Upside Down

Thirty

So far, so good.

Tyler took me to a nice restaurant on the fancy side of town and now we are on our way back to his apartment.

The entire night, he has been so kind to me. He paid for our meal, was polite, and refuses to let me do anything that would 'ruin my perfection'.

Tyler slides the key into the lock on his apartment door and allows me to enter.

"Peanuts?" He asks, holding out a bowl of peanut M&M's for me.

"Oh, no thanks. I'm highly allergic." I turn his down politely.

"Oh oh man. I could have killed you!" He exclaims, nearly chucking the bowl across the room to get it away from me. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad I guess. Um, I get seizures so, pretty bad."

"Pretty bad? That's like, deadly bad, Avery!"

"I guess. It's not a big deal if I don't eat them." I try to laugh it off. "How long have you lived by yourself."

"I moved out after I graduated high school." He plops down on the couch beside me.

"That's amazing. I wish I had my own place. It's insane where I live right now. I have five half siblings, a step-mom, my dad and my arch nemesis all living in the same house as me." I dish on my crazy family life.

"Arch nemesis? That has got to have a great story behind it." He laughs.

"That's more of a second date kind of a story."

"Oh, so you want there to be a second date?"

"Yeah maybe." I smile, grabbing his cheeks and kissing him softly. He grabs the back of my neck and cradles it while he kisses me again.

We quickly fall into a comfortable pattern, sinking further and further into the couch.

I'm having a rather great time with Tyler. I didn't really expect to be enjoying myself this much. I figured, at the very least, he could be a distraction from Logan and everything that is going on at home. But tonight has actually turned out quite nice. I really enjoy his company.

Plus, he's great at kissing.

As if on cue to ruin my perfect night, my cellphone rings. I groan and dig it out of my pocket. Upon seeing Logan's name on the screen, I decline the call. I am so not in the mood to deal with his antics right now. Almost as soon as I decline the call, he calls again. This time, I decide to just let it ring.

"I'm sorry." I say. "Where were we?" I smirk and lean in for another kiss. Before our lips even have the chance to touch, my phone rings for the third time in a row.

"Uh, he's calling you again. Do you want to get that? I won't be offended. It might be important." Tyler asks.

Great. Logan has successfully killed the mood.

"No way," I shake my head. "I'm with you right now. He can wait." And for the fourth time, he calls. "I'm sorry. He's so obsessive it's insane. He's probably going to call until I answer. I'll just shut it off so it won't ring."

"I think you should take the call. It's probably important if he's calling four times in a row." Tyler shrugs and leans back on the couch.

I sigh and answer the phone. "What. Do. You.  want?" I ask, grinding my teeth. I try to be as calm as I can but he is seriously ruining my night.

I listen as Logan explains why he is calling. His breathing is fast and his words come faster. He is panicked.

"I'm on my way." All of the anger in my body spills out onto the floor. My shoulders sink and my heart drops into my stomach. "I have to go." I tell Tyler after hanging up with Logan.

"Why, what's going on?" He asks, standing as I stand. "Is everything okay?"

I start collecting my things in a hurry. I need to get out of here. "Uh," I look for words in my jumbled thoughts. "No, not really. Not at all actually." I rush around the room, looking for anything I may have brought with me. "It's my step-brother. He's- he," I pull at my hair. I can't say it out loud.

"You look like you're upset. Let me drive you home, please. I can't just let you leave like this on your own." Tyler grabs his coat.

"I- I can't go home. I need to go- I don't even know where it is. I just need to go there. God, why can't I remember what it's called?"

"Well, okay. Let me drive you wherever it is. Anywhere. Please. You can't go alone. Not like this."

Authors note: what do you think is happening?

Side note, I can't believe I am thirty chapters into this story already!