12 am { ON HOLD }

Ch. 16

"Well?" Emily queried after they'd walked almost ten minutes in pure silence, nothing but the sounds of the cars going past and the wind shaking the leaves to fill it.

"Just... hang on," he muttered, pace quickening and his hands sliding into his pant pockets only to meet the empty space that a certain packet no longer filled.

"Johnson, I've been waiting for ten minutes already," Emily stated, bringing them to a stop as she stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him hard, a frown on her face that he reflexively wanted to smooth away.

"I know," he nodded, shifting closer to her to brush hair from her eyes only to have her step away and drop her arms, a guarded look crossing her face that made him sigh. "I'll explain everything when we get there; when we can sit down and be alone and have no more distractions, alright?"

She chewed on her lower lip for a long moment, eyes straying away to the other side walk where someone was walking their dog, before nodding and meeting his gaze again. "Fine, but you have to swear you'll answer all my questions."

"I guess that depends," he smiled a little, an eyebrow rising before he rolled his eyes at her serious look, "Alright," he muttered, "yeah – I swear."

"Where exactly is this 'there', anyway?" Emily asked once they started walking again and he took her down another back street, the two of them side by side but Emily keeping a safe distance away so there was no chance their hands or arms could brush accidently.

"You'll see," he smirked, giving her a look that had Emily wondering if she'd regret it or not.

Five minutes later, the place Emily soon found herself at was an old lake Tyler and her once found more than five years ago, the first place they'd accidently stumbled upon and marked it as Theirs and the place they first agreed to become best friends. This place held so much memories she almost stopped walking when it finally clicked where they were headed, was almost going to turn around and leave if it weren't for the glance Tyler sent her, as if to see if she was okay with it.

She didn't know if he chose this place on purpose, to remind her of everything they've been through or to make it harder for her to walk away, but when they climbed their way up a familiar and old rotting bridge she found she couldn't say a word, let alone walk off; so she waited.

"Alright," Tyler uttered quietly after a long stretched silence as they both stared out at the beautiful and rushing water below.

"Alright," she followed, resting her hands atop the side of the bridge as Tyler leaned against it by his elbows, back bent slightly and a frown on his face.

"I don't..." he paused, looked at her, "I don't know really know where to start," he mumbled as she finally met his gaze.

"Let's start with what you said," Emily murmured even though it was the last thing she wanted to talk about, the hurt that seeped into her voice coming from out of nowhere and so quickly she couldn't stop it. "Did you really mean that? Did you- do you regret it?"

Closing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair, he counted to three before turning his head to hold her gaze, back straightened but his body still facing the river, "No, Emily, I don't and never have regretted what we did."

"But you regret something," Emily said knowingly as she held his gaze unwaveringly with a frown on her face, "I know you do – you said so yourself."

"I never said I regretted it," Tyler replied quietly as he turned toward her, his action making her hands tighten around the railing and for her head to turn back to the front.