Tiana POV
Meeting Tyson's family wasn't ever something I thought we'd get around to. The plan had just enough social awkwardness in it for me to push it to the back of my mind until I didn't really have any other choice but to bring it back to the front. Standing in front of his goddamn door seems to be a good enough time.
I'm not really wearing anything too spectacular. A long-sleeve plaid shirt with my hoodie open over it and skinny jeans that Amanda leant me. Stubborn as I am, I decided I wasn't going to make this a big deal. Friends meet other friend's family all the time, right?
Tyson, the fucker that he is, seems to be trying to keep up the act that this is nothing to him. But his shoulders are tensed and taunt and his smiles are quick and look more like grimaces than anything else. My palms are sweating and I push them into the pockets of my hoodie, discreetly trying to wipe them. Tyson shoots me a quick smirk though so I don't think I'm all that discreet.
"Your brother is 12, right?" I ask Tyson, just to make sure his little brother hasn't magically turned into a 20-something year old that could smush me to the ground if he wanted to. In a world filled with possibilities it's important not to rule out one, right?
Tyson rolls his eyes before saying, "Yes, he's 12. No, he's not going to hate you. Yes, my mom still likes you and hasn't suddenly decided that you were the plague come back. Don't worry too much."
"You're one to talk," I mutter and his smile twists into something sheepish enough to relax me, just a bit.
He lifts his hand to knock on the door and my heart beats dramatically in my chest. I'm mentally telling it to slow the fuck down when Tyson takes my hand in his, looking anywhere but at me. It's just romantic enough to make me blush but platonic enough for me to wonder if I should let it happen. He squeezes my hand, just a little, and I wonder why I thought I should let go.
He knocks the door and my heartbeat picks up again, beating around in my chest like it's trying to burst out and tell me this is a bad idea. I hear a familiar voice say "Jared, get the door for me will you?" and my hands are still clasped around Tyson's and I hear feet running towards the door and it's all just verging on the boyfriend-brings-his-girlfriend-home situation enough for me to pull my hand out of his. He looks at me like he was expecting it and I look away because I knew he was. Predictability was never something I wanted to associate with myself.
"Hi," a voice by the door says. It's a young boy, blonde as they come and eyes too grey to be blue but too blue to be grey. He smiles a little and his dimples pop out. I smile back.
"Uh... hi. I'm Tiana. Tyson talks a lot about you."
"Well, he should. I'm the better of the two of us."
The answer catches me off guard and it bursts a surprised laugh out of me. He looks proud of himself, in the way little kids are when they think they act the way grown ups do. I don't know if I'm qualified to be a grown up, head in all wrong places that it is, but I have no other choice than to let him have this victory. He deserves it.
"Well, you're right about that," I say, and the little boy preens a little while Tyson gasps. He looks like something soft, though, so I don't take it seriously.
"Treason," he says, punctuated by a laugh that opposes his words.
"It's the truth, peasant," the little boy says and I laugh again while Tyson huffs up like a bristled bird.
"Aren't you a charming young boy," I say. Tyson mutters something under his breath about "devil brothers" that I don't think I have any business acknowledging.
"Only when I want to be. I'm Jared Bent," he says, stretching his hand out stiffly for a handshake. I take it, glad to know the boy has a firm hold. Last time I talked to a kid his age, they pushed their hands in their pockets in that mildly disinterested way kids do to act older than they are. The guy also told me he "isn't going to apologise for you being in the fucking way" so this is a major step up already.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jared," I tell him and he smiles. It's adorable and I smile back after I've let our hands drop.
"Alright you little shit. Let's get inside," Tyson says, his hands on the small of my back as he guides me in. I hide my face in the collar of my shirt. He really didn't have to do that, the fucker.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Jared asks me and I suppress the urge to coo at him. He's all sorts of adorable in that gangly way pew-teens are, learning about himself but still looking around to find out what to do. I'd deny thinking this to my last breath, but I'm glad he has Tyson. Annoying as he is, he's quite the guy when he has to be. I duck my head into my collar again the hide my blush. Tyson raises an eyebrow at this but says nothing.
"Uh... no thanks. It's fine. I ate before we came here anyway."
Tyson raises an eyebrow again and I wince. He was with me before this and he knows for a fact that I didn't eat. My mind is too busy whirling with nervousness for me to eat, in any case.
The closer we get to the living room, the more my hands start to shake. I shove them into my pockets of my hoodie to hide them. Out of the corner of my eye I see Tyson's hand jerk towards mine and I tense. In the end he decided to ruffle my hair instead and my heartbeat quickens for a different reason. I scowl are him to hide my blush but his cheeky grin just widens.
"So does your mom-"
"Still like you? Yeah. Secretly hates you to the depths of her soul? No. If you ask me this question one more time I'm going to tell her you ate a whole jar of mayonnaise in one sitting and she's going to be horrified," he says, an eyebrow raised.
"Better than traumatising her-"
"No. I'm not going to let you finish that sentence, alright? Trust me, she adores you. You're doing her a favour by coming here."
Jared snorts. "You're doing him a favour by coming here. This idiot here talks about you all the time."
Half of me wants to duck my head in my collar to hide my blush because fucking hell I wasn't expecting that. For some reason, I thought my existence was never talked about. What do you even say? Oh look, it's the pale skinny girl with the scars on her hand.
The other half of me, though, wants to look up at him with that one smirk that clearly says "ha ha you're embarrassed and I am aggressively amused" because damn he must be embarrassed. I look up at him, just to confirm my thoughts, and boy am I glad I did. He's glaring at the 12 year old with the intensity that probably only seen when one sibling embarrasses another. There's a blush staining his cheeks that could maybe, possibly, rival mine and his hands are balled into fists at his sides.
His eyes, though, are the best. All anger and embarrassment shining through without anything holding it back.
The snap of my camera brings the attention to me.
"What the fuck," Tyson exclaims, his blush deepening.
"I'd tell you I'm sorry but I'm really not," I say with a small grin of my own.
"Don't worry, you could throw a brick at him and he'd say thank you," Jared says, all while Tyson's glare deepens.
And the whole thing is just so surreal to me, so completely out of blue and utterly impossible to think about, that I laugh. And it's so loud, this laugh, and I think you can hear the disbelief in it, but Tyson's face is so red and Jared face looks so smug and this situation was never one I never thought I'd be in so I laugh as loud as my weak throat can push and I hear Jared laughing along with me.
This also seems to be the situation their mother sees us in. Me laughing and Tyson blushing and Jared grinning.
"Well you three seem to be enjoying yourselves. Thought I'd come see what all the commotion was about," Liza says, a grin etched on her face. She sees me and he face softens.
"Tiana! How have you been, darling?"
"Uh," I say, because I've clearly graduated college with an English degree and I have to show it off. And also because I don't know what to say now that my heart is pounding.
"She's doing fine mom, don't worry," Tyson says and I want to shoot him a look of gratitude but I don't because I don't know it'll be rude or not. I twist my fingers together just to have something to do.
"I don't think I remember asking you," she says, giving him a fond look of annoyance. Then her gaze lands on me again.
"I'm... good? I'm mean I'm not dy- I mean I'm not- I mean life is- I mean I'm good. Great. Swell."
If I could disappear right now, that would be "swell."
"Those are a lot of adjectives. I'm glad you're doing well," Tyson's mom says, trying (and only barely succeeding) to stifle a laugh.
Tyson, however, has no such reservations, if his boisterous laugh is anything to go by. "She's a girl of many words, isn't she?" he says after hes done laughing and I scowl before realising that may be considered rude and shifting my face to neutral. A quick glance to Jared shows that he's stifling his own laughter.
"Sorry about that. I'm doing much better now, is what I'm trying to say," I try again, very aware of the blush on my cheek.
"I'm glad," she says and pats my shoulder once before gesturing towards the living room. "Maybe we can talk more in the living room?"
I nod once, stiffly because of my embarrassment, before walking into the room behind the rest.
"You sure have a way with words," Tyson says, walking alongside me, and I pull away, a little uncomfortable.
"It's part of my charm," I say dryly and he snorts.
"Turning up the charm for my mother, huh? Should I be jealous?" he asks, eyebrows raised.
"Your mother is a terrifying woman. Of course I want to be on her good side."
"If that's what helps you sleep at night."
I scowl at him. "The only thing helping me sleep at night is that fact that you're not there with me."
"Or am I?" he grins cheekily and I chuckle.
Before I get the chance to retort, he pulls me to the living room. Jared gives us a cheeky smile a 12 year old has no business giving and Tyson's mother gives me a look and our conjoined hands. I pull away, wanting to defend myself but knowing it means I'm admitting to something's that's not there. So I just shrug and sit down beside him on the couch.
I end up spending quite a few hours with them, even having an amazing dinner ("This is so good, Eliza!" "At least someone appreciates my cooking, darling, thank you." "We do appreciate it, Ma, we just can't do it directly because of familial emotional constipation." "Shut your whore mouth, Jared." "Tyson!") and awkward conversation ("Why don't you eat more, darling? You're all skin and bone!" "No it's fine I just have a bad stomach ache." "Do you want to get that checked out, hun?" "I mean... it's uh... girl stuff??" "Oh.." "it's normal, Tyson, get over it." "Now she uses her words") before watching a movie (Big Hero 6, and if I cried, no one has to know) after which I excused myself, Tyson offering to drop me back.
While leaving, for some reason, there are tears in my eyes and when Eliza hugs me goodbye, it's with the weight of an affection I wasn't used to.
"Don't be a stranger, darling," she tells me, wiping a tear from my eyes and I grin, a small, wobbly thing that feels a little vulnerable on my face.
"Yeah. Next time you come, I'll show you my comic books! They're the pride and joy of my life," Jared tells me and I laugh, loving the glint of pure, innocent, childish joy in his face. Unable to resist, I pinch his cheeks and they redden.
"I'm not a kid!" he protests and I smirk.
"Sure, kid."
"You know what, maybe you're not welcomed," he pouts and I catch the flash of worry in me before it shows on my face. I think he sees this, though, because he says, "You know what, maybe you should come. That's the only way I can take my revenge."
"You can try," I laugh before waving at them, walking towards the car where Tyson's waiting in the drivers seat.
"What did you think?" he asks once I'm seated, squeezing my arm once when he sees what's probably a soft look in my eyes.
"I think I'd love to get used to this."
"Yeah" he asks, a small smile on his face.
I nod. "You know, they keep saying "have patience to gain success" but, sometimes, that patience really wears thin. Even now, I can feel the weight of it all. I just... it's things like this that help me out a little, ya know? I was... I wasn't feeling my best. What do you when you don't have the patience anymore?"
Tyson's shrugs. "You do what every human does. Get frustrated. Get angry. Go absolutely wild. There's nothing more human than breaking down every once in a while."
I nod, smiling softly. "Yeah."
"Why the sudden question?"
"I don't know, I was just thinking. About before this dinner, you know. How I was. The numbness."
"I... I was really scared back then."
"Really?"
He nods. "It's scary, I guess, to watch."
I'm silent for a while, just listening to the A/C as it the cold winds blows through the car, before I speak again. "Thank you for this. I think... I think I really needed it."
He smiles. "Of course. You know I'd do it for you. What wouldn't I?"
His gaze is soft.
and what can I say to that?
I don't say anything, though, just look out the window with my heart in my throat. Without looking back, I hold my hand over the console, staring out the window the whole time. A second later, a hand joins mine, grip strong. Through the window, I see Tyson's reflection in the background, his smile probably brighter than my future.
What was I ever afraid of?
._._._._._._.
Y'all, I think I've been dragging this story out for a while now. I think the next chapter will be the epilogue. Man this was a RIDE. Anyway... I heard some people say that the story showed that it was complete?? It isn't, though... yeah I think y'all got that part.
Read my other shit. Idk, your choice really. Most of my stuff is super cringy so I don't recommend but yea.
Happy New year!! May this year bring the good i though 2019 would bring🥂 I have a good feeling, ok? And even if I don't I'll create one.
Sorry for being away for so long. I had chickens for a while when I was away but they're dead because of a cat and I was very sad. Also college is a bust (by that I mean I'm suffering through it) and life is meaningless (jk)
Also if anyone wants to talk I can totally do that, now. I am infinitely less anxious about talking to ppl now (jk maybe like 2% but that counts, ok, don't even)
Also if anyone has any suggestions, anything they wanna talk/complain about or just flat out want to irritate someone, I'm your gal!!
(Damn I forgot the outro thing)
Vote and comment!!
*Waves*
Bye :)
(I still remember it!!)