Summary: when Y/N tells Tyler how she really feels about him, it causes a a few changes in their friendship.
Requested: No
Never in a million years did Y/N plan on falling for her big dumb friend Tyler. She had known him for so long that she was convinced he was family, her parents called him 'son' for Christ's sakes. But after he moved to Dallas, she had started to see him in a different light. He was no longer her slutty friend that she would go to bars with in Boston. He was Tyler, the guy that always drove her home and made sure she was safe, always offered to walk her to the bathroom at a part or to watch her drink just to ensure no one did anything stupid. He was the person that she called after a rough day just so he could make her smile.
Tyler was no longer just Y/N's innocent friend.
Living away from Tyler made things a lot easier as Y/N was pretty sure that given time, she could learn to move on. Or at least find someone new and use them to forget how she felt about her friend. Of course, Y/N didn't have the heart to do that to someone, but it was an option if she ever became desperate.
Try as she might, in all the years that Tyler had been living in Dallas, Y/N's feelings had only grown stronger for her friend. She knew that he was dating around and mostly hooking up, and while that should have hurt her, it only made her hopeful. It was sad really, that she was holding onto a small inch of hope that one day Tyler may actually want to get with her.
Instead of coming to visit for a weekend during the offseason this year, Tyler suggested that Y/N come up and visit him in Texas for a couple weeks. He blamed it on the pups, saying that his three large labs missed her terribly and it wasn't fair for him to see her but for them to not get chance.
It didn't take much to persuade Y/N to come up to Dallas, just seeing Tyler's stupid face on FaceTime was enough to make her knees weak and heart clench- she was ready to do whatever he needed. No questions asked. While it seemed like a good idea in the moment, as soon as the call ended, Y/N knew that this trip was only going to cause her torment. She had to spend two weeks with Tyler at his house, with god knows what girls and parties the hockey player would be having around during her stay.
Surprisingly when Y/N arrived, there was no one at the house. Tyler had picked her up from the airport and reassured her that they would have the house to themselves for a few days. He wanted this trip to be about relaxation and two buds catching up.
For the first few days, that's what the trip was. But being around Tyler 24/7 had really taken a toll on Y/N. Her feelings were getting out of control and the fact that Tyler was a really affectionate guy didn't help. Whether he was pulling her onto his lap by the pool, letting his hands ghost over her hips as he walked behind her in the kitchen, or kissing the top of her head every once in a while, Y/N was struggling to keep her feelings in check.
It wasn't until Tyler had thrown his first party of y/n's stay that things had gotten out of control. The house was full of people- everyone buzzing on some type of hard liquor or drug while music played around the property. Tyler had been making his rounds of people- introducing Y/N to a few of his teammates who promised to keep an eye on her during the party. He had a blonde girl following behind him the majority of the time, his arm often swung around her shoulders.
From where Y/N stood, she was sure that the woman would be staying overnight- in Tyler's bedroom. It wasn't her place to say anything, but she didn't want to hear the guy she was in love with having sex with another woman. It was pretty reasonable. She had been sipping out of a red solo cup for the majority of the night, not as big of a drinker as she used to be.
Tyler had really cut down on his drinking habits too. When he and Y/N were younger, they used to go out all the time. His Boston Days often included him dancing on a far shirtless at two in the morning. Thankfully, he had grown from his mistakes and knew how to carry himself maturely now- or at least more mature than he was back then.
A few hours after the party, people had started to trickle out of the house- going to finish off at a bar or whatever they pleased. Tyler was done for the night. He was standing in the kitchen with the young blonde girl when Y/N walked in, the two of them were laughing and carrying on. Just as Tyler looked up, he caught a slight expression of hurt and jealousy flash across Y/N's face. She had been cleaning up some of the mess the guests had made and was looking to throw some trash away.
"Sorry- didn't realize it was occupied." She spoke awkwardly, quickly throwing the garbage away before turning on her heel and heading out of the kitchen. Tyler noticed how eager she was to get out of there and made it his mission to find out what was wrong. As he left, the blonde took that as her cue to leave- heading out of the house and on with the rest of her night.
Making his way through the house, Tyler found Y/N in the living room- bent over as she started picking up empty beer bottles and throwing them into a recycling bag. "You okay?" The man asked softly, his snapback hugging his sweaty head of curls rather comfortably. Y/N made no attempt to look up at him- embarrassment flushed through her cheeks as she tried to ignore the situation.
"Of course! Why would't I be?" She asked softy, letting out a laugh and forcing herself to keep cleaning. Tyler sighed and waked towards her, taking to bags and bottles out of her hands before making her look up at him. "Come on- I know you better than that... What's going on?" He asked, setting everything down before taking her hand.
If Y/N hadn't just witnessed Tyler in the kitchen with another woman, she might have melted into his touch, but in the moment, all she could think of was how his hands had been on the blonde for the whole night. "You can't keep doing that." She scoffed, making an attempt at grabbing the bottles.
Tyler furrowed his brows- reaching out and steadying her. "What are you talking about?" He asked, tone almost sharp but filled with concern. He met Y/N's eyes and went to brush a strand of hair out of her face. She recoiled as if he was a dangerous snake- holding her hands up in front of her.
"That! The touchy feely stuff!" She raised her voice slightly. "Tyler you can't keep flirting with me and then acting like we are just friends." She blurt out. Noticing his shock, Y/N figured that she had already started- she might as well continue. "You're giving me really confusing signs... I can't keep having all these fallings for you when you just play around with me- its not fair." She confessed.
Feeling as though he had been hit by a truck, Tyler looked almost shocked. He wasn't expecting his friend to confess her feelings for him in the middle of his living room. "I-Im not!" He tried to defend himself, but he knew it was use. He had been doing exactly that. He had always been more affectionate with her than his other friends, but he pretended that it meant nothing.
Y/N frowned. "I'm going to bed..." she mumbled- this was not the situation she wanted to be in tonight, but unfortunately she ran her mouth and now she was here. Pushing past Tyler and up to the guest room- she did her best to pretend like things were still fine. As though she didn't just tell her friend that she was in love with him.
The next few days of Y/N's trip were rather awkward. She barely saw Tyler in the morning since he usually had training camp or went to the gym, she made an effort to purposefully nap when he got home- leaving her to only see him for about a few hours at dinner time. They were avoiding each other like the plague.
That was until Y/N had enough. She couldn't handle the silence anymore.
They were sitting in the living room eating dinner, the dogs laying in the corner as they watched some old episodes of a show Tyler liked. Y/N was staring down at her half eaten steak which the man had barbecued for them. "So..." She mumbled.
Tyler made no effort to glance in her direction- poking at his potatoes as he hummed. "So..." he copied her.
Sighing softly, Y/N set her plate on the coffee table. "Okay this needs to stop- We need to talk about this.." She looked at him with a mixed expression of plead and hurt. "If I had known that this would have ruined our friendship, I never wouldn't told you." She confessed. "But I did tell you- so now we have to deal with it." She gulped.
The man set his plate down. "I don't know how to deal with it Y/N..." He sighed, rubbing his face- Tyler didn't know what to say. "I know that I didn't exactly say things at the right time, but I do like you." He looked towards her.
A sudden frown appeared on Y/N's lips. "Thats not funny to joke about Tyler- I don't need you to lie just to make me feel better." She crossed her arms. Immediately Tyler was walking over and taking her hands. "No! I'm not lying- I just... I was in shock the other day!" He reassured her.
"You're right, I flirt with you and then I dont do anything about it... But you're wrong about me treating you like a friend- look around." He gestured to his house.
"You're the only one I invited to spend the summer with me... I only wanted you here... because I care about you." He tried to explain his feelings. It wasn't the best but Y/N understood.
"So you really like me?" She asked hesitantly, looking up into Tyler's brown eyes and grinning sheepishly. Rolling his eyes, Tyler pulled her into a hug and laid back on the couch- he kissed her lips passionately, hands gripping her waist before pulling away to laugh.
"Hows that for an answer?"