Tyler's Jacket

Chapter 21

"She sure did." Tyler replied, his jaw clenching then unclenching rapidly. I let him tow me toward his car, concerned eyes studying his conflicted expression. Unlocking it, we both climbed in and remained silent for five minutes in the parking lot- aside from Ty's incoherent cursing under his breath.

Suddenly, he slammed his fists on the wheel and yelled in frustration. His hair was disshelved and his eyes were glazed over with emotion as his face crumpled into a pain-stricken expression.

"What happened?" I asked in a small voice, still quite frightened from his sudden outburst. Almost as if he has forgotten I was there, he snapped his head towards me in surprise. In an instant, his emotions were masked and he plastered on a fake smile. To a stranger, it probably looked genuine but I knew that he was hurting. His lips quivered, like it was excruciating just to be displaying this small gesture. The smile was way too big, clearly forced. But lastly, I could tell it wasn't genuine because the skin around his eyes didn't crinkle, and his chocolate brown orbs weren't twinkling like they usual did.

"We had a misunderstanding..." He shrugged and pressed the start button, letting his car roar to life. I scoffed at his feeble attempt at nonchalance which made him raise an eyebrow in my direction.

"Come on, Ty. You're the shittiest actor I've met in my entire life." He have me a sheepish smile and rolled his eyes, before rubbing his hands on his face aggressively. I gingerly held my hands over his wrists to get him to stop. He looked at me through the gaps in between his fingers, and I gave him an encouraging smile. Once again, he rolled his eyes. "Yeah keep doing that, maybe you'll find a brain back there." I muttered under my breath, causing him to double over in laughter.

"Oh Al... you're... such a... weirdo" He choked out through his hysterics. I rolled my eyes in response, unable to keep the amused smile off of my face. "Yeah keep doing that, maybe you'll find a brain back there." He tried imitating my voice, making me join in on his fits of laughter.

Finally, we managed to sober ourselves up enough for me to ask him, "No but seriously Ty, tell me why she hit you." He visibly tensed, running both hands through his silky hair, disappearing in the sea of chocolate locks.

"You're lucky I love you," He began, making my stomach do somersaults.

Now isn't the time to be internally swooning, Riley!

"She was mad I didn't bring Roni with me, and mad that she didn't know I had a girlfriend too. I told her Roni has been refusing to come for years because Mom was always horrible to her and that I didn't tell her I had a girlfriend because I hadn't talked to her in months and she never called me. One thing led to another and she just lost it... like she always does." He let out a ragged sigh, leaning deeper into the seat. Confusion struck me; she had hit him before?

"What do you mean by 'like she always does?'" I asked, taking one of his hands in mine and rubbing random patterns on it to soothe him a bit. He held my gaze, deep in thought. As if deciding on something, he gave a small nod and lifted his shirt slightly to expose another tattoo he had, one that I had seen more times that I could count. He recently got another one on his shoulder of his Dad's death day- which I'd only just noticed last night- but the one on his waist was old news.

It was a tree. It's raven black ink ran off into tens of tiny little branches, giving off a creepy and mysterious vibe. Although, the art itself was incredibly beautiful. It was no bigger than the palm of my hand and rested just above his hip bone.

"So? I've seen this before Ty, what gives?"

"Look a little closer and run a finger over it." Nodding incredulously, I did as he said. The skin was smooth, that was until I hit a small ride of the skin. Inspecting further, I saw an outline with the length of around an inch, making me gasp in shock.

"Is that a scar?" I held a hand over my mouth as he nodded curtly. "What happened?" As if expecting this question, he took a deep breath and rubbed the nape of his neck. His eyes glazed over, recalling the memories.

"It was the end of eighth grade, I was 14 and Roni was 16. My Mom came home drunk around mid-morning, and started screaming at Roni, like she always did. Roni was crying hysterically as Mom continued to beat her and insult her. Like I usually did, I jumped in the middle. I tried my best to calm her down but all of a sudden, there was a flash of silver and a shock of pain in my side. I wasn't scared though, I knew it had to be coming. Mom dropped the knife and bolted by the time the paramedics showed up. She was lucky that it only just missed a vital organ or else she would've been sentenced to manslaughter of the first degree. I got it tattooed over because I didn't want to be reminded of it. Instead I 'planted' a tree for a new beginning and that was that." He shrugged, refocusing his eyes. He pulled onto the highway and I only just realised that I'd been frozen in shock for a solid five minutes while he had started driving.

"She- she stabbed you?!" I shrieked, slightly startling Tyler. He nodded and kept his gaze on the road, probably grateful to be distracted by driving. I gaped at him, probably looking like a fish. He stole a quick glance towards me and chuckled. He CHUCKLED.

"Look Al, its really not that big a deal. It all worked out in the end so there's no point in dwelling on the past."

"But you could've died." I breathed, by eyes pricking with tears just by the thought of losing him.

"You're being dramatic," he rolled his eyes, "All this emotional shit is making me feel less masculine by the minute. I can practically feel my balls being sucked into my body to form a pussy! Lets go get some Starbucks to lighten the mood."

"Yeah, because a pumpkin spice latte will make you feel SO much more manly." I teased, voice dripping with sarcasm as I poked his sides.

"Puh-lease, my manhood could never be affected by something as delicious as a pumpkin spice latte. Just take a look for yourself." He winked, earning him an eye roll in response.

"Shut up and drive, Cooper." I turned my head toward the window to hide the fact that his suggestion made me flustered. But from the way he chuckled, he probably already knew.