Amazing cover made by TheLittleNoob
Chapter 6: ...I still don't know why I'm doing this
"Hi," Alysia greeted him, trying to make it known that she wanted to know why he was waiting for her without actually having to phrase the question.
"Hey," he replied, standing up straight. When he didn't say anything else, she felt herself forced to ask:
"What are you doing here?"
He grinned as if he was teasing her for her rudeness.
She shrugged but her questioning gaze remained on him..
"Waiting for you, obviously. I thought we could hang out at my place. It's not far," he explained finally, tossing his cigarette to the side. For a second, Alysia followed it with her eyes before she turned back to him.
Usually, she probably would have contemplated whether or not it was a good idea to come home with him (and would have reached the conclusion that it wasn't) but as it was mostly the case with Tyler, she just went with her first instinct and nodded.
"Ok."
He smirked and started walking towards his car which was parked at the side. When she didn't follow him, he waved.
"Come on!"
"You're not going to drive, are you?"
"Of course!" He looked at her as if he was questioning her mental health and raised his brows in questioning.
"You had too much to drink to be driving," she argued, remembering his orders from earlier. He'd been using a fake ID with his friends and since he could easily pass as 21 and it also wasn't any of her business, she hadn't said anything.
"Whatever, mom," he shrugged.
Alysia stood in the middle of the sidewalk and almost unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest. She was getting a little pissed.
If she hadn't been distracted by their conversation she would have probably wondered why this guy got under her skin like that.
"Well, I'm not driving with a drunk person," she said simply, despite herself struggling to keep her voice calm at his attitude. Why did she get so worked up over things concerning him?
Everyone who knew Aly was very well aware that she was far from being a goody two shoes but there were certain things that were a no-go for her. Like drunk drivers.
Considering her mothers car accident - and consequently death - had been caused by a drunk driver, her attitude wasn't hard to relate to. Not that Tyler knew that but she wasn't going to enlighten him.
"Seriously?" He stared at her incredulously.
"Seriously. You do whatever you want but I'm not getting in that car with you."
She knew she sounded like an anxious mother but she didn't care.
She was a little surprised that he didn't seem angry at all - she would have thought he'd be pissed, especially since Tyler was known around school for his temper. He seemed to be surprised and curious, like he sensed there was a reason behind her reaction but he didn't seem angry.
He surprised her yet again by not arguing, he simply shrugged.
"What do you wanna do about it?"
"We could take my car and I could take you back here later?" she suggested. He shrugged again and nodded but not before making sure she saw him roll her eyes.
They walked to her car in silence and got in.
After he'd given her the first instructions, she drove off.
"So," he asked while stretching out on the passenger seat, "how long have you been working at this place?"
She was rather surprised at this inquiry since she'd have been just fine with driving to his house in silence.
She felt a mild curiosity as to what had motivated him to ask such a random question but decided to blame it on mere politeness. Never mind the fact that Tyler wasn't exactly known for being polite.
And maybe, though he didn't seem like it, he was one of those people who weren't comfortable with silence.
"Almost one year - since I turned 17."
"Do you like it?" he continued his interrogation.
She looked away from the road for a second to shoot him a questioning look but he merely shrugged and raised his eyebrows, a silent way of insisting to hear the question answered.
"Yeah, I suppose. Boss and colleagues are ok and it pays well. There's the occasional assholes stopping by but other than that..." she trailed off and smirked at him before focusing back on the road.
"Ouch, I'm wounded," he replied, voice laced with heavy sarcasm. She could hear the grin in his voice.
He interrupted the conversation for telling her where she had to drive next and she assumed his questioning was now over.
"What about your folks? They're ok with you working?"
Or not.
Why did he keep asking questions?
"Why do you care?"
"I'm just asking," he said. It was obvious that he didn't understand her deal and she had to admit she wasn't exactly being fair to him. After all, he was just making small talk.
He couldn't possibly know this was a sore subject.
"I live with my grandma and she's fine with it," she finally answered.
"Saving the money for college," she volunteered to show she was making an effort but she was still silently wondering why there was a need for this.
"So, it's just you and your grandmother?"
"No, there's also my little sister. She's three, her name is Penny and she's really cute and lovely. And she reminds me of my mom..." Alysia trailed of suddenly when she felt the small smile that had formed on her face at the thought of her little sister. Why was she rambling on like an idiot?
What had possessed her to even say this much?
"What happened to your parents?"
Aly sighed. She wasn't sure what to say to that - she wasn't used to people pressing topics she clearly didn't want to talk about but Tyler didn't really seem to care.
And combine this with the fact that she was yet to find out what he wanted from her right now and she was quite confused.
Nevertheless, as usual, the thought of her parents left a note of bitterness and mostly grief in her stomach.
"My dad bailed when he found out my mom was pregnant and my mom...she died in a car crash."
Aly tried for a natural tone so he didn't know how much this still affected her but she wasn't sure if she'd succeeded.
Tyler didn't react the way people usually reacted. He didn't apologize or sink into an awkward silence. After a short while he asked whether she raised her little sister.
"Together with Nana, yeah."
He motioned for her to stop the car in front of the gates of a huge, majestic mansion. Alys jaw dropped when she stared at it.
"THIS is your house?"
He nodded and she thought she saw something flicker over his face but it was gone when she glanced at him again.
He suddenly leaned very close to her and it took her distracted brain a few seconds to grasp that he was reaching past her to put a code into the little box by the drivers side window.
His face was centimeters from hers and she felt his breath fan her face. She couldn't - and frankly didn't even want to - move a single muscle; all she did was stare at him and the slight smirk that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
She unexpectedly felt this spark again that was sometimes her bodys betraying reaction to him. He smirked like he knew her heart beat had just picked up speed and let his fingers brush past her collar bone for a moment while she focused on keeping her breathing even so she wouldn't betray herself.
The moment was soon over when he leaned back, apparently quite satisfied with himself and she drove through the gates up a driveway and parked in front of the gigantic building. He immediately opened the car door and got out.
"Are you gonna keep drooling or are you gonna get out?" he teased while he leaned inside the car, smirking.
"You're a pain in the ass, you know," she asked, rolling her eyes as she got out of the car.
"And yet you're still here," he winked, all the seriousness from earlier had long since vanished.
She rolled her eyes again, glad they'd moved on to lighter topics and not being able to help the smile on her face.
"I know I should probably invite you in but there's something I gotta do first," he said and walked up to the door.
When he pushed it opened, he was suddenly attacked by a huge, bear-like creature.
Alysias breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped for a second at the sight of the thing just jumping up on Tyler.
Despite herself, she was shocked and almost a little scared for him but she just blamed it on the momentary shock that was surely a natural reaction.
Now she was finally able to distinguish that this wasn't in fact a bear, but just a big, furry dog. A bernese mountain dog, if she guessed correctly, and it was huge.
She watched in amazement how Tyler treated it, examined with big eyes the kindness he treated the dog with, patting and stroking the long, dark furr and smiling at it with more affection than she had ever seen in his eyes. But then again, she'd never really seen much affection from him.
Still, there was something almost heartwarming about the way he interacted with the dog that seemed to obviously adore him.
"Alysia, this is Robin, my dog," he said when the dog, still excitedly wagging its tail, stopped jumping up at his owner.
He motioned over to her and Robin, who didn't look dangerous despite his size, peeked up his ears and walked over to her.
She felt Tylers eyes on her when she bent, holding her hand out for the dog to sniff before stroking over his soft fur. He pressed himself against her legs and licked her hand. She loved him immediately.
"You don't mind joining me for a quick walk, do you?" he asked after getting a leash from inside the house.
"Of course not," Aly replied and followed him. To be perfectly honest, she was glad to get away from the house. Even though she hated the feeling, she was seriously intimidated by the aera of money that surrounded it.
She probably should have figured he was loaded but the enormous building still took her by surprise.
They walked past the house and into a gigantic garden, the most well-groomed lawn she had ever seen stretching out before them. She could have undoubtedly gotten lost in this garden. It had forest-y parts and admittedly beautiful flowerbeds.
It even had a f**king fountain in the center.
Alysia couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at the sight.
"We have gardeners. You should see this place in spring," Tyler said in a matter-of-fact tone without the slightest emotion in his voice.
Despite having wondered about his curiosity earlier, Alysia mentally questioned if his mother was into the whole gardening thing or if she was just into the prestige of everyone going "Aww!" when they admired this sight.
Somehow, when she looked at all the obvious status symbols, she voted for the latter.
Yet, she found herself asking:
"Does your family spend much time out here?"
*AN: make sure to Start The Song anew right now if you Want to really feel The mood like i did when i wrote it*
He took a couple of seconds to reply during which he led her to a semi-hidden gate at the side and they stepped together onto a field that she wouldn't have suspected there.
It was only illuminated by the moonlight but since it was a full moon, Aly was able to make out her surroundings quite clearly. There was something calming and peaceful about the field, especially since Alysia found it way more relaxing than the forceful exactness of the garden.
"This family", a dark expression crossed his face when he said the word, "doesn't spend much time doing anything."
She could feel the bitterness radiating off him as if it was somehow palpable.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that he obviously had some issues with this topic.
Alysia suddenly felt the urge to help him but she was sure he wouldn't want her to and even if he did, she wouldn't know how.
"Why? Are your parents out a lot?"
"Out. Yeah, that's one way to put it. The other would be they just don't give a f**k."
Alysias eyebrows shot up in surprise. She wouldn't have guessed he would be this open about what he meant. She would have bet he'd just brush her question off.
She couldn't help feeling for him. She's always imagined having both parents must be a great bliss and had always felt ill and bitter upon hearing people bitch about theirs.
But it appeared that both parents being alive and living with you didn't necessarily equal having both parents.
As if sensing that something was wrong with his owner, Robin came running from one of the bushes by the side of the path they were walking on, carrying a stick in his mouth and excitedly jumping up and down.
Feeling like he'd prefer it if she didn't bring up his folks again, Alysia remained silent as she watched with a smile how he went back to being the smirking confident guy who acted like nothing moved him and threw the stick for his dog.
Somehow, with his confession, the atmosphere between them had changed once again.
They walked on in silence.
"So, do you live in that house all by yourself basically?" she finally asked.
"My sister lived here but she moved out to go to college half a year ago. Can't say I blame her," he said.
"I didn't know you had an older sister."
"Well, how would you? Unless, of course, you've been stalking me...?" he grinned suddenly and all the melancholy vanished at once.
"You wish, dude. I'm not like your other...acquaintances."
"I know," he said, still smirking, "I mean, you call me dude."
She laughed at that.
"What do they call you? Tyty?" she asked with a fake, high-pitched voice, "or Ty-bear? Or..."
She interrupted herself when he jumped and poked her into her side. She let out a surprisingly girlish giggle and immediately poked him back.
He laughed, too and captured her hands in his to stop her from attacking his side. They wrestled with each other for a second until Robin, alerted by the noise and the commotion ran over and decided it would be a good idea to join them by jumping up at Alysia.
She didn't expect this and momentarily lost her balance so she had to cling to Tylers arms.
He put his arms around her waist to steady her but instead of helping her up, he dipped her further down so that her upper body was angled almost horizontally.
She had no choice but to cling to his shoulders in the momentary shock and stare up at him with wide eyes.
"They don't usually get to talking..." he whispered, lowering his head further down, kind of abusing his position of power he had over her. Normally, Alysia would have flinched at the way he was holding her or at the superior posture he was in but all she felt was her attraction to the guy holding her.
Alysia once again felt this tingling sensation and the electric spark between them urged her to raise her head a little and close the inch-wide distance between their faces.
But Robin chose that moment to nudge her so forcefully that she completely lost her balance and took Tyler so much by surprise that they ended up falling into the grass together.
He landed on top of her and she winced.
When she looked at him, it dawned on her that this was actually quite romantic. Not the cheesy bullshit you watched on tv but everyday-romance between f**k-buddies, she thought sarcastically.
"That's not exactly how I planned it but..." he began but she grinningly interrupted him while he propped himself on his elbows:
"You planned this?"
He rolled his eyes.
"BUT while we're here like this..."
With these words, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.
*I don't mean to sound conceited but I actually like this last part of the chapter. It wasn't what I planned, it's spontaneous but I think they're cute. At least they were in the very clear picture I had in my head of that scene. I know, this is probably weird for you to have this much Tyler-Alysia-material but I thought we didn't see much of their interaction before so you deserved an extra load of it. Next chapter is also gonna have looaaads of them together so I hope you're looking forward to that.
Enough rumbling, the song is Talking to the moon by Bruno Mars because there's the moon, and it's romantic and they're having heart to hearts about their families.
I hope you like it, PLEASE leave me feedback!
Layla
P.S.: Dedicated to the first person that showed up in the "who's reading"-box. Thank you!