Chance Encounters

twenty-one

[a/n: first of all, i'd like to apologize for the wait. i'm not sure i can ever explain why exactly i couldn't seem to write anything past a few sentences (that would eventually get deleted) for the past few months, but, as promised, i've resolved that i will continue to write this until it's done. 

second, if there are any differences in the way i'd written this and the way the previous chapters were written, i apologize. those, after all, had been written months ago, and i'm still trying to ease back into writing. 

lastly, part of the reason why i couldn't seem to continue writing this was that i felt as though it was dragging too much. the pace was all off, and it was difficult to figure out how to keep the story moving, so this serves as a little warning to tell you that things will begin to pick up from this chapter, so a lot of things will happen here, and in the coming chapters. 

sorry and, if you're reading this, thank you for always putting up with me.

p.s. i didn't proofread this yet haha i have class tomorrow and i still haven't taken a look at the class readings and yeah sorry for the mistakes]

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Chapter 21

I hated human confrontation.

I hated human confrontation paired with anything related to emotional attachment, which was why I only ever had two responses when it came to conversations that required me to have a look into my so-called "emotions."

That being said, I was willing to bet that in all my eighteen years of existence, there was absolutely nothing more painfully awkward than the moment I had to show up at Tyler's doorstep at two o'clock in the morning two weeks after our one-night stand and six hours after he asked me to have dinner with him (both of which ended up with me running away with no explanation whatsoever), so when he finally opened that door and said "hi," my mind went completely blank.

I stood there, completely lost, as I watched the expression on his face shift from pleasantly surprised to slightly confused before finally settling into a somewhat questioning stare, brows slightly furrowed and lips turned into a slight smile.

Austin cleared his throat, nudging me forward with a slight push, prompting me to squeak out a panicked, "Hi!"

"Reed." Tyler's eyes flickered over my shoulder. "And..."

"Austin."

"Tyler." He, ever so amiable, offered Austin a smile before looking back at me. There was a tinge of both understanding and disappointment in his eyes; a slight sag in his shoulders; a bittersweet feel to the otherwise cheerful smile he was sending my way. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were..." he trailed off, shaking his head apologetically.

"Oh, no," I said. "No, no, no, really, just—no. We're, uh, we're not—you know. We're, uh, we're not—"

"We're not together," Austin interjected.

"We're not."

Tyler's eyebrows rose. "Oh."

It was growing more and more uncomfortable by the second, and maybe if I wasn't a selfish sensitive bitch, I probably would have just asked him to have a private conversation so I could finally just turn him down and walk out of his life forever, but the mere thought of having The Talk with him was incredibly difficult to imagine, and instead of facing this situation between us head-on, I said, "Can we come in?" acting as though the elephant in the room was completely nonexistent.

Part of me hoped he'd stop being so nice, that he'd just curse me for being cowardly and confusing, but I should have known that there was no way that would actually happy. "Yes, of course," he said, stepping back with a warm grin plastered on his face. "Come on in."