Two Hearts, One Home | | J&T

Chapter 11

Mood Music- To Begin Again by Ingrid Michaelson and ZAYN

(I think the artist from s8ep4 is called Kalias but please correct me if I'm wrong!)

A few days had passed, and all thoughts of Tyler and that night had left me, my mind free to focus on other important things in my life, such as Uni that was starting in less than two weeks. Everything with Sasha and I's transition was running smoothly, and our social workers were very impressed with how quickly we'd settled in. I decided I wouldn't mention the Tyler situation- we had found our feet nicely despite it and I didn't want anything to jeopardize that. I had kept the necklace safe, stored away in my drawer, just in case I could ever find it in myself to forgive him- plus I couldn't bare the idea of throwing the last remaining fragment of my old relationship away.

I was just about to turn on the TV and become one with the couch when I heard the door swing open, signifying Sasha was back from work. She had taken on a paid apprenticeship with Kalias at the last minute, so she was no longer going to be attending Uni with me full time. I didn't mind though; we were on completely different courses anyway. There was a harsh wind as the door slammed to a shut, a paint-covered Sasha revealing herself in front of me. She did not look happy in the slightest.

"What happened to you?" I said, trying to contain my laughter but failing, earning a glare from Sasha.

"Some idiot at Kalias' center tripped and dumped paint all over me! I've had to work like this my whole shift! Ugh!" She answered, clearly very aggravated by her day.

"Look, you get changed and I'll run your clothes down to the laundry room. By the time you've showered and had something to eat they'll be good as new, okay?" She sighed and nodded in agreement, heading to her room to remove the dirty clothing. I waited around for a minute until she reappeared in a robe with the items in question in her hand.

"30 degree wash, nothing more, nothing less, got it?"

"Yes, your majesty" I replied sarcastically, as I grabbed my phone and headed down to the apartment complex's laundry room.

The room was nothing huge, just three washing machines in a row in a small backroom on the ground floor of the building. It was past 7 'o' clock at night, so it wasn't busy at all- there was only one other man doing his laundry, with his hood up and hands in his pockets, staring aimlessly into the machine spinning round and round. I'll steer clear of him.

I loaded up the machine I would be using, leaving the middle one free and making sure to set it to a 30 degree wash so Sash wouldn't kick me out and stepped back, pulling my phone out to have a scroll through social media while I awaited the laundry to be done. Suddenly, I felt the man next to me move closer, and my hair immediately stood on end. He stepped closer again, and I decided it was better to be safe than sorry, as I pulled the keypad up on my phone ready to dial the emergency number at any minute.

"We need to talk." The mystery man spoke, and I felt my hairs stand down as I let out the breath I was subconsciously holding, recognizing the voice from a singular note.

"There's nothing to say, Tyler." I said in response, as the now not-so-unfamiliar face pulled his hood down, turning to face me.

"Look, I know what happened was wrong, and I'm sorry. About lying, St Lucia, the kiss... everything. But you can't seriously believe that it was all my fault?" I stayed silent, shuffling my feet and playing with the zip on my jacket.

"I know the kiss wasn't your fault," I admitted reluctantly- I never liked it when he was right, "I was just tired and hungover and I wanted someone to blame and well... you're the only one I could blame, really. Although I'd probably have blamed you anyway." I smiled, trying to cut the tension in the room. He smiled too, loosening up his posture slightly.