[2.1] THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTNING, tyler owens

In His Arms, Forever

They sat at the table having small conversations with each other, Kathy sat at the head of the table while Jaymes sat to her left, and Tyler sat on the left side of Jaymes.

Tyler grabbed a sausage from one of the many plates and flopped it into his mouth. "That only gets you so far, every chaser has to make a guess." He swallowed and pointed at Jaymes. "And the good ones have an instinct for it."

Kathy glanced at James before looking to Tyler. "She had that early on. Always knew when weather was coming, even better than the cows."

Jaymes smiled at the faint memory. Tyler looked at her showing impression.

"You hear that? You're better than the cows." He smirked teasingly at her.

"That's a compliment." Kathy exclaimed. "She had a feel for it."

"She always had a feel for it?" Tyler asked as he stole a glance at Jaymes.

"Oh yeah, one time I was giving her a bath-" Kathy laughed when she was cut off by Jaymes.

"Ma, can we not?"

Kathy smiled told me her pointer finger and thumb in a close position. "Maybe just a little."

Tyler smiled at their little banter and stole another look at Jaymes.

"I was washing her, and she shot up out of the tub, and ran out of the house as naked as the day she was born."

"Oh my God." Jaymes mused as she rubbed her head.

Tyler laughed as Kathy continued to tell the story.

"I had no idea where she was, I was terrified. And when I finally caught up with her, she was standing in the middle of the wheat field. Staring at the sky." Kathy finished.

"I got to try that out, Jaymes. That sounds like a great idea." Tyler said as he smirked at her.

Jaymes turned to him, "No, can you stop encouraging her?"

He raised his eyebrows teasingly, "Keep your clothes on, Jaymes. Let your Ma finish."

Kathy shrugged, "All I'm saying is, she's always loved the weather." She smiled. "The worse the weather, the happier the girl."

James and her Ma smiled at each other before Kathy addressed Tyler.

"What about you Tyler? What got you into chasing?"

He sighed, "Well when you love something, you spend your whole life trying to understand it." Taking a glance at Jaymes, which she missed but Kathy didn't.

"Well, Jaymie was studying for a PhD. I keep telling her to come back and finish it."

"Wow," Tyler nodded approvingly.

"Okay, Ma," Jaymes eased as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"She was setting up a study with her friends. Disrupting Tornado Dynamics." Kathy leaned in for full effect.

"Okay, um," Jaymes stood up abruptly before putting on a fake smile, which Tyler could see right through.  "Does anyone need anything?"

They both shook their heads and she walked off with her plate towards the house.

Kathy sighed and looked at Tyler, "Well, how was dinner?"

"Amazing, best I've had in a long time."

"Thank you, here let me take this." She grabbed Tyler and her's plates and stood straight. "And you're welcome to stay the night, we have an extra room."

Tyler smiled and nodded. "I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you."

Kathy nodded and walked away, leaving Tyler to his own thoughts.

---

James was clicking through the channels on the TV. Not being able to find one that didn't talk about the weather. With an exhausted sigh, she turned the TV off and looked back when she heard the front door open, only to see her mother standing there.

"I invited Tyler to stay the night in the guest room."

"Alright," Jaymes sighed, "thanks for telling me."

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James walked into the barn to say goodnight to the horses, but was stopped by her curiosity when she saw a light on the upper floor on.

She quietly walked up the stairs to see Tyler looking in one of her notebooks.

He stared at her and smirked. "You thought you could disrupt a tornado." It wasn't a question, it was a teasing statement from her past, wedging itself into Tyler.

"Hey, Tyler, c'mon, don't look at that." She said as she started walking towards him.

He ignored her and picked up the notebook. "You're the OG Wrangler."

She hold her hand out waiting for the notebook. "Tyler, give it to me."

He continued to ramble off her formula ideas and plans as she felt tears threatened to appear.

"Tyler." He continued to ignore her, "Tyler, please." No response.

"This is great, how did you not tell me about this?"

"Because I got it wrong!" She yelled.

He stopped and stared at her guilt pooling inside of him instantly.

"In the field, in the moment, I got it wrong when it mattered. People died because of that, my friends died because of it. And I have to live with that. For the rest of my life."

"Jaymes," he walked up to her. "How much more are you going to let this thing take from you?"

She wiped the tears from her face and glanced around. "Y'know, um, you should get some sleep. Don't want to mess any storms tomorrow."

He nodded and handed the notebook back to her before walking out of the barn and into the house.

You got up to his room and walked in, his room was right across from Jaymes', making the guilt even more evident. He tossed and turned, not being able to sleep at all, and he still hadn't heard Jaymes come up the stairs, which worried him.

He finally heard footsteps come up the stairs at midnight. He heard her close the door and open it about three minutes later.

He made out her silhouette as she opened his door while leaning against the door frame.

"You still up?" She quietly whispered.

"Yeah." He whispered back.

She nodded and walked away, leaving his door open. He stood up and walked out of his room, closing the door behind him. He looked across the hall and saw that her door was open too, inviting him in. He quietly walked in and shut the door behind him.

He saw Jaymes back in bed with enough room for him to get in. So, he slowly lowered himself on the bed and under the covers as Jaymes turned over to face him.

"I'm sorry, Jaymes. I shouldn't have said or done that."

"I know. But you're right, thank you for opening my eyes to it."

She leaned in and he immediately kissed her back, putting his hand in her hair.

"So, am I forgiven then?" He smoked teasingly.

"Yes, you're forgiven." She said if she playfully slapped his chest.

Tyler put his arm around her and she snuggled up against his shoulder and chest. It wasn't long after that that Jaymes was peacefully asleep. He smiled down at her, this is how he always wanted it, her in his arms, forever.

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Chapter 11 done! Hope you enjoy!
Word Count:1174