By the Book

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Unfinished Business

The apartment was quiet except for the faint hum of the heater and the soft rustling as Tyler shifted in his seat. He sat on the armrest of the couch, his long legs stretched out in front of him, a deep frown etched into his face. In his hand was a mug of tea, the steam curling faintly in the dim light, the faint irregular tapping of his foot on the floor the only thing grounding me in the moment. My living room felt colder than usual, as if the heater couldn't quite reach the shadows. The dim lamplight painted long shadows across the walls, the soft glow doing little to chase away the heavy quiet that had settled between us.

"You know I'd kill him, right?" he said finally, his voice low but deadly serious. "Just say the word, and I'll do it."

I blinked at him, startled by the edge in his voice. For a second, I couldn't tell if he was joking or if the words carried the weight of something darker. I let out a humorless laugh, the sound barely louder than a breath. "Don't joke, Ty."

"Who says I'm joking?" he shot back, his tone sharper than I expected. He placed the mug down on the end table harder than necessary, the sound cutting through the quiet room like a crack. His fingers flexed at his sides, his hands curling into loose fists before relaxing again. "I told you—Ben and I, we always said nothing would ever hurt you. No one would. And now..." His jaw tightened, his words trailing off as he looked at me.

"And now someone did," I finished for him, my voice barely above a whisper.

Tyler exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "I can't believe him," he muttered. "Miles. Of all people. He's the one person I thought I didn't have to worry about." 

Tyler's voice carried a weight that made my chest tighten. He'd been my protector for so long, always watching out for me, and now his frustration felt like a shield dented in battle. I could see it in the way his jaw clenched, like he was holding back something sharper, something more cutting.

His voice dropped, quiet but no less cutting. "I trusted him, Kara. I actually trusted him to take care of you."

I didn't have an answer for that. I'd spent the better part of the night replaying every word, every look, every hurtful thing Miles had said. It had felt like the floor being ripped out from under me, like the one person I thought I could lean on had pushed me away when I needed him most.

"He was upset." The words sounded weak even to me, barely more than a whisper. I wasn't sure if I was defending him or trying to convince myself that what he'd said wasn't as bad as it felt.

"Upset doesn't give him a free pass to say that to you," Tyler snapped, his voice rising. He took a breath, visibly trying to calm himself. "You're not some project, Kara. You're not something to 'fix.' And the fact that he could even imply that—"

"It's not like he was wrong," I interrupted, my voice trembling.

Tyler's head snapped toward me, his eyes narrowing. "Don't," he said firmly. His voice softened slightly, though the anger didn't fully leave his tone. His eyes burned with a protective intensity, as if he could will away the guilt clawing at me. "Don't you dare start blaming yourself. You're not the one who kept a secret about loan sharks for years. You didn't create this mess—Eleanor did. And you sure as hell aren't the one who made it worse by throwing it back in someone's face."

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest, the oversized hoodie I'd thrown on doing little to hide the way I was trembling. Tyler moved from the armrest to sit beside me, his presence grounding in a way I didn't deserve.

"You know, I never expected this from him," he said after a moment, his voice quieter but no less sharp. "Miles. He's been there for you through everything—Dad, the hospital, all of it. And now? Now, when it actually counts, he... What was he thinking?"