A/N: Disgustingly short chapter. I am so sorry. Somebody wanted fluff. Somebody wanted Tyler/Reid. And I wasn't sure i would -- with this story. But maybe I will. More soon, I promise.

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The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.

Mark Twain

Reid was lying in the bed, a limp fist at his side, another hand splayed protectively over his bandaged ribs. The thin blanket wrapped tightly around his frail frame, pooling at his hips, exposing his bare chest. The bruises, blackened with time, stood out against his skin. Skin that, Tyler was suddenly grateful for, was no longer chalk white. Reid's wrists were bandaged and his forearms, where the rope had cut into him, were blackened with bruises and marred with tiny cuts where the skin had torn. Reid's neck was bruised, his collar bone a deep purple. His face was marred with varying bruises and cuts. Tyler knew this wasn't the worst of his abuse. He knew that Reid was currently lying on the worst of his abuse, floating high above the inevitable pain. "Ty?" The voice came out in a hoarse whisper that somehow managed to cross the room before fading. The voice was different, uncertain, soft, almost fragile. It hurt Tyler's heart to hear it like that.

Tyler limped across the room and paused beside the bed, willing himself to remain on his feet, too scared to see what would happen if they both were to cave into their weaknesses. That could mean serious world destruction, and Tyler refused to be responsible for the implosion of life as we know it. The bruises looked worst now that he could see them clearly. Peering down, he managed to see the bandages encircling his ribs, the damaged hand that rested gently on top of those bandages, a hand that Reid had broken on Chase's face. "How you feeling?" Tyler asked softly, staring down into those pale blue eyes. Reid's gaze seemed different, wary. The gaze made him look ten years older yet the look of confusion and helplessness that kept flitting across Reid's pale face made him look like a lost little child.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Reid rasped. Nope, now he was suddenly seventeen again. "They've actually got me hooked on morphine or some shit. It's actually kind've nice. Makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside. Like I could go off and hug a grizzly bear and still manage a smile." The pain hadn't reached him, not yet. And the memories of Chase, the memories that he saw everytime his eyes slipped closed, didn't quite manage to effect him. Not yet, anyway.

"Jesus, Reid," Tyler murmured as he collapsed into the plastic chair beside the bed. It was now that Reid noticed Tyler's eyes were rimmed red and glassy. His hands were shaking as he clutched the arms of the chair, trying, and failing, to force his hands to still. His usually bronze face was pale and drawn in concern and remorse. "I thought you'd died," he said quietly, his voice breaking slightly when he said the last word. He couldn't get the image of his best friend nailed to a cross out of his head. He couldn't unsee all the blood that had covered the pale boy; he couldn't forget the suffocating fear that had seized his heart when he saw the blonde -- when he'd been sure Reid was dead. He felt like crying.

"I'm sorry," Reid told him in a soft rasp. He shifted and Tyler lifted his gaze at the movement, a small smile gracing his worn features. Reid's hand was palm up, offering itself to him, his other hand still protecting his ribs from evils yet unseen. Tyler took his hand in his own and held it gently, tracing the skin on the back of the hand with his thumb. His knuckles were bruised and Tyler's fingers danced across the deep color. The gentle contact, the first in the previous 24 hours, felt nice, and Reid felt his eyes slip close as the drugs took their full affect on him. "I knew you'd find me, Ty," he mumbled in a drunken slur. He was suddenly tired, so close to the edges of sleep, but he felt the need to tell Tyler something first. "You know why?" Tyler was silent, watching Reid closely. "Because you're my best friend, Ty. I'd die without you."

"You almost did," Tyler mused softly. He was thrown off by Reid's sudden sincerity. Sure, the boy had revealed his appreciation for Tyler before, but it'd always been a curt 'Thanks', or a quick smile of relief. It hadn't ever been so blunt before.

"I almost did," Reid repeated. "But not with you, baby boy," he mumbled, reaching out a hand to brush it clumsily across Tyler's cheek. Tyler covered the pale hand with his own and pulled it away before the blonde managed to poke him somewhere that didn't allow access to fingers. "And you know what, baby boy?" Reid's head bobbed slightly, his eyes opening into slits, as he lifted his hand again, to drag it across Tyler's chin and finger his cheek. Tyler let him this time. His voice had dropped in volume, coming out as a harsh whisper that somehow sounded gentle. "I love you. I love you more than anybody I've ever loved before. I don't think I've ever loved anybody before but if I did -- I would totally love you more. Always."

Tyler could feel the heat rising in his cheeks but he pushed the rising feelings away. "It's the drugs talking," he mumbled, more so to himself than to Reid.

Reid tried to shake his head but stopped suddenly as nausea set in. His hand dipped down, his fingers dancing across Tyler's lips."No. I mean it. I love you, man. So much."

"You're tired, Reid," Tyler murmured, covering Reid's hand with his own again and pulling it away. He gently stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. "You should get some rest."

Tyler moved forward to place Reid's hand back onto the bed, but Reid refused to relinquish his hold on the brunette's hand. "Don't leave me, Ty," he whispered. "Don't let me go. I - I like how it feels." He lifted both their hands for emphasis. "You...touching me. It feels gooood."

"I won't leave," Tyler promised, and Reid believed him. "I'll stay right here, okay?"

"That's why I love you," Reid mumbled sleepily as he sighed heavily. "You're always there...just because...just..." Reid's voice dropped off as he finally slipped away. And Tyler watched him sleep. He failed to notice that he wasn't the only one watching Reid sleep.