Bounce Back

Chapter 49

Ryan's POV

I wasn't sure whether I was surprised that Tyler and I were on the same flight back. My parents weren't with me because they had to go to work so I had to make my own way to the airport. I had just checked in when I turned around and recognised Tyler.

Once again his was with his Mother and he was hugging her tightly. This time I was close enough to hear their conversation and for a minute I didn't move.

"I'll see you later," he said.

"If anything happens you call me," she ordered.

He nodded and she hugged him tightly once more.

"Are you sure that you are ok?" she asked.

"I will be," Tyler said after a second.

I could see his face for a second and I couldn't quite identify it but it just made me feel heartbroken just looking at him. I knew that I couldn't hand around listening any longer so I headed out of the way and through security.

The flight back to LA was just as boring as the one out there and it passed painlessly. Tyler must have noticed me as well because he was waiting for me by the door. Neither of us said anything and since we both knew where the car was.

It was a relatively long drive back to campus and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to stand it if the whole thing was in silence.

"How was your Christmas?" I asked.

"Nice to see my family but of course I've been back recently," he said.

I knew exactly what he was meaning by that comment and reminding me that he went home for Thanksgiving and I didn't. I then couldn't find anything else to say so we lapsed back into silence for the rest of the ride.

As soon as we got up to the dorm Tyler dumped his bag and headed back out again. I didn't question him about it and it meant that the dorm was quiet. Since I hadn't managed to catch up with Alex during the break I sent him a text telling him that I was in my dorm if he wanted to come up.

He was back in town so I wasn't surprised when the door opened five minutes later and he came in.

"How was your break?" I asked.

"You know, really good to see family and have some time off. What about you?" he asked in return.

"Much the same I guess. Got to catch up with my really close friends from home as well," I said.

He nodded and he settled on my bed as I started to unpack. We continued to talk as I worked and he was the first one to comment on my lack of a roommate at this second.

"What happened to Tyler? I thought that you guys would have come back together," he asked.

"We did but he disappeared as soon as we got here," I said plainly.

He didn't say anything else about Tyler and instead he talked about his family and the things that he had done over the break. Once I was finished unpacking I joined him on the bed.

"How come you are back this early since we don't start classes until the 15th?" I asked.

I hadn't thought about it before because it is only the 27th so it is almost three weeks away.

"My parents are going away on some business trip to Europe so it would just be me at home anyway so I might as well come back to campus," he shrugged.

"You can help me with basketball stuff if you want," I suggested.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course. And it will be nice to have someone else helping me."

He smiled brightly so I grabbed my laptop before re-joining him on the bed. I brought up my stuff from the most recent game and I started to show him what I did. The stats that I counted and then analysis that did as well.

"This is really cool," Alex said.

I smiled slightly and we continued to talk about it. I didn't realise how long we had been sitting there until Tyler came in. He didn't say anything as the door slammed behind him and he headed straight into the bathroom and we heard the shower turn on.

"What was that about?" Alex wondered.

I shrugged because I had no idea. I had barely talked to Tyler at all recently so I had no idea why he would be slamming doors.

"Should I leave?" Alex then asked.

I shrugged because I wasn't sure what Tyler was going to be doing. Neither of us were both usually in the dorm so I had no clue.

"Eh, I should probably head out so I'll see you later," Alex said.

I nodded and he headed out of the dorm. I continued to muck around on my laptop and it was another fifteen minutes before Tyler came out of the bathroom. He didn't say anything to me as he sat down on his own bed.

For the next hour I continued to sit on my laptop. I continued to study film for the next game in two days and was writing notes on it. Once I was finished I then started on our own team. Because of the amount of work that I have during the semester I hadn't had time to do a thorough analysis of every player yet so I might as well started.

I started watching old tape of the team and added to my notes. I had a bit of time so I managed to add a lot notes. Once I was finished with all the notes and I had tidied it up a little bit I sent it to Coach so that he could read it.

When I looked up it was already eleven and Tyler had already fallen asleep. His phone was still in his hand so he mustn't have realised how tired he was.

Half of me wanted to move across the room, grab his phone and plug it in but I knew that I shouldn't. Instead I completed my routine before crawling into bed. Unfortunately I couldn't fall asleep and the thing on my mind was Tyler.

There was something about his conversation that I overheard with his Mother. I wasn't sure what it was but Tyler seemed quieter recently. I wasn't sure if it was because I wasn't spending time with him but he seemed smaller. Like he had pulled in on himself but it wasn't my problem anymore.

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The Wise One