infatuated

six

Paige crawls back over into the passenger seat, grabbing all of her belongings as Tyler pulls himself together. He looks over at her sighing softly, running his hand through his hair as Paige looks back over at him. "We can't tell a f*cking soul about this Paige. This was a one time thing only." He says as Paige laughs a bit, "If you say so, I don't think it will be." She says with a smirk on her face. Tyler shakes his head, turning his head to stare out of the windshield. "I'll lose my job if your dad finds out. This can't go on. Seriously." He says sternly and Paige's smirk slowly falls, a sigh leaving her lips. "Fine." She says opening the passenger door and quickly getting out. She slams the door behind her, stomping her feet as she walks to her front door.

Tyler watches her, waiting to make sure she gets in safely. He pulls away as soon as he could, driving home with thoughts racing through his head. Once he got home, he made sure Mel was fast asleep before deciding to sleep on the couch. He felt so guilty but the temptation got the best of him. He fell asleep after a few hours of thinking about what he did, the next morning coming quick. When he woke up, Mel was already making her coffee, Tyler surprised she didn't wake him up and b*tch him out the second she could. He walks into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. Mel looks over at him, rolling her eyes immediately. "Late night huh?" She says with anger in her voice. Tyler sighs softly, shaking his head as he looks down at the ground. He thinks about what to say, looking back up after a few seconds. "Mel I don't know what to tell you at this point. Can we not start the morning with an argument for once?" He says leaning against the counter top. Mel laughs a bit shaking her head, "Don't do stupid shit. Then I wouldn't have anything to say." She says before walking out of the kitchen.

As the days went on, Tyler was getting eaten up by guilt and he didn't know what to do with it. He felt lost in what he should do from this point forward. Archie and Shannon came back after a couple of days, relieving Tyler of his duties despite not contacting Paige after that night. He decided it was best to keep his distance moving forward, trying to stay out of any gathering that would require him to see Paige. He would find every excuse possible, up until the excuses almost seemed unbelievable. However, he couldn't avoid it forever. After 2 months of not speaking and Tyler's relationship deteriorating quickly, Tyler gets a phone call from Archie one evening, requiring Tyler to pick up.

"Hello?" Tyler asks softly, Archie quickly responding "Hey Tyler, I'm so sorry to bother you.." Tyler's heart started racing immediately, the thought of Archie somehow finding out about something popping into his head. "Is everything okay?" He asks, Archie responding "I need you to go pick up Paige if it's possible. Shannon and I are out of town for the weekend and Paige was out with a friend, apparently they got pulled over and found cocaine in the car. They're towing her friends car and detaining her for possession. Paige is fine, I'm gonna have her send her location to you if you're willing." He says as Tyler sighs softly, taking a second to respond. "Yeah, yeah that's fine I can pick her up. Just tell her to send it and I'll be on the way." Archie sighs out of relief, "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it I promise I'll pay you back for this. I'll have her send it now."

Sure enough, Paige sends Tyler her location, Tyler getting there pretty quickly. Paige was standing with a cop, crying as she spoke to him. Tyler parks off the side of the road, getting out and approaching the cop. "Are you Tyler?" The cops asks as Tyler nods his head, "Yes I am, is everything okay?" He asks softly, Paige looking at him as she wiped her tears. "Well she's lucky she wasn't the one holding onto the cocaine. She's good to go for the night, her friend was detained and will be spending the night in the county jail." He says as Tyler nods "Well thank you so much, I appreciate it. Paige let's get going." He says motioning her towards him. Paige walks over to him, holding herself with her arms wrapped around her torso. "Thank you again, have a good night officer." Tyler says as they walk towards the car. Tyler opens the passenger door for Paige, allowing her to get it as well as him getting in after.

"What the hell are you thinking Paige?" He says as soon as the door was closed. Paige stays quiet, bring her arms down to her lap and staring at her hands. "Nothing to say? Paige you can't be doing that sh*t. It's not safe." He says starting the car and pulling out of the shoulder of the road. Paige continues to stay quiet, Tyler sighing as he glances over at her. "Are you really not gonna say anything?" He asks, Paige sighing softly. "There's nothing to say. I f*cked up. It was mine and she took the fall because she knew my dad would kill me.." She mumbles softly, Tyler raising his eyebrows. "Wow I'm really disappointed in you Paige." He says, Paige quickly snapping at him "I don't want to hear it. I'll have to hear it enough when my dad comes home tomorrow."

The rest of the ride stays quiet, Tyler pulling up to her house after about 20 minutes. Paige sighs softly as she grabs her bag before looking over at him. "So are you just gonna never talk to me again?" She asks, Tyler refusing to look at her. "I just can't do this with you Paige. You're too young for me and I'm married. On top of the fact that your dad is my boss and I'll lose my job," He says gripping the steering wheel as Paige scoffs, "Your marriage is sh*t, just gonna say that now. I'm not too young, I'm 18 years old, it's not like I'm a minor. I don't get it!" She says clearly frustrated. Tyler finally looks over at her , shaking his head, also becoming frustrated. "You're too f*cking young Paige! I'm not gonna lose my f*cking job over something like this! You just need to get over it!" He snaps, Paige taken aback by his response. Paige's eyes slowly start filling with tears, clenching her jaw as she reaches for the door. "Go f*ck yourself, piece of sh*t." She says as she gets out, slamming the door behind her before turning around and flipping him off. Tyler pulls out of driveway immediately, driving off quickly. This would be the last time they would talk for quite some time.