Ryan, Joseph, and Dan made their way back to their cars while Joanne continued screaming at the door.
"Forget it. You know what he's like. He isn't going to open the door," Ryan said.
Joanne's shoulders slumped.
Dan glanced over at his sister while he made his way toward his car. Ryan was right; it was a losing battle. Joanne could stand there and shout until her voice turned hoarse and Tyler still wouldn't bother about her.
Whenever Tyler chose to shut the world out, nobody ever got in.
Dan couldn't help rolling his eyes. He'd never understood his sister's obsession with Tyler. Since she was young, she had been the apple of his parents' eyes and had grown up pampered. Though everyone who saw how Tyler treated Joanne thought he was mean to her, Dan couldn't blame him.
Joanne was one clingy person who thought the world revolved around her.
"And you should stop telling everyone that he's your fiancé." Dan shook his head at the ludicrous statement she'd been making.
"He never denied it," Joanne whined. "Silence means consent."
Joseph and Ryan burst into laughter while Dan sighed heavily.
When Joseph finally managed to stop laughing, he said, "If you're referring to anyone else, I can't comment. But, Anne, we're talking about Ty. He barely answers half our questions, much less your insanity."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah. I don't even want to ask how you decided that he wanted to upgrade your one-sided relationship to fiancé-fiancée level. Everyone here knows that the two of you aren't even a couple."
"Yes, we are. He's been my boyfriend since we were young, and he's never—not once—denied it," she screeched.
Dan took a deep breath. "He just can't be bothered with you."
Dan had told her this countless times, but her skull was so thick that nothing ever got in.
All she had in her head were her stupid fantasies and make-believe world.
"Shut up. I won't let any of you sow discord between Ty and me."
"That's the problem; there is no Ty and you," Ryan mumbled under his breath, but everyone heard him.
Dan felt Joanne staring at him, probably expecting him to put up some sort of defense for her. But it was difficult when he was on Ryan's side. Voicing his opinion would only end up in an ugly shouting spectacle that he wasn't interested in having.
Joanne didn't have the ability to think logically, so any effort at reasoning would only be wasting his breath.
"Hey, Joe, you're working the night shift, right? Since you're dropping Ryan off, can you take Anne along? I have some work I need to rush." Dan didn't want to dump his idiotic sister on Joseph and Ryan, but he didn't want to have Joanne in his car. Once they were on their own, she would probably start throwing her tantrums, accusing him of never being on her side.
After all these years, he was tired of having to entertain her whims.
At least Joseph would have Ryan in his car, and that would be enough to keep Joanne's mouth shut.
Ryan was the one person in the group who had never allowed her to get away with anything. He loved teasing people, especially Joanne. He didn't have a problem putting Joanne down and laughing at her stupidity. She used to try fighting Ryan with outbursts of tantrums, but it never worked on him, and she finally learned to shut her mouth around him.
Joseph scowled at Dan. "Yeah, I'm sure you do."
Ryan turned to Joseph. "Guess we're in for one hell of a miserable ride home."
Joanne plodded toward Joseph's car and got into the back seat without another word. Joseph directed another glare at Dan and mouthed the words 'you owe me' before getting into his car.
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