Tyed

chapter eleven

Twenty minutes later, Tyler and Colby are sitting in a somewhat busy but still relatively quiet restaurant. Tyler has a burger and a glass of red wine in front of him, and Colby's got a lost look in his eyes, staring at the wine for a moment before snapping out of it and looking at Tyler.

"I want to hear your story first," he says, just as Tyler takes a bite of his burger. It's sure a fancy burger, but Tyler almost drops it and ruins it. He's not sure why he's surprised at all. It was an expected question, he just doesn't want to talk about it.

He figures he has to get it out of the way, though. He obviously can't avoid it forever, and it's definitely easier to admit to the bare minimum truth now than it would be to dodge and avoid any longer. He doesn't have to get into it.

"You ever heard of Darkfilly Copse?" Tyler asks after he finishes his bite. Colby regards him for a moment, and Tyler takes a long sip of wine as he waits for the answer.

"Not until tonight," Colby answers. "They spoke about it like it was something we all already knew, however. I gathered it has to do with child abuse?"

"It's like... I don't know if it was a cult, or it used to be or what." Tyler can talk about those aspects so easily. "But it was this tiny town out in the north-east Victoria in among all the mountains. It was super religious and there was a bunch of child abuse going on. Eventually all the child abusing got discovered by someone who could do something about it and the police came and broke it up and resettled everyone. Me and my brother- that was my brother they spoke about- grew up there."

It's easy to give him that much information, even though it does stir up a little bit of fear. He sits incredibly still, unnaturally still, as he waits for Colby's judgement. It's not like he'd judge Tyler's actions or morality, but he will decide how differently he's going to treat Tyler from this point on, and Tyler would prefer if he pretended he hadn't heard it. He doesn't want to be pitied.

Colby's non-reaction is practised, but definitely put on. Tyler can't tell what he feels underneath it, though. "I can see how you felt I took you there deliberately," Colby says, voice even. "I swear I didn't know."

"I know." Tyler shrugs. "But it's your turn to spill."

"To spi-" Colby pauses as he parses what Tyler said. He looks grim. "Would it be enough to say it's sad?"

Tyler sits back in his seat. He's in no position to make demands. "You don't have to talk about it, but I'd like to know." All he can think about is the forest outside Darkfilly Copse and how lonely it was out there. This conversation is terribly stiff as it is, but Tyler's thirst for knowledge overrides that. He crosses his arms over his chest to lock in what little heat he has.

Colby sighs. He crosses his arms too, and everything about this feels horrible. Tyler went into this whole thing based on necessity first, and lust second. Maybe he should just drop it.

He doesn't get a chance to suggest this before Colby starts talking, and Tyler sits back and lets him go. "I was married," he says, and that's the last thing Tyler expects; he clutches at his arm, trying to give himself stability. He tries not to let any expression show on his face.

"Was," Colby repeats, like that's what he fears Tyler's worried about. Tyler doesn't really care whether or not Colby is cheating, and from his actions earlier Tyler knows he's against that. "Part of why we split up was that she cheated on me."

"How long ago was this?" Tyler asks, nervous. He doesn't particularly want to be the rebound, but he can live with it if he is- he just wants to know before he gets too attached. Beyond that, though, there's also the concern that she's still around.