kai told him about Tyson. With a nod from Kai, Rei sighed in exasperation and threw himself onto the plush chair behind him. Placing his hands on his forehead, Rei tried to think of something comforting to say, but found nothing. "This isn't good. If he remembers he was kidnapped, and who kidnapped him, and for what, there is no doubt in my mind that he will tell Max and both of them will come to distrust us again."

Kai, who was leaning on the wall with his arms folded over his chest as he hid in the shadows, nodded his head in agreement. "This is a very dangerous situation. We could tell them, but then it might only make them more distant to us, but if we don't tell them and they find out then they might think of us as their enemies again."

"So what are we going to do?" Rei asked, but silence was his only answer.

X.X.X.X.X.X.

Was I really that blind? Tyson asked himself again. When Max left him with the option of ending the relationship between him and Rei Tyson was stunned. He had never expected Max to do that, and as he stood there in silence he could finally see how much Max loved Rei. The love Max held for Rei was easy to see when Tyson looked into Max's eyes as the blond waited for Tyson's answer. Max's eyes were filled with so much fear and faith that Tyson felt if he had said no he would have killed his best friend.

Flipping through the pages of a book he had found, Tyson glanced at his best friend and smiled when he saw a shadow a smile grace Max's lips, as the blonde searched through a book. "Any luck Max?"

The blond shook his head. After screaming at each other and solving their problems Max had questioned Tyson on his reasons for being in the library, and after hearing what Tyson was trying to do Max volunteered to help. Biting his bottom lip Max tried to concentrate on the situation at hand, but found his thoughts drifting off to somewhere else. " Hey Tyson," Max asked over his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to prove Kai is a liar?"

Tyson pondered the question for a bit until he found the correct answer. "Not really. I just want to find a reason to run away or try to escape, so I can find my brother."

Max's face light up when he heard Tyson's answer and he couldn't help but laugh. When he caught his breath again, he saw Tyson frowning at him and he explained. "I'm happy that you don't really hate Kai, but if you want a reason to escape, you have got plenty, but the most major would be to find your brother."

Perplexed with what Max was saying, Tyson tried to process what the blond had said. When he finally came to an understanding Tyson was even more confounded then he had been a moment before. Scratching the back of his head Tyson asked, "Max what are you talking about? Yes, I need to find Hiro but without any idea of where he is, how I can find him, or where to even begin looking then how can I find him, and if I can't find him why should I leave?"

Chuckling, a look of mischief flashed in Max's eyes. "But Tyson, we do know where to look for Hiro, or did forget the number one rule about what you do when us lose something?" Tyson nodded his head, and Max's smile only seemed to grow. "When something is lost go back to where you last remember seeing it."

Tyson's eyes widened at the obvious answer, and only now did he see he could have left this whole time and searched for his brother. Rushing to his friend Tyson gave Max a bear hug and didn't let go of the blonde until he was almost out of air. "Max you are a genius, but how are we going to distract Rei and Kai?"

Smirking Max looked down at the book in his hands and ran his hand across the page. "Kai tends to read late at night and I have the perfect thing to distract Rei with, but I'm not sure if you'll approve, and I'm not talking about sex." Holding the book up to Tyson, Max continued. "This book mentions some things about vampires, such as how there are different types and what their weaknesses are, but also other things. On this page is something else, but it will distract Rei long enough for you to get away. So what do you think?"

It sounded good to Tyson but he had one question that had to be answered before he gave Max his consent. "What is a blood bond?"