A Forbidden Love - Falling in love with my step brother

Chapter 8

Sophies POV:

I jogged down at the park furiously, blasting music in my ears. If I couldn't cut, I had running. I had Ryan too but he's got his own issues. So I ran. I ran until my lungs were set on fire and I was too angry to cry. Too tired to think about the pain in my chest Tyler had cause, too tired to think about the aching emptiness that was settling in. Too tired. Damn near exhausted.

No one ran down this path, not even Ryan knew about it. I had found it years ago when I first started cross country and wanted to avoid seeing the perfect girls running around. Found it when the depression had just started. It was my distraction strategy.

My legs ached as I ran, faster, harder. I couldn't stop. I didn't want the thoughts to catch up with me. The sun was setting and I had turned my phone off so Tyler couldn't bother me. So no one could.

Two door cinema club blasted through my earphones and I hummed the tune breathlessly while running. While running into a hard surface, that is.

See, if I were normal I would have gotten up immediately, but I'm me. O of course I held onto this thing that I realized was a person, a particularly fir person, and clung to it- him - for my life. This wen on for maybe 3 seconds too long. Then I wasn't sure if I should get up and say thank you or just run. Maybe I could act like I didn't see him. Why I was avoiding this, I didn't know, but Jesus it was complicated for me.

I pushed myself off of his chest and looked up to meet the amused gaze of Seth Collins. I stumbled backwards and cleared my throat "oh, I. Sorry."

He grinned "yeah it took you a minute to get yourself together there. Sophie, right?"

I frowned "yeah....this path it's...."

He shrugged "yeah I didn't know anyone knew about it either I guess"

"oh" I mumbled

"hey, you know the parks about to close...wanna go get something to eat?"

I stared at him with wide eyes. 'Yes. Say yes. Because saying no will get you killed' I thought.

"I- uh- I mean....sure" I stuttered

He laughed "alright then, let's go"

We, yes Seth Collins and I, jogged back out of the park. I was faster than him and I knew it, so did he. He smiled when I slowed down for him to keep up.

We ended up jogging our ways to Annie's cafe. It was some small hole in the wall that Seth knew about, claiming they had "the best muffins in Los Angeles"

I sat across from him and drank my hot chocolate and grinned "it was an awful idea to get hot chocolate"

He laughed "yeah, gonna have to jog back home now. Smart thinking"

I grinned and drank more anyways

Seth tilted his head to the side curiously and I laughed nervously "what?"

He shrugged "you almost seem eighteen rather than sixteen"

I scoffed "oh am I giving off the 'almost legal' naive vibe?"

He shook his head, his gaze still trained on my face "nah, more of the open and independent vibe"

I grinned curiously "maybe"

He smiled "I'm not sure though"

"good, the books say its good to be mysterious" I raised my eyebrows and smiled back

He laughed quietly "your books are probably right"

I looked down at my drink and back at him "they usually are"

Tyler's POV:

Everything was going to get better. Everything, once I left. I had already cleared out most of my clothes from the closet we shared, packed the air mattress and boxed away everything I had in our bathroom. It would be Sophie's room, the way it should be, the way it should have stayed. I brushed my fingers over a cd case of hers and smiled. She was obsessed with music, after every fight I saw her get into she'd blast music through her oversized headphones and she refused to illegally download music, but only buy the CDs.

Mom had already bought the loft I'd be living in, "dad" had got me a motorcycle for my birthday and even though I should've been happy I knew Sophie wouldn't be and it was impossible for me to be happy if she wasn't, sadly.

I picked up a picture Sophie had developed of the two of us, when it had happened I didn't know. Maybe in between all the complicated feelings and our abrupt ending...it had happened. We had been happy and this was proof of that. Sophie was grinning in a red bikini and shorts, hair wet and eyes shining clinging to my back. Surprisingly I was mid laugh and looking at her, of course. I folded the picture and shoved it in my back pocket before sighing. Everything was going to get better, a mantra I'd have to repeat too many times to get myself to really leave.

Mom came up the stairs and smiled, her hair in a messy bun "hey sweetie.."

I looked at her wearily "hi"

She sat on Sophie's bed and looked around, smiling sadly "you're making the right choice here, Ty. I just want you to know that..."

I shrugged as I picked up a sweater I left on the floor "whaddaya mean"

She looked down and sighed "I've noticed the, uh...tension between you and Sophie. I wasn't going to mention it, but I do think you're doing the right thing here"

I looked up at her, shocked "I- wh- how'd...you know?"

She smiled "tyler you're older, not unreadable. You're my son, I've known whenever you've liked a girl. I'm your mother..."

I nodded "I'm sorry"

She frowned "no, I understand you two shouldn't have been put in the same room, alone. And Sophie's a great girl, if she wasn't your step sister....but she is, and it would've been wrong for me to interfere. It is your life"

If she weren't my step sister.

Sophie's POV:

Seth grinned at my doorstep, standing dangerously close to me as we laughed.

"I had a good time" he smiled

I laughed again "me too! Thanks by the way...I haven't laughed like this in a while"

He smiled nervously and ruffled his hair "yeah, we should do it again.."

I hesitated "oh, Seth I-"

He leaned in closer, looking at me with worried eyes, nervous eyes. The door opened abruptly and there stood Tyler.

What was about to happen between Seth and I was unclear, but crystal like to Tyler. Shit.