He Will Be Mine

Chapter 16: Date Night

*** Alyssa's POV ***

I arrive at Tyler's apartment building a bit early. I don't care if the other guys are still there, we're friends anyway, and I want to see Tyler. I make it to the second-floor hallway before I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I would worry more about it except I already know what it's from. This is the way the pain begins to set in when my mate is having "relations" with someone else. I panic a little and wonder if I should try to make it back outside to ride it out in my car, but then the second wave sets in and it gets too hard to breathe.

About ten seconds in, I can't stay on my feet any longer and drop to the floor, crawling the rest of the way to the door of their apartment. I've decided at this point that though I don't want to get closer to where Matt and Jessica are doing whatever they're doing, and I really don't want anyone to see me like this, I would much rather be inside their apartment than out here in the hallway for a bunch of strangers to gawk at. It seems like this pain gets worse every time, and I feel too vulnerable out in the open.

I sit in front of their door and knock just as another wave of pain courses through me. This one's bad. I fall over onto my side and curl up into the fetal position just trying to focus on breathing. I hear the door open and I can't even say anything or tell who is standing there. Not Matt, I'm guessing.

I hear Trevor yell, "Hey Tyler, your girl is out here, and something is up with her."

There's some talking back and forth and shuffling around, and next thing I know Tyler is scooping me up into his lap. He leans his back against the wall next to their door and holds me against him. He tilts my face up to look at him and I try to speak to tell him not to worry, but the words won't come out. I only manage to sob as tears stream down my face.

"Shh, it's okay, baby," he tries to soothe me, resting his cheek against the top of my head as he gently strokes my back. "I just need to know if you need me to call an ambulance. Is this an emergency?"

I shake my head and manage to force out a no. That's the last thing I need. I just need to wait it out until this passes.

"Okay. I'm here. I've got you."

I lean into him and try to relax. It does help having him rub my back and help me breathe. I try to focus on the feel of him and not on the pain. Eventually, it starts to ease up and I can take in deeper breaths again. Once I can finally hold myself up, I pull away from him and look him in the face.

"I'm okay now," I tell him. "It's fading a little bit."

"What was that, Aly? I've never seen someone in so much pain before. Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital and get checked out?"

"I'm sure. I know what caused it, and it's, er, I suppose you could say it's a chronic problem I have. A condition of sorts, and I don't really want to go into details about it."

"Okay, fair enough. Just know I'm here, you can trust me, I would never tease you about it no matter how embarrassing you think it is, and I want to help in whatever way I can. But if you still don't want to talk about it, I won't press you on it."

"Yeah, I still don't want to talk about it. Sorry. But I appreciate you, so much. Thank you, Tyler."

"Of course. Did you want to head inside and relax?"

"Yes, please."

He chuckles and teases me for being so polite. Once we are both on our feet, he scoops me up and carries me bridal style into the living room, me giggling the whole way and telling him to put me down so I can walk. He refuses, and honestly, I'm enjoying him being so overprotective and taking care of me.