Three Hearts Untitled

happy place 2 - part 6

I swallowed a huge lump of saliva which I must admit was really hard to ignore. We have been driving for almost half an hour now and Ty hasn't turned once to look at me or said a single word.
As if I wasn't already freaked out enough, Ty turned off the road and we were now driving on a gravel road.

"Uhmmm... Ty?!" my voice came out almost a squeak due to the the amount of fear building up in me.

"You scared?" he finally spoke to me. Even though that was not the response I was hoping for.

"Well, yeah!" I answered truthfully.

"Well I did ask you to trust me, before." He said still not looking at me.

"Ty where are we going? " I asked again, my pulse increasing as we only drove deeper into the darkening forest.
"To my friends." He answered ,his eyes still glued to the gravel road.

"Ty?" I know that by now I was being annoying but I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead as I gripped my hands tightly on the sides of the leather seat, ready to jump out of the car at any given moment. Why hadn't I thought of that earlier? I thought to myself.
Ty turned off the engine almost immediately surprising me. "Why did you stop?" I asked, panicking.

"Why are you so worried?" Ty asked finally facing me and I stared back at his beautiful eyes and asked myself the same question. I was scared but deep down I knew that I could trust him. I was being paranoid for no good reason.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said ,his hand on mine as if to comfort me. Well it did kind of work. I nodded at him before he pulled away and started the engine.

Soon, a space cleared of trees came into view and I could see Jerome and the others pacing around a wooden table. Ty parked the vehicle next to his friends' and hopped out. And I did too. We carried the bags out of the trunk and walked to the others.
"Its about time mahn." Jerome said lifting himself off of the table.

My bags were lighter, not because I chose to have them but because Ty wouldn't let me have any of which he considered heavy.
"Uhm, this is Katrina. I'm sure y'all recognize her from class." Ty said as I strolled behind him.
"Hi." I said quietly when we finally came to a stop.

"Hey Kat. Or should we call you Trina?" One of the guys said playfully with a raised eyebrow and friendly smirk. He was light skinned, tall and had a single piercing in his right brow but, his look wasn't as intimidating as Claus's.

"Kat's fine." I smile back at him.

"Oh thank goodness there is another girl in this place!" Said a brown skinned girl coming from behind me. She was really pretty, had the longest hair I'd ever seen in my whole life and wore it down, letting them hang just below her... behind. She had big lovely eyes. Height, slightly taller than i was, the body i could only wish for.
She was one of the only female friends Ty had.

"Hey, I'm Sadé." She said with a peering white smile. "Wow, you're really pretty!" She said to me as she led me to the barbeque stand. "That explains why Ty's so crazy about you." She continued when she stopped and stared down at me, which was a little uncomfortable.

"He said that?" I couldn't help but wonder.

"He didn't have to say it. Just the way he has been behaving lately." She said with a smile.

"Okay, so can you help me while I help you get familiarized with everyone else." She said and I nodded.
I helped her barbeque the meat as she told me about everyone in their clique.
Daniella was the tomboy kind of chick, even though her hair matched with my shirt.
Jerome, who I already knew, was the fun guy of the group. "Crazy would fit him better." Sade said to me.
And then there was Kevin, the guy who greeted me earlier, all I know is that he was her boyfriend and I couldn't help but smile at the way her eyes twinkled and a soft smile played upon her face when she mentioned him.
We walked back to the group once everything was done and I was surprised to see the number of chips packets lying around already empty. And guess which one was Jerome crunching on right now as though it were a life or death situation?! You guessed it.
We sat down and ate... and drank as Jerome joked and made everyone laugh, being the clown he is.

"Kat?!" Ty called out. I hadn't noticed how I had drifted from the crowd.

"Hmm? " I responded as I stared into his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked searching my eyes and I nod.

"Come." He said. He was up before I could even blink once. Where was he taking me now?
I stared up at him a little confused but got up anyway. He put his hand out in front of him and I placed mine in his as he led me out of the little circle, past the cars and into the woods.

"Where are we going?" I asked him and mentally faced palmed myself. I should really learn to trust him more.

"Just wanted to take you out of there. You seemed... distant." He said, I'm sure he was meaning to say absent minded.

"I'm sorry." I said a little embarrassed.

"Are you always this quiet?" He asked after some time, casually kicking at some dead twigs.

"Yea." I replied softly.

"Why? " he asked.

"I don't know. Just who I am, I guess."

"More reason for me to stay interested." He mumbled and I don't think he was directly letting me know.
I found myself chewing on my bottom lip as I stared down at my feet when Ty released my hand making me miss his warmth already. I walked right into him... mostly his solid chest, I hadn't notice him stop in front of me. He smirked as soon as I looked up at him before turning serious.

"You know, that thing you did for me this morning..."

"I told you, it was nothing." I interrupted before he took my hands in his, slightly causing my heart to stop beating.

"You want to know where my happy place was?... When I was a kid, I'd play with the gardener, he was the closest thing to a father that I ever had. I remember running around my mother's garden, which she never actually cared for ." He said with a smug smile upon his face.

"What happened to your real father?" I asked curiously.

"He died." Ty said simply and I immediately regret having ever asked.

"I'm sorry." I apologize.

"You don't have to apologize. I don't even know what he looked like. He died when I was really young... but thank you again, really." He said lifting my chin with his index finger so I would look at him and I nod.
"We should probably get back to the others now." Ty said and I nod again. We walk back to the others and I feel much comfortable with our intertwined fingers, it felt so... natural.