Taming Tyler

One

The haze outside the window was the first thing that caught my eye as we passed another road marker and I heard the distinct sounds of a neck popping coming from the drivers seat. It seemed the long treck was not lost on the large man currently behind the wheel, even though you wouldn't know it from his calm and joyful demeanor. As if on cue his head swiveled back to me and a large smile graced his flawlessly handsome features. "Morning sleepy head."

His smiled reached his eyes and it annoyed me how constantly chipper he was. I groaned inside my head and looked back out the window wondering how far we had come so far and where our final destination was. His eyes were already back on the road but I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "I can hear your eyes rolling back there."

I could feel the tugs of a grim trying to crack my lips and let out a low sigh. As much as I wanted to be irritated with Rye, I just couldn't be. He wasn't the cause of any of this and he was currently tasked as my protector; something that I was thankful for as I tried to fight of the trembling that threatened to overtake me every time I thought about the events of the last 72 hours, which was often considering how fresh it was in my mind.

"Where are we headed anyway?" My small voice finally gave way as a means to distract myself. His eyes found mine in the rearview mirror and a small flicker of sadness shown through before he quickly masked it again. "You'll see." was all he said before the light clicking of a turn signal let me know that we were stopping for yet another burger drive-thru.

I let myself flop back against the seat and sighed a little louder this time. I knew that he was just avoiding telling me to annoy me at this point, or at least I figured as much. Witness protection had seemed like overkill until I was informed that purple eyes had managed to escape law enforcement so now here I was, riding to some unknown place with big, tall and happy pants. I swear, his constant good mood was starting to get to me.

"If I'm going to be living there for now until whenever, there's no point in keeping it a secret any longer. I'm going to need to know the name of the town I live in, you know." I added in a huff as my sigh failed to convey my frustration. "Not until were safe and sound my little angry charge." He almost sang back to me as if this was all just some big joke to him. I knew that wasn't the case but as the miles added up his mood had lighted to an almost unbearable joyous state. Freak, I thought to myself before closing my eyes again as I heard the crackly voice come thru the speaker at the umpteenth Burger Kates we'd been to.

After ordering enough burgers to feed a small army, and a very quick trip to refuel we were back on the road again. My legs were growing restless and tingly by the time I saw the Oregon state sign and I noticed a change in Rye almost immediately. "Nearly there, Tyler." He said before shoving almost half a burger in his mouth and I reeled forward in my seat, scanning the landscape with interest. "Really? Where are we?" I asked anxious for this car ride to be over. "Oregon." I heard him garble over his still full mouth and I resisted the urge to smack the back of his head.

I've gotta give it to Rye, despite the recent events of my life, he's done a hell of a job getting my mind off of the grief I feel whenever I think about Michelle and how I ended up in this situation. It's almost as if he can tell whenever my mind starts to drift back to that dark place. The minute I do always seems like it's his cue to say something silly, annoying or frustrating. He'd also given me a crash course on the supernatural during the first five hours of our drive and despite wanting to bury my head in the sand, it had given me something to focus on.

After about fifteen more minutes, Rye turned off on an exit that read Marroe Falls. It wasn't a town that I have ever heard of before but the lush green forest encasing the town made it seem deceptively small. We passed a smaller hospital on the outskirts of the town, followed by a large park before we hit the heart of the town. There were several layers to the town which made it feel like a small city. Homes with overly large properties followed by smaller condos, houses and apartments with several schools and a bustling downtown.

"Ok, Tyler. I've got an apartment all lined up for you but that's not going to be ready until tomorrow so you can crash at my place tonight. I've also got a job all lined up for you so you're not at home twiddling your thumbs all day." I'm sure that Rye was worried about me being alone right now but despite the brief happy thought that I'd never have to work again the idea of having something to do did sound appealing. "What kind of job and is it going to be enough to cover my rent?" The question was more for my own curiosity than anything. I didn't figure that being under witness protection meant I would be living on the streets but paying my own way would make me feel better in the long run if this was my new life. Apparently I already had survivors guilt, I wasn't about to add to it by having everything handed to me.

Rye's eyes met mine in the rear view mirror before he shook his head and continued on. "You'll be working with a friend of mine at Morroe Academy. He owes me a favor and his secretary just recently decided to take early retirement after getting remarried. "Nice." "Yeah, she's a spitfire, that one." He said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smirked.

I had actually been referring to the job but good for her too, I supposed. Secretary I could handle. My old job had been paying medical claims in a small office and though not the most exciting job in the world, it paid the bills and surely gave me all the skills I'd need to be a school secretary. I might even have some actual down time at work, something that I definitely wasn't used to. My happy thoughts were interrupted by the fact that at the age of 23, all of that sounded extremely pathetic. Wow, I really needed to get out more.

Lost in my own thoughts, I barely registered the fact that Rye had pulled into a parking lot outside of a towering vine covered building until the car came to a stop. "And here we are!" He announced brightly as if that explained exactly where here was. I rolled my eyes again but I was more than happy to be done driving. I quickly got out of the car and stretched before spotting the large iron letters spelling out Morroe Academy on the side of then building.

"Wait... Why are we stopping here? You don't honesty expect me to meet anyone looking like this do you?" I asked gesturing down the front of myself. After a twenty hour car ride my clothes were a crumpled mess, I was in serious need of a shower and my hair was in desperate need of a brush. "Yeah, I've got to get your security passes and paperwork so we can have it all ready by tomorrow morning." He said the words as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and I wanted nothing more than to punch him in his pretty face. "Sheesh, you people dont mess around do you? Haven't you ever heard of a good first impression?"

"Don't worry, they know we drove straight through, no ones judging you here." I scowled up at Rye and proceeded to run my fingers through my long dark hair in a weak attempt to tame it nonetheless, not that it did much good. Rye looked at the sky for a moment before shaking his head again and grabbing my arm to drag me into the building.

( ( I'm aware there are edits to be made but here it is, my first story on Wattpad!! Please let me know what you think.  <3 ) )