Lost Boy

Chapter Twenty Two

"Fear has a large shadow but he himself is small. "

-Ruth gendler

...

"You have a b-b-brother?" I whisper yelled while Chris went to the counter to get his yogurt, humming to himself.

"It's a long story. But he's a prime example of why you can't get attached to me." Tyler pointed in the direction of his brother, who just winked at me. He was wild.

I blinked at him confused. What on earth was he talking about? "What is that s-s-supposed to mean?"

"I can't tell you right now. Not like this." He sighed. "You're just gonna have to trust me."

"Oh sure," I snorted "because l-last time that w-worked out so well."

"I'm not the only one in the wrong you know."

"Wh-what?" I turned to him so fast I nearly got whiplash. I could feel the rage bubbling up inside of me. "How dare y-you accuse-"

"You told her I wasn't mute."

...I blinked. And then I blinked again. Shit "I f-f-forgot about t-that."

"I know." The hurt was evident in his face. Atleast he knew about the betrayal I felt even just a little bit.

"I guess that makes us even then." I shrugged.

"Seriously? Not even gonna apologise for it?" He raised an eyebrow at me. But somehow he didn't seem that mad. "I thought you had better manners than that." He teased.

"Well I thought you would have had enough m-manners to be there when I woke up in the h-hospital bed."

Now it was his turn to blink at me. "Touché." he smirked at me, and somehow despite everything, I found myself smirking back.

"I'm s-sorry."

"What was that princess? I didn't quite catch that." He smirked.

"I s-said I'm s-sorry." I muttered, feeling embarrassed that I was so bad at apologizing.

"I think you need to be a little bit louder."

"I'M SORRY GODDAMN IT!" I yelled, only to find him laughing hysterically. I was about to be mad at him but his laugh was contagious and I too began to giggle.

"Gosh you didn't need to say it so loudly I think I burst an eardrum." He whined rubbing his ear.

"So how about it?" He asked suddenly, reaching his hand out. "Truce?"

I stared at his hand a moment, contemplating over what my decision should be. "On one c-condition." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"And what might that be Princess?" Goshdarn I was a sucker for that nickname.

"You have to a-answer my questions."

"And what might these questions be?"

"That's for me t-to know and f-for you to find out." I shrugged, secretly praying in my head that he would agree.

"What if I don't want to answer them?"

I bit my lip in concentration, soon coming out of my trance when he uses his thumb to pull it out of my mouth. "How about this. We each ask each other a question, taking turns until we run out. We can both skip one question each. Hows that sound?"

There didn't seem to be any problems with that. I thought. "You've got y-yourself a deal romeo." I smirked.

"I just got a sense of déjà vu " he chuckled, and I couldn't help but agree. I took a moment to prepare myself. What if he doesn't want to answer them? I could feel my anxiety creeping in. I took a deep breath before asking my question.

"What's with the t-t-t-t-t-tattoos?" I looked up at him anxious.

"Relax. I'm not gonna bite your head off." He brushed some hair out of my eyes that I hadn't noticed before looking at his wrist. It was barely noticeable but where the sleeve of his hoodie met his hand you could just make out the shadows of ink. "I'm sorry for snapping earlier." He mumbled.

I smiled in return.

Tyler fiddled with the sleeve of his hoodie, seeming to be off in a world of his own. "They tell a story."

"A s-story?" I looked at him curiously and tilted my head.

"Mhmm " he nodded in conformation.

"What k-kind of story?"

"The story of a man who had everything taken from him."