NOTE: I couldn't think of anything original in the way of characters, so I decided to do a spin off story! The story is taken from my story-in-progress, The Saga Of Reiven Faolin, and can be read

DISCLAIMER: The characters are mine, the plot is mine…

PLEASE NOTE: It's a spin-off, so the plot of this story will have very little, if anything, in relevance to T.S.O.R.F

ANOTHER NOTE: This story will be told from Jak McArthur's point of view. It will focus on an argument he and his friend, Dean Adams have in TSORF. This is why they avoid each other during Chapter Eleven.

YET ANOTHER NOTE: Jak's thoughts will be printed in Italics. Bold text will only be used to emphasize words.

THE OCTOBER SILENCE

I looked up at the sky. Oceans of orange and red…lilac and yellow… And underneath that, another vast ocean, this time with all shades of blue…turquoise…indigo… The shore was always a lovely place, but not today…not today…

It's been two years since we met… Me and Dean…

My face darkened.

It's also been two years since I last saw… him…

I had isolated myself from all of my friends back then. They were always happy… I was not. It hurt, but I tried hard to hide it. If I didn't hide it, then they would have known, and they would have sympathised, and I did not want sympathy. I didn't deserve it. It was a strange attitude to take, I know. Dean had spent hours talking to me about it…talking about my problems, not his. I liked him for that. He had endless patience. He was the only one who cared…

Kraig… I miss you…

"Kraig…"

The word had barely left my lips, when a sudden gust of air swept it away to the heavens above. The sunset was always beautiful, but tonight, I couldn't savour the beauty, no matter how hard I tried. I was drowning, not in the blue abyss of liquid like Kraig's father had… I was drowning in my own misery…

"Jak? Jak, is that you? Jak!" I recognized the voice instantly. I turned and gave a forced smile as I saw Dean running towards me. Dean's beautiful blonde hair sparkled under the last rays of sunlight, his eyes glimmering gold instead of their usual emerald green. I could feel a tight lump forming in my throat…the same lump that appeared whenever Dean showed up. He was so cute…so friendly… He was everything I wasn't.

When the blonde reached me, he threw his arms around me, causing me to flinch slightly. I didn't like being hugged. It was just another sign of affection, and affection always led to being hurt. Dean was like that though. He loved hugging people, and had an incredibly annoying habit of calling people 'babes'. Sometimes, I just wanted to slap some sense into him, but most of the time, I just wanted to hold onto him. He was the only person I actually regarded as a friend. We had met when he was fifteen years old. I was seventeen at the time, but that didn't stop him talking to me. I eventually accepted his friendship, as his persistence and determination fascinated me. Accepting him was the best thing I had ever done, because without him, I'd be lost. He was seventeen now, I was nineteen, and during those two years, we'd been through a lot and formed an unbreakable bond… Well, what we thought was an unbreakable bond…

"Oh, um, Dean…how nice to see you…" I stammered. Dean let go of me and gave me a curious sideways glance.

"Jak, are you okay?"

"Of course."

We made our way back to Varazan. The town wasn't exactly nice to look at, with uncountable cemeteries and junkyards dotted here, there and everywhere. I had always hoped to move away to another part of the country…somewhere nice, where I could relax, but the chances of that happening were very small. Even when we combined our salaries, there was no hope. I looked up at my house, way up on Dacordas Hill. It had a foreboding atmosphere surrounding it. It looked huge from where we were standing.

Great…you've got an estimated 600 million stairs to clamber up…

I sighed. I knew that the amount of stairs wasn't even close to the amount that my mind had guessed, but I still felt discouraged. Taking in a huge gulp of air, I proceeded to make my way up the moss-covered steps, Dean at my side. The steps were all cracked and ancient.

Occasionally, Dean would slide on a slimy, decaying leaf, but he was quick to latch onto my arm, saving himself from a nasty fall. Twice he almost pulled me down the stairs with him! I ignored it though. I was too preoccupied with my thoughts about Kraig. The way he used to laugh…the way he used to scowl at me when I annoyed him… I didn't even know whether he was alive or dead…

Kraig and I were connected, you see. It wasn't an obvious connection, like brothers or cousins…it was more than that…it was deeper. Sometimes, I thought of him as an alter-ego of some kind, but then I remembered that he was a real person, living his own life, doing his own thing. I guess that it was some kind of telepathic link or something. Whatever it was, it was complex. Complex and supernatural.

"What's wrong?" Dean climbed up the last few steps before I reached them, and turned to face me, hands on his hips.

"Huh?" I looked up at him and caught his eye. He was…he was glaring at me?

"You heard me." Dean continued, narrowing his eyes further. "What's wrong?!"

"Nothing." I replied and then pushed past him, making sure my elbow made contact with his ribs. He gasped.

Hmph… How fake! Grow up Blondie!

The hit wasn't powerful, as I didn't intend to hurt him, but it was enough to tell Dean to shut up.

When I opened the front door, Dean waited until I had entered before following. As I entered the large sitting room, I fumbled at the wall for the light switch. The room was pitch black except for a few shafts of moonlight streaming in through the old curtains, illuminating the dust covered coffee table. I found what I was looking for, but as I was about to flick the switch, warm fingers curled around my wrist, pulling me towards the coffee table.

"D…Dean?" I asked softly as he pushed me into one of the chairs. I listened as footsteps and a quiet 'thud' told me that he was sitting in the chair opposite me. An awkward silence followed. Suddenly, the blonde spoke.

"We've drifted apart Jak." He whispered. "And I want to know why."

I blinked.

"Dean? We haven't grown apart, you know that." I told him. Dean shook his head.

"No. It's something more. It's Kraig, isn't it?"

"Dean? Of course not!"

"Jak… I feel…I dunno. I just feel as though you're thinking about him more than anything else."

"Dean…" I reached over to touch his arm, but he pulled away.

"J…Jak! I gave up everything for you!" He cried.

"Dean!"

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words just wouldn't come. It was true…he had given it all up for me. He ran away from his home, just to make sure I was okay. After Kraig had moved away with his parents, I'd been suicidal, but Dean stayed with me.

"Dean…you didn't have to sacrifice your future for me… I didn't ask you to do it."

"But Jak! I wanted to help you! Isn't that good enough?"

"Yes! Dean, I never asked for your help, but you gave it to me… I never got the chance to thank you."

"You had plenty of chances!" Dean whispered hoarsely.

"What?" I asked. "I don't understand…"

Dean stood up.

"That's just it Jak. You don't understand. You've never understood…and what's more…you've never even tried to understand…"

"Dean!"

The blonde stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. He looked so hauntingly sad as he stood there, averting my gaze. The moonlight made his hair an eerie shade of greyish-green and his skin looked silver. I rubbed my eyes before attempting to change the subject.

"Dean…um…have you had a haircut?"

I cringed as I realised how lame it had sounded, but I couldn't say anything else. Dean walked over to me and slapped me in those few seconds. I gasped in disbelief. Dean? He was always so gentle-natured. I blinked again, and looked up at him. Normally, I would have hit him back ten times harder, but no… I couldn't. He looked too pathetic…too sad… He looked as though he was torn by despair, and for a moment, I was reminded of my own sorrow. I felt my eyes welling up with hot, salty tears.

"Dean…" I whispered. "Wh…why?"

Dean shook his head and then fell to his knees.

"J…Jak?" He replied. "A…are you crying?"

I blushed slightly and wiped away my tears. Dean gave a faint smile.

"Strange…" He mused. "I've never seen you cry before."

I ignored him and then coughed.

"Dean, why did you bring this up? Why did you start this?"

"I don't know." Dean choked slightly. "I just…I just wanted to know why you're so cold now. I just wanted to tell you that I feel lonely sometimes, that I feel you don't understand me at all. We've spoken about your problems before, but you never explained them to me fully. We've never spoken about my problems, so, I guess…I guess I was just angry and frustrated."

I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Dean, I know how you feel. That's why I'm so callous towards other people. I've been hurt too much. People…all they ever seem to do is hurt each other. I feel frustrated, and no matter how hard I try, I always seem to take my anger out on other people. Those people didn't do anything wrong, so I began to hate myself. I can't understand what people see in me Dean. There's no hope for me. I've got so much anger inside and it just comes out in no particular direction."

"Jak…" Dean sighed. "I just feel scared because I don't have my parents to protect me anymore. I feel so lonely…so abandoned…"

I bit my lip.

"Dean, I always thought you were happy with your life."

Dean smiled.

"Well Jak…I'm not really happy with it… I need my family again, you know?"

"Uh huh." I reached over and placed my arms around him. As I mentioned before, I didn't like being hugged or giving hugs, but this time, it was different. As Dean's hot tears soaked my shirt, I whispered,

"Dean…please, don't tell anyone about my problems…"

He nodded.

"Ok…but only if you promise not to tell anyone about how Ifeel."

"Okay…"

And that was how that day ended. As we both sobbed quietly, I allowed my gaze to drift up to the October moon. Despite the thin curtains, I could see it clearly. A huge pearl lost in the indigo sea of forever… Lost… just like me and Dean…

I looked down at the blonde and whispered,

"Dean?"

"Yeah Jak?"

"We're gonna be together till the end, right?"

"Of course." He replied. "Friends stick together no matter what."

"Especially best friends." I smiled and then ruffled his hair.

"But Jak…"

"Yeah?"

"There's something else I should tell you."

"What?"

"I feel jealous of Kraig."

"Why?"

"I don't know. You just…talk about him all the time. You say he was the best friend you've ever had… That was another reason why I had a go at you. I don't want to be second-best anymore."

"I..I…" I couldn't find the right words, but then, as if by magic, they came to me. "Don't worry Dean…Kraig can be replaced… Kraig has been replaced… Replaced by you…"

THE END