"Tyler!"
The brunette walked faster, before flinching back when someone grabbed his arm. Turning and seeing familiar blonde hair.
"Reid…right?"
"Yeah." Reid said, "Are you okay?"
Tyler laughed bitterly before looking down and shaking his head.
"I can't remember anything, the one boy I thought wouldn't lie to me told me a crock of lies, the boy I'm supposedly dating I can't trust, and I have these freaky powers that kill me when I use them. To answer your question, no I'm not okay." Tyler said, voice shaking, "I mean, is my name even Tyler?"
"Yeah, has been for seventeen years unfortunately for you." Reid joked, making Tyler laugh.
"Is it horrible that I feel like the only person I can trust is you?"
"No, and I'd be downright insulted if you didn't." Reid said, "We're best friends Tyler, whether you remember that or not, it's still a true fact. I've never hurt you and you've never hurt me. That's how it's been."
"Why do you think I can't trust Caleb?"
"It might have to do with the fact that you think he cheated on you before you lost your memory." Reid said, as they sat down on a bench, "You and I walked up to it."
"Why would I think that? He either did or he didn't right?"
"Well he didn't, Caleb's been in love with you for nine months. Chase casted a glamour spell so he looked like Caleb, and then he kissed Sarah. As soon as we were inside he changed back." Reid said, "Sarah filled us in on it later and she knew something was up. Because Caleb broke up with her for you. I swear she's the only blonde girl I know that hasn't had their brain fried by peroxide."
Tyler laughed again, smiling at the boy.
"What about P-um…however you say his name?"
"Pogue Parry, his real name is Christopher, but he only ever let you get away with calling him that. You being the baby and all." Reid said, "We're all close. Um…while we were trying to find you…I kind of told him I had feelings for him."
"Kind of?" Tyler asked, "How can you kind of have feelings for him? That's like kind of falling off a building."
"Well the only important thing is that he returned them."
"Reid…why don't you…we…erm…"
"We."
"Okay…why don't we like Chase?"
"Well, let me count the ways." Reid said, as Tyler hit his arm, "What was that for?"
"I don't know, I just felt like I should hit you for being corny."
"Your acting like how you used to, before your memory went away." Reid said, "But that's not the answer to your question. Let's see, he tried to kill Kate, Pogue, Sarah, and Caleb. Threatened to kill us and our families, and let's see…oh yeah, he's an asshole who kidnapped you and gave you amnesia."
Tyler looked at him.
"Wait…he's capable of murder?"
"He killed his foster parents and a kid from Spenser nine months ago." Reid said, as Tyler's eyes widened.
"So I just pissed off a serial killer. Go me." Tyler said sarcastically.
"You know even with amnesia, you're still the same old Tyler."
"I just wish I could remember everything without it being told to me."
"I know you do." Reid said, standing up, "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Tyler asked.
"To our dorm. I can show you some pictures of our childhood." Reid told him, "And of the last nine months with Caleb."
Tyler stood up and followed the blonde.
"So how did we all meet?"
"Well you and I met at the park. Aaron Abbot pushed you down a hill and into a sticky bush. I saw it and pushed him into some wood chips. An hour later he pushed me into the swing set pole, and you pushed him down the hill." Reid said, grinning, "We became instant friends after that. We met Caleb and Pogue a few days later at our first day of daycare. We were about one year old."
They decided to take the stairs up to the dorm, Reid filling the boy in on their childhood.
"You have a scar on your thigh from where Aaron shoved you down the stairs." Reid said.
"Has he always bullied me or something?" Tyler asked.
"Yep, made the rest of our lives a living hell too." Reid said, "But we always gave as good as we got."
Tyler smiled as the walked into their dorm, the blonde going to his bed, leaning down and pulling out a rather large box. He opened it and pulled out the photo albums in each. Three of them looked old while one looked new.
"Let's start with the newest stuff and work our way back." Reid said, picking up the new one, "A lot of it is all of us, but some of it, the last of it, is when you and Caleb got together."
"Why do we still keep photo albums?" Tyler asked.
"Well…honestly I don't know." Reid said, "It was your and my idea to still do it. Because we always talk about how we were when we were kids. And then we started to do it so we could remember the good times as well as the bad."
Reid opened the album.
"These pictures were taken a few weeks before Chase came to the school."
Tyler looked at each picture, staring at the faces in the pictures. Tyler was on Reid's back mouth open as if he were laughing, the blonde holding him in place with a smirk. Caleb and Pogue on either side of them, giving the boy's a look.
"That picture was taken at our Covenant reunion. It's kind of like a family reunion, except worse because all of the Covenant members who haven't Used to death are invited with their families."
"So why do we look like that?" Tyler asked, pointing at the picture.
Reid laughed softly, "Right after you jumped on me I'd screamed penis. That's why Caleb and Pogue are giving us those looks, and why you're laughing and why I'm smirking."
Reid flipped through the pages one by one, explaining each to Tyler, who smiled at him. Bits and pieces starting to snap together as he started to remember things.
"What about this one?" Tyler asked, pointing to a picture of him and Caleb under a tree. They were close, noses almost touching.
"That one is my favorite." Reid said, "It was about two days after Caleb's eighteenth birthday. Pogue had just gotten out of the hospital and we're all on a picnic. Kate had broken up with Pogue, and Sarah and Cay had broken up mutually."
Tyler looked at the picture, before Reid grinned.
"I had to give Caleb a fucking pep talk. Telling him what not to say and what to say." Reid said, "I also had to explain to him that if he hurt you I was going to make sure he was buried alive."
Tyler laughed as Reid turned the page, a few more pictures of Tyler and Caleb on them.
"Well after about ten minutes of him getting the nerve up, he walked over to you, pulled you away from Pogue, and to that tree. We could hear every word you were saying. Caleb told you that since he'd almost died, a lot of things just…shifted into perspective for him. Showing him things he didn't know or understand before." Reid said, "He told you that he was in love with you, and Baby Boy I've never seen your face so…happy before. After that you two kissed and Pogue had to pay me thirty bucks."
Tyler laughed, "You bet on it even though you knew you would win."
"Of course, I wouldn't be Reid Garwin if I hadn't." Reid said, "The next few months after that were hilarious. Caleb followed you around like a puppy, watching out for you, taking you everywhere and coming out to the entire school that you were together. And you were expecting everyone to freak out, but you forgot something important."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"We're the fucking Sons of Ipswich. They can't touch us because we're like royalty to them." Reid said, "Being part of the original settlement made us popular ever since we were in first grade and we understood what all of that meant. The only people who sort of flipped were Aaron and his friends, which we expected."
Tyler smiled while he laughed, as Reid flipped the page.
"This was Christmas of the same year. That's you and Caleb under the mistletoe, your mom freaking out on the side, while Pogue's laughing. Courtesy of me." Reid said, "And your gift--"
"You got me seat covers for the Hummer, since you ruined them. Pogue got me the Greatest Hits album of Staind, and Caleb got me a dozen blue roses and a silver sketch book with new paints."
Reid looked at the boy surprised, "You remember that?"
Tyler stared at the pictures before nodding his head.
"Yeah…I guess I do…why?"
"Because it's right." Reid said, "Are you remembering other things?"
"Slowly…but it's starting to all piece together. Show me more."
Reid grinned as he set the new book down, moving onto the older ones. The next hour or so spent on going through old albums, Tyler telling him what he could remember. And even after that, the boy couldn't really remember that much, just the newer things that had happened. Not being able to remember anything past Christmas of last year.