(More Than) Just Friends.

Chapter Twenty Two

22

::Kylie's POV::

It had taken me about three days to get myself together. I certainly didn't feel better about the situation but I was done crying for now. I knew my mom loved me and I knew she wouldn't want me carrying this burden with me for the rest of my life. I didn't force her to run a red light, I didn't tell the truck driver to keep driving though he'd been up for two days straight, I didn't do any of it. I was a little kid and I had to let it go if I ever wanted to be happy. I loved her so much, but I would have to let all of it go.

Tyler had been amazing these last few days. He was so caring and warmhearted that it was hard to believe that weeks ago I hated him. He'd opened my eyes to so many possibilities, and though I wasn't sure if I wanted to be with just him yet, I knew I loved spending time with him. I also knew I had to end things with Levi. I didn't love him anymore and he clearly didn't love me. We'd both been cheating on one another for what seemed like weeks now, so what was the point in pretending? What we shared was fun while it lasted, but our relationship was over now. I just had to figure out a way to end things before he came back home. It would be awkward at first, but at least I had another week or two to plan how I was going to break things off.

I was walking into Tyler's room when I saw him sitting at the edge of his bed. He had an envelope in his hand and worry written all over his face. This wasn't like him at all. He was always so sarcastic and playful, not like this. Something was wrong and I was determined to find out. He'd helped me in my time of need and I would help him in his.

I sat next to him and placed my hand on his back.

"Tyler, what's going on?" I asked. "What is that?" I referred to the opened envelope.

"It was a letter from my dad," he replied simply with a shrug. There it was again, his need to act like nothing fazed him. It went everywhere with him and blocked his true feelings like a wall. I was determined to break this wall down, no matter how long it took.

"Isn't that great?" I asked confused. I knew Tyler and his dad had problems, but surely he would be happy to hear from him after years of isolation.

"Not when he's telling you how much of failure you are to him. He said I was a disgrace to the family and I could never be better than what I was, more like Levi," he paused. "Precious Levi," he said and I could feel his pain. The tough-guy act vanished for a second but before I could even have a chance to act on his vulnerability, his emotions were gone again. This was definitely a touchy subject for him.

I sat there like an idiot. What could I say? I'd never seen Tyler like this, so shut down that is. He was always so tough, so strong but to see how briefly, but easily his father's words could break him? It surprised me.

"He's such an asshole. I don't even see why my mom is still married to him. After all the lies he told, she's still legally with him," Tyler let out with an unhumored laugh.

"She won't be for long," I blurted out and automatically regretted doing so. I mentally slapped myself.

His head snapped towards me. There was no going back now, he'd definitely heard what I'd said. "What do mean?" His eyes pierced into mine, practically forcing me to tell him what I knew.

I took a deep breath. "I wasn't going to tell you this because, well I figured it wasn't any of my business. I'm not in the family and I assumed your mom would tell you when the time was right. When I was in her room, seeing if she needed help packing, I saw papers on her bed. Divorce papers," I added and Tyler stood and started pacing, trying to make sense of it all. His parents had been married since before he was born, this must have been hard to swallow down.