Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[1.19]

*emetophobia warning

ꪻaryn liked to do one thing and one thing alone when her journals just weren't enough to deal with whatever was on her mind. She didn't like to cry in the dark as Tas did, nor did she like to sit and watch tv for hours on end just to fill the time (unless things were really bad.) She liked to walk and through the stresses of the education system, she had perfected a route that meant she wasn't likely to run into people that would stop her for a chat. So she walked early the next morning, taking deep breaths of the cool morning air, as she attempted to unpick her thoughts as best as possible. She avoided Luke's like the plague but found that wasn't enough to prevent her from seeing either of the people who lived under that roof. She watched, out of their sight, as Luke watched Jess get on a bus out of town with a bag half the size of him at his side. Anger swelled inside her and she had half the mind to run up to him and call him a coward for avoiding her. But soon, as the bus drove away, the anger slipped into great sadness. She hadn't realized how much she had actually liked him, depended on him, until she watched him leave.

She turned up at Tas' door without feeling her feet move. She rang the bell repeatedly until the sound woke Tas and he managed to get to the door. He swung it open and she took in the sight of someone who had obviously slept on the couch and was violently hungover. He pulled the blanket around his shoulders closer to himself as he stared at her in bewilderment, wondering who was asleep in his bed if it were not her. Taryn only needed to give him a singular look, a wordless look and his gaze softened. He lifted his arm and she quickly slipped underneath it, resting her face against his chest whilst he wrapped his arms and the blanket around her. After closing the front door with his foot, he hugged her tightly with his head resting atop hers whilst her body shook with soft sobs. "This is a stupid reaction," she muttered softly as she sniffled away some of her tears.

"No it's not Taryn , you've been hurt, this is normal," Tas assured as he began to run his hand up and down her back comfortingly.

She pulled her head off of his chest and quickly wiped her eyes before returning to how they had been beforehand. Only this time her head was titled to the side so she could easily announce, "Jess left."

He raised a brow, "Gone gone?"

"Looks like it," she sniffled and cleared her throat. "Big bag, bus to New York."

"Bastard," he muttered, then proceeded to feel a particularly awful twisting within his stomach. He swallowed deeply and spoke loudly, "Hey Taryn , you mind if we pause this so I can go throw up?"

Taryn laughed before she let go of the hug and released him. Tas threw her the blanket, which she proceeded to wrap around her shoulders, then ran to the nearest bathroom quicker than she had ever seen him move before. She walked to the kitchen, grabbed him a glass of water and walked into the bathroom thankfully after he had finished. He sat with his back up against the tub, face pale and spotted with sweat yet still thanked her in sign as she handed him the glass of water. He took a swig then placed it down at his side, quickly asking, "Did something happen?"

She sighed softly and chose to join him on the bathroom floor. She sat opposite him, their legs crushed together in the small space of the first downstairs bathroom. "We discussed it."

"It?" he repeated, frowning deeply in confusion. It took him a few seconds, and a specific look from her, to catch onto what she was talking about. When he finally realized, his eyes went wide and he almost muttered, "Oh, it."

"He didn't mean it."

"I'm going to cut off his balls."

She shook her head, "Tas-"

"No i'm serious, he doesn't get to hurt you this way and get away with it. He must have fled because he was too scared of my wrath," he responded before leaning forward to clutch the toilet bowl once more.

Taryn laughed softly whilst rubbing his back, "You sure look scary right now."

He slumped back in his previous position as the sound of the flush going echoed through the room. "This is booze induced, give me two days and I'll be good to go," he sighed whilst staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you too hungover to rot in front of the tv until your Mom and sister get home?"

He shrugged whilst taking another sip of water, "Sounds like the perfect day to me, plus something fried."

"You're getting it though because there's no way I'm stepping foot in that building."

He nodded in complete understanding as he replied, "I shall travel out in my weakened state to hunt for us as a man should." Taryn laughed and it only grew as Tas clutched onto the toilet bowl once again.

-

Tas had only allowed Taryn to be sad for two days before he sprung into distractions and entertaining activities. Five days after, she managed to make it into Luke's and the discussion that followed her reappearance had little to no effect on the annoyance she felt towards Jess now. To leave Luke, who had opened up his home and changed so much in his life just for him, without any explanation was by far the thing she now found most annoying. And maybe it was an annoyance that covered up her own feelings, not that she'd ever admit that or dwell too long onto it.

A month passed and all Taryn had to show for her period of sadness was a slipped grade in Biology due to a lack of study. She walked alone out of a catch up study season that her teacher had offered her alone and wandered quickly down the halls to where she hoped Tas was still waiting for her. "Taryn!" a voice yelled after her and she could just about hear it.

She turned and smiled softly as the person who had yelled got to her side. "Oh hey Archie."

"Sorry, I know you don't like being yelled at, it's just you walk so fast," he responded, laughing softly as he caught his breath. "I was wondering if I could borrow and copy your notes from the last English lesson."

"Yeah of course," she replied quickly before pulling her notebook out of her tote bag. She double checked it was the English one and not her drawing journal (as they looked very similar), then proceeded to hand it to him. "I didn't hear one or two spots but I checked against my friends and I missed most of the unimportant things."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "Oh could you possibly give it back to me tomorrow? I have some things in there I need to go over before the test on friday."

He paused for thought then grew a subtle smile,"I can drop it into Luke's later if you want, do you still study there?"

"Every day," she laughed under her breath and chose not to swindle too much on the fact that she couldn't remember telling him that specific detail. "I'll see you later then?"

He smiled and she could see a certain excitement within his eyes. "Bye Taryn."