To The Ocean

After a while more of walking the trees thinned out and the grass turned to sand. Reid had been to the sea before, but this was different, it was so, empty. Unlike the beaches with children playing and building sand castles there was no one. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore was deafeningly quiet and calming. He looked to Reeve and sighed. "I think we can relax for a bit."

"You should sleep," he sat next to Reeve and stared our across the water. "You're hurt and tired, I'll watch for anything." He wondered if the water was salty like the ocean on earth or even safe to drink. If they were lucky they could find the river that drained into it, hopefully with fresh water.

Reid was glad Reeve didn't argue and got comfortable on the sand, every once in a while glancing back to the tree line. He was sure that if anything really dangerous came he would be able to hear it, so he let himself relax.

"Hey Reeve." Reid scooted closer to the male and helped him sit up. "You okay?" He almost seemed worse than when he went to sleep and Reid was concerned. He was all sandy so he brushed some of it off of him.

"Nothing really, everything's pretty quiet actually." He picked a few grains of sand out of Reeve's hair then ruffled it. "You should'v slept in the grass."

"Yeah…" Reid thought back to all the people they had woken up with but had went their own way and hoped they were all okay. "I hope you know how to build a house because Im not exactly experienced in that field." He just felt more useless, its not like they had a hammer and nails either.

"Well, when was a runaway I'd make makeshift shelters with a bunch of other orphans, we were sort of a gang until I found an orphanage that would take me in, not exactly carpanrty experience I know but...we'll just have to make do with what we have, I can be resourceful when I have to be" He said softly "You should rest, I'll keep watch" He said; though he felt exhausted.

After a moment of thinking about what Reeve had said about his past, Reid agreed to sleep, though not for long. Unlike Reeve he moved to a grassy area and laid down, "Wake me up if it starts to get dark." He didn't want Reeve alone, but especially not in the darkness.

Reid opened his eyes and saw it was dark, he quickly sat up only to notice Reeve had fallen asleep next to him. He sighed in relief and laid back down, facing the other. He noted how labored his breathing sounded, and put a hand to Reeve's cheek to feel it was hot, even in the cool air. He had a fever, that was for sure. He didn't want to wake the other up but decided he needed to cool him down. He slid off the cloak to see makeshift bandages covered in blood, and thats when he understood. The only time he wasn't there was when he lost himself to the chimera, and if Reeve had gotten hurt from something else he wouldn't keep it a secret. He hurt Reeve. He left his chest open to the cool air and pressed a cold hand against his forehead, it would have to do in the place of ice. He felt so guilty, it was all his fault, Reeve could die from it. Reid tried to hold back his tears and watch over the other.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Reid asked shakily. He didn't know what else to say. He couldn't believe he had made Reeve walk all that way with such an injury. He brushed Reeve's hair away from his eyes and made him look into his face for an answer. If he had been told he would have…no. There was nothing he could have done anyways. Maybe thats why it was kept a secret.

"If you die…its gonna be all my fault." Reid used both his hands to wipe off his now freely falling tears. "I don't want to be alone…I don't want to lose you." He knew there was nothing he could do, just wait and hope that it healed with time.

"Warm?" Reid frantically covered the other back in the cloak but his hands were still freezing and his face burning. He picked Reeve up and carried him beneath a small tree for at least a little cover from the wind. He sat leaning against the tree and put Reeve in his lap, holding his hands. It was going to be a long night.

Being moved made the other feel horrid, as his body trembled a bit as he was moved under the shade of the tree and he curled up tightly as he fought to get comfortable "Thanks" he murmured softly as he buried his face under the furs as he got settled, before he fell asleep again. Most the day was like that for him, drifting in and out of sleep only waking up to get water or eat small pieces of meat where he could, and at night the fever got worse as he temperature spiked.

It was painful to see Reeve so sick and not be able to do anything but watch. He knew it was his fault. Why couldn't he protect Reeve? He didn't care about himself, he would do anything to make Reeve feel better. When the other stirred from his sleep again he snapped out of his thoughts. "Are you thirsty? Hungry?" They were running low on water but he wasn't going to tell Reeve that.

Reeve shook his head; he didn't want to drink too much, once they were out that was it they;ld have to find a river for more fresh water, hopefully this water wouldn't try to burn them alive "'m okay...i'll be okay mama" He said softly as the hallucinations started to set in "Don't get upset..."

Reid decided not to tell Reeve he was seeing things that weren't there and just went with it. "I'm not upset." He rubbed Reeve's back in hopes of soothing him. "Just go back to sleep."