Lucas Carter is struggling to find his place after moving to Seacrest and enrolling in Seacrest High.
As he settles in with a new group of friends, Lucas becomes caught in a complicated love triangle with Tyler, a closeted jock, and Alec, a my...
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"Tyler?" I managed. "What're you doing here?"
"I heard you went home; I came to see if you were alright," he replied. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just got tired," I said, but his expression told me that he wasn't too convinced. "Did something happen with Casey?"
"No, everything went okay," I said. "No offense, Lucas, but you're a really bad liar," he said, making me chuckle. "I can see the tears in your eyes," he said observingly, staring into my eyes. There's a pause of silence between us until he sighed. "Come on," he said. "What?" I asked curiously. "Come on," he repeated, and I stepped out into the frigid night air, biting against my skin as I trailed behind Tyler, wondering where we were going as I followed him, the cold making me shiver.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my breath visible in the night air. Tyler glanced back at me, a playful grin spreading across his face. "You'll see," he replied, his voice filled with mystery.
We reached his house, but instead of heading to the front door, Tyler led me around to the side, where a ladder was propped up, leading to the second floor. My eyes followed it up to his window, and before I could ask what was going on, Tyler was already grabbing hold of the rungs, starting his ascent. "What're you doing?" I called up to him, half-amused, half-nervous. "Just come on," he urged, his voice soft but insistent. He didn't look back, just kept climbing as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
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I hesitated for a moment, but something about his confidence, his grin, made me reach out and grab the ladder. I started to climb, the cold metal pressing into my hands as I followed him up. When we reached the top, Tyler was already stepping onto the roof, his feet adjusting to the slant with ease. I wasn't as lucky. As I tried to stand, my foot slipped on the tiles, and I almost went down, but Tyler was there in an instant. His hand grabbed me by the waist, steadying me before I could fall.
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Our eyes locked, and I felt a rush of something warm and electric. "Woah," I breathed, the word barely more than a whisper. "Steady," Tyler murmured with a warm smile, his grip firm but comforting. I nodded, my heart pounding as I found my balance. Slowly, he let go of my waist, but the warmth of his touch lingered. Tyler took a few steps further onto the roof, the night stretching out around us, and then he sat down on the tiles, looking back at me as he gestured for me to join him.
I took a seat beside him, feeling the coolness of the tiles under me. I looked up at the stars, shining brightly against the dark sky, and let out a sigh, the weight I'd felt slipping away in the quiet of the night.
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"So... where's Maya?" I asked. Tyler leaned back slightly, his gaze shifting to me. "At the carnival," he replied casually.
"And she was okay with you leaving her there?" I asked, genuinely surprised. Tyler shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I wanted to check on you."
His words hung in the air between us, and our gazes lingered, the moment charged with something unspoken. I could feel my heart skip a beat, the intensity of his eyes drawing me in. I cleared my throat, trying to break the tension. "You two look good together," I said, forcing a smile. "Yeah," Tyler replied, but his tone was flat, almost as if he'd grown tired of hearing that. Then he shifted, his expression softening. "But I'm not here to talk about me." He paused, studying me for a moment before asking, "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"
I hesitated, my eyes drifting away from his and out into the night. Tyler followed my gaze, staring up at the stars, his silence gentle and patient. "It's nothing," I muttered, trying to convince myself more than him. I glanced at him, then down at his hand resting on the roof, so close to mine. All it would take was a tiny movement of my pinky, and our hands would touch. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Tyler's voice broke through my thoughts, soft but direct. "Did you two kiss?"
It was like he had read my mind. My head snapped up, eyes meeting his, and suddenly everything I'd been holding back rushed to the surface. My chest tightened, and before I could stop them, fresh tears welled up and spilled over, trailing down my cheeks.
Tyler watched me, his expression shifting from concern to understanding, and without a word, he pulled me into a hug. I leaned into him, my arms wrapping around his torso as I buried my face in his shoulder. The quiet of the neighborhood surrounded us, broken only by the sound of my shaky breaths and the soft rustle of the night breeze.
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My tears soaked into his t-shirt, but Tyler didn't seem to care. He just held me, solid and reassuring, his presence grounding me as the storm inside me slowly began to settle. With each passing second, I felt a little better, the weight on my chest easing as the moment stretched on, suspended in the stillness of the night.
