The Comeback Season

|chapter thirty|

"I was wondering why Tyler didn't want to be around me." I nod my head as Bryce takes a sip of his beer. "Sorry about that," I say turning to look at him. He softly laughs and turns to me. "Cahlia, its cool. As long as you don't mind being around me." He raises up his eyebrows and I softly push him over.

"By the way, that kiss—." "I know. It shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry about that. I'm not sure what came over me, but I'll try to control my feelings better." His eyes grow soft for a split second before lightly bumping into my shoulder.

"I would really appreciate that," I say smiling at him before chugging down the rest of my drink. "How's the Mike case going?" Bryce has slid over to where our shoulders are inches apart. "I showed the officer his video and they said his parents bailed him out."

Bryce's head quickly snaps to look at me and his eyes have gotten darker. "So, he's just out there walking around." The hint of anger in his voice catches me off guard and I jump a little. I did not know my situation with Mike had this much effect on him.

"The police officer made me fill out a restraining order, that says he can't get within some feet of me." Bryce abruptly sighs before moving his eyes on the ground. "A piece of paper. That's the best they can do." I stay quiet because he needs this moment, to be honest with me. For once I feel a deep connection with Bryce, instead of sexual.

"I just—I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you. The first thing with your mom hurting you and now Mike. I know you're strong enough to handle it Lia, but I can't. I can't watch people hurt you again and again. That includes me."

Out of nowhere, I reach over and place my hand over Bryce's. "Bryce, I know I can count on you to be there when I need you. I appreciate you for being there after the fight I had with my mom. I even appreciate you protecting me from Mike, even though I wish you hadn't fought him." He turns to me with a quiet laugh. "And yes, you have hurt me, but I've forgiven you a long time ago. What we have here will never change. Maybe our friendship started off wrong, but we are trying to fix it now. So, stop beating yourself up."

I hit my leg against his leg to ensure him that I'm fine. Bryce was there after my mom hit me. He let me sleep with him after I had a nightmare. Not to mention he got into countless fights with Sabrina because of me. Bryce and I's friendship had its rough start, but we were slowly smoothing out the edges.

"Now can we stop talking about sad stuff," I laugh trying to lighten the mood. "Sounds good," Bryce says finishing off his beer. He tells me how much his family misses me. We both crack up laughing when he tells me the story of his mom cooking ratatouille.

"It was a complete disaster. There was tomato sauce all over the ceiling and cabinets. Somehow the food in the pot started turning green. So, that was when we decided to order take-out and watch Ratatouille instead of cooking it."

"I wish I would have seen that," I say out of breath because of all the laughing. "Yeah, you should start coming by more. We can play video games and watch movies."

"Aww, is Bryce asking for another sleepover," I say mimicking my baby talk voice. "Ok, please stop the voice," he pauses laughing, "but yeah it would be fun."

It probably would be fun, and I haven't seen his parents in a while. I'm not sure if I should tell Tyler about this. Wait, I haven't seen Tyler since he was pulled by Rebecca to dance.

"Lia, you okay? You dozed out on me." I shake my head bringing me back to the present. "Yeah, I was just thinking about when should we plan this sleepover." His expression turns from concern to complete happiness in a matter of seconds.

We start to plan out every little detail while integrating random topics into the conversations. "You really don't like Nutella?" Bryce's mouth seems to have dropped on the floor. "Nope, I like hazelnut coffee though." Bryce nods while crossing out Nutella on our "sleepover" shopping list.

We start adding and taking things off our list in a matter of seconds. I'm so attuned to the conversation that I didn't realize the sound of coughing coming from behind us. I turn around to see a smiling Rebecca and an irritated Tyler. I slide over to add more distance between Bryce and me.

When Bryce turns around, he quickly stands up dusting off his pants. I grab the hand he holds out to help me get up. I dust the dirt off my skirt and walk up to Tyler. He doesn't take his eyes off of Bryce.

"So, I'll text you later," Bryce says noticing the tension between the four of us. I'm surprised when he gives me a quick hug before heading back inside. When the door shuts, Tyler's eyes quickly land on me.

Oh shit. This was not going to be good.

"What was that about?" Tyler's voice is stone cold, and I see Rebecca enjoying every minute of it. "What was what about?" I ask getting defensive towards him, while also becoming pissed at him doing this in front of Rebecca.

"You know what I'm talking about. Why were Bryce and you out here alone?" Is Tyler drunk as fuck right now? How is he going to attack me when he left to go dance with his ex-girlfriend?

"Excuse me. Bryce and I can hang out alone because he is my friend. Also, I don't see an official relationship here, so I can do whatever the hell I want!" At this point, we are yelling, and I have no idea why.

Tyler takes a deep breath in while rubbing his fingers through his hair. "You know what, I have to drive Rebecca home and maybe we can talk after we've both calmed down." The fact that her name is being brought up again in my relationship is really irritating.

"No, how about this. You take your ex-girlfriend home and don't bother calling me." I walk past him ignoring Rebecca's smug smile and slam the door shut behind me. Thankfully my friends are all partied out and ready to go. I keep myself from crying as we leave the house.

"That shit was fun. Where did you go, Lia?" Coco's question is making it harder for me not to cry. I got in my first real fight with Tyler, meet his ex-girlfriend, and rekindled a friendship with Bryce all in one night. "Oh, I just chilled downstairs and played UNO." They all start describing their nights while I silently wish I never even came.

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After dropping everyone off, I finally arrived home around 2 in the morning. I notice all the lights are off in the house, meaning Cayden was sleeping. I was completely exhausted after the night I had. Bryce had texted me making sure I made it home, while Tyler hasn't said a word.

It aggravates me how he thinks he can control who I am and am not friends with. Even if he was my boyfriend, that shit wouldn't happen. If I want to hang out with Bryce, I damn well will.

In some sense, it seemed like Rebecca just brought this toxic vibe with her. Tyler and I were fine before tonight. We've always had petty disagreements like which movie to watch or restaurant to go to, but tonight was on a whole new level. We were actually screaming at each other.

Reliving the situation starts to make my head hurt. I go into the kitchen and grab two Advil and a bottle of water from the fridge. I scroll through my texts one more time hoping I would see Tyler's name pop up on the screen. It never came.

I disappointedly drag myself up the stairs but stop when I hear the doorbell ring. Being the cautious girl I am, I quietly move back down the stairs and look through the peephole. After realizing who it was, I slowly unlock the door.

"Ok, we are going to talk about this. I am not going to bed upset at you and I won't let you go to bed mad at me. As long as we're together, we will always talk problems out because I don't want this to end. I will be over here all night if that's what it takes. Are you in?"

I nod my head and move out of the way. Tyler walks in and waits by the stairs as I lock the door and set the alarm on the house. When I come back, he follows me upstairs to talk, which I hope will end in a massive makeup make out session.

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I loved writing this chapter. It's funny how Bryce and Cahlia makeup, while Tyler and Cahlia start fighting.

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