He Will Be Mine

Chapter 47: Going Home

*** Alyssa's POV ***

The look on Mrs. Taylor's face when the guys stormed into the house and silently went about gathering up our stuff is going to haunt me until these two come around and decide they're ready to talk it out with Matt's parents. Well, both of their parents, I guess, though I don't think either of them is ready to see it that way. I was hoping that Mr. Taylor would be able to explain himself to Matt, but I guess that didn't happen. He hasn't said much about whatever they talked about before he left.

I'm just glad it doesn't seem to have created a rift between them. They seem to be on the same side of whatever is going on in their heads. It's almost eerie how they understand each other's sighs, grunts, and other nonverbal cues of distress, each seeming to know when the other wants comfort or to just be left alone. I want in, but I also know this isn't about me. I'll keep being and doing whatever it is they need, which so far has just been their getaway driver.

We drove the hours back to Matt's house mostly in silence, with the occasional comment from one or the other.

"They never said anything about it to you?" Tyler asked at one point. Matt assured him he had no idea, and Tyler seems to have accepted that.

"How long have you known you were adopted?" Matt asked him awhile later. Tyler told us he has almost always known, ever since his mom told him when he was in the first grade and started asking lots of questions about his dad. She told him all about his dad as well as how he ended up with them.

"I almost envy that," Matt admitted, but then clarified, "not the part about my parents giving you up, obviously, but the part where your mom was always honest with you. I respect the hell out of that."

But other than that little bit of back and forth, they were quiet the ride back, lost in their thoughts and feelings. Once we got there, they both ignored Mrs. Taylor. I gave her an apologetic look at one point, but I also knew I needed to be careful to keep my conduct supportive of my mates. They don't want to talk about it yet, and I'll run with that.

For now. Eventually, they're going to need to sit down with Matt's parents and hear the rest of the story, plus share how they feel about it all. If there's anything I've learned from my mom, it's that keeping it all buried will rot you from the inside out.

When Tyler told me he wanted to go home, I figured he meant he wanted to go back to New York to see his mom. I was surprised to learn that he actually meant going back to my home. It thrills me to know that he sees it that way, but I do wonder if he wouldn't benefit from seeing his mom again before we have to head back to school. I know she would be glad for the company. I have a plan brewing at the back of my mind of how to get her to my pack so he can have her with him but also be where he feels at home.

But for now, considering how late in the day it was when we left the lake where we had been ice fishing, and knowing that with the head spaces they're in currently, they probably shouldn't be driving, I decide to stop us for the night about halfway between Matt's place and mine. Tyler finds us a town with plenty of options for drive-through food and some decent options for lodging, so that's where we go.

We stop for take-out since none of us have eaten since before our little fishing adventure, and then find a nice scenic place to park and eat. It's up on a hill that overlooks the town, which if you can ignore all the fast-food signs and neon flashing here and there, looks pretty idyllic at night.

"It feels like a million years ago that I last had a cheeseburger," Tyler comments after we've been sitting quietly for several minutes.

"We stopped for cheeseburgers on the way to Matt's just a few days ago," I remind him, happily munching away on my own burger.