A little smile crosses over Tyler's face as he realizes that I've given up on trying to get rid of him. What he doesn't know is that I'll just pretend to be listening while I'm actually thinking of what take out I want. That way he gets to explain himself and I get to decide on different food options. Works both ways.
" Are you cold?" Tyler asks.
" Is it because of what I'm wearing that you are asking that?" I snap.
Deep breaths.
" Why are you so difficult?" Tyler whines as he runs his fingers through his hair out of frustration.
" Times ticking." I say in a sing-song voice while pretending to look at my non-existent watch.
Tyler licks his top lip before exhaling loudly. He doesn't say anything as he starts walking back to the beach.
" Going to the shack." he announces.
I don't say anything as I follow his lead. The shack is quite the walk from where the bonfire is still going strong. As we passed Emily's group she gave me a weird look. I replied by rolling my eyes and walking on. Soon enough we reached the shack. By now the bonfire is long gone and it's just the two of us. Tyler leads us into the shack and the both of us grab our chairs, just like we did the first time he brought me here. Just like the first time he lights a joint and hands it over to me. We sit in complete silence as we listen to the waves clashing together.
" I'm pretty sure five minutes passed like 20 minutes ago." I say as I exhale the smoke from the joint.
Tyler chuckles before he takes a pull. He throws his head back before exhaling the smoke.
" I have a younger sister. She's now a senior in high school. " Tyler announces.
I give him a confused look before allowing him to continue on speaking.
" We went to a 4th of July party last year while we were away for the holidays with the family in Georgia. She isn't much of a party animal but she eventually agreed to go to a party with me after I begged her the whole day. I just wanted her to get out a little and meet new people you know? " he continues.
I have a feeling I'm not going to like where this is going.
" We arrived at the party and I knew a few people there from the previous times we visited. I met a girl there and quickly got wasted. My sister came to me and told me she wanted to go home but I ignored her and kept on partying. She's 17. She could look after herself. That's what I thought. The next thing I know one of my friends pulls me away from the girl and tells me that he found my sister crying in one of the guest bedrooms. "
He takes a deep breath as he thinks back to that night. This must be hard for him. Why is he telling me this? We barley know each other and he's spilling the beans as if we've know each other for years.
" When I got to the room he said she was in, she was shaking uncontrollably. I asked her to explain what happened but she just kept on shaking her head and sobbing. I noticed that the dress she was wearing was ripped and then -" he takes another deep breath.
" Then I saw the blood on her thighs. "
Oh God. He looks over at me and the pain from that memory was visible in his eyes.
" She was looking for a room to sit and wait while I finished partying so that I could take her home when some guy walked in. He was drunk. She tried fighting him off and one thing led to another -" his voice breaks at the end.
" He forced himself onto her." I finish his sentence.
He nods before resting his head in the palm of his hands.
" She was a virgin so that explains the blood. My baby sister wasn't supposed - " he stops talking as he stands up. I can see how much this is hurting him to talk about.
" If I wasn't so caught up in that girl's face that never would have happened." he shakes his head.
He blames himself for what happened to his sister. Even though it isn't his fault. He could have prevented it yes but you can't predict what's going to happen in the future. I stand up from my chair and walk over to him. He shakes his head before turning his back on me. I grip him lightly by the arm and turn him around so that he is now facing me.
" You weren't the one that forced the guy onto your sister so it isn't your fault." I speak up.
Tyler shakes his head in denial. I get where he's coming from. I've been there.
" I should've been there for her. I'm her big brother." he sighs.
" You can't control what's going to happen. You need to stop beating yourself up for what happened to your sister. It happened Tyler and there is nothing you can do about it. I know you feel like it's your fault and maybe you could have done something to prevent it but it happened. No matter how much you hate yourself the past isn't going to change. I'm not saying it's going to get easier but you eventually learn to live with it. "
Tyler nods his head as he takes a step closer to me. I know he's still going to continue on blaming himself. No matter how many times you tell him it's not his fault he's still going to continue. I know from experience that it doesn't get better. The regret and what if's will always be there. It's horrible what happenend to his sister but at least she got out of it alive. Most girls don't.
" Do you now understand why I reacted the way I did earlier? " Tyler whispers. I didn't even realize how close he's gotten until he spoke up. I can feel his breath fan my neck and it sure as hell is doing things to me.
I understand that he was trying to look out for me but nothing would have happened because we were in public and plus I did a good number on Zac when I kneed him. If Tyler didn't jump in I would've finished the job on my own. Dad didn't pay for self defense classes for nothing.
" Violence is never the answer."
" You're sure one to speak." Tyler chuckles and bumps my shoulder playfully. I'm glad the tension is lifted and he's back to being his annoying self. Seeing him so vulnerable is unsettling. It makes it more difficult for me to be rude when there is so much emotion spread across his face.
" Shut up." I chuckle as I take my seat again.
The two of us continue on talking and joking around and soon enough I could feel my eyes become heavy. It's almost 2am when I look at the time. I should probably head back home. God only knows where Emily is and luckily I remebered to take my own key.
" Well this has been awful but I better get going." I say as I stand up to take my chair inside.
Tyler rolls his eyes as he follows my lead. He locks up the shack and we make our way back to my car.
" Are we cool now?" Tyler asks as we reach my car.
" Your face still annoys me. "
" Glad things are back to normal." Tyler laughs before opening up my door for me.
" See you later babe." Tyler winks before closing my door.
Later? What's happening later? He better not think we are friends and that we can now spend time together. Sure he told me something personal about him but it still doesn't mean that we're friends. I mean come on, he's a flirt and he's only after one thing.
Stop being so delusional and accept that some people actually want to be friends with you! Urg I really need to find someone else to be their subconscious.
Whatever.
"Did you guys have sex?"
I was so close from jumping through the window as soon as Emily spoke up from behind me and nearly scaring me to death.
" What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yell out as I put a hand over my heart to feel it beating at an insane speed.
What's she doing in my car? Better question, how did she get into my car? Wasn't she supposed to go with Ashton?
" What? I got tired and decided to take a nap." Emily shrugs as she climbs over into the passenger seat.
" How did you get into my car? I had the keys with me." I ask confused as I start the engine.
" The car was unlocked so I figured I'd wait for you to get back and then I fell asleep. "
I shake my head. Of course Emily would think it's normal to take a nap in the backseat of my car at 2 in the morning.
" So did you guys have sex?"
" No we didn't have sex. Why would we? " I roll my eyes.
" Because he's a sex God duh. "
" That doesn't mean I'm going to jump his bones as soon as he looks in my direction."
Don't lie.
" Well you guys did dissappear for two hours so I just thought maybe - "
" Nothing happened. " I laugh as I pull into a McDonald's drive through.
I order us some food and soon enough we pull up into the parking lot of our building. We'll bring up the rest of our stuff later on. For now I just want to eat and sleep. It's not much to ask for.
" Ashton and I had a fight." Emily blurts.
Maybe it is too much to ask for.
I look over at her and see her eyes stating to tear up. Please don't cry. I don't have the energy for this. I hear a sob escape her mouth and soon enough she's full on crying.
" He didn't like that I wore a bikini in stead of a one piece." she sniffs.
I unlock the door to our room and step inside. Turning the light on I look back at Emily. Seriously. This could have waited till later but no.
" Why is he telling you what to wear if you guys aren't even official? "
Emily walks over to her bed and starts munching on her burger.
" He said he doesn't like sharing what is his." she says with a mouth full of food.
He doesn't like sharing what is his? Please, last time I checked Emily was still a living breathing barbie and not an object.
" I repeat myself. You guys aren't dating. " I say as I take off my sandels.
" I know that but we've been hanging out for the past few weeks and things are starting to become serious. " she shrugs.
" Sounds like you are defending him." I say quirking an eyebrow. I take out my Teen Titans pj's. My skin feels sticky from the beach and a shower sounds like absolute heaven to me right now.
" I'm not. Wait I am. God he's so confusing. On the one hand him being possessive and protective is a huge turn on but on the other hand I don't like being told what to do." she whines.
I shrug my shoulders before stepping into the en-suite. I'm really the last person to ask relationship advice on. I can't even keep a gold fish alive. How the hell am I supposed to keep a relationship alive? I shake the thought out of my head as I turn on the shower.
This shower is long overdue.
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Short chapter I knowwwww. Don't kill meâ¤ï¸
I would like to give a special shout out to Amaalchim. Thank you so much for all your support it really means a lot to me. â¤ï¸ And thank you to my other lovely readers who are still on this journey with me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys ð
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Peace out âï¸