Bottle Rockets

NINE - You Mean Too Much To Me

Tyler woke up with her face buried in the crook of Tanger's neck, her arms pressed against his chest. When she glanced down, she saw his arms curled tight around her body. When she looked up, she saw a peaceful and sleepy smile.

She put her head back where it was and breathed in deep, sucking in the musk of Tanger's cologne. She tasted a hint of alcohol and wrinkled her nose, burrowing her face back into his shoulder. She felt him shift and moan sleepily.

"Tyler?"

"Nothing happened! I swear, nothing happened!" She rushed, pulling away to sit up but moving too fast. She slipped off of the couch and landed on her ass with a slight yelp.

Tanger laughed, raspy and riddled with fatigue, before helping her back up. He slid aside to give her a little bit of space.

"I didn't think anything happened. But even if something did, I wouldn't be mad," He smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Tyler stared at him with wide blue eyes, her hands folded tight in her lap. Don't read too much into that, Ty. It's not what you think it means.

He sighed and carded a hand through his hair, "Thank you, Tyler."

"For what?" She grunted, incredulous.

He chuckled, "For picking me up, for letting me stay over," Oh right. Tyler had forgotten about everything, "for being there."

"It's not a big deal, Tanger."

"Of course it is. I could have put myself in the hospital if you hadn't been there."

Tyler shrugged, focusing her attention on her hands. She watched herself play with her fingers and the strings of her pajama pants. She sighed.

"My dad was killed by a drunk driver when I was little. I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. I wanted you to be safe. The team would," I would, "feel empty without you around. Besides, you're my partner in crime," She crooned, a weak laugh bubbling from her lips.

Tanger's hand reached forward and gently engulfed one of hers, his thumb caressing her knuckles, "I'm sorry about your dad, Tyler. That should never happen to anybody and I'm sorry you had to go through that so young."

She shrugged and looked up at him. His brown eyes were soaked in concern and affection for her. She felt a deep blush fall across her cheeks and she glanced away.

"Tanger?"

"Yeah?"

He continued to hold her hand.

"Why did you call me?" Tyler met his gaze with her own.

"What do you mean?"

Tyler shrugged, "Well, you could've called anyone on the team, but you chose to call me. Why?"

Silence lapsed over Tanger and he frowned down at his knees. He shrugged himself, "I wanted you to be the one to take care of me."

Tyler threw her arms around Tanger, pulling him into a tight hug, and buried her face into his neck again. It was a few moments before she felt his own arms slide around her waist, fingers splaying against her back. She sighed into him, her own fingers playing with his hair.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, Tanger. You're better off without that bitch. She treated you like shit and she didn't deserve you, okay? But seriously, don't ever scare me like that again. You mean too much to me," She whispered against his skin.

"I won't, Ty. I promise."