Deal With It

twenty two

"Hey," he cupped my face with his large hands. "I didn't mean for you to cry, I swear." He held my hands and sat me on his bed, crouching down on the floor and looking up at me. "I shouldn't have raised my voice or kept pestering you. I'm sorry." I stayed quiet but shook my head, not wanting him to blame himself. He seemed to think everything I was upset about was his fault when it wasn't. He was the one I wanted to be with during those times, not the one I wanted to stay away from.

"It's not your fault," I told him.

"Don't defend me," he said.

"I'm not! You didn't do anything to upset me." I shouldn't have allowed myself to cry before but I just felt so overwhelmed that I had no control over it; now I had to either tell him the truth or let him feel guilty when he didn't even upset me.

"Then I don't understand why you're crying— wait. Is it because of Jake?" he asked. I momentarily met his gaze but then looked away and nodded. Still crouched down before me, he took my hands into his own and began to comfort me. "Please don't cry because of that dick, he's getting what he deserves and you're safe now. I promise I won't let anyone lay a damn finger on you," he spoke seriously.

Suddenly realisation hit him and worry crossed his features as he stood up again. "He didn't hurt you did he? How have I not already asked? I just assumed you were okay and he stayed away but.. are you okay, Arissa?" he said in one breath, I just about made out what he said.

I gulped and my mind raced through the horrible memories once again. "No, no he didn't hurt me," I lied since I was afraid of what he might do if he knew the truth.

"Lies. You're lying," he claimed. "You delayed your answer and I saw how your face dropped. What the fuck did he do?" he spat. I opened my mouth to speak when my phone rang.

I quickly took it out of my pocket and was going to swipe the screen to answer when Tyler snatched it. He cut it off and flung it on the bed after switching it off. Just when I thought I'd found an escape. "That could have been important!" I complained, acting as though I had forgotten the conversation we were just having.

"Not more important than this," he fired back. I was terrible at dealing with situations like this. "Are you going to talk or will I have to force you?" he questioned irritably. "Arissa.." he growled, gripping my arm and making me stand up. I shoved him away.

"You want to know? Fine!" I yelled. I roughly pulled the zipper down to reveal myself, ignoring the insecurity I was feeling. "He did this!" I pointed at my stomach. "He did this!" I pulled one sleeve down to show my arm and could feel the wetness on my cheeks again. "And he was going to rap-" Tyler covered my mouth with his hand and shook his head, silencing me.

He headed straight for his door but I obstructed him. "Let. Me. Go," he emphasised each word through gritted teeth.

"No! This is why I didn't want to tell you!"

"Well it's too late because I know now and I'm not letting him go so easily!"

"Don't! Please! Violence isn't going to get you anywhere except behind bars like him," I tried to convince him to stay.

"I don't care."

"Well I do, I need you with me Tyler and that's going to be slightly difficult from jail," I added sarcasm at the end to somewhat help lighten the mood. "I don't care about what happens to him, I just want you here. Is that too much to ask for?"

His features softened and he bit his lip. Unexpectedly he pulled me towards him and embraced me. I nuzzled my head into his chest and he held onto me as if I would suddenly disappear. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much," he spoke into my hair and then pulled away to leave a peck on my forehead, I shivered at his touch. "You were suffering that all alone. I should have gotten there earlier, I should have done something."

"Please don't blame yourself," I pleaded.

"But I-"

"I don't ever want to talk about this. Can we pretend it was just a bad dream and move on?"

"Of course," he started. "But that doesn't mean I won't strangle him if I see him again," he joked— at least I thought it was a joke— and I laughed with him.

-

Tyler's POV

I tossed a plain black t-shirt at her and she quickly wore it, looking even hotter than usual. Her hair was slightly messy and the tee was baggy on her, but not so much that her entire shape was hidden.

She looked perfect.

It came halfway down her thighs so her shorts were almost completely hidden and her smooth legs were on display.

"Hmm should I wear this or not?" she held Dan's jacket up. "It is really comfy," she teased me and when I narrowed my eyes at her she did it even more. "It smells so good too, just like Da-"

"Don't push it," I said in amusement, my eyes lighting up.

"Maybe you should wear it seeing as you're shirtless," she lightly prodded my chest. I caught her hands and left a soft kiss on them.

"You know you like it this way," I said and she flushed.

"Not really, if you had Daniel's body then yes," she winked at me, her cheeks still a flaming red colour.

In the next moment a screaming Arissa was flung over my shoulder and I was running towards the window. I opened it up and held her over the ledge. "Tyler!" she screamed about one thousand times with closed eyes and a tight grip on me. "What are you doing? Stop! This is scary!" she shouted once she took a peek down. Instead of listening to her I lowered her a bit more and she screamed, flailing frantically.

"Have you had enough?" I laughed and she immediately screamed, "yes!"

-

"Bloody hell! Remind a girl to never tease you," she stuck her tongue out in annoyance after I had placed her down.

"So, what do you wanna do?" I asked once I'd finished laughing at her.

"Well... Drew's back and I want you to meet him," she smiled cheesily, knowing this was one thing I was dreading. The inevitable meeting with the overly protective big brother— and this one just had to be in the army.

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