"One hundred and two! What was he doing?" Caleb stared at the thermometer in disbelief.

"Well...It's Reid. Why would he tell us if he was sick?" Pogue's voice was quiet. For once, he didn't think Caleb needed to get so upset over Reid's acting out. He was just sick.

"He was out in the rain late last night." Tyler's voice was also quiet, but it wasn't new for him. He didn't know if Reid would really want them to know, but they had a right to.

Caleb sighed. "Are you sure he didn't get into a fight?" Tyler was aware his friends had found the remnants of the night before on Reid, and he wished he'd healed him better.

"Yes. At least, not that I know of." Tyler was as in the dark as the rest of them.

"Then what's all this?" Pogue raised his hands, gesturing to Reid. He was becoming frustrated as well.

"I told you before, I don't know!" He had tried to explain to them that he had picked up Reid, and then came back to school -leaving out certain details that he hoped Reid would fill in himself.

"Well, there's obviously something missing in the story!" Caleb glared at Tyler.

"Tyler, have you noticed anything weird about him lately?" Pogue asked, trying to ignore Caleb's harshness.

"Like what?" Tyler was beating around the bush; he didn't want to betray Reid.

"I don't know! Anything! You live with him, you have to notice something." Tyler's eyes shifted around his room to the bed where Reid lay. What could he say?

"He hasn't been Using much," Caleb said, racking his brain for something.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird," Pogue and Tyler said in unison. Reid Garwin didn't not Use.

"Why wouldn't he be Using?" Pogue asked.

"He knows he addicted," Caleb said, almost a little smugly.

"But he's not addicted...Is he?" Tyler looked at Pogue, who shrugged.

"I don't know." Caleb sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"This is getting us nowhere." Pogue sat down on Tyler's bed and sighed.

"Well, do you have any suggestions?" Caleb yelled, anger in his eyes. Tyler kept thinking for anything to say that Reid wouldn't disown him for. That week had gone fast until the night before, and Tyler hadn't noticed anything except that Reid seemed tired. Now would be a great time for him to wake up.

Tyler came out of his thoughts to more yelling going across the room. Reid was putting everyone on edge.

"-not my fault!" Pogue was yelling at Caleb.

"No one said it was! I just want to know what's going on! And you-"

"Will you shut up!" The older teens stared at Tyler, shocked. Had he just yelled at them?

Reid felt his head pounding. Who was making all that noise? He heard Tyler telling someone to shut up, and then... silence. Thank God. Now, what had happened. He remembered being sick in the bathroom, and then what? Shit. Moving around, he felt the sheets and blankets of his own bed back in the dorms. The people yelling had to have been Pogue and Caleb; he knew those voices.

Now he didn't want to get up. They'd ask questions. They were already mad. But it was so hot. Reid tried to swallow, but found his mouth was too dry. Just perfect. He felt his breathing quicken; it was way too hot.

"Reid?" A voice was calling out to him. Who was that? His fever was catching up with his head and he wanted to sleep again. "Reid?" The voice came again. Oh, Caleb...duh. There was no use in sleeping now.

"Mmm," he managed to croak out. Reid heard sighs of relief from around him and the weight on his bed shifted.

"Reid, open your eyes." Caleb's voice seemed closer and Reid realized he had sat down next to him. He shook his head no; he was too tired.

"Come on, Reid." Caleb sounded calm, instead of mad as Reid had heard before. "We want to talk to you."

Reid sighed. Couldn't they see he wasn't up to it?
"Don't want to," he said weakly.

"Are you hungry?" The sound of food made Reid's stomach churn. He shook his head no again.

"How are you feeling?" Caleb asked, his voice concerned.

Reid turned to him and finally opened his eyes.

"Not good." He knew he sounded like a child, but he was being truthful.

"Well, you kinda shut down the boys bathroom on the other side of school," Pogue said, but his humor did not help.

Reid looked around. Were they just going to stand there and stare at him? Pulling his blanket off him, he tried to sit up, but a thousand hands were pushing him back down, leaving him dizzy and out of breath.

"You should just rest," Tyler said to him. Reid shifted in his bed, it was just too hot. His white shirt was soaked with sweat, and he was thankful they had left him in his boxers. With his friends staring at him as if they were waiting for something to happen, he decided there was nothing better to do than sleep.

'Reid sat up and threw the blankets off him. He felt better... no, great. Like he wasn't even sick anymore. He rubbed his eyes to wake up a bit more, and realized he was in his own room. His own room at home. The blond jumped up, overjoyed. If there was one thing Reid Garwin hated, it was being sick. You sit in bed all day and do nothing, when there were so many other things to do. Running out of his room and down the stairs, he found his mother in the kitchen. She heard him coming down and turned to look at him.

"Oh, Reid, you're up." She put her hands on his forehead, seeing if he was warm. "How are you feeling?"

Reid's face broke into a grin. "Better," he said.

She cupped her son's face. "Good... oh, why don't you sit down and wait for your father? He said he wanted to talk to you when he got home." Reid's happy face went slack and his eyes grew wide. He knew his father wouldn't want to just 'talk', but Reid obliged and walked to the living room to wait.

Walking through the door, Reid's fear escalated. There, sitting on the couch, were the rest of the Covenant. All three in a row, just sitting, as if Reid had invited them over. But they were so strange: Tyler was sopping wet, in all his clothes; Caleb was holding a thermometer and looking at if wishing the numbers would change; Pogue was sitting there, with the most nauseas look Reid had ever seen.

"Oh, hey Reid," Caleb said cheerfully, looking up from his thermometer.

"C-Caleb, what are you guys doing here?" Reid asked.

"Your dad's coming home to see you. We thought we'd stay and watch," Tyler said, and he wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. "Is anyone else freezing?"

Reid didn't pay any attention to his friend's question and asked, "What do you mean? You guys can't be here." Stay and watch what?

"Don't sound so confused, Reid. You've go a big punishment coming and we don't want to miss it." Caleb turned back to the thermometer in his hands.

"How do you know what he's going to do?" Reid was desperate, what the hell was going on?
"It's kind of obvious, Reid. You've fucked up a whole lot this past week," Tyler said firmly. "Speaking of which, if-"

"Can someone make the room stop moving?" Pogue spoke up, or rather yelled at everyone in the room.

" -if I catch a cold from standing in the rain with you, I'm sure I can arrange something with your dad," Tyler finished, ignoring Pogue's outburst.

Reid stared at his friend in shock. Did he really mean it?

"Man, watching you puke did not help my day," Pogue said, looking up at him.

Reid continued to stare in disbelief, until he heard the front door shut and talking in the kitchen.

"Just the man we've been waiting for," Caleb said, putting down the thermometer and all three stood up.

"Oh, hello boys," Joseph said, walking in the room. "Come to watch the fun?" They nodded.

His dad put his hand on Reid's shoulder affectionately.

"How are you, my boy?" Reid was still processing the information being thrown at him, and suddenly couldn't find the words to speak. "I heard you had a tough week."

Joseph's eyes turned black, and Reid fell to his knees as his father's power crashed down on him. He looked up, panting, and found his brothers laughing at him.

He pulled himself up, but it wasn't long before his dad kicked his knees in, and they buckled underneath him again. A blow came to the side of his head, and then another, and another. He collapsed to the floor, calling to his friends.

"Make him stop, please!"

"Reid, you know you deserve it! You can't fight it!" Tyler's voice rang through the air as Reid was pulled back to his feet by his hair.

"Mind if I try, Mr. Garwin?" That was Caleb. Reid sucked in a breath, waiting for the answer. Caleb wasn't going to hit him, was he?

"Why not? I can't have all the glory." Reid had enough time to gape at his father before he was thrown to the wall behind him.

He cried out a little at the impact, but inside, his head was screaming. Slumping down the wall, he saw Caleb running at him. He closed his eyes, deciding he couldn't look at Caleb's face.

A shoe came to the side of his mouth and Reid fell over, spitting out blood. Another kick came to his head and another to his stomach. Caleb wouldn't stop.

"Pogue, help me! Please, tell him to stop!" Reid was screaming as his head was banged into the wall, but he could still hear the uproar of laughter. "Tyler, please, help me!"

"Here that boys? He's begging for you!" Reid's father laughed to himself as Pogue and Tyler ran over to join Caleb. He saw Tyler's fist coming right at him and -'

Reid's scream erupted through the house as he bolted up in bed. He sat there a second, panting, and his heart sand when he heard footsteps outside the door of the room.