"You've ruined me," I murmured, my voice thick with sleep as I moved my chest away from Tyler so I could stretch my arms, making sure to keep our legs intertwined.
He cracked a single eye open. His voice, slightly dazed after just waking up, held a hint of anxiety when he replied, "What do you mean?"
"I used to hate cuddling," I explained, leaning back into him until my nose was buried in his chest. "Now look at me."
He let out an annoyed breath. "Why would you phrase it like that? You've ruined me," he mimicked my voice and I couldn't help but smile.
"You have!" I teased with a giggle, snuggling deeper into him.
His hand found my chin and he pulled my face from him, tilting it up so we were looking at each other. His hazel eyes, glinting in the late morning light, danced a little as he challenged me, "Did I really?"
Breathless, I practically whispered, "No. Quite the opposite."
I watched his lips tilt into a smile before I felt it, his grin pressing against my own.
I tried to deepen the kiss, my tongue running across his bottom lip tauntingly. He let out a groan, but refused entrance. His lips closed as tightly as his hands on my waist and chin. He was holding back.
"Al," he muttered against my lips before pulling away. Both of his hands moved to my cheeks, holding my head in place to keep me from leaning forward to capture his lips again. I saw the look in his eyes. The same concern I saw in him last night.
I pulled my head back, breaking the contact as his hands could no longer reach my face.
"Last night—"
"No," I cut him off. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, Tyler."
"I know that," he replied sternly. "I just wanted to say..."
He let out a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair and his voice softened. "I wish you didn't have to go through that alone."
He scooted closer to me, his hands finding my cheeks again. I didn't pull away this time.
"I'm just so fucking lucky to even know you. I hope you know that. I hope you never forget that." He leaned in, placing a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth. It was comforting and caring and the gesture had moisture pricking at the corners of my eyes.
"Sometimes," I whispered as he rested his forehead against mine. "I wish I had met you sooner."
For a moment, he was silent. Still. Then, his thumb brushed back and forth against my cheek. "Sometimes I do too. But then other times, I think you came into my life at exactly the right time."
~ ~ ~
"Yo, Al!" A voice called out as I weaved through the school parking lot, ready to get to Tyler and go the fuck home.
Only two and a half months left in this hell hole called high school.
My eyes followed the direction of the voice to find Sean at his car, standing with Chad and Brian. I smiled at them and redirected my path towards the boys. "What's up?"
"Drinks," Sean said, leaning against his car and crossing his arms smugly. "My place. Saturday night."
"It's Brian's birthday," Chad added.
"Nice," I replied, gripping my backpack strap as a strong gust of wind blew through the tunnel of cars.
"So you'll be there then." Sean raised his eyebrows, testing me.
I bit my lip and gave a casual shrug. "Yeah, I'll try to make it."
Sean groaned and pushed himself off the car to stand up straight. "Come on, Allie. I can't remember the last time you came and partied at my house."
Brian nodded. "You got a boyfriend and became boring."
I opened my mouth with every intention to argue that I didn't have a boyfriend. Nothing came out though and Chad let out a chuckle at whatever expression was on my face.
"Bring Tyler," Sean said with resolve.
I let out a single laugh and looked down the row of cars, spotting Tyler's towards the very end. "You say that like it's easy."
"Come on—"
"I'll try," I cut off my blonde best friend, giving his arm a small shove. "For real."
"Promise?" Sean asked as I began to walk away.
I gave him one last smile and nod.
When I finally reached Tyler's Suburban, he was already inside with the engine running. He was staring at his phone in his lap when I slipped into the passenger seat, leaning over go peck him on the cheek the second I had the door closed behind me. He looked at me but wasn't surprised. All week, every greeting and goodbye included a kiss.
"Ow, owwwww!" Lindsay sung on Monday when Tyler kissed me in the hallway before we went our separate ways to first period. A stark contrast from Rachel, who gagged dramatically when I deepened a kiss we shared outside our Anatomy class.
Now, Tyler rested his hand on my knee before pulling out of the parking lot.
"So," I started as Tyler turned onto one of the many roads that mazed back to our street. "It's Brian's birthday on Saturday."
Tyler hummed lightly.
"Sean asked us to go."
"Asked you to go," Tyler corrected without hesitation.
"I'm not going if you're not going," I retorted quickly. When I got silence as his response, I glanced over at him to see he was preoccupied. Staring in his rearview mirror with an intensity that skittered goosebumps across my arms.
"Tyler?"
His eyes snapped to mine, yet his mind seemed somewhere else. "Hm?"
"Will you go with me?"
"To?"
"Sean's."
He was gone again, his hazel eyes dark as they fixated on his rearview mirror.
I looked over my shoulder to see a large Escalade behind us. Windows so tinted they were darker than the black paint coating the exterior of the car.
I felt Tyler accelerate. The car behind us kept up.
"Who's that," I asked, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of my stomach.
"Hm," Tyler grunted, his eyes flicking between the road in front of him and his rearview mirror frantically.
"That car behind us." My voice wavered. The air in the car suddenly seemed still. Stuffy. "Who is that."
"I don't know," he mumbled, switching lanes as we neared a stoplight. The Escalade pulled up beside us and I noticed Tyler's knuckles, white and wrapped around the steering wheel like he was holding on for dear life.
"Ty—"
"What do you want for dinner." Tyler cut me off, his voice harsh and cold like someone dragging their feet through icy gravel.
The light turned green, and the Escalade pulled off so fast that I winced from the sound of squealing tires.
"What was that," I breathed, watching the black beast of a car take a sharp left turn, disappearing behind a building.
"Nothing," Tyler murmured unconvincingly, pressing his foot on the gas.
Not nothing. Clearly, not nothing. But I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. I'd never seen Tyler like this. Mad, annoyed, upset, angry—sure. But never scared. My hand slipped across the console and wrapped around his bicep. He flinched from the contact. "You're freaking me out."
Tyler sighed heavily, annoyance that I didn't even recognized thick in his exhale. He reached up to grab my hand, molding our fingers together. "I'm fine. We're fine."
He didn't seem fine. But I remained silent as he made the final few turns until we pulled up at our houses.
~ ~ ~
I fucked up.
I fucked up, like, really bad.
"Suck it," Rachel sassed Chad and Nick when the ping pong ball landed with a satisfying splash in their last cup, prompting screaming from myself as I jumped on her.
We'd won every game so far. And I was sufficiently drunk. Despite my intoxication, however, I knew it was late and I needed to go home.
"Hey, hey," I slightly slurred, sliding off Rachel's back. "I need to go."
Rachel nodded, a knowing smile on her perfectly glossed lips, and gave me a quick hug. I left the ping pong table, ignoring the taunts from the guys standing around it, to try to find Brian and wish him a last happy birthday before heading out.
I pulled my phone out, about to text Tyler—who expertly succeeded in getting out of coming with me tonight—to pick me up. But I got distracted and stopped in my tracks, smiling as I reread the messages we'd sent each other all night.
From: Tyler
You ok?
From Tyler:
How's it going?
To: Tyler
Miss me?
From: Tyler
Surprisingly.
To: Tyler
Awww, Tyler!!!! Look at you, expressing your feelings!!!
From: Tyler
You're not funny, Allie
To: Tyler
I'm hilariouss
From: Tyler
*annoyingg
To: Tyler
You''re an assshole
From: Tyler
You're drunk
To: Tyler
Maybe
From: Tyler
*Definitely
There was a new, unread message I hadn't seen yet.
From: Tyler
Do you want me to come get you now?
He'd sent it only six minutes ago. Like he knew. Grinning like an idiot, I texted back.
To: Tyler
Yes. I'd love for you to come...
His response was quick.
From: Tyler
Keep it in your pants, drunkie. I'll be there in 10.
I giggled, stumbling slightly before regaining my balance, and found Sean and Brian.
"You're leaving?" Brian whined. "It's only eleven!"
"She has a curfew now," Sean slung his arm around my shoulder. "Oh, sorry, I meant boyfriend."
"Fuck off," I elbowed him in the ribs, prompting a yelp.
Lindsay joined us—and the campaign to try to get me to stay—until they eventually realized their pleas were falling on deaf ears.
"Who would've thought," my red-headed friend said on a sigh as she took a sip of her hard seltzer. "That out of all of us, you would be the one to fall in love."
"I'm not in love," I insisted and attempted to swat at her arm. Instead, I just caught air.
"I'm with Linds on this one," Sean laughed. "You're screwed."
I simply rolled my eyes, attempting to ignore the heat wave suddenly rippling across my skin. Because for the past few weeks, I'd been having these exact same thoughts. Fuck. I might be in love. And if I am, I am so fucking screwed.
When Tyler texted me that he was outside, I couldn't be more relieved. Because, oddly enough, being with Tyler distracted me from my feelings for Tyler. It was when I was away from him that they all came crashing down.
"Have fun, Captain Morgan?" was the first thing he said as I climbed into the passenger seat after not so gracefully stumbling into the door.
"Jack Daniels," I corrected him, leaning over the console to plant a quick kiss on his lips before he could react. When I pulled away, he shook his head at me, but didn't say anything else as he shifted gears into drive.
"I missed you," I slurred.
He grunted and, even drunk, I noticed how he checked his rearview and side mirrors one too many times. "It's been less than four hours since we saw each other."
"Yeah, asshole," I replied, my heart rate doubling. "And I'm not afraid to say that I missed you."
Finally, he glanced at me instead of one of his mirrors and smiled. It was clearly forced.
I frowned. "You're doing it again."
"What?" His eyes were already elsewhere.
"Being sketchy. Looking around." Ever since we saw that blacked out Escalade following us after school, Tyler had been on edge—a consistent anxiety following him around like a shadow.
"I'm not allowed to look around?"
I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest when his Suburban hit a pothole a little too hard. "I wish you'd just tell me what's going on."
"Nothing is going on, Al." His hand reached to rest on my leg but I dodged it.
"Something is going on," I replied, my voice colder than I even intended. "And I really wish you would just talk to me."
He pulled onto our street, taking the turn so hard my shoulder slammed into the passenger door. In a low voice, he muttered, "It's really not any of your business."
The car stopped after pulling into his driveway. The radio shut off as Tyler removed his keys and began to open his door.
"You're supposed to be able to talk to me, you know." My voice cut through the air, so shrill his hand paused on the door handle. "That's kind of the whole point of being with someone."
"That's enough, Allie."
I blanched. That's enough? "What are you. My fucking dad?"
His eyes were dark when they met mine. "Would you just drop it. Please."
"Will do." I grabbed my purse off the floorboard and swung open the passenger door, slipping out so quickly I almost stumbled when my feet hit the pavement.
I'd only made it just past the back bumper of his Suburban before his hand was wrapped my elbow, halting me to a stop. "What are you doing."
"Dropping it." My words spilled out of me, so acidic I could feel his grip on my arm loosen.
"I'm serious—"
"For fucks sake, Tyler," I practically yelled, exasperated. The whiskey and beer coursing through my veins was nothing but fuel for this uncharacteristic anger. "I'm walking across the street. I'm going home. Can I fucking go home?"
His hand left my arm and immediately it stung from the loss of contact. He simply stared at me with no response.
So I clutched my purse tighter against my body and walked across the street, up the steps, and through the front door, feeling his gaze on me the entire time.
He had fucked up that night. I think. At least it felt like he did.
It really didn't matter though. Because the next day—after waking up sleeping in a bed, alone, for the first time in so long I couldn't even remember—I watched him from the foyer window of my house as he climbed into his car. Started the engine. Began to pull away. Like every other Sunday.
And I made the stupid decision to open the front door. Get in my car. Start the engine.
And follow him.
--
A/N: Thank you to anyone/everyone still reading!!
I'm not super psyched about how this chapter turned out. I definitely could've done more with it but tbh, I've been in a fuck it mood lately and Wattpad is my "fuck it" outlet. So fuck it.