Burning Out

Chapter 15

"She wanted to close her eyes and never open them again"
Song: Dangerously by Charlie Puth

~~~

          I closed the door carefully, trying not to wake Tyler up in case he was sleeping. Before I dropped Hunter off, I had taken leftovers from the fridge and left them on the table for Tyler. Now I looked over at the table, noticing some of the food had been eaten. I walked over to it and settled down on a chair, plucking an apple from the fruit bowl. As I bit into it, I thought about Hunter. I now knew that I could trust him... Regardless, I still wasn't sure if I could divulge any of my deepest secrets. Some things were better kept to yourself, no matter how much you trust a person. While I was deep in thought, I heard Tyler coming down the stairs. I guess he wasn't asleep after all.

          "I saw that," Tyler accused from behind my back. I swiveled around to face him, fully aware what he was talking about... Not that I wanted to admit it. "Saw what?" I innocently questioned. Tyler's face turned red with anger. "I saw you and Hunter cuddling," he spat with a rage filled voice. I bit into my apple to calm myself down, desperately trying to not panic. "Don't you know that you shouldn't invade others' privacy? Plus, Hunter and I are just friends," I responded. "Friends who cuddle? And by the way, your door was a tad bit open, and I heard Hunter talking. It wasn't really my fault that I peeked in," Tyler answered sarcastically.

          "Wait, Hunter was talking? To whom?" I asked curiously. I had fallen asleep nearly immediately, so who could Hunter have been talking to? "To you while you were asleep, I guess," Tyler snorted. Well, it was kinda weird that someone would talk to another person while they were sleeping. "What was he saying?" I asked, my curiosity increasing every second. "I couldn't hear much, but I saw you in his lap. He was holding you uncomfortably close, and that muffled the words. I did hear one thing though. He said, 'I will save you.'" Tyler's voice still held venom, but it had been diluted with confusion.

          I was confused now too. What did he mean by 'I will save you'? Save me from what? Questions piled up in my head, and I struggled to shake them all away. Maybe he just had a flashback, or was delirious from lack of sleep. "When I came back upstairs, you guys were cuddling," Tyler finished the story. He seemed to have calmed down a little. "Hunter and I had just argued, and I was exhausted. I accidentally fell asleep while making peace with him. That's it." I wasn't lying, but I wasn't telling the complete truth either. Tyler gave me a strange look. I'm not certain, but I think it meant, 'I don't know how that works, but I'm not going to ask.'

          "I just don't want you to get hurt. I've seen all the other times you made a friend, but ended up abandoned. I'm just protecting you.... Don't think I don't see you, everytime you cry on your bed after getting dumped by some idiot. Hope... I'll always be here when you need me, and I'll seriously hurt Hunter if he ever does anything to you," Tyler said genuinely. At his words, I felt some tiny holes in my heart fill up. Tyler rarely shows that he loves me, but when he does, he never exaggerates or hides his true feelings. I ruffled Tyler's hair, trying to be the bigger sibling for him even though Tyler was a inch taller than me. "Thanks little bro," I smiled at Tyler, to which he smirked mischievously.

          "Race you up the stairs," Tyler called out as he sped away. "I never agreed to this!" I shouted to his retreating figure. I couldn't run to save my life, and besides, Tyler was the upcoming star quarterback of our school football team. He reached the landing of the stairs in seconds and stuck his tongue out at me, causing me to return the gesture. I turned around and went back to eating my apple as I Tyler went in his room.

          As I finished and threw away my apple, I began to scroll through my phone. I was walking up the stairs when I received a text from Hunter. 'My mom said okay to coming over to yours for Christmas. She also told me to thank you for the invite :)' it read. 'You're welcome, and it's my pleasure to have you guys over. This is going to be so fun.' I replied. There was no immediate reply, so I assumed that Hunter had gotten off his phone. I didn't mind; I needed to start planning. We never had company for Christmas, so this was going to be really exciting.

          Suddenly, I realized that I had forgotten to inform Tyler about our upcoming guests... I needed to tell him sooner or later, but I wasn't sure how he would respond. I knew was just looking out for me, but I still wasn't sure if he was comfortable with Hunter and his family coming over. Eventually I decided to tell Tyler later, mostly because I was afraid of his response, but partly because I was just lazy. Instead, I decided to watch a movie on my laptop.

          To try and still my whirling mind, I brought the saying 'Netflix and Chill' to a whole new level. I set the thermostat to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and took about five extra blankets out of my closet. I knew Tyler wouldn't mind the temperature; we both love the cold. After proceeding to microwave a bag of popcorn, I grabbed a tub of ice cream and trudged up the stairs. I began the long process of starting up my laptop as I set everything on my bed. Then I chose a generic movie that I'd probably watched before but had forgotten about. I wouldn't call myself a movie buff, but movies were one thing that distracted me from reality.

          Over the course of a couple of hours, I finished the first movie and moved on to the second. By the time the second movie was over, my eyes were half closed. It was about 4 in the morning. I shut the laptop and placed it on my bedside table, placing the empty bag of popcorn on the floor and placed the half-empty tub of ice cream in my own mini refrigerator as I did so. Unluckily for Tyler, the ice cream was now solely mine. Then, peaceful at last, I slipped under the covers and drifted of to my sacred haven called sleep.