after a while // tanner braungardt

chapter 10

Edited 4/26/20
Tanner POV

We arrived back at my house a half hour after leaving the building. Gabe brought Kloey inside and set her on my bed, then sat next to her while I sat at my desk.

We sat there talking about cars for a while before Kloey finally woke up, "Where am I?" She asked

"You're at my house in my room" I responded quickly

"Who are your guys? Why am I here?" She asked nervously

"Kloey, it's me, Gabe, you're older brother. Don't you remember me?" Game asked and sighed when she shook her head.

"I'm your best friend Tanner, we brought you here after we found you. You were kidnapped and this guy tried to do tests on you" I said after Gabe was done explains who he was.

"Oh, ok, I'm really tired, can I got to sleep?" She asked and both Gabe and I nodded at her. She laid back down and closed her eyes, falling asleep shortly after. Gabe laid down next to her and wrapped his arms around her then fell asleep too, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

I thought about the events of the past few days, what I did wrong in my life, what I did right in my life, and what I did to deserve such a great girl as my best friend that will hopefully become something more to me. I have to explain to her about what she saw with me and Paris, and tell her that nothing happened between us. I grabbed a blanket from off the ground and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep in my desk chair.

I woke up the later that morning to find Gabe and Kloey still asleep next to each other on my bed. I decided to edit a video while they were still sleeping, and managed to get half of one done before Gabe woke up and went to the bathroom.

Kloey woke up a minute after Gabe left for the bathroom, "Tanner?" She asked tiredly

"Yeah?" I responded, taking my eyes off of my computer

"What am I doing here? Sleeping in your bed?"

"We came here after we found you last night"

"But why didn't you bring me back to my house?"

"Because it isn't safe for you there, Klo, your mom abused you"

"She couldn't have meant it, she probably just had another bad day at work, at least, that's what she tells me when she hits me"

"She's hit you before?"

"Yeah, but she always says she's sorry and that she didn't mean it afterwards, and she always tells me that she was having trouble with people at work"

"Kloey, she wasn't having a bad day, she was having a bad 16 years"

"Who's Kloey? I'm Mackenzie"

"What do you mean you're Mackezie, your name is Kloey, it always has been"

"Hi Gabe!" She exclaimed excitedly when he walked in the room

"What's up, Kloey? Did you sleep good?" Gabe asked, sitting on the bed

"I slept great! But I don't know why you both are calling me Kloey, my name is Mackenzie"

"Kloey, your name isn't Mackenzie, it's been Kloey your entire life" Gabe said confused

"It hasn't, it's been Mackenzie, but whatever floats your boat, right? Any-who, I'm going to go for a walk now, bye!" Kloey said getting up and heading for the door

"You're not going alone, one of us will come with you" I said, following her

"You're not my dad! I want to go alone!" She exclaimed, walking faster

"I know I'm not your dad, but we can't let you go alone" I said, motioning for Gabe to follow us.

"C'mon Kloey, I'll go with you, we can have some sibling bonding time" Gabe said as we reached the front door.

"No thanks, I'm going to the store instead. Thanks for the keys, Tanner!" She said quickly before grabbing my keys and running out to my car

"You can't drive, Kloey! You're going to hurt somebody!" Gabe yelled after her, running outside.

"I can now and I won't hurt anyone, I promise!" She yelled, getting into the car and starting it quickly before whipping out of the driveway.