Breaking The Bad Boy (Completed)

Chapter 67: Pick A Star, Any Star

[A/N: Songs for the chapter:
- Snow Patrol // Chasing Cars
- Ed Sheeran // All Of The Stars
- Birdy // Wings
- Sleeping With Sirens // James Dean And Audrey Hepburn (acoustic)]

"Welcome home darling."

Mom pushed the front door open for me, letting the deep orange glow of the sunset behind us spill into the hallway and light up the dust particles. They danced in the air like ballerinas, spinning and twirling around me as I trudged towards the stairs.

"Take it easy, okay?" Mom called out as I hobbled up each step slowly, not used to using my legs after being confined to a hospital bed for an entire month.

"Sure Mom," I replied when I reached the top of the stairs.

Slowly, I edged towards my bedroom door, eager to lie down in my bed again.

Nothing had been touched since I'd last been my room. Clothes were strewn across the floor and my underwear drawer was pulled out. The familiar scent of jasmines and soap detergent made me sigh with relief.

I was home. I was finally back home.

As soon as my head hit my pillow, a loud crackle echoed through my room. Frowning, I flipped my pillow around and snuggled into the cold cotton material, desperate to catch a wink of sleep. Again, the crackling sound filled my ears as I squirmed to get comfortable. Confused, I patted my pillow and found the source of the sound.

Fishing a post-it note from the inside of my pillow cover, I flipped the neon orange note over and read the scribble scrawled on in black ink.

Welcome home beautiful. Meet me for a Midnight Swing. Have fun sneaking past your mom when you're supposed to be 'resting'. See you soon munchkin.

Confusion clouded my mind as I racked my brains, struggling to understand what a 'Midnight Swing' was. It sounded like some crazy alcoholic drink but I knew it was far from that. Racking my brain deeply for answers, my eyes wandered around the dirty state of my room and I frowned.

Did Tyler set foot in this black hole of a mess to put the note inside my pillow case? How the hell did he find the spare key when it was holed up beneath the flower pot in the back garden? Did he seriously climb over the fence with a broken arm and ribs?

Groaning out loud, I swung my feet over my bed and began to tidy my room as I tried to workout the riddle. I understood the time - midnight. That part was easy, but the term 'swing' puzzled me until my brain began to ache. Taking a quick break, I disappeared downstairs and asked my mom for the painkillers Dr Wilson had prescribed me from my frequent headaches.

Once I was back in my room, my mind continued to throb from the effort of thinking too hard as the pills began to kick in.

Midnight Swing. Swing Midnight? Swinging at Midnight?

Swing? What swing?

Just as I stuffed the last piece of clothing into my wardrobe, Tyler's riddle clicked and I let out a squeal of delight.

"Oh my god!" I inhaled sharply. "The park!"

Picking up the discarded note on my pillow, I scanned Tyler's illegible handwriting and flopped down. Sprawled across the bed diagonally, I let out an elated sigh and held the note to the light until I could vaguely see through it.

"Clever little shit," I murmured under my breath before letting my gaze slide to digital alarm clock.

It was seven minutes past nine. That meant I had three hours to sneak past Mom and get out of the house without making a single noise. The prospect of lying to her and breaking the only rule in our house put me at unease but also left me exhilarated. She was a pretty lenient parent as long as she knew where I was and I usually had no reason to lie about my whereabouts. Unless it was something as ridiculous as this.