Warnings: Sexual themes, angst, the song has some inappropriate lyrics
Word Count: 1552
Author's Note: This is based off the song Heartbeat by Childish Gambino!
"You coming, babe?" your boyfriend called from the living room.
"Yeah," you answered. "I'll be there in a second."
Your phone buzzed in your hand as you were walking back from the kitchen. You twisted your hand so that you could see the screen without spilling the drinks that you were carrying in the process.
You felt your stomach drop when you read the name. It was Tyler, your ex-boyfriend that you just couldn't seem to keep out of your life. Your current boyfriend didn't know about him, and you intended to keep it that way.
"You alright?" he asked as you sat down on the couch and passed him his drink. "Your face looks kinda pale."
"Fine," you smiled as you deliberately set your phone down on the couch next to you so that the screen wasn't visible. "Must be the lighting."
The text would have to wait.
"Whatever you say."
The credits began to roll on the screen. You were curled up in your boyfriend's arms, trying to ignore the text that kept flashing in the back of your mind. Your phone was on the other end of the couch, hidden away from your boyfriend's prying eyes.
"Y/N," he said.
"Yeah?"
You felt him take a deep breath before he started to speak, "I want you to come back home with me and meet my parents."
You sat up suddenly and turned to face him, a mixture of worry and panic on your face, "What?"
You had never intended for your relationship to get this serious. Things with Tyler were still messy and your current boyfriend was more of a distraction than anything.
"We've been dating for a few months and things seem to be going well. My family is important to me, and it just seems like the right move."
He looked a bit upset that you had reacted so intensely to his suggestion. You almost felt bad for him, but you knew that it wasn't fair to him to act like things were serious.
"I'm just...not comfortable with that yet," you said, trying to give him a reassuring smile.
"Come on, Y/N. It won't be that bad."
He reached out and tried to rub your arm, but you shifted away from it.
"I just don't think we're that serious yet."
"What do you mean we're not that serious?"
"It's only been a few months, Y/B/N. Things haven't really picked up."
"So the dates and the sex and the late nights and feelings, are those all for fun?"
Yes.
"No! That's not what I mean at all. It's just so early in the relationship, it's hard to tell."
He was getting angry now. Both of you were starting to raise your voices, and if you weren't careful this would be a full blown fight.
"Well it isn't hard for me," he huffed. "I love you, Y/N, and I think that our relationship could actually go all the way."
You opened your mouth to say something, but he cut you off again.
"You know what? Why don't you take some to think about if this relationship is actually worth it to you or not? Call me when you figure it out."
Y/B/N got up and walked to the front door. He grabbed his coat and car keys from beside the door and walked out without another word, letting the door slam behind him. You leaned back against the couch and sighed.
The image of the text message popped into your mind again. You reached over and grabbed your phone, deciding that three hours was enough time to make Tyler wait for a response.
I'm in town.
Of course he was. He always showed up at the most unexpected times.
It's not fair.
Ironically, Tyler was the only one who would understand your relationship problems. Your friends had no idea that you two were still seeing each other, if you could call it that. It was more like hooking up whenever he was in town. You hated the dynamic that the two of you had, but something about him was so magnetic that you just couldn't let him go.
What's going on?
Rather than trying to explain everything to him through a text, you dialed his number. You already knew where this was going, so you might as well accept it now.
"Hello?"
His voice was so familiar. Safe, even.
"Hi, Tyler."
"So what's wrong?"
You started to explain the story to Tyler. It only took a few minutes for you to start crying about your situation and ask him where he was staying.
"I'll be over in ten minutes."
"We can't keep doing this," you whispered.
The room was dark and you could just barely make out Tyler's shape on the bed next to you. He shifted slightly and reached up to lightly rest his fingers on your forearm. You felt tingles where he touched you.
"Why not?"
"Because this doesn't work, Tyler. The hooking up whenever you're around. It's preventing both of us from moving on like we should be. There's a reason we broke up in the first place."
Tyler moved his hand so that it was now resting on your waist. His hand was warm against your bare skin.
"It's worked so far."
"No. This needs to stop."
He took his hand off of you. Your skin felt cold where it had been.
"Fine, have it your way."
He got out from under the covers. You watched as he pulled his pants on and grabbed the rest of his clothes from around the room.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, I'm leaving."
"Ty, it's two in the morning."
"Doesn't matter. It's not like I'm going to spend the rest of the night here."
He pulled on his shirt and left the room without another word. You heard the front door slam downstairs, meaning that he was gone.
Exasperated, you grabbed the pillow from beneath your head and pressed your face into it. You screamed into it, hoping that it would release some of the tension that had built itself up in your chest. Of course Tyler had been upset about you calling things off.
Things being easy had never been an option.
It had been a couple days since the incident with Tyler. He hadn't contacted you since then. You hadn't talked to your boyfriend either. Part of you was still holding out hope that Tyler would call.
You had only scrolled past a couple photos on Instagram when one of Tyler's posts popped up. It was from a party he must have gone to the previous night. He was standing with his arm around a girl that you didn't recognize. The second photo was him with the same girl, although this time his face was much closer to hers, as if he was whispering something in her ear.
He was trying to piss you off. To anyone else, the photos would seem innocent. After all, it was just Tyler at a party with a girl, right?
Wrong.
This was him playing games and trying to make you jealous. As long as you were seeing someone, he was going to make it seem like he was too.
You knew it was all a game, and yet your stomach still twisted in discomfort when you looked at the photos. That had been you at one point, going to parties and posing with Tyler. He probably wasn't even dating that girl, it was all some scheme to make you feel terrible. And it was working.
You were a bit surprised that he was even with another girl. He had always confessed to you that he was terrified of girls dating him just for his money and fame. That's part of why he had always liked you so much, you had never cared about anything but him.
Apparently making sure you were hurting was more important to him.
"So we're done?" Tyler's voice crackled through the phone.
"We were done weeks ago, Tyler," you answered, rubbing the bridge of your nose.
"I didn't think you were serious. Do you know how many times you told me we couldn't hook up anymore?"
"Well I'm serious this time. Next time you're in town just don't even bother calling me."
"Your boyfriend is a real dick, you know that?"
"Stop. You don't even know him."
"He's not cool. He's fake."
"Don't start ragging on him just because you're mad I called things off."
"I'm the best that you had. Face it."
"Bye, Tyler."
You hung up the call before he could get another word in. Y/B/N was sitting on the couch when you walked into the living room. You hadn't heard him come in.
"Who's Tyler?" he asked.
"Just someone from my past," you smiled, sitting in the spot next to him on the couch.
"You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"
"No, I would never."
"Ok," he said, sliding an arm around you.
You knew that you should feel relieved that things were finally over and you didn't have to worry about sneaking around your boyfriend's back. Instead, something still felt off. You wondered if that feeling would ever go away.
Maybe you and Tyler should have never hooked up in the first place.