We get home later that night to find that everyone's gone. We're home alone, but everyone's got an eye on us.
Harrison and his parents went to a meeting with him somewhere about a school or something. Mom and dad went to go on some sort of business trip. I guess with the kind of work they do, they have to go somewhere once in a while.
After the night's events, I crash in my room and wake up to the bright sun in my eyes just what seems a few short seconds later. I sit up, feeling a headache set in from my lack of sleep.
My room is quiet and so is the house. It's so eerily quiet that I'm not sure this is a dream. My clock says it's six in the morning. That's way too early for me.
I slip out of my warm comforter and quietly make my way across the hall to Tucker's room. Just thinking about seeing him makes my heart skip a few beats. He's made me so happy in just a few hours than Colin's ever made me in months. It's just... perfect.
I open his door, hoping it won't squeak, to see that his curtains are drawn so the sunlight can't penetrate through his windows and into his room. He's lightly snoring and curled up on the one side of his bed closest to the wall. I tiptoe inside and close the door behind me.
I crawl under the blanket beside him, feeling warmth next to him. I pull the blanket up to my chin, and he slightly moves. His eyes flutter open, and he smiles down at me.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," I comment quietly. He smiles but doesn't laugh.
"I could say the same to you," he replies before kissing the top of my head. He puts his arms around me and closes his eyes again. It feels unreal to me. I feel as if I shouldn't be here because of how strange it would seem. Tucker's my best friend. Neither of us want to jeopardize that friendship either, but I think we can both agree there's something more in us that's waiting. Potential.
"I never thought it'd happen like this," he says in a low voice.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't intend to fall for you like I did. Hell, I didn't expect anything at all."
"Why not?"
"Because you're you, and I'm me. What would someone like you want with someone like me?" he asks. I hesitate for a moment, not entirely sure how to answer him.
"Everything," I whisper. He relaxes a little more and pulls me closer, gently stroking my arm with his fingertips.
"You know this is dangerous, right?" he asks after a few minutes. "Your mom and dad would kill me, you, or both of us if they knew."
"Then we won't tell them."
"But," he prompts, "you never know what they'll say."
"Oh trust me. I know," I answer. We go back to silence as he plays with my hair and runs his fingers up and down my arm. He sighs and brings his lips to my shoulder and leaves them there. His breathing tickles my skin, and I smile to myself.
"I'm hungry," he says, breaking the silence. He stands up and stretches.
"Way to ruin the moment."
I follow him downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I lean against the counter and watch him get a pan and some ingredients out.
"I didn't know you knew how to cook," I tell him in amazement. He smiles and laughs to himself.
"Yeah, well, when you're stuck around my mom all day, she'll show you a thing or two."
"My mom was never really a good cook. Heck, she hasn't gotten any better." We both laugh.
I watch as Tucker mixes things together, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. He frowns down at the pan, probably not satisfied with how it's going. Then I notice something on his bare back that I hadn't noticed ever before.
"Where'd you get that tattoo?" I ask. Tucker seems to freeze a little. The small black marking is on his right shoulder. It's small, but I caught it somehow.
"I got it not too long ago."
"What is it?"
"It's a moon and a sun," he answers quietly.
"Why did you get it?"
"I don't know." He looks up at me and passes me a plate of pancakes. "Well, breakfast is ready. I'll be right back," he says as he goes up the stairs.
I put our plates on the table and clean up just a little. He comes back downstairs with a t-shirt on now. I pour two glasses of milk, and we sit at the table. The phone rings, making me jump. Tucker gets up to answer it. He returns saying it was Aunt Amy just checking in on us. They are next door. I mean, I would've been fine with her waltzing inside like she owns the place. I decide to go upstairs and take a shower. I run the water, and while waiting for it to get hot, I look at my reflection in the mirror. As I look closely, I notice something different about me. I don't know what it is, but I kinda like it.
_____
As the day, night, and morning slowly drag on, I begin to anxiously wait for this afternoon when everyone gets back home. I sit around the house until everyone comes home. I jump up at the sight of my parents, excited that they're home.
"Where's my hug?" mom asks. I smile and hug both her and my dad.
"Oh I missed my little girl!" dad says as he hugs me tightly.
"I missed you too."
"Did everything go okay around here? Did you hold down the fort pretty well?" I nod, and he smiles. Now I wonder how everyone's gonna know about me and Tucker. I'm sure we're gonna keep it quiet. I have no clue...
"There's my boy," Uncle Dally says as he hugs Tucker. Aunt Liz pinches his cheeks, and he complains. I weakly smile just watching them. He hugs his brother. We all get ready for dinner after an hour. Everyone sits down, and for some reason, there's so much to talk about, but nothing is being said. Why isn't anyone saying a word?
"So how'd your thing go, Harrison?" I ask to break the silence. He nods and smiles. "Great! We went to the state university for a science fair. I won second, but I'm okay with it," he answers.
"That's really good. I'm happy for you."
"What did you two do while we were gone?" Uncle Dally asks, his deep voice scaring me just a little. He sounds suspicious of something. I don't know how he figures things out, but I think he's trying to now.
"Well... Tucker cooked," I announce right away. Tucker puts his hand over his face. "Thanks, Babydoll," he says sarcastically.
"I told you I'd teach him," Aunt Liz tells everyone. Tucker shrugs.
"What else?" Uncle Dally asks.
"That's about it," I say. He nods and looks down. We remain in silence for a while, finding nothing else I discuss. A knock at the door startles all of us. Tucker gets up to answer it. I look around nervously. This is a little too much to think about.
"Dad," Tucker says nervously from the other room. We all jump up and follow each other into the living room to find something unexpected. A blonde stands there with an arrogant attitude. I immediately sense something isn't right by the way Uncle Dally walks to the door. I stand up now, feeling shock pass through the room as everyone glances at the woman standing at our front door.
"Sylvia?" Uncle Dally gasps.
"Hi, Dallas," she replies.
"What are you doing here?"
"Who is she?" Tucker asks.
"Nothing, son. Go back over there," Uncle Dally says. Tucker reluctantly does as he's told, and he comes to stand by me. Sylvia comes inside and looks at us.
"Huh, I see you moved since I last saw you," she says. "It's been almost eighteen years, and I don't like you showing up now."
"Why are you here?" Aunt Liz asks as she stands bravely by her husband. Sylvia looks her up and down and scowls in disgust.
"So this is who you married, Dallas?"
"I asked why you're here," Aunt Liz says politely. "A simple question that's in need of a simple answer."
"Just to check in on my son," she answers. "And he's looking like a fine young man. He looks like you, Dallas."
Son? I think she's on something...
"Sylvia, get out," Uncle Dally says sternly. She bats her eyelashes at him.
"Oh c'mon. I'm not allowed to see my own kid now?" she asks.
"You weren't there to live it with us because you left me with 'your own kid'. I suggest you leave now before I call the cops."
"My, my, my. You're being so unreasonable," she says.
"Get out of my house, or God so help me..." momma mumbles. Sylvia turns around. "Fine. I'll leave. It's not like I wanted to be apart of his life anyway." She slams the door behind her, and Uncle Dally turns to Tucker.
"I'm so sorry, Tucker," he says quietly.
"She's my..." Tucker starts, but he doesn't finish his sentence due to disbelief.
"She's your biological mother. Liz is your step-mother."
"After all these years..." Tucker mumbles angrily. "After all this time! You could've told me, dad! Why didn't you?!"
"I didn't think it'd make a difference! She abused you, Tucker! If I hadn't have gotten you, you probably would've been dead!" Tucker breathes heavily as his chest unsteadily rises and falls. His fists are clenched. "I can't believe you lied to me..." Tucker says quietly.
"I didn't want you to turn me away," Aunt Liz says. "All I've ever wanted was to make this family work, and if it meant keeping you from the truth, then I was willing to do it, Tucker. I still love you. We just have reasons that you wouldn't understand."
Without a word, Tucker runs out the door. Nobody goes after him because we all know he'll eventually come back... maybe. I take a chance and go outside after him. He hasn't gone anywhere. He's sitting in his mom's old pickup he rarely ever drives. I climb in the passenger's seat and stare at him.
"Drive," I tell him sternly.
"Where?"
"Anywhere."
_____
"I can't believe it," he says quietly. I stare at him with sympathy and heartache for him.
We're parked on the hill that overlooks the entire city. The small town of Tulsa. The nighttime lights glimmer down below us.
"They lied to me all this time," he says. "Why?!" He slams his hand down on the steering wheel. I jump at his sudden actions.
"I don't know, Tucker. Everyone has good reasons. They were just trying to protect you."
"From what? The truth?" he asks angrily.
"Sometimes the truth hurts. I would know 'cause I figured out what Colin really was. He was two-faced, double personalities. You think it didn't hurt?"
"I know it did, Baby. Why else would you have been crying?"
"Why would I come to you? Because I trust you. I wouldn't just talk to anyone about it."
"Why would I let you talk to me after what just happened?" he retorts. "Because you're the only one who's actually attempted to see past what I do or how I act. You know me better than any of my friends."
"You know, it's okay to be scared."
"I'm not scared," he mumbles.
"Tucker, it's okay to have emotions when it's just us. Everyone gets scared once in a while, but that doesn't mean run away from your problems."
"Then why do you?" I open my mouth to answer but quickly shut it because I don't know why I run away sometimes. I don't know at all.
"I don't run away. I run to you. Most of the time anyways..." I answer quietly. He turns away and looks straight ahead. He slowly lets out a breath he was holding.
"All my life I thought Liz was my real mother," he says. "She treats me better than Sylvia, I guess. She loved me even though I wasn't hers to begin with." He concentrates in silence, debating something in his mind. "I must sound insane."
"No," I object slowly, carefully thinking about my words. "I thought Aunt Liz was your mom too. I guess it would've been more obvious if you didn't look just like your dad. But if what your dad said was true, you probably would have been dead years ago. Lord knows what Sylvia did to you when you were a baby..."
"I don't even want to know."
A few seconds pass with silence. I speak up again. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel any better? I don't like when you're down."
He takes my small hand in his and rubs my knuckles with his thumb. He shakes his head. "No. I don't want to ask anything from you. You shouldn't have to be there just to do what I want you to. You're much better than that. Plus you'd tell me no."
I smile, and he laughs quietly. It's good to see him coming around. I lean in and kiss his cheek. He turns to me with a surprised expression.
"What was that for?" he asks.
"I just thought you needed it." He smiles and puts his hand on the back of my head. He pulls me closer and kisses my forehead.
"Let's go home," he says.
——————————-
2298 words