Well I promised and here it is, once again thanks go to Shadowmayne for her incessant nagging. I'm sorry it's so short and disjointed and probably kinda crappy but I was working under pressure and it's just an intro to the actual story. Which will involve large amounts of Reid torture, memories of Reid torture and fluffiness without actually resolving anything. Except possibly Tyler's issues. We'll see. No go ahead and read.
Disclaimer: Don't own them, if you sue me I will be forced to stop writing and my reviewers will kill you all! Mwahahaha
Warnings: Abuse of Reid, neglect of Tyler, Reid's memories of abuse and general fluffiness, light slash.
Tyler opened the cupboard and sighed. The doctor had been extremely helpful and had easily swallowed the quickly concocted story of anorexia then a dangerous car accident. He was probably glad to avoid a police investigation, miles of red tape and mountains of paperwork. But he had given Tyler a list of foods it would be safe for Reid to eat, ones that he would be able to keep down, which wouldn't damage the lining of his stomach. He glanced at the list once more then pulled a box of oats off the shelf. Porridge was wearing very thin.
Reid had been telling him about his life over the past few years. The doctor had said talking about the trauma of the 'car accident' would help. And more than anything Tyler wanted to help Reid. It still made him sick to think of how little he'd done or even noticed the pain Reid was in over the course of these stories. It hurt even more to watch the blonde telling them. He sat and stared at the wall, his voice soft and monotonous. It was almost as if he entered a trance in which they didn't affect him. It was frightening what had happened to the usually loud and vibrant boy. One of Reid's stories came back to him as he watched the bowl of water and oats spin in the microwave. Reid hadn't really talked about anything his Stepfather had said to him and Tyler hadn't pressed him for details. But the youngest brother was scared by his apparent acceptance of the things he was able to talk about.
"Sometimes I didn't have any food for days. I'd hear Him downstairs and I knew that however strong my hunger was, my fear was stronger. But probably once a week I'd hear the car start and then I'd go downstairs as quietly as I possibly could because I knew if He caught me I wouldn't have enough strength to get away. Sometimes I was lucky and there would be enough food for me to take some back up to my room. But a couple of times there wasn't. I couldn't even take a little because the first time I took some and he noticed…" Here he trailed off for a moment before continuing.
"Sometimes He would catch me anyway. Sometimes I just couldn't keep the food down and it was all wasted. Towards the end it got really bad, I don't know how long it'd been since I ate, the days started to blend together after a while." Tyler had just nodded, struck dumb, but this apparently had been the right thing. Reid had just nodded back to him and the ghost of a smile flitted across his face. Not his old smirk, just a nervous flicker, but at least it was there. Tyler had quickly learned that he shouldn't ask too many questions or Reid would close off and unobtrusively fend off his questions and that was it for the day, sometimes longer. He pulled the bowl out of the microwave, turned around and almost threw the steaming porridge all over the kitchen.
Reid was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the table, his knees drawn up to his chest and his eyes fixed on Tyler's every move. He had been staying here for over a week and he still followed Tyler around, watching him like a lost puppy. He couldn't bear the pain in his friend's eyes. If he ever got his hands on that man he would not be held responsible for his actions. Reid, he reminded himself, that was what mattered now, making sure Reid got better. Making sure none of his anger was showing on his face he divided the porridge into two bowls and placed one before his friend.
"Go on." He encouraged in the voice he would use with injured animals. Or at least he imagined he would. Even being the adorable baby of the covenant he'd never had the opportunity to nurse wild creatures back to health. Except perhaps now. The look in Reid's eyes constantly reminded him of the deer up in the forests. Poised for flight. "Eat up." It wasn't the words that mattered here. It was the tone of voice.
"What do you want to do today?" he asked, still keeping his voice gentle. Reid looked at him with those dark eyes. He leant across the table and was somewhat hurt when Reid leant back away from him. He didn't think the boy was even aware of it, but when he wasn't asleep or otherwise distracted he avoided physical contact of all kinds. Tyler assured himself it was just another effect of the abuse, it would pass given time. He tried not to think about how upset it made him. He sat back and Reid settled more comfortably again.
"Did you have another dream?" Reid nodded abruptly, his eyes fixed on his spoon, gently turning in his porridge.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Tyler asked, reminding himself to take it slowly, just on step at a time. Reid shrugged, holding his head on one side, close to his shoulder.
"What was it about?" Tyler asked, accepting that this was one of those conversations where he would have to work hard to get Reid to talk and hope he didn't push too far.
"Him." The whisper was so soft Tyler almost missed it and had to fight the automatic reaction to lean forward.
"What happened in your dream?"
Ok, well there you go, love it? Hate it? Let me know. Also feel free to let me know what you want to see in future chapters because although I have a vague outline I'm always open to suggestion. I work for my reviewers. So review!