For Reid, there was now the matter of getting up. He tried to keep his cool on the phone, or else Tyler would really get suspicious, but he knew he had failed.

Shuffling on the ground a bit, he came to his house's wall. How his mother had not heard his screams from just inside, he didn't know. He concentrated on gripping the bricks, and he was finally back on his knees. Climbing up further, he felt cuts on his side open wider and he bit his lip. When he was finally standing -which was ten minutes later- he slowly lifted up the edge of his sweatshirt.

Underneath, he found gashes of all sorts from his ribs down to his hips. Crimson blood ran down his pale skin. He didn't know he was hurt that bad. Bringing the cloth back down around him, he watched lights dance around in the raindrops, until he focused on the two that belonged to Tyler's hummer. Noticing he was still attatched to the wall, he moved out farther to stand on his own. As he brought up his hand to shield his eyes, he suddenly remembered waking up late that Monday for school.

"Holy shit Reid! What happened?"

Tyler ran through the rain, putting his own hood up. He knew Reid had lied on the phone, but he didn't know it was this bad. "You said you were fine!"

"I tripped and fell." He looked at the ground and saw Tyler's shoes approaching him.

"And rolled around in the mud, too." Reid didn't know why, but Tyler was scaring him. Would he hit him for lying?...No, Tyler wouldn't hurt him.

They started off, but Reid remembered he forgot something. "Ty, can you get my bag?" Tyler grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder. He watched Reid carefully as he hobbled slowly along and decided to help him out. He reached out to grab his arm to steady him, but Reid jerked away and almost fell backwards. Realizing Tyler was helping, Reid let him take his arm and he leaned into Tyler's shoulder as they walked.

Finally reaching the car, Tyler helped him up and practically had to push his ass in the seat. Reid was out of breath and still shaking as they took off. Tyler would talk to him later, but for now he was glad Reid was even asking for help.

He took in all of the teens appearance as they traveled back to campus. Blood was leaking through his sweatshirt and a deep purple bruise covered his cheek. He was soaked to the bone and everything -even him- was caked with mud. His blond hair had streaks of red from the cut on his head.

Reid drifted in and out of sleep. He knew he could trust Tyler, but he was uneasy about everything. He was still scared when they made it to the dorms and hour later, due to Tyler's slow driving not wanting to hurt Reid.

Before Reid had hardly grabbed the door handle, Tyler was on the passengers side, helping him down. They hurried inside, trying to be quiet for anyone sleeping.

Dragging himself up the stairs with Tyler, Reid felt his legs giving out on each step. He didn't know how much longer he could stand. Feeling Reid slip, Tyler grabbed him around the waist, pulling him up more. Reid clenched his eyes shut as Tyler's arm grazed fresh wounds on his back, and Tyler heard a barely audible gasp of pain come from him.

It was over. Reid knew it; Tyler knew something worse was wrong with Reid than just falling in the rain. And Reid knew Tyler would tell Pogue and Caleb as soon as he found out. But that was just it: Reid couldn't tell him. Not anyone. He was ashamed, and if they found out he had lied, it'd be even worse. You're not supposed to lie to your brothers.

What if Tyler wouldn't take no for an answer? What if he turned out just like his dad after all these years? Reid didn't know who to trust anymore.

"Your okay?" Tyler asked, opening the door to their room. Reid didn't know they were that far already.

"Yes, mother," he said sternly. He saw the hurt expression on Tyler's face and felt even guiltier. "Sorry," he mumbled. Sitting down on his untidy bed, Reid felt his ribs grind. Whimpering, he laid down, hoping it would help.

"Do you wanna shower?" Tyler sat on his bed across the room.

"No, I'll take one in the morning...too tired tonight." As he said the words, Reid felt a stirring in his chest. Knowing what it was happening, he grabbed the garbage pail next to him as the blood rushed up his throat and out his mouth.

Watching his best friend sputter, Tyler rushed over and patted his back gently, trying to help him breathe. Reid's coughing spell lasted a few minutes and blood spurted into the pail.

As Reid coiled back on the bed, the hem of his shirt rode up, leaving everything exposed. Tyler gasped at what he saw: bruises and red welts rose up on pale skin, and open gashes threatened to spill more blood. His astonishment soon turned to hurt and anger, knowing Reid had hid this from him. What else didn't he know?

"Boy, you're fucked up," he said quietly as Reid yanked down the shirt. "Let me help you." Tyler reached out for his hand, but Reid held it to his chest

"No! I'm fine. You'd be wasting your time." Reid wouldn't let other people hurt for him.

"Reid, come on. I don't want to know what happened, just let me help you." Before Reid could stop him, Tyler wrenched his hand away and held it in a death grip. As the Power surged through Tyler, Reid rolled on his side with his knees tucked under his chin. He couldn't stop Tyler, not now. Things seemed to get brighter as Tyler healed him. His chest lifted and he could breathe properly. Bones felt back in place and cuts slowly closed.

Before long, Tyler collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor, gasping for breath. Tears streamed down Reid's face and he let Tyler's hand slip away. This was his fault.

"I told you no, asshole," he managed to mumble.

"A simple thank you would have worked." Tyler chuckled to himself and pulled himself up on his own bed.

Reid was shaking, still freezing.

"Just change your clothes and get some sleep." Reid heard Tyler as he climbed under the blankets. He sat up and yanked off his sweatshirt. Standing, he felt lightheaded and dizzy, but he shrugged it off as effects of the healing. He still felt a few cuts and bruises, but who was he to complain? Tyler had already worn himself out. Throwing on a fresh dark blue shirt, Reid could feel dried blood and mud on anyplace on his body. He'd take care of it later and he threw on a pair of black pajama pants, crawling under his blankets.

After a few minutes, Reid could still fell himself shuddering, and wrapped another blanket around his body. It didn't help. With shaking hands, he pulled it tighter to him. That didn't do anything either.

Pulling both blankets off, he exposed his cold body to the even colder air. He stood on his shaking legs and walked over to Tyler's bed. "Tyler?" Reid shook his friend, who groaned and turned his head in return, but didn't wake up. "Tyler?" Reid asked.

"What?" Tyler snapped and Reid started back a few steps at the hostile voice. Tyler sighed, knowing what he had done. "What?" he asked again, more gently.

Reid stepped towards the bed again. "Ty, I'm cold," he said quietly. He didn't know what Tyler would do for him, if anything; he was just cold and felt miserable.

Tyler thought for a second, and then scooted over on his bed, patting the spot next to him. Reid got the idea, but hesitated. Would he be safe?

"Are you cold or not?" Tyler's voice cut through the darkness.

Reid climbed in next to him, pulling the covers over himself, feeling Tyler's warmth. Tyler almost jumped at feeling Reid's freezing cold skin, but instead laid down next to him and drifted off. It took Reid a bit longer, as he thought about the nights events and Tyler risking himself for him. But soon he also fell asleep, though it wasn't as peaceful as the teen next to him.